Thursday, December 4, 2014
November 20, 2013 Session Report
Circumstances have caused me to miss the last few sessions. No report for Nov. 13 (likewise for Nov. 27 -- CC was closed due to Thanksgiving). But my co-Host Mike has provided this report from Nov. 20:
On the 20th, we had pretty good attendance. At the club that night was me, Patrick, Lina, Claire, Matt, Evan, Neville, Eugene and, for the first time, David.
The night started with Patrick, Lina, Matt and I playing Machi Koro. The game was competitive but Matt pulled out the win with never rolling more than 1 die. Neville, Evan, Claire and Eugene played a few hands of Love Letter but they wrapped up early to start the later games.
We shuffled the groups and broke into 2 games. Eugene, Evan, Dave and I played Russian Railroads. This was Dave's first play but the rest of us played before. Eugene miscalculated (how often do you get to say that) the first player marker allowing me to get the engineer bonus but still pulled out the win in the end with 356 points. Evan came in second with 346 maxing out the second railroad line and I came in 3rd with 332. Dave brought up the rear with 234 points.
The other table played Settlers of Catan. Matt won his 2nd game of the night by stealing longest road and scoring 10 points. Lina was close with 8 pts with Patrick a distant 3rd at 4 pts and Neville only eked out 3 points.
Everyone started heading home but we got one more game of Sushi Go! in. Evan easily won with 47 points with Eugene, David and I scoring 32, 31 & 30 points respectively.
Monday, November 10, 2014
November 6, 2014 Session Report
Group of 11 for this week: Mike, Patrick, Greg, Rouslan, Neville, Tim, Evan, Eugene, Rembert, Helen and myself were the attendees. Games played: Diamonds, Power Grid Deluxe: North American, Russian Railroads, Machi Koro, Yellow Jersey and Pandemic: Contagion.
Diamonds was the quick starter game, and we only got one hand in. Patrick had the better card draws, so he was leading with 5, ahead of Rouslan (3), John (2) and Neville (0).
Power Grid (the new Deluxe version) was played once again, this time with the North America side of the board. Mike and Evan built to 18 cities, with Mike winning with more money left (50 to 2 for Evan), while Greg and Tim got to 17 cities, with Greg (72 left) having more money than Tim (23).
Russian Railroads was a three-player, which somehow I managed to win against two good players who have cleaned my clock in prior games. Scores were John 326, Eugene 310, Rouslan 269. Kind of a low-scoring game.
Machi Koro was won by Patrick, with Neville edging Helen for second on the tiebreak, Rembert in fourth. This same group played Pandemic: Contagion, where -- unlike the original game -- the players are actually trying to spread disease instead of working together to stop it. Neville (44) was the winner, ahead of Helen (40), Rouslan (36), Rembert (26).
Finally, Patrick and I tackled Yellow Jersey, and hand-made wooden game I just imported from the UK. I managed to win the individual title, while Patrick won the team competition.
Reminder that, with EuroQuest coming up next week, many of us (including co-Host Mike and myself) will not be in attendance. The club meeting space will be open, and if you need to get any of the club games out of storage, just ask the folks at the front desk. I would appreciate it if someone could shoot me an attendance and games played list at jcw222@comcast.net.
Diamonds was the quick starter game, and we only got one hand in. Patrick had the better card draws, so he was leading with 5, ahead of Rouslan (3), John (2) and Neville (0).
Power Grid (the new Deluxe version) was played once again, this time with the North America side of the board. Mike and Evan built to 18 cities, with Mike winning with more money left (50 to 2 for Evan), while Greg and Tim got to 17 cities, with Greg (72 left) having more money than Tim (23).
Russian Railroads was a three-player, which somehow I managed to win against two good players who have cleaned my clock in prior games. Scores were John 326, Eugene 310, Rouslan 269. Kind of a low-scoring game.
Machi Koro was won by Patrick, with Neville edging Helen for second on the tiebreak, Rembert in fourth. This same group played Pandemic: Contagion, where -- unlike the original game -- the players are actually trying to spread disease instead of working together to stop it. Neville (44) was the winner, ahead of Helen (40), Rouslan (36), Rembert (26).
Finally, Patrick and I tackled Yellow Jersey, and hand-made wooden game I just imported from the UK. I managed to win the individual title, while Patrick won the team competition.
Reminder that, with EuroQuest coming up next week, many of us (including co-Host Mike and myself) will not be in attendance. The club meeting space will be open, and if you need to get any of the club games out of storage, just ask the folks at the front desk. I would appreciate it if someone could shoot me an attendance and games played list at jcw222@comcast.net.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
October 30, 2014 Session Report
'Twas the night before Halloween, and another big turnout at the Laurel CC for gaming -- in fact, one of our largest turnouts of the year, a total of 15 with three games in play for just about the entire time. Three newcomers (Buffy, Doug, Akshay) joined regular attendees Jeff, Rich, Mike, Andrew, Eric, Greg (whom we hadn't seen for awhile), Evan, Neville, Patrick, Lina, Rembert and myself to play the following games: Power Grid Deluxe: Europe, Splendor (played twice), Machi Koro, Dixit, Evolution and the Game of 49. Some details follow.
First game up was Splendor, a four-player, won by Jeff (15), ahead of Rich and Mike at 10, Andrew at 9. Jeff got three of the five nobles to seal the win. This same group played Machi Koro, no scores available, but once again, Jeff was the winner.
Welcomed Greg back to the club with the new Power Grid Deluxe map. Mike had brought it the prior week to play the North America side, so this week we tried the Europe side. Eric, Neville and myself were the other players in what proved to be a very close game right to the end. Greg had not lost his toouch at the game, winning with 17 cities while the rest of us could only build 16. A key moment was the endgame power plant bidding, where Greg bid both Neville and I to over 70 while he got his cities powered for alot less. Money tiebreaker for second was John ahead of Eric ahead of Neville, all one city short.
The third table played a six-player Evolution, a recent North Star games release of a game that originally came from Russia but was re-designed with some larger graphics, nicer components and I assume (since I have not played the original) smoother rules. Winner was Evan, but a wide margin. Scores: Evan 58, Doug 28, Rembert and Patrick 26, Lena 20, Buffy 11.
By this time Akshay arrived and he got into a couple of games: Dixit, won by Andrew (30) ahead of Mike and Akshay (25), Rich (24) and Jeff (17), and a second game of Splendor, with Mike (19) winning ahead of Jeff and Rich (12) and Akshay at 9.
Finally, three of us in the Power Grid game wrapped up with a quick game of 49. It barely finished before 9, and I managed to win, getting 4 in a row while Eric and Greg, each with 7 chips on the board, had done well enough to reach the maximum payout level.
One more session next week before EuroQuest the following week. Expect to see a couple of more new games on hand for next week's session.
First game up was Splendor, a four-player, won by Jeff (15), ahead of Rich and Mike at 10, Andrew at 9. Jeff got three of the five nobles to seal the win. This same group played Machi Koro, no scores available, but once again, Jeff was the winner.
Welcomed Greg back to the club with the new Power Grid Deluxe map. Mike had brought it the prior week to play the North America side, so this week we tried the Europe side. Eric, Neville and myself were the other players in what proved to be a very close game right to the end. Greg had not lost his toouch at the game, winning with 17 cities while the rest of us could only build 16. A key moment was the endgame power plant bidding, where Greg bid both Neville and I to over 70 while he got his cities powered for alot less. Money tiebreaker for second was John ahead of Eric ahead of Neville, all one city short.
The third table played a six-player Evolution, a recent North Star games release of a game that originally came from Russia but was re-designed with some larger graphics, nicer components and I assume (since I have not played the original) smoother rules. Winner was Evan, but a wide margin. Scores: Evan 58, Doug 28, Rembert and Patrick 26, Lena 20, Buffy 11.
By this time Akshay arrived and he got into a couple of games: Dixit, won by Andrew (30) ahead of Mike and Akshay (25), Rich (24) and Jeff (17), and a second game of Splendor, with Mike (19) winning ahead of Jeff and Rich (12) and Akshay at 9.
Finally, three of us in the Power Grid game wrapped up with a quick game of 49. It barely finished before 9, and I managed to win, getting 4 in a row while Eric and Greg, each with 7 chips on the board, had done well enough to reach the maximum payout level.
One more session next week before EuroQuest the following week. Expect to see a couple of more new games on hand for next week's session.
Friday, October 31, 2014
October 23, 2014 Session Report
Sorry for the delay in posting, I had mispaced my notes but just located them last night ...
13 in attendance for this week's session: Eugene, John W, Mike, Alex, Doug, Neville, Alec, Ben H, Lina, Rembert, Jeff, Rouslan and myself were the attendees. Games played: Vegas Showdown, Power Grid - North American (the new Deluxe edition), Heroes Wanted, Bruges and Top Promoter. Some results and details follow.
Eugene was looking for a reasonably short game so Vegas Showdown was first up. I was set up with a Fancy Lounge and just enough to get the Theater when Eugene (who had more money and no Fancy Lounge) bought it from me but had to keep it off to the side, where it stayed for the rest of the game. Turned out both of us were losers in the end, tied for last (actually Eugene had more money) while Alex, who won, played a fine game (he might have beat me even if I had got the Theater). Scores were Alex 50, Doug 44. Ben 42, Eugene and John 36.
Power Grid-Deluxe has just come out, and Mike introduced the new version to Jeff, Lina and the other John W. Mike managed to win while building to 17 when everyone else was holding back, waiting for another turn. Scores were Mike 13, Jeff and Lina 12 (Jeff was second with more money), John W 10.
Alec, Neville, Rembert and Rouslan played Heroes Wanted, which Neville had brought. Rouslan ran away with the game, 34 points to 25 for Alec, 23 for Rembert, 16 for Neville. Didn't get a good story how Neville, the teacher, came in last, maybe he was unlucky or he's just a good teacher.
Doug, Alex and I played Bruges. Doug taught the game, which I hadn't played for awhile, while the game was totally new to Alex. I got a really good card, the Jailer, which removed six threat tokens at a key moment, and managed to win, 53 to 41 for Doug and 39 for Alex.
Finally, Neville had brought a new boxing management game, Top Promoter, that he recently acquired via Kickstarter. It was lots of fun and, although we didn't finish, I was ahead after two rounds of fights, 13 to 9 for Rouslan, 7 for Neville, 6 for Doug. I liked the game so much I ordered it a few days later.
13 in attendance for this week's session: Eugene, John W, Mike, Alex, Doug, Neville, Alec, Ben H, Lina, Rembert, Jeff, Rouslan and myself were the attendees. Games played: Vegas Showdown, Power Grid - North American (the new Deluxe edition), Heroes Wanted, Bruges and Top Promoter. Some results and details follow.
Eugene was looking for a reasonably short game so Vegas Showdown was first up. I was set up with a Fancy Lounge and just enough to get the Theater when Eugene (who had more money and no Fancy Lounge) bought it from me but had to keep it off to the side, where it stayed for the rest of the game. Turned out both of us were losers in the end, tied for last (actually Eugene had more money) while Alex, who won, played a fine game (he might have beat me even if I had got the Theater). Scores were Alex 50, Doug 44. Ben 42, Eugene and John 36.
Power Grid-Deluxe has just come out, and Mike introduced the new version to Jeff, Lina and the other John W. Mike managed to win while building to 17 when everyone else was holding back, waiting for another turn. Scores were Mike 13, Jeff and Lina 12 (Jeff was second with more money), John W 10.
Alec, Neville, Rembert and Rouslan played Heroes Wanted, which Neville had brought. Rouslan ran away with the game, 34 points to 25 for Alec, 23 for Rembert, 16 for Neville. Didn't get a good story how Neville, the teacher, came in last, maybe he was unlucky or he's just a good teacher.
Doug, Alex and I played Bruges. Doug taught the game, which I hadn't played for awhile, while the game was totally new to Alex. I got a really good card, the Jailer, which removed six threat tokens at a key moment, and managed to win, 53 to 41 for Doug and 39 for Alex.
Finally, Neville had brought a new boxing management game, Top Promoter, that he recently acquired via Kickstarter. It was lots of fun and, although we didn't finish, I was ahead after two rounds of fights, 13 to 9 for Rouslan, 7 for Neville, 6 for Doug. I liked the game so much I ordered it a few days later.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
October 16, 2014 Session Report
Big turnout of 14 for this week's session. Mike, Patrick, Doug, Ben A, Lina, Neville, Andrew, Jeff, Rich, Evan, Rembert, Rouslan, first-time attendee Moshe and myself were the participants. We had three tables of games going for most of the session. Games played were Coup: Reformation, Black Fleet, Praetor, Concordia and Love Letter.
Coup-Reformation was played while waiting for folks to show, and we actually wound up with eight players. In order of finish, it was Ben winning, ahead of Jeff, Mike, Lina, Andrew, Neville, myself and Doug who was first knocked out. Thanks to Andrew for clearing up a couple of rules I had messed up.
We then split into three groups for the rest of the evening. At one table, Black Fleet was played, with Evan winning. He had the only positive score (+6) while the three other players (Patrick and Rich at -10 and Rembert at -15) had negative scores. Later on, the group was joined by Moshe and played Love Letter, with Moshe winning (3 to 2 for Rembert and 1 each for Evan and Rich).
Doug had brought Praetor, and Rouslan, Lina and I joined him. Lina and I battled for the lead, but in the end I pulled away. Final scores were John 110, Lina 87, Doug 67, Rouslan 58. I believe we had to pick up the game a round earlier, and everyone thought Rouslan was in a good position to improve his standing if the game had lasted longer.
Finally, a five-player Concordia game barely made it to the finish line. Final scores were Mike 126, Neville 98, Andrew 96, Ben 93, Jeff 83.
Coup-Reformation was played while waiting for folks to show, and we actually wound up with eight players. In order of finish, it was Ben winning, ahead of Jeff, Mike, Lina, Andrew, Neville, myself and Doug who was first knocked out. Thanks to Andrew for clearing up a couple of rules I had messed up.
We then split into three groups for the rest of the evening. At one table, Black Fleet was played, with Evan winning. He had the only positive score (+6) while the three other players (Patrick and Rich at -10 and Rembert at -15) had negative scores. Later on, the group was joined by Moshe and played Love Letter, with Moshe winning (3 to 2 for Rembert and 1 each for Evan and Rich).
Doug had brought Praetor, and Rouslan, Lina and I joined him. Lina and I battled for the lead, but in the end I pulled away. Final scores were John 110, Lina 87, Doug 67, Rouslan 58. I believe we had to pick up the game a round earlier, and everyone thought Rouslan was in a good position to improve his standing if the game had lasted longer.
Finally, a five-player Concordia game barely made it to the finish line. Final scores were Mike 126, Neville 98, Andrew 96, Ben 93, Jeff 83.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
October 9, 2014 Session Report
Eight for this week's session: Mike, Alex, Ben H, John W (back for his second session), Rembert, Neville, Lina and myself (John, to distinguish from the other John with the same last initial) were the attendees. Four games were played: Machi Koro, Splendor, Viva Java: The Dice Game and Legendary Encounters. Some details follow.
We had two groups of four for most of this session. At one table were John W, Mike, Alex and myself. First game up was Machi Koro, which Mike had brought. Alex raced to an early lead, had some good die rolls, and looked like the sure winner but the game did have a catch-up mechanism, and Mike and I began to pull back some ground. I finally managed to eke out the win (first to complete all four advanced cards). Mike and Alex had three of four, I believe John W. had only two. Then we played Viva Java Dice, using just the base research board. John W. had the early lead, and proved tough to catch although Mike had the double block which he used effectively. Unfortunately, John W was too far ahead and managed to claim the victory. Scores were John W. 21, Mike 16, John 15, Alex 8.
At the other table it was Splendor, and three of the four players made it to 15. Final scores: Ben H 19, Lina 17, Rembert 15, Neville 13. The group then tackled a co-op, Legendary Encounters, which Neville had brought. The game-system turned out to be a bit too tough, first claiming Neville and then Rembert. The game had to be picked up at 9 but it looked like the bad guys (the aliens) were winning.
Alex is heading off to Essen next week, so hopefully he has a safe trip and brings back lots of cool new games for us to try.
We had two groups of four for most of this session. At one table were John W, Mike, Alex and myself. First game up was Machi Koro, which Mike had brought. Alex raced to an early lead, had some good die rolls, and looked like the sure winner but the game did have a catch-up mechanism, and Mike and I began to pull back some ground. I finally managed to eke out the win (first to complete all four advanced cards). Mike and Alex had three of four, I believe John W. had only two. Then we played Viva Java Dice, using just the base research board. John W. had the early lead, and proved tough to catch although Mike had the double block which he used effectively. Unfortunately, John W was too far ahead and managed to claim the victory. Scores were John W. 21, Mike 16, John 15, Alex 8.
At the other table it was Splendor, and three of the four players made it to 15. Final scores: Ben H 19, Lina 17, Rembert 15, Neville 13. The group then tackled a co-op, Legendary Encounters, which Neville had brought. The game-system turned out to be a bit too tough, first claiming Neville and then Rembert. The game had to be picked up at 9 but it looked like the bad guys (the aliens) were winning.
Alex is heading off to Essen next week, so hopefully he has a safe trip and brings back lots of cool new games for us to try.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
October 2, 2014 Session Report
Ten for this week's session: Mike, Doug, Jeff, Matt, Neville, Evan, Lina, Stan, myself plus one newcomer to the club (John Wittkamper). We played five different games: Coup, the DC Comics Deck Building Game, Power Grid - Australia, Ticket to Ride and Love Letter.
Coup was a three-player, between Mike, Jeff and myself. I managed to survive and come in first, Jeff was second. We picked the game up as more people began to arrive.
Next game to finish was the DC Comics Deck Building game. Evan won a close one, 36 to 34 for Matt and 33 for Doug. Neville (21) also participated.
Power Grid-Australia was a four-player, won by Mike. Scores (no ties in this one): Mike 17, myself 16, Jeff 15 and the other (new) John W. could only power 13 because the needed coal was unavailable to power his remaining plant.
Ticket to Ride (four player), won by Evan. Scores: Evan 129, Doug 96, Matt 95 Lina 40
Love Letter (unfinished): Lina and Matt 2 Doug 1 Evan 0. Finally, they came up with a game where Evan could be stopped!
Coup was a three-player, between Mike, Jeff and myself. I managed to survive and come in first, Jeff was second. We picked the game up as more people began to arrive.
Next game to finish was the DC Comics Deck Building game. Evan won a close one, 36 to 34 for Matt and 33 for Doug. Neville (21) also participated.
Power Grid-Australia was a four-player, won by Mike. Scores (no ties in this one): Mike 17, myself 16, Jeff 15 and the other (new) John W. could only power 13 because the needed coal was unavailable to power his remaining plant.
Ticket to Ride (four player), won by Evan. Scores: Evan 129, Doug 96, Matt 95 Lina 40
Love Letter (unfinished): Lina and Matt 2 Doug 1 Evan 0. Finally, they came up with a game where Evan could be stopped!
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