December 9, 2008

We had 18 people tonight. Games played were:

• Timber Tom
• Ticket to Ride: Europe
• The Settlers of Catan
• Magnet
• Tomb
• Cosmic Encounter
• Apples to Apples
• Die Säulen von Venedig

Our next session will be December 23, 2008.

November 25, 2008

It was just Hal and I tonight.

• Hal had just bought the new Catapult expansion for Carcassonne, so we had to give that a try. The expansion adds twelve Fair tiles to the game, four different catapult tokens for each player, and a wooden catapult. Whenever a player draws a Fair tile, he places it like a normal tile, then uses the catapult to fling one of his catapult tokens. One token will remove a follower from the board (if it hits a follower), one token will allow you to replace one of your opponents followers with one of your own followers, one token your opponent has to try to catch, while with the last token you try to hit the Fair tile just placed. After you use the catapult, then each other player gets to use the catapult, but must use the same tile you used. Aiming the tokens was very difficult; as a result, we pretty much ignored the target token. Hal had a little luck with the convert token. I did quite well with the catch token, which we used seven times. All seven times, I caught the token while Hal missed it all seven times, scoring me a total of 70 points! However, the one convert token Hal was able to use successfully gave him control of a 90 point city. Hal won with 372 to my 285.
• Next, we played two games of Sorry! Sliders. The store clerk joined us for the second game (I didn’t get his name, unfortunately). I forgot who won the first game. Hal won the second.
• Last, we played a two player game of Gloom, using the Unhappy Homes and Unwelcome Guests expansions. Each of the expansions adds one additional player to the game. Unhappy Homes adds a residence card for each family, and Mystery cards which can be played on the residences to give bonuses. Unwelcome Guests adds five guests which move from family to family, depending on the play of certain cards. To kill your family off, you must also kill (or get rid of) any guests in your family as well. Hal managed to kill his family off first, but because I had three dead guests (and one live one) in addition to all my regular family members being dead, I came out ahead on points, winning with -165 to Hal’s -135.

Our next session will be December 9, 2008.

November 11, 2008

We had about 15 people tonight.

Games played:

• Tumblin-Dice Jr.
• Shadows over Camelot
• Blue Moon City
• Munchkin Quest
• Auf Achse
• Race for the Galaxy
• Die Säulen von Venedig

October 28, 2008

• Eli and I played Race for the Galaxy. Eli won with 39 to my 35.
• Then we played Gloom, which Eli also won with -100 to my -55.
• After Gloom, we played Uptown. We both ended with six groups, but Eli won the tie breaker by only capturing nine tiles to my fourteen.
• I then played Condottiere with JP and Chandler. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to finish the game.

September 23, 2008

I’m really behind on the blog. I will try and get caught up over the next few days.

• Phil and I played a game of Cosmic Wimpout. This is a quick dice game, where you can keep rolling and building up your score, until you either choose to stop and take your points, or until you “wimp out” by not scoring with any of the dice you rolled. There are several rules that sometimes force you to roll again even when you don’t want to. We chose to play to 300 points. Phil took the lead early. I kept rolling a “flash” of three 10s (worth 100 points) and a 5; this forced me to roll the remaining non-scoring die in the hope of getting a 5, which I couldn’t do to save my life. Phil stalled out at 295, and I finally got a couple of high scoring rolls that brought me to 345, and won the game.
• Next, we played Tantrix. Early in the game, we both got stuck with a handful of tiles that we didn’t want to play, making for some agonizing decisions. Phil eventually managed to close the biggest loop I’ve ever seen, winning the game with 60 points to my 18.
• Phil had to leave just as Eli arrived, so Eli and I played a game of Cosmic Wimpout. I won with 355 to Eli’s 235.
• Eli and I then played Uptown. With two players, each player plays two colors. I won with two groups to Eli’s four.
• JT arrived, and the three of us played Tantrix. JT managed to close a loop for 38 points, Eli finished with 23, and I had a closed loop for 20.

September 9, 2008

Jeff, Chris, Eric, Phil

• Stone Age
• Hive (w/Mosquito expansion) - EH won, Phil lost
• Tomb
• Race for the Galaxy - Eric 48, Phil 47
• Apples to Apples

July 8, 2008

For the first time in a long time, we had enough people to have two games going at once.

• First, I played a game of Torres with three new comers, Greg, Amy, and Jo Yu (sorry if I’ve misspelled her name). Despite being the only person who’d played the game before, I came in last. Jo Yu won with 178, Amy had 177, Greg had 157, and I had 143.
• In the meantime, Hal, Eli, and Ian started a game of Stone Age. Eli won with a score of 183.
• Stone Age was still going on when we finished Torres, so I brought out Princes of Florence. Again, I was the only one who played before. All three new players picked up on the game fairly quickly. I won with a score of 64, but Greg wasn’t far behind with 59, Amy had 44, and Jo Yu had 39.

Our next session will be on July 22.

June 10, 2008

• First up, was Race for the Galaxy. Eli won with 31, Chris had 28, Jamie had 24, and I brought up the rear with 20.
• Next, the four of us played Vegas Showdown. Jamie won with 67, Eli had 63, I had 52, and Chris had 38.

May 27, 2008

It was just Eli, Phil, and myself tonight.

• Tzaar - Eli and I played two games of Tzaar, the newest addition to the Gipf series of two player abstract games. In Tzaar, each player has three types of pieces: 6 Tzaars, 9 Tzarras and 15 Totts. The pieces all have identical capabilities. On each turn, a player must first capture one of his opponent’s pieces. He then gets a second, optional move, in which he can either make another capture or create or add to a stack of pieces. A stack of pieces can capture any stack of equal or lesser height. A player loses if he can not make a capture on his first move of the turn, or if he no longer has at least one of each of the three types of pieces on the board. Eli won both games.
• Pacific Typhoon - Phil joined us, and wanted to try Pacific Typhoon. Pacific Typhoon, an updated version of Atlantic Storm, is a trick taking card game with a World War II naval theme. On his turn, a player draws two battle cards, and chooses one to be fought over. Battles occur in different years (1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, or 1945) and may be day or night. The player then looks at his cards and decides if it will be an air, surface, or submarine battle. Starting with the start player, each player in turn decides whether to play for the Allies or the Japanese, and can then play one or more combat cards of the appropriate type. After all players have played (or passed), the strengths of the two sides are compared. The side with the higher strength wins the trick, and the player who contributed the most to the battle gets to decide how the point cards are distributed. The game is okay with three, but plays better with six. Phil won with 47, I had 35, and Eli had 19.
• Blue Moon City - We managed to squeeze in a game of BMC before closing time. I got off to an early lead, and quickly got 4 markers on the obelisk, while Eli and Phil still had only two each. I placed my 5th marker before either of them could catch up, and won the game.

Our next session will be June 10.

April 22, 2008

• Yinsh - Phil and I. This was a fairly close game, which I eventually won 3 to 2.
• Blue Moon City - Eli joined Phil and I for the second game of the evening. Eli was new to the game, while both Phil and I had played before. Phil won the game by making his 5th contribution to the central obelisk, while Eli had 4, and I had 3.
• Tantrix - Phil had to leave, so it was just Eli and I. This was also a first playing for Eli. I won 28 to 18.

Our next session will be May 13.

April 8, 2008

• Pünct - Phil and I played a game of Pünct. Forgetting that it would end the game, I played my last piece to the board before either of us could make a connection. Phil won on the tie-breaker, having the most points covered in the center hexagon.
• Wiz War - Phil, Eli, and I. Right at the start of the game, both Eli and I went after Phil. I dropped one of Phil’s treasures on my home base, but Phil caught up to Eli and cast Walking Death on him (Walking Death causes the player to lose hit points for moving) before he could reach his home base. Eli never made it back to his home base, and Phil was able to get two treasures back to his home base and win before I could get a second one.
• R-Eco - Phil, Eli, and I. This turned out to be Phil’s night, as he clobbered Eli and me in R-Eco, winning all three games of the evening. Final scores were Phil 14, Eli 5, Eric 3.

Our next session will be on April 22.

March 25, 2008

There were four of us tonight: Phil, Hal, Eli, and myself.

• Illuminati - we played with the Y2K and Bavarian Fire Drill expansions. With four players, the main goal was to control 12 groups. Phil was Discordia (special goal: control 5 weird groups), Hal was the Society of Assassins (special goal: control 6 violent groups), Eli was the Church of the Subgenius (special goal: control 11 groups), and I was Shangri-La (special goal: control 5 peaceful groups). Hal and Eli had a rough start, and Hal especially was plagued with bad rolls throughout the game. I managed to gain control of two peaceful groups quite early, but couldn’t get any more to turn up. Lots of weird groups came out early, and the game started to look like an easy win for Phil. Eli managed to snag several high income groups, and was generating an impressive amount of cash. Several times we managed to keep Phil from getting his last group, but this ran everyone out of cash. In the meantime, Hal was able to get five violent groups. He then turned up Frankenfoods (a group which takes on the alignment of its master), and was able to take it over with a violent group, turning Frankenfoods violent, and giving Hal the win.

Our next session will be April 8.

March 11, 2008

We had four people tonight, including one new-comer, Adam.

• R-Eco - Phil, Adam, and I played this simple card game with a recycling theme. The game was new to both Phil and Adam. Adam and I tied at 16 (both with 2 dumped cards), while Phil ended with 1 (and 4 dumped cards).
• Before the Wind - Eli arrived right after R-Eco, and joined us for a game of Before the Wind. Adam was the only one who hadn’t played before. The game went three rounds, with Eli and me in the lead for most of the game. Phil had trouble getting the action cards he needed, but managed to pile up a good deal of cash. Going into the third round, I had 34 points in ships, and the right goods to fill a 12 point and a 6 point ship, which would give me over 50 points and the win. Eli had two large ships and one small ship, but didn’t have the right goods to fill any of the available large ships. It was my turn to select cards. I drew two shipping cards and two warehouse cards, and selected a shipping card for myself. Phil immediately bid 20 ducats on my shipping card. As I only had 4 ducats in hand, I had to give him the card. The game went on for a few more turns, and Eli was able to collect the goods he needed and ship before I could get another shipping card, giving him the win. Final scores were Eli 58, Eric 46, Adam 29, and Phil 18.
• Uptown - We finished up the evening with a game of Uptown. This was a first playing for Adam and Eli. Adam managed to tie up the 9 column completely, while the other three of us fought over the middle of the board. Phil managed to connect his two groups right near the end of the game. Final scores: Phil 1, Eli 2, Adam 3 and 9 captures, Eric 3 and 12 captures.

Our next session will be March 25.

February 26, 2008

It was just Phil and I tonight.

• Uptown - This is an abstract tile laying game for 2-5 players. Each player has 28 tiles in a particular color (in the two player game, each player takes two colors). Each tile has a symbol on it, one of the letters A through I, one of the digits 1 through 9, one of nine pictures, or a wild card with a dollar sign symbol. The symbol on the tile restricts where on the board the tile can be placed. Players take turns placing tiles, trying to form the least number of connected groups possible. Captures are allowed, but count against the capturing player. I won, 4 to 5.
• Race for the Galaxy - Phil won with 36 to my 25. I was dealt several high value cards that had no abilities, and made the mistake of holding on to them with the hope of building them later, which hampered my early development.
• Tantrix - another abstract tile laying game. We were fairly even up until right near the end, when I managed to connect a six long segment to my 20 long segment. I won with 27 to Phil’s 20.

Our next session will be on March 11.

February 12, 2008

We had a low turn-out tonight, only four people, probably due at least in part to the freezing rain. We also got off to a late start, so only two games.

• Infernal Contraption - Tim, Brian, Hal, and I played Infernal Contraption, with the Sabotage! expansion. Hal had never played before. I had played the basic game before, but not with the expansion. (See 9/25/07.) Early in the game, Hal played a contraption to his machine that allowed him to draw a card from his parts pile and play it immediately. After adding some upgrades, he was able to draw eight(!) cards from his parts pile and play any or all of them. He was able to build one very impressive machine, but after drawing all of those cards from his parts pile, he left himself vulnerable, and he was the first one out. Brian, Tim, and I continued to slug it out. I was losing cards from my parts pile at a frightening rate, but had a contraption with upgrades that allowed me to take cards from the scrap pile and add them to my parts pile, which kept me just barely hanging on for quite a while. Finally, I got to the point where I realized my next turn would be my last. Judging Tim’s parts pile to be smaller than Brian’s, I aimed my machine at Tim, taking him out of the game, but burned my own parts pile in the process, leaving Brian as the winner.
• Guillotine - [Edited 3/3/08] We had about a half-hour left, so we decided to play Guillotine, which Hal won with 24, Tim had 23, I had 21, and Brian had 11.

Our next session will be on February 26.

January 22, 2008

Only three people tonight.

• Triple Triumph - this is a neat little abstract game for 2-4 players. There are 60 plastic pyramids with purple and green sides in various combinations. The bottoms of the pyramids are also either purple or green. During the game, these pyramids are stored in a bag from which players will later draw pyramids at random. Each player has a “hand” of three pyramids. On his turn, a player tries to play his three pyramids to the board, adjacent to existing pyramids. Touching sides must match color. For each matching side, the player scores one point. If there are four adjacent pyramids on the board, another pyramid may be placed upside-down, in the middle of the four upright pyramids. This scores four points, and the base of the upside-down pyramid becomes available for building another level of upright pyramids. Building on an upside down pyramid allows the player to draw one pyramid from the bag to be used immediately. The player’s turn ends when he is unable to play any more pyramids to the board, either because he has no more to play, or because there are no legal plays available. He then draws back up to three, and play continues with the next player. The game ends when no player can make a move. Phil and I player this for the first time. I didn’t record the scores, but I won.
• Race for the Galaxy - This is a card game with mechanics similar to San Juan, but a bit more complex, and a space exploration theme. Phil, Eli, and I played. It was a first playing for both Phil and Eli. I was dealt a good Alien world, and a development that gave me bonus points for Alien worlds, so I concentrated on building all the Alien stuff I could get my hands on. I fell a bit behind on building. Phil and Eli both built their twelfth card on the same turn, ending the game, while I still only had nine cards down. The Alien bonus really helped me, though, as I had five Alien cards. When the game ended, Eli and I tied with 36 each (we tied on the tie-breaker as well), and Phil had 30.
• Triple Triumph - After Phil left, Eli and I played Triple Triumph. I won 70 to 60.
• Fibonacci - Eli and I played two games of Fibonacci. Eli won the first and I won the second.

Our next session will be February 12. Hope to see you there.

January 8, 2008

We had ten people tonight.

• Fibonacci - Phil and I. This was another hard-fought game which Phil eventually won.
• Maharaja - Phil, Hal, Eli, Jamie, and myself. This is another game that I really like that doesn’t seem to be that popular for some reason. This was a first playing for everyone but me, and everyone seemed to enjoy the game. I got off to an early lead, but it didn’t last. Hal placed his last palace in the 9th round, winning the game. Jamie had 6 palaces and 12 gold, Eli had 6 palaces and 10 gold, I had 6 palaces and 8 gold, while Phil came in last with 4 palaces.
• Zombies - Tim, Lance, Joey, and Brian. I didn’t hear who won.
• Guillotine - Eli, Jennifer, Jamie, and myself. Eli won easily with 25, I had 16, Jamie had 14, and Jennifer had 9.

Our next session will be on January 22.