It was kind of a down week weather-wise and also attendance-wise. Five (Tim, Mike, Neville, Eric S and I) so that meant only one game going for the entire session. We wound up playing two games: Power Grid (Brazil map) and 7 Wonders (without the Leaders expansion, since we were a bit pressed for time).
Both games were won by Mike, but both were fairly close. Power Grid was a three-way tie at 16 cities, with Mike taking it on the money tiebreak. Final scores were Mike (16/48), Eric (16/7), John (16/5), Neville (14) and Tim (12). Neville had tons of cash left over but lacked the plant capacity to contend. Mike started in a nice central location and effectively hemmed the rest of us in until Stage 2 was reached. Eric and Tim started along the Coast in the South, Neville and I up North, and at times we all had problems reaching new city locations. Interesting and well-played game.
7 Wonders actually had somewhat lower scores than we have seen recently, or maybe I have been spoiled by seeing the high scores possible with the Leaders variant. Mike won with a score of 56, which sometimes doesn't get you in the top three. The rest of the group was Eric 54, Neville 52, Tim 43 and I had a miserable game winding up with 38.
Hoping for a bigger turnout next week.
For those of you interested, Congress of Gamers is now just two short weeks away. Flyers can be downloaded directly from the website here:
http://www.congressofgamers.org/downloads/Cog2011.pdf
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
September 15, 2011 Session Report
Total of eight for this week's session. Tim, Doug H, Mike, Neville, Rembert, Alex, Patrick and myself were the attendees. We broke into two groups that wound up being on different time sequences for most of the evening.
Game 1: Mermaid Rain. Players were John, Doug, Neville, Tim and Mike. Tim thought the game had some clever mechanics. Mike was looking for a more "manly game" and seemed disappointed when Puerto Rico broke out at the other table. Final scores were really close, except for Mike who brought up the rear: John 56, Tim 55, Neville 53, Doug 51, Mike 47. I believe Neville and Tim were new to the game, playing it for the first time.
Game 2: Puerto Rico. Rembert was a spectator for awhile, but then Alex and Patrick showed and they got into a three-player PR. Alex, who is pretty good at the game, won with 42. Patrick (26) and Rembert (24) were left competing for a distant second.
Game 3: Vegas Showdown. Same five as for Mermaid Rain. First time for Neville. Mike got his revenge for the first game with a close, one-point margin of victory. Final scores: Mike 67, John 66, Doug 58, Neville 48, Tim 45. Mike's notes say "Neville gets [the] no whiner award." Not sure what that means, except maybe that the four us not named Neville were doing some whining during the game.
Hope to see everyone this coming week.
A reminder: the cheapest gaming convention in the area is now just 3 weeks off -- Congress of Gamers, Saturday October 8th at the Rockville Senior Center. On-line pre-registration is now available. For more information, go to the website at www.congressofgamers.org
and click on "Register"
Game 1: Mermaid Rain. Players were John, Doug, Neville, Tim and Mike. Tim thought the game had some clever mechanics. Mike was looking for a more "manly game" and seemed disappointed when Puerto Rico broke out at the other table. Final scores were really close, except for Mike who brought up the rear: John 56, Tim 55, Neville 53, Doug 51, Mike 47. I believe Neville and Tim were new to the game, playing it for the first time.
Game 2: Puerto Rico. Rembert was a spectator for awhile, but then Alex and Patrick showed and they got into a three-player PR. Alex, who is pretty good at the game, won with 42. Patrick (26) and Rembert (24) were left competing for a distant second.
Game 3: Vegas Showdown. Same five as for Mermaid Rain. First time for Neville. Mike got his revenge for the first game with a close, one-point margin of victory. Final scores: Mike 67, John 66, Doug 58, Neville 48, Tim 45. Mike's notes say "Neville gets [the] no whiner award." Not sure what that means, except maybe that the four us not named Neville were doing some whining during the game.
Hope to see everyone this coming week.
A reminder: the cheapest gaming convention in the area is now just 3 weeks off -- Congress of Gamers, Saturday October 8th at the Rockville Senior Center. On-line pre-registration is now available. For more information, go to the website at www.congressofgamers.org
and click on "Register"
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
September 8, 2011 Session Report
Only five for this week's session: Mike, Greg, Patrick, Neville and myself. Only had one table going, which means we got in just two games -- Quarriors and Founding Fathers. Since Quarriors only plays four, I sat out and kibitzed on the game. Mike got out to a quick lead but faded quickly. Neville, who has been teaching the game to some middle schoolers, was doing well while Patrick, who had also played before, had a longer term strategy. I believe Greg pulled out the win, having a huge seven-point turn as Neville failed to knock out his big creature. Interesting game, can see why it's popular -- kind of like Dominion with dice.
Next game (and final game of the night) was Founding Fathers. We barely finished. Final scores were John 16, Neville 12, Patrick 11, Greg and Mike 10. Enjoyed the game alot, I had the advantage of having played the game alot, but also getting George Washington and Ben Franklin in my starting hand did not hurt!
Hope to see a bump up in our flagging attendance next week.
Next game (and final game of the night) was Founding Fathers. We barely finished. Final scores were John 16, Neville 12, Patrick 11, Greg and Mike 10. Enjoyed the game alot, I had the advantage of having played the game alot, but also getting George Washington and Ben Franklin in my starting hand did not hurt!
Hope to see a bump up in our flagging attendance next week.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
September 1, 2011 Session Report
Good turnout, resulting in total attendance of 10. One new attendee, Philip, joined us for the first time. We also had Doug H, Neville, Jonathan, Paul, Mike, Patrick, Greg, Rembert and myself. Good to see Jonathan and Greg who had been away for awhile. Turns out it that this week may be Paul's last time at the club as he is moving out of the area soon.
We played a total of five games: 7 Wonders (basic version), A Few Acres of Snow, Union Pacific, Ascension and Black Friday. I wound up being occupied for just about the entire evening in an intense two-player game with Greg, Martin Wallace's latest release called A Few Acres of Snow, which is the British vs. the French in the pre-Revolutionary French and Indian War. The game takes the deck-building mechanic of Dominion to a new level, where you have a board and pieces, using the cards to improve one's position on the map. It was a really close game that we were worried would not quite finish by the 9 PM closing hour. With just time for a few turns left, we began counting points and I had a six-point lead (61 to 55). But then Greg extended the game by launching a couple of well-timed sieges that cut my margin to nothing. Then, on the final turn, he added a point to claim a hard-fought 58-57 victory. Both of us enjoyed the game alot, and expect to see it hit the table again.
Since I wasn't involved in the other games, will just report the scores from the scoresheets without any comments:
7 Wonders: Paul 56 Jonathan 49 Neville and Patrick 47 Mike 42 Doug 40 -- it was Jonathan's first play
Union Pacific: Patrick 127 Phillip 115 Doug 92 Paul 80
Ascension: Doug 40 Paul 36 Phillip 35 Patrick 32
Black Friday: Jonathan 20 Mike 16 Neville 16 Rembert 12
We played a total of five games: 7 Wonders (basic version), A Few Acres of Snow, Union Pacific, Ascension and Black Friday. I wound up being occupied for just about the entire evening in an intense two-player game with Greg, Martin Wallace's latest release called A Few Acres of Snow, which is the British vs. the French in the pre-Revolutionary French and Indian War. The game takes the deck-building mechanic of Dominion to a new level, where you have a board and pieces, using the cards to improve one's position on the map. It was a really close game that we were worried would not quite finish by the 9 PM closing hour. With just time for a few turns left, we began counting points and I had a six-point lead (61 to 55). But then Greg extended the game by launching a couple of well-timed sieges that cut my margin to nothing. Then, on the final turn, he added a point to claim a hard-fought 58-57 victory. Both of us enjoyed the game alot, and expect to see it hit the table again.
Since I wasn't involved in the other games, will just report the scores from the scoresheets without any comments:
7 Wonders: Paul 56 Jonathan 49 Neville and Patrick 47 Mike 42 Doug 40 -- it was Jonathan's first play
Union Pacific: Patrick 127 Phillip 115 Doug 92 Paul 80
Ascension: Doug 40 Paul 36 Phillip 35 Patrick 32
Black Friday: Jonathan 20 Mike 16 Neville 16 Rembert 12
Friday, August 26, 2011
August 25, 2011 Session Report
We had a total of seven for tonight's session: Tim, Paul, Mike, Neville, Rembert, Alex and myself. We played 7 Wonders (with Leaders), Ra, Puerto Rico and finished up with 7 Wonders (without the Leaders expansion).
I am pleased to report I managed to win both 7 Wonders games. For the first game, I got an excellent combination of leaders that went well with a Science-based strategy that resulted in a whopping 73 science points (including two bonuses worth points each from two science-related leaders). A few other points here and there and I wound up with 85, highest score seen thus far. My strategy was aided by the fact that none of the other three players scored any Science points. Final scores: John 85, Mike 69, Paul 53, Tim 52 in a really high-scoring game.
By then Neville and Rembert had arrived and we split into two groups. One group played Ra, which turned out to be a big win for Paul (63), with Mike (50) and Rembert (40) being the other players. The other group played Puerto Rico, and Neville (who claimed to have played PR just once before) took the game, 51 points to 46 for John and 41 for Tim. Tim finished last despite building and manning three large buildings by game-end.
Alex had joined us so it was a full table of 7 for the final game of the evening -- 7 Wonders. This time is was luck, not strategy, that won me the game as I had finished my wonder with one remaining play, and then Paul (seated to my right) passed me a Guild card I was able to build for free and score 1o points. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! Final scores: John 56, Mike 52, Alex 49, Neville 47, Rembert 45, Paul 43, Tim 43.
Hope everyone stays safe during the anticipated storm this weekend, looking to see you at the club next week.
I am pleased to report I managed to win both 7 Wonders games. For the first game, I got an excellent combination of leaders that went well with a Science-based strategy that resulted in a whopping 73 science points (including two bonuses worth points each from two science-related leaders). A few other points here and there and I wound up with 85, highest score seen thus far. My strategy was aided by the fact that none of the other three players scored any Science points. Final scores: John 85, Mike 69, Paul 53, Tim 52 in a really high-scoring game.
By then Neville and Rembert had arrived and we split into two groups. One group played Ra, which turned out to be a big win for Paul (63), with Mike (50) and Rembert (40) being the other players. The other group played Puerto Rico, and Neville (who claimed to have played PR just once before) took the game, 51 points to 46 for John and 41 for Tim. Tim finished last despite building and manning three large buildings by game-end.
Alex had joined us so it was a full table of 7 for the final game of the evening -- 7 Wonders. This time is was luck, not strategy, that won me the game as I had finished my wonder with one remaining play, and then Paul (seated to my right) passed me a Guild card I was able to build for free and score 1o points. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! Final scores: John 56, Mike 52, Alex 49, Neville 47, Rembert 45, Paul 43, Tim 43.
Hope everyone stays safe during the anticipated storm this weekend, looking to see you at the club next week.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
August 18, 2011 Session Report
Attendance of eight this week, and we had one first-time attendee (Tim's daughter, Cassandra) along with Tim, Mike, Paul, Patrick, Doug H, Neville and myself. Started with a game of 7 Wonders (without the Leaders expansion) before breaking into two groups for the rest of the evening. Other games played: Alien Frontiers, Puerto Rico, Quarriors and Settlers of Catan.
For the 7 Wonders game, Tim had a huge score (best I have ever seen in any game without the Leaders expansion) of 79, which included 55 point in Science. Second was Doug with 60, followed by Mike (57), Paul (50), Patrick (47), John (40) and Cassandra (28) -- it was Cassandra's first game.
We split into two groups of four each for the remaining games. One group played Alien Frontiers, which Patrick had brought, and Quarriors, which Neville had brought. Final scores for Alien Frontiers: Paul 9, Patrick 5, Cassandra and Neville 4. No scores for Quarriors, which did not finish, but Paul was leading when the game was picked up.
The other group played Puerto Rico and Settlers. Puerto Rico was a narrow one-point win for Mike, 43 to 42 for John, followed by Doug (33) and Tim (29). Settlers was also won by Mike, first to 10 points with Doug second at 8, I had 6 and Tim 5 when Mike ended the game.
For the 7 Wonders game, Tim had a huge score (best I have ever seen in any game without the Leaders expansion) of 79, which included 55 point in Science. Second was Doug with 60, followed by Mike (57), Paul (50), Patrick (47), John (40) and Cassandra (28) -- it was Cassandra's first game.
We split into two groups of four each for the remaining games. One group played Alien Frontiers, which Patrick had brought, and Quarriors, which Neville had brought. Final scores for Alien Frontiers: Paul 9, Patrick 5, Cassandra and Neville 4. No scores for Quarriors, which did not finish, but Paul was leading when the game was picked up.
The other group played Puerto Rico and Settlers. Puerto Rico was a narrow one-point win for Mike, 43 to 42 for John, followed by Doug (33) and Tim (29). Settlers was also won by Mike, first to 10 points with Doug second at 8, I had 6 and Tim 5 when Mike ended the game.
Monday, August 15, 2011
August 11, 2011 Session Report
Good turnout of 11 for tonight's session. Attendees were Paul, Mike, Tim, Eric, Ryan, Nathan, Doug H, Rembert, Neville, Patrick and myself. We played the following games during the session: Paris Connection, Lost Cities, Power Grid-Korea, Monopoly Deal, Too Many Cooks and Ra.
Tim proudly displayed his first place plaque for winning the Speed Circuit tournament at this year's WBC. Congratulations, Tim!
Paris Connection was the first game while waiting for everyone to show. It was won by Paul (107) who went first and had collected the maximum number of stocks. Mike and Eric followed at 83, then John (77), Neville (71) and Tim (64). We then split into two groups as more people arrived.
One group (Eric, Mike, Paul, Rembert and Tim) played Power Grid-Korea. Believe it or not, the game had to be picked up -- unfinished -- at 9 PM. But Eric did get in a game of Monopoly Deal with his son, Ryan. Ryan wanted to play the game badly, and the score reflected his desire to win, 3-1 over Eric.
The other table got in two games. Nathan joined Doug H, Neville, Patrick and I for Too Many Cooks. For awhile it looked like a runaway win for Doug, but Patrick came on strong in the end to take an eight-point win, 27 to 19 for Doug and John, followed by Nathan and Neville at 15.
Patrick departed and Nathan decided to look elsewhere for his fun, so it was just three of us for Ra, which was the closest game of the evening, score-wise: Neville 47, John 45, Doug 44. Congrats to Neville for the win.
I did confirm with CC staff what Mike had reported earlier -- the CC will be closing at 9 PM year-round, which means our sessions will be ending at 9 PM after Labor Day, not 10 as in the past.
Tim proudly displayed his first place plaque for winning the Speed Circuit tournament at this year's WBC. Congratulations, Tim!
Paris Connection was the first game while waiting for everyone to show. It was won by Paul (107) who went first and had collected the maximum number of stocks. Mike and Eric followed at 83, then John (77), Neville (71) and Tim (64). We then split into two groups as more people arrived.
One group (Eric, Mike, Paul, Rembert and Tim) played Power Grid-Korea. Believe it or not, the game had to be picked up -- unfinished -- at 9 PM. But Eric did get in a game of Monopoly Deal with his son, Ryan. Ryan wanted to play the game badly, and the score reflected his desire to win, 3-1 over Eric.
The other table got in two games. Nathan joined Doug H, Neville, Patrick and I for Too Many Cooks. For awhile it looked like a runaway win for Doug, but Patrick came on strong in the end to take an eight-point win, 27 to 19 for Doug and John, followed by Nathan and Neville at 15.
Patrick departed and Nathan decided to look elsewhere for his fun, so it was just three of us for Ra, which was the closest game of the evening, score-wise: Neville 47, John 45, Doug 44. Congrats to Neville for the win.
I did confirm with CC staff what Mike had reported earlier -- the CC will be closing at 9 PM year-round, which means our sessions will be ending at 9 PM after Labor Day, not 10 as in the past.
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