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Clash of Cultures

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The holidays are over and I’m behind again. Over the holidays, Ben, Owen, and I played a couple games of Clash of Cultures. BoardGameGeek.com has a great description of the game:

“A civilization game in which each player leads a civilization from a single settlement to a mighty empire. Players must explore their surroundings, build large cities, research advances and conquer those who stand in the way. The game features a modular board for players to explore, 48 distinct advances, seven mighty wonders, and loads of miniatures and cards. The winner will create a culture that will be remembered and admired for millennia.”

I love this game. I think it’s one of the best civilization games I’ve played, and I’ve played a few. While the first time setup may take a while because there are lots of bits and cards, the play is pretty straight forward. I have to say though that I constantly forgot a few of the rules concerning upgrade limits on cities. Thankfully I have Owen to remind me. I think I had more do-overs in our second game than Ben, and that’s saying a lot.

I believe Owen trounced Ben and I in the first game. And I’m pretty sure I was way in last place too. Also In our first game the barbarian tribes that pop up during the game around the cities were hardly even noticed. That changed in our second game.

Our second game was completely different from the first. One, we had those pesky barbarians coming out of the woodwork. They were everywhere. Secondly, we did more exploring and made better use of the seas. This game ended with Ben and I tying at 34 ½ points each. Ben screeched by for the win by having more city upgrades than me. We all agreed I should have won the game.

We’re going to play this game again this Week with Evil Mike. I’m looking forward to it.

Chaos Steve

Constantinopolis & Merchants and Marauders

Since I’m behind, as usual, I’m combining this week with last week to make one super week of games! …that took place over two weeks.

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At the beginning of this “super week” we played Constantinopolis. It’s a resource management game that takes place in Constantinopolis, the largest city in the Byzantine Empire during the 6th century. (Who knew you’d be learning a little history and geography too?) Each player is an ambitious merchant. The players buy buildings that product raw materials, factories that produce goods, and walls that give them special abilities. (No, I don’t know why a wall would give you special abilities.) Using these resources each player fulfills trade contracts by shipping them off to who-knows-where. You win the game by having the most Fame Points—not Victory Points.

Unlike our previous train gaming session, I did not dominate the game. I think if anyone did that, it would have to had to been Ben. He was in the lead, by a good amount, for most of the game. At first Owen and I languished in the rear watching Ben and Mike skillfully gain fame. Owen must have learned something from watching them, because he starting earning more fame as well. Towards the end of the game, Mike had started to lose steam and was earning less and less fame. Owen now challenged Ben for the lead. Had it not been for the walls that Ben had bought, Owen would have tied Ben for the win. As it was, he came in a close second. Ben had 62 fame. Owen had 59. I had 44 and Evil Mike had 41. I should mention that we all liked this game and want to play it again.

Now let’s leap forward in time to this week. Ta-da! It’s this week and we played Merchants and Marauders at Mike Byrd’s house. Ben was traveling for work and Evil Mike was a no show. (He did mention something about an email he sent, but none of us who showed up remembered it.) So it was just Mike, Owen, and I.

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Merchants and Marauders looks complicated. It has lots of bits—counters, cards, and ships. Mike said that setup is difficult. But once we started playing, we found it to be pretty easy. You start the game with a ship. You get to pick from two. A fast, maneuverable sloop or a more merchant worthy flute. The ship you choose somewhat determines how you will play the game. Will you be a fairly respectable merchant or will you be a pirate scoundrel. We all went the way of the merchant, choosing the bigger ship that could haul lots of cargo.

One your turn you can do three actions from a list of actions that include: move, scout, and port. Scout means searching for other ships either to plunder or to sink. Port means going to port to buy/sell goods, upgrade your ship, or hire crew. Most of the game was spent buying goods at one port and then traveling to another port to sell them. I did scout for a ship to plunder thus gaining a Spanish bounty on my head. What I didn’t realize was now I couldn’t sell goods at Spanish ports! Oh well, maybe I should have listened when Mike was explaining the rules.

You win the game by being the first to gain 10 Glory points. You get these points for doing various glorious things during the game. Mike, who has played this game a few times, won the game. Owen, who paid attention to the rules, came in second with 8 Glory points. I came in last with a measly 4 Glory points. But…I was the only sea captain to sink a pirate frigate!

Chaos Steve

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Rails of New England

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Evil Mike was off on holiday so Mike Byrd stepped in for him for our night of gaming. Way to step up Mike and spend an evening goofing off with us!

This time we played Rails of New England. A train game which is a lot more about managing your businesses than actually shipping goods to places. With Evil Mike playing, this game took us two nights to complete. With the Mike stand-in playing, we got it <nearly> done in one night.

We learned a lot during this game. Things like “Never sit next to Mike when he has a hand full of screw-your-neighbor cards.”  Also that if you start in Vermont, you better not stay in Vermont. Get the heck out of there! Quick! Mike had Vermont. He stayed.

Speaking of screw-your-neighbor cards, guess who every one of those cards were played against? Me. It’s not like I had a cash reserve akin to Ft. Knox’s gold supply. (I did.) It’s not like I was earning money hand-over-fist. (I was.) And still everyone picked on me. I should point out that my good friend Owen never played a card against me. Good man, that Owen.

Speaking of Owen, he was earning tons of money as well, but the commerce gods decided to throw him a curve ball in the form of a fires/floods/snow…I forget which. It completely shut Owen down for a turn late in the game. Otherwise he may have pulled off one of his “come from behind” victories that’s he’s so famous for. But it was not to be.

You win the game by having the most money. I had $323 Gazillion. Owen came in second with $267. Ben third with $194 and Mr. Vermont came in last with $77.

And so continues my train game winning streak! (“Two” is a streak.)

Tonight we’re playing Constantinopolis with Latin tiles. No way will I do well in that game.

Chaos Steve

Walkers, Episode 10: A New Beginning

GM: Evil Mike McNeal

Ben (Hernandez. Dependents come and go.)
Owen (Zach Turner. Has sister-in-law as dependents.)
Mike (Mark Kale. Has one son as a dependent.)
Steve (Shane Hensley. No dependents.)
Alex (Joe Reynolds. His brother is his dependent.)

We finally made it to Dallas and are in a Banal corporation secret laboratory. Emergency sirens are going off and Banal employees are running to evacuate the building. Some Banal employees are running in the hallways because they are being chased by large, lumbering creatures. That’s where we come in.

We quickly try to gather some of the running employees to the safety of the lab. Whether this is because we’re nice people or, because we need dependents, can be debated in the history books. Let’s just say the most heroic of us, me, leaped into the hallway to try to slow down one of the creatures with his 9mm.The creature isn’t impressed and begins beating on me. We eventually kill two of the creatures and save several women. There is much dependent wooing after that.

The Banal ladies tell us of a secret, secret lab in the basement. Also that the head of the company had arrived and apparently was releasing these creatures. We head to the basement in hopes of both defeating the company head, but also to get away in his helicopter.

The room is easy to find. It’s red, pulsing with power, and filled with guys with submachine guns. Oh, and a weird vat spewing forth goo enhanced zombies. The company headman and another guy are also there. One of these two has a brief case. We decide we want what’s in that case.

Again I rush into the room. I disable a power pillar and start taking fire from the Banal goons. Soon the others follow my lead and enter the room as well. The headman opens a small elevator at the back of the room. I launch myself at him. He’s not getting away on my watch! During the fight I get clobbered and fall incapacitated to the ground, but so does he. One of our heads blocks the elevator door so it won’t close. Bang. Bang. Bang.

We defeat the rest of what Banal has to offer. Opening the briefcase we find notes on what’s going on, a location in Germany that’s the international headquarters of the Banal Corporation, and maybe some other stuff. I don’t remember. My head was a little foggy from being hit repeatedly with an elevator door.

With that we have a new base of operations. One with flushing toilets, showers, and everything! We now rule Dallas. (I added that.)

We would all like to thank Mike for running the game…

(Yes, I could have added a good joke or two there, but it was a fun game and I need Mike to behave during my Weird War Rome game that is coming up next.)

Chaos Steve

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Walkers, Episode 9: Welcome to Dallas

GM: Evil Mike McNeal
Ben (Hernandez. No Dependents.)
Owen (Zach Turner. Has sister-in-law as dependents.)
Mike (Mark Kale. Has one son as a dependent.)
Steve (Shane Hensley. No dependents.)
Alex (Joe Reynolds. His brother is his dependent.)

We make it to Dallas. We find a shopping mall that we think would be a great place to hole up. The door’s locked, so we go next door to the theater instead. I think “Dawn of the Dead” is playing on the marquee. (What really happened: I was supposed to bring a shopping mall map, but couldn’t fine it. We already have a great theater map, so we used it instead.)

The theater was already home to a group of rather tense survivors. Some were even in tattered Banal corporation clothing. We offered them some ammo to let us in. They let us in and we find about 12 guns pointing at us. I try to calm the situation with some witty banter. It goes poorly and opposing group looks ready to mow us down. Then Ben tries to rescue us with some rhetoric in his poor, heavily accented, broken English. The opposing group takes aim…<BLAM> The doors behind us burst open as a vexation of walkers rush into the room. The opposing group opens fires, but on the walkers, not on us. These new walkers are different. Faster. Edgier. We eventually take them all down, but not before Ben and Mike are wounded. (I’m keeping a close eye on Mike.)

Since we fought so well against the walkers, the group of survivors offer us their own version of a cure developed by Dr. Quinn, an older, but attractive scientist. Their solution either cures you or kills you. We have Ben try it. He survives. Unfortunately that’s the only one they had. When we mention we’re going to the Banal Corporation, Dr. Quinn wants to come along to get more supplies to make more serum.

While a plan is being created for getting inside the Banal building, a few of us take to the sewers and travel to the mall. We scavenge, fight walkers, and find a bedroll and some ammo. Not a stellar day at the mall.

After some preparation we bluff our way into the banal corp. Once inside we realize we need to get a key card for the lab. I critically fail my roll to persuade a pretty technician to help get inside the lab. Things go to crap after that, although we do get inside the lab. Dr. Quinn points out needed supplies while others of us work at the computer stations. Then the alarms start blaring. The monitors inside the lab show us that the building is being evacuated and large looming shapes are prowling the hallways. Could it get any worse? Evil Mike is the GM. It’ll get worse.

Chaos Steve

Tarsa: Episode 3 – Pythos Found!

More on the Tarsa Setting can be found on the Tarsa Backround Post.

Players: Lee – Logan – Kantorian master of matter manipulation.
Mike – Pythos – Former military cybernetic being with mercenary tendencies.
Shawn – Sycrom – The most intelligent dense person (like really really tough to hurt) you’ll ever meet.

Logan and Sy survey the cavern they find themselves washed up in. Logan senses the rooms around him and feels a lot of steel in the next room and below the water where they came in.

Sy decides to explore the water depths where he finds a railing. Apparently this underground complex is connected to the other one. Meanwhile Logan discovers a couple of guards nearby. Just then, a very large shadow moves over Sy. He quickly gets out of the water and before he can tell Logan to stay clear of the water, Logan partially closes off the passage to the guards with his earth manipulation, and a giant Crocodile nearly bites him in two!

Sy attempts to shoot the Croc in the eye (noticing that a simple blaster would probably not penetrate the critter’s hide). But even Sy’s excellent shooting skills are not up to hitting that tiny spot. Logan’s two wounds don’t keep him from sliding out of the Croc’s jaws and getting behind the nigh impenetrable Sy.

The noise attracts the guards who let slip that they have a prisoner nearby that needs to be moved and that somebody named Lord Garmin should be warned. The one of the guards starts shooting randomly into the room.

That’s when Logan decides to open the wall between the rooms and create a tunnel for the croc to grab some dinner in the next room! The plan works perfectly (got him a benny too) and the croc munches the first guard down. Sy then blasts the Overmind in the room for two wounds. Logan and Sy also get their first glimpse of the beaten body of Pythos hanging in chains from the wall (“They didn’t even ask me any questions,” he grumbles.)

Logan quickly taps into his Kantorian powers and uses the metal chains to bind the Overmind. Sy then runs in front of Py to act as a shield, as the Overmind (Lord Garmin), slips his bonds and out the back door. The Croc makes short work of the remaining guards as Pythos and Sy run out to where Logan is.

Unfortunately, Lord Garmin is coming up the back hall and Puppets Pythos and makes him try to shoot Sy in the head. Even with all of Py’s skill, he is too weak from his wounds to succeed. Logan opens up the walls to try and get the croc to attack the Overmind, but the Croc has fed enough and just wants to get back to the water. So, Logan distracts Lord Garmin as Sy runs around and blasts the Overmind (with +2 from Logan’s distraction) and kills him.

Pythos quickly leads them out of the caverns where they find they are under the Hopper House. The trio quickly get in their ships and start to make their way back to the Pythorian, safely ensconced in a secret location on Drakos that nobody could possibly find.

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Seafarers of Catan

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Mike got a new Catan game called Seafarers of Catan. It’s an expansion to the regular Catan game that adds ships and islands into the mix. You get some extra points for building settlements on the islands.

Mike strategically out-thought all of us when choosing his starting position. Owen immediately accuses me of screwing him by building right by him. I point out that it’s a small map.

As the game progressed, Mike was the seafaring King. He also go a sweet 2:1 trade for sheep. This catapulted him into the lead. With all this sea action going on, Owen was pretty much left alone to build his roads and cities however he wished. We all expected Mike to win the game, but when all was said and done, Owen won because he got the Longest Road bonus AND the Largest Army bonus. Apparently we should have screwed with Owen’s turns a little more. Mike came in a close second and I was dead last. Settlers hate me.

Chaos Steve

 

Walkers, Episode 8: The Human Testing Facility

GM: Evil Mike McNeal
Ben (Hernandez. No Dependents.)
Owen (Zach Turner. Has sister-in-law as dependents.)
Mike (Mark Kale. Has one son as a dependent.)
Steve (Shane Hensley. No dependents.)
Alex (Joe Reynolds. His brother is his dependent.)

We find ourselves in a natural cave system. Mike scouts ahead and finds some women tied and gagged lying on the cave floor. Mike is able to untie and un-gag one woman before some uniformed men arrive. Mike shoots them—as he does everyone. A gun battle ensues. Several try to escape the battle to bring back reinforcements, but we mow them down. (I think Mike killed them.) One of the men does survive our hail of bullets and Owen mercilessly interrogates him.

We discover that the women are part of some human testing going on here by the Banal Corporation. The women gladly join us and Ben immediately starts trying to impress one—he needs a dependent.

Above ground we find a warehouse. It’s strangely empty. Ben works on getting a vehicle running while Owen looks over the place. Mike cleans his shotgun.

(Now my notes get sketchy. Meaning I have no notes.)

Ben does get a vehicle running and we make our escape from the warehouse. I seem to remember us (or someone else) blowing up the warehouse and the testing facility.

Now we’re getting even closer to the Banal Corporations headquarters in Dallas.

Ben and I do get new dependents. I’ll cherish what’s-her-name right up until I lose her to the walkers.

Chaos Steve

Rolling Freight

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We got together and played another game of Rolling Freight. Mike had never played it, so we quickly explained the rules to him. Ben also offered lots of advice on the best strategy for the game. Of course, Ben didn’t follow any of his own advice. (He never seems too.) Ben. Owen, and I have played the game 1.3 times before. Here’s a link to the earlier games. (I never get tired of reading it.)

Our game started out pretty normally except that Ben was really slow to earn any victory points. Usually this is Owen. But just like Owen, Ben caught up and soon was leading (or at least a contender for the lead.) Towards the end of the game, Owen started falling behind and Ben started closing the gap on the leader, me. I think had the game gone much longer, Ben would have pasted me and won. As it was though, I was able to hold him off and win the game. I am currently undefeated after 2.3 games.

I’ve figure out my secret to winning…or at least doing well in the game. Yep, I didn’t realize what I was doing up to now. That should be no surprise to the rest of the guys. I noticed at the end of this game that I did one thing similarly in all of the games. I think that “one thing” is the landmark “thing” one should do to win the game. And I plan on doing that “thing” again, if we play again.

Chaos Steve

De Vulgari Eloquentia & 7 Wonders

De Vulgari Eloquentia
Way back before we even went to Gen Con, we started a game of De Vulgari Eloquentia. In the game the players are creating a new language. One that will be commonly spoke in all of Italy. The aim of the game is to gain victory points (or Volgare points) by reading manuscripts, looking for important documents, and by improving their social status. Sounds exciting doesn’t it. It’s actually not too bad. During a turn you get to take a number of actions. Each of these actions cleverly move you towards victory. Whether it’s discovering the lost manuscripts in an area of Italy or gaining profit from your small business.

During our game, I found it difficult to figure out just what I should be doing. One of the plethora of actions you can take during a turn is to “buy” the support of Politicians, businessmen, and others. These are represented by cubes of various colors and are kept behind a screen. During the last part of the game, these are used for voting and can grant you a lot of VP if you play your cards right, which I didn’t. It seems that if you were taking your actions later in the turn, all the good support was already gone. That was my problem, so I majored in manuscripts, for which you get direct VPs from. It didn’t help.

It also didn’t help that we played half the game and then came back three weeks later to finish it. Although we weren’t crazy about the game, I think we’d all like to play it again now that we have an idea of how the VPs work.

Ben won our game with 42 points. Owen was a very close second with 41. I had 27 and Mike had 24. So much for our manuscript reading skills.

We got done a little early and decided to play a game of 7 Wonders. I love this game. This game does not love me. As this picture shows:
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Chaos Steve