2009 Session reports

[Charlie Davis]

These 2009 session reports will be added as one long thread. There were no reports written during the year so these will be pulled from various game logs of the actual members. Since my memory is not so good, these will have a very limited amount of session commentary but I will write a little about the games. The total games played at regular game nights, CharCon and Saturday sessions was 274 games. This does not count games played at That Board Gaming Thing or Great Lakes Games. Enjoy.

The first session this year was January 1. That bodes well for a full year of gaming.

[Charlie Davis]

1/1/2009
by Charlie

Probably the attendees were Kris, Dave, Travis R, Tom. Ted, and Charlie

Battlestar Galactica - This was the first playing for most of us. I just don't remember who was there but it was a 6 player game so we knew there would be 2 cylons. This became the game of choice during the year. We all played it a lot. This might have been the game Ted gave himself away as a cylon really early. Of course, I think he won so good job Ted.

Leader 1 - This is a team bicycle race game. Each player has 3 riders, a leader, a rouler (powerful across the flats), and a climber. Two of those are also identified as a downhill or sprint specialist. The idea is to use your team to get someone across the line first. You have an energy cost for movement. If you stay in the peloton (big group of non-player riders) things are easier. At some point, you need to try and break away from the peloton and go for the win. I don't think we (at least me) understood the strategy or the tactics well. I remember my guys getting passed by everyone at the end. We had some problems but I see a lot of good comments on the boardgamegeek so maybe we played suboptimal.

[Charlie Davis]

1/3/2009
West Virginia Hobby Game Association Holiday Gathering 2009
This was the 3rd annual holiday gathering for the WVHGA. We eat and have a game gift exchange. Here are the games played and who won that day.

Yahtzee Free for All - Fitz - A Yahtzee game that allows you to steal other players completed sets. A good variation from the original game.

Tumblin-Dice - Dave, Mic, Charlie - This is a beautifully designed wooden flicking game. You are trying to get your dice into scoring position by flicking them. Good family fun.

Dominion - Ted, Dave - The game that took over the world. This was my first play with the manufactured game. I had played prototypes several times. It is a game that grows on you.

Battlestar Galactica - Cylons TravR, Fitz, Nick - OK, this was the most horrible BSG game that I have ever been involved with. Not only do the humans allow the sympathizer to support the Cylons but one of the 3 remaining humans actually thinks he is a cylon also. So it turns out to be 4 cylons against 2 humans. Dave and I were the loyal humans but things were so messed up we did not trust each other either.


World of Warcraft:The Boardgame - Tom - This was going on while the BSG fiasco was happening so I don't know much about what happened.

Toledo - Charlie - This is a interesting game from Martin Wallace. You have workers that buy materials to make swords as they follow a path through Toledo. You also have businesses that sell the materials. There are cards with numbers on them that you use to buy things and move your workers. The game ends when a player has 3 workers at the palace so it is also a race. I like it a lot.

Descent:Journeys in the Dark - Bob, Trav O - Good hack and slash game. Great bits.

Power Grid - Trav - I don't remember this so can't say which board was used. Among the Appalachian Gamers, we have most of them. We all like the game.

Ghost Stories - ghost x2 - I do remember losing 2 games to the ghosts. This is a great game because it is tough to win.

Time's up! - TravR, Nick - Our regular party game.

Kremlin - TravR - My favorite game. A game about the politburo of the Soviet Union. You don't know who controls the politicians. You have influence but is it enough to control them. A great game. A first time play for everyone else. I don't remember much except TravR seemed to have an easy time of it. My peeps got sent to Siberia or died.

Tichu - Charlie, Bob - We broke out one of the favorite card games of the worldwide boardgame crowd. It is a partner game where you try to get rid of your cards first. We killed 'em. Actually, it may have been close.

Somewhere in there we had the gift exchange. It was pretty funny because we had 3 copies of Battlestar Galactica as gifts. I think everyone but Ted ended up with a copy. The food was great as usual. It is a great way to start the year.

[Charlie Davis]

1/15/2009
by Charlie

I don't remember who was at this session or who won. It is possible there was a second table that played other games but these are the games I played.

Wasabi! - Interesting tile laying game. Each player gets recipe cards which show the ingredients for sushi. If you can get the ingredient tiles in a line on the board you make the recipe. It is a puzzle that everyone is changing all the time. A very good game. I know I did not win.

Jet Set - This is from a relatively new game company, WATTSALPOAG, Inc. and is a very good game. You buy airline routes and planes. You then try to complete routes that are shown on cards to gain income. It is a very good connection game.

Silk Road - Ted and Bruno's game. We play it once a year at least. I like the turn order mechanism. I think this may have been the first play for Kris. I remember someone was new to the game.

[Charlie Davis]

1/17/2009
by Charlie

We had a Saturday game day at Ted's. This was a long 3 day weekend. I think this was a last minute change so several people came and went through the day.
I also played at two games later that night after I left Ted's.

Der Weg nach Drakonia - The title translates as "the way to Draconia". This has never been published in english but it doesn't matter. It uses symbols for everything. Each player has 10 or so various characters and only some of them are on the board to start. You use cards to move your own as well as other player's characters. When one character get to Draconia, you score points for all of your characters according to how far they have traveled. It is a puzzle type game. I have played twice and enjoy it.

Pandemic - Try to save the earth from viruses. Very topical game. No memories of this one.

Trendy - Set collecting where everyone participates in completing sets together. However, only one set can score so you have to watch and try to be in the winning set all the time. We played on the kitchen table and that is all I remember about this one.

To Many Cooks - The soup making game. It is a addition card playing game where you try to get rid of your dealt cards and win cards in the soup (suit) that you are trying to make that round. Challenging and fun. One of my favorite quick filler type card games.

Set - The visual challenge game. This is one of those games that separates those that can and those that can't. You are trying to see sets of 3 cards on a board of 12 that are all the same or all different for each of 4 criteria (colors, shapes, numbers, backgrounds). If you can see the sets, you score a lot. If you can't, you never score. The good thing is that you can practice and learn to see the sets better.

I left Ted's and I think the others played another game or two. After I got back to Montgomery, I ran into some students that wanted to play something. I think Katie, Charles, Adam, and 1 more played (Adam or Justin).

Ticket to Ride Europe - I enjoy this one and really like teaching geography to college students so what a perfect fit. New players get locked in on a route and don't see the options very well. They also tend to build the short lines that do not score as much. I try to teach as we go but sometimes people just want to learn from their own mistakes. I don't tell them what to do, just point out options. I won but the final score for everyone else was close.

Axis and Allies - Katie left and the guys played this one. Very vague memories of the game going on for a long time. Germany fell after a long battle and the Japanese player refused to concede. I think I finally made them quit so I could go to bed. It is fun to watch the excitement in their eyes as their plans come together.

A very good day of gaming.

[Charlie Davis]

1/18/2009
by Charlie

We had a game day at WVU Tech. This was a long 3 day weekend so I held an informal game session in one of the college lounges for the students. Tom and Dave came up. There were a bunch of students in and out all day.

Battlestar Galactica - This was played twice that day. Tom, Dave, 3 students and I played the first game. I remember lots of laughs and several times thinking everyone was a cylon. It was played a second time but I don't think any of the Appalachian gamers played that game.

Sylla - Tom and I taught Dave, Tom, and someone else. I like this game. It has an odd flow to it but it works for me.

Talisman - I break this out about once a year. This is an old 2nd edition with the first 2 expansions and Dungeon. It is to long and to luck driven but I try to get players to not worry about winning and to just play to maximize their character and use their skills to the max. If they do this, I think it is a fun ride and someone will win. I also think people need to go to the Crown of Command sooner, so I encourage it.

[Charlie Davis]

1/22/2009
by Charlie

I think there was a session but I missed it. Maybe someone else remembers this night.

[Charlie Davis]

1/29/2009
by Charlie

Fast Flowing Forest Fellers - Logging men and women racing down the river. Similar to Mississippi Queen but using cards to define movement points. It can get so jammed up sometimes that it is frustrating. It has a lot of boards and you can set the length of the game by how you set the boards. Good for long term play.

Struggle of Empires - I don't remember this session. I kinda like the game but it is not something I want to play often.

[Charlie Davis]

2/5/2009
by Charlie

Let's see. I think Ted, Tim, Dave, and I were there. That may have been all.

Brass - One of my favorite Martin Wallace games. Once you play and see all the rules, it is pretty easy to follow but the first time is a challenge. Maximizing the victory points in the first era and keeping thing viable for the next era is tough. I remember having a lot of trouble seeing things this game. It is always fun anyway.

Vinci - We knew Small World was coming out soon and wanted to play this again before it got here. I really like the way this game works. Yes, it takes a long time and there is some "get the leader" issues but the game is a classic. As much as I like Vinci, I do think Small World is better game so Vinci will probably become a dusty old game in most collections.

Capitan Wackelpudding - Dexterity and stacking. These are not my favorite things. I remember knocking over a huge stack of stuff. I think I had more stuff than the others combined, which is a bad thing.

Hamsterolle - 2 Times - Another dexterity game. We are teaching Tim (Old SPI, Avalon Hill wargamer) about all the types of games out there. I think all 4 of us played once and I may have actually won. Then Ted left us and we played again.

I love playing these games. Can you tell?

[Charlie Davis]

2/12/2009
by Charlie

Let's see what I remember about this night. Uh,...

Junta - Politics in a Banana Republic. You gotta luv it! I remember we argued over moving troops but I have no clue as to who ended up with the most money. The game is based on each player holding an office in the 3rd world country. The president gets paid every turn and he shares the wealth with the other top politicians "secretly". So now everyone has money but you can lose it if you don't get to the bank. But you can get shot moving around town. The bank can be closed sometimes. It is tough. It is a tricky politician that manages to get to the bank and get ready for the collapse of the country.

Stone Age - We got a lot of play out of this one over the last year. This may have been one of our last plays at regular game night. I like it slightly better than Pillars of the Earth but would play either of them. This may have been the night Travis R scored a bunch of points with the different cards. No idea who won.