The Games We Play

The Games We Play

A repository of reports on the Wednesday night sessions of the club and anything else related to the club or boardgaming in general, which may be of interest to anyone who may be passing by.

Wednesday 31 March 2010

Session Summary – 10 March 2010

10 this week with Dave & Ben arriving a little late and playing a few games of Memoir '44.

Memoir '44 40 mins.

Posn.

Player

Score

1

Ben C

5

2

Dave C

3

Memoir '44 40 mins.

Posn.

Player

Score

1

Dave C

4

2

Ben C

2

Memoir '44 40 mins.

Posn.

Player

Score

1

Ben C

5

2

Dave C

2


Over on another table 2 games were played, being Steel Driver and San Juan.

Steel Driver 110 mins.

Posn.

Player

Score

1

Andy

1350

2

Colin

1190

3

Mike

1090

4

Donald

1030

San Juan 40 mins.

Posn.

Player

Score

1

Andy

30+

2

Donald

30

3

Mike

26

4

Colin

15


The other 4 of us played Pillars of the Earth, using the expansion. We have played World Without End a lot and this was a return to the earlier game. I like both and wouldn't like to choose between the 2. I think with 4 players, I would go with World Without End, as I think WWE is best with that number. Pillars is probably a bit too open with the expansion and the opposite without it, but I don't have a problem playing an expanded 4 player game. With 3 I think an unexpanded Pillars would just about shade it. Neither game would be my first choice as a 2 player game and of course you can't play WWE with more than 4.

In this game Steve continued his rich form at the game, which has been played 14 times at the club.

Pillars of the Earth, The 120 mins.

Posn.

Player

Score

1

Steve H

50

2

Dave F

46+

3

Dave D

46

4

Andrew S

36


The table below shows how Steve dominates this one with 7 wins and a tie in 13 plays.

Game: Pillars of the Earth, The

Plays: 14

Play Time (Hours): 26.08

Player Hours: 101

First Played: May-07

Last Played: Mar-10

  

Plays

Wins

Ties

Steve H

13

7

1

Mike

4

0

0

Steve P

1

0

0

Dave D

12

2

1

Richard B

2

1

0

Matt

1

0

1

Gordon

3

1

0

Steve Pe

5

1

0

Jeremy

1

0

0

Simon

2

0

0

Paul

1

0

1

Dave C

1

0

0

Ben

1

0

0

Jonathan

1

0

0

Andy

1

0

0

Dave F

2

0

0

Ben C

1

0

0

Andrew S

1

0

0

1 comment:

  1. Steel Driver is a typical Martin Wallace train game where shares are bid for with investment cubes and the cubes are then used to lay track. Track built into cities provides cash. So far, so Chicago Express.

    I liked it until the last round when everything changed. Once the final shares are sold and the track laid, goods cubes are placed on cities according to colour. Unlike AoS or Steam, only one cube is placed on each city.

    The sting in the tail is that all your hard work can be undone in this turn by having too few investment cubes and having someone else steal the company from under you because they were smart enough to save a few. The person with control in the final round gets to pick off cubes for that company.

    You still get your share, but it's frustrating to watch the pattern of goods pick-up go against what you would have planned. If you weren't successful in picking up your favoured company, you get to sit and watch as someone dismantles your plan, cube by cube.

    There is something quite vindictive about this final round mechanic. It is a horrible way to end a game. It left quite a bad taste in my mouth. Sorry, Andy.

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