Session Report for Friday 3/7/2008

11 Gamers 14 Games

This week we welcomed a guest from out of town. Marlin dropped in to join us from San Jose. It's kind of ironic because we organized a special session for that guy from Maine and he didn't show up. Then, the next regular session, we get someone from the other coast!

---

Dvonn

(Marshall, Ty) (Marshall, August) (August, Robert)

For some reason Dvonn proved to be a popular two player filler at this session. That's great for me since it's my favorite game of the Gipf Project.

---

Coloretto

(Marlin, Greg S., Bart, Russ, Clint)

And another standard filler

---

Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition

(August, Robert) x2

---

Pillars of the Earth

(Marlin, Bart, Ty, Nick)

---

1960: The Making of the President

(Ryan, Greg S.)

---

In the Year of the Dragon

(Marshall, Clint, August, Russ, Robert)

In the Year of the Dragon is number 12 in the Alea big box series (which includes such games as Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, Ra, Taj Mahal, Traders of Genoa, and Notre Dame), and in my opinion it's right up there with the best of them. It's a tough game though because it's constantly throwing obstacles at you, and if you don't plan for them right it'll knock you right out of the game. In other words, it's not very forgiving. The game is played over 12 rounds where each round follows the same general format. First players take an action from a limited pool. Actions generally give players resources of one type or another. Once a given action is taken it then costs 3 Yuan for anybody else to take it (and that's not cheap according to the game's economy). Next players higher a patron. There are nine (I think) different patrons, each one has a certain skill that will help the player. Patrons have to be housed though, so player must have space in their palaces for the patrons, or someone is going to be left out in the cold. Next the event is resolved. Each round has a random event. A few events are good, but most are harsh - requiring the player to pay Yuan, provide food, fight Mongols, or provide medicine lest they lose even more patrons. Finally scoring is done for each round.

ItYotD^? is a game where you're trying to build up an economic engine while game is trying to give you a flat tire. It's impossible to keep all of your patrons alive, so tough choices have to constantly be made about who is going to stay and who is going to go.

---

Ra

(Nick, Robert, August, Clint, Marlin)

---

Atlantic Storm

(Ty, Bart, Greg S., Ryan, Marshall)

Atlantic Storm is an out of print Grail Game (it's not cheap on ebay). It's basically a trick taking card game with a WWII theme. Tricks are represented by Allied convoys traveling the North Atlantic. Players try to capture the trick by either playing Axis cards (to destroy the convoy) or Allied cards (to defend it). Players can switch from attack to defense with each trick depending on the strength of their hand at the time. There are some other rules about what year the convoy sails in, which part of the Atlantic it sails through, and where the attack occurs (air, surface, or sub-surface). Whoever wins the trick (by playing the highest strength card) gets to divvy up the spoils (consisting of all of the losing cards) to everyone who played on their side. Table talk is encouraged to form temporary alliances during the trick. It's a neat game. One of the great things about it is that each card is based on a historic convoy or ship or airplane, and each card has a brief historical note the unit. I would love to just sit down with the entire deck and read through all of the historical notes.

In this game the Veterans (Bart and Greg) were able to best deploy their cards with Greg just squeaking out the win.

---

Taluva

(Marlin, Marshall, Robert)

It looks more and more like three player games of Taluva generally end with one player exhausting two of his structure types, whereas four player games seem to go the distance until the tiles are used up. Neither ending is less fulfilling; it's just that you have to know which to plan for. In this game it looked like Marlin couldn't be stopped from winning on his next turn by playing his last two huts, but Robert beat him to it when he made a move and we pointed out that he had missed playing a hut, thus getting rid of his last one and winning the game.

---

Samurai

(Marlin, Marshall, Robert)

I explained about five times how games of Samurai almost NEVER end by three ties so what happens? Yep, three ties and the game ends. Robert had a plurality in Buddhas and Rice Paddies, which is an automatic win.

---

Palazzo

(August, Clint, Nick)

---

-- MarshallPhilips - 09 Mar 2008
to top