Fiona was eager to play some Carcassone the Castle, but we didn’t manage to fit it in last weekend, so when my plans to go to the cinema fell through, we managed to fit a few games in.
In a huge break with tradition I absolutely ran away with the first game. I got an absurdly lucky sequence of roads to begin with (the crossroads with a well in the centre, followed by three road ends!) and am able to pick up several bonus tiles. Fee looked like making a comeback when she scores 24 with a Tower x2 tile, but I still win comfortably.
Normal service is resumed in game 2. Fee has a pair of Market bonus tiles, and easily wins the Keep bonus for the win.
Game 3 looks close, but I’m relying on a large road network, with a Well (I have an Incomplete Road bonus tile, so I’ll score it even if it doesn’t complete). But just before the end Fee is able to also get a Meeple onto it, and I’m not able to get a second on before the game end. That’s about 20 points gone, and I lose.
After that I teach Fee Gin Rummy. The rules are pretty simple (for anyone who has ever played any game of Rummy before) , even if they gameplay isn’t (you really need to make some effort to remember what the other guys been doing). I blow the first hand by knocking with a score of 10 far too late, and Fee is able to undercut me. She wins the next as well, but I then get three large wins, including a very early Gin that catches her with about 40 points in hand, to take the first game (game is typically 100-up).
The second game goes the other way, I take an early lead, she then catches up, and after a few hand we both have scores in the 70’s. She takes a small win to take her into the 80’s, and in the next hand she gets a very early Gin, to take the game.
We have time to close with a quick game of San Juan before I leave. I get a poor start, don’t see any six-pointers, and Fiona doesn’t make any mistakes to beat me by about 10 points.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Introversion
Everyone who knows me would tell you that I’m a quiet, reserved person. There is a reason for this.
My name is Simon, and I am an introvert.
Anybody who wants to know what that really means should read the following article.
I can still remember reading that article for the first time (I found it via a link on Neal Stephenson’s website) and thinking – “wow, that’s me” (but not exactly, I can actually get along fine with some extroverts who I like in a 1-on-1 situation – I create a void that they will quite happily fill, and they’re either too self absorbed to notice that I’m just listening without contributing to the conversation, or are aware that I’m quite happy to just listen).
I hadn’t realised until recently how my behaviour online mimics my behaviour ‘in real life’. In a large social group (such as BGG) I’ll tend to stay on the sidelines just listening. Despite the fact that I’ve been reading BGG daily for two and a half years now I have made approximately 167 posts - an average of a post every five and a half days!
Conversely I’ll eagerly get involved in a discussion about somebody’s blog. From reading their blog it feels like I know them, and I’ve no problem having a discussion on an interesting topic with somebody I ‘know’.
My name is Simon, and I am an introvert.
Anybody who wants to know what that really means should read the following article.
I can still remember reading that article for the first time (I found it via a link on Neal Stephenson’s website) and thinking – “wow, that’s me” (but not exactly, I can actually get along fine with some extroverts who I like in a 1-on-1 situation – I create a void that they will quite happily fill, and they’re either too self absorbed to notice that I’m just listening without contributing to the conversation, or are aware that I’m quite happy to just listen).
I hadn’t realised until recently how my behaviour online mimics my behaviour ‘in real life’. In a large social group (such as BGG) I’ll tend to stay on the sidelines just listening. Despite the fact that I’ve been reading BGG daily for two and a half years now I have made approximately 167 posts - an average of a post every five and a half days!
Conversely I’ll eagerly get involved in a discussion about somebody’s blog. From reading their blog it feels like I know them, and I’ve no problem having a discussion on an interesting topic with somebody I ‘know’.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Sunday 21/05/06: Louis XIV, Ticket to Ride, High Society, San Juan
For the first time in what seems like ages we have a regular Sunday night of games. (me, Tony, Becky and Fiona at Fiona’s) Happy days!!!
We start by trying to learn Louis XIV. I think I do an okay job explaining the rules, considering there so much going on, and we didn’t have any serious rules problems or queries during the games, although people’s heads were exploding during the game trying to take in all the possibilities.
As I would expect with a first play of a game with so much going on (and Tony’s playing slowly as well, including a couple of long thinks followed by moves which are instantly retracted – god, that’s annoying), the game goes on for a long time (over 2 hours), and starts to drag a bit for Becky and Fee towards the end.
Fee comments that she doesn’t mind games that are hard work if they are fun, but it was obvious she was getting bored by the end. I think Tony and I find games like this fun because they are hard work, but that not obviously going to be the case for everyone.
Tony seems to be winning (he completes two difficult missions in the second round, which gives him a couple of strong powers), but as with Goa (also a Rudiger Dorn game) at the end, despite all the gameplay, and Tony’s endless thinking the scores are in fact incredibly close. Everybody has completed six missions, so it comes down to Shields, and Tony just beats Becky and me.
After that we need something lighter, so we decide to play Ticket to Ride (it makes a change from Alhambra). I get an okay set of starting tickets (Portland – Phoenix, Portland – Nashville), until the opening trains all appear in the Southwestern corner, and after claiming Portland – San Francisco I’m blocked out of the direct route into Phoenix. So I have to regroup, and head across the country via Seattle and Helena.
The thing that annoys me about TTR in real-life (as opposed to online) is that the little cards are so fiddly. Optimum play often involves collecting a load of them, which are awkward to hold, the colours aren’t the clearest, and somebody has to go to the trouble of constantly replenishing the display of wagon cards available, and passing cards to those who can’t reach them. Tonight that person was me – it does keep the game flowing, but leads to one mistake when I make my move too quickly, taking cards when I should have claimed Oklahoma City – Little Rock, that would have cost me if Fiona had stolen it (she didn't).
After this possible detour is avoided I’m able to complete my route into Nashville. It’s clear that I should be able to get into Phoenix from Denver without problems, so now I decide to concentrate on collecting set of wagon cards to score some 15point connections. The key moment (as it turns out) comes when I decide not to block Becky. She has Los Angeles – El Paso – Houston, and then claims Miami – New Orleans. (she already has Miami – Charleston. I could have (& should have) blocked Becky by taking Houston – New Orleans, but I mistakenly thought “blocking is rarely effective in four player”. This is incorrect reasoning – at the time Becky and I probably had the best positions, so I should block Becky, as she is in fact my direct opponent. (Note to self: do not underestimate Becky just because she displays too much cleavage and is almost innumerate). [Actually, I think I may have underestimated the importance of this play because Becky’s score at the time was incorrect – we discovered she was someway short at the end, when we recalculate the scores]
I end the game as quick as I can (completing a couple of 15 point routes and connecting from Denver into Phoenix), but it’s not quick enough to catch anyone with incomplete tickets – I’m one turn off stranding Tony with –20 points. By the end Becky has completed one large line of routes along the South and up the Western coast, and the 10 point bonus is just enough for her to beat me by a couple of points. Fiona is last, which disappoints her, but she had awful tickets, one semi decent ticket and a tiny 6 point ticket up the Western coast, that you have to complete by claming tiny connections, worth very few points.
Next time I see her I’ll have to explain the plan involving ignoring such tickets and playing to score 15 point routes and finish the game. I’m sure that would have been a better plan in her position.
After Ticket to Ride, to Becky and Fee’s obvious disappointment there isn’t enough time left to play Alhambra. Instead we play a couple of hands of High Society. The first sees Becky spend far too much early on a couple of Recognitions, leaving her very little to actually buy possessions with (she acquires the 3, but that only gives her a score of 12, which can easily be beaten). She ends the game the poorest (after also paying to avoid the Thief and Gambling Debts) and Tony wins.
The second game also starts with a Recognition, which I win. Becky then blows most of her money winning the 9 and the 8, but at least this gives her a total of 17, which she might be able to defend. This game goes long (the last four tiles are 7,10, -5 and the final Recognition), and is very close between Tony, Fiona and I. I win the 7, putting me in the lead, but then the 10 comes up, and Tony and I don’t think we can outbid Fiona, and the next tile ends the game, with Fiona winning. Becky is the poorest by a long way - $7,000,000 – but although I ended up with $32,000,000 I still couldn’t have outbid Fee for the 10, as I only had $1, $6 & $25 left. A good game – I think Fiona enjoyed it a bit too, although High Society doesn’t seem to be her kind of game. And it’s definitely not Becky’s kind of game – as well as too much adding, she seems to be unable to stop impulse buying!
Tony has to leave, but we decide to end with a quick three player game of San Juan. Nobody gets a dominating position, nor does anybody get totally left behind (which can be a problem in three player if both opponents end up doing the same things, leaving somebody odd man out), and the final scores are very close. Becky has twelve buildings for 32 points (Fee and I only managed eleven builds), I have a City Hall and Guild Hall for 33, and Fee has a City Hall and Palace for 35 points. Fee wins!
Now Fiona is away again for the next couple of weekends. Maybe we’ll be able to arrange something for the bank holiday Monday instead.
We start by trying to learn Louis XIV. I think I do an okay job explaining the rules, considering there so much going on, and we didn’t have any serious rules problems or queries during the games, although people’s heads were exploding during the game trying to take in all the possibilities.
As I would expect with a first play of a game with so much going on (and Tony’s playing slowly as well, including a couple of long thinks followed by moves which are instantly retracted – god, that’s annoying), the game goes on for a long time (over 2 hours), and starts to drag a bit for Becky and Fee towards the end.
Fee comments that she doesn’t mind games that are hard work if they are fun, but it was obvious she was getting bored by the end. I think Tony and I find games like this fun because they are hard work, but that not obviously going to be the case for everyone.
Tony seems to be winning (he completes two difficult missions in the second round, which gives him a couple of strong powers), but as with Goa (also a Rudiger Dorn game) at the end, despite all the gameplay, and Tony’s endless thinking the scores are in fact incredibly close. Everybody has completed six missions, so it comes down to Shields, and Tony just beats Becky and me.
After that we need something lighter, so we decide to play Ticket to Ride (it makes a change from Alhambra). I get an okay set of starting tickets (Portland – Phoenix, Portland – Nashville), until the opening trains all appear in the Southwestern corner, and after claiming Portland – San Francisco I’m blocked out of the direct route into Phoenix. So I have to regroup, and head across the country via Seattle and Helena.
The thing that annoys me about TTR in real-life (as opposed to online) is that the little cards are so fiddly. Optimum play often involves collecting a load of them, which are awkward to hold, the colours aren’t the clearest, and somebody has to go to the trouble of constantly replenishing the display of wagon cards available, and passing cards to those who can’t reach them. Tonight that person was me – it does keep the game flowing, but leads to one mistake when I make my move too quickly, taking cards when I should have claimed Oklahoma City – Little Rock, that would have cost me if Fiona had stolen it (she didn't).
After this possible detour is avoided I’m able to complete my route into Nashville. It’s clear that I should be able to get into Phoenix from Denver without problems, so now I decide to concentrate on collecting set of wagon cards to score some 15point connections. The key moment (as it turns out) comes when I decide not to block Becky. She has Los Angeles – El Paso – Houston, and then claims Miami – New Orleans. (she already has Miami – Charleston. I could have (& should have) blocked Becky by taking Houston – New Orleans, but I mistakenly thought “blocking is rarely effective in four player”. This is incorrect reasoning – at the time Becky and I probably had the best positions, so I should block Becky, as she is in fact my direct opponent. (Note to self: do not underestimate Becky just because she displays too much cleavage and is almost innumerate). [Actually, I think I may have underestimated the importance of this play because Becky’s score at the time was incorrect – we discovered she was someway short at the end, when we recalculate the scores]
I end the game as quick as I can (completing a couple of 15 point routes and connecting from Denver into Phoenix), but it’s not quick enough to catch anyone with incomplete tickets – I’m one turn off stranding Tony with –20 points. By the end Becky has completed one large line of routes along the South and up the Western coast, and the 10 point bonus is just enough for her to beat me by a couple of points. Fiona is last, which disappoints her, but she had awful tickets, one semi decent ticket and a tiny 6 point ticket up the Western coast, that you have to complete by claming tiny connections, worth very few points.
Next time I see her I’ll have to explain the plan involving ignoring such tickets and playing to score 15 point routes and finish the game. I’m sure that would have been a better plan in her position.
After Ticket to Ride, to Becky and Fee’s obvious disappointment there isn’t enough time left to play Alhambra. Instead we play a couple of hands of High Society. The first sees Becky spend far too much early on a couple of Recognitions, leaving her very little to actually buy possessions with (she acquires the 3, but that only gives her a score of 12, which can easily be beaten). She ends the game the poorest (after also paying to avoid the Thief and Gambling Debts) and Tony wins.
The second game also starts with a Recognition, which I win. Becky then blows most of her money winning the 9 and the 8, but at least this gives her a total of 17, which she might be able to defend. This game goes long (the last four tiles are 7,10, -5 and the final Recognition), and is very close between Tony, Fiona and I. I win the 7, putting me in the lead, but then the 10 comes up, and Tony and I don’t think we can outbid Fiona, and the next tile ends the game, with Fiona winning. Becky is the poorest by a long way - $7,000,000 – but although I ended up with $32,000,000 I still couldn’t have outbid Fee for the 10, as I only had $1, $6 & $25 left. A good game – I think Fiona enjoyed it a bit too, although High Society doesn’t seem to be her kind of game. And it’s definitely not Becky’s kind of game – as well as too much adding, she seems to be unable to stop impulse buying!
Tony has to leave, but we decide to end with a quick three player game of San Juan. Nobody gets a dominating position, nor does anybody get totally left behind (which can be a problem in three player if both opponents end up doing the same things, leaving somebody odd man out), and the final scores are very close. Becky has twelve buildings for 32 points (Fee and I only managed eleven builds), I have a City Hall and Guild Hall for 33, and Fee has a City Hall and Palace for 35 points. Fee wins!
Now Fiona is away again for the next couple of weekends. Maybe we’ll be able to arrange something for the bank holiday Monday instead.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation (& San Juan)
After my week of suffering I was feeling well enough to pop round and see Fiona for a few games on Friday evening.
We started with me teaching her Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation. The basic rules are quite simple (movement, combat, victory conditions, special movement cases), so we were underway quite quickly. The real challenge in learning this game comes from the need to consider the many possible interactions of characters and cards (some of which aren't even properly clarified in the rulebook, hence I keep the six page FAQ with my copy of the game).
Anyway, I played the Good guys, with Fee the forces of Evil. As this was Fiona's first game, and my first game for ages, we tended towards the obvious moves, rather than cunning bluffs. So I ran around killing stuff with Gandalf, until he was taken out by the Orcs, Fee put the Balrog in Moria etc. My early Gandalf rampage and some good card choices have given me a good advantage, and it looks like Frodo can march unnoposed into Mordor, but I'd forgotten about the Flying Nazgul, who kills him. If I'd remember Fee had earlier revealed the Nazgul, I could have killed it by recasting Heroic Sacrifice with the Magic card.
We started with me teaching her Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation. The basic rules are quite simple (movement, combat, victory conditions, special movement cases), so we were underway quite quickly. The real challenge in learning this game comes from the need to consider the many possible interactions of characters and cards (some of which aren't even properly clarified in the rulebook, hence I keep the six page FAQ with my copy of the game).
Anyway, I played the Good guys, with Fee the forces of Evil. As this was Fiona's first game, and my first game for ages, we tended towards the obvious moves, rather than cunning bluffs. So I ran around killing stuff with Gandalf, until he was taken out by the Orcs, Fee put the Balrog in Moria etc. My early Gandalf rampage and some good card choices have given me a good advantage, and it looks like Frodo can march unnoposed into Mordor, but I'd forgotten about the Flying Nazgul, who kills him. If I'd remember Fee had earlier revealed the Nazgul, I could have killed it by recasting Heroic Sacrifice with the Magic card.
So Fiona won, and seemed to think the game was okay. It's difficult to be anymore enthusiastic than that after just one game. Maybe it'll grow on her, maybe not. It might be slightly too analytical, although the unknown factors mean you can overthink things - a couple of times I made the mistake of assuming Fiona might work out was I trying to do and react opposing, but she didn't so I ended up trapping myself. Don't overthink this game against beginners!
After LotR we just play San Juan (of course). I can't remember the specifics of the four games, but two were blowouts, and two were actually very close, and I wasn't sure who was going to win, though I both edged them both by a few points. The large victories tend to come when I get a better start than Fiona, cause I'm utterly ruthless about not letting her back into the game, and will often rush out to 12 buildings very quickly for the win (such as one game this evening were my first two builds were Carpenter and Quarry).
The games were generally quite varied - I even won one game by building Well (which is actually an okay building) and both Trading Post and Market Stand (which are usually rubbish), all of which were useful. I guess most buildings do have their uses (particularly in two-player, which lets you try plans that would be unfeasable against more than one opponent). I won one of the games using Tower very effectively, and in another I had an okay Black Market (I found Aquaduct, but had trouble finding Indigo), and a useful Chapel. I've still never needed to build an Archive though, other than as a very cheap violet when Gold Mine wasn't available. It remains the black sheep of the San Juan family.
After four games we decided to call it a night. I suspect if I didn't have a girlfriend at home expecting me we could have kept playing San Juan all night. I haven't done that since playing Magic The Gathering all night at Cambridge. Two player San Juan is really that good!!!P.S. The first draft of this post contained what could be considered a very revealing Freudian slip :)
No games :(
No games for over a week - I can't remember the last time that happened. There were two reasons:
a) Sunday was Walk the Wight, a 26.5 mile charity walk across the Isle of Wight. Nobody seemed to have much enthusiasm for games afterwards, I can't imagine why.
b) Ever since then I've had a terrible cold, so I've not been going out during the evenings.
I'm feeling much better now, so hopefully normal service will now be resumed.
a) Sunday was Walk the Wight, a 26.5 mile charity walk across the Isle of Wight. Nobody seemed to have much enthusiasm for games afterwards, I can't imagine why.
b) Ever since then I've had a terrible cold, so I've not been going out during the evenings.
I'm feeling much better now, so hopefully normal service will now be resumed.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Even more San Juan!
Fiona and I now have some kind of San Juan addiction. It really is a great two-player game. We managed to find time for two more games after her Systema class Thursday evening.
In the first game I start sensibly with a Tobacco, Fiona having no build. When I then also build a Well Fiona decides to drop a Statue. She does know instinctively that’s she not supposed to do that, and sure enough next turn she realises she doesn’t really have any good options. I then build another Tobacco and Indigo, and am able to produce two goods to none, whilst Fiona has a Prefecture. I then have both a Chapel and Palace in hand.
I’d been thinking that it had been a long time since I’d seen a Chapel used effectively, and as I have the Palace as well (which will turn each card discarded to the Chapel into 1.25pts) I decide to go for it. I build the Chapel, and then store a card almost every turn. I’m pretty certain I don’t pick Builder again the entire game, I just dump my hand into most expensive thing I can afford whenever Fiona builds, and then refill my trading from my many production goods. If Fiona doesn’t build, I’m quite happy to trade anyway, even if it will take me over eight cards – just think of it as a Councillor in which Fiona doesn’t get to use her Prefecture.
Fiona builds a Black Market, which helps her with my repeated Production, and also a Poor House, which in theory is a nice combo with Black Market, but she doesn’t seem to get as much use out of it as I expected. Between my Chapel and her Poor House she should be trying to close out the game as quickly as possible I think. This is often a point that it takes beginners many games to understand – in two player don’t play to maximise your score by trying to assemble the perfect set of buildings, play to maximise the difference between your score and your opponents., so you’ll win!
By the end of the game Fiona has a decent collection of Buildings including a set of Monuments and an Arch, and both City Hall and Guild Hall, but it’s not enough to beat quite enough to beat my score, which includes an 11 point Chapel (the highest I’ve personally seen).
A very instructive game, but I don’t think the 11 point Chapel is a scenario likely to come up very often.
The second game I get a dream Violet position - my builds being on order: Prefecture, Market Hall (just before Fiona is about to do the first trade), Carpenter, Quarry, then Hero and Victory Column, City Hall, Triumphal Arch and Palace, before closing out with Chapel and Statue for a total of 50+ points. Fiona has been using Smithy the entire game, and has accumulated the biggest collection of Silver Smelters I’ve ever seen (six), but as expected the Guild Hall plan can’t possibly compete with a perfect set of violet buildings, and I win again.
Afterwards I point out to Fiona that (a) she forgot to Produce / Produce / Trade / Trade, which she needs to do to get best use her many production buildings, and (b) Smithy / Guildhall makes the smaller production buildings more efficient than building lots of Silver. In a way these are the same mistakes as the first game – concentrating too much on assembling the highest score she can, without worrying enough about what I'm up to.
In the first game I start sensibly with a Tobacco, Fiona having no build. When I then also build a Well Fiona decides to drop a Statue. She does know instinctively that’s she not supposed to do that, and sure enough next turn she realises she doesn’t really have any good options. I then build another Tobacco and Indigo, and am able to produce two goods to none, whilst Fiona has a Prefecture. I then have both a Chapel and Palace in hand.
I’d been thinking that it had been a long time since I’d seen a Chapel used effectively, and as I have the Palace as well (which will turn each card discarded to the Chapel into 1.25pts) I decide to go for it. I build the Chapel, and then store a card almost every turn. I’m pretty certain I don’t pick Builder again the entire game, I just dump my hand into most expensive thing I can afford whenever Fiona builds, and then refill my trading from my many production goods. If Fiona doesn’t build, I’m quite happy to trade anyway, even if it will take me over eight cards – just think of it as a Councillor in which Fiona doesn’t get to use her Prefecture.
Fiona builds a Black Market, which helps her with my repeated Production, and also a Poor House, which in theory is a nice combo with Black Market, but she doesn’t seem to get as much use out of it as I expected. Between my Chapel and her Poor House she should be trying to close out the game as quickly as possible I think. This is often a point that it takes beginners many games to understand – in two player don’t play to maximise your score by trying to assemble the perfect set of buildings, play to maximise the difference between your score and your opponents., so you’ll win!
By the end of the game Fiona has a decent collection of Buildings including a set of Monuments and an Arch, and both City Hall and Guild Hall, but it’s not enough to beat quite enough to beat my score, which includes an 11 point Chapel (the highest I’ve personally seen).
A very instructive game, but I don’t think the 11 point Chapel is a scenario likely to come up very often.
The second game I get a dream Violet position - my builds being on order: Prefecture, Market Hall (just before Fiona is about to do the first trade), Carpenter, Quarry, then Hero and Victory Column, City Hall, Triumphal Arch and Palace, before closing out with Chapel and Statue for a total of 50+ points. Fiona has been using Smithy the entire game, and has accumulated the biggest collection of Silver Smelters I’ve ever seen (six), but as expected the Guild Hall plan can’t possibly compete with a perfect set of violet buildings, and I win again.
Afterwards I point out to Fiona that (a) she forgot to Produce / Produce / Trade / Trade, which she needs to do to get best use her many production buildings, and (b) Smithy / Guildhall makes the smaller production buildings more efficient than building lots of Silver. In a way these are the same mistakes as the first game – concentrating too much on assembling the highest score she can, without worrying enough about what I'm up to.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
More San Juan
Fiona was just round the corner with Pete at his mum’s house Monday evening, so I popped round for a few games of San Juan (Fiona seems to be too addicted to SJ to play anything else).
I win the first game fairly comfortably, starting with an early Smithy. I get a Market Hall as well, and am able to Produce / Produce then Trade / Trade (Fiona only having the starting Indigo). I then find a Guild Hall mid-game, and close out quickly with Indigos and Tobaccos for an 18 point Guild Hall. Fiona is going violet, but I was able to prevent her from dropping the Triumphal Arch she had in hand by rushing to 12 buildings - the correct way to win with Smithy.
The second game I get a solid start, with an early Well. I use this income to build several large production units and Monuments, and then find a Prefecture, to counter Fiona’s early Prefecture. Once I am able to pick Councillor without giving Fiona any advantage I do so repeatedly, as I need to find a large building (with my mixture of productions, violets, and monument, any will do). I find a Palace, which I’m about to build when a Guild Hall turns up. That’s my 11th build, and when Fiona fails to close out the game with me having six cards in hand I’m able to drop the Palace by picking Builder myself. I win this game as well.
Fiona realised after this game that she had basically stopped picking Councillor, once I built my Prefecture, and at the end of game she didn’t have enough good buildings because of this. She also had terrible luck with a very early Gold Mine, which only worked once during the entire game.
The final game I get an awful start. I spend all of my opening hand on a Quarry, but Fiona drops a Prefecture, and I’m unable to find any other violets worth building. I have a City Hall in hand, but drop a couple of buildings behind. My next build is actually a Hero - efficient in terms of VP, but I think you’re supposed to be developing your income with your third build. I struggle along like this, dropping a Market Hall to help offset Fiona’s production advantage, until I get a sixth build Carpenter. Now, despite my bad start, and Fiona’s huge income advantage (she has Silver and Gold Mine, possibly Prefecture as well, and is about to drop a second Silver) I’m right back in the game. I drop the City Hall, and as I’m unable to find any decent violets and am losing in terms of income anyway I rush out to 12 buildings with very cheap violets like Gold Mine and Archive (when you have Quarry & Carpenter they don’t cost you anything).
This plan is just enough for me to win by a few points. I really thought Fiona was going to win this game, but I didn’t panic, (it would have been easier to build some bad violets early on, just cause they were cheap), and even picked Councillor when Fiona had a Prefecture – I had to find something to build, to get back into the game.
I remember seeing a comment somewhere at BGG, that when somebody played against Andrea Seyfarth, that they couldn’t believe how often he would pick Councillor. But Fiona and I certainly can – I think it’s an important part of being a good San Juan player, understanding the importance of Councillor.
I have no doubt now that Fiona is a good San Juan player, despite my three wins. I really had to fight hard for these wins, and could easily have lost two of them. Fiona is just unfortunate that I’m an excellent San Juan player. I’m pretty certain she could beat anybody else we know in a two player game quite comfortably.
I win the first game fairly comfortably, starting with an early Smithy. I get a Market Hall as well, and am able to Produce / Produce then Trade / Trade (Fiona only having the starting Indigo). I then find a Guild Hall mid-game, and close out quickly with Indigos and Tobaccos for an 18 point Guild Hall. Fiona is going violet, but I was able to prevent her from dropping the Triumphal Arch she had in hand by rushing to 12 buildings - the correct way to win with Smithy.
The second game I get a solid start, with an early Well. I use this income to build several large production units and Monuments, and then find a Prefecture, to counter Fiona’s early Prefecture. Once I am able to pick Councillor without giving Fiona any advantage I do so repeatedly, as I need to find a large building (with my mixture of productions, violets, and monument, any will do). I find a Palace, which I’m about to build when a Guild Hall turns up. That’s my 11th build, and when Fiona fails to close out the game with me having six cards in hand I’m able to drop the Palace by picking Builder myself. I win this game as well.
Fiona realised after this game that she had basically stopped picking Councillor, once I built my Prefecture, and at the end of game she didn’t have enough good buildings because of this. She also had terrible luck with a very early Gold Mine, which only worked once during the entire game.
The final game I get an awful start. I spend all of my opening hand on a Quarry, but Fiona drops a Prefecture, and I’m unable to find any other violets worth building. I have a City Hall in hand, but drop a couple of buildings behind. My next build is actually a Hero - efficient in terms of VP, but I think you’re supposed to be developing your income with your third build. I struggle along like this, dropping a Market Hall to help offset Fiona’s production advantage, until I get a sixth build Carpenter. Now, despite my bad start, and Fiona’s huge income advantage (she has Silver and Gold Mine, possibly Prefecture as well, and is about to drop a second Silver) I’m right back in the game. I drop the City Hall, and as I’m unable to find any decent violets and am losing in terms of income anyway I rush out to 12 buildings with very cheap violets like Gold Mine and Archive (when you have Quarry & Carpenter they don’t cost you anything).
This plan is just enough for me to win by a few points. I really thought Fiona was going to win this game, but I didn’t panic, (it would have been easier to build some bad violets early on, just cause they were cheap), and even picked Councillor when Fiona had a Prefecture – I had to find something to build, to get back into the game.
I remember seeing a comment somewhere at BGG, that when somebody played against Andrea Seyfarth, that they couldn’t believe how often he would pick Councillor. But Fiona and I certainly can – I think it’s an important part of being a good San Juan player, understanding the importance of Councillor.
I have no doubt now that Fiona is a good San Juan player, despite my three wins. I really had to fight hard for these wins, and could easily have lost two of them. Fiona is just unfortunate that I’m an excellent San Juan player. I’m pretty certain she could beat anybody else we know in a two player game quite comfortably.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Sunday 07/05/06: San Juan, Lost Cities, Can’t Stop, LotR
Due to a variety of misunderstood and forgotten messages and mobile phone mast breakdowns, the plan for Tony and Bekki (that’s how she seems to spell it) to both come round to mine didn’t quite work out. Bekki came round, but Tony thought she wasn’t, and so didn’t bother coming. Oh well.
We started with a couple of games of San Juan. Bekki has played once before, a four player that she won with Smithy & Guildhall – and what does she get in our first game – Smithy & Guildhall again. Meanwhile I’m going ‘mono-violet’, with my first builds being Prefecture and Gold mine, and City Hall in hand. I get a Carpenter (but not Quarry), and am able to maintain equality with Bekki in number of Buildings, as she spends time building a Palace.
With both of us having seven buildings I could conceivably finish with the following, which I have in hand: Victory Column, Hero, City Hall, Triumphal Arch, Palace! (I have a Tower in play, which will let me build, whilst retaining the others, and already have the Statue). But there’s no way a Smithy / Guildhall player should let that happen – they should rush me out with quick production builds.
This being Bekki’s second ever game, of course she doesn’t know that, and so she wastes enough time producing, trading and dropping large production buildings, that I am able to play them all except the Palace. On the penultimate turn I discard the Palace to build an Archive, letting me just build the Arch next role, as the governor, with Bekki being unable to build. As I end up winning by two points, this was a pretty good move!
The second game is more one-sided - Bekki doesn’t get a Smithy this time! I get an okay start with Poor House and Black Market, and am able to find a Guildhall, for a fairly comfortable win, despite having to build inefficient Tobaccos and Sugars. Bekki cripples herself by building a Palace very early, and finishes with an average City Hall (she had built too many production buildings).
In games of two player San Juan between a beginner and somebody with 50+ games, the beginner is a huge underdog. Considering this Bekki did very well.
After San Juan, we played a couple of quick hands of Lost Cities. Bekki quickly experienced the Lost Cities angst of a typical opening hand, where every move either seems like a bad idea, or a gamble, depending on your point of view. She wins the low-scoring first round 24-18 (she had a nice 36 doubled in blue for 32 points, to offset her total of 3(!) in white, whilst I just had four lowish scores), but I dominate the second, with much the better of the cards (the majority of the eights, nines and tens ended up on my side of the table), for a comfortable aggregate win.
During Lost Cities I had done the scoring each time – I’m pretty good at mental arithmetic, and know the game, so it’s seemed easier that way. Consequently I’d don’t discover just how bad her mental arithmetic is until we play Can’t Stop. She actually has trouble calculating the possible totals you could make by combining different pairs of dice! With a bit of help from me pointing out the possible totals, she is able to win, claiming columns 6, 7 and 9. It basically all comes down to the Sixes, where she just beats me. I crashed out more than she did, which I lead to me being too cautious when it came to try and close out on Six, and she pinched it.
Bekki needs a solid diet of Lost Cities, Can’t Stop and Cribbage. That’ll cure her mental arithmetic ills. Or drive her insane.
We had more time than expected after the one game of Can’t Stop, (her boyfriend was unable to get away from some urgent business on World of Warcraft), and so we finished with a game of Lord of the Rings. Bekki had played this before, didn’t have much trouble relearning the rules, and soon we were off to Mordor to destroy the Ring. Bekki was Frodo, and I was Sam (the reverse of how Lucy and I usually play). We had a little trouble in Moria, (‘Fly you fools’), but did okay through Helm’s Deep and Shelobs Lair, until Bekki rolled a triple corruption on the dice near the conclusion. In Mordor we hit event three very early, with neither of us having a Heart token, and this was enough to kill me, and Bekki rolled triple corruption again, to leave her within one space of the Eye, and only one card in hand. Her boyfriend arrived then, so we called it in Sauron’s favour.
We started with a couple of games of San Juan. Bekki has played once before, a four player that she won with Smithy & Guildhall – and what does she get in our first game – Smithy & Guildhall again. Meanwhile I’m going ‘mono-violet’, with my first builds being Prefecture and Gold mine, and City Hall in hand. I get a Carpenter (but not Quarry), and am able to maintain equality with Bekki in number of Buildings, as she spends time building a Palace.
With both of us having seven buildings I could conceivably finish with the following, which I have in hand: Victory Column, Hero, City Hall, Triumphal Arch, Palace! (I have a Tower in play, which will let me build, whilst retaining the others, and already have the Statue). But there’s no way a Smithy / Guildhall player should let that happen – they should rush me out with quick production builds.
This being Bekki’s second ever game, of course she doesn’t know that, and so she wastes enough time producing, trading and dropping large production buildings, that I am able to play them all except the Palace. On the penultimate turn I discard the Palace to build an Archive, letting me just build the Arch next role, as the governor, with Bekki being unable to build. As I end up winning by two points, this was a pretty good move!
The second game is more one-sided - Bekki doesn’t get a Smithy this time! I get an okay start with Poor House and Black Market, and am able to find a Guildhall, for a fairly comfortable win, despite having to build inefficient Tobaccos and Sugars. Bekki cripples herself by building a Palace very early, and finishes with an average City Hall (she had built too many production buildings).
In games of two player San Juan between a beginner and somebody with 50+ games, the beginner is a huge underdog. Considering this Bekki did very well.
After San Juan, we played a couple of quick hands of Lost Cities. Bekki quickly experienced the Lost Cities angst of a typical opening hand, where every move either seems like a bad idea, or a gamble, depending on your point of view. She wins the low-scoring first round 24-18 (she had a nice 36 doubled in blue for 32 points, to offset her total of 3(!) in white, whilst I just had four lowish scores), but I dominate the second, with much the better of the cards (the majority of the eights, nines and tens ended up on my side of the table), for a comfortable aggregate win.
During Lost Cities I had done the scoring each time – I’m pretty good at mental arithmetic, and know the game, so it’s seemed easier that way. Consequently I’d don’t discover just how bad her mental arithmetic is until we play Can’t Stop. She actually has trouble calculating the possible totals you could make by combining different pairs of dice! With a bit of help from me pointing out the possible totals, she is able to win, claiming columns 6, 7 and 9. It basically all comes down to the Sixes, where she just beats me. I crashed out more than she did, which I lead to me being too cautious when it came to try and close out on Six, and she pinched it.
Bekki needs a solid diet of Lost Cities, Can’t Stop and Cribbage. That’ll cure her mental arithmetic ills. Or drive her insane.
We had more time than expected after the one game of Can’t Stop, (her boyfriend was unable to get away from some urgent business on World of Warcraft), and so we finished with a game of Lord of the Rings. Bekki had played this before, didn’t have much trouble relearning the rules, and soon we were off to Mordor to destroy the Ring. Bekki was Frodo, and I was Sam (the reverse of how Lucy and I usually play). We had a little trouble in Moria, (‘Fly you fools’), but did okay through Helm’s Deep and Shelobs Lair, until Bekki rolled a triple corruption on the dice near the conclusion. In Mordor we hit event three very early, with neither of us having a Heart token, and this was enough to kill me, and Bekki rolled triple corruption again, to leave her within one space of the Eye, and only one card in hand. Her boyfriend arrived then, so we called it in Sauron’s favour.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Friday 05/05/06: Schotten Totten, San Juan
I only got to play games once this week. I took some games round to Fiona & Pete's Wednesday evening, but the huge barbeque (I was pretty full after a large piece of pork and a couple of sausages, and then Pete put on a load of chicken legs), and copius alcohol proved too distracting (and Fiona and Scott couldn't stop fiddling with a large bundle of purple wool) .
So no games on Wednesday. But I managed to pop back round Friday evening, and we had time for a couple of games of Schotten Totten (which I got as far as explaining the rules to Fiona a couple of weeks ago) and a game of San Juan.
The first game of Schotten Totten seemed to be going Fiona's way - she won the first four stones. But you need five to win (or three in a row) , and I could sense that she might not win another. I was clear favourite on a couple of stones, one stone was blank and I had a strong straight flush to play, and for the other two stones Fiona was relying on completing single sided straight flushes, one of which I knew she couldn't - I had the required card in hand. I then draw the card she needs for the other straight flush, and am able to take the last five stones for a 5-4 win. Good game! (I am somewhat fortunate, in that Fiona has a straight flush in hand near the end of the game, but no unstarted stones on which to play it.)
The second game was a bit more one sided - after about ten cards Fiona commented that she'd already been "completely outplayed". I take a three stone to nil lead, and look to be winning at least a couple more. Sure enough I managed to win my fifth stone for a 5-2 win.
Schotten Totten really is an excellent game (kind of like a gamers version of Gin Rummy, not that Gin isn't an excellent game in it's own right). It's a shame that the production values of the commonly available version are so terrible. The cards have stupid artwork, the font isn't terribly clear, and the six colours include two shades of green. Couldn't the publishers think of six different colours?? When the gameplay really requires you to pay close attention to what cards are in play, this sort of niggles do distract from the enjoyment.
Lost Cities, another excellent two-player card game, suffers from the opposite problem - it's hugely overproduced. The cards are gorgeous and very clear, but far too large (Schotten cards are the size of regular playing cards, and so will at least fit in my pocket), and the the game comes with a completely unecessary board. Ideally I'd like to see both games with cards the size of Schotten Totten's, but the design quality of Lost Cities.
After Schotten Totten, we had time for one game of San Juan, which was a complete blowout. I had a much better start then Fiona anyway, and she wasn't helped by the fact my Gold Mine worked on the first two Prospectors. I got an early Carpenter and Prefecture and just ran away with the game, building a set of Monuments + Arch + Palace (despite picking Councillor most turns I couldn't find a City Hall). We didn't bother counting the scores.
During the games we had a DVD of Russian Martial Arts playing in the background (from the blurb "In the world of office violence, home invasions, hijackings & back-alley muggings, you must have the tools to survive"). Fiona is a proponent of Systema, but was complaining to me that she has a problem that all the rest of the class are men, and so some of them will go easy on her because she is a girl.
A lot of two player games have the property that if one player is better than the other (even slightly), they will tend to win most of the games (if not all). So far this has been my experience of my two-player games with Fiona. But unlike her Systema classmates, I won't go easier on her just becuase she's 'weaker' than me. I know whe wouldn't want me to - she's smart enough to play most games well and learn from my advice, and when she does win that makes it so much more satisfying.
And she can always kick my arse at Carcassonne (like pretty much anyone I play Carcassone against).
So no games on Wednesday. But I managed to pop back round Friday evening, and we had time for a couple of games of Schotten Totten (which I got as far as explaining the rules to Fiona a couple of weeks ago) and a game of San Juan.
The first game of Schotten Totten seemed to be going Fiona's way - she won the first four stones. But you need five to win (or three in a row) , and I could sense that she might not win another. I was clear favourite on a couple of stones, one stone was blank and I had a strong straight flush to play, and for the other two stones Fiona was relying on completing single sided straight flushes, one of which I knew she couldn't - I had the required card in hand. I then draw the card she needs for the other straight flush, and am able to take the last five stones for a 5-4 win. Good game! (I am somewhat fortunate, in that Fiona has a straight flush in hand near the end of the game, but no unstarted stones on which to play it.)
The second game was a bit more one sided - after about ten cards Fiona commented that she'd already been "completely outplayed". I take a three stone to nil lead, and look to be winning at least a couple more. Sure enough I managed to win my fifth stone for a 5-2 win.
Schotten Totten really is an excellent game (kind of like a gamers version of Gin Rummy, not that Gin isn't an excellent game in it's own right). It's a shame that the production values of the commonly available version are so terrible. The cards have stupid artwork, the font isn't terribly clear, and the six colours include two shades of green. Couldn't the publishers think of six different colours?? When the gameplay really requires you to pay close attention to what cards are in play, this sort of niggles do distract from the enjoyment.
Lost Cities, another excellent two-player card game, suffers from the opposite problem - it's hugely overproduced. The cards are gorgeous and very clear, but far too large (Schotten cards are the size of regular playing cards, and so will at least fit in my pocket), and the the game comes with a completely unecessary board. Ideally I'd like to see both games with cards the size of Schotten Totten's, but the design quality of Lost Cities.
After Schotten Totten, we had time for one game of San Juan, which was a complete blowout. I had a much better start then Fiona anyway, and she wasn't helped by the fact my Gold Mine worked on the first two Prospectors. I got an early Carpenter and Prefecture and just ran away with the game, building a set of Monuments + Arch + Palace (despite picking Councillor most turns I couldn't find a City Hall). We didn't bother counting the scores.
During the games we had a DVD of Russian Martial Arts playing in the background (from the blurb "In the world of office violence, home invasions, hijackings & back-alley muggings, you must have the tools to survive"). Fiona is a proponent of Systema, but was complaining to me that she has a problem that all the rest of the class are men, and so some of them will go easy on her because she is a girl.
A lot of two player games have the property that if one player is better than the other (even slightly), they will tend to win most of the games (if not all). So far this has been my experience of my two-player games with Fiona. But unlike her Systema classmates, I won't go easier on her just becuase she's 'weaker' than me. I know whe wouldn't want me to - she's smart enough to play most games well and learn from my advice, and when she does win that makes it so much more satisfying.
And she can always kick my arse at Carcassonne (like pretty much anyone I play Carcassone against).
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Monday 01/05/06: Puerto Rico, Goa, Carcassonne H&G
Managed to get in a few games with Matt & Dave on Bank Holiday Monday.
We started with Puerto Rico, with quite a few of the expansion buildings thrown in (Black Market, Church, Small Wharf and Library).
The opening of the game sees Matt & I both try to use Black Market to our advantage, but not to any great success. The plantation tiles give me loads of corn, so I end up being the heavy shipper this game. I almost miss Harbour, but luckily for me Dave takes Factory instead.
(This occurs because of the following scenario: I have been saving for Harbour, and can afford it if I take Builder. But this would mean passing over Trader with 2 bonus doubloons. So I do the trade, but now everybody has enough to afford Harbour, and my LHO, Matt, picks Builder, meaning I can miss the Harbour. In my position, heavy on Corn, but with no trade goods, that would be bad).
My lack of income continues to cause me problems, and leads to me missing out on a Wharf. I purchase Small Wharf instead, but in hindsight Small Warehouse would have been more effective. I am hoping to purchase a Customs House, but I don’t come anywhere near affording one before the game ends. Matt doesn’t get one either, but he has still scored considerably more in Buildings than me. Dave ends on two large buildings, but only one occupied, when we run out of victory points.
The final scores are very close
Dave: 48
Simon: 51
Matt: 52
The game is close enough that I probably threw it away with one really dumb Craftsman pick about halfway through. And the player who won was the player with both the Harbour and the Wharf. That is starting to annoy me about 3 player.
Afterwards we teach Dave Goa. (Matt has only played once before, but seems to have remembered the rules very well.)
Goa is a strange game. The economics are very odd, and the luck elements (getting good colony draws, getting useful expedition cards, and hitting expedition sets at end of game) can overwhelm good play.
At halfway I think Dave has the best position. But he makes some mistakes in the second half (miscounting the number of colonists he has available, leading to a bad miss, not properly appreciating that the triangular scoring rewards you for concentrating on maxi one or two ‘tech trees’, and not planning properly for the end of the game, particularly the most cash bonus).
I beat Matt by a couple of points, on some good cash management (I was tracking approximate cash) and an expedition card strategy that saw me end up with 8 expedition cards in hand! This worked as follows: draw up to my hand size of 3, then use the Swap tile to take the Three Expeditions cards tile, and then hit two Expedition card bonuses by advancing Ship Building. I finished with a triple, a pair and three singles for 12 points from expedition cards. It meant I couldn’t play expedition cards for most of the second half of the game but that was a small price to pay.
We end by playing a quick game of Carcassonne Hunters & Gatherers. As usual with Carc I finish last, although this time I don’t think it’s my fault. Dave & Matt got a long sequence of tiles that let them both score for completed river and forests every turn (& when they only had one meeple left each to add insult to injury). I got a sequence of awkward tiles, and couldn’t compete with that kind of scoring.
We started with Puerto Rico, with quite a few of the expansion buildings thrown in (Black Market, Church, Small Wharf and Library).
The opening of the game sees Matt & I both try to use Black Market to our advantage, but not to any great success. The plantation tiles give me loads of corn, so I end up being the heavy shipper this game. I almost miss Harbour, but luckily for me Dave takes Factory instead.
(This occurs because of the following scenario: I have been saving for Harbour, and can afford it if I take Builder. But this would mean passing over Trader with 2 bonus doubloons. So I do the trade, but now everybody has enough to afford Harbour, and my LHO, Matt, picks Builder, meaning I can miss the Harbour. In my position, heavy on Corn, but with no trade goods, that would be bad).
My lack of income continues to cause me problems, and leads to me missing out on a Wharf. I purchase Small Wharf instead, but in hindsight Small Warehouse would have been more effective. I am hoping to purchase a Customs House, but I don’t come anywhere near affording one before the game ends. Matt doesn’t get one either, but he has still scored considerably more in Buildings than me. Dave ends on two large buildings, but only one occupied, when we run out of victory points.
The final scores are very close
Dave: 48
Simon: 51
Matt: 52
The game is close enough that I probably threw it away with one really dumb Craftsman pick about halfway through. And the player who won was the player with both the Harbour and the Wharf. That is starting to annoy me about 3 player.
Afterwards we teach Dave Goa. (Matt has only played once before, but seems to have remembered the rules very well.)
Goa is a strange game. The economics are very odd, and the luck elements (getting good colony draws, getting useful expedition cards, and hitting expedition sets at end of game) can overwhelm good play.
At halfway I think Dave has the best position. But he makes some mistakes in the second half (miscounting the number of colonists he has available, leading to a bad miss, not properly appreciating that the triangular scoring rewards you for concentrating on maxi one or two ‘tech trees’, and not planning properly for the end of the game, particularly the most cash bonus).
I beat Matt by a couple of points, on some good cash management (I was tracking approximate cash) and an expedition card strategy that saw me end up with 8 expedition cards in hand! This worked as follows: draw up to my hand size of 3, then use the Swap tile to take the Three Expeditions cards tile, and then hit two Expedition card bonuses by advancing Ship Building. I finished with a triple, a pair and three singles for 12 points from expedition cards. It meant I couldn’t play expedition cards for most of the second half of the game but that was a small price to pay.
We end by playing a quick game of Carcassonne Hunters & Gatherers. As usual with Carc I finish last, although this time I don’t think it’s my fault. Dave & Matt got a long sequence of tiles that let them both score for completed river and forests every turn (& when they only had one meeple left each to add insult to injury). I got a sequence of awkward tiles, and couldn’t compete with that kind of scoring.
UK Math trade completed!
The UK Math trade at BoardGameGeek completed last week.
I've traded away Quo Vadis, Around the World in Eighty Days, Dos Rios and Tycoon.
I'm receiving: Louis XIV, Age of Steam, Babel, and Elfenroads.
Seems like a good deal to me. I got two of three games I really wanted (AoS and L XIV, the other being Santiago), and will no longer have to try and find room for Tycoon on my shelves.
I've traded away Quo Vadis, Around the World in Eighty Days, Dos Rios and Tycoon.
I'm receiving: Louis XIV, Age of Steam, Babel, and Elfenroads.
Seems like a good deal to me. I got two of three games I really wanted (AoS and L XIV, the other being Santiago), and will no longer have to try and find room for Tycoon on my shelves.
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