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Clash of Cultures or How to Lose Against All Odds

This weekend we finished up a Clash of Cultures game. The following is a recount of just one small encounter between Mike and me and how things can go so terribly wrong…for me.

It all began when Mike made a surprise amphibious assault against one of my undefended cities. He basically walked in and took it. Then he built a fortress there.

I had another nearby city with a two army units in it and I knew if I didn’t take the city back on my turn, Mike would reinforce it and I’d never get it back.

So on my turn, having built a couple more units, I attacked my former city with three army units and a cavalry unit that grants +1 for each army unit with it. Mike had one army unit and the fortress.

The fortress has some special abilities that are only good on the first round of combat. I had a technology to negate those abilities, but I didn’t have the resources to use the technology. Four units plus my +3 bonus should be enough to easy take the city back.

To battle In Clash of Cultures, you roll a number of dice equal to your number of units, add up the total and divide by 5. The result is the number of losses the enemy takes.

At the beginning of the first round of battle, Mike plays a card that allows him to roll a d6. On a roll of 5 or 6 he can destroy one of my units. He rolls a 5 and destroys my cavalry.

Now I’m down to three units and I’ve lost my +3 bonus. Still, I have three units to his one. Worse case I may lose all but one of them and still take the city. I can easily kill Mike’s single army unit.

I attack rolling three dice and add them up. My total is 4. On THREE d6 my total is 4! I don’t even get one hit! Mike rolls and kills one of my units.

Now it’s the second round of combat. Mike’s fortress provides him with no bonuses. All he has is a single army unit. I have two. I should easily win.

Mike plays a card. (Darn those cards to heck!) If he rolls a 6 on his attack die he can reroll it and add the two totals together. If his total is 10 or more he can kill both of my units and save his city.

Against all odds, he rolls a 6!

He still needs his reroll to be a 4, 5, or 6…and he rolls a 5!

He decimates my army! His single unit does die, but the city remains his and I now have two unprotected cities a stone’s throw away from him. On his next turn, his armies walk in and take them. And I’m knocked back to the Stone Age with just a few unimproved cities and a worthless leader.

Next time things will be different!

(He’ll probably kill my leader too.)

Chaos Steve

50 Fathoms, Clash of Cultures, Stone Age, & Railways of Europe

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Although I’ve been silent about writing anything new, we have been playing lots of games the last few weeks. Ben has started running us through a Savage Worlds 50 Fathoms campaign and we’ve played Clash of Cultures, a current favorite.

 

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We’ve also gone back in time and played an older game call Stone Age. Although I never do well in this at it, it’s still one of my favorites. In our first game, Ben kicked our butts and took names. He ended with an unprecedented 201 points. I came in second, but I was so far behind him, you might as well say I came in last. In our second game. Ben came in dead last. I’m sure this proves something, but I’ll leave just what it proves up to your imagination.

 

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More recently (last night) we played Railways of Europe. It’s the typical build track and deliver goods cubes game that we play so many versions of. Mostly because Ben owns all the versions and has two copies of at least one. (I don’t know why.)

 

The starting cube placement of the game was horrible. The cities on the board are either far away or huddled in the mountains. Yes, this made it a tough game, but it didn’t slow us down any.

 

It seemed most everyone had a plan—everyone but me. I became the king of worthless hotels, while Owen because the king of a stellar hotel in Amsterdam that brought him tons of points. I also helped out Mike by “colorizing” a city (This has a real name in the game, but I forget what it is) allowing him to earn some points. Most of the rest of the game, I didn’t help Mike all that much. Some might even say, most likely Mike, that I screwed up his plans. All I can say to that is that he wasn’t alone. I think I screwed up everyone’s plan at one time or another. My problem was I had lots of plans—all bad. Still it looked like I might be able to stay ahead of Mike and not come in last.

 

Owen was clearly going to win…and we couldn’t stop him. He was that good. Ben ended up coming in last. He was that bad. Mike and I ended up tying for second place. The tie-breaker was money. I had none, so Mike officially got second place and I came in third. It should be pointed out I wasn’t Last. Ben was. Ben.

 

We have Jimcon next weekend, so look for that write-up in the near future.

Some Pictures From Railways of Europe

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Clash of Cultures, 7 Wonders & Puerto Rico

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Lately our board game evenings have been taken up with Clash of Cultures. I’ve written about this game before, but if you’ve never heard of it or want to learn more here’s the BoardGameGeek link.

I think we’ve played three more games recently. I have scores for two of them. The other game, Owen did so poorly he paid off the author with french fries and ice cream to not print those scores.

Game 1: Evil Mike 37, Steve 33.5, Ben 23, and Owen 20.5.

Game 3: Owen 59 (Amazing!), Ben 42, Evil Mike 41.5 (Half a point difference!), 30.5 (I don’t want to talk about it.)

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In our down time we played 7 wonders. Ben won with 53 points. Owen was second with 48. Evil Mike had 40 points and I had 35 points. And I don’t want to talk about it.

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Finally we played an old favorite, Puerto Rico. I never do well in this game and it showed in the scores. Owen got an amazing 59 points to win. Ben had 47, a respectable showing. Evil Mike had 37 points and I had 35 points. We decided Evil Mike’s biggest issue was that his turn was right after Owen’s. I’m sure I had a big issue too, but I don’t want to talk about it.

Chaos Steve

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