January 21, 2016 Session Report

Good Group of 11 for this week's session: Eugene, Mike, Megan, Alex, Greg, David, Patrick, Ben, Neville, Rembert and myself. Games played: 8-Minute Empire, Kingdom Builder, CV, Orleans (Deluxe Edition) and Palaces of Carrara. Some details follow.

Started with 8-Minute Empire as the quick warmup game. Took closer to a half-hour than eight minutes. We all were about even in terms of area control points but Mike had collected more endgame bonus points (the set collecting aspect of the game) and thus was the winner. Scores were Mike 12, Eugene 10, Megan 9 and me last with 8.

Other people began to arrive, and soon we had three tables going. At one table, a four-player game of Kingdom Builder broke out. It was won by Patrick (54) ahead of Greg (50), Ben (42) and David (23). This same group wen on to play of Palaces of Carrara, which Greg had brought. No surprise, Greg was the winner in a lopsided game, score-wise. Greg wound up with 105 points, outscoring the other three combined: David (41), Ben (36) and Patrick (3).

Neville, Mike and Rembert played CV. Neville was the winner (52) compared to 33 for Mike and 30 for Neville. Mike requested I include the following comment for the blog: "Rembert had happiness and one time but didn't know how to use it."

Finally, Alex, Eugene, Megan and I played the new version of Orleans that can go up to 5 players (but we only had 4). As in another recent game, Alex came out the winner. He concentrated on getting brown (the Wheels) early then shifted over to Red for more actions and to enhance city-building and movement. He added the Horse Wagon that helped him more more efficiently. Final scores were Alex 160, Eugene 138, myself 116, Megan 57. It was Megan's first play. I concentrate on the gray guys but only got one Wheel and was behind on Red as wheel. Tough to decide what to focus on (Black, Brown, Red or Gray) in the opening rounds when you can't do everything.

January 14, 2016 Session Report

Good attendance of 14 at this week, including two first-time attendees: Matthew and Megan, plus Mike, David, John B, Lina, Arnold, Neville, Rembert, Rouslan, Steve, Shira, Doyle and myself. Games played list included Greenland, Flip City, Mars Red Planet, Parfum, Ticket to Ride (with the new Pennsylvania map), Dominion - Dark Ages and Tiny Epic Galaxies and Parfum. Some details follow.

Flip City was the starter game that was actually played a second time as the wrap-up game for the evening. First game was won by myself, second game did not finish. John B, Megan and Mike (who had brought the game) were the other attendees.

Greenland was a three-player, won by Matthew. Scores were Matthew 68, David 43, Rembert 31.

Mission Red Planet was a four-player. Rouslan (70) was the winner. Neville (29), Arnold (21) and Lina (15) were the other players.

Ticket to Ride - PA was won by Mike (223) ahead of John W (173), followed by John B (158) and Megan (146).

Steve, Shira and Doyle arrived late and formed a fourth table. First game, Parfum, was won by Steve (116). Doyle (97) was second, Shira third (86). The group also got in a quick game of "speed" Dominion-Dark Ages. Doyle won that one.

Arnold, Neville and Rouslan played Tiny Epic Galaxies, but the game did not finish.

January 7, 2016 Session Report

Started off the new year with some new games at this week's session. Total attendance of 10, and we split into three groups for the entire session. Mike, Patrick, Ben, Lina, Greg, David, Arnold, Rembert, Paul and I were the attendees. The New Science, Jaipur, Above and Below and the Russian Railroads: German Railroad expansion were the games played. First time I believe for all these games at the club, although it's possible that the New Science (which is a couple of years old) may have made an appearance or two before.

The New Science was played by Greg, David and Rembert. Greg won with 43, David and Rembert tied for second. These three then played Jaipur, which was won by David.

Above and Below, which I believe was brought by Patrick, and was also won by Patrick. This game had four players, scores were Patrick 48, Ben 41, Paul 39 and Mike 27.

Finally, three of us tackled the German Railroads expansion for Russian Railroads. This result comes with a big asterisk, as the officially recorded scores had me first with 310, Arnold a close second with 306 and then Lina with 236. However, Arnold in scoring his last bonus chip did not claim a second reward that most likely would have resulted in at least five more points and a win, but it was too difficult to reconstruct as we had already scored points for his other actions. But, probably should go down as a win for Arnold in his first play of either the expansion and the base game. (Also, note we played with the new board, new board sections as well as the new Income chips, but not with other elements, i.e. Coal or any of the new Engineers.)

December 17, 2015 Session Report

Here's the report for our final session of 2015.

Attendance: 12. Rouslan, Mike, Alex, Alec, David, Tim, Lina, Neville, John B, Moon, Rembert and I were the attendees. Games played: Strike (x2), New Haven, Keyflower (with Expansion) and BrewCrafters. There may have been a fifth game played but, if so, I didn't get the details.

Strike, a quick playing game, was played twice, won both times by Rouslan. Alex, David and Mike participated in both games, David participated in the second of the two games.

New Haven was a four-player. Final scores were Neville 44, David 34, Rouslan 27, Rembert 26.

Keyflower was also a four-player, I know it was played with one of the new expansions. Final scores: Tim 81, John B 69, Mike 59, Alec 57.

Last game of the year to finish was BrewCrafters. Moon, who had just recently learned the game, wanted to play again, and came out the winner, 80 points to edge Alex who was second with 77. Lina was next with 67, and I came dead last with 60 (after taking out three loans). But, hey, I had to do the teaching/reminding and tried to keep things moving so we finished in time. It still took us til almost a quarter past 9 to pick up the game, but the CC staff was generous enough to let us stay a bit late, after all we were missing the next two weeks due to Christmas and New Years holidays.

Any way, next session, the first one of the new year, will be Thursday, January 7, 2016.

December 10. 2015 Session Report

Eleven for this week's session: Mike, Rouslan, David, John B, Lina, Greg, Rembert, Arnold, Neville, Moon and I were the attendees. Quite a few games got played, the list includes Eight Minute Empire (played twice), Food Chain Magnate, Concordia (with Salsa expansion), Zombie Dice (with Xmas expansion), X-Com, Star Wars: Timeline and Manhattan Project.

With this much going on, it was hard to keep track of everything, but here's what I have in way of results.

Eight Minute Empire was the warmup game that was being played while I arrived. That game was won by Rouslan (12) on the tiebreaker over John B (12), with Mike (10) and David (5) also participating. A second game, played later, was incredibly close: Rouslan 15, John B 14 (3), Mike 14 (1).

Food Chain Magnate was a new game I brought. Three of us played the short introductory version that took a little more than an hour to complete. Winner was David (90), followed by myself (80) and Lina (60).

Concordia: Salsa was won by Moon (116). Mike (91), Rouslan (87) and John B (75) were the other participants.

Zombie Dice (Xmas Xpansion): John B 13, Rouslan 9, Mike 8.

At the third table, Arnold, Greg, Neville and Rembert played X-Com, a co-op game. Pleased to report that the players won. This same group then played Star Wars: Timeline, which I understand was won by Greg (but no scores available).

Finally, three of us played Manhattan Project, a game that didn't quite get finished last week. David managed to complete some high point bombs to take this one, with 62 points. Lina was second with 39, and I am sorry to report I was way way back in last with just 4.

December 3, 2015 Session Report

Ten in attendance this week: Mike, David, Alex, Rouslan, Tim, John B, Eugene, Rembert, Arnold and myself were present. Games played: Codenames, Orleans (x2), Isle of Skye, X-Com and Manhattan Project.

Codenames was once again the short warm-up game. Won by the team of Rouslan and David versus myself and Alex. Couldn't come up with a good set of clues this time.

Two games of Orleans broke out, one with Mike's Deluxe set and one with Rouslan's non-deluxe set that could only accommodate four players. Turns out, both games were 4P after John B broke off to join Andrew who arrived a bit late. First Orleans game to finish was won by Alex (190) ahead of Rouslan (142), with David (111) and myself (108) well behind. The other game was won by Eugene (127) with Rembert (105) second, followed by Mike (77) and Tim (73).

Two-player games were Isle of Sky, won by John B (55) over Arnold (37). Then they played X-Com, a co-op, and the game system won, reportedly on "easy" mode.

The final game of the evening that did not make it to the end was the Manhattan Project. Rembert, assisted by David, got a 18-point bomb done just before we hit the closing time. David, Rouslan, Tim and myself were the other players.

Two more sessions remaining in 2015 as the last two sessions are cancelled as the CC will be closed for XMas and New Year's Eve, respectively.

November 19, 2015 Session Report

Good turnout of 12 for this week's session: Mike, John B, David, Greg, Rouslan, Eugene, Alex, Patrick, Moon, Rembert, Tim and myself were the attendees. Games played: Orleans (the new TMG version), Codenames, Wings for the Baron, Voyages of Marco Polo and No Thanks.

Once again, Codenames was the quick-playing warm-up game. Greg and Rouslan bested David and myself in the opening game, then I teamed with Eugene to take on Greg and Mike, don't have the results recorded except I seem to recall it was a closer game. People either joined in or watched as we made all sorts of inaccurate guesses.

Mike had brought the new edition of Orleans, and it was a four-player, won by Eugene. Scores were Eugene 158, Alex 140, John B 113, Mike 88.

I brought Wings for the Baron, which David (being one of the playtesters) was familiar with. We taught the game to Greg and Rembert. Final scores were myself first with 29, followed by David (23), Rembert (22) and Greg (16). Technically, this was a win with an asterisk as David had to leave some time around 8, so we picked up the game a few turns short of the end -- giving Greg, Rouslan and I the chance to play another game or two.

Voyages of Marco Polo was another four-player, won by Rouslan, but just barely, with 75 to 74 for Moon. Patrick (63) and Tim (45) were the other players. Good effort by Moon in her first time playing the game, to come within a point of Rouslan, whom I have observed is quite good at the game.

Greg, Rembert and I played three games of No Thanks, each of us winning once, to wrap up the evening's festivities.

Reminder, due to Holidays coming up, only three more sessions this calendar year: December 3, 10th and 17th as the other Thursdays fall on Holidays when the CC will be closed (Thanksgiving plus Christmas Eve and New Years Eve).