Once again whilst Eleanor enjoyed a nap Lisa and I decided to have a go at Carcassonne - The Princess and the Dragon. We decided to play 'Speed Carcassonne' (ie no farmers!). We enjoyed this expansion but did not feel we saw its full potential with only two players.
The dragon was fairly powerless as we took it in turns to move it; this wouldn't happen with more than two players. (Despite this I did manage to manouvre the fairy a few times so that Lisa was forced to 'eat' her own meeples whilst moving the dragon...very satisfying!).
We both liked the wormhole tiles and the Princess tiles. In the two player game they added quite an advantage. I managed to score a large city which Lisa had previously been booted out of by the Princess. Lisa did manage to complete a huge city though!
The fairy was an....interesting addition. We struggled to remember the bonus point for still having the fairy at the start of your turn and we only scored a bonus three points for having her on a completed feature once.
I really liked the dragon meeple but was less sure about the fairy meeple. The tiles were lovely, although the road under the city seems a little pointless. I really liked the monastery (grrrr..cloister) in the city though. I look forward to trying it again with more players.
Final Scores:
Lisa 149
Paul 157
We wondered if we were missing something with the volcano tiles. After the first one has been placed and the dragon arrives what do the others do? We placed them but you cannot meeple them...but you do get control of the fairy....we wondered if the dragon should move to the new volcano?
Monday, September 18, 2006
Saturday 16th September
Saturday was Beyond Monopoly at the Railway Institute in York. There was a good turnout and I managed to squeeze in 5 new games…which is a record for me!
Jon announced that the club will be playing games at the National Railway Museum in York on a Sunday in November. We don’t have to play only ‘train games’ though! I’m hoping to volunteer my services as I would like to do something to help out the club.
Jon also announced that we are going to be the first featured ‘Club of the Month’ in a new BBC games magazine! How cool is that! I hope that Jon is as proud of this as he should be….
First of all I got involved in a game of the Lord of the Rings with Andy, Mike, Adrian and George. To be honest I nearly bought this a few years ago but didn’t as it didn’t tie-in with the movies. Now, this seems refreshing. The game was excellent. I particularly liked the collaborative nature of it; I really felt that we were competing with Sauron and the evil hordes rather than against each other. In fact I was quite happy to sacrifice my character to increase the Fellowship’s chances. As it was my efforts were fruitless…
I also liked the interchangeable and reversible boards. The artwork was really good too. A solid 8 out of 10 from me. It was pointed out to us that we had played the idiot-level stupid persons version of the game…and still lost!
Next up the five of us were joined by Kevin for three hands of Who’s the Ass. This is a quick card game very similar to ….a standard card game whose name I can’t seem to remember (rummy?). It was good fun and I was pleased to come second. George did really well winning two hands, although he did have all four jokers in one of them! Final scores:
George 25
Paul 26
Mike 42
Kevin 66
Andy 80
Adrian 93
Kevin and George then headed off and the remaining four of us tried our hand at Hansa. In this game you play a fourteenth/fifteenth century trader in Scandinavia. You pay to move a trading ship, build trading booths in cities and buy and sell goods. I really enjoyed this. I particularly liked that you got taxed if you were doing too well and that it is not in your interests to stockpile goods too much. I felt this was quite a realistic aspect of trading at that time. (Monopolies seemed to become more economically viable 100-150 years later). The final scores were:
Mike 44
Paul 39
Adrian 35
Andy 35
Despite none of us having played this ever before we all enjoyed it.
Adrian then headed off to play something less mentally-taxing (I spotted him being introduced to Border Reivers) whilst the remaining three of us played Aqua Romana. I had not played this before but Mike and Andy gave clear instructions. Despite losing I really enjoyed this game and I hope to add it to my collection at some point. (I’m a sucker for tile-laying games!). It reminded me a little of Carcassonne: The Castle in that the board is a finite area and as tiles are placed it fills up rapidly. I quickly realised that my opening tactic of building straight pieces of aquaduct was flawed. I think I will do better next time. Final Scores:
Mike 33
Andy 32
Paul 28
I thought the quality of the board and playing pieces was outstanding and the mechanics were elegantly simple.
We decided on a final game before Mike and I had to head off. Mike introduced us to Adel Verplicht…which he said translates as Hoity Toity. I won this game but still enjoyed it a little less than the others. In essence you have to build a collection of antiquities to display at castles. Each turn you secretly choose to go to the auction house or the castle. Then you can buy new goods, steal money from the auction house, or steal part of a collection, display your exhibits or play a detective who foils any robbery attempts. There was a fair amount of bluffing and poker-facing going on….Mike consistently countered Andy’s moves! I fortuitously built the largest collection and then managed to arrest all the thieves leaving me free to exhibit my collection repeatedly and win the most points! Mike came second with Andy limping along in third. I think this may work better with more players. With only three it was relatively easy to work out what everyone was going to do.
All in all a really good day. It was nice to see Jack getting a go at Pitch Car and introducing people to Border Reivers. Also I think this was the first Beyond Monopoly when I have not played a single game with Jon!
Jon announced that the club will be playing games at the National Railway Museum in York on a Sunday in November. We don’t have to play only ‘train games’ though! I’m hoping to volunteer my services as I would like to do something to help out the club.
Jon also announced that we are going to be the first featured ‘Club of the Month’ in a new BBC games magazine! How cool is that! I hope that Jon is as proud of this as he should be….
First of all I got involved in a game of the Lord of the Rings with Andy, Mike, Adrian and George. To be honest I nearly bought this a few years ago but didn’t as it didn’t tie-in with the movies. Now, this seems refreshing. The game was excellent. I particularly liked the collaborative nature of it; I really felt that we were competing with Sauron and the evil hordes rather than against each other. In fact I was quite happy to sacrifice my character to increase the Fellowship’s chances. As it was my efforts were fruitless…
I also liked the interchangeable and reversible boards. The artwork was really good too. A solid 8 out of 10 from me. It was pointed out to us that we had played the idiot-level stupid persons version of the game…and still lost!
Next up the five of us were joined by Kevin for three hands of Who’s the Ass. This is a quick card game very similar to ….a standard card game whose name I can’t seem to remember (rummy?). It was good fun and I was pleased to come second. George did really well winning two hands, although he did have all four jokers in one of them! Final scores:
George 25
Paul 26
Mike 42
Kevin 66
Andy 80
Adrian 93
Kevin and George then headed off and the remaining four of us tried our hand at Hansa. In this game you play a fourteenth/fifteenth century trader in Scandinavia. You pay to move a trading ship, build trading booths in cities and buy and sell goods. I really enjoyed this. I particularly liked that you got taxed if you were doing too well and that it is not in your interests to stockpile goods too much. I felt this was quite a realistic aspect of trading at that time. (Monopolies seemed to become more economically viable 100-150 years later). The final scores were:
Mike 44
Paul 39
Adrian 35
Andy 35
Despite none of us having played this ever before we all enjoyed it.
Adrian then headed off to play something less mentally-taxing (I spotted him being introduced to Border Reivers) whilst the remaining three of us played Aqua Romana. I had not played this before but Mike and Andy gave clear instructions. Despite losing I really enjoyed this game and I hope to add it to my collection at some point. (I’m a sucker for tile-laying games!). It reminded me a little of Carcassonne: The Castle in that the board is a finite area and as tiles are placed it fills up rapidly. I quickly realised that my opening tactic of building straight pieces of aquaduct was flawed. I think I will do better next time. Final Scores:
Mike 33
Andy 32
Paul 28
I thought the quality of the board and playing pieces was outstanding and the mechanics were elegantly simple.
We decided on a final game before Mike and I had to head off. Mike introduced us to Adel Verplicht…which he said translates as Hoity Toity. I won this game but still enjoyed it a little less than the others. In essence you have to build a collection of antiquities to display at castles. Each turn you secretly choose to go to the auction house or the castle. Then you can buy new goods, steal money from the auction house, or steal part of a collection, display your exhibits or play a detective who foils any robbery attempts. There was a fair amount of bluffing and poker-facing going on….Mike consistently countered Andy’s moves! I fortuitously built the largest collection and then managed to arrest all the thieves leaving me free to exhibit my collection repeatedly and win the most points! Mike came second with Andy limping along in third. I think this may work better with more players. With only three it was relatively easy to work out what everyone was going to do.
All in all a really good day. It was nice to see Jack getting a go at Pitch Car and introducing people to Border Reivers. Also I think this was the first Beyond Monopoly when I have not played a single game with Jon!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Monday 11th September 2006
Monday night is games night! We were a little depleted in numbers...Greg was away somewhere doing something work-related and Jack was busily constructing sets of Border Reivers. However, Andy, Spence and Vin did trek out to the wilds of Osbaldwick!
Lisa joined us for a quick game of Guillotine before disappearing to sort out her budgetary overspend. As always it was fun, if a bit silly. Vin arrived a third of the way through..and looked thoroughly bemused!
The final scores were:
Andy 17
Spence 23
Lisa 26
Paul 29
I made timely use of The Scarlet Pimpernel card to end the game when I had just taken the lead.
Lisa then disappeared to the realm of numbers and accountancy whilst the rest of us indulged in a game of Flanders 1302...or whatever it's called. I had played this once at Beyond Monopoly and so thought I may have something of an advantage as the other guys had not even heard of it. How wrong I was! I'm not sure where I went wrong....but I did! On reflection I think I spread myself too thinly across too many cities. We did not use the neutral pieces or church pieces to hamper each others scoring as much as I had anticipated. I was braced waiting for this to happen...but it didn't! I admit I played badly but I still think this is a fine game... a pity it has been discontinued. The pieces are beautiful and the mechanics are satisfying. My only question is ...why 1302?
The final scores were....
Neutral - 2
Paul - 32
Andy - 38
Vin - 42
Spence - 49.
All in all a fun evening.
Lisa joined us for a quick game of Guillotine before disappearing to sort out her budgetary overspend. As always it was fun, if a bit silly. Vin arrived a third of the way through..and looked thoroughly bemused!
The final scores were:
Andy 17
Spence 23
Lisa 26
Paul 29
I made timely use of The Scarlet Pimpernel card to end the game when I had just taken the lead.
Lisa then disappeared to the realm of numbers and accountancy whilst the rest of us indulged in a game of Flanders 1302...or whatever it's called. I had played this once at Beyond Monopoly and so thought I may have something of an advantage as the other guys had not even heard of it. How wrong I was! I'm not sure where I went wrong....but I did! On reflection I think I spread myself too thinly across too many cities. We did not use the neutral pieces or church pieces to hamper each others scoring as much as I had anticipated. I was braced waiting for this to happen...but it didn't! I admit I played badly but I still think this is a fine game... a pity it has been discontinued. The pieces are beautiful and the mechanics are satisfying. My only question is ...why 1302?
The final scores were....
Neutral - 2
Paul - 32
Andy - 38
Vin - 42
Spence - 49.
All in all a fun evening.
Sunday 10th September 2006
Taking advantage of yet another of Eleanor's afternoon naps, Lisa and I decided to play Carcassonne The Castle, a game we first played...only last Sunday. This time we remembered to display any of the little cards we collected. THis did make it a more open experience...
1st game:
Lisa won by 103 points to 71. Lisa completed a massive tower shortly after collecting the card which gave double points for finishing a tower! Good timing. I played poorly and failed to complete much...apart from a moderately lengthy road which I then scored and picked up the card allowing me to score for an unfinished road. Therefore it could have been even longer!
2nd game:
Paul won by 101 points to 99. This was a much better game with a nail-biting finish. We were neck and neck all the way through. I snuck ahead only by breaking up the large void for which Lisa received points at the end of the game (I admit I almost diodn't notice that the final tile could do that!).
Again we thoroughly enjoyed The Castle. My only gripes are that:
1) Some of the cards allow for potentially such high scoring buildings that they unbalance the game (although I'm just bitter).
2) The rules describe 'fountains' by roads, yet the illuistrations are clearly 'wells'. This annoys me! Is it a poor translation like 'cloister' instead of 'monastery in the original Carcassonne? (Okay, okay I know that 'cloister' is an archaic word for 'monastery' but, hello...ARCHAIC...as in 'not in current usage....or for about 200 years!).
I think this may be close to being the perfect 2-player game! I can't wait to play it again.
1st game:
Lisa won by 103 points to 71. Lisa completed a massive tower shortly after collecting the card which gave double points for finishing a tower! Good timing. I played poorly and failed to complete much...apart from a moderately lengthy road which I then scored and picked up the card allowing me to score for an unfinished road. Therefore it could have been even longer!
2nd game:
Paul won by 101 points to 99. This was a much better game with a nail-biting finish. We were neck and neck all the way through. I snuck ahead only by breaking up the large void for which Lisa received points at the end of the game (I admit I almost diodn't notice that the final tile could do that!).
Again we thoroughly enjoyed The Castle. My only gripes are that:
1) Some of the cards allow for potentially such high scoring buildings that they unbalance the game (although I'm just bitter).
2) The rules describe 'fountains' by roads, yet the illuistrations are clearly 'wells'. This annoys me! Is it a poor translation like 'cloister' instead of 'monastery in the original Carcassonne? (Okay, okay I know that 'cloister' is an archaic word for 'monastery' but, hello...ARCHAIC...as in 'not in current usage....or for about 200 years!).
I think this may be close to being the perfect 2-player game! I can't wait to play it again.
Saturday 9th September 2006
Whilst Eleanor enjoyed a lengthy afternoon nap Lisa and I decided to enjoy a few hands of Canasta. I use the word 'enjoy' somewhat reluctantly as Lisa well and truly wiped the floor with me! I must concede that she is the far better player of the two of us. She does seem to have an almost magnetic attraction for red 3's (worth 100 points each). I think she averrages 2-3 per hand! Scores were as follows:
Ist Hand:
Lisa scored 1555 (a huge score, helped by three red 3's!), bringing her total to 4570
Paul scored 775, bringing his total to 4670 (I was still ahead at this point!)
2nd Hand:
Lisa scored 1170, bringing her total to 5740
Paul scored a lowly 400, bringing his total to 5070 (the tide turns...)
3rd Hand:
Lisa scored 1125, bringing her total to 6865
Paul scored 905, bringing his total to 5975 (I actually played better than the score indicates!)
4th Hand:
Lisa scored 1275, bringing her total to 8140 (overkill I thought seeing as we only play to 7500!)
Paul scored 1010, bringing his total to a pitiful 6985 (although I thought I played this hand really well!).
Lisa now leads 3 games to...erm...zero.
Any tips anyone?
Ist Hand:
Lisa scored 1555 (a huge score, helped by three red 3's!), bringing her total to 4570
Paul scored 775, bringing his total to 4670 (I was still ahead at this point!)
2nd Hand:
Lisa scored 1170, bringing her total to 5740
Paul scored a lowly 400, bringing his total to 5070 (the tide turns...)
3rd Hand:
Lisa scored 1125, bringing her total to 6865
Paul scored 905, bringing his total to 5975 (I actually played better than the score indicates!)
4th Hand:
Lisa scored 1275, bringing her total to 8140 (overkill I thought seeing as we only play to 7500!)
Paul scored 1010, bringing his total to a pitiful 6985 (although I thought I played this hand really well!).
Lisa now leads 3 games to...erm...zero.
Any tips anyone?
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Friday 8th September 2006
Mal came over and he played Diamant with Lisa and I. He quickly got to grips with the rules and appeared to enjoy himself. He even won the second game!
Game One:
Paul - 59
Lisa - 48
Mal - 42
Game Two:
Mal - 38
Paul - 34
Lisa - 7
Game Two seems low scoring but Mine 3 collapsed before we found any precious stones! Lisa didn't fair too well...she stayed in a little too long three times.
Mal and I then spent until midnight playing Pitchcars. Mal really enjoyed this. We decided to take some photos of two of the three tracks we played on (see above).
We decided taht we will have a lifelong championship goping...Mal has gone into an early, although assailable lead with 5 wins to my 4.
Mal did far and away the most impressive manouevres, including managing to clear the double jump in one flick...twice! His victory was well deserved.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Monday 4th September 2006
Monday night is games night! I was joined by Spence, Jack, Andy and Greg. We first played 'Guillotine' (see Jack's blog for details). It is a fun and light-hearted game...just what I needed after a stressful day.
Final scores:
Jack - 14
Greg - 13
Paul - 12
Spence - 8
Andy - 6
(although Jack's final move was...rather dumb!)
We then moved to a lengthy game of 'Caylus'. This was a lot more involved and complicated. It was a slow game as only Jack had played before. Whilst I did enjoy it I did not quite grasp it during this, my first play. As a result I lost...hideously!
Final Scores:
Jack - 65
Greg - 59
Andy - 56
Spence - 50
Paul - 47
All in all, a good night for Jack!
Final scores:
Jack - 14
Greg - 13
Paul - 12
Spence - 8
Andy - 6
(although Jack's final move was...rather dumb!)
We then moved to a lengthy game of 'Caylus'. This was a lot more involved and complicated. It was a slow game as only Jack had played before. Whilst I did enjoy it I did not quite grasp it during this, my first play. As a result I lost...hideously!
Final Scores:
Jack - 65
Greg - 59
Andy - 56
Spence - 50
Paul - 47
All in all, a good night for Jack!
Sunday 3rd September 2006
Whilst Eleanor had an extensive afternoon nap Lisa and I sat down to play a game (and eat chocolate and drink coffee).
We elected to play 'Carcassonne - The Castle' . This is a game I bought a few weeks ago but that we had not had the chance to play.
It is a two-player game set in a medieval castle (predictably). It is essentially a tile-laying game like 'Carcassonne'. Followers are placed to score points during the game or at the end. Whilst 'Carcassonne' allows for the 'board' to be extensive and spreading, 'The Castle' features an enclosing wall (which doubles as a scoretrack). Tiles have to be placed within this.
We thoroughly enjoyed the game and found it more challenging than 'Carcassonne'. The board quickly felt cramped; working out where to place tiles was much harder than in the original game. As unfinished features do not score it is tactically harder to place followers. After two games we realised that the cards you can collect for landing on the corners of the scoring track are supposed to be seen by both players....that will make us play differently next time!
The meeples differ from the original game. We were not sure that they needed to really but they are still pleasant pieces. The tiles are colourful but felt a little too 'regimented' for me; the paths don't bend much and the rooftops are all identical. I would give this one an eight out of ten (in fact I have on Boardgamegeek ).
Final scores:
Game 1 - Lisa 97, Paul 73
Game 2 - Paul 99, Lisa 91
We then decided to have a quick hand of Canasta. I 'won' this but Lisa scored the most points. This is starting to become a regular occurrence. Lisa is much better than me at holding out for natural canastas. She also has an uncanny ability to pick up around three of the four red 3's per game (each worth 100 points!). As a result Lisa scored 1420 points in that hand to my 930.
At present the scores are:
Lisa 3015
Paul 3895
Lisa leads 2 rounds to 0.
How depressing!
We elected to play 'Carcassonne - The Castle' . This is a game I bought a few weeks ago but that we had not had the chance to play.
It is a two-player game set in a medieval castle (predictably). It is essentially a tile-laying game like 'Carcassonne'. Followers are placed to score points during the game or at the end. Whilst 'Carcassonne' allows for the 'board' to be extensive and spreading, 'The Castle' features an enclosing wall (which doubles as a scoretrack). Tiles have to be placed within this.
We thoroughly enjoyed the game and found it more challenging than 'Carcassonne'. The board quickly felt cramped; working out where to place tiles was much harder than in the original game. As unfinished features do not score it is tactically harder to place followers. After two games we realised that the cards you can collect for landing on the corners of the scoring track are supposed to be seen by both players....that will make us play differently next time!
The meeples differ from the original game. We were not sure that they needed to really but they are still pleasant pieces. The tiles are colourful but felt a little too 'regimented' for me; the paths don't bend much and the rooftops are all identical. I would give this one an eight out of ten (in fact I have on Boardgamegeek ).
Final scores:
Game 1 - Lisa 97, Paul 73
Game 2 - Paul 99, Lisa 91
We then decided to have a quick hand of Canasta. I 'won' this but Lisa scored the most points. This is starting to become a regular occurrence. Lisa is much better than me at holding out for natural canastas. She also has an uncanny ability to pick up around three of the four red 3's per game (each worth 100 points!). As a result Lisa scored 1420 points in that hand to my 930.
At present the scores are:
Lisa 3015
Paul 3895
Lisa leads 2 rounds to 0.
How depressing!
Beginnings
In this blog I aim to record the scores of games I play as well as thoughts and comments about them. It is not really intended for public consumption (who would be interested?) but as a mental discipline for me!
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