Catch Up 10,17,24 June

Just a few notes by way of catching up.

Games Expo

I was at Games Expo on the Saturday and Sunday, but didn't actually play many games. Saturday morning was spent was spent demoing Great Fire, which seemed to go down well. Feedback was positive and Richard Denning is going to look for a publisher on that basis. There have been another couple of changes in the game since then and I hope to get the game on the table again to try them out.

Saturday afternoon was spent wandering including a game of Battle Line (old Knizia title) with Mike, it's OK for a 2 player game, but not one I'd want to play regularly.

Sunday morning was more wandering before going back and actually playing Great Fire in the afternoon. Dave & Ben were also around both days playing parts in the Living Dungeon.

10 June

We had to wait for the room upstairs to become free, so spent some time in the bar playing some short games. 6 of us played a couple of games of Tsuro.

Tsuro 15 mins.
Posn.	Player
1	Mike
2	Ben C
3=	Dave F
3=	Dave D
3=	Steve H
6	Steve Pe
Tsuro 15 mins.
Posn.	Player
1	Steve H
2	Dave F
3=	Mike
3=	Ben C
5	Steve Pe
6	Dave D

While Dave C and another 3 tried Days of Steam, which he had picked up at the expo. The game was not completed before we moved upstairs. I had a chance to try this with Dave (2 player) on the following Saturday and it seemed OK, but probably needs more players. It seems fairly light and could make a reasonable filler.

Days of Steam 20 mins.
Posn.	Player
1=	Dave C
1=	Paul
1=	Donald
1=	Nigel

We moved upstairs and split into 2 5 player groups. On one table was Pillars of the Earth, I think this was Dave's first try at the game, Ben had played once before but not with the expansion. The 2 Steves finished comfortably ahead, with the rest of us trailing.

Pillars of the Earth, The 140 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Steve H	55
2	Steve Pe	52
3	Dave D	43
4	Dave F	41
5	Ben C	35

On the other table was Automobile, the new Martin Wallace and another one that Dave had picked up at Expo, I had thought about getting this myself, but knowing that Dave & Andy had both bought copies decided against. The game seemed to go down well and I enjoyed my try the following week.

Automobile 140 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Mike	3990
2	Paul	3680
3	Nigel	2870
4	Dave C	2810
5	Donald	2790

17 June

7 this week and a 4/3 split.

I had my first try at Automobile, which ended with a second win for Mike, I think this a game that's going to take a few trys to get the strategy. I gather though that after 2 wins Mike came a bit of a cropper at the Rosliston weekend, speaking of which I'd be interested in seeing some sort of info about the games played there.

Automobile 120 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Mike	4680
2	Dave D	4150
3	Donald	4040
4	Dave C	3050

We finished off with Tsuro

Tsuro 15 mins.
Posn.	Player
1	Mike
2	Dave C
3	Dave D
4	Donald

On the other table the first game was Stone Age, a game which I didn't take to when I tried it

Stone Age 80 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Steve H	165
2	Gordon	159
3	Dave F	155

Followed by an old favourite, Ra, I see that Gordon didn't win for once.

Ra 50 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Steve H	56
2	Gordon	52
3	Dave F	40

24 June

With 8 players, we started with Tsuro, while waiting to see if Dave & Ben would appear.

Tsuro 15 mins.
Posn.	Player
1	Donald
2	Steve P
3	Gordon
4	Mike
5=	Dave D
5=	Daniel
7=	Steve H
7=	Dave F

After that it was another 4/4 split, no one else having arrived. 4 of us played Power Grid. Dave was new to the game and Daniel, I gather, has not that much experience. We used the China board, which I think could be my favourite. It has a slow build up due to the ordered appearance of the power plants, but this seems to lead to a great climax.

This was the closest game I have known with all 4 players tied and separated by money. There were only a few elektros between Dave & myself at the end and he would have won, if he hadn't spent 2 much on buying extra raw materials he didn't need, I think it was a case of inexperience showing. Steve was looking good for a lot of the game, having been left quite isolated in the south, but lost out at the end, when he went last to build and there were only 2 cities available in the far north, the connection costs were enough to drop him down to last.

Power Grid 120 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Dave D	17+++
2	Dave F	17++
3	Daniel	17+
4	Steve H	17

On the other table was In the Year of the Dragon

In the Year of the Dragon 90 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Gordon	98
2	Donald	89
3	Steve P	88
4	Mike	68

And Dominion, I don't have the scores or positions for this game, although I am told that Gordon won.

Dominion 30 mins.
Posn.	Player
1	Gordon
2=	Donald
2=	Steve P
2=	Mike

Session Report 3 June 2009

There were just the 5 of us this week, the ideal number for another game of Battlestar Galactica, this being Donald's first try at the game.
The characters were Gaius Baltar (Mike), Admiral Helo (Andy), Chief Tyrol (Donald), Apollo (Myself) and President Laura Roslin (Steve H).
This game was somewhat different to the other games we have played, as apart from right at the beginning when Galactica was briefly damaged and quickly repaired, space was pretty well clear of Cylons throughout (it was so quiet in fact, that despite the fact that I spent most of the game in a Viper, I never got to shoot at one raider). The humans appeared not to get off to a good start, when an early crisis was Legendary Discovery, this would have got have got us off to a flying start, but an Investigative Committee revealed Destiny badly against us, before most had received a full hand of cards, so this was failed.
I later realised that failing that check could have been a blessing in disguise, because the first destination was the 3 distance Asteroid Field, if we had passed the Legendary Discovery check, this would have brought us to the sleeper phase after just one jump, although I suppose Andy could, of course have picked the other destination. As it was we proceeded to a second jump, which was also an Asteroid Field, so by the time the Sleeper Agent phase was reached, we were already at 6 distance, only 2 from Kobol.
It didn't take long now for the Cylons to make themselves known, as both Roslin and Baltar threw negative cards into a skill check covered by an Investigative Committee. On Roslin's turn she did not reveal but used an Arrest Order to throw Helo in the brig (making me Admiral), Baltar did reveal, sending the Chief to Sickbay, although an Executive Order from Helo got him out before his turn. We removed Roslin, from office and I became President as well. Roslin still didn't reveal in the hope of better interfering with Skill checks, while Baltar moved to Caprica and took a choice of 2 crises, but by this time we had already reached 8 distance we were soon able to make the final jump at a risk of 3 population, we had plenty in hand.
So an easy win for the humans, the first we've had at the club, I gather Mike was a cylon from the beginning, while Steve didn't receive his card until the Sleeper phase, by which time we were almost home.
A quick statistics note, after all the play this year, usually with 5 players, Battlestar Galactica has jumped into our all time Top 10 and currently sits at number 8.

Battlestar Galactica 160 mins.
Posn.	Player
1=	Donald
1=	Andy
1=	Dave D
4=	Steve H
4=	Mike

UK Games Expo 6 & 7 June 2009

This weekend it is the third UK Games Expo at the Clarendon Suite on the Hagley Road. Dave C & Ben will be involved with the Living Dungeon and will be there both days.

I shall also be there both days and will be running Demo Games for Great Fire on Saturday morning, short precis of the game can be found here.

No doubt reports of the weekend's events will appear in the new future.

Catch Up – May 2009

More catching up
6 May
6 players, I believe Dave & Ben had another Monsterpocalypse session.

Small World 90 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Mike	90
2	Andy	89
3	Steve H	84
4	Dave D	82

I was surprised at this result, I and I think the others thought I was doing quite well, but the reality turned out a bit differently.

Dominion 60 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Andy	29
2	Mike	28
3	Steve H	27
4	Dave D	23

Andy & I went for gardens and split them 6 each, I ended up on 39 cards, 1 short of 6 extra points.
13 May
5 players

Power Grid 120 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Paul	14+
2	Dave D	14
3	Mike	13
4	Steve H	12
5	Steve Pe	11

Played on the Central Europe map
Steve H & I then left.

Katzenjammer Blues 15 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Mike	8
2	Steve Pe	4
3	Gordon	3

 
20 May
9 players, we welcomed Donald for the first time.

Planet Steam 120 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Gordon	625
2	Dave D	589
3	Donald	569
4	Steve P	549

Interesting game of resource mining on an alien planet. It has a very nice resource market mechanism, although perhaps too many auctions for my taste. The pieces are very nice, although I do think that the board is one of the ugliest I have seen.

Liberté 150 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Dave C	16
2	Steve H	14+
3	Mike	14
4	Andy	12
5	Ben C	6

I know Dave & Steve have been wanting to get this on the table for some time and they finally had a chance this week.
27 May
4 players plus Dave running Corporation in the same room having been thrown out of the bar due to the Champions League final.

Power Grid 150 mins.
Posn.	Player	Score
1	Steve H	20
2	Gordon	17
3	Dave D	15
4	Donald	11

This was played on the German map with large power plant deck, so there were 32 cities in the game and the end game trigger was 20. 3 of the 5 plants thrown out randomly at the beginning were garbage plants, so this resulted in big demand for Coal & Oil. As has been common this month I had a bad game, but I should really have had second place at the end. I spotted that I could deny Donald the Oil he needed and bought enough to do this one the last turn, but I missed that I could screw Steve in the same way by buying some more. Gordon could have ended the game at that point and would have had the victory with me second. I blame all the noise coming from the other table.
Power Grid now moves back to the number 2 game so far this year, but I can't see it overtaking Battlestar Galactica.