Saturday, July 30, 2011

July 28, 2011 Session Report

Attendance was down a bit this week. We had eight (Doug M, Mike, Paul, Rembert, Eric, Ryan, Nathan and myself.) We played four games: Rails of New England, Carcassone, Cheeky Monkey (twice).

Rails of New England was a four-player game that took the entire session, and we still didn't quite finish. We played with a quick start and a set of starting cards recommended by the game designer. Mike (Maine) was the runaway leader and, despite a last turn flood which wiped out a good portion of his income, held on to win (i.e. he had the most points when we had to pick up the game after 11 turns) with a score of 336. I was second with New Hampshire, had a score count of 307. Doug, who faced some adversity during the game and had to sell some businesses just to raise cash, rebounded to finish third with 262. He was the Connecticut player. Paul (Vermont) rounded out the field with 248. Despite its length, I think everyone enjoyed the game as it was a good mental challenge.

The other games played were supplied by Eric. First up was Carcassone. Scores were Eric 272, Ryan 224. Then Rembert joined in and played Cheeky Monkey with Eric and Nathan. Rembert was the winner in both games. Game one scores: Rembert 49, Eric 35, Nathan 5. Game two: Rembert 45, Eric 28, Nathan 27. Gee, maybe Nathan has lost his magic touch at this game, he seemed to win most of the time before, and congratulations to Rembert on winning both games.

Next week I will be away at the World Boardgaming Championships in Lancaster, PA. However, the club will be open and there will be a session, someone please track games played and attendance if at all possible.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

July 21, 2011 Session Report

Thirteen gamers turned out for this week's session, one of our biggest turnouts of the year. Neville, who was new to our club, was here for the first time, as well as Alex, who was making his first appearance at our club since last fall. We also had three Dougs (Doug G, Doug H and Doug M) plus Mike, Patrick, Paul, Eric, Derik, Kyle, Rembert and myself to make up the Baker's Dozen for this week. Games played: 7 Wonders (with the new Leaders expansion), Egizia, Power Grid-Benelux, Glen More, Ra, For Sale.

First up was 7 Wonders with the new leaders expansion, and we had a full table of seven. The winner was Patrick, with 76 points, who won with very balanced scoring of at least 5 pts. in all seven categories. Other scores: Paul (67), Eric (66), Neville (65), Doug H (62), Mike and John (46) with Mike forcing me into last on the money tiebreaker.

A game of Egizia broke out as more and more people began to arrive. Derik kept his undefeated streak alive, in a fairly close game: Derik (96), Doug M (91), Doug G (85) and Kyle (78). This game finished fairly quickly and they proceeded to the next game, which was Ra. Derik won again, with 60 to 44 for one of the Dougs (scoresheet doesn't say which), 42 for the other Doug, 19 for Kyle. Then, one final game between these four, and finally Derik tasted defeat at the club for the first time, as Kyle was the winner in a game of For Sale: Kyle 72, Doug G 70, Derik 54, Doug M 51.

Rembert and Alex had arrived and joined in once the 7 Wonders game was concluded. Rembert joined Eric, Mike and Paul in a four-player game of Power Grid on the Benelux map that just beat the 9 o'clock witching hour. No need for tiebreaks, as the number of powered cities at game-end was Eric 18, Mike 17, Paul 15, Rembert 13.

Alex joined Patrick, Doug H, Neville and myself in a game of Glen More, which Neville had brought. The game was quite warm from sitting in the car on a hot day! Doug ended the game but suffered a 15-point penalty for having more tiles than anyone else. The winner wound up to be Alex, who had only 10 tiles in his village but made the most use of them. Final score counts: Alex 39, John 35, Patrick 32, Neville 27, Doug H 20. Lesson: more tiles in the city isn't always a good thing!

Thanks to everyone for coming, beat the summer heat and join us for our next session!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

July 14, 2011 Session Report

Another good week, total attendance of 10, we actually set up a third game for part of the session. Two new attendees, Derik and Kyle, rumored to be relatives of Doug G, who was back for the second week in a row. Also, a rare appearance from Jonathan, whom we welcomed back after not having seen him for awhile. The rest of the group was Doug H, Paul, Mike, Patrick, Rembert and myself. Games played: For Sale, Automobile, Settlers, Galaxy Trucker, Ticket to Ride-Switzerland, Ascension.

Details followed. The For Sale game was underway when I arrived. Mike won with 70K, followed by Patrick (64), Doug H (48) and Paul (42). Then more people arrived and we split into groups. One group: Doug H, Paul and Rembert, played Settlers. This was a runaway win for Doug (10) to 6 for Paul and 3 for Rembert, completed in record time, it seemed. The three of them followed with Ticket to Ride-Swiss, recorded as a win for Paul (150) to 115 for Doug and 67 for Rembert. I believe it was Rembert's first time with this version although he has played the US game before.

Four of us played Automobile. Patrick stepped aside when more people arrived, so the game was Doug G, Jonathan, Mike and myself. The game was characterized by alot of overproducing and loss cubes, and Jonathan managed his auto company the best, winning with a score of 4030 compared to 3800 (John), 3560 (Mike) and 3250 (Doug).

Patrick set up Galaxy Trucker which he taught to Derik and Kyle. Derik picked up the game quickly, beating Patrick, 29 to 17. Kyle didn't fare as well, as his spaceship got destroyed before he could score any points.

The two tables combined to play Ascension while the Automobile game was winding down. Derik won this won as well, going undefeated his first time at the club. Scores: Derik 40, Doug H 34, Kyle 31, Paul 29, Patrick 28, Rembert 26.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

July 7, 2011 Session Report

Attendance of eight for this week, we welcomed one newcomer to the club (Doug G, who has moved into the area), along with regulars Tim, Patrick, Paul, Mike, Eric, Rembert and myself. We played four different games: 7 Wonders, 7 Wonders (with the Leaders expansion), Agricola and For Sale.

The first game of 7 Wonders was the closest game, scoring-wise, that I have seen yet. Each of us finished a point apart. Final scores were: John 51, Eric 50, Paul 49, Rembert 48, Mike 47. It was Rembert's first game although he had seen it played once or twice before.

The same group played 7 Wonders again, this time with the new Leaders expansion. The game was a romp for Eric, who had a good combination of leader cards plus the new Rome wonder which made it cheaper to play his leader cards, and also allowed him to get more of them into play. Final score count: Eric 82, Paul 65, John 63, Mike 60, Rembert 40.

The other group (Doug, Patrick and Tim) played a three-player Agricola game that filled most of the session time. Doug wound up the winner, 42 to 33 for Patrick and just 2 for Tim. Tim said he tried "something different," and whatever it was, it didn't work.

We wrapped up the evening with a game of For Sale. Final scores: Eric 59 K, John 54 K, Mike 51 K, Paul 45 K, Rembert 43 K.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

June 30, 2011 Session Report

Eight for this week's session: Mike, Paul, Eric, Nathan, Tim, Patrick, Rembert and myself. Six games were played: Hey That's My Fish, Vegas Showdown, Cheeky Monkey, Sid Meier's Civilization, 7 Wonders and Ticket to Ride - 1910.

Results of those games for which scores were kept:

Hey That's My Fish; Mike 31 Eric 27 Paul 23 Nathan 14
Vegas Showdown: Eric 65 Mike 55 John 47 Paul 42
Cheeky Monkey: Nathan 44 Eric 23 John 21
Ticket to Ride 1910: Mike 151 John 116 Paul 115 Eric 108
7 Wonders: Paul 66 Eric 62 Mike 50 John 46

The Civ game lasted most of the session and was not completed, no word on who was winning. Players were Patrick, Tim and Rembert.