**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.
Showing posts with label Sharon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sharon. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Session Report May 1, 2007
*** 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.
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:
TRANSAMERICAIn 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.
RAJoel 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 PACIFICThis 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.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Session Report April 17, 2007
***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.
Attendees: (8) Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Andy Manning, Andrew Bradley, Matt Asher, Jaimie Asher, Steve Walker, Joel Weeks, Troy Shady
MykerinosTroy 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 RicoMatt, 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 PacificAnother 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.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Session Report March 13, 2007
*** 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.
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.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Session Report - January 23, 2007
** 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).
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).
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