CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 19/05/2011

1.       In addition to 10 members we had a couple of guests this evening. Tony and Sue Balecke from Melksham came along to demonstrate their family board game “GB RACERS”. With Tony explaining the rules 6 players contested a series of races in which movement is as a result of throwing 2 dice and applying the outcome to their 2 cars. By using throws strategically players can land on various ‘bonus’ squares on the track, which grant either grant extra movement to the current player, or by some quirky mechanism to the car that is currently in last place, or the chance to throw the 20-sided “GB” dice to increase movement. There are some tactics to consider as to how to allocate your dice throws and a race seems to take around 30 minutes, sometimes quicker if someone threw a couple of 20’s on the GB dice. Once 3 cars have crossed the finish line points are awarded for all the cards and they are recorded on a score sheet. Further races take place until one player has amassed a total of 77 points and after the final race has been completed the player with the most points is declared the winner. The club members didn’t like the 20-sided dice, feeling that is had to much of an effect, there were some issues with the colours of the squares, but overall not a bad family game. As usual Lucy demonstrated her ability to win most games she plays and was declared the victor.

2.       Tony and Sue Balecke were introduced to some of our games, starting with “ABER BITTE MIT SAHNE” the game about slicing up a cake which was reviewed last week. Both enjoyed the experience, especially as Sue emerged as the winner !

3.       Whilst all the new stuff was being actioned on the other table Table 2 played a 5-player game of the popular share-trading game “SHARK”. Most players thought they were in with a chance of winning until Jerry caused a market crash of shares held by other players, which didn’t affect him and he duly won the game.

4.       Table 2 then played “NAVEGADOR”, with Mike explaining it to 3 others who had not played it. We were time-boxed to complete the full game so we ended it early but most of the stages had been completed. In a close finish there was a tie between Alister and Roger, with the latter winning by being in passion of the ‘Navegador’ tile. Paul didn’t really take to the game and expressed his dismay. Alister was luke-warm at first but accepted that there was some logic to the sequence of play. However Mike loved the game, even though he came last again…just goes to show you can’t please all the people all the time,and that is why we all have favourites and games that we just don’t like.

5.       Table 1 ended their session with “CARCASONNE”, the ever-popular tile-laying game about building a city with surrounding farms and monasteries. Kevin was the eventual winner.

Games played and Winners were:

GB Racers Lucy Newbury;

Piece of Cake Sue Balecke ;

Shark Jerry Jabelman;

Navegador Roger Skull;

Carcasonne Kevin Ward.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 12/05/2011

1.       9 members attended this evening so we split into 2 tables of 5 and 4. Table 1 started with “ABER BITTE MIT SAHNE” the game about slicing up a cake which was reviewed a few weeks ago. Tony and Fiona were the early leaders but Lucy scored an impressive 34 points in round 3, which was matched by Tony. Mike improved in the last round at the expense of Tony, which enabled Lucy to win the game…piece of cake for her really !!

2.       Table 2 opened with the popular “7 WONDERS” which is becoming staple fare. In yet another close finish the final scores were Kevin 46; Geoff 40; Paul 38; Roger 34.

3.       Table 1 then played “TRAUMFABRIK”, the game about filmmaking in Hollywood. Players use contracts to bid at auctions to recruit directors, actors, cameramen, special effects and music all of which go towards completing various films in their studio. Once a film is completed the value of it is scored and then the player receives a victory point chit to that value. If they are the first to complete a particular category of film they receive a statuette scoring 5 victory points. After a complete round an ‘oscar’ worth 5 VP’s is awarded to the player with the current highest scoring film. Play continues in this way for 4 rounds and then final scoring occurs and the player with the most VPs is the winner. By completing a total of 5 films Geoff scored heavily on his chits to secure an easy victory.

4.       Table 2 played “TINNERS TRAIL”, a great game by Martin Wallace based upon the tin and copper mines of Cornwall.  Players have 10 action points to use each turn, which can be spent in many different ways, each using up a certain number of action points. These include building a mine, recruiting miners, building ports, constructing adits, installing water pumps etc. Players are trying to pump water from their mines before they extract the minerals and therefore gain a better yield. Every time they go mining they add more water cubes to the site which makes it become uneconomical. The competition to employ these various actions is the crux of the game and it is driven by a mechanism whereby the player who is ‘last’ in the action chart gets to move next and if they spend action points which moves them ahead then the ‘new last player’ is next to play. This makes decision making quite difficult and players have to view their options closely. After production the players always sell their produce at the appropriate market price, which varies each turn. They then have the option to invest some of their capital in ‘shares’ on a track on the board, these being VPs at the end of the game. They have to keep a certain amount of money back to fund their operations for the next turn, so more decision-making here. The game lasts just 4 turns and packs a real punch. Tony was the winner.

5.       Table 1 ended their session with “TRANSAMERICA”, a simple train game about building tracks across a map of the USA to link the 5 cities which are dealt into your hand at the start of each turn. Players can use 2 points each turn, to lay either 2 single tracks or 1 double track. They build their network up along with the other players and eventually they merge tracks with the other players. Once this is achieved they can build on the end of the new enlarged network, which enables them to reach their objective. Once one player has completed their route the remaining players calculate how many steps they are away from completing their network and these count as points against them, and they move their scoring train along the scoring track. Once any one player has reached the end of the scoring track the game is over and the player who is furthest from the end is declared the winner. Geoff won the first round and then Kevin took over as leader. After a poor start Mike managed to win the last 2 rounds and emerged as the victor, to everyone’s surprise !!   

6.       Table 2 reduced to 3 players and tried the tile-laying game of “CRONBERG”. A hexagonal board is created from triangles and players place their pieces at intersections which they then try to surround by buildings to score points. Comments afterwards seem to imply that the game would have worked better with more players. Roger was the eventual winner.

Games played and Winners were:

Aber Bitte Mit Sahne Lucy Newbury;

7 Wonders Kevin Ward;

Traumfabrik Geoff Williams;

Tinners Trail Tony Simons;

Transamerica Mike Oakes;

Cronberg Roger Skull.