Lord of the Games

Games without Victory Points

2011-09-07T15:56:00.002-05:00

While teaching a lot of games to my son's friend he mentioned to me that a lot of the games we play have victory points for who wins. This observation prompted me to start thinking about the games in my collection that do not use victory points to determine the winner. I've broken these up into several categories/game types to help sort this out. I decided that games that determine the winner by who has the most money at the end are just victory point games in disguise so they are not included.

Games that eliminate other players
These games are "classic" games like Monopoly and Risk where the object is to be the last player standing. I don't own many of these games and they are not bad for shorter games but generally I steer away from player elimination games. Stratego and Battleship also have this element. I would even include Bang in this category (the last team standing - Outlaws, Sheriff/deputies, or Renegade).

Deduction Games
These are games where players try to determine who commited a crime, etc. Clue, Whodunnit, and Myster of the Abbey are the only games I own in this category. I still need to make a deck for Deduce or Die as it is the best deduction game I've played.

Race Games
These are games where the first player to cross a finish line or reach a certain space is the winner. Pure racing games like Hare and Tortoise and Snow Tails are in this category. But also games like Parchesi, Trivial Pursuit, Scene It, and Pictionary are also in this category.

Cooperative Games
These are games where the players work together to defeat the game (or in some cases another player). Pandemic, Lord of the Rings, Mousquetaires du Roy, Castle Panic, and Castle Ravenloft all fall in this category.

Unique Game Ending conditions
This is a catch all for the games that I couldn't categorize... I'll just list them.

To Court the King - this dice game ends with a final round where everyone tries to impress the King and the player who does so wins.

Lord of the Rings Confrontation - this asymmetrical game ends when the Ringbearer(Frodo) is defeated or he reaches Mt Doom.

Niagara - this game ends when one (or more) player(s) acquires either a gem of each color, 4 of the same color gems, or 7 total gems.

Blokus - the victor is the person with the fewest piece segments left to play.

Can you think of other categories?

First Impressions of New Games

2011-08-09T14:32:00.003-05:00

I just acquired some new games this summer and here are my impressions after a couple of plays of each.

Conquest of Nerath: This is the new wargame based on D&D universe. It reminds me of Axis and Allies, Nexus Ops, and Risk.

Production Quality is great on this game. The components are superb. Some models are the same for each nation (there are 4) but they also have many unique figures also. The characteristics of the units are the same for each nation though. The map is easy to see with good names and even icons for setting up the board to start the game. The only weakness in the design is the layout of the reference sheets but that is minor as after two games I have most of the pieces and base treasuries memorized.

Initial Setup is well thought out as the game commences with combat starting on the 1st turn. You must attack to get victory points (no turtling in this one!) and you do not get victory points for liberating your starting regions. This last point really changes the way you play the game and makes things very interesting tactically. Also, since your reinforcements MOVE when they come into play you can defend a forward position or threaten an active assault more easily. This all really keeps the game moving forward. Add in the other victory point mechanism (treasures and dungeons) and the game goes to another level.

The overall movement and combat mechanics are simple with some special unit abilities (Dragons fly and take 2 hits, Fighters and Wizards can conquer dungeons, Siege Engines are better attacking, etc). The event cards are different for each nation and the better cards are with the nations going later in turn order (at least player 2 and 4 have good event cards -- I'm still not sure on player 3 but player 1 certainly has the weakest cards). I haven't seen all the cards as I've only played 2 games but these differences help to balance out the starting positions and provide lots of flavor/strategy to each game. This is also true of Treasures which can really add a twist to your strategy.

The game doesn't overstay its welcome as the game can complete in a few hours and there is constant action. I'm really pleased with the game so far and would definitely play this over most Axis and Allies and Risk variants. Tentative rating: 8

Airlines Europe: This is the Alan Moon game that is a re-themed Union Pacific (which is a re-themed Airlines).

I wanted to have a game with "stocks" and the airlines theme was new to the family (I don't have Acquire). So far I have only played it with 3 players which is okay but I think that the game will be better with 4 and 5 players.

Production quality is also excellent in this game. The map is nice and the references and cards are of high quality. The airplane tokens are also well done and it has an insert for everything in the box.

The game is all about getting majority in the stocks of the Airlines that are the most successful. Turns are fast as you have 4 choices but once you learn the game these choices are very straightforward. The game is not a lot of tension except when two players are fighting for majority and both are looking for a key stock to show up. There are some interesting decisions that players have to make about when to invest in Air Abacus stock and how to manage cash flow.

I think the game is okay with 3 players but I really expect it to be much better with more as the fights for majorities will be more interesting and blocking will be more intense.
Tentative Rating: 7

7 Wonders - Leaders: This is the first expansion for 7 Wonders.

We have already played 15 games of 7 Wonders this year and I expect it to break the 20 game barrier easily before the year is out. This game and Dominion have really been our family game of choice for a 30-60 minute game.

The Leaders expansion adds more options and opens up some new strategies in the game so I think that is a good thing. Also, there are enough leaders that many games can be played without seeing the same ones (at least 4 player games). The game also adds "6" value coins and lets players start with more money. The new Wonder (Rome) provides a Wonder that is all about utilizing Leaders.

With adding new cards there are more "combos" where players can exploit leaders and Wonders more and I think this is a good thing. This adds more strategy to the drafting mechanics as players start "counter drafting" cards to minimize their neighbors (at least when the opportunity presents itself). This was already there to a lesser extent (limit a science player from getting too many science cards or stopping key Guilds from reaching your neighbors). Now there are more things to watch.

Tentative Rating: 8

Overview of New Games Played in 2011

2011-05-12T12:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some first impressions of new games I've played at least twice in 2011.

7 Wonders - This is a great game for 3-7 players. I have yet to try the 2 player version but it looks interesting. The drafting mechanic is interesting and there is definitely room for some clever play. Different paths require various amounts of effort (often dependent on neighbors0 so there is more control in a 3-5 player game than in a 5-7 player game. It does play in 30-45mins with 7 players which is a great accomplishment as there is little downtime during the game. A great game and I'll play it quite a bit this year. Rating 8.

Kingsburg - I have played this game before but got the expansion this past Christmas and I like the additional components. The added buildings, events, governors, and particularly the tokens for the King's military support all add more replayability to this game. I have noticed that the game needs people to make decisions fairly quickly or it can bog down (especially with 4-5 players). They have done quite a few changes to mitigate "bad luck" and allow low rolls to have some success in the game so I think the dice mechanism works well. My biggest issue is that each game feels the same. There is a ramping up element and the different building paths allow for variation but the flow is very "rinse/repeat" each year with the only difference being the increasing military requirements. The Event cards do help to liven this up some and the governor cards add more variability so I hope to get some more plays with these new additions. Rating 7

Merchants and Marauders - This is a great themed Pirate/Trading game. I really like the combat and flavor in the game. Downtime between turns can be cumbersome if people don't have their turn planned out in advance. With players that know the game well I think this can be played pretty quickly but the sweet spot seems to be 2-3 players as with 4 it just takes too long. It takes a little more "guts" to play the Pirate role successfully but it is more satisfying than the trader role which is fairly straightforward but repetitive. Even though the rumors/missions add more complications they do add a lot of theme and I have enjoyed most of my games. Rating 8

Nightfall - I think that this is a very creative design for a deck building game. It incorporates players attacking each other but, even better, it allows players to play cards during other player turns. The Chain mechanic is certainly the breakthrough that makes this game work and it is very appealing design as players can chain off of other peoples cards. The game has a lot of elements going on and I have not scratched the surface of the possible strategies (even though the fist box has a fairly limited card pool). I also appreciate the fact that the wound cards can be used to improve your hand so that a player who takes a lot of initial damage is not at a huge disadvantage. My one big negative with the game is that ties are very frequent and the tie breaker is very arbitrary. However, the game is fun and I will continue to explore it this year. Rating 7

Dungeonlords - This game is a difficult one to teach others so I've had to play a few games where I was hand-holding the other players. After the learning curve is over this game does have a lot of interesting decisions. I wish that there was more variability in the creatures and rooms you can have in the dungeon as they make the most interesting impacts. The game is nice but seems repetitive over time and I'm not sure how much replay I will get out of it. Rating 7

Macao - I played this game first back at Gulf Games 2010 and liked it then but was hesitant to get it until I tried it with the family. After playing Caylus and Princes of Florence with the kids, I decided that they can handle even complex Euro-games so I got this one. I love games with clever dice mechanisms and Macao fits the bill perfectly. I like the planning element to the game and the contingency planning that inevitably arise when the dice don't come out as you hoped. There is a risk/reward element to picking the various cards that you want to activate and turn order is more important than I initially thought. I like the flow of the game as early and late turns go faster but the middle turns are really interesting with a lot of card combinations possible and multiple paths to score victory points. There is an issue with AP players as there are so many options but I really like this game and can live with some downtime if it comes up. Rating 9

Castle Ravenloft - Having played AD&D a lot when I was younger this game appealed to me based on the theme and the other reviews I had read. I hoped that it would be fun for my son and I to play and get him ready to move into some RPG's later. The components are top notch and the concept of the monster decision-matrix is really well done. However, I have been somewhat dissapointed in the game play. It is almost too streamlined and each turn feels like the previous one except that there may be a different monster or event to deal with. I wish that the game had more tactical decisions and maybe had a more tense combat system but it does move along well and can finish in 60-90 mins. I will probably add some house rules to try and add more replay to the game for me but out of the box it is only a fair game. Rating 5

Mousquetaires du Roy - I played this at Gulf Games 2011 and really liked the mechanics. The rulebook is a challenge and the board could have been designed with a better layout but it does work. The theme is good but some of the events/encounters are effectively the same. The traps are the most flavorful aspect of the encounters as the rest is just what skill check is required and who do I need to defeat in a duel. The combat system is really clever though and it is quick and fun to play with some tactical decisions as well. Also, having players take their turns in any order and share a common pool of money encourages teamwork and group decisions. The other nice touch is the Treachery cards that force the players to take all their turns in a time limit (sand timer) or else lose any remaining actions. The game is challenging and I like that there are multiple things going on too keep the players distracted from their main objective. One problem I have is that nearly everygame the player who has a 4 in a particular skill will always buy up that skill to a 6 and be the expert in that particular category. I would have liked to see some way to vary this more but haven't played around with it enough yet. I think that the combat element and the active player working against the others does keep this from being a cooperative game where one player dictates how everyone should act (also the timer!) so that is a good thing. Rating 7

Luxor - This was a little set matching game from Ravensburger that my wife picked up at a garage sale. The kids have enjoyed it and it has some nice elements to it and plays very quickly. It is like a connect four game with some timing and tactical decisions but very light overall. I will play it with the family but wouldn't bring it to any game groups. Rating 5

Stronghold - I really enjoyed the mechanics in this game and it is well designed with two assymetric forces. The attacker has a lot more decisions to make on how to coordinate the invasion and ultimately faces the pressure of needing to break through in a quick timeline while the defender has to hold out for as long as possible. I think that the 2 player game favors the defender in general but that 3-4 player games may provide more advantages for the attacker(s) to make it more balanced. I haven't played it enough to fully decide on the balance issues but either way it is a fun game to play. It takes a little longer than some other options (especially if teaching it) but I would gladly play it several more times this year. My one major disappointment in the game is that the battering ram vs gate option is not very viable as defending it is too easy and doesn't cost as much resources as it does to incorporate it into the attack. Rating 7

Conquest of Planet Earth: The Space Alien Game - I end up teaching a lot of the games at our group meetings and one of the hosts loves the Flying Frog games and gets me to teach a lot of his games. This one has a funny theme and has a lot of "take that" elements in the competitive game. The cooperative version seems far too easy (even with the more difficult settings) but I think that the competitive game with the active defenses for earth make for the most interesting. This may have been the original design and the other versions were just scaled back from this so that people weren't overwhelmed at the beginning. I think that this is the way I will always want to play this game going forward. I do think that the die rolling and card drawing (especially Space Stuff) is very variable so there is a lot of luck in the game but if you want to just relax and enjoy the crazy theme then it is a decent game. Rating 6

51st State - I have only played this a few times but it took a lot of effort to get through the rule book and to understand how to play this game. There are a lot of options here but ultimately I'm not sure how to incorporate them into a strategy. I probably need to play this one more to understand all the elements better but I'm not sure I want to invest the time and energy into it. I thought that I could handle it as I love Race for the Galaxy (another game with a lot of Icons) but the counter maintainence work and some of the mechanics of this game just feel wonky for me. Rating 5

Of course all of these ratings may change with more playing so we'll see what else 2011 has to offer.

2007-2010 Games Played

2011-05-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

This is a brief summary of Games played each of the past 4 years and seeing what trends have happened. I did this in 2007 and now I'm getting it current... Also, I will list some of my recent games that I'm playing in 2011.

Top 5 Games Played (# of Plays)

2007
Fairy Tale (34)
To Court the King (26)
Uno (19)
D&D Labrynth Game (15)
San Juan (12)

2008
Race for the Galaxy (29)
Chess (15)
Bohnanza (11)
San Juan (10)
No Thanks! , Ticket to Ride, Lord of the Rings Confrontation, MtG (8)

2009
Chess (95)
Dominion (60)
Race for the Galaxy (26)
Puerto Rico (16)
Small World and To Court the King (15)

2010
Chess (93)
Dominion (23)
Pandemic (15)
Fairy Tale (12)
Through the Ages, Endeavor, Puerto Rico (9)

2007-2010 Top 10

Chess (214)
Dominion (85)
Race for the Galaxy (64)
Fairy Tale (56)
To Court the King (45)
Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan (31)
San Juan (27)
Pandemic, Bonanza (25)

A lot of these games are card games that can be played quickly and are enjoyed by the family. I played a lot of chess through facebook so that is why it is so high on the list. When I look at just Board Games (excluding Chess) I have:

2007-2010 Top 10 (Board Games only)
Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan (31)
Pandemic (25)
D&D Labrynth Game (19)
Monopoly (19)
Pay Day (18)
Small World (17)
Power Grid, Ticket to Ride (16)
Ra (12)

This is a pretty good list of games that I play with my kids or with the family. Most of the games I play with the boardgame group are varied but here are the top ones.

2007-1010 Top 10 Boardgame Group Games
Dominion (18)
Bang!, Pandemic (11)
Power Grid (8)
Race for the Galaxy (7)
Small World, Last Night on Earth (6)
San Juan, Shogun, Caylus (5)

This list adds a few other games to the list like Caylus, Shogun, Bang! and Last Night on Earth. In 2011, you can add 7 Wonders to the list as we have already played it 6 times this year in the Game Group.

Dominion has certainly been a hit with the family and the game group. I have tried several of the other deck building games (though I would like to try Thunderstone) and I haven't been very impressed by any of them except for Nightfall. I like the original design of Nightfall however I don't like the tie-breaker rule and ties are far too common so far. Dominion is good but I don't think that I will be buying any more expansions for it (I have Dominion, Intrigue, Seaside, and Prosperity).

Puerto Rico, Settlers, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride are still consistent great games with replayability. Similarly Race for the Galaxy, San Juan, and Fairy Tale have been replayed over several years with the family.

In 2011, I have played several new games including 7 Wonders (10), Kingsburg (8), Merchants and Marauders (7), Nightfall (6), Dungeonlords (5), Macao (4), Castle Ravenloft (4), and Mousquetaires du Roy (4).

I will add another update with some thoughts on these new games.

House Rules

2011-04-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

Below is an article that I started drafting back in 2008 and finally have come back to finish it. I will try to start posting some more comments and updating some links on the site in the next few months. I'm still playing games but just haven't been updating the blog until now.
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Have you ever played a game of monopoly and thought, this is too long and I wish it had more decisions that just buy everything I land on? Have you ever wondered how useful the University might be in Puerto Rico or maybe the Cube Favor Track in Caylus?

I have always enjoyed tinkering with game rules and also with how a game "works". What I mean by this is that games tend to have one or more mechanisms or elements that really drive the game. Changing some of the core elements of a game can really result in a totally different game and this is not what I want when I create House Rules (at least not usually). What I want to do is modify a part of the design to either (1) allow for more strategy, (2) reduce a dominant strategy, and/or (3) just add more of what is fun about the game. I'm sure there are other reasons but I'll just touch on these for now... With these ideas in mind here are some of my house rules for games that I own. After each house rule I will list the reasons (above numbers) for why I created them.

Monopoly (1,2,and 3)
I'll start with a game that everyone is familiar with and probably associates with a long drawn out game. First, many people don't follow the Monopoly rules as written (nothing happens on Free Parking and there are auctions for properties that are landed on and not purchased).

House Rule #1 - Players start with $500 (instead of $2000). I have found that mosts games of standard Monopoly tend to open with players buying every property that they land on in the initial few trips around the board. This house rule addresses my primary concern on money and makes property purchases much more tactical in the early game.

House Rule #2 - Utilities count as RailRoads (cost $200, Rent for 5 RR is $400 and 6RR is $800). Utilities are impractical purchases as they cannot generate cash via Monopolies and are much less useful than a few railroads. This house rule makes Railroads extremely valuable in the early game and increases their sustainability over the long game.

House Rule #3 - When a player lands on a property they can buy it if they wish for the listed price. If they do not buy it then it goes up for auction among the other players. Beginning with the next player to the left each player may bid. First bid must be List Price or higher and each subsequent bid must be higher then the last. When a player passes they are out of the auction. This house rule keeps auctions starting at the property price which helps offset any cashflow problems in the early game by any players who make agressive purchases.

My experience is that this version of Monopoly is much more tactical and enjoyable AND it can often complete in 90 minutes or less. I have had one two-player game end before I made one complete lap around the board! It does tend to make the low cost monopolies more powerful as there is not enough cash to build up an expensive one early but I have found the games to be more enjoyable if I have to play it with the kids.

Puerto Rico (1)
Overall, I would not make changes to this game as it is a great design and I particluarly like to play it with the expansion buildings in the mix to make for a variety of different strategies. The only change that I have made with this game is to alter the cost of the University from 8 to 7. This makes the building more viable and I have never seen it abused in any games at the 7 level.

Amun Re (1)
I have talked about my house rules on this game in my Amun Re review. These changes have made decisions in the game more interesting and have helped to balance out the Power Cards so that I don't feel like any particular Power Card is "too weak". While they all have their uses some will still be more useful with particular players and/or strategies. This feels right for me.

To Court the King (1,2)
I love dice manipulation games, so I thoroughly enjoyed this game when I first purchased it. However, I quickly found out that the "strategies" were very limited and almost always the player who grabbe extra dice (particularly the General) would win 90+% of the time. Also, if a player missed on getting an advisor early and got a Jester then they would not be able to catch up with others. This was exasserbated in a 3 player game where the farmers would often go to the 1st and 2nd players and the 3rd player would have to get 15+ or else be stuck with a Jester. Not fun.

House Rule #1 - The General’s 2 extra dice are different (white) and they MUST be fixed prior to any other dice. This makes the General less effective overall and generally requires at least one control card to make him beneficial which balances him with other choices. I read about this one on the Tao of Gaming website and quickly implemented it with great success.

House Rule #2 - The following cards and card combinations provide players with an additional Fool/Charlatan card when they are taken (combo is met).
· Serving Maid
· Philosopher
· Merchant
· Noblewoman & Magician
· Nobleman & Alchemist

This rule really helps to balance out the control cards with the extra dice cards. It gives the ability to get extra dice (through the Charlatan) and it allows a player who gets a Jester early to have a viable way back into the game. It also makes for a variety of different strategies and a player who takes only extra dice will have to be extremely lucky to win against a player who takes a few control cards (balance seems about right now). These changes did warrant a slightly different change in the numbers of cards placed in the tablaeu for various numbers of players.

Marvel Super Heroes (3), War of the Ring (1,3), World of Warcraft (3)
These games are all longer games with a lot of theme. I will briefly touch on some of my house rules for these games.

Marvel - I added 12 X-Men, 12 Avengers, 5 FF, and 8 Marvel Knights to the original 16 heroes. Some of these can be used with multiple teams (She Hulk was an Avenger and part of the Fantastic Four in the comics). I also added 8 new Masterminds (12 total) so that each team has 3 different possible Masterminds to face. Some are tougher than others but I balanced this by how the teams are chosen in the beginning. These changes don't affect the gameplay but add a lot of flavor and replay value for comic fans. In addition, I made a few house rules so that turn order is by VP (instead of starting with the lowest and going clockwise) and in how story cards are used but generally I just added more variety.

War of the Ring - I have written a few articles just on this one so I won't go into more details again here. However, these changes increased the replay value for me and opened up a lot of different strategies in the game.

World of Warcraft - I only play this game with the first expansion and I found that the base game allowed players to take out the overlord at 4th level without requiring anyone to get to 5th level. Also, the game didn't have enough interaction with other players (aside from a long Player vs Player combat).
House Rule #1 - I created tougher overlords so that all 3 of them require more powerful players to defeat them. This makes character advancement to 5th level more important (at least for 1 or 2 of the players) and opens up more possibilities while only slightly adding length.
House Rule #2 - Expanded town actions. I wanted to add more options for when a player is in town. Especially if they only wanted to get some training (and not healing). I added options to allow them to visit the Tavern, the Magistrate, the Oracle, or to even have more focused training and save some Gold.
House Rule #3 - Secondary Skills. All characters now get a random secondary skill that provides more flavor with some small benefits.
House Rule #4 - Advanced Quests. I added a whole new deck of quests that can be completed by either player. This opens up more options and also produces more interaction without promoting more direct conflicts (which bog the game down).

Caylus (1,2)
The two issues I have with Caylus are that players don't utilize the Cube Favor track and the stone production buildings are over utilized. I am still experimenting with my house rules to address these issues.
House Rule #1 - When a player would get a cube for someone else placing on their building they can only get the cube if they give up 1 victory point (the one they got when the other player placed on their building). This house rule seems to make these production buildings not so over balanced and my hope is that it will also open up more needs for players to acquire cubes from that favor track at certain times. I am hesitant to increase the capabilities on the favor track as I don't want to make it too strong. Small steps with house rules are generally best ;-)

My Gaming History

2008-03-06T00:17:00.004-05:00

The news of Gary Gygax's passing saddened me although I never knew him personally. His game has influenced my life (and many other gamers) in countless ways. I had many good times playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends during my adolescent years and beyond. Reminiscing about AD&D prompted me to think about my formative years in gaming and I decided to go ahead and summarize my experiences here. Ah the nostalgia...

I was always interested in games and sports. I thrived on competition and always wanted to "be the best" at whatever activity I was doing. My grandfather did play me in Checkers, my brother taught me chess, and we played a few card games as a family during vacations. However, I mostly played games with my friends.

The first non-traditional boardgame that I remember playing was TSR's Dungeon! I still have a copy of it in my closet. This was a dungeon-crawl boardgame and my first D&D type experience. I remember looking at some maps my brother was drawing (he was 10 yrs older) and being interested in the game he was playing. I learned later that this was Dungeons & Dragons. I first started playing D&D when I was about 8 yrs old and I played the Keep on the Borderlands B2 module with the old D&D rules. I had no idea what I was doing except learning how to roll dice to fight monsters, but I got started and the experience evolved into something quite different.

I would later learn the rules for Advanced D&D (AD&D) and inherited the original hardback rulebooks from my brother as he didn't stay interested. I learned about playing a role playing game and how it was very different from any boardgame. First of all, there was no board! The game was created and played like a movie/play/story with the players "acting" as the lead characters while the Dungeon Master (DM) would design the plot and play the roles of all the characters in the game including the villains and monsters the players encounter. The DM was the author/director/referee and his goal was to make the game experience fun for the players. It was such a revolutionary concept to think that people could play a game without winners/losers and just enjoy it for the experience of playing. AD&D would be a fixture for Role playing games (RPGs) for decades and it appealed to me on many levels -- Fantasy themes, combat, good vs evil, imagination, creativity, and rolling lots of cool looking dice!

While I was still 10-11 yrs old, I picked up another role playing game called Champions. I was already a comic book reader (mostly Marvel comics Avengers, Marvel Team-Up, etc) and Champions was a RPG that allowed players to create their own superheroes and have comic book style adventures. The greatest design element in Champions was the character creation process. In AD&D you created a character primarily by rolling dice for various attributes like Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence and these attributes defined how inherently capable he/she was at being a Fighter, Thief, or Wizard. Champions gave you the capability to design your characters abilities and powers and make them the values that you wanted! If you wanted to build a character with Superman or Spiderman's powers then you can. You were only limited by your creativity. The game also had a built-in balancing mechanism where you had to pay for your powers with points and any points over a threshold (usually 100pts) had to be paid for with Disadvantages (Kryptonite, Aunt May, etc). So I could build a 200 pt hero but then he would need 100 pts in disadvantages while a 150 pt hero might not be as a capable but he wouldn't have as many "issues" with only 50pts in disadvantages. I have no idea how many characters I made in Champions but there were a whole lot more created then ever adventured in the game because the process was great fun on it's own. Champions and AD&D also taught me a lot of math calculations including fractions, rounding, formulas and probability (the first bell curve I saw was in one of the AD&D books).

I played many RPGs in Chicago and then when I moved to Atlanta I started playing many games with friends and my cousin who lived in Alabama. These games included: Risk, Grand Imperialism, Knights of Camelot, All the King's Men, The James Bond RPG, Marvel Superheroes RPG, SPI War of the Ring, Gamma World, Saga, Viking Gods, Gladiator, Wizards, Talisman, Dungeonquest, Chainsaw Warrior, Bowl Bound, Paydirt, Block Mania, Blood Bowl, Chaos Marauders, Fellowship of the Ring, Kingmaker, Axis and Allies, and Fortress America. Most of these were themed around Fantasy or Role playing games or created by companies in those markets TSR and Games Workshop along with the famous Milton Bradley big box series like Axis and Allies.

Then a tactical game called Battletech came out and I was hooked on a new boardgame. Battletech allowed players to play a combat simulation game where you control your 20-100 ton Mech's which are giant armored robotic looking vehicles armed with lasers, missiles, machine guns, and other weaponry. The sci-fi game produced by FASA had a great back story and it was fun to "blow up" the opponents by destroying armor in various locations and either causing it to overheat, hitting the ammo and igniting a chain reaction, or even blowing up the "head" where the pilot controls the Mech. Teams of Mechs could form Lances (4 Mechs) or Companies (3 Lances). The structure allowed for Battalions (3 Companies) but those battles were resolved with Mass combat rules. The game incorporated Fighters and Dropships too along with Infantry and Tanks which allowed you to simulate invading a planet or running an imbalanced forces scenario. This game was addictive and I can remember playing Mechwarrior (RPG addition to Battletech) for many all-night gaming sessions.

Battletech and Role Playing games along with Axis and Allies were played in High School and even at College. I can still fondly remember some of the battles and adventures that we had during that time. After college, I got married and started working in corporate America in Nashville. Gaming was pushed aside for awhile except for traditional games Monopoly, Scrabble, etc that I played with my wife.

Back in college a friend of mine introduced me to a card game where you played a spell caster and the cards were the spells you used to duel against your opponent. It looked okay but I was too busy and financially strapped to start on a new game. Well, in Nashville I met a co-worker's husband who introduced this game to me again and I became hooked on Magic the Gathering. My lovely wife unknowingly bought me a Starter pack from the 4th Edition because she saw how much I was interested without realizing how "interested" I really was... This game was another great evolutionary design in gaming. Yes, I know that it is a marketing and huge money pit but the game itself is pure genius. The idea that you can take a group of cards and build your own deck by combining elements from the cards together into a consistent and cohesive design is incredible and very, very, VERY, addictive. I invested more dollars than I care to admit into this game but I absolutely loved it. I played this game for several years in the late 90's and into the next century. Then played it some after moving back to Atlanta before I made the next change in gaming.

I remember reading about a game based on the Lord of the Rings but one where players worked together in a cooperative game (this was around 2000 or 2001). It was designed by some German by the name of Reiner Knizia and being a Lord of the Rings fan I was keenly interested. I bought the game along with both expansions and learned about a site with similar "German" games called Boardgamegeek. I also found out about an Atlanta group that met at a hobby store and run by Ward Batty. One Sunday night, I made my way over to the store and played Paris Paris and Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers there. It was great to meet other people with similar interests and most importantly I got a contact for a boardgame group that met in Acworth. This would be the group that I joined and even though the founder has since moved to Texas, we have continued to meet and play boardgames. I've been playing with this group for 5+ years now and I have played more games than I knew existed. I am blessed that both of my children have a real interest in games and a wife who has become quite the gamer herself (even if she won't play RPGs or wargames).

Thanks Mr. Gygax for an incredible eye-opening experience that brought me into the wonderful world of gaming.
Rest in Peace.

Lack of Updates

2008-02-05T01:27:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted many updates recently for a variety of reasons...
1) My schedule has left me less time for boardgaming (two kids in sports and other activities)
2) Since Christmas, I've been spending more time on PS2 games (Guitar Hero, Final Fantasy, etc)
3) I decided not to post all my game group sessions (although I will add some from time to time).

I'm really enjoying the time with my children. This spring I will be assistant coach for my daughter's soccer team and also for my son's little league baseball team. They grow up quickly and so this takes a lot of time. They also are really enjoying more boardgames than ever and we play as a family on a regular basis. Some new Christmas games that were hits with the kids were...

Zooreka - this is a Cranium game that lets players move around collecting cards to build habitats for their zoos. It is simple (and we added a few house rules to make it more interesting) but the kids really get into the theme and the game is very colorful and tactile.

Ice Cream - this is a light card game but again the theme is what attracts the kids (particularly Heather).

Zooloretto - sure it is a light game for Game of the Year but the kids are both able to play it and it has opportunities for theme to win. Also, tactile with a fun theme. (is there a trend...)

Hare and Tortoise - a classic german boardgame that uses a lot of math skills and really leverages "position" in a race game. My son enjoys it but he has trouble with the decisions (he is only 6) however he likes to roll the die on the Rabbit spaces. Heather, on the other hand, is quite skilled at calculating the amount of carrots to spend to optimize her moves and cross the finish line. A great game for math oriented children.

David and Goliath - a fun card game that I purchased primarily for when we get together with non-gamers that like trick taking games. It is light and has some unique twists that make it fun to play regardless of the cards you are dealt.

Race for the Galaxy - Currently my favorite new game from Christmas. I haven't taught Heather yet (although she is good at San Juan) but this game is really fun. I think it appeals to my Magic the Gathering desires for intricate card combinations and interactions. Race is a game in the vein of San Juan but with more varied cards and strategies. Brian Bankler has many articles on this game on his blog the Tao of Gaming.

Lord of the Rings Confrontation - I've had this game for some time and really enjoy it but my wife doesn't like the artwork and she won't play it with me often. However, Matthew has shown an interest in it and we have played several games now. He seems to be getting some of the strategies and I give him both variant cards but he lacks the strategic thinking to really elevate his game to the next level -- he is only 6!

I have busied myself playing on our new PS2 (yes, we are behind in video game technology) recently and haven't played as many boardgames. This week I played Guitar Hero I and II and finished both games on Medium difficulty. Now I'm trying Hard and it is HARD to complete songs (which is a good thing because it is fun to play even if you can't finish the song).

I'll try to post some more game reviews and strategies over the next few months.

2007 in Review

2008-01-02T23:41:00.000-05:00

2007 Games Played
This was the first year that I tracked all* of my boardgames played during a year. In 2007, I played 486 total games (146 unique). A little more detail is in order here:

Top 5 Games played in 2007 (# plays)
1. Fairy Tale (34)
2. To Court the King (26)
3. Uno (19)
4. D&D Labrynth Game (15)
5. San Juan (12)

Fairy Tale was a huge hit with my family. We purchased it for Christmas in 2006 and it became a favorite "filler" for my daughter and son. To Court the King was very popular with Matthew since he could roll a lot of dice, but his favorite game in 2007 was the Dungeons and Dragons Electronic Labrynth Game that I have had since the early 80's. It is still a clever game with plenty of luck but also with some great thematic elements and it is still very playable after over twenty years!

Top 5 Games played in 2007 (at least 60 min in length)
1. Chess (11)
2. That's Life! (9)
3. Power Grid (7)
4. Wits and Wagers (7)
5. Transamerica, Ra, and Marvel Super Heroes (6)

Most of my games are played with family but I was surprised at the number of single plays I had (particularly within my game group). I played 61 titles only once and 52 of those were with my game group. In fact, I only played 14 games more than once with the game group and only 4 titles more than twice: Bang! (8), Power Grid (5), Shogun (4), Last Night on Earth (3), and Caylus (3).

While I'm doing lists I thought I would add a few top 10 lists...

Top 10+ Games I own
1. War of the Ring - My favorite game and I love the theme
2. Puerto Rico - Elegant design and superb multiplayer game
3. Power Grid - Just got the Power Plant expansion
4. Magic the Gathering - I don't invest in the game now but it is still a great design
5. Ra - My favorite risk taking game
6. Caylus - I still prefer this to the Magna Carta version
7. Amun Re - Great Knizia game
8. Settlers of Catan - Still an addictive classic
9. Lord of the Rings - I like both Knizia LotR games but this one I can play with the kids
10. Princes of Florence / Mystery of the Abbey / Ticket to Ride - 3 games that I just had to add to the list.

I would really like to play Tigris and Euphrates more so that I can adequately rate it against these others. Also, World of Warcraft and Race for the Galaxy are new in 2007 and they will both probably find there way onto this list soon. -- speaking of new games.

Top 10 New** games in 2007 (+ Christmas 2006)
1. Race for the Galaxy - Just got it Christmas and I really enjoy this game
2. World of Warcraft the Boardgame - Long but extremely addictive for me
3. Fairy Tale - It has been fun to see my kids learn this game
4. Age of Empires III - Very fun after one play
5. To Court the King - I really like advanced Yahtzee
6. Shogun - Great game but dry theme hurts it a bit
7. Fury of Dracula - I would like to try some more games of this one.
8. Zooloretto - Fun for the family
9. Citadels - A lot of fun with a large group
10. Marvel Super Heroes - Rating has dropped over time but I still like the theme
11. David and Goliath - Great "gateway" game (and I couldn't stop at 10)

* ALL actually refers to games played with family/friends and doesn't count solitaire games or online games.

** NEW for me (not necessarily published in 2007)

War of the Ring Strategy - Part III - House Rules / Variants

2007-11-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

In this article I will detail the various changes that I have implemented as House Rules for the Base and Expansion Games. I will also point out why I implemented them and what areas they “fix” in the game (some are just added for fun/variety).

House Rules
South Rhun as a City
This is a fairly well known house rule that changes South Rhun from a Settlement into a City. It really only provides the FP with an opportunity to capture two SP cities for Military Victory (Angmar and South Rhun) since the other SP city is almost impossible to conquer (Far Harad).

Smeagol Tiles
Smeagol Tiles are treated like (0+reveal) tiles instead of (0) tiles. The second Smeagol Tile eliminates Smeagol but doesn’t trigger We Shall Get It!
These changes make Smeagol Tiles weaker and give the SP more opportunities to reveal the Fellowship.

Improved Ents
When the Ent faction is mustered place 1+h Ents in Fangorn where h is the number of Hobbits in Fangorn. If after an Ent attack, the defending Shadow army is completely eliminated, place the attacking Ent in the now-vacated region.
The first rule allows multiple Ents to be placed in Fangorn (as opposed to 1) and makes the Ents much more powerful. I really haven't playtested the first rule yet but it is a work in progress. The second rule prevents single regular units from stalling the Ents and allows the Ents the opportunity to have a real impact in the expansion.

Easterling Cavalry
These units are Elites that can only be mustered in North Rhun or South Rhun. In addition, Elephants can only be mustered in Umbar, Near Harad, and Far Harad. If using the Cavalry then replace the S&E Elite Elephant in South Rhun with an Easterling Cavalry unit.Easterling Cavalry are Elite units that have a Leadership of 1. However, they may not be reduced in order to continue a siege.

Black Uruks

Use a Muster Die to bring in the Black Uruk Faction

When the Black Uruk Faction is mustered, replace up to 10 Sauron Orcs in the supply with Black Uruks on a 1 for 1 basis (these Sauron Orcs are removed form the game) and place 1 Black Uruk from the supply in any Sauron Stronghold.
Black Uruks function like Sauron Regulars except that Event Cards cannot muster them.
Black Uruks act like Elites for the combat card We Come to Kill
Each Black Uruk sacrificed for Onslaught or Relentless Assault counts as two units.
If a siege involves equal siege engines on both sides and Black Uruks are in the attacking army, then the FP rolls a die. If the result is equal to or less than the number of Black Uruks in the Shadow Army then the FP may not sacrifice a trebuchet this round in order to gain siege superiority.

The Cavalry and Uruk rules allow players to use the other new pieces from the expansion and provide more variety in combat and strategies.

New Characters

Grima, the Wormtongue
(use a Marker in Edoras to represent Grima)

Movement 0, Leadership 0
Add 1 Die to the Shadow Action Pool.
If Isengard is not at War, SP may use a Muster die to place Grima in Edoras.
Theoden's Counselor - It costs the FP 1 Army/Muster die to advance Rohan on the political track (instead of just a Muster die).
Black Whispers - Rohan is only activated by companions or removing Grima. If the Grima Event card is in play then you may draw an event card whenever any Character dice are used to play an event.
If Helm's Deep or Edoras is attacked, Rohan goes to War, OR Gandalf the White moves to Edoras then Eliminate Grima from the game.
When Grima leaves the game, move Rohan to War, Muster a Rohan unit (Regular or Elite) in any Free Rohan settlement.

Grima is not considered a Minion for the purpose of playing Gandalf the White. While Saruman is in play, Grima does not add 1 die to the Shadow Action Pool.

Grima provides a consistent method for the Shadow to halt Rohan’s development. He also gives the SP an opportunity to get two action dice with the first two Musters (Balrog and Grima). He can only be mustered pre-Saruman so he cannot replace a lost Saruman Action die. He also slows down the Rohan politics and combines well with his card (if drawn). The primary drawback of Grima is that Gandalf the White can move to Edoras and get Rohan to War quickly along with a free unit.

Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
(Use a figure to represent Elrond in Rivendell)

Movement 0, Leadership 2
If Saruman is in play and neither Gandalf the White nor Galadriel are in play, use a Muster die to play Elrond in Rivendell.
Council of Elrond – Use an Elven Ring to change any action die into a Will of the West
Healing Guidance – Remove 1 Corruption by using a Will of the West AND 1 Elven Ring.
Elladan and Elrohir – Use a Will of the West to move an Elven unit (Regular or Elite) and an Elven Leader from Rivendell to the region with Strider/Aragorn. This unit can move into a stronghold under siege.
Wisdom of Elrond - Use a Will of the West to activate any Free People’s nation and advance it one step on the political track OR to advance two active nations, one step each, on the political track.

If Elrond AND Galadriel are in play, or have been in play, then the SP may muster the Mouth of Sauron with a Muster die.

Elrond is designed primarily as an alternative to Galadriel. One problem with the expansion is the focus on Lorien. Elrond allows Rivendell to draw some attention and also provides some interesting assistance to the Free Peoples player. He can help the Ringbearers with Healing Guidance, assist Strider/Aragorn by sending aid, activate and energize the FP nations with Wisdom of Elrond, and his Council ability allows the FP to get Will of the West when needed. He doesn’t add a FP action die though and if he and Galadriel are mustered then the SP gets to bring in the Mouth of Sauron early. Otherwise, Elrond is not a huge drawback, but many of his abilities require Elven Rings, which can be dangerous with the new and improved Witch King (see below).

Witch King (Chief of Ringwraiths)

Movement (Inf.), Leadership 2
Add 1 die to the Shadow Action Pool.
Play the Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths in a Free Region with the Fellowship or in a region occupied by a Shadow Army, using a Muster die.
When the Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths enters play, Muster 2 Nazgûl in any 2 Sauron Strongholds (1 in each).
Shadow of Despair - if the Witch-king is in play, each Nazgûl in the Region (including the Witch-king) grants one Hunt re-roll.
He Sees, He Knows - if the Fellowship is declared in a Region, which is not a Free Peoples Stronghold, you may immediately move the Witch King to the Region with the Fellowship.
Hound for the Dark Lord - When Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths enters play, draw 3 Hunt tiles and choose 1 to be removed from the Game. This ability can be used again by discarding an Elven Ring and an Action die. Any Smeagol tiles drawn do not bring Smeagol into play AND they may be chosen as the tile removed.
The Ring draws them – If the Fellowship is revealed AND you play a character card with a Palantir action die result, then immediately draw a new Character card.

This version of the Witch King makes him more tempting and useful in the Hunt than the published expansion WK. For starters, he can be mustered into a Shadow Army, which allows the SP to get the WK at any time (instead of only when the FSP is not in a FP Stronghold/City). He comes out with two Nazgul, which allows his hunting to be more effective without Sauron being at War (and is also like a free Muster). His card cycling ability is only useful when the FSP is revealed but this can be very useful in cycling Character cards and improving the Corruption strategy. Finally, his ability to use Elven Rings (and one time use when he enters play) allows the SP to remove some Hunt Tiles (including removing Smeagol!) but only out of a limited random pool. Overall, these improvements make the Chief a much more viable option for the SP and since he doesn’t automatically activate nations he offers a different feel to the game.

Event / Combat Card Modifications

These changes to cards are to improve event/combat card effects. The changes are underlined for each card.

Shadow Events Changes in BLUE
Flocks of Crebain
Play Table. SP gets one re-roll on all Hunt rolls. Discard "Flocks of Crebain" to add 1 to the Hunt Roll. Discard if FSP Declares in a FP City or Stronghold.
Return to Valinor
SP Control Elven Stronghold. For each Elven Stronghold not under siege: Roll 1 die for each Elven Unit hitting on 5+.
Denethor’s Folly
Minas Tirith under Siege. Play Table. Eliminate 1 FP Leader in MT. FP player can't use Combat Cards for MT battles or sacrifice Trebuchets. FP can discard using Will or any action die if Gandalf or Aragorn in MT.
Stormcrow
FSP or FP Companion inside a Nation's Borders that is not "At War". Move Nation 1 step back on Political Track and the shadow player eliminates one Leader from that Nation.
Corsairs are upon us!
Move all ships. Move an Army from a Region with a Ship to a Region with a Ship. Move/Attack with that Army. FP cannot play a Card during 1st round of any ensuing battle. If FP withdraws into Stronghold, then SP gets 1 Free Siege Tower against that Stronghold.

Flocks of Crebain becomes much more powerful than it was previously. Return to Valinor is actually playable. Denethor's Folly impacts siege engines. Stormcrow allows SP to choose the casualty. Corsairs is useful again.

FP Events
Gwaihir, the Windlord
Move or Separate one or more Companions from the FSP as if they were level 4. They can move into or out of a Stronghold under siege.
The Last Battle
Aragorn or Gandalf the White with FP Army in S or N Ithilien, Dagorlad, or Mordor. Play Table. Action dice used to move the FSP are not placed in the Hunt Box. Elven Rings used by the FP are removed from the game. Discard this card as soon as a FP Army is not in one of the Regions above.
Threat to the Fiefs of the South
Southrons and Easterlings at War. Recruit 1 Gondor Regular in Pelagir, Lossarnach, and Lamedon. Roll a die for every Ship in a Gondor Region and remove it on 4+.
Wisdom of Elrond
Activate a Free Peoples nation and advance it on the political track OR advance two active Free Peoples nations on the political track.
The Eagles are Coming!
Companion in FP Army in or adjacent to Region with both an SP Army and Nazgul. Roll 1 die per Nazgul present (max 5) and eliminate one for every 5+. All other Nazgul in that Region move to Barad Dur. Witch King is unaffected by this card.
Mirror of Galadriel
Add a Will of the West action die to your available action dice. Also, if the Fellowship is in Lorien you may immediately heal one Corruption.
There is Another Way
Immediately heal on corruption. Then if Gollum, or Smeagol, is the guide, you may move or hide the Fellowship.

Big changes are in Wisdom of Elrond and re-design of Mirror or Galadriel. Mirror allows avoidance of turn stalls in some situations (greatly helping FP player).

FP Combat Effects
Daring Defiance
Companion in the Battle. Shadow player's combat card effect is cancelled. One Companion’s Leadership is forfeit for this battle round.
Among the Siege Engines
For each hit you score during your leader re-roll, you may eliminate one enemy siege engine (if one is present) in addition to your hit.
Last Defenses
FP Siege Engine in Battle. Treat Trebuchets as Regulars for this combat round.
It is a Gift
The defending or attacking Army is in the FSP Region. Add 1 to all dice on your Combat roll and Leader re-roll.

These changes allow the FP many more combat options and improve many combat effects that were never very helpful.

In Summary

These changes really provide a lot of interesting openings and help to make event/combat cards more interesting and decisions more meaningful. Hopefully, they add more variety and options to both sides while maintaining most of the game balance.

Session Reports Oct 2 - Nov 6

2007-11-11T22:21:00.000-05:00

Oct 2
Steve's House.
Attendees (6): Steve, Warren, Sharon, Michael, Adam, and Troy

Discretion
Discretion was an interesting game that was designed back in the late 70's. It has some clever mechanics involving how players place their developments but the game also has a ton of randomness. Players can try to prepare for it but sometimes a "death spiral" becomes inevitable and bankruptcy ensues.

We had a long game of discretion where only Sharon, Troy, and I remained until the end. Steve, Warren, and Adam went bankrupt through various means during the game. Sharon pulled away at the end and I was lucky to finish with any cash and avoid bankruptcy. Final scores: Sharon $5,850k; Troy $2,870k, and Michael $1,360k.

Oct 16
Our House.
Attendees (11): Sharon, Warren, Andy, David, Heather, Barbara, Chris, Michael, Troy, Matt, and Steve.

Pirate's Cove
Final: Sharon (44), Andy (36), David (23), and Warren (19).

Amun Re
Heather (49), Barbara (45), and Andrew (43)

Age of Empires III
This was my first time to play this highly rated game. It has worker placement like Caylus and area control plus some other elements that I had played before in various games all combined into one well-themed colonization game. I particularly likes the multiple strategies that the game offers allowing players to go for different VP elements. The game was a little lengthy but it was also was our first game and it kept me engaged throughout. I ended up following a heavy money strategy and leveraged my Sugar trade tiles to good effect, but ultimately it was Chris's exploration strategy that pulled out the victory.
Final Score: Chris (90), Michael (86), Matt (67), Troy(59), and Steve (44).

Caylus
A close 5 player game of Caylus.
Final Scores: Andrew (68), Warren (59), Sharon (57), David (55), and Andy (49).

Oct 20
David's House.
David hosted a Saturday game day (with Halloween theme) that I was able to make and I brought my 6 yr old Matthew to attend. (He got to play boardgames and video games)
Attendees (9): Mary Ellen, David, Sharon, Troy, Michael, Cheryl, Warren, Andy, and Matthew

Cowboys: The Way of the Gun
This was a game that David wanted to try out. We played the OK Coral scenario. The game is interesting thematically and other scenarios probably flesh it out more. It attempts to re-create gun fight situations but ultimately is a dice rolling game with only a little strategy. On the other hand, it didn't take long and once familiar with the rules it might be a fun filler

Give Me the Brain
This is a light card game about Zombies running a fast food franchise and they only have one brain to use... humorous but only a filler. I was lucky to be sitting next to Mary Ellen when we switched hands and I was able to go out for the win.

Fearsome Floors
This is a humorous game where players try to get across the dungeon without getting eaten by the Monster. It requires luck and timing along with some logic skills to succeed. When Andy arrived he took over for Cheryl and together they were able to pull out the victory.

Last Night on Earth
This was another game that David wanted to get to the table and it fit in perfectly to close out the night of monster themed games. This one has a ton of theme and really plays like a "B" zombie flick. Players play various characters and pickup equipment and weapons to fight off a bunch of brain-eating zombies. We played the intro-scenario Kill the Zombies! and it was okay but the other scenarios looked to add a lot more to the game. It turned out that the heroes were able to kill 15 Zombies in time...

Oct 23
David's House
Attendees(6): Matt, Andy, Mary Ellen, David, Andrew, and Michael

Last Night on Earth x2
We played two more games of Last Night on Earth.
The first game was the Defend the Manor House scenario where the heroes tried to defend the house in the middle of the board from the invading zombies. Jake (played by Matt) tried to lure many of the zombies to him so he could blow them up with dynamite but he was able to kill many of them without blowing himself up, Sheriff Anderson (played by Andy) shot several zombies too, but ultimately the female characters (Becky, Jenny, and Sally) were zombie food and this was too much for the heroes.
The 2nd game was closer as the heroes tried to find the keys and gasoline to start an old pick-up truck and escape from the zombies. Johnny (Andy) and Father Joseph (me) killed 9 zombies combined but once again Becky, Sally, and Jenny got eaten by Zombies and Sheriff Anderson too. Even though Father Joseph, Jake, and Johnny were going to get away once 4 heroes fall to the zombies then it is a zombie victory.
The game was much more enjoyable with the scenarios since they added the "plot" to the game and made decisions seem more meaningful. All in all, a fun game with a great theme.

Oct 26
David's House
Attendees(2): David and Michael

Twilight Struggle
I went over to David's to play Twilight Struggle. Twilight Struggle is a card-driven game about the Cold War between the USA and Soviet Russia.
We got in most of one game and then completed most of a 2nd game. In both games one side got ahead and seemed to be in control of most of the board. We missed up several rules in the first game but it was a lot of fun. This game really forces players to make hard decisions to try an minimize the damage that their opponent will do to them. The theme is well crafted and the tactical decisions abound without feeling "stale" and without being simply a move/counter type of game. I would definitely play it again even though the game took us a lot of time to play (about 3+ hrs). In both games I played the US and David won game one while I won game two.

Oct 30
David's House
Attendees (7): David, Cheryl, Troy, Sharon, Adam, Warren, and Michael

Fury of Dracula
This was a game that I have wanted to play for some time. Andrew was unable to make it but he had just bought this game and loaned it to me so we could play it on Halloween Eve (thanks Andrew!). It is a great deduction/hunt game that oozes with theme. I played Dracula while Cheryl, Sharon, David, and Troy played the 4 hunters. Once they got on my trail, they were impossible to shake. I tried turning into a Wolf and was attacked by David (Van Helsing). He wounded me badly but I escaped out to Sea. Then I was hounded after arriving back on land but I got lucky with a trap. Nina (Troy) came after me but I had an event card that allowed my new vampire to automatically "bite" Nina and this gave me 2 pts toward victory! I had to only hold out for a few turns before my army of vampires became too strong for the humans to stop...bwha ha ha! Anyway, it was a fun game and I was very lucky to pull out the victory as the heroes seemed to have me cornered at every move. It seemed very difficult to get any hidden cards into the catacombs and I wasn't able to get even one during our first game.

Nov 6
Troy's House
Attendees (5): Troy, Michael, Steve, Andrew, and Adam

Escalation!
A humorous and light card game from Reiner Knizia. This game was okay but there are a lot of other card games that I would prefer. It is a light filler and it does this job well.
Scores (low is better): Troy (28), Michael (34), Adam (48), Andrew (74), and Steve (83).

Princes of Florence
I really want to get this one to the table more often. It has so many interesting elements and I haven't figured out the optimum strategy yet. In this one, I ended up with 3 builders and actually filled almost my whole board with tiles (something I hadn't done previously), however Andrew and Adam had superior strategies and they racked up bonus Prestige at the end.
Final Scores: Troy (42), Steve (44), Michael (53), Andrew (62), and Adam (63).

War of the Ring Strategy - Part II – The Expansion Game

2007-10-10T21:01:00.000-05:00

In this article, I will discuss how the Twilight of the Third Age expansion affects the strategies and game-play of the standard game. I will discuss the added components and the value they bring to the game. Also, I will cover some of the issues that the expansion does not address effectively.

Factions
Dunlendings
The Dunlendings are an interesting addition to the Isengard armies. Normally, Isengard was unable to conquer Rohan easily since the Isengard forces are generally split between Isengard and Dunland. Capturing Helm’s Deep is often easy but getting Edoras can be tricky and often an un-checked Rohan can develop quite a formidable army in Edoras. The Dunlendings allow the SP to Muster additional troops directly in Rohan and this “forward mustering” capability is offset by their relative weakness in combat. Clever maneuvering allows the SP to reduce this combat weakness by separating Dunlendings from each other so that each individual unit is like a Regular in combat. However, this takes some time to achieve. Finally, the Dunlendings provide a threat to bolster Dunland/Moria and strike Lorien/Rivendell/Shire. Overall, they are useful but not needed every game so I really like their design in the expansion.

Corsairs of Umbar
The Corsairs faction provides the SP with a more strategic method for attacking Dol Amroth. Now the SP can siege this Stronghold when needed without having to draw a particular card. This flexibility comes at a cost, since the time it takes to muster S&E to War and to muster/move the Corsairs takes quite a few actions. Also, the Corsairs do allow for an assault on the Gray Havens from the Sea and they provide the SP with an easy way to reinforce sieges via the ships. I personally think that they are a good addition, but I’m not a big fan of the Corsairs card or the fact that mustering the faction actually doesn’t provide any “military” units (only ships). They can be useful but often they are just not needed and unless SP rolls lots of early musters they often don’t see play.

Ents of Fangorn
This is the only faction for the FP. Now the Ents are not just a part of the Character deck for the FP and they can strike more than just Isengard. The Ents do require a character in Fangorn (often a Hobbit or GtW) and a valuable muster die. However, they now put an extra cost on Saruman’s Voice ability, which was a key method for Isengard to muster a quick and powerful army. The ability to have the Ents attack Isengard, or clear away units in Rohan, or even protect Lorien adds a lot of options to the FP. However, strategically placed Dunlendings can contain them and they often don’t roll enough hits to warrant the effort to bring them into the game. I think that the Ents are a neat addition to the game but I wish they were a little more effective (but not so good that you would always need to muster them).

Siege Engines
The siege engines (towers and trebuchets) add to the complexity of siege combat. They do help the SP utilize late game musters more effectively and they provide the FP with good use of muster dice for active nations (not at War). The superiority rules and combat effects are very tightly balanced and I’ve seen discussions that they favor both sides (which means that they are pretty useful). They can draw out sieges by allowing the FP to sacrifice them for superiority and then muster more or to end sieges when the SP can continue without having to reduce Elites. I personally like the rule that allows the active nations to muster Siege Engines since this was one point that I argued for heavily during playtesting. Originally, they were only for nations (at War) and this greatly hindered the FP’s use for them.

New Characters
The Balrog
The Balrog allows the SP to get an extra die with only 1 muster and to control when he shows up in Moria. Like the Corsairs, the Balrog is an improvement since he can now be mustered when strategically needed and is not dependent on drawing a card at the right time. Also, he comes along with an Elite so mustering him is even better. He can “kill” the FSP guide when an Eye is drawn (adding more flavor and theme to the game). His downside is that the Dwarves, Men, and especially Elves advance 1 step politically. This is a big help for the FP and keeps the Balrog from being a “no-brainer” decision. I really think that he was a good design element and wouldn’t change anything from the design.

Galadriel
Probably the change with the most impact was the addition of Galadriel. She provides the FP with a critical action die when mustered and allows Gandalf the Grey to truly shine as the guide of the Fellowship. Her abilities to remove Eye tiles with Elven Rings and to muster Elves even when under siege are both interesting and useful too. The requirements for obtaining Galadriel changed quite a bit in playtesting but I am happy with the final version that requires either the Elves or Sauron to be at War. This puts extra emphasis on mustering the Elves early (and the impact of the Balrog) and it delays Sauron (and the base game Witch King) from going to War until after the Elves are at War OR the SP is willing to allow Galadriel to enter play.
Galadriel addressed two of my concerns from the base game. Namely, she varies the possible FP strategies and SP opening moves while providing an action die without requiring a Will of the West dice result. This makes her the addition to the game critical and simply makes the game much better in multiple ways.

Witch King, Chief of the Ringwraiths
The new Witch King adds an interesting element to the game. He can be mustered when Sauron is not At War and therefore can come into play without brining Galadriel into the game directly. He allows for more Hunt Re-rolls with multiple Nazgul and he doesn’t activate all the FP nations when he enters play. He must, however, be mustered in the region with the Fellowship and so can only enter games where Rivendell has fallen or the FSP is revealed. His hunting abilities are useful but since he lacks the card drawing power of the original WK he is considerably weaker. Also, successful hunting is further weakened by Galadriel’s ability to remove Eyes and the addition of Smeagol (below). Finally, the new WK has no special abilities once the FSP is in Mordor, which further limits his effectiveness.
This character was the biggest disappointment for me as I tried to continually argue for him to be more interesting and comparable to the original WK. I wanted him to provide an interesting choice for the SP. The WK chosen should really impact the “feel” of the game and both should be viable with different strategies. Instead, I would never choose this version of the WK except for a casual game where I wanted to “explore” different options.

Smeagol
Smeagol was added to the expansion in order to do two things. First, the corruption damage was so tough in the base game that the Fellowship had to stay together just to absorb all the potential damage. This meant that there was little opportunity to explore separating companions to defend/activate the Free Peoples and the designers wanted more opportunity for this. Second, most if not all of the playtesters wanted the FP to have a way to avoid the turn stalls. Smeagol became the means to do just that. He went through many versions but the design to include him in the Hunt Pool (instead of as an FP action die choice) was very creative and meant that neither side could predict when he might show up (but they had some minor control over it).
I think that he adds a lot of interesting elements to the expansion and I was very pleased with the design when it was first given to us. However, over many games I think that he gives too much value to the FP and really limits the corruption opportunities unless they separate several companions.

Re-makes / New Cards
Ents – These cards add nice value since they allow the FP to draw or play additional cards and don’t require Gandalf the White to be in Rohan/Fangorn to play.
Dunlendings – Okay effect.
Balrog – Often this is only used for combat but once in a while it allows the Balrog to venture forth and harass the FSP or lead a siege.
Corsairs – Strictly worse then the original surprise card. Would be much better if it actually helped the siege on Dol Amroth (95% of the time the target).
Wind from the West / Three Rings for Elven Kings / Rangers of the North – Great effects. Combat cards are okay but not used very often.
Threats to the Fiefs in the South – This card is useless unless Corsairs are in play and then only marginal.
Gates are Closed / Captain of Despair – Excellent event cards with great combat cards.
Deep Trenches and Great Engines – Very powerful card. Combat card is weak.
Shadow of Dol Goldur – Useful in some situations but weakest new SP event card.

To be continued in Part III House Rules / Variants.

War of the Ring Strategy - Part 1 The Base Game

2007-10-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

I will attempt to cover the basic strategy concepts and advanced strategies for the standard game of War of the Ring. Part 2 of this strategy series will cover the addition of the Expansion and its impact on strategies. Part 3 will cover my House Variants including why they were created and what strategic options they offer.
These articles will assume basic knowledge of the game mechanics and all of the various event/battle card effects. SP = Shadow Player and FP = Free People Player

Action Dice
The action dice are critical in the game for both sides. Getting additional action dice as quickly as possible is generally a good strategy.
SP Strategy: Getting Saruman and the Witch King into play quickly nets 2 more Action Dice for the rest of the game (barring some disaster). Usually the SP will spend his 1st Muster getting Isengard to War and 2nd Muster getting Saruman in play. The 3rd Muster gets Sauron to War and 4th Muster gets the Witch King (WK). There were some initial strategies that looked at holding back on bringing in the Minions (eliminating the possibility of Gandalf the White (GtW) coming into play) but serious players have dismissed them for a variety of reasons. Namely, the WK and Saruman have terrific abilities and leadership and drive key events plus giving up 2 Action dice to restrict the possibility of 1 Action dice is not worth the effort. Mouth of Sauron is usually only late in the game when the FSP is in Mordor so his benefits are limited to the end game.
FP Strategy: Getting GtW is very important but Strider/Aragorn is more of a dilemma. 4 Action Dice is usually not enough to give the FP a fighting chance. Gandalf the Grey is useful as Guide but GtW is powerful and gets a needed action die. The problem is getting GtG to “die” during the hunt and then get a Will of the West to bring out GtW. Timing is everything and sometimes Wills just won’t show up. Separating Strider early and getting Aragorn can cost several action dice and sometimes an Elven Ring (especially for 1st turn Aragorn). This is sometimes a good option against a Hunt Box loaded with Eyes since the FSP will not progress far on that turn anyway. Usually Strider will guide the fellowship for a while and then either fall in the hunt or separate to Gondor to become Aragorn (or sometimes to Rohan if Paths of the Dead is in-hand).

Hunt Dice
SP Strategy: A big decision for the SP is how many dice to allocate to the hunt each turn. Look at the 3 tables below they show the % of Hunt success based on the number of dice allocated and the number or re-rolls available.

This shows that with only 1 die in the hunt box (and No re-roll) the FSP can move twice with relative ease and only has a 50% chance of being hunted on a 3rd move. However, against 3 dice the first move gets hunted successfully 42% of the time and the 2nd move over 70%.
Another factor to keep in mind is that the Fellowship will only have about ½ of his total action dice available for moving/hiding the Fellowship (if he uses Wills as Character dice) unless he resorts to Elven Rings. This means that the first turn the FSP is going to average 2 moves and until the FP gets more Action dice this will be a constraint on the FSP’s progress.
As the SP you must always keep in mind that your primary goal (in most games) is to win a Military Victory before the Fellowship can reach Mt Doom. This means that you don’t have to corrupt the Fellowship entirely just delay their progress. At the same time, if you put too much effort into the Hunt then you won’t have Action Dice available to take further actions.
Taking all of this into account, the general consensus is 0-2 Hunt dice should be allocated each turn to the Hunt. More than 2 is overkill since you might roll even more Eyes and end up with a turn in which you can do very little with your Military. Let’s look at each option and when to use them.
2 Hunt Dice: This is a sound strategy for keeping a focus on the Hunt. First turn you are likely to roll 1 more Eye and have 3 in the Hunt, which will deter the FSP from going more than 2 spaces max (which means they won’t get to Moria). This is also useful when Strider is the guide since it reduces his ability to hide the Fellowship and move it quickly.
1 Hunt Die: This should be the norm for most SP players. It generally results in 2 Eyes and is safer than 0 Eyes but if the FP has 5-6 Action Dice then they can sometimes move quite effectively against only 1 Eye (assuming you don’t roll any more).
0 Hunt Dice: This should only be used in specific situations unless you are playing a Shadow Blitz strategy (like DEW North) and aren’t concerned about the Ring game. Other situations where 0 dice are good are in Turn Stall situations (discussed later) and when Strider is not the guide and the FSP is revealed (and the FP have 4 Action dice). In this case the FSP will progress 1 region on average so it isn’t a huge risk (plus you might roll a lot of Eyes). Finally, this strategy can work if you have the Lidless Eye event card too.
First Turn the SP needs Muster dice to get his Minions and more action dice so usually 1 Hunt Die is the preferred choice.
FP Strategy: The FP must decide how much to move against the dice in the Hunt Box. The Hunt Box is going to have 1-4 Eyes in most cases. The FP will only be able to move with Character Dice and WotW (Will of the West) dice unless he uses Elven Rings.
Against 1 die the FP should maximize the Fellowship’s movement and against 4 only 1 move is relatively safe (but there are times to double move against 4 Eyes also). The difficult decisions will be to move again against 2 or 3 Eyes in the Hunt box.
Let’s take a 1st turn example where the FP rolls 3 Character dice and the Hunt box has 2 Eyes. The first move has almost a 70% chance of success so they move. The 2nd move has just under 45% chance of success so the Shadow is likely to get at least one hit on either the 1st or 2nd move. If they do get a hit on the 2nd move then reveals become very important since 2 moves from Rivendell will determine which path the FSP is going to take (there are only 2 viable paths thru the Mtns – Moria or Goblin’s Gate). If for some reason the FSP avoids the first two hunts (or isn’t revealed) then a 3rd move is very dangerous since it has only 12.5% chance of success and a hunt tile could reveal them in Moria. Generally, a double move would be the best strategy in this situation but this can vary depending on the flow of the game.

Basic Shadow Tactical Objectives
The SP has a primary victory condition of 10 VPs of FP settlements and with a secondary objective of slowing the FSP progress in the ‘Ring’ portion of the game. There are 20 VPs available: 5 in Gondor, 5 in DEW (Dale, Erebor, Woodland Realm), 6 in other Elven strongholds, 3 in Rohan, and 1 in the Shire. The SP should attack areas that are not heavily defended and before FP nations get To War where they can muster troops to defend. Let’s look at each area from the SP’s perspective.
Gondor: Gondor is the closest FP nation to war at the start of the game. They also have the Osgiliath Fortification to help resist SP invaders and Dol Amroth takes time to reach and place under siege. However, the SP has Mordor and the Haradrim (S&E) that can strike Gondor with 3 large armies without mustering additional units. Gondor is often a target of the SP during the game and at a minimum Pelagir is a quick VP in the late game.
DEW: The DEW line is more divided (3 different nations) and easier to take before the FP can get nations to war and muster a defense. The SP can send the Dol Goldur Troops, the Easterlings, and even the Morannon army from Mordor (or sometimes a Mt Gundabad army) here. Usually the SP will take out the Dwarves first and then take Dale and finally Woodland Realm since this utilizes the Political Track to its fullest.
Elves: There are 8 VPs in just Elven Strongholds and the Elves have the least amount of reinforcements of all the FP nations. This makes them a good target for the Shadow except that the Elven strongholds are spread out across the board. Lorien can be taken by an army from Moria or Dol Goldur. Rivendell can be attacked by Moria, Mt Gundabad, or by units mustered through SP event cards. Woodland Realm can be hit during a DEW attack. The Gray Havens is rarely a target but a consolidated force from Moria and Dunland can sometimes take the Shire and Gray Havens.
Rohan: Usually Isengard can focus on Rohan. Helm’s Deep is an easy target early but failure to conquer all of Rohan can often lead to a large Rohan army in Edoras that can strike in Gondor or take back Helm’s Deep later in the game. Rohan is tricky and takes practice to conquer. Sometimes even an army from Dol Goldur can support Isengard in vanquishing Rohan and then together they can assault Gondor or Lorien.
The Shire: see Elves above as the Shire is only a late VP target and often in conjunction with an attempt at the Gray Havens.

This means that the SP must carefully consider where to send his armies. The Morannon army can go North to DEW or West to Gondor, the Moria army can go East against Lorien or West against Rivendell, Dol Goldur can help invade DEW, attack Lorien, support Rohan invasion, or even finish off Minas Tirith.

Turn Stalling
SP Strategy: Turn Stalling is a valuable SP tool. The only way for the FP to enter Mordor is for the FSP to declare on either Minas Morgul or the Morannon. This can only be achieved if the FSP can reach one of those strongholds AND if the FSP is hidden during the Fellowship Phase of a turn. Turn Stalling occurs when the SP plays a card that prevents one of these two requirements. The strategy is for the SP to use his last action die (either a Palantir or Character die) to play one of the turn stall event cards just before the FSP would be able to declare on their next turn. Event cards that can perform turn stalls: Cruel Weather, Nazgul Search, Foul Thing from the Deep, Isildur’s Bane, and Orc Patrol. Cruel Weather and Nazgul Search are the strongest options since they don’t rely on drawing a Reveal Hunt Tile. The effect of a Turn Stall is to give the SP a full turn to attack and work toward Military Victory without having to allocate any Eyes to the Hunt and without worrying about the FP moving the Ring closer to Mt Doom. This can be a huge advantage and sometimes it is possible to perform turn stalls for more than 1 turn, which is devastating to the FP’s chances.
FP Strategy: The FP player can take certain tactics to avoid turn stalls. The first is to try and get revealed on one of the Mordor Strongholds. This will cause them to draw an extra tile but if they can hide again then many cards cannot be played on them since they will no longer be on step 1 or higher of the Fellowship track. Another strategy to avoid Cruel Weather is to move an additional region if possible but this is an extreme counter to a card the SP may or may not have in hand. The best way to avoid a turn stall is to not be revealed and declare in Mordor directly from Rivendell or Lorien. The SP cannot play most Shadow Character cards while the FSP is in a Free Stronghold. This requires a lot of luck in hunt rolls and can be countered if the SP decides to besiege the stronghold in question.

Shadow Strategies in Depth
There are two primary strategies that players have been using as the SP. They both try to use the WK card cycling combat ability to draw through the event decks and get key event cards. One is called DEW North and the other is a Corruption strategy. The Shadow often dictates the pace of the game by implementing one of these strategies. The FP can pressure the SP by getting the Fellowship toward Mordor quickly (or by winning a crucial siege) but generally the SP dictates the overall scope.

DEW North
This strategy involves taking a 10pt army in Morannon and moving it North against the DEW line. Muster Isengard and Saruman and then get Mordor to War. Get the Witch King in play before attacking DEW and use his combat ability to cycle through SP event cards. Then Muster S&E if needed. Draw Strategy Cards since they provide you more units and movement options while also providing some of the best combat cards. Usually place 0 or 1 Eye in the Hunt. This strategy wants to hit the FP before he can get any defense mustered and quickly attain a Shadow MV. It doesn’t account for the Ring game because it tries to outrace the Fellowship. The goal here is 5pts from DEW + 5 pts from wherever FP is weaker (Lorien, Pelagir, Rohan, etc).
The FP will often try to sprint with Strider as guide and this type of game will be over quickly (one way or the other). The FP will often separate companions (usually with a card on a Palantir die result since Character dice are needed to move the FSP). The goal is to get these companions at key FP strongholds to resist/delay the SP military engine. One stronghold that resists can be critical by allowing Strider and the ring-bearers to reach Mt Doom in time.

Corruption
This strategy also leverages the Witch King’s card cycling ability. As before, get Isengard to War and Saruman followed by Mordor and the Witch King. Early attacks on Gondor are useful since they allow frequent use of the WK ability. The goal is to cycle for character cards and use them to turn stall and corrupt the Fellowship. Typically placing more Eyes in the Hunt and using both armies and Nazgul to get hunt re-rolls. Thic can delay (reveals, stalls) and corrupt the Fellowship and force them to move slowly or even to stop and heal. The SP should also be working toward Military Victory and the corruption delays should allow the SP time to effectively complete this strategy. Corruption makes for a longer game but it can be as effective or more effective than the DEW North strategy.
Against this strategy the FP needs to keep companions to soak up corruption damage and try to muster a defense at the same time. Sometimes getting Aragorn is helpful while other times having him prevent three damage can be pivotal.

Both of theses strategies should be able to draw from 7-13 additional cards with the Witch King’s ability. This is a HUGE advantage for the SP and allows him to get turn stalls, dominate most combats, and really hammer the Fellowship. This brings me to my final take on the base game overall.

Issues with the Base Game
First of all, the base game of War of the Ring is an excellent game and I have played many tense and enjoyable games with it. The game design, flow of play, and the unbalanced forces dynamic are all wonderful and well thought out. The action dice mechanism forces different tactical decisions and it still allows for strategic play. The same can be said of the event/combat cards. However, there are a few areas where the original game could improve in my opinion.

Action Dice: It is crucial for both sides to improve their initial action dice situation as soon as possible. For the SP this means using the first four Muster dice to get Isengard to War, then Saruman, then Mordor to War, and then the Witch King. For the FP this means getting Gandalf the Grey hit by a tile and brought back as Gandalf the White and sometimes getting Aragorn too. This critical goal results in two issues. (1) The SP opening moves are very routine and repetitive. This is not a bad thing inherently since certain moves in Chess are good openings and others are not as optimal. However, it is a problem when there is only one valid/optimal opening regardless of which SP strategy chosen. This is only an issue for me because I would like more variety and options available to allow players to pursue and explore different early tactical moves. (2) The FP can’t roll a Will of the West to get Gandalf/Aragorn when needed. This is a thematic element of the game and certainly puts some risk in sacrificing Gandalf early. However, it can end the game if the SP is rolling 9 dice while the FP has only 4 dice and can’t get a Will of the West.

Turn Stalls: I don’t think that the designers intended the SP character cards to be used to stop the FSP on the brink of Mordor. This tactic alone can give the SP one or more “free turns”. The FP can try to avoid this but it is usually at a high cost. This combined with the Witch King’s ability to draw through the character deck allows turn stalls to be a significant weapon for the SP.

Game Balance: The base game certainly favors the Shadow Player and this is not necessarily a problem as it is certainly more thematic to have the SP win more than the FP. The problem is that after players are very experienced, the FP strategic choices are very limited and the FP player can only win about 30% of the games (given equivalent player experience). I would like more options for both sides and in particular more interesting and relevant choices for the FP.

To be continued in Part II The Expansion Game

Gaming Update and other stuff

2007-09-24T17:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted any session reports recently since I've been either at my son Matthew's baseball games or on the beach (a much needed vacation). Also, I wanted to write down some thoughts on other articles for this site and playing games solitaire.

I've been writing some other reviews (in my spare time which seems less and less these days) and also drafting some strategy articles (in particular on War of the Ring). I will try and get these posted in the next few months. Also, I have kept a log of all games I've played this year and at the end of 2007 or early 2008 I'll review the results. (This log doesn't include the solo games I play -- see rest of this article below).

I also started playing in the first War of the Ring online tournament and it is a lot of fun. One of the playtesters for the expansion wrote a java program that allows two people to play against each other over the computer and it allows players from around the globe to play each other. I have done little in on-line gaming since I prefer face-to-face games but even though I love WotR it is hard to get it to the table (plus it is best as a two-player game). The program is fun for playing the game solo also since you can save the game and pick it up when you have time without leaving the big game out. I played a lot of solitaire games when playtesting the expansion and this program would have really helped speed those games up.

Speaking of playing games solitaire... I really enjoy this (maybe it is just me). My new "Big Game" purchase was World of Warcraft, the Boardgame and the first expansion for it. I played as 6 characters in the basic game to get the feel of the game and even though it took me most of a day to play it was a lot of fun. I like to learn a game thru solo play and then re-read the rules for any mistakes before I try and teach it to others. Even after this, I often miss-up some rules but it gives me a chance to understand the basics clearly and see the direction that the game can go. Other games I still enjoy solo...

To Court the King -- easy to play solitaire and very enjoyable to try multiple strategies.
Magic the Gathering -- seems like a difficult game to play solo but I use an old MS Access based program called Magic Suitcase to demo various deck designs against each other.
Puerto Rico -- I play this one using an MS Excel version of the game
Carcassone H&G -- okay this one is a stretch but sometimes I'm just bored and there is no one to play games with...
Lord of the Rings (Knizia co-op game) -- this one is quite fun trying to "beat the game" with any number of hobbits. It is a little harder to solo with the Sauron expansion but I like to try to win against the "Full game" (excluding the Battlefield expansion since I don't own it)
Marvel Heroes -- I enjoy this one solo especially with all my new heroes and villains

Another thing that I run into that is similar to playing solo is playing more than one player in some games. My wife, Barbara, and I do this quite often so that we can play 4-player games with only two people. Puerto Rico, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, Ticket to Ride, Ra, Tigris and Euphrates, Settlers, Amun Re, and Caylus have all been played by the two of us playing a 4 player game. This can get quite confusing in auctions (and trading) but we try to play both players to win and it allows us the chance to try unusual strategies quite easily. Hopefully, when the children get old enough for these games we will have family game night to get in these games with 4 people!

One other note: Please feel free to add comments, questions, or whatever to any of my posts. I am always interested in feedback from fellow gamers and blog readers.

Session Report September 4, 2007

2007-09-05T20:23:00.000-05:00

Attendees(6): David, Mary Ellen, Sharon, Troy, Steve, and Michael

We met at David's after Memorial Day for Tuesday gaming.

Citadels
David has really enjoyed this game and everyone except Troy had played before. We added the Queen to the standard 8 characters and it added a neat twist. I was robbed early and it took me a while to get going but I also wasn't a prime target so I was able to build up over time. Steve built 4 different Merchant buildings which made anyone taking the Merchant a target for the Thief and Assassin. David ended up going out and with 5 colors for both bonuses and this put him out of reach while the rest of us were within 5 pts of each other. Final: David (30), Mary Ellen (24), Steve (22), Michael (20), Troy (20), and Sharon (19).

Vegas Showdown
This was an Avalon Hill game with a lot of Euro mechanics and a solid American theme. It works very well and I think everyone would be willing to play it again after one game. The only problem was that most of us underestimated the income generation and overbid for many early tiles. Once again David was in a good position as he kept his money and was able to position himself to get both the coveted Dragon Room and 5 Star Steak House. Troy made a good late run and finished second followed by the rest of us. Final: David(75), Troy(53), Michael (46), Sharon (45), and Mary Ellen (43).

Session Report August 28, 2007

2007-08-31T20:36:00.001-05:00

Attendees(10): Michael, Barbara, Warren, Sharon, David, Andy, Andrew, Steve, Troy, and Adam.

Transamerica
Adam must have dominated this quick game while they waited on others to join. Final: Adam(12), Steve (3), Sharon (Ocean).

Marvel Superheroes
I taught Andrew and Troy this game and David had only played once before. We had fun but I think that it suffers from some downtime (particularly with 4 players) and the game may play better as a 2 or 3 player game. It finished with Andrew and David tied for the win as they completed their headlines and bested their Mastermind Villains who were both attempting to complete their master plans. Final Scores: David(19), Andrew(19), Troy(17), and Michael(11).

Midieval Merchant
I don't know anything about this game except the final scores... Warren(54), Adam(45 w/8 city tiles), Sharon(45 w/6 city tiles), and Steve(24).

Wits and Wagers
Adam, Barbara, Warren, Andy, Sharon, and Steve played this quick party/trivia game. Barbara won on the final round with an "all in" wager.

Amun Re
We had a good late game of Amun Re. This is really a great game with 5 players. Barbara was able to complete 3 bonus cards on the final kingdom and this was critical in winning over Andrew who had played a solid game. Andy played it for the first time and did very well with all the auctions and decisions. Final Scores: Barbara(45), Andrew(38), Andy(30), Michael(28), and Sharon(26).

Session Report August 21, 2007

2007-08-22T07:10:00.001-05:00

Attendees (13): Michael, Warren, Sharon, Troy, Andrew, Chris, Jeremy, David, Adam, Eileen, Aaron, Danielle, and Joel.

Shadows Over Camelot
I have been wanting to play this one for some time and I finally read the rules and got it to the table this week. It is an interesting cooperative game where everyone works together to defeat the "game" but with a twist that one player "might" be a traitor. This element of doubt adds the tension to the game and keeps everyone guessing each other's ulterior motives.

The cast: King Arthur (Michael), Galahad, (Chris), Gawain (Jeremy), Tristan (Steve), Percival (David), and Palamedes (Warren) have gathered at the round table to decide how to fight the evil that is invading the land, and thus our epic tale begins...

The brave knights gathered their resources while evil began to act swiftly against the noble realm. No one ventured from Camelot and the fabled sword Excalibur was swiftly drifting away. King Arthur decided to use Clairvoyance to allow his knights time to respond to the evil tidings. Alas it was not enough, as before Tristan could react the fabled blade was lost forever and frozen in Oblivion. It was a sad day in Camelot as Evil began taking over and the Round table lost two swords to darkness. Percival was quick to blame Tristan for not taking a different response to the threat of evil and so the harmony of the knighthood was splintered.

Percival took action and ventured to search for the Holy Grail artifact. This was a daunting quest and he would need help from other knights to succeed. The Black Knight offered a challenge outside of Camelots gates and Sir Palamedes rode out to meet him and defend the realm. King Arthur remained in Camelot, but he supported Percival in his quest with information that led Percival ever closer to the Grail. Unfortunately, Despair began to fall upon Percival and the Quest appeared a daunting and futile effort.

Gawain also had left Camelot and he came upon Lancelot who had fled Camelot after his relationship with the Queen and his betrayal to the crown. Gawain was able to overcome Lancelot and secure his armor which would help the good knights thwart the daunting evil forces that were assaulting Camelot. Meanwhile, Tristan and Galahad teamed up to repel a Pict invasion. This was a heroic battle and Camelot gained much glory in this victory. Gawain's return and Palamedes victory over the Black Knight tilted the balance of Camelot's fate toward the forces of good (4 to 2).

Tristan went to support Percival in the Grail Quest while King Arthur went to repel the Saxon invasion. The Dark Forest delayed the search for the Grail even further and Devastating attacks from the shadows made the quest even more difficult. The siege around Camelot was gaining momentum and Gawain and Palamedes valiantly fought against the growing assault. The King repelled the Saxon invasion and this deed brought hope to the knights that indeed the Grail Quest was not in vain. However, the doubt regarding Tristan's loyalty to the realm had gnawed at Percival and he accused Tristan of disloyalty to the kingdom. Tristan defended his honor but the damage was done and the knights began to doubt each other (4 white to 3 black). To further complicate matters, the Black Knight was unchallenged and this dishonor drove more knights away from Camelot (4 to 4).

Tristan, Arthur, and Palamedes ventured to confront an evil dragon in the land while Galahad took up the Grail Quest with a renewed Percival. Gawain fought valiantly against the growing siege forces outside of Camelot. Galahad called on Merlin's assistance to further the Grail quest and the knights were hopeful that they would soon find the relic and redeem the kingdom. The Dragon was also slain by the 3 knights and they returned to Camelot to assist Gawain in it's defense (6 white to 4 black).

The fate of the kingdom was on a knife's edge. If there was a traitorous knight remaining then the kingdom may fall into shadow forever. The Grail quest was nearing completion, Camelot was about to be overcome by the relentless siege...and Galahad decided to come forward and accuse Percival of disloyalty. It all made sense that Percival had falesly accused Tristan and he had failed to complete the Grail quest. Percival was outraged and proved his loyalty to the kingdom but again the hopes of the kingdom were dwindling (5 black to 5 white).

Percival foresaw evil tidings coming and warned his fellow knights. Palamedes headed the warning and did not tempt fate. The King had a plan though...once again he looked into the future with Clairvoyance to give his comrades time to complete the Grail Quest. Galahad followed his King's lead but was shocked to find that Morgan le Fay had plotted the demise of the kingdom. Apparently, Morgana had desposed of her step-brother, King Arthur, and replaced him with a traitorous spy. Her magic enhanced the deception and this "King Arthur" had misled the chilvarous knights. He had appeared helpful throughout the game, but in the end his betrayal revealed a hidden army that reinforced the siege upon Camelot. The siege forces proved too much and they overwhelmed Camelot. The kingdom was lost to the shadow and swallowed by the Mists of Avalon...Now it is only a whispered legend of a noble sacrifice by the last of the Knights of the Round Table.
End

I really enjoyed playing this game and would definitely play it again. I think it is great with a large number of players as there is always something to do and it seems quite challenging with a Traitor.

Caylus
Final Scores: Andrew (98), Sharon (82), Joel (78), and Troy (75).

Puerto Rico
Warren pulled out the victory with a dominant shipping strategy. He had 4 quarries, 4 corn, the harbor, wharf, and customs house. His win was never really in doubt once he got the wharf.
Final Scores: Warren (68), Michael (54), Andrew (52), Sharon (42), and Steve (38).

Shark
This looks like a very close finish between Adam and Danielle...
Final Scores: Adam ($464k), Danielle ($461k), Eileen ($395.2k), and Aaron ($277k).

That's Life
Final Scores: Eileen (19), Adam (12), Danielle (6), Troy (6), and Aaron (-15).

Session Report August 15, 2007

2007-08-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

Attendees (15): Sharon, Warren, Adam, Eileen, Tamara, Cindy, Marty, Troy, Cheryl, Andy, Michael, Andrew, Steve, Matt, and Jaimie

We gathered at Steve's house this week for gaming and fun. Cindy and Marty joined us again (they are out of town friends of Warren and Sharon) and we are always glad to welcome more gamers.

Coloretto
While waiting on everyone to arrive, I taught this light card game to Andrew and Steve. Adam arrived and joined in for a 4 player game. Zooloretto is the board game based on this card game that won the 2007 Spiel des Jahres. The card game is all about collecting sets of like colored cards to score points but only 3 colors score positive pts while the rest count against your score. Players can draw a card and add it to a set or they may take all the cards in a particular set. There are a number of sets equal to the number of players and each set can only hold 3 cards max. There are also some wild cards and +2 cards that score 2 extra points.
Final: Michael (37), Andrew (32), Steve (28), and Adam (24).

Nexus Ops
Andrew, Steve, and I played about 1 rd of Nexus Ops and taught Andrew how to play. Then Matt and Jaimie arrived and we decided to play Amun Re...

Amun Re
I have already given my review on this great Reiner Knizia game. We taught it to Matt and Jaimie and I think that they also enjoyed the game. I rarely get to play this with 5 and it was a very enjoyable game with a full compliment of players. I was able to generate a lot of income during the first kingdom but never scored any bonus power cards during the game. Andrew grabbed the early scoring lead and Steve was about 10pts behind after the first scoring. In the 2nd kingdom, I had 3 sets and was very close to majority on both sides but Steve and Andrew each managed to win a side. Matt and Andrew grabbed 2 temples each but Jaimie, Steve, and I all played -3 cards during the last sacrifice to keep the level at 2 in spite of a +6 shift from Matt and Andrew combined! Steve and Jaimie both scored several bonus power cards and when we were adding up money there was only a 5pt separation between first and last place. I finished with 33 gold and if it was enough for first then I might be able to pull out the win but Steve had 34 gold and coincidently so did Andrew. This moved Steve into 2nd place and only 1pt behind Andrew who won! Final: Andrew (44), Steve (43), Michael (37), Matt (34), and Jaimie (33).

For Sale
This is another light card game that I found amusing the one time I played it. Today it was Marty (74) proving the best real estate dealer followed by Adam (65), Andy (60), and Cheryl (57).

Notre Dame
This one hit the table again tonight. Troy won with 67 pts followed by Sharon (49), Eileen (40), Cindy (34), and Tamara (30).

Mykerinos
This is a clever game fro Ystari. Troy again finished with a win. Finals: Troy (50), Cheryl (36), Andy (35), and Marty (21).

Medici
This is a classic Knizia auction game (that I haven't played yet). They had a full compliment of 6 players for this one. Final: Sharon (94), Adam (85), Warren (80), Tamara (72), Eileen (65), and Cindy (57).

To Court the King
This is a fun dice game often referred to as "Yahtzee with special powers". Many of the people in our game group have not liked it very much but I have found it to be very entertaining. Of course I like games with dice and enjoy manipulating the outcome that is so common in this game. My 5yr old also really enjoys rolling all the dice and after a few plays he 'gets' the basic strategies and can play competitively with the family. I was the only player who had played it previously and we used the "Weakened General" variant from Boardgamegeek. I will later give a thorough review on this game along with my adding dice to control varaint. Jaimie ended up impressing the King first (with 7 2's) and she got the Queen for the end-game roll-off. This allowed her to roll last and win all ties. Matt started the final round and impressed the King with 8 5's which was more than Andrew, Steve, or I could muster with all of the courtiers we had acquired. However, Jaimie was able to quickly accumulate her own set of 5's and with both the Astronomer and Magician she was able to roll 8 5's of her own and win the game!

Session Report August 7, 2007

2007-08-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

We met at David's house this Tuesday night for gaming.

Attendees (6): Matt, David, Troy, Steve, Michael, Andrew and Mary Ellen

Clash of the Gladiators

We started with this light dice game by Reiner Knizia. Everyone builds their gladiator teams and then try to wipe out everyone else. Gladiator teams consist of 4 gladiators. Dice are rolled for combat with a 1 in 6 chance of getting a full hit, 2 in 6 chance of getting a minor hit, and 3 in 6 chance of missing. Each team can roll 1 die + an extra die for each Sword gladiator on the team. Prong gladiators allow for re-rolls, shield gladiators block minor hits, spear gladiators allow teams to hit first, and net gladiators can cancel the effects of other gladiators that they are fighting. There are also animals that show up in the arena and players can control them when they are eliminated. One Point is awarded for each gladiator you defeat and two points for each animal.

Game 1: David (16), Troy (13), Matt (12), Mike (10), and Steve (10).
Game 2: Troy (19), Mike (18), Andrew (15), Steve (9), and David (9).

Ticket to Ride
Andrew and Mary Ellen played a quick train game of this while we were playing our first game of Clash of the Gladiators.

Citadels
Andrew, David, Mary Ellen, and I played this interesting Bruno Faidutti game. Players select various roles each with their own special abilities. Roles chosen also determine turn order and there is a lot of guessing what roles other players select. No one has perfect information but everyone has limited amounts of information about what roles have or haven't been selected. Players are trying to build various districts within their cities to score victory points. Different characters allow players to earn more gold, destroy districts, assassinate other roles, and blow up other player's districts. It was a chaotic game with a lot of interesting decisions and I would definitely give this one another play.

Finals: Mary Ellen (28), Michael (25), Andrew (18), and David (16).

Session Report July 31, 2007

2007-08-03T22:17:00.001-05:00

Attendees(7): Warren, Sharon, Michael, Barbara, Steve, Troy, David

We had a small group for gaming Tuesday night at our house.

Mesopotamia

This one has been played a few sessions in a row but I have yet to play it. This civilization game requires players to deliver 4 sacrifice tokens in order to win but there are lots of activities that you can do in order to build up the mana needed for the sacrifices. Sharon won (4) while Barbara (3), Troy (2), and Steve (2) finished behind her.

Space Dealer

This is a short game (exactly 30 min) with a clever mechanic where everyone plays the game in "real time" and your actions are limited by sand timers and the time it takes them to "run out" so you can complete your actions. It is an interesting game that probably doesn't have deep replay value but it is light and quick and fun to play every once in a while. We only played the basic game so I'm sure the advanced rules add more depth and strategy to the game. However, since I made an illegal move about 5 min into our game (using the basic rules), I'll just stick to the basic game first... Anyway, we restarted the game and this time I played correctly. The basic strategy is to build up your resources and deliver them to the other player's stations to fulfill demand and score victory points. You can also add more technology to your station which allows you to produce more goods, transform goods, or add cities with large demands. The advantage of having lots of demands is that you receive some victory points for having demands that other players fulfill during the game. I was not able to deliver many goods during the game but I had the most demand and was fortunate that Warren was able to make a delivery as time expired to give me a 1pt victory while Warren and David finished tied for 2nd.

Elasund

After Space Dealer, I taught David Elasund. This is an interesting game, in the Settlers genre, with some good strategic options but the actions during a turn are not intuitive and take some time to learn. You use Gold and Influence to build various buildings within Elasund, the First City of Catan. City Walls, the Chapel, and many production and Victory Point buildings are avaliable and 2 dice determine resource allocation. In this game 5's were popular and Warren ran away with a fistful of cards and never really was challenged. David made a run at the end and I actually lost several late VP's as Warren built a large building and removed one of mine that also had valuable trade VP's attached to it. Warren won (10), David was 2nd (7) and I finished with only (2).

Carcassone, Hunters and Gatherers

This is our only copy of the Carcassone series and I am very happy with this game. It has a well balanced mix of tiles with an easier scoring mechanism than its predecessor. Heather joined the adults and played this one too. Final: Sharon (55), Barbara (53), Heather (47), Steve (27), and Troy (22).

Exxtra

Sharon (won) played this light dice game with Barbara (5) , Matthew (8), and Heather (16) to close out the evening.

Session Report July 24, 2007

2007-07-26T18:38:00.000-05:00

Attendees (12): Warren, Sharon, Steve, Eileen, Adam, Joel, Andy, Troy, Tamara, Sarah (Tamara's daughter), Frederick, and Matt.

We gathered at Warren and Sharon's house for our weekly gaming fix.

Caylus Magna Carta
This was Caylus "the card game" and I was interested in trying it out. Matt, Sharon, and Troy had all played Caylus last week and we were all ready to give this version a go. It has most of the standard elements of Caylus but with some variations that make it a different game. One big advantage of the card game version is that it takes less time to play. We probably took longer since we all had to learn it from scratch but if you have played Caylus then most of this game will be easy to digest.
Since VP's are only calculated at the end the effect of placing workers on another player's building allows that player a small benefit. Another interesting twist is that the passing order determines both the order for moving the provost and the order for building in the Castle. In our game Deniers (money) were at a premium so Matt and I leveraged Sharon and Troy's Lawyer buildings to transform our buildings into Residences and earn additional income each round. Matt focused on grabbing VPs in the castle while I got a lot of Gold to use in Prestige buidlings. It was a close game but Matt held off Troy for the victory.
Final: Matt (36), Troy (32), Michael (29), and Sharon (26).

I enjoyed the game and would play it again but I still prefer the original. The advantages of a shorter game with different strategies make Caylus Magna Carta a game that I would enjoy playing when I'm in the mood for Caylus but don't have the time for the full game.

Around the World in 80 Days
They had a large 6 player race around the world and everyone finished in over 80 days! Tamara was the winner and Joel, Andy, Steve, Warren, and Sarah finished behind her.

M
Adam won against Eileen in this abstract tile placement game.

Transamerica
Adam won against Eileen and Frederick in this fun filler where players race to connect 5 cities the fastest. We have started teaching my 5 yr old this game and he is doing well at recognizing the cities based on the first few letters. In my opinion, this is still a great gateway game since there is no way to "mess up" an opponent and everyone has a decent chance at winning. It is still light but it can be very fun with kids (and it teaches them US geography).

Niagara
Tamara, Warren, Matt, and Sarah played. Sarah finished in 2nd place while everyone else finished in a 3 way tie for first. This is another game that I enjoy playing with the kids. We use the Diamond Joe expansion to give the kids a slight benefit (handicap for us) so that games stay pretty close.

Shark
This was an interesting stock market game that Adam wanted to play. Dice rolls help determine which companies are doing well but players also get to place markers that can allow companies to grow and increase their stock values. Players can also place markers so that larger corporations can destroy smaller ones and reduce the value of the smaller company's stocks. This makes for an added twist where you want to invest in companies that are doing well but so does everyone else so there isn't much net benefit and the cost of getting in late is high. I think that Shark is an interesting game and I would be willing to try it again especially after we ironed out some of the rule questions thanks to Joel.
Final: Adam won with $676k, followed by Joel ($515k), Michael ($425k), and Eileen ($395k).

Session Report July 17, 2007

2007-07-22T20:57:00.000-05:00

Attendees (10): Matt, Jaimie, Warren, Sharon, Steve, David, Danielle, Troy, Barbara, and Michael

We gathered at our house for Tuesday night gaming.

Settlers of Catan

Barbara, Jaimie, Matt, and David played a very fast game of Settlers. Apparently, 5 was a popular number on the dice and Matt had some good settlements on 5's...

Final: Matt 10, Barbara 7, David 4, and Jaimie 2.

Notre Dame

I asked Sharon to bring it over so we could play this one again. Troy and Steve joined us for a 4 player game. I haven't really figured out which people to plan on hiring during the various days or how to incorporate them into a strategy but I've certainly got a grasp on the basic tactics. It seems that early plays on the bank and the one that gives you cubes can give you some early advantages and these cubes can be transfered to the Hospital or the Park later to control rats or provide more victory points. I'm not convinced that Notre Dame is worth the effort but if everyone passes it then one player stands to gain a lot. The region that accumulates victory points and the one that has the most options seem to be the least useful. The Park is very strong provided that you can maintain enough cubes, money, and rat control to reap its VP benefits.

This was Troy's first time playing it and he did very well. Troy got two influence markers in the Park on the first round and kept them there for the game. I was fortunate to rack up a bunch of late VPs with the VP region + Park and was able to squeek out the victory. Final: Michael 58, Troy 54, Steve 41, and Sharon 27.

Paris Paris

Warren taught Daneille this game while they waited on Settlers and Notre Dame to finish.

King's Breakfast

Warren pulled out a victory in this amusing and clever card game. Final: Warren 85, Barbara 76, and Danielle 74.

Transamerica

David taught Matt and Jamie this game while they had a few minutes after their quick Settlers game. Scores: Matt 8, Jaimie 7, and David 5 (they didn't play a complete game just a few rounds).

Power Grid

Warren taught this one to Danielle and Steve, David, and Barbara joined them. They played it on the US board. This is one of my favorite games but I've played it quite a bit this year already. I am excited about the new deck of Power Plants that is coming out this fall as I have been very pleased with all the expansion boards and variants. This game was close and Warren pushed it to the end game a turn early in hopes of pulling out the victory, unfortunately for him Danielle had the cash to connect to more cities. Final: Daniell 14, Steve 13 ($16), Warren 13 ($14), Barbara 13 ($7), and David 9 with a lot of cash.

Caylus

Troy had never played Caylus and so we played a 5 player game while the others played Power Grid. I went down the Money and VP track this time and built a lot in the Castle to earn even more favors. This was the only game I have played where every single space in the Castle was occupied at the end of the game. Also, Troy built 6 times in the castle on the final turn. Final Scores: Michael 75, Sharon 56, Troy 50, Jaimie 50, and Matt 47.

Session Report July 10, 2007

2007-07-13T17:19:00.000-05:00

Attendees (15+4): Adam, Eileen, Warren, Sharon, Troy, Michael, Barbara, Steve, Andy, Tamara, David (Tamara's son), Aaron, Danielle, Chris, and Elaine (+4 children).

We had a full group over at the Madden's for Tuesday gaming. They had friends who are visiting from Michigan and came down for Gulf Games who decided to join us -- Chris and Elaine Lohroff and their two children. Tamara also brought her son David over so we had several new faces which is always great.

Tempus

I arrived early and saw that Warren and Sharon had recently acquired a copy of Tempus and I was anxious to try it out. So I brought it down and began learning the rules in anticipation of playing it. I recruited Steve and Andy and after learning the basics we got Adam and Eileen to join us.

Tempus is an interesting civilization themed game. It is not extremely complicated but it has a very incremental feel to the turns. The game has a variable map so each game will have a different feel. Each round you have a certain number of actions you can perform and your 5 choices for each action are: Move, Have Babies, Have Ideas, Build Cities, and Have a Fight. Each of these choices can be impacted by your position on the progress chart. For example, at the start of the game moving allows you to move 1 piece-1 space, but by the end of the game you can move 3 pieces-up to 5 spaces each. A brief look at the actions:

Move: you can move x number of people, y spaces based on your progress level. Also, you can move from one space that is next to a lake to another space also next to a lake. Later in the game when you have shipbuilding you can move from a space adjacent to the sea to another space adjacent to the sea. This water movement counts for that pieces entire move for the action.

Have Babies: the phrasing of this action is humorous on its own. It allows you to place 1 or 2 (depending on progress level) new units in Grassland spaces where you have existing units so long as they don't exceed the stacking limit. Stacking limit starts at 2 and progresses up to 4.

Have Ideas: Draw 1 or 2 cards (depending on progress level). Your hand limit is initially 5 but eventually it will increase to 7 (again based on progress level). Cards can be played using their text during a player's turn or using the terrain on the card for combat and advancing progress so they are important.

Build cities: you can convert a pile of units into a city with a rating of 2-4 depending on the number of units in the stack being converted. Cities cannot be place in Mountain spaces and must not be built adjacent to another city. Cities are more defensible and allow for benefits on progress and VP's at the end of the game.

Have a Fight: This is an attack from one space into another space. Combat is resolved by the defender playing a number of cards face down and then the attacker playing some cards face up. Each unit in the battle counts as a point. Each card played by either player that matches the terrain of the defender counts as a point for that player. Each weapons card played adds 1 point and each fortification card played by the defender counts as 2 points. Highest total wins with the defender winning ties. The defender of a city gets the city number + his cards played AND he gets to determine the terrain before anyone plays cards which is a huge advantage. If the attacker wins then the defender loses all units there but if the defender wins then the attacker only loses 1 unit.

After everyone takes their turns then their is an opportunity for players to advance on the progress chart. The first thing done during this step is to move all players up to the lead player's position on the chart (so they "catch up" to the current technology). Then, starting with the start player, each player plays a number of cards face down. These are revealed simultaneously and each player totals their progress points with the highest player(s) advancing to the next level. Progress points are: 1 pt for each unit on a space that matches the terrain of the next level on the progress chart, 1 pt for each city (regardless of the number on it), 1 pt for each Education card played, and 1 pt for each card played that matches the terrain of the next progress level.

The progress level determines: how many units you can move, how far they can move, how many babies you can have, how many units you can stack in a space, how many idea cards you can draw, how many cards you can hold in your hand, whether you have sea movement or not, and how many actions you can take during your turn. Each step offers slight benefits in one or more areas so that leading players have a slight advantage for that round. It's nice to have the advantage but I don't think that they are all crucial to winning the game.

Play continues until someone advances to flight. At that point victory points are determined by adding up: 1 pt for all non-mountain spaces occupied by units, pts equal to the value for each city, and 3 pts for any player who achieved flight.

I am surprised that progress levels do not improve your ability to win battles (except indirectly by increasing your hand size or allowing you to draw more cards). Also, there is a rule that disallows attacking a player with units in only 3 spaces (not counting cities). I understand the logic in not allowing a player to be eliminated but this seems like an arbitrary way to do that. I would recommend a house rule that allows you to ALWAYS attack a player's cities and only attack their units if they occupy more than 3 spaces. This should limit the Turtling strategies.

The game ran a little long since we were all learning it (and I think we could reduce the time significantly if everyone knew the game). Adam proved the winner by holding onto his "peninsula" and racking up the victory points. Final: Adam (24), Andy (18), Michael (18), Steve (17), and Eileen (12). Overall, I enjoyed the game but I think it needs to last about 90 min instead of 180 min (hopefully it will be closer to the 90 min mark next time). I would like to try it again but it didn't hit the mark as much as I was hoping.

Qwirkle
Chris won this one with 175, Elaine finished next with 173, followed by Sharon with 133.

Time's Up

Chris and Aaron won this one with 56 pts while Danielle and Elaine tied for second with Sharon and Barbara at 35 pts.

Tikal

Troy proved the most successful explorer tonight. Final scores: Troy (108), Warren (93), Tamara (90), and David (87).

That's Life

Danielle won this tile collection game with 14 pts followed by Sharon (11), Aaron (8), Elaine (8), Chris (7), and Barbara (5).

(the picture looks like a fight for the +7 tile! but it also shows too many pieces for a 5 player game -- I'm guessing this one lasted a while ;-)

Jambo
Troy (69) proved the astute trader in Jambo against Warren (52)

Session Report July 3, 2007

2007-07-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

We gathered at our house for pre-4th of July gaming. It was nice to welcome David and Mary Ellen Kennemer back since we hadn't seen them for some time. Attendees (8): Michael, Barbara, Sharon, Warren, Andrew, Steve, David, and Mary Ellen.

Notre Dame

Sharon taught us this game. It is an interesting game but not very interactive during most of the plays. However, the key element of 'drafting' your actions is very interactive and really drives the decisions in the game. I was fortunate to build up a strong early income and then transfer all of these cubes to the Hospital to control the rat population. This proved key as I always had money to bribe special characters and put cubes in Notre Dame. A fun game but I would like to play several more games and see how it holds up. Final Scores: Michael (73), Mary Ellen (48), Sharon (40), Steve (36), and David (32).

Blokus

Heather got a chance to play this game with the game group. This is an easy to learn abstract game with some clever strategies. Each player places one of his colored tiles (they are various Tetris like shapes) on the board. Each tile must connect to another of the same color by touching at the corners. The object is to get rid of as many tiles as possible and your final score is the number of remaining tile sections that you cannot play.

Barbara (0), Warren (15), Heather (21), and Andrew (21).

Ingenious

This is a game that I considered for my in-laws since they like Blokus. It is another abstract game and plays very easily but the scoring element is taken from Tigris % Euphrates. Your final score is equal to your lowest total in any color and whoever has the highest final score wins. This requires you to score in all the colors and so you must try to score in your weakest color.

Warren (11), Andrew (10), and Barbara (9).

Mystery of the Abbey

I finally got a chance to play this game with the game group. It is a more involved deduction (a la Clue) game that has a great thematic element. The players are at a monestary and trying to uncover the murderer that killed Brother Adelmo. The game allows you to move to various spaces and take special actions as well as encountering other players and asking them questions. If you ask a question then the other player may take a vow of silence or answer the question. If they choose to answer then they get to ask a question back and you must answer it (no vow of silence!). At the end of each round players go to mass and pass cards around the table. This keeps players hands changing and makes it difficult to deduce anything conclusively. This plus the scoring rules encourage guessing and this game was no exception as Andrew made an incorrect accusation (-2 pts) before he correctly accused Father Michael of the crime (4 pts). Mary Ellen made a correct Revelation so she also scored 2 pts but since Andrew correctly accused Father Michael he was the winner.

Andrew (2), Mary Ellen (2), Michael and Sharon (0).

Puerto Rico

They played this one with the expansion buildings which is definitely my favorite way to play it now. I like randomly choosing the buildings since it allows for different strategies to be viable.

Warren (40), Steve (38), Barbara (35), and David (34).

Andrew and Sharon stayed a little later for a quick game of Ra. I was fortunate to get a collection of all the monuments and win majority in Pharaohs for most of the game to pull out the victory. Michael (63), Sharon (47), Andrew (39), and Barbara (29).

Session Report June 19, 2007

2007-07-04T18:55:00.000-05:00

We gathered at the Maddens for Tuesday gaming. Attendees (9): Warren, Sharon, Michael, Troy, Andrew, Andy, Adam, Eileen, and Joel.

Taj Mahal
We got in another game of Taj Mahal. This time Sharon got the early lead and never looked back. She was able to win some early auctions for commodity tiles and got some more commodities off of early fortress plays. Final Score: Sharon (49), Andrew (34), Troy (32), Michael (26), and Andy (23).

Notre Dame
Warren taught this new game to the rest of the group. No scores but final rankings were Warren, Joel, Adam, and Eileen.

San Juan
After Notre Dame Warren, Eileen, and Adam played a game of San Juan. Final Score: Adam (29), Warren (26), and Eileen (20).

Power Grid
We played on the Central Europe board. Andrew and Sharon ended up tied for the lead with 13 cities powered but Andrew won on cash 32 to 9. I finished 3rd with 11 cities, followed by Andy with 9, and Troy with 6.

Session Report June 5, 2007

2007-06-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

Attendees (7+1): Michael, Barbara, Danielle, Troy, Andrew, Sharon, Andy and Matthew

We had everyone over to our house for some gaming this week.

Pick Picknic
Matthew (my 5 yr old son) was excited to get to play with some adults. Daneille and Troy joined my wife Barbara and played a quick game with him.
He and Heather both enjoy Pick Picknic and I would recommend it for a game to play with your children. The game consists of a deck of cards, 6 different colored tiles, cubes for feeding the birds in 3 colors, and 1 die for resolving some conflicts. Each player is dealt 4 cards during setup and then 1 or 2 each turn depending on the number of players. The feed cubes are drawn and placed randomly on the 6 tiles (one cube on each). Green cubes are worth 1 pt, Blue cubes 2pts, and Yellow cubes 3 pts. Everyone selects one card (or 2 with smaller # of players) to play face down in front of them and then they are revealed simultaneously.
Some cards will have colored birds on them along with a number, some will have colored foxes with a number, and some will have a colored bird that flew away with a -2 number. If anyone plays a fox card that matches the color of any of the bird cards played then the fox will eat those birds and the player who played the fox card will take the bird cards and get points worth the # on the bird cards. If a player plays a bird card of a color that no one else players then that player will get ALL of the feed cubes on that colored tile (this includes feed cubes that were left from previous turns). If more than one player plays a bird card of the same color then a conflict may occur. The players involved must either agree on a way to split up the feed cubes between them or they will have to resolve it by fighting over the feed cubes. A fight is resolved by each player rolling a die and adding the # of the bird card -- highest number wins all the feed cubes. Ties are resolved with roll-offs until someone wins. If multiple foxes are played then they will always fight over the birds (no negotiating allowed) with the winner getting all the birds in that color available. The -2 cards allow a player to take one green cube (1pt) before any other birds and in addition they count as -2 pts for any foxes that match that color and would normally eat a bird. The game continues in this manner for many rounds with more feed being drawn and placed and cards drawn and played until there is no more feed to be drawn. Then the player with the most points wins!
The game is great for teaching kids counting and recognizing different values for similar objects (ie 1 Yellow cube is better than 2 Green cubes). They learn that negotiating can get you to share points and that this can sometimes be a better strategy than just fighting and hoping on the die roll. Also, the game has enough luck that everyone has a chance of winning yet you get to make interesting decisions along the way.
Danielle (42) won followed closely by Troy (38) then Barbara (30) and Matthew (28).

Taj Mahal
I have been wanting to play this Knizia game again for some time and Sharon brought it so we got it to the table. Andrew and Andy joined us in visiting India and claiming palaces and influence. The game is played with cards as resources with an interesting auction/bid process. There are 12 different visits/turns during the game. Each turn there are 6 different "prizes" that players can win. These rewards have different types of benefits that help players score points or win future auctions. Players start with 6 cards in hand and n-1 cards face up on the table (where n is number of players).
The auction process involves playing a colored card (there are 4 different colors) with the option of adding one white card also. Play continues with players either playing or dropping out. To continue playing, you must play a card that matches the color that you originally played (it doesn't need to match opponent's colors) and again you may also add a white card (although you may not play a white card alone). When a player drops out they get to choose two of the face up cards to add to their hand (the last remaining player only gets one card). In addition, when a player drops out she gets to take any rewards for which she has a majority among all players still in the auction. So dropping out early when you have a majority in a few categories can be very strong since it saves your resources (ie cards) and gets you benefits. Finally, if a player skips the auction entirely (drops out without bidding) then they get an additional card from the draw deck along with 2 cards from the face up display.
The rewards consist of majorities in different icons: Elephant, Vizier(Green), General(Purple), Monk(Orange), Princess(Yellow), and Grand Mogul (Crowns). Elephants win commodity tiles which will generally have 2 different commodities on them. The others allow a player to take a token (ex Vizier token) and place a palace on the current province. Two matching tokens will allow players to claim special white cards that can be used each round until someone else claims them (with two matching tokens). These cards help with additional icons (General - Elephants, Vizier - Crowns), additional victory pts (Princess- 2 VPs), and the Monk allows a player to play one card that doesn't match his original color. Players place palaces when they claim a reward other than an elephant and must place their palace on a space not occupied by another palace, so players dropping early get more selection. There are some special tokens placed on fortress spaces that can be claimed by placing a palace on that space but these are usually not adjacent to other provinces so players must make strategic choices. Finally, the winner of the Grand Mogul reward gets to place a palace in ANY space in the region even if occupied by another palace, however he cannot take any tokens from fortress spaces with this palace.
Scoring in the game consists of commodities and palaces plus special tokens placed on fortress locations and the princess card. Commodities scoring is cumulative so if I have 2 tea and 1 rice and win an auction with 1 tea and 1 rice then I will score 3 pts for the tea and 2 pts for the rice or 5 pts total. If I also claimed a rice token through palace placement then I would get 3 pts for it. Fortresses score 1 pt for each region (not for each palace) but they also score 1 pt for each region that is connected by a chain of palaces to the current scoring region. At the end of the game players score 1 pt for each white or bonus card in hand plus a pt for each card in their longest color.
I was fortunate to get a bunch of bonus cards and hold onto them through the middle rounds of the game and this let me build a substantial lead. This scoring showed that an unchecked commodity or palace strategy can result in too many VPs and players must defend against these strategies (if possible). Michael (80), Sharon (44), Andrew (30), and Andy (22).

Elasund
Troy, Barbara, and Danielle tried building up the city of Elasund. I enjoy this game and can't get Barbara to play it with me so I was surprised to see that she played it. I like the changing tactics and interesting decisions that influence and building permits allow players to do in this game. I don't think she likes the aspect of building over other players and knocking them down in VPs but I think of it as a struggle (like the largest army or longest road) in Settlers. The game does have an awkward flow to the turn order but the reference sheet is excellent for this and once you "get it" the game moves along quicker. I do feel that the game tends to run a little long with four players and I would like to get it to the table more often. Scores: Troy (10), Barbara (8), and Danielle (7).

Caylus
We taught Andy Caylus after Taj Mahal. It ran a little late and Barbara took over for Andy late in the game. I was able to leverage the building favor track while everyone else went for the victory point track. Final: Michael (97), Sharon (82), Andrew (71), and Andy/Barbara (69).

Session Report May 29, 2007

2007-06-25T20:08:00.000-05:00

**Thanks to Sharon for another great session report!**

Attendees (6): Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Steve Walker, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Matt Asher

We played games at Steve's house this week. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera along, so you'll just have to use your imagination for this report.

THURN UND TAXIS -- POWER AND GLORY
Power and Glory is the first expansion to Thurn und Taxis, and the changes are very subtle. In P&G, players build routes throughout Northern Germany, as opposed to Southern Germany in T&T, and there are "free cities", which give one point to the first player to build a post office in that city. The carriage cards are not used in P&G, but rather, players must build their carriages from the cards they draw.
And since carriages aren't used, the Cartwright officer doesn't have a purpose; however, all other officers are available.
The city cards have two functions -- (1) building postal routes, as in T&T, and (2) building carriages. Each city card has between 1 and 3 horseshoes on the back. On their turn, players have a choice of either expanding their routes or building up their carriages, so they are not limited to only expanding their routes, as in T&T. Each player starts with a carriage card showing 2 horseshoes and they build them up from there. When a player is ready to score a route, the number of horseshoes in his play area has to be equal to or greater than the number of cards in his route. After scoring, the route cards and the carriage cards are discarded.
I had seen this played at the Gathering several times, but I never got an opportunity to try it. Most of the buzz I heard at the Gathering and read on-line was rather negative -- mainly that there wasn't enough variations from T&T. But, I enjoy playing T&T, and despite the negative comments, I still wanted to give it a shot. And I was wonderfully surprised. I think it should be marketed as a sequel, rather than an expansion. Also, P&G comes with all the playing components except for the wooden post offices, and I think they should be included. I guess the publishers assumed that most people purchasing P&G would already have T&T and they could keep costs down that way. But, I compare T&T/P&G to the Ticket To Ride series -- each TTR game comes all components needed to play the game -- including the train pieces. So for example, if someone purchases Ticket To Ride Europe before purchasing the original Ticket To Ride, they will have all the components they need to play Ticket To Ride Europe.
Steve established the most effective postal route system in Northern Germany with 24 points, followed closely by Matt with 22, and because I still had quite a few houses left over at the end (I see now those free cities can make a difference), I came in with only 6 points. I definitely want to try this one again.

ST. PETERSBURG
St. Petersburg is played over several rounds, and there are 4 decks of cards representing each phase of the round -- worker phase, building phase, aristocrat phase, and trading phase. Workers earn income at the beginning of the worker phase, buildings earn victory points, and aristocrats earn either victory points and/or money. The trading phase is the only phase when players do not earn money or victory points, since the cards they are purchasing are used to upgrade the workers, buildings or aristocrats that they already own. On the board, there are
2 rows with spaces for 8 cards. At the beginning of the round (worker phase), the start player turns up the appropriate number of worker cards (depending on number of players), and he has first opportunity to purchase a worker. Other players in clockwise order may purchase the remaining workers, and purchasing lasts until all players have passed.
Then during the building phase, the number of building cards available will be the appropriate number of cards minus the number of worker cards left over from the worker phase, and the same with the remaining 2 phases. Once the trading phase is complete, remaining cards slide down to the second row, and they are available for purchase during the next round at cost less 1 Ruble. If they are not purchased in the next round, they are out of the game.
On most occasions when players purchase a card, they lay it in their play area so that they can reap the rewards. However, there will be instances when a card is available for purchase, but not playable at that moment. In that case, a player may take cards into his hand, but the hand limit is only 3. Each card in hand at game end count -5 points. Speaking of game end, it is triggered when the last card of a pile is played. Once this happens, players complete all phases of the round and the player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner.
It seems our group has fallen into a bit of a rut playing the same games week after week, i.e. Power Grid, Caylus, and Puerto Rico. Don't get me wrong -- all of these are fantastic games, and I really enjoy playing them, but we have so many games just sitting on the shelves -- some even in shrink wrap -- that don't come to the table very often. So, my goal is to get those games more play time and introduce them to some of our newer members. This week, I thought it was high time we gave St. Pete a
whirl.
This is a rather light game, and having the cards and money available at the same time is the key to winning. Money can be very, very tight and managing it wisely is important. One mistake I tend to make is not buying enough workers during the first round, because I know there are 3 other phases coming up with opportunities to purchase. But, it seems if you don't buy at least 2 workers in the first round, you tend to come up short for the entire game. Take advantage of the workers, buildings or aristocrats on the second row, if they will help you. Also, if you purchase workers, buildings or aristocrats that you already have in your play area, those count 1 Ruble for each similar card toward the full purchase price, so that can save Rubles too. And if you decide to take cards into your hand, definitely have a plan for placing them into your play area before game end. Minus 5 can be painful.
It was a close race to build a new administration for St. Petersburg, but Warren was named St. Petersburg's new administrator with 89 points, followed by Matt with 86 and Sharon with 84.

SAN JUAN
Warren was tonight's most successful explorer of San Juan with 37 points, followed by Matt with 34 and Sharon with 27.

MEDICI VS. STROZZI
In this two-player game, two families, Medici and Strozzi, are competing to purchase goods, load them on their ships, and sail them to ports to earn money. The start player chooses 1, 2 or 3 goods to put up for auction -- but no more than 3. He sets a price and his opponent decides whether or not to purchase them. If the opponent buys the goods, he pays the cost to the bank and puts them on the ship of his choice.
Ships have 3, 4 or 5 holds, and once a ship is full, it sails to an open port. If not, it sits in the player's harbor until it is full If the opponent chooses not to purchase the goods, the start player must purchase them, paying the money to the bank and placing them on one of his ships. In choosing which port to sail to, players try to get to the port offering the commodities that match those on their ship. The game is played over 3 rounds, and after the third round, the winner is the player with the most money.
This was a cute, light 2-player game, and I'd be willing to give it another go. One thing neither Matt nor I were sure of is how high to value the goods. As the game went on, we were offering them up for higher costs, and I think we may have overpaid in some instances. But as the auctioneer, that's the chance you take. On one hand, you hope your opponent will be willing to pay the higher price, but if he's not, you're stuck with it -- like it or not. If you run out of money, you can take a loan from the bank, which saved me once. Luckily, I was able to pay it back before the end of the game.
Medici (Matt) was the more profitable family with $113 and Strozzi
(Sharon) has to suffer the shame and disappointment of her family, coming in with $63.

SANTA FE RAILS
In Sante Fe Rails, players expand rail lines in the Western US, while staking claims in the different cities the lines pass through. There are 5 major railroads available at the beginning of the game and 4 short line railroads that are come out randomly a bit later. As players expand the lines, they also lay down city cards on their turn to claim their entitlement at game end. All cities are assigned a value from 2-7, and the value is multiplied by the number of different lines that connect to it. Thus, the more lines that run through a city, the greater the payout will be. Game end is triggered by 2 conditions -- either all track pieces for the 5 majors are placed or all 5 majors are dead-ended. Players receive victory points for the cities they have claimed and money is also worth $1 per point.
It was full-steam ahead for Adam with this one, coming in with 275 points. Steve and Eileen were chugging behind with 162 and 142, respectively.

Review War of the Ring

2007-06-18T21:33:00.000-05:00

Game: War of the Ring
Designer: Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi, and Francesco Nepitello
# Players: 2 (3-4)

Evaluation System used with permission http://www.boardgame.de/

Components: War of the ring has a lot of components. A map of Northwest Middle Earth, 204 plastic figures representing the Shadow and Free Peoples (FP) armies, FP leaders, Nazgul, Shadow Minions, and the nine companions of the Fellowship. There are 137 cardboard counters, 96 Event cards, 14 Character Cards, 6 FP action dice, 10 Shadow Player (SP) action dice, and 5 combat dice. The board and all those figures are impressive (although some people have complained about the board coloring I enjoy the “old map” feel of the artwork). My biggest complaint is that the Event cards are printed with a small font that strains even young eyes to read. It is particularly frustrating because there is no reason for them to make the cards and font so small and this should have been better. Also, some of the figures can warp, some look similar in design, and the Nazgul “tip over” rather easily. The items on the map and the national tokens are somewhat cryptic and take a while to identify but over time you get them down straight. Overall the components are great but these issues drive my component rating down a bit and I give it a 7/10 on components.

Object of the Game: This is an asymmetrical game with different victory conditions. The FP wins if they get the Ring to Mt Doom (1) or get 4 VP in Shadow Cities/Strongholds (4). The SP wins by corrupting the Fellowship when the Corruption marker reaches 12 (2) or by Military victory when they get 10 VPs in FP Cities/Strongholds. The numbers after the victory conditions break ties if they happen during the same turn (lowest number has priority).

Flow of Play: Before I go thru the options in a game turn I need to explain a few concepts.
Politics: The various nations in the game can only get involved in the War when they reach an “At War” section of the political track. Only Active nations can advance to War although all nations can advance along the track. The 3 SP nations start the game Active and only the Elves start the game active for the FP.
The Fellowship: The nine companions of the Free Peoples represent the fellowship and their location on the map starts in Rivendell and is identified by the Fellowship Starting Position (FSP) marker. The FP player’s primary objective is to get the FSP into Mordor and to Mt Doom. An interesting element of the game is that when the Fellowship moves you move a marker on the Fellowship track to signify the number of regions that the Fellowship has moved from the FSP location. If the Fellowship’s location is revealed then the FP player must decide the exact location of the FSP.
Moving the Fellowship also allows the SP to roll dice for the Shadow forces that are hunting for the Ring. If the hunt is successful then they can draw a Hunt Tile. Hunt tiles can force the Fellowship to reveal its location and/or cause damage to the Fellowship. Any damage (usually 1-3) can be taken as corruption (by Frodo using the Ring) or the damage can be taken by sacrificing the Guide of the Fellowship or a Random companion.
Map: The map is divided up into different regions for movement with national boundaries marked. There are various locations on the map but the most important ones are Towns, Cities, Strongholds, and Fortifications. Armies can be Mustered (brought into the game) in Towns, Cities, and Strongholds of the various nations once they are “At War”. Cities and Fortifications provide additional defense during combat. Strongholds allow up to 5 units to be protected inside and force the opponent to put the Stronghold “under siege”. Captured Strongholds are worth 2 Victory Points and captured Cities are worth 1 Victory Point.
Armies: Armies are composed of military units. There are Regulars, Elites, and Leaders in Armies. Regulars can take one hit, Elites can take 2 hits or 1 hit and downgrade to Regulars, and leaders provide re-rolls in combat but cannot exist without other military units. Companions (that leave the Fellowship), Nazgul, and Minions are special units that are similar to leaders but can exist without other Armies and can even exist with enemy armies.
Action Dice: There are special dice that are rolled to determine the available actions for each player during each turn. The FP player starts with 4 Action Dice and can get two more during the game. He gets one if he brings Gandalf the White into play and another if Strider declares himself as Aragorn. The SP starts with 7 Action Dice and gets an additional die for each Minion he brings into play. These are the Witch King, Saruman, and the Mouth of Sauron.
Event Cards: Event cards have various effects on the game and drive the thematic elements of the game. Each Event card also has a combat effect that can be used during combat (instead of playing the Event effect). These events tie the game and story together. They include events from the books like The Paths of the Dead, Corsairs of Umbar, Ents of Fangorn, Denethor’s Pyre, the Breaking of the Fellowship, and Shelob.

Each game turn if broken up into 6 phases:
Phase 1: Each player draws 2 Event cards.
Phase 2: The FP player can change the guide of the Fellowship (but it must always be a character with the greatest level). Also, during this phase the FP player may “Declare” the Fellowship’s position. This is similar to a “Reveal” during the hunt but the FP player may place the FSP marker in a FP Stronghold or City. This is usually done to avoid the enemy or the Heal the Fellowship. If the FSP is Declared in a FP City or Stronghold then the Fellowship is Healed and the Corruption marker is moved down 1 point on the track.
Phase 3: During this phase the Shadow Player places a number of his Action dice (Eye side up) in the Hunt box. Initially he starts with 7 Action dice and he can place any number of Eyes in the Hunt box up to the number of Companions in the Fellowship. These dice represent the amount of effort that Sauron is exerting toward hunting for the Ring and they take away from his other available actions (the rest of his action dice).
Phase 4: Both players roll their Action Dice (the SP only rolls the ones he didn’t place in the Hunt Box during Phase 3). Any “Eye” results from the SP dice are also place in the Hunt Box.
Phase 5: This is the primary phase of the game where each player alternates turns starting with the FP player. Each player uses one of his Action Dice to perform an action and then the other player does likewise. Each player has various choices depending on the dice results.
Action Dice results:
Palantir Symbol – These allow a player to play or draw an Event card.
Muster Symbol – These allow a player to Muster/Recruit army units. One Muster die result can recruit an Elite, 2 Regulars, 2 Leaders, or 1 Leader and 1 Regular. Muster dice can also be used to play an Event Card with a Muster symbol on it.
Army Symbol – These allow a player to move 2 armies 1 region or 1 army to attack an adjacent region OR to play an Army Event Card.
Character Symbol – These allow an Army with a leader to move or attack an adjacent region OR play a Character Event Card OR the FP may move all companions on the map OR the FP may separate 1 or more companions from the Fellowship OR the SP may move all Nazgul and Minions on the map OR the FP may move the Fellowship OR hide the Fellowship (if revealed).
Will of the West – This is only on the FP Action dice and it allows various special effects (like bringing in Gandalf the White) or it can be used as any other Action Dice result (it is a Wild Card effect).
Eye – These results are placed in the Hunt Box to determine the strength of the Hunt for this turn.

Phase 6: Victory conditions are checked and if any are satisfied then the game ends. If multiple conditions are met, then the side with the lower one (see Object of the Game) wins.

The Hunt for the Ring
The Hunt is a big part of the game. Every time the Fellowship moves the SP may roll for the Hunt. He rolls a number of dice equal to the Eyes in the Hunt Box (max 5) and gets re-rolls if the FSP marker is in regions with SP Strongholds, Nazgul, and/or SP armies. Any results of 6 indicate success and drive the SP to draw a Hunt tile and resolve its effects and damage. The FP player adds his Action die to the Hunt Box and this indicates a modifier for future Hunt rolls this turn. If the Fellowship moves again then the SP will roll the Hunt dice but any results of 5 or more will indicate success. In this way multiple Fellowship moves lead to more successful Hunt effects.

Combat
Combat is resolved by each side rolling dice (up to 5) equal to the number of Army units involved in the battle. Any results of 5 are considered hits. If a defender is in a Fortification or a City then the attacker only hits on a 6 for the first round of combat. Strongholds allow defenders to retreat into the Stronghold and start a siege. Sieges only last for 1 combat round and the attacker can only hit on 6’s. This can be extended by one round if the Attacker reduces an Elite to a Regular after each combat round. During combat both sides get the opportunity to play Combat cards to modify the results of combat and this adds more tactics to the game. FP casualties get removed from the game but SP casualties are placed back with the re-enforcements. This means that over a long game the SP will eventually triumph since he has unlimited troops while the FP has a fixed limit.

There are many other effects that happen during the game but this is the basics. The FP player is trying to move the Fellowship rapidly to Mordor but not too fast since the Hunt can result in too much corruption. The SP is trying to get 10 VPs of Fellowship locations quickly but he must keep some resources on the Hunt to slow down the Fellowship. It is an asymmetrical race and if either side falters or over-extends then the other side can counter or win with an alternate Victory condition (FP Military or SP Ring victory). Many games come down to a close finish with the Fellowship in Mordor (where Hunt tiles have more powerful effects) and the SP trying to capture the last few VPs while the SP tries to hold them off in a valiant last stand.

Evaluation: One big pitfall for simulating this epic story is that the Shadow player knows where the Fellowship is headed whereas in the books Sauron never suspected that they were trying to destroy his ring. In the SPI version this almost always resulted in a final confrontation between the Nazgul and the Fellowship on Mt Doom. The Fellowship of the Ring game by ICE solves this issue by setting the Free Peoples player’s goal as getting as far as possible quickly and then disbanding the Fellowship (a little anti-climactic). War of the Ring does a masterful job of incorporating the Hunt in an abstract fashion into the flow of the game and it works wonderfully. The SP cannot simply build a wall of units around/in Mordor to stop the Ringbearers from completing their quest.

The game is best suited as a 2 player game in my opinion even though there are rules for 3 and 4 players. These rules just divide up the 2 player roles. To be fair, I have only played it with 3 players twice and never with 4 players but it just seems more of a 2 player contest. Game length can be an issue, especially when trying to learn it for the first time without a very experienced teacher. The rules have some ambiguities and unusual situations arise during gameplay that they don’t address adequately (thus there is a Huge FAQ for this game). With experienced players the game can take anywhere from 60 min (with certain strategies) to 180min+ for long games.

The game is filled with tough decisions and the Event cards provide opportunities for various strategies throughout. Players must decide which Action Die to use and what action to take and weigh the current situation plus the opponent’s available action dice and also consider all cards (Event/Combat) in both player’s hands and how they might affect each decision. Timing is critical and sometimes surprises do happen in the game!

There are some problems with the game that I will discuss in a 3-part strategy review but if you are a Lord of the Rings fan then this game needs to be in your collection. I own many different Lord or the Rings themed games and none of them come close to capturing the tension, flavor, and theme as well as this game. This is a game that I enjoy playing regardless of who wins because it is so exciting to play. For me, this is the best Lord of the Rings games ever designed and it is one of my top games of all time. For this reason I give it a 10/10 overall since I will always be willing to play it and teach it to anyone with an interest.

Session Report May 28,2006 (Memorial Day)

2007-06-10T14:55:00.000-05:00

Attendees(15+3): Warren, Sharon, Joann, Steve, Andy, Dawn, Troy, Brenda, Chris, Michael, Barbara, Adam, Rob, Curt, Danielle, and 3 kids under 10.

We all gathered at the Madden's house for a full day of boardgames and food! It was a lot of fun for my family since both my kids got to play some games and Barbara and I got in several long games with friends. We got in 12 games (at least) and one of them took most of the day for 5 players!

Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers
This has become one of my 5 year old's favorite games (along with Pick Picknic, To Court the King, and Electronic Dungeons and Dragons). He is able to pickup a lot of subtle strategies (for a 5 yr old) and he has learned how to stop his dad from scoring lots of points! Danielle 89, Matthew 88, Troy 72, and Michael 66.

Power Grid
We played this one with the Central Europe map. It proved interesting since some large plants came out early but I was fortunate to get a slight lead on capacity late in the game. When step 3 was triggered, I was able to buy to 17 cities and win while only being able to power 15 of them. Michael, Troy, and Barbara connected to 17 cities but Michael was able to power 15 while Troy and Barbara could only power 13 each. Troy finished 2nd since he had $40 vs Barbara's $8. Curt finished with only 12 cities in his network but he could power them all.

Tikal
Curt 99, Barbara 94, Michael 92, and Troy 82.

Loopin' Louie
My kids (especially Matthew) enjoy this light dexterity game. It was a new game for Rob and he seemed to enjoy it too. It is actually quite fun for adults and kids and it is one of the 'traditional' adult tournaments held at the Gathering of Friends.
Michael (won), Rob, Matthew, and Heather.

Fairy Tale
This has been a surprise hit in our household. Heather (my 8 year old) has really taken to it and she is quite capable of scoring in the 60-70 range on a regular basis. It is a quick (30 min) card game involving "drafting" cards (ala Magic the Gathering) but the combinations and card play are quick and simplistic once you learn the deck. Tonight it was Rob who got the best card combinations and won the game (on his first playing of the game).
Rob 59, Michael 54, Heather 45, and Andy 24.

To Court the King
This is another one of Matthew's favorite games (he loves to roll the dice). He was able to win out against his mom and Curt. Matthew (1st), Barbara(2nd), and Curt(3rd).

Settlers of Catan (3D)
The Madden's own this impressive edition of the classic Klaus Teuber and Heather teamed up with her Mom to play it. Joann pulled out the victory but everyone was in the running.
Joann (10), Barbara/Heather(9), Sharon(7), and Brenda(6).

Empire Builder
Andy and Sharon tag-teamed this one so Sharon could get dinner ready (gotta keep your priorities and your stomach in check). They were able to hold off Brenda in a close game about building a railroad network across the US. Andy/Sharon (261), Brenda (249), Danielle (201), and Joann (178).

Can't Stop
Game 1: Dawn (won), Sharon
Game 2: Rob (won), Sharon -- apparently Sharon couldn't stop ;-)

That's Life
Adam(23), Sharon (10), Rob (6)

Manifest Destiny
Warren, Adam, Steve, Chris, and Andrew competed over who could dominate the US from the Colonial times to the Modern Era. Chris was declared the winner via tie-breaker (more money) over Warren. They were followed closely by Steve, Andrew, and Adam.

Review Amun-Re

2007-06-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Game: Amun-Re
Designer: Reiner Knizia
# Players: 3-5

Evaluation System used with permission http://www.boardgame.de/

Components: Amun-Re comes with 110 cards (66 represent Gold (money), 39 Power Cards, and 15 Province Cards). They are smaller (about 1”x 3”) but functional and thick enough to hold up to repeated playing. Amun-Re comes with 30 pyramids, 15 building stones, and 10 player markers. These are all excellent quality plastic and provide that tangible aspect so prevalent in Designer games. It has 15 Province Markers and 45 Farmers. These are all made of cardboard and also of fine quality. It comes with two cardboard pieces that you assemble (Amun-Re Temple and Pharaoh). These are also well done and add more theme and flavor to the game. The map folds out and shows all 15 provinces in easy to read, yet thematic, artwork. It is very functional but not overly cluttered and contains a scoring track around the board’s perimeter. Finally, you get 5 summary cards with all the critical information for each round on one side and a Scoring summary on the other side. All in all, the components are excellent and get a rating of 8/10.

Object of the Game: The object is to have the most victory points at the end of the game.

Flow of Play: The game is split into 6 rounds with a scoring at the end of round 3 (Old Kingdom) and at the end of round 6 (New Kingdom). Each round consists of 5 phases (6 phases in scoring rounds). In the first phase Province cards a selected at random equal to the number of players. The 2nd phase involves an Auction to acquire the provinces. Phase 3 allows all players to buy Power Cards, Farmers, and Pyramids in their provinces. Phase 4 is a blind bid sacrifice to Amun-Re. In phase 5 everyone gets income from their provinces. Finally, in scoring rounds there is a 6th phase where victory points are scored.

The cost of items and provinces is a mathematical pattern (1,3,6,10,15,21,28,36, etc). Thus 2 farmers would cost 3, 3 farmers would cost 6, and 4 farmers would be 10. The auction is a clever bidding process where a player must bid on a price for a particular province in player order. If a player wants to bid on a province with another player’s marker, then she must place her marker on a higher bid. When a player has a turn and their marker has been overbid then they must select a different new province to bid on next. The auction ends when all provinces have a player’s marker on them. Provinces are not equivalent with each other. Some start with farmers or have room for many farmers. Some have fixed income and others have temples. Evaluating the value of provinces is a key element throughout the game since their values will change depending on which round they come out, what items are built on them, and what power cards and other provinces players have in their possession.

After provinces are selected, players buy power cards, farmers, and pyramids. There are limits on the Power Cards and farmers based on the provinces a player controls. Pyramids are the primary source of victory points so they are very important, but they do not have incremental uses like farmers (income) and power cards (breaking the rules).

After all players have purchased their items, players make a blind sacrifice (using Gold monetary coins). If players bid high values then the harvest will be plentiful, but if players bid low values then the harvest will be scarce (drought). All players get rewards (farmers, power cards, buildings) based on the amount of their sacrifice relative to each other. Players may opt to steal from the sacrifice to get money (which reduces the sacrifice by 3) but they don’t participate in the rewards.

Finally, players get income based on how plentiful the harvest. In general, provinces with lots of farmers will want a plentiful harvest while provinces with Camels will want a drought so that their income is maximized. Large income is important, since it sets players in position to bid and buy more in subsequent rounds.

The first 5 phases are repeated for 3 rounds and then a scoring occurs. Scores are based on Pyramids (individual, sets, and majorities), temples, and bonus power cards (if their conditions are met). Money also counts in the 6th round (final scoring).

Evaluation: An interesting twist in the game is that at the end of the Old Kingdom (after round 3 scoring), the farmers and province cards are removed but the Pyramids and building stones are left where they were built. This forces players to re-value provinces. Also, the order of the provinces is different each game and this keeps the game fresh and different over multiple playings.

The Power Cards offer several different benefits. Each card can be played in particular phases. Some give additional options during the auction, some provide extra farmers or help in building, and others modify the sacrifice and help increase income in the 5th phase. Finally, there are some cards that give a bonus during scoring if certain conditions are met.

One complaint of the game is that the power cards vary in usefulness and add a very random element. The other common complaint is that the blind bidding is very luck driven. I agree that the power cards can have a varying effect, but the game does allow them to be converted into gold at 1:1 rate at any time. This does help mitigate the risk of getting poor or useless power cards. The blind bidding auction for the sacrifice is interesting because the results of the bid are both special rewards and a cumulative total affects the income of everyone’s provinces. This means that you don’t want to have a camel province if everyone else has farmers or vice versa. Knowledge of this element will also affect the province evaluation in step 2 and this intrinsic linking of phases and decision-making is it’s strongest appeal for me.

Regarding the number of players. I think that with 3 players it is a little bit weaker because there is less variation in the auctions and less provinces to select. I have found it to be more enjoyable with 4 or 5 players though and it is always a game that I’m willing to play. It can run a little longer (~120-150 min) with less experienced players but once you have a good sense of the game flow it can be played in less time (~90 min).

Overall, I give Amun-Re 8/10 and it is highly recommended.

House Rules/Variants:
The only house rule I play with is when using a power card that modifies the value of the sacrifice. The card allows a player to shift the total bid by +/-3 but it must be played before a player sees the total of the bid. This often leads to a wasted play since the player generally wants to push the bid up or pull the bid down and therefore is only looking to shift the bid in one direction. Our house rule is to allow the card to shift the total bid by +/- 4. This tends to make the card more useful without making it too strong. It falls more closely in relative worth with the other Power Cards.

The only other power cards that I have considered weaker are the auction power cards because once players become experienced at evaluating the provinces these power cards are much less useful. I’ve decided recently to allow the auction power cards to be “interchangeable” so that either card provides either power (but not both). If you have the one that lets you rebid in the same province then you can use that card as stated OR as a blocking auction card that forces someone to bid higher to pass you.

Game Review Format

2007-05-31T21:16:00.000-05:00

This posting is to highlight the criteria I use to rate games in my reviews. Most of my game reviews will be on games that I own since I have more familiarity with them and also enough plays to comfortably offer my opinions on them.

Each review will start with a graph showing 5 different criteria (this format the same as Kulkmann's G@mebox) and is used with permission from Frank Kulkmann.

Evaluation System used with permission www.boardgame.de

For my review purposes I will use the following rankings for each of the five Criteria. The rankings are subjective (and only my opinions) but I will try to give a guideline as to what each ranking means for each Criteria.

Complexity -- This is a criteria to measure both the process of learning a game and the clarity of the rules provided.

1) Understood by intuition, obvious rules that a 2 year old can easily follow

2) Simple, easily understood rules

3) Appropriate for pre-school to elementary school children to easily grasp

4) More advanced concepts for many young kids, but easily grasped by adults

5) Top end for most non-gamer games and ideal for many family level games

6) Gateway games and many family games with moderate rules

7) Majority of Gamer games fall into this category of complexity

8) Advanced complexity, gamers need learning curve

9) The top end of reasonable complexity

10) Overly complex rules that challenge even very experienced gamers

Design -- This criteria ranks a games components as well as the overall impression and presentation of the game. Both it's visual and tactile appeal.

1) No components or garbage components
2) Terrible components and design, drastically impacts gameplay
3) Serious concerns about design, may impact gameplay
4) Some problems with the components but still functional
5) Standard game components, no big issues
6) Above average components, but could have some small issues
7) Excellent components, general level for many Euros
8) Very well done components and design, above the norm for Euros
9) Exceptionally well done components, visually appealing
10) Top notch components that place this game above the field

Fun - This Criteria is just how enjoyable the game is for me and how frequently I would be willing to play it.

1) Complete waste of time, will NEVER play again
2) Boring, not worth the effort to play
3) Will play if forced by others, will not recommend
4) Okay game, would play again but wouldn't suggest
5) Average gameplay experience
6) Above average, enjoyable experience
7) Excellent game, engaging and very fun
8) Great gameplay, will always play and often suggest
9) Highly entertaining, very thematic or involved game, will always suggest/play
10) Great experience, would play again and again

Strategy - I try to rank the impact of strategy and tactics involved in the game and usually the key dividing point is how many strategic choices are viable over multiple plays of the game.

1) Complete luck or game plays by itself
2) Very limited options, roll and move
3) One obvious strategy and it is always the best choice
4) Some strategy but one strategy tends to dominate
5) At least two viable choices at varying points in the game
6) More than one route to victory or multiple tactical decisions
7) Multple paths to victory with tactical decisions along the way
8) Subtle strategies emerge through multiple plays
9) Abstract levels of strategy with great depth and replay value
10) Multiple layers of strategy and room for innovative tactics to succeed

Overall Evaluation - This is my overall ranking of the game relative to others in my collection and how willing I am to bring it out to the gaming table.

1) Only useful in the fireplace
2) Feeble game, will not play
3) Weak game, will only play when coerced into it
4) Below average, might play but won't suggest
5) Average game, will play sometimes
6) Good game, will play if suggested but not all the time
7) Strong game, will play more often than not
8) Excellent game, will always play and often suggest
9) Great game, will always play and always suggest
10) Will always recommend/play and this will not change

After the Ratings Graph, I will describe the game components. This will cover most (or all) of the game components and help explain my design rating. Then I will explain the Object and detail the Flow of Play for the game under review. Finally, I will wrap up with Overall Evaluation. Then in some cases I'll add details and explanation for any House Rules that I use for playing the game (sometimes to alter game balance and sometimes just for variety).

Session Report May 22, 2007

2007-05-26T13:50:00.000-05:00

Attendees (10): Warren, Sharon, Michael, Andy, Tamara, Joel, Adam, Eileen, Troy, and Cheryl.

We all gathered at the Madden's and played some of the same games we played the week before.

Shogun
I got in my 3rd game of Shogun. It was a close finish but Andrew (49) won, followed by Joel (47), Adam (44), and then me (32). I tried a strategy of spreading out and building lots of troops and very few buildings. Then attacking others to capture their locations at key times. This didn't work very well and I fell to several late game attacks that left me completely out of the running. The other players were all very close and the "kingmaker" element of this type of game was evident. Still, I enjoyed the experience and hope to continue to shorten the playing time.

Amun Re
Sharon was anxious to play this one again. Troy (44) won followed by Cheryl (39), Eileen (34), and Sharon (23).

Puerto Rico
Warren won the 3 player version with 45pts. Andy and Tamra tied for second with 28.

Hare and Tortoise
This is a clever game that requires careful planning and mathematical calculations to win (a little luck can go a long way too). Planning your moves based on your position can give you more $ (carrots) and you spend these to move forward.
Warren finished first with $8 left.
Sharon finished 2nd with $9 left.
Cheryl finished 3rd with $2 left.
Eileen finished 4th with $30 left.
Troy finished 5th.

Session Report May 15, 2007

2007-05-26T09:58:00.000-05:00

Attendess(12): Barbara, Michael, Steve, Troy, Cheryl, Warren, Sharon, Danielle, Chris, Jeremy, Andy, and Andrew.

We gathered at our house this week and got in quite a few games.

Bang!

We started the evening off with Bang! This was Chris' first game and he was eliminated before he even got his first turn! I went to greet others and let him take over for me. It turned out that Chris (Outlaw #2) finished with a shoot-out against the Sheriff (Cheryl) after Andrew (Renegade), Jeremy (Deputy), and Chirs (Outlaw #1) were eliminated. This one ended in a cliff-hanger since I haven't found out who won... maybe next episode will reveal the exciting conclusion.

A mun-Re

Barbara, Sharon, Steve, and Troy got started on this under-appreciated Knizia game. Most complaints I have seen on this game involve the luck of the power cards, but my experience has been that they tend to even out over the game and that careful bidding and planning can off-set most bad luck. Steve (45) proved himself worthy of Amun Re just ahead of Troy (43). Barbara (36) and Sharon (27) finished just off the pace.

Puerto Rico

This is still the highest rated game on BGG and for good reason. It is one of the most engaging, fun, well-themed, and challenging multi-player games ever created. Andrew edged Warren 54 to 53 with Danielle (44) and Cheryl (42) close behind.

Ticket to Ride (1910)

I enjoy the changes that 1910 brings to TTR America and feel that it allows for more variety in play and strategy. More North-South routes are viable now and grabbing multiple tickets allows short ticket runs to get the 15pt Globetrotter bonus. Warren returned the favor and edged Andrew 138 to 134. Danielle (113) and Cheryl (82) trailed them in this one.

TransAmerica

This is a great introductory game and also a fun one with kids since there is no direct way to mess with your opponent. Barbara pulled out the victory with 7pts, while Sharon had 3, and Troy went over the edge.

Basari

I've never played this one before. Steve (99) won followed by Sharon (64), Barb (50), and Troy (32).

Shogun

I really enjoy this hybrid strategy/war game. It challenges players to build for victory points and attack/defend critical territories in the conquest to be the dominant Shogun in Japan. The game has a lot of randomness that feels like you can control. Combat is resolved with a clever dice tower mechanism that is fast but very bloody so you don't want to attack too often or you will have few troops remaining to defend anywhere. Also, the element of revolts restricts too much growth with very little defense. Lots of balancing mechanisms plus the multi-player interaction makes this a winner for me. Hopefully, we can get playing time down on this one so that it hits the table a little more often. I (52) was fortunate to hold onto the victory over Chris (49) followed by Andy (32) and Jeremy (27).

Session Report May 8, 2007

2007-05-24T21:07:00.000-05:00

Attendees(11): Steve, Sharon, Warren, Michael, Matt, Jaimie, Eileen, Adam, Troy, Cheryl, and Andrew

Hellas

I got to Steve's house early and we had time for a quick game of Hellas. This is a two player game in the Kosmos series (which has produced many excellent games). It is a light war-game that allows for some different strategies. the board is made up of various city tiles and each player has ships (for exploring) and soldiers (for fighting). The game is driven by 3 decks of God cards that give special powers. Neptune helps exploring, Ares helps in fighting, and Zeus helps by "breaking" the rules. Some tiles have temples on them and the player with the most temples gets to take 1 extra action each round (4 instead of 3). This is a huge benefit and the other player must quickly level the # of temples are fall too far behind. It's a fun light game if you don't think too much and just enjoy it for what it is... I got lucky in this game and dominated the board quickly and Steve was unabl

Bang!

Bang is a card game set in the West where players have different roles with different objectives. One player is the Sheriff (and everyone knows who the Sheriff is) and her job is to shoot all the outlaws and the renegade (but not any deputies!). Everyone else's roles remain hidden until they lose all their life and the number of roles varies with the number of players. The outlaws win if they shoot the Sheriff, the deputies win if the Sheriff wins (a joint victory) and the renegade can only win if he is the last player standing (which means kill all outlaws and deputies and then finish off the Sheriff last).

Players take turns "drawing" cards and playing cards. Some cards give you guns to shoot people further away, barrels to hide behind, or even a stick of dynamite. BANG cards allow you shoot at others while missed cards avoid being hit while beer cards give you more life. There are many different types of cards but they are all fit the Western theme and the game plays quickly. Each player also plays an individual character with special abilities that break the rules.

I enjoy Bang! as a fun filler but sometimes it can run a little too long. It has a neat element of "guessing" what everyone's role is and this adds to the fun. The other issue with Bang! is that it is a player elimination game. So if you are killed early, you may have to wait a while before the game ends.

Game 1: Sharon was the Sheriff, I was her deputy, and Andrew (Renegade) shot her a little too much giving the outlaws (Eileen, Matt, and Steve) a quick victory -- so we played another round...

Game 2: Eileen was the Sheriff this time, I was the deputy again, Andrew was the Renegade again, and the rest were outlaws. Matt and Steve were taken out early and then Andrew was eliminated. This left Adam, Eileen, and me and I thought we had him but I ended up in jail (so I couldn't use a Saloon card to give Eileen some more life) and Adam was able to shoot the Sheriff and pull off the win!

Giganten

Adam taught me, Andrew, and Eileen this game about acquiring Oil fields and shipping and selling oil to various companies. It has some interesting mechanics that force the players to value different actions and select action cards that allow: (a) to move their truck, (b) to move their train, (c) draw cards for bidding when selling oil barrels, (d) get extra oil, and sometimes (e) push other players trains backward.

Moving trucks allows players to claim good locations and drill for oil more effectively (more production). Moving the train saves on shipping costs for the oil they produce. Bidding for selling oil can be critical when the markets are good so these cards are very useful, but you have to have a lot of oil first. The extra oil is okay but moving other players trains can be very effective late in the game where it costs them a lot of points to move them back.

I think that there is a huge advantage in going first each turn and that the game would benefit for an auction to determine the start player (either at the beginning or maybe each turn), however, it does already run fairly long and this might increase playing time too much.

I didn't play the game particularly well and that may have tarnished my opinion but I just didn't feel any tension in the game and each turn was fairly repetitive with no "build up".

Andrew proved to be the "JR Ewing" of our group and won with 94k, Adam was next with 83k, and Eileen and I finished well off the mark with 44k and 54k respectively.

Mystery of the Abbey

Cheryl and Troy enjoyed playing this game at our house a few weeks before and they played it again at Steve's. Father Michael was guilty of Brother Adelmo's tragic murder but Brother Troy accused him correctly and won the game with 4 pts. Warren had a correct revelation for 2 while Cheryl must have missed on a revelation and finished with -2. Jaimie and Sharon were tied with 0 and kept their vows of silence.

Pirate's Cove

Matt was the best Pirate with 31, Steve 25, and Danielle 23.

Ticket to Ride (1910)

Steve dominated the rails with 162, Matt 112, Danielle 104.

RoboRalley

This is a game that I have never played. Warren won with 2 stations, Troy had 1 station but finished before Sharon who also had 1 stations. Jamie had 0 stations and Cheryl died (whatever that means...)

Session Report May 1, 2007

2007-05-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

*** Thanks again to Sharon for the session report since I was at my son's baseball game ***

Attendees (11): Troy Shady, Steve Walker, Andrew Bradley, Andy Manning, Tamara Ferretti, Sharon Madden, Joel Weeks, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Pat Harmon, David Harmon

Everybody met at our place for game night this week. We welcomed our neighbors, David and Pat Harmon, for their first experience with German/Euro boardgames. David wanted to observe this first time, but we got Pat into a game of TransAmerica right away, and she pulled off the win! We enjoyed having David and Pat and hope to see them back for more fun and games!

Here's what we played:

TRANSAMERICA
In TransAmerica, each player tries to connect their rail lines to 5 cities in 5 different areas of the board -- West Coast, Southern US, Central US, Northern US, and East Coast. Players choose a starting spot on the board and build from there by placing either 1 or 2 pieces of track each turn, depending on the type of terrain. Initially, players can only build off their own rail lines, but once a line connects with another, players can build off the other lines and vice versa. The winner is the player who connects to all 5 of their cities first. The other players move their trains down the score track the number of spaces needed to connect all their cities. The game ends after several rounds when at least one player's train has either passed the barrier on the score track or taken a dive into the Pacific Ocean.
The key in this game is networking, networking, networking. The sooner you're able to connect to other rail lines, the quicker you'll connect all your cities. Yes, by doing this, you are helping other players, but in this game, you won't get very far very fast by yourself.
Tonight, Eileen was the first train into the Pacific, followed by Joel, Adam, and Pat.

RA
Joel and Adam were acknowledged by the Sun God Ra together as our most famous players with 35 points each. However, Joel impressed Ra further by having the higher total of suns. Leaving a favorable impressions on the Gods were Eileen and Pat with 34 and 33 respectively. A very close game!

THAT'S LIFE
In That's Life, also known as Verflixxt, players have a set of 3 pawns that they are moving through a design of hexes with positive and negative numbers on them. The values range from -10 to +8. Players roll a die and choose one of their pawns or a guard pawn to move. There are also fortune cards along the route which once collected, turn any negative number in a player's possession into a positive number. More than one player may land on a hex, but the last player to leave a hex gets to keep it -- whether they want it or not. Also, if your pawn is on a hex with a guard pawn and the guard pawn is still there when you leave it, you do not collect the hex. Once all players have reached the finish line, the game is over, and the winner is the person with the most positive points.
This is a light filler game that is based on luck. Sure, there is some strategy, but if you're not rolling the right numbers to begin with, you're going to come out with a low score. But hey...That's Life.
Tonight's lucky duck was Andy with 22, followed by Steve with 21, Eileen with 9 and Adam with a score was too negative to count.

UNION PACIFIC
This is one of Troy's favorite games, so he suggested it. Andy and I played it a couple of weeks ago, and we were excited to give it another go. In my initial writing about this game, I wrote that it is beneficial to collect UP cards early on, and I should have followed my own advice. My dilemma was some helpful stock cards coming up early for me, and once I got everything I needed, most of the UP cards were gone, and I ended up with only 2. It definitely wasn't my best UP game, but nonetheless, I enjoyed playing it.
Tonight's top investor was Troy with $93, followed closely by Steve with $89. Tamara came in next with $75, followed by Sharon with $67, Andrew with $66 (very close), and Andy with $57.

AVE CEASAR
Troy, Andrew and I decided to test our chariot driving skills in Circus Maximus. Players receive a deck of 24 cards, and they are numbered 1-6, with 4 of each card. The numbers totally barely enough spaces to complete 3 laps around the ring. Players shuffle their decks, and draw the first 3 cards as their starting hand. On your turn, you play one of your cards, move your chariot that number, and draw back up to 3. The only stipulations with playing cards are that if you're in first place, you cannot play a card with a value of 6, and if you can't move with the cards in your hand, you must pass your turn. During one of the 3 laps, players must detour to Emperor's Alley, stop there, salute Caesar (loudly and enthusiastically) and pay a denari as a tribute. The first player to cross the finish line after 3 laps and paying homage to Caesar is the winner.
This is a cute, light filler. It's tricky, though, because you can end up behind the finish line with not enough points to cross, depending on how your cards stack up and which tracks you're able to take. Troy was tonight's fastest chariot driver, coming in first, followed by Andrew and then me.
Just for kicks and grins, Andrew and I played it again playing with 2 chariots each. Andrew came in first and third and I came in second and fourth.

Session Report April 24, 2007

2007-05-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

Attendees(7): Michael, Barbara, Sharon, Warren, Cheryl, Troy, and Andrew.

Web of Power

Warren, Steve, and I played this Michael Schacht design. I own Paris Paris and Web of Power has some similarities but it is a little more complex. The nice thing about this game (and Paris Paris) is that it has some strategy but can be played in a short time. The downside is that there is a lot of luck and there is very little tension (at least for me). I was fortunate to get a lot of France cards and build up a strong Ambassador base there that carried me to victory in this one.

Final Scores: Mike 66, Andrew 52, and Warren 50.

Hermagor

This was a new game for all three of us. It was a very interesting economic game with lots of tactical decisions. It will definitely take more plays to figure out a strategy for this one. Andrew was unfortunate to fall behind on closing out regions and was unable to catch up.

Final Scores: Mike 152, Warrern 142, and Andrew 108.

Mystery of the Abbey

Cheryl and Troy learned this one for the first time and I think they enjoyed this clever deduction game. They questioned the Monks in the Abbey along with Sharon and Barbara and tried to deduce who killed Brother Adelmo. I recently purchased this game since we have always liked Clue and this is like Clue with a bunch of twists from Bruno Faidutti thrown in. Sharon was able to solve the crime and reveal the culprit...

Final Scores: Sharon 4, Cheryl 2, Barbara 1, and Troy 0.

Hey! That's My Fish

This is a fun light game about penguins claiming fish along an ice floe. Barbara edged out Sharon with more fish 47 to 38.

Session Report April 17, 2007

2007-05-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

***Sharon did this report since I was unable to attend***

Attendees: (8) Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Andy Manning, Andrew Bradley, Matt Asher, Jaimie Asher, Steve Walker, Joel Weeks, Troy Shady

Mykerinos
Troy proved to be the most successful archaeologist tonight digging up a score of 44 points. Hot on his excavation trail were Andrew with 41, Matt with 40, and Steve with 17.

Puerto Rico
Matt, Jaimie, Troy, Steve and Andrew set off for Puerto Rico, attempting to become the island's most successful and prosperous developer. Andrew successfully earned that title scoring 46 points, but Matt gave him a a little competition with a score of 40. Steve and Jaimie tied at 38 points and Troy was close behind with 33 points. Steve staked his claim on third place with 6 gold and 2 resources compared to Jaimie's 4 gold and 1 resource.

Union Pacific
Another of my favorite Alan Moon games, Union Pacific is a game of expanding railway companies and attaining stock majority to earn money/victory points. There are 10 railway companies available, and on their turn, players may do 1 of 2 actions: expand a rail line to increase its value or lay down stock cards to increase their ownership in a railway company or companies. When playing stock cards, players may either lay down 1 or 2 stock cards of different companies or as many cards as they like from one company. There is a Union Pacific railway company, which is a separate entity not represented on the board.
Instead, it pays dividends to shareholders in set amounts with each scoring. There are 4 random scorings, and with the exception on Union Pacific stock, only the first- and second-place shareholders will reap the dividend rewards -- everyone else is left out. Money earned from dividends represents victory points, and after the last scoring round, the player with the most money is the winner.
I think the key in this game is diversity in investing and playing the stock cards that will give you the most majorities -- all in a timely manner. Stock cards come up randomly, so you don't know exactly what will be available to you on your turn, but you'll have an idea of which stocks other players are collecting. Union Pacific stock is limited (20 cards in the game -- once they're got, they're gone), and because the payouts increase with each scoring, I think it's beneficial to collect UP cards early on, as Joel did. Of course, you never know exactly when scoring will occur, so timing is everything. Each time I play, there are several turns when I wish I could lay down 3 or 4 different stock cards instead of 1 or 2. It's always a fun game for me.
Tonight's biggest railroad stock market investor was Joel with $108.
Chugging along behind him were Adam with $92, Sharon with $85, Andy with $77, Warren with $75, and Eileen with $58.

Royal Turf (AKA Winner's Circle)
After making our millions from railroad investments, it was off to the races! Royal Turf is a horse-racing game played over 3 races. There are 7 different horses in each race, and players have 4 betting chips (valued at 2, 1, 1, and 0 -- a bluff bet) to place on the horses they hope will take the top 3 places. Movement for each horse is determined by a die roll, with each player trying to get their horses past the finish line the quickest, while trying to nix the others. Only the horses in the top 3 pay out in the Winner's Circle, and those betting on the horse in last place have to pay back £100 per bet. All other horses get nothing but a bucket of oats and the hopes of making it into the top 3 during the next race.
This is a cute little filler, but it's really tricky to figure out.
Certain horses are fairly steady in movement numbers, while others tend to be slower overall. But, the slow ones can get a second wind (aka that one really good die roll) and trot to the front of the pack, leaving everyone else eating their dust.
Adam and Eileen definitely had the inside scoop on the winning horses.
Adam cashed out with £2,450 and Eileen with £2,350. The rest of us will be mucking out stalls -- Warren came away with £1,200, Sharon with £1,000, Joel with £750 and Andy with £650.

Session Report April 10, 2007

2007-04-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (12) Eileen, Adam, Cheryl, Troy, Warren, Sharon, Danielle, Matt, Joel, Michael, Steve, and Joanne.

We gathered at Steve's this week and had a great turnout of players.

Shogun

I brought this one and was anxious to play it since I had been anticipating getting it since Christmas. This was everyone's first playing and after spending about 60min explaining the rules in detail we were ready to begin.

The game is an interesting mix of war-game and Econimic game with various tactical decisions along the way. These decisions become more interesting since you usually have only partial information and you are limited to 10 actions and each one can only be performed once (there is an attack A and attack B option) and each action can only be done in a single territory. Money is tight and anticipating your opponent's actions is critical to success. Combat is quick and is decided by a cube tower instead of rolling dice. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game even though it took us about 3 hrs to complete the game. I'll give a more thorough review at a later time.

Joel was able to defend his edge of the board effectively and build Temples and Castles in his regions to claim the prestigious title of Shogun. Scores: Joel 48, Steve 42, Matt 40, Michael 39, Adam 32.

Settlers of Catan - Cities and Knights

Scores: Eileen 14, Joanne 9, Cheryl 9, Troy 8

Ticket to Ride

Scores: Cheryl 138, Eileen 108, Troy 93

Urland

Scores: Sharon 33, Warren 32, Danielle 20

The Nacho Incident

Scores: Warren 73, Danielle 71, Sharon 63

Session Report April 3, 2007

2007-04-09T20:52:00.000-05:00

Attendees (4): Steve, Andy, Joel, and Michael

We gathered at Steve's with a small group since it was Spring Break week here in Atlanta.

Nexus Ops

We got out Nexus Ops and started battling for control of the Moon. This is a light war game that encourages attacking and avoids the "turtle" strategy that is common in many war games. Victory Points are only earned when you attack and win a battle. The units are colorful (a bit neon) and flavorful of outer-space creatures. Each turn players purchase units (similar to Axis and Allies), place them on the board, and attack their opponents in order to claim victory points and capture mining spaces that earn additional income. There is also a Monolith in the center of the board that can be controlled by a player earning that player 2 energize cards that give various special abilities. Energize cards are also earned when you lose a battle if you are attacked so that the loser of battles gets some small reward. The game is fun and gets into the action quickly after a little bit of exploration. It plays in about 120 min or so once you understand the rules.

Joel and I fought each other most of this game while Steve and Andy did the same across the board from us. I tried a brief invasion of Andy's territory but was squashed by his Rubium Dragons. Andy took control of the Monolith from Joel and played some big victory point cards to pull out the victory! Final Scores: Andy 12, Michael 9, Joel 8, Steve 6.

Pirate's Cove
Argh! This is definitely a well-themed boardgame. You get to move to various Islands, build up your boat (Hull, Guns, Crew, and Sails), find treasure, bury treasure on Treasure Island, and visit the Tavern to drink and brag about all your Pirate adventures. Of course you have to avoid the other Pirates and the Black Pirate too or else you may have to fight them and try to damage their vessel before they sink your ship! This was my first time playing Pirate's Cove and it was a lot of fun (even though it has a lot of luck). Andy was the best Pirate as he sank the Royal Navy in one volley from his Six Gun Salute!

Final Scores: Andy 34, Mike 27, Steve 26

Session Report March 27, 2007

2007-04-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (5+2) Michael Hall, Barbara Hall, Steve Walker, Matt Asher, and Andrew Bradley (also Heather and Matthew played Exxtra with us)

We had a small group over to our house on Tuesday.

Exxtra

This is a light "push your luck" dice game that Warren and Sharon let us borrow to play with the kids. They enjoy it and we got a game in with Heather, Matthew, Barbara, Matt, Andrew, and me. Andrew proved the winner and everyone was in the game except for me (I was always within 1 or 2 spaces from the Start...game ends at space 21.

El Grande - Grand Inquisitor and the Colonies

We decided to try one of the El Grande Expansions and it was an interesting variation. The Grand Inquisitor is a single card in Stack 6 (similar to the King) and it allows a player to control the black caballeros tokens on the board. The expansion also adds a 7th stack that places new goods (Gold and Wares) on two new boards (America and the Mediterranean). There is also a board for France and a board for the Ship to travel from Spain to the colonies (America and Med).

The game allows for some interesting manuevering to get goods back to Spain for VPs and also getting certain positions on boards that are worth additional VPs during scoring. This increases the benefits of Intrigue actions and also makes for a greater spread of Caballeros tokens across the board. In general, I liked the expansion once we got through the added rules and resolved some unanswered questions with House Rules.

The game was close but Steve pulled out the victory - Final Scores: Steve 148, Andrew 143, Michael 135, and Matt 134.

Session Report March 20, 2007

2007-03-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (12) Joel Weeks, Sharon Madden, Warren Madden, Andy Manning, Eileen Tooke, Adam Whitney, Jaimie Asher, Matt Asher, Troy Shady, Steve Walker, Frederick Law, and Michael Hall

We all met at the Madden's and got started on 3 tables of gaming!

Andromeda
Adam brought along an Alan Moon game called Andromeda. It was some type of space trading game but, since I didn't play it, I don't have any details. Sharon, Eileen, Adam, and Jaimie played this one. Final Scores: Adam 55, Sharon 50, Jaimie 38, and Eileen 25.

Merchant of Venus

This one was popular last week and it came out again this week. Five players took on the challenge of trading goods with Alien Races and Warren proved you can win even when "rolling a 3" -- since we all heard him announce his dice roll when things weren't going well early in the game... Final Scores: Warren 2851 , Matt 2456, Frederick 2305, Steve 1962, and Troy 1374.

Mykerinos
I had been hoping to play this game soon and I recruited Joel and Andy to give it a try. We got through the rules and got started. The game is deceptively simple to learn but it has an interesting balance in various tactical decisions. Players represent archaeologists placing workers at various digging sights and also claiming locations in the museum where the discoveries will be displayed.

The game is divided into 4 seasons and each one consists of a placement phase and scoring phase. Players start each season with a specified number of workers that they take from a common pool. During the placement phase each player may either place workers, use special character abilities (discussed later), or pass. Once a player passes then they are out of the placement phase of the turn. If a player is out of workers then they must pass. After all players, except one, have passed then the last player can take one more action before the placement phase ends.

The dig areas are randomly created (by combining two different tiles) and at the end of a placement round, majority in these areas offers privelages. During Seasons 1-3 there are 6 areas and in Season 4 there are 8 areas. Players can place 1 worker on an area to start a dig. On future turns they may place a new worker in a new (or the same area). They may be able to place 2 workers in an area where they have already started a dig. In this case, the first new worker must be placed orthagonally to the existing worker and the second new worker must be placed orthagonally to the first new worker. This can be tricky as there are Pyramids on many of the sights where workers cannot be placed.

After all figures are placed then majorities are determined in each area. Ties are broken in order of the passing position (ie the 1st player to pass wins all ties). 1st and 2nd place get the choice of (a) either of the tiles (2nd place might only have 1 tile to choose from) or (b) placing in the museum. 3rd and 4th place cannot place in the museum but they may take a tile provided one is available. All remaining workers are moved back to the common pool.

(a) Tiles have symbols on them that correspond to the special character on the back side of the tile and some will also have victory points on them. Players who take a tile score the victory points and then flip the card over and place it in front of them. During future placement phases these characters can be tipped (turned 90 degrees) to use a special ability. This can only be done once per card per season.
(b) The museum is divided into 5 hallways (corresponding to the 5 special characters). There is a 3pt and 5pt space in each hallway and a 2pt space between each hallway. A player can place one worker on a vacant 2pt or 3pt space. In order to place on a 5pt space the player must already have a worker on that hallway's 3pt space OR a worker in one of the two adjacent 2pt spaces. This forces players to place more workers in the museum to get the valuable positions.

The special characters really make the game interesting so I will briefly go over their abilities (although I don't remember all their names so I'll label them 1-5). (1) allows the player to take an additional worker from the common pool before placing workers on a dig area. (2) allows a player to place 2 workers when starting a dig (instead of 1). (3) allows a player to place up to 3 workers when adding to a dig (instead of 2). (4) allows a player to place one worker on a Pyramid. (5) allows a player to place a worker in the musuem.

Final scoring is determined by adding up the value of all the tiles a player has acquired. Each tile is worth a number of victory points that corresponds to that player's placement in the museum. It will be worth 5 or 3 if the player has placed in that hallway or 2 if adjacent or 1 if the player has no workers near that character's hallway in the museum. For example, if I have 3 Lord Lemon tiles and I placed in both the 3 and 5 pt locations in his hallway then I would get 15pts for those tiles (you only get pts for the best placement). Players also score 5pts for each complete set of characters that they possess.

In our game I was able to get a lot of the character that allows you to place in the museum and this proved invaluable in claiming great scoring spots. Final Scores: Michael 81, Joel 58, Andy 38.

Mykerinos offers a lot of interesting tactical decisions in a relatively short (60min) playing time. Which areas do you fight for, which ones will be easy to claim with little effort, which characters are more valuable, when do you choose to pass, and when do you place in the museum? Overall, I like Mykerinos and would definitely give it some more plays and see if I can figure out the relative value of the various powers. Each has its benifits but I definitely saw advantages in the museum guy...

Taluva
After Mykerinos and Andromeda ended, Sharon joined Joel and I for a game of Taluva. This is a very easy to learn game with tile placement but with some clever mechanics. It is a great production with firm and durable tiles (they are 3 hexes in a triangle pattern) and great colorful pieces to place on the tiles. The object of the game is to run out of 2 of the 3 types of pieces first with an additional victory condition if all tiles are placed before this occurs.

Each player draws and places a tile on their turn. The tile must be placed either adjacent to an existing tile OR on top of multiple tiles (there are some particular rules on this placement). Each tile has a volcano hex and two others (with various types of terrain). Then a player may place 1 or more buildings. Players have 20 Huts, 2 Towers, and 3 Temples to place. Huts can be placed (a) 1 on a single hex or (b) x number of huts on x consecutive terrain spaces adjacent to that player's hut. In addition, more huts are placed when hexes on higher elevations are chosen (1 addl hut per elevation level). So a player who places huts on a level 1 hex and a level 2 hex would place 3 huts. Placing a Temple is allowed provided that it is in a settlement (series of consecutive buildings) that covers at least 3 hexes and doesn't already contain a Temple. Towers may be placed only on elevation 3 hexes in settlements that don't already contain a Tower.

The tricky parts of the game involve positioning tiles that will benefit you getting rid of buildings while limiting others from doing so. Also, placing tiles on top of player's huts is allowed (the huts are removed and not returned to the player) provided that the entire settlement is not destroyed or that the tile covers any towers or temples. Players can also lose outright if they cannot place a building on their turn (so running out of huts too quickly can be costly). Finally, if no one runs out of 2 of the 3 building types when the last tile is placed then the game ends and the player with the most temples on the board is the winner (# Towers and Huts will break ties).

I enjoyed this game also and I was able to use the elevation levels to place most of my huts and place two Towers. I finished the game by getting rid of my final 3 huts.

Ave Caesar
Since Taluva was so quick we got out Ave Caesar! for a quick chariot race. I was fortunate to start with a "6" and grab an early lead that I maintained throughout the 3 lap race with Joel claiming 2nd and Sharon finishing in 3rd.

Don Pepe
This is one of Adam's favorite games and he pulled it out after Andromeda. Eileen and Jaimie also played and Andy joined them after Mykerinos. This is a light maffia game where everyone's various gang (family) members sit around a table and try to kill off rival maffia families (especially people that are making money running various business from their seat). Players play cards to move people, shoot people (if a gun is handy), knife people (if a knife is available), poison people (sitting with drinks..), or send an exploding cake around the table...The person with the most money wins! Final Scores: Adam $57k, Eileen $25k, Andy $21k, and Jaimie $17k.

Coloretto
After Joel and I left, Sharon joined the Don Pepe group for 2 games of Coloretto.
Game 1 Scores: Adam 26, Andy 23, Sharon 22, Jaimie 19, Eileen 12.
Game 2 Scores: Jaimie 24, Eileen 22, Sharon 21, Adam 18, Andy 14.

Session Report March 13, 2007

2007-03-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

*** Thanks to Sharon for the pictures and Report since I was watching Matthew play baseball ***

Attendees: (12) Andy Manning, Chris McKeraghan, Jeremy Ebersole, Troy Shader, Cheryl Fisher, Sharon Madden, Warren Madden, Andrew Bradley, Matt Asher, Jaimie Asher, Steve Walker, Danielle Banks

It was another great evening of fun and games at the Madden house! We had twelve people for this session, and at one time, there were three games going, which I believe is a record number of games being played simultaneously with this group. (Editors note: It ties the record...we had three tables on Feb 20th, Feb 6th, and Jan 30th but who's counting..).

Merchant of Venus

In this classic Avalon Hill game, players are space travelers exploring clusters of stars and nebulae to discover the remains of ancient civilizations. Each civilization produces commodities that players purchase and trade with other civilizations for income. Money is used to improve spaceships, purchase equipment, and acquire deeds to factories and space ports, making trading more profitable to the owner.

At the end of the game, the winner is the space traveler with the highest total of cash and deeds.
This is an oldie, but goodie that I really enjoy playing. Because we had a couple of new players, we stuck to the basic game with no variants. I've yet to find a good strategy for generating income quickly, but I came across several fares to the galactic base that kept me in the game. The Niks (Chris) were able to deliver psychotic sculpture to the Nillis early in the game, which generated a big payout. The Niks also purchased several factories and spaceports throughout the game, which generated a good amount of income and gravitated them to victory with 1992 points. Drifting behind them were the Whynoms (Warren) with 1561 points, the Humans (Troy) with 1502, the Qossuth (Sharon) with 1381, the Dell (Jeremy) with 1005, and the Eeeps (Andy) with 330.

San Juan

After conquering Puerto Rico, players are now exploring it's capital city of San Juan. The game is is played with a deck of 110 cards that include production buildings (42) and violet buildings (68). The violet buildings either count toward victory points at game end or have special functions used during the different phases of the game. The cards have multiple uses -- (1) a building when laid face up in the player's area, (2) money to purchase goods or buildings, or (3) goods placed in production buildings.

The game is played over several rounds. Starting with the first player, or governor, players choose a role for that round -- producer, trader, builder, councilor or prospector. All players take the action of the chosen role, but the player who picked the role always gets a special privilege, such as a reduction in building costs during the builder phase or producing an additional good during the production phase. In San Juan, there are no colonists for hire, players do not ship goods, and trades cannot be blocked. Game end is triggered when one player builds 12 buildings, and the winner is the player with the most victory points.

The explorer earning the most wealth and fame in the new world was Andrew with 33 points, followed closely by Matt with 31, Steve with 26 and Jaimie with 21.

The Reef

This is a cute two-player game where players breed specific varieties of fish to enhance the reef. From the 60 cards laid face down on the table, players locate coral cards for the parent fish to meet and find the right parents to produce the desired offspring with the aid of reef boats and worms. But, sharks also inhabit these tropical waters and chase away fish and boats (swim away, swim away!). The first player to breed 5 sets of offspring is the winner.

Danielle was able to impress Neptune the fastest with her 5 colorful varieties of fish, but Neptune was also impressed by Cheryl's efforts.

Ticket to Ride

By building the longest track, Steve chugged his way to a victory with 115 points, followed by Andrew with 111, Cheryl with 99 and Danielle with 60.

Queen's Necklace

In Queen's Necklace, players enroll in a three-year apprenticeship program to assume the role as the King's jeweler. Jewelers must decide how to spend their 10 ducats efficiently each turn, using them to acquire lovely gems (diamonds, emeralds, rubies or amber) or buy favors of court followers. The jeweler who sells the most precious gems and builds the largest fortune wins the game.

Andrew earned the coveted title of King's Jeweler and a place at the Court with a total of 250 points, followed by gem apprentices Cheryl with 150 and Danielle with 140.

Session Report March 6, 2007

2007-03-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (7) Steve Walker, Sharon Madden, Michael Hall, Andy Manning, Andrew Bradley, Troy Shady and Barbara Hall

We hosted the game group at our house so Barbara could join in the fun.

Power Grid - Central Europe

Steve, Troy, Andy, and I tried out the new Central Europe map for Power Grid. Central Europe makes some changes where Coal is more plentiful, Nuclear power plants are restricted in certain countries, and one city allows for a Garbage discount. This was an extremely close game where all players were in the hunt until the final scoring. Steve held on for the victory with 17 cities and 35 Electro, Troy was second with 17 cities and 17 Electro, I was next with 16 cities and 19 Electro, and Andy was right behind me with 16 cities and 16 Electro.

Puerto Rico - with the Expansion

Andrew won with 52, Sharon was next with 46, and Barbara finished third with 43.

Fairy Tale

The kids joined the Puerto Rico players in a game of Fairy Tale before going to bed. Both kids love this game. Scores: Heather 62, Andrew 55, Barbara 43, Sharon 39, and Matthew 38.

Bang!

Everyone settled into 3 games of Bang! to close out the evening.

Game 1 - Sharon was the Sheriff and Troy was her Deputy. They got rid of the Outlaws (Barbara, Andy, Andrew) and the Renegade (Me) for the joint victory.

Game 2 - Andrew was the Sheriff. Andy and I were the Outlaws and we finished Andrew after his Dynamite reduced his health. Sharon and Barbara were the Deputy and Renegade respectively but with the Sheriff dead the Outlaws win..

Game 3 - Sharon was the Sheriff again and Andrew and I were the outlaws. I killed off Andy (Deputy) and Barbara (Renegade) killed Andrew and me. Then it was down to a shoot-out between the Renegade and the Sheriff and Sharon was able to outdraw Barbara for another victory!

Session Report February 27, 2007

2007-03-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (9) Troy Shady, Cheryl Fisher, Andy Manning, Sharon Madden, Steve Walker, Michael Hall, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, and Andrew Bradley.

We met at Steve's for gaming on Tuesday. Troy introduce his wife Cheryl to the group and they started learning Princes of Florence with Sharon and Andy.

Princes of Florence

Troy, Cheryl, Andy, and Sharon hired artists to complete great works of art. Andy won in a close contest. Final Scores Andy (51), Troy (48), Sharon (48), and Cheryl (47).

Santa Fe Rails

Cheryl won big in this game. Final Scores: Cheryl (162), Shraron (139), Andy (129), and Troy (117).

El Grande

(2nd picture is the cubes inside the Castillo) The rest of us started a 5-player game of El Grande. Eileen was the only new player to the game but she quickly got the idea and had a huge 17 pt special scoring about mid-way through the game that put her in the lead. Andrew and Adam came close but Eileen held on for the victory. Final Scores: Eileen (91), Adam (87), Andrew (87), Michael (78), and Steve (75).

Next we played a few quick card games to close out the evening.

Bohnanza

Andrew won this one in his first play of the Bean Farming card game.
Andrew (15), Adam (14), Michael (13), Eileen (10), and Steve (10).

Frank's Zoo

I ran out of cards first in a single hand of Franks Zoo.
Michael (4), Steve (3), Adam (2), Andrew (1), and Eileen (0).

Games with the Family

2007-03-01T23:39:00.000-05:00

Instead of my usual session report (I'll post this week's report soon), I would touch on some of the games that I've played with my Family during January and February 2007.

Fairy Tale (12) - We've certainly played this game a lot already. It has quickly become one of our family's games of choice. The kids really like the drafting element of the game (getting to choose the cards that will make up their hands each round). Also, Matthew (age 5) is able to get the general strategy of the game and some of the card combinations. I was surprised that Heather (age 7) liked the game so much but she is very mathematical and it seems to appeal to her too.

D&D Labrynth Game (4) - This is one of Matthew's favorite games to play. It is an old game from Mattel where players take the role of adventurers searching through a maze to find the treasure and bring it out, but the Dragon awakens and hunts them. It is really a clever game where the maze changes each time and players "discover" walls (and doors in the advanced game) by bumping into them. The idea is to map out the board for a while and then after the Dragon wakes up you try to get his treasure and escape. It's pretty engaging, once you get used to the sounds, and is still fun to play now as an adult.

Pick Picknic (3) - This is a game that both kids enjoy. It teaches counting and some limited tactical choices each turn. A good dose of luck gives everyone a chance but a skillful player has advantages.

Walk the Dogs (2) - This is a great game visually and it is a fun game too!

That's Life (2) - Another fun game that the kids and adults can play.

Lego Creator (2) - The kids like the game but they also enjoy playing with the toys they build after the game is over.

Matthew will also play Marvel Heroes with me (even though he doesn't understand all the strategy). He loves Super Heroes and he likes rolling the dice in the combat sequences.

Barbara and I have played several games ourselves - Caylus, Ticket to Ride, Amun Re, Thurn & Taxis, Power Grid, Alhambra, San Juan, and Backgammon. Backgammon was a game that I hadn't played in quite a while but it was interesting to revisit it after playing so many designer games. It is a very mathematical game in it's own right with a good dose of luck in the dice...

Session Report February 20, 2007

2007-02-25T22:24:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (11) Sharon Madden, Warren Madden, Michael Hall, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Troy Shady, Steve Walker, Joel Weeks, Andy Manning, Andrew Bradley, and Danielle Banks.

(Izzy is interested in Andrew's shoes and nearly got her head stuck in them...)

We all gathered at Warren and Sharon's house this week. Troy Shady was a new attendee having met the Madden's up in Chattanooga at a Train boardgaming convention.

Alhambra

Troy, Adam, Eileen, Andrew, and Sharon started this game before everyone arrived. Troy started off his gaming in Acworth with a victory at 116 pts. Adam was second with 79. Sharon and Eileen tied at 71 and Andrew finished with 53.

Augsburg 1520

Joel brought along Augsburg 1520 and Steve, Andy, and I were ready to try it out.

This game is for 2-5 players, designed by Karsten Hartwig, and published by Alea. The theme is that players are Merchants trying to influence Nobles in order to gain money, prestige, and favors (debts). They do this by winning auctions with cards affiliated with particular nobles (suits). Each round consists of 5 auctions for the 5 nobles (4 suits + 1 Wild Card noble) with each winner receiving a reward. The rewards are 2 actions from a choice of 3 on each reward card. There are 5 of these reward cards per round and these cards are selected in auction order (ie winnner of the 1st Auction gets 1st choice of the 5 cards).

Rewards can be spent to earn advancements in 3 areas (Money, Prestige, and Noble Debts). Money allows players to buy cards and build Churches and Cathedrals. Prestige advancements provide more Victory Points. Noble Debts allow more cards to select from each round. There are more complications but the idea is that players need to manage advancements in all 3 categories to succeed. Making this more interesting is that there are limits on the top advancements and if one is not available then players must steal one from another player. Finally, there is a limit on Victory Points -- players cannot exceed 25 without a Church or 45 without a Cathedral.

There is a lot going on in the game and the method of purchasing cards and looking at what you need to win in various auctions is interesting. It can be somewhat difficult to analyze when buying new cards while you have several cards in hand. Also, I'm not sure how much long range planning can be accomplished but it has many interesting tactical choices and it is not obvious which reward choices should have priority (at least not after one play). All in all, a challenging game.

Joel pulled ahead early by winning auctions and gaining a prestige (VP) advantage. Andy was close but stalled at 25 while he was unable to build a Church. I was fortunate to win a few late auctions and make up ground going into the last round. Finally, I was able to win at the end by winning a late auction and taking the last VP adding card so I edged Joel out by 1 VP. Final - Michael 60, Joel 59, Steve 44, and Andy 33.

During Alhambra and Augsburg Warren and Danielle played a few 2 player games...

Cant' Stop & The Reef

(Danielle and Warren enjoying some two player games)

Danielle won while Warren couldn't stop...but Warren won The Reef.

Ticket to Ride - Europe

Daneille 127, Troy 124, Sharon 110, Andy 98, and Eileen 93.

That's Life

(Warren shows Andrew where he is planning to move...)

Scores: Joel 15, Steve 15, Adam 7, Michael 1, Warren 1, and Andrew -22.

Klunker

This was a new game for many of us. A card trading game with some unusual artwork... Final Score: Andrew 14, Steve 10, Warren 10, Michael 10, and Adam 9.

Pickomino
Final Scores: Warren 7, Steve 4, Michael 2, Andrew 2, and Adam 0.

Session Report February 13, 2007

2007-02-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (8) Steve Walker, Adam Whitney, Andy Manning, Andrew Bradley, Michael Hall, Sharon Madden, Eileen Tooke, and Frederick Law

The last time I saw Frederick was over a year ago at the original Acworth Boardgame group. It was good to welcome him back and have him join us in some gaming.

Power Grid

Frederick, Sharon, Eileen, and I decided to try and build the largest network of power in the USA. We had an unusual game since most of the lower power plants came up early including a ton of coal power plants. The result was a coal shortage that really stalled out the income for Sharon. Frederick and I were able to buy out most of the coal since we were late in the turn order for a few turns. The game was unusual and no one was buying plants since there was no benefit since so many low plants came out. I was able to end the game by building to 17 cities and only powering 10 of them. Eileen and Frederick finished with 8 cities but Eileen had more money $146 to $140 and Sharon finished only able to power 5 cities due to lack of coal. I only bought the plants 4, 11, 16, and 25 during the game.

Masons

After Frederick left, Eileen, Sharon, and I decided to build towns in the new game Masons. Masons is a game that requires tactical play as you try to maximize your points earned on certain cards while minimizing your opponent's chances to score big points. There is a lot of luck in the cards and dice, but it can be mitigated somewhat by setting up good opportunities or positioning yourself in last place so you can swap out less useful cards and draw better ones - hopefully. I was fortunate to pull out a close victory with 125 pts. Sharon finished with 118 and Eileen with 96.

Mare Nostrum

Andy, Andrew, Adam, and Steve fought for supremacy of the Mediterranean in Mare Nostrum. Steve recently purchased the expansion so everyone was playing with new regions and mythological units. I left before they completed this econimic and military light civilization game but I was told that Andy was victorious in the end.

Session Report February 6, 2007

2007-02-11T22:56:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (10) Sharon Madden, Joel Weeks, Steve Walker, Michael Hall, Eileen Tooke, Adam Whitney, Andy Manning, Aaron Banks, Danielle Banks, and Tamara Feretti

Empires of the Ancient World
Steve, Adam, Andy, and Michael

Empires of the Ancient World is a wargame with some economic factors based in the central Mediterranean during the Roman Empire time-period. Players have various cards that are used to represent Armies (Sword, Spear, Light Cavalry, Elephants, etc), Galleys (ships), Siege Engines, Artillery, and special characters (Merchants, Military Leaders, Engineers, and Diplomats). Each player starts with a set of cards based on their initial territory location (either North or South) and each player starts with a number of trade tokens (5 + one for each specially marked territory).
The game is broken up into 4 turns with scoring at the end of rounds 2,3, and 4. Each turn consists of many rounds (10 for the first turn and one round less for each subsequent turn). On a player's turn they can either draft a card (from a face-up pile of 6 cards), discard a card, build a Fortress, place trade tokens, or attack a territory.
When drafting cards a player may spend a trade token to refresh the 6 cards with new cards if they wish, but then they must select a card. Many cards carry a VP cost (for instance a 7 level Galley costs 3 VP). This cost is paid if the card is still in hand during the scoring. Most cards are build up a player's military but there are special characters that have certain abilities available also. Engineers help with Artillery and Sieges. Military Leaders give more flexibility in combat. Merchants produce additional trade tokens each turn and allow more trade tokens to be placed. Diplomats allow more powerful diplomatic attacks on territories.
Territories have victory point values on them ranging from 2 to 8 and these are worth points when held during scoring. In addition, the player with the most trade tokens on a territory during scoring gains half the VP value (round down). This is why trade tokens are important.
The game has an interesting combat system that allows players to order their cards (usually 5 but only 3 in sieges) based on the speed of the units involved (Military leaders break this rule for one card) and then players reveal cards in order. Each combat results in either a win for one player or a draw (block). If one side wins a lot of these combats in a row then they can win in a rout and get special benefits, but normally both sides will suffer some losses. Combat is fairly quick but it is interesting as underdog victories are not too uncommon.
To make things even more interesting, a victorious invader gets to take all trade tokens (not his own) from the territory he/she just conquered and they count as VPs. This makes placing trade tokens in contested regions a riskier proposition, and it can also be leveraged to encourage attacks in those areas (usually the higher VP regions).
The game offers plagues, diplomatic invasions, sea combat, and sieges to vary the game and provide multiple strategies for army composition and ways to earn victory.

The game is great fun but it does tend to run a little long (about 3 hrs with some experience) and there is a little too much emphasis on controlling the Mediterranean (although with experience this should not be too much of an issue).

(Adam hides from the camera!)

I started in the Central Med with Greece and the surrounding area, while Steve was in the Mid-East, Andy was in Italy and the West, and Adam was in Egypt. Most of the 1st turn was spent recruiting forces and conquering Neutral territories. I focused on building a powerful navy and this was a useful strategy later. During the 2nd turn, Steve and Andy spent a lot of trade cubes conquering each other in the Central Mediterranean Sea Zones. I took control of Central and West Med with my Navy but Steve invaded my land areas and kicked me out of Greece. I was able to hold Africa against both Adam and Andy giving myself more VPs and trade cubes. At the end of round 2 Adam and I had 45 VPs, Steve had 35, and Andy had 25. Turn 3 saw me take over the rest of the Mediterranean but I lost Africa to Andy. Holding all the sea zones got me the lead with 100 VP to Adam's 77, Andy's 55, and Steve's 53. Turn 4 saw me lose almost all of my land territories and Andy took 2 Sea Zones from me with clever diplomacy but my trade cubes kept me with some positive VPs. The final score was closer with me at 126, Adam 106, Andy 105, and Steve 103! I would definitely try this one again sometime...

**Thanks to Sharon again for her comments on the following games played**

Ticket to Ride
Aaron, Danielle, and Sharon

(Aaron enjoys a successful block)

Since Aaron and Danielle are relatively new to the world of boardgames, I suggested one of the most popular gateway games and 2004's Spiel des Jahres winner, Ticket To Ride. After a quick explanation of the rules, it was full steam ahead as we began claiming our initial routes. At the start, we were laying track fairly close together, with Aaron and Danielle in Southeast and me in the mid-Great Plains, and before Danielle and I knew it, Aaron had blocked both of us. So, we had to quickly change our trains of thought and figure out alternate ways to reach our destinations. The scores were tight all the way, and Aaron was on the right track with a score of 87, followed by Sharon with 71, and Danielle with 53. OK, enough of the train puns and on to more games!

Time's Up
Aaron, Danielle, Sharon, Joel, Eileen, and Tamara

Aaron, Danielle and I finished Ticket To Ride at the same time Joel, Eileen and Tamara finished Dancing Dice, so we all decided to play Time's Up! Time's Up! is played over 3 rounds and the goal is to get your teammate to guess as many names of famous people as possible. At the beginning of the game, players divide into teams of 2 and each player is dealt 9 cards. Each card has 2 names on it; one name is on the yellow half of the card and the other name is on the blue half.
Players vote on which color to play with and then, from their 9 cards, decide on 7 to use in play. Those cards are then mixed together to form the "Deck of Fame". During the first round, any type of clue is allowed, i.e. verbal, gestures or sounds. In the second round, players can say only one word for each name; sounds and gestures are permitted.
In the third round, no words are allowed -- only gestures or sounds.
Points are tabulated for each round and after the third round, the team with the most points is the winner.

(Everyone had a lot of fun with Time's Up)

This is a party game that I am either really good at or really lousy at, depending on which names players choose. Give me movie stars, television actors, singers, presidents, and I'll do alright, but as Joel found out, art and/or artists are not my forte. In our game, the teams were Joel and Sharon, Aaron and Eileen, and Tamara and Danielle. There were a few moment which will go down in infamy. In round 3, Joel's gesture of Gloria Steinem (I'll let him tell that one -- if he wants to) and Danielle's depiction of popcorn for Orville Redenbacher (pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, etc.) were the 2 that stand out. OK, I had a couple in there too. For Patrick Stewart, I was trying to pull my hair back to look like I was bald. Those of you who know me, my hair is quite thick
-- didn't work. And for Alfred Hitchcock, I acted like a bird flying around poking peoples' eyes out -- didn't go over so well either.
Anyway, when the time was up, Joel and Sharon were the winners with 58, followed by Aaron and Eileen with 44 and Danielle and Tamara with 24.

Balloon Cup
Sharon and Eileen

Well, time was up for Aaron, Danielle, Joel and Tamara, so while Andy, Michael, Steve and Adam were finishing their battles over Medieval Europe, Eileen and I decided to try Balloon Cup. In Balloon Cup, players compete for trophies by winning balloon flights. Four landscape tiles are laid out -- two plains tiles alternating with two mountain tiles. Depending on the number on each tile, 1, 2, 3 or 4 cubes in assorted colors (gray, blue, green, yellow, red) are placed on them.
Players lay numbered balloon cards on the tiles, and they must match the colors of the cubes. For mountain tiles, players are placing high-numbered cards; for plains tiles, low-numbered cards. Your opponent can blow you off course and foil your plans to pass a landscape by playing cards on your side that make your total either too high or too low, depending on the terrain. Once all cards have been played for a tile, the flight is over and the winner receives the cubes. The tile is then flipped over to the opposite landscape, new cubes are drawn and a new flight begins. When a player collects enough cubes of a color, he earns the trophy card for that color. The first player to earn 3 trophies is the winner. Tonight, Sharon had all the hot air and got her 3 cups first.

Other Games played (no reports or scores)

Zoff in Buffalo
Joel, Tamara, and Eileen - not sure who won.

Dancing Dice
Tamara won, Eileen was second, and Joel third.

(Joel teaches Dancing Dice)

Session Report January 30, 2007

2007-01-31T21:25:00.000-05:00

Attendees (11): Steve Walker, Andrew Bradley, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Michael Hall, Andy Manning, Tamara Ferretti, Aaron, and Danielle.

We met at Steve's house and we needed 3 tables tonight because we had so many gamers ;-) Newbies Aaron and Danielle, friends of the Madden's, joined us tonight too as we continue to add new recruits!

Silverton

Steve, Sharon, Andy, and Andrew got started on a game of Silverton. I have played it once previously. It is an interesting economic/connection game where you try to find good claims that you can tie into your network while selling goods at opportune times. It can run fairly long but there are many tough decisions along the way. This game would take them most of the evening (it was Andy and Andrew's first game too) and they finished up at the end of the session. Andy proved to be the best at Prospecting with final scores of Andy 9325, Sharon 9180, Steve 7600, and Andrew 3730.

Wits and Wagers

I brought this quick party/trivia game and it accommodated all seven other players so we gave it a go. The game is 7 rounds (1 question per round) where everyone rights down their guess secretly. All answers are then revealed and sorted in order from highest to lowest (this can be done since all the answers will be numbers). Then everyone gets the chance to bid on the answer that they think is closest to the real answer - without going over (ie Price is Right). Warren did an amazing job with answers getting 5 of the 7 correct (closest answers) including an exact answer on which year lights were installed at Wrigley Field in Chicago (1988)! Unfortunately for Warren, who had the lead going into the last round, players can wager all their money at the end and Eileen was able to pull out the victory since she was the only player to bet on the correct final answer (her own)! It was fun, quick, and light enough for the Newbies to get everyone started.

Hoity Toity

Warren took the new recruits and Tamara to the 3rd table where they played Hoity Toity. It is an art auction/exhibit game where players try to outguess their opponents next moves. Danielle was able to secure the victory in this one by having the largest art exhibit (15 items) at the end.

Nur Peanuts

Adam, Eileen, and I tried a three player game of Nur Peanuts. It is a different type of Property game (ala Monopoly) where the properties are around in a circle. You only have a fixed amount of money at the beginning of the game and although you may pay each other money at times the bank will never pay the players (so money will run out as the game progresses). It has some interesting twists in that the game ends when one player buys 6 properties and wins, or when the bank buys six properties (player with most money wins), or when one player goes bankrupt (player with most money wins). The only way to buy property is to Stop on the most valuable property that round. There are more complications in how you move (different dice with different probabilities) and an unpredictable group of "banker" tokens that also move around the board.

I have yet to win this game but it is still a fun experience each time. This time I had a plan though. I was able to purchase most of the properties around the $2400 space, which is the most valuable, and therefore when players landed just before or just after it they had to pay me money if they wanted to continue moving (which they usually did). Everything was going well until Adam was able to bump me off of the highest space on a round in which he could win the game if he remained on that space. I spent too much money trying to overtake him and ended up going bankrupt and giving Adam the win anyway... maybe next time ;-)

Bang!

Hoity Toity and Nur Peanuts finished at the same time, and Aaron and Danielle left for dinner, so we were able to start a 5 player game of Bang!. Bang! is a fun, light card game where everyone has a hidden identity (except the Sheriff). In a 5 player game their are 2 Outlaws who are trying to kill the Sheriff, 1 Sheriff and 1 Deputy who are trying to kill the Outlaws and the Renegade, and 1 Renegade who is trying to kill the Deputy and Outlaws and finish off the Sheriff at the end. Tamara was the Sheriff and I was an Outlaw (don't tell anyone). We all were shooting and drinking beer (to stay alive!) until Adam killed off Warren (Outlaw) who was telling everyone that he was the Deputy. Then the Dynamite that Tamara lit came to me and blew up in my face but a quick beer kept me in the game. I proceeded to eliminate Eileen (the other Outlaw - doh!) and then Adam (the Deputy) put me out of my misery... and the Good Guys celebrated their victory!

Around the World in 80 Days

Tamara had to leave next so we were down to 4 players but we had time for 1 more game. Warren pulled out Around the World in 80 Days and we started off the global race. The game is a lighter Euro with a mix of set collection (train and boat cards) with Role selections that give you special benefits and some lucky/unlucky event cards. It has some clever mechanisms that keep the race interesting whether you are in the lead or just behind the pack. Adam pulled ahead early but the Detective slowed him down for a few days. Warren and I were in the back of the race early but I was fortunate to draw an Elephant event card that allowed me to move quickly ahead. I caught up with Adam and Eileen in New York and moved ahead with a special event (I forget the name) that allowed me to move to London without paying the travel cards (for a total of 10 days on that leg). This allowed me to finish the race but the other players could still win if they could finish in less days than me (each round they increase their time by 1 day as a penalty since I had finished). Adam and Eileen tried for 2 rounds to get the right mix of travel cards to catch me but were unable to best my 70 day mark. However, this gave Warren a last minute chance and using a Balloon he came up just later at 71 days -- whew...

All in all, another great gaming session.

Session Report - January 23, 2007

2007-01-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

** Thanks to Sharon for providing a great report and pictures ;-) **

Attendees: (8) Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Andy Manning, Andrew Bradley, Matt Asher, Steve Walker

This week's Tuesday-night game session was held at our house. Warren and I got held up in lovely Atlanta rush-hour traffic while running some errands, and we arrived home to find Andrew, Steve and Matt waiting on our front-door stoop. I guess the cats didn't let them in. :-)
Anyway, once everyone arrived, we split into two groups of four and made the ever-so-difficult decision of what to play. So many games...so little time.

Serenissima

Serenissima takes place during the Renaissance period before the Mediterranean was a Venetian Lake. In this game, players represent merchant families purchasing and moving commodities around the Mediterranean with their fleet of ships. Their race to prosperity balances trade and commerce against economic piracy.

I played this game once several years ago when Don Stout was hosting our Tuesday-night game group. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we bought his copy. :-) This is a great game that unfortunately doesn't see a lot of play in our group. But, maybe that will change.

Tonight's race to prosperity was tight with Andrew sailing off into the Mediterranean sunset with 32 points, followed by Andy in his wake with 29, Matt with 25, and Steve with 21.

Leonardo Da Vinci

In Leonardo Da Vinci, players compete for recognition and rewards from the Lord of the City in Florence, Italy. Players choose their inventions and with their most-trusted apprentices, design them in their laboratories with commodities from the town shops. The more complex
the invention, the more Florins the Lord of the City is willing to pay. After 9 rounds, Leonardo Da Vinci crowns the player with the most Florins as Florence's most successful inventor.

I first played this game at Lobster Trap last year and because I'm more of a visual learner, it took me about the first 3 or 4 rounds to fully understand all the mechanisms of the game. So, I was anxious to try it again to see if my design skills had improved. There is a lot to do in a limited amount of time, and it can be a challenge to get the stuff you need to complete an invention before the game ends. Also, money is very tight, and the only way to earn more is by completing inventions. If inventions take too long to finish or your apprentices don't gain majorities in the different areas on the board, you go through it very quickly.

(Everyone is enjoying the game so
much that Izzy decides to play too!)

Ultimately, Leonardo Da Vinci crowned Warren with inventions totaling 62 Florins (thanks to his diversity in the types of inventions completed). The rest of us will have to go through the inventor apprentice program all over again. Adam ended the game with 51 Florins, followed by Sharon with 28 and Eileen with 20.

Both groups finished up around the same time, and everybody wanted to keep playing, so we were more than happy to oblige.

RA

Ra spans three epochs, during which players bid for groups of tiles representing Egyptian life -- Gods, pharaohs, niles, gold, civilizations and monuments. Tiles are drawn randomly, and each player has three bidding tokens, or "suns", that he uses to acquire groups of tiles. Once a player has purchased his three groups for the epoch, play continues until all other players have bid their 3 "suns" for tiles. After each epoch, players earn fame points from the tiles they have collected, and the winner is the player with the most fame points after the third epoch.

This press-your-luck game comes out fairly frequently in our game group. I usually end up overbidding or missing out on opportunities. I've yet to win it, but none-the-less, I think it's loads of fun!

Tonight, the Sun God Ra acknowledged Andy as our most famous player with 44 points. Following closely in his shadows was Steve with 42, then Adam with 27 and Andrew with 19.

Warhamster Rally

In Warhamster Rally, players race their Warhamsters around a racetrack marked by a pair of Battle Budgies. Each player starts with 9 points to use for special actions and 5 movement cards to steer their Warhamsters. The board is covered with hexes containing arrows pointing in different directions. At the start of the game, players place one of their movement cards face down in front of them. On their turn, they reveal their movement card, move their character token as indicated, and then choose a new movement card for their next turn. The movement cards a player chooses are relevant to the direction on the space the token lands on; however, tokens can get pushed and players may find themselves facing an entirely different direction on their turn. Additionally, players can pay action points to take an extra action during their turn that will either help themselves or trick other players. The first player to make it around the board and across the goal line is the winner.

(Eileen makes her move in Warhamster Rally)

This is another game I played this game several years ago, but I can't recall where or with whom. Those of you who are Dork Tower fans will truly appreciate this game. The best way to describe it is Roby Rally with chariots. There are different variants for this game, but because we were all new to it, we stuck to the basic game play.

In our game, Ken (Warren) managed to steer around the Jongleurs and Kobold-kin and get over across the goal line first, followed by Gilly (Sharon), Carson (Eileen) and Matt (Matt).

Session Report - January 16, 2007

2007-01-17T17:33:00.000-05:00

Attendees: (9): Andrew Bradley, Tamara Ferretti, Michael Hall, Sharon Madden, Warren Madden, Andy Manning, Eileen Tooke, Steve Walker, and Adam Whitney.

We gathered at Steve's house for another great evening of games. Prior to everyone's arrival, I started to teach everyone Bang! but the rest of the group arrived before we started the shootout so we put it aside to try at a later session. Tamara returned for another night of gaming, so she must have enjoyed her first experience with Euro Games, and hopefully she will continue to be a regular attendee. We split into two groups with four going to play Thurn & Taxis (the 2006 Game of the Year) and the other 5 to play Caylus.

Thurn & Taxis
Tamara, Andy, Eileen, and Adam played Thurn & Taxis. This is a lighter game but a good gateway game in many respects. It involves set collection as each player tries to draw certain cards to complete mail routes across the country and score points for meeting specific conditions. The nice features of this game are that there is no direct competition for routes (some indirect moves can disrupt players however) and there are multiple strategies and choices along the way. I have played this one with non-gamers with mixed results but I think everyone enjoyed the game last night. Adam was the winner with 22 pts while Andy, Eileen, and Tamara finished with 14, 13, and 10 respectively.

Caylus
Sharon, Warren, Andrew, Steve, and I tried to build the castle and earn the most prestige in the process. Caylus is an involved game that scales very well with 2-5 players. It can be very cut-throat if players pull the provost back and keep other player's workers from performing any actions. This tactic can also lengthen the game substantially if done in excess, but it is a valid strategy and must be considered. Our game was pretty friendly as the person who moved the provost was often the player in the riskiest position and they would advance the provost to keep themselves safe and speed up the game.

I went first and was the first to build in the Castle while Steve set himself up for future turns by taking residence in the Inn. Warren, Sharon, and Andrew built some early wood buildings and then looked to the Castle. Steve never built in the Castle before the first scoring and was down to 1 prestige, but he set himself up with a lot of money and cubes for the mid-game. I was able to occupy the Inn from Steve and also to get Gold from the mine for 3 consecutive turns. Through some late moves I was able to pull ahead on prestige by picking up 5 prestige for every Favor. Warren was passed up twice in the Castle by players building more after his build and earning the King's favor in spite of his efforts but he was the only one to build a Blue building before the final scoring which moved him ahead of Sharon. Steve built a lot in the castle at the end and picked up 10 prestige in favors while Andrew used his last King's favor to build the 25 VP blue building at the end. I was fortunate to have an outlet for my Gold and hold on for the victory of the surging Andrew.

Final : Michael, Andrew, Steve, Warren, Sharon (I don't remember the final scores).

Tamara had to leave after Thurn & Taxis but the rest of us decided to squeeze in one more game. We split into two groups of four and Andy, Steve, Andrew, and Warren shipped goods and built buildings in Puerto Rico while Andy, Eileen, Sharon, and I auctioned antique displays in Hoity Toity.

Puerto Rico
I won't go into a detailed review of Puerto Rico. I caught the end of the game and Warren pulled out a victory with a Quarry heavy strategy (Construction Hut + Hacienda) which allowed him to build cheaply. His mid-game cash troubles were alleviated by a clogged Trading House which kept everyone's cash low for a time. I don't have other details except a final score.
Final: Warren 51, Steve 45, Andrew 37, Andy 32

Hoity Toity
This is a light game involving buying antiques and earning victory points for displaying them in Exhibits. It is a lot of guessing and you can easily over-think the game although there is some solid strategy too. We taught the game to Eileen and then got underway. I pulled ahead early thanks to stealing some items from Adam's Exhibit and stealing some early cash in the Auction Hall which allowed me to get an early strong Exhibit that I could display. As the game progressed, both of my thieves were caught and everyone else caught up to me. Adam had been in the back for some time but he closed the game in the last few turns as well. Eventually Eileen was able to move into the final space and trigger the final Exhibits. We all were within 2 spaces of each other and the final Exhibits were worth 8 and 4 VP's for 1st and 2nd place. Sharon had a 10 item Exhibit and I had an 8 item Exhibit, so we our final positions were Sharon, Michael, Eileen, and Adam. The game was enjoyable but since Sharon was going on very little sleep (she had been in Vegas for the past week -- playing games of course -- and had just flew in on the Red-Eye flight in the morning) we had several hilarious moments and all four of us had a good time just laughing about various things. This is what makes FtF (Face to Face) gaming so much more enjoyable for me and why I don't play any online gaming.

Session Report - January 9, 2007

2007-01-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

Attendees(8): Matt Asher, Michael Hall, Sharon Madden, Andy Manning, Eileen Tooke, Steve Walker, Adam Whitney, and Tamara (new recruit).

We gathered at Sharon's house and split into two groups of 4 for gaming. Tamara joined us for her first experience in playing German/Designer/Euro boardgames. Sharon, Adam, Eileen, and Tamara started a game of Settlers of Catan since both Tamara and Eileen had never played it and it is a good "gateway" game. I don't have notes on this game other than a final score of Adam 10, Tamara 7, Eileen 4, and Sharon 3. After this, they played a game of Pickomino and Tamara dominated the final score (Tamara 12, Sharon 3, Adam 3, and Eileen 0). Looks like Tamara picked up this games pretty well finishing 2nd and 1st respectively...hopefully she had a good time and will join us again in the near future. Adam and Eileen wrapped up their session with a dice puzzle and some telepathic puzzles for Sharon to try and solve.

San Juan

(Steve contemplates his next role in San Juan)

I have been considering San Juan for a purchase, so I wanted to try it out during this session. Matt, Andy, and Steve were willing to give it a go. Soon we all were trying to produce and sell goods while building up our own sections of San Juan.

I have played many games of Puerto Rico and so San Juan was very intuitive and all of us were able to pick up basic strategy quickly. I like the fact that the cards are used as Money, Buildings, and Goods. Creative and intuitive design with a good bit of depth = something I will play again and probably buy for home since it should play well with 2 players.

Steve made good use of the Archiver early and Andy was able to leverage his Poor House to good effect. Matt made a little use of his Gold Mine but Steve's Gold Mine proved to be more profitable even though it was built much later. I had an early Library and I leveraged the Black Market to good effect but I was unable to build enough VP buildings. Matt and Andy finished just ahead of me, but Steve was able to utilize his Quarry, Smithy, and Library to build both the Guild House and City Hall. This proved too much for us to catch.

Final Scores: Steve 34, Andy 27, Matt 27, and Michael 26.

3D Settlers

(Andy and Matt plan their strategy in a 3D battle for dominance on the Island of Catan)

Neither Matt nor Andy had played Settlers of Catan and seeing the other group playing it prompted us to grab a copy and play it. We decided to pull out the 3D version and to teach Andy and Steve Cities and Knights and throw them right into the more complex version of Settlers.

A clump of Mountains slowed down the early development, but Andy got the idea right away and made an early Active Knight. The rest of us were not so lucky and our 3 Cities were sacked by the Barbarian Invaders! Matt used Medicine to rebuild his city quickly and I had been fortunate to get an Aquaduct before my City was destroyed. Andy grabbed longest road but I was able to get some key Victory points by defending Catan with the strongest knights. Matt prevented me from grabbing Longest Road by building 3 roads of his own to block my connection.

(My Active Knight defends Catan and my Settlement from Invaders and Robbers)

Matt, Andy, and I all were able to each build a Metropolis during the game. However, I was able to build a late city and win another Catan Defender VP for the 13th VP and the win! It ran a little long, but I think Matt and Andy picked up the strategy quickly and finished with strong scores.

Final Scores: Michael 13, Matt 10, Andy 10, and Steve 6.

Session Report - January 2, 2007

2007-01-10T17:45:00.000-05:00

Attendees(10): Steve Walker, Matt Asher, Jaimie Asher, Andrew Bradley, Michael Hall, Sharon Madden, Warren Madden, Andy Manning, Eileen Tooke, and Adam Whitney

We all gathered at Steve's house and split into two groups.

The Larger group of 5 players finished the 2nd half of their game of Advanced Civilization. Steve, Andy, Sharon, Warren, and Adam all participated in this epic struggle of ancient...well.. civilizations. I believe that Warren won this one, but I don't have more to report although it appeared that everyone enjoyed the experience and would like to try it again sometime.

Power Grid - Benelux

Matt, Jaimie, Andrew, Eileen and I proceeded to build power plants in Benelux (Belgium, Luxemburg, and Netherlands) with the new Power Grid expansion. The expansion comes with two new boards and a small set of special rules for each board. Unlike France and Italy, where the expansion had special rules on certain resources but the overall recource chart was the same, the two new boards each have their own resource charts with various repleneshments for different numbers of players. In Benelux, the board is smaller (one region has only 1 city!) and the costs between cities is very small. Oil is cheaper and replenishes faster than coal in Benelux. Wind Energy is slightly more available due to some special rules. Finally, instead of removing the "largest" power plant during bureaucracy, you remove the "smallest" power plant. All of these changes result in a shorter game. I got the number 3 plant (which is good when Oil costs 1), but because I placed first I was somewhat surrounded in the center of the board. Andrew built south of me and had several large coal plants. Jaimie and Eileen were building in the North and East respectively. Matt was able to buy both large Garbage plants in this game and use them to good effect before garbage price/re-supply became an issue for him. He bought into the 7th city and pushed us into Step 2. As it turns out, we never got to step 3 as Matt was able to build to 15 cities 2 turns into step 2 and win the game. Jaimie made a great comeback and finished 2nd just ahead of Andrew. Eileen and I were just too far back in cities and unable to close the gap. A very enjoyable variant and I'm anxious to try it again (next time we will include the single city region and with enough players there might not be a step 2....).

Ticket to Ride 1910

Matt and Jamie left and Civiliations were still trading in the other room, so Andrew, Eileen, and I got out the 1910 Expansion for Ticket to Ride. It was Eileen's first time to play TtR and she picked up all the strategy she needed by locking me out of New York early in the game (and I had two tickets with NY on them!). We were playing the Mega Game with ALL the new tickets and both bonus cards. It was a cut-throat game and Andrew was able to win since he completed more than 1 of his tickets! 1910 adds a lot of replay value to TtR and really balances out the US board. I think the Big City variant will be an interesting challenge for next time.

A New Year!

2007-01-03T06:38:00.000-05:00

What better way to end 2006 and begin 2007 than playing a lot of boardgames over the Holidays! I had my 36th Birthday in December and played Alhambra, Ave Caesar, and two games of the new Marvel Super Heroes. After several more games, I think I'll provide some comments on this one in a future Blog since I love the theme.

Then we played several new games on Christmas including: Fairy Tale (even my 5 year old is able to get the basic concepts), Hey! That's My Fish!, Frank's Zoo, Pick Picknic, That's Life, Cranium - Family Fun, and Walk the Dogs.

We gathered with friends on the 26th and my whole family went over to the Madden's house. My 5 year old Matthew played Lego Star Wars on the PS2 while we got out the boardgames. I finally got to play Die Macher and managed to finish 3rd as I was unable to get Media Control in the last election. Quite a challenging and engaging game though! Heather, my 7 year old was excited to visit "the place I go on Tuesday nights" and she got to play several games of Queen's Necklace and also Walk the Dogs.

During the Holidays we played many new games with family that we gave as gifts including: Gulo Gulo, Rat-a-Tat Cat, Wits and Wagers, Bang!, and The Great Chili Cookoff.

It's a shame that I have to go back to work since this has been a wonderful time for everyone in the famliy to just relax, be social, and play games together. That's what I call a Happy New Year!