TAKE ME AWAY TO MARSEILLES

The Gathering of Friendless Episode 2, "TAKE ME AWAY TO MARSEILLES", occurred last Friday. The kid was off to the south of France with his mum the next day so he visited me for one last gaming session before he went. (He'll be back next month.) All of the ladies invited declined their invitations for various reasons, e.g. Scrabblette had to study, so there were just five boys.

We started with Hamsterrolle while we were waiting for CyberKev to arrive. Some careless play by the kid and I saw our side get beaten badly by Ashley and Hubertus.

We then took advantage of Scrabblette's absence to play a game she hates - Ca$h'n'Gun$. It seems some female people have a real problem with a game where you points guns at people. I don't like guns at all (guns don't kill people, Americans kill people) but I can see the cleverness in the design. In the first game I was killed very quickly - obviously I should have chickened out a bit more but I couldn't believe how vindictive my opponents were - and Ashley won with $130K. In the second game we used special powers and I was the super-coward (+$5K for each chicken-out) so I was able to play defensively enough to survive and aggressively enough to win with $130K.

We then went on to the flagship game for the evening - Urland. I bought this from the U.S. when Scrabblette was there in April and hadn't played it yet, so I was itching for it. We eventually figured out why there were too many gene cards when CyberKev asked "John, did you buy the expansion?". Oh yeah, I remember there was an erweiterung in there somewhere. So I gave a fairly poor rules explanation - i.e. I read the rule book out - because although I'd read the rules they hadn't made enough sense to stick. The dummy player is a strange concept to me, and although it seemed to work OK I still don't really get it. The way the game progressed was that Ashley, Hubertus and the kid bid very high for gene cards, and CyberKev and I were much more conservative. CyberKev got no genes throughout the game, and I only got one. Mine was a good one though - FEET. Soon I was running all over the board and had an ictho in every area. It turned out that CyberKev and I had played right, as we were contending for the win coming into the final scoring. Luckily the rules favoured me, and I won with 35 points compared to CyberKev's 33.

Careful not to look at the clock, we gamed on. I suggested Cartagena which I think is a great simple game, easy to teach and intriguing for new players at least a couple of times. CyberKev said he never wins, so I thought I probably would. However he did win, by maybe 6 cards, over me. As expected, the newbies weren't competitive. The game rewards experience, but I think there might be a plateau where all players play at roughly the same level of ability.

It was then midnight but we were going strong. I suggested The Battle of Lanka, a card game which Scrabblette brought back from India. Don't you wish you had an international games courier :-) ? CyberKev and I and our lady partners had played this game 4 times earlier in the year, so CyberKev and I needed another play to get it onto our nickel lists. In the first game CyberKev won narrowly over me, and in the second game I won by a fair way over everyone else. In the second game I had a card CyberKev desperately needed but I discarded it for the kid instead. It's not a brilliant card game, but it's easy and asuras and rakshasas make a change from dwarves and elves occasionally.

Anyway, the next day the kid went to Dubai (Hey at Dubai goin 2 London now say hi 2 every 1 4 me by!) and London (Hey y'all how u goin? Goin 2 france 2morrow. london i amazin. tower sweet, lords huge, madam 2sards scary (4 me!) (is he alive?!) lol! bye!) and will be in France soon. "Gimme the sound of the rollin' dice, gimme a whiskey don't think twice, deal me the cards that take my blues away... TAKE ME AWAY TO MARSEILLES!"

Has It Got Legs?

In the five and dime discussions on spielfrieks someone asked posters of five and dime lists to comment on whether they thought the games "had legs", i.e. would they maintain their number of plays this year. That's an interesting question, so I'm going to go through my five and dimes and answer it. Get a cup of coffee, we could be here for a while.

Ca$h'n Gun$ (20 plays) - Will probably get to 10 plays again as it's a favourite of medium-sized kids and I know a few of those.

PitchCar (18 plays) - May get to 10 plays as I carry it around in the car for those times when I discover myself in a social situation with lots of non-gamers. Won't be played as much as it was last year.

Quoridor (17 plays) - Will get to 10 plays again this year as it's quick. I have a lot of 2 player abstracts, but most of my family are potential opponents.

Werewolf (17 plays) - Will probably get to 10 plays as it's popular at larger gaming gatherings where we often play a couple of games.

Liar's Dice (15 plays) - Will certainly get to 10 plays because it often comes out at the end of the night at Critical Mass.

Lost Cities (14 plays) - May not even make it to 5 plays this year as both of the women I played against last year are no longer gaming with me, and I'm not sure that it's Scrabblette's style. Personally, I would rather play Battle Line.

Nacht der Magier (13 plays) - Will probably make it to 5 plays but not to 10. This year it was a novelty and I will try to bring it out whenever I can this year. However I do want to get Waldschattenspiel which will compete for table time.

Gobblet (13 plays) - Will make it to 10 plays again this year as I am not finished with it yet and have plenty of opponents.

Cartagena (13 plays) - I expect this will only get to 5 plays this year. I played a lot early last year and got a bit burnt out, but it's such an easy game to explain that I'll probably teach it a few more times this year. My 6yo nephew likes it.

Coloretto (12 plays) - I still like this game but it's hard to get people to play it regularly. Maybe only 5 plays this year.

Coda (11 plays) - One that CyberKev often suggests and that I always agree with. Will get at least 5 plays.

Scrabble (11 plays) - Definitely on the Dime list again this year. I've played 3 games already.

Poison (10 plays) - Will not get to 10 plays again this year and almost certainly will not get to 5. There are other games I'd rather play and I'll probably stop carrying it around for a while.

Ingenious (10 plays) - Will not get 10 plays again this year unless Scrabblette likes it. Most of my plays last year were solitaire and I'm past that now.

Diamant (9 plays) - Will almost certainly get 10 plays this year. In fact I'll probably put it in the non-gamer's box which lives in the car. It's so easy to teach and quite a lot of fun so it's easy to get it played.

Poison Pot (9 plays) - Won't get to even 5 plays this year unless I can convince Scrabblette to play against me. I like it but almost nobody else does.

Cloud 9 (8 plays) - Will probably get to 5 plays again this year as the kids like it. Diamant will compete with it.

No Thanks! (8 plays) - I won't volunteer to play this very many times this year, but I suspect I will on occasion. Maybe not even 5 times though.

Once Upon a Time (8 plays) - I bought my niece the Dark Tales expansion for Christmas so we will play Once Upon a Time a few times this year.

Saboteur (7 plays) - Another good game for large groups. Maybe not 7 plays, but 5 is perfectly feasible.

Ra (7 plays) - Another that I won't volunteer to play but probably will anyway. Yes, it is my favourite auction game, but I hate auction games!

ZÈRTZ (7 plays) - A definite yes - I want to play this game at least 10 times this year, and I have a number of suitable opponents.

TAMSK (7 plays) - I'm not so keen on TAMSK, but not so unkeen that I won't play it. Hey, was that a triple negative?! If I bring it out a couple of times it will get to 5 or 10 plays easily.

For Sale (7 plays) - Probably won't get to 5 plays this year, I find it a bit boring.

Tichu (7 plays) - Considering that we were playing this once a week and Scrabblette likes it, this might become my most played game of 2007. Maybe we'll get sick of it, who knows?

Puerto Rico (7 plays) - The BGG #1 was a game I desperately wanted to play this year, and finally did. I even had a streak where I won 3 games in a row. But now it's almost a case of been there, done that, and I don't need to play it so many times this year. I think knowing that it's possible to play better than I do stresses me.

Commands & Colors: Ancients (7 plays) - I enjoy Ancients a lot and would like to play many more times this year. On the other hand, my opponent Arnold Horshack and I both now have BattleLore which will compete for table time. I'm hoping we can make time for both.

Chrononauts (7 plays) - This got played a few times last year because it was a Christmas present to the kid. When we tried to play it with serious gamers it became quite monotonous, and unless someone requests it it won't be played again this year.

Cathedral (6 plays) - Scrabblette gave me a copy of this for Christmas so it will be played quite a bit this year. It only takes 5 minutes, after all.

Bohnanza (6 plays) - The big year for Bohnanza was 2005, so 6 plays in 2006 were mostly incidental. I used to play with my sister, BIL, and my ex, which is unlikely to happen again, but we might be able to convince Scrabblette to play and Bohnanza will be back on the table again. If so, it might compete with Frank's Zoo and Mystery Rummy for table time.

DVONN (6 plays) - Another two player abstract which I like and have opponents for.

Tongiaki (6 plays) - This is fairly popular at Critical Mass and I've taught it a few other times, so I expect it will see 5 plays again this year.

Frank's Zoo (6 plays) - I mostly played this with CyberKev, but I also taught sister, BIL and ex and they liked it. I hope I can find time to play it a few times this year.

The Great Balloon Race (6 plays) - 6yo nephew's copy is still in the mail from Germany, so when it arrives we'll have to play it a few times. I expect it will get to 5 plays again this year.

Nodwick: The Card Game (5 plays) - This game is popular with medium-sized kids, but I'd probably teach them Ca$h'n'Gun$ first, so it will be struggling for plays. Probably won't get to 5 plays in 2007.

Pick Picknic (5 plays) - 6yo nephew has this and I like it, but whether we'll get to play it 5 times is another matter. I expect not.

Gang of Four (5 plays) - This game is very much in the same space as Frank's Zoo and Tichu and isn't as good as either of those, so I don't think it will see much play this year.

GIPF (5 plays) - Scrabblette likes this, and so do I, so it will see a bit of play for sure, probably more than last year. After all, we've got to do something in bed on Sunday morning, don't we?

San Juan (5 plays) - I bought this in 2005, so the 5 plays in 2006 were as many as I could manage to scrape up without particularly much enthusiasm. I'd like to maintain that number this year, but I expect I won't.

China Moon (5 plays) - I like China Moon a lot but it does have some flaws which means I'll struggle to get it to the table. I'd be surprised if it made 5 plays again.

Xe Queo! (5 plays) - I like this game a lot, and it's easy to teach, so I'll cart it around and try to play it with all and sundry. That means it will probably be played about 5 times.

Scopa (5 plays) - This is an Italian card game that I played only with a lady I was seeing during the year. It wasn't anywhere near as interesting as the lady, so I suspect I won't be playing it again this year.

Rumis (5 plays) - I have an unopened copy of this, and it won't stay that way very long. I think the kids will like this. I can see it being played 5 times this year.

Give Me the Brain! (5 plays) - This game comes out occasionally and will probably continue to do so, but maybe not 5 times in 2007.

Gulo Gulo (5 plays) - This is a great game for little kids, but there are not so many of those in my life at the moment, so it might not see much play in 2007. Maybe if I take up smoking dope it might see some use.

Bamboleo (5 plays) - I bought myself and my sister the kleeblatt edition for Christmas, so it will be played a few times. Maybe even as many as 10.

Igel Ärgern (5 plays) - I like this cute and simple game but not everybody shares my enthusiasm. It will get to 5 plays if I push it, but I suspect I won't. However I'll probably carry it around and it will be played a couple of times.

PÜNCT (5 plays) - I haven't really explored this one yet, and I'd like to. The kid and BIL like it, so I suspect I'll find time for 5 plays in 2007.

Carcassonne (5 plays) - Carc is not a game I go out of my way to play, but other people really do like it. As the kids seem to like it, I suspect I won't be able to avoid it in 2007 and it will see 5 plays again.

Hamsterrolle (5 plays) - Only 5 plays of this beautiful game... what a shame! I expect it will see about the same number in 2007 unless I sell it to Mikey for $5.

Queen's Necklace (5 plays) - This was bought as a back-up Christmas present for my niece last year due to the very unreliable internet store we have here in Australia. I ended up playing it myself. I don't see a need to play it again.

Carrom (5 plays) - Scrabblette is good at this, and I have ambitions to beat her, so we should play it a bit this year. I'd like to see it played regularly which would push it over 10 plays.

Make 'n' Break (5 plays) - This is pretty popular with the kids, so it should see a bit of play this year. I expect 5 plays.

Of course, as I learned last year, you never can tell what's going to happen next.

A Cosmic Encounter

We played Cosmic Encounter on Wednesday night at Book Realm. Cosmic is not really my kinda game, but forces conspired against me. You see Trevor had managed to buy the ancient 2nd edition complete with all expansions in useable condition for $A5, when it's worth up to $US300. We know this because Cyberkev is a Cosmic guru, so when Trevor and Cyberkev and RealmKeeper and Ozvortex and I sat down to play, I thought it only fair that we try out Trevor's treasure.

First discovery was that although the cards and special powers were present, the tokens and "who you have to attack" counters were not all there, so we cannibalised some bits from other games. We took the pirates from Cartagena and put them in the draw string bag from Ingenious to decide who should be attacked. I used influence markers from Go West as my tokens, and RealmKeeper and Trevor used pretty glass stones from Magic as their tokens.

I won't go through the specifics of the game, because I can't remember them, so I'll tell you about the special powers. I was Boomerang. This meant when you attack me, I get to attack you first. That seemed like a quicker way to die, to me, but as Cyberkev pointed out, it means you get lots more opportunities to capture bases which is how you win the game. Trevor was Skeptic, which meant that he was constantly telling people "I don't think you can win", and on several occasions they agreed with him and backed off. Cyberkev was Vulch, meaning that he picked up all of the used Edicts. So if you wanted to use something against him, you had to give it to him. Andrew was Delegator, meaning that he could change the primary player in conflicts. I found that so annoying that I didn't call him as an ally very much. Ozvortex was the Will, meaning he could choose the opponent and planet he wanted to attack. It didn't seem to help though.

So the Delegator was by far the most annoying. Realmkeeper got somewhat shafted because he had bad cards and after a couple of times where he switched someone's attack out from under them he didn't get invited back and wasn't able to use them up to get new ones. Ozvortex had a fist full of cards, and once I managed to take 4 of them as consolation. Shortly after, I compromised with him, and as giving me a base would have won the game for me, I convinced him to give me his whole hand instead. Both times, I got a heap of Edict cards, and had to spend time thinking about how I could use them to my advantage.

Eventually, as will happen with sort of game where it is so easy to pick on the leader, we had 4 bases each. I attacked Trevor on my turn, and he called for all allies. The Delegator joined in, and made Cyberkev the primary opponent rather than Trevor. We played our cards, and I was well and truly defeated, which I had expected because I had such bad attack cards. But I did have an Edict that said both of those attack cards were Compromises. That meant Cyberkev and I had to make a deal, so we traded a base for a base and shared the win.

I was pleased that it was Cyberkev I had dealt with there, as I thought he would take the win. Trevor might have refused, because he likes to fight. Ozvortex probably would have agreed, Realmkeeper could have gone either way depending on his whim. But I thought Cyberkev would find it very hard to refuse a chance to share a win. As it was, I think he considered his chances of winning some other way, and decided that sharing a win with me was his best outcome, on average.

So that was my second game of Cosmic, what do I think? Well my 6.5 rating at BGG remains unchanged. It's an alright game, but I just can't get into the negotiation of allies. Sure, I could try to be charming or friendly or loyal or intimidating or whatever to try to gain support, but I know that most people I play with will ally with me based on their best interests, not my personal skill. So it was no surprise to me when all 5 of us had 4 bases, because nobody was stupid enough to let someone else win. We might as well shorten the game and play for 1 base each. I definitely prefer analytical games, where I can harness the resources of my massive brain to crush my opponents... or not.

Coincidentally, on Thursday night we played Mall of Horror which requires much the same negotation skills as Cosmic. Sadly I was so tired on Thursday night because I couldn't sleep Wednesday night because Cosmic Encounter had pumped me up so much, that I was flat all through the game. I made a bad mistake to get my gunman killed, and fell out of contention 2/3 of the way through the game. Mall of Horror is another game that I would play again, but wouldn't rush to.

Probably my favourite of this genre of game is Ca$h'n Gun$, maybe because you can always chicken out when you've got guns pointed at you, and that means you only die if you're not careful, and the game becomes a struggle to balance caution and greed. Also it's a bit quicker, so there's less time spent negotiating, and it's funny to shoot kids.

Go West

We tried out Go West at Book Realm last night. This is a Colovini game which I always explain by saying something like "just because I tell you the rules doesn't mean you'll know how to play it". The other players were familiar with Cartagena, so I told them to expect about as much theme as that, i.e. none. Go West delivered on both counts.

I found it very difficult to make any progress. I started with no cards for the East region, so I couldn't figure out how to get region markers on there. I had a few for the second region, so I made a point of moving wagons out of the first region and into the second. Of course, that attracted other people's region markers, and so didn't help for long.

Andrew seemed to know what he was doing, and initiated a scoring round where he turned his advantage in the East region into a points lead. I was able to organise myself enough to initiate a second scoring round where I helped Andrew about as much as myself, but made a break from the other two guys. However after that my dominance in the second region (Great Plains?) crumbled, and I struggled to score anything.

As Justin and Phil and Andrew again scored, Andrew's lead mostly just grew bigger and everyone pulled away from me. Justin did peg him back, but only a little. In the end, Andrew was a runaway leader and I was left wondering what happened.

I think it goes something like this: the East region is going to score several times, so an investment there pays off more than anywhere else. The Great Plains will pay off, but maybe not quite as much as the East. The Mid-West and the West pay off less. An early investment in a region will pay off, but probably only once as more region markers come in and you get pushed off the region track. A late investment is consequently likely to be easier to maintain. That's all I can think of.

I am undecided about this game, which is not really a good thing. I will have to play it a couple more times to see whether it grabs me.

Now the curious question is, we played three games last night and I won the other two. Why wouldn't I write a session report about one of those?