Gaming For The Week 22nd - 29th May 2010

Marcus came over early in the week with 2 new games - Innovation and American Rails. I've been dying to try Innovation as I'm a huge fan of Glory to Rome. Verdict? I like it and will be looking to acquire it. It does come across more abstract than Glory to Rome with a definite weaker theme. On the other hand, it feels more accessible than GtR despite its 100+ unique card powers. Perhaps it is due to the fact that only 5 card powers are in play for each player at any one time. Just like GtR, the strength is in the interaction which is a key element I look for in games. I enjoy the fact that not only are many of the card powers interactive in nature but you have to constantly 'compete' with other players to be ahead in card symbols to avoid sharing your powers with others. Van wasn't impressed even though she too is a fan of GtR. I suppose it's down to the theme or in this case, the lack of...

American Rails plays similar to Chicago Express which I own. And I have to admit, it's probably the better game. You get to start anywhere on the board unlike CE's fixed positions, which enhances replayability and offers more strategic options. Secondly, the action mechanism reminiscent of Steam also puts it above CE. I like the fact that each action can only be selected by one player each time round, and your choice of action will determine your turn order subsequently. It definitely adds more depth to the game. The game felt a lot more open, less predictable and many more options available with what you can and want to do with the different companies.

The sole advantage CE has over AR is perhaps its gateway potential. I like the fact that you reduce each player turn effectively down to only 3 options: Auction, Develop, or Expand. However, I find the whole Wabash addition once a company hits Chicago fiddly. Sure it adds an extra layer to the decision-making but new players tend to struggle wrapping their head around that part of the game. Nonetheless, the components of CE are far more attractive and I suppose that always serves as an important hook for casual/non-gamers.

Mid-week, the usual gang came over for our weekly fix of A Game of Thrones LCG. Can't remember much except that Jo (Greyjoy) and I (Lanni) took a close one from Ben (Bara) and Ivan (Martell). We ended off with Ra and Ivan took his first win in that, completely demolishing the rest of us. After Ben left, we managed to squeeze in a game of Dominion:Intrigue and a game of Citadels before calling it a day.

Gaming For the Week 14th - 20th March 2010

Had a good turn-out this week with 6. Jon and Jo were early so we managed to squeeze in a game of Ra and Dominion:Intrigue too. I took the win in Ra while Jo won comfortably in Dominion with his barrage of Harems.

When the full group arrived, we started with Battlestar Galactica. I wanted to use the no-Sympathizer variant but wasn't sure how to further tweak the resources in view that the shortened game variant was a staple. We decided to stick with the Sympathizer in the end. Jo was toaster from the start but sort of gave himself away when he opted not to allow his loyalty card to be checked as offered by one of the Crisis deck cards. We promptly brigged him and he chose to remain brigged in an effort to waste our skills cards instead of revealing. We soon caught on and refrained from throwing in additional skills cards. Furthermore Ben who was playing as Tom Zarek used his special ability to increase the difficulty of the skill check by 2 each time, and successfully halted any attempt to escape by Jo.

Jo lost his Admiral powers, but having already slowed us in our first FTL jump by choosing a destination of distance one. Wei Ning ended up with both the Admiral and President powers somewhere along the line, which spelt doom for us if he too was Cylon. Thankfully for the human race, he proved reliable and Ivan turned out to be the 2nd Cylon after receiving a dubious loyalty card at the Sleeper phase. We had multiple resources in the red by then, which meant it was 4-2 in favour of the humans. We managed to pull out a victory with the Cylons making their move perhaps a little too late.

Jon had to leave after, so the remaining 5 of us proceeded with a game of Chicago Express. The 5 player dynamics proved rather different from the 3-player game which is what I'm more familiar with. You have much less control in the 5-player game and it is far harder to claw back ground after a bad move. As it turned out, I overpaid for the 2nd red share and failed to acquire a monopoly over any of the train companies. It was a close game with the top 3 separated by a single dollar. Wei Ning took the win on his first play - great job!

Wei Ning left soon after and then there were 4, which meant it was time for A Game of Thrones LCG with the usual gang. We had limited time so we paired up and agreed to play till 20 power tokens as a team. I took Lannister as usual and paired with Jo who played as Greyjoy. Ivan and Ben took Targaryen and Baratheon respectively. It was a close one with Jo's combo of the 'Rise of the Kraken' plot card and the 'Assault of the Kraken' event card clinching the win. The plot card gave him an additional power token for each unopposed challenge with a claim of 2. The event card allowed him an additional power challenge that turn provided both were unopposed. This is an awesome clincher combo for Greyjoy and reaped us the 6 power tokens needed for the win.

Gaming For The Week 7th - 13th March 2010

Ivan was back from reservist and raring to game this week. He wasn't disappointed as he, Jo and I managed two games of A Game of Thrones LCG midweek. He has invested substantially in sprucing up his set and this time round he revealed a new deck - that of House Greyjoy. He began with that while Jo and I took Martell and Lannistar respectively.

I had an amazing opening hand, filled with gold producing locations AND characters. Before long, I was running up an income of around 8 each round and was unstoppable as I increased my characters in play. Valar nor Bear Island was in play thankfully and I rushed to 15 power tokens rather comfortably. In a melee game, I made it a point to target Greyjoy rather than Martell for fear of the latter's backlash effects. Ivan struggled with the lack of income locations in his deck - definitely an area he intends to tweak for our next session.

The second game was a much closer affair. I opted for Martell this time round, with Jo trying Greyjoy and Ivan going his new fav - Stark. While he opted not to carry Valar as a plot choice, his Bear Island was nonetheless devastating, having a free kill during dominance of any character without an attachment. It not only depletes your opponents' stock of powerful characters (particularly those with he 'no attachments' trait) but puts him in good stead to win dominance each round. However I played it right this time recognizing Bear Island gives one kill and not one from each opponent which would make it absolutely ridiculous in melee.

Jo also struggled with income, noting he had powerful cards yet was unable to play them. I had no idea how I inched ahead them to win especially when I started unimpressively. But what wa probably integral was Arianne Martell who allows an extra claim for each winning battle she participates in. Considering she had a power icon coupled with a few turns where I had non-kneeling effects, I racked up the power tokens in a jiffy. I suppose it was fortunately I was able to keep her safe from the Bear Island effects by giving her an attachment at the point I marshalled her.

I was keen to play Hansa after but Ivan suggested Chicago Express, not having tried it before. I was surprised to have pulled this game in 2 consecutive seasions. I still have high regard for the game as my pas posts on it indicate but I have to admit the game does feel a little samey with the same player count (which has been 3 for my group). In most cases, Red is the one reaching Chicago first. However, this time round, we split the Red shares evenly so it was Jo and I pushing Blue towards Chicago and reaping the attractive payout afterwards. Jo had an early lead when I foolishly overbid for the 2nd Red share only for him to swoop in for the 3rd share at a cut price the next turn. I managed to claw back the lead with a few well timed auctions and eventually took the win with $90+. Jo and Ivan were both close with $70+ each.

By then we had only time for a filler. We ended up trying the 3-player variant of Battle Line. It was functional but no where as impressive as it's 2-player counterpart.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Gaming For The Week 21st - 27th Feb 2010

Jo and Jon came over towards the end of the week. Jo was early and we started off with 2 games of Dominion: Intrigue. Jo commented afterward that he wasn't much of a fan of the game. I have to admit there was minimal interaction in the 2 sets we played. There were attack cards available but it didn't seem our while to invest heavily in them.

The game at the moment is sort of 'hit and miss' for me. I enjoy the game when there's a good bout of interaction but those occasions are rare since even with the Intrigue cards, Dominion isn't high on interaction. In many ways, it is similar to RftG in its multiplayer tendencies except that it is easier to pick up. Chunks of words can be intimidating on a first play but symbols are much worse.

I have noticed nonetheless that the Intrigue cards seem to play better with more than 2 players. For example, one Torturer does little to damage your opponent's hand and it's rare that you get to play more than one Torturer a turn. However, with more players, it's a higher probability for multiple Torturers to be played before your turn, thus accentuating the ill-effects.

Dominion: Intrigue still holds curiosity for me and I'm looking forward to more plays to figure out how I truly feel about the game. Hopefully, I will find willing opponents.

After Jon arrived, we played a game each of Chicago Express and Puerto Rico. The two games are similar in that the mechanics aren't difficult to pick (well, CE more so than PR) but it takes experience to figure out how to play the games well. I suppose these are games that benefit from having a regular group. Nonetheless, Jo's strategy to go for shipping early kept him competitive, with me pipping him by only 2 VPs.

17th Nov 2009 Session Report: First Attempt at Vasco da Gama

Marcus' shipment of games from Essen arrived and when he came over, we were able to give Vasco da Gama a go. This was one of the games that intrigued me as I kept up to date with the Essen reports on BGG, and was clearly the game of the show as indicated by the popularity polls.

I however did poorly at the game, unable to grasp the nuances of the mechanics to play efficiently enough. I ended with a miserly 52 points compared to 77 for Van and 83 for Marcus. The game reminded me of Confucius where the board contained different sections for worker placement - one for selecting characters with bonuses, purchasing ships, recruiting crew and finally, one to deploy the manned ships. So while nothing new, the various sections did feel more tightly integrated into the game as a whole.

What has been touted as the refreshing aspect of Vasco however is the way in which selected actions are resolved. Workers are not placed directly on the various sections but rather on a list of numbers determining turn order. Beyond a certain point, actions are free, but above that, ascending payment is required. This point however has a random element as a modifier of +3 to -3 will be applied after numbers have been selected. We played generally conservatively, opting for actions in the free range but once I fell behind, I took greater risks, opting for advance positions despite lacking money for potential payments if the modifier didn't go my way. If payments can't be made, actions are skipped with the consolation of a small income.

The game felt tight throughout as you are constantly jostling for position in the various sections of the board. Going behind means settling for inferior options as the better ones get taken . Another challenge is lining up your positions so that you have the necessary requirements to launch your ship(s) at the right time.

The game didn't overstay its welcome, playing in about 90min excluding rules explanation. While I enjoyed the game and saw the brilliance in its mechanics, it just didn't feel unique enough to warrant a purchase. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to more plays on Marcus' copy.

Vanessa suggested Tigris and Euphrates next. This was Simon's copy which I borrowed awhile back and hadn't had the opportunity to return. It was Marcus first play and after having not played the game in awhile, I must admit that I appreciate the charm of the game. It is undisputedly one of Knizia's better designs as reflected by its BGG ranking. I enjoy the conflict present and the possibilities available. It is one of those games where you can make a move and your opponents are left both surprised and wowed. I had a couple of bad hands this game, ending up with multiple same coloured tiles which I had strength in. I realized the best thing to do in such situations is to go for a quick external conflict, which enabled a more efficient refreshing of tiles. I also like how there needs to be constant consideration as to how best strengthen your weak colours. I had a few unexpected victories due to my skewed tile hands and ended up with 11 on my weakest colour while Van and Marcus tied on 6.

Next up was Chicago Express which Marcus was keen to have another go at since the last time we played. I won the initial red as usual but made a bad move of auctioning the 2nd red when I didn't need to. I realized that actions are valuable in this game and there is no reason taking an action which would not directly benefit me over my opponents. I could have waited for others to auction the 2nd red as it was advantageous to keep status quo into the first dividend phase. Marcus had a good start and ended up with 114 to Van's 79 and my 73. I was also overly conservative in my shares acquisitions early on, and lost out on overall payouts in the long run.

We ended off with what else but Glory to Rome. I built the Scriptorium proceeded to accumulate influence by mass completion of buildings. I finally ended the game in the nick of time with a Catacomb as Van started stashing extra materials in her vault with her first turn Merchant client. I pipped her by a point, 24 to 23.

11th Nov 2009 Session Report: The One Where I Cement My Appreciation Of Chicago Express

Had a good gaming turn-out today: Weilong, Mun, Ivan, Van and myself.

Ivan was the earliest so we started out with A Game of Thrones LCG while waiting for the other two to arrive. It was our first go at multiplayer so a little reviewing of the titles mechanic was due. This basically involves a choice of title per round by each player after plot cards are revealed and initiative resolved. Each title accords a benefit for the turn as well as determines potentially another title in which you oppose or support for the entirety of the round. You are restricted from challenging whoever you support and you gain a bonus power if you win a challenge against whoever you oppose. It's a nice added element to the game which helps balance the decks and prevent runaway leaders. Thematically, it fits the politicking of the books. However, it does add considerable time to gameplay since there is a tendency to gang up on the leader to pull him or her back.

As it turned out, we didn't manage to finish the game at the point when Weilong and Mun arrived. Nonetheless, it gave us a feel of the multiplayer mechanic. Van remained unimpressed and it looks like it will be increasingly difficult to get her to play again. Ivan was leading in the power department when we decided to move on to something else.

With 5, we opted for none other than Princes of Florence. Before we started, I also managed to teach Ivan Tichu and while waiting for Mun, the four of us played two hands. It ended 270-20 in Ivan and my advantage. Van and Weilong also had a short game of Battle Line while I was explaining the rules of PoF to Ivan.

Princes of Florence (Me 63, Ivan 51, Van 48, Mun 48, WL 38)

Ivan did surprisingly well considering it was only his first play at the game. I made a big boo-boo with my first prestige card, failing to get the builder I needed to fulfill the requirements. Somehow I assumed that just like Jesters, there would be a builder available for each round and waited till the last round to obtain it, hoping to nab it at a lower price. To my surprise, there were only 7 builders in the game, as opposed to 8 for Jesters. I opted desperately for a second prestige card at that point and managed to get the tied score for most works, but the damage was done. Thankfully, I obtained 2 Jesters in the mid-game at undervalued prices, which enabled me to still nab victory.

Glory to Rome (Van - forum victory, Me, Ivan, Mun)

Weilong had to leave early and Ivan was due to leave in about an hour so we opted for GtR. Ivan picked it up quickly despite the variety of building powers. Clearly, his experience with CCG/LCG typed games helped. I was a turn away from a potential victory but Van pipped me to it with a Forum victory thanks to her Gate which activates the powers of uncompleted Marble buildings.

Chicago Express (Van 83, Me 64, Mun 42)

After Ivan departed, I taught Mun Chicago Express before dinner. She was clearly impressed by the depth of the game despite the simplicity of the mechanics. I again won the first red share at $21. Van wised up to my strategy this time round and promptly auctioned the 2nd red share at a point when my finances paled to hers. She went further to buy up the 3rd share and I was rendered helpless as she clearly had the edge in terms of income and cash early in the game. As a minor shareholder, I diverted red's network away from Chicago and utilized it to block green which Van and Mun owned out of the game. Red was left with insufficient tracks to reach Chicago though it still provided a nice income each dividend phase. But the allowance to pull off such a move just took the game up another notch in my book. Blue managed to reach Chicago and I was the main beneficiary with 2 shares to Van and Mun's one. However, I was unable to claw back on Van's early lead and she promptly ended the game by auctioning off Wabash's 2nd share, leaving shares on red, blue and black all accounted for.

8th Nov 2009: My First Wins At Chicago Express & Endeavor...

If you had read my last post, you would know that it was mighty fortunate that Van even agreed to game with me again, hah! Anyway, Marcus came over and mentioned he has a shipment from Essen arriving (woohoo!). We initially wanted to give Imperial a go, but Van vetoed the idea in view of its length so Marcus had a chance to try out the new games I acquired.

We started off with Endeavor and while he grasped the rules quickly, he had some difficulty optimizing his choices and ended up with some inefficient scenarios where he was unable to fully utilize his workers. I too had an abundance of workers but used them to good effect by attacking strategically for the connection and added influence. Surprisingly, 3 extra regions opened up, and both Marcus and Van managed a nice collection of cards. I had the most points on the main board which was enough to secure me the victory, despite me not gaining a single Governor card nor acquiring a building beyond an industry level of 3.

Next up was Chicago Express. Marcus had tried it once before so we were equally experienced, or for that matter inexperienced, with 1 game under our belt each. I determined to focus on the red railway company this time round, noting in my last play that it had the fewest shares and thus was least susceptible to dilution. I took its first share for $21 and timed myself subsequently to buy into Marcus' yellow and Van's blue when they were low on cash. I maintained monopoly over the red throughout the game, buying up the 2 remaining shares when auctioned with my early lead in cash. Unsurprisingly, it was the first and only company to reach Chicago, and the special dividend triggered accrued to me alone, thus building me an unassailable lead. The game soon ended with the Wabash being the third company to have its shares fully auctioned. I took the win with $102.

After unsuccessfully trying to persuade Van to give A Game of Thrones LCG a go, we decided go with our trusty Glory to Rome. I was surprised Van even suggested it after what happened the last time round. Marcus and I gained an obscene number of clients. Thanks to my Bar ("in addition: you may add patron from deck), my collection of clients was somewhat more useful. The scores were close, with each of us separated by a point. I took the win with 15, thanks to my solitary marble in the vault while theirs remained empty. Van had a nice stash in her stockpile with nabbed her additional points thanks to her Wall, while Marcus by far had the most influence points. Marcus commented the Bar seemed somewhat overpowered especially at its low cost (1 material). I partially agreed but attributed it to the randomness of the deck draw. But that's the appeal of GtR after all, most cards are overpowered in one way or another and it's all about coming out with your 'broken' combo the fastest. This was also my 30th play of GtR - money well spent indeed!

Finally, Marcus introduced to us a new game - Fzzzt! (how do you even pronounce that??!!). It has a certain deck-building mechanic to it, which Marcus commented reminded him of Dominion. I enjoyed the blind auction mechanic where cards in hand are used to bid for those displayed. Cards won and used remain yours, and 6 are drawn randomly each round to form your new hand. However, you have a larger degree of control as you can use cards to build widgets for more points, and thus leaving yourself with the 6 ideal cards for your next hand. Definitely a nice filler and thanks to the auction mechanic, arguably more interactive than Dominion. Nonetheless, I suppose without special powers and potential combos, the deck-building aspect seems rather thin. Even Dominion falls short for me in that... And now, if only I could get another go at A Game of Thrones LCG ;-)

31st Oct 2009: First Go At Chicago Express...

This is gonna be a vague session report simply cause the score sheet got thrown away accidentally.

Weilong came over for games and while he hasn't been gaming with us for some time, he came just in time to try my new shipment of games.

I spared no time in whipping out Chicago Express. I had been eyeing this baby for some time as it had all the characteristics I typically like about games. Short game length (about 1 hour), simple mechanics (3 basic decisions per turn) but yet incredible depth in play with high interaction. And the verdict? It sure didn't disappoint. Van took the win, with Weilong second and I, third. I was at a lost at times as to the auction mechanic - unsure when to initiate them and which company's share to put up for bidding. My downfall came with my failure to acquire sufficient share holdings compared to Van and Weilong, and that led to my downfall as dividend after dividend phases were triggered. Nonetheless, I concluded that it was a keeper for sure. I hesitated for sometime regarding the purchase due to the hefty cost and while the over-the-top production wasn't necessary, I'm sure glad I added this game to my collection. Can see many more plays in the future.

Next up was Endeavor. The first play was positive but I was keen to give it another go. I opted to focus on building up my industry this time round and by the end of the game, I was able to attain the best buildings in the game. Unfortunately, the apparent imbalance in my progress tracks meant that I lagged behind. Van took the win again.

We had to make a move by then, and while I was washing up, Van taught Weilong Battle Line without the tactic cards.