CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 01/12/2011

1.       9 players showed up tonight. To start on table 1 Geoff led a group of 4 playing “OREGON”, the game about settlers making their way across Oregon, which has been reviewed before. The winner was Kevin, with Rob a resounding last.

2.        Table 2 saw Tony leading a group of 5 players in the game “TIME PIRATES”. In this game players move around time zones and collect tokens in 5 different colours, representing continents. They eventually trade these in for larger scoring tokens and return to their time travels. However whenever a player chooses to re-stock a Time zone by drawing tiles from the bag there is the risk that the Time Police will turn out to chase the explorers. If players are in the same zone as the Police at the start of their turn they have to give up any ‘joker’ tokens and one from their biggest collection of tiles. Eventually 8 Police tiles are drawn and the round ends and scoring occurs. This process is repeated a further 2 times to determine a winner. Poppy and Jerry collected sets readily and exchanged them to gain control of some continents, which scored them good points in the first 2 rounds, with Tony, Mike and Roger trailing badly. In the final round Poppy secured an extra 2 bonus points for a continent, which was enough to give her victory over her Dad, a fitting result on the eve of her 11^th Birthday. Many happy returns Poppy!!“

3.       With the arrival of Jeremy Table 1 saw 5 players involved in a game of “INCAN GOLD”, much to the delight of Rob once again, as this is a game he rarely loses, and this proved to be the case once again, with a comprehensive victory.

4.       On Table 2 Mike led a group of 5 in the quick card game “5 ALIVE!”, in which the aim is not to play a card that would put the total over 21, as if you do you lose one of your 5 lives. There are many ‘modifier’ cards in the special pack, which change direction, reset the running total, make players miss turns and even a killer card, which causes all other players to lose a life if they don’t possess a zero card in their hand. Much laughter was generated as Mike was first to be eliminated, quickly followed by Poppy, then Roger. Tony and Jerry fought out the final duel, again to a backdrop of laughter, and Jerry was the eventual winner. A lightweight family game which gives a lot of fun.

5.       On table 1 Geoff led a group of 4 playing “TOBAGO”, which has been described before. Jeremy was making his debut in the game but quickly picked up plenty of high-scoring treasures, which led to a clear-cut victory by 10 points from Rob, with Geoff 3^rd and Mike 4^th

6.       The remaining 3 players played “GALAXY TRUCKER” as an introduction to the game of many pieces. Players use ‘pipes’ to construct their spaceships to their own design, equip it with batteries, boosters, weaponry etc and then move around space collecting cargo and fighting off meteor storms and pirates. Due to time constraints the game had to finish early but Tony, with his prior knowledge , was declared the winner. 

Games played and Winners were:

Oregon- Kevin Ward;

Time Pirates – Poppy Jabelman;

Incan Gold – Rob Piesse;

5 Alive! – Jerry Jabelman;

Tobago – Jeremy Hurault;

Galaxy Trucker- Tony Simons.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 10/11/2011

1.       12 players showed up tonight. To start on table 1 Mike led a group of 3 playing “TROYES”, the mediaeval game about placing your citizens in buildings to gain most VPs. The game was reviewed recently so is not repeated here. New visitor Daniel enjoyed his first game with us but with an astounding haul of 18 points from his Secret agenda card Rob Piesse won the game easily with a score of 46 points. Mike and Daniel tied on 28 points.

2.        Table 2 saw 4 players in the Traders and Barbarian variant of “SEAFARERS SETTLERS OF CATAN”. As always scoring was very close in this game but Poppy finally emerged as the winner.

3.       Table 3 saw 5 players involved in a game of “CARSON CITY”, the wild west game, led by Tony. Using a system similar to CAYLUS the game is about placing your gunfighters in different action squares on the board, if you have the requisite money, and then the actions are resolved one by one. The squares give the players money, weapons, building privileges etc. Many gunfights ensue, which greatly influence the game. Players also try to build certain buildings which bring revenue and other benefits. The game took over 2 hours to play and received a mixed reception. The eventual winner was Kevin.

4.       On Table 1 Mike Daniel and Rob played a quick game of “MAMMA MIA!”, the pizza-making card game, as they waited for other games to finish. Mike and Rob scored well in the first round but Daniel made a storming comeback in rounds 2 and 3 to snatch victory and he cooked all his pizzas.

5.       The remaining 5 players finished the session with the dice game “SUSHIWOK IM GOCKELWOK”, which has been reviewed before. Much laughter was generated by the pseudo-oriental accents and the pinching of tiles from each other. To his great surprise Kevin managed to snaek a close win right at the last second. 

Games played and Winners were:

Troyes- Rob Piesse;

Seafarers Settlers – Poppy Jabelman;

Carson City – Kevin Ward;

Mamma Mia! - Daniel Vandenburg ;

Sushiwok Im Gockelwok – Kevin Ward.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 03/11/2011

1.       With a bumper attendance of 14 all 3 tables were in play and lots of games were played. To start on table 1 Tony led a group playing “FAST FLOWING FOREST FELLERS”. In this game each player has 2 loggers, one male and one female and they have different movement abilities shown on cards. Players shuffle their pack of cards and choose 3 at random, from which they will play 1 and then replenish. The ‘track’ depicts a river flowing downstream in a series of hexes and the players move the number of hexes according to the card they play. If they end their turn on a  hex containing  arrows indicating they move 1 addition hex in that direction.  Some are favourable, most are not. Additionally some logs are placed in the river at the start to form a sort of barrier to progress but with the correct strength of card the players can ‘shove’ the logs into the path of other loggers, to slow them down. Quite an amusing game which is pitched at the family level. Tony was the winner.

2.       Table 2 saw 5 players involved in a game of “DOMINION”, the card-deck building game. Peregrine the visitor had brought along his large boxed set so a scenario was chosen to introduce new players to the game. The first game was close but Kevin eventually emerged victorious on his debut.

3.       With the arrival of Chris the players played another game of “DOMINION”, this time with a more elaborate scenario involving Alchemy. It seems that this was much more difficult to play and took longer to complete. The eventual winner was Peregrine.

4.       On table 3 Mike introduced 3 other players to the Ystari game “YS”. This game is a combination of secret auctions to gain territorial control and a stock market manipulation, all of which generate victory points. In a game that last only 4 turns there is much for the players to consider. Very briefly they have a series of 9 brokers, in values 0-4,  which they place upon the various locations in the city of YS, or in the various parts of the stock market. The purpose of the placement is to gain control of a territory , or to influence the stock market in their favour. However in a neat twist they have to place one broker face-up and one face-down, so other players do not fully know what your strength is in a particular area. In a game turn players’ place 8 of their tokens so you cannot do everything you want. The parts of the city are evaluated and the gains issued to the winners. These can be gems of their choice, a fixed amount of VPs, a card to use of their next turn to assist their cause or a black gem, which counts for game end scoring. Once the city is evaluated the stock market placements are resolved , which allocate gems to winning players, and the prices of all 4 types of gem are adjusted upwards or downwards accordingly. The gems are hidden behind a player’s screen as they are used to determine the victory points at the end. Play continues in this fashion for 4 turns and then end game scoring occurs. Players earn points for the number of black gems they have collected. Then the 4 types of gems are evaluated, with the highest value one being scored first. Players reveal their holdings and points are awarded in the sequence 24, 18,12,6 for places 1-4. In similar fashion the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th gem colour is scored but in reduced values. These final scores can dramatically affect the result, as players with the highest holding in say the 2 highest valued gems can gain 44 points and shoot along the VP track. Much to admire in this game, which provided plenty of replay value. Alister led toward the end with his commercial sections scoring well by clever use of one of his cards. However Jeremy concentrated on building the Port sections and gathered lots of black stones , which gave him 20 points at Game end, enough for a close victory. Paul was a respectable third place but Mike was hopelessly last….again !!

5.       Table 1 played the Motor Racing game “DAYTONA 500”, a classic of its day, setting the tone for the later generations of car racing games. Players play cards from their hand to move the depicted colour car shown a specific number of spaces. They are trying to hinder the progress of their opponents whilst obtaining the best outcome for themselves. Blocking occurs, especially through the narrow corners, where the unlucky victims are forced wide and lose valuable spaces. The eventual winner was Tony.

6.       Table 3 continued their night of Ystari games with “BOMBAY”, a lightweight family game of using elephants to visit depots to pick up goods of various colours and then deliver them to a city that wants that particular goods. Players are restricted to 3 Action Points per turn, and some actions cost money so progress is not as swift as they would like. Alister built his 5 palaces very early and received money(VP) from the bank every time a player passed through his palaces, building up a nice score. The others attempted to deliver goods to the 4 cities on the board, gaining money and tokens for doing so.  Jeremy did best at this, always seeming to deliver a type of goods that attracted the highest return. When all players have had 4 actions in a turn a new round is started, the markets are re-seeded with goods and a new round begins. After 4 completed turns Game End scoring occurs for the number of Palaces and Guides each player has collected, and the Number of different cities visited. Despite his early lead Alister was caught again near the end by Jeremy.

7.       On Table 2 the return of “INCAN GOLD” took place, much to the delight of Rob, as this is one of his favourite games. A card game in which Gems cards and Disaster cards are turned over and players decide whether to take flight with the treasure they have stored in their tent so far, or stay for another round to increase their haul, but running the risk of a 5^th Disaster card  turning up, and losing the lot !!. Not surprisingly Rob ran out the eventual winner.

8.       On Table 1 only 3 players remained so Tony introduced “IF WISHES WERE FISHES”, a game about fishermen catching the highest value fish and then trying to sell them for the best prices. Of course the other players will try and hinder this so things are not straightforward. The most intriguing thing seemed to be the purple worms with which players lure away the fish from each other. In a close finish Kevin won with 83 points, with Geoff and Tony both on 82, always the sign of a good game. A bit childish in appearance but it seems there is a gamer’s game lurking in there , judging by the comments of the players.

9.       Table 3 were reduced to 3 players also so Mike introduced the others to a quick game of “TUTANCHAMUN” by Reiner Knizia. Players start on the designated number on the scoring mask (26 in our case)and are trying to be first to reach zero. A quirky game where artefacts in different value and distribution are placed ‘snake-like’ leading to an altar. In turn players move their piece from the back of the ‘snake’ to an artefact and claim it for themselves. However they cannot go backwards to claim artefacts they have passed. Once all the tokens for a particular artefact have been collected it is scored, the player with the most of that type gain its value, 2^nd gains half value and third(if present) gains half again. Play continues in this way with players scoring at different rates and intervals until one player reaches the zero target. Paul collected some high-scoring sets and looked certain to win until Mike and Jeremy scored some lower valued sets frequently and closed the gap. Eventually Mike reached 6 points and managed to close a type with exactly that value to snatch a win, much to Paul’s disgust.

10.   Table 2 were last to finish on a marathon night, by playing “ZOOLORETTO”, the game about filling enclosures in your zoo with animals of the same type. The game has been reviewed before so is not repeated here. The final scores were extremely close, these being Chris 30, Rob 29, Peregrine 28, Roger 25.

Games played and Winners were:

Fast Flowing Forest Fellers- Tony Simons;

Dominion game 1 – Kevin Ward;

Dominion game 2 – Peregrine the visitor;

Ys – Jeremy Hurault;

Daytona 500 – Tony Simons;

Bombay - Jeremy Hurault ;

Incan Gold- Rob Piesse;

If Wishes were Fishes – Kevin Ward;

Tutanchamun – Mike Oakes;

Zooloretto – Chris Cook.

CHIPPENHAM BOARDGAMES CLUB – 27/10/2011

1.       With 10 players in attendance tonight we split into 2 groups of 5. Tony had already arranged for his group to play “STEAM”, the slightly easier version of “Age of Steam”. He explained the game to the others, most of whom were playing it for the first time. The game mechanics are well-known, based upon choosing an action from the available options each turn and then executing those in turn order. Players can extend their lines, upgrade their engine to a more powerful one, deliver goods first to gain revenue etc. The path to victory depends upon spotting where to build, when to upgrade, and there will be conflict for routes throughout the game. Not surprisingly Tony’s experience enabled him to win the game but all the other players thoroughly enjoyed the game.

2.       Table 2 saw the other 5 players also involved in a railway game of sorts, this being “ON THE UNDERGROUND”. In this game the players have the ability to construct 2 different coloured lines upon the map of the London Underground system, with the purpose of moving the sole passenger in the game along their lines to gain victory points. The route the passenger will take each turn is determined by examining the 4 destinations currently in play and placing your 4 pieces of track to the best advantage. Sometimes it is necessary to use the other player’s lines in order to make points yourself and this gives the game a co-operative flavour. There are other ways to score victory points, these being to connect to national rail stations for 1 point, to build into a terminus for 2 points and gain a branch line token(more later), to connect stations on the board which contain 2 like icons for 3 points, and most rarely to construct a circular loop and score points according to how many stations you enclose. Players use their branch line tokens to build track away from their existing routes to take advantage of new opportunities that arise from the card display. Scoring was very close throughout and at one stage 4 of the 5 players were all tied for the lead with the 5^th player close behind. Mike was one piece of track away from completing a loop which would have scored 8 points but Jerry noticed it just in time and built upon the very track section that Mike wanted…taking one for the team!!. The players jostled for the lead until the destination cards ran out and Mike thought he had done just enough to win but Roger built a final terminus to gain 2 points and snatch victory by one point, with Poppy just a further point behind in 3^rd place.

3.       On table 1 Tony led the players in the card game “BOHNANZA”, the game about planting fields of beans and trading with the other players to turn these into gold. The unique thing about this card game is that when you receive cards into hand( 3 each turn), you are NOT allowed to order them, and they must be placed at the back of the hand when drawn. This means that to get the cards to the front that you want to play in your turn you must trade with other players to get them ‘out of the way’. The trading element is good fun as offers and counter offers are made between the current player and the others. A neat system and a good little filler which plays in around 45 minutes. Jeremy was the eventual winner.

4.       Table 2 saw 4 players ending the session with the business game “TYCOON”. In this game players buy flight tickets to enable them to jet around the world to any of the 9 international cities in the game, and then they can build either hotels or factories in that city. On subsequent turns they can expand this empire or fly off to another city and build there. In this way the ‘control’ of a city constantly changes and players have to keep an eye on their competitors. Once any one player has built their first 6 hotels a Payday occurs at the end of the round and players earn money for the presence in the cities, the individual city control is scored for 1^st and 2^nd place and factories receive revenue depending upon the progress made in that city. A further 6 hotels are added to the player’s portfolio and a 2^nd and 3^rd rounds are played until the final hotel is built. If players run out of money(very easy to do) they must fly off the board and take out one loan. This constitutes their turn and sometimes they have to stay off the board and take out a further loan to fund their future building plans. Loans can be repaid with interest when a Payday occurs or they can be extended until the next Payday when they must be repaid but at a more punitive interest rate. The game ends on the 3^rd Payday and when all income has been received and loans repaid in full the winner is the one with the most money. Rob built his factories in cities which he then expanded to be the most progressive and he scored heavily in 2 cities to enable him to cruise to victory by a wide margin, with Mike 2^nd, Kevin 3^rd and Roger 4^th.

Games played and Winners were:

Steam- Tony Simons;

On the Underground- Roger Scull;

Bohnanza- Jeremy Hurault

Tycoon- Rob Piesse.