Wednesday 7 May 2014

Attack of the Killer Threes

Tonight Sam hosted a fluctuating number of gamers for this week’s games night. At first, it was four (Sam, Joe, Martin and Ian) for a quick first-to-two game of Love Letter. Sam won, getting two points before anyone could win anything.

1. Sam 2
2= Martin 0
2= Ian 0
2= Joe 0

I arrived at the end of this game and while we waited for Steve and Anja to arrive, we all squeezed in a couple of jolly rounds of 6 Nimmt. This was Ian’s first go at the game, so he can be forgiven a few tactical errors. Joe, meanwhile, marvelled at his first ever clear round that lead to a win. A win that almost went to Martin, but for an unlucky turn of the final card.

Joe 10
Sam 20
Martin 23
Andrew 23
Ian 59

Then Steve and Anja arrived, and we split into two groups. Steve said he felt like some shootin’, so he was all in favour of Quantum when it was suggested. Anja wanted something a little more cerebral, so chose to join Joe and I in a game of Pergamon: the new Game Of The Month.


Joe and I explained the rules to Pergamon, while Steve got an introduction to the combatitive world of Quantum. And what an intoduction it was. Martin started with three threes, and proceeded to warp around the board, attacking any ship weaker than a three. And it worked. I looked over at their game, halfway through our game and saw Martin still had three three-dice. Were they the same ones he started with? I asked. They surely were.


On Pergamon, we had to juggle funding and digging. The three of us were quite cagey about how many exhibitions we put on. I think we all only put on three, apparently with no detriment to the final score. In fact, Joe got a new high score with his result.

Joe 37
Anja 28 plus oldest artefact
Andrew 28

Afterwards we remarked on how cash rich it seemed, but with fewer exhibitions, there was less buffing involved. Meanwhile, at about the same time, Quantum had finished.

1. Martin
2. Sam, 1 cube left
3. Ian, 3 cubes left
4. Steve, 4 cubes left

As they packed away, Sam mentioned that Martin had never lost a game of Quantum, and Steve asked why Sam hadn’t mentioned that before they started the game.

After this, Steve decided they had to go home because he had a tough day tomorrow, going to Centre Parcs. Oh, how exhausting that will be. Anyway, he and Anja left after their games ended. If only they’d known: there were another three games in store for the evening!

First was Port Royal. We’ve played it so often recently, it could almost be game of the month. Sam wasn’t keen but he graciously didn’t veto the suggestion. We all chose our methods for victory. Me and Ian went for cutlasses. Joe went for doubling up on green ship bonuses and Martin got an early discount fraulein to lower his prices. I’m not sure what Sam’s strategy was.

Martin 12
Joe 10 (+ 5 money)
Ian 10
Andrew 7
Sam 6

Then we played Timeline. It began with a load of historical events, all clustered togethwer, making a pretty tough game.


Ian came first since I didn’t know the aeroplane was invented before the Model T Ford. I mean, how does that make sense?

1. Ian
2. Joe, Andrew, Sam, Martin

During Timeline, Sam made cups of tea for people, so we felt we had to have one more game before we left. We chose Skull and Roses, the game of pure bluff. It was another tough game, and it took a while before anyone won a round. By the end, Martin won two rounds to take the game, and Ian won a round to come second. Sam played it cagey: I’m not sure if he ever had to act on any of his predictions for the whole game.

1. Martin
2. Ian
3. Sam
4. Andrew
5. Joe

And with that, the evening was over. Games were packed away, and we set off into the evening air.







Points
Martin1 2 1 1 3 8
Gonz 1 3 1 1 3 9
Joe 5 2 2 1 1 11
Ian2 1 3 3 4 13
Sam3 2 5 2 214
Matt2 21 55 15
Andrew4 2 4 3 3 16
Will2 4 23 5 16
Anja 2 5 5 5 5 22
Steve 4 5 5 5 5 24

5 comments:

  1. That game of Quantum was like nothing I've ever seen before on a board game - and I've played Diplomacy. Martin just attacked, attacked, attacked, for the whole game. Except the last round, where he had an easy cute placement none of us had spotted - we were all conditioned to expect lasers across the bow - or in the face, more accurately. A baptism of fire for Steve, but I hope he saw that being repeatedly killed can be fun.

    I just can't get on with Port Royal I'm afraid. For all the alarm over my card-turning I think I only went bust once the whole game - I tried to go for the missions, and did get hold of one, but was never in any danger of winning. For me it's like Kingdom Builder - I can see it's a worthy game, but I just can't seem to get a handle on it.

    Skull and Roses was great. Timeline: I've played it so often now I should really remember all the dates. But the only one I'm certain of is the invention of role-playing games… weird, that.

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  2. that should say 'cube placement'; but 'cute' seems pretty apt

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  3. Well after I took Relentless as my first card, I felt I had to stay in character...

    It may not have felt like it, but I did actually settle 3 planets peacefully and only 2 through dominance. My Stealthy power was amazingly useful on that big map.

    Great night!

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  4. Yeah, really great night, thanks Sam for hosting. Six games!!!

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  5. I'm not sure you could argue you did anything 'peacefully' in that game Martin! It was all a bit weapons-of-mass-destruction. But it was amazing to watch. I thought I might sneak past you in the endgame, but it wasn't to be. Next time!

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