Thursday 15 September 2011

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 15/09/2011



1.       Only 7 players in attendance tonight so we split into 2 groups. On table 1 Mike introduced Rob and Roger to the strange game of “FISCHE FLUPPEN FRICKADELLEN”. The object of the game is to obtain 3 different fetishes. These are purchased from the Fetish Dealer, with each level requiring different commodities, such as 3 of a kind; 4 of a kind, 5 of a kind. To obtain the commodities the players move their playing piece around the board to visit either Merchants which sell the commodities, or by going to a Trader, where they can swap commodities, normally on a 2-for-1 basis. There is a clever market pricing system, in which the price the player pays to buy at is reduced one level for each token present at the merchant. In this way if there are say 3 tokens present and the price is 50, the player can buy at 3 levels below, i.e. 20 each. They can then sell these at a different merchant who will buy that commodity at the higher price and make a profit. However, whenever a commodity is sold its market price drops, making them cheaper for the other players. The movement system is either by foot or by ferry, and with the latter players can move quite a distance in one turn. There are some tokens available which players can use to either enhance their own turn, or thwart opponents, e.g, an extra 2 movement points this turn, or Closing a particular Merchant shop, so plenty of interaction. Mike and Roger soon gained the commodities they wanted to obtain the first fetish. Rob meanwhile had been obtaining several pairs of different commodities so that later in the game when he visited the Fetish Dealer he was able to collect the 1st and 2nd token in adjacent turns, putting him in the lead. Roger was close to getting what he wanted for a 2nd fetish but Rob closed the merchant he was about to use!. Money became tight for a while as the players moved around the board to get to the Merchant that bought the commodities they had at the time. In the end Mike and Roger got their second fetishes but Rob was well placed to move in for the 3rd, and winning fetish.
2.       With Freya finally turning up for the long-awaited game of “SMALL WORLD” Tony led the group on table 2. Paul started the game but had to leave early so the 3 remaining players started a new game. The game has been reviewed before but briefly each player selects a ‘faction’ to play with, each of which has different abilities to populate and control various regions on the board, for which they score. Eventually they will put their faction into decline and choose another faction to play in subsequent turns. Some of the powers of the factions can be far-reaching so the situation can change rapidly. There are many combinations of factions available, which makes the game very replayable. The long wait paid off for Freya as she emerged as the victor!!
3.       The 6 players then combined to play “MODERN ART”, this time the board game version, not the card game version which was played last week. The basis is still the same, you want to have bought works of art by an artist who has some popularity when a round ends. 5 artists are in play but only 3 will score at the end of a round, so choosing which card to play is vital, as is the amount to you bid at auction. Money is kept hidden at all times and the final total gained determines the winner. Money flowed between players, but sometimes into the bank and it was difficult to predict a winner. However Tony had a strong hand in the artist Karl Gitter in the last round, with which he made loads of money, and this led him to victory with Mike in second place.
Games played and Winners were:
Fische Fluppen Frikadellen – Rob Piesse;
Small World – Freya Freestone;
Modern Art– Tony Simons.

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