Mike & I met up at New Street station for this annual day out (actually 2 days, but we only went on day 1) and while sitting on the train waiting to pull away we were joined by Richard (Biddle).
On arriving at the town hall we met up with Nick Kinzet in whose company we were to spend most of the day. Of all the conventions that happen during the year, I regard this one in particular as a chance to play different games, to try something new and therefore I may play things which I might otherwise shy away from (I don't carry this too far though, Antike for example is still a no-no), so it was that we started out with The World Cup game with the designer, Shaun, and some others.
I have been told on several occasions that you don't need to like Football to like the game, but I think it would help, I found it OK but lasting too long. If I had been a Football fan, I may have been able to get into the spirit of it more and ended up liking it.
In the game each player has a selection of teams and the matches of the competition are then resolved by playing cards (it actually reminded me a bit of Wembley, which I played a bit many years ago, but that was based on the F.A. Cup and used dice instead of cards).
I had Brazil & U.S.A amongst my teams and concentrated on them in the group stage getting them through to the knock outs (my other teams France, Saudi Arabia and South Africa didn't really turn up). In the last 16 I concentrated on Brazil and they got to the semi-finals, while U.S.A. lost to Mexico.
In the quarter final, I was able to beat Uruguay, but in so doing I was forced to use up my best cards and lost to Costa Rica in the semis and then to Mexico in the 3rd Place play off, so it was that in this strange World Cup, South Korea emerged victorious, beating Costa Rica in the final.
The closing stages were as follows:
Quarter Finals
Uruguay 1 Brazil 3
Paraguay 2 Mexico 2 (Mexico won 4-3 on penalties)
Republic of Ireland 2 South Korea 4
Denmark 0 Costa Rica 0 (Costa Rica won 4-2 on penalties)
Semi Finals
Brazil 1 Costa Rica 3
South Korea 6 Mexico 4
3rd. Place Play Off
Brazil 1 Mexico 3
Final
Costa Rica 1 South Korea 2
After that had finished, we split into 2 groups and each played Ark, a strange game where you are responsible for saving various species of animal by accommodating them on the Ark before the flood comes. Our group consisted of Nick, who taught the game, Mike, Richard and I. There are various rules about how you accommodate the different species. Carnivores cannot go with animals the same size or smaller because they would eat them, herbivores can't go with food, because they would eat it, shy animals can't go with or next to any carnivore and omnivores are just a pain because they have the problems of both herbivores and carnivores. Add this to the fact that you need to spread the weight about equally on either side of the ark so it doesn't keel over and you can have great difficulty finding a way to place you animals.
Points are scored like an area majority game, with the person who saves the most animal of one of the 5 types (Useful, Shy, Heavy, Slow and Food) getting 10 points with 6 for second and 2 for any one else who saves at least one of a type). I quite enjoyed the game, it was maybe a bit long but I'm sure this would drop with repeated playing. Mike who had a terrible time with his placements wasn't so sure.
Scores
Dave 34, Nick 27, Richard 27, Mike 25
It was now time for a break and I went out to grab something to eat and also for a trip to Spirit Games where I picked up Notre Dame, which I'll be bringing next Wednesday. When I returned, Richard, Mike & Nick had started a game of On the Underground. It sometimes seems that this game always hits the table when I'm not looking, which is a shame. I didn't record scores for this and don't recall who won despite watching the end, maybe Mike or Richard could fill us in.
I went to the bar and then joined Shaun and Andy for a game of Carcasonne, which I have not played for years. I know this isn't a long game, but it still seems too long for what it is and I remain amazed at the whole new industry that seems to have developed around it. Anyway I didn't come last, scores were:
Shaun 104, Dave 75, Andy 62
When we finished, the Underground game was also near an end and I rejoined the other group to play Flying Carpet, an interesting game involving navigating the eponymous carpet in a race to take off from one roof and fly over a number of building before landing on another roof at the other end of the board. Movement is in a horizontal and vertical direction and controlled by the play of cards, at higher levels you can also be blown 1 or 2 spaces by the wind. If you land on someone you can either cause them to miss their next turn or cause them to plummet to the ground or roof below. An element of absolute chaos is introduced by carpets landing on starred squares meaning a die is thrown with various effects. Apparently the advanced game takes this element out, which would certainly allow for more tactical play, but the game is quite light and fun as it stands and it may be that this would disappear with the stars taken out.
I finished first in a close race ahead of Nick, Richard, Mike and Steve (in no particular order).
Next was Oasis, a game I own but had only played once, getting absolutely thrashed. I said I would give it another try, but had not done so until now. I was not so soundly thrashed this time, although I was still last, and I have to say that I did not enjoy the game that much. The problem to me is that you are not allowed to look at the cards you use to make offers introducing a random element I don't like. I wonder if the game would be improved by allowing you to look at your cards to choose your offer, although the opposite view is that this would cause Analysis Paralysis and this may well be correct. In line with my usual attitude that it is usually better not to try to fix games I don't like but just not to play, I don't expect to be playing this again soon.
Scores
Steve 98, Mike 90, Nick 68, Richard 64, Dave 58
Finally it was Space Beans, which I also own and has been played at the club in the distant past (before records began), I didn't realise Mike enjoyed this, but will start putting it in the pocket of my bag as it is a good little filler. No more details but the scores were
Steve 35, Nick 26, Dave 24, Richard 24, Mike 20.
After this Mike and I left to catch a train, Richard remained. Thanks to all we played with, it was a good day.
Sunday, 13 May 2007
Session Summary - 9 May 2007
Knowing that Mike and Steve would be absent, I got in touch with Dave before hand and he brought Ben along, with the intention of playing Runebound.
As it turned out this was a very one sided game. An event turned up right at the beginning putting cards face down in 3 of the towns. Whoever first visited the town would be able to take the cards free. I managed to visit the centre town first and then as the others had headed north I quickly went south to the town there. The result was that I picked up 2 value 10 items for nothing and was set up from then on, one item was a nice sword, which would usually allow me to take out most of the low level encounters and many higher ones before combat was begun and the other was a staff allowing me to heal all wounds and fatigue at the beginning of the turn so I never need to spend gold on healing. When the other town was visited, the free card was a cheap one.
This all set the tone for the game and I was able to win easily while the other laboured trying to deal with the lesser encounters. We did run into a few puzzles over effect timing later on due to the things introduced in the games FAQ on subject that I would not have thought to ask a question, but the questions were asked and the answers were different to what I would have thought. This maybe delayed my victory by a short while.
Until next week.
As it turned out this was a very one sided game. An event turned up right at the beginning putting cards face down in 3 of the towns. Whoever first visited the town would be able to take the cards free. I managed to visit the centre town first and then as the others had headed north I quickly went south to the town there. The result was that I picked up 2 value 10 items for nothing and was set up from then on, one item was a nice sword, which would usually allow me to take out most of the low level encounters and many higher ones before combat was begun and the other was a staff allowing me to heal all wounds and fatigue at the beginning of the turn so I never need to spend gold on healing. When the other town was visited, the free card was a cheap one.
This all set the tone for the game and I was able to win easily while the other laboured trying to deal with the lesser encounters. We did run into a few puzzles over effect timing later on due to the things introduced in the games FAQ on subject that I would not have thought to ask a question, but the questions were asked and the answers were different to what I would have thought. This maybe delayed my victory by a short while.
Until next week.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Session Summary - 2 May 2007
Back to 3 this week, with Mike and Steve and no Dave C.
The games played.
This was one of my favourite games of last year and I wanted to give it another try in it's first edition form before I get the 2nd. edition upgrade, due next month. I have been trying for some time but this was the first opportunity of the year. Mike had played before and this was Steve's first play.
I started having drawn engineer 2 (Smeaton), but in defiance of a rule that I only noticed after it was pointed out by someone else, I declined to play red. I chose the Worcester and Birmingham, while Mike went with the Macclesfield Canal. Steve took the quick option of the River Severn Navigation. Having done this Mike and I realised the small difficulty that there were no cards available for difficult terrain and no surveyors (it turned out that the way the deck was stacked, no tunnel cards turned up until we got to about the last quarter of the deck), so in our following turns we picked up The Coventry Canal and The Bridgewater Canal respectively allowing us to start building and get some goods moving while Steve built his initial contract.
The following turn the pattern of the game was set, when I discarded the available build cards and drew 3 surveyors, which with Smeaton allowed the completion of the Worcester and Birmingham giving me a 4 point link in advance of the others, this and the fact that goods were plentiful early on gave me a good lead in the early play which I never lost. Mike was able to make a 5 point link at the end with the Llangollen Canal, but was only able to transport one good, which I'd dumped in Llangollen at the beginning. No contracts (such as the Shropshire Union) came up to link the Northern & Southern canal networks.
When I passed the 60 point game end trigger it was a case of finishing off what could be finished and also Mike made a token start on the Leeds and Liverpool getting an extra point for the one lock from Leeds. Final Goods deliveries were fairly even and second place was decided between Steve and Mike (who had been running neck and neck for most of the game) when they tied for the most prolific constructor and Steve won the contract value tie break.
After the game Mike professed himself still not convinced, I see why that is, but to me this is still a great game and I look forward to the 2nd. edition, which looks as if it will be better still.
The record of Canals completed (not necessarily in chronological order):
Dave D
Mike
Steve
Final Position below.
Following that there was just time for
This was a low scoring game, Mike won using a fairly straight production strategy with the Guild Hall and a few violets with City Hall, Steve essentially did the same, but ended up with fewer buildings. I searched in vain for City Hall with the Councillor but had to settle for a set of monuments and Triumphal Arch. With perfect hindsight , It would have been better to forego the Councillor some times and done something else. Perhaps I might have been able to get the Palace out that way.
Until next week.
The games played.
| Canal Mania 120 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Dave D | 1 | 85 |
| Steve H | 2 | 77 |
| Mike | 3 | 71 |
This was one of my favourite games of last year and I wanted to give it another try in it's first edition form before I get the 2nd. edition upgrade, due next month. I have been trying for some time but this was the first opportunity of the year. Mike had played before and this was Steve's first play.
I started having drawn engineer 2 (Smeaton), but in defiance of a rule that I only noticed after it was pointed out by someone else, I declined to play red. I chose the Worcester and Birmingham, while Mike went with the Macclesfield Canal. Steve took the quick option of the River Severn Navigation. Having done this Mike and I realised the small difficulty that there were no cards available for difficult terrain and no surveyors (it turned out that the way the deck was stacked, no tunnel cards turned up until we got to about the last quarter of the deck), so in our following turns we picked up The Coventry Canal and The Bridgewater Canal respectively allowing us to start building and get some goods moving while Steve built his initial contract.
The following turn the pattern of the game was set, when I discarded the available build cards and drew 3 surveyors, which with Smeaton allowed the completion of the Worcester and Birmingham giving me a 4 point link in advance of the others, this and the fact that goods were plentiful early on gave me a good lead in the early play which I never lost. Mike was able to make a 5 point link at the end with the Llangollen Canal, but was only able to transport one good, which I'd dumped in Llangollen at the beginning. No contracts (such as the Shropshire Union) came up to link the Northern & Southern canal networks.
When I passed the 60 point game end trigger it was a case of finishing off what could be finished and also Mike made a token start on the Leeds and Liverpool getting an extra point for the one lock from Leeds. Final Goods deliveries were fairly even and second place was decided between Steve and Mike (who had been running neck and neck for most of the game) when they tied for the most prolific constructor and Steve won the contract value tie break.
After the game Mike professed himself still not convinced, I see why that is, but to me this is still a great game and I look forward to the 2nd. edition, which looks as if it will be better still.
The record of Canals completed (not necessarily in chronological order):
Dave D
- The Worcester & Birmingham Canal (Worcester to Birmingham (via Coventry and Stratford))
- The Coventry Canal (Coventry to Burton (via Leicester))
- The Bridgewater & Taunton Canal
- The Grand Union Canal (Birmingham to Northampton (via Coventry))
- The Kennet & Avon Canal (Bristol to Reading via Bath)
- The Huddersfield Narrow Canal (Manchester to Huddersfield)
Mike
- The Bridgewater Canal (Manchester to Liverpool (via Chester))
- The Macclesfield Canal (Manchester to Stoke)
- The Thames & Severn Canal (Oxford to Gloucester)
- The Ripon Canal (Ripon to York)
- The Avon & Gloucester Navigation (Stratford to Gloucester (via Worcester))
- The Wey & Arun Canal (Weybridge to Arundel via Guildford)
- The Llangollen Canal (Llangollen to Stoke)
Steve
- The River Severn Navigation (Worcester to Gloucester)
- The Grand Union Canal (Nottingham to Northampton via Leicester)
- The Medway Navigation (Tonbridge to Maidstone)
- The Thames Navigation (Oxford to London via Reading (also via Weybridge))
- The Fossdyke Navigation (Lincoln to Boston)
- The Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation (Sheffield to Goole)
- The Lancaster Canal (Lancaster to Preston)
Final Position below.
Following that there was just time for
| San Juan 35 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Mike | 1 | 32 |
| Steve H | 2 | 29+ |
| Dave D | 3 | 29 |
This was a low scoring game, Mike won using a fairly straight production strategy with the Guild Hall and a few violets with City Hall, Steve essentially did the same, but ended up with fewer buildings. I searched in vain for City Hall with the Councillor but had to settle for a set of monuments and Triumphal Arch. With perfect hindsight , It would have been better to forego the Councillor some times and done something else. Perhaps I might have been able to get the Palace out that way.
Until next week.
Monday, 30 April 2007
Session Summary - 25 April 2007
A somewhat delayed posting of the play last Wednesday. We welcomed back Gordon and Steve P for the first time in a while and hope they will not remain strangers, we actually got to break even on the room hire.
Onto the games
It's been a fair time since this was last on the table. Steve was able to get a good early lead by building a triple residence next to the street car line and was never in any danger after that. I just edged Steve P in the close battle for second place while Dave was a distant fifth having altruistically built City Hall and started the street car, to the benefit of the rest of us. There was a general agreement that this is the sort of game that is probably better with fewer players, due to the loss of control due to the massive changes that can take place between turns. See attached picture.
Next onto a game that I think is best with more players.
A comfortable win for Gordon. I did try to stop him by trying an assassination on the last turn, but deciding that it was a choice between the King and the Warlord, I picked the wrong one. I was handicapped by only seeming to draw building of value 4 or more and only got 4 down by the end of the game. Oh Well.
I have updated the stats pages for April
Until Wednesday
Onto the games
| Big City 70 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Steve H | 1 | 70 |
| Dave D | 2 | 61 |
| Steve P | 3 | 60 |
| Gordon | 4 | 56 |
| Dave C | 5 | 36 |
It's been a fair time since this was last on the table. Steve was able to get a good early lead by building a triple residence next to the street car line and was never in any danger after that. I just edged Steve P in the close battle for second place while Dave was a distant fifth having altruistically built City Hall and started the street car, to the benefit of the rest of us. There was a general agreement that this is the sort of game that is probably better with fewer players, due to the loss of control due to the massive changes that can take place between turns. See attached picture.
Next onto a game that I think is best with more players.
| Citadels 80 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Gordon | 1 | 31 |
| Dave C | 2 | 24 |
| Steve P | 3 | 22 |
| Steve H | 4 | 18 |
| Dave D | 5 | 15 |
A comfortable win for Gordon. I did try to stop him by trying an assassination on the last turn, but deciding that it was a choice between the King and the Warlord, I picked the wrong one. I was handicapped by only seeming to draw building of value 4 or more and only got 4 down by the end of the game. Oh Well.
I have updated the stats pages for April
Until Wednesday
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Session Summary - 18 April 2007
It was 5 this week, with Dave C minding Ben, so they settled down to Runebound and the rest of us played
This was played on the French map using the 3 areas running from left to right across the middle from Brest in the west to Chamonix in the east. Power plants ended up as me with 3, Mike with 4 and Steve with 5, leaving me with first buying rights in the following rounds, after buying raw materials I started in Le Mans, Mike put himself next to me in Orleans and Steve sat on his own in Lyons.
As step 1 unfolded Steve built to 6 cities, while Mike and I intertwined ourselves splitting 5/5 amongst the cities in the north (including the 3 in Paris) with relatively cheap connection costs. It was round this time that I got in a bit of a mess with the power plants. Mike had picked up the dirty coal burning no. 20 and I then let Steve have no.29 without much of a fight being a bit reluctant to take a plant that would only power 4 and would therefore need replacement. I hoped to see something better drop, unfortunately I was left with the option of no.24, the trash price was way too high and with only 3 players not coming down fast. So I sat on my total 3 capacity hoping for an improvement or at least for the trash price to fall. It didn't happen and I eventually decided in the end to pick up plant 12, which had the advantage that it was cheap, the fuel was cheap and it allowed me to power my cities, if some what uneconomically. I was fortunate, I think that no one pushed earlier into Step 2.
Things broke eventually of course and I was able to pick up plant 26 at the same time as Steve grabbed 34 and he then pushed the game into step 2. The following turn as things turned out, I was last to pick a plant through having delayed building cities and 30 dropped into my lap triggering step 3 with the replacement, Steve had picked up plant 28 giving him 13 capacity (5-4-4), I had 13 (6-5-2), Mike had now fallen behind. In the building phase I increased my total to 11 by filling up the '15' spaces where Mike had taken the '10's. This left me to bid first and build last in the next turn.
Now step 3 had been reached there were plenty of good plants to buy, I got no.50, Steve had 36 and Mike had 32, I now had 17 capacity but not enough cash to trigger a finish so I did not build further, knowing I would be first to build the following turn as the others had moved past me in cities.
On that turn, I did not buy a plant and neither did Steve, hoping that neither Mike nor I could end the game, Mike had bought a plant, enabling him to match my 17 capacity. Following raw materials purchases, I built to 17 cities, grabbing the '15' sites in the south where, Steve had started. Steve built to his 16 capacity and Mike was able to match my 17, but as he built last he was left with mostly 20 cost sites and ended up losing the money tie break.
We always enjoy a game of Power Grid, but I'm not sure any of us covered ourselves in glory this time out, I managed to get my self in an early mess, while the other two, I think, let me off and ended up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Another unusual thing was that there was not at any time in the game, any appreciable fuel shortage problem, this may have been due to only 3 players, but even so I don't recall such as friendly game in that respect, even with three.
I have also posted the above on the geek
Next there was time for
Congratulations to Steve on his first win at San Juan, although he did shuffle the cards and I don't think I can recall seeing a worse run from my point of view. Steve made the Carpenter/Quarry combo work nicely and was able to add City Hall, Triumphal Arch and a full set of monuments, Mike had City Hall and Guild Hall. The only 6 building I saw all game was the Palace, despite copious councilling. I did also have a chapel and toward the end of the game I was just chucking cards at it on the grounds that they were worth as much in there as they would be to build and it was cheaper. If I'd done that earlier I might have beaten Mike. Congratulations to Steve on his impressive win, I'm not bitter really.
Until next week.
| Power Grid 100 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Dave D | 1 | 17+ |
| Mike | 2 | 17 |
| Steve H | 3 | 16 |
This was played on the French map using the 3 areas running from left to right across the middle from Brest in the west to Chamonix in the east. Power plants ended up as me with 3, Mike with 4 and Steve with 5, leaving me with first buying rights in the following rounds, after buying raw materials I started in Le Mans, Mike put himself next to me in Orleans and Steve sat on his own in Lyons.
As step 1 unfolded Steve built to 6 cities, while Mike and I intertwined ourselves splitting 5/5 amongst the cities in the north (including the 3 in Paris) with relatively cheap connection costs. It was round this time that I got in a bit of a mess with the power plants. Mike had picked up the dirty coal burning no. 20 and I then let Steve have no.29 without much of a fight being a bit reluctant to take a plant that would only power 4 and would therefore need replacement. I hoped to see something better drop, unfortunately I was left with the option of no.24, the trash price was way too high and with only 3 players not coming down fast. So I sat on my total 3 capacity hoping for an improvement or at least for the trash price to fall. It didn't happen and I eventually decided in the end to pick up plant 12, which had the advantage that it was cheap, the fuel was cheap and it allowed me to power my cities, if some what uneconomically. I was fortunate, I think that no one pushed earlier into Step 2.
Things broke eventually of course and I was able to pick up plant 26 at the same time as Steve grabbed 34 and he then pushed the game into step 2. The following turn as things turned out, I was last to pick a plant through having delayed building cities and 30 dropped into my lap triggering step 3 with the replacement, Steve had picked up plant 28 giving him 13 capacity (5-4-4), I had 13 (6-5-2), Mike had now fallen behind. In the building phase I increased my total to 11 by filling up the '15' spaces where Mike had taken the '10's. This left me to bid first and build last in the next turn.
Now step 3 had been reached there were plenty of good plants to buy, I got no.50, Steve had 36 and Mike had 32, I now had 17 capacity but not enough cash to trigger a finish so I did not build further, knowing I would be first to build the following turn as the others had moved past me in cities.
On that turn, I did not buy a plant and neither did Steve, hoping that neither Mike nor I could end the game, Mike had bought a plant, enabling him to match my 17 capacity. Following raw materials purchases, I built to 17 cities, grabbing the '15' sites in the south where, Steve had started. Steve built to his 16 capacity and Mike was able to match my 17, but as he built last he was left with mostly 20 cost sites and ended up losing the money tie break.
We always enjoy a game of Power Grid, but I'm not sure any of us covered ourselves in glory this time out, I managed to get my self in an early mess, while the other two, I think, let me off and ended up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Another unusual thing was that there was not at any time in the game, any appreciable fuel shortage problem, this may have been due to only 3 players, but even so I don't recall such as friendly game in that respect, even with three.
I have also posted the above on the geek
Next there was time for
| San Juan 35 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Steve H | 1 | 41 |
| Mike | 2 | 31 |
| Dave D | 3 | 30 |
Congratulations to Steve on his first win at San Juan, although he did shuffle the cards and I don't think I can recall seeing a worse run from my point of view. Steve made the Carpenter/Quarry combo work nicely and was able to add City Hall, Triumphal Arch and a full set of monuments, Mike had City Hall and Guild Hall. The only 6 building I saw all game was the Palace, despite copious councilling. I did also have a chapel and toward the end of the game I was just chucking cards at it on the grounds that they were worth as much in there as they would be to build and it was cheaper. If I'd done that earlier I might have beaten Mike. Congratulations to Steve on his impressive win, I'm not bitter really.
Until next week.
Saturday, 14 April 2007
Session Summary - 11 April 2007
Easter Holidays still and Dave C was running a Star Wars RPG scenario down in the bar, which left Steve and me upstairs. We had agreed in advance that if there were the 2 of us it would be a rematch at Fury of Dracula and this time Steve was to be the Count.
I had planned to write an elaborate story of how the brave vampire hunters vanquished (or didn't vanquish) the dark power, however as the game went unfinished as these games often do I'll give a quick rundown.
Having spread the hunters round Europe, I drew the Evasion event card allowing Dracula to "teleport" anywhere on the board before Steve's second move, this being far too early for the card to be very helpful. The first game day passed without a trace of the count although Newpasper reports did reveal he had started in Santander and Van Helsing checked ou the Iberian peninsula, the count being long gone due to the evasion.
The break came just as Dracula had gone to sea, when further reports revealed that he had been in Strasbourg Dr. Seward and Lord Godalming discovered traces in Frankfurt, Berlin and Leipzig (where Seward dispatched a vampire). I deduce that he had put to sea from Hamburg and after 2 sea moves, he was revealed to be in Cadiz by hired scouts, and the hunters closed in.
Dracula made his way to Santander and into the Bay of Biscay, but was forced into Nantes by Stormy seas, but was able to slip though the closing net using unearthly swiftness and then lead the hunters on a chase to the east, reaching Bucharest as we finished, Mina having just dealt with a vampire in Vienna.
I don't have the details of the Star Wars game, but believe Dave will post them (as he now has in his comment).
Until next week.
I had planned to write an elaborate story of how the brave vampire hunters vanquished (or didn't vanquish) the dark power, however as the game went unfinished as these games often do I'll give a quick rundown.
Having spread the hunters round Europe, I drew the Evasion event card allowing Dracula to "teleport" anywhere on the board before Steve's second move, this being far too early for the card to be very helpful. The first game day passed without a trace of the count although Newpasper reports did reveal he had started in Santander and Van Helsing checked ou the Iberian peninsula, the count being long gone due to the evasion.
The break came just as Dracula had gone to sea, when further reports revealed that he had been in Strasbourg Dr. Seward and Lord Godalming discovered traces in Frankfurt, Berlin and Leipzig (where Seward dispatched a vampire). I deduce that he had put to sea from Hamburg and after 2 sea moves, he was revealed to be in Cadiz by hired scouts, and the hunters closed in.
Dracula made his way to Santander and into the Bay of Biscay, but was forced into Nantes by Stormy seas, but was able to slip though the closing net using unearthly swiftness and then lead the hunters on a chase to the east, reaching Bucharest as we finished, Mina having just dealt with a vampire in Vienna.
I don't have the details of the Star Wars game, but believe Dave will post them (as he now has in his comment).
Until next week.
Thursday, 5 April 2007
Session Summary - 4th April 2007
Yet again, just Dave D, Mike, Steve H and myself; along with Ben and Matthew. I understand from Mike that there are some uncollected T-shirts; these will be paraded on TV in due course. Anyway, with only Ben and Matthew along I decided not to play AD&D; instead we played Runebound (2nd ed.) This is a boardgame of exploring a fantasy land; aiming to gain experience and allies to take on the big baddie (the Dragonlord) or to collect three Dragon Runes (equally as tough a challenge). The game in some ways is similar to Talisman, however in Runebound there are a lot more decisions you can make and you have more control over how you achieve your goals. For example, you may see an Ally you'd particularly like (because they complement your characters abilities.) The Ally is in Town x and costs y gold to hire. So you know to head for that town and how much gold you need to get from encounters. Movement is by rolling a set of unique dice showing terrain symbols and moving into the allowed terrain. Thus, mountains are harder to move through (because there is only 1 mountain symbol on each dice). The encounters are graded from Green (easiest) to Red (hardest , and how you win). But it's your decision when you change from Green encounters to going after the Yellow (the next hardest). Back to the Ally example. Need quick gold? Then go and beat up a few greens (be warned, they're not all pushovers!)
The game started fairly leisurely (as Matt was new to the game (in fact, is new to these sort of games overall)). Ben fell foul of an Assassin encounter early on and took it really personally. He finally killed them on the fifth attempt! (Like Talisman, you don't die as such but you lose stuff and start again from the nearest town. You keep the same character however, and whatever it was that done you in sticks around, fully healed, available for anyone to take on. Ben was insisting we left it alone). I had to run away from my first encounter, fortunately my Special Ability was to automatically escape from combat. This meant I could scout out the opposition and run off if I thought they were too tough; so I went for some early Yellows.
As the game progressed, Matt and Ben got more into planning their moves ahead ('to get to that encounter I need two hills and a swamp so if I don't get them then I'll head for the Town' etc.). We didn't finish the game so when time was up we scored off earned experience points.
Dave 16
Ben 12
Matt 12
Ben and Matt decided that Ben was second as he had more money than Matt did.
Overall, give it a go. Talisman wasn't a bad game overall (but did have some bad points). Runebound is better and a worthy successor.
Dave D taking over here. On the piece of paper Dave gave me he lists the scores as follows, the order's the same but the scores slightly different:
Over on the other table, we had:
This game seems to go in 2 ways, either they are very close, or very spread out, this one tending toward the latter, I can't think of much else to say since although I love the game, I can't think of anything prompting a massive narrative.
Steve strayed from his usual all out green strategy and started by innovating his workforce requirement, I think this was more due to the unusually high availability of hiring and firing cards. I don't think he plans to try this again. Although I don't hold that the only way to play is to get your waste production down as quickly as possible, generally preferring to lean toward the raw materials track, I do think that the workforce requirement is probably the lesser of the three.
Until Wednesday
The game started fairly leisurely (as Matt was new to the game (in fact, is new to these sort of games overall)). Ben fell foul of an Assassin encounter early on and took it really personally. He finally killed them on the fifth attempt! (Like Talisman, you don't die as such but you lose stuff and start again from the nearest town. You keep the same character however, and whatever it was that done you in sticks around, fully healed, available for anyone to take on. Ben was insisting we left it alone). I had to run away from my first encounter, fortunately my Special Ability was to automatically escape from combat. This meant I could scout out the opposition and run off if I thought they were too tough; so I went for some early Yellows.
As the game progressed, Matt and Ben got more into planning their moves ahead ('to get to that encounter I need two hills and a swamp so if I don't get them then I'll head for the Town' etc.). We didn't finish the game so when time was up we scored off earned experience points.
Dave 16
Ben 12
Matt 12
Ben and Matt decided that Ben was second as he had more money than Matt did.
Overall, give it a go. Talisman wasn't a bad game overall (but did have some bad points). Runebound is better and a worthy successor.
Dave D taking over here. On the piece of paper Dave gave me he lists the scores as follows, the order's the same but the scores slightly different:
| Runebound 150 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Dave C | 1 | 17 |
| Ben | 2= | 14 |
| Matthew (2) | 2= | 14 |
Over on the other table, we had:
| On the Underground 90 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Dave D | 1 | 62 |
| Mike | 2 | 56 |
| Steve H | 3 | 46 |
This game seems to go in 2 ways, either they are very close, or very spread out, this one tending toward the latter, I can't think of much else to say since although I love the game, I can't think of anything prompting a massive narrative.
| Industrial Waste 60 mins | ||
| Player | Posn. | Points |
| Dave D | 1 | 63 |
| Mike | 2 | 51 |
| Steve H | 3 | 43 |
Steve strayed from his usual all out green strategy and started by innovating his workforce requirement, I think this was more due to the unusually high availability of hiring and firing cards. I don't think he plans to try this again. Although I don't hold that the only way to play is to get your waste production down as quickly as possible, generally preferring to lean toward the raw materials track, I do think that the workforce requirement is probably the lesser of the three.
Until Wednesday
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