2006 Session reports

[Charlie Davis]

Since these are old reports, I am just going to list them in one long thread. Read them at your own pace. Enjoy. If you have question about any of the games it would probably be best to open a new thread.
Including CharCon, the various library days, and our regular meetings, we played 327 games in 2006. I did not count but probably less than 30 were repeat games. From a gaming perspective, it was a good year!

1/5/06:
written by Ted

We were three this evening. Kris has made a list of older titles he wanted to give a go. So, we prioritized by what we felt were best with three players.

San Marco. This was first to the table and I feel works best with three players. It is not bad with four players, but with three, you can watch and agonize on the card split. With four players, the split decisions are hidden and it feels like a little down time. This is a very nice majority placement game with some really nice decisions.

Mexica. Another fine action point game from Kramer. This brought up the topic of ranking the set of Tikal, Mexica, Java, and Torres. You can decide how you would place them. This one is a very good area majority game where you decide where the areas are! A good time and strong game.

New England. We wanted to use a standard set up since Kris or James had not played before but, there is only a standard set up for 4 players. I then think Kris and James decided to gang up on the “guy that played before” as they did their best to box me in. (BTW it didn’t work) This is a fun little drafting game that has not seen the table in a while.

Ticket to Ride. Yes, Kris had not tried this major title yet. Somehow, James managed to get tickets all the way around the board with a massive run. It was almost perfect for the longest run with only a couple of trains not being used. Needless to say, he kicked us bad.

[Charlie Davis]

1/12/05
by Ted

Carcasonne the Castle:
Charlie and I took this one out while waiting for folks to arrive. A very nice two player version of the game that seems to swing scores if you are able to get some key areas closed.

Fresh Fish:
I still like this brain burner of a game. We still use the German rules where ties go to the player that draws the tile.

Elfenland/gold:
Nice rendition of Elfen Roads. This one is a bit long with 6 players. I thought maybe we should draft 5 cards a round and only play 4 rounds to speed the game up. Maybe one day I will get to try out that variant.

[Charlie Davis]

1/14/06
A gaming weekend with Scott Fisher, Rob Wood and David Fair

From Scott Fisher:
Here is my summary. Not a report as much as a summary.

Ted and fellow gamers,

That was the best weekend of gaming I believe I have ever experienced! I could have stayed a week and not tired of playing. You guys were great! Thank you so much Ted! Also, please tell your wife and family thank you as well. I know it is a sacrifice for all involved when their father, friend and spouse are removed from the family for a weekend. Your wife I would also like to thank for the wonderful food. (psst. Rob did you know Ted's wife made homemade choclate chip cookies?) I hope we can relive this again sometime soon. I think it would be great to have a weekend trip to Deep Creek Lake in the spring/summer. OK let me wrap this up with a summary of my weekend...

Games played - 24
New games to me - 14
Win totals - Scott 2, James 2, Rob 3, David 6 and Ted (the Master) 11.
My favorite - Mall of Horror
My least favorite - Masquerade
Game rules fouled the most - McMulti (boy a read prior to attending would have been great! I still think the game may have some potential)
Games I own that will hit the table now - Die Dracheninsel, Volldampf, Um Reifenbriete, Expedition and Cairo (all owned but never played)
Games I need to purchase - Muli, Mall of Horror and Fairy Tale
Biggest disappointment - McMulti rules not being ready.
Biggest surprise - Code 777 (boy I liked this one)
Enjoyment factor --- OFF THE SCALE

Thanks again to all involved.
Scott

[Charlie Davis]

Date 1/14/06
by Charlie

At the table - Charlie Davis and John Giroir Game played – JAMBO

I was not able to attend Ted's weekend of games that started tonight. Since I was stuck at home, I invited John Giroir over for a game of Jambo. Three things about John. 1. He is competitive. 2. He has played and finished very high in some serious MTG competitions so card management is easy for him to understand. 3. He is a smart guy. You can probably see where this is going. I explain the game to him and we start. As in most games, I started fast and got a big payoff early. I had to use most of my hand to do it but I though it was a good opportunity. Over the next few turns, John managed to use several crocodile cards and remove all of my utility cards, while building up his own utility cards, wares, and hand. I had to just take cards and the one gold every turn for a while. The gold keeps me ahead of John but he always has more cards or wares. He pays 6 to build a small market and I get to build mine for 3 the next turn. I am still well ahead in gold but I can't get any wares and he gets another crocodile card. At this point, he starts cashing in and closing the gap fast. It is getting near the end of the game. I am still ahead but John uses a throne card to trade one of his wares for one of mine and it ruins my plans. One more turn and I could have sold 2 sets of wares. It is not to be. John is able to cash in twice and get to 62 gold while I can only sell the one set and manage 56.

Jambo is an excellent game for two. Try it at your first opportunity.

[Charlie Davis]

1/19/06
by Ted

Wallamoppi
Charlie and I gave a go to this new two player timed, stacking game from Out of the Box. I proved once again unable to stack high under pressure.

Ticket to Ride
Todd, Charlie, Ted, and Tony. We looked for a 1 hour game for 4 while waiting for James to arrive. Ticket to Ride fit the bill and only Tony had not played before. Lot’s of competition hit the middle of the board. I hit the lucky streak building long routes along the northern corridor and getting some great matching tickets and some nice scoring tickets from the expansion. There was really no contest in the end scoring. But, a great game.

Caylus
Todd, Charlie, Ted, Tony, James. As always, this was different than any previous game of Caylus we have played. The multiple cube production building did not come out until very late so there was a massive cube shortage. That did not stop Charlie and Todd from running head to head until the very end. James, stole my move twice moving to 4th place and preventing me from building what I needed to win....arrrggghhh. In the end, Todd proved superior just nudging out Charlie. This one is still a fun game with lot’s of neat choices.

Around the World in 80 Days
I still really like this game. When it plays fast, it is a nice quick romp with some cute mechanics. James took on the strategy of getting to London first and forcing the other players to get extra days. And, it almost worked. Luckily he moved into London in 7 (I wish I knew what other digit goes here. 77, 71, 75? who knows - comment by CD) days!!!! He had managed to gain key cards to make this route very cheap. So, not only did he get there 3 turns ahead of us, but with a very decent score. Tony took up the trailing strategy to gain extra tokens and managed to make it to London with the rest of us. When we all arrive, Ted managed to eke out the win by one day over James. Charlie and Tony were very close but Todd was out of the running having amassed over 80 days.

[Charlie Davis]

1/26/06
by Ted

Princes of Florence
Kris, Charlie, Brent, James, and Ted. I had arrived late from work and this crew was already assembled and going over rules. The game was new to Kris and Brent. Pretty much standard fair game until the last turn when things got very tense. Ultimately, Charlie proved the dominant Palazzo builder by a significant amount. This one is still a fun game and a staple even though it really is very solitaire.

Liberte
Another Martin Wallace game to hit the table as we took on the French. Kris took an early lead and got the evil mark on his head. Charlie managed to stay at the back for a couple of turns and then sailed up the chart. We managed to make it all four turns although the white pieces almost took a victory to win the game in the third round. I proved to be a very close game (except for me) with James eking out the win by one point.
I have played this title a few times and I really cannot figure out how to win this game. Perhaps that is the strength of the game. This is just one of those games I routinely finish at the back of the pack.

M
Next, to close the night, was the abstract tile laying game, M. With 5 players there is a lot going on between your turns. This may be a tighter game with 3 or 4. However, that said, I maximized my color set collection but, that was just not enough as James took all my chips and then started stealing them from Charlie (to my right). Kris proved to be unstoppable even though he collected quite a few colors.

[Charlie Davis]

2/2/06
by Ted

A big night for us with 6 players and a 7th showing up later in the evening. Tony, Kris, James, Charlie, Ted, Brent, and Emily (James’ wife)

Time is Money
This was a warm up speed game while we were waiting for the group to gather. People arrived in a clump so we did not go far with this one.....that was a good thing. It is a speed game of roll the die and grab bills that match only single rolled amounts while you try to guess at the time your are allotted to complete the task. I don’t think anyone in the group really liked it. Looks like a trade pile item. Charlie proved to be the best money monger by quitting time.

Pizarro & Company
James had been inquiring about his bidding game. So, off we sailed to the new world. The first round was pretty even with almost everyone getting 3 boats. Of course, mine turned out to be much more expensive than needed. Actually, I think they all short changed me cash at the beginning of the game! 8) Competition started to get stiff in the second round and then Kris managed to take a pretty handy victory. This one has some unique ideas that are fun even though the bidding is a little repetitive. And, some people are a little upset by the random card draw that ranges from 1 to 9 in value....a couple of bad draws could kill you. But, it is a quick bidding game if that is what you are looking for.

Transamerica
We were expecting Emily quickly and decided we would play this game which we could end after any round. And, we actually finished the game right as she was arriving. Charlie managed to eke out the win after about the third round. I still enjoy this game even though I put it in the light filler category.

Master Thieves
James really wanted to show this game to Emily and Brent was also interested. This game has a really neat mechanism of a box that twists and flips with two sided drawers. After one or two flips, I am lost...and just go along for the ride. I can follow one or two drawers if things happen quickly....but alas.....Anyway, Brent, the box manager, took a very early lead that appeared to be insurmountable. Ted was slowly catching up. Charlie hit the jackpot when several thieves spilled jewels everywhere and ended up with a real win with two rubies to boot.
If this game is played quickly it is a nice little diversion. However, it can overstay its welcome if it drags on. We have added a house rule to let one of the characters (the jeweler I think) add a jewel even if something falls out....this speeds the game slightly as all players can get rid of at least two gems per round.

Midnight Party
Another game that plays 7 that James and Emily had not played. And, last year, this one did not make it out for Halloween...so Hugo sprinted up the stairs and played tag with everyone. With 7 players, Hugo can move pretty quick and there were lots of big minus scores. Cute fun. Emily proved to be Hugo’s best buddy at hide and seek and she took the victory.

The Great Dalmutti
My only complaint for this game was that I could not locate my selection of Dalmutti hats and we had to play without. It has been years since this game came to the table. We laughed and hooted a lot as we watched the fortunes of players rise and fall. I managed the move from lesser peon to Great Dalmutti but not in time. Tony claimed the victory after 5 rounds never leaving the 1st or second seat.

Under Cover
It was time for one more quick 7 player game before the end of the night. In preference to time, we did not play the variant to guess everyone’s color. It started to become obvious as the game neared the end. It became a game of chicken as whoever could get the right roll would win....and if not, they had to make it so the person next to them couldn’t win if they got the right roll. Kris decided to end all of the foolishness on his turn to make a tie with Kris and Emily for the win.

[Charlie Davis]

2/9/05
by Ted

Squint Junior
Waiting for the crew to arrive, we played this light filler game. It was good for a few laughs. It takes Squint and uses simpler words, see through tiles, and it gives you a picture to assist you in your designing of the item. It did seem to play much faster than the original.

Liar’s Dice
With a compliment of 6 players, this one came to the table and was new to Kris and Tony. We played with my house variant for new players that the first person to mess up can loose a max of 1 die, the second to mess up losses a max of 2 dice...and so on....this gives newbies a chance to catch on. It came down to Charlie and Ted at the end with Ted having a distinct advantage with 3 dice to Charlie’s 1.

History of the World
Five of us decided to take on world conquest. In the group, we had a discussion about once per month playing a long game so that some of those mega games could get to the table. Although we had planned longer games in the past...this was kind of the first attempt to implement this philosophy. James jumped to a lead early and managed to keep it the whole game. We played the “lighter” new version to help shave off some time...so James got the benefit of several bonus chips as well. Kris gave a noble push at the end....but the bonus chips pushed James over the top for the win.
In the final analysis, I think I like the older AH rules better with the fleet combat and different mix of cards. It does add another hour to the game though.

[Charlie Davis]

2/10/06
by Ted

This was a special session to get in a game of Roads and Boats that was so nicely lent to us by Scott Fisher. But, we did manage some other games as well.

Elasund
Charlie, James, and I were to be joined by John and had about 1 ½ hours for a game before he arrived. So, Elasund came to the table. Nice game in the Settlers series...I will be doing a video review of this one. There is the standard settlers production rolls with position placement and a nice opportunity to mess with you buddy.
This was a very close game. I almost won with an awesome 3 point swing until James built on his permit denying me the ability to build a large building for the win. So, this delayed my tactic. I built two more buildings and had the money to win, and James finished it right before me. Arrrgghhh the horror. Charlie was right there with us....so the game was very tight.

Roads and Boats
John ended up stuck at work with a water leak so we ended up with 3 players. We were all newbies and had to do a lot of rules checking and punching of tokens. But, we did manage to complete the game in 3 ½ hours. First, we set up a very player friendly 3 player scenario that was symmetrical. It started off very slow with none of us knowing exactly what to do. And, we all eventually headed our own way with James building a boat and oil rig while Charlie headed for mints and mine and I also went the mine route. Because of the board, most of the game....except the last 3 or so turns....was really multiplayer solitaire. In the last few turns, Charlie managed to link in with James by road and stealing of goods ensued. This left me alone the whole game until I jumped into Charlie’s mint on the last turn. The end proved to be very close at 118, 113, 91. This was a very steep learning curve for all of us and a new people, we did a lot of rule checking and did play a few things wrong that we addressed as we found them. On the whole, I think we played correctly and now understand the game much better. I think we would all do things differently on the next try.
My impression? I can understand why people like this game. And, I think the game would be much different with a more interactive board. So, it is difficult for me to give a great opinion after this one try. Bottom line, I am glad I played it, I understand why people like it but, I have no desire to try it again. It is just not my style of game. This is very much....load these on my donkey and move. Next turn, produce something else to load on a donkey and move. Then build something. Next produce something else and move it to build something else, etc. Imagine similar mechanics to FFF or Neuland which play much faster. This game has much more depth than the two previously mentioned games, that is for sure. And the limited resources and space on the board make choices much more difficult. But, it is way too long and fiddly with lots of little bits to manage and record keep for my tastes. I will stick to Neuland once every year or so to scratch my itch for this style of game.

Kaivai
We were not tired and decided to try one more game. Note, we did quit after 8 turns instead of 10 due to time and it did take us 1 ½ hours. This was my first time teaching this game and as such there were some missteps. The first is, now that I understand the game better, I would explain the rules completely differently. Second, it wasn’t until the end of the game when we were doing final scoring and looking up a question on ties that I found and remembered the rule that if you pass on your action phase you can get two influence. No offense folks...this rule is listed at the end of the rules in a section called something like oddities and questions (or something like that). Why didn’t they include this under the Action phase as an action option....pass and get two influence. Now, I understand that action box for passing is not on the board, but it could have been listed in the rules as an option under actions. Still, I will take the abuse for missing a rule...yet again. In terms of game play, there may have been a time each of us would have taken that option...but, we all played with out it so it was not that great of a deal.
This game is rather abstract at its heart but, has some nice ideas going on. They have done a very good job in managing the action phase by use of influence that makes those decisions fun. The balance of meeting cottages, fishing, and influence to the very changing board is nice, as is, the trade off of selling fish for money or glory. Over 10 turns, I can see the game getting a little repetitive but, you really need those turns to make the board fill up.
Some people may find this one a little dry, but I think this will be a keeper and I need to give it another go.

[Charlie Davis]

2/11/06

What a weekend...even more gaming. James’s wife headed out of town for the weekend with his kids and his game rendezvous with a friend fell through. So, he gave us a call Saturday evening to see if we wanted to do a little gaming. Oddly enough, we were planning a couple of quick games after dinner and then a movie and my son was busy having a sleep-over with two of his friends. Well, after James came over, we just skipped the movie and gamed into the wee hours. So, Emily, James and I gave some games a run for the evening.

Expedition
I rate this Kramer game in my top ten and it shines best with three players. Close game with James managing to pick up all of his destinations first.

Attika
I must have forgotten that the goal was to get your pieces on the main board rather than on your player mat. I fell way behind and was operating on two fronts being blocked at every path. Emily proved to be the superior builder and got all of her buildings on the board to take the win.

Elasund
James wanted to repeat his victory from Friday night and requested this game again. And, he came pretty close. James tried the windmill strategy and Emily started with the church strategy....I floundered around and dabbled. With only one victory point to go for James, Emily slammed James and then went on to snatch victory!

10 Days in Europe
It was time to romp around the country side in this newest Out of the Box 10 days series game. Although I think this game may play best with 2, three is a fine number and the game flowed pretty well. It appears I had the best travel agent, since I managed to get around the board first.

Smoker’s Wild
Yes, you heard correctly! After 5 or 6 years this one has made it back to the table. The game group will be ecstatic to hear this news as it means they will not have to play it for a while. I had actually brought this one upstairs for the family to play after dinner as something light and quick before the movie...and since it was sitting around....and James had not played it.....and, well you get the idea. Emily was the first to succumb to the lures of the demon weed and got up to three packs a day. I was next to take up the habit as James taunted us about how strong his willpower was. Oh how quickly the noble fall. James took up the habit and smoked himself to death. When he died, Emily somehow had managed to have the best health for the win.