board games & card games for all ages
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Thursday 17th April 2008
It was a bit busier than recently in the shop last night. I haven't the faintest idea how many people were in.
Players:
Darren, Dave F, Don, Jonathan, Mel, Nick, Phil, Rachel, Roj, Sue, Tim
Oh. It was only eleven.
Games Played:
The first four in were soon underway .....
Roj:
7
Dave: 4 (6 gold)
Nick: 4 (2 gold)
Jonathan:
2
I'm still very impressed with this one. Short, clever, full of tough decisions .... this was enjoyed by all (apart from Jonathan, of course .... we're still looking for a game that he likes!).
Meanwhile, Phil and Don had pre-arranged a game of this one ....
Don:
6
Phil:
5
I know nothing absolutely nothing about this one, not even which scenario they were playing or anything. I do know they used the Call to Arms expansion to pick their units, but that's about it. And that it was close. That's all. It was nice to see Don on a Thursday night .... shame he couldn't stay longer!
Five more people turned up and - after standing around for a while - disappeared upstairs with this new Zooloretto-clone/expansion
(Animals - Depot + Workers)
Mel:
(17 - 2 + 11) 26
Tim:
(18 - 0 + 6) 24
Darren: (14 - 0 + 6) 20
Mark: (14 - 4 + 3) 13
Rachel: (13 - 5 +
0) 8
I've not had the chance to play this one yet, so - once again - not only do I not know anything about this particular game (sorry ... went a bit Graham Taylor there, I think), but I don't even know what those three categories are. However .... It looks like the depot can be a killer, as Mark and Rachel found out. A close fight between Tim and Mel it seems.
I thought we were heading for a few smaller, shorter games this evening, but the downstairs group had other ideas ....
(Fields + Pastures + Wheat + Veg + Sheep + Pigs + Cows - Unused Space + Stables + Rooms + Family + Cards + Bonus)
Roj:
(1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 2 - 0 + 2 + 18 + 15 + 6 + 2) 54
Dave: (3 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 1 + 1 - 3 + 0 + 3 + 9 +
2 + 8) 34
Jonathan: (2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 3 + 1 - 3 + 1 + 4 + 9 + 6 +
3) 34
Nick: (4 + 3 + 2 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 0 + 2 + 0 + 12 +
1) 33
Sue:
(-1 + 4 - 1 - 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 - 4 + 3 + 6 + 12 + 1 + 3) 28
This was a little one-sided, as Roj worked pretty quickly to improve his house and family, giving him a load more actions than the rest of us throughout the game. And then he was getting all sorts of extra bonuses for doing exactly what he was planning to do anyway! If you look at the scores, you'll see that I was by far the best farmer (although I didn't care much for my family and their cramped conditions) and thoroughly deserved to come second, but Dave stole my bonus in the last turn. Swine. Ha! "Swine" ... geddit?
The remaining six from upstairs split into two groups of three to try a couple of the newer arrivals ....
Mark:
(22 + 6 + 16) 44
Mel:
(17 + 6 + 16) 39
Rachel: (11 + 9 +
12) 32
This was played with the "expert" rules as far as I know (which, in my opinion, is the way it should be played ... the "family" version just feels a little watered down). Apart from that, I don't know anything about this game either (I was at the shop ... honest), and I can't figure out which score is which in the brackets. The last one might be the 4-point bonuses earned for secret objectives.
And the other three were back in the Stone Age ....
(Buildings + Resources + Symbols + Farmers + Tools + Huts + Shamen)
Phil:
(115 + 4 + 9 + 15 + 18 + 49 + 36) 246
Darren: (82 + 7 + 36 + 40 + 4 + 0 + 10)
179
Tim: (104 + 8 + 16 + 0 + 0 +
14 + 14) 156
Phil looks like he had this one under control. Not only did he end the game on the highest score for building the best huts, but he then also had more points stashed away in his stack of cards than the other two as well!
The five farmers decided to reward themselves with a bit of a feast ....
Sue:
(Octavius) Won by killing Caligula
Nick: (Caligula)
Jonathan / Rachel: (Messalina)
Roj: (Claudius)
Dave: (Agrippina, Cassius, & Caesonia):
All lost
This was a load of fun, and quite a lot longer than the first time we played it, as we had to reshuffle the deck. By the time we were done, almost everyone was one step away from winning (apart from Dave, who'd managed to kill two of the guys he was in charge of). Everyone was pretty much at the end of their belts. I was one kill or two wine away from victory and Roj was only a single glass of wine away from winning as well. I was living on borrowed time a little, as the daggers kept being rejected by the other players, and I was beginning to think that the other two conspirators were the only two guys not in play when Sue finally found the third dagger and ended it. A fun game.
And to round the evening off, the last five of us had a quick trip to the caves .....
Rachel:
(4 + 7 + 0) 11
Nick: (4 + 4 + 3) 11
Dave: (4 + 4 + 1) 9
Sue: (4 + 1) 5
Roj: (2) 2
A fun little closer, and a tied result to end the night. Rachel managed a massive 11 points in animals, but had spent all her cash, while my 19 stones boosted my score of 8 to tie her at 11. Roj did the right thing and decided to hang on to at least six stones at all times, so as not to score a blank, which - as we all know - can only be done by a girl.
And that was the lot for another week. Thanks all for coming, and we'll see you all again soon.
