6th Oct 2009 Session Report: Catan Card Game Revisited...

Van offered to game with me on my off day. I suggested either Catan Card Game or Le Havre since I was in the mood for something heavier. Expectedly, Van picked Catan Card Game which was a game we both enjoyed but haven't played in awhile after our spurt of 10+ tournament styled games. On a side note, I traded for an extra set of the game recently and made an order for the expansions set. Looking forward to deck build with the full array of cards.

Instead of using our previous decks, Van suggested just picking randomly. Not fully understanding what she meant, I proceeded to divide the cards into 2 and getting us to pick 33 from the pile we ended up with. My deck was built around trade ships and resource doublers. It paid off quickly with me successfully rushing to my 5th settlement before Van. I was doing well and had a commerce advantage, which allowed me to rob Van a couple of times.

However, the turning point came when Van built a Marketplace which allowed her to take hold of the Windmill token which was in my control for most of the game. This was coupled with an early Pirate ship attack of one of my trade ships. I was slow to regain the advantage, perhaps somewhat complacent that I was inching towards victory. Alas, I was at 12 VPs ready to claim victory the next round when Van snatched it before my very eyes with another VP build. Despite generating resources at a slower pace, she was successful in running out a couple of red buildings. This together with control of both the Knight and Windmill tokens was sufficient for the win.

I realized while I probably built a stronger deck than her, I was reluctant to spent resources searching out the right cards often enough. As such, most of my action cards failed to see the light, and I ended up building for VPs with the cards in hand rather than sourcing for those with appropriate abilities.

Even with deck building, the game didn't take overtly long which was a plus. Looking forward to the full tournament game where we would no longer need to share cards. A hefty investment purchasing 2 sets of the original and expansions set but I guess it's worth it considering Van likes the game and it scratches the CCG deck-building itch. I also recently ordered A Game of Thrones LCG Core Set which I'm looking forward to, but I suspect that will be more for the CCG play as I'm unlikely to be willing to fork out the extra dough for deck building, which would easily trump that of the Catan Card Game with expansion packs being released monthly.

22nd Sept 2009 Session Report: Catan Card Game & Le Havre

Been some time since I got to game on two consecutive days but as fortune would have it, Marcus managed to get half day off to game. Van unfortunately was still stuck in school so I decided to teach him the Settlers of Catan card game which I rate highly.

Catan Card Game

Since it was his first play, I refrained from loading him with the host of expansions and stuck to the original. He caught on quickly despite the number of wordy cards. While it took only about 75 min, it did feel somewhat longer due to the 'struggle' aspect of the game. He upgraded a couple of settlements and despite only managing one myself, I pipped him 12-10, thanks to my 5th settlement, and maintaining control of the Knight and Windmill symbols for most of the game. In particular, Marcus found himself at the shorter end of the Windmill event all game, which allowed me to rob him of multiple resources. It was nice for once to be on the other side as Van typically trumps me on this aspect in most of our games. Nonetheless, Marcus had a positive view of the game. Perhaps we can get some deck-building in once I get my second copy of the expansions set.

Le Havre

Marcus tried to teach us Imperial when Van got back but her mind was clearly not geared towards learning a new game, especially one as complex as Imperial. We aborted halfway through the rules explanation and opted for Le Havre instead. Amazingly, we bettered our last run of about 135 min and finished the game in about 110 min. Marcus ended with 220+ points yet again, while I only managed 190+. I realized I am still not fully familiar with the building powers, especially those in the special buildings deck and ended up taking some suboptimal actions by nabbing resources when a stronger move was available via a building action. Marcus did highlight me towards the end of the game that with the Bank in my tow, I should buy up the neutral buildings available with the relevant symbols. Guess I'm still rather inexperienced in the game despite playing it about 5 times. Nonetheless, with our speedy play, I can see it much more palatable bringing it to the table in future.

28th May 2009 Session Report: The One Where I Broke My Losing Streak

I finally managed to break my duck against Van in the tournament format of the Catan Card Card. To think of it, this is only my 2nd win out of 13 plays, inclusive of basic and expanded games - a clearly dismal record. And while I thought I was doing rather well throughout, the final score was closer than I thought, with me eking out the victory 13-11. My last 2 victory points came from snatching the Knight token from Van by playing Samsor the black dragon with 6 strength points (fortunately for me, Van hadn't managed to get her Cannon into play) and building the Merchant's Guild Hall, having managed to sift out and build the Harbour (pre-requisite) a few rounds earlier.

I revamped my deck for this game but went for a primarily magic strategy with harbour and fleet cards in hope of at least being competitive with regards to the commerce/windmill token. I also reduced the number of buildings in my deck in view of the space constraints I anticipated (Van as usual got to the 5th settlement first). I built 2 citadels this time round instead of 1 and used the Materialization action card twice (regained it from the discard pile after the first use with the help of Knowledge of the Ancients) to upgrade the 2 other settlements to cities at a low cost of 1 magic point each. With 2 citadels and 3 wizards in toll, I managed to built the Stone of Wisdom which reaped me another 2 victory points, leaving only 3 more necessary for the win.

Van had an early advantage and tournament points and benefitted substantially from it. I on the other hand, gained from occassions when the Year of Plenty was rolled on the Event die, with me gained 2 additional gold each time, thanks to my Toll Station. At one point, I got 2 gold and 3 resources from a Year of Plenty roll when I completed my Treasure fleet - that gave me sufficient resources to obtain the remaining VPs required.

We agreed to allow each other access to our drafted cards not used for the next game, which means there will probably one or two tweaks we need to make with my deck before we go at it again. Hopefully, this will be the start of more closely-fought games between the two of us.

24th-26th May Session Report: 2 & A Half Games Over 3 Days...

Through the Ages

Tried the full game of Through the Ages with Van on Sunday. It was a struggle for me to come to grasp with all the rules and communicate it clearly without overwhelming. On Van's part, it was a struggle bearing with the lack of direct interaction in a game which went on for hours. We finally aborted the game when we were halfway through Age II and it was then when I realize that I'll probably never be able to get Van to give it another go. It is clear to me that interaction in Through the Ages is subtle like most typical Euro-games, in particular Race for the Galaxy. I too prefer somewhat more direct interaction in my games but nonetheless am keen to give Through the Ages another shot, perhaps with someone more diehard. For the record, Van was leading me by almost 20 culture points when we aborted.

The Princes of Florence

Introduced the game to Da-win, Huifen and Mie on Monday. Once again, it reaffirmed my opinion of PoF as an excellent deep game to intro to casual or even non-gamers, which was the case for the 3 of them. While the strategic options are varied, the mechanics are simple to grasp with merely an auction in phase 1 of each round and 2 actions to execute in phase 2. And in essence, the 2 actions boil down either to a purchase or a production of a piece of art. I commented during the game that PoF appeals particularly to gals because at the heart of it, it's a game to do with shopping - you 'buy' stuff for most of the game to enhance the pieces of art you produce. Makes me wonder whether a fashion show theme could be used for it instead to gain even greater appeal with the opposite gender. Anyway, we all ended up somewhat bunched up in terms of prestige points (another reason why it's actually a rather accessible game) with the exception of Van who won with close to 50 points. I made an early and late mistake which cost me the game but was glad the 3 new players enjoyed the experience.

Catan Card Game

Van and I decided to have a go at the game on Tuesday. We re-drafted in view of my dismal record against her. The draft we utilized involved us splitting all duplicate cards initially, and drafting 4 cards at a time of the remainders. We would alternate picks, so I get the first and third choices for the first 4 cards flipped, and the second and fourth choices for the 2nd set, so on and so forth. While I was trying to avoid building a Wizards and Dragons deck, I ended up with the better cards from that expansion deck. Against my better judgement, I went ahead building my deck around those cards and ended up crumbling to Van's superior principality 13-7. In particular, I fell behind her in terms of commerce points, and the event die was brutal in allowing her to steal numerous resources for me. You would think that after so many defeats, I would know better. Guess not.

10th May 2009 Session Report: The One With What Else..Catan Card Game

Catan Card Game - Van and I were at it again. 

I revamped my deck to pursue a University strategy but was short of couple of cards with Van holding them in her current deck. In particular, I wanted the additional University and Abbey cards as this strategy depended on getting those cards out in particular. I unfortunately had only 1 of each and took quite awhile to build them both. 

Danger still persisted with Van holding both Arsonist cards. I thwarted her first attempt with the successful use of a Bishop but her 2nd attempt was successful and that was the beginning of the end, as I struggled for several turns failing to rebuild it. 

This was due to 2 reasons: Firstly, I stalled in terms of settlement expansion in exchange of city upgrading and thus had only 3 settlements to Van's 5. The sheer disparity in resource patches was evident from turn to turn. Secondly, Van had control of the commerce token and the Windmill symbol on the Event Die came up consistently, allowing Van to steal from my pitiful stock of resources. It was practically impossible for me to garner sufficient resources to rebuild my University which was key to my strategy since most of my action and unit cards needed it as a pre-requisite. 

Nonetheless, the game ended much closer than previously ones, with Van taking it 13-10. She and I had control of the commerce and knight tokens respectively. We decided to redraft at the end of the game instead of remaining with our current decks. I was tempted to persist with what I had in hope of tweaking it successfully for a win eventually but figured it would probably be more interesting for us to start on level ground again, with me having around lost couple of choice cards to Van from my previous losses. 

For our next game, we have decided to split all duplicate cards in the game and draft for the remaining ones. Hopefully, I will be able to provide more of a competition the next time round...

5th May 2009 Session Report: The One Where I Came Excruciatingly Close...

First of all, I must say it's fantastic to have a wife who's willing to game with me on a regular basis. Van and I attended a Marriage retreat with our church last week and during one of the sessions, it was mentioned that one of men's key emotional needs is to have 'recreational companionship'. I can totally identify and I'm thankful my wife makes an effort to express her love for me by obliging my gaming requests. Having said that, gaming with me and going easy on me during the game are completely different matters.

We went head to head in the Catan Card Game with our existing decks with minor modifications. And I came awfully close to winning but still feel short at the end 12-13, with Van having control of both the knight and commerce tokens. Nonetheless, I was encouraged that my efforts to enhance my resource production was somewhat successful as I managed to acquire victory points through buildings much more rapidly than Van. In addition, I managed to pip her to the 5th settlement for only the 2nd or 3rd time in 10 games. Nonetheless, my downfall was in my inability to control either token and left me struggling to hamper her progress towards victory. 

I came agonizing close in the last turn as I was one brick resource short of victory. I realized that my deck not only gave me no opportunity to nab the commerce token but I also had no answer for her Cannon (which gives her 6 strength points and is immune against Lady Imelda). I arsoned her University which was the requirement for her Cannon to function but she managed to rebuild it and gained victory soon after.

I lost my sole Arsonist for my defeat and I find myself at a huge disadvantage for the next game with Van holding both Arsonists, and 2 of the 3 available Spy cards. I'm tempted to request a re-draft especially with our Tournament record at 0-3 but find it challenging to build a winning deck with what's available. The tweaking between games keeps me motivated though Van seems somewhat bored at how I'm failing to offer much of her challenge. She nonetheless noticed that my deck has become much stronger this time round.

The challenge for me lies in enhancing the commerce ability of my deck with minimal additions and a way of tackling Van's Cannon. I also need to defend myself against her barrage of attack action cards and find a way of putting my Mint into play earlier which I failed to this game. Daunting indeed - will I succeed? Stay tuned....

4th May 2009 Session Report: The One Where My Strategy Stalled

Had another go at Catan Card game against Van today and unsurprisingly, I suffered another loss. Suspect if I don't improve my results against Van, she's gonna get bored of the game real soon with the ease at which she is gaining victory. Van ran away with the gam 13-7, taking control of both the knight and commerce tokens.

I was banking on a Mint strategy, trying to enhance my gold production with a production doubler and a colony outpost, which effectively gave me an additional gold resource patch in addition to my doubled two. Unfortunately, I got the doubling production house out late and suffered a successful arsonist attempt by Van on my Mint (allows a 1:1 exchange of all gold). While powerful, the Mint is also extremely expensive (6 resource for no VPs & 1 commerce symbol) and my failure to defend against Van's arsonist meant that it took me quite awhile to get the Mint up and running again. Nonetheless, there seems to be some potential with this strategy and I will look into getting up and running earlier in the game.

Van on the other hand managed to rush to the 5th settlement again with the help a good rolls on the event and production dice. Her brick doubler building further enhanced her ability to build roads and settlements. But her killer card this time round was the Treasure Fleet which gained her 3 additional resources each time the Year of Plenty was rolled instead of the usual 1. Coupled with her Toll Station which gave 2 gold resources during the Year of Plenty, that meant a total of 5 free resources each time. I made a mental note to include a couple of Pirate Fleets in my deck so as to combat that advantage as well as the commerce advantage she derives from her trade fleets.

Being the victor, Van got to choose one card from my deck as her reward. Her choice was Merchant Outpost which allows her to leech off production from 2 adjacent resource patches in my principality. While a powerful card at a low cost when utilized early, at least it doesn't penalize me (except for a lost building spot) and can be removed when 6 commerce points are gained.

For my next deck, I have decided to remove all cards from the Wizards and Dragons expansion deck as it takes far too long to put them in play. Furthermore, I find building space tight especially when I'm restricted to only 4 settlements. Hopefully, I'll be able to improve on my 0-2 record against Van in the tournament format.

30th April Session Report: The One Where We Tried Our First Tournament Game

After ploughing through the 6 different expansion decks of the Catan card game, Van and I were finally ready to have our first go at the tournament rules. The original tournament game requires two sets of the original game as well as the expansion sets but as we had only a set of either, we had to get creative...

I suggested drafting for cards. It involved a simple draft where I would open 2 cards at a time where each of us would alternately get the first pick of the cards, while the remaining card would go to the other. After all the cards were allocated, we then picked the requisite 33 cards from the pile of cards we acquired. Once chosen, we would exchange our remaining pile of unwanted  cards for the other to switch any cards if so desired.

I built a knights and magic intensive deck with a several low cost knights, several cards from the Wizards and Dragons expansion deck and cards focused on enhancing ore and gold production. On the other hand, Van had a number of nice trade fleets and cards that enhanced her commerce advantage. Expectedly, I took the lost 8-13. 

In retrospect, it was probably unwise for me to bank so much on the magic cards when Van had the better spells and magic action cards. She wisely only used her magic on Materialization (which reaped her a cheap city upgrade) and Magic Kitchen (which allowed her to gamble on easy resource gains). I struggled with resource production, once again losing the race to the fifth settlement. Van held on to the commerce token for practically the whole game and while I did nab a couple of resources from tournament event rolls, she finally snatched the knight token from me in the final round thanks to her Cannon with 6 strength points. It was a strong move in view of her University and allowed her a leap in strength points for only 2 resources. I was complacent with my lead in strength points and failed to put my Dragon in play earlier.

Despite my loss, I enjoyed the Tournament game significantly. It played much faster thanks to the much more useful cards that cycled through our hands. In the Expanded game, there was a tendency to draw cards that you didn't need due to the large number of cards in play. Additionally, it was interesting to build a deck with various combos even though I clearly had much to learn in that aspect. I suggested to Van after the game that in our future games, the winner will be allowed an opportunity to pick any one card from the opponent's deck for his or her own use. Figured that would give us added incentive for the win. I already know the first card I'll pick if I win - Materialization. Although looking at my poor win-lose record against Van (1-7), she shouldn't have problems holding on to that card of hers, or would she?

28th April 2009 Session Report: The One Which We Dueled With Wizards & Dragons

Vanessa and I tried the final expansion from the Settlers of Catan card game. The Wizards and Dragons was unlike the other expansions in that they introduced Citadels which was an alternate upgrade of settlements apart from cities. Citadels do not allow red buildings to be built but allow special Wizard cards to be played. These wizards are placed above matching region cards and allow resources to be transferred as magic points to the wizards. These wizards can then utilize Spell Books which can be placed for free in spaces accorded in each Citadel. 

The spells available range from searching the expansion decks to manipulating the Event die. The one that stood out was the Countermagic card which allowed actions played by the opponent to be denied at the cost of 2 magic points. There are also purple buildings and magic action cards that can be played through the use of these magic points. The card I found extremely useful was Materialization which allowed a free city upgrade with a mere 2 magic points provided the player possesses at least 2 wizards in his or her principality. 

While I lost a close game to Van 12-13, it was an interesting experience playing with this expansion deck and I look forward to incorporating some of these cards into my Tournament deck the next time round.

23rd April 2009 Session Report: The One With Another Loss

Another day, another loss at the hands of Van in the Catan cardgame. This time despite me rushing to 5 settlements first and nabbing all the coal with Scout cards. Van took the game 13-8. 

Despite me trying to block her out of the coal resource patches by taking 2 with my 1st Scout card, Van happened to draw both wheat resource patches on her next settlement build, effectively shutting me out of wheat as well. 

Over the course of the game, Van also gained an obscene amount of free resources from holding the windmill and knight tokens for large parts of the game. She also had a Pirate fleet which gave her a free gold each time Year of Plenty was rolled and 2 Land Reform cards which was worth 6 additional resources. With the abundance of resources, she upgraded 3 of her settlements to cities and built a number of VP buildings to put her over the edge. This was despite me managing to wrestle over the windmill token towards the end of the game.

Another reason why I fell behind was that the Science & Progress expansion deck which we played required a Abbey/Library and a University to benefit from most of the expansion cards. Van built an Abbey early and subsequently the University which also gave her nice gains from Progress Event cards, which rewarded the player with those buildings with additional resources. I on the other hand in my bid to be first to 5 settlements, put off searching for a Abbey which left me unable to take advantage of many of the expansion cards. In particular, Van built a Cannon which cost only 2 resources but supplying 6 strength points, effectively giving her the knight token for good. While I also obtained the same Cannon card, my lack of an Abbey/Library and an University left me incapable of building the Cannon to attempt regaining the knight token.

Looks like the Expanded game has been generally brutal with me, with me taking only a single win in our 6 games so far. Hopefully, the tables will be turned when we move into the Tournament game. Only one more expansion deck to go: next up, Wizards & Dragons!

21 April Session Report: The One Where Border Disputes Spelled My Downfall

Van and I had another go at Settlers of Catan cardgame. We were halfway through the expansions, and halfway towards the goal of playing the game tournament style. I opted for the Knights and Merchants expansion this time round and the expansion cards played a huge role as the decider.

One of the keys in this game is being the first player to rush to 5 settlements. There is a odd number of settlements in the game and therefore the slower player has to make do with 4 settlements, but more significantly, 2 resource patches less. This is critical since the game revolves around the use of resources. There had been only one game when I won the race to 5, and this was no different. I struggled obtaining the right resources to expand quickly enough but what went my way was the brutal draw Van had in acquiring her new resources patches. We were both without the Scout cards which allowed a selection of resource patches and I ended with 3 coal mines to her 1. This was BIG as coal is typically of growing importance as the game progresses. 

Unknown to me though was this game had a Border Dispute card which allowed the player with the knight token to exchange any duplicate resource patch for one of his opponent's, together with the resources on it. Van got an early lead in terms of knight strength points and played not one, but TWO Border Dispute cards to rob me of 2 of my coal mines. That spelled the beginning of the end as I battled in vain to claw back the disadvantage. She took the game relatively easy, 13-8.

The other card of interest which I failed to built but would definitely be a contender in my tournament deck is the Palace. It allows for a card from the discard pile to be retrieved during every Year of Plenty roll in exchange for one free resource.

4 expansion decks down, 2 to go...

9th April 2009: The One With The Breakthrough!

Duelled Van in the Settlers of Catan cardgame again. Get the idea that it's becoming one of our preferred games. I still think Glory to Rome is the better game but with 2 players, Catan cardgame comes across more interesting though a whole lot longer. 

After 3 consecutive losses to Van in the game, I finally managed my first victory. Though Van was getting really sleepy as the game dragged into its 2nd hour, so maybe that had something to do with it. We played with the Trade & Change expansion theme. The final score was 13 to 10.

I once again focused my early game in rushing for the 5th settlement which I succeeded in. I also searched out a Scout card which helped me line up my foundry between 2 coal regions. The knight and commerce tokens were fiercely competed for throughout the game with each of us nabbing one at the end of the game. I was able to upgrade 4 of my settlements to cities due to riches in coal and obtained the remaining VPs from a Church, Town Hall and Library.

7th April 2009: The One Where I Tried Harry Wu's New Game

Trying a new format for session reports. Played a couple of games with various ones today:

The Settlers of Catan Card Game (Van 13, Me 8)

Played with the Politics and Intrigue expansion theme. I started well and for once, managed to rush to 5 settlements before Van. What cost me were the 2 Arsonist cards that Van played against me, uprooting 2 valuable red buildings and giving her the commerce advantage. Also had a few untimely hits by the brigades which Van escaped thanks to her Garrison. Van also played 2 Excommunication action cards, preventing me from assessing the 2 expansion decks available. This game can seriously be rather cut-throat but that appeals to me. Still waiting for my 1st win against Van, will be sure to pay more attention to the attack action cards the next time round.

Glory to Rome x 2 (1st game: Me 47, Van 22, Mun 13; 2nd game: Me 25(4), Van 25(3), Mun 17)

In the first game, I ran away with the game thanks to a Aqueduct (allows you to additionally add a client from hand when Patron is played) and a Basilica (In addition when playing Merchant, player may add card to vault from hand). My vault was stocked while the other 2 struggled to keep up. Ended the game by taking the last in-town site.

In the second, I managed to get up to 3 craftsman clients. Coupled with my Circus Maximus (Doubles your client actions), I had a slew of building actions. Was going to end the game by taking the last 2 in-town sites with my 6 craftsman action but drew a Catacombs thanks to my Temple (+4 max hand size) and ended the game by completing it with the special ability of my Road (use any material for stone buildings). The 3 influence points proved critical as I was unaware Van had completed her Wall (1VP for every 2 material in stockpile) and scored heavily for the bunch of materials in her stockpile. Checked the rules for the tiebreaker and apparently it boiled down to remaining cards in hand which I pipped her by 1.

Citadels (Me 26, Van 16, Mun 9)

Hadn't pulled this out for awhile which was nice since this was one of the first games I bought when I got into the hobby, plus the oldest player gets to start first! I find Citadels best with 3 as each player gets 2 roles per turn and the game doesn't drag out like it does with 5-7. We played the shorter game to 7 buildings as Mun needed to leave. I took the Assassin for the first 2 turns and avoided missing a turn throughout the game, which allowed me to rush to 7 to end the game.

Prussian Eastern Railroad (Van 734, Me 618, Marcus 574)

Marcus brought over a new Harry Wu game for us to try. I have been hearing good things about his other game, Chicago Express and thus was intrigued to have a first go at one of his games. The rules were sufficiently easy to grasp but it yet it was hard to figure out how to play it well. The difficulty playing new games with an auction element is not knowing how much to bid. In retrospect, we underbid for the railway shares, and Van who obtained the bulk of them acquired the upper hand. In addition, we allowed her to purchase shares in 7 out of the 8 railway companies which made it difficult to claw back the advantage. For whatever we tried to do in increasing railway income or triggering double dividends for certain companies, she would benefit too. 

With a fixed number of shares per company, I realized it made little sense to split up the shares 1:1:1 between us which was what we largely did. It seems like it makes more sense to buy additional shares in the company you already have a stake in unless you can force your opponent to overpay. There is some luck with the turn order mechanism but not enough that it makes the game flaky. Keen to try it again but doubt it will be something I'll be looking to own. The metagame element seems rather significant and there is some kingmaking element. Reminds me somewhat of El Grande where there can be a runaway leader issue unless everyone else works together to thwart the leader.

31st March 2009 Session Report: The One Where We Tried The Barbarians & Traders Expansion

Took awhile but finally managed to get the Catan Card Game to the table again. Had to review the rules briefly but it all came back to me fairly quickly enough. Having tried the standard game with Van the last time, I felt we ought to move it up a notch and attempt it with one of the expansion theme decks. Picked the Barbarians & Traders deck and off we went. There were a few minor rule changes, the most significant being we now play to 13. Apparently, the cards in the theme deck are powerful enough to warrant the raise in the victory condition.

Van won the game 13-8. Once again, she won the race to build the 5th settlement, leaving me with 4. There have been comments on the forum that building the 5th settlement is key to winning and so far in our 2 games, the trend hasn't been bucked. The notion of having 2 extra resource fields does seem a huge advantage as Van out-built me for most of the game. I didn't even have a lick at the knight and commerce tokens, which she didn't relinquish once she took them into her hand. She built a couple of buildings which provided additional VP and with her city upgrades, easily took her to 13 before I could do anything significant to claw back the advantage. I don't think the game is broken by any means and at the moment, will reserve judgement whether the odd settlement card ought to be removed so the max for each player remains at 4. I think the race element of getting to the 5th settlement does dominate the early game which is fine, but the real question lies in whether the opponent has a fair chance of winning despite losing the race. So far, it has been a struggle clawing back the advantage - perhaps that is due to me still coming to grasp with the cards and coming up with an actual strategy of sorts.

We hardly got through the cards of the Barbarians & Traders deck and I still do not have a good sense of the flavour of its theme. In fact, while having gone through more of the standard cards, I'm not sure I know them well enough to formulate a coherent strategy. At present, it's about building the best card in hand, then building with the intention of achieving good combos. Unlike Glory to Rome, there is limited cycling through cards due to the smaller hand size and the rules governing exchange of cards in hand. The multiple use of cards in GtR enables a player to familiarize oneself with the various cards much more after 1-2 plays. 

My initial plan was to run through a new theme deck with each play so that Van and I will be able to get to the tournament variant asap. However, that is dependent on us being familiar with the cards, particular those in the various expansion theme decks and so far, that doesn't seem feasible with just a game per deck. The expanded game adds substantial amount of cards to the game and therefore unlike the standard game, it makes it tougher to get an opportunity to run through the various cards in game. Furthermore, the early game utilizes more cards from the standard deck as there are limited green cards in the theme deck. Red cards can only be built with cities while yellow action cards can only be used when the combined score reaches 7 VPs. 

Perhaps some of the standard cards can be removed to allow greater use of the theme deck cards. Will look through the BGG forums to see if such variants exist.

16 March 2009 Session Report: The One Where We Tried The Catan Card Game

Tried the Catan Card Game for the first time tonight. Verdict? I like it! A tinge too long but that can be easily tweaked just like its boardgame sibling, perhaps similarly by starting with a settlement, city and extra road?

And from the looks of it, Van enjoyed herself too despite being reluctant initially to game tonight. If her gripe with Race for the Galaxy was the lack of interaction, the Catan Card Game must be its anti-type. Practically every turn resulted in interactive plays, be it through the dice rolls, event or action cards. We were squealing in delight each time we got to rob the other of his or her resources or cards.

In view of the fact we haven't got to the expansion set and the tournament rules, the longevity of this game is very, very promising. Oh and by the way, Van kicked my butt 12-9 in our virgin game. I got behind on settlement expansion and city upgrading early on and found it hard to regain ground.

We seemed to have gained a relatively good grasp of the cards in the base set so perhaps we will go ahead and throw in one of the five expansion themes into the mix the next round. Looking forward to the day when we have familiarized ourselves adequately with all the cards to be able to form our own tournament decks for play.

Goodbye Race For The Galaxy... Hello Settlers Of Catan Card Game & Expansion!

Courtesy of Stephanie K. @ BGG

The inevitable happened... I traded away Race for the Galaxy. In all honesty, the game grew on me more than I anticipated after my first couple of plays but ultimately its lack of success with the wife did it in. Van is my most frequent gaming partner so if she hates the game so much that she more or less refuses to play it, there isn't much use keeping it around even if it is an 8 in my book.

While I could always play it with others, the problem about RftG is it is terribly unfriendly to newbies. It takes at least 3-4 games for someone to get familiar with the symbols and even that's not a guarantee. It's basically a turn-off for casual and non-gamers due to not just the complexity of the symbols but also the various card powers. The learning curve is simply to steep for one to adequately familiarize himself or herself with the cards to be able to execute combos meaningfully.

Furthermore, while I like the game with 3 and especially 4, I find the 2 player game somewhat flawed due to a overly dominant Produce - Consume 2xVP strategy as highlighted in my previous post.

The fact that I had a better alternative drove the final nail into the coffin. Why play RftG when Glory to Rome trumps it on almost all accounts, at least in my opinion. While the quick play time is often viewed as a boon by others, I find that it leaves me somewhat unsatisfied. Glory to Rome plays in a comfortable time with far more interesting mechanics and combos, plus I prefer playing it regardless of the number of players. While the games don't play all that similarly, they are sufficiently in the same vein for me to pick one over the other for my collection.

The game I got in return was the Catan Card Game with expansions. While admittedly less flexible due to it being a mere 2 player game, it was one I had in view for some time. 2 player games are always a risk because if Van fails to give her seal her approval, the game is clearly headed for the cold storage. However, I am hopeful because the boardgame variant is one of Van's favourite games and I'm sure she'll take to the theme unlike that of RftG.

The game also seems sufficiently deep for me to enjoy and the CCG elements are an added appeal. I have heard the much touted tournament variant requires two sets of the card game plus expansion which I'm unfortunately to fork the dough for. Hopefully, the standard game will not disappoint but if all things fail, the small deck tournament rules may be the saving grace. Aka Datang!