Whilst our fair womenfolk took our smaller womenfolk out for the day, Vin and I enjoyed a day of lad's gaming. Did we marry the right women or what!
Vin was very eager to introduce me to Rommel's Panzers which, to quote BGG is a "MicroHistory #1 in the Metagaming MicroHistory series.
A game of Tactical Unit combat in North Africa. In 1941 Erwin Rommel arrived in North Africa to save the collapsing Italian empire. Among the units under his command was the Deutches Afrika Korps. With the Afrika Korps Rommel wreaked havoc and exercised such military ingenuity that he would therafter be known as "The Desert Fox"."
Now, this involves moving tiny cardboard squares on a map made up of hexagons. I used to love this sort of thing over a decade ago but I have kind of lost interest since. Still, I'm happy to play anything at least once and so I gladly sat down to a game. I didn't mind having to count hexes to assess range, or refer to hit tables half as much as I thought I would. It was good fun.
We played the 'Dawn Attack' scenario in which a British armoured encampment is surprised at dawn by a German Panzer column. It was a hard-fought battle but, in the end, the British were victorious although they only had two vehicles remaining.
Next, I introduced Vin to the joys of Carcassonne The Castle - perfect for two-players. Vin really enjoyed this and was only narrowly defeated 89 points to 84. I had the largest keep which gained me 7 points.
We then tried the two-player version of Finster Flure (Fearsome Floors). Vin enjoyed this a lot more than the four-player version we had played previously; it's much quicker for one thing. In the end Vin was victorious as two of his team escaped from the monster whilst only one of mine survived.
Vin then requested another go at The Castle. This time he was royally whipped 97 to 67. I managed to obtain most of the tokens and finish several high scoring buildings towards the end of the game.
We then decided to play Carcassonne with the added bonus of the Builders & Traders expansion. We played this twice and I won both (178 to 129 and 198 to 139). I concentrated on obtaining the trade goods tokens to ensure a monopoly. I also managed to place some high scoring farmers (and piggies!).
All in all a great days gaming and the realisation that hex-based wargames are more fun than I thought they would be!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Saturday 7th April, 2007
Today I made it to Beyond Monopoly! Despite it being a very sunny day, and it being the AGM, quite a few people had turned up.
First up I played Trans Europa with Richard and Michael. I had not played this before, although it is onmy wishlist. It is a simple game in which you construct a rail network based on a hand of location cards. You can join onto other players' networks if they get you nearer where you need to be. We played this once, although it took 2 rounds due to the mechanism whereby you work out how many links you were short of completing your network and count down to 0. I won both rounds due to some good fortune in drawing cards for easy to get to places! A good game which will remain on my wishlist.
Next up was Vabanque - a casino game I had not heard of before. It is a game of gambling and bluffing. A the end I was the clear winner with 490 points, to Michael's 250 and Richard's 170. I expect this game would be more fun, and more random, with more players. As it was I quite quickly worked out my opponents tells when they were bluffing and I managed to set up a pattern so that there was no way I could lose on the final hand. I would happily play this again, although I'm not sure it will go on my wishlist.
Richard, Michael and I were then joined by Ian, Hugo and Anna to play Citadels. I've wanted to play this for ages and was glad to get the chance. In the end Hugo won with 26 points, Richard was second with 24. Michael and I drew for third with 19, Ian was next with 18 and Anna brought up the rear with 13. I enjoyed this game, although it is really a glorified card game! I think it would be more fun amongst a group of friends; there was a fair amount of downtime as people chose their characters. As we didn't know each other there was very little banter. Still, this one shall remain on the wishlist.
The six of us then embarked on Fist of Dragonstones; another game I'd never heard of. Not too sure about this one; another glorified card game. I came second with 2 points, outmanouvered at the end by Michael who outbid me for the third point. I liked the mechanics of the game but the theme was a bit daft. I would play it again though. IU suspect it would be more fun with less than 6.
All in all a good way to spend some time over the Bank Holiday weekend. Members can now borrow games from Beyond Monopoly, so I'm going to discuss loaning Trans Europa with Lisa!
First up I played Trans Europa with Richard and Michael. I had not played this before, although it is onmy wishlist. It is a simple game in which you construct a rail network based on a hand of location cards. You can join onto other players' networks if they get you nearer where you need to be. We played this once, although it took 2 rounds due to the mechanism whereby you work out how many links you were short of completing your network and count down to 0. I won both rounds due to some good fortune in drawing cards for easy to get to places! A good game which will remain on my wishlist.
Next up was Vabanque - a casino game I had not heard of before. It is a game of gambling and bluffing. A the end I was the clear winner with 490 points, to Michael's 250 and Richard's 170. I expect this game would be more fun, and more random, with more players. As it was I quite quickly worked out my opponents tells when they were bluffing and I managed to set up a pattern so that there was no way I could lose on the final hand. I would happily play this again, although I'm not sure it will go on my wishlist.
Richard, Michael and I were then joined by Ian, Hugo and Anna to play Citadels. I've wanted to play this for ages and was glad to get the chance. In the end Hugo won with 26 points, Richard was second with 24. Michael and I drew for third with 19, Ian was next with 18 and Anna brought up the rear with 13. I enjoyed this game, although it is really a glorified card game! I think it would be more fun amongst a group of friends; there was a fair amount of downtime as people chose their characters. As we didn't know each other there was very little banter. Still, this one shall remain on the wishlist.
The six of us then embarked on Fist of Dragonstones; another game I'd never heard of. Not too sure about this one; another glorified card game. I came second with 2 points, outmanouvered at the end by Michael who outbid me for the third point. I liked the mechanics of the game but the theme was a bit daft. I would play it again though. IU suspect it would be more fun with less than 6.
All in all a good way to spend some time over the Bank Holiday weekend. Members can now borrow games from Beyond Monopoly, so I'm going to discuss loaning Trans Europa with Lisa!
Wednesday 28th March, 2007
With an evening to ourselves, Lisa and I decided to enjoy a couple of hands of canasta, before turning our attentions to the TV!
I won the first hand with 1145 points to Lisa's 440. I picked up quite a few wild cards and so was able to go out quickly. This hand brought our total scores to me 2900 with Lisa leading 3060.
The second hand was closer than the score shows. Lisa managed to pick up all 4 red 3's (worth lots of points!) and got a natural canasta. She went out just before I did. She scored 2115 (huge score!) to my 1210. Lisa now leads 5275 to my 4110. Still, Lisa needs 150 to meld in the next hand...
I won the first hand with 1145 points to Lisa's 440. I picked up quite a few wild cards and so was able to go out quickly. This hand brought our total scores to me 2900 with Lisa leading 3060.
The second hand was closer than the score shows. Lisa managed to pick up all 4 red 3's (worth lots of points!) and got a natural canasta. She went out just before I did. She scored 2115 (huge score!) to my 1210. Lisa now leads 5275 to my 4110. Still, Lisa needs 150 to meld in the next hand...
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