Thursday, June 27, 2013

June 27, 2013 Session Report

Eight for this week's session:  Mike, Patrick, Alex, Neville, Rembert, John B, Brad and myself were the attendees.  We got in a total of three games:  Viticulture (second week in a row for this new game), Lords of Waterdeep and Cloud Nine.

Viticulture was a six-player, consisting of the six of us who arrived at or close to the 6 PM start time.  Mike (once again) taught the game, with Alex (runner-up in the first game last night) winning this time, with 21 points with everyone else far back.  Patrick was the best of the newbies, coming in second with 13.  Three of us (Neville, Rembert and myself) had 11; Mike once again brought up the rear, this time with 7.  Interesting game, looking forward to try it again, looks like going through the visitor cards (as Alex did) can be a strong strategy.

John B and Brad couldn't make it until 7 PM or later, so they played a 2-player which was Lords of Waterdeep.  A close contest, this one went to John B, 153 to 143.

Four of us from the Viticulture game stayed to play a very quick game of Cloud Nine. Rembert was the winner, getting to 58.  Others:  Mike and Neville 46, John W (me) far back at 34.

No gaming at the Laurel CC next week, as Thursday falls on July 4th and the CC will be closed.  For those of you looking for some gaming in Laurel, I would suggest the Laurel Middle Earth location hosted by Rodney, which has a session scheduled for Sunday, July 7.


Sunday, June 23, 2013

June 20, 2013 Session Report

Total of nine this week.  Attendees:  Mike, Doug, Alex, Helen, Rembert, Brad, Alison, myself and -- back after a long absence -- Kay.  We played a total of three games, two of which were new to the club.  One was Viticulture, which Mike had brought; another was Credit Mobilier, which I had brought; then we also played Seven Dragons (two games), which Brad had brought but it's a game I seem to recall having played before.

First up was Viticulture.  Mike did the teaching and, after adjusting for a second group of late arriving gamers, it wound up being a four-player with Mike, the teacher, ending up last.  It's a game about wine production with seasonal turns.  Final scores were Kay 22, Alex 21, Doug 15, Mike 11.  Nice win for Kay on his return to the club, particularly in a close finish with Alex who has a penchant for picking up new games on his first try.

Helen, Brad, Allison, Rembert and I wound up playing Credit Mobilier -- a train game with dice.  Each turn, the player must select one of the colors (representing five different railroads) and choose among building track, buying stock, or moving cubes.  A fourth action (declaring dividends) is only possible with the roll including an orange die and one of the five other colors.  Purple plays a unique double role as representing the Credit Mobilier, but also an extra action for another color railroad.  The Credit Mobilier RR -- as in real life -- makes money when any track is built, scarfing up government subsidies to encourage development of transcontinental railroads in the 19th Century.  Anyway, in our game, some players (notably Brad and Rembert) focused on supporting a couple of RRs while others (Helen and I) tried a more diversified approach, buying up shares in all five colors.  Alison was the big stakeholder in the blue RR, but also had stock in three others.  Anyway, Helen wound up the winner, but the scores were all fairly close:  Helen 17, Brad 13, Alison and John 12, Rembert 9.  Interesting game, lots of strategy for a game that plays fairly quickly.

Anyway, there was time for a couple of more games so we played 7 Dragons, which Brad had brought.  I seem to have remembered playing it at least once before.  I managed to win game one, with Brad taking game two.  It's a quick-playing card game where you have to really be on your toes as winning objectives can change quickly.

Good session, a reminder that the club will be closed Thursday, July 4th, for the holiday.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

June 13, 2013 Session Report

Seven for this week's session:  Mike, Tim, Patrick, Ben, Helen, Rembert and myself.  Three games were played, two of which were racing games:  Agricola, Legend of the Mille Miglia and Formula De (Monaco track).

Agricola was a three-player, and Tim continued to demonstrate his prowess at this farming game.  Final scores were Tim 42, Ben 33 and Mike 19.

The rest of us played a new game I had just bought, Legend of the Mille Miglia which simulates an open-wheel road race across the roads of Italy that covered the years 1927 to 1957, the race being abandoned after a fatal crash killed several spectators in the 1957 edition.  The game played at this session featured cars from the very first event in 1927, and so the final average speeds reflected this (we only completed one of the scheduled 15 stages):  1. John 85 Kph, 2.  Helen 83 kph, 3. Patrick 81 kph and Rembert (who never really recovered after a stalled start), 74 kph.

The final game of the evening was Formula De on the Monaco circuit.  We ran only one lap due to time constraints.  Tim started on the pole but ran into trouble and eventually finished last after Chief Steward Patrick gave him a reprieve from what should have been an out-of-race result.  The winner was Helen, who took a one-turn lead heading into the tunnel hairpin and never looked back.  Patrick edged yours truly in a close battle for second.  In poetic justice, Rembert outrolled Tim on the final straightaway to claim fourth.

Some bad weather in the area may have adversely affected attendance, so hope to see the numbers improve this coming week.

June 6, 2013 Session Report

I had to miss this session, so Mike has provided me with some information about attendance and games played.  Still awaiting more details (possibly), but here is what I have so far:

Attendance (7):  Mike, Ben, Alex, Doug, Tim, Peng and Brad

Games Played (4):  San Juan, Lords of Waterdeep, For Sale, Copycat.

Scores:
San Juan:  Mike 33, Alex 31, Doug 29, Ben 28 (first time playing for Ben)
Lords of Waterdeep:  Peng 152 Doug 133 Tim 123
For Sale:  Peng 105 Doug 83  Tim  62
Copycat:  Brad 109 Ben 47 Mike 44