Sunday, September 4, 2011

Lucky Scales 2, Cannibus Rotters 1

The Lucky Scales open up season nine of Fun League South with a blood, err. . . puss bath - ew! By the end of the match the Scales had six casualties to the Rotters none and miraculously the Scales had even scored two touchdowns, both with Sauri!

The Rotters open the game by sending the kickoff short and the ball was taken in the air by the Skink Xah of Dispair who quickly moved into place behind a wall of Sauri. Xah took the ball up the left sideline into Rotter territory, handing off to star skink, Kai of Gold. The handoff went awry and the ball ended up in the hands of the Rotter crowd. After playing around with the ball for awhile they tossed it back in near the Rotter goal line where it was picked up by a Pestigor.

After a lengthy struggle for the ball, Mazdamun of Huatl, a Saurus blocker, was able to pick up the ball and score as time ran out in the half.

The second half began with the Scales kicking the ball short, just behind the Rotter front line where it was picked up by a Pestigor. The Scales countered with the first of a number of ferocious attacks. The Rotters maintained control of the ball and escaped the Lizard attack, launching a pass to the other side of the field leading to a Rotter attack on Turn 11 tying the game.

The ensuing kickoff was again short to the Scales left side with the pickup being fumbled by the usually reliable Kai of Gold. The Rotters took advantage of the situation to grab the ball and toss it into the center of their side of the pitch.Saurus blocker Oatlgor of Pahualaxa rushed in and grabbed the ball as the rest of the Scales again began to violently assault the Rotters who despite the beatings were able to regenerate nearly all of the injuries. Meanwhile Oatlgor sprinted towards the endzone and the go ahead touchdown.

The final kickoff went deep into Rotter territory leaving them unable to score.

Thanks to Psyper for a great game and for being a good sport as the only rolls of his that worked were his regeneration rolls.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Quick Catch Up Post

This summer has seemed to go very fast for us.  Contrary to what the blog reflects, we have been gaming (though I more than Lissa).  Simply put, it has been too dang hot to play many games downstairs.  Hopefully that will change soon.



Last week Nick brought over his copy of Railways of the World and we played the Mexico map.  This game is yet another version of Martin Wallace's train game idea.  I consider myself a Martin Wallace fan and I enjoy Steam and to be honest there is not much difference between Railways of the World and Steam.  The basic idea of building and claiming routes and using those routes to deliver colored cubes to like colored cities remains intact. 


Railways adds several things to the basic mixture.  First, you need to take out bonds to fund your activities.  The mechanism works well and it introduces a step where you must decide if it is worth it to take out a bond to build a longer track or if you are better off trying to get by with a cheaper route.  The second change is that where in Steam you bid on various roles and sometimes you may find yourself locked out of being able to restock a city or building a new city in Railways you may choose any of the available roles on your turn.  The third major change is that instead of playing to a set number of turns you play until a certain number of cities have been exhausted of resource cubes so the game length is variable.  I like this concept as it does away with what I like to call the "Swooping Hawk Maneuver."

Ok, what is the "Swooping Hawk Maneuver"?  At one point in time the then current version of Warhammer 40k played to a set number of turns.  The Eldar armies had a fast but weak unit type called Swooping Hawks - basically, Eldar guys with wings.  SO, what often happened was that the Eldar player would "Fly Hi" with the Hawks, which according to the rules at that time made them untargetable by troops not also flying hi.  Then, on the last half of the last turn the Eldar player would drop these guys onto the board on whatever objective was available claiming the objective and often winning the game.  Realistically, had the game been extended another half turn the Hawks would have been shredded and all killed but as there was an artificial end point they could land in front of all the guns in the world safely.  So, the "Swooping Hawk Maneuver" is doing something in the last turn that is sound rules and point wise but makes no logical, realistic sense.

Back to Railways of the World. . .   Those three changes are the main differences between the two games.  The other important difference is in regards to components.  Steam is a great game with fantastic maps and pieces.  Railways of the World just goes above and beyond though.  The components in this game are amazing.  When a city is cleared of resources you place a marker on it to show that it has been used up.  These markers are little railway buildings or water towers and are very nice.  As the game progresses and you place more of these on the board the map looks cooler and cooler.

Overall, I really like the game (and I won - big plus there).  I also really like Steam.  If you have one I cannot imagine spending the money on the other.  They play very much alike as they share the core rules and as such they both "scratch the same itch" so to speak.

Other than our regular Wednesday night games I have continued to play poorly in my Fun League Blood Bowl online matches.  Having fun but playing poorly :)  This season playing poorly even in two seperate divisions with two teams!  More on that later though.


Tonight we should be playing the new Star Trek Expeditions game and For Sale!, a game that I was able to win on Twitter from Gryphon Games and that I will review soon.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Somewhat Annual Fourth of July Gamefest - 2011 Edition

Each year we try to have a small potluck & game session on July 4th - some years we are more successful than others in arranging it. This year the event went off perfectly. Ann and Todd Smith came over bringing not only Steve Jackson Games' The Stars are Right game but Ann's famous pulled pork, potato salad, corn salad, and an ice cream maker to make what was easily the best vanilla custard I have ever eaten. Nick Gillispee arrived shortly afterwards bringing his new Faux*Cabulary game and more importantly, a dish of Rosie's rice pudding. We supplied a bowl of ambrosia, scalloped potatoes, and green beans. Everything was truly amazing!

Image from BoardGameGeek

We started the gaming with Lords of Vegas by Mayfair Games. Truly, I am beginning to love this game. The combination of interesting twists on area control mechanics and a strong theme are destined to make this a long time favorite. I pulled ahead quickly as the other players watched the Aqua casinos pay out repeatedly and when the Aqua looked played out I deftly switched to silver. This continued until Ann eventually wrested control of the nine tile silver casino from me in the end game. My large early lead lessened somewhat but I still won handily. I am looking forward to playing this more as we all become more comfortable with the rules. One criticism of the game, the included turn sequence card starts out after the rather complex card drawing procedure ends. A card detailing the steps in this procedure would have been appreciated.

Image from BoardGameGeek
After a break for a fantastic lunch we continued with The Stars are Right. I had been wanting to play this for some time and everyone really liked the game. Nick pulled out the win through deft manipulation of the stars but I finished as the only one to have summoned a Great Old One.

Image from BoardGameGeek

Next up was Ingenious, which Todd and Nick had not played. This game was tight throughout and I managed to win by a single point. I do believe I may have made Dr. Kniezia at least an iPhone sale to one or both of them. I'll be expecting my cut anytime that is convenient for you Reiner :-)

Image from BoardGameGeek
Last up was the deceptively simple co-op game, Castle Panic from Fireside Games. As Nick explained, "you start feeling confident as you take out the initial group of monsters but they keep coming". Things went well early on except for a nasty series of giant boulders rolling down on our castle from the forest. A few Draw Three Additional Token chits later and we were positively overwhelmed. Luckily we cooperated well and managed to save the castle with even a few walls standing. Great game. Simple, yet challenging and easy for less experienced gamers to pick up (though our four were all veteran gamers).

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic day of games and food and friends.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Updated 7/5/11 to add links,images, and to correct one misspelling.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Day Four of Origins

Day four of Origins is a wrap for us. We played several new games today. First up was Lords of Vegas. This was a great game with a lot of interesting mechanics that are not present in the rest of our collection. I'll detail game play later but suffice it to say, we used one of our 50% off Mayfair coupons on this one.

Next up, after an amazingly long wait, was the Settlers of Catan dice game. Not a bad game and one I enjoy playing on occasion on their website but fir us really it was a way to try a new game and get the Clay ribbon we needed to complete our quests to become Knights of Catan. Thanks to Mayfair for running this fun promotion again this year. It is always at the head of our to do list for Origins.

On the way to the board room we stopped and played the deck building game, Ascension. We both liked this game, especially Lissa, and we plan to grab this on our way out tomorrow.

In the board room we checked Word on the Street out from the CABS library. I expected to enjoy thus one and after playing it I hope to grab a copy tomorrow as well.

Also, thanks to Rio Grande Games we each were given a free game for being in the board room. I received Asteroyds and Lissa got Loch Ness. We look forward to trying these out.

Over the next week or so I intend to flesh out these posts and add some links and pics and the like. Stay tuned.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, June 24, 2011

Origins Day Three

Busy day today as we began our annual quest for our Mayfair Games Knight of Catan badges. We began by playing Lemming Mafia. This is a cute little game for a younger audience that has you betting on which of the lemmings racing towards the docks would be given a pair of concrete sneakers (thus the mafia) and drowned horribly. The pieces for this were really cute though and it does have some interesting mechanics in that you were not playing one of the lemmings but were instead standing on the sidelines betting on the outcome. Neither Lissa nor I were really impressed with this one.

Next up we played a nice little cooperative game called Van Helsing. In this one one player plays Dracula while the others team up and play the usual suspects including the titular Van Helsing and poor Mina. The game includes a measure of hidden movement for Dracula with the room he has moved to being recorded on a pad. It is imperative that the players cooperate as any one character stands no chance against Vlad. Lissa and I both liked this one a lot. The only drawback is that the game board, while beautifully rendered, is needlessly small. The gameplay would be vastly improved if the map were increased in size by 25% or so.

Our last game for the day at the Mayfair area was Martin Wallace's London. In this game you are trying to rebuild London following the great fire. While doing this you are also trying to make lots of money while avoiding attracting any more of the peasantry to your area as possible. Mechanics for thus game are card driven and the game moves quickly. Lissa and I both enjoyed this game quite a bit and it has made it onto the likely purchase list.

Next up we played a game of Castle Panic. This is a very light but difficult to win cooperative game where you attempt to defend your castle from various marauders coming from the surrounding forest.

The play area is divided into color coded zones and the zones are divided into concentric rings denoting how close to the castle the attackers are. Players use cards that denote a colored sector and ring (such as red archer or blue swordsman) to attack the creatures. The creatures are triangular chits and when they take damage they ate rotated towards the central castle. On each turn a player will draw a card, discard and draw another card if they like, trade with another player, and then play as many cards as they like against the monsters. They then move all surviving monsters forward and draw two additional monsters, rolling to see what section of forest they appear in.

This was a big hit with us both. It seems very much like a gateway cooperative game similar in weight to Ticket to Ride. Very likely to be coming home with us.

The final game of the evening was the latest from our friend Ted Cheatham, City Square Off. In this game each of the two players has an identical set of colored pieces reminiscent of Tetris blocks. The players choose starting blocks that differ slightly but occupy the same area. Cards are then turned over one at a time with both players placing the corresponding piece on their grid. This continues until one player cannot place a piece that is drawn.

Lissa and I both liked this quick little game a lot. A copy would be coming home with us but we have not found any vendors selling the game.

We are looking forward to tomorrow morning when we can start anew.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Day Two at Origins

Day two at Origins has been all about shopping. We were able to pick up a number of items from the top of our wishlist including Tichu, the 10th anniversary Carcassonne box, and some odds and ends like deck boxes and box bands.

I did have a chance to demo the forthcoming Star Trek constructible card game. Think Star Trek TNG meets Dominion with Thunderstone like challenges drawn randomly from an encounter deck. This will not be out until Fall but we will be buying this on release day!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Day One at Origins

Day one at Origins 2011 is shaping up to be pretty exciting. We have spent most of our time in the Board Room which is ran by CABS (Columbus Area Boardgame Society).

First up was Reiner Knizia's Through the Desert. This is a fantastic, light little route planning game. Lissa and I both liked this one a lot.

Next up for me was a game of Seven Wonders. Lissa passed on this game that I won.

Finally, we played a game of Dominant Species.





While I like this game ok, Lissa liked it much less. It is an interesting game system but is a little heavier and longer than our usual fair. As good as the game is, we will be sticking with Primordial Soup for our evolutionary adventures.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:N 4th St,Columbus,United States

Monday, April 4, 2011

Cargo Noir



I tried out Cargo Noir by Days of Wonder at Lost Legion Games: the Riflemen yesterday. I did not have high hopes for it as my friend Ted Cheatham of the Opinionated Gamers had said online that "The game works fine, I just found no joy and was glad for it to be over." I believe that Tom Vasal and Scott Nicholson had given the game poor reviews as well.

Thanks to Dave G. and Travis R. for teaching and encouraging the game and Doug and Ann J. and the other folks who played with me. Great game!

This is a great, light game with components that are just amazing. Basically you bid on goods in various ports using coins. The number of bids you have is limited to the ships you have available in your fleet. Goods are collected and then traded in for cards worth victory points. The game runs quickly and is very easy to learn.

I picked up a copy at the store and brought it home. Lissa and I played it last night and it plays very well with two as well as the five we played at the store.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Lucky Scales 0 - 2 Glove Slap

HNN (Herpetelogical News Network)

This is Sal E. Mander reporting from the scene of the multiple crimes against Lizard kind.  There is little to cheer about today as Og the Beautiful and his Lucky Scales were beaten to a Chaotic Pulp by MowWar and his Glove Slap henchmen.  There are some degenerates in the crowd who will tell you that it was simply an excellent example of the Chaos style of Blood Bowl but I tell you those folks have been known to bugger small forest creatures whilst talking to their Mothers on cell phones, whatever that is.

Suffice it to say that by the end of the match the score was 2-0 and six brave lizards were out of the game.  Serious injuries befell Team Captain and Star Skink, Uldalashi who, the apothecaries tell me will never be able to run as fast as he used to due to a severely smashed hip and the Lizard in the Mizard, Krokquetli the Kroxigor himself who took a thumb to the eye socket and will be out the next match.

Congrats go out to MowWar and his horde.  It must be said that he showed admirable sportsmanship, coming over and offering a Lucky Scales fan's hand to Og after the game.  Og tried to explain the concept of offering to shake with your own hand but gave up and went for a nice facial and massage after the stress of seeing so much lizard blood nearly overwhelmed him.

And Then the Lasers Fire!

Avalon Hill Robo Rally - Image from Board Game Geek User - Lieven Volckaer
I played my first game of Robo Rally yesterday with Nick, Rosy, Jeff, Lissa, Jim and Dana. This is Jim's favorite game and I had been looking forward to playing for quite a while. The game is as chaotic as you might imagine, especially with seven of us jockeying for position. Jim's superior programming skills gave him the win but Nick and I both had managed to grab two of the three flags and Jeff finished the game with all three "lives". This is a lot of fun and has now been added to my ever growing wish list. Looking online though I see that the figures that came with the older WotC version are much more characterful than the ones in the most recent, Avalon Hill box.

Old Robo Rally Figs - Photo from Board Game Geek User - Aaron Malek 

New Robo Rally Figs - Photo from Board Game Geek User - Paul Holman

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Grundle Luven 1-1 Lucky Scales

Herpetological News Network (HNN)

This is Sal E. Mander reporting for HNN. Today we saw a brutal match on the pitch between hometown favorites, the Lucky Scales, and a group of violent ex-con dwarves known as the Grundle Luven. Before the game ended seven brave lizards would be under the care of the docs and several others would be unconscious.

The game began with the Scales calling, you guessed it, tails, and kicking off to the Luven. The Scales employed what must have been a clever new idea in that somehow they began the game with 12 players on the pitch. Given the brutal treatment they received from the group of psychopathic dwarves across the pitch they should have placed 13 on the field. The ball was picked up by the dwarf runner who crossed midfield with the ball before being blasted by Jacque de Shock, a Brettonian Wizard hired by the Scales for this match. The dwarf runner was of course uninjured as he has apparently had a steady dose of shock therapy in the asylum where the Luven hired him.

At that point the skink runner, Kai of Gold darted in and grabbed the ball, handing off to fellow skink Munditeu-hi. After some desperate dodging the Scales took the ball up the left side of the field and Xah of Despair tossed the ball to Tza-oatlit as time expired in the first half as the Scales went up 1-0.

The Scales lined up to receive the kickoff to start the second half several players down as they became the victims of what in any other setting would have been termed felonious assaults. Kai of Gold grabbed the ball and jockeyed for position and a likely path up the field. The drive fell apart when Kai of Gold's pass was bobbled and dropped by Uldahex, turning the ball over.

The brutality on the field continued as Scale after Scale found their way into the doc's box. The Luven recovered the ball and ground their way up the field largely unhampered by the Scales who had few players still on the pitch. Despite two valient attempts by Skink defender, Boqkroxqai to tackle the short hairy creature carrying the ball, the Luven were able to cross the goal line, tying the game and leading to the second game in a row that ended in a bout of coach Og the Beautiful kissing his lovely sister, Oggina.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Queenstown Warriors 2- 2 Lucky Scales


HNN (Herpetological News Network) Sports Report

The Lucky Scales took on the Queenstown Warriors today in a pouring rain throughout. The rain hindered the agile elves throughout the day while the lizards seemed to enjoy it. The game started off with the Scales kicking off to the Elves who mishandled the ball in the rain. The elves recovered and Calfendrian scored despite a relentless defense. Munditeu-hi of the lizards was able to tie things up as time expired in the first half.

The second half kickoff went according to plan as the lizards muscled the ball up the center of the field. The persistent elves managed to knock the ball loose nearly destroying the drive but Uta of the Moon realized that the ball was something other than the other white meat and grabbed it as it bounced by. He followed this feat up by dodging away and scampering into the end zone to go up 2-1 Scales.

The ensuing kickoff was perfectly placed in the back of the end zone but the elves had by this time gotten acclimated to the rain and ran back, snagged the ball and tossed it down field. Nonetheless, everything seemed to go well as the lizard defense seemed ready to rise to the occasion as the ball carrier and all nearby elves were surrounded with only a turn to go. The lizard blitz caused the ball carrier to dump the ball off to Elii but due to some poor luck (and an inadvertent click not to use a reroll) the poor slob of a Saurus came crashing down leaving a small gap. This gap was used the next turn as a frenzied witch elf pushed a skink several squares before dodging away and scoring. The game ended as a 2-2 tie.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

January and February Gaming

I have been quite remiss in updating the blog these past two months but I have played a number of great games during the period.  In January I was able to stop by the shop a number of times to try new games and we had a number of Wednesday night sessions in addition to Lissa and my two player gaming.

January Games Played

Game Qty
Mille Bornes 9 
Ticket to Ride 7
Sorry! Sliders 6
Blood Bowl: Living RuleBook 5
Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age 3
Carcassonne 2
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders 2
Pandemic 2
Ticket to Ride: Europe 2
Agricola 1
Alchemist 1
Anno 1503 1
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers 1
Egizia 1
Elixir 1
Planet Steam 1
The Rivals for Catan 1
The Settlers of Catan 1
Small World 1
Star Wars Miniatures 1
Thunderstone 1

February Games Played

Game Qty
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers 5
Ticket to Ride 5
Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age 4
Bohnanza 3
Carcassonne 3
Ticket to Ride: Europe 3
The Rivals for Catan 2
San Juan 2
Blood Bowl: Living RuleBook 1
Dominion 1
Egizia 1
Forbidden Island 1
Hey! That's My Fish! 1
Mille Bornes 1
Mystery Express 1
Pandemic 1
Ponte del Diavolo 1
Revolution! 1
The Settlers of Catan 1
Thurn and Taxis 1                                 

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010 Gaming Round-Up

In the second half of 2010 (since the blog has been running) I have played a great number of games, especially int he past two months thanks to the holidays.

MonthGames Played 
July7
August3
September3
October7
November30
December44

Games played include:

Dimes (10 or more plays)
Carcassonne - 20 plays

Nickles (5 or more plays)
Hey, That's My Fish -  6 plays
Magic the Gathering - 6 plays
Mille Bornes - 6 plays

Four Plays
Egizia
Gullotine

Three Plays
Road Kill Rally
Scrabble SLAM!
Ticket to Ride: Europe

Two Plays
Architekton
Blood Bowl
Founding Fathers
Gone Fishing!
Masons
Small World
Station Master
Thunderstone
Thurn and Taxis
Ticket to Ride
Uno

Single Plays
7 Wonders
Agricola
Betryal at House on the Hill
CATAN 3D Collector's Edition
Charon, Inc.
Dominion
Fluxx
Full Thrust
Gold Digger
Ingenious
Martian Fluxx
Merchants & Marauders
Modern Art
Monty Python Fluxx
Power Grid
Red Dragon Inn
Revolution!
Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age
The Settlers of Catan
Shear Panic
Steam
Stratego
The T-Shirt Game
Terra Nova
Tinner's Trail
Trivial Pursuit: Book Lover's Edition






















New Year's Boardgame Party

Last night we had the first of what I hope will become an annual board game event at the Adkins house.  Myself, Lissa, Jeff, Todd, Ann, Nick, Rosie, Rosie's Mom, Stacey, Shari, Ernest, Tori, Emily, and Ashley spent the evening eating and playing games.  Everyone had a great time and like the old farts that most of us are we broke up about 11:30 PM.

Games played included Carcassonne, Hey That's My Fish, Red Dragon Inn, and Uno.  Thanks to everyone for ringing in the New Year with us in classic Geek style.