GCOM Glen Burnie

December 9, 2008

2008-12-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

We had 18 people tonight. Games played were:

Our next session will be December 23, 2008.

November 25, 2008

2008-11-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

We had about 15 people tonight.

Games played:

October 28, 2008

2008-10-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-02-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

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.

December 11, 2007

2007-12-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

Five people, including two newcomers, played six games.

Battlelore - John and Brendan, both new to GCOM Glen Burnie although Brendan has been to the Salisbury location, played a game of Battlelore. I don’t have any details on the game, but John won.
Yinsh - Phil and I played a game of Yinsh. Phil achieved his first row of five quite early. A bit later in the game, I had a choice of getting my first row of five, and letting Phil get his second, or of stopping Phil from getting his second. I chose to take my first row. After some tough maneuvering, I was able to get my second and third rows before Phil got his third, winning me the game.
Fibonacci - this is one of my favorite two-player abstracts. Phil and I played two games. In the first game, I crushed Phil pretty quickly. The second game was a long, hard-fought game, in which Phil was eventually victorious.
Hive - Phil and I played a quick game of Hive, which I won.
That’s Life! - Eli joined Phil and me for a game of That’s Life! Phil crushed us both with 48(!) points, to my 7 and Eli’s 6.
Kanaloa - After Battlelore, Brendan had to leave, but John joined Phil, Eli, and myself for a game of Kanaloa. John seemed to be doing quite well early in the first round, as Phil, Eli, and I all picked on each other. It didn’t last, however, as Eli surged near the end of the round. The first round ended with Eli in the lead at 10, me in second place with 5, John with 4, and Phil shut out. Eli continued to dominate the first part of the second round, but we all worked to bring him down. With his last move, John caused Eli to lose control of his last four islands, shutting Eli out of the second round scoring. I won with 15, Eli and John were tied for second with 10, and Phil had 5.

The fourth Tuesday of this month is Christmas, so our next session won’t be until January 8. Hope to see you there.

November 27, 2007

2007-11-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

Seven people played seven different games tonight.

Chateau Roquefort (Burg Appenzell) - Played by Hal, Phil, and myself. This is a cute game about mice searching an abandoned castle for cheese. Each player controls four mice, and starts the game with one of his four mice on the board. Rooftops block the view of most of the board. On a turn, a player has four actions. He can choose from 1) peeking under a rooftop, 2) moving a mouse one space, 3) adding a mouse to an unoccupied corner space, or 4) shifting one row or column of the tiles that make up the game board. Most of the tiles are printed with one of several types of cheese, some of the tiles are just blank, and a few of the tiles have holes in them. If a player can get two of his mice on tiles with a matching type of cheese, the player gets a marker for that type of cheese. In the standard game, collecting four different types of cheeses wins. If a player shifts the tiles so that a hole moves under one of the mice, that mouse drops through the floor and out of the game. If a player gets down to one mouse, the game ends, and the player with the most types of cheese (excluding the player down to one mouse) wins. Phil won by getting 4 types of cheese.
Kanaloa - This is a four player version of the two-player game Kahuna. The board consists of 16 islands, each island with 3, 5, or 7 places to place a bridge. Players play cards to place bridges to connect islands. If a player controls a majority of bridges to an island, he takes control of that island, and kicks off all bridges belonging to other players. The game is played in two rounds, and at the end of each round, players score one point for each island they control, plus one point for each bridge space to that island that they don’t control (so you score maximum points by just barely maintaining your majority of bridges). Phil had a huge lead at the end of the first round, with me in second, and Hal in third with no points at all. In the second round, Hal made a huge come-back, while I continued my middling performance, and Phil really got hammered. Phil still managed to win by a narrow margin. Final scores were Phil 22, Eric 18, Hal 16.
Poison - Played by Lance, Joey, Tim, and Katie. This time they played by the correct rules. Lance won.
Mmm... Brains - Played by Lance, Joey, Tim, and Katie. Lance won.
Phoenix - Phil had to leave after Kanaloa, so Hal and I played Phoenix. Hal finished first in the first and third rounds, while I finished first in the second round. Final score was Hal 23, Eric 19.
Munckin Cthulhu - Played by Lance, Joey, Tim, and Katie. With Lance and Tim already cultists, Katie lost a fight with a monster that turned her into a cultist, giving Joey the win as the only non-cultist.
Fibonacci - Hal and I played two games of this great, but relatively unknown, two-player abstract. I won the first game, and Hal won the second.

Our next session will be December 11.

November 13, 2007

2007-11-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Nine people played four games.

Before the Wind - I introduced this game to Eli and Phil. This is a card game where the players take on the roles of merchants, trying to obtain and ship various goods for victory points. This is a three step process: the player has to get the goods into his hand, then move the goods to his warehouse, and then move the goods to one or more ships according to the demand of each ship. A certain number of ship cards, each with a demand for goods and a number of victory points, are dealt out face up. There are three action card decks, each deck corresponding to one of the three steps. The start player flips three action cards face up, and then chooses one. The other players may then offer bids for that card, or pass in the hopes of getting one of the other action cards. The start player can either accept one of the bids, taking the money and giving the action card to the bidding player, or he can pay one of the bidding players the amount of his or her bid and keep the card for himself. Then, the next player who has yet to get a card or money chooses from the remaining cards. The process repeats until all players receive either cards or money. Players then execute their action cards in turn. Once players have filled the demands of a certain number of ships, the round ends, and players may lose some of their goods due to spoilage. Then new ship cards are dealt out, and a new round begins. The game ends when one player reaches 50 points. I took an early lead in the first round by concentrating on the larger ships. Both Phil and Eli caught up in the second round, but I was able to pull ahead again in the third round and win the game. Scores were Eric 57, Eli 53, and Phil 47.
Munchkin Cthulhu - Lance, Joey, Diana, Brian, and Tim played Munchkin Cthulhu. Lance won.
Hive - Phil had to leave after Before the Wind, so Eli and I played two games of Hive (see the session report for 9/11/07). I won the first, while Eli won the second.
Bushwhackin’ Varmints out of Sergio’s Butte - played by Joey, Brian, Diana, Tim, Katie, and myself. This is one of Z-Man’s series of B-movie card games that started with Grave Robbers from Outer Space. Players can add characters, props, or locations to their own movies, or attack the movies of others. The player with the most points in front of them when the “Roll the Credits” card is played, or when the deck runs out, is the winner. We each spent far more effort in attacking each others movies than we did in building our own. Diana emerged victorious.

Our next session is November 27.

October 23, 2007

2007-10-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

Our next session will be on November 13.

October 9, 2007

2007-10-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

Ten people played four games tonight.

Sequence - Phil and I played a quick game while waiting for the others to show up. I won an easy victory, completing my two sequences before Phil completed any.
Vegas Showdown - Hal, Eli, and Jennifer joined Phil and me for a five player game of Vegas Showdown. This was a first time for Phil, Eli, and Jennifer. Phil and Eli were the front runners early in the game, with me bringing up the rear. Phil was able to get a nightclub early on, which gave him a substantial lead. The scores evened up somewhat as the game progressed. Right near the end of the game, the theater came up, and I was the only person with enough money to buy it; the 12 points gave me the victory. Final scores were Eric 53, Phil 49, Jennifer 48, Eli 45, and Hal 38. All three new players did quite well.
Munchkin - Diana, Lance, Joey, and Katie played Muchkin with the Munchkin Dice expansion. Lance won.
Quiddler - Pete joined Hal, Eli, Jennifer, Phil, and me in a game of Quiddler. We only had time for 4 hands. Pete held the lead the first three hands. Jennifer and I trailed most of the game. I was dealt all vowels twice, and CL, W, X, G, M, I on the fourth hand. Phil scored a longest word bonus on the last hand with “TOXINS”, which was enough to give him the win. I ended up in last place with a barely positive score.

Our next session will be on October 23.

September 25, 2007

2007-09-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Only three people tonight: Phil, Eli, and myself. We played two games.

Infernal Contraption - This is a humorous card game for two to four players. The deck consists of contraptions, upgrades, consumables, and power sources. Each player gets a power core to start. The deck is then divided up equally between the players, so each player has his own draw pile (called a “parts pile”). Each player then draws an initial hand of cards from his parts pile. On each player’s turn, the player gets a chance to add parts to his or her machine by playing cards from the hand. Then the machine is aimed at an opponent and activated, and each part is evaluated in order. Contraptions do things like take cards from the opponent’s hand or parts pile, or give the player parts from the “scrap pile” (discard pile), or remove parts from the opponent’s machine. Upgrades make adjacent contraptions more powerful. Consumables are powerful one-use-only cards. Power sources are necessary for other cards to operate. When a player runs out of cards in his parts pile, he is out of the game. The last player remaining wins. Phil built a machine with a contraption that stole one card from the opponent’s parts pile, and added that card to his parts pile; he then attached three x2 upgrades, so he was taking 8 cards a turn! This gave Phil the lead early in the game. Both Eli and I attacked Phil. Phil concentrated on me, and eventually ran my parts pile out. But, Eli was able to take Phil out, and won the game.
Wiz War - This is an old favorite (from 1983) in which each player is a wizard, running around a dungeon, trying to steal treasures from the other wizards. Each player has a hand of spell cards to use against the other players. Early on, it looked like it was going to be an easy win for Phil. But then I played “Swap Home Bases” on Phil, and turned the tide in my favor. Eli set up Booby Traps to stop me, but to no avail. I created a skeleton, and sent it through the traps, and then walked onto my home base (formerly Phil’s home base), dropped my second treasure, and won.

Our next session will be on October 9.

September 11, 2007

2007-09-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight, it was just Hal and I, so we played several two player games.

Phoenix - Hal won the first two rounds. I made a bit of a comeback in the third round, but it wasn’t enough. Hal won 18 to 17.
Hive - This is an abstract strategy game with no board. The pieces are bakelite hexagons with insects painted on them. Each type of insect has a different move. The object is to surround your opponent’s queen bee. This was the first time Hal had played. We played two games; I won both, but the second game was much closer than the first.
Octi - Another abstract strategy game. In this one, each turn you choose between moving one of your pieces, or making one of your pieces more powerful. The rules list several different variations of the game, depending on how complex you want it to be. We played the “fast” game twice. Hal won both times.
Fibonacci - And yet another abstract strategy game. You move your pieces around the board in amoeba-like groups, trying to surround your opponent’s center piece. This is one of my favorite abstract strategy games, but it doesn’t seem to attract much notice. Hal and I played twice; I won both times.
Tantrix - And still another abstract strategy game! This game also has pieces that are bakelite hexagons, and does not require a board. Each piece has three line segments on it, each line segment is in a different color (there are four colors total). Players place pieces trying to make the longest possible line or biggest possible loop in their chosen colors. At the end of the game, each player scores the one line or loop that would give the most points. Hal won 17 to 13.

Our next session is on September 25. Hope to see you there.

August 28, 2007

2007-08-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Eight people played three different games tonight.

Power Grid - played by Eli, Pete, Adam, Phil, and myself. We played on the U.S.A. map. Adam tried running on all environmental plants for a while. I held a monopoly on garbage plants throughout most of the game. During what turned out to be the second to last turn, Pete bought a little too much coal, and ended up missing out on the win because he was a couple of electros short of building into his 15th city. Eli won on the next turn. Final scores: Eli 15 (won on cash), Pete 15, Adam 14, Phil 14, Eric 13.
Munchkin Bites - Lance, Katie, and Joey. Joey won.
Poison - Lance, Katie, and Joey. They played by a slightly incorrect version of the rules (they weren’t leaving the card just played in the pot when it went over 13). Lance won.

August 14, 2007

2007-08-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

Seven people played four different games tonight.

Thebes - Played by Gabe, Hal, Philip, and myself. This is a light board game where players take the role of archaeologists in the early 1900s. Players must divide their limited time between gaining knowledge, equipment, and assistants in Europe, putting on exhibitions and giving talks, and going to several historic sites to excavate. Gabe won with 57, Philip had 44, I had 43, and Hal had 41. I had played this several times at WBC, but it was a first playing for everyone else.
Infernal Contraption - Played by Tim, Brian, and Joey. Joey won.
Unspeakable Words - Played by Tim, Brian, and Joey. This is a Cthulhu-themed card-based word game, where after a player forms a word, he has to roll a 20-sided die to see if he loses some of his sanity. They played two games. Tim won the first game by default, when both Joey and Brian went completely insane. The second game was won by Brian, when he reached the goal of 100 points.
Qwirkle - Played by Gabe, Hal, and Eric. I held the lead during the first half of the game, but then Hal passed me, and stayed in the lead for the rest of the game. Hal won with 156, I had 137, and Gabe had 119.

July 24, 2007

2007-07-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Nine people played seven games.

Hive - Eric (won), Gabe
Phoenix - Gabe 23, Eric 10
Qwirkle - Eric (won), Gabe, Hal
Munchkin (with all 5 expansions) - Lance (won), Diana, Tim, Brian, Joey
RoboRally - Gabe (won), Eric, Hal, Phil. Played on the Whirlpool board, with two flags on conveyor belts. Gabe managed to hit both flags in one turn!
Poison - Gabe (won), Eric, Hal
Quiddler - Gabe 189, Eric 156, Hal 132. We played six rounds (the standard game is eight rounds) before we ran out of time.

July 10, 2007

2007-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight’s session had eight people.

Caylus Magna Carta: Hal taught this to Phil, Rush, and me. This is a card game based on Caylus, and it plays faster while retaining much of the feel of the original. It was a fairly close game: Hal and Phil tied at 46, Rush had 43, and I had 40.

Super Munchkin: Lance (won), Diana, Joe, Katie

Pirate’s Dice: Lance, Diana, Joe, Katie. Several games were played.

TransAmerica with the Vexation expansion: Rush (won), Hal, Phil, Eric. Hal’s train went off the edge in the second round.

June 26, 2007

2007-06-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we had nine people play six different games:

Hive - Rush (won), Eric

Modern Art - Eric 527, Derek 382, Rush 335

Pirate’s Dice - Lance (won), Tim, Diana, Katie

Settlers of Catan - Katie (won), Lance, Tim, Hal, Diana, Joey

Torres - Derek 156, Eric 128, Rush 118

Carolus Magnus - Eric (won), Derek, Rush

June 12, 2007

2007-06-12T20:24:00.001-07:00

Run for Your Life, Candyman!
Originally uploaded by Eric E Haas

The first person to arrive after me was Jamie. Jamie and I played a game of Split, which Jamie won. Then Tim joined us for a game of Aquarius, which Jamie also won. The three of us started a game of Bohnanza. Jamie won with 22, Tim had 19, and I had 18. While we were playing Bohnanza, Diana, Lance, Joey, Brian, and Katie played several games of Pirate’s Dice.

Rush and Phil arrived, and along with Jamie and I, played a game of Fluxx. The game ended when Phil was forced to play a card that gave Rush the win. Meanwhile, Tim, Diana, Joey, Katie, Brian, and Michael started a game of Run for Your Life, Candyman! with real gingerbread cookies. Cookie carnage ensued, and Katie reached the finish line first, with nothing left of her gingerbread man except its two arms, each one down to one hit point. Phil and Jamie left after Fluxx, and Rush and I played a game of Sequence, which I won.

May 22, 2007

2007-05-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Phil, Derek, and I started with a game of Domaine. This was Derek’s first game of Domaine, but he jumped to an early lead, as Phil and I battled over one of the corners. Eventually, Phil and I stopped picking on each other and went after Derek. We brought him down, but then Phil started to pull ahead, and eventually won the game with a commanding lead.

Next, we had just started to play Lord of the Fries, when a new person, Rush, joined us, so we dealt him in. We only played one round, which Derek won.

We then played several hands of Category 5. I do not remember who won.

Phil left, and Rush, Derek, and I played a quick game of Guillotine, which Derek won.

May 8, 2007

2007-05-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

We had one new-comer this session, Ed. Ed was already there when I got there. He and I played a game of Yinsh, which he won, and then a game of Pünct, which I won.

By this time, Phil arrived, and the three of us played a game of Domaine. I concentrated on one region, and pretty much dominated the game. Phil tried to fight back from the center of the board, but by the time he got his central region closed, my one large region surrounded it on three sides, and I immediately played an alliance card, which pretty much doomed Phil. Ed was in third most of the game, but to be fair, it was his first playing, and I don’t think he quite “got it” until near the end.

Hal arrived, and the four of us played Masons. All four of us were extremely reluctant to give anyone else an opportunity to form a city. As a result, there was a lot of stuff on the board when the first city was finally formed, and I jumped to an early lead by scoring 27 points on it. I rapidly fell behind, however, and Phil held the lead for most of the rest of the game, and was the winner.

We then played Guillotine, which Hal won with 29 points.