Sadly, no gaming to report.
I just don't have time to play any games right now, unfortunately. And I am, really, sad about it. Actually, I'm just sad to be leaving behind the community of gamers I've come to know over just the past few months.
I do have downtime at work to think about games, though, and boy have I been using it.
Just from random reading of boardgamegeek, I came across a new game today that really piqued my interest. It's Canal Mania, from Ragnar Brothers. On it's way to the U.S.A. right now, apparently. I'll let you look it up on BGG, but it is consistently referred to as using elements of Age of Steam and Ticket to Ride, simplified, to create a route building/pickup and deliver game based on a theme of 18th century British canals. A rail game without the rails.
Looking at Boardgamenews today, I found out that Eagle Games is going out of business, and their inventory is being liquidated at auction. There are a couple of games they publish that I've been interested in - Railroad Tycoon and Struggle of Empires. So, now, I'm thinking, should I look at placing some sort of order?
So, I'm thinking about getting games. I thought I'd put my "want list" up here, and anyone who's interested could post and give feedback. I'm not including Canal Mania, because it doesn't appear that any of the U.S. distributors have it yet.
- These aren't really in any particular order -
-Commands & Colors Ancients (40% off at Thoughthammer until the end of July)
-Struggle of Empires (could it become hard to find?)
-Age of Steam (another rail game, similar to, and by the same designer, as Railroad Tycoon)
-Santiago (an interesting game I've wanted since the first time I played, a gamer's game with a crop irrigation theme)
A couple games on the list that aren't widely available currently:
-Reef Encounter (A heavy game that I've really enjoyed playing on sbw)
-Caylus (A gamer's game of city building, should be avaiable any time)
Well, help me out. Look them up and give me some comments. Who knows, maybe I'll get to bring them back when I visit...
GG, GL
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Monday night at Kurt's, July 17th, 2006
For some reason, I again agreed to playtest a game during a very busy time in my life. I've had a responsibility to put Tide of Iron to the test for a couple of weeks now, and with the wedding and everything it's been hard to organize. On top of being busy, I think there are just too many good games to play right now. It seems not many of the usual suspects are anxious to play an early version of a forthcoming game, when they each have a handful of tested, award-winning games they are trying to get to the table! Kurt graciously agreed to run the rule over the game with me, and invited me over to his new house to boot.
I'm bound by NDA not to talk about Tide, so I'll just say we played a nice, quick, game, and had fun talking, as usual. Kurt's kids were having fun running around the new house, and his daughter was a bit of comic relief serving as a cheering section for her dad. We got done with the game and playtest forms with enough time to play another quickie. Kurt's sizeable collection was still mostly packed, but a brand-new Rio Grande edition of Thurn and Taxis, winner of the 2006 Speil Des Jahres earlier that very day, was looking lonesomely down at us from Kurt's shelf, and we were unable to resist putting it on the table.
We ran through the rules real quick (neither of us had played) and got started. I've read comparisons between this and Ticket to Ride, but I think I'd have to side with those who have opined that, though there might be a couple of similar mechanics, these are quite different games that can occupy happily different niches in one's collection. They have about the same weight, and should, generally, be hits with the same groups. I, for one, am one of those people for whom TTR is a hit...
For those not in the proverbial know, Thurn & Taxis is a game by Rudiger Dorn, the author of Puerto Rico. It is a set collection/sequencing game with elements of area connection/control. It is themed aroud development of stagecoach routes for postal service in eighteenth century central Europe. Each turn, you draw city connection card(s), claim connection(s), and, if you choose, score a route. You may use one of four special actions each turn, either drawing or playin an extra card, claiming a coach (they build up in size based on progressive length of routes scored) for up to two cities less (in size), or getting rid of all six face-up city cards and replacing them before drawing. Whenever a route is scored, you have a choice of building stage stations in either each city in a region that you are connecting to, or one city in each region that you are connecting to. There are bonus tiles for route sizes 5/6/7, for building a station in all the cities in an or two regions, or for building at least one station in each region. These bonus tiles exist in descending multiples, addig a race element as players try to fulfill the conditions first, to get more points. In a two player game, you are really fighting for every point. At the end of the game, the houses you have left over will be deducted from your total score. The game ends at the end of a turn when someone gets the largest (seven) carriage, or builds thir last station. That person also gets one bonus point.
In the early going, I think both of us had some neurons misfiring regarding evaluating the relation between route building and station placement. I started building a route, and only after I had put a few cards in it did I really realize that I wasn't going to be able to put houses on ALL the cities. At that point, it was time to decide whether to build big routes, going for the 5/6/7 bonus tiles, or to build successive smaller routes, trying to push the race to the endgame. Happily, both of us, it seemed, were more interested in playing the big routes, which made the game a little longer.
I connected to multiple regions in the SW part of the map, including two that were only once city. This allowed me to place a number of stations, and gave me a jump on the big bonus tile (six points) for one station in each region. Kurt built in the center, and actually claimed the first bonus tile for the big seven route. For the second set, I chose a bit of a new area, but Kurt really went in the middle. He got to claim the big (five point) tile for having a station in every city in the big, central, gray region. I didn't have a great hand, but a couple good tiles came up, and I was able to finish off another decent sized route, and claim a couple bonus tiles, including the giant six-pointer for a station in each region. From this point, we started to push a little more, trying to get through the coaches and score points. I ended up having to use the "build with two less cities" action to get my seven coach and trigger the endgame. With the extra point from ending the game, and with Kurt having three more stations left than me, I ended up pulling out the victory by five points.
I would say that it played really well for a first session. It only really took us about one turn to develop some ideas about how to play, and we certainly had a decent grasp of strategy by the midgame. I think the next play might be a little different, but not too much. I certainly haven't played every game released this year, but, knowing the kind of games that have won in the past, this seemed a deserved SDJ winner.
Another night of gaming at Kurt's wound to a close, and I was spared having to say another goodbye to a good local friend by the probability that I'll be stopping back by to pick up some of Kurt's discarded boxes to help with our move. It's also quite likely that, as Kurt put it, given the nature of our hobby, we'll continue to stay in relatively good touch in this relatively small world. BGG T & E here I come!
As one last comment, I'll add that I'm quite happy for the opportunities that the internet provides to stay in touch with/keep track of people spread far and wide, via boardgamegeek, brettspielwelt, spielbyweb... even myspace and friendster. Not only am I much better able to stay in touch with old friends, but it seems I'll have a variety of connections in North Carolina before we even get there!
GG, GL
For some reason, I again agreed to playtest a game during a very busy time in my life. I've had a responsibility to put Tide of Iron to the test for a couple of weeks now, and with the wedding and everything it's been hard to organize. On top of being busy, I think there are just too many good games to play right now. It seems not many of the usual suspects are anxious to play an early version of a forthcoming game, when they each have a handful of tested, award-winning games they are trying to get to the table! Kurt graciously agreed to run the rule over the game with me, and invited me over to his new house to boot.
I'm bound by NDA not to talk about Tide, so I'll just say we played a nice, quick, game, and had fun talking, as usual. Kurt's kids were having fun running around the new house, and his daughter was a bit of comic relief serving as a cheering section for her dad. We got done with the game and playtest forms with enough time to play another quickie. Kurt's sizeable collection was still mostly packed, but a brand-new Rio Grande edition of Thurn and Taxis, winner of the 2006 Speil Des Jahres earlier that very day, was looking lonesomely down at us from Kurt's shelf, and we were unable to resist putting it on the table.
We ran through the rules real quick (neither of us had played) and got started. I've read comparisons between this and Ticket to Ride, but I think I'd have to side with those who have opined that, though there might be a couple of similar mechanics, these are quite different games that can occupy happily different niches in one's collection. They have about the same weight, and should, generally, be hits with the same groups. I, for one, am one of those people for whom TTR is a hit...
For those not in the proverbial know, Thurn & Taxis is a game by Rudiger Dorn, the author of Puerto Rico. It is a set collection/sequencing game with elements of area connection/control. It is themed aroud development of stagecoach routes for postal service in eighteenth century central Europe. Each turn, you draw city connection card(s), claim connection(s), and, if you choose, score a route. You may use one of four special actions each turn, either drawing or playin an extra card, claiming a coach (they build up in size based on progressive length of routes scored) for up to two cities less (in size), or getting rid of all six face-up city cards and replacing them before drawing. Whenever a route is scored, you have a choice of building stage stations in either each city in a region that you are connecting to, or one city in each region that you are connecting to. There are bonus tiles for route sizes 5/6/7, for building a station in all the cities in an or two regions, or for building at least one station in each region. These bonus tiles exist in descending multiples, addig a race element as players try to fulfill the conditions first, to get more points. In a two player game, you are really fighting for every point. At the end of the game, the houses you have left over will be deducted from your total score. The game ends at the end of a turn when someone gets the largest (seven) carriage, or builds thir last station. That person also gets one bonus point.
In the early going, I think both of us had some neurons misfiring regarding evaluating the relation between route building and station placement. I started building a route, and only after I had put a few cards in it did I really realize that I wasn't going to be able to put houses on ALL the cities. At that point, it was time to decide whether to build big routes, going for the 5/6/7 bonus tiles, or to build successive smaller routes, trying to push the race to the endgame. Happily, both of us, it seemed, were more interested in playing the big routes, which made the game a little longer.
I connected to multiple regions in the SW part of the map, including two that were only once city. This allowed me to place a number of stations, and gave me a jump on the big bonus tile (six points) for one station in each region. Kurt built in the center, and actually claimed the first bonus tile for the big seven route. For the second set, I chose a bit of a new area, but Kurt really went in the middle. He got to claim the big (five point) tile for having a station in every city in the big, central, gray region. I didn't have a great hand, but a couple good tiles came up, and I was able to finish off another decent sized route, and claim a couple bonus tiles, including the giant six-pointer for a station in each region. From this point, we started to push a little more, trying to get through the coaches and score points. I ended up having to use the "build with two less cities" action to get my seven coach and trigger the endgame. With the extra point from ending the game, and with Kurt having three more stations left than me, I ended up pulling out the victory by five points.
I would say that it played really well for a first session. It only really took us about one turn to develop some ideas about how to play, and we certainly had a decent grasp of strategy by the midgame. I think the next play might be a little different, but not too much. I certainly haven't played every game released this year, but, knowing the kind of games that have won in the past, this seemed a deserved SDJ winner.
Another night of gaming at Kurt's wound to a close, and I was spared having to say another goodbye to a good local friend by the probability that I'll be stopping back by to pick up some of Kurt's discarded boxes to help with our move. It's also quite likely that, as Kurt put it, given the nature of our hobby, we'll continue to stay in relatively good touch in this relatively small world. BGG T & E here I come!
As one last comment, I'll add that I'm quite happy for the opportunities that the internet provides to stay in touch with/keep track of people spread far and wide, via boardgamegeek, brettspielwelt, spielbyweb... even myspace and friendster. Not only am I much better able to stay in touch with old friends, but it seems I'll have a variety of connections in North Carolina before we even get there!
GG, GL
Gamicon Lite, Sunday, July 16th, 2006, Critical Hit Games, Coralville
The Gamicon organizers got together and decided to run a pre-con gathering. I suppose this was for organizers and GMs to socialize, and to be a bit of a pre-registration drive. It was certainly a successful day of gaming that raised the profile of the con a little. I'm not sure if anyone actually pre-registered.
They had a nice slate of events, and I was happy to have the Sunday off to do some gaming. The first slot, at noon, provided me with a bit of a choice: Nexus Ops or Union Pacific? Nexus Ops I own and like, but don't get to play enough. On the other hand, I had only played UP once, and really liked it, and don't have many chances to play. So.... UP it is! Actually, after I arrived, it turned out it didn't really matter, as the Nexus Ops GM didn't show up and the game never happened.
Union Pacific
UP ended up being Chris S. (GM), Erin, Gare, Adam, and myself. Gare went first. I was fourth. UP is primarily a stock game, with a rail theme. Sort of like Acquire is a stock game with an hotel (or big corporation) theme. You strengthen train lines while acquiring stock in them, but there's generally a threat that someone could get more stock than you, ruining all your work, or that, if you don't lengthen a train system, you could get blocked off. A nice game with action choices every turn, with good player interaction on multiple levels.
To get into a little more detail, you have a map of the U.S., with several different kinds of track and, I think, eight different train lines. On your turn, you can lay track, expanding a train line, and acquire stock from the shares available -or- you can play stock from your hand (either two of any type, or any number of one type). There are four scoring rounds shuffled into the stock deck. Each scoring round, you get points (money) for each train (track extension) in a line that you have the most stock in, or half for second place. After the fourth scoring round, the game is over. I like limited action games, as they really put pressure on. Random scoring rounds tighten the game up even more, as you are forced to weigh your chances of expanding and getting stock you want, or needing to play stock to the table (you only score the stock on the table). There's also a chance, at the end of each turn, to trade any one stock from your hand for a Union Pacific stock, which is not tied to a train on the table and has a set (high) value in each scoring round except the first.
The opening of the game saw people growing routes for which they clearly had stock in their hands, and pushing the acquisition of UP stock. In each of the turns, as the roudn started I was really thinking about giving up on UP, but then someone ahead of me would do it, creating a loophole of opportunity to leapfrog them in the UP race. This turned out to be mostly Gare and Adam, who, it turned out, were going to compete over the largest (green) train system. With the cards I had, I decided to push the second largest, or red, system. The first scoring round came without most of us having much on the table, but I managed to earn four dollars, several less than the leader's (Adam's) nine (iirc). The round came quick enough that most people hadn't had a chance to lay much and, though most of us were clearly investing in a couple of lines, there was a lot of room to move.
With Adam and Gare both laying down multiple stocks in green, and picking up everything they could, nobody else wanted to fight with them. Erin started to get into red a little bit, pushing me to take some extra stock. She and Chris diversified trying to pick up 1st and 2nd places on numerous small lines. Chris is especially adept at this. I tried to get into the black train that Gare was really working on, but so did Chris, and they were always one train ahead of letting it be worthwhile for me to lay the stock in my hand. Instead, I got lucky and got to get in on the grey line that Erin, and Gare to a lesser extent, ended up maxing out. There are only six stocks in this line, and there were only two on the table, so the two I managed to snag were, in some ways, lucky, and in other ways a vulnerability of investment in that line - the turn I took control, I was able to make $8 (a decent amount) for a line I'd laid no track for. I'm getting ahead of myself, though, as none of this happened before the second scoring round. In the second round, I think Adam and Gare split green, and Erin took the lead, with, I think, myself in second with my growing red line.
After the second round, I noticed that Gare and Adam, who were working on green, were also working on, respectively, black and white, two lines that work up against green and can limit it expansion. They sort of stopped paying attention, I think, to their growth options (probably because there are so many for green), and I was able to sneak in and basically cut them off. From here, Erin and I fought over red and gray a little. Honestly, the timing of the third scoring round, and Gare taking some red stock, were probably the main things that allowed me to win the game. I took the lead in round three, with control of gray.
After the third round, Erin and I started adding to train lines that we didn't share, trying to make money that the other couldn't get a part of. She also grabbed another gray stock, to tie me for first. With even money in a lot of areas, and me only holding on to a $2 lead, it was a tense finale. Thankfully, the scoring round came with me still holding the lead in the red line. I've forgotten to mention that Erin and I spent the whole game tied for first in UP, which ended up being a significant factor in the two of us jumping out front of everyone, and basically fighting for first. In the end, I held onto my $2 lead, and won by that slim margin.
Chris had purchased the brand-new Goa reprint, and was very excited to play. I would really have liked to have gotten in on the game, but felt I should wait for the Game of Thrones draft. I've spent a lot of time with the AGOT community, and figured this might be my last time to play with them. Unfortunately, only three of them showed up...
A Game of Thrones CCG
So, we had a four person booster draft with Jeremiah, Sarah, Chad, and myself. I first picked Forever Burning, and second picked Dothraki Sea. This put me pretty firmly in Targ. Unfortunately, it wasn't really followed up with any strong characters. Oddly, there weren't a lot of neutrals either. I wandered into Martell, and ended the 1st pack with a pretty sorry looking set of cards. In pack two, I moved further into Martell with Student of Subtlety. I picked up a multi-influence producer in Doran's Palanquin. Unfortunately, I never got the big Targ removal I was hoping for. I grabbed some big armies as the packs went around, including two of the Martell army that draws when it strength is raised or lowered, which would turn into a machine with Dothraki Sea and/or Forever Burning. When the packs were all done, though, I was pretty character-lite, and ended up putting in a couple of attachments and locations I wouldn't normally play with.
First game vs. Chad - He was playing the same houses as me, and had gotten better cards, as simple as that. He played Red Viper on turn one, and the game was pretty downhill from there. I played my copy of The Wall, and Cotter Pyke, hoping to set up to kill the Viper. I held off a turn, as I could Student away his one military icon, lose noone, draw two cards off the Martell army that draws with a NW in play, and then kill the Viper next turn (as opposed to losing a good character to a military icon, killing the viper right away, and not drawing two cards). Of course, he drew removal for Cotter next turn, and the game was all downhill from there, and he locked it up with the attachment that gets him a power every time he loses.
Second game vs. Sarah - Sarah had a slow start, my deck came out, and it was a slow, steady battle to victory for my men.
Third game vs. Jeremiah - I suffered a deadly combo of drawing no reducers and having a bunch of five cost armies in my hand. He drew plenty of reducers, and wasn't thin on characters. I had one turn to maybe get back in when I Wildfire Assaulted, but he just drew two dudes off the top, and I could still only play one man. Oh well. Third place out of four, and a Robert's Deathbed for my troubles. Since I probably wouldn't be running any more tournaments myself, I gave away a bunch of the extra promo cards I had left over, and then gave the rest to Jerod.
Memoir '44
Nobody wanted to play constructed at six (the tournament I had scheduled), so I talked to Drew about playing Memoir '44. He very kindly taught me the rules, and we were off to battle in France. I had played Commands & Colors: Ancients with Kurt, and this was pretty similar. I have to say, I like CCA better. The wider unit variety is a big plus. There's something about just having one type of generic vehicle and infantry that left a little bit wanting for me.
On the other hand, this was a fun game. I like the card system these games use, as it seems to simulate the limited options available to the combat commander during the course of battle. It seemed to me that when I played CCA, the cards were a little more limited, with each of us generally moving only 2-4 units per turn. In this game, Drew really got to press me hard with multiple Assault cards, which allowed him to move all the units in an area. In the early game, I drew mostly Probe cards, that allowed me to move 2, or sometimes 3, units in one area. Even with that advantage, though, we were fairly even, with each of us managing two trophies. I drew a card that let me attack with four armor units, with each of them getting an extra die in close assault. I managed to get three more trophies, and would have gotten the fourth, and the win, except I rolled two flags on my last attack, pushing the one remaining piece in his unit back two spaces, where I couldn't follow up. I was still in fairly good shape, though. On his turn, Drew countered with, I think, another Assault card, and was able to make several attacks. He was pretty successful, and took three trophies with two units left to attack to take the fourth. His tanks failed to eliminate my unit, and it came down to his last infantry. They had a shot with three dice at one of my infantry units with three pieces in it. Drew took a shot, and the dice came up three hits, giving him the win! This was a nice, exciting conclusion to the game. Honestly, I was happy just to be in it after the very slow start, and to be so close to winning on two turns was very nice.
Out of pure luck, Nate, whom I used to coach wrestling with, was in town from Maryland and happened to wander into the store. We ran down to the Vine for some food, and stayed up way too late talking. Overall, a great day of gaming and fellowship.
GG, GL
The Gamicon organizers got together and decided to run a pre-con gathering. I suppose this was for organizers and GMs to socialize, and to be a bit of a pre-registration drive. It was certainly a successful day of gaming that raised the profile of the con a little. I'm not sure if anyone actually pre-registered.
They had a nice slate of events, and I was happy to have the Sunday off to do some gaming. The first slot, at noon, provided me with a bit of a choice: Nexus Ops or Union Pacific? Nexus Ops I own and like, but don't get to play enough. On the other hand, I had only played UP once, and really liked it, and don't have many chances to play. So.... UP it is! Actually, after I arrived, it turned out it didn't really matter, as the Nexus Ops GM didn't show up and the game never happened.
Union Pacific
UP ended up being Chris S. (GM), Erin, Gare, Adam, and myself. Gare went first. I was fourth. UP is primarily a stock game, with a rail theme. Sort of like Acquire is a stock game with an hotel (or big corporation) theme. You strengthen train lines while acquiring stock in them, but there's generally a threat that someone could get more stock than you, ruining all your work, or that, if you don't lengthen a train system, you could get blocked off. A nice game with action choices every turn, with good player interaction on multiple levels.
To get into a little more detail, you have a map of the U.S., with several different kinds of track and, I think, eight different train lines. On your turn, you can lay track, expanding a train line, and acquire stock from the shares available -or- you can play stock from your hand (either two of any type, or any number of one type). There are four scoring rounds shuffled into the stock deck. Each scoring round, you get points (money) for each train (track extension) in a line that you have the most stock in, or half for second place. After the fourth scoring round, the game is over. I like limited action games, as they really put pressure on. Random scoring rounds tighten the game up even more, as you are forced to weigh your chances of expanding and getting stock you want, or needing to play stock to the table (you only score the stock on the table). There's also a chance, at the end of each turn, to trade any one stock from your hand for a Union Pacific stock, which is not tied to a train on the table and has a set (high) value in each scoring round except the first.
The opening of the game saw people growing routes for which they clearly had stock in their hands, and pushing the acquisition of UP stock. In each of the turns, as the roudn started I was really thinking about giving up on UP, but then someone ahead of me would do it, creating a loophole of opportunity to leapfrog them in the UP race. This turned out to be mostly Gare and Adam, who, it turned out, were going to compete over the largest (green) train system. With the cards I had, I decided to push the second largest, or red, system. The first scoring round came without most of us having much on the table, but I managed to earn four dollars, several less than the leader's (Adam's) nine (iirc). The round came quick enough that most people hadn't had a chance to lay much and, though most of us were clearly investing in a couple of lines, there was a lot of room to move.
With Adam and Gare both laying down multiple stocks in green, and picking up everything they could, nobody else wanted to fight with them. Erin started to get into red a little bit, pushing me to take some extra stock. She and Chris diversified trying to pick up 1st and 2nd places on numerous small lines. Chris is especially adept at this. I tried to get into the black train that Gare was really working on, but so did Chris, and they were always one train ahead of letting it be worthwhile for me to lay the stock in my hand. Instead, I got lucky and got to get in on the grey line that Erin, and Gare to a lesser extent, ended up maxing out. There are only six stocks in this line, and there were only two on the table, so the two I managed to snag were, in some ways, lucky, and in other ways a vulnerability of investment in that line - the turn I took control, I was able to make $8 (a decent amount) for a line I'd laid no track for. I'm getting ahead of myself, though, as none of this happened before the second scoring round. In the second round, I think Adam and Gare split green, and Erin took the lead, with, I think, myself in second with my growing red line.
After the second round, I noticed that Gare and Adam, who were working on green, were also working on, respectively, black and white, two lines that work up against green and can limit it expansion. They sort of stopped paying attention, I think, to their growth options (probably because there are so many for green), and I was able to sneak in and basically cut them off. From here, Erin and I fought over red and gray a little. Honestly, the timing of the third scoring round, and Gare taking some red stock, were probably the main things that allowed me to win the game. I took the lead in round three, with control of gray.
After the third round, Erin and I started adding to train lines that we didn't share, trying to make money that the other couldn't get a part of. She also grabbed another gray stock, to tie me for first. With even money in a lot of areas, and me only holding on to a $2 lead, it was a tense finale. Thankfully, the scoring round came with me still holding the lead in the red line. I've forgotten to mention that Erin and I spent the whole game tied for first in UP, which ended up being a significant factor in the two of us jumping out front of everyone, and basically fighting for first. In the end, I held onto my $2 lead, and won by that slim margin.
Chris had purchased the brand-new Goa reprint, and was very excited to play. I would really have liked to have gotten in on the game, but felt I should wait for the Game of Thrones draft. I've spent a lot of time with the AGOT community, and figured this might be my last time to play with them. Unfortunately, only three of them showed up...
A Game of Thrones CCG
So, we had a four person booster draft with Jeremiah, Sarah, Chad, and myself. I first picked Forever Burning, and second picked Dothraki Sea. This put me pretty firmly in Targ. Unfortunately, it wasn't really followed up with any strong characters. Oddly, there weren't a lot of neutrals either. I wandered into Martell, and ended the 1st pack with a pretty sorry looking set of cards. In pack two, I moved further into Martell with Student of Subtlety. I picked up a multi-influence producer in Doran's Palanquin. Unfortunately, I never got the big Targ removal I was hoping for. I grabbed some big armies as the packs went around, including two of the Martell army that draws when it strength is raised or lowered, which would turn into a machine with Dothraki Sea and/or Forever Burning. When the packs were all done, though, I was pretty character-lite, and ended up putting in a couple of attachments and locations I wouldn't normally play with.
First game vs. Chad - He was playing the same houses as me, and had gotten better cards, as simple as that. He played Red Viper on turn one, and the game was pretty downhill from there. I played my copy of The Wall, and Cotter Pyke, hoping to set up to kill the Viper. I held off a turn, as I could Student away his one military icon, lose noone, draw two cards off the Martell army that draws with a NW in play, and then kill the Viper next turn (as opposed to losing a good character to a military icon, killing the viper right away, and not drawing two cards). Of course, he drew removal for Cotter next turn, and the game was all downhill from there, and he locked it up with the attachment that gets him a power every time he loses.
Second game vs. Sarah - Sarah had a slow start, my deck came out, and it was a slow, steady battle to victory for my men.
Third game vs. Jeremiah - I suffered a deadly combo of drawing no reducers and having a bunch of five cost armies in my hand. He drew plenty of reducers, and wasn't thin on characters. I had one turn to maybe get back in when I Wildfire Assaulted, but he just drew two dudes off the top, and I could still only play one man. Oh well. Third place out of four, and a Robert's Deathbed for my troubles. Since I probably wouldn't be running any more tournaments myself, I gave away a bunch of the extra promo cards I had left over, and then gave the rest to Jerod.
Memoir '44
Nobody wanted to play constructed at six (the tournament I had scheduled), so I talked to Drew about playing Memoir '44. He very kindly taught me the rules, and we were off to battle in France. I had played Commands & Colors: Ancients with Kurt, and this was pretty similar. I have to say, I like CCA better. The wider unit variety is a big plus. There's something about just having one type of generic vehicle and infantry that left a little bit wanting for me.
On the other hand, this was a fun game. I like the card system these games use, as it seems to simulate the limited options available to the combat commander during the course of battle. It seemed to me that when I played CCA, the cards were a little more limited, with each of us generally moving only 2-4 units per turn. In this game, Drew really got to press me hard with multiple Assault cards, which allowed him to move all the units in an area. In the early game, I drew mostly Probe cards, that allowed me to move 2, or sometimes 3, units in one area. Even with that advantage, though, we were fairly even, with each of us managing two trophies. I drew a card that let me attack with four armor units, with each of them getting an extra die in close assault. I managed to get three more trophies, and would have gotten the fourth, and the win, except I rolled two flags on my last attack, pushing the one remaining piece in his unit back two spaces, where I couldn't follow up. I was still in fairly good shape, though. On his turn, Drew countered with, I think, another Assault card, and was able to make several attacks. He was pretty successful, and took three trophies with two units left to attack to take the fourth. His tanks failed to eliminate my unit, and it came down to his last infantry. They had a shot with three dice at one of my infantry units with three pieces in it. Drew took a shot, and the dice came up three hits, giving him the win! This was a nice, exciting conclusion to the game. Honestly, I was happy just to be in it after the very slow start, and to be so close to winning on two turns was very nice.
Out of pure luck, Nate, whom I used to coach wrestling with, was in town from Maryland and happened to wander into the store. We ran down to the Vine for some food, and stayed up way too late talking. Overall, a great day of gaming and fellowship.
GG, GL
Monday, July 17, 2006
Follow-up for Funny Friends for four
Saturday was long and hot, as the days have tended to be lately. After I got home from soccer, showered, recovered, ate, and napped, I took care of some stuff around the house and decided to run up to the store and see if I could get a game going. I took the same bag I had hauled to Dan's the night before.
Steve, Tim, and myself headed over to Taco Bell for some fuel. When we returned, Tim, Jerod, and Gigi all expressed interest in Funny Friends, so we gave it a go. I thought it was a pretty good sign that Tim was interested in playing a second time in two days, and that I was actually kind of anxious to see how it would change. I'm not one of those people that likes to play a different game all the time - I like to play a game a few times to get a feel for it before I set it aside.
I should say a little more about FF, since I failed to adequately describe it in the last entry. It's co-designed by the designer of the popular Power Grid, Friedemann Friese (sp?). It's sort of like the card game version of the Sims. Each player goes through life, working toward life goals by meeting characteristic requirements. Characteristics are altered via life events, which players get through auction. The first player to achieve five life goals (and/or mega-goals) wins.
It was nice to see some changes from the night before. There was more competitive bidding - or just bidding to make people pay. There are a lot of situations limiting competition in this game, which is one of the drawbacks of the auction element. Sometimes, nobody else has the requirements, and just can't compete. Other times, nobody else can take the effects, and they just let you have something. Depending on the life goals, you could be encouraged to compete or to ignore each other. In this case, we had some heavy competition a couple times, including one bid that Jerod won at six, which would have won me the game.
Another difference in this second play was use of call tokens. Nobody called to force someone else into an event, but we all used most of our tokens to get in on other peoples' effects. This actually made the game more exciting, as it increased the networks of connection and strange circumstances between players. I made a big mistake in this game, passing up the "totally wasted" mega-goal when I could have played it, and instead taking a life event I needed for two goals in my hand, which I could have, of course, waited on. That probably would have given me the game. As it was, Tim played his fifth life goal with me at four and ready to play my fifth goal on the next turn.
My life was a little different this time - I was profoundly impacted by my bible study group, later becoming married to the sweetheart that I met there. An accident early in life apparently led to a painkiller addiction, which haunted me and caused some bizarre twists, about which I wrote my memoirs. I had a variety of relationships and life-changing events, and ended up becoming a monk after the shock of a strange relationship. Unfortunately, the donning of the frock kept me from completing my fifth goal in hand - relationship - but, I was planning on winning with the mega-goal, as Tim was so close. Too bad he beat me to it.
I still feel I have some aspects of the rules ironed out, but I think this one will go over pretty well with Kristins' friends, if we have a chance to get it on the table.
GG, GL
Saturday was long and hot, as the days have tended to be lately. After I got home from soccer, showered, recovered, ate, and napped, I took care of some stuff around the house and decided to run up to the store and see if I could get a game going. I took the same bag I had hauled to Dan's the night before.
Steve, Tim, and myself headed over to Taco Bell for some fuel. When we returned, Tim, Jerod, and Gigi all expressed interest in Funny Friends, so we gave it a go. I thought it was a pretty good sign that Tim was interested in playing a second time in two days, and that I was actually kind of anxious to see how it would change. I'm not one of those people that likes to play a different game all the time - I like to play a game a few times to get a feel for it before I set it aside.
I should say a little more about FF, since I failed to adequately describe it in the last entry. It's co-designed by the designer of the popular Power Grid, Friedemann Friese (sp?). It's sort of like the card game version of the Sims. Each player goes through life, working toward life goals by meeting characteristic requirements. Characteristics are altered via life events, which players get through auction. The first player to achieve five life goals (and/or mega-goals) wins.
It was nice to see some changes from the night before. There was more competitive bidding - or just bidding to make people pay. There are a lot of situations limiting competition in this game, which is one of the drawbacks of the auction element. Sometimes, nobody else has the requirements, and just can't compete. Other times, nobody else can take the effects, and they just let you have something. Depending on the life goals, you could be encouraged to compete or to ignore each other. In this case, we had some heavy competition a couple times, including one bid that Jerod won at six, which would have won me the game.
Another difference in this second play was use of call tokens. Nobody called to force someone else into an event, but we all used most of our tokens to get in on other peoples' effects. This actually made the game more exciting, as it increased the networks of connection and strange circumstances between players. I made a big mistake in this game, passing up the "totally wasted" mega-goal when I could have played it, and instead taking a life event I needed for two goals in my hand, which I could have, of course, waited on. That probably would have given me the game. As it was, Tim played his fifth life goal with me at four and ready to play my fifth goal on the next turn.
My life was a little different this time - I was profoundly impacted by my bible study group, later becoming married to the sweetheart that I met there. An accident early in life apparently led to a painkiller addiction, which haunted me and caused some bizarre twists, about which I wrote my memoirs. I had a variety of relationships and life-changing events, and ended up becoming a monk after the shock of a strange relationship. Unfortunately, the donning of the frock kept me from completing my fifth goal in hand - relationship - but, I was planning on winning with the mega-goal, as Tim was so close. Too bad he beat me to it.
I still feel I have some aspects of the rules ironed out, but I think this one will go over pretty well with Kristins' friends, if we have a chance to get it on the table.
GG, GL
Funny Friends for four from Friday
As wedding gifts, several of our thoughtful friends showered Kristin and I with store credit at Critical Hit Games. I tried to pick out some games that we could play together, or that both of our groups of friends might enjoy. For the first instalment, I grabbed one of the Kosmos two-players: Odin's Ravens, as well as the new (in English) Friedemann Friese game Funny Friends, which I thought her circle of friends would get a kick out of. Unfortunatley, Kristin is way too busy finishing her dissertation right now, so the games will have to wait a couple weeks for her.
In the meantime, I have to kill some hours while she's writing. To that end, I rang up Dan on Friday night, and found that he, Drew, and Tim were up for some gaming. I took three games over: Tikal, Nexus Ops, and Funny Friends, and, after looking the box over, FF was the choice.
I had punched and sorted the game bits, but had not really gone over the rules. The tokens and cards are all high quality, with the player boards and cards being quite humorous. The game rules are just mildly confusing. Primarily, taking current friends, and getting new ones, to/as a result of life events took some discussion. Once we'd gone through everything, we got to playing pretty quick.
Drew and Tim took to the game pretty well, and the three of us were having fun making up stories about the interacions between our "characters." Dan was a little distracted, seemingly more interested in playing with his dog. One point where this game has a little drawback is player downtime. If someone passes out of a round early, they really might not have much to do but watch for a few minutes. On the other hand, since the cards and their interactions prompt some funny comments and stories (sort of like Illuminati but more so), it can be fun just to be involved. On the other hand, if your not really into the mood of the game, this downtime could just push you further away.
I've generally found that in our first plays of auction games, we drastically undervalue and undercompete on the auction items. That was certainly the case here, as far too many life events went for zero. Later in the game, we started to make probing bids to make people pay, but it seemed too late to really have an effect. We also underused our "call" tokens, with, I think, only one of them being utilized during this first play.
It was a interesting the related life events that seem to form a sort of personality profile of your persona while he tries to fulfill his life goals. I deviated only slightly from a path of debauchery: I had many friends, went to lots of parties, took a school trip, a trip to Amsterdam, went to Carnival, etc.. I got up to three life goals total, with another ready to play, when Drew managed to lay down his fifth and win the game, in the middle of maybe the third or fourth turn, I think.
Overall, the game was well received, even if Dan wasn't really in the mood for it. At first glance, it really looks like a party game, but it's got some "gamer" qualities tucked away in good spots. I think it will hold up and grow as a game, and hopefully, as the cards begin to grow a little familiar, we'll see the expansions that this box certainly seems ripe for.
This is certainly the most risque game in my collection. If the game has been "watered-down," from the German edition, as some have suggested it would be... well, I'm looking forward to seeing that version! This is a game that will certainly provide laughs for mature gamers, whether they're serious Euro gamers, party gamers, or RPG/Gamer-gamers who're just looking for a quick, easy evening of fun. Looking forward to more plays.
GG, GL
As wedding gifts, several of our thoughtful friends showered Kristin and I with store credit at Critical Hit Games. I tried to pick out some games that we could play together, or that both of our groups of friends might enjoy. For the first instalment, I grabbed one of the Kosmos two-players: Odin's Ravens, as well as the new (in English) Friedemann Friese game Funny Friends, which I thought her circle of friends would get a kick out of. Unfortunatley, Kristin is way too busy finishing her dissertation right now, so the games will have to wait a couple weeks for her.
In the meantime, I have to kill some hours while she's writing. To that end, I rang up Dan on Friday night, and found that he, Drew, and Tim were up for some gaming. I took three games over: Tikal, Nexus Ops, and Funny Friends, and, after looking the box over, FF was the choice.
I had punched and sorted the game bits, but had not really gone over the rules. The tokens and cards are all high quality, with the player boards and cards being quite humorous. The game rules are just mildly confusing. Primarily, taking current friends, and getting new ones, to/as a result of life events took some discussion. Once we'd gone through everything, we got to playing pretty quick.
Drew and Tim took to the game pretty well, and the three of us were having fun making up stories about the interacions between our "characters." Dan was a little distracted, seemingly more interested in playing with his dog. One point where this game has a little drawback is player downtime. If someone passes out of a round early, they really might not have much to do but watch for a few minutes. On the other hand, since the cards and their interactions prompt some funny comments and stories (sort of like Illuminati but more so), it can be fun just to be involved. On the other hand, if your not really into the mood of the game, this downtime could just push you further away.
I've generally found that in our first plays of auction games, we drastically undervalue and undercompete on the auction items. That was certainly the case here, as far too many life events went for zero. Later in the game, we started to make probing bids to make people pay, but it seemed too late to really have an effect. We also underused our "call" tokens, with, I think, only one of them being utilized during this first play.
It was a interesting the related life events that seem to form a sort of personality profile of your persona while he tries to fulfill his life goals. I deviated only slightly from a path of debauchery: I had many friends, went to lots of parties, took a school trip, a trip to Amsterdam, went to Carnival, etc.. I got up to three life goals total, with another ready to play, when Drew managed to lay down his fifth and win the game, in the middle of maybe the third or fourth turn, I think.
Overall, the game was well received, even if Dan wasn't really in the mood for it. At first glance, it really looks like a party game, but it's got some "gamer" qualities tucked away in good spots. I think it will hold up and grow as a game, and hopefully, as the cards begin to grow a little familiar, we'll see the expansions that this box certainly seems ripe for.
This is certainly the most risque game in my collection. If the game has been "watered-down," from the German edition, as some have suggested it would be... well, I'm looking forward to seeing that version! This is a game that will certainly provide laughs for mature gamers, whether they're serious Euro gamers, party gamers, or RPG/Gamer-gamers who're just looking for a quick, easy evening of fun. Looking forward to more plays.
GG, GL
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Caylus at Critical Hit, Wednesday the 12th of July
Finally, back to Coralville for Wednesday boardgaming, and Caylus to boot! I was pretty excited about this, as I have only been able to get in on a game of Caylus once, and I liked it a fair amount. I wanted to play it again to see if I really wanted to buy it or not. Also, I was eager to visit the store as one of the games I had on order, Funny Friends, came in - hopefully there'll be a session report for that up here soon!
It turned out that Chris couldn't make it for some reason, but had left his copy of Caylus with Jerod. Gare and Erin, two experienced players, were there, so they went over the rules with Jerod and I, and we started building.
Caylus is a good thinker, with there always being more to do than you can manage. Money is tight, especially at the beginning, and you have to be careful to use your workers the right way. I passed too quickly on the first turn, and Gare and Erin jumped out to an early lead. Gare consistently took building favors throughout the game, a path which I followed, while Erin took victory point favors, eschewing building.
We moved forward in this way, with Jerod building buildings and making money and resources, but not really getting vps. Notably, he failed to build in the castle in the first turn, costing him points/favors. We moved through the next couple turns pretty quickly, with Gare and Erin pulling ahead in first and second, and me following fairly close in 3rd. Jerod started to fall far behind in vps, but he was collectin lots of money and resources. He made particularly good use of having a worker in the Inn, as he had a couple turns using all his workers.
Gare and I kept pushing the building with favors, and we started getting vps from people using them. I jumped intothe lead with about three turns to go. In the second to last turn, I picked up four vps that way. Jerod got to build the castle for 25 vps, pretty much catching him up with everyone. I took first play position, and jumped on stone building for the last turn. I figured I might have it here, as I had blocked Erin out of the stone buildings. Gare built a big vp building with a favor, to make it interesting. Jerod built twice in the castle, robbing Erin of a favor and keeping it tense. I got my big building off, giving me some breathing room. However, Erin had bought two gold in the last turn, and, with the one she was sitting on, had nine vps to the four I was sitting on. After end game scoring, she had the game, with me in second, Gare in third, and Jerod in a close fourth in his first game.
This was really a fun game, with people exploring different strategies to work toward vicotry. The tense finish was great, too, with all of us feeling we had a chance, and that everyone else did, also, going into the last turn. One thing that's a little odd about Caylus for me is that I don't seem to really ever think about the theme while I'm playing. I'm just trying to make the best use of my pieces/money/actions, but now in the context of building the city/castle. I wonder a bit, with no real hidden information or random game mechanics, if you couldn't get down and script out a lot of the possible moves. That said, I think this one stays on the buy list, just waiting for another Rio Grande reprint...
GG, GL
Finally, back to Coralville for Wednesday boardgaming, and Caylus to boot! I was pretty excited about this, as I have only been able to get in on a game of Caylus once, and I liked it a fair amount. I wanted to play it again to see if I really wanted to buy it or not. Also, I was eager to visit the store as one of the games I had on order, Funny Friends, came in - hopefully there'll be a session report for that up here soon!
It turned out that Chris couldn't make it for some reason, but had left his copy of Caylus with Jerod. Gare and Erin, two experienced players, were there, so they went over the rules with Jerod and I, and we started building.
Caylus is a good thinker, with there always being more to do than you can manage. Money is tight, especially at the beginning, and you have to be careful to use your workers the right way. I passed too quickly on the first turn, and Gare and Erin jumped out to an early lead. Gare consistently took building favors throughout the game, a path which I followed, while Erin took victory point favors, eschewing building.
We moved forward in this way, with Jerod building buildings and making money and resources, but not really getting vps. Notably, he failed to build in the castle in the first turn, costing him points/favors. We moved through the next couple turns pretty quickly, with Gare and Erin pulling ahead in first and second, and me following fairly close in 3rd. Jerod started to fall far behind in vps, but he was collectin lots of money and resources. He made particularly good use of having a worker in the Inn, as he had a couple turns using all his workers.
Gare and I kept pushing the building with favors, and we started getting vps from people using them. I jumped intothe lead with about three turns to go. In the second to last turn, I picked up four vps that way. Jerod got to build the castle for 25 vps, pretty much catching him up with everyone. I took first play position, and jumped on stone building for the last turn. I figured I might have it here, as I had blocked Erin out of the stone buildings. Gare built a big vp building with a favor, to make it interesting. Jerod built twice in the castle, robbing Erin of a favor and keeping it tense. I got my big building off, giving me some breathing room. However, Erin had bought two gold in the last turn, and, with the one she was sitting on, had nine vps to the four I was sitting on. After end game scoring, she had the game, with me in second, Gare in third, and Jerod in a close fourth in his first game.
This was really a fun game, with people exploring different strategies to work toward vicotry. The tense finish was great, too, with all of us feeling we had a chance, and that everyone else did, also, going into the last turn. One thing that's a little odd about Caylus for me is that I don't seem to really ever think about the theme while I'm playing. I'm just trying to make the best use of my pieces/money/actions, but now in the context of building the city/castle. I wonder a bit, with no real hidden information or random game mechanics, if you couldn't get down and script out a lot of the possible moves. That said, I think this one stays on the buy list, just waiting for another Rio Grande reprint...
GG, GL
Friday, July 7th San Juan
Wedding dust was still clearing, with the last of the Norwegians leaving town today. Az, who couldn't make it to the ceremony due to work commitments at Origins in Ohio, was going to be on his way through town, headed for the Coldsnap pre-release in Des Moines, to judge. He stopped in to grab some chow, and just hang out a little.
The good people at MidAmerican Energy let me off early, so that I could go hang out with the windy city nomad. We grabbed some lunch at Jimmy Jack's, and, with bellies full of bbq, picked up a couple games and headed over to CHG.
We sat and chatted with Jerod for a bit, and then launched into a 2-player game of San Juan. Az seemed to have a strategy pretty well worked out for this, apparently having played and discussed the game with the crowd up in Madison, who will really take a game apart trying to figure out correct play. I, on the other hand, hadn't played in some time, and couldn't really remember too much about formulating an overall strategy.
Az went straight into building purple. He never built a production building the whole game, and only produced/traded off my plays. His goldmine drew hima few extra cards, and he also made good use of an early (forgot the name-lets you keep two on the counselor). However, I got the only library in the first run through the deck, which was quite an advantage. I built coffee and silver, and traded every other round for lots of cards. I also drew one of each big building, and played them all to end the game. I was a little worried as Az had a lot of cards under his chapel(?), but ending the game and scoring all the big building points pulled it out for me.
Az was pretty tired from his night shift job, and took this time to head out West to DM. When I saw him on Sunday, it didn't look like the set was all that impressive. I think my Magic hibernation will continue a while longer...
GG, GL
Wedding dust was still clearing, with the last of the Norwegians leaving town today. Az, who couldn't make it to the ceremony due to work commitments at Origins in Ohio, was going to be on his way through town, headed for the Coldsnap pre-release in Des Moines, to judge. He stopped in to grab some chow, and just hang out a little.
The good people at MidAmerican Energy let me off early, so that I could go hang out with the windy city nomad. We grabbed some lunch at Jimmy Jack's, and, with bellies full of bbq, picked up a couple games and headed over to CHG.
We sat and chatted with Jerod for a bit, and then launched into a 2-player game of San Juan. Az seemed to have a strategy pretty well worked out for this, apparently having played and discussed the game with the crowd up in Madison, who will really take a game apart trying to figure out correct play. I, on the other hand, hadn't played in some time, and couldn't really remember too much about formulating an overall strategy.
Az went straight into building purple. He never built a production building the whole game, and only produced/traded off my plays. His goldmine drew hima few extra cards, and he also made good use of an early (forgot the name-lets you keep two on the counselor). However, I got the only library in the first run through the deck, which was quite an advantage. I built coffee and silver, and traded every other round for lots of cards. I also drew one of each big building, and played them all to end the game. I was a little worried as Az had a lot of cards under his chapel(?), but ending the game and scoring all the big building points pulled it out for me.
Az was pretty tired from his night shift job, and took this time to head out West to DM. When I saw him on Sunday, it didn't look like the set was all that impressive. I think my Magic hibernation will continue a while longer...
GG, GL
July 1st - The Wedding Game
I've been waiting to get to this one for a long time. We finally got all the available players together at Old Brick on Saturday, the 1st. One thing that bears discussing in relation to the wedding is the long, complicated setup. There are a lot of fiddly bits that have to be put into just the right place. Also, even though it takes a lot of players, determing who is going to be involved can be grueling, as you always want to fit some more players in. At some point, though, you just have to make the decisions and get on with it.
We had a pretty nice day. Sunny, a little hot, but not too humid (unlike today, when the mosquitos are swimming through the air outside). We got everything together all right. The food, booze, and guests arrived, along with the officiant, and we got going pretty much on time. We had an experienced GM, so, I figured, we'd be OK, even with inexperienced players.
Things went pretty smooth. There were a couple snafus with the music, and, of course, my eyes were putting off water like a sprinkler system. It all went by nice and happy, though, and we finished with a high-five and a little dance down the aisle.
We moved into the reception phase seemlessly, and people really managed their resources well. In the second part of the phase, after food consumption, drink consumption began in earnest, with Norwegian guests pacing my DeKalb friends. They really turned it up when the dancing portion began, with the field dazzled by the exploits of young Sigurd Thoresen, who was on fire. Sugar high or natural? Since Sigurd doesn't speak English, I couldn't really ask...
In the end-game, we moved to the Foxhead down Market street, and closed it out with beers, stories, and laughs. When everything was over and we were all ready to head off into the night, it pretty much came out that we were all winners in this one.
I had a great time, and would say this exceeded my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone with an inclination to try it out. On the other hand, I hope that this is the only time I'll get to play this particular role in such an adventure!
Thanks to everyone who came from far and wide to make our wedding so wonderful. We had a great time, and, Steve and Melissa, you were right, it's just great!
GG, GL
I've been waiting to get to this one for a long time. We finally got all the available players together at Old Brick on Saturday, the 1st. One thing that bears discussing in relation to the wedding is the long, complicated setup. There are a lot of fiddly bits that have to be put into just the right place. Also, even though it takes a lot of players, determing who is going to be involved can be grueling, as you always want to fit some more players in. At some point, though, you just have to make the decisions and get on with it.
We had a pretty nice day. Sunny, a little hot, but not too humid (unlike today, when the mosquitos are swimming through the air outside). We got everything together all right. The food, booze, and guests arrived, along with the officiant, and we got going pretty much on time. We had an experienced GM, so, I figured, we'd be OK, even with inexperienced players.
Things went pretty smooth. There were a couple snafus with the music, and, of course, my eyes were putting off water like a sprinkler system. It all went by nice and happy, though, and we finished with a high-five and a little dance down the aisle.
We moved into the reception phase seemlessly, and people really managed their resources well. In the second part of the phase, after food consumption, drink consumption began in earnest, with Norwegian guests pacing my DeKalb friends. They really turned it up when the dancing portion began, with the field dazzled by the exploits of young Sigurd Thoresen, who was on fire. Sugar high or natural? Since Sigurd doesn't speak English, I couldn't really ask...
In the end-game, we moved to the Foxhead down Market street, and closed it out with beers, stories, and laughs. When everything was over and we were all ready to head off into the night, it pretty much came out that we were all winners in this one.
I had a great time, and would say this exceeded my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone with an inclination to try it out. On the other hand, I hope that this is the only time I'll get to play this particular role in such an adventure!
Thanks to everyone who came from far and wide to make our wedding so wonderful. We had a great time, and, Steve and Melissa, you were right, it's just great!
GG, GL
Thursday, June 29th, CHG
People were really starting to arrive for the wedding. I hadn't had a bachelor party, as most of the people involved were widely separated geographically, and wouldn't be arriving until just before the wedding. As a sort of surrogate event, I set Thursday aside to do a little gaming with a couple out-of-towners, as well as whoever of the locals happened to be around.
Chris Lackey showed up from California around 5pm, and we headed over to CHG to wait for Sean Wolfe to get in from New Hampshire. Sean was pretty delayed. Chris and I played two games (six rounds) of Lost Cities, with me coming out the winner in both contests, although they were close, and Chris did win several rounds. I still like Lost Cities as a nice, casual game to throw down with someone when you want to have some of your faculties free to dedicate to conversation.
Sean still wasn't there, so Chris and I joined Peter Franke for some Alpha Magic. Peter only had two decks, so I took his green cards and made a third deck real fast. My deck wasn't very interesting, and I figured I just might be able to play some kingmaker. In the first game, I piled on Pete a little bit, and we eliminated him, with me following him out in fairly short order. The second game Chris was pretty mana screwed, and didn't have much play. With Pete drawing Phantom Monsters and Sengirs right and left, it just took a few turns to finish us both off.
Steve Groom showed up, and Sean was walking in the door not long after. Sean, Chris, and I went down the street to House of Aromas for a late-night caffeine boost. This was a really good chance to sit and talk with old, seldom-seen friends, getting up to speed a little on Sean's family and store (www.tripleplaynh.com), and Chris's current film project (www.thechosenonemovie.com).
Returning to the store, Jerod generously offered to let us play in the back as long as we liked, under the special circumstances. He closed up, and then joined Steve, Sean, Chris, and myself for a game of Arkham Horror.
I haven't played AH since the old Chaosium edition in the eighties. I was impressed with the production while I was punching this - lots of nice, thick, colorful cardboard bits and cards. I was a little worried it would be pretty clunky, but the gameplay didn't disappoint, even when we were faced with the knowledge that Hastur was lurking just a few turns away...
I ended up playing the psychologist, whose ability to regenerate sanity came in pretty handy. We knocked around trying to buff our characters and pick up clues the first couple rounds, and then settled into a strategy of having a couple tanks clear the streets, while another couple players ran around getting clues, then either using them themselves or dumping them to me to get gates locked.
We benefited from a few lucky draws of gates opening where gates already existed, and were able to win. I had a really good time over the several hours this game ended up taking us, as we played casually, talked a lot, and partook of refreshments. I can't thank Jerod, or recommend his store (www.criticalhitgames.net) enough.
GG, GL
People were really starting to arrive for the wedding. I hadn't had a bachelor party, as most of the people involved were widely separated geographically, and wouldn't be arriving until just before the wedding. As a sort of surrogate event, I set Thursday aside to do a little gaming with a couple out-of-towners, as well as whoever of the locals happened to be around.
Chris Lackey showed up from California around 5pm, and we headed over to CHG to wait for Sean Wolfe to get in from New Hampshire. Sean was pretty delayed. Chris and I played two games (six rounds) of Lost Cities, with me coming out the winner in both contests, although they were close, and Chris did win several rounds. I still like Lost Cities as a nice, casual game to throw down with someone when you want to have some of your faculties free to dedicate to conversation.
Sean still wasn't there, so Chris and I joined Peter Franke for some Alpha Magic. Peter only had two decks, so I took his green cards and made a third deck real fast. My deck wasn't very interesting, and I figured I just might be able to play some kingmaker. In the first game, I piled on Pete a little bit, and we eliminated him, with me following him out in fairly short order. The second game Chris was pretty mana screwed, and didn't have much play. With Pete drawing Phantom Monsters and Sengirs right and left, it just took a few turns to finish us both off.
Steve Groom showed up, and Sean was walking in the door not long after. Sean, Chris, and I went down the street to House of Aromas for a late-night caffeine boost. This was a really good chance to sit and talk with old, seldom-seen friends, getting up to speed a little on Sean's family and store (www.tripleplaynh.com), and Chris's current film project (www.thechosenonemovie.com).
Returning to the store, Jerod generously offered to let us play in the back as long as we liked, under the special circumstances. He closed up, and then joined Steve, Sean, Chris, and myself for a game of Arkham Horror.
I haven't played AH since the old Chaosium edition in the eighties. I was impressed with the production while I was punching this - lots of nice, thick, colorful cardboard bits and cards. I was a little worried it would be pretty clunky, but the gameplay didn't disappoint, even when we were faced with the knowledge that Hastur was lurking just a few turns away...
I ended up playing the psychologist, whose ability to regenerate sanity came in pretty handy. We knocked around trying to buff our characters and pick up clues the first couple rounds, and then settled into a strategy of having a couple tanks clear the streets, while another couple players ran around getting clues, then either using them themselves or dumping them to me to get gates locked.
We benefited from a few lucky draws of gates opening where gates already existed, and were able to win. I had a really good time over the several hours this game ended up taking us, as we played casually, talked a lot, and partook of refreshments. I can't thank Jerod, or recommend his store (www.criticalhitgames.net) enough.
GG, GL
Monday, June 26th, Hammer of the Scots
Things were growing a little hectic, with the wedding approaching. Kristin's mother, Eli, arrived late Sunday night. I spent Monday chatting with the two of them, and building my playtest set for FFG's Tide of Iron. After some hickups with getting dinner coordinated, I made my way over to Coralville for an eagerly anticipated parcticipation in the Scottish rebellion.
Kurt and his family are moving to a new house soon, so he had his share of stuff going on also. I think the two of us were happy to sit down and focus on a game. I know I was...
I really liked the look of the map and pieces for this game. Of course, the map could be a sturdier board, and the pieces could be, at times, a little easier to differentiate. We sat down and casually selected Kurt to direct the English forces and myself to lead the Scotts.
The first turn was a little rough for me. I ended up with, I think, a three, a two, and three ones. Kurt managed to draw the Hobelar (sp?) and Edward. I tried to make an early push with the bigger cards to combine forces and take some territory. This had limited success, but was followed by the decimation of Wallace and the forces with him, as they were unable to escape the rapidly advancing King.
After a sorry first turn, I tried to get to grips with the wintering concept, finding a balance between strengthening existing units and bringing new units to play. I had great luck on my draw, bringing the vikings to play.
The second and third turns saw me trying to consolidate my hold on the North, while Kurt kicked me out of the South and felt out the maneuvering of infantry up the board. He was able to draw quite a few units that would stick around, and he started moving a wall of English swords up the island.
Special cards made quite a difference. I think Kurt drew the one that changes a noble's allegiance twice. That said, although it looked like I might be able to bring the North together and expand slowly, my inability to bring forces to bear and win a major victory against his threatening units. This was partially due to cards, partially due to bad luck, and certainly to some sub-optimal decisions on my part.
I think we played five or six turns total before I conceded, with very few units remaining and Kurt presenting a strong front line with plenty behind it. There was just no way I was going to be able to get back in the game.
Overall, this was a fun time. I liked the game, and would love to try the system again. It seemed like it would have failry high replay value. For games in this broad category, Commands and Colors: Ancients stays on top of my buy list, however. Hopefully, I'll have another chance or two to game with Kurt before leaving the state.
Things were growing a little hectic, with the wedding approaching. Kristin's mother, Eli, arrived late Sunday night. I spent Monday chatting with the two of them, and building my playtest set for FFG's Tide of Iron. After some hickups with getting dinner coordinated, I made my way over to Coralville for an eagerly anticipated parcticipation in the Scottish rebellion.
Kurt and his family are moving to a new house soon, so he had his share of stuff going on also. I think the two of us were happy to sit down and focus on a game. I know I was...
I really liked the look of the map and pieces for this game. Of course, the map could be a sturdier board, and the pieces could be, at times, a little easier to differentiate. We sat down and casually selected Kurt to direct the English forces and myself to lead the Scotts.
The first turn was a little rough for me. I ended up with, I think, a three, a two, and three ones. Kurt managed to draw the Hobelar (sp?) and Edward. I tried to make an early push with the bigger cards to combine forces and take some territory. This had limited success, but was followed by the decimation of Wallace and the forces with him, as they were unable to escape the rapidly advancing King.
After a sorry first turn, I tried to get to grips with the wintering concept, finding a balance between strengthening existing units and bringing new units to play. I had great luck on my draw, bringing the vikings to play.
The second and third turns saw me trying to consolidate my hold on the North, while Kurt kicked me out of the South and felt out the maneuvering of infantry up the board. He was able to draw quite a few units that would stick around, and he started moving a wall of English swords up the island.
Special cards made quite a difference. I think Kurt drew the one that changes a noble's allegiance twice. That said, although it looked like I might be able to bring the North together and expand slowly, my inability to bring forces to bear and win a major victory against his threatening units. This was partially due to cards, partially due to bad luck, and certainly to some sub-optimal decisions on my part.
I think we played five or six turns total before I conceded, with very few units remaining and Kurt presenting a strong front line with plenty behind it. There was just no way I was going to be able to get back in the game.
Overall, this was a fun time. I liked the game, and would love to try the system again. It seemed like it would have failry high replay value. For games in this broad category, Commands and Colors: Ancients stays on top of my buy list, however. Hopefully, I'll have another chance or two to game with Kurt before leaving the state.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Wednesday Night at Critical Hit
Princes of Florence
I bought PoF a few weeks ago, and Tim bought it right after we had a chance to play it with Jerod. Since then, I think I've played it once, and Tim hasn't been able to get it on the table. However, there's been a lot of interest, and Jerod made a good scheduling move getting on the board.
When I got there at six, I was a little hungry, but Chris was there with Tim's board and three other players, ready to go, so I sat down to play. Another player showed up, and Jerod abdicated his seat. Another interested party came in the form of Eric, who spends a lot of time in the store, and I gave up my seat. I figured I could get dinner, and another game would start soon. Plus, I like to take every chance to get new players into games, as it increases the chance of being able to find opponents.
After a quick run to Hardee's, I experienced a little frustration. Dan wasn't playing, as he wanted to scout Tim and Dave's Blood Bowl Quarter-final match. Jerod was willing to play, but nobody else. A couple people were trying to get Betrayal at House on the Hill going, and that proved to be the more popular option. So, I waited an hour and a half for the first game to finish, to get in on the second.
Chris won the first game, and we had more than enough interest for the second, including one of the players who'd played with Chris. I ended up being in the second seat. I like the fifth seat in a five player, as you have the chance to rush a work for a quick three points, but I like the second seat even better. Since there are six extra profession cards, you are guaranteed to get a second, which is actually a pretty big advantage (as Chris pointed out, half a jester for 300). Things started off pretty well, with really high bidding for jesters (1500, 1500, 1400 over the first three turns), and some other stuff going pretty cheap. I think I got a recruiting card for 200, and there were multiple 200 cost prestige cards. I decided to take the path of least resistance, bidding jesters up, and then folding, and then taking whatever I could get for a couple or three hundred. I messed up and rushed a work on turn two, knowing I could get twelve and thinking people were unlikely to pass me later. However, that wasn't the case, and I was left kicking myself staring at another profession that shared a building, meaning I'd want to build it anyway, and, hence, I would have made four more off the card, as well as bonus points, on the next turn, probably. I held off building until I got a builder for 400, and had strong turns for the last four rounds. I got a couple lucky bonus cards, and definitely a lucky pull on my prestige card, pulling plus 8 for all three freedoms when I had already purchased them... It was a pretty good, tight game, but then the third and fourth seat players sort of decided they'd had enough of thinking, and just built their last works for all prestige, leaving them with no money to spend. They then, for the last two turns, lost prestige for money to buy things for small gains. They definitely would have done a little better if they'd just planned ahead and kept a couple hundred in ducats. Steve, to my right, in the first seat, pulled a couple decent bonus cards. Going into the last round, things were pretty close, but I had two bonus cards and two professions. Steve made a big work of value 30, but with two jesters and six professions, I was able to make two of twenty, and, then, with a five bonus and a six bonus, pump one of them up to 31. This put me well in the lead. With the prestige card in hand, I had it locked, as Chris was too far behind for his smaller prestige cards to close the gap. So, I think it finished me, Chris, Steve, and then the fourth and third seats, whose names I didn't catch, unfortunately.
This solidified my admiration for Princes. I like it better with five than with the three that we originally played it with. It's certainly a different game with three, with a lot less pressure to go into bidding wars. I don't think that's necessarily bad, though - you just have a little more room to explore a strategy. It's certainly somewhat more friendly with fewer players.
Well, the wedding is looming, so there's probably not going to be too much gaming coming up. Scratch that. As I write this, I remember that I have a playtest report for Tide of Iron due on Monday, and that Kurt and I are playing Hammer of the Scots that night, and that I have my "bachelor game night" on Thursday... I hope I have some time to write!
GG, GL
Princes of Florence
I bought PoF a few weeks ago, and Tim bought it right after we had a chance to play it with Jerod. Since then, I think I've played it once, and Tim hasn't been able to get it on the table. However, there's been a lot of interest, and Jerod made a good scheduling move getting on the board.
When I got there at six, I was a little hungry, but Chris was there with Tim's board and three other players, ready to go, so I sat down to play. Another player showed up, and Jerod abdicated his seat. Another interested party came in the form of Eric, who spends a lot of time in the store, and I gave up my seat. I figured I could get dinner, and another game would start soon. Plus, I like to take every chance to get new players into games, as it increases the chance of being able to find opponents.
After a quick run to Hardee's, I experienced a little frustration. Dan wasn't playing, as he wanted to scout Tim and Dave's Blood Bowl Quarter-final match. Jerod was willing to play, but nobody else. A couple people were trying to get Betrayal at House on the Hill going, and that proved to be the more popular option. So, I waited an hour and a half for the first game to finish, to get in on the second.
Chris won the first game, and we had more than enough interest for the second, including one of the players who'd played with Chris. I ended up being in the second seat. I like the fifth seat in a five player, as you have the chance to rush a work for a quick three points, but I like the second seat even better. Since there are six extra profession cards, you are guaranteed to get a second, which is actually a pretty big advantage (as Chris pointed out, half a jester for 300). Things started off pretty well, with really high bidding for jesters (1500, 1500, 1400 over the first three turns), and some other stuff going pretty cheap. I think I got a recruiting card for 200, and there were multiple 200 cost prestige cards. I decided to take the path of least resistance, bidding jesters up, and then folding, and then taking whatever I could get for a couple or three hundred. I messed up and rushed a work on turn two, knowing I could get twelve and thinking people were unlikely to pass me later. However, that wasn't the case, and I was left kicking myself staring at another profession that shared a building, meaning I'd want to build it anyway, and, hence, I would have made four more off the card, as well as bonus points, on the next turn, probably. I held off building until I got a builder for 400, and had strong turns for the last four rounds. I got a couple lucky bonus cards, and definitely a lucky pull on my prestige card, pulling plus 8 for all three freedoms when I had already purchased them... It was a pretty good, tight game, but then the third and fourth seat players sort of decided they'd had enough of thinking, and just built their last works for all prestige, leaving them with no money to spend. They then, for the last two turns, lost prestige for money to buy things for small gains. They definitely would have done a little better if they'd just planned ahead and kept a couple hundred in ducats. Steve, to my right, in the first seat, pulled a couple decent bonus cards. Going into the last round, things were pretty close, but I had two bonus cards and two professions. Steve made a big work of value 30, but with two jesters and six professions, I was able to make two of twenty, and, then, with a five bonus and a six bonus, pump one of them up to 31. This put me well in the lead. With the prestige card in hand, I had it locked, as Chris was too far behind for his smaller prestige cards to close the gap. So, I think it finished me, Chris, Steve, and then the fourth and third seats, whose names I didn't catch, unfortunately.
This solidified my admiration for Princes. I like it better with five than with the three that we originally played it with. It's certainly a different game with three, with a lot less pressure to go into bidding wars. I don't think that's necessarily bad, though - you just have a little more room to explore a strategy. It's certainly somewhat more friendly with fewer players.
Well, the wedding is looming, so there's probably not going to be too much gaming coming up. Scratch that. As I write this, I remember that I have a playtest report for Tide of Iron due on Monday, and that Kurt and I are playing Hammer of the Scots that night, and that I have my "bachelor game night" on Thursday... I hope I have some time to write!
GG, GL
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Saturday Game Day
Saturday was a full day. I woke up and made my way to Willow Creek park for an hour and a half of soccer. Muggy and hot, I was happy to be spending the rest of my day relaxing. After that, it was World Cup time. In group E action, Ghana took down Czech Republic 2-0 in an exciting game that was good news for the USA. After that, it was the rollercoaster USA/Italy match, with three players sent off, ending in a 1-1 tie. It's honestly better than I expected going into the game, but I really felt the USA could have had all three points. Stupid plays, especially by Mastroeni, to get sent off, and then the coach not using the last substitution. It just boggles my mind.
Anyway, after the matches were over, it was time to head across town for some games. Chris & Edie's monthly game day had been underway for 3 hours or so by the time I got there, and things were in full swing. The turnout was a little light, only 11 gamers present before I got there. There was 6 player Bohnanza in the dining room, and 5 player Carcassonne in the kitchen. I knew a couple people were interested in Nexus Ops, so I went back over the rules while I waited for the games to finish.
I've had NO for a while, but haven't played it. I spent last GenCon running Avalon Hill board games for Passtimes Events, and I'd taught the game numerous times there, but never played. I subsequently picked it up, and have been waiting for a while to get it on the table. It's a neat little game with cool (if somewhat impractical) pieces, a direct descendent of the MB Gamemaster series, mingled with some common designer game principles. It takes the dice, little plastic figs, and some combat elements (single round, unit iniative order) from MB, but puts it into a nice framework of short playing time, variable board setup, changing victory conditions, and victory point accumulation as a victory condition. The premise is that you are mining corporations in the future, fighting over a rare energy-producing mineral called rubium. To do so, you enlist the native lifeforms to fight for you. You get cool little bright, semi-transparent gamepieces, which are sometimes a little hard to distinguish.
It didn't take too long for Bohnanza to finish, and I got Nexus OPs set up for Chris, Mark, Tony, and myself. When the province developing in the kitchen finished, we got started, with the remaining players moving into hotel management with a game of Acquire in the kitchen.
Mark was first. He really made it pay, showing the advantage that is the tradeoff for the low starting money, by taking the monolith first and holding it uncontested for three turns of extra energize cards. At first I thought I hit a few too many unit tiles during exploration, but the mines ended up being pretty decently spread out. In the early game, we all filled out our territory, and made some minor squabbles over mines. In addition, people started to feel out the Secret Mission cards, and adjust their plans accordingly.
Tony and I launched consecutive attacks to dislodge Mark from the monolith, feeling that he had gained a huge advantage, and we couldn't afford to leave him there. I got to hold onto it for two turns, and then lost out to Chris, who stayed there for the remainder of the game. The Energize cards started flying, combining with Secret Missions to build blocks of victory points. I benefited from a combination of cards that let me move four fungoids between two fungal forests, as well as Secret Mission cards that gave me points for winning a battle in a fungus forest and controlling more of them than any other player. I hit a couple big turns of victory point building, and got to 11, with the closest other player at 7. At this point, there wasn't too much the other players could do if they didn't have vp explosions of their own, as all I had to do was win one fight on my turn. Chris pressured, slaughtering quite a few of my units, but I was able to put together a big force of crystallines to win a battle in a crystal spire, to finish the game.
Everyone seemed to have a good time (I certainly enjoyed it), and Tony and Mark both commented that this was a game they liked enough to buy. Even Chris sounded like he was thinking of picking it up, as he thought he could play 2-player with Annie. Maybe we'll get another play next month. I'm anxious to get a couple more looks at this game. I'm wondering how similar the early game will be every time, and how often the person that wins will just be the one who draws the best Secret Mission cards. Regardless, I really like the cards, as they add an element of uncertainty to the game, as well as the opportunity for big, game-finishing moves.
Acquire finished just before us, and several of the players left. Nate had arrived in the mean time, and we were left with four (Chris, Eric, Nate, and myself) for Power Grid. This game was on the Italy map, excluding the Northernmost and Northeasternmost sections. Chris had some poker chips on hand to mark off the unused cities, a trick I might have to try out next time I play.
I've never won PG, in probably 5-6 plays, and was trying to come up with something different. Unfortunately, it had been so long since I played that I was having a hard time remembering how the game went. I did know that I usually bought the four plant to start, so I decided to splurge, buy a bigger plant, and try to start making money from two cities early. This seemed like a mistake, as it put me in a bad position buying resrouces and building early in the game.
I built last, and with Eric going North, Chris South, and Nate just under Eric, my choices weren't that great. I could go down in the toe of the boot, and risk being cut off by Chris, or into the middle, where the connection fees were high, or up North, risking direct competition. I decided for the North, as I figured I could get an outlet, and probably get to at least six cities in Stage one.
The early game looked good for Chris. He was expending unchallenged in the South, and looked to have closed off the toe of the boot. Eric, Nate, and myself were running into each other a little. In the third turn, I held my building to get a better build order in the next turn, and it payed off, as I was able to build in two cities, closing down Eric quite a bit. The turn after, Chris and I got to six cities, with Eric and Nate stuck on five.
Some power plants get removed at random for this map, and there is less coal. Oddly, as the game went on, a lot of coal plants came up. In a bit of a mis-bid, I ended up getting a four-power wind plant to go with a 5 coal. Coal was a big problem, with, at times, three of us going for large amounts of it. I grabbed an oil plant, and was the only one in that for a while. Between oil and wind, I was able to proceed relatively cheaply, despite needing to buy coal.
We only had one turn of stage 2 stall, and Chris built to seven to force the progress, as he thought that Nate would build through him later in the round. This wasn't too hot for me at that point, as I was building after everyone. Fortunately, Nate and Eric weren't able to build too many places, so I had a couple cities I could expand into. After a couple turns of steady building, three of us got to 13 cities, while I think Chris was still at 11. I held up again, needing to get buying order for resources the next turn, as coal had completely run out, and I wouldn't be able to power if I couldn't buy (and two other players had big coal plants still). In power plant bidding the next turn, I screwed up and started bidding on a five wind against Nate. During bidding, I stopped to look at the board, and realized the only way I could really expect to win was by getting a seven plant to replace my four. The problem was, there was only one seven on the board, and it was the coal. That would put me at five coal, which would be more than what was actually available that turn, and there was only one unrevealed plant left. I decided that I had to gamble that that was a plant I could win with, and left off the bidding. In an amazing stroke of luck, that last plant was the seven garbage, the perfect draw. I ended up getting it for cost, as Chris was the only bidder left, and he couldn't afford to spend money on it, and didn't really want it. I had a lot of money saved up, from going ahead on plants early, and then not having competed for plants too much, and I was able to expand to 17 cities that turn, and power them, giving me the win. Everyone else tied at 16, and, taking the money tie-breaker into account, it was Chris, then Eric, then Nate.
It was a gripping conclusion to a competitive, well-thought out game (not necessarily on my part), and a fine end to the evening. Looking back, it was a scary game, with me in a bad buying position for several turns. I think the big difference is picking key turns in which you need to go first, and making moves to get there - in other words, trying to feel out the tempo of the game. Also, of course, I just would not have won if the right power plant had not come up (or, if I had not gambled, and had kept bidding against Nate). This was a really good group to play a long, considered game with, and that made it extra enjoyable. It's always a breath of fresh air to have the opportunity to play games with the people who come to Chris and Edie's game days. They're an admirable group of gamers.
With a long day past, and a great night of gaming done, I packed up my gear and headed for home, thinking about getting up early to watch Japan/Croatia, and then, of course, BRASIL!
GG, GL
Saturday was a full day. I woke up and made my way to Willow Creek park for an hour and a half of soccer. Muggy and hot, I was happy to be spending the rest of my day relaxing. After that, it was World Cup time. In group E action, Ghana took down Czech Republic 2-0 in an exciting game that was good news for the USA. After that, it was the rollercoaster USA/Italy match, with three players sent off, ending in a 1-1 tie. It's honestly better than I expected going into the game, but I really felt the USA could have had all three points. Stupid plays, especially by Mastroeni, to get sent off, and then the coach not using the last substitution. It just boggles my mind.
Anyway, after the matches were over, it was time to head across town for some games. Chris & Edie's monthly game day had been underway for 3 hours or so by the time I got there, and things were in full swing. The turnout was a little light, only 11 gamers present before I got there. There was 6 player Bohnanza in the dining room, and 5 player Carcassonne in the kitchen. I knew a couple people were interested in Nexus Ops, so I went back over the rules while I waited for the games to finish.
I've had NO for a while, but haven't played it. I spent last GenCon running Avalon Hill board games for Passtimes Events, and I'd taught the game numerous times there, but never played. I subsequently picked it up, and have been waiting for a while to get it on the table. It's a neat little game with cool (if somewhat impractical) pieces, a direct descendent of the MB Gamemaster series, mingled with some common designer game principles. It takes the dice, little plastic figs, and some combat elements (single round, unit iniative order) from MB, but puts it into a nice framework of short playing time, variable board setup, changing victory conditions, and victory point accumulation as a victory condition. The premise is that you are mining corporations in the future, fighting over a rare energy-producing mineral called rubium. To do so, you enlist the native lifeforms to fight for you. You get cool little bright, semi-transparent gamepieces, which are sometimes a little hard to distinguish.
It didn't take too long for Bohnanza to finish, and I got Nexus OPs set up for Chris, Mark, Tony, and myself. When the province developing in the kitchen finished, we got started, with the remaining players moving into hotel management with a game of Acquire in the kitchen.
Mark was first. He really made it pay, showing the advantage that is the tradeoff for the low starting money, by taking the monolith first and holding it uncontested for three turns of extra energize cards. At first I thought I hit a few too many unit tiles during exploration, but the mines ended up being pretty decently spread out. In the early game, we all filled out our territory, and made some minor squabbles over mines. In addition, people started to feel out the Secret Mission cards, and adjust their plans accordingly.
Tony and I launched consecutive attacks to dislodge Mark from the monolith, feeling that he had gained a huge advantage, and we couldn't afford to leave him there. I got to hold onto it for two turns, and then lost out to Chris, who stayed there for the remainder of the game. The Energize cards started flying, combining with Secret Missions to build blocks of victory points. I benefited from a combination of cards that let me move four fungoids between two fungal forests, as well as Secret Mission cards that gave me points for winning a battle in a fungus forest and controlling more of them than any other player. I hit a couple big turns of victory point building, and got to 11, with the closest other player at 7. At this point, there wasn't too much the other players could do if they didn't have vp explosions of their own, as all I had to do was win one fight on my turn. Chris pressured, slaughtering quite a few of my units, but I was able to put together a big force of crystallines to win a battle in a crystal spire, to finish the game.
Everyone seemed to have a good time (I certainly enjoyed it), and Tony and Mark both commented that this was a game they liked enough to buy. Even Chris sounded like he was thinking of picking it up, as he thought he could play 2-player with Annie. Maybe we'll get another play next month. I'm anxious to get a couple more looks at this game. I'm wondering how similar the early game will be every time, and how often the person that wins will just be the one who draws the best Secret Mission cards. Regardless, I really like the cards, as they add an element of uncertainty to the game, as well as the opportunity for big, game-finishing moves.
Acquire finished just before us, and several of the players left. Nate had arrived in the mean time, and we were left with four (Chris, Eric, Nate, and myself) for Power Grid. This game was on the Italy map, excluding the Northernmost and Northeasternmost sections. Chris had some poker chips on hand to mark off the unused cities, a trick I might have to try out next time I play.
I've never won PG, in probably 5-6 plays, and was trying to come up with something different. Unfortunately, it had been so long since I played that I was having a hard time remembering how the game went. I did know that I usually bought the four plant to start, so I decided to splurge, buy a bigger plant, and try to start making money from two cities early. This seemed like a mistake, as it put me in a bad position buying resrouces and building early in the game.
I built last, and with Eric going North, Chris South, and Nate just under Eric, my choices weren't that great. I could go down in the toe of the boot, and risk being cut off by Chris, or into the middle, where the connection fees were high, or up North, risking direct competition. I decided for the North, as I figured I could get an outlet, and probably get to at least six cities in Stage one.
The early game looked good for Chris. He was expending unchallenged in the South, and looked to have closed off the toe of the boot. Eric, Nate, and myself were running into each other a little. In the third turn, I held my building to get a better build order in the next turn, and it payed off, as I was able to build in two cities, closing down Eric quite a bit. The turn after, Chris and I got to six cities, with Eric and Nate stuck on five.
Some power plants get removed at random for this map, and there is less coal. Oddly, as the game went on, a lot of coal plants came up. In a bit of a mis-bid, I ended up getting a four-power wind plant to go with a 5 coal. Coal was a big problem, with, at times, three of us going for large amounts of it. I grabbed an oil plant, and was the only one in that for a while. Between oil and wind, I was able to proceed relatively cheaply, despite needing to buy coal.
We only had one turn of stage 2 stall, and Chris built to seven to force the progress, as he thought that Nate would build through him later in the round. This wasn't too hot for me at that point, as I was building after everyone. Fortunately, Nate and Eric weren't able to build too many places, so I had a couple cities I could expand into. After a couple turns of steady building, three of us got to 13 cities, while I think Chris was still at 11. I held up again, needing to get buying order for resources the next turn, as coal had completely run out, and I wouldn't be able to power if I couldn't buy (and two other players had big coal plants still). In power plant bidding the next turn, I screwed up and started bidding on a five wind against Nate. During bidding, I stopped to look at the board, and realized the only way I could really expect to win was by getting a seven plant to replace my four. The problem was, there was only one seven on the board, and it was the coal. That would put me at five coal, which would be more than what was actually available that turn, and there was only one unrevealed plant left. I decided that I had to gamble that that was a plant I could win with, and left off the bidding. In an amazing stroke of luck, that last plant was the seven garbage, the perfect draw. I ended up getting it for cost, as Chris was the only bidder left, and he couldn't afford to spend money on it, and didn't really want it. I had a lot of money saved up, from going ahead on plants early, and then not having competed for plants too much, and I was able to expand to 17 cities that turn, and power them, giving me the win. Everyone else tied at 16, and, taking the money tie-breaker into account, it was Chris, then Eric, then Nate.
It was a gripping conclusion to a competitive, well-thought out game (not necessarily on my part), and a fine end to the evening. Looking back, it was a scary game, with me in a bad buying position for several turns. I think the big difference is picking key turns in which you need to go first, and making moves to get there - in other words, trying to feel out the tempo of the game. Also, of course, I just would not have won if the right power plant had not come up (or, if I had not gambled, and had kept bidding against Nate). This was a really good group to play a long, considered game with, and that made it extra enjoyable. It's always a breath of fresh air to have the opportunity to play games with the people who come to Chris and Edie's game days. They're an admirable group of gamers.
With a long day past, and a great night of gaming done, I packed up my gear and headed for home, thinking about getting up early to watch Japan/Croatia, and then, of course, BRASIL!
GG, GL
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Wednesday night at CHG
I don't even know what the game was supposed to be last night. I got a call early in the evening from Dan, saying that they were planning on playing the SJG classic Illuminati, and I was more than happy to jump in.
I have fond memories of Illuminati from High School and College. I remember it as a classic, but haven't played it in years. Unfortunately, my impressions of the game from this play were that if I were to introduce this game some experienced modern gamers who'd never played it, they'd say: "was this playtested?" Honestly, the victory conditions for the factions are totally unbalanced. I was the Network, and, actually, the special ability of this faction is about as big of a benefit to the person sitting to your left as it is to you. That person happened to be Drew, with the Bavarian Illuminati, who had a pretty good victory condition.
Other than that, I don't really want to write too much about this game. We played for a couple hours, during which there were the usual funny comments about stuff like: Oh look, the tobacco and liquor companies control the Republicans, etc.. Unforunately, one of the players got inordinately pissed that someone had jumped in on contesting one of his group takeover attempts, and decided basically to not engage in earnestly playing or participating in conversation. This really killed whatever fun there was to be had from this game, and I quickly decided it wasn't worth playing, and let Tim win. Good job Tim, for speaking your mind and telling it like it is, and playing the Gnomes well.
-One caveat for this post is that I have just finished with the informal wine tasting for my wedding, which is all described in my Myspace blog (hopefully this is legible)-
GG, GL
I don't even know what the game was supposed to be last night. I got a call early in the evening from Dan, saying that they were planning on playing the SJG classic Illuminati, and I was more than happy to jump in.
I have fond memories of Illuminati from High School and College. I remember it as a classic, but haven't played it in years. Unfortunately, my impressions of the game from this play were that if I were to introduce this game some experienced modern gamers who'd never played it, they'd say: "was this playtested?" Honestly, the victory conditions for the factions are totally unbalanced. I was the Network, and, actually, the special ability of this faction is about as big of a benefit to the person sitting to your left as it is to you. That person happened to be Drew, with the Bavarian Illuminati, who had a pretty good victory condition.
Other than that, I don't really want to write too much about this game. We played for a couple hours, during which there were the usual funny comments about stuff like: Oh look, the tobacco and liquor companies control the Republicans, etc.. Unforunately, one of the players got inordinately pissed that someone had jumped in on contesting one of his group takeover attempts, and decided basically to not engage in earnestly playing or participating in conversation. This really killed whatever fun there was to be had from this game, and I quickly decided it wasn't worth playing, and let Tim win. Good job Tim, for speaking your mind and telling it like it is, and playing the Gnomes well.
-One caveat for this post is that I have just finished with the informal wine tasting for my wedding, which is all described in my Myspace blog (hopefully this is legible)-
GG, GL
Monday, June 12, 2006
An evening at Kurt's
A couple times lately, when games have been brought up in conversation - namely Commands and Colors Ancients and Nexus Ops - Kurt has said "I'll play that with you." After Shogun on Saturday, we finally had a chat about setting down a time to get together, and after some BGG messages, we were scheduled to go for tonight at six.
I grabbed a quick bite to eat and pulled up just in time. Kurt had the C&C scenario we were going to play about half set up. We finished the set up, Kurt went over the rules for me, and we got going. C&C is a wargame that uses little wooden blocks with stickers to represent the units. It takes a second to get familiar with which units the pictures correspond to, but once you get it down you're good to go. There are simple movement rules that revolve around drawing cards that allow you to move different numbers of troops in different areas. Combat revolves around rolling dice, a differing number depending on whether the unit is light, medium, or heavy, and trying to roll the color of the unit you are attacking. Leaders make a big difference, too, helping the units to hit and giving them resistance from being forced to retreat (which can actually be bad).
We played the Crimissos River, 341 BC, with Kurt lining up the Carthaginians, and myself the Syracusans. His side had a numerical unit advantage of 13-9, but several (I think six) of his units were stuck on his left flank on the wrong side of a river. My advantage was more heavy infantry units, an additional leader, and starting with a united line in the center, facing off against his light infantry.
I started out, moving my troops forward, trying to get my heavies engaged. I also had only one card to move units on the right, so I felt I needed to move them over to the center. This went in with my overall strategy, though, as I wanted to move over to the left a little, and then around, pushing him back and toward the river. I pulled a couple lucky cards to start, letting me move four units each time, helping me to bring my heavies up. as I closed, though, his light troops just kept evading and falling back, taking casualties along the way, but surviving. I whittled away at them, while Kurt tried to bring his medium infantry on his left into play. I drew three cards that let me move on the left flank, which let me pull my cavalry and my leader units up and around, pinning his units back against the board edge and the river, and finishing them off for the victory. It ended up with me winning five banners and Kurt two.
The first game went pretty quick, and we both enjoyed it, so we tried another. This time, it was the Ticinus River, 218 BC. Kurt was Carthaginians again, and I was Romans this time. His side had the advantage of being all cavalry, having lots of heavy units (to my none), two more leaders, and an extra command (card). One thing I actually liked a lot about this game is that the scenarios seem fairly asymmetrical, and you have to spend some time coming up with a strategy that will give you the best chance, and then hope for good cards. This time, I thought, for some reason, that I needed to open up the line of light infantry in the center to get the medium cavalry through. This was a total mistake, though, as there's no way that the Romans should want to throw their light cav against the Carthaginians heavies. I think what you want to do is to evaluate your cards, pick a side, and try to swing you cav around to challeng his lights on one flank, avoiding his heavy cav in the center if at all possible, perhaps trying to slow him down by cutting off his corners with your infantry units, which have four blocks. I did not figure this out quick enough, though, and suffered for it. Once I managed to half-reset myself and get my cavalry and leader around on my right, I did OK, taking a couple banners and damaging a few more units. While I was doing that, Kurt's Heavies and lights with leaders were chopping up my other troops, and he won 6-2.
This was another quick game, so we decided to play a third, but something different this time. We thought about Nexus Ops, but then decided to play something quick and light, and Kurt pulled out Attika, which I hadn't played.
This game was pretty fast and simple. It's a little game about building stuff in the ancient world, that has a real simple "tech tree," and rewards you for building in groups. You draw cards for resources and build chains of buildings that benefit from being down the line from eachother on the tree. You try to be the first to either connect the temples together with your buildings, or build all the buildings. We both started off fairly well, cutting each other off from being able to connect to the temples. I had a bit of an advantage on buildings, as I was able to draw more in sequence, I think. I also just drew more of them. I had a total brainfart about two thirds of the way through the game, and just started drawing buildings when I absolutely needed to (and could) block Kurt off on a new tile he had placed. After I drew and placed, Kurt just kind of looked at me and said "what are you doing?" and then, very politely, allowed me to shuffle the buildings back in and build the stuff I had. At this point, I was spread to wide to win by connecting, but I had a big lead on buildings. I ended up drawing and playing out far quicker than Kurt, even though I drew seven mountain resources in a row... The victory really belongs to him, since I wasn't paying attention, but we wanted to see how it would play out. One thing I didn't do at all in this game was pay attention to what was on his card that he had available to build - I pretty much just played solitaire, trying to pick actions that would let me build efficiently. There's not a lot of player interaction in this game, but you definitely have to pay attention to what the other person is doing (at least more than I did tonight).
After Attika, it was getting kind of late, and so we called it a night. I really had a nice time, and I'm very happy to have had a chance to play these two games. It really reinforced my desire to pick up a copy of C&C, as it was a fun, quick wargame with a lot of replayability that could satisfy a gaming niche that I really don't have anything for right now. On the other hand, Attika doesn't make it onto the buy que, as it was just a little too light, and short of interaction. I think it's a fun game for a random play, and it might be worth a try for more players, but it doesn't seem to do anything that games I have already don't. Hopefully, I'll have more chances to help Kurt explore his substantial game collection in the weeks to come. I wonder if he owns Hammer of the Scotts?
GG, GL
A couple times lately, when games have been brought up in conversation - namely Commands and Colors Ancients and Nexus Ops - Kurt has said "I'll play that with you." After Shogun on Saturday, we finally had a chat about setting down a time to get together, and after some BGG messages, we were scheduled to go for tonight at six.
I grabbed a quick bite to eat and pulled up just in time. Kurt had the C&C scenario we were going to play about half set up. We finished the set up, Kurt went over the rules for me, and we got going. C&C is a wargame that uses little wooden blocks with stickers to represent the units. It takes a second to get familiar with which units the pictures correspond to, but once you get it down you're good to go. There are simple movement rules that revolve around drawing cards that allow you to move different numbers of troops in different areas. Combat revolves around rolling dice, a differing number depending on whether the unit is light, medium, or heavy, and trying to roll the color of the unit you are attacking. Leaders make a big difference, too, helping the units to hit and giving them resistance from being forced to retreat (which can actually be bad).
We played the Crimissos River, 341 BC, with Kurt lining up the Carthaginians, and myself the Syracusans. His side had a numerical unit advantage of 13-9, but several (I think six) of his units were stuck on his left flank on the wrong side of a river. My advantage was more heavy infantry units, an additional leader, and starting with a united line in the center, facing off against his light infantry.
I started out, moving my troops forward, trying to get my heavies engaged. I also had only one card to move units on the right, so I felt I needed to move them over to the center. This went in with my overall strategy, though, as I wanted to move over to the left a little, and then around, pushing him back and toward the river. I pulled a couple lucky cards to start, letting me move four units each time, helping me to bring my heavies up. as I closed, though, his light troops just kept evading and falling back, taking casualties along the way, but surviving. I whittled away at them, while Kurt tried to bring his medium infantry on his left into play. I drew three cards that let me move on the left flank, which let me pull my cavalry and my leader units up and around, pinning his units back against the board edge and the river, and finishing them off for the victory. It ended up with me winning five banners and Kurt two.
The first game went pretty quick, and we both enjoyed it, so we tried another. This time, it was the Ticinus River, 218 BC. Kurt was Carthaginians again, and I was Romans this time. His side had the advantage of being all cavalry, having lots of heavy units (to my none), two more leaders, and an extra command (card). One thing I actually liked a lot about this game is that the scenarios seem fairly asymmetrical, and you have to spend some time coming up with a strategy that will give you the best chance, and then hope for good cards. This time, I thought, for some reason, that I needed to open up the line of light infantry in the center to get the medium cavalry through. This was a total mistake, though, as there's no way that the Romans should want to throw their light cav against the Carthaginians heavies. I think what you want to do is to evaluate your cards, pick a side, and try to swing you cav around to challeng his lights on one flank, avoiding his heavy cav in the center if at all possible, perhaps trying to slow him down by cutting off his corners with your infantry units, which have four blocks. I did not figure this out quick enough, though, and suffered for it. Once I managed to half-reset myself and get my cavalry and leader around on my right, I did OK, taking a couple banners and damaging a few more units. While I was doing that, Kurt's Heavies and lights with leaders were chopping up my other troops, and he won 6-2.
This was another quick game, so we decided to play a third, but something different this time. We thought about Nexus Ops, but then decided to play something quick and light, and Kurt pulled out Attika, which I hadn't played.
This game was pretty fast and simple. It's a little game about building stuff in the ancient world, that has a real simple "tech tree," and rewards you for building in groups. You draw cards for resources and build chains of buildings that benefit from being down the line from eachother on the tree. You try to be the first to either connect the temples together with your buildings, or build all the buildings. We both started off fairly well, cutting each other off from being able to connect to the temples. I had a bit of an advantage on buildings, as I was able to draw more in sequence, I think. I also just drew more of them. I had a total brainfart about two thirds of the way through the game, and just started drawing buildings when I absolutely needed to (and could) block Kurt off on a new tile he had placed. After I drew and placed, Kurt just kind of looked at me and said "what are you doing?" and then, very politely, allowed me to shuffle the buildings back in and build the stuff I had. At this point, I was spread to wide to win by connecting, but I had a big lead on buildings. I ended up drawing and playing out far quicker than Kurt, even though I drew seven mountain resources in a row... The victory really belongs to him, since I wasn't paying attention, but we wanted to see how it would play out. One thing I didn't do at all in this game was pay attention to what was on his card that he had available to build - I pretty much just played solitaire, trying to pick actions that would let me build efficiently. There's not a lot of player interaction in this game, but you definitely have to pay attention to what the other person is doing (at least more than I did tonight).
After Attika, it was getting kind of late, and so we called it a night. I really had a nice time, and I'm very happy to have had a chance to play these two games. It really reinforced my desire to pick up a copy of C&C, as it was a fun, quick wargame with a lot of replayability that could satisfy a gaming niche that I really don't have anything for right now. On the other hand, Attika doesn't make it onto the buy que, as it was just a little too light, and short of interaction. I think it's a fun game for a random play, and it might be worth a try for more players, but it doesn't seem to do anything that games I have already don't. Hopefully, I'll have more chances to help Kurt explore his substantial game collection in the weeks to come. I wonder if he owns Hammer of the Scotts?
GG, GL
Sunday, June 11, 2006
AGOT draft at CHG
The World Cup is great. That said, I missed some good stuff to go play Shogun yesterday. Today, I had to leave off the Mexico/Iran game, which was shaping up pretty well, to go to the belated banquet for the soccer team I coach. That ran long, and missed me the whole first half of Portugal/Angola, too. So, I decided to miss the rest and go draft at Critical Hit.
There were a lot of people there when I got there. It looked like ten, with a table of six and one of four. Then, Chad got there, so Jerod drafted and made it two six person tables. We split up, and did one draft with a song of twilight pack, and one with double song of night. I was in the double night draft, as I need more cards from the set, not having purchased any packs.
I first picked a Wildling Scout, shipping a Shadow Play, among other things. I noticed some Baratheon getting passed my way, and picked most of it up. The SP got back to me, and things were decided. As the draft went on, it became clear that I was the only one in Bara, and I got a lot of decent in-house stuff, but nothing really exciting. In the end, I had my first single-house draft deck, with a good curve and plenty of dudes. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up anything that could be called a bomb. I did get four of the location that gives -1/+1, as well as the Martell army that lets you draw a card every time it's strength is increased or decreased. I also played the giant targ army that gives -4, and the little Targ guy that gives +1/destroy an attachment. I had two Shadow Plays, two of the event that kills a doomed guy, and the event that switches power from one character to a character with higher str.
Round 1 - Jeremiah
This wasn't the best 1st round pairing, as, honestly, Jeremiah and I would probably have expected to face each other in the final of this draft. Jeremiah had complained about his deck a little, and he was in Martell/Lannister. Right off the bat, he played an Others plot, and I knew he had picked up the Winter Has Come that went around. He also played the event that kneels a two strength guy, and you can return when you play an Others plot. Thankfully, he forgot to return it a couple times. He had a pretty slow start, and I did too. He blew his Winter pretty early, we both built up a little, he blew his Wildfire Assault, then I blew mine (on the fifth plot), and then things started getting crappy. He laid down harrenhall, with not quite enough influence. He killed one of my wildlings with the seven cost army that does that. He drew more influence, and started killing stuff with Harrenhall. He drew a Student of Subtlety, Lancer, Small paul, and several good attachments. However, we'd used up a lot of time with the slow buildup/multiple resets in the early game. As time ran out, and we entered the last turn, it looked like we were headed for a draw. However, I actually still had a chance. I had Shadow play, four influence, the event that steals power, and a veteran builder, which I'd been sitting on. That really probably translated to six power, plus the four I could have gained from challenges, and the five I already had, and that could have been game. However, I was thinking I was going to take another route to try for the stall, and didn't take the student quickly enough (and, actually, I also had one of those Magic flashback moments, when you think that your opponent can use all his effects in response to yours, when, in fact, he can't). So, I ended up getting only seven power and ending at twelve. Jeremiah was a little freaked out when we went through that last turn as, until I started playing out my cards, he thought it was just over.
Well, the next round, we paired the winners (Tom and Nick) together, and Jeremiah and I against the losers (Angie and Dave). I ended up drawing Angie. She was running Martell and Stark. Between early claim, Wildling Scout, and Fallen Brother, I kept her board pretty clear, and climbed steadily to victory. Angie played fine, but didn't really have any tricks that would get her back in the game after I got the advantage. I ended the game in marshalling, getting two power from veteran builder and another two stealing renown from her Shackled Defender (it had an attachment on it) with the merchant captain or whatever his name is.
Third round, we had to roll off for Jeremiah and I again, and he ended up getting Nick, who was 2-0, while I got Tom, who was 1-1. This pretty much guaranteed I couldn't do better than second, as I'd be out on tie breakers if Jeremiah won. Tom had Stark Greyjoy. This game was similar to the last, with me getting a military advantage on Tom early. He started to come back with a deadly Stark army and a decent size Greyjoy unique, but my strength alterers came into play to help me out. It's a little strange - I'm not used to going to only fifteen power and it kind of sneaks up on you!
In the end, Jeremiah won and I did end up in second. Unfortunately, the only card in the draft I really wanted, and SoN Others plot, Jeremiah took (once again taking the card I wanted, you dog!). I ended up with a Coldhands, Winter has Come, and a couple other cards that aren't, obviously, memorable. Overall, it was a decent time, and a pretty relaxing afternoon. The game with Jeremiah really taught me a little something about planning ahead in the turn, and going over all the options, before letting anything go.
GG, GL
The World Cup is great. That said, I missed some good stuff to go play Shogun yesterday. Today, I had to leave off the Mexico/Iran game, which was shaping up pretty well, to go to the belated banquet for the soccer team I coach. That ran long, and missed me the whole first half of Portugal/Angola, too. So, I decided to miss the rest and go draft at Critical Hit.
There were a lot of people there when I got there. It looked like ten, with a table of six and one of four. Then, Chad got there, so Jerod drafted and made it two six person tables. We split up, and did one draft with a song of twilight pack, and one with double song of night. I was in the double night draft, as I need more cards from the set, not having purchased any packs.
I first picked a Wildling Scout, shipping a Shadow Play, among other things. I noticed some Baratheon getting passed my way, and picked most of it up. The SP got back to me, and things were decided. As the draft went on, it became clear that I was the only one in Bara, and I got a lot of decent in-house stuff, but nothing really exciting. In the end, I had my first single-house draft deck, with a good curve and plenty of dudes. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up anything that could be called a bomb. I did get four of the location that gives -1/+1, as well as the Martell army that lets you draw a card every time it's strength is increased or decreased. I also played the giant targ army that gives -4, and the little Targ guy that gives +1/destroy an attachment. I had two Shadow Plays, two of the event that kills a doomed guy, and the event that switches power from one character to a character with higher str.
Round 1 - Jeremiah
This wasn't the best 1st round pairing, as, honestly, Jeremiah and I would probably have expected to face each other in the final of this draft. Jeremiah had complained about his deck a little, and he was in Martell/Lannister. Right off the bat, he played an Others plot, and I knew he had picked up the Winter Has Come that went around. He also played the event that kneels a two strength guy, and you can return when you play an Others plot. Thankfully, he forgot to return it a couple times. He had a pretty slow start, and I did too. He blew his Winter pretty early, we both built up a little, he blew his Wildfire Assault, then I blew mine (on the fifth plot), and then things started getting crappy. He laid down harrenhall, with not quite enough influence. He killed one of my wildlings with the seven cost army that does that. He drew more influence, and started killing stuff with Harrenhall. He drew a Student of Subtlety, Lancer, Small paul, and several good attachments. However, we'd used up a lot of time with the slow buildup/multiple resets in the early game. As time ran out, and we entered the last turn, it looked like we were headed for a draw. However, I actually still had a chance. I had Shadow play, four influence, the event that steals power, and a veteran builder, which I'd been sitting on. That really probably translated to six power, plus the four I could have gained from challenges, and the five I already had, and that could have been game. However, I was thinking I was going to take another route to try for the stall, and didn't take the student quickly enough (and, actually, I also had one of those Magic flashback moments, when you think that your opponent can use all his effects in response to yours, when, in fact, he can't). So, I ended up getting only seven power and ending at twelve. Jeremiah was a little freaked out when we went through that last turn as, until I started playing out my cards, he thought it was just over.
Well, the next round, we paired the winners (Tom and Nick) together, and Jeremiah and I against the losers (Angie and Dave). I ended up drawing Angie. She was running Martell and Stark. Between early claim, Wildling Scout, and Fallen Brother, I kept her board pretty clear, and climbed steadily to victory. Angie played fine, but didn't really have any tricks that would get her back in the game after I got the advantage. I ended the game in marshalling, getting two power from veteran builder and another two stealing renown from her Shackled Defender (it had an attachment on it) with the merchant captain or whatever his name is.
Third round, we had to roll off for Jeremiah and I again, and he ended up getting Nick, who was 2-0, while I got Tom, who was 1-1. This pretty much guaranteed I couldn't do better than second, as I'd be out on tie breakers if Jeremiah won. Tom had Stark Greyjoy. This game was similar to the last, with me getting a military advantage on Tom early. He started to come back with a deadly Stark army and a decent size Greyjoy unique, but my strength alterers came into play to help me out. It's a little strange - I'm not used to going to only fifteen power and it kind of sneaks up on you!
In the end, Jeremiah won and I did end up in second. Unfortunately, the only card in the draft I really wanted, and SoN Others plot, Jeremiah took (once again taking the card I wanted, you dog!). I ended up with a Coldhands, Winter has Come, and a couple other cards that aren't, obviously, memorable. Overall, it was a decent time, and a pretty relaxing afternoon. The game with Jeremiah really taught me a little something about planning ahead in the turn, and going over all the options, before letting anything go.
GG, GL
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Shogun Saturday
I've had a mild Shogun jones in the back of my head for quite some time. Seeing Tony's copy at one of the games days kind of brought it to the fore. I'd been toying with the idea of trying to get some guys together to play when I got an invite from Chris to come play at his place. It appeared that he had been grabbed by the nostalgia ninja also.
After an impressive array of e-mails and e-vites (Chris is pretty good at taking the reins organizing these things) the idea coalesced into a group of nine players meeting at Chris's house for an afternoon of MB Gamemastery. We convened around eleven, and split into a four player and a five player.
I ended up getting to crack the old copy of Shogun that I traded from CL several years ago. I was at the four player table, with Gare, Kurt, and Bart (sp?-honestly, I hadn't met him before, and I'm not sure I'm remembering his name correctly...). It was a good group of gamers, and I was feeling optimistic about the session ahead (about the social/fun aspect anyway - I wasn't too confident about the game, as I know Gare and Kurt are formidable opponents, and Bart looked pretty serious).
Our setup was decent, with fairly well defined areas of control for each of us, if we only would solidify them... Kurt was on one side of the board, and Gare on the other (in the islands), with Bart in the middle on Kurt's side, and me in the middle on Gare's side. It looked to me like Bart and I were in trouble, so we kind of circumstantially aggreed to avoid attacking each other at the beginning, so that we wouldn't have to fight a two front war. We mostly spent the first turn consolidating territory. One odd thing was that everyone built a castle on the first turn, except me. Even odder was that Gare chose to put his on the mainland, at the rear of the area that looked like what I needed to work to control. This meant that I had to put a lot of work into taking the fortress on my first turn, if I wanted to solidify things, which, of course, I did. A few turns later Gare, who had never played before, lamented that he should have put the fortress on his island.
The second turn things started to get interesting, with Kurt and Bart really going at it on their front. I was still really trying to consolidate some territory, after spending resources on taking Gare's fortress on the first turn. Things really got going in the middle, with Bart losing two armies and Kurt losing one. On my side, Gare moved an army up into the middle of my territory, and another up into the western (southern?) part. I eliminated the latter army.
The third turn, I think, Bart lost his last army in an attack on one of Kurt's. I'm not sure, but I think he might have decided his chances were slim, and he'd rather get off the table. Either that, or he thought he could only win with a big gamble right there. Anyway, that changed the game. Gare and I made an agreement to shift our focus toward Kurt, who had inherited all of Bart's territories and units. I took one army north, to attack from the sea, another south, to do the same thing on the other side, and left the other in place in the middle, as it was behind Gare's. Gare moved his army forward, through my territory and into Kurt's.
The next turn, Kurt took the first sword and ninja, and eliminated the army Gare had moved toward his territory. At this point, Gare seemed to have a change of heart about ganging up on Kurt, and decided to attack my rear rather than taking his army around by sea. I was in a position to hustle most of my armies back, though, and shifted my focus to wiping out Gare's last army. I moved all three of mine to positions that would allow me to pin his in place. Gare tried to assassinate one of the Daimyos, but failed. My revenge attempt failed as well.
The next turn, realising the opportunity to end the game was in front of me, I spent three to take the first sword, bought some units and hired some ronin. Kurt outbid me on the ninja, though, so I had to split the ronin up between the two armies that would definitely attack Gare's this round. As expected, Kurt used the ninja to assassinate the Daimyo, and succeeded. That left it to the other army, and it's ronin, versus Gare's army and it's fortress. A pretty even fight, I think. I rolled terribly with first round ranged, not hitting once in six chances. I had better luck with my ground troups, though, hitting with six out of eight. We kept at it for a couple rounds, until it ws just his Daimyo vs. my Daimyo and a swordsman, and my Daimyo cut his down. Inheriting his territories gave me about 43, I think, and we called the game.
Overall, it was a great day. Excellent hosting by Chris and Edie including tasty cheese sanwiches. Kurt brought Japanese beer to add flavor. I've never had Sapporo before, and I really liked it. We had a nice table of friendly, thoughtful gamers to play with, and the tense conclusion really added something, especially for me, of course, pulling out the win. Like any game with elimination, I felt a little bad for the guys that got taken out of the game(s) early. In the end, though, I think I agree with the idea that, although these long, elimination wargames aren't for every night, they provide an exciting and engagin alternative experience that can be enjoyed on a semi-regular basis. Now, I'm really encouraged to redouble my efforts to get Warrior Knights on the table...
GG, GL
I've had a mild Shogun jones in the back of my head for quite some time. Seeing Tony's copy at one of the games days kind of brought it to the fore. I'd been toying with the idea of trying to get some guys together to play when I got an invite from Chris to come play at his place. It appeared that he had been grabbed by the nostalgia ninja also.
After an impressive array of e-mails and e-vites (Chris is pretty good at taking the reins organizing these things) the idea coalesced into a group of nine players meeting at Chris's house for an afternoon of MB Gamemastery. We convened around eleven, and split into a four player and a five player.
I ended up getting to crack the old copy of Shogun that I traded from CL several years ago. I was at the four player table, with Gare, Kurt, and Bart (sp?-honestly, I hadn't met him before, and I'm not sure I'm remembering his name correctly...). It was a good group of gamers, and I was feeling optimistic about the session ahead (about the social/fun aspect anyway - I wasn't too confident about the game, as I know Gare and Kurt are formidable opponents, and Bart looked pretty serious).
Our setup was decent, with fairly well defined areas of control for each of us, if we only would solidify them... Kurt was on one side of the board, and Gare on the other (in the islands), with Bart in the middle on Kurt's side, and me in the middle on Gare's side. It looked to me like Bart and I were in trouble, so we kind of circumstantially aggreed to avoid attacking each other at the beginning, so that we wouldn't have to fight a two front war. We mostly spent the first turn consolidating territory. One odd thing was that everyone built a castle on the first turn, except me. Even odder was that Gare chose to put his on the mainland, at the rear of the area that looked like what I needed to work to control. This meant that I had to put a lot of work into taking the fortress on my first turn, if I wanted to solidify things, which, of course, I did. A few turns later Gare, who had never played before, lamented that he should have put the fortress on his island.
The second turn things started to get interesting, with Kurt and Bart really going at it on their front. I was still really trying to consolidate some territory, after spending resources on taking Gare's fortress on the first turn. Things really got going in the middle, with Bart losing two armies and Kurt losing one. On my side, Gare moved an army up into the middle of my territory, and another up into the western (southern?) part. I eliminated the latter army.
The third turn, I think, Bart lost his last army in an attack on one of Kurt's. I'm not sure, but I think he might have decided his chances were slim, and he'd rather get off the table. Either that, or he thought he could only win with a big gamble right there. Anyway, that changed the game. Gare and I made an agreement to shift our focus toward Kurt, who had inherited all of Bart's territories and units. I took one army north, to attack from the sea, another south, to do the same thing on the other side, and left the other in place in the middle, as it was behind Gare's. Gare moved his army forward, through my territory and into Kurt's.
The next turn, Kurt took the first sword and ninja, and eliminated the army Gare had moved toward his territory. At this point, Gare seemed to have a change of heart about ganging up on Kurt, and decided to attack my rear rather than taking his army around by sea. I was in a position to hustle most of my armies back, though, and shifted my focus to wiping out Gare's last army. I moved all three of mine to positions that would allow me to pin his in place. Gare tried to assassinate one of the Daimyos, but failed. My revenge attempt failed as well.
The next turn, realising the opportunity to end the game was in front of me, I spent three to take the first sword, bought some units and hired some ronin. Kurt outbid me on the ninja, though, so I had to split the ronin up between the two armies that would definitely attack Gare's this round. As expected, Kurt used the ninja to assassinate the Daimyo, and succeeded. That left it to the other army, and it's ronin, versus Gare's army and it's fortress. A pretty even fight, I think. I rolled terribly with first round ranged, not hitting once in six chances. I had better luck with my ground troups, though, hitting with six out of eight. We kept at it for a couple rounds, until it ws just his Daimyo vs. my Daimyo and a swordsman, and my Daimyo cut his down. Inheriting his territories gave me about 43, I think, and we called the game.
Overall, it was a great day. Excellent hosting by Chris and Edie including tasty cheese sanwiches. Kurt brought Japanese beer to add flavor. I've never had Sapporo before, and I really liked it. We had a nice table of friendly, thoughtful gamers to play with, and the tense conclusion really added something, especially for me, of course, pulling out the win. Like any game with elimination, I felt a little bad for the guys that got taken out of the game(s) early. In the end, though, I think I agree with the idea that, although these long, elimination wargames aren't for every night, they provide an exciting and engagin alternative experience that can be enjoyed on a semi-regular basis. Now, I'm really encouraged to redouble my efforts to get Warrior Knights on the table...
GG, GL
Friday Night Poker at Dan and Tim's
The Coralville crew have graciously invited me to play poker on several occasions. I finally had a night I could make it, and I'm not sure how many more chances I'll get to hang with those guys, so I decided to go. It was also a nice chance to run out the set of poker chips I bought on ebay, which I haven't used yet. I'm pretty terrible at poker, and I wasn't sure who would be there, so I was a little worried that I might be home early. That wouldn't have been too much of a bad thing, either, as Kristin and I were planning on watching England vs. Paraguay the next morning.
Well, there was a pretty big crowd. Twelve people to start. Dan made some tasty punch, which was deceptively strong. I put down my twenty bucks and was sat at a table with Josh, Tim, Eric, and Noah (later on we were joined by Peter). This was a nice, casual, conversational table, and we had a fairly good time for two and a half or three hours. The other table had Andy and Dan, and so was very loud, and, apparently, having lots of fun.
Pretty much all my experience from poker is with no limit hold 'em, and Friday's game was limit, which is very very different. I tried to learn a little something about betting strategy, but really all I could come up with is that you should play a hand that has a chance of becoming something, and then get out if it doesn't hit. For a quarter, people weren't getting out of hands, and good starting hands have a totally different expectation. I definitely messed up a couple times, especially folding too early. There were hands that I didn't think I had the odds on, and if we were playing no limit I wouldn't have... but for fifty cents I really should have stuck around. I went up two or three bucks in the first ten hands or so, and then hit a steady, slow, battling decline for the next few hours. A little after eleven, I was down to a little over ten, and we had a weird hand where Josh started to muck my cards and his, while I was still in, and then, when I protested, he realized one of Peter's cards had gotten mixed in... It's not really anything that's a big deal, but it's just one of those things that my card game annoyance muscels start to tighten on, as it's the sort of situation where, in Magic, you start to think someone's cheating. I'm not trying to say that in this situation Josh was cheating, in fact, I'm absolutely positive he wasn't. What I'm trying to chronicle, I guess, is my tendency to get my head a little worked up/annoyed, if even mostly subconsciously, when situations like this arise. That the pump was primed, so to speak, for me to get a little angry. Right after that, I had a pretty good hand, Ace Queen, and pre-flop raised. Josh was in on the ante, and stayed in. I bet to open each round, and he called, but never raised. The flop, turn, and river were all non-face cards. When we showed our hands, it turned out Josh had stayed in with Jack deuce, pairing the two on the flop. I was pretty amazed that he had continued to bet with that hand, and said "I guess your two beats me." Honestly, I just kind of figured he had something better. Josh then decided to give me a lecture, which, if I correctly understood the words coming out of his mouth, basically amounted to the idea that in limit hold-em', people will stay in with anything, so you should expect to get beat by everything. I don't know, perhaps I just don't get it, but it didn't make any sense to me, and I told him so, but he wouldn't drop it. I was getting angry, at this point, and told him so. The next hand, I got Ace Jack, didn't hit a flop, and folded, as I was so frustrated. I can recognize when I'm tilting, so I took the opportunity to take off. When I left, Eric was winning big at our table, and Noah was just hanging on, with the other three doing all right. They were just about to combine tables, and I'm anxious to hear how it turned out.
I ended up leaving with eight bucks, and maybe a little more knowledge about limit hold-'em. It's so unfortunate that I got pissed off and left angry, because it really put a damper on an otherwise quite enjoyable evening.
GG, GL
The Coralville crew have graciously invited me to play poker on several occasions. I finally had a night I could make it, and I'm not sure how many more chances I'll get to hang with those guys, so I decided to go. It was also a nice chance to run out the set of poker chips I bought on ebay, which I haven't used yet. I'm pretty terrible at poker, and I wasn't sure who would be there, so I was a little worried that I might be home early. That wouldn't have been too much of a bad thing, either, as Kristin and I were planning on watching England vs. Paraguay the next morning.
Well, there was a pretty big crowd. Twelve people to start. Dan made some tasty punch, which was deceptively strong. I put down my twenty bucks and was sat at a table with Josh, Tim, Eric, and Noah (later on we were joined by Peter). This was a nice, casual, conversational table, and we had a fairly good time for two and a half or three hours. The other table had Andy and Dan, and so was very loud, and, apparently, having lots of fun.
Pretty much all my experience from poker is with no limit hold 'em, and Friday's game was limit, which is very very different. I tried to learn a little something about betting strategy, but really all I could come up with is that you should play a hand that has a chance of becoming something, and then get out if it doesn't hit. For a quarter, people weren't getting out of hands, and good starting hands have a totally different expectation. I definitely messed up a couple times, especially folding too early. There were hands that I didn't think I had the odds on, and if we were playing no limit I wouldn't have... but for fifty cents I really should have stuck around. I went up two or three bucks in the first ten hands or so, and then hit a steady, slow, battling decline for the next few hours. A little after eleven, I was down to a little over ten, and we had a weird hand where Josh started to muck my cards and his, while I was still in, and then, when I protested, he realized one of Peter's cards had gotten mixed in... It's not really anything that's a big deal, but it's just one of those things that my card game annoyance muscels start to tighten on, as it's the sort of situation where, in Magic, you start to think someone's cheating. I'm not trying to say that in this situation Josh was cheating, in fact, I'm absolutely positive he wasn't. What I'm trying to chronicle, I guess, is my tendency to get my head a little worked up/annoyed, if even mostly subconsciously, when situations like this arise. That the pump was primed, so to speak, for me to get a little angry. Right after that, I had a pretty good hand, Ace Queen, and pre-flop raised. Josh was in on the ante, and stayed in. I bet to open each round, and he called, but never raised. The flop, turn, and river were all non-face cards. When we showed our hands, it turned out Josh had stayed in with Jack deuce, pairing the two on the flop. I was pretty amazed that he had continued to bet with that hand, and said "I guess your two beats me." Honestly, I just kind of figured he had something better. Josh then decided to give me a lecture, which, if I correctly understood the words coming out of his mouth, basically amounted to the idea that in limit hold-em', people will stay in with anything, so you should expect to get beat by everything. I don't know, perhaps I just don't get it, but it didn't make any sense to me, and I told him so, but he wouldn't drop it. I was getting angry, at this point, and told him so. The next hand, I got Ace Jack, didn't hit a flop, and folded, as I was so frustrated. I can recognize when I'm tilting, so I took the opportunity to take off. When I left, Eric was winning big at our table, and Noah was just hanging on, with the other three doing all right. They were just about to combine tables, and I'm anxious to hear how it turned out.
I ended up leaving with eight bucks, and maybe a little more knowledge about limit hold-'em. It's so unfortunate that I got pissed off and left angry, because it really put a damper on an otherwise quite enjoyable evening.
GG, GL
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Spielbyweb, Magic: the Gathering
I finished my first two-player game of Reef Encounter on spielbyweb.com. I liked it a lot. It has a great element of forward planning that I missed playing on the table top. Having played once in real life was a huge advantage, though, as I think my opponent struggled with assessing the manipulation of the coral strength tiles. I ended up winning in a bit of a landslide, but I'm not sure how much attention he was really paying. This makes me feel I understand and like the game quite a bit better, but I'm no closer to buying it, as playing online seems so much superior... maybe down the road sometime.
Bill has apparently decided that the Magic drafts at the store are not competitive enough, and invited a group of us to come and draft on our own, in order to better prepare people for nationals, or something. It ended up being myself, Bill, Mech, Tyler, Pete, Scott, Blake, and Gary. I was being fed by Blake and passing to Bill. This was only my second time drafting this block with all three sets (I drafted triple Ravnica once and RRG twice). I am still not too familiar with the cards, as I don't play so much, but I guess I was invited on the strength of my past accomplishments.
Right off the bat I wasn't sure what to take, and I admit I probably took the wrong card first pick, an instant that is like basilisk/regenerate in one that can be played with black or green. After that, I took a green/white guildmage and the black/green one. I was a little worried about going g/b/w, though, as I'd only have one guild left, and there would be a pack I could only take mono-colored cards out of, unless I splashed a fourth color. I dabbled in blue a little, just in case. Of course, that meant I'd be in two guilds in the third pack... I still haven't got this figured out! So, if this is making any sense, I tried to stick mainly with green and white, but took some black and blue figuring they would work into the mix somewhere. In the end, I was a little shy on removal, but had a solid three color deck whichever way I went. I was quite short of mana fixers, so I couldn't really go four color. I ended up w/g/u. I played the blue for the graft/flying guy and the 4/3 flyer that can forecast to draw cards. When I took it, I forgot that forecast works only during your upkeep... I had plenty of creatures, and some fair non-creature spells, but I wish I would have gotten one or two bounce spells.
Round one - Tyler
Tyler was playing pretty much the same as me, except four color with plenty of black. He had a bunch of mana fixing lands, though, which made it easy for him to do. Game one he mulliganed into a one land hand and kept it. He didn't draw more mana and I smashed him. Game two, I drew way too many land and he smashed me over time. Game three I started OK and ran into a land clump, if I remember right.
Round two - Andy
Andy is a young man who took over playing the deck that Scott drafted when Scott had to leave. He was a pretty decent player, although he kept switching around the cards he had in his hand and the lands he had in play, which always makes me nervous. I'm sure there wasn't anything shady here, but too much movement always makes me think there's some sleight of hand going on. Paranoia, I guess. I honestly don't remember too much about these games. They lasted a long time, and were pretty close. I won the first game, then he won the second. The second game was very interesting, he alpha-struck for the win, I played a damage prevention spell and lived, but he had a guy to play that could take out two of mine, so I could only get him to two. Game three was mostly in my favor and I won.
Third round - Blake
I wish I had better stuff to say about these games, but I didn't take notes. I beat Blake in two games. His deck had lots of removal, which just didn't show up for him. I was able to put a lot of pressure on him with flyers, and then the guildmages were a real pain in his ass in the late game. I ended up having three of them, and, given the mana, could create token guys, put boost tokens on guys, and move them around. I had a couple graft guys, too, and the sorcery that puts x tokens on x guys.
All of my opponents were cureous and skillful players. Not too bad of an event, although there were still the obligatory people standing around acting amazed at the cards that were being passed in the draft, etc.. I don't think I'll be getting too heavily back into this scene.
So, I ended up 2-1, in third place, behing Mech and Tyler. I ended up with a shock land and some random junk. It was a pretty good night, and reminded me a little of all the nights we spent drafting in Jerod's basement. Even Gary was there!
GG, GL
I finished my first two-player game of Reef Encounter on spielbyweb.com. I liked it a lot. It has a great element of forward planning that I missed playing on the table top. Having played once in real life was a huge advantage, though, as I think my opponent struggled with assessing the manipulation of the coral strength tiles. I ended up winning in a bit of a landslide, but I'm not sure how much attention he was really paying. This makes me feel I understand and like the game quite a bit better, but I'm no closer to buying it, as playing online seems so much superior... maybe down the road sometime.
Bill has apparently decided that the Magic drafts at the store are not competitive enough, and invited a group of us to come and draft on our own, in order to better prepare people for nationals, or something. It ended up being myself, Bill, Mech, Tyler, Pete, Scott, Blake, and Gary. I was being fed by Blake and passing to Bill. This was only my second time drafting this block with all three sets (I drafted triple Ravnica once and RRG twice). I am still not too familiar with the cards, as I don't play so much, but I guess I was invited on the strength of my past accomplishments.
Right off the bat I wasn't sure what to take, and I admit I probably took the wrong card first pick, an instant that is like basilisk/regenerate in one that can be played with black or green. After that, I took a green/white guildmage and the black/green one. I was a little worried about going g/b/w, though, as I'd only have one guild left, and there would be a pack I could only take mono-colored cards out of, unless I splashed a fourth color. I dabbled in blue a little, just in case. Of course, that meant I'd be in two guilds in the third pack... I still haven't got this figured out! So, if this is making any sense, I tried to stick mainly with green and white, but took some black and blue figuring they would work into the mix somewhere. In the end, I was a little shy on removal, but had a solid three color deck whichever way I went. I was quite short of mana fixers, so I couldn't really go four color. I ended up w/g/u. I played the blue for the graft/flying guy and the 4/3 flyer that can forecast to draw cards. When I took it, I forgot that forecast works only during your upkeep... I had plenty of creatures, and some fair non-creature spells, but I wish I would have gotten one or two bounce spells.
Round one - Tyler
Tyler was playing pretty much the same as me, except four color with plenty of black. He had a bunch of mana fixing lands, though, which made it easy for him to do. Game one he mulliganed into a one land hand and kept it. He didn't draw more mana and I smashed him. Game two, I drew way too many land and he smashed me over time. Game three I started OK and ran into a land clump, if I remember right.
Round two - Andy
Andy is a young man who took over playing the deck that Scott drafted when Scott had to leave. He was a pretty decent player, although he kept switching around the cards he had in his hand and the lands he had in play, which always makes me nervous. I'm sure there wasn't anything shady here, but too much movement always makes me think there's some sleight of hand going on. Paranoia, I guess. I honestly don't remember too much about these games. They lasted a long time, and were pretty close. I won the first game, then he won the second. The second game was very interesting, he alpha-struck for the win, I played a damage prevention spell and lived, but he had a guy to play that could take out two of mine, so I could only get him to two. Game three was mostly in my favor and I won.
Third round - Blake
I wish I had better stuff to say about these games, but I didn't take notes. I beat Blake in two games. His deck had lots of removal, which just didn't show up for him. I was able to put a lot of pressure on him with flyers, and then the guildmages were a real pain in his ass in the late game. I ended up having three of them, and, given the mana, could create token guys, put boost tokens on guys, and move them around. I had a couple graft guys, too, and the sorcery that puts x tokens on x guys.
All of my opponents were cureous and skillful players. Not too bad of an event, although there were still the obligatory people standing around acting amazed at the cards that were being passed in the draft, etc.. I don't think I'll be getting too heavily back into this scene.
So, I ended up 2-1, in third place, behing Mech and Tyler. I ended up with a shock land and some random junk. It was a pretty good night, and reminded me a little of all the nights we spent drafting in Jerod's basement. Even Gary was there!
GG, GL
Sunday, June 04, 2006
A Game of Thrones CCG Regional, Columbia, Missouri - Part Two
"I love it when we do this." - Uttered by Dave, in response to my order at Starbuck's the next morning. Previously, BMT had expressed delight at my "formula" for picking the number of sauce packets I needed at Taco Bell. In this case, he was referring to the multiple instructions that accompany my order at Starbuck's, a concoction refined over months of having the aformentioned establishment right on the way to work, with me too lazy to get going the extra ten or fifteen minutes early that it would take me to regularly patronize one of the other, non-evil empire coffee establishments. For the curious, it's the largest size (I refuse to say "venti," or whatever it is) cafe mocha, made with soy milk, iced, with an extra shot (which makes it a quad), and four pumps of chocolate syrup instead of six (it's too sweet otherwise). I'm getting ahead of myself a little, though.
So, we woke up Saturday morning, not so ready to go. I wasn't sure about my deck, and Jerod had a headache. We grabbed a bit to eat - the hotel had free waffles and danishes, but it was totally crowded down there so I just ate the cherry pop tarts I'd purchased at a gas station the night before. I was totally out of it and needed some caffeine, so we ran over to the B&N in the mall for some Starbucks. While we were getting fueled up, I made a list of the popular deck archetypes, and we tried to guess how many of each type would show up. We thought there would be 18-20 players, and that the majority would play Stark or Baratheon. We were discussing how fast Baratheon could be, and the cards you could use to slow it down, and Jerod and I both thought we needed to be playing 2-3 copies of Bastard. I think we actually guessed a little low on Stark and a little high on Bara, and we thought there might be 0-1 Martell and there ended up being two or three, I think. I was looking at this, and thinking about how my deck might do, and for some reason I just wasn't happy. I started thinking about alternatives. I had previously played Stark a lot, but was unhappy with that and wanted something different, something that would get me out of the way I commonly play.
I had brought some decklists from the net with me. Among them was the list for the Greyjoy deck that Mathlete played in one of the regional events in California. Dave was running a pretty much exact copy of this deck, that our friend Jeremiah had assembled (Jeremiah couldn't come due to other commitments). I decided to start putting together a variant of this, to see if I liked it better. I was also curious about what I would learn from playing a deck designed by someoen else. We took off for the tournament site, with me making a mental catalogue of cards I'd like to have. Looking at the decklist, the deck had two Bastards and two King's Landing Harlot, both good against Bara. It also sported 3 Ten Towers Battlements, excellent against Stark (especially with the 2 copies of Student of Coin).
Upon arriving at the store, we had about an hour and a half. I started putting the deck together. First off, it was 66 cards, and I wanted to cut it down to 60. I rushed to cull it to what I wanted, while Luke found the four cards I needed to borrow from him. I felt a little bad about that, as he was also busy trying to compile a deck for Dobbler, who hadn't brought any cards and had decided he didn't like the deck Luke had stayed up until 2 in the morning the night before to make him. Here's the link to the original post from Mathlete on the AGOT discussion boards, that contains his decklist: http://www.agameofthrones.com/brds/viewtopic.php?t=2011&start=0.
Here's the deck I ended up with:
House: Greyjoy
Agenda: Threat From the East
Plots:
Blockade
Wraiths in the Midst
The Gathering Storm
Whose Name May Not Be Spoken
Benjen's Cache
Winter Has Come
Trading With the Pentoshi
Locations (15)
Kingsroad Farmstead X3
River Rox X3
Island Transport X3
Ten Towers Battlements X3
The Broken Ground X2
Flea Bottom X1
Characters (36)
Vanguard Axeman X3
Sea God's Disciple X3
Deadly Axeman X2
Euron's Servant X2
Skirling Berserker X3
Wildling Emissary X3 (added 1)
Wildling Messenger X3
King's Landing Harlot X2
Band of Free Folk X2
Student of Coin X2
Young Spearwife X2
Frey Lordling X2
Littlefinger
Wildling Scout (added)
Conn Son of Corrat
Fallen Brother (subtracted 1)
Mance Rayder
Samwell Tarly (added)
Roving Pillagers (added)
Events (7)
King Balon's Command X3
Cracks in the Wall X2 (subtracted one)
Massing at Twilight X2
Attachments (2)
Bastard X2
Other than the noted stuff, I dropped Styg, Andryk, 4 locations, and maybe one or two other characters. You can compare Mathlete's decklist through the link.
Round One - Sam (Icyewolf) with Baratheon.
I finished my deck and signed up for the tournament at the last minute. I just managed to finish up and turn in my decklist in time to sit down for the first match. This was a silly game, and perhaps my punishment for ragging on the speed of Bara for the last few weeks. Sam and I both mulliganed, and flopped four. I blockaded, and couldn't really play anything. I did mess up, though. I haven't played Blockade before, and wasn't sure I still got the gold from my Kingsroad Farmstead. It probably didn't matter, but who knows? Sam had some reducers, including the free Asshai guy. He also had the Storms End TG, and an Old Red Priest. Sam played another ORP to soak claim, and put Born to Be King and Chosen By R'hllor on the ORP. My challenges went, and I claimed a power on something. He proceeded to play Baratheon's Charm and wreck me in three challenges, claiming fat power along the way. He played a Blood and Glory, but didn't need it, as he hit 15 after his third challenge. At the rate he was going, he could have claimed 21 power that turn, I think. Sam seemed a nice guy, and it's a pity we didn't have more of a game. After losing on the first turn, I was really in no mood to talk afterwards. So, first round, and I'm out on the first turn. Hm. Not so good. This was an inauspicious start to the day, but I remembered the tournament in Madison when I lost quickly to Emre's Baratheon in the first round, and then fought back to the finals, where, of course, I promptly lost to Emre again...
Second Round - Alex
There I was, facing another Baratheon deck, figuring my day was over. I got a decent start, though, and Alex wasn't going to fast. He got Chosen by R'hllor down on a Lord's Assassin and a Band of Free Folk. I bastarded the Free Folk and attacked. He blanked my Free Folk so he could kill his, keeping the LA. He didn't draw much power rush stuff, or any real control stuff, and I got control of the board through military challenges. I got down double ten towers and double broken ground, and it was just over. I got up feeling a bit better about the day, and also thinking that I was learning to play the deck a bit better.
Round three - Troy
It turns out Troy is from Florida, and flew out her to play because he couldn't make it to the regionals near him. I think he may have had business in the area as well. Troy was playing Stark Armies, and this was not a good matchup for him. He flopped an army, the one cost guy that reduces armies, and a free reducer, I think. I had skirling berserker and some other stuff. I blockaded, and he couldn't play anything. He played the plot that gave him +1 str, and got through the turn still having his army. He played Eddard and a Toll Collector. I killed Eddard with Ten Towers/Broken Ground, the TC with SB, and The army with claim. At that point, he didn't really have anything, and couldn't get back in the game with my location combo. I rolled in 4-5 power a turn and it was over. Troy seemed like a good fellow, and I hope he had a fun trip and learned a lot. He mentioned that we build decks and play a little differently than the people in Florida.
Roud Four - Dan (ccdano)
Dan was playing Greyjoy Night's Watch, which I figured was a pretty bad matchup for me. I was looking at having my Bands of Free Folk be useless, and getting my Wildlings discarded. Both of the above were true. Dan got a low resource draw. He had three locations pretty early, but they were all Minor Fiefdoms, and I got rid of them over time with Euron's Servant. Unfortunately, it wasn't before he could use a Tidal Wave on my TTB. We went back and forth on this one, and it was the best game I'd had to that point for the weekend. Both of us used Fallen Brother to good effect, and I managed to get an advantage with the two claim on Gathering Storm. I think we almost got all the way through plots with this one, but I kept him lite on resources with Cracks in the Wall, etc. and ended up coming out on top. Dan is a good guy, and a credit to the game, and I'm happy he ended up making top 8 in the end.
Round 5 - Kevin (Balon)
Kevin parked his Stark Wot5K across the table from me, and I figured I was in for a test. Thankfully, I had a good draw on Sea God's Disciple, and characters in general, to soak claim. Dan got out a lot of guys, and was winning military challenges. He got out Conn, and had the military locked down, until I drew some stealth. The only problem he had was that he couldn't draw any other icons. He just had a big army of little monocon Stark beaters. I was building up power, too, with uncontested power and intrigue. He got up to ten while I was at 8, but then I hit for power and I don't think he got over 9 again. I wiped the board with Winter Has Come, while he had no cards in hand and no locations on the table, and I had locations, including Broken Ground, four cards in hand, and Disciples in my dead pile. From that point, He couldn't get caught up in time to stop me. I was happy to win and be guaranteed top 8. I'm glad Kevin made it too. Their effort driving to Iowa for our Regional was a big influence on me deciding to come down there.
Top 8
Quarterfinals - vs. Sam (again!)
Well, I thought, maybe we'll have more of a game this time. Sam pointed out that he had alternated win/loss the whole tournament, and that he was due a loss. He told me he hoped I won the tournament, so that he could say he beat the champ. I said, why not hope that you win, and say that you're the champ. He apparently didn't think that would happen. On the flop, he had three reducers (including Frey Lordling I think), Samwell, and Salidor San. I only had 1 reducer, the GJ one that's the worst resource in the deck, and inferior characters. I decided I couldn't Blockade while he had such an advantage, so I played Wraths, hoping to get to Winter Has Come range quickly. However, he did the Blockading for me, freezing up my development. He played a tourney ground and a Servant of R'hllor on Salidor, and won a challenge. I won a couple challenges and said go. Second turn, he used Benjen's Cache. Then, he Massinged. I could have cancelled it with an Axeman, but decided not to, thinking back to the last game when I was hammered by a single Baratheon's Charm. However, I should have done it - he got great cards. Between the Cache, his draw, and the Massing, he ended up putting all three tourney grounds into play that turn, as well as a Chosen by R'hllor on Salidor. This was not looking good. I wrecked a tourney ground with a Pillager and played a TTB. However, with the Chosen on Salidor, I couldn't make him smaller than my guys, so I couldn't win a joust. He came in and played I Am King Here, which I cancelled. Then, he came in three more times (Blood and Glory) with two more I Am King Here's to rack up enough power to win the game before dominance. So, out in a turn the first round, out in a turn and a half in the quarterfinals. I wished Sam luck the rest of the tournament, and went to grab some prize so that we could hit the road. Dave was disappointed to go 2-3, and Jerod was also feeling down at 2-2-1. They decided not to play in the draft due to the high price and the high chance that I would be done quickly and we could get on our way home. For my troubles, I was awarded a few packs of Song of Night, I think four, as well as an old promo Wildling deck. It's always nice to walk away from the tournament with something.
As a side note, I picked up a small game down there to try to make up a little for them not getting enough entries to cover the price of the tournament package. I bought Lupus in Tabula, a Werewolf varient by Mayfair. This is a version by Italian designer Stefano Di Fazi, with Illustration by Gianpaolo Derossi. I chose it over Werewolves of Miller's Crossing and Are You a Werewolf? because the box looked sturdier, the production value looked higher, and it contained some variant cards for different roles that you can add in to spice up the game with more players. Hopefully I'll be able to bust it out the next time I have nine gamers sitting around...
We jumped in Dave's car and got on the road. The way home was uneventful, save a few moments of inspired hilarity and a brief period of bugs hitting our windshield like rain. We talked over the speed of Baratheon, and came to the conclusion that the problem card was Chosen By R'hllor. Without the free standing, it isn't possible to win so many jousts with the same buffed character in one turn. There was also general talk about our decks, gaming, the Iowa City community, etc.
All in all, a fun, whirlwind trip to a nice little tournament. I have to thank the people at VG for being friendly, gracious hosts, and Sam and Dan for doing a lot of the work of running the tournament. I actually wish I could have stayed on Saturday and maybe gone out with some of the guys. I regret not getting to talk to some of the attendees at all. I also was a little sad to make Luke ride home alone, and have to thank him for the ride down, good company, and card loans. I hope that everyone had a good time and got home safely. I like the deck, and think it is decent against the field. I'm glad Mathlete took the time to post it. If I could change anything about the deck, I don't know, I might have tried to add another Bastard. I'd like to play it again, but I'm not sure I'll have a chance. This was very likely my last big tournament, as I'm probably not going to GenCon, and I'm moving to North Carolina this summer, where I don't anticipate continuing to play much.
GG, GL
"I love it when we do this." - Uttered by Dave, in response to my order at Starbuck's the next morning. Previously, BMT had expressed delight at my "formula" for picking the number of sauce packets I needed at Taco Bell. In this case, he was referring to the multiple instructions that accompany my order at Starbuck's, a concoction refined over months of having the aformentioned establishment right on the way to work, with me too lazy to get going the extra ten or fifteen minutes early that it would take me to regularly patronize one of the other, non-evil empire coffee establishments. For the curious, it's the largest size (I refuse to say "venti," or whatever it is) cafe mocha, made with soy milk, iced, with an extra shot (which makes it a quad), and four pumps of chocolate syrup instead of six (it's too sweet otherwise). I'm getting ahead of myself a little, though.
So, we woke up Saturday morning, not so ready to go. I wasn't sure about my deck, and Jerod had a headache. We grabbed a bit to eat - the hotel had free waffles and danishes, but it was totally crowded down there so I just ate the cherry pop tarts I'd purchased at a gas station the night before. I was totally out of it and needed some caffeine, so we ran over to the B&N in the mall for some Starbucks. While we were getting fueled up, I made a list of the popular deck archetypes, and we tried to guess how many of each type would show up. We thought there would be 18-20 players, and that the majority would play Stark or Baratheon. We were discussing how fast Baratheon could be, and the cards you could use to slow it down, and Jerod and I both thought we needed to be playing 2-3 copies of Bastard. I think we actually guessed a little low on Stark and a little high on Bara, and we thought there might be 0-1 Martell and there ended up being two or three, I think. I was looking at this, and thinking about how my deck might do, and for some reason I just wasn't happy. I started thinking about alternatives. I had previously played Stark a lot, but was unhappy with that and wanted something different, something that would get me out of the way I commonly play.
I had brought some decklists from the net with me. Among them was the list for the Greyjoy deck that Mathlete played in one of the regional events in California. Dave was running a pretty much exact copy of this deck, that our friend Jeremiah had assembled (Jeremiah couldn't come due to other commitments). I decided to start putting together a variant of this, to see if I liked it better. I was also curious about what I would learn from playing a deck designed by someoen else. We took off for the tournament site, with me making a mental catalogue of cards I'd like to have. Looking at the decklist, the deck had two Bastards and two King's Landing Harlot, both good against Bara. It also sported 3 Ten Towers Battlements, excellent against Stark (especially with the 2 copies of Student of Coin).
Upon arriving at the store, we had about an hour and a half. I started putting the deck together. First off, it was 66 cards, and I wanted to cut it down to 60. I rushed to cull it to what I wanted, while Luke found the four cards I needed to borrow from him. I felt a little bad about that, as he was also busy trying to compile a deck for Dobbler, who hadn't brought any cards and had decided he didn't like the deck Luke had stayed up until 2 in the morning the night before to make him. Here's the link to the original post from Mathlete on the AGOT discussion boards, that contains his decklist: http://www.agameofthrones.com/brds/viewtopic.php?t=2011&start=0.
Here's the deck I ended up with:
House: Greyjoy
Agenda: Threat From the East
Plots:
Blockade
Wraiths in the Midst
The Gathering Storm
Whose Name May Not Be Spoken
Benjen's Cache
Winter Has Come
Trading With the Pentoshi
Locations (15)
Kingsroad Farmstead X3
River Rox X3
Island Transport X3
Ten Towers Battlements X3
The Broken Ground X2
Flea Bottom X1
Characters (36)
Vanguard Axeman X3
Sea God's Disciple X3
Deadly Axeman X2
Euron's Servant X2
Skirling Berserker X3
Wildling Emissary X3 (added 1)
Wildling Messenger X3
King's Landing Harlot X2
Band of Free Folk X2
Student of Coin X2
Young Spearwife X2
Frey Lordling X2
Littlefinger
Wildling Scout (added)
Conn Son of Corrat
Fallen Brother (subtracted 1)
Mance Rayder
Samwell Tarly (added)
Roving Pillagers (added)
Events (7)
King Balon's Command X3
Cracks in the Wall X2 (subtracted one)
Massing at Twilight X2
Attachments (2)
Bastard X2
Other than the noted stuff, I dropped Styg, Andryk, 4 locations, and maybe one or two other characters. You can compare Mathlete's decklist through the link.
Round One - Sam (Icyewolf) with Baratheon.
I finished my deck and signed up for the tournament at the last minute. I just managed to finish up and turn in my decklist in time to sit down for the first match. This was a silly game, and perhaps my punishment for ragging on the speed of Bara for the last few weeks. Sam and I both mulliganed, and flopped four. I blockaded, and couldn't really play anything. I did mess up, though. I haven't played Blockade before, and wasn't sure I still got the gold from my Kingsroad Farmstead. It probably didn't matter, but who knows? Sam had some reducers, including the free Asshai guy. He also had the Storms End TG, and an Old Red Priest. Sam played another ORP to soak claim, and put Born to Be King and Chosen By R'hllor on the ORP. My challenges went, and I claimed a power on something. He proceeded to play Baratheon's Charm and wreck me in three challenges, claiming fat power along the way. He played a Blood and Glory, but didn't need it, as he hit 15 after his third challenge. At the rate he was going, he could have claimed 21 power that turn, I think. Sam seemed a nice guy, and it's a pity we didn't have more of a game. After losing on the first turn, I was really in no mood to talk afterwards. So, first round, and I'm out on the first turn. Hm. Not so good. This was an inauspicious start to the day, but I remembered the tournament in Madison when I lost quickly to Emre's Baratheon in the first round, and then fought back to the finals, where, of course, I promptly lost to Emre again...
Second Round - Alex
There I was, facing another Baratheon deck, figuring my day was over. I got a decent start, though, and Alex wasn't going to fast. He got Chosen by R'hllor down on a Lord's Assassin and a Band of Free Folk. I bastarded the Free Folk and attacked. He blanked my Free Folk so he could kill his, keeping the LA. He didn't draw much power rush stuff, or any real control stuff, and I got control of the board through military challenges. I got down double ten towers and double broken ground, and it was just over. I got up feeling a bit better about the day, and also thinking that I was learning to play the deck a bit better.
Round three - Troy
It turns out Troy is from Florida, and flew out her to play because he couldn't make it to the regionals near him. I think he may have had business in the area as well. Troy was playing Stark Armies, and this was not a good matchup for him. He flopped an army, the one cost guy that reduces armies, and a free reducer, I think. I had skirling berserker and some other stuff. I blockaded, and he couldn't play anything. He played the plot that gave him +1 str, and got through the turn still having his army. He played Eddard and a Toll Collector. I killed Eddard with Ten Towers/Broken Ground, the TC with SB, and The army with claim. At that point, he didn't really have anything, and couldn't get back in the game with my location combo. I rolled in 4-5 power a turn and it was over. Troy seemed like a good fellow, and I hope he had a fun trip and learned a lot. He mentioned that we build decks and play a little differently than the people in Florida.
Roud Four - Dan (ccdano)
Dan was playing Greyjoy Night's Watch, which I figured was a pretty bad matchup for me. I was looking at having my Bands of Free Folk be useless, and getting my Wildlings discarded. Both of the above were true. Dan got a low resource draw. He had three locations pretty early, but they were all Minor Fiefdoms, and I got rid of them over time with Euron's Servant. Unfortunately, it wasn't before he could use a Tidal Wave on my TTB. We went back and forth on this one, and it was the best game I'd had to that point for the weekend. Both of us used Fallen Brother to good effect, and I managed to get an advantage with the two claim on Gathering Storm. I think we almost got all the way through plots with this one, but I kept him lite on resources with Cracks in the Wall, etc. and ended up coming out on top. Dan is a good guy, and a credit to the game, and I'm happy he ended up making top 8 in the end.
Round 5 - Kevin (Balon)
Kevin parked his Stark Wot5K across the table from me, and I figured I was in for a test. Thankfully, I had a good draw on Sea God's Disciple, and characters in general, to soak claim. Dan got out a lot of guys, and was winning military challenges. He got out Conn, and had the military locked down, until I drew some stealth. The only problem he had was that he couldn't draw any other icons. He just had a big army of little monocon Stark beaters. I was building up power, too, with uncontested power and intrigue. He got up to ten while I was at 8, but then I hit for power and I don't think he got over 9 again. I wiped the board with Winter Has Come, while he had no cards in hand and no locations on the table, and I had locations, including Broken Ground, four cards in hand, and Disciples in my dead pile. From that point, He couldn't get caught up in time to stop me. I was happy to win and be guaranteed top 8. I'm glad Kevin made it too. Their effort driving to Iowa for our Regional was a big influence on me deciding to come down there.
Top 8
Quarterfinals - vs. Sam (again!)
Well, I thought, maybe we'll have more of a game this time. Sam pointed out that he had alternated win/loss the whole tournament, and that he was due a loss. He told me he hoped I won the tournament, so that he could say he beat the champ. I said, why not hope that you win, and say that you're the champ. He apparently didn't think that would happen. On the flop, he had three reducers (including Frey Lordling I think), Samwell, and Salidor San. I only had 1 reducer, the GJ one that's the worst resource in the deck, and inferior characters. I decided I couldn't Blockade while he had such an advantage, so I played Wraths, hoping to get to Winter Has Come range quickly. However, he did the Blockading for me, freezing up my development. He played a tourney ground and a Servant of R'hllor on Salidor, and won a challenge. I won a couple challenges and said go. Second turn, he used Benjen's Cache. Then, he Massinged. I could have cancelled it with an Axeman, but decided not to, thinking back to the last game when I was hammered by a single Baratheon's Charm. However, I should have done it - he got great cards. Between the Cache, his draw, and the Massing, he ended up putting all three tourney grounds into play that turn, as well as a Chosen by R'hllor on Salidor. This was not looking good. I wrecked a tourney ground with a Pillager and played a TTB. However, with the Chosen on Salidor, I couldn't make him smaller than my guys, so I couldn't win a joust. He came in and played I Am King Here, which I cancelled. Then, he came in three more times (Blood and Glory) with two more I Am King Here's to rack up enough power to win the game before dominance. So, out in a turn the first round, out in a turn and a half in the quarterfinals. I wished Sam luck the rest of the tournament, and went to grab some prize so that we could hit the road. Dave was disappointed to go 2-3, and Jerod was also feeling down at 2-2-1. They decided not to play in the draft due to the high price and the high chance that I would be done quickly and we could get on our way home. For my troubles, I was awarded a few packs of Song of Night, I think four, as well as an old promo Wildling deck. It's always nice to walk away from the tournament with something.
As a side note, I picked up a small game down there to try to make up a little for them not getting enough entries to cover the price of the tournament package. I bought Lupus in Tabula, a Werewolf varient by Mayfair. This is a version by Italian designer Stefano Di Fazi, with Illustration by Gianpaolo Derossi. I chose it over Werewolves of Miller's Crossing and Are You a Werewolf? because the box looked sturdier, the production value looked higher, and it contained some variant cards for different roles that you can add in to spice up the game with more players. Hopefully I'll be able to bust it out the next time I have nine gamers sitting around...
We jumped in Dave's car and got on the road. The way home was uneventful, save a few moments of inspired hilarity and a brief period of bugs hitting our windshield like rain. We talked over the speed of Baratheon, and came to the conclusion that the problem card was Chosen By R'hllor. Without the free standing, it isn't possible to win so many jousts with the same buffed character in one turn. There was also general talk about our decks, gaming, the Iowa City community, etc.
All in all, a fun, whirlwind trip to a nice little tournament. I have to thank the people at VG for being friendly, gracious hosts, and Sam and Dan for doing a lot of the work of running the tournament. I actually wish I could have stayed on Saturday and maybe gone out with some of the guys. I regret not getting to talk to some of the attendees at all. I also was a little sad to make Luke ride home alone, and have to thank him for the ride down, good company, and card loans. I hope that everyone had a good time and got home safely. I like the deck, and think it is decent against the field. I'm glad Mathlete took the time to post it. If I could change anything about the deck, I don't know, I might have tried to add another Bastard. I'd like to play it again, but I'm not sure I'll have a chance. This was very likely my last big tournament, as I'm probably not going to GenCon, and I'm moving to North Carolina this summer, where I don't anticipate continuing to play much.
GG, GL
A Game of Thrones Regional: Columbia, Missouri - Part 1
Sorting out trips to gaming events has become a bit of an art - controlled chaos, as people juggle their schedules, budgets, and expectations as the event approaches. I spoke with a few weeks ago about catching a ride down with him, and left it at that. In the intervening weeks, a shifting roster of other interested parties from Iowa coalesced on Friday morning into the final group of Dave T and Jerod.
Dave would drive himself and Jerod down, while I rode with Luke. Dave had to be back sometime Saturday night for an important Sunday event, and I have a lot to work on with the wedding, so it was decided that the three of us would come back that night together, with Luke staying until Sunday. Take off time was scheduled for Friday at 1 pm, so that we could make it down for the booster draft that evening. Kristin dropped me off at the store, ready to go, at 12:30.
Steve, Jerod, Luke, and Gigi were at the store. Steve hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we decided to run down to Subway to grab some grub. The buzz around the store, lately, has been about the aptly named BMT or Big Meaty Treat. With a name like that, I couldn't resist. A few minutes later, Steve and I were chomping on stacks of salami, ham, and cheese, with peppers and garlic spread, when Teagle arrived. The conversation turned, of course, to Teagle himself being a "big meaty treat," or, as it were, a "big meaty Teagle." This led to Dave being referred to as BMT all weekend, which was certainly exponentially funnier for us then than it is to you now...
Lunch consumed, it was time to hit the road. Luke and I headed off down 215, enjoying the beutiful weather and the geeky sounds of MC Chris, whom I've been binging on a bit of late, after seeing him at The House in DeKalb last week. Luke particularly enjoyed (aside from the classic "Fett's Vette," of course) White Kids Love Hip Hop and Geek. We had some laughs, and good discussions about the current state of the game and upcoming card sets. Particularly noteworthy in the light of the upcoming tournament, we discussed the state of Baratheon power rush decks, and debated the merits of having decks that can win that quickly (1st or 2nd turn) in an environment where there are not really a lot of possible answers at that point in the game. We missed a turn, and got a few miles off track, saw a confederate flag flying in a yard in Missouri, and other small adventures. Finally, we pulled into the Valhalla's Gate parking lot in Columbia, apparently about five minutes after Dave and Jerod.
I had been looking forward to visiting the store, as I had managed a small gaming store in Columbia many years ago, and was looking forward to seeing what had become of gaming in the area. VG is really a very nice place, and obviously a real benefit to the gamers in the area. They have a pretty decent stock of boardgames, a fairly extensive rpg area, and quite a bit in the miniatures department. They had an especially extensive selection of Warmachine. They were a little lite in the CCG/CMG deparment, at least in the areas of singles and variety. Things that really shone about the store were the amount of playing space (although most of it was obviously meant for miniatures gaming) and the numerous, friendly staff.
They actually close at 7pm on Fridays, so we waited for two guys to make massive D&D purchases, and for the store to be locked up, and got the draft underway. The decision was made to draft Winter/Winter/SON/SON, as people were anxious to get ahold of new cards. We had 17 people, and only time for three rounds, so we split into two pods. My table was, if I remember correctly, starting with me and running clockwise, Sam, Matt, Jerod, Casey, Kevin, Justin, Thad, and Jeff.
I first picked Northern Heir. I never mind going Stark in draft, although sometimes there's a lot of competition. This pack didn't give me a lot of choices, though. I was quite happy, then, when the second pack came and I saw that Jeff had decided to ship me an Arya's revenge. Oddly, I was a little unhappy, as this pack also had a Northern Champ in it, and I had to send it down the line. Third pick I grabbed a nice Stark army, fourth pick a random neutral character, and fifth pick another Arya's Revenge! Things were shaping up nicely. Noteworthy, though, is that both times I picked an Arya's Revenge I passed a Dothroki Sea. I think, earlier in the draft, I would value DS (can be played out of house, doesn't have a high influence cost) over AR. However, already into Stark, AR was the way to go. In pack two, I honestly can't remember my first pick. I think it was Fallen Brother. I picked up Huntress in the Swamp second, and then took my first real non-Stark card with Warlock's Servitors. This pack wasn't as good, just picking up random filler in Stark, Targ, and neutral, and an out of house Enemy Informer. Third pack I agonized over my first choice, looking at the rare "A Better Offer" and the uncommon "Dreadfort Captain." I ended up taking the out of house attachment, due to rarity and the possible power of controlling someone like Student of Subtlety. I ended up getting a Captain third pick, along with a second pick Shackled Defender. Things went OK the rest of the pack. Final pack first pick was another agonizing choice, with a great common wight, a very good uncommon Targ character, and the rare Robb's Sworn Swords, a huge army with deadly and renown who can eliminate a neutral character when entering and leaving play. Again, I went with the rare. Other noteworthy pickups included two each of Wolf Stalwart (common, four cost & strenght, str 3 or lower don't count strength) and Dragon Parisan (smaller, targ version, Str 1 don't count).
Overall, the deck was pretty good. Here it is:
Characters (24)
Stark (12)
Robb's Sworn Swords
Northern Heir
Dreadfort Captain
Greywater Watchmen
Greatjohn's Elite
Shackled Defender
Lookout
Wolf Stalwart X 2
Keeper of the New Gods
River Rider
Huntress in the Swamp
Targ (7)
Illyrio's Guard
Quartheen Tax Collector
Warlock's Servitors
Dragon Partisan X2
Eastern Mercenary
Ser Jorah Mormont
Neutral (4)
Mammoth Rampager
Ruthless Defender
Fallen Brother
Crazed Doomsayer
Lannister (1)
Enemy Informer
Events (2)
Arya's Revenge X2
Attachments (1)
A Better Offer
Locations (13)
Eastern Fiefdoms X1 (for influence)
Minor Fiefdom X3
Crossroads X3
Recruiting Hall X3
Recruiting Grounds X3
Plots (5)
Taxation
Counting Coppers
Called by the Gods
Filthy Accusations
Alliance
First Round - They did the pairings at our table randomly, for some reason, while the other table went cross-table, as we normally do in Iowa. I was supposed to play Sam, but he felt bad that he was running the tournament and someone would have to get a bye, so he basically dropped out of the tournament after drafting. I ended up playing Matt, who had been sitting to Sam's left. Matt was apparently a fairly new player, and was playing single house Martell. This is usually a cue that the person is not that good at drafting, as most players are not usually fortunate enough to get the number of in-house/neutral characters necessary to make single house work. However, this wasn't apparently the case here. Matt had a decent start, with a lot of gold off the flop. The first turn, he had two Martell characters, one of them being Arianne. Second turn, I knelt Arianne, but he got out a Dornish Lancer and some fodder, and put +1 str and renown on Arianne, then cancelled my Enemy Informer's attempt to kneel the Lancer. The Lancer also got an attachment that said he could gain a power every time he lost a challenge. Well, the Lancer attacked, Arianne got to stand, and he claimed a bunch of power. Third turn I discarded the attachment on the Lancer with Ser Jorah, but he just played another! I did a military, he copied the ability on the attachment, and I was locked out of the game, as I lost if I won any challenge or lost power. It was frustrating to be done that quickly, but oh well.
Second round - I got paired with Jeff this time. He was sitting to my right, which is not commonly great in draft, as he got to see most of the first pack before I did. Jeff is a really new player, though, and this was a learning experience for him. He was also playing single house. I'm somewhat ashamed that I can't remember what house it was, although I'm pretty sure it was Lannister. Either he or Casey had Lanni, that's for sure. Well, this game, no offence to Jeff, was sort of just going through the motions it seemed, as my deck and draw were better than Jeff's, and he was still learning. We played a nice, friendly, easy-going game, through five or six plots, I think, and I won. We had a little talk after about drafting and deck building, and it became clear that nobody had informed him that he could add 3 each of Minor Fiefdom and Crossroads. He made some adjusments to his deck which, I think, helped out, as he won the next round.
Third round - I got to play Casey, who sat accross from me and hence probably should have been my first round opponent. He was also single house, and this time I really don't remember what house it was. Casey was a somewhat experienced player, who hadn't played in a while, who just came out for the draft. I think he made decent choices, but his deck just didn't show up, and mine did. That's one thing about drafting a lot of characters - you can usually at least play. This was another game that lasted a few plots, but wasn't too much of a game - Casey just didn't get cards. After it was over, we shook hands and chatted about the game and Columbia for a bit. It's too bad he didn't want to play in the constructed event the next day.
In the end, I was 2-1, losing first round, Jerod was 2-1, losing 2nd round, and Dave was 2-1, losing in the last round of the other pod. They had arranged the prize support for one tournament, so they rolled off between people from the different pods for each place, which was kind of weird. In the end, Dave ended up third, Jerdo 5th, and me 7th, I think. In all honesty, the prize support was a little wimpy, too, with not much thrown in aside from what the company sent (I think Boen maybe threw in some stuff from his store). This was especially so in light of the fact that we were charged more than retail ($16) for the packs for the draft. Some places have different philosophies about this sort of thing, though, and not everyone is as generous as Jerod (or, of course, as AJ), who charged only, I think, $12 or $14 for his drafts and threw in product for prizes for everyone.
After the tournament, we needed to find a hotel. We drove out to the place where Lucas was lodging and scored a sweet deal on a smoking room, as they were out of non-smoking. Not having eaten dinner, we decided to run out to Wendy's for some burgers and stop at a gas station for some beers. The Wendy's drive through line was an unbelievable wait, but we had some laughs chatting and listening to MC Chris.
That night, I worked on tuning the Lannister-Greyjoy deck I'd made after our regional. While I did that, the others hung out in Luke's room while Luke built a deck for Dobbler, a guy from Missouri who didn't have any cards. Luke went to drive Dobbler back to the place he was crashing, and Jerod kindly agreed to test against me with his characterlite deck. I had a pretty good start, but I was missing an intrigue icon that would have really helped. I also messed up my order of play in one round, and Jerod won.
We chatted and chuckled for a few minutes like kids at a sleepover and then it was lights out, with the prospect of the big event, last chance for a trophy this season, looming on the morning horizon.
Sorting out trips to gaming events has become a bit of an art - controlled chaos, as people juggle their schedules, budgets, and expectations as the event approaches. I spoke with a few weeks ago about catching a ride down with him, and left it at that. In the intervening weeks, a shifting roster of other interested parties from Iowa coalesced on Friday morning into the final group of Dave T and Jerod.
Dave would drive himself and Jerod down, while I rode with Luke. Dave had to be back sometime Saturday night for an important Sunday event, and I have a lot to work on with the wedding, so it was decided that the three of us would come back that night together, with Luke staying until Sunday. Take off time was scheduled for Friday at 1 pm, so that we could make it down for the booster draft that evening. Kristin dropped me off at the store, ready to go, at 12:30.
Steve, Jerod, Luke, and Gigi were at the store. Steve hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we decided to run down to Subway to grab some grub. The buzz around the store, lately, has been about the aptly named BMT or Big Meaty Treat. With a name like that, I couldn't resist. A few minutes later, Steve and I were chomping on stacks of salami, ham, and cheese, with peppers and garlic spread, when Teagle arrived. The conversation turned, of course, to Teagle himself being a "big meaty treat," or, as it were, a "big meaty Teagle." This led to Dave being referred to as BMT all weekend, which was certainly exponentially funnier for us then than it is to you now...
Lunch consumed, it was time to hit the road. Luke and I headed off down 215, enjoying the beutiful weather and the geeky sounds of MC Chris, whom I've been binging on a bit of late, after seeing him at The House in DeKalb last week. Luke particularly enjoyed (aside from the classic "Fett's Vette," of course) White Kids Love Hip Hop and Geek. We had some laughs, and good discussions about the current state of the game and upcoming card sets. Particularly noteworthy in the light of the upcoming tournament, we discussed the state of Baratheon power rush decks, and debated the merits of having decks that can win that quickly (1st or 2nd turn) in an environment where there are not really a lot of possible answers at that point in the game. We missed a turn, and got a few miles off track, saw a confederate flag flying in a yard in Missouri, and other small adventures. Finally, we pulled into the Valhalla's Gate parking lot in Columbia, apparently about five minutes after Dave and Jerod.
I had been looking forward to visiting the store, as I had managed a small gaming store in Columbia many years ago, and was looking forward to seeing what had become of gaming in the area. VG is really a very nice place, and obviously a real benefit to the gamers in the area. They have a pretty decent stock of boardgames, a fairly extensive rpg area, and quite a bit in the miniatures department. They had an especially extensive selection of Warmachine. They were a little lite in the CCG/CMG deparment, at least in the areas of singles and variety. Things that really shone about the store were the amount of playing space (although most of it was obviously meant for miniatures gaming) and the numerous, friendly staff.
They actually close at 7pm on Fridays, so we waited for two guys to make massive D&D purchases, and for the store to be locked up, and got the draft underway. The decision was made to draft Winter/Winter/SON/SON, as people were anxious to get ahold of new cards. We had 17 people, and only time for three rounds, so we split into two pods. My table was, if I remember correctly, starting with me and running clockwise, Sam, Matt, Jerod, Casey, Kevin, Justin, Thad, and Jeff.
I first picked Northern Heir. I never mind going Stark in draft, although sometimes there's a lot of competition. This pack didn't give me a lot of choices, though. I was quite happy, then, when the second pack came and I saw that Jeff had decided to ship me an Arya's revenge. Oddly, I was a little unhappy, as this pack also had a Northern Champ in it, and I had to send it down the line. Third pick I grabbed a nice Stark army, fourth pick a random neutral character, and fifth pick another Arya's Revenge! Things were shaping up nicely. Noteworthy, though, is that both times I picked an Arya's Revenge I passed a Dothroki Sea. I think, earlier in the draft, I would value DS (can be played out of house, doesn't have a high influence cost) over AR. However, already into Stark, AR was the way to go. In pack two, I honestly can't remember my first pick. I think it was Fallen Brother. I picked up Huntress in the Swamp second, and then took my first real non-Stark card with Warlock's Servitors. This pack wasn't as good, just picking up random filler in Stark, Targ, and neutral, and an out of house Enemy Informer. Third pack I agonized over my first choice, looking at the rare "A Better Offer" and the uncommon "Dreadfort Captain." I ended up taking the out of house attachment, due to rarity and the possible power of controlling someone like Student of Subtlety. I ended up getting a Captain third pick, along with a second pick Shackled Defender. Things went OK the rest of the pack. Final pack first pick was another agonizing choice, with a great common wight, a very good uncommon Targ character, and the rare Robb's Sworn Swords, a huge army with deadly and renown who can eliminate a neutral character when entering and leaving play. Again, I went with the rare. Other noteworthy pickups included two each of Wolf Stalwart (common, four cost & strenght, str 3 or lower don't count strength) and Dragon Parisan (smaller, targ version, Str 1 don't count).
Overall, the deck was pretty good. Here it is:
Characters (24)
Stark (12)
Robb's Sworn Swords
Northern Heir
Dreadfort Captain
Greywater Watchmen
Greatjohn's Elite
Shackled Defender
Lookout
Wolf Stalwart X 2
Keeper of the New Gods
River Rider
Huntress in the Swamp
Targ (7)
Illyrio's Guard
Quartheen Tax Collector
Warlock's Servitors
Dragon Partisan X2
Eastern Mercenary
Ser Jorah Mormont
Neutral (4)
Mammoth Rampager
Ruthless Defender
Fallen Brother
Crazed Doomsayer
Lannister (1)
Enemy Informer
Events (2)
Arya's Revenge X2
Attachments (1)
A Better Offer
Locations (13)
Eastern Fiefdoms X1 (for influence)
Minor Fiefdom X3
Crossroads X3
Recruiting Hall X3
Recruiting Grounds X3
Plots (5)
Taxation
Counting Coppers
Called by the Gods
Filthy Accusations
Alliance
First Round - They did the pairings at our table randomly, for some reason, while the other table went cross-table, as we normally do in Iowa. I was supposed to play Sam, but he felt bad that he was running the tournament and someone would have to get a bye, so he basically dropped out of the tournament after drafting. I ended up playing Matt, who had been sitting to Sam's left. Matt was apparently a fairly new player, and was playing single house Martell. This is usually a cue that the person is not that good at drafting, as most players are not usually fortunate enough to get the number of in-house/neutral characters necessary to make single house work. However, this wasn't apparently the case here. Matt had a decent start, with a lot of gold off the flop. The first turn, he had two Martell characters, one of them being Arianne. Second turn, I knelt Arianne, but he got out a Dornish Lancer and some fodder, and put +1 str and renown on Arianne, then cancelled my Enemy Informer's attempt to kneel the Lancer. The Lancer also got an attachment that said he could gain a power every time he lost a challenge. Well, the Lancer attacked, Arianne got to stand, and he claimed a bunch of power. Third turn I discarded the attachment on the Lancer with Ser Jorah, but he just played another! I did a military, he copied the ability on the attachment, and I was locked out of the game, as I lost if I won any challenge or lost power. It was frustrating to be done that quickly, but oh well.
Second round - I got paired with Jeff this time. He was sitting to my right, which is not commonly great in draft, as he got to see most of the first pack before I did. Jeff is a really new player, though, and this was a learning experience for him. He was also playing single house. I'm somewhat ashamed that I can't remember what house it was, although I'm pretty sure it was Lannister. Either he or Casey had Lanni, that's for sure. Well, this game, no offence to Jeff, was sort of just going through the motions it seemed, as my deck and draw were better than Jeff's, and he was still learning. We played a nice, friendly, easy-going game, through five or six plots, I think, and I won. We had a little talk after about drafting and deck building, and it became clear that nobody had informed him that he could add 3 each of Minor Fiefdom and Crossroads. He made some adjusments to his deck which, I think, helped out, as he won the next round.
Third round - I got to play Casey, who sat accross from me and hence probably should have been my first round opponent. He was also single house, and this time I really don't remember what house it was. Casey was a somewhat experienced player, who hadn't played in a while, who just came out for the draft. I think he made decent choices, but his deck just didn't show up, and mine did. That's one thing about drafting a lot of characters - you can usually at least play. This was another game that lasted a few plots, but wasn't too much of a game - Casey just didn't get cards. After it was over, we shook hands and chatted about the game and Columbia for a bit. It's too bad he didn't want to play in the constructed event the next day.
In the end, I was 2-1, losing first round, Jerod was 2-1, losing 2nd round, and Dave was 2-1, losing in the last round of the other pod. They had arranged the prize support for one tournament, so they rolled off between people from the different pods for each place, which was kind of weird. In the end, Dave ended up third, Jerdo 5th, and me 7th, I think. In all honesty, the prize support was a little wimpy, too, with not much thrown in aside from what the company sent (I think Boen maybe threw in some stuff from his store). This was especially so in light of the fact that we were charged more than retail ($16) for the packs for the draft. Some places have different philosophies about this sort of thing, though, and not everyone is as generous as Jerod (or, of course, as AJ), who charged only, I think, $12 or $14 for his drafts and threw in product for prizes for everyone.
After the tournament, we needed to find a hotel. We drove out to the place where Lucas was lodging and scored a sweet deal on a smoking room, as they were out of non-smoking. Not having eaten dinner, we decided to run out to Wendy's for some burgers and stop at a gas station for some beers. The Wendy's drive through line was an unbelievable wait, but we had some laughs chatting and listening to MC Chris.
That night, I worked on tuning the Lannister-Greyjoy deck I'd made after our regional. While I did that, the others hung out in Luke's room while Luke built a deck for Dobbler, a guy from Missouri who didn't have any cards. Luke went to drive Dobbler back to the place he was crashing, and Jerod kindly agreed to test against me with his characterlite deck. I had a pretty good start, but I was missing an intrigue icon that would have really helped. I also messed up my order of play in one round, and Jerod won.
We chatted and chuckled for a few minutes like kids at a sleepover and then it was lights out, with the prospect of the big event, last chance for a trophy this season, looming on the morning horizon.
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