Starting to get alarmed about the low attendance recently, as this week we had another dip to just four of us: Mike, Clayton, Paul and myself. We played a total of four games: R-Eco, Automobile, San Juan and Vegas Showdown.
R-Eco was won by Mike, who was the only player to reach double figures with 10 points. All four us had to "dump" at some point in the game, so no ecology points awarded. Next up was Automobile, I managed to win with 5020 to Clayton who was second (4310) followed by Mike (3660) and Paul (2940). Then came San Juan which Paul won with a City Hall and some nice purple buildings for a grand total of 35 to my second place score of 29, featuring a Guild Hall and seven mills, with Clayton (21) and Mike (20) bringing up the rear. We wrapped up the evening with a club favorite, Vegas Showdown, and this time Mike ran away with the game -- not even close -- lapping the board with 93 (!) points to 61 for me, 56 for Clayton and 55 for Paul.
Hey, it's time we saw a boost in attendance. Hope to see many of you next week. Two weeks to EuroQuest, Nov. 12-15th, pre-registration deadline is Sunday.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
October 22, 2009 Session Report
Just six for this week's session, as Eric S. joined Clayton, Doug, Mike, Paul and I for an evening of gaming at the Community Center. We played a total of seven different games: Owner's Choice, Endeavor, Thurn and Taxis, Anno 1503, Stone Age, Vegas Showdown and Ingenious.
First up was Owner's Choice, a relatively new Z-Man product that I had picked up recently after trying it a couple of times. Quick playing, stock market manipulation game, this one was won by Eric with 1150 followed by John (1070), Mike (850), Doug (480) and Paul (470). A couple of the players were hurt when one of the companies went belly up and thus ended with less money than they started.
By this time Clayton had arrived and we split into two groups of three for the rest of the evening. One group (consisting of Doug, Paul and Eric) got in a total of four more games. One was Thurn and Taxis, which Doug won by a huge margin over Paul with Eric far, far behind. Then it was Anno, where Eric turned the tables with Doug second. Then a really tight Vegas Showdown game came down to the money tiebreak and Doug prevailed over Eric. Then Eric wrapped up his mini-winning streak by taking Ingenious, 13 to 11 (Doug) to 9 (Paul).
The rest of us (Mike, Clayton and myself) played another recent Z-Man release, Endeavor, which has been getting alot of favorable comment recently. Clayton and Mike, both playing for the first time, managed to beat me with Clayton coming out on top (52 to 45 for Mike and 44 for John). We then played Stone Age, which took the rest of the evening, and it turned out to be a mirror image of the T&T game at the other table with wide gaps opening at the end. Final scores on that one: John 298, Mike 178, Clayton 59. My highest scoring Stone Age game ever!
Anyway, I have been a bit disappointed by attendance recently which has fallen into single digits. Hopefully, some of you who have been no-shows recently will return to boost our club's attendance next week as there are plently of cool new games to try out!
First up was Owner's Choice, a relatively new Z-Man product that I had picked up recently after trying it a couple of times. Quick playing, stock market manipulation game, this one was won by Eric with 1150 followed by John (1070), Mike (850), Doug (480) and Paul (470). A couple of the players were hurt when one of the companies went belly up and thus ended with less money than they started.
By this time Clayton had arrived and we split into two groups of three for the rest of the evening. One group (consisting of Doug, Paul and Eric) got in a total of four more games. One was Thurn and Taxis, which Doug won by a huge margin over Paul with Eric far, far behind. Then it was Anno, where Eric turned the tables with Doug second. Then a really tight Vegas Showdown game came down to the money tiebreak and Doug prevailed over Eric. Then Eric wrapped up his mini-winning streak by taking Ingenious, 13 to 11 (Doug) to 9 (Paul).
The rest of us (Mike, Clayton and myself) played another recent Z-Man release, Endeavor, which has been getting alot of favorable comment recently. Clayton and Mike, both playing for the first time, managed to beat me with Clayton coming out on top (52 to 45 for Mike and 44 for John). We then played Stone Age, which took the rest of the evening, and it turned out to be a mirror image of the T&T game at the other table with wide gaps opening at the end. Final scores on that one: John 298, Mike 178, Clayton 59. My highest scoring Stone Age game ever!
Anyway, I have been a bit disappointed by attendance recently which has fallen into single digits. Hopefully, some of you who have been no-shows recently will return to boost our club's attendance next week as there are plently of cool new games to try out!
Friday, October 16, 2009
October 15, 2009 Session Report
Seven attendees this week: Neil, Greg, Doug, Paul, Mike, Clayton, and myself. We played six different games: For Sale, Power Grid (Korea), Railways of the Eastern United States, Chicago Express, San Juan, Too Many Cooks.
For Sale was the warmup gaming while waiting to see if more folks showed up. It was six players, and I emerged victorious. Final score count: John (51), Greg and Neil (46), Mike (42), Doug (35) and Paul (33). We then split into two groups for the rest of the session. One group (Mike, Paul and Neil) played Power Grid-Korea (won by Paul), Chicago Express (tie between Neil and Paul, with Mike, the teacher of the game, finishing far, far behind) and finally San Juan (another tie for first, this time between Mike and Neil).
The remaining four of us (Clayton, Doug, Greg and I) played the new version of the Railroad Tycoon, called Railways of the Eastern US. It was a very close game throughout most of the early stages, but Greg pulled away to become the big winner. Final scores: Greg 69, Clayton 57, John 54, Doug 49. We had time for another game, Too Many Cooks, which Greg brought and Greg (who had played it the most) won with 30 ahead of Doug with 25 well ahead of Clayton and I (who had played it the least, it was my second play, Clayton's first) but Clayton still put me in last, 8 for Clayton to 7 for John.
Hope to see a bigger turnout next week as the rainy weather may have kept some people away this week.
For Sale was the warmup gaming while waiting to see if more folks showed up. It was six players, and I emerged victorious. Final score count: John (51), Greg and Neil (46), Mike (42), Doug (35) and Paul (33). We then split into two groups for the rest of the session. One group (Mike, Paul and Neil) played Power Grid-Korea (won by Paul), Chicago Express (tie between Neil and Paul, with Mike, the teacher of the game, finishing far, far behind) and finally San Juan (another tie for first, this time between Mike and Neil).
The remaining four of us (Clayton, Doug, Greg and I) played the new version of the Railroad Tycoon, called Railways of the Eastern US. It was a very close game throughout most of the early stages, but Greg pulled away to become the big winner. Final scores: Greg 69, Clayton 57, John 54, Doug 49. We had time for another game, Too Many Cooks, which Greg brought and Greg (who had played it the most) won with 30 ahead of Doug with 25 well ahead of Clayton and I (who had played it the least, it was my second play, Clayton's first) but Clayton still put me in last, 8 for Clayton to 7 for John.
Hope to see a bigger turnout next week as the rainy weather may have kept some people away this week.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
October 8, 2009 Session Report
Back for this week's session after being away the prior week, and we had a total of eight in attendance: Alan was back for a second week in a row, along with Paul, Mike, Doug, Clayton, Don, Greg and myself. We made good use of the time, playing a total of seven games: Global City, Steam, For Sale, Ticket to Ride - Switzerland, Hollywood Blockbuster, San Juan and TransAmerica. Some details on the games follow.
Global City was first up, it is a privately-published game I had brought based loosely on scoring points for developing various cities in the world. Alan wound up the winner with 78 points, ahead of Doug (58), Paul (38) and Clayton (36). I would have played but then a second group formed, and four of us tried another newer game, Steam, which was a reworked version of a couple of earlier games that can probably best be described as a cross between Railroad Tycoon and Age of Steam. Greg won the game with a score of 45, followed by Don (40), John (38) and Mike (34).
The scoresheets suggested there were two games of For Sale, both won by Paul, one with Alan coming second and then a second game with Clayton as the runner-up. Doug, Paul and Clayton played a three-player Ticket to Ride-Switzerland which turned out to be a big win for Doug (111) ahead of Paul (92) and Clayton (61).
By this time the Steam game had finished, and we reconstituted in two groups. Four of us played Hollywood Blockbuster, and Doug romped to a runaway victory after scoring and completing a 22-point movie just before the end of the second lap around the board. Final scores were Doug 109, John 80, Don 59, Clayton 49. We barely got this game end before closing time.
Meanwhile, a couple of three-player games, both won by Mike who made up for his less than stellar showing in the Steam game. One game was San Juan, and the other was TransAmerica, and in both games the other two players (Greg and Paul) tied for second.
Global City was first up, it is a privately-published game I had brought based loosely on scoring points for developing various cities in the world. Alan wound up the winner with 78 points, ahead of Doug (58), Paul (38) and Clayton (36). I would have played but then a second group formed, and four of us tried another newer game, Steam, which was a reworked version of a couple of earlier games that can probably best be described as a cross between Railroad Tycoon and Age of Steam. Greg won the game with a score of 45, followed by Don (40), John (38) and Mike (34).
The scoresheets suggested there were two games of For Sale, both won by Paul, one with Alan coming second and then a second game with Clayton as the runner-up. Doug, Paul and Clayton played a three-player Ticket to Ride-Switzerland which turned out to be a big win for Doug (111) ahead of Paul (92) and Clayton (61).
By this time the Steam game had finished, and we reconstituted in two groups. Four of us played Hollywood Blockbuster, and Doug romped to a runaway victory after scoring and completing a 22-point movie just before the end of the second lap around the board. Final scores were Doug 109, John 80, Don 59, Clayton 49. We barely got this game end before closing time.
Meanwhile, a couple of three-player games, both won by Mike who made up for his less than stellar showing in the Steam game. One game was San Juan, and the other was TransAmerica, and in both games the other two players (Greg and Paul) tied for second.
Friday, October 9, 2009
October 1, 2009 Session Report
I missed this session due to an out-of-town gaming event; however, with the aid of some diligent note-taking, I am able to recreate a brief session report. Looks like the total attendance was nine, with two new attendees (Alan and Ryan) who had attended the prior weekend's festivities at the Congress of Gamers. Others in attendance were Clayton, Paul, Doug, Mike, Jonathan, Don and Ray. Games played were Vegas Showdown, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and Agricola.
Scores of the games are presented without commentary.
Vegas Showdown: Doug 42 Paul 36 Jonathan 35 Mike 33 Clayton 25
Settlers of Catan: Alan 10 Ryan 4 Clayton 4 Paul 4
Ticket to Ride: Alan 160 Paul 92 Ryan 60
Agricola: Jonathan 51 Ray 42 Mike 36 Don 32 Doug 26
Scores of the games are presented without commentary.
Vegas Showdown: Doug 42 Paul 36 Jonathan 35 Mike 33 Clayton 25
Settlers of Catan: Alan 10 Ryan 4 Clayton 4 Paul 4
Ticket to Ride: Alan 160 Paul 92 Ryan 60
Agricola: Jonathan 51 Ray 42 Mike 36 Don 32 Doug 26
Friday, September 25, 2009
September 24, 2009 Session Report
A bit of an abbreviated report this week because I am saving up my energy for Congress of Gamers this weekend, hope to see many of you there. A final reminder, the event takes place at the Bauer Drive Community Center in Rockville and it only costs $5 a day. Here is the link to the website:
http://www.congressofgamers.org
Attendance total of seven this week, it was good to see Ben back after a hiatus, also Ray and Eric S. as well. Eugene, Clayton, Don and I rounded out the list of attendees. We played a total of six games: Civil War Express, Big City, Railroad Tycoon, Ticket to Ride-Nordic, Roll Through the Ages and Can't Stop.
Civil War Express is a prototype of a quick-playing two-player Civil War game that I have agreed to help playtest; the game can be played with Settlers pieces and a deck of playing cards. Clayton and I tried it out, Ben joined us for the last few turns. I won as the South player despite losing Richmond. Initial impression was that the game has play balance issues, as it seems fairly tough for the Union to win but later on I found a rule we misplayed, so I would like to give it another try soon before finalizing any playtesting comments.
Eric asked that I bring Big City which turned out to be a three-player with Eric, Eugene and Don. I heard (big surprise) that Eric won the game. We then worked Ray and Ben into the rotation for the next round of games, which turned out to be (1) a four-player RR Tycoon (original US map) that Ben, Eric and Don and Ray played where Ben nosed Eric for the win on a second-level tiebreaker (the RR Tycoon lasted the rest of the session) while (2) the rest of us (Clayton, Eugene and myself) worked in three games in the same time frame, Ticket to Ride-Nordic which I won by completing the most tickets and then Roll Through the Ages and Can't Stop, both of which were won by Clayton who once again proved the master of the die-rolling magic.
I will not be at the club next week but left some attendance and game record sheets in the bin with the club notebook that I hope someone will fill in for me next week.
Finally, for those of you who have not heard, Days of Wonder is sponsoring a Worldwide Ticket to Ride Tournament and the first regional qualifying event in the US will be none other than this fall's EuroQuest in Timonium, MD. See the following link for details:
http://www.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/world-championship
http://www.congressofgamers.org
Attendance total of seven this week, it was good to see Ben back after a hiatus, also Ray and Eric S. as well. Eugene, Clayton, Don and I rounded out the list of attendees. We played a total of six games: Civil War Express, Big City, Railroad Tycoon, Ticket to Ride-Nordic, Roll Through the Ages and Can't Stop.
Civil War Express is a prototype of a quick-playing two-player Civil War game that I have agreed to help playtest; the game can be played with Settlers pieces and a deck of playing cards. Clayton and I tried it out, Ben joined us for the last few turns. I won as the South player despite losing Richmond. Initial impression was that the game has play balance issues, as it seems fairly tough for the Union to win but later on I found a rule we misplayed, so I would like to give it another try soon before finalizing any playtesting comments.
Eric asked that I bring Big City which turned out to be a three-player with Eric, Eugene and Don. I heard (big surprise) that Eric won the game. We then worked Ray and Ben into the rotation for the next round of games, which turned out to be (1) a four-player RR Tycoon (original US map) that Ben, Eric and Don and Ray played where Ben nosed Eric for the win on a second-level tiebreaker (the RR Tycoon lasted the rest of the session) while (2) the rest of us (Clayton, Eugene and myself) worked in three games in the same time frame, Ticket to Ride-Nordic which I won by completing the most tickets and then Roll Through the Ages and Can't Stop, both of which were won by Clayton who once again proved the master of the die-rolling magic.
I will not be at the club next week but left some attendance and game record sheets in the bin with the club notebook that I hope someone will fill in for me next week.
Finally, for those of you who have not heard, Days of Wonder is sponsoring a Worldwide Ticket to Ride Tournament and the first regional qualifying event in the US will be none other than this fall's EuroQuest in Timonium, MD. See the following link for details:
http://www.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/world-championship
Sunday, September 20, 2009
September 17, 2009 Session Report
A bit better attendance this week, nine total: Tom, Neil, Doug, Paul, Mike, Don, Greg, Clayton and myself were the group. We played a total of five different games, getting into some longer games to take advantage of the later closing times.
One group (Tom, Paul, Doug, Clayton and I) played Kingsburg using a couple of modules from the recently-released "To Forge a Realm Expansion." The one concept that seems to be generally well-received is the use of chits to add to strength versus the enemies in winter, with the remaining chit worth its value in VPs. Generally speaking, this variant allows for more predictability in the battles but also makes them tougher to win. I managed to pull away to a nice win with the "Embassy Rush" strategy, but it was a very close race for second. Final scores were John 40 Clayton and Doug 27 Paul 25 and Tom 24. Good job by both Clayton and Tom to remain fairly competitive despite having to rebuild some burned-down buildings (courtesy of those nasty Goblins). Tom had the misfortune of rolling 1-1-1 with three dice, then using his re-roll option with the Statue, and rolling another 1, odds of 1/1296.
The other group of four (Greg, Don, Mike and Neil) played the learning version of 18EZ, where each player operates one RR with the objective of building to $1000 in cash. The game is a modular learning game for 18xx type games. Some of the players commented this version has a bias toward whoever goes first, since you aren't guaranteed an equal number of turns.
This same group played a competitive game of Puerto Rico, and my notes say Don got the Guild Hall, Mike got 2 large buildings, and Greg had the customs house. Final scores were 51 for Don, 49 for Mike, 48 for Greg and 30 for Neil. Nice win by Don versus Mike, who won the Puerto Rico tournament at EuroQuest last year.
Two more games to report: one hand of Slide 5 while waiting for the Puerto Rico game to finish, scores ranged from lows of 5-8 (Tom, Clayton and myself) to a high of 27 (Doug) who took the most penalty cards. Then the entire group (or what was left of it) played some Wits and Wagers. Paul started as the reader but took over the purple position when Mike took a bathroom break. Final scores were John 32, Tom 21, Greg 19, Doug 13, Neil 10, Clayton 9 and the Mike/Paul duo, 0. I don't know how I won, since I had no clue on most questions, I just generally bet on answers where there was either a good payoff or a nice gap to the next answer.
Finally, a reminder that weekend after this is Congress of Gamers, a relatively new (fourth year) event that is one of the most economical gaming conventions out there at $5/day. As last year, it will be at the Bauer Drive Community Center in Rockville, MD. I will be running the EuroCaucus event there but there are other cool events like the racing series (featuring McGartlin) and a new series of games called "America First" organized by Mark Love, who has been at our club a few times. Greg, Eric S, Mike and Rodney from our Laurel group and Marcy and Lee from the Columbia group are planning to be on hand to help me with various games in the Euro event, so it should be alot of fun.
Here's the link to the website listing all the events with links to more details on some of them:
http://www.congressofgamers.org/index.php?page=schedule
One group (Tom, Paul, Doug, Clayton and I) played Kingsburg using a couple of modules from the recently-released "To Forge a Realm Expansion." The one concept that seems to be generally well-received is the use of chits to add to strength versus the enemies in winter, with the remaining chit worth its value in VPs. Generally speaking, this variant allows for more predictability in the battles but also makes them tougher to win. I managed to pull away to a nice win with the "Embassy Rush" strategy, but it was a very close race for second. Final scores were John 40 Clayton and Doug 27 Paul 25 and Tom 24. Good job by both Clayton and Tom to remain fairly competitive despite having to rebuild some burned-down buildings (courtesy of those nasty Goblins). Tom had the misfortune of rolling 1-1-1 with three dice, then using his re-roll option with the Statue, and rolling another 1, odds of 1/1296.
The other group of four (Greg, Don, Mike and Neil) played the learning version of 18EZ, where each player operates one RR with the objective of building to $1000 in cash. The game is a modular learning game for 18xx type games. Some of the players commented this version has a bias toward whoever goes first, since you aren't guaranteed an equal number of turns.
This same group played a competitive game of Puerto Rico, and my notes say Don got the Guild Hall, Mike got 2 large buildings, and Greg had the customs house. Final scores were 51 for Don, 49 for Mike, 48 for Greg and 30 for Neil. Nice win by Don versus Mike, who won the Puerto Rico tournament at EuroQuest last year.
Two more games to report: one hand of Slide 5 while waiting for the Puerto Rico game to finish, scores ranged from lows of 5-8 (Tom, Clayton and myself) to a high of 27 (Doug) who took the most penalty cards. Then the entire group (or what was left of it) played some Wits and Wagers. Paul started as the reader but took over the purple position when Mike took a bathroom break. Final scores were John 32, Tom 21, Greg 19, Doug 13, Neil 10, Clayton 9 and the Mike/Paul duo, 0. I don't know how I won, since I had no clue on most questions, I just generally bet on answers where there was either a good payoff or a nice gap to the next answer.
Finally, a reminder that weekend after this is Congress of Gamers, a relatively new (fourth year) event that is one of the most economical gaming conventions out there at $5/day. As last year, it will be at the Bauer Drive Community Center in Rockville, MD. I will be running the EuroCaucus event there but there are other cool events like the racing series (featuring McGartlin) and a new series of games called "America First" organized by Mark Love, who has been at our club a few times. Greg, Eric S, Mike and Rodney from our Laurel group and Marcy and Lee from the Columbia group are planning to be on hand to help me with various games in the Euro event, so it should be alot of fun.
Here's the link to the website listing all the events with links to more details on some of them:
http://www.congressofgamers.org/index.php?page=schedule
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