Spieling

Bay Area Games Night - (12-15)

2009-12-14T18:55:00.001-06:00

Come on out and play at Cafe Express.

BGG badges and Games for sale

2009-11-04T13:39:00.001-06:00

Anyone need tickets for the BGG conference in Dallas? One or Two tickets for $60 each. They will be posted tomorrow on the BGG site. See attached list for some card games and lighter board games for sale.

Race any time, all the time...

2009-09-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

I finally found a way to get the Race for the Galaxy fix when I'm not playing the actual game face to face..... ENJOY!

Gaming Reviews???

2009-09-22T10:14:00.003-05:00

Hey Rob, I miss all your gaming reviews. I hope that doesn't mean your not gaming! It was good seeing you over Labor Day! Really enjoyed playing Confucius again (though I missed having the "screw thy neighbor" cards in). It was hard to believe we played 13 hrs. straight...it just flew by. Hope the new job and all that studying is going well. Let us know if your ever in town again. Hopefully we will see you at the Con. Denise

Bay Area Games night: Hosts needed 8-18 & 9-1

2009-08-05T00:56:00.002-05:00

Does anyone want to host at Cafe Express on the 18th or the 1st?

ps I heard talk of all day gaming at least one day Labor day weekend. I believe that Marvin was saying....something ...maybe Montag's...or....
Has anyone else heard something like this or willing to call Montag's?

When BGG is down....

2009-07-29T18:23:00.002-05:00

... you just HAVE to find other things online to kill time.

Laser Pointer Dog Attack - Watch more Funny Videos

Hope everyone's having some fun gaming.

In search of gaming...

2009-07-17T08:41:00.003-05:00

I posted this on Houstongamers. Go check it out. I'm just in the mood for a whole weekend of gaming.

I still haven't played anything since the last San Jac meeting I went to. I've actually been playing a lot of Quakelive on my computer, but haven't had the time to get back into more time-consuming games like Empire:Total War. I've gotten in touch with the SA group again, but I still haven't seen them. There may be some gaming this weekend...and it sounds like it will be a "full day of BSG"... yeah...

? In Search of Hosts on Tuesday.(7-7,7-21,8-4)

2009-07-03T11:26:00.003-05:00

Does anyone want to 'host' on any of the following Tuesdays at Cafe Express?
7-7,
7-21,
8-4

Joseph
josephconwell@yahoo.com

News: Boardgame helps prisoners escape

2009-06-25T19:00:00.006-05:00

New York Times (June 22, 2009) explains how two reporters used a board game to help their dramatic escape from the Taliban:

"On Friday evening, in a planned bid to keep their captors awake as late as possible to ensure that the men would eventually sleep soundly, Mr. Ludin challenged the militants who slept beside them in the same room to a local board game. When at last the games ended at midnight, the journalists waited for the militants to fall asleep."">

When at last the games ended at midnight, the journalists waited for the militants to fall asleep."

Fourth of July Gaming?

2009-06-25T14:59:00.003-05:00

Hey guys. Im not sure who all would be interested or not, but if people arent going out of town would anyone be interested in some gaming that weekend? I know im seeing my in-laws at some point, but other then that i think my weekend is fairly open. Maybe we could find a park and grill out or something. Just a thought. :)

Kat

Gaming tomorrow....Thurs 7pm

2009-06-23T21:49:00.003-05:00

Anyone interested? I could host tomorrow. Sure it's last minute, but things have been crazy at casa de Ramirez. I could have my arm twisted to try some more Automobile, but I'm up for anything else. Actually, I may be more in the mood for something goofy like Cuttrhoat Caverns, which hasn't seen play.

NOTE: I had to postpone it to tomorrow, THurs.

Games Tues @ Cafe Express Bay Area and requests

2009-06-08T12:37:00.002-05:00

Come out and play.
I would like to play:
Le Havre (3 player - would like to start close to 6:00)
or
St Petersburg, or
Merchants of Venus.

Tuesday game night (6/2)

2009-06-01T13:13:00.002-05:00

Come on out tomorrow night for food and games at Cafe Express - Bay Area.
Thanks to Jonathon for hosting.

Deutscher Spielepreis

2009-05-30T17:04:00.003-05:00

Thanks for hosting Lewis! I was so excited about finally learning another one of my games that I immediately went home and opened Merchants of Amsterdam! Plus I never say no to Le Havre. I have yet to find a strategy that works for me (maybe that is what grabs me).

Who votes in the German Boardgame Award and is there a good website (in English) about it? Or does anyone know of a good English/German website for translations? I was asked to vote and as much as I would LOVE to vote for my favorites I want to make sure it is just for nominees and that everyone can vote once the names are posted. My concern is that I haven't played anywhere as near as many new games as others in this group. Or did everyone get the email?

Gaming on Wed too...

2009-05-18T10:35:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately I can't make it tomorrow to Cafe Express. I do need to get my game on, so I'm hosting on Wed at 7pm. Just recently picked up Small World, Confucius, and Cutthroat Caverns. If we do 2 of three, I'll be happy.... easier than doing 4 of seven according to the Rockets.

Mark Your Calendar

2009-05-14T12:02:00.005-05:00

Cafe Express 5/19 at 6 pm. Hopefully the picture won't scare anyone away! Use the title above to RSVP.

Card Sleeves + OCD^2

2009-05-13T19:01:00.003-05:00

Who will be the first to start sealing their card sleeves?
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/478372

Knew it...

2009-05-12T17:52:00.000-05:00

I knew boardgaming was good for more than just "wasting time..."

San Jacinto Gaming

2009-05-07T23:41:00.002-05:00

Anyone going to the college this weekend? Trying to decide between gaming or sailing. If it looks like a light turnout I will be on the water.

Bay Area Games Night (05/12)

2009-05-07T14:47:00.002-05:00

Follow the link above to RSVP if you plan on coming to play games next Tuesday night.
Does anyone have Dos Rios?

Game On,
Joseph

Cafe Express on Tuesday 5/5

2009-05-03T20:18:00.002-05:00

Come celebrate cinco de mayo with some boardgames? Not traditional, but should be fun. Marty will be there by 5pm.

Sunday at Fuddrucker's

2009-05-01T08:06:00.001-05:00

Monthly meetup at Fudd's on Sunday. Hope to see folks there.

Cafe Express 4/28

2009-04-26T22:18:00.001-05:00

Anybody else able to be there early this time round? I am finally back in town and could be there as early as 5.

Better keep the day job!

2009-04-23T07:35:00.005-05:00

Thanks Rob for hosting! I hope all goes well this morning!

I told my husband that I better keep my day job. I would never make it as an alien ship builder...sigh!

Gaming....

2009-04-21T08:51:00.003-05:00

I can't make it tonight unfortunately. I'm meeting up with my realtor tonight.

So.... that means that I'd like to host tomorrow night (Wed 4/22). Same time and place. Let me know if you'd be interested.

Oh, and try this free online game out. Fights are automatic, but still pretty fun.

***UPDATE***
I am running a game of Blackbeard tomorrow night. And don't forget to go to Cafe Express tonight.

Gaming at Cafe Express (4/21)

2009-04-17T12:20:00.003-05:00

This is not our usual Tue. night for gaming but if the turnout is good, I will host more Tue. evenings. Join us this Tuesday at Cafe Express at 6 pm.

Bay Area Games Night (04/14)

2009-04-13T10:48:00.001-05:00

*sings* Come out and play. Hey.
You gotta keep 'em separated. *stops singing*
Nah, lets mix all the gamers together and hope for the best.

Gaming at San Jac....

2009-04-12T08:11:00.003-05:00

Man, I wish they hosted gaming at noon every Saturday. I got there yesterday at 1230, and a few games were being played. I avoided a game of Power Grid to play something lighter. So I pulled out... drumroll... Fairy Tale! Yes the box is pink. Yes, it may not look very manly, but it is such a good filler. We played 2 games back to back.

Then I played San Juan and Roll through the Ages with Denise. I beat her by 1 pt in RTtA, but only because she didn't finish a 2 point monument before I ended the game.... so yeah, it doesn't feel much like a victory, but I'll take it (because winning so rare!). In San Juan, she beat me soundly (by 3 points?). It's makes for an excellent 2 player game.

Then I played 2 games of Pandemic. The game is a bit too easy on "Normal difficulty". Then we played "intermediate", and we did just as well. I think I'm ready to tackle the "Hardest" setting.

I ended the afternoon with a game of In the Year of the Dragon. I'm definitively a fan of the whole "damage control" mechanic.... the "cut your loses" mechanic while trying to expand, and score VP's.... I feel like I'm drowning the whole game. At no point do I feel overly powerful. That challenge is what brings me back to the game. Cool stuff.

gaming this week....

2009-04-06T19:19:00.001-05:00

Can't host. Sorry. Working tonight, and Wed night. Must get some rest at some point.

I will be going to San Jac on Saturday since this is the weekend when it starts at noon. I am looking for gamers interested in trying out the new Blackbeard game. Let me know if you are interested.

HELP!

2009-04-05T23:47:00.003-05:00

Anyone have (or familiar with) Y's and Y's+ ? Just bought a used game and it seems to be short 5 character cards and checking the BBG site I am not the only one missing cards and I am wondering if it is a misprint in the rules. The rule book states 24 character cards ( 20 yellow and 5 blue), yet only describes 20 cards. I have all 20 cards.

The reason I am concerned is another used game I just bought was missing a card.

THANKS!

Gaming on Sun.

2009-04-02T22:38:00.002-05:00

Don't forget gaming on Sun. at Fuddruckers at 1:30. We have been having a great turnout!

Gaming next week.... Wed 4/1

2009-03-28T21:41:00.003-05:00

Yes, it might be April Fool's, but I am really hosting that day. Same time, same place. Come one, come crokin-all. (Yes, I'm excited about my crokinole board). :)

2009-03-22T10:42:00.000-05:00

Cafe Express on Tues. I'll be there at 6 pm. Any one else?

BGG.CON

2009-03-17T10:40:00.002-05:00

1082 for BGG.Con Anyone else going?

Gaming at Cafe....

2009-03-10T23:30:00.003-05:00

So as I was telling Joseph, I am impressed. The meetup has grown now to the point that it covers 4-5 tables. Lots o people are turning up. And a lot of them are brand new to the hobby (which...can be both good and bad... but I'll leave it at that).

I got to play Hill 182 ... or 281.... or something. It's a quick 2 player abstract with a WWII theme. Cool little card game with interesting choices. Like Hive, it's all about placement and timing.

Then we played Perikles...an older Martin Wallace game set in ancient Greece. I enjoy it because it blends euro (the political phase) and wargamey (battle phase) elements nicely.

Plus got to talk about gaming which is always great.

Besides JD, any other Star Wars fans out there? Check out what's coming out this summer....

Bay Area Games Night (3\10) 6:30

2009-03-09T13:58:00.002-05:00

Cafe Express tomorrow night.
Come on out...btw I finally relented and I am changing the official start time to 6:30.

Let there be gaming....

2009-03-02T18:36:00.003-06:00

Yes, I am hosting tomorrow Tuesday at 7pm. Sorry for the last minute announcement. And sorry to the ones who said by email that maybe Wed was better.

BTW, there's a rumor that someone may be hosting this Friday....

Bay Area Games Night (2/24)

2009-02-22T14:30:00.002-06:00

7pm this coming Tuesday at Cafe Express.
Many like to show up at 6 or 6:30 and maybe even eat something, feel free to encourage others to show up by RSVPing with the time you plan on showing up.
http://boardgames.meetup.com/564/calendar/9619242/
Game On,
Joseph

Gaming this week....

2009-02-16T16:22:00.002-06:00

Yes, I'm hosting this week...

Thursday at 7pm.

Hope to see you all.

Here I Stand....

2009-02-08T20:57:00.003-06:00

For a second year in a row, I made it to Owlcon. This year I made it my goal to play a monster wargame: Here I Stand by GMT. Since I was a Gamemaster, I really had to know the rules well....and since the rulebook is 44 pages long, I ended up having to cancel my gaming for yesterday, so that I could make sure I knew how to run this game.

HiS recreates the realigious, and political struggles of the Renaissance (the Wars of the Reformation). The game includes 6 powers, all with unique abilities and goals: Papacy, Protestants, Hapsburgs (spain), English, French.

I was the Protestants (whose goal is to Reform europe), and started the game with Luther's 95 Thesis. Apparently no one was impressed because I did not reform a single territory (but the one automatically reformed when Luther shows up). After that, Charles V and the Pope implemented the Diet of Worms. At least we fared better at that trial, reforming another territory in Germany. From then on, the stage was set, and we officially started the game.

The first turn basically became a struggle for me to make up for a slow start. The Pope was distracted building up his forces, so he didn't try to counterreform most of the stuff I was doing. So I made translating the Germen New Testament my priority (which gives me 6 reformation attempts in one go). The masses enjoyed my translation and i was able to sway some more territories to my cause by turn 2.

Meanwhile, all the other powers were basically building up their armies (essentially just testing out the game mechanics, etc because it was their first game).

On Turn 2, the Hapsburg player and the Pope were impressed with how well my translations had worked in spreading my ideals accross Germany. So they started playing unrest cards in my cities to stop this spread. I also drew a card this turn that I had to play (as stated by the rules), that made me a 'normal' military power, opening Germany up to attack, and making spreading my influence a bit harder. So the Hapsburgs marched in after this, putting also military pressure on me. France and the Ottomans, after seeing this, and how well the Hapsburgs had done conquering the New World, started going after the Hapsburgs (leaving me with some room to breathe).

On turn 3, I completed the german Bible which allowed me to take even more territories in germany.... but I was still missing some key cities (The Electorates) that would have given me more VP's and military units. So I focused on building up my armies a bit to go and take those by force (since now I was a 'full-fledged military power').

The Ottomans continued to cause the Hapsburgs some grief by pirating in the mediterranean. England started moving on the Hapsburgs, and so did France. The Papacy, being completely ignored by France and the Ottomans, had more than enough time and resources to redirect their wrath my way. They counter reformed and debated with impunity (but were never able to burn my debaters at the stake).....

and then the game was over. Unfortunately 1 of the guys had to leave. Turn 4 sadly has some of the coolest cards and events in the game.....and I was mentally ready to 'hire' the Ottoman's or the French's with whatever it took (units? check. territories? check. cards? check...), to go after the Papacy.

It was a looooong game mainly because I was the only on who knew the rules (and as a "Convention Gamemaster", that is what is expected). But we have agreed to play again sometime soon in the future. We'll see.

When you spend 5-6hrs completely oblivious of how quickly time has gone by, you know you have played an awesome game. can't wait to try it again.

Bay Area Games Night (02/10/2009)

2009-02-05T11:15:00.002-06:00

Games at Cafe Express on Bay Area next Tuesday night.
The verdict is still out, as to whether or not there will be an early crowd this week.
If you are planning on arriving early, PLEASE leave a comment with your RSVP on the Meetup page for this event, so that other members of the group will be able to see it.
http://boardgames.meetup.com/564/calendar/9535212/

Game on,
Joseph

Gaming tomorrow....

2009-02-03T11:48:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am indeed hosting tomorrow Wed at 7pm. Sorry for the late notice, but I wasn't sure if I could until this morning. Let me know if you are coming.

Are you ready for the BGG Blackout?

2009-01-31T23:19:00.002-06:00

So Boardgamegeek.com is going down for a day or two at the least.
How am I supposed to cope?
How are you planning on coping? :)

Tons of gaming...

2009-01-31T21:53:00.004-06:00

This week I had the chance to go both to the League City game night, and also hosted at my place. At cafe Express on Tuesday I got to play 2 games back to back of my fav card game, Race for the Galaxy. It seems that everytime I play with the new VP goals, I get 'distracted' and lose my pace. I lost both games. I think I prefer to play without them, but then again, I've played the game now 30 times, and they do add some variety to it. I also got to play Great Wall of China. Brent taught Mike and me. I won by grabbing some of the high VP tiles early in the game. Interesting filler.

On Wed at my place, I had the pleasure of hosting for Lewis, Mike, Denise, and Lance. We first played a game of Chicago Express. I finally can say that I am getting better at this game (and I better after 3 games). very interesting quick train game. Then we split up. Lewis, Lance and I played neuroshima hex. Cool scifi abstract game that might replace my Hive (which I think was originally Marty's opinion). Last but not least we played 2 games of Roll Through the Ages, a short and sweet Civ-lite dice game. It's civ, it's short (about 40min), and it's got dice. Perfect. Plus, it's kind of addictive. Since it's short, you can't just build everything in one game. You are going to have to play more times to try out different combinations of developments (which grant different abilities).

I can't make it tomorrow to the Fuddrucker's meetup... have fun! Next week I'm shooting again for Wed... I'll let you all know. Why the pic? Well, I thought it was funny, and I've always been a Street Fighter fan......Street Fighter 4 is coming out for the XBOX this month, and I can't wait to try it.

Vinci 2.0 = Small World

2009-01-28T07:39:00.002-06:00

Days of Wonder is coming out with this new version of Vinci called Small World. Vinci with a fantasy theme? Count me in. Go and vote on BGG for the top 3 most popular races.... which obviously are Amazons, Dwarves, and Ghouls.

Bay Area Games Night (1/27)

2009-01-25T19:17:00.002-06:00

It looks like we will have plenty of opportunities for gaming this week ahead with Bay Area Games night on Tuesday, Rob's Wednesday, and Fuddrucker's on Sunday (Yes, that's Superbowl Sunday).
What time is the game?

Gaming this week....

2009-01-25T18:40:00.002-06:00

It's been pretty quiet here over the past month. Well not any more. Dust the blog because I'm hosting again this week on Wed at 7pm. Come one, come all.

I MAY have obtained a bunch of new games over the past 2 months.....

Bay Area Games Night (1/13)

2009-01-06T15:13:00.001-06:00

Come out to Cafe Express next Tuesday night at 7:00 PM, for some good food and games.
RSVP at meetup.com...
http://boardgames.meetup.com/564/calendar/9147818/?a=ce1c_grp

Wow...

2009-01-04T22:59:00.002-06:00

What a long weekend of gaming. Tomorrow back to reality (work!). Hope everyone had a great Holiday break.

I'll post a small report of the things I got to play, and some thoughts on them. I won't be hosting his week. Must detox....

BGG est mort!

2008-12-29T22:39:00.001-06:00

ARGH! the insanity. It's been down now for more than 24hrs. I'm actually going to have to go back and focus on other hobbies like playing guitar, etc.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Wargames! ....rambling.....

2008-12-21T21:05:00.004-06:00

(start ramble)
I thought I was exclusively a eurogamer back in 04 when I officially became addicted to this. That was so until the day that I played Wizard Kings. Since then I've played a lot more wargames despite the difficult logistics: usually long on rules, long on play, and generally just 2 player.

Well, this weekend I had the chance to play not one but TWO wargames in one day: Hannibal, and Combat Commander. Wow. Hannibal, despite its age, is a TRUE beauty. It's the grandaddy of the card-driven wargames (after We the People).

Tomorrow, I'll be playing BattleLore which I haven't even opened in over a year. Yeah! War!

Lance has become my partner in crime. We've played a few scenarios of Combat Commander, Hammer of the Scots, and Crusader Rex. Sweet. Now I'm trying to convert Andy and JD.....

Seriously though, I find wargames extremely appealing mainly for 2 reasons: they are representations of actual historical events, and they are simply TOTALLY engrossing. Oh, and just like some AT games like Battlestar Galactica, the games are all about the narrative.

(end ramble)

In other news, I can't host this week. The family will be in town. Thanks for being such an awesome group. Happy Holidays to all!

YES!!!!!!!

2008-12-16T14:29:00.002-06:00

For those that are not able to game during the holidays or just want to get more gaming in.......I am able to host on Thurs. Mike is going to a work function that evening and has Fri. off so no time restrictions. I also live in League City only 5 min. from Rob. I do not have much in the way of 2 player games so I would prefer that at least two people can commit. Just let me know and I will email you with my address.

Lewis .....I found 2 errors in our playing Le Havre. I was playing way tooooo much interest. It is 1 no matter how many loan cards. Also brick and steel can always be used in place of clay and iron. Brick can also be converted to Brick to gain money. You just lose an action and some resources. Rember how many bricks that I converted and then got stuck with? I may not have needed a loan. And you can at any time sell back a building to pay off a loan. Those 3 rules would have really changed the game for me. I WANT TO PLAY AGAIN!

NO!!!!

2008-12-15T19:20:00.004-06:00

I can't host this week. Bummer.... Next week is looking grim, too; parents will be in town, plus it's Christmas and stuff. I'm just going to have to force them to play Die Macher with me.

If anyone could play a wargame during the day on Monday or Tuesday of next week, let me know. I might be off those days. I would do anything from BattleLore, to War of the Ring, to Hammer of the Scots, to Combat Commander, to....

Gaming last thurs... bunch o' games

2008-12-13T11:12:00.006-06:00

This week JD, Gaming Diva, Lance, and Marty swung by for some gaming. We started things off with a game of Stone Age (JD's game). It's one of the more recent worker placement games, where players are racing to develop the best stone age clan/family/posse... I tried a completely different strategy this time around (my second game), and fared much better. Still Marty ran away with it with his super score from artifacts that only he seemed to be willing to pay anything for. Oh, and he denied me out of spite, 28 points. No, I'm not bitter...nope...

Then we played a half game of Coloretto. Ironically it was the game of the night that we most had to go back to the rules for. We played two full games. I hadn't played it in over 1 yr, so it was refreshing to see this light filler again.

Postobello Market was next (JD's game). In this game players are rushing to place markets down on the board, almost a la Ticket to Ride sans cards, but avec a 'special pawn' (because I forgot the goofy name cops in England have) that marks the available spots on the map where you can play. It also has a variable actions per turn mechanic that works well. JD REALLY schooled us on how play well.

Denise and Marty had left by this point (11p'mish), so I suggested After the Flood, the 3hr-long meaty 3 player game by Martin Wallace. Of couse, I was kidding...or was I? So I pulled out King of Siam, which works really well with 3. It's one of my fav types of game: hard painful decisions EVERY single round, area control, short playing time (~40min). In this game, players are trying to spread the influence of 3 factions that are trying to gain control of Thailand and surrounding territories in the 1800's.... yeah! FUN! Seriously though, the game is good. To win, players themselves need to have the most influence on the party that has the most influence on the board. Now that I think of it, it feels like a lightning multiplayer 1960 The Making of the President (specially because you need to play cards to manipulate influence on the board)....even more reason to like this game. Oh, and Lance schooled us on this one by 'attacking' towards the end of the game, when JD and I were completely powerless.

We then played 2 games of Race for the Galaxy with the new cards and goal VP tiles. I don't know how I feel about the goal tiles. They seem 'distracting'. The way I usually play is by looking at my starting world, starting cards, and going with the flow generally falling into a military, produce/consume for the VP tokens, or settle/develop stragey. The goal cards don't always go with my choice of these three. I learned that if you want to do well, you may need to readjust your strategy to try to claim some of these goal tiles. Needless to say I struggled to claim them, specially in the second game when I was going for a military strategy, and the goal cards were none aligned with what I was going for. They were better for a settle/develop strategy, which Lance was going for, and beat us with. Using them is refreshing, but I'll probably continue to play most of my games without them. It is still a great expansion for the extra cards and the very very nifty solitaire game.

Last but not least, we finished the night with my fav filler, Fairy Tale. Lots of fun was had as usual. It's becoming less rare for these game nights to end after 1am... with the right gaming group, that is fine with me.

Gaming Thurs 12/11

2008-12-09T21:32:00.002-06:00

Late? Sure. Better than nothing.

Gaming on Thurs at 7pm. Let me know if you can make it.

Anyone planning to do some holiday gaming? It would be nice to set up a World of Warcraft, or Arkham with expansions, or Starcraft, or Die Macher Rematch, or...

Is Ghost Stories cool?

2008-12-09T13:54:00.002-06:00

I want to know more about the new game Ghost Stories. It appears that Marty is hosting it at OwlCon in Feb. 2009. Anyone have experience with this game? Is it similiar to Arkham Horror or Runebound in that you play against the system? I was sort of disappointed with Avalon Hill's Betrayal at the House on the Hill.

FINALLY got to play Le Havre!

2008-12-07T20:28:00.002-06:00

Thanks Lewis for teaching. I actually like it better than Agricola and it seems to be easier to learn but boy is it long! Three players, three hours! I do not care for the solo version like I do with Agricola. Plus I think Agricola is much more forgiving. I still have to say, Puerto Rico is my favorite.

Bay Area Games Night(12/9)

2008-12-02T17:01:00.001-06:00

Games at Cafe Express on Bay Area next Tuesday evening.
RSVP on Meetup.com

Gaming this week...12/4

2008-11-30T20:29:00.001-06:00

I'm hosting again this week on Thursday 12/4 at 7pm.

I have a few new games still that could use more play (JD had a couple too). One of them is Battle Star Galactica....which seems to be a hit in San Antonio...

BGG con!

2008-11-24T22:41:00.002-06:00

(playing Ghost Stories)

Just a summary....because there is just too much I could say...

Games that ROCKED: After the Flood (already owned), BSG, Space Alert, Chicago Express, and of course Dominion (but I've had that one for a while)

Good games: Middle Kingdom, Sylla, Traders of Carthage, Ghost Stories, Cities (best Carcassonesque filler game I've played), le Havre (very nice, easier, longer but more forgiving than Agricola....feels like it has more breathing space, more wiggle room....will most likely pick up), Steel Driver (preferred Chicago Express because of the way stocks and dividends work in CE which is more like 18XX). Duck Dealer was pretty sweet, but we played with one key rule wrong; a replay with the right rules will likely place it under "Rocked" above.....now, if i could only find it at a reasonable price...

(Le Havre)

Crappy games: Surprisingly none. I didn't play a single crappy game. Hurray!

Unlike BGG 07, had the pleasure of playing games I already own/know like RftG, GtR, King of Siam, and Cuba. It's nice to play stuff you know already.

Other thoughts:
-Tom Lehman is a cool guy. Very humble, professional, and sharp. He signed my worn copy of RftG. I heard rumors of playtesting the second expansion at the con...
- Roll through the ages looks intriguing
- The new Through the Ages apparently will get a nice facelift (at least to the player mats, which is what they had at the con).
- Wasabi sold like hotcakes. May not be the next Puert... Agricola, but it sure looks sexy.

Reporting from BGG CON '08

2008-11-18T21:52:00.004-06:00

If you want to learn more about my whereabouts and my thoughts on games during BGG.con, you may want to check out any of the two links below:

Twitter profile page:
http://twitter.com/r3gamer

RSS feed:
http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/17198900.rss

(The pic shows me learning Shogun at BGG.con 06.... how time flies...)

Le Havre

2008-11-17T19:37:00.002-06:00

Has any one gotten a chance to play Le Havre yet? My copy should arrive tomorrow!

Pitch Car, Sprain Muscle...

2008-11-15T23:24:00.004-06:00

As seen at my place last Thursday...

We (JD, Lewis, Mike, Joseph) started the night with Pillars of the Earth with the nifty 5-6 player expansion. Wow, this new expansion really adds a lot without bogging the game down too much. Firstly, it make the game more replayable by adding more cards to the mix. In the original game, some types of the cards where present in EVERY single game making things easy to predict to some extent. Now, that's not the case. The expansion also adds additional action slots to use your master builder on, making your decision on where to place them twice as hard. And now that I've read the book since the last time I had played the regular game, it was even more enjoyable. Thumbs up from me.

With Lance joining the bunch, we all played Pitch Car on the living room floor. Nope, my table is not big enough when you add all the expansions. Someone sent me an email saying that their legs hurt the next morning from all the squatting to pitch their car... hehehe. It was pretty darn fun. Mindless dexterity games are a blast. I think you do get more precision when you are more comfortable playing the game on an actual table, but it was darn fun.

Last but not least, Lance, JD, Lewis and I played 2 games of the highly acclaimed Dominion. Not complex at all, easy to explain, quick, and addictive....what's wrong with that? Nothing IMO. Could play this 10 times in a row...

TODAY....I just finished my first game of solitaire Race for the Galaxy against the robot AND lost on the tire breaker!!! It was really my fault; I decided to change strategy midway, making me lose some steam along the way. In the category of solitaire games, I think this is better than solo-Agricola because your fake opponent accumulates cards AND scores LIVE. There's no preset score to beat. You have to actually beat a "preprogrammed robot" that plays its own actions, but also responds to what you do. Pretty darn nifty. It must have been a nightmare playtesting this sucker (the rules are pretty intricate, but become second-nature after 1 game). Looking forward to trying out some of the other expansion stuff.

All in all, a very satisfying week, specially when you play 4 out of (undisclosed number) of games and expansions previously purchased that I still hadn't tried.

Next week some of us are going to BGG con!!! YEAH! I'll try to post some stuff here.

Gaming this Thurs...

2008-11-11T08:07:00.004-06:00

Once again, I unfortunately can't make it to League City gamers. They are meeting tonight at the Cafe Express on Bay Are Blvd. I just arrived from Seattle, and NEED to get more sleep.

So, if interested, swing by on Thursday 11/13. I'll be hosting again at 7pm. I should be getting some new games in the mail today. Pitch Car may see some play....

Thanks SABG for the cool pic.

No gaming at Chez Robert this week

2008-11-03T07:43:00.002-06:00

I'm going out of town late this week. Fortunately I got my fix over the weekend at Midnight Comics where I got to play: Tribune, Mykerinos with expansion, Duck duck go, Stone Age.

Farm Animal Meeples

2008-10-29T13:41:00.001-05:00

Farm animal meeples on Tanga if anyone is interested!

http://www.tanga.com/deals/current

I tried... but gaming tomorrow...

2008-10-29T08:10:00.003-05:00

I tried to make it to the game night last night (with the local meetup group) specially because they were trying out a new locale (cafe express)

I will be hosting tomorrow 10/30 at 7pm. Let me know if you can swing by.

The Essen report

2008-10-27T05:53:00.003-05:00

All I can say is wow. I thought I was prepared for how big the Essen game fair would be, but I was wrong. Throngs of people is the only way to put it. The Messe where the fair is held is very large; scarily, the Spiel doesn't even fill it. Unfortunately, the layout of the place left something to be desired in my opinion. Food choices were much better than I expected and prices were not too bad, except for the drinks. 3€ for a 1/2 liter soda bottle or water bottle is really gouging, especially since I saw that they had a couple of vending machines around that were only charging €1.80. On top of that they also charged a 20 euro-cent deposit on the bottle (which you could get back if you turned it in of course). Enough with the complaints, though. On to the games...

The night before the public could get in I was lucky enough to get in a game of the new cooperative game Ghost Stories at the hotel. I liked that quite a bit; the system reminds me a lot of Panedmic but this theme is much more to my liking.

When Mark and I arrived, the buzz was certainly heavy towards Le Havre, the new game from the Agricola folks. People were waiting in line an hour plus sometimes to get the English verison of the X-deck and the veggie and ani-meeples. Also a lot of Le Havre copies exchanged hands. I spent a lot of time just wandering around and being amazed at how many different booths and how many different games were around. It was hard to know where to start. I ended up at the Rio Grande Games booth and we played Fast Flowing Forest Fellers. A nice quick racing game with enough interesting decisions.

Next I ended up at the Gipf Project booth playing Zertz twice against my friend Russ who now lives in Poland. It was great to see him again and kick his butt in the first game. :)

Most of the rest of the day I spent wandering around the convention. Russ and Anna and I ended up going out for Thai and Chinese food and playing Forum Romanum at the restaurant which was one of the games I really wanted to get if I could at the used game stores at the Fair.

Without getting to wordy, here are my thoughts about the new games:

Dominion: solid game which I'll play if someone requests it
Vineta: okay game, won't refuse to play
Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas: great theme, I think the cards might be a little unbalancing, but I would play again
New World: Carcassonne: didn't like it at first, but by the end thought it was fine. would play again.
Der Schwarm: odd game that I liked better than other folks
Zack & Pack: don't need games like this, if you can call it a game at all.
Diamonds Club: fine game, better balanced than I thought at first, would play again if requested.
Princes of Machu Picchu: good game, think I need to play it again before rendering a final judgement.
Steel Driver: interesting mechanic for victory at the end of the game. definitely would play again.

Comuni: The find of the fair. I really liked this and managed to get it signed by all 4 Italian authors. Definitely will be playing again. The theme seemed pretty integrated to what you are doing in the game and the external attacks that get folks to form the comuni of the game name are definitely an interesting mechanism.

Fantasy Flight is taking over the world...

2008-10-26T13:09:00.003-05:00

It seems like Fantasy Flight just won't stop growing. From taking over euro games originally made by other companies (Battle Lore, Kingsburg), to reprinting true classics (Cosmic Encounter). There's just no telling where they are going next....

On 10/18 I finally got to play Starcraft, a massive (but a bit smaller than their usual MASSIVE games like Descent and World of Warcraft) space race to develop your tech to conquer planets, while impairing your opponents' plans to do the same with battles. Grant, Mark, and I duked it out and had a blast while doing it. There are so many ways that you could develop your particular race that will determine what kind of strategies you will focus on for battles, that I don't see myself getting tired of it any time soon. For my Zerg race (think a cross between the classic Aliens and the insects from Starshio Troopers), I focused on developing super strong Queen units that could make battles pretty deadly for my opponents... Unfortunately I didn't get a good chance to use them. I could have focused on strengthening other unit types. In general, there are probably 4 different 'paths' in the tech tree that you could follow for each race, that will determine your fighting style (and they all fall in the sprectrum that goes from 'brains' to 'brawn'). Cool stuff. I'd love to play it more...

Then this last week, JD, Lance, Andy and I took a trip to the town of Arkham. In this game, players are investigators that move around town trying to control the invading horde of monsters, and sealing the portals they use to enter our world. You do all this while trying to prevent a big bad monster from waking up and wreaking havoc. There are many expansions out there, including a Penny Arcade one!. We played with the Pharaoh expansion. Well, we tried our best gathering spells, weapons, sealing portals, but alas, that wasn't enough. The big daddy woke up, and decided to have us all for dinner. We probably scored about 5 hits of 12 on it before we were all reduced to a bloody pulp. Next time, I'm paying more attention to what the requirements for effectively fighting the big boss are. Some of use were caught with our pants down when it woke up...

These types of games are a nice change of pace. I haven't recently laughed as much as I did while playing Arkham Horror this past week. Just because some call them Ameritrash, it doesn't mean they are bad games. Heavy-theme-with-a-dash-of-luck/randomness games like these are not bad. The euro may be king in my book, but these games hold their own... just in a different kind of way.

Newbie needs help.....

2008-10-22T08:50:00.002-05:00

Has anyone ever ordered a game from Essen? This year they are featuring a game that is suppose to be better than Agricola and is already rated 8.50 by boardgame geeks. My concern is trying to get the rules in English. Am I better off waiting until there is an English version?

Also, does anyone know how to get the seasons expansion for Agricola that is being given away at Essen? Im Wandel der Jahreszeiten (Through the Seasons). Because it is a giveaway, does that mean that the gaming store won't be selling the expansion? I have only gotten to play Agricola twice and I am hooked!!

Gaming last night... Agricola makes a come back...

2008-10-16T17:05:00.004-05:00

Ignoring our patriotic duty to watch the debates once again, JD, Andy, Lewis and I met at my place to play some games.

Andy, JD, and I first played a game of Notre Dame. We had fun fighting each other to have the best 'developed' borough in Renaissance Paris. This one is in my personal top 10. The game is short (<1hr), but shock-full of painful but interesting decisions for such a short game. It combines some interesting, and not overused mechanics like card-drafting. It has something like worker placement, where you place a marker on a spot on the board, and it triggers an effect which we've seen before (Agricola would be the latest game sporting this mechanic). The twist lies in that the benefit gaines from said spot on the board is multiplied by the number of markers you already had on that spot. Sweet. At the same time you are allocating resources to prevent the rats from infesting (lose 2 VP's and a marker from the board) your burough (like the beggar card in Agricola, this is terrible, but not necessarily game-breaking).

Then we played Zooloretto when Lewis arrived. It was all the game is meant to be... fun, light. We used the 'disaster tile' expansion which makes the game too nasty for this kind of game, but it was still fun.

Then we pulled out Agricola. We played with the Interactive deck. That deck has some intersting cards. I squeeked a victory (although Lewis is doubting my math) with some interesting card combos.

Last but not least, we played San Juan. I think I can conclude that Race for the Galaxy, its close cousin, has jaded me. I can't play San Juan anymore. I'm terrible at it, because I'm trying to play it like Race for the Galaxy.... by giving priority to things that don't apply in San Juan. Oh well...

When Lewis left, JD and I played a quick game of Voltage. It's an interesting quick 2 player card game that combines 2 other quick and interesting 2 player card games (Lost Cities, Balloon Cup).

'til next time...

LEGS Location

2008-10-16T10:26:00.002-05:00

So last Tuesday was our last game night at Coffee Culture, for the League of Extraordinary Gamers(LEGS).

We just don't bring out enough people to warrant Mark's staying open just for us. Although he offered us Thursday nights since he is open late anyway on Thursdays, but Thursdays are not good for the most consistent attendees.

So we are looking for possible locations....any suggestions?

Gaming Wed 10/15

2008-10-13T18:16:00.002-05:00

As usual now, I won't be able to go to the League City Meetup tomorrow night. This time the excuse is that it's my wife's Bday, and she really is not much of a gamer (I probably would be fine with a game night in my Bday).

So I'm hosting on Wednesday at 7pm. I go in to work on Thurs at 1pm, so I can sleep in that morning.

Oh, and last week we had Marty, Joseph and JD show up. We played non-Agricola games: Monastery, and then JD and I played Tannhauser, and San Juan.
-I still think San Juan has its charm, eventhough it's essentially Race for the Galaxy without the steroids. JD pummelled me: my Race for the Galaxy skilles proved futile for San Juan.
-Tannhauser reminded me of Doom (the other dark scifi shooter game), but it is lighter in rules, and quicker. The dark alternate WWII sci fi world theme works really well. I might get this in the future, or I might pick Doom up finally (which I enjoy a lot).

Gaming Thurs 10/9

2008-10-07T16:14:00.004-05:00

I'm hosting once again, on Thursday at 7pm. Now that I have over 12 games of Agricola under my belt, I wouldn't mind playing something we haven't seen in a while (LEONARDO, Monastery, Tribune, etc...). That's what I said last week as we opened up Race for the Galaxy.... which I've played almost 20 times now. :)

Oh, and if Joseph buys "climb" (see below), I'd be willing to try it.

Link to a novel game: Climb

2008-10-07T12:02:00.003-05:00

I thought some of you might be interested in knowing about this different and innovative game.

I heard of it on Steve Jackson's Game site

Here's the link to a review with PICTURES

yeah for lighter games...

2008-10-03T21:44:00.004-05:00

I love Agricola, don't get me wrong. But like I was telling the guys last night (Joseph, JD, and Lewis), this is one of those games that I agonize over. Every painful decision has to be measured carefully. There are few actions available per round, and just 14 rounds... definitively not enough to do all you wish you could do.

We played our first game using the K deck (the hard deck). To me, it felt almost like learning Agricola all over again. The powers are just a bit more complex, but not by much. The issue really lied in the fact that they were completely unfamiliar to all of us. By now, after 10 games or so using the easy deck, I recognize a large group of the cards, so formulating a plan isn't much of a pain any more (with the easy deck). Using the new deck was very challenging (ask Joseph who played almost all of his cards, but still had a hard time scoring points.... he was blinded by the sheer power of all the cards in front of him). I look forward to trying them out again at some point. I am glad to see though that they won't necessarily replace the easy deck: they K deck has nothing to offer that would make the easy deck look obsolete. It'll then just be a matter of being in the mood for either one of the decks. Fun stuff.

Then we played a bunch of lighter stuff. Race for the Galaxy (ok, not THAT light), Fairy Tale (as I've said before, my favorite filler), No Thanks (getting tired of this one given how much we've played it lately), Ra, and a game that JD brought that combines Crokinole with the game Sorry. It didn't seem like Sorry at all though, but it was fun and simple....perfect to be playing late at night. It definitively felt a bit more like Crokinole.

Someday I'll get a Crokinole board (Marty, where did you get yours?), and Pitch Car.... probably my 2 fav dexterity games. The only dexterity game I own is Bausack, but I haven't tried it yet....

Abort, Retry, Fail?

2008-09-30T20:46:00.006-05:00

Again, sorry for the last minute cancellation. I will be hosting this Thursday night at 7pm. It looks like Tues are out for me for now. Thursdays I'll actually be in town working (and not in WEST HOUSTON where I'll be working for the next couple of weeks).

come on over....because euro gaming is better than watching the VP debate

Gaming on Tues Sept 30...7pm

2008-09-28T22:15:00.001-05:00

Come one, come all. We did ok with two gaming tables last week. We can do it again if we have 6+.

A night of CLOSE scores

2008-09-25T13:38:00.005-05:00

Last night we had a decent crowd: JD, Lewis, Joseph, Tom, and Andy. We split up into two groups.

Lewis, Joseph, and I played Agricola. It was a terrible game for me simply because I was working hard for this end-game scoring card thinking it was going to give me VP's for fields, when in fact it was for pastures. I realized this about 3 rounds from the endgame....needless to say, at little too late. Still, scores where somewhat close. I had 26 (urgh), And Lewis and Joseph were in the low 30's, with Lewis winning by a point.

Andy, Tom, and JD played Nefertiti, which I want to try someday, and Pirate's Cove, which I don't need to try. Hopefully someone will fill you in on these games.

L,J, and I then played 3 games of No Thanks, a great card filler.... probably my lightest filler. Not my fav though, but it's good. For that kind of 'filling', I prefer Fairy Tale, but only is everyone knows the game (so it can go fast). It looks like it's getting reprinted for the 3rd...4th time?

Some people had to leave, so then Lewis, JD, Andy, and I played Space Dealer. I like this game a lot because it reminds me of Real-time Strategy computer games like Command and Conquer, Warcraft, etc. After Lewis gave me much grief over the rules review, we fought out way trying to deliver goods accross the cosmos. As always, it was a blast. I'd like to try it again with some of the expansion/variant cards (and probably without Lewis... because he doesn't like luck in games, and he doesn't like to keep track of the score during the game, when it is supposed to be done like that.... I wouldn't have made deliveries to his planet if I could see that he was winning....)

Then more people left, so JD, Lewis and I decided to play something lite like Liar's Dice. So we played Phoenicia (which for those that don't know, is anything but lite). Again, it was an extremely close match with me and Lewis fighting until the very end for the win. He beat me by just 1 point. Oh the agony. This is probably one of my all time fav games (definitively in my personal Top 5). It's a heavy game that plays in 1 hr, which to me is just icing on the cake.

A more powerful Power Grid

2008-09-22T16:43:00.003-05:00

Saturday night I got to play my favorite game, Power Grid.
I have been aiming for several games to have 1 more city powered than the end game condition, and I finally did it last nite.
I have won a couple of games via most money as the tie-breaker, but last night I made a slightly risky move in demolishing my 3 city wind plant so that I might be able to power 15, compared to 14 to trigger end game...and it worked. :)
I am just saying I need more competition to cure me of my hubris, so bring it on! :P

Gaming next week....

2008-09-18T14:11:00.003-05:00

So we all survived the storm (I think...), and now are recovering. The question on my mind now is...when are we gaming again? Since I'm not working for now, I've done lots of computer gaming (among other mundane adult things of course), but I'm ready for boardgaming.

Next week there will be gaming at Coffee Culture with the League City meetup. I can't make it, but as always, I encourage all to go.

But being the selfish gamer that I am, I do want to game some that week if I can: I'm hosting on Wed 9/24 at 7pm. Please do go to the League City gamers meetup, but if you can't (or want to even game some more) come to my place on Wed. By then I should have my pimped Agricola complete (with card sleeves, resourceeples, and a nice tacklebox to organize the bits).

According to the Wiktionary
PIMPED= adj. A term used in popular culture a lot, meaning "cool", "nice", or "awesome"

A storm is coming...

2008-09-11T11:23:00.003-05:00

....and you have to evacuate, what 3 games from your collection would you definitively not leave behind?

Seriously though, my prayers are with everyone.

Storm? Again?? Gaming tomorrow...9/9

2008-09-08T20:11:00.004-05:00

Another week, another storm, another night of gaming at the coffee place in League City (not my place). I'm pretty sure I'll be there. See ya then.

http://boardgames.meetup.com/564/calendar/8306724/

History buff?

2008-09-04T20:14:00.001-05:00

For those interested in history, wargames, etc.

check out the empires sweeping the globe through history...

Gaming Wednesday 8/3

2008-09-01T13:11:00.005-05:00

I can't do Tuesday, but I'm opening my doors for gaming on Wednesday. Usual time, usual place. Post your reply if you are/aren't coming.

**UPDATE**
I had to cancel for tonight...

BTW, found this picture of someone that beats me in their OCD ways... sleeved board components and tiles for Starcraft! I may want to sleeve all my Agricola cards, but this is DEFINITIVELY way too OCD even for me.

Gaming before the storm...

2008-08-28T20:50:00.005-05:00

Anyone going to San Jac this weekend for their Labor day weekend of gaming? I'll be there on Sat from 10am until my wife gets tired of calling me back home.

Also (assuming no storm will hit us on Monday) I'm off on Monday... is anyone interested in gaming at my place from 9am on? I'd love to do any 2 player wargames (from Hannibal, War of the Rings, to any other), but if more sign up, maybe we can do Arkham Horror, or Starcraft, or anything else that is longish.

Let me know.

Gaming last night... Now Agricola-FREE!

2008-08-27T22:15:00.003-05:00

Last night was your regularly scheduled League City gamers meetup. The crowd was small and cozy....about 7 total?

I played a few fluffies like Circus Flohcati x2, and Fluxx (urgh!). Of the lighter stuff, Hey That's my fish was the best. It's a great quick 15 min brain-teaser, where you are moving penguins around ice flows trying to catch the most fish. Denise, a guy whose name escapes me, and I played this. My penguin got locked out on the third to last round, isolated on ice flows that weren't connected to the others....so I ended up in 3rd place.

The Heavy of the night for me was Caylus Magna Carta...also played with Denise, and 'the other guy'. Excellent, excellent game. It's the 'essence' of Caylus in a quick 45-60min deep card game. I won, but only because I was the only one who had played before (read, the only one who built a Prestige building...the ones that give you bucketfuls of VP's). I'm sure next time it'll be different.

It was an Agricola-free night. Yes, fun can be had without Agricola.

New Game Order

2008-08-23T17:11:00.003-05:00

Thanks Rob, Marty, and Joseph. I took a little bit from everyone's suggestions and just placed my first order with Thought Hammer. I ordered 8 new games and I bought 3 used games from Kerry. I've only played a few of the games before so I should be very busy learning the rules. Unfortunately they won't be here in time for Coffee Culture. I did order Agricola if anyone is up for a game. Schedule permitting, I am always up for a board game. Hope to see everyone this Tues. at Coffee Culture.

Last night... more Agricola.

2008-08-20T14:46:00.003-05:00

Last night we had 4 and yours truly... Mike, JD, Lewis (he's back), and Ben (for his second time... good to see you again).

First game of the night was Agricola. We are still sticking to the 'easy' cards. Still after 5 games using the same cards, I find new cards and combos I hadn't seen before. As a 5 player game, I think the game runs a bit too long for my taste. I'll probably stick with the 4 or less player games if possible, BUT I won't turn down a 5 player game either.

Then we did 2 games back to back of Liar's Dice. Mike and Lewis left after this, as we moved on to the fluffy games of the night. Ben, JD, and I played a game of Kill Dr Lucky, and Gloom... both very goofy games, not my usual cup of tea, but still very entertaining. Some cards in Gloom reminded me a bit of Munchkin, so I wasn't super excited about those. Still the game is great for what it is: a simple take that game with a goofy dark theme. I'm curious to try Dr Lucky with more players.

Gaming Tue 8/19 at 7pm

2008-08-17T15:49:00.002-05:00

Yes indeed, I'll be hosting again this Tuesday at 7pm. Lets celebrate that the newest tropical storm is not coming to the gulf.

Let me know if you'll be able to swing by.

Feed your people, people!

2008-08-15T22:53:00.005-05:00

Last night we had an impromptu game session (sort of impromptu). Lance, Andy, me and my lovely wife played Agricola. It was my first 4 player game. I played with 5 last year once, but I can't remember the details of how it went. Needless to say, it was a blast. This game scales extremely well; it's good with any number of players.

Like the respect you have for an old war veteran, I can't just remove Puerto Rico from its rightful spot in history. Yes, it is aged, but like good wine, it retains its value with the passage of time. Still, I can't STOP thinking about Agricola, all the possibilities, the past few game sessions, the things I could have changed, the things I could have done better.... it has possessed my brain. On my way to work today, I thought about Agricola. On my way back, Agricola. On my way back home from dinner with my wife we discussed strategy in last night's game...

The game we had last night was the 5th for me, 2nd for my wife, and first time for Andy and Lance. I felt cocky and made a risky move before a feeding round, that left me without enough food for all my family members. Like other games that have risk management (In the year of the dragon, Notre Dame, etc), besides scoring VP's, you have to allocate resources/time/etc to prevent some bad thing from happening. In this game, it's feeding your family every few rounds. Well, right after a round that I had a baby, I was short by 1 food (adults need 2 each, baby 1). Every food you are down by costs you 3 VP's at the end of the game.

I took a gamble by growing my family on a round that I knew that action was going to leave me short of food..... and sure enough, I lost to Lance by LESS than 3 points (in other words, I would have won if I had fed my family well that round). Oh well. He did have a very impressive Animal Farm, that was on par with my Autopilot Bakery... but that penalty cost me the game. Oh the agony...

With so much replayability, I can see this game becoming a dime fairly quickly. In less than 2 weeks, it made it to my nickel list. :)

BTW, I'm planning on hosting next week on Tuesday. Mark your calendars.... Surprise surprise...there might be some Agricola.

Meetup at Coffee Culture

2008-08-14T09:34:00.003-05:00

It was another nice group meetup, IMHO at Coffee Culture. Several people were there that I had not met before, including a couple of NASA folks. One thing I like about this group is that folks are willing to play the same game multiple times in the same evening. So we opened with Qwirkle, which is quite a nice set/tile game while at the other table folks played Ingenious another set/tile game.

The only real problem with Qwirkle came up when one of the new guys had a little trouble because he could not tell the colors on the tiles apart and only color distinguishes them. I'm not sure how you get around that problem in Qwirkle since shapes are used for other purposes... Maybe you could put a white dot on each of the tiles of one of the colors that look the same. At least Ingenious does not have that problem, although for some reason they decided to use lots of star shapes instead of squares, etc. This can make it difficult to refer to the tiles by shapes.

We mixed up the groups after these games with both tables ending up playing Zirkus Flohcati, twice. Then my table played High Society twice while the other group played Ticket To Ride (our two games took longer than their TTR game, though). High Society is definitely a game that improves and deepens with replays.

Gaming tomorrow 7/12

2008-08-11T13:21:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder that gaming tomorrow is at Cofffee culture with the League City meetup group. I can't make it though because my grandparents will be in town (and they want to see my place for the first time since I moved to LC).

I might host Thursday... let me know if you'd be interested.

BTW, just played two solo games of Agricola (I'm at home today ...sick... and there's nothing better to do when you are sick than play games that allow for solo gaming). I have to say, the solo game is pretty darn hard. I did better on my first than my second, but still didn't beat the 'expected score'. Can't wait to play this with more players, but yes, it's very satisfying even as a solo game.

This game oozes with theme, and cool mechanics (worker placement). You are basically competing with other players trying to build the best farm. And like any farm, you plow, sow and harvest, you breed sheep, cows, and pigs, you use these to feed your family, which can grow and give you more 'workers', etc etc. Plus it has almost limitless replayability given the number of 'special power' cards the game has. It may not be as clean/balanced as a luckless game of Puerto Rico or Caylus, but it surely does provide a good challenge in trying to optimize your special cards with the available actions every round.

I am Gluteus Maximus....

2008-08-06T19:32:00.007-05:00

....Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

Sorry, getting in the mood...

Last night we had a strong showing: Mike (coming in for the first time...and hopefully not the last), Tom, JD, and Andy. Hey, that's 5...perfect for a game of Tribune: Primus inter Pares (First amongst equals), the latest game from the guy that gave us a much meatier political game, Die Macher.

This to me was one of those games that I just ccouldn't picture well in my head how it was going to work simply based on the rules. Knowing this, and knowing that first impressions from new games are really important among the gaming literati (hey, I think highly of you all), I went with all the recommendations made at Boardgamegeek.com to have the best experience with this game. First, the game should be played with 4-5 players...and secondly, they recommend that you try one of the shorter game 'scenarios' before committing to the longer ones. I happily did, again, given that I had no clue how it was going to flow. Well, we fumbled and stumbled a little bit along the way, but the rules were played right, and the game ended quickly. WE all had plenty of "ooooooh, I see now....I should have (blank)" moments towards the end.

But was it fun? Heck yes, I say. The game has a good amount of depth (but not overly complex) that is not apparent until you play a few rounds, and in a game that probably consists of 3-5 rounds depending on the length of game chosen, it may take 2 games to REALLY appreciate how everything gels together. My interest is piqued, and so I think was everyone else's. We have to play again soon before we forget the lessons learned.

So basically in this game, you play the head of an up and coming Roman family, wealing and dealing (read, placing followers on the board to claim faction cards), to gain influence and control over one or more Roman factions (Plebeians, Gladiators, Senators, Legates, etc etc). Each faction will in turn grant you special benefits/powers that help you get other stuff much easily, or they actually just give you 'assets' you need (Armies, Favor from the Gods, Money, etc etc). Very interesting game, with MULTIPLE multiple choices each round, with very few followers to use to pick from these (so every play is critical!). All of this in a 1-2hr long game. Excellent. We finished our short scenario in just a bit over 1 hr, IIRC. Personally, can't get enough of worker-placement games (Pillars of the Earth, Caylus, Age of Empires) if they keep making them this interesting. Stone Age for some reason though, doesn't seem as appealing, but I'll definitively try it if anyone gets it.

Then we played the grand daddy of worker placement games: Caylus. I wish I played this more often. Everytime I play, I have to relearn the 'flow', and make a few painful (COSTLY) mistakes along the way. Playing Caylus Magna Carta a few times between last night and the last time I played real Caylus, simply adds to the confusion. Needless to say, I ended last due to 2 TERRIBLE rounds were I got NOTHING essentially. By the time I had 'some' form of an 'engine' going, it was too little too late. Still, my opinion of it never changes: the game is simply brilliant.

Tom, Mike, Andy left... so JD and I sat down for our obligatory late night session (from 11pm until way past Midnight). We played Airships, the zeppeling-building dice game (JD kicked my Hindenburg), and Dungeon Twister (finally I win something for the night!).

Thanks for coming guys. As always, it was a blast.

Andy: Maybe someday we'll play Leonardo. Oh, and thanks again for the banana bread.

Gaming Tue 8/5 at 7pm

2008-08-03T09:37:00.002-05:00

The title says it all. Come one, come all.

Besides Tribune because it needs some love, I'm also in the mood for anything: Power Grid, Zooloretto, Monastery, Canalmania, Ticket To Ride Marklin, Tigris and Eufrates, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Vegas Showdown, leonardo da Vinci....whatever.

Oh here it comes!

2008-08-01T17:48:00.005-05:00

Well, I better go empty out my collection of games. They will all be on sale. Agricola is officially on its way to me.

Unfortunately it won't be here on time for next week's gaming (Tuesday 8/5...mark your calendars). I may just have to host again on Thursday. :)

The art of war....

2008-07-30T09:07:00.003-05:00

JD and I started things off with a game of To Court the King. He took control of the King and Queen. I made a decent comeback mustering enough dice to try to beat his eight 6's, but unfortunately he did a great job taking control of all the good dice controllers...so I wasn't able to manipulate my dice enough to beat that. Fun, quick, great as always.

Then we moved on to the main event, along with Tom and Andy. We played Shogun....a LONG game of Shogun. Too long for my tastes, but it was still very enjoyable. First half of the game saw JD running away with it by quite a bit, due to some very nice construction work (temples, castles, etc). I lost an important scoring region that I originally stole from Andy, due to bad timing. Oh well. For the second year, I focused on less fighting, and more recovering from the previous year. JD and Andy were at each other's throats (they were 1st and 2nd place). Andy eventually took the lead, and won. JD and I tied for 2nd, but JD in theory won 2nd (tie breaker is money). Fun game, great theme, cool cube tower, but prone to AP the first time you play.

Then Tom and Andy left. JD and I played a quick game of Dungeon Twister. It's a combination of an abstract puzzle game, with "abstract mechanics", and a fantasy theme (wizards, spells, warriors, etc). Very interesting. Has more depth AND more theme than I expected.

Ok, back to work now.

Gaming Princesses Acquire Florence

2008-07-27T17:32:00.004-05:00

//I have been working on this write-up for a while now, but since the last sentence was predictive I had to work it into a form to post here, the original is on MySpace/

So Tuesday night(a couple of weeks ago), at my League of Extraordinary Gamers boardgaming meetup, (http://boardgames.meetup.com/564/ join us if you haven't) , I got there at seven o clock, and began to teach a really light game to five people when Tammy and Adam showed up.

So I had to figure out how to break up the group. Mike showed up with Acquire which I have been wanting to learn, since it is the 54th highest ranked game on BoardGameGeek.com, and Tom wanted to play it so we moved to our own table...and a few minutes into the rules Dana showed up, but the other table had 5 people already so she joined us in learning Acquire.

Acquire went really well...money kept flying my way even though I did not seem to be doing too much to earn it. I finished in a strong second place. I am not sure if it is a good thing that I can do well in such a money management game relying on my intuition, hehe...its probably not, but its fun anyway to put my Accounting intuition to work anyway.

Meanwhile, I told the other group to play something they could teach...I was basically talking to Tammy and Adam, they brought a version of Settlers of Cataan that I have not played (Starship, probably) some light games, and Princes of Florence. And you serious gamers will be happy to know that they played ...Princes of Florence (Denise and Tommie enjoyed it enough to ask for a rematch).

So it turns out that my group of gaming princesses will play and like heavier games. Two of them really like Puerto Rico, and another confessed that for a while she was hiding her inner gamer...another regularly beats her husband at medium weight games.

But we finished Acquire 30 minutes till 10:00, which is when Mark closes up shop, so I got to play my fluffy game after all, Zirkus Flohcati.

So all of you serious gamers should not come out to my events, if you are afraid of being beaten by a girl.

Gaming on Tues 7/29

2008-07-27T09:59:00.003-05:00

I'm hosting once again: Tues 7/29 at 7pm.

Maybe Shogun (the rethemed Wallenstein, not the crappy game by MB) will see some play. If we have 5, Tribune sounds like a good idea...

Self Plug

2008-07-24T21:44:00.004-05:00

So... this post has nothing to do with gaming. Just wanted to let everyone know I was in the Chronicle today. You can view the online version here.

And, just to make this post more about gaming, what games would people suggest to play on the plane?