Tuesday 5 February 2013

Hannah and her systems

It seems that Thursday is too late in the week for some of us hardy gamers, and so it was that Adam and Hannah hosted a Monday evening for the cardboard-deprived.

At first, there were four of us: the aforementioned hosts and Sam and myself. Joe was due to arrive later in the evening.

We began with an old favourite, Medici. Once upon a time, it was over-played and fell out of favour, but recently nostalgia has set in at GNN Towers and old games are being reassessed. And so, after a brief rule refresher, we were trading goods and chucking them in the sea with gay abandon.


It was a game of differing strategies. Sam spent big, while I picked up unwanted cargo for next to nothing. Hannah almost handed the game to Adam when she pulled two tiles worth five from the bag, when they could only be bought by Adam. However, as it turned out, Hannah's strategy runs a little deeper than that. And Adam's doesn't.

Hannah 118
Sam 114
Adam 109
Andrew 87

After this, Joe was expected soon. We contemplated Biblios, but instead we went for the slightly more challenging Ra. Another classic that recently come back into favour, this is another bidding game, this time hoping for favours from the gods, a flooding Nile and advances in architecture in return for points.

It ended with a second win for Hannah, despite her claim that she's rubbish at bidding games.


Hannah 36
Sam 34
Adam 33
Andrew 26

During this game, Joe arrived and spent his time waiting for us to finish by looking over the rules of Libertalia, Sam's new game. This game is in the style of Citadels or Mission Red Planet, in that everyone has an identical hand of cards from which they play their characters who have effects/bonuses that effect the way the game plays out.


While I enjoyed it, we did notice that the cards in the final round (at the start of each round, one player chooses their cards randomly from a pack of about thirty, and then the other players make up a hand of the same cards) did not make for exciting or fun times. And, unlike Citadels, there are no occasions when one character will stop another, which means there's little opportunity for deliberate sabotage. As Sam said on the drive home, it is a lot like everyone is playing their own game.

Another problem with the game was that we started far too late in the evening. It said it was a short game on the box, but it was our first time and we spent ten minutes looking up a rule on the internet. This posed a unique problem in the annals of GNN history: Hannah's bed time.

We had completed two rounds out of three when she retired, and the scores were

Hannah 64
Joe 62
Adam 52
Sam 51
Andrew 45

The four of us carried on through the final round, and it ended

Adam 91
Joe 90
Sam 74
Andrew 64

But how should this be scored? It can't be considered two separate games (as Keeper Of The Spreadsheet, I won't allow it) so is it a first place for Adam or Hannah? For now, I've left it off the form table completely, but we need an official decision.

On the form table, Sam gets rid of that "6" and moves up to second as a result. I continue on my journey southwards. At least I can't go any further.

EDIT: with the scores from Libertalia in, we now see Hannah jump up to second, with Adam up to third.







Points
Anja2 1 2 2 3 10
Hannah41 1 2 3 11
Adam13 3 1 4 12
Joe23 1 2 4 12
Sam32 2 4 2 13
Steve1 2 2 4 6 15
Jon3 5 15 5 19
Andrew 44 4 5 3 20

11 comments:

  1. If only we'd played Modern Art, we'd have done the Knizia triple!
    I was glad to have played Libertalia though - I think it could grow on me. I think my preference is for games where the game is on the table rather than buried in the text on cards - the simplicity of Ra, Medici, even Tinners Trail beats the convoluted second-guessing of card games like Lib.

    I think you're right Sam, it felt solitaire-ish, which is not something you could accuse Citadels or Mission: Red Planet of being, despite some similarities.

    Both of those have cards with text on of course, but there are fewer so it all feels less obtuse. But perhaps with familiarity Libertalia would feel more satisfying - it's at least short enough to get to the table again.

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  2. Oh and you surely forfeit the game if you leave before the end - isn't that what happened to me in Pickomino at Septcon. Didn't I get bumped to last? (Not that I care about these things of course...)

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  3. Well, I really enjoyed the evening up until about halfway through Libertalia, when I started to feel like I'd bought the games equivalent of a motorbike and sidecar - all the drawbacks of a car combined with the drawbacks of a bike.

    In admittedly reductionist terms, I like light and inconsequential games and I like longer, denser games. This felt long and inconsequential. For me personally, though Joe and Adam managed it well (and Hannah too come to that) I also struggle with the multiple options. What I liked was the hidden roles, what I didn't like was the lack of control. In Citadels there's a gamble-y element but it's down to two particular characters, so you can try and out-think your opponent. With Libertalia it felt a bit like a lottery - to me, anyway. Maybe I'm just crap at it though.

    I'd be willing to try it again - early evening, rather than ten o'clock - but whilst hoping to wake up with the new-game-dawn (when underwhelming-first-play blues leave you in the night) I arose wondering if Joe would trade it for Santiago...

    Great to play Medici again though, and Ra too. Thanks for hosting Adam and Hannah - see you on Friday!

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  4. Oh, and I think like Joe we should stick to the precedent set at SeptCon. If a person retires mid-game then - unless through illness, perhaps - they finish wherever they had got to in the game at that point? Otherwise (not that Hannah was or would do this) we open the door to tactical retirements!

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  5. I agree. I withdrew knowing I'd come last. But only just, as it turns out!

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  6. Okay, those scores have been added.

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  7. Nice post title by the way Andrew.

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  8. Yeah - shame we didn't play Tam-annie Hall.

    Sorry.

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  9. I had to google that, Joe. One for the specialists.

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  10. What Tammany Hall? It's supposed to be excellent - there was a copy in the shop the first year we went to Stabcon, and I've always regretted not picking it up. New version is coming out soon though.

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  11. Yeah I read about it and it appeals. But I meant the joke!

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