Game Night logs for March 2001

Ed, Prich and John arrived a little early (as planed) to take in a nice game of Carolus Magnus. Kill-Joy Ray needed a visit from the Waah-mbulance crying "But I want to play, I never get to play Carolus Magnus!", so we played a game of Torres instead. I love this game, but we don't get to play much because of the four player limit.

Next we broke out a game I have had collecting dust for a long time, Vampire. For being a Reiner Knizia game, this is not very good. I would pull out Katzenjammer Blues (I do like that silly game) before this. The object is to play sets of three or more cards of the same color. The catch is, you can only have one set per color (six different colors), if you play another set, the previous set of the same color gets discarded. When someone gets a set of each color, the game ends, to score the person with the smallest set in each color, discards that set. This might make a nice little filler game, because it is so quick, but only time will tell.

At this time, Pete and Michelle showed up with a relative in tow. I'm sure the less mentioned about this the better. I will just say, Ray was a better host than I would have been. Ray broke the late comers into a new group to play another game, after a VERY long debate, Take 6 was chosen. I do not have the scores for that game, for some reason I am missing a whole block of memory from that period of time. I remember being called a Suburbanite and a Computer Geek, but decorum and good taste forbade me any comment (no, it was my brother that stopped me, you all know I have very little taste!). Beth, the two John's and I played a game of Cartagena. This is another game that is quick and fun. John M. was a virgin to this game, but held his own.

Ray joined the group again to play a game of Taj Mahal, the game was going at a brisk pace when Beth decided to launch the board on it's back. We pretended not to notice that the game had prematurely ended, pregnant women, go fig!

Being juiced up and ready to go, sorry, I forgot to mention the Cosmopolitans, you gotta love it! We started a game of Cloud 9, again, John M. being the virgin. This is another great filler game, no setup time and quick game play.

Cloud Nine

Last and least, we wanted a quick closer. The choice? What else be Liar's Dice! I must say that I love and hate this game. It must be the most pointless game (not as bad as Fluxx, but close). We have a lot of fun with this game. Again, Misery's mistress, Nasty Old Broad Hormones, lost control again and Beth sent a wild Die in Ray's direction. Ray's teeth, being the troopers they are, took one for the team! Jumping in front of the die, like Neo in The Matrix (I did see time stop and the speed trail of the die) Ray's front tooth threw his chest out and deflected the blow. God, I love Liar's Dice (or do I mean hate?). We played two games of Liar's Dice, in the second game, John M. (getting the hang of things very nicely) was in a show-down with Beth, 3 to 3, who could have known, they both had three sixes?

I beg to differ on the following paragraph:

>Ray joined the group again to play a game of Taj Mahal, the game was
>going at a brisk pace when Beth decided to launch the board on it's
>back.We pretended not to notice that the game had prematurely ended,
>pregnant women, go fig!

The game was dragging at a pace so slow that I think time actually
stopped, no one seemed interested in playing, and trying to figure out
the scoring each round was torture.Mercifully, I lifted one edge of
the board.Everyone watched, but no one disagreed with my action, I
continued and the pieces slid off.

Ed, you are quite the exaggerator!Although, I do have to commend your
play by play on the Liar's Dice "incident".You know, gaming that late
at night with 4 drunk men, a gal has got to stand up for herself!

-Beth

This weeks game night came with little fanfare and little in the way of distractions. We had a big dinner participation and that dove-tailed right into games games games.

As usual, Ed and crew snuck in an early game of Carlos Magnus as the kids play and the adults attempt to eat in peace.

Carolus Magnus - Winner Ed 8 Castles - John M. 5 Castles - John P. 2 Castles (he did have 4 till I stole two for the win)

I started with hard fought game of Condottiere. What a match. You could have done a play-by-play on this one! A fever pitch when John Martindale, myself and Steve all had 3 countries, Ed had 2 and there was no 'safe' spots on the board.I got dealt a 'caw' hand (more than 4 scarecrows) TWICE in a row and we all ended up losing to John M.If there is a criticism of this game, it is that when someone gets a great hand (like 3 10s), they usually kick ass because there are so many 'bad hands'.The 'bad hands' are really the average hand, everyone feels they have a bad hand. Except the guy who got two 10s and a key!

Ed made the worst Whiskey Sours every tasted by someone alive. We switched to beer. That was not Whiskey Sour, it was something I picked out of the drink book.

We then decided to play Settlers, since John M. had never gotten the chance to play it before.Unlike most games of Settlers, this was very close at the end.Ed won, being the first to hit 10 victory points. I was second with 8 because I was guarantee one more on my next turn which would have been after Ed.It did not drag like Settlers games can tend to do in the middle.I was one piece of road and the next turn from victory. Oh, so close!

Settlers of Catan

We finished with a riveting game of Liars Dice after Ed and Johns left.We picked up Suzanne and Jen and off we went.This game was bizarre.At the end, Suzanne had 5 dice, Steve 2 and me one.Steve won!Suzanne lost one die 3 turns in a row (the third time was a tie, which in effect knocked me out).In Suzanne's defense, she was thrown off by the discussion of 'ass-beads' and their usage.

I suppose, the story started at 5:00 pm when I stopped at The Wizards of the Coast store. I only wanted to look around, but the back wall beckoned to me. I knew I had traveled too far into the crypt, but my curiosity pulled me forward. The warning signs flashed around me. A Survivor trading card game would have turned the faint of heart, but I could not be stopped. A Warner Brothers trading card game was next, even the bravest of mortals should not be forced to endure this. I shielded my eyes and pushed forward. Pokemon creatures seemed to be everywhere, grasping at my clothing, still I was undaunted. Finally, I found, what I thought I was looking for, Cities & Knights of Catan! The game sat upon a varnished wooden alter.

Fearing the object booby-trapped, I snatched the game while replacing it with another of the same weight. This ploy only works for Indiana Jones, because a salesman jumped me as I backed away from the alter. He engaged me in "game chit-chat", I could tell right away that this guy was only apatsy, he knew nothing of German games, the puppet master must have been controlling him from the back room. I played his silly little "verbal banter game" until I could barter an exchange. I think that he was a Deveel (Asprin reference) in disguise, I feel lucky to have escaped with all my fingers and toes!

John and John, helped to pack the best selections we could think of. My new found treasure had a place of honor in the "Geek Bag". After testing that the "Geek Bag" was going to hold up, we left for Game Night. I thought I had packed everything! Tons of games? Check! Digital Camera for action pics? Check! Note pad for keeping track of the scores? Check! What could I have forgotten? Hindsight is 20/20, I had left my common sense, in the bathroom, next to the hemorrhoid cream!

Upon arrival, we have an ominous feeling because we see no lights in the house, but I do see a pair, a few feet from my bumper. It was the Game Night hosts coming home from dinner. Wasting no time, we head for the basement. I decided to break out the rules for Cities & Knights of Catan, I had doubts to whether we should play this game (again, you know where my common sense is sitting!) but Ray loves the idea of the new Catan expansion. Like Homer Simpson, I go along with the plan.

At least an hour later, we started the new game! I must say, I do love this expansion, it adds a new dimension to the game. Jay had a very bad start in the game and did not get many resource cards early in the game. This coupled with the slow start and the alcohol, caused Jay to become irritable. Sitting in front of the bank, Jay designated himself banker. This would have been fine, except for his unusual delivery of cards (thrown at a high velocity). I thought it was a good game, but it did last five hours. Even taking all the BS out of the equation, it would have been over three hours. I think it would be a 2 1/2 hour game if played again. That is, if the game is prepared before hand. Setup does take a long time if you do it cold.

Ray has posted a follow-up:

Ok, so there is competition in missive-ville.Since it seems pointless to rehash what Ed said so eloquently, I'll just add some color commentary.

Ed was way to kind to me.Listen, Settlers of Catan is a long game, about 2 hours.My knock on the game has always been that after about an hour, half the players are really out of the game.Like risk, only without the hope of trading in the next big set.With the expansion, this ballooned to three hours, optimistically.We stretched it to 5!! I don't think the we kid was a factor since she was watching 'A bug's Life' when she was up, not bothering us.No, we just did not know the rules, had to set up and had lots of getting up for beer.I had two hurricanes at dinner (Thanks Pete and Michelle!), followed by casual beer drinking during the game.After 3 hours and realizing that I was dead last with Prich, had to endure more hours with no hope of victory in site, AND was the banker, I snapped.(I appreciate that Ed promised not to put my behavior on my permanent record.)The board went all For the next 90 or so minutes, resource cards flew when one of my obscure numbers did not come up.What was my so hard to roll number? 8.That's right.During the first two entire turns around the table, I did not get a single resource. Then, Jen (to my right), rolls a seven and places the robber over MY eight. I then rolled an eight and so did Prich (to my left).It was not until late in the 3 turn that I did anything other than what I did based on my starting cards.This happened to me again just before the 'snap'. The board went all the way around with 6's and 9's.The only 2 numbers I did not have.Statistically impossible you say?Bite me.

That, my friends in the fundamental flaw that knocked Settlers off my top 10 list.In too many cases that 'have-nots' are forced to endure the remainder of the game to see which of the 'haves' will win.

Last Month - Next Month - Main Page

Yee Haw, what a crowd.You'd thunk I held a truck pull.Everyone and their kin showed up and we had a rip roarin' time.Phil came by, which lead to a dangerous discussion about web sights about disgusting things. Let's just say that in the war between Russ and Phil and anyone else to find the most disgusting things, I was Kramer in that one Seinfeld episode... "I'm out!".I voluntarily retreated forever after seeing Phil's very first effort.They have been at it for over a year now.

Phil aka Philbo
Ed and crew started early with their warm-up game.This week it was a card game called Chrononauts.Now I did not play, as it was still a bit early at this time, but I hear good things.Phil, as rare attendee who just came to make sure I was alive, also enjoyed it.Ed described it as, "A playable version of Fluxx".The game is set up with each person having 2 possible ways to win, and a set-up that looks confusing, but really is not.I hope I get to try it next time.This idea is that your a time traveler, trying to accomplish certain secret goals.Paradox's abound. Yes, this is a fixed version of Fluxx. Simple instructions, draw a card, play a card. You set up a 8 x 4 of grid cards that make up the Timeline. As you play cards, you can change time, but be careful, your changes ripples to other time periods, changing the whole Timeline. Instead of having a set of two items, to win the game, you now have a Mission Card (that has three artifacts on it.) and an ID Card (that has three dates, two are patched and one untouched). If you have the winning combination of one of your cards, at the end of your turn, you win. The other way to win is to be holding 10 cards at the end of your turn (not easy to do).

Next, I pulled out my ENGLISH version of Princes of Florence.Not only did we know what all the buildings were, we knew what everything was.I could say that I composed a masterpiece entitled, "Shutta uppa your a pie-hole (a tragedy)".Then, later, when Tim lured my composer to his court, proudly proclaimed to produce the work entitled, 'Shutta uppa your a pie-hole 2 (a comedy based on the tragedy). Tim produced a very rare 6th work.He played the game almost perfectly, by luring at least one already deployed artist and maximizing his resources.But in the end, my ability to squeeze EVERY LAST FLORIN out of my bids.I beat Tim on the last turn. The scores tell the tale of how close we were.(The thing that did it for me I think was the fact that I only every needed 3 buildings, and almost got away with needing only 2.)I still say this is a more detailed version of Medici.That does NOT make it better, just more meaty.(I still like Medici better, but one of the reasons is that the casual gamers like Medici. Since it is easier, there is more casual fun to be had.)

Princes of Florence - Winner Ray 134 - Tim 127 - Ed 126 - John M. 115 - John P. 61

Due to the large turn-out we now had two games going.One table got Condottiere going.I did not play, but Ed dutifully recorded the scores.Look to him to add highlights. The first game we played, I was lucky enough to get a few Key cards, that let me get the bonus cards to win. I was shooting for a sweep, but Tim snuck one in on me! I think this was the fastest game of Condottiere we have ever played. The second game dragged out a bit, but we had a good time. Tim and Beth started out kicking ass, and Tim continued kicking ass into the fourth hand. I didn't think I would ever win a round in this game.

Condottiere - Winner Ed 4 - Tim 1 - Beth 0 - John M. 0 - John P. 0
Condottiere - Winner Tim 4 - Beth 2 - Ed 2 - John M. 1 - John P. 1

[The kids started a 'wizards and warlords' battle.This 3d game of launching small yellow balls at target was a favorite of Neal and myself.Unfortunately, when you play it on a TABLE, you chase a lot of balls around on the floor.]

The other table played Take 6 and Liars Dice.I won Liar's Dice, but only because Suzanne accidentally had a mental lapse resulting in an upside down 5 looking to her like a 3.After that mistake, she never recovered.

Steve won a game of take 6 that features all but 2 players way over 60 at the end.Steve and Jen never crossed 20.

The last game played at the main table (this is any table that I am playing at!) was Cartagena. This is Candyland meets The Hare and the Hedgehog. This game is to card games, as Liar's Dice is to dice games. The only flaw in this game? If you go last, you have the upper hand, unless the others before you clear a tile or two. The player that goes first gets boned.

Cartagena
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Sunday afternoon resulted in Russ and I playing cooperative 2 player Serious Sam.This is definitely more entertaining than single player.

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The Sunday night movie was "Return of the Chinese Boxer".This movie had it all: "Basket-head", "Anti-Ambush Man" (who has a special ability to push poles into the ground without effort), "Sir Knives-a-lot"."(very) Excellent Halberd fighter", "King of all guns (featuring the dreaded 7 barreled shotgun!)", "the emperor?", "The General who loved swords" (who did not appear on film until the last scene),A middle of the movie 'kill or be killed' flashback match featuring a Ben Wa ball as the prize, The "Massively under trained and poorly armed Train robbery suicide squad", "Mr. Exposition" (I came all the way back to town with a knife in my back to explain to the audience that we failed in our mission to stop the train and thus prevent the arrival of 'basket-head', argh), a chick who put out as part of the hiring practice, an ending climax stolen from "The Man with the Golden Gun" that features dummies full of innocuous gas, all topped off with a 'f-you ending' featuring the knowledge that the tanker was full of sand!!!This movie must be watched to believe how excellent it is!!!

Well what last week gave us in volume and surprises (Congrats Pat and Jenny), this week gave us in rowdiness.At one point, we were worried that the entire evening would be Ed, Alias Johnny and I.At about 9:30 the damn broke and we were full up!

We started with the easy card game of Chez Geek.Jen even played as we passed 'lump' around.A very easy game, which had us all about to win on our next turn when Ed played his final finish card.The only knock I have on this little card game is that your 'job' determines too much.The high paying jobs have little free time and I find that free time is much more important than cash.The counter argument is that we were all very close behind Ed. (Ed changed jobs 3 times, the rest of us were stuck with what we were dealt.)

Chez Geek + with Slack Attack expansion cards: Winner Ed 22 - John P. 19 - Ray 18 - Jen 10

Next came Chrononauts, which is a card game based on time travel.The game itself is a neat concept, although the novelty wears off quickly.The mechanics are based on moving certain events towards you favor.You can either alter time to match your time line, or collect artifacts based on your ID.Either set wins you the game.The cause and effect of always stealing artifacts from each other is easy to see and too easy results in one card floating around the table..The time line changes are equally obvious. Someone changes some fabric of time?Well, it is obvious that changing it back screws them.Too few twists and turns make this an interesting game of mechanics.It works, but the fun factor I think is a bit lower than I would have hoped.

Next we tried to play a game of OVERTHRONE.Now I say tried because this did not quite work out.You see, we pulled out the rules at 11pm and we should have REALLY known better because1.There was already an errata sheet. 2.Beth was there and 'new games' are never first on her list,and3.We were drinking heavily.A lot of long Islands.A lot.Really.So after getting the gist of it, Pete and Michelle showed up.Now at this point I think we understood the basics, but estimated that they would be waiting about 30 minutes before it ended.So, we aborted it.It is an interesting game, but I compare it to Taj Mahal.The mechanics involve maximizing flexibility to create interesting game play.The problem in both of these games is that the goal is obscured by the confusing commodities.I'll review it better when we try it again.It is a rather highly talked about game right now... Reading reviews of this game, others have had this problem. It's a very easy game, it just has a very hard learning curve.

We decided NOT to break into two groups of 4 and 3 respectively.This shocked me, but we grabbed for games that would support 7 players (this should be 9 players).First were two very loud and rowdy games of Take 6. No surprise this appears as #5 on my all time fun list.Alias Johnny did SO poorly in game one, that we ended in like 3 rounds!The second game was even louder and included award losing chili !! I did not have any, but heard that it was excellent!!!(Anyone interested in a cooking themed game night?)

Take 6 Winner Tim 7 - Jen 16 - Ed 22 - Pete 24 - Ray 24 - Beth 28 - John M. 33 - Michelle 33 - John P. 78
Take 6 Winner Ray 7 - Beth 17 - John P. 27 - Michelle 48 - John M. 51 - Pete 53 - Ed 59 - Tim 60 - Jen 70

Lastly we played 7 cup liars dice. (once again it was 9 players) Both games featured at least one major crash and burn wipe out. Once again, someone got burned by excellent bluffing (choosing a good quantity of a number of which you have NONE of).Lots more noise, and some rounds were so good that applause broke out!!!

Liar's Dice Winner Michelle - 2nd Ed - 3rd Ray
Liar's Dice Winner Ray - 2nd John M. - 3rd Ed

Did not happen on game night related note:

In a never ending attempt to give everyone a nickname for 'Family Business', add Laura to the list.She is now'Laura 2 spaces'.Even sounds like a gangster name.

Beth	Ed	John M.
John P.	Michelle	Pete
Ray

Ed	Jen	John M.
John P.	Ray	Steve
Suzanne

Ed	Jen	John M.
John P.	Ray

Beth	Ed	Jen
Jennifer	John M.	John P.
Pat	Phil	Ray
Suzanne	Tim	And others that didn't play

Beth	Ed	Jen
John M.	John P.	Michelle
Pete	Ray	Tim