For the second week in a row, we had nine in attendance but not the same nine as the prior week. Erik (first time at our club) was there, along with Mike, Doug, Paul, Lee, Greg, Rodney, Patrick and myself. Games played: 7 Wonders (three times!), Princes of Florence, Power Grid - Japan, Navegador. Some details follow.
First game up was 7 Wonders. After some shuffling, we wound up with a five-player game and I recorded my first win after about 10 tries. Not a high score, however, final count was John 49, Rodney 46, Doug 45, Paul 40, Eric 33. The other group of four played Power Grid-Japan, which was won by Lee (15 cities powered) ahead of Mike and Patrick (12 cities each) after Greg, who came in last with just 9 cities powered, kingmakered the game for Lee. At least that's what I was told.
Erik, Doug, Rodney, Paul and I played Princes of Florence -- the newer version (which Greg had brought) but without the new rules. Erik was new to the game, but he managed to come in second. Final scores: John 62, Erik 53/200 florins, Doug 53/100 florins, Rodney 50, Paul 31. By then the Power Grid game was finished and we re-split into two groups.
One group played 7 Wonders two more times. Final scores: Erik 55, Mike 51, Rodney 44, Doug 43, Paul 40. Second game: Doug 65 (high score of the night and perhaps at the club thus far), followed by Mike 56 Rodney 53 Erik 51 Paul 29.
The other game was Navegador, Patrick and I introduced it to Lee and Greg. Greg seemed to catch on, Lee did not. We only managed to get into the third shipping age when time ran out. We scored anyway: Greg 52 Patrick 51 John 48 Lee 35
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
January 6, 2011 Session Report
Started off the New Year with a nice jump in attendance -- a total of nine, and we had a literal three-ring circus with three games in progress for much of the evening. Joining me for this initial 2011 session were Mike, Greg, Doug, Patrick, Paul, Neil, Eric and Tim. Games played: 7 Wonders, Poseidon, Navegador, For Sale (played three times) and Railways of the World, using the Mexico map.
First up was 7 Wonders, which is rapidly becoming a new club favorite. Paul, who had won the prior week, continued his winning ways but this time it was much closer in the final scores: Paul 62, John 60, Doug 50, Patrick 49, Greg 49, Neil (assisted by Eric) 47, Mike 45. My game score was improved by 48 points in Science, good enough for second but not good enough to win, given my lack of Military points.
Tim arrived and, after a few minutes of discussion, we split into three three-player games. At one table, it was Greg, Mike and I playing Poseidon, an 18xx-style game based on shipping to ancient Greek islands that Mike had brought. Since I had pre-ordered the game, I was interested in seeing how it went. Pleasantly surprised, although it turned out we missed one rule and also were unable to reach the finish, getting to the start of the final set of operating rounds. We counted up and had a really close finish: John 2764, Greg 2538, Mike 2538 -- a virtual tie for second!
The Railways of the World game, which Eric had brought, also took up most of the rest of the session time. Final scores were reported as: Eric 87 Doug 77 Tim 67.
The other group, consisting of Paul, Patrick and Neil, played Navegador, and Paul continued his winning streak, but Patrick came much closer than the game from last week. Final scores were Paul 83 Neil 78 Patrick 67 -- heard Paul used the Explorer strategy which once again paid off. This threesome then played three games of For Sale to wrap up the evening, the first two of these were won by Paul, but then Partick succeeded to take the final game, thus preventing a clean sweep for Paul, who had won four games in a row to that point.
First up was 7 Wonders, which is rapidly becoming a new club favorite. Paul, who had won the prior week, continued his winning ways but this time it was much closer in the final scores: Paul 62, John 60, Doug 50, Patrick 49, Greg 49, Neil (assisted by Eric) 47, Mike 45. My game score was improved by 48 points in Science, good enough for second but not good enough to win, given my lack of Military points.
Tim arrived and, after a few minutes of discussion, we split into three three-player games. At one table, it was Greg, Mike and I playing Poseidon, an 18xx-style game based on shipping to ancient Greek islands that Mike had brought. Since I had pre-ordered the game, I was interested in seeing how it went. Pleasantly surprised, although it turned out we missed one rule and also were unable to reach the finish, getting to the start of the final set of operating rounds. We counted up and had a really close finish: John 2764, Greg 2538, Mike 2538 -- a virtual tie for second!
The Railways of the World game, which Eric had brought, also took up most of the rest of the session time. Final scores were reported as: Eric 87 Doug 77 Tim 67.
The other group, consisting of Paul, Patrick and Neil, played Navegador, and Paul continued his winning streak, but Patrick came much closer than the game from last week. Final scores were Paul 83 Neil 78 Patrick 67 -- heard Paul used the Explorer strategy which once again paid off. This threesome then played three games of For Sale to wrap up the evening, the first two of these were won by Paul, but then Partick succeeded to take the final game, thus preventing a clean sweep for Paul, who had won four games in a row to that point.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
December 30, 2010 Session Report
There were just three of us (Patrick, Paul and myself) for the final session of 2010. We played three different games: 7 Wonders, Navegador and finally Family Business.
First up was 7 Wonders, as we went for a short game in the hope that others might show up. Paul won, playing just for the second time. Scores were fairly close, Paul 48, John 44, Patrick 41. Paul had a perfect 18 pts in Military, completed his Wonder, added some blue points while ignoring Science and Guilds. I had 25 points in Science which wasn't enough to make up for weaknesses in other categories. Patrick did well in blue, green and purple but was the weakest in military points.
We then played Navegador, the fourth in the series of rondel games -- other games include Imperial and Hamburgum. This was a close game, Paul coming out on top again, scores: Paul 85 John 84 Patrick 69. Paul dominated in the Explorer category, collecting seven tokens with a multiplier of 7. I was strong in Factories and Churches but weak in exploring and shipyards. Enjoyed the game, think it will play better with four or five.
Final game was a Mafia game, Family Business, brought by Patrick. I got out to an early lead and was targeted by Paul, which made me the first one to have his gang eliminated. But Patrick had the last laugh, as he had the most gangsters remaining when the Mob Wars accelerated toward the end, thus preventing Paul from sweeping all three games.
Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and looking forward to seeing more of you at our sessions in 2011!
First up was 7 Wonders, as we went for a short game in the hope that others might show up. Paul won, playing just for the second time. Scores were fairly close, Paul 48, John 44, Patrick 41. Paul had a perfect 18 pts in Military, completed his Wonder, added some blue points while ignoring Science and Guilds. I had 25 points in Science which wasn't enough to make up for weaknesses in other categories. Patrick did well in blue, green and purple but was the weakest in military points.
We then played Navegador, the fourth in the series of rondel games -- other games include Imperial and Hamburgum. This was a close game, Paul coming out on top again, scores: Paul 85 John 84 Patrick 69. Paul dominated in the Explorer category, collecting seven tokens with a multiplier of 7. I was strong in Factories and Churches but weak in exploring and shipyards. Enjoyed the game, think it will play better with four or five.
Final game was a Mafia game, Family Business, brought by Patrick. I got out to an early lead and was targeted by Paul, which made me the first one to have his gang eliminated. But Patrick had the last laugh, as he had the most gangsters remaining when the Mob Wars accelerated toward the end, thus preventing Paul from sweeping all three games.
Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and looking forward to seeing more of you at our sessions in 2011!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
December 23, 2010 Session Report
Four (Patrick, Paul, Doug and myself) of us in attendance, we played just two games (Inca Empire and 7 Wonders).
Inca Empire is a remake of a game with a really long name beginning with a T I don't know how to spell or pronounce. I had played it once before; this game had superior graphics but was still on the long side, consuming most of the session time. It turned out to be really close, as heading into the final turn we were separated by just six points with the leader (me) at 100. I thought I was headed toward defeat because I wasn't connected to enough high scoring locations when I drew one of the Wilderness cards that let me connect. This gave me 10 extra points, which turned out to be the eventual margin. Final scores: John 143 Patrick 133 Paul 129 Doug 125.
I guess I probably like the game a bit more than the initial version played several years ago, so would play it again but probably still a "no buy" for me.
We wrapped up the evening with 7 Wonders, all but Paul had played this hot new Essen game before. I am still getting the hang of it, and the game wound up a tie between Patrick and Doug at 51. Doug had more coins at game-end, which was the tiebreaker. Other scores: John 44, Paul 40. 7 Wonders is a good, solid, quick-playing game that also has the advantage of playing well with 7.
Inca Empire is a remake of a game with a really long name beginning with a T I don't know how to spell or pronounce. I had played it once before; this game had superior graphics but was still on the long side, consuming most of the session time. It turned out to be really close, as heading into the final turn we were separated by just six points with the leader (me) at 100. I thought I was headed toward defeat because I wasn't connected to enough high scoring locations when I drew one of the Wilderness cards that let me connect. This gave me 10 extra points, which turned out to be the eventual margin. Final scores: John 143 Patrick 133 Paul 129 Doug 125.
I guess I probably like the game a bit more than the initial version played several years ago, so would play it again but probably still a "no buy" for me.
We wrapped up the evening with 7 Wonders, all but Paul had played this hot new Essen game before. I am still getting the hang of it, and the game wound up a tie between Patrick and Doug at 51. Doug had more coins at game-end, which was the tiebreaker. Other scores: John 44, Paul 40. 7 Wonders is a good, solid, quick-playing game that also has the advantage of playing well with 7.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
December 16, 2010 Session Report
Not much to report for this week. It snowed the day of our session but, because the CC decided to stay open, I dutifully showed up at 6 PM with a couple of games. No one else came by 6:30, so I left. Everyone who stayed home probably made the right call, as driving conditions were a bit treacherous. Hope we can enjoy a session this week, as I have managed to snag a copy of 7 Wonders, this fall's hot new Essen game, and hope to have a couple of other new games on hand as well.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
December 9, 2010 Session Report
Nine in attendance this week, and seven different games were played. Roll call: Doug, Ron, Paul, Mike, Don, Greg, Eugene, Rodney and myself. Games played: Speicherstadt, For Sale, Founding Fathers, Vegas Showdown, London, Igel Agern (the Hedgehog racing game) and Ingenious -- Card Challenge.
First up was Speicherstadt. It was a close game, Paul kept taking the Firemen to the frustration of Ron and Doug who didn't get any. This gave him enough points to come in third, but he didn't get any contracts. To my surprise, I came away the winner with 19 ahead of Mike in second (17), followed by Paul (16), Doug (11) and Ron (10). Like the unique bidding mechanic but somehow the game seems a bit too short and shallow.
The other group, while waiting for Speicherstadt to finish, played For Sale. Rodney was the winner. No scores, but Don, Eugene and Greg were also in the game.
Then we split up, one group played Founding Fathers and the other group wound up playing London. Founding Fathers finished first, with Greg (20) the narrow winner; John (19), Don (17), Paul (12) and Rodney (10) were also in the game. The London game was even closer, coming down to the tiebreaker (least poverty). This gave the win to Mike over Eugene, as they each had 47 points. Not far behind was Ron at 45 (good effort for his first game) with Doug at 40, last, but still within 7 of the winner.
Meanwhile, a five-player Vegas Showdown was won by Rodney (45) ahead of Paul 36, John 34, Greg 27, Don 18. This was one of the lower-scoring and quick-finishing 5P games of this I have seen, as one stack ran out while the other two had plenty of tiles remaining. The Theater did not even come out.
Final games of the evening were Igel Agern, the Hedgehog game, won by Mike and then a three-player Ingenious-Card Challenge, won by Greg over Paul and myself just before closing time. We thought the game may have had a kingmaker/endgame stall problem as it turned out all three of us needed the same color (purple) to win. Greg finally broke the stalemate by moving another color to 10, earning another turn which enable him to get the one purple point needed to cinch the win.
First up was Speicherstadt. It was a close game, Paul kept taking the Firemen to the frustration of Ron and Doug who didn't get any. This gave him enough points to come in third, but he didn't get any contracts. To my surprise, I came away the winner with 19 ahead of Mike in second (17), followed by Paul (16), Doug (11) and Ron (10). Like the unique bidding mechanic but somehow the game seems a bit too short and shallow.
The other group, while waiting for Speicherstadt to finish, played For Sale. Rodney was the winner. No scores, but Don, Eugene and Greg were also in the game.
Then we split up, one group played Founding Fathers and the other group wound up playing London. Founding Fathers finished first, with Greg (20) the narrow winner; John (19), Don (17), Paul (12) and Rodney (10) were also in the game. The London game was even closer, coming down to the tiebreaker (least poverty). This gave the win to Mike over Eugene, as they each had 47 points. Not far behind was Ron at 45 (good effort for his first game) with Doug at 40, last, but still within 7 of the winner.
Meanwhile, a five-player Vegas Showdown was won by Rodney (45) ahead of Paul 36, John 34, Greg 27, Don 18. This was one of the lower-scoring and quick-finishing 5P games of this I have seen, as one stack ran out while the other two had plenty of tiles remaining. The Theater did not even come out.
Final games of the evening were Igel Agern, the Hedgehog game, won by Mike and then a three-player Ingenious-Card Challenge, won by Greg over Paul and myself just before closing time. We thought the game may have had a kingmaker/endgame stall problem as it turned out all three of us needed the same color (purple) to win. Greg finally broke the stalemate by moving another color to 10, earning another turn which enable him to get the one purple point needed to cinch the win.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
December 2, 2010 Session Report
A good turnout of nine for this week's session: Ron (who was back in the area for most of the rest of the year), Patrick, Paul, Doug, Mike, Eric, Tim, Don and myself were the attendees. It turned out to be the night of the incomplete games, or more accurately, games without winners as there were a couple of games that were unfinished, plus some cooperative games where the cooperation among the players wasn't enough to defeat the game system.
Patrick and I had both brought the same game (once again), which was the recently released Civilization Board game, the third such game issued trying to capitalize on the popularity of the computer game series designed by Sid Meier. Tim and Mike joined in, we probably got less than halfway through after a half-hour of rules explanation and three hours of playing. Mike had a well-developed city but had taken it on the chin in a couple of battles. I was gradually collecting Coins while Patrick had developed a strong military presence. Everyone seemed to enjoy playing the game although obviously it was too long for a four-hour time slot.
The other group of five (Ron, Don, Doug, Eric and Paul) took Tales of Arabian Nights for a spin. After about two hours, the game was picked up -- unfinished. Noticed a couple of thumbs-down from some of the players. There was some mention of Power Grid, but that never got going. Don and Eric played a two-player game, leaving Ron, Paul and Doug to try to cure some diseases by playing Pandemic. Again, two games were played -- the players lost both. These same three tried their luck in another cooperative (Forbidden Island) but again, no success. Turns out Eric, who won a two-player Patrician game over Don, was the night's only winner, and the two of them left early.
Patrick and I had both brought the same game (once again), which was the recently released Civilization Board game, the third such game issued trying to capitalize on the popularity of the computer game series designed by Sid Meier. Tim and Mike joined in, we probably got less than halfway through after a half-hour of rules explanation and three hours of playing. Mike had a well-developed city but had taken it on the chin in a couple of battles. I was gradually collecting Coins while Patrick had developed a strong military presence. Everyone seemed to enjoy playing the game although obviously it was too long for a four-hour time slot.
The other group of five (Ron, Don, Doug, Eric and Paul) took Tales of Arabian Nights for a spin. After about two hours, the game was picked up -- unfinished. Noticed a couple of thumbs-down from some of the players. There was some mention of Power Grid, but that never got going. Don and Eric played a two-player game, leaving Ron, Paul and Doug to try to cure some diseases by playing Pandemic. Again, two games were played -- the players lost both. These same three tried their luck in another cooperative (Forbidden Island) but again, no success. Turns out Eric, who won a two-player Patrician game over Don, was the night's only winner, and the two of them left early.
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