2nd February 05.....................................................6 Players

This week we got Power Grid to the table after a couple of aborted attempts last month. I am still reeling a bit following yet another week of coming last. I am going through a gaming low as far as results go. I am a happy-go-lucky gamer and my position in a game really does not bother me overly however my ego is a twitching due to the severity of the recession I currently find myself in.

I have had a rethink regarding the layout for the individual game results pages on the internet. I like the idea of highlighting who has won a given game the most but I only ever intended the “Club Cup” for individual games to be a simple affair and I don’t think it was coming over well in the old layout. The results tables now only records the number of victories, if you want to know the number of games played, 2nd places etc you will have to count them up yourself using the bottom table. No longer are second places considered when resolving draws for number of wins. Where 2 or more people tie for number of wins the draw is resolved in favour of the person with the most recent victory. None of this effects the monthly trophy points system which I personally think works well.

This is a poorly exposed picture but it does show the nice new tables we now have to play on.

Power Grid - 150 minutes

We randomly selected 3 territories on the American side of the board and they all fell on the cheap East side. I don’t think the board play was particularly crucial in this session. I am yet to play a game of Power Grid when someone gets badly blocked in, it feels like it is going to happen then a new phase is entered and city spaces open up again. I would say that Dave got a slight board advantage which probably saved him in the region of $20 in connection fees.

The phases were neatly spaced without any hold-ups. I think we got 4 turns in phase 1, 3 turns in phase 2 and 2 in phase 3. The lack of any significant trash plants was of note.

I (Red) kept at the back of the turn order throughout the game. This is generally a good thing. In the 3 player game the resources can be easily stripped if you have hungry plants and my 6 coal requirement was costing me dearly. The coal was completely stripped from the market after each of the later resource buying rounds. I was the “coal man”. I always led in the number of cities I could power and I always trailed with the number of cities I had on the board. I built first on the final turn and thus could not react to Dave placing his 17th city to end the game. I was left looking a bit silly at game end with enough spare fuel to run another round without a visit to the market and plants to power 6 more cities than I possessed.

Steve (Blue) generally shared the lead for number of cities with Dave. Steve was the “Uranium man”. Uranium only replenishes at 1 a time in a 3 player game which kept the fuel fairly pricey. Steve’s other plants were green. On balance I would say Steve paid the least for his resources throughout the game.

Dave (Green) was the “oil-and-a-bit-of-coal man” this game. Oil got cheaper as the game progressed. Dave also required a couple of coal, just enough to give me the official “coal man” a hard time. As is traditional Dave was the one to bring the game to a close by reaching 17 cities. He could only power 16 but had enough money to win the tie breaker with Steve. It was a tense money count at the game end with none of us sure which of the 2 of them had the most money. I think Dave was about 30 Elecros ahead.

Settlers - 60 minutes

Julian brought along his old copy of Settlers. Peter was moaning about his early luck though it did not stop him from winning. Julian went for a “do or die” initial placement relying on a sheep port and his 6 and 8 sheep spaces. I gather the early dice went Julian’s way and with them the robber.

Settlers plays differently with 3 and 4. In a 3 player game, in my experience, there is less trading. Basically if you trade in a 3 player game you are benefiting half the opposition as opposed to one third of the opposition in a 4 player game. Less trading means being self sufficient in all resources and/or having a port is more important in a 3 player game.

If our club was twice the size we could arrange mini Settlers tournaments. They could be spaced over several weeks and slotted in around other games. Now I am dreaming.

New England - 70 minutes

I always seem to be at the other table when this game comes out. I would like to play it sometime soon. I will leave it to others to comment on this playing.

The picture shows the board at the end of the game.

Oh look it is Dave at the top of the leader board!

9th February 05.....................................................6 Players

I am going to miss getting this report out Thursday night, sorry for the wait. Thanks for your company Toby. It would be great if you can join us on a regular basis. Oddly my copy of Word seems to have lost its ability to spell check so this might contain more mistakes than usual.

Next Wednesday the children are on half term and so we can expect Daniel, James, Ben C and Jonathan to be with us. There was a discussion between Steve, Mike and myself on Wednesday about Ben (not Ben C). Ben is a lively lad and well meaning but he has not in the past proved able to settle into a game. We concluded our discussion with the resolution to give Ben a “talking to”, he either focuses for the duration of a game or he is out. I have reflected further on this and I think we are being unrealistic, it isn't going to happen. Ben is going to disrupt the harmony of the club whatever we say. Daniel told me tonight that he would rather not play with Ben. This was the decider for me. Ben should be barred from the room, if anyone can think of a kind way to do this please let me know.

Daniel would particularly like to play Runebound with James next Wednesday though he is also keen on Robo Rally or any of the children friendly games Dave C has. He’ll play with the grownups if James is more comfortable with that.

Settlers - 60 minutes

It was nice to play a game of Settlers at the club for a change. Steve built one of his start settlements on a Sheep port. I wrapped myself around the central 11 space and Mike was bringing in a balance of resources with his start settlements at opposite sides of the board. The think of note about this playing to me was the amount of trading. I am used to practically no trading in a 3 player game and we were trading nearly every pass of the dice. The victory should have gone to Steve, he thought he was safe trading with me because I was on 7 points and he was on 9, he gave me the brick I needed to take longest road off him and with my victory point card I won the game. I had the largest army card at game end.

New England - 70 minutes

I have not played New England for ages. I was indifferent to this game the first time I played but its simple mechanics and the high density of decision making, paced throughout the game, has made this my favourite Alan Moon game. I took a barn and bagged a 4 tile 10 point card on the first turn. The pilgrims showed up late in the game. The boat privilege shared by Steve and Mike was not of consequence this playing. I got a second 10 point card by mid game. Steve and Mike shared the Pilgrim and ship bonuses, I got the barn bonus.

Industria - 75 minutes

I have read that there is an Amun Re vibe about this game.

Eden - 45 minutes

I know nothing about this game.

16th February 05.....................................................11 Players

We ran 3 tables tonight. Two 4 player games and one 3 player. I believe this is our best ever turnout. It was nice to see Toby again and new guy Steve Grainger. I heard Steve mention Settlers and Puerto Rico, 2 of my favourite games, we can certainly arrange for for these to get an airing during the next week or two.

Thanks for playing with the kids Dave and thanks for talking to (big) Ben regarding needing his dad present if he is to be in the room with us.

A few words from Steve Paget from his London hideout:

Just wanted to say hi to you guys. Miss playing with you, and look forward to the weekly session reports. I am working hard down here in London, so no time (or Players!!!) for games and getting serious withdrawal. I hope to see you all soon. Steve P

Pitch Car - 15 minutes

I know this was the game of the night for Daniel. The new tables are just the right size for Pitch Car. There is no need for a rules explanation for this game, just a glance at te picture on the box lid tells you all you need to know. I will bring this game along every time we have the children so they can have their own adult free competition. It is a bit rich for me to put my name down as playing because I was only present for the first lap of the 2 lap race, but I was rubbish so the position is appropriate.

Mississippi Queen – 45 minutes  bgg

Way Out West – 100 minutes  bgg

I did not realise that this was a Martin Wallace game. Since playing Runebound I have got a new interest in Mr Wallace’s creations.

Dave D’s comment:

I like his Train Games, but was not struck by Liberte. I have not tried Way Out West, which may be a good game but, as Dave knows, I tend to steer well clear of anything with a Wild West theme, (be it game, film or whatever). Gordon, please bring Runebound along so we can give it a try, it sounds like a game I might like and I’ve thought of buying a copy myself, but the £40 tag puts me off, Pitch Car too wouldn’t come amiss on occasion, there’s no reason why games should be considered adult free, if adults want to play them.

Amun Re - 100 minutes

I gave a little shuddered of anticipation when this game was laid out ready to play, none gamers would not understand. The reality of play this time did not quiet match my high expectation. I really want to do well at this game, I really try. For some reason I have never improved since my early learning games and I must have played a dozen times. Why am I not improving? Why did Steve P nearly win on his first game a few months back? There is very little luck. The power cards add only a small random element and the rest of the game is automatically balancing due to the auction mechanic. I believe I have a reasonable handle on the relative value of farmers, pyramids, cards and temples. I am sure I have a better handle on these values than a new player or than I did myself a few games back. But I don’t feel my play is improving. Is it just me? Maybe this is a game that takes several dozen games before everything clicks into place. I hope this is the case, I love deep games. Tonight I got my first doubts about my own ability to reach the eureka moment.

This game was a low money game. The camel track only got above 2 on the last round of play. Mike and Steve matched each other during the game. If I remember right they both got 2 temples each epoch and they both got largest pyramid on one side each epoch. Mike got a couple of power cards over Steve and got a 2nd highest money bonus. James showed maturity with his play. I got the most end game money.

Mike’s comment:

I don't think there is a 'Eureka moment' with this game, once you understand the game fully the best strategy will always be determined by the strategies of the other players.  For example, as you say, James played maturely and followed through on the plan I presumed he was using when he bided high on Turn 4 - he had to be going for highest number of pyramids on that bank which would have hurt Steve, my main threat - so I could switch my attention to the other bank.  Had he changed his mind I may have panicked, tried for both banks and a swing of 10 pts gives Steve the game.  I have only one golden rule for Amun-Re, I will always make sure I get at least 1 pyramid in each province by the middle, and 2 in each at the end.  These sets are the bedrock of a reasonable score.

Carcassonne – 45 minutes