CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 30/05/2013

Winner - Mike	Winner - Roger "the Visitor"	Winner - Kevin	Winner - Roger "the Visitor"
John	John	Lucy	Mike
Roger	Mike	Roger	John
Roger "the Visitor"
Kevin

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 23/05/2013

Just six people at the club this week. Tony, Paul, Jeremy and Kevin devoted the night to Terra Mystica, with Paul using his Nomad ‘sandstorm’ special skill to good use to win the game. Mike and Roger played San Juan and Great Wall of China with Mike coming out on top in both games.

Terra Mystica. Photo provided by Anthony Simons.

Games played and winners were:

Winner - Mike	Winner - Mike	Winner - Paul
Roger	Roger	Tony
		Jeremy
		Kevin

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 16/05/2013

9 people enjoyed some great games at the club this week. The big game of the evening was Terra Mystica: Tony, Paul and Roger played this one with Tony taking the win. Dave’s Dice Game was play tested four times by Dave and Tommy with honours even at two games each. They went on to play Dominant Species: The Card Game which Dave won. Mike, Allister, John and Kevin played the Princes of Florence and had enough time for a game of Nefertiti too. John or Mike (I can’t remember! - help me out someone?) won Princes of Florence and Kevin came from way behind to snatch an unlikely victory from Mike by one point in Nefertiti.

Games played and winners were:

Dave’s Top Secret Play Test Dice Game - Tommy 2 wins, Dave Mortimer 2 wins;
Dominant Species: The Card Game - Dave Mortimer;
Terra Mystica - Anthony Simons;
The Princes of Florence - John or Mike?;
Nefertiti - Kevin Shaw.

3 years ago this week...
1. As we were only 6 players we played 2 long games tonight. First up was the classic game of 'Acquire'. This game is about investing in chains of hotels and acquiring shares in them which hopefully will rise in value. Eventually 2 chains will merge and the shareholders of the chain taken over receive a bonus for the majority shareholder and for the minority shareholder and they then have options to cash in their shares for money or swap them on a 2 for 1 basis in the new larger chain. Money becomes quite tight as the chains develop and the early lead was held by Tony and Richard. Roger and Mike were strapped for cash as they waited for their chains to be taken over to raise much-needed revenue. However the long-term strategy paid off as Mike’s shares in the largest chain earned him enough money to pinch a victory by a narrow margin from Geoff.

2. Second game was 'Jet Set', a game of building routes around Europe, placing planes on them and then flying the routes to gain the matching flight card, which gives victory points in the end. There are many combinations of departure and arrival cities, making for some difficult decisions about which routes to go for, when to raise income, when to expand the routes etc. In another close finish Richard beat Tony by 2 points, with Robert just a further point behind.

Games played and winners were:

Acquire - Mike Oakes;
Jet Set - Richard Piesse.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 09/05/2013

This week a total of 6 people turned up. Tony, Allister, Roger, Paul and Kevin play tested a dice game designed by Dave. I can’t give too much away so all I’ll say is the game was well received by all with victory going to Allister. Dave then made the numbers up to 6 and we played a new game to all of us, Richard Breese and Sebastian Bleasdale’s ‘Keyflower’. After a lengthy rules explanation we sprang into action and started to build our settlements over four seasons. When winter came it looked as if Tony’s gold rush would land him the win but it was Allister that came out on top by one point.

Games played and winners were :

Dave’s Top Secret Play Test Dice Game - Allister Gittins;
Keyflower - Allister Gittins.

It seems the second week in May is when Allister comes out of hibernation and starts winning because 3 years ago this week...
1. We started with a 7-player game of "11 NIMMT", a card game we had played before but we needed to introduce our new members to it. Richard won the first 2 rounds and as Chris had arrived we called an early halt so that we could split into 2 groups of 4.

2. On table 1 Mike introduced 3 players to a game called "Princes of Florence", about building a suitable mixture of buildings and landscapes in your palace so that your personnel can create great works and earn you Prestige Points. The game involves an auction round to bid for the items you want to enhance your palace and then an Action Round when players construct their palace. The points generated by the personnel are recorded on a score track and at the end of just 7 turns the player with the most Prestige Points is the winner. The interesting part of the game is how you fit all the buildings and landscapes into your courtyard. There are many different ways to achieve this so the game bears thinking about. Allister created 6 works in his palace which enabled him to win, just beating newcomer Lucy by 2 points.

3. This group then played "Incan Gold" which is becoming a favourite in the club. The newcomers thought it was hilarious and it looked as if Lucy was going to win until Allister had a great last round to snatch victory from her.

4. On table 2 the group played "Puerto Rico", a highly rated game, which Richard won.

5. They then started a recent game called "Tobago" which some had not played before. An unusual game about playing cards which give clues as to the whereabouts of hidden treasure. Once the treasure location has been determined players rush to pick it up and get a share of the spoils, and the player with the most treasure points wins. A neat game, in which Richard won again.

6. We finished with 8 players playing a game of "The Great Dalmuti", a card game about getting rid of all your cards. The starting player lays a group of cards but each subsequent player must play the same number of cards but in a lower value, or pass. E.g. 3 x 10’s, followed by 3 x 7’s followed by 3 x 4’s. This continues until no player can play. They then start the next round until eventually all the players have emptied their hands and points are awarded. The sequence in which players empty their hands determines where the players sit for the next round, and this is important as certain players exchange cards before a round starts. Great fun and hugely enjoyed by all.

Games played and Winners were:

11 Nimmt - Richard Piesse;
Princes of Florence - Allister Gittins;
Incan Gold - Allister Gittins;
Puerto Rico - Richard Piesse;
Tobago - Richard Piesse;
The Great Dalmuti - Allister Gittins.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB - 02/05/2013

This week Mark ‘The Visitor’ joined us again and walked away with an impressive victory in an evening long play of the ground breaking worker placement game ‘Caylus’. A late burst sent his prestige point total way beyond the reach of Richard, Roger and Mike.

Ginkgopolis end game. Photo provided by Anthony Simons.

On the second table Jeremy taught Paul, Tony and Kevin another city building game ‘Ginkgopolis’. This time it was a futuristic city made up of piles of tiles. Kevin won this one but had no idea how he managed it. This group then went on to play the original version of the well regarded card game ‘Glory to Rome’. Everyone had different strategies; Jeremy used his merchants to fill his vault, Kevin built the forum and tried to gather together all the clientele, Tony tried to build a sewer for the majority of the game and Paul... well Paul built lots of things including the catacombs which ended the game. With Kevin failing to attract a craftsman to his clientele it was Jeremy who grabbed the glory with a vault full to bursting.

Games played and winners were:

Ginkgopolis - Kevin Shaw;
Caylus - Mark the visitor;
Glory to Rome - Paul Bulpin.

3 years ago this week... nothing... not sure what was going on.