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.

Gaming For The Week 31st Jan - 6th Feb 2010

Quiet week in terms of gaming apart for Jo coming by towards the end of the week.

We tried drafting for AGoT LCG. I took Lannister and he Stark before drafting for neutral and plot cards. None of us chose Valar or Wildfire for our plot decks leading to a game where the characters continued building up. It was a close affair ending 15-14 in my favour despite Jo winning initiative to go first in the final round.

We played Puerto Rico next which Jo was keen to try. I always shun away from introducing PR for fear of the different building functions overwhelming but surprisingly the rules explanation went smoothly and Jo caught it easily. In fact, I think I find it easier to explain the PR rules than those for Settlers.




Jo played well for his first attempt, racking up shipping points thanks to his 4 corn plantations and Wharf. However, I had a better understanding of the importance of the big buildings and made timely grabs for the Guild and Custom House, resulting in a win, 56-44.

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12th May 2009 Session Report: The One With A Botched Attempt At Through The Ages

Had Ben and Mun over for games today - it had been awhile since we met up. Ben was early and I was eager to finally unwrap my new copy of Through the Ages and give it a go but shockingly when I was about to start sharing the rules for the game, we discovered that my copy lacked 35 white counters which was stipulated in the rulebook. I called Terence who I bought the game from and he advised me to contact FRED Distribution directly instead. I immediately emailed them and so far the only reply I received was one that indicated my mail would be forwarded to customer service. Hopefully, this matter will be resolved asap since it was terribly disappointing for the most expensive game I bought to date to be missing components!

Anyway, we continued with other games in hope that our inability to try Through the Ages would not spoil our session.

Puerto Rico (Me 49, Van 48, Ben 41)

I had the stronger early game, managing to obtain Coffee and Tobacco monopolies. This reaped me some lucrative early trades and set me off in acquiring the Guild House and the related production buildings. However I made a critical mistake towards the end which almost cost me the game. I could have ended the game by Mayoring but failed to realize it, and ended up Captaining for a small advantage. The game continued an additional round which allowed Van to acquire an additional large building and she closed the gap to a single point.

Glory to Rome (Mun 28, Van 27, Me 20, Ben 16)

I struggled to get any good combinations going all-game long. Used my Prison to capture Van's Wall (Immune to legionary and 1VP for every 2 material in stockpile at end of the game) but in retrospect, it was too late in the game for it to really benefit me. Mun built rapidly and her Circus Maximus (double client actions when player leads or follows) and Basilica (when Merchant is played, player may additionally add card to Vault from hand) sealed her victory. None of us had many resources in the Vault but Mun managed to accumulate 4 marble cards which together with the marble majority bonus, accounted for about half her points.

Princes of Florence (Me 61, Mun 54, Van 51, Ben 38)

I managed to win in a rather unconventional way which for me is part of the charm of the game. I pulled off the victory despite producing the least works (4) amongst all the players, but took home the best work bonus 3 times, scored a hefty bulk of points from my 2nd builder, my 3 buildings and...my 2nd and 3rd Lakes. By avoiding expensive auctions, I had to get creative in racking up the points. I also took a Prestige card early and it was fun making sure I fulfilled the condition of being the player with the least empty spaces (I ended up with 6) which reaped me 8 prestige points to take me over the top.

Tichu (Van/Ben 440, Me/Mun -30)

We played till 300. The game was relatively close till I failed my bid for Tichu on 2 consecutive rounds. On the last round, not only did I fail in my Tichu bid, but Van made hers and both Ben and her cleared their cards before Mun and I. Ouch...

27th April 2009 Session Report: The One Where We Tied For PR

Shouqin came over for games tonight. Introduced him to 2 giants of Eurogaming - Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico.

Settlers of Catan (Me 10, Van 8, Shouqin 6)

We played the tournament version as usual and despite going first, managed to nab all 5 resources with my 2 placements with decent numbers. Van was riding on her coal port for most of the game but I managed to partially block her coal supply for large portions of the game. She had the slight edge with the resource production but I took the victory thanks to the Longest Road and 2 VP development cards, despite failing to upgrade even once.

Puerto Rico (Me 43(1), Van 43(1), Shouqin 30)

Shouqin mentioned that he preferred games with minimal luck so I decided to reach for PR after the dice-fest of Catan. Shouqin picked up the rules easily and while he understandably couldn't fully grasp the strategic and tactical implications in his first play, he commented that he enjoyed the experience. Shouqin, I and Van started with Indigo, Sugar and Corn respectively. I was torn between a building strategy (by purchasing the Guild House early) and a shipping one (purchased a harbour as my next buy), which almost spelt my doom. Van obtained 3 large violet buildings to my 1, but somehow my advantage in shipping earned me a tie, with both of us being equal on VPs and cash.

Puerto Rico 2-Player Variant

There are a couple of 2-player variants of Puerto Rico floating around BGG. I tried to search for the post that recommended the one we are currently using but in vain though I suspect it was Yehuda Belinger who first mooted it. It is our preferred variant of the ones we have tried:

Game Preparation:

Per Player: 1 player board, 1 Doubloon, 1 Indigo (for governor); 1 corn (for 2nd player)

Plantations: Remove 2 of each type of plantation from the game. Uncover 3 plantations (one more than the number of players)

Quarries: Remove 3 Quarries from the game (use 5 quarry tiles)

Buildings: Use 2 of each Production building, and 1 of each Violet building

Victory Points: 50 total Victory Points

Colonists: 35 (in supply) + 2 on the colonist ship (minimum = player number)

Goods: Remove 2 of each type of good from the game

Cargo Ships: Use the 4, 5 and 6 capacity cargo ships

Trading House: No change

Role Cards: Remove both prospectors from the game

Game Sequence:

The Governor begins and selects a role. The second player selects the next role before the Governor has the pick of the third and final role. Place one Doubloon on the remaining role cards. The Governor then changes to the second player and the above sequences is repeated. All further rules are the same as in the Multiplayer game.

3rd Feb 2009 Session Report: The One Where Van Beat Me At Glory To Rome

My pre-arranged game session fell through with Ben and Mun not being able to make it. Van graciously suggested playing some games just between the two of us so off we went:

We started with Glory to Rome which was Van's pick. Despite her previous irritation at the way 2-player games often end abruptly with the all the in-town sites being utilized, she was keen to have another go at it. 

She got off to a strong start with a couple of building completions and a Storeroom (all clients count as labourers) allowed her to make up for my initial advantage in the vault. As usual, the Circus Maximus (doubles each client's action) proved to be a devastating card and I tried in vain to make up for the differential in influence between the two of us. 

I managed to obtain each of 6 different clients and with a completed Scriptorium (able to complete any building with one marble material) stood a good chance at a Forum victory but alas, the card never came. 

In the end, Van took the victory easily with a score of 32 to 19. She commented that she made an effort to manage her hand more efficiently this time round after I highlighted it to her after the last game. Looks like I can look forward to more keenly contested games in future.

I next picked Puerto Rico cause I was keen to play a game that hadn't come to the table much recently. Van as usual was reluctant to play Race for the Galaxy so I figured Puerto Rico was one of the deeper games we had that scaled reasonably well for 2 using a suitable variant. 

The plantation draw was cruel to me and I failed to get either cash crop early in the game. I successfully blocked Van by taking both the Harbour and Factory (in the variant we played, we had only one of each violet buildings) but in vain as she propelled to victory by scoring maximum points for her Guild House. The final score was 48 to 35 in Van's favour. 

On second thought, I should have perhaps taken the Guild House earlier since it seems particularly strong in the 2-player game. I thought I had a nice shipping strategy going but due to my limited production of goods, I ended up with only 18 shipping points despite the effect of the Harbour (extra point for each type of good loaded)

Van chose Stone Age as the final game and I made it a point to opt for a more diversified strategy this time round. It paid dividends as I maxed out my tools, meeples and was just one short of maximizing my food production. I also managed to obtain all 8 different green civilization cards and beat Van with a score of 437 to 342. She tried to pursue a building strategy but her limited number of multipliers at the end of the game did her in.