tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post6281155267623827700..comments2024-03-27T09:44:13.148+00:00Comments on Games Night News: Eclipse round the earErsbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012602968152264418noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-91804170060025347682013-10-16T16:24:46.301+01:002013-10-16T16:24:46.301+01:00It's a heck of a commitment . . . you could pl...It's a heck of a commitment . . . you could play 17 games of Hey That's my Fish! in the same amount of time if you really got your head down. That has hexes.Joe Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01710555098761136919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-76346935802545289862013-10-16T16:18:03.375+01:002013-10-16T16:18:03.375+01:00It's true, I thought I was further in the lead...It's true, I thought I was further in the lead then I was, and since I had all those ships, I wanted to use them. That's why I went looking for aliens. I should've just stayed at home and built a monolith.<br /><br />But next time it'll be a four-player, right guys? Or more!Ersbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08012602968152264418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-22554271299119302122013-10-16T14:23:01.750+01:002013-10-16T14:23:01.750+01:00Controversy!
Eclipse was a case of the clear win...Controversy! <br /><br />Eclipse was a case of the clear winner of the game (Andrew) getting bored of collecting victory points and instead concentrating on polishing his spaceships to be as shiny as possible while the other players scuttled around scrounging points from the bins. <br /><br />Also I suspect you could have attacked me on the last turn and assured your victory, but you probably made the same assumption we did about how far ahead you were and decided that would be mean. It was a very lucky win... (But I'll defend that points tile to the death - on the grounds that I don't remember being told you have to have four shieldy-shaped ones and one odd-triangly one)<br /><br />I liked the game a lot, it has a lot in common with ascending empires and improving your ships is a great mechanic. The only negatives are that I'm not so keen on the dice and it's sooooo fiddly - it reminded me of setting up Ora & Labora!Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15249629075002821210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-22075764352691298782013-10-16T09:07:11.373+01:002013-10-16T09:07:11.373+01:00Kingdom Builder wasn't really that controversi...Kingdom Builder wasn't really that controversial. I was cheesed off that I'd shot myself in the foot - having forgotten that you had to place adjacent to existing settlements, I'd made a real pig's ear of my opening move. Then I was sitting holding a canyon card thinking any other card would have been much better... so when Joe shrugged off his (canyon) card error I was frustrated that I wasn't able to do the same. To be fair though he did then have to play a canyon card next round.<br /><br />GNN Reportshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17982778341361220607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-30859909155693935252013-10-16T08:15:25.229+01:002013-10-16T08:15:25.229+01:00What did happen after the scores were in was me po...What did happen after the scores were in was me pointing out that Adam's switch had won him the game. I'm helpful that way..!Joe Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01710555098761136919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-14932177524466388102013-10-16T07:46:19.857+01:002013-10-16T07:46:19.857+01:00Ah yes, I remember now. Quentin had kept a victory...Ah yes, I remember now. Quentin had kept a victory point tile on his board, making Adam think he could have five shields. Thanks, Joe. I shall amend accordingly.Ersbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08012602968152264418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1317166417552799764.post-41740635662503333482013-10-16T06:50:27.181+01:002013-10-16T06:50:27.181+01:00I should probably keep out of it, since there was ...I should probably keep out of it, since there was controversy next door as well - but by the time you guys were adding up the Eclipse scores I was a neutral observer, Sam and Gonz being long gone.<br /><br />Since I don't know the details of the particular bonus tile I can't say whether it was an okay switch that Adam made, (though at the time Quentin said he felt it was acceptable) but I can say it was while the scores were being added up, not afterwards - and very much at the start of that process. None of the points on the board had been tallied, and Andrew you hadn't yet turned over your victory point tiles, because I remember waiting with anticipation for you to do so, thinking it might swng the game. <br /><br />Meanwhile, next door, an hour or so earlier . . . Kingdom Builder was being played, with the requisite rules confusion. I don't think we've yet played a game which hasn't had some sort of moment of clarity, though this time Gonz and I were au fait, having played a scant week ago, and only Sam was hazy on the adjacency rule. It's certainly the first game I've played where I've felt I was properly able to think each turn through rather than just wrestle with the current special tokens and victory conditions.<br /><br />I remember this game, when it came out, being hailed as a great gateway game, which I think is nuts - it's no Ticket to Ride. Maybe if you played with a single scoring card rather than three, but I suspect that would make it a bit boring.<br /><br />The game has a bit of an AP bell curve - at the beginning your moves are fairly quick, then they slow down as your options increase, speeding up a bit towards the end. We were chewing through each move, it seemed - each of us apologised for holding things up at least once.<br /><br />The controversial move was from me - I thought the card I had was a desert; when I finished my move and picked up a new card, which *was* a desert, I realised I'd misplayed a canyon card. I did offer to retake my turn, but since the game was dragging I suggested maybe I could just play the canyon on my next turn nstead, effectively playing the two cards in the reverse order.<br /><br />It wasn't a dodgy move in spirit - I certainly didn't have time to work out if it benefitted me, I just didn't want to hold up the game, but after we'd finished Sam felt it was a bit questionable. However I pointed out it did mean that both he and Gonz got to play a turn knowing what card I was about to play, which maybe evened out any potential bias . . .<br /><br />In any case, Gonz took us both to the cleaners, with a 25pt lead. Well played Senor.<br /><br />After that we ummed and ahhed and denied Gonz the pleasure of teaching us Dungeon Petz - we briefly considered 7 Wonders with Cities and Leaders expansions, but on realising that would be an assured win for Gonz while we struggled with the additional rules, I perhaps meanly suggested something else. That something else was Pompeii.<br /><br />The population phase was unusually long, as the volcano card happened to be at the very bottom of the deck, so there were a lot of people on the board. Sam had managed a couple of three relative placements, and as a result bore the brunt of the volcano-tossing, but as we went into the evacuation phase he seemed to have the edge.<br /><br />But Pompeii is the great leveller, and as the lava starts to flow it seems to burn people to death in a most democratic way. The final score could hardly have been tighter, and I managed to win on account of having fewer people in the volcano, I a rule which is often seen as the wrong way round.<br /><br />I was surprised - I thought that playing yellow would garner me unwanted attention; but perhaps Gonz has not yet learnt to fear that most insidious of colours . . . he needs to play against Adam more.<br />Joe Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01710555098761136919noreply@blogger.com