Well I have been on holiday this week. Havn't been away anywhere just out for days. Went to Brighton on Monday and had fish and chips on the pier. So, I should have plenty of time to get to the session, but no, got the time of the train wrong so was a bit late and forgot my glasses. Ready made excuse for what followed, that and the lousy dice rolls a la Settlers. It always seems I get really bad dice rolls in these games, nothing to do with bad play on my part you understand.
Richard's choice, so following a trend he has seemed to set he chose McMulti an oil based theme game from 1974. Richard's recent choices have included Railway Rivals and Nautilus, both older games. Each player has there own playing area on which they can purchase various bits of equipment, drilling rigs, refinerys, petrol stations or nodding donkeys. You have crude oil and petrol. You can refine the crude oil and turn it into petrol and sell it on the market. You roll 2 dice and place them on your playing areas grid and if you have equipment on those lines you can activate it. It also affects the players to your left and right. The victory condition is the first player to make a billion dollars. Hitting the drilling rigs enables you to change them for a nodding donkey which pumps 2 barrels of crude if you hit them subsequently. First one is 10 million and each one after that costs an extra 10 million. Getting these early (and cheapest is a good thing). I had 14 rigs and never hit one until the price was about 80 million. Richard had clearly played this before and covered his grid so that eventually whatever was rolled he hit. I started off pretty well in last position and stayed that way for the whole game, still I was a pretty good banker.....yes I said BANKER. During the game there are rumours that are only triggered if certain doubles are rolled, and the one which taxed all the equipment you had on your board certainly stirred things up when I rolled the double 3 to activate it. Everyone took a pretty big hit, but Richard managed to keep most of his equipment. I think it was pretty obvious for a while that Richard would win and when he declared that he had the required billion we all had one more turn each. So everyone sold everything they could to maximise their money. In the end Garry wasn't that far behind with Steve in third and me a lonely fourth.
Final Scores
Richard 1179,000, Garry 1040,000 Steve 585,000 Colin 183,000
Next week is Steve's choice and I know he hates dice :)
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Tuesday 12th September - Shark
Richard couldn't make it tonight, he was in Birmingham. So Steve, Garry and myself sat down to play a game of Shark. This game is from 1987 and originally published by Flying Turtle, Garry had the 1991 edition from Ravensburger. Neither he or I had played and Steve had played but a while ago. This is a stock trading game a bit like Acquire. You can buy and sell shares in each of the four companies at the beginning or end of your turn, in the middle you roll two dice one normal six sided and one with the four colours of the companies and black and white. These rolls determine which company you affect and where on the board you can place the marker. If you roll black or white you can choose which colour to place. If you place the marker next to others of the same colour this causes the share price to rise. If a larger chain of markers is joined with another chain of a different colour that is smaller the smaller one is removed from the board and the share price takes a hit equal to the number of pieces removed.
This I found out to my cost later in the game. I had built up a good holding in blue , red and yellow and was probably in the lead when Steve rolled exactly what he wanted and joined a large yellow chain with a not so large blue one. The share price dropped 7 points and I had to pay 120,000 to the bank. Ouch, that effectly ended my contention to win the game. I could kick myself because if I had seen it coming I could have sold all my blue shares and had a very healthy bank balance. Ah well, next time I shall be more aware of the board position. Steve had done that very thing when red was looking a bit vulnerable and sold his entire holding in that colour. So in the end Steve won by a mile, but we all enjoyed the game and I will have a better idea of how to play it next time.
Final Score (Money plus share value)
Steve 404+130 = 534
Garry 26+221 = 364
Colin 102 + 153 = 255
This I found out to my cost later in the game. I had built up a good holding in blue , red and yellow and was probably in the lead when Steve rolled exactly what he wanted and joined a large yellow chain with a not so large blue one. The share price dropped 7 points and I had to pay 120,000 to the bank. Ouch, that effectly ended my contention to win the game. I could kick myself because if I had seen it coming I could have sold all my blue shares and had a very healthy bank balance. Ah well, next time I shall be more aware of the board position. Steve had done that very thing when red was looking a bit vulnerable and sold his entire holding in that colour. So in the end Steve won by a mile, but we all enjoyed the game and I will have a better idea of how to play it next time.
Final Score (Money plus share value)
Steve 404+130 = 534
Garry 26+221 = 364
Colin 102 + 153 = 255
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Tuesday 5th September - Cleopatra (at last)
OK, so after last week's train problem, we finally made it to give Cleopatra and the Society of Architects another outing. We have only played this once before and I was the one fed to the crocodiles and I was determined not to be croc food again. This Days of Wonder game upholds their tradition of first class production values, the game is a wonder to behold. There was some speculation that this game was all glitter but no gold but I think our group begs to differ, finding a substantial game beneath the gloss. The mosiac garden is a game in itself and an integral part of getting rid of those pesky corruption amulets (CA). A cost I found out in our last game having built nothing in the garden.
Basically you are collecting resources and artisans to complete various sections of Cleopatra's palace, the more you build the more talents you receive, and talents = VPs at the end of the game. I was determined to get something in the mosiac garden and concentrated on building there first. Putting one of my Anubis statues there to claim the sanctuary. Richard as always was pleased that the hand limit was 10 cards and he still managed to exceed that, paying for it by collecting some CAs. I was trying to be very careful and not picking up CAs. The way the deck of cards is shuffled, half face up and half face down, gives you some interesting choices at the market stall. In the end I managed to build an obelisk, pair of sphinxes, and a doorframe connected to 7 sections of wall which gave me a healthy bank balance. Richard had managed to grab 2 sanctuaries which gave him the ability to get rid of 11 CAs at the end of the game. He needed that because he was picking them up like nobodies business. The priest's offering is an event that in our games has not been very frequent, in the first game it happened only twice, and in this game it looked as though it wasn't going to happen at all. Steve had used the Scribe to delay it by taking a die off of the altar. But eventually it did occur, I didn't know what to bid really, I had a healthy store of talents so I bid 12, just beating Richard who bid 10. Another 3 CAs discarded!!! We were quite near the end of the game now and Steve built the last bit to advance Cleopatra to the door of her palace.
After taking CAs for any tainted cards in hand we counted our CAs, Richard was the most corrupt by far and became crocodile food. We all thoroughly enjoyed the game and it will probably come onto the table a bit more frequently now. That said with Essen looming it will probably come behind the haul the Billygamers return with :)
Final Scores
Colin 54, Steve 48, Garry 40, Richard Eaten
Basically you are collecting resources and artisans to complete various sections of Cleopatra's palace, the more you build the more talents you receive, and talents = VPs at the end of the game. I was determined to get something in the mosiac garden and concentrated on building there first. Putting one of my Anubis statues there to claim the sanctuary. Richard as always was pleased that the hand limit was 10 cards and he still managed to exceed that, paying for it by collecting some CAs. I was trying to be very careful and not picking up CAs. The way the deck of cards is shuffled, half face up and half face down, gives you some interesting choices at the market stall. In the end I managed to build an obelisk, pair of sphinxes, and a doorframe connected to 7 sections of wall which gave me a healthy bank balance. Richard had managed to grab 2 sanctuaries which gave him the ability to get rid of 11 CAs at the end of the game. He needed that because he was picking them up like nobodies business. The priest's offering is an event that in our games has not been very frequent, in the first game it happened only twice, and in this game it looked as though it wasn't going to happen at all. Steve had used the Scribe to delay it by taking a die off of the altar. But eventually it did occur, I didn't know what to bid really, I had a healthy store of talents so I bid 12, just beating Richard who bid 10. Another 3 CAs discarded!!! We were quite near the end of the game now and Steve built the last bit to advance Cleopatra to the door of her palace.
After taking CAs for any tainted cards in hand we counted our CAs, Richard was the most corrupt by far and became crocodile food. We all thoroughly enjoyed the game and it will probably come onto the table a bit more frequently now. That said with Essen looming it will probably come behind the haul the Billygamers return with :)
Final Scores
Colin 54, Steve 48, Garry 40, Richard Eaten
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday 29th August - Cleopatra....well it should have been
Yes, you should be reading of our adventure into the world of ancient Egypt, but, due the poxy transport system in this country I had to cancel the session. We were meeting at my house and the wife had arranged the table arrangements and made the sandwiches ready for us.....but of course my train home was cancelled and I would be arriving too late to really start, so reluctantly I cancelled. Shame really because Jo was going to make a rare appearance at Billygames.
I was looking forward to giving Cleopatra another go, we have only played once before and I got fed to the crocodiles. I ended up the richest but the most corrupt, and croc food. I was determined not to let that happen this time round. Anyway hopefully we can try again next week.
On another note, Rick Thornquist is doing a great job updating the Essen preview site on Boardgame News. I have added that and other links to this site. My list for potential purchases at Essen is growing, but as I am flying with Garry and Jo, baggage space is at a premium. One hope is that if Steve drives over there we can smuggle a few games into his boot for transport home! I think I will be a bit more selective this year and only buy games that I really, really want. I think we are going to compare lists and try not to buy the same games. That way we should cover more and have even more games to play.
I do like little trick taking card games and there is one that catches the eye, Null & NIchtig from Amigo. Basically you have 65 cards, five colours, numbered 0-11 with 0 occuring twice. Each player receives 13 cards, 3 of which are placed in front of you. Each player then plays a card in front of him and the player who plays the highest card wins the trick, regardless of colour. The winner then picks the cards up in the order they were played and places them into colour piles in front of him, with only one card of each colour showing. Play all the tricks and at the end only the card on top of each colour pile scores points. Trying to give your opponents zeros is favourite. I shall be picking this up, small and cheap.
You can find out more on the Essen Preview site along with tons of other stuff at Boardgame News.
Just one last thing, if you look down the right hand side you will see a tag message board, feel free to use it but keep it clean and civil please.
Until next time....happy gaming!!
I was looking forward to giving Cleopatra another go, we have only played once before and I got fed to the crocodiles. I ended up the richest but the most corrupt, and croc food. I was determined not to let that happen this time round. Anyway hopefully we can try again next week.
On another note, Rick Thornquist is doing a great job updating the Essen preview site on Boardgame News. I have added that and other links to this site. My list for potential purchases at Essen is growing, but as I am flying with Garry and Jo, baggage space is at a premium. One hope is that if Steve drives over there we can smuggle a few games into his boot for transport home! I think I will be a bit more selective this year and only buy games that I really, really want. I think we are going to compare lists and try not to buy the same games. That way we should cover more and have even more games to play.
I do like little trick taking card games and there is one that catches the eye, Null & NIchtig from Amigo. Basically you have 65 cards, five colours, numbered 0-11 with 0 occuring twice. Each player receives 13 cards, 3 of which are placed in front of you. Each player then plays a card in front of him and the player who plays the highest card wins the trick, regardless of colour. The winner then picks the cards up in the order they were played and places them into colour piles in front of him, with only one card of each colour showing. Play all the tricks and at the end only the card on top of each colour pile scores points. Trying to give your opponents zeros is favourite. I shall be picking this up, small and cheap.
You can find out more on the Essen Preview site along with tons of other stuff at Boardgame News.
Just one last thing, if you look down the right hand side you will see a tag message board, feel free to use it but keep it clean and civil please.
Until next time....happy gaming!!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Tuesday 22nd August - Antike
After all the excitement over the bracket on Steve’s table we eventually got to play a game. Steve had forgotten it was his choice this week and quickly dived into his collection and presented us with a choice of Indonesia or Antike. Well, from all reports Indonesia took over 3 hours to play. Steve said he knew that we would’nt finish but we would get to know the rules, anyway Garry and myself fancied Antike as neither of us had played before. Antike seems to be very popular at the moment with gamers, getting a solid 7.5/10 on BGG.
So Antike it was, Steve ran through the rules for Garry and myself, both Richard and Steve had played it a number of times before. This obviously reflected in the final scores. Basically you get a card to give you a starting position, in the 4 player game it’s either, Romans, Germans, Greeks or Phoenicians. Richard got the Romans and Steve the Phoenicians with Garry and me sandwiched in between with the Germans and Greeks respectively. The game is driven by the Roundel on the board which you move round, giving you a number of options, like recruit, get resources, build temples and so on. Richard had said that it was entirely possible to win the game pursuing a peacable strategy, but as it turned out I don’t think Garry and myself were aggresive enough because Richard had a pretty clear run. Steve, with the Phoenicians was at the other end of the board and couldn’t really get at Richard to stop his all conquering. I had read on the Geek of games taking 3 hours to finish, maybe with 6 players, but our game took about 105 minutes, including rules explanation. As we neared what looked like a pretty easy win for Richard, Steve was explaining what Garry and myself could do to prevent it from being quite as easy. I was 1 short on money to get to the development segment to upgrade myself to prevent Richard getting the VP. In the end it was an easy victory for Richard, but I think in the next game it will be closer as Garry and I will have a better idea of the gameplay.
Final Scores
Richard 9, Steve 6, Garry 5, Colin 4
In a subsequent email, Richard said that we were playing the game slightly incorrectly. We had been playing that to move more than 3 segments on the roundel you had to pay money, when in fact you could use any resource. So I could have got to the development segment to prevent Richard from getting that VP. I don’t think it would had stopped a Richard victory, just slowed it a bit.
So Antike it was, Steve ran through the rules for Garry and myself, both Richard and Steve had played it a number of times before. This obviously reflected in the final scores. Basically you get a card to give you a starting position, in the 4 player game it’s either, Romans, Germans, Greeks or Phoenicians. Richard got the Romans and Steve the Phoenicians with Garry and me sandwiched in between with the Germans and Greeks respectively. The game is driven by the Roundel on the board which you move round, giving you a number of options, like recruit, get resources, build temples and so on. Richard had said that it was entirely possible to win the game pursuing a peacable strategy, but as it turned out I don’t think Garry and myself were aggresive enough because Richard had a pretty clear run. Steve, with the Phoenicians was at the other end of the board and couldn’t really get at Richard to stop his all conquering. I had read on the Geek of games taking 3 hours to finish, maybe with 6 players, but our game took about 105 minutes, including rules explanation. As we neared what looked like a pretty easy win for Richard, Steve was explaining what Garry and myself could do to prevent it from being quite as easy. I was 1 short on money to get to the development segment to upgrade myself to prevent Richard getting the VP. In the end it was an easy victory for Richard, but I think in the next game it will be closer as Garry and I will have a better idea of the gameplay.
Final Scores
Richard 9, Steve 6, Garry 5, Colin 4
In a subsequent email, Richard said that we were playing the game slightly incorrectly. We had been playing that to move more than 3 segments on the roundel you had to pay money, when in fact you could use any resource. So I could have got to the development segment to prevent Richard from getting that VP. I don’t think it would had stopped a Richard victory, just slowed it a bit.
the bracket
We played Antike this week and the report is to follow, but first some exciting news. It was touch and go all week which venue we would be playing at, mine, or if Steve managed to repair the bracket on his table, at Steve's. Here is a bit of background information, Richard, quite by accident had destroyed the bracket holding up half of Steve's table, not once but twice. Obviously drastic measures were called for, seating Richard away from the offending bracket seemed the obvious choice, but a major repair job was on the cards. Phew, on the Sunday we received information that the operation had been performed successfully and that Steve's table was now operational again. See the pic for the thoroughly professional job Steve did on the offending bracket. And as a severe test we seated Richard directly over it and it came through with flying colours. I'm sure you are all very relieved about that.......OK, OK, the reports coming next.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Tuesday 15th August - Caylus
I wasn't able to make it last night and Steve, Garry and Richard played Caylus. There seems to have evolved the rule that if I am not there the winner gets the dubious pleasure of writing a report of the proceedings. Well Richard triumphed and here is his winners report.
As we were 3 (Colin being absent) this evening Garry decided that we would give a Caylus a go as it would be easier to complete within an evening with fewer people.
It seems the last few occasions Billygames have played Caylus I seem to have managed to not be around - so it was good from my point of view to be in attendance this evening so I could play it again.
After a brief reviewing of the rules we started to play.
Money, as it always seems to be, was to be tight in the early game. Garry and Steve attempted to alleviate this by vying for the bonus 3 deniers whilst I tried to keep my costs down by remaining the Pub as much as possible.
As the game progressed, Garry concentrated on building buildings, Steve on advancing up the royal favour tracks and gaining money and Victory points whilst I built buildings by advancing up the Royal Favour track that allowed me to build buildings without utilising the appropriate building.
As the game came into the final stages Garry was some way ahead of Steve and Myself on the victory point track (he seemed to pick up a great deal of bonus points from points from Steve and Myself using his building). However I had advanced almost to the end of the Royal Favour building track and was able to use the last advance on that track to build the 25vp Prestige building.
With Steve also picking up VPs for advancing up the Royal Favour VP track it was all very close at the end - in fact the only the 2VPs I picked up for Cubes and Deniers in hand at the end of the game differentiated Garry and Myself when it came final scoring.
Final Scores :
Richard 72, Garry 70, Steve 66
Unfortunately downside of winning was that I won the right to do the write-up in Colin's absence!!
As a footnote (and this should cause enough controversy to stop me being asked to cover for Colin in his absence again J ), whilst I enjoy playing Caylus and view it as being a excellent game, I am also quite certain the rating it has on the Geek, given time, will slip slightly. Basically Tigris and Puerto Rico are cleaner games. Caylus I believe suffers from a slight excess of internal game mechanisms that can make it hard for players to identify the comparative worth of their opponents strategies and prevent/effect said strategies when required.
As we were 3 (Colin being absent) this evening Garry decided that we would give a Caylus a go as it would be easier to complete within an evening with fewer people.
It seems the last few occasions Billygames have played Caylus I seem to have managed to not be around - so it was good from my point of view to be in attendance this evening so I could play it again.
After a brief reviewing of the rules we started to play.
Money, as it always seems to be, was to be tight in the early game. Garry and Steve attempted to alleviate this by vying for the bonus 3 deniers whilst I tried to keep my costs down by remaining the Pub as much as possible.
As the game progressed, Garry concentrated on building buildings, Steve on advancing up the royal favour tracks and gaining money and Victory points whilst I built buildings by advancing up the Royal Favour track that allowed me to build buildings without utilising the appropriate building.
As the game came into the final stages Garry was some way ahead of Steve and Myself on the victory point track (he seemed to pick up a great deal of bonus points from points from Steve and Myself using his building). However I had advanced almost to the end of the Royal Favour building track and was able to use the last advance on that track to build the 25vp Prestige building.
With Steve also picking up VPs for advancing up the Royal Favour VP track it was all very close at the end - in fact the only the 2VPs I picked up for Cubes and Deniers in hand at the end of the game differentiated Garry and Myself when it came final scoring.
Final Scores :
Richard 72, Garry 70, Steve 66
Unfortunately downside of winning was that I won the right to do the write-up in Colin's absence!!
As a footnote (and this should cause enough controversy to stop me being asked to cover for Colin in his absence again J ), whilst I enjoy playing Caylus and view it as being a excellent game, I am also quite certain the rating it has on the Geek, given time, will slip slightly. Basically Tigris and Puerto Rico are cleaner games. Caylus I believe suffers from a slight excess of internal game mechanisms that can make it hard for players to identify the comparative worth of their opponents strategies and prevent/effect said strategies when required.
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