CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 30/09/2010

1.       We had only 7 players in total, so we split into 2 groups.  On table 1 a group of 3 players started with “INNOVATIONS”, a new card game about a journey through innovations from the stone age through modern times. Each player builds a civilization based on various technologies, ideas, and cultural advancements, all represented by cards. Each of these cards has a unique power which will allow further advancement, point scoring, or even attacking other civilizations. Be careful though, as other civilizations may be able to benefit from your ideas as well! To win, you must score achievements, which you can attain by amassing points or by meeting certain criteria with the innovations you have built. Paul soon established a good combination of cards and ran out an easy winner.

2.       Table 2 saw 4 players engaged in “GOA”, a heavy game about building plantations to cultivate various spices and then using them to trade for improve shipping, harvesting, taxation and expedition benefits. To add to your score you need to build Colonies to produce more goods and for that you need Colonists as well as Spices and these are quite difficult to obtain. The game plays in a series of just 8 rounds, each round consisting of an auction phase to obtain more plantations or bonus tiles, followed by a series of 3 Actions, in which the player try to improve their holdings with a view to gaining more victory points. The game took about 2 hours to play but it contains some clever mechanisms which make for a very tight game with the outcome in doubt until the end. Despite being published in 2004 it is still highly rated in the hobby. Tony made late progress on obtaining his colonies which gave him extra victory points and he also had some lucky breaks with his expedition cards which added to his score. He eventually won, with Chris a creditable second.

3.        On Table 1 the 3 players played 2 games of “GOCKELWOK”, a lightweight dice rolling game in which players obtain sushi fish heads via certain rolls and fish bones via other rolls. Each tile they collect has a value and they stack these in 2 piles, the object being to keep the piles level, as all the fish heads count as positives and the fish tails count as negatives. During the game other players will try to steal your tiles to improve their own score. At game end if the pile of sushi heads exceeds the pile of fish tails the excess tiles are taken away to make them level. However if the fish tail pile exceeds the sushi heads pile they remain in play and are scored as negative! A fun game in which Lucy came out on top in the first game and Paul won the second game.  

4.       As table 2 were still playing Goa  Table 1 finished the session with “PUERTO RICO” , the classic game about populating the island, founding plantations, constructing buildings, creating products and shipping them back to the homeland. The game has been reviewed before so will not be repeated here. Richard finally got his first win of the evening.

5.       Table 2 finally played their second game of the evening, “AUF HELLER UNF PFENNIG”, a game in which players draw a tile from a bag, the tile representing visitors to the marketplace. Some are good customers which give positive points, whilst others are bad, and give negative points. Players put the tiles on a grid of rows and columns and in later stages they can build market stalls on the grid instead. At the end of a round all the rows and columns are scored and the players receive money for their marketing efforts. The game plays for 3 rounds, which means the game last for around 45 minutes. Many chances to stuff your opponents by placing a big negative tile in a row in which they will score, or by placing a nice positive tile in a row/column that you will score. Tony, Mike and Chris were leaders after round 1, but at the end of round 2 Mike and Chris were closely matched. Mike made a gaffe in round 3 which gave Chris the chance to score a large number of points so he was able to claim his first victory since joining us.

Games played and Winners were:

Innovation Paul Gulpin;

Gockelwok game 1 – Lucy Newbury;

Gockelwok game 2 – Paul Gulpin;

Puerto Rico Richard Piesse;

Goa Tony Simons;

Auf Heller und Pfennig Chris Knight.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 23/09/2010

1.       We had only 7 players in total, so we split into 2 groups.  On table 1 a group of 4 players started with “ISLAS CANARIAS”, a new game about playing cards to build houses, palaces and cities on your island until the value of your buildings equals or exceeds a total of 19 victory points, and then one more round is played to determine the winner. Player turns are quick, consisting of just 2 options, play a card or pick up 3 cards. The card play is interesting as each one played depicts a colour of a house (from a choice of 6) and a list of ‘rules’ dictating where it must be placed on your board…. Examples are next to the coast, next to a green house, next to the farm etc…Furthermore each round a card is placed on the Settlers ship by each player and then these are shuffled and evaluated and the resultant house is given to the player who has the most vacant plots adjacent to the qualifying ‘rule’. A good little filler, in which Mike took an early lead and Alistair was moaning about his failure to progress. This proved to be unwarranted however as due to his lack of pieces on his island he was the player with the most vacant plots later on so he gained the houses in the latter stages, in sufficient quantity to overhaul everyone. Roger was actually level on points but we gave the victory to Alistair to stop his whingeing !!.

2.       Table 2 saw 3 players engaged in “GOD’S PLAYGROUND”, a heavy game about Poland’s chequered history. Each player represents a Polish magnate. There are various ways of scoring victory points, owning land, religious activity, winning battles, etc. Surrounding Poland are her numerous enemies, who may or may not decide to attack Poland. It is up to the players how well they defend the country. The way the enemies work is that they change their strength to match historical changes. Lots of phases to get through, so a 3-hour game is the likely outcome. Luke based his game on getting the best endgame scoring opportunities and despite being behind for most of the game he came through with a good finish to win the game from Richard and Paul.

3.       Back on Table 1 the 4 players played the card game “MEUTERER”, in which players take on the role of Ships Captain and try to sail to one of the 12 islands in the game to sell their goods. However each of the other players choose to play one of the other roles of Mate, Merchant, Shiploader, Mutineer or Cabin Boy and then conflict occurs to see if the mutiny was successful. The Mate supports the Captain and if the Mutiny is defeated they gain points for their help and the ship reaches its destination. The Cabin Boy supports the Mutineer and if between them they defeat the Captain and the Mate then the Mutineer takes over the ship and sails it to a different island, and they become captain for the next journey. When conflict is over the players trade their goods for victory points on either of the 2 islands involved in the journey, they replenish their hand of cards back up to 5 cards, and play continues.  The game ends after 8 rounds have been played and the player with the most points is the winner. Mike made a good start whilst Roger struggled to get many points. However a series of mutinies in the middle rounds saw Mike fall back and Roger hit a great run gaining 27 points in 3 rounds to take a good lead with 2 rounds to play. A late rally by the other players failed to stop Roger getting a few more points to secure the victory.

4.       Table 1 finished the session with “YSPAHAN” , a game based around a city with 4 districts, with a variable number of buildings in each district. Players place cubes in the buildings with a view to gain victory points at scoring time, if they have completed all the buildings in a particular colour. The other players will of course try to stop them doing that. During the game players collect Gold and Camels and use these as ‘payment’ to improve their technologies, which give them extra abilities like more gold from the Mint, or placing an extra cube when building, all of which increases their chance of victory. The game is driven by a unique dice mechanism which is too long to describe here, just sufficient to say it’s very interesting and interactive. The game is played in a series of 3 rounds of 7 turns, with scoring taking place at the end of each round, after which all cubes are cleared from the buildings and play starts again for the subsequent rounds. Mike started well once again with Alistair in pursuit. He retained the lead until the third round when Alistair cashed in a good card to gain lots of points and he swept into the lead. Roger and Geoff closed the gap on Mike, who was picked on by the other as he was the long-time leader, but this left Alistair to race away as the clear winner, with Mike just holding on to second place.

Games played and Winners were:

Islas Canarias Alistair Gittin;

Meuterer Roger Skull;

God’s Playground Luke Williams;

Yspahan Alistair Gittin.         

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 16/09/2010

1.       We had 12 players in total, including newcomers Chris knight and Karen Skull.  A total of 9 games were played. On table 1 a group of 5 players started with “BOHANZA”, a card game about planting your crops in fields and then harvesting them. Essentially a trading game as you need to obtain cards from other players to increase the yield from your fields, but they will want a good deal in return so you had better make it sweet. Played in 3 rounds the game is quite quick but the result is not clear until the final count has been made. A good little filler, in which Rob was victorious in a close finish.

2.       Table 2 saw 4 players engaged in “ON THE UNDERGROUND”, a game in which players have pieces of track in their own 2 colours and in turns they build the London Underground network on the game board by extending the lines by 2 pieces of track. After extension a large piece representing the ‘Passenger’ will travel on the lines to either 1 or 2 of the 4 Destination cards currently on view and for each colour used on the journey the players will score a victory point. Now the quirk is that the ‘Passenger’ is lazy and will visit the nearest station adjacent to where they currently stand, using as few line changes as possible. If the line is incomplete he/she will walk between unconnected stations, but only via the shortest walk. So players have to view the 4 Destination cards and construct their lines to ensure that the Passenger will use their colours when travelling. You try to construct a decent network such that even on other player’s turn the Passenger will travel along your lines. Play continues until there are less than 4 destination cards left and the one with the most victory points is the winner. A highly interactive game in which you sometimes have to give points to your opponents in order to score some yourself. Careful study of the fixed Underground map is needed to build the best lines. In a close finish Roger was victorious by just a single point ! 

3.       On the next table 3 newcomer Karen was introduced to “FINCA”, in which players collect fruit in various combinations to satisfy the requirements of 1 or more of the 10 markets currently open. To deliver the fruit they need to have the use of a donkey, who can carry a maximum of 6 pieces of fruit. To gain fruit and donkeys the active player moves one of their the pieces around the blades of a windmill ( that being what a Finca is) and they collect pieces of fruit in accordance with how many pieces in total are standing on the blade they arrive at, and add a donkey to their collection when they pass certain squares. When they deliver to a market they collect the tile representing it as victory points, but they lose the use of their donkey which is returned to the pool. Player interaction is high as anyone can deliver to any market if they have the right combination. There are scoring bonus tiles available if a player can complete a ‘set’ of 1-6 deliveries, and a further bonus tiles worth 5 points is allocated when an area is emptied of markets. In a close game where fortunes fluctuated the final scores were 56 points for each of the 3 players so the tie-breaker came into play. Mike had 10 fruits left, Karen 11 and Maria had 12, so Maria was declared the winner. A lovely colourful game that plays differently every time and is great fun to play. 

4.       Back on table 1 they played “MANILA” in which players invest in punts which transport various commodities up the river from the harbour to Manila. By successful delivery players gain money and the share price of the delivered commodity rises. However players can gamble that ships will not arrive safely and they gain money by investing in that outcome. A twist is that there are pirates available for hire and at certain points in a game round they may board a ship bound for Manila for free, rather than paying the transportation costs. In the later stages of a round the pirates can take control of a punt, chucking the other players off and gaining the money and share prices rises solely for themselves. Another highly interactive game which always gives pleasure. Alistair bemoaned his luck in that every punt he invested in failed to deliver, and the victor was Robert, for his second win of the evening.

5.     Table 2 played “MONTEGO BAY” to introduce newcomer Chris Knight to the game. This family game about gaining barrels to load onto ships in the harbour of Montego Bay which will eventually sail and earn them victory points. The way in which your player pieces move around the harbour to gain the barrels leads to much  fun as you can sometimes force your opponents out of a lucrative warehouse into one in which they spoil any barrels already loaded! Another close game, with Geoff coming out on top.

6.       On Table 3 Mike introduced  Karen to the dice game “HECK MECK”, a game about gaining dominoes that contain a variable number of worms. Players place any gains in front of them but they can be stolen by other players if they roll the exact value of the tile, so the lead is constantly changing. A ‘push-your-luck’ game that caused lots of laughs and Mike encouraged Karen and Maria to take gambles, which of course failed. Several times players failed to score in a round so they lost one of the tiles they had collected so this led to a low scoring game, in which Karen came out the winner with 4 worms to Mike’s 3 worms and Maria, a miserable 1 ! Well done Karen, and welcome to the winners enclosure!!

7.     Mike then explained the simple card game “TEACHERS PET”, a quick card game about bidding cards simultaneously to try and win Positive cards or NOT to win negative cards. A simple enough aim but the way the cards are played causes much hilarity, with surprising results. As the owner of the game Mike won the first game so it was decided to play another game and this time Karen came out on top .

8.     Table 3 finished with the classic card game “COLORETTO”. In this game there are cards in 6 colours and players collect cards with the aim of getting 3 ‘good’ suits and none of the others. They score positive points for the good cards and negative points for the others. The way in which cards are obtained is clever and yet the game plays quickly. With his prior knowledge of the game Mike was the winner .

Games played and Winners were:

Bonhanza Robert Piesse;

On the Ungerground Roger Skull;

Finca Maria Skull;

Manila Robert Piesse;

Montego Bay Geoff Williams;

Heck Meck Karen Skull;

Teachers Pet game 1 – Mike Oakes;

Teachers Pet game 2 – Karen Skull;

Coloretto Mike Oakes.