2010 Session reports

[Charlie Davis]

2-24-2010
by Charlie

Snow in the forecast. I decide to drive in because it is not that cold and the roads are just wet at 6 pm. No problem at all. Dave, Tim, Ted, James, and Charlie are there.


Fische Fluppen Frikadellen - I really like pick up and deliver games. This is a very good one though it is odd. I arrived just as this one started. Dave had a rough start. James seemed to have lots of stuff. I was doing pretty good but James closed a shop and I lost a turn. Ted got moved several times so he also lost a turn or two. Tim won by staying on track and just did a better job of collecting his fetishes.

Traumfabrik - Tim had recently talked to Ted about an idea for a game about movie studios with directors and actors so we played this one. Guess what? Tim thinks this pretty much does what he was wanting to do. James plays this regularly as a 3 player game but had never played 5 player. Ted won by a bunch. James did finish 2nd.

At that point, a couple of the guys went outside to check the weather. When they came back they said I needed to leave immediately. The roads were covered. I drive a Miata. It is rear wheel drive, light as a feather, and has high performance summer tires on it. So we all decided to leave. I made it slightly down the hill and decided I did not want to drive 30 miles like that so I parked and walked back to Ted's to spend the night.

So we played games for about an hour.

Infinite City - Pretty good tile laying, abstract city building game. Our game was close. You have 5 tiles in your hand. You play one, place your marker on it and perform the action on the card, and draw back up to 5. The game ends when one player places his last marker. You score by contiguous tiles and points on some of the tiles. I managed to break Ted's connected tiles but he scored more points on the special tiles. I think I won by 1 point.

Neuroshima Hex! - Nice light wargame. Each turn you will draw 3 units and you can play 2 and discard the 3rd one. Lots of interesting decisions. There are 4 races and the strengths of each race are all different. It will take several games to appreciate the different races. Ted won the first game when I had very few soldiers and in the second game I seemed to get all of soldiers and Ted got the less offensive units. It is a good quick wargame.

So ended another great night of gaming.
Ask me sometime about the ride back to Montgomery the next morning.

[Charlie Davis]

3-4-2010
by Charlie

This is an odd report. For one it is 2 weeks late so I am trying to use my memory. I think I know what was played but I am having a problem remembering who played what. So here is who was there. Ted, Tom, Dave, TravR, me, and Kris.

Infinite City - Everyone but Kris played. Dave did not care for it. Most of the others were unimpressed. This is a tile laying, city building game with connection points available at the end. Very nice thick tiles but it is just so so. No idea what the scores were.

We broke into 2 tables.

Dave's table played.

Thunderstone - Dave, Tom, TravR played this knockoff of Dominion. Dave didn't think it was as good as Dominion.

Oltra Mare - Dave, TravR, and Tom played.

My table played

??? - Ted, Kris and I must have played something while Thunderstone and Oltre Mare were being played.

Then Dave and Tom left so we played

Railways of England and Wales or Railways of the World using the England/Wales board - Kris, TravR, Ted, Me - I really like this system. The tweeks between the original Railroad Tycoon to this are fine with me. I will play any of them. I think TravR won but it was a fun challenging game.


Robber Knights - Ted, TravR and me - We struggled to figure out a good strategy. Ted ended up winning. I don't know what I was doing. Not a favorite of mine.

OK, that is not completely right but we played games and had a great time. So there!

[Charlie Davis]

3-11-2010
by Charlie

Less people and less games to remember. I think I have this week right. Gamers tonight -TravR, Kris, Ted, me. We played two games.

Power Grid: Factory Manager - We were all new to the game. I got off to an ok start and then had a epiphany. You have to know what to put up for sale and when you want to go in the order. OK, almost all games with bidding for turn order have those ideas, fair enough. However, this one is subtle about the timing. You have to envision the whole turn. I think I realized quicker than the others and held a big lead most of the game. The last turn was long because of calculating points. Everyone had to maximize their points and it became a math problem. The final victory point issue became the energy cost. I was slammed for 24 points and Ted came from behind to win. I liked it, even with the difficult last turn. Everyone was frustrated a little but we are ready to try again and see what happens.

Train Raider - OK, most of you have never played this one and probably won't. This is a Japanese crayon rail game. It has races, trains with guns, pick up and deliver, drawing on the board with markers, event cards, special power cards, and dice. Who would not love it? Maybe Kris, but he was tired. TravR, Ted, and I enjoyed it. I forget who won. Maybe Ted? Yours truly finished last.

[Charlie Davis]

3-18-2010
by Charlie

What a beautiful afternoon we had. It was clear and still cool but I cruised in to game night with the top down. When I got there Ted and Dave were playing

Lord of the Rings: The Search - Dave thought he had it but Ted pulled a sneaky move and beat Dave to Mt. Doom. That sealed the victory for Ted.

Pecking Order - Dave has this listed on his games played list so they must have played it before I got there as well. This is a two player game similar to Battle Line. It was designed by Richard Garfield (Robo Rally, Magic the Gathering).

Heads of State - Kris, Ted, Dave, me - I had never played this one even though I had seen the prototype several times through the years. It is a set collecting/area majority game. You draw 3 cards each turn and then "build" nobles with the cards. You then place them on specific spots on the board. You get Victory points for the first noble in a country, have a noble in each area of a country, having one of each noble, have the most influence within a country, and having the most of each type of noble. There are even revolts and assassins, if you need to get rid of an opposing noble so that you have room for one of your own. It was a good game. There were some big point swings late as people tried to max out their scores. Ted won.

Mystic War - Kris left so Ted grabbed this game from 1992. This is a card game in which you are playing cards to increase your population, mystic power, or gold while also decreases the other players. You get special powers and more stuff according to how much of the 3 things you have. Each player has a hidden victory requirement.
* City Victory: at least 40 followers, 10 mystic power, 10 gold
* Archmage Victory: at least 40 mystic power, 10 followers, 10 gold
* Hoard Victory: at least 40 gold, 10 followers, 10 mystic power
* Balanced Victory: at least 20 followers, 20 mystic power, 20 gold
Several players may have the same Victory condition. It is very chaotic but fun. There is no long term planning other than using the skills you have in conjunction with meeting your requirements. Dave was less of a fan but Ted and I liked it.

Thebes - We played one more game. In Thebes, you are building up knowledge of archeological sites (collecting cards) and then going to the sites to dig for treasure (drawing tiles from a bag). The game is based on time in that everything you do takes time and the game represents 3 years. It is a very luck driven game, much like digging for treasure in real life. Each site (bag) has treasure tiles of various value and the same number of blank tiles. The amount of knowledge you build up and the amount of time you are willing to spend digging determines the number of tile you get to draw. Ted drew all blank tiles twice at his digs and usually got a below average draw. I seemed to draw much better than average and Dave had one great draw. With all this digging the cool thing is that the blank tiles go back in the bag so each later expedition has less chance of drawing treasure tiles. I have played twice and won twice. However, I have drawn the best treasure tiles and lots of them in my games so luck of the draw does help.

[Charlie Davis]

3-25-2010
by Charlie

Kris, Ted, Dave and Charlie made it. NCAA basketball March Madness may have kept a few others away.

Sim City the card game - Ted has had several decks of this for years. He read some variant ways to set up the decks and showed it to us. He needs to find some more variants, we were not impressed but Ted still likes it.

Powerboats - A race game using 3 sided dice. This is a great little game. You are supposed to run 3 races to offset any dice luck. Dave really rolls some great dice and gives himself the best chance. He won both races and we put it up.

Moongha Invaders: Mad Scientists and Atomic Monsters Attack the Earth! - The Martin Wallace game designed for the Italian Game Fair PLAY! It is similar to Monsters Menace America. During the game you build monsters and attach cities. There are also Army tokens that protect cities. You try to protect your 2 secret cities and destroy the rest of them. It has some nice action choices. Everyone like it.

Good gaming.

[Charlie Davis]

4-1-2010
by Charlie

We had a big crowd for a change. Doug, Dave, TravR, Tom, Ted, Charlie, Kris and first timer Jess.

When I arrived we had 2 tables going.

Bonnie and Clyde - This is the newest in the Mystery Rummy series. These games would probably be better themed as Crimes than Mysteries but that doesn't matter. They are very good rummy games. This one is based on Bonnie and Clyde. there is some very good art on the cards. Each card is numbered and all of the same number show a progression of a crime in progress. Dave and Doug tied for the win. Jess and TravR also played.

InterUrban - Tom and Ted played this train connection game. I have played it before but don't remember it. I rated it a 7 so that is pretty good. Need to try it again.

Mind Flex - This is the new activity where you control the speed of a fan in the base of the game with your brain. The fan blows a small ball up in the air. You then maneuver the ball around the base and control the height of it. Not sure how it works but it is pretty cool. Several people moved a ball with their mind. Some moved it a lot faster than others.

Then we switched a player or two

Table 1
Moongha Invaders: Mad Scientists and Atomic Monsters Attack the Earth! - Kris, Ted, Tom, and Doug played. A game played 2 weeks in a row. that is a rarity. Ted used his training from last week to school everyone.

Goldbrau - Kris, Ted, Tom and Doug played. I think Kris won this one.

Table 2

Mission Red Planet - Jess, Dave TravR, and Charlie gave this a try. It is an area majority with some randomness thrown in. Jess won, I think. I thought I was going to win and I finished in the bottom half.

Vegas Showdown - Dave TravR, Jess, and Charlie played another game while the Invaders were finishing up. Dave won this. I enjoyed playing it again after a few years. I like it more now than when it came out.

Doug and Jess left after that.

Big Boss - Kris, Tom, Ted, Dave, TravR, and Charlie played this one. One of my favorite Euro games. It is based on Sid Sackson's Acquire. I had a shot at winning but ended up in 4th. I don't remember who did win.

[Charlie Davis]

4-15-2010
by Charlie

We had a small but enthusiastic crowd. Tim, TravR, Dave, Tom, Ted, Kris, and Charlie

Goblins - I hate to say it but I don't even know what this game is. Poor reporting on my part. Tom and Ted played.

Goa - This is one of the more beloved gamer games that most of our crowd had not played before this month. Oddly enough TravR and I had played at a game event the week before so we did not need to play again. It is game that I don't seem to do well at. I do not seem to choose the correct item to put up for bid. Tom, Ted, and Tim played.


A La Carte - While all of that was going on at the other table, we decided to cook some meals. This is a new edition of an older game. The improvement in the bits makes it a worthwhile addition to your game library. There is a little stove, metal pan, jars of ingredients, and some cardboard counters. You are cooking recipes and trying to season them perfectly. It is a challenge because you are literally shaking the ingredients out of a small bottle. The ingredients are irregular shaped colored bits. Each type is in it's own jar but there is also extra clear salt bits in the jars. To much salt can hurt a recipe while to much heat can ruin one. This is definitely a family game that is fun for adults. Dave, TravR, Charlie, Kris

Macao - The best Alea game since Puerto Rico. OK, maybe there was something else but I like it a lot. This has an interesting cube gathering device. You roll 6 colored dice (red, green, blue, black, gray, purple) Each player gets to use 2 of the colors each round. A 1 means you get one cube of that color to spend the next round. A 2 means you get 2 cubes of that color to spend two turns away, a 3 means 3 cubes of that color three turns away, and so on. There is a wind rose that you use to identify which turn you add the cube to. There is a negative 3 points if you have a turn without any cubes so you have to fill in as you go or hope you get a 1 that you can use. Dave did not enjoy the game because he had a bad start. I tried to warn everyone to just play the first game to see how everything works but I guess I didn't warn loud enough. Dave, TravR, Charlie, Kris


Telestrations - The hit of the night. My favorite party game. You sketch a word on a piece of dry erase paper. Hand it to the next player. He writes what you drew on the next page. The next person draws the word(s) he wrote. The next draws that word. Everyone is doing this in a circle so draw, pass, write, pass, draw, pass etc. Up to 8 can play. Then the laughter starts. You reveal the words and drawings and hold your sides because someone is going to write or draw some stupid stuff. Believe me, you cannot play without laughing out loud. It is a hoot. Tim, Ted, Dave, TravR, Charlie, Kris, Tom

Dixit - This is my second favorite party game. This is like Apples to Apples but with more creativity for the person in charge each turn. You have a hand of 5 cards with very colorful and surreal pictures on them. The judge chooses one of her cards and then uses a word or phrase to describe it. Ted used "winter is coming" once. The other players then choose a card from their hand that they believe matches that phrase. All the cards are shuffled together and turned face up. Each player then votes on the one that they think is the Judge's card. The object is to get at least one but not all of the votes. You have to be clever enough to give a good clue without giving it all away. That is where the creativity comes in. Ted, Dave, TravR, Charlie, Kris, Tom

[Charlie Davis]

4-16-2010
by Charlie

The stars must have really been out of alignment because Travis Orders came up from the D&D abyss that he has in since January and managed to get Tom to come out to Montgomery for a Friday night game session. Luke Hughes, a WVU Tech student, also played with us.

Um Reifenbreite - My favorite bicycle racing game. Each player has 4 riders and movement cards for each of them. To move, you can roll 2 dice, play 2 cards, roll 1 die and play 1 card or cheat. Yes folks, this is bicycle racing. It is only cheating, if you get caught. To cheat you just say, "I rolled a six" and draw a card numbered 1 to 6. This represents the camera following you at this point in the race. At the end, 2 camera cards will be drawn and any racer that was spotted cheating by either of those cameras is disqualified. Funny stuff. I forget who won but it was a fun time.

Small World - This has been a favorite of mine since it came out. I liked the original game called Vinci better initially and thought Small World was inferior but I changed my mind. The pace and flow of the game is wonderful. Buy it if you have not already done so. I rode my Trolls most of the way through the game. The game has 3 significant factors. One is, will your declined races score points? Not a lot you can do to help that except to barracade them and protect one side of them with your new race. The second is a player decision. When do you go into decline? The third is, which race do I take? I think most players are to passive. You have to take out the other players pieces, if you have a choice.

[Charlie Davis]

4-17-2010
by Charlie

Three game days in a row for Tom and I. Tom invited some people over and we showed up. TravR, TravO, Dave, Nick, Charlie, and Tom

Dixit - See 2 days ago. Nick and TravO were new to the game. I came in last because I do not know any popular music from the last 20 years. I knew I should have listened to the radio more.

Liar's Dice - Nick had never played this before either. He won. Tom is not a very good liar or his math skills are off. He went out quick.

Dave and TravO left.

Can't Stop - I don't think Nick or Tom had played this either. TravR and I played also. This is very good push your luck game. Families can play as well as cut throat adults.

TravR and Nick left.

Washington's War - This is a re-make of We the People (one of the first card driven games). This is about the American Revolution. The British are trying to keep political power throughout the states and the Americans are trying to gather their own support. All of this is going on while a war is taking place. I got off to a great start with the British. The first 2 or 3 turns were mostly favorable to the British. The middle turns were balanced. About that time, I surrounded Washington's army in Conneticut and just needed a major campaign card in any of the next 3 turns to wipe out him out. It did not come and the French came to America's aid. The game went to the next to last turn and political power was all American. Tom won a hard fought battle very much like the real thing.

This was a very enjoyable day of gaming. Could Tom and I keep it up through the entire weekend? Stay turned.

[Charlie Davis]

4-18-2010
by Charlie

It's Sunday so why not go down to the local game store, LLGC: The Rifleman, and see what is going on. Lots of people were playing RPGs, Warhammer Fantasy, and MTG. The Appalachian Gamers that were there played a board game.

Mystery Express - This is the new game from Days of Wonder. Some of us will be teaching it at ORIGINS in June. Stop in and see us. In Mystery Express, you are trying to discover the suspect, modus operandi, motive, and location of the crime. (Time of the crime is also needed but it is found differently.) There are 2 cards of each thing. During a game turn, you will need to see both cards of a type to rule it out. Seeing one card is not enough. The game only has 5 turns so you need to be quick. Our game was longer than normal because we were playing in the middle of a game store and TravR was working and playing. If played quicker, our game would have been much better. Tom, Lou, TravR, Corey, and Charlie played.

So Tom and I played together 4 days in a row. That is unusual for the Appalachian Gamers. Different people probably have played 4 days in a row but not me. It was a good gamer weekend.