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What did you play this weekend? 12.14.09
JonnyRotten
United States
Montpelier
Ohio
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Greetings fellow geeks! It's Monday! Hooray! A few more enteries on the geeklist version last week, so I suppose I'll keep it like this, as the general consensus is that people like it as a geek list.
So, all you weekend gamers, bring your mini-session reports and stories of weekend gaming greatness, as you pop in here to answer the question:
What did you play this weekend?
Check out the subscription thread:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/4115320 Subscribe so you don't miss a single moment of the fun!
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1.
Board Game: Pandemic
[Average Rating:7.62 Overall Rank:42]
JonnyRotten
United States
Montpelier
Ohio
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As per usual, I'll start things off with my recap!
This weekend ended up being yet another awesome weekend for gaming for me!
On Friday night I took a friend up to the game club, he is new to board gaming, and it was a good time!. We started out with Hive as we waited for people to show up. Then Raid1280 brought a new (to us) game along called Criminals, we played 5 games of that, which was quite fun. I'll totally be picking it up soon, as its a fun little filler. After that, we played an intense game of Coach-ride to Devils Castle, which I rather enjoyed. We finished off the night with four excellent games of Werewolf.
Saturday, my wife had been planning a surprise birthday party / game day for me, ad she pulled it off perfectly. We started off with werewolf, because we had some guests that were not gamers, and its easy to learn, and draws people in. We played 5 games of that, but then the group started getting bigger, so I grabbed 5 guys to go play some other games. I started off teaching Small World. It went over really well, and the remaining guests played Werewolf. Next I taught them Cosmic Encounter, which we played twice. I totally screwed over my ally at the end of the second game, to cheers and boos! By then everyone except us 5 had went to sleep, or left, so I proposed teaching one last game, so out came Pandemic (Along with On the Brink, which I had just picked up Friday night). We had 2 REALLY close games, both were we won just as the last cards were going being drawn from the deck. The second game we played with some of the stuff from the expansion, and I loved it! The purple disease was kind of cool.
Sunday, we woke up, and before getting to cleaning up for the party, my wife wanted to get some breakfast and play a couple games of Pandemic. We played two games, with the virulent strains for the second game. Then it was clean up time, and we finished just in time to leave for my Niece's birthday party. After cake, presents, and food, my brother in law and sister wanted me to get out Werewolf, which I was more than happy to. My brother in law dislikes games in general (if they aren't World of Warcraft), but he tried play Werewolf at my party, and have enjoyed it just a little bit. So we did some 5 player games of WW, with two people who hadn't played before. I would have preferred a bigger group, as 5's are tough, especially for brand new players, but everyone got it, and really enjoyed it. Then after some people left, I taught my sister Pandemic. The first game was a EPIC failure. We died on the second round of turns (about 6 turns in) as we were making our way to the black area to clear up some full cities, we got a epidemic, the bottom card was right in the middle of two cities that started off with 3 cubes, then we flipped over the two infects for the turn, and they were both in that group of 3 full cities, so we ended up running out of cubes. It was aweful, but still fun!. So we set back up and played again, and won the second game!
It was yet another awesome weekend of gaming goodness. So much fun!!!
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Michael B.
Canada
Stratford
Ontario
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We had a shorter game night this week. We played Ice Flow twice, close both games, but this game always is.
Then we played Magic for 2 hours.
On the solo front, I've printed out the campaign rules for Rome At War III: Queen of the Celts (on the Avalanche website) and I've started today to set up for the first scenario. I've got a stretch of at least 2 weeks alone to try to play the entire campaign.
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Blake Phillips
United States
Montague
Massachusetts
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I played 7 or 8 solo games of RFTG. I had tried this out when I first got the expansion and was disappointed with the AI... I don't mind a tough AI, in fact I want a very tough AI... but I didn't like the way the AI worked in this and it detracted from my enjoyment of the game. But I am glad I tried it again. Now that I have played the game a lot more and know the card combos and 6 point scoring cards better, the solo game is much better than my initial impressions. I think that the card additions from the Rebel vs Imperium expansion help quit a bit and I avoid certain start worlds for the AI and myself. Every game was close in points and I won 1/2 of them. If you gave the solo game a try early on and were disappointed, go back and give it a another try with the 3rd expansion included. It is worth it.
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Doug Palmer
United States
Birmingham
Michigan
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The group got together and we were five. The die of fate (that's how we decide who gets to choose which game to play) chose me. Blake had recently purchased Colonia, and I had read good things on it, so I chose it.
Not a bad worker placement game. Enough "new" stuff to make the game somewhat interesting. Didn't "wow" me, but it was a fun 2 hours. I was in it until the very end when Bill took it on the very last turn with a late buy which a relic doubled to take the win.
We got one other game in, Power Grid: Factory Manager. It took me a bit to get my head wrapped around this one. But after the first couple rounds, I was starting to get it. Had my factory optimized but the money wasn't enough in the end. Brent had us whipped in the end and I finished a distant 3rd or 4th.
All in all, a fun weekend of gaming on Saturday.
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tim Tim TIm TIM TIMMY!!
Costa Rica
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Played this for the first time this weekend, got in 6 games and man was it fun, a abstract game with a pasted on theme, but it all works for me!
Settlers of Catan
Seafarers of Catan
The Red Dragon Inn
Battle for Hill 218
Mr. Jack
Kayak Chaos
Ninja Vrs. Ninja
No Carcassonne this week-end, but their is always next.
I was suppose to play Heroscape but the power went out for over 10 hours and with the lighting we had we just played Ninja Verses Ninja and had a blast but I am so missing >Heroscape!
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United States
Ithaca
New York
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We've been playing a game or two of this a day. We're trying out different strategies, and each game feels like a unique challenge - good replayability for us.
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7.
Board Game: Endeavor
[Average Rating:7.56 Overall Rank:72]
Sharon Khan
United Kingdom
Shefford
Bedfordshire
Games, games and more games!
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Friday night was games night as usual. We started with a Dominion: Intrigue while waitingfor the last couple of people to arrive, then started a 5-player Endeavor which had arrived the previous day - the board was a lot more cramped with 4 than 5, and there was fiercer competition for buildings! After that our new gamer requested Puerto Rico, which she had tried for the first time last week and loved! It was quite a close game for second, but my husband won by miles, getting two large buildings as well as lots of shipping points. After that we had about an hour left so pulled out Vegas Showdown as it isfamiliar to all. We finished with a quick On the Dot, with the usual result of me winning almost every card - so the others played a few hands after I finished, just so they got a chance to play!
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8.
Board Game: Pandemic
[Average Rating:7.62 Overall Rank:42]
Mike Amos
United States
Minneapolis
Minnesota
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Taught my wife the game, we played it with just four epidemic cards but lost due to running through the deck. We almost had a gaming mishap when I looked up for my turn to see she had shuffled the discard pile of the player cards and stuck them on the bottom of the draw pile. We were able to separate them though. I can't say that it was a particularly tense game but some of that is just the way it seems to be with games where I have to keep my mind on the rules rather than on the game.
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Mike Amos
United States
Minneapolis
Minnesota
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I played the first scenario, Pegasus bridge I think it's called. It's my second time through that scenario. The Axis powers drew awful cards and got their butts kicked 4:1 by the Allies.
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United States
Arnold
Missouri
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Played this old gem with my kids and wife, with me as Mr. X. I escaped by the usual double blinds, they got close early on.
edit: eeeek...glaring grammatical error.
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United States
Arnold
Missouri
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...and this one just last night. Finally was able to break it out, wife loved it, sister declared she needed to purchase a copy for herself and her boyfriend.
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Jesse Dean
United States
Orlando
Florida
Pound for pound, the amoeba is the most vicious predator on Earth!
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On Friday I had John Brier over as he was travelling down from Gainesville to Miami for winter break. I had a number of games he wanted to try out so we did so.
We started off with a double header of Campaign Manager 2008. Each time the player playing Obama was able to pull off a tense, close victory. My appreciation for this game grows with each play, and it is now my short, 2 player game of choice.
By the time we finished Will had arrived so we played a game of Indonesia. Will was able to beat both of us on the back of early Siap Faji production and a monopoly in rice. I came in second, and John took up third place.
After Indonesia, Scott arrived so we played a 4-player game of Power Struggle. John and I ended up in a death struggle for first place, but, unfortunately, John was able to get it as he got to his 4th victory point a turn before I could get to mine. Alas.
After Power Struggle, Will had to leave so we played a three player game of Agricola: Farmers of the Moor. John won, with me a few points behind him, and Scott coming in at 10+ points behind us.
On Saturday, Scott, Minerva, and I played Agricola: Farmers of the Moor again. This time I won, with Minerva trailing me by only a few points and Scott taking up the rear again.
On Sunday I had Mike, Will, Eric, and Bryan over.
Mike arrived significantly before everyone else so I taught him how to play Twilight Struggle. I was able to take him out near the end of the mid-war by winning the roll on Summit while it was his turn, and pushing the defcon down low enough to cause nuclear war.
After everyone else arrived we played a long, five player game of Agricola: Farmers of the Moor. Will ended up winning it on the strength of a very diversified, and filled farm including a large herd of horses. I came in second, Mike was not too far behind me, then Bryan, and finally Eric.
After Agricola we played another game of Power Struggle. This time I won with shares, experience, corruption, and my archenemy.
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Alan
United States
Lawrenceville
Georgia
If only you knew.................
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On Friday, got a chance to play this. It was my first time playing one of the "crayon" games. It was a lot of fun after I figured out where all the resources were located. After this we played a game of On The Brink with the Bio Terrorist variant. She won but fun was had by all.
Saturday I didnt do any gaming as I was feeling under the weather. But on Sunday I was able to get in a game of:
Power Grid: Factory Manager
and
Dungeon Lords
I liked Dungeon Lords a lot so I cant wait for that to be available to purchase in the US.
Hope everyone else's weekend gaming went well.
Thanks,
happyabg
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United States
Danbury
Connecticut
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Been playing this quite a bit lately. Owned it for a while but had only played a couple of times. I won a 4-player match with 24 points, which seems like a pretty good score from my (limited) experience.
I'm liking this more and more - despite the boring theme and nice but lackluster artwork, this is fast becoming a favorite.
I also played The Hobbit, which is loathsome. But my wife and daughter like it (alas) so we'll probably play it semi-regularly.
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Zé Mário
Portugal
Senhora da Hora
Matosinhos
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Friday evening:
Played AoS with my girlfriend and another couple. We tried out Golden Spike (guys Vs girls, of course) and we loved it. Eventually we noticed we had a rule wrong, which ruined the game in the end. But we finally managed to learn the expansion properly, the rules don't make it easy...
Sunday afternoon:
Me, my girlfriend and three more. We played Glenn Drover's Empires: The Age of Discovery and Silk Road. Age of Empires is definitely a very pleasant game, with several strategies to follow. Silk Road is so-so. The turn-passing is indeed senseless, we'll play it with Marshall's variant next time.
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Henry Dove
United States
Easton
Maryland
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Played Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan and Longshot at the games club on Sunday. A very enjoyable day. It was only my second game of Longshot playing with 4 people who had never played it before, and I got killed. I like the game, but it does have a lot of luck.
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I am glad that Johnny Jaws is my friend.
United States
Enumclaw
Washington
I know who I am. I'm the ant playin' the ant, disguised as another ant!
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A GATEWAY GAME SESSION, A LESSON FROM THE MASTER
Two friends (Brian and B.J.) came over yesterday to try out this board gaming thing.
THE GAMES
I introduced them to Carcassonne and Revolution!. We really enjoyed ourselves with both of these. While playing I would advise them on strategies, initially pointing out optimal moves so they could learn the games. In both plays, of Carc and Revolution! I was seemingly behind to them until final scoring where I sped ahead and won by significant margins.
THE WIFE
Though she did not play she asked if I was a good game host to the new players and allowed them to win. Always she asks this. She lives in a girly movie world sometimes.
I threw back my shoulders looked at Brian and B.J. and confidently responded " Allowing either of them to win would have been an insult to them. I coached them on the tactics and strategies, but I destroyed them handily, and they took it like the manly MEN they are."
B.J. shrugged and Brian rolled his eyes.
THE ULTIMATE WIN
They seek revenge; they seek to play again and to destroy me. My objective was achieved.
Insert excessive BRAVADO emoticon here.
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18.
Board Game: Maria
[Average Rating:8.08 Overall Rank:130]
Sean Todd
United States
Bloomington
Minnesota
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This weekend was another Minneapolis Board Game Madness. I had been looking forward to replaying Die Sieben Siegel or Sticheln, but they never came up. I was able to try Condottiere, a area control game with some nice cutthroat mechanics. I next played Dominion with Dominion: Intrigue. I was glad to get a game of it in, as I'm probably one of the few attendees that hasn't gotten an opportunity to get burned out on the game.
Following that I joined a five player game of Power Struggle. The game was new to all of us and we had a few hiccups with the rules, but it was a very interesting area controlish game with some fun corporate theming. As probably is usually the case with new players, we each staked out territories within the company at first, getting used to those abilities before trying to compete for other sections of the company. I was close to a win, but the player to my left was able to announce his win as well, and he had more money to beat me on a tiebreaker.
After that I got a game of Stone Age including Stone Age: The New Huts (my first of two this weekend). I think I'm so used to playing 2 and 3 player games on BSW that I mistimed the ending of the game both times. Finally, I helped introduce a newcomer to a game of Ticket to Ride. It was a fast game as I mainly tried to collect all the long routes after completing a couple small tickets. I was second with the relatively modest score of 98 (winner had 100).
Sunday, I was able to play the advanced game of Maria. The game is really a beautifully designed three player wargame. I played Prussia and the draws were with me to win a couple key battles early to put Austria on the defensive. That meant I ended up being the most recent to win a battle in the political phase for several turns and was able to use that to drain a couple key cards from Austria. France made a mad rush to try to get his victory points before I could, but that would have required winning a battle against my Pragmatic Army general in clubs. I'd been stockpiling clubs for that general since the beginning of the game, so I held on there and took my last two points in middle Austria during Prussia's turn. I've only played Maria twice now, but it's a game I could see playing dozens more.
Then I was going to join a game of Manifest Destiny, but I was worried about the game running longer than I had time to play. So I got to play my first game of Power Grid. We used the Brazil side of the Power Grid: Brazil/Spain & Portugal map. Lastly, I played a second game of Stone Age.
The game of Manifest Destiny was still in full swing when I left, so I think I made the right decision to skip it this time.
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Weaving Geek
United States
Muncie
Indiana
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I played three games of No Thanks! with my 13 and 11-year-old friends who were over Friday night. I won all three, but the 11-year-old was close every time.
I also wanted to play Small World, Terra Nova, or Scrabble with my friend on Saturday, but neither of us felt like doing much. So we hung out instead. We'll play at Christmas.
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Ronald Chavez
United States
Hacienda Heights
California
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I got in a classic game of ticket to ride. We played a 4 player game of ticket to ride on Friday night. I had not played this game in a while and had been trying to get this to the table.
The game went fairly fast with two experienced players and two new players. My nephew was able to win by getting the longest route and beat me by a few points.
I had not played in a while and the game went over well for a positive experience for all.
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21.
Board Game: Cavum
[Average Rating:6.84 Overall Rank:790]
CassSoren
United States
Massachusetts
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We started the weekend Friday night by presenting our usual Friday host with a thank you gift for his ongoing hospitality - Imperial. I did my best to teach Hermagor while RnR played Puerto Rico with a couple of other people. They squeezed in RnR's first try of The Settlers of Catan while we finished. We ended the night with Bohnanza.
Saturday we learned Cavum over breakfast. This might edge out Tikal as my favorite Kramer/Keisling design. We tried Race for the Summit. It's a light push-your-luck card game that appeals to me strictly because of it's theme - climbing. We played a round of Race for the Galaxy (all expansions, cards only). We rounded out the night with Stone Age.
Sunday morning we learned Il Principe. It's a quite nice little game that worked well with two, though the user votes indicate otherwise. Our first play - always slower than usual - was 45 minutes - well under the 60-90 estimated on the box. It's the third game by this designer we've tried and the third we've liked. Later we played RnR's new-to-him game, Java in two parts. We took a break in the middle to walk the dogs who were thrilled to be out in the snow. We finished the night with Dominion. We got a particularly nasty set of cards from the base game and each expansion, including Sea Hag, Masquerade, Militia, Thief... brutal game.
ETA: Ack! How could I forget?! We also learned Power Grid: Factory Manager. Good game, but seems a little like Power Grid lite.
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William Hostman
United States
Eagle River
Alaska
Gaming in Greater Anchorage area, Alaska since 1978. Looking for Indy-willing RPG players in Eagle River (or willing to drive to Eagle River). Geekmail me if interested.
Yes, this really is what I looked like when I uploaded that avatar. Not that it's quite current anymore.
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My group lost two players of the 4... so we've decided to do some lighter, shorter fare until we garner new blood for Rogue Trader.
Last week was Cat. This week, reluctantly, Steph and Peter ambivalently agreed to try it, since Tam (my 10yo) wanted to try it. Plan is to run again next week.
It's interesting.
Session AP Here
Used my home-made decks in 4x6cm (mini euro card size) B&W. 14 sheets of cardstock...
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Everett Warren
United States
Mount Joy
Pennsylvania
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I know, I know... those of you who have looked over any of the past week's lists have come to expect this game's appearance.
The big surprise this past weekend was that I only played it once ~ Mr. B, who insists he kicks my butt at this all the time, did ask to play it Sunday as well as Saturday, but we never got to a rematch, so I could get revenge for his 1 point win the day before...
...and that win was unexpected. The moment I captured villain #26 (and the 3 points, highest in the game, that go with him) a turn before he could manage it, he had to fight off a bit of a tantrum. Of course, five year olds recover quickly and once he saw the final score, he was back to being the Expert Numbers League Player Who Always Kicks Dad's Butt.
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Everett Warren
United States
Mount Joy
Pennsylvania
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This was the big game for Sunday, brought out by request for Mr. B.
We played the first game with my eldest son, and then, a few hours later, roped my daughter in for a game. Immediately after that, I played two more games of it with Mr. B, and then, finally, we actually managed to get my wife to play a game with us (although we had to move into the room with the television so she could yell at the NFL game between turns). Because getting her involved was such a big deal, we managed to rope the eldest son and the daughter in for another game.
I knew Mr. B would have fun with this one ~ he's been asking about it since he caught sight of it in a catalog tossed in with another game ~ but I really didn't expect to be able to play it five times in a single day, four times back-to-back. I almost could have been talked into another play, but we moved on to other games after that...
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25.
Board Game: ZÈRTZ
[Average Rating:7.36 Overall Rank:189]
Everett Warren
United States
Mount Joy
Pennsylvania
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While my two sons played a game of Abagio, my daughter and I played ZÈRTZ.
The game went along fairly smoothly, and it wasn't until there were no other choices that my daughter set me up to make a capture. After a couple more turns, I had to return the favor, and then things went a lot more quickly. In addition to being forced to give up a few double captures, there were also a few island-of-one grabs, and it wasn't long before she was in the unenviable position of having to make a jump that, no matter which of the two choices she made, would set me up to capture the final gray marble needed for the five-grays victory condition...
In the Abagio game, it was down to the eldest son needing to get two pieces in and the youngest on his second or third turn of just needing to roll a one to win... and the eldest rolled double threes, getting both of those pieces safely into the pond and winning the game.
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Pennsylvania
EDIT: Elder Sign: Omens is the videogame version of the boardgame, Elder Sign.
Montpelier
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Whoops!