Only six for this week's session: the group was Neville, Andrew, Tim, Stan, Rouslan and myself. With just one table going, we managed to get in just two games: Alien Frontiers and Fleet.
Alien Frontiers was another close game, with different people bouncing up and down the leaderboard until it finished as a battle between Stan and Tim. Tim, who had the advantage of few plays under his belt, managed to win his second game in as many weeks. Final scores were Tim 8, Stan 7, Neville 5, while Andrew and I had just 4 at the end.
Fleet was a four-player, and the game had to be picked up before reaching the finish line. We were about two-thirds through the game, and Neville was winning. Scores at that point were Neville 38, Tim 31, John 27, Rouslan (in his first play) 26. Rouslan had gone big for the processing licenses, outbidding us for three of the four that came up (Tim got the fourth one).
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
April 10, 2014 Session Report
Once again, in the better late than never category, with the time for this week's session rapidly approaching, here is a report from last week's session. Attendance held steady at eight, as we welcomed Alex whom he hadn't seen for awhile, along with Rouslan, Patrick, Tim, Neville, Rembert, Helen and myself. Four games were played: Samurai Swords, Vegas Showdown, Alien Frontiers and Bang: The Dice Game.
Samurai Swords was somewhat similar to Bang in that each player had a role that supported one side or another in a three-sided conflict. The more difficult sides had a favorable score multiplier. In this game, the Shogun/Samurai side of Rouslan, Tim and myself won with 9 points, most of which were scored by Rouslan who was the Shogun (kind of like the Sheriff in Bang). The Ninja team (Neville, Alex and Rembert) was second with four points. The Ronin (Patrick) had a favorable multiplier of 3 but 3 times zero is still 0.
Other games: Vegas Showdown was a win for Alex. Scores: Alex 59, John 52, Helen 45, Rembert 35. Alex pulled ahead in the endgame scoring with higher revenue and population than anyone else. Alien Frontiers was adjudicated as a win for Tim: Tim 8 Neville 7 Patrick and Rouslan 6. The other game, Bang: The Dice Game, was a three-player, and Helen won as the Renegade, Rembert second as the Outlaw and yours truly was first eliminated as the Deputy. Interesting, in the three-player you get to see everyone's roles and each player has a target to eliminate. In some ways, a bit more interesting than the regular game but still with a lot of luck on the die rolls (I got hit with tons of Arrows which was my big problem leading to an early demise for my character).
Samurai Swords was somewhat similar to Bang in that each player had a role that supported one side or another in a three-sided conflict. The more difficult sides had a favorable score multiplier. In this game, the Shogun/Samurai side of Rouslan, Tim and myself won with 9 points, most of which were scored by Rouslan who was the Shogun (kind of like the Sheriff in Bang). The Ninja team (Neville, Alex and Rembert) was second with four points. The Ronin (Patrick) had a favorable multiplier of 3 but 3 times zero is still 0.
Other games: Vegas Showdown was a win for Alex. Scores: Alex 59, John 52, Helen 45, Rembert 35. Alex pulled ahead in the endgame scoring with higher revenue and population than anyone else. Alien Frontiers was adjudicated as a win for Tim: Tim 8 Neville 7 Patrick and Rouslan 6. The other game, Bang: The Dice Game, was a three-player, and Helen won as the Renegade, Rembert second as the Outlaw and yours truly was first eliminated as the Deputy. Interesting, in the three-player you get to see everyone's roles and each player has a target to eliminate. In some ways, a bit more interesting than the regular game but still with a lot of luck on the die rolls (I got hit with tons of Arrows which was my big problem leading to an early demise for my character).
Thursday, April 10, 2014
April 3, 2014 Session Report
Mike, Doug, Neville, Ben, Rembert, Helen and myself were the attendees for a total attendance of 7 this week. Games played: Go For It, Russian Railroads, Alien Frontiers, For Sale and Gypsy King.
Go For It was the quick starter game while waiting for people to show up. It was a five-player dice game where you were matching numbers to collect points from cards. Doug collected more cards, but I managed to win because I collected more high value cards. Actually, we called the game after a certain number of rounds (normally you play to 40). Scores: John 25, Doug 24, Ben and Neville 10, Mike 7.
At this point we split into two groups. One group (Doug, Mike and myself) played Russian Railroads which everyone had played at least once before. I came away the winner, scores: John 326, Mike 247, Doug 207.
The other group opted for Alien Frontiers, which took most of the remaining session time. Final scores: Helen 10, Neville 6, Ben and Rembert 5.
Doug, Mike and I had time for a couple of short filler games. One, For Sale, was won by Doug (82K) ahead of Mike (63K) and John, last (52K). The other was Gypsy King which was a close finish: John 108 Mike 104 Doug 78. It was all about who could catch the most fish!
Go For It was the quick starter game while waiting for people to show up. It was a five-player dice game where you were matching numbers to collect points from cards. Doug collected more cards, but I managed to win because I collected more high value cards. Actually, we called the game after a certain number of rounds (normally you play to 40). Scores: John 25, Doug 24, Ben and Neville 10, Mike 7.
At this point we split into two groups. One group (Doug, Mike and myself) played Russian Railroads which everyone had played at least once before. I came away the winner, scores: John 326, Mike 247, Doug 207.
The other group opted for Alien Frontiers, which took most of the remaining session time. Final scores: Helen 10, Neville 6, Ben and Rembert 5.
Doug, Mike and I had time for a couple of short filler games. One, For Sale, was won by Doug (82K) ahead of Mike (63K) and John, last (52K). The other was Gypsy King which was a close finish: John 108 Mike 104 Doug 78. It was all about who could catch the most fish!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
March 27, 2014 Session Report
The group for this session included Mike, Neville, Patrick, Rouslan, Andrew, Ben, Tim, Helen and myself for a total of nine. We played five games: Love Letter, City Council, Lords of Vegas. Bang: The Dice Game and Coup.
Love Letter was a quick warm-up game, no results recorded. For City Council, there were four of us: Rouslan, Patrick, Tim and myself. In the end, we all got greedy and the all players lose scenario took place once pollution spun out of control. Rouslan was leading, 8 VPs to 7 for Patrick and myself, at the time the game ended.
Lords of Vegas was also a four-player, final scores: Ben 49, Neville 40, Mike 26, Andrew 20.
Bang-the Dice Game, Rouslan was the Sheriff and the winner. Neville, Helen and I were the also-rans. Neville brought Coup, which was played at the club for the first time. I emerged the winner after a final show-down with Rouslan. Neville and Helen had been knocked out earlier.
Love Letter was a quick warm-up game, no results recorded. For City Council, there were four of us: Rouslan, Patrick, Tim and myself. In the end, we all got greedy and the all players lose scenario took place once pollution spun out of control. Rouslan was leading, 8 VPs to 7 for Patrick and myself, at the time the game ended.
Lords of Vegas was also a four-player, final scores: Ben 49, Neville 40, Mike 26, Andrew 20.
Bang-the Dice Game, Rouslan was the Sheriff and the winner. Neville, Helen and I were the also-rans. Neville brought Coup, which was played at the club for the first time. I emerged the winner after a final show-down with Rouslan. Neville and Helen had been knocked out earlier.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
March 20, 2014 Session Report
I missed this past week's session, but Co-Host Mike was on hand to provide this report on a very well-attended session:
"We had a great turnout Thursday. We got 6 games in with 12 people! In attendance were: me, Doug H, the new John B (not to be confused with Biker John B), Reggie, Neville, Tim back from Japan, Andrew, Lee, Brian, with Helen, Rembert & Rouslan showing up a bit later.
"We had a great turnout Thursday. We got 6 games in with 12 people! In attendance were: me, Doug H, the new John B (not to be confused with Biker John B), Reggie, Neville, Tim back from Japan, Andrew, Lee, Brian, with Helen, Rembert & Rouslan showing up a bit later.
We started the night with a warm up game of Love Letters as we were
waiting for people to show up. After four hands, we wrapped it up with
Doug winning 2 hands and Reggie & me each winning one. As more
people showed up, we broke into two games. John, Reggie, Neville and I
played Union Pacific. The 1st payout really caught me unprepared and the
rest of the players got cash and I got zilch. I wasn't able to recover.
The rest of the players played a really tight game. The final score was
Neville winning with $110, Reggie having $106, John with $105 and I
brought up the end with $82.
At the same time, Doug, Brian, Lee, Andrew, Timmy and Helen played
Lords of Waterdeep with both of the Skullport expansions. With what I
believe were 1st time players, the game took the entire evening (+5
minutes) and Tim pulled out the win with 119 points. The rest of the
scores were close with Helen getting 111, Doug 104, Andrew 103, Lee 102
and Brian 93.
While these games were underway, Rembert and Rouslan arrived and
broke out a two person game of Can't Stop. Rouslan made a quick grab and
claimed 8 but Rembert fought back but did not prevail. Rouslan ended up
claiming 4 spots while Rembert could only get three.
When they finished, the UP players joined the Can't Stop players
for Bang: The Dice Game. Neville was the Sheriff and Rouslan managed to
confuse everyone on whether he was the deputy or not. In the end, the
real deputy, Neville, put the last bullet in Rouslan, saving Sheriff
Neville. Rouslan, Rembert, Rouslan and I fought the law and the law won.
We fought the law and the... law won.
Neville had to leave so Rouslan, Reggie, John, Rembert and I
finished the evening with Gipsy King. The game was the closest I've seen
with me winning with 46 points. Rouslan came in next with 45, Reggie
and John tied with 44 pts and Rembert brought up the rear with 43 pts. I
don't think it could've got much closer."
Saturday, March 15, 2014
March 13, 2014 Session Report
After a great week attendance-wise, this session saw a drop in overall attendance to just six, but two were people who missed out on last week's session. Neville, Patrick, Tim, Lee, Rembert and myself were the attendees. We got in two games: Eminent Domain (with the Escalation expansion) and 7 Wonders (with the Cities expansion). Some details follow/
Eminent Domain: Neville, who reminded that I had taught him the base game a few years back at EuroQuest, had liked the game enough to buy it as well as the Escalation expansion which adds a fifth player and some new options. Everyone but Lee had played before, and Lee walked away the winner although Patrick had amassed alot of victory points but hadn't been able to conquer all his planets. I, too, was stuck with an uncolonized planet or two (having gone the non-military route). Final scores on this one: Lee 22 Patrick 20 Neville 15 Tim and John 14
By this time Rembert had arrived and was patiently waiting to get into a game. We played 7 Wonders, which everyone was familiar with. Lee had brought both expansions, so we played with the Cities expansion which was new to most of us. I tried something different and concentrated on the newer black cards, which I had kind of ignored in one previous play with this expansion. This strategy paid off as I received a nice bonus card in the third age plus I had the fish through the discard Wonder (B side) that got me some free plays as well. So, I won with my second best score ever (the only higher score was with the other expansion -- Leaders -- using a "big Science" approach. Final scores: John 81 Tim 66 (Tim was the big Science guy in this game) Lee 58 Rembert 52 Neville 52 Patrick 46
I am planning an out-of-town trip for next week so co-Host Mike will be back to do the honors next session.
Events coming up: DERail (March 29-30) in Delaware; GCOM Game Days (first week in May) and the GCOM Family Picnic (this year it's on a Sunday in July).
Eminent Domain: Neville, who reminded that I had taught him the base game a few years back at EuroQuest, had liked the game enough to buy it as well as the Escalation expansion which adds a fifth player and some new options. Everyone but Lee had played before, and Lee walked away the winner although Patrick had amassed alot of victory points but hadn't been able to conquer all his planets. I, too, was stuck with an uncolonized planet or two (having gone the non-military route). Final scores on this one: Lee 22 Patrick 20 Neville 15 Tim and John 14
By this time Rembert had arrived and was patiently waiting to get into a game. We played 7 Wonders, which everyone was familiar with. Lee had brought both expansions, so we played with the Cities expansion which was new to most of us. I tried something different and concentrated on the newer black cards, which I had kind of ignored in one previous play with this expansion. This strategy paid off as I received a nice bonus card in the third age plus I had the fish through the discard Wonder (B side) that got me some free plays as well. So, I won with my second best score ever (the only higher score was with the other expansion -- Leaders -- using a "big Science" approach. Final scores: John 81 Tim 66 (Tim was the big Science guy in this game) Lee 58 Rembert 52 Neville 52 Patrick 46
I am planning an out-of-town trip for next week so co-Host Mike will be back to do the honors next session.
Events coming up: DERail (March 29-30) in Delaware; GCOM Game Days (first week in May) and the GCOM Family Picnic (this year it's on a Sunday in July).
Saturday, March 8, 2014
March 6, 2014 Session Report
A huge throng of 15 (!) descended on the Community Center this past Thursday night, including five first-timers, making it one of our largest sessions, attendance-wise, in some time. The new attendees were Rouslan, John D, Peter, Angel and Wayne -- joined by 10 regular attendees (Mike, Patrick, Ben, Karl, Eric, Ryan, Neville, Rembert, Helen and myself). We had to ask for an extra table and more chairs, and we had four games going on for most of the session. In all, a total of seven different games were played: Power Grid (Benelux map), Kolejka, Clash of Cultures, Coal Baron, Bang: The Dice Game, Gipsy King and Steam Park.
I was at the table which played several games that were played for the first time at the club (to my knowledge). First up was Kolejka, a game I picked up recently having first seen it played at PrezCon, so it was the first play for everybody. The game is about standing in line for goods in 1980s Poland, and it would call it similar to a glorified version of the line-jumping game Guillotine with alot more going on. Anyway, five of us (Karl, Neville, Rembert, Rouslan and myself) took on the game and, after a few moves, we were all comfortable with the rules and the game mechanics. After one day into the second week, I asked around to see who was closest to the 10 goods needed for victory, and Karl was in the lead, so the rest of us kind of focused on him. Meanwhile, Neville -- who was being real quiet -- managed to collect four goods to finish out the game as the winner in the very next round! I had of 8 of my required goods plus an extra to finish second on the tiebreaker ahead of Karl and Rouslan, each of whom had 8, ahead of Rembert, who had 7. I think this game was well received by all -- looking forward to trying it again soon.
Our group then played Bang: The Dice Game, which Rouslan had brought, and Neville (who was the Sheriff) managed to extend his win streak for another game, joined by Rembert, the loyal deputy. Rouslan and I, the Outlaws, were quickly found out and Karl, the Renegade, was the last to go. Game seemed to play alot quicker than the regular Bang. Then, four of us (Rembert moving over to help finish out a Power Grid game) played Steam Park, which Neville had brought. This one didn't quite make it to the finish line, but after three of the six rounds, I was in the lead. Partial scores of John 21, Neville and Karl 11, Rouslan 9. Neville just had too much dirt in his amusement park and got hit with a -15 penalty.
Power Grid-Benelux was a five-player, consisting of Mike, Eric, Ben, John D, and Eric's son Ryan, with Rembert subbing for the last couple of turns. Final scores: Mike 15, John D 14, Ben 13 (12 money), Ryan/Rembert 13 (5 money), Eric 12. Everyone but Ben stuck around for a second game, Gipsy King, which went to John D. Scores: John D 72, Eric 64, Mike 56, Rembert 50.
Helen and Peter played Coal Baron, a game Helen had played the week before that I believe was new to Pete. Helen put what she had learned to good use, winning by a score of 100 to 45.
The other game was Clash of Cultures, which Patrick had brought. Angel and Wayne were the other two players. The game apparently did not finish or, if it did, I did not get a final result to report. Glancing at the board, it looked like Wayne had been doing well in building cities, while Patrick had a lead in the technology race.
Love to see a similar turnout for next week's session!
I was at the table which played several games that were played for the first time at the club (to my knowledge). First up was Kolejka, a game I picked up recently having first seen it played at PrezCon, so it was the first play for everybody. The game is about standing in line for goods in 1980s Poland, and it would call it similar to a glorified version of the line-jumping game Guillotine with alot more going on. Anyway, five of us (Karl, Neville, Rembert, Rouslan and myself) took on the game and, after a few moves, we were all comfortable with the rules and the game mechanics. After one day into the second week, I asked around to see who was closest to the 10 goods needed for victory, and Karl was in the lead, so the rest of us kind of focused on him. Meanwhile, Neville -- who was being real quiet -- managed to collect four goods to finish out the game as the winner in the very next round! I had of 8 of my required goods plus an extra to finish second on the tiebreaker ahead of Karl and Rouslan, each of whom had 8, ahead of Rembert, who had 7. I think this game was well received by all -- looking forward to trying it again soon.
Our group then played Bang: The Dice Game, which Rouslan had brought, and Neville (who was the Sheriff) managed to extend his win streak for another game, joined by Rembert, the loyal deputy. Rouslan and I, the Outlaws, were quickly found out and Karl, the Renegade, was the last to go. Game seemed to play alot quicker than the regular Bang. Then, four of us (Rembert moving over to help finish out a Power Grid game) played Steam Park, which Neville had brought. This one didn't quite make it to the finish line, but after three of the six rounds, I was in the lead. Partial scores of John 21, Neville and Karl 11, Rouslan 9. Neville just had too much dirt in his amusement park and got hit with a -15 penalty.
Power Grid-Benelux was a five-player, consisting of Mike, Eric, Ben, John D, and Eric's son Ryan, with Rembert subbing for the last couple of turns. Final scores: Mike 15, John D 14, Ben 13 (12 money), Ryan/Rembert 13 (5 money), Eric 12. Everyone but Ben stuck around for a second game, Gipsy King, which went to John D. Scores: John D 72, Eric 64, Mike 56, Rembert 50.
Helen and Peter played Coal Baron, a game Helen had played the week before that I believe was new to Pete. Helen put what she had learned to good use, winning by a score of 100 to 45.
The other game was Clash of Cultures, which Patrick had brought. Angel and Wayne were the other two players. The game apparently did not finish or, if it did, I did not get a final result to report. Glancing at the board, it looked like Wayne had been doing well in building cities, while Patrick had a lead in the technology race.
Love to see a similar turnout for next week's session!
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