Weekend Gaming: 20th May 2012

I do apologize if my gaming frequency has dropped to once or twice a week but that's due to Diablo3 studying I had to do until end June 2012 (exam then). :P
Nevertheless, this is the gaming I did yesterday.

Chateau Roquefort
We started off with this game and I am quickly finding it my go to for a filler while waiting for the rest to come or just to warm up the group. Awesome little game and if you have not gotten it yet, well, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Highly recommended.

Lords of Waterdeep

Check out all my buildings!

Another warmup game and I wanted to show this to my friend who was visiting from Hong Kong. This time around, I found I had the opportunity to build a lot of buildings (4 in total) but I did not have that Lady card. My friend did though but she did not manage to build a lot in the end. Another player won by a lot (like 50+ points ahead) and I need to check if it is a *gasp* tainted victory as one quest card seems to allow him to change multiple cubes into white. This time also, the game took rather longer than usual so while it is a 8 round game, I think once past the 5th round when you have 1 more worker to place, the game feels lengthier. Hmmm.....

Cosmic Encounter

Can you see the stacks at the far side?

Next up before we broke for dinner, an oldie but a goodie. Cosmic Encounter + expansion (to allow for 6 players). We played with the Yellow races because I felt the group could absorb even though this is their first play through. Lots of wheeling and dealing going on and the Fungus was attaching to all of our destroyed ships making her particularly tricky to manage. In the end though, it was between TicToc and Fungus and I was the kingmaker :( So I decided to go with TicToc since she has not played with us for a few sessions :P I hope I get to play with the Red races in the future!

Le Havre

My 2nd-hand copy of Le Havre with all the nice boxes included!

Finally, it was between Inca Empire and Le Havre and I decided to go with Le Havre as I really wanted to see if my players will like the game. Explanation was simple enough and the game progressed rather smoothly. The initial stages was quite fast since we did not have much buildings and much options. Further down the line we did have to think a little more but nothing that made the game drag on. Still, the game took almost 3 hours for us to finish. Since they are playing this for the first time, some of the buildings were not immediately clear to them how they worked or they were not reminded of the functions. This game certainly rewards those who have played it before and my players are certain interested to give it another go. I wonder if I dare to play with 5 though since the last time I did, it took almost 4 hours. Its a very nice game and I do prefer this to Agricola (because the roles and the cards you are dealt with seems to dictate what you will use or build) and to Ora Et Labora (too much different types of scoring making it difficult to tell who is ahead and to block if necessary but the Rondel is nice). Thumbs up for me!

So in a nutshell, a very good day of gaming. I still need to bring to table a few more games I have not played yet and I do hope for a 2 player session for Twilight Struggle and especially Star Trek Fleet Captains. Also all the other goodies that I have ordered I am eagerly awaiting their arrival and another session with this group :D

Weekend Boardgaming: 5th May 2012

Wanted to get my new games played so I managed to organise a session for my librarian friends. Played for about 6 hours before I had to leave for a wedding dinner but I managed to play 3 of my new games (left Inca Empire) and I had a lot of fun! Here's a breakdown:

Lords of Waterdeep

Just before final scoring...

Latest hotness and I finally got my copy in just yesterday! Punched out, sleeved the cards and got it ready for today's gaming. The inserts, like what has been reported, is really awesome. Everything fits snugly which makes this insert one of the rare ones that is truly functional. However the box top is not practical as it does not fit down the entire box like almost every other boardgame box is made. The card quality is also quite flimsy thus having card sleeves is vital for longevity of the game. It is a light game and a great intro for gamers to euro-style games (with cubes cubes and no dice!). In this game, a lot of quests were completed when compared to my first Lords of Waterdeep game but the highest scoring is again won by the player with the character that scores you point for each building you have. That character now seems a bit imbalanced to me but I'll have to play a few more times to be sure. The game, basically, is worker placement and turning in of resources to complete quests and to score points. At the end of the game, you get points as well for resources not used, money that you have earned as well as your secret objectives. Settlers of Catan used to be the game to bring new gamers into the world of Designer games. I dare say that Lords of Waterdeep may just take over this role from now on.

Initial Impression: Good

Colonia (Collector's Edition)

Lots of nice components

Colonia was a game that looked interesting to me and so I got it to give it a go. This plays up to 6 and is primarily a worker placement game. The interesting portion of this however is the timing in when you can retrieve your workers to use them again which is usually the next round after the current round in which they are used. So through careful placement of workers, you obtain raw resources and then engage craftsman to create refined goods and then deliver them via the ships to earn currency. Then use these hard earned currency to purchases relics which translate into victory points that will ultimately win you the game. The game is played over 6 rounds (which is 6 weeks) and each week has 7 turns (days) to play. Even though the game can get rather long (about 2 hours), the game is a low scoring one. The ending is also quite anti climatic. For us it was because there was only 2 boats being sent off (thus only 2 boats to score points from) and so the final round, there is not a lot of things that the players can do and as a result there was not much point for the last round. Thematically it is good, components wise it is also quite good but the way this game ends makes it a meh for me.

Initial Impression: Average

Lords of Vegas

All these lovely dice! :P

I have been wanting to try Lords of Vegas after hearing various podcasters rave over it and after reading so many reviews exclaiming how fun this game is. We rushed through our game (largely because of hunger and I had to leave) so not too sure if given more time the players would have made better decisions. Still we took about 1 hour 15 mins or so and finished the game. What you do in the game is draw a card which will determine which lot on the map you own. At the same time, payout will occur in terms of money and points. Then the active player will take his/her turn and perform actions as many times as he/she wants. The turn then goes to the next player and the game continues until the last turn card appears when drawn. During your turn, a couple of actions can be done which will allow you to grow your casino empire or attempt to take over someone else's casinos or, and this seems to be the most fun, gamble at another player's casino in an attempt to win money from him/her. We had a lot of fun I felt but ultimately I think the theme is a bit pasted on as the mechanism involving what we can do with the dice and dice rolling does not equate into what we are doing. However given that these are dice and I was using my own poker chips, it enhances the experience and the theme just seems to fit. All in all, it was a great end to a good day of gaming.

Initial Impression: Good

Now I am looking forward to getting my Inca Empire played as well as play Railways again. I am wondering if the group is ready for something heavier like Steam / Age of Steam / 1830 / Indonesia etc etc or will our brains melt :P

Weekend Boardgame: 20th April 2011

Friday night, our regular gaming group met up again. This time however we had only 4 and later on 3 as one had to leave. So what did we play?

Lords of Waterdeep!

The new hotness, Lords of Waterdeep ! Been wanting to try this out after hearing all the hype and almost every podcaster exclaiming its brilliance and fun factor. We played a 4 player game and true to what I have been hearing so far, it plays rather fast. There is just enough tactical and strategic decisions to make this worker placement game keep our interest throughout the game. There are not many opportunities for direct confrontation though except through the Intrigue cards, specifically the Mandatory quest cards. Still its very pretty, good component quality (except the cards, you will need sleeves) and is a good light/medium game. I want to try this during my Lunchtime boardgaming and see how it goes.

Initial Impression: Good

Siena - not very highly rated in BGG..

Next, we decided to give Siena a try. One of our group had bought this in an auction previously and has not had the chance to play it, so we decided to give it a go. The game itself is a combination of mechanisms we all know (auction, push your luck, worker movement) and at the same time it distinguishes itself with new (at least to us) little tricks. The painting you see is actually the playing board where you can place the generic wooden cube and it will represent different types of items (i.e. Courtesans to Corn to Wine). The 3 steps that you progress (from Peasant to Merchant to Banker) and the different areas of the board you will concentrate on as you progress. The money track on the board which also doubles up as a turn tracker. It is definitely a medium game and requires a few plays to get the hang of it. However when we played, it took way too long (almost 3 hours) and I felt the enjoyment vs the time spent turned me off from the game. Granted we learnt the rules there on the spot, I feel that I will not want to play this again.

Initial Impression: Average

Mage knight! Finally!!

Finally, I manage to try Mage Knight! Another latest hotness on boardgamegeek, I have been yearning to play this for some time before deciding if I want to get it for myself. So after one from the group left, the 3 of us continued to play this. In Mage Knight, you are a hero, and depending on the scenario, you will explore lands, rid the land of monsters, explore dungeons and even attack castles. The scenario we attempted was to conquer 3 of the 4 castles available on the map. Even though the theme is not new, the way the different mechanisms was waved into the game does make it quite fun for me. There is mana involved which uses dice to determine the mana available in the day and is used to activate the special versions of the spells you have. There is deck building which determines what your hero can do during your turn. There is a character progression which will improve the health and strength of your hero and will in turn improve your deck and the number of creatures which you can hire. All in all, as one from my group puts it, its "Heroes of Might and Magic" the boardgame version. We did not manage to finish it though as i think Siena sapped the strength and the time from us but I think I had a good grasp of it (except the combat portions) to think that I will get it when its 2nd printing FINALLY arrives on our shores.

Initial Impression: Good

So that was my friday night. Worse thing was my iPad had the left half of its backlight spoilt so I was frustrated at the end. Saturday morning, before my next boardgaming session, I brought it to be replaced. Luckily it was within the 90 days warranty so it will be a one-to-one replacement. I will just need to wait about a week or so.

ARGH!