1st September 04.....................................................9 Players

We got another good turnout tonight. The children will be back at school next week so we can expect a more sombre mood.

We split into two tables, one of 5 and one of 4. Between us we played 7 different games the results of which have all been squashed onto a scrap of paper about the size of the foot print of my mouse. Please let me know if I have got any of the scores wrong.

Elfenland – 60 minutes  bgg

This game has recently gained favour in our house. We played 3 times over the bank holiday weekend and I still had not had enough. I am glad I got to play again tonight. There is a rule that niggles me. I think that keeping a hidden tile is annoying. It is a rule that does nothing but add “fiddle” to the game. Ben and Becky did not play to get to a destination town, the rest of us did. I communicated a part of the rules poorly to Jonathan which messed his first turn up a bit. He thought he needed to return to his destination town at the end of each of the 4 days rather than just on the last day. To balance out the effect of this on the results I have resolved the draw between him and Becky in his favour. Have you noticed that there is never a dragon around when you want to cross the desert!

Quo Vadis – 60 minutes  bgg

This is the first time I have played this Reiner Knizia negotiation game. It is quiet different from other games of his I have played but then you do know it is one of his. What a talent to be able to create such varied and wonderful games. With 5 players space is tight in the top chamber and I was the one who missed squeezing in thus the zero points. The kids made some wild deals but it all balanced out in the end to give a reasonably tight game.

Guillotine – 30 minutes

Our group of 5 had now split into a 3 and a 2. Ben was keen to play this game again after the fun he had with it last week. I think he might pester his dad into buying it.

Alexandros – 30 minutes

Becky requested another two player game of Alexandros, we had played it together last week.

Web of Power – 60 minutes

It was nice to see Web of Power getting played again. Shame I again missed out on joining in.

San Juan – 60 minutes

This is our clubs hottest game. We must now have played SJ more than any other game. Remarkably close scores. Dave has made comment that more producing takes place with more players. I am sure this is the case and therefore a different approach is needed dependant on the number of players. I enjoy playing with 2, 3 or 4 players. I think the 4 player game offers the most interesting strategic options. Incidentally Steve P got a score of 50 last week when he came over for some games with Keith and me.

La Strada – 30 minutes

It plays quick and looks good other than that I know nothing.

8th September 04.....................................................6 Players 

It was nice to have Karen visit us this week. She got to play 2 great games and I think she went away happy. You are very welcome to come again Karen and you mentioned a friend who was also a gamer, any chance of them giving us a visit?

I must get on because I don’t have much time to put this report together.

Tigris & Euphrates – 90 minutes

Steve has had some experience with T&E and it showed in the constructive way he built up empires. He built his pieces into a latticework of red tiles for protection against internal conflicts. I just floundered about with a focus only on scoring the colour I had least of. I spent most the game with a couple of my pieces off the board which as far as I can see did not hamper me. Dave stirred things up, usually with a view to disrupting Steve’s plans, Steve being the perceived leader. It is only the second time I have played T&E. It is probably a genius design, many notables say so, but I am disturbed that I won. I played terribly, with no strategic plan and sloppy tactics. Both Dave and Steve handled their play more competently. I want to play again soon and again and again.

Formula Motor Racing – 40 minutes

We just played the one game. I have played once before and that was with 6 players. The game scales well. Possible with only 3 players some of the cards should be removed because with so many goes the early turns really have no impact on the race outcome. The game is light and a bit silly. It fills the same spot as Guillotine for me. Please keep it in your bag Dave.

Ra – 80 minutes

I did not see what went on with this playing of Ra. Steve ended the first epoch with no civilizations and least pharaohs apparently. The scores are well spaced.

Vinci – 60 minutes

This game was played to 120 points rather than 150 to cut down the play time. Karen was the newbie and did well to beat the two old hands. Steve has been having a duff run lately maybe that will change when we give his copy of Amen Re a blast. I yearn to play that game.

15th September 04.....................................................4 Players

The meeting opened with the sad news that Dave D’s mother had recently died. Dave looked tired. I hope the games and company provided Dave with some comfort.

San Juan – 60 minutes

This time the game started slowly with no early libraries or persistent shipping. All but Steve had a Prefecture which meant he missed out on the regular extra card in the councillor faze. I am with Dave on this, the Prefecture is one of the best early cards. Later in the game 3 of us built towers on the same turn. Then Dave and I built chapels on the same turn. We are all playing in a similar way now we are more experienced. I was the only one to build a library but it came quiet late in the game so it was not as powerful an advantage as it might have been. Steve was just a card or 2 off ending the final build round with a City Hall which would have won him the game.

Saint Petersburg – 80 minutes

I declared before we started this game that I had been playing a lot against the computer. It made a big difference. This is a finely balanced game and though luck is needed to win, mistakes will ensure you lose. The practise I have had with the computer has taught me to recognise what constitutes a mistake. Dave was unlucky not to match up the wharf he put into his hand in the first round with a ship builder. I am hoping you will all find time to try this game on the PC. You can get the link to the free software from boardgamegeek. The AI when set on expert beats me 2 games out of 3 on 4-player. There are people boasting 50% wins for the 4 players game.

22nd September 04.....................................................6 Players
Both games that were played tonight have been championed for several weeks by Dave C and Mike. If you keep bringing a game often enough we do eventually get round to playing it and these game where long over due. 

The club has an informal way of deciding what game to play each week. We have no rules or system of what to play next. I used to think a system would be a good idea but as time has passed I have got into our casual arrangement. Basically the un-stated agreement is that if you keep bringing a game it will get played once we get the correct number of willing players. We could easily go a year without ever repeat playing a game with our combined current collection so it is no wonder it can seem that any given game does not get much play.

I like to keep my average number of plays for any given game as high as I can. I more fully appreciate the strategy of a game once I am comfortable with the mechanics and it takes me more plays than it should to fully learn a game’s rules. Over the last year or two I have become happier with the average number of times I play a game. There are two ways I have affected the ratio. Obvious really, you need to play more often and/or take on fewer new games. I am currently managing to play a fair bit. Club nights account for about a third of my annual gaming hours, another third is gaming with family and friends and another third is gaming at conventions (I only go to 3 or 4 a year but that amounts to a lot of gaming hours). I also resist playing too many new games. I do still play many different games, 86 different titles since July last year, 39 of which I have only played once in this period.

I have nothing against playing Liberte. I am sure I would really enjoy the game, but I was happy not to play to avoid diluting the time I get to play all the games I already know.

San Marco – 130 minutes

We have not played this game for over a year. It is a taxing game, not one for none gamers. For a 2 hour game, not a lot happens, there are only 3 rounds and the rules are simple but this game is high on tension and with 3 gamers it plays well. The splitting of the cards is a perplexing decision. Like in Vinci the best play seems to be to not put yourself into an early lead or you will get jumped on by the other players. Mike kept his head down most of the game. He was the only one of us who managed to build up a territory to the extent that it was beyond banishing but because it was only the one territory Dave and I did not see it as a threat. The game was decided on the final turn and I got to make the final banishment. I hit Dave D only because I could not make a hit on Mike give me points. After sleeping on it I think I picked the wrong territory to banish, I should have gone for Mike, we would all have had lower scores except Dave who would have been right up with us. I think I would have got it by a nose. Anyway I did what I did and Mike won and deservedly so.

Liberte – 150 minutes

The scores are taken from the point when time was called. Steve H, with his war gaming tendencies, enjoyed this game a lot. Steve P mentioned afterwards to me that he thought it would not be possible to end a full game of Liberte during a Wednesday night session which is a shame. I saw lots of blocks going on the board, off the board, on the board…

29th September 04.....................................................7 Players

We had a healthy turnout of 7 tonight. By the time most of us arrived Mike had set out a Settlers scenario from the German scenario book he owns. It looked enticing but I was to play Amun Re on the other table.

Amun Re – 120 minutes

This is the first time we have played one of Steve H’s games. We have played Dave D’s copy of Amun Re several times. The first epoch finished with Steve H and Dave on 15 points each and Steve P and me on 10. This is the first time we have played the game in the club with less than 5 players. Money was very tight because of the low sacrifices and Dave manipulating the first 3 sacrifices downwards. I think we only got above 1 on the camel track once all game and that was only onto the 2 space. Farmer income was very low.

I noted that Steve P took from the donation bowl nearly every turn. In fact it might have been every turn. This deprived him of the free God given actions but gave him money. On reflection, in a game as money tight as this one the 3 stolen gold coins have a proportionately higher benefit than in an average game. Steve was a whisker off winning. If he had had a single extra gold coin at the end of the game he would have taken 2nd place from me over the end of game money bonus and won. Amun Re has different mechanics all entwined to make strategic decision difficult. To simplify the game like Steve did by concentrating solely on stealing gold every round and buying pyramids was a cool move. You might not win but at least you feel in control.

I have looked back through the records and since we have been keeping records (April 03), we have played Amun Re 4 times at the club, always with 5 players. Mike, Steve H, Dave C and I have each won a single game with Steve H also managing 2 second place finishes. Mike and Dave D have had a second place finish each.

Settlers – 90 minutes

Settlers was played using a scenario from the German Settlers Scenario book. The game was a race from one side of the board to the other with a requirement to build on the island in the middle and a city on one of the furthest spaces. It was interesting to see that Dave and Mike took to racing straight off the starting island while Pete hung back to establish a better production base before starting his journey. Peter won but it looked to be a close game.

Babel – 60 minutes bgg

Dave provided the commentary on this one:

An excellent game. I've only played it once before at Midcon so it was a case of remembering what it's all about. The object of the game (very simply) is to get various groups of peoples (Medes, Persians etc,) to worship you and build the best temples. At first it can seem a bit random and arbitary, with the outcome of many actions that you take just playing into your opponents hands. However, after a bit, you begin to see how the cards and game system can be made to work for you and there are some *nice* combinations of cards and game play that can be done. The turn that gave me the win, I did it one way and Mike was actually expecting me to do it a different way; one which in truth; I hadn't seen. Recommended; I would like to play again soon.

These are the final points for September. This was one of our best attended months ever:

 
Average attendance 6.4

Trophy points are calculated separately for each game by multiplying the game length in minutes by the number of participants and dividing that figure by a player’s final position. All players’ points go back to zero at the end of each month. There are 3 special situations that are dealt with below: 

  1. Points awarded for draws are calculated by averaging the points that would normally be scored for the drawn position and the skipped positions. Eg in a 6 player 100 minute game the results are Player A gets 15 victory points, B-15, C-15, D-10, E-10 and F 5, so there is a 3 way draw for 1st place, a 2 way draw for 4th place and F comes 6th.  Players A,B and C will get (600+300+200)/3, players D and E will get (150+120)/2 and player F will get 100 trophy points.
  2. In games that involve team play, a team is a player, for the purposes of calculating trophy points. Eg in a 100 minute game of Scotland Yard there is one player playing Mr X and 3 players playing the detectives, the winner (either the player playing Mr X or the players playing the detectives) gets 200 trophy points and the loser(s) get 100 trophy points (each).
  3. In some cases the results of a game might be unclear. Eg Games that are not completed or the results are hard to call because of a rule misinterpretation discovered half way through play. In these cases a common sense result will be called. In the cases where the decision is controversial we can reach a solution by the consent of the effected players and if an arbitrator is required the ultimate decision goes to the player who is least effected by the controversy.