The next regular board game night will be Feb. 19th at the Derby Line Village Hall starting at 6 PM.
The next D&D 3.5 night will be on Feb 26th at Richard and Bethany's hosue and will begin when DM Rob and Angela show up (sometime after 6 PM). If you are interested in joining this campaign, please contact Richard or Bethany at trashvacuum@hotmail.com.
Monday, January 17, 2011
A Night of Ghosts and Gallactica
Jan 15th's Border Board Games was a quiet one with Bethany, Richard, Rob, Angela, and Carlo attending. Carlo arrived just as the game, Ghost Stories, was getting started. Richard and Bethany had played Ghost Stories before and had wanted to try again. Rob and Angela brought their copy and provided the opportunity to try this difficult game.
Ghost Stories is a cooperative 4-player game where you each control a monk (or what I call a ninja since each player token looks like a ninja) where you try to keep a village from becoming haunted and making all the inhabitants run away in fear. There are nine tiles you can move your ninja to and each tile allows your ninja to do a special action. Each ninja also has his own special power than can be used on his own turn.
When it is your turn, you draw a ghost card and place it on the board. Some ghosts are difficult to defeat, some not so difficult, and some add 'haunters' to the board. If a haunter reaches the board's edge, a tile is turned over and becomes inactive. If there tiles are turned over, the village has become haunted and the players lose. I'm not sure of other losing conditions.
On your turn, you can move one space and then take an action, either using the tile's action or fighting a ghost. Since a lot of ghosts come out, it seems ninjas spend most of the time fighting ghosts and not using the tiles' powers.
We were able to fend of ghosts pretty well but in the end, three tiles had been turned over and we ended up losing the game before even seeing the big bad ghost to even try to defeat him.
After Ghost Stories, we broke out Battlestar Gallactica complete with all the expansions. Everyone except Angela had played before. Bethany accused Rob of being a cylon even before loyalty cards were dealt. Bethany played Tory as president, Richard played Felix, Rob played Helo as Admiral, Angela played Apollo, and Carlo was Galen. It was tough determining who the trader or traders were although, as the game got near the end, it was suspected that Rob was a cylon. Carlo suggested that Rob/Helo be put in the airlock and Bethany/Tory felt that was an excellent idea. The skill check didn't pass and Rob/Helo remained alive. It was curious that there were about half the cards in favor of airlocking Rob and about half that weren't which made me (Bethany) suspect there was another trader but not sure who.
Rob/Helo then revealed himself as a cylon (see! Bethany was right!)and he tried to work his evil powers to bring the Gallactica down. And then shortly after, at Rob's urging, Angela revealed herself as a cylon too! But it was too late and Gallactica managed to jump to Kobol.
This game of Gallactica seemed a bit unusual in that Gallactica's resources didn't drain as quickly as they normally seem to, therefore, the game was in favor of the humans. We didn't play for 11 hours although I'm sure Carlo would have been happy if we did.
Ghost Stories is a cooperative 4-player game where you each control a monk (or what I call a ninja since each player token looks like a ninja) where you try to keep a village from becoming haunted and making all the inhabitants run away in fear. There are nine tiles you can move your ninja to and each tile allows your ninja to do a special action. Each ninja also has his own special power than can be used on his own turn.
When it is your turn, you draw a ghost card and place it on the board. Some ghosts are difficult to defeat, some not so difficult, and some add 'haunters' to the board. If a haunter reaches the board's edge, a tile is turned over and becomes inactive. If there tiles are turned over, the village has become haunted and the players lose. I'm not sure of other losing conditions.
On your turn, you can move one space and then take an action, either using the tile's action or fighting a ghost. Since a lot of ghosts come out, it seems ninjas spend most of the time fighting ghosts and not using the tiles' powers.
We were able to fend of ghosts pretty well but in the end, three tiles had been turned over and we ended up losing the game before even seeing the big bad ghost to even try to defeat him.
After Ghost Stories, we broke out Battlestar Gallactica complete with all the expansions. Everyone except Angela had played before. Bethany accused Rob of being a cylon even before loyalty cards were dealt. Bethany played Tory as president, Richard played Felix, Rob played Helo as Admiral, Angela played Apollo, and Carlo was Galen. It was tough determining who the trader or traders were although, as the game got near the end, it was suspected that Rob was a cylon. Carlo suggested that Rob/Helo be put in the airlock and Bethany/Tory felt that was an excellent idea. The skill check didn't pass and Rob/Helo remained alive. It was curious that there were about half the cards in favor of airlocking Rob and about half that weren't which made me (Bethany) suspect there was another trader but not sure who.
Rob/Helo then revealed himself as a cylon (see! Bethany was right!)and he tried to work his evil powers to bring the Gallactica down. And then shortly after, at Rob's urging, Angela revealed herself as a cylon too! But it was too late and Gallactica managed to jump to Kobol.
This game of Gallactica seemed a bit unusual in that Gallactica's resources didn't drain as quickly as they normally seem to, therefore, the game was in favor of the humans. We didn't play for 11 hours although I'm sure Carlo would have been happy if we did.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Lest old acquaintance be forgot....
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Our monthly D&D game was advanced owing to scheduling conflicts at month's end and it turned out to be the final night for two more of our companions. With Ken's departure in December, we also ran out of Joshes. Both original Josh and J-Roc were counted out though OJ did attend to see his character go out in a blaze of glory.
The heroes have actually adventured twice since the last report. In the interim the group had found itself transported into a bleak and desolate future. The lands were barren and rife with all manner of gigantic, fell vermin. The place was also crawling with barbarous inhabitants, disguised as human beings. The men were clad in the finest mithral gear, certainly such a wealth of it that our party was near blinded by the stuff. We encountered a young, arrogant guardsman who, while we had hoped would serve as our guide in this strange place, would instead prove a foil to all our efforts.
After narrowly escaping the confines of the wretched human city, a city we later learned as poisoned by perfect Order, we made our ways to the haunted mines, there to seek the precious Gem of Night which would help us defeat the dark lord Baleron. Our monk Yama made off after an encountered with enormous ants and our guide/prisoner would later prove as treacherous as the landscape.
We had barely bested a huge spider when we encountered what remained of this region's elves. It had appeared that we have traveled through time once again, into a future where baleron had isolated Order from Chaos. It was this dissection that created the extremes of terrain and climate that so troubled those of us with a bent for nature. From these subterranean elves we learned that Baleron's efforts had spawned not one but FOUR Tarrasques. The dread creatures were wending their way back to the wicked mage seeking to do battle with him. sadly, though these titanic forces might well destroy one another, their battle would also very likely kill everyone and everything else as well.
sadly the elves who had managed to draw one of Baleron's Order stones back into the caverns also brought with them a troop of the perverse humans. They quickly freed their kinsmen and set in motion a dire chase through the darkness. At last, just as the remainder of the party stepped into portals to flee the attack, Amra the barbarian spotted the human traitor. Flying into one of his trademark rages, he smote the vicious creature only to be felled by the arrows of the man's kinsmen.
Our numbers much reduced, those of us remaining have pledged to carry on and seek the gem and bring an end to Baleron's tyranny before his machinations spell the ruin of us all....
The heroes have actually adventured twice since the last report. In the interim the group had found itself transported into a bleak and desolate future. The lands were barren and rife with all manner of gigantic, fell vermin. The place was also crawling with barbarous inhabitants, disguised as human beings. The men were clad in the finest mithral gear, certainly such a wealth of it that our party was near blinded by the stuff. We encountered a young, arrogant guardsman who, while we had hoped would serve as our guide in this strange place, would instead prove a foil to all our efforts.
After narrowly escaping the confines of the wretched human city, a city we later learned as poisoned by perfect Order, we made our ways to the haunted mines, there to seek the precious Gem of Night which would help us defeat the dark lord Baleron. Our monk Yama made off after an encountered with enormous ants and our guide/prisoner would later prove as treacherous as the landscape.
We had barely bested a huge spider when we encountered what remained of this region's elves. It had appeared that we have traveled through time once again, into a future where baleron had isolated Order from Chaos. It was this dissection that created the extremes of terrain and climate that so troubled those of us with a bent for nature. From these subterranean elves we learned that Baleron's efforts had spawned not one but FOUR Tarrasques. The dread creatures were wending their way back to the wicked mage seeking to do battle with him. sadly, though these titanic forces might well destroy one another, their battle would also very likely kill everyone and everything else as well.
sadly the elves who had managed to draw one of Baleron's Order stones back into the caverns also brought with them a troop of the perverse humans. They quickly freed their kinsmen and set in motion a dire chase through the darkness. At last, just as the remainder of the party stepped into portals to flee the attack, Amra the barbarian spotted the human traitor. Flying into one of his trademark rages, he smote the vicious creature only to be felled by the arrows of the man's kinsmen.
Our numbers much reduced, those of us remaining have pledged to carry on and seek the gem and bring an end to Baleron's tyranny before his machinations spell the ruin of us all....
Games 'til You Puke at Last
There has been considerable delay in posting a report of the fun and mayhem at GtYP, a hopefully annual gaming event at The Lair. It was certainly a smaller crowd than attended the memorial Day GtYP event but that did nothing to diminish the fun. Carlo headed down from places north while Homer and the Crew and Josh ventured out of Newport.
It was an opportunity for the Creasers to break out some of their newly acquired games. All of the new games hit one table or the other at some point during the day. Despite being her own concave/convex copy, Beth did not fare well as the treacherous two headed snake in Betrayal at House on the Hill. The heroes, consisting of Josh, Homer and Carlo, were able to stop her reptilian rampage.
Meanwhile, Alexis, Zeke and I engaged in a few crazy hands of Cockroach Poker. For anyone not familiar with this card game, it is a simple game of lying and passing the bug. I'm sure that it likely plays differently with more than three people but, with three, the level of interaction is frequent and high keeping everyone engaged.
Also hitting the table was my new copy of Carson City. I had foolishly thought I had built up my gunfighting skills sufficient to run away with the game. Homer, having scored all of one point in the previous three rounds, won a pair of crucial duels leading up to the final 5 for 1 point payday and crept by me winning 39-38 for the win. For their first game Kim, Alexis and Zeke held their own. It is definitely a game that requires a few plays in order to develop a sense of what strategies exist and how to coordinate character role selection with the strategy of choice.
Alexis, Kim, Homer and I also played a few rounds of Forbidden Island. Our first foray was an unmitigated disaster. Among the six tile cards immediately drawn were both of the Sphinx treasure tiles as well as Fool's Landing. Though we had helicopter lifts and sandbags, there was simply too much to do in so short a time. Play started with Alexis and made it through Kim and then to Homer when the first "Waters Rise!" card appeared. By the time my turn came around both of the Sphinx tiles were again flooded and then I drew the second "Waters Rise!" to end the game. Our second game ended more favorably with the crew narrowly escaping the encroaching flood waters. While much of the board had sunk beneath the waves, Fool's Landing and a few other tiles remained afloat long enough to gather everyone for the flight home.
Josh, Carlo, Beth and Zeke engaged in a game of Goblin Wars. Beyond it being a card laying game, there isn't much I can say about how it plays or even who won. During a fly-through to secure some snacks I did notice that all four players had quite the collection of cards laid out before them.
Early in the day we had a rousing eight-man throw down game of Bang! incorporating the Wild West Show. Sheriff Beth had whittled down the enemies until it was merely a contest between her and the renegade Big Spence (Homer) when everyone came back to life again. The contest ended with the outlaws victorious.
In a second match using Wild West Show and High Noon I was the sheriff and, though the forces of evil were on the ropes, my deputy misplayed one final card and gave the victory to the outlaws. I was down to a single life point with no cards in hand, both deputies were alive and Outlaw Zeke looked to be headed for Boot Hill. Then Deputy Beth played Indians and killed the outlaw and the sheriff giving the win to the wrong side.
The long awaited colonial throw-down in Age of Empires III ended in a most peculiar fashion. All four players had very respectable point totals with even the lowest total, Zeke's 77 points, normally being enough for the win. I managed to pull away in the final rounds with several key first place finishes in the colonies. A respectable trade good income round of point scoring didn't hurt either. The early pick-up of the Age I merchant provided me with enough money to continue to develop a strong base of development tiles. Britain ran away with the lead scoring 125 points followed by Homer's Spanish at 95, Josh's Dutch at 85 and Zeke's French at 77. It was very strange in that everyone appeared to be flush with cash throughout the game. Zeke's economy was sluggish but he more than compensated by nailing some of the highest yielding soldier explorations. Indeed, in one round alone his conquest netted him more than 20 coins.
While some of us were busy rewriting history, Beth, Carlo, Kim and Alexis were finding out the problems inherent in occupying a Small World. The game was played using the limited edition Necromancer's island rules that Carlo brought along. It was a closely fought contest that ended in a tie between Beth and Kim. A quick trip through the rule book determined the way to break a tie and Beth won by the narrowest of margins.
We also worked in a game of A La Carte earlier in the day. I managed to get the win but only by ruining Homer's blue plate special and inadvertently burning a chocolate mousse. The Little Blonde Girl (Alexis) once again showed her cutthroat side in a contest of Palazzo. Admittedly we have not played many games of Palazzo but Alexis' feat remains, none the less, quite impressive. She managed to construct a perfect brick palace to score an untouchable 27 points with a single building. She had also started work on a more modest palace but the points from her first building alone prove3d sufficient to wipe the rest of us from the board. Indeed, Kim, Homer and I were lucky enough to get some two storey buildings up to avoid the negative five point loss when the last Emperor's Emissary tile came out.
This year's GtYP was put together rather quickly, given that we had a drive back from Nova Scotia to accomplish before we could even dream of hosting. In spite of that, it was a day filled with games, laughter, good-natured outrage and, much to our delight as hosts, no puking. We will certainly look forward to hosting another GtYP event, perhaps again looking at memorial Day weekend to do so. We will keep you posted.
It was an opportunity for the Creasers to break out some of their newly acquired games. All of the new games hit one table or the other at some point during the day. Despite being her own concave/convex copy, Beth did not fare well as the treacherous two headed snake in Betrayal at House on the Hill. The heroes, consisting of Josh, Homer and Carlo, were able to stop her reptilian rampage.
Meanwhile, Alexis, Zeke and I engaged in a few crazy hands of Cockroach Poker. For anyone not familiar with this card game, it is a simple game of lying and passing the bug. I'm sure that it likely plays differently with more than three people but, with three, the level of interaction is frequent and high keeping everyone engaged.
Also hitting the table was my new copy of Carson City. I had foolishly thought I had built up my gunfighting skills sufficient to run away with the game. Homer, having scored all of one point in the previous three rounds, won a pair of crucial duels leading up to the final 5 for 1 point payday and crept by me winning 39-38 for the win. For their first game Kim, Alexis and Zeke held their own. It is definitely a game that requires a few plays in order to develop a sense of what strategies exist and how to coordinate character role selection with the strategy of choice.
Alexis, Kim, Homer and I also played a few rounds of Forbidden Island. Our first foray was an unmitigated disaster. Among the six tile cards immediately drawn were both of the Sphinx treasure tiles as well as Fool's Landing. Though we had helicopter lifts and sandbags, there was simply too much to do in so short a time. Play started with Alexis and made it through Kim and then to Homer when the first "Waters Rise!" card appeared. By the time my turn came around both of the Sphinx tiles were again flooded and then I drew the second "Waters Rise!" to end the game. Our second game ended more favorably with the crew narrowly escaping the encroaching flood waters. While much of the board had sunk beneath the waves, Fool's Landing and a few other tiles remained afloat long enough to gather everyone for the flight home.
Josh, Carlo, Beth and Zeke engaged in a game of Goblin Wars. Beyond it being a card laying game, there isn't much I can say about how it plays or even who won. During a fly-through to secure some snacks I did notice that all four players had quite the collection of cards laid out before them.
Early in the day we had a rousing eight-man throw down game of Bang! incorporating the Wild West Show. Sheriff Beth had whittled down the enemies until it was merely a contest between her and the renegade Big Spence (Homer) when everyone came back to life again. The contest ended with the outlaws victorious.
In a second match using Wild West Show and High Noon I was the sheriff and, though the forces of evil were on the ropes, my deputy misplayed one final card and gave the victory to the outlaws. I was down to a single life point with no cards in hand, both deputies were alive and Outlaw Zeke looked to be headed for Boot Hill. Then Deputy Beth played Indians and killed the outlaw and the sheriff giving the win to the wrong side.
The long awaited colonial throw-down in Age of Empires III ended in a most peculiar fashion. All four players had very respectable point totals with even the lowest total, Zeke's 77 points, normally being enough for the win. I managed to pull away in the final rounds with several key first place finishes in the colonies. A respectable trade good income round of point scoring didn't hurt either. The early pick-up of the Age I merchant provided me with enough money to continue to develop a strong base of development tiles. Britain ran away with the lead scoring 125 points followed by Homer's Spanish at 95, Josh's Dutch at 85 and Zeke's French at 77. It was very strange in that everyone appeared to be flush with cash throughout the game. Zeke's economy was sluggish but he more than compensated by nailing some of the highest yielding soldier explorations. Indeed, in one round alone his conquest netted him more than 20 coins.
While some of us were busy rewriting history, Beth, Carlo, Kim and Alexis were finding out the problems inherent in occupying a Small World. The game was played using the limited edition Necromancer's island rules that Carlo brought along. It was a closely fought contest that ended in a tie between Beth and Kim. A quick trip through the rule book determined the way to break a tie and Beth won by the narrowest of margins.
We also worked in a game of A La Carte earlier in the day. I managed to get the win but only by ruining Homer's blue plate special and inadvertently burning a chocolate mousse. The Little Blonde Girl (Alexis) once again showed her cutthroat side in a contest of Palazzo. Admittedly we have not played many games of Palazzo but Alexis' feat remains, none the less, quite impressive. She managed to construct a perfect brick palace to score an untouchable 27 points with a single building. She had also started work on a more modest palace but the points from her first building alone prove3d sufficient to wipe the rest of us from the board. Indeed, Kim, Homer and I were lucky enough to get some two storey buildings up to avoid the negative five point loss when the last Emperor's Emissary tile came out.
This year's GtYP was put together rather quickly, given that we had a drive back from Nova Scotia to accomplish before we could even dream of hosting. In spite of that, it was a day filled with games, laughter, good-natured outrage and, much to our delight as hosts, no puking. We will certainly look forward to hosting another GtYP event, perhaps again looking at memorial Day weekend to do so. We will keep you posted.
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