I've been lax in keeping the blog current so I'm making up for it today with a graphic recounting of the annual Border Board Games horror fest. It's been our tradition to break out our monster themed games in October because, well, monster games are cool. We were pleased to have some travelers from away as well as a few new faces at the Derby Line Village Hall this month.
Thanks to Evil Brad and Lia for coming along as well as a big thanks to Lee, Monique, Josh and Alton for coming by. Alton has been a regular for the past few months but, due to my sloth, hadn't been mentioned yet. The regular gang of Beth, Rob, Mike, Dennis, Homer, Neil and myself made for three tables of mayhem.
The longest game of the evening pitted Beth, Monique, Rob, Josh and Neil against The Dark Goat of the Wood itself - Shub-Nigurrath. The gang battled bravely fending off repeated monster surges, travelling to the outer worlds and eventually sealing off the evil from Arkham. having watched a few how-to videos on Arkham Horror prior to Saturday night enabled the gang to formulate a plan to help dig out the tools and knowledge the group needed to accomplish their task.
Lee, Lia and Alton tackled Betrayal at House on the Hill in the first installment of the game played. Not sure how that went but it appeared that they enjoyed themselves thoroughly.
Meanwhile, Homer, Dennis , Mike and I tried to take on Evil Brad and his legions of undead in Last Night on Earth. By some bizarre twist, this game turned out to be the worst Bible camp experience any of our characters had ever experienced. With Father McFeely (or whatever his name was) leading the group of teens in Sally, Jenny and Billy, it was some old dude and a bunch of hormonal kids against ravenous hordes. The outcome was pretty much a foregone conclusion as Brad unleashed endless waves of zombies while the teens picked through the wreckage of the high school in an attempt to dig up anything useful.
What they managed to find was a chainsaw in the garage, a pair of flares guns and not much else. father McFeely's flare gun lit up a zombie while Sally decided to use hers to send a signal for help. Unfortunately, the only help that arrived smelled bad, looked worse and only wanted to eat us all. No one is really sure what Billy did except to turn into a zombie and cost us the game.
In a strange twist, the transition from LNoE to Tammany Hall came as a great surprise to all of us. But politics is a horror show of its own I suppose. In the end, despite having trailed the pack for most of the game, Dennis pulled out the win based on the strength of his Irish votes. Dennis winning control of New York is probably what triggered the zombie apocalypse that followed.
From Tammany Hall, Brad and I took the hearse of defeat over to join Lia and Lee for a game of Zombicide. Our task was seemingly simple - gather some supplies, jack a car and get the heck out of Dodge. Amy, Ned, Phil and Wanda had to break into the old store, gather up water, canned goods and rice, find a car and then drive off into the post-apocalyptic sunset. easy-peasy you say. Well, it kind of was thanks to a couple of sawed off shotguns, an early Molotov cocktail, my second chainsaw of the night and some timely sniping. In the biggest surprise of the night, Evil Brad (or Brad the Beatific) declared that no one would get left behind. Constable Phil was stuck on the other side of the building by the Pimp Mobile and wouldn't be able to make it to the squad car for the quick getaway. Rather than abandon a fellow survivor, the gun toting maniacs decided to shoot Phil a path back across the Mega Mart. In the end, hot-foot Wanda raced the car around the corner and to safety, all four survivors and the goods intact.
Meanwhile, round two of Betrayal was breaking out as Beth, Monique, Josh, Rob and Neil braved that creaking old mansion on top of the hill. The haunt (Neil) turned out to be a pretty potent poltergeist. As the heroes rushed around, somewhat ineffectually, trying to find and light candles to perform an exorcism, Neil floated around choking them out one by one. In the end the poltergeist found the peace he sought, even if it was occasionally disturbed by the drip-drip-dripping of his victims' blood.
And that was how we spent our Almost-Halloween. How about you?
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
New faces, a record crowd and something completely inappropriate
Saturday, May 18 was perhaps the biggest turnout for Border Board Games. We had 16 folks come out including a new face and a few returning relative newcomers. First off we would like to thank Tina, Patrick and the kids for coming back. Glad to see that everyone enjoyed their first foray into Castle Ravenloft. We also drew a new player Geraldine who visited us from Quebec.
We managed to get in quite a few games between the three tables. Along with our six new faces we drew the usual crowd of Mike O and St. Jay Mike, Dennis, Kim and Homer, Rob, Sue and Tim and of course Beth and myself.
Having enjoyed it so much last time, Tina, Patrick and company requested another go at castle Ravenloft. Rob, being familiar with Wrath of Ashardalon and thus the game system, guided the group through the quest. Their efforts to prevent Kevan from turning into a vampire did not turn out quite so well but it sounded as if everyone had a good time.
Skyline, a pick-up from the silent auction at Mega-Meltdown, proved to be a quick, fun and popular addition to the game collection. It hit the table for a few go-throughs before the night was over. What the game lacks in depth of play it more than makes up for in its approachability and speedy resolution - unless you are waiting for Dennis to finish his skyscraper of course. Then you'll need to wait a long time. :)
While Beth led people through a game of Get Bit! and then a round of Carcassonne, Kim, Homer, Dennis and I visited medieval Europe and clawed and scraped our way to subsistence with Agricola. Dennis secured the win by a single well-fought point. Things started to go downhill shortly thereafter.
The Game of the Night title went squarely to Cards Against Humanity. Irreverent, offensive on some level to almost everyone and sometimes completely mystifying "the party game for horrible people" lived up to its name. If you don't believe me just ask Homer how World War IV will be fought. He has a pretty strong opinion on the subject. CAH hit the table a couple of times last night and each round was as wildly entertaining as the last. I suspect it will be some time before I laugh, cry and hurt as much afterward as the result of a game.
I leave you with this one question from CAH: "Why am I sticky?"
We managed to get in quite a few games between the three tables. Along with our six new faces we drew the usual crowd of Mike O and St. Jay Mike, Dennis, Kim and Homer, Rob, Sue and Tim and of course Beth and myself.
Having enjoyed it so much last time, Tina, Patrick and company requested another go at castle Ravenloft. Rob, being familiar with Wrath of Ashardalon and thus the game system, guided the group through the quest. Their efforts to prevent Kevan from turning into a vampire did not turn out quite so well but it sounded as if everyone had a good time.
Skyline, a pick-up from the silent auction at Mega-Meltdown, proved to be a quick, fun and popular addition to the game collection. It hit the table for a few go-throughs before the night was over. What the game lacks in depth of play it more than makes up for in its approachability and speedy resolution - unless you are waiting for Dennis to finish his skyscraper of course. Then you'll need to wait a long time. :)
While Beth led people through a game of Get Bit! and then a round of Carcassonne, Kim, Homer, Dennis and I visited medieval Europe and clawed and scraped our way to subsistence with Agricola. Dennis secured the win by a single well-fought point. Things started to go downhill shortly thereafter.
The Game of the Night title went squarely to Cards Against Humanity. Irreverent, offensive on some level to almost everyone and sometimes completely mystifying "the party game for horrible people" lived up to its name. If you don't believe me just ask Homer how World War IV will be fought. He has a pretty strong opinion on the subject. CAH hit the table a couple of times last night and each round was as wildly entertaining as the last. I suspect it will be some time before I laugh, cry and hurt as much afterward as the result of a game.
I leave you with this one question from CAH: "Why am I sticky?"
Sunday, March 17, 2013
All kinds of monkey business
One of our largest gatherings of recent memory brought a couple new, if familiar, faces to Border Board Games on Saturday night. We were pleased to have Lia travel from Burlington and Tim from up the road to join us for gaming mayhem.
The games started earlier in the day with twin tables of Battlestar Galactica. In both cases the cylons failed to destroy Galactica as the humans limped back to earth. There was no food, half the people had died en route to cylon attacks and fuel was running lower than the gas tank on a teenagers truck but for whatever reason people seemed happy. The fleet felt more spacious than it had before and a can of jellied meat seemed to last longer these days....
After a delicious meal of pub fare (it being St. Patrick's Day weekend it just felt right), we headed down to the Derby Line Village Hall for gaming. We had Beth running a table of Spin Monkeys, a new-to-our-collection product from Rio Grande Games that places monkeys in bumper cars running over fruit. It never having hit the table before it was a completely new experience for Rob, the Mikes, Lia, Andrew and Beth. It's a rather light game, as one might expect from the theme, but accommodated a lot of people and much hilarity ensued.
At the next table, and by special request, Dennis, Homer, Sue, Tim and I tackled Tammany Hall. As was the case in our previous experience, Dennis and Homer quickly struck a devil's bargain. Slippery Dennis was elected the first Mayor of New York only to face slander from every direction over the corruption of the worst police chief the city has ever seen (Homer). Tricky Dick served the next two terms as mayor despite a steadily eroding voter base, swinging a deal with Slandering Sue.
Once again, however, clean campaigning and skillful manipulation of immigrant populations helped the winner, Honest Tim, surge ahead at the polls and in the hearts of the Irish and Italians alike. Clearly the protestants were not his power base. despite having lingered in the back throughout much of the game both Tim and Sue rode waves of popularity to surge ahead of the embattled Tammany Hall veterans. Sue's surge fell just shy but did enable her to go from a distant fifth to second place behind Tim's impressive victory.
Afterwards Mike O, Rob and I tried Rob's game Sentinels of the Multiverse, a superhero themed co-op game. The game features a variety of different heroes each with their own respective power and equipment decks squaring off against a dastardly super villain and his minions. We may have inadvertently extended the length of the game at one point but our trio of masked avengers seemed largely incompetent in terms of dealing the villain a mortal blow. Next time Citizen whatsyourface...next time.
At the other table Andrew, St. Jay Mike, Beth and Dennis played Dominion. Apparently Mike and Dennis were slightly soured on he game based on their original introduction to the game. Having gone through the game with people willing to teach them instead of just beat them appears to have made new converts to the former Game of the Year.
Who knows what merrymaking will accompany the Border Board Games in April but I for one wouldn't mind tossing out a Uwe Rosenberg title onto the table.
The games started earlier in the day with twin tables of Battlestar Galactica. In both cases the cylons failed to destroy Galactica as the humans limped back to earth. There was no food, half the people had died en route to cylon attacks and fuel was running lower than the gas tank on a teenagers truck but for whatever reason people seemed happy. The fleet felt more spacious than it had before and a can of jellied meat seemed to last longer these days....
After a delicious meal of pub fare (it being St. Patrick's Day weekend it just felt right), we headed down to the Derby Line Village Hall for gaming. We had Beth running a table of Spin Monkeys, a new-to-our-collection product from Rio Grande Games that places monkeys in bumper cars running over fruit. It never having hit the table before it was a completely new experience for Rob, the Mikes, Lia, Andrew and Beth. It's a rather light game, as one might expect from the theme, but accommodated a lot of people and much hilarity ensued.
At the next table, and by special request, Dennis, Homer, Sue, Tim and I tackled Tammany Hall. As was the case in our previous experience, Dennis and Homer quickly struck a devil's bargain. Slippery Dennis was elected the first Mayor of New York only to face slander from every direction over the corruption of the worst police chief the city has ever seen (Homer). Tricky Dick served the next two terms as mayor despite a steadily eroding voter base, swinging a deal with Slandering Sue.
Once again, however, clean campaigning and skillful manipulation of immigrant populations helped the winner, Honest Tim, surge ahead at the polls and in the hearts of the Irish and Italians alike. Clearly the protestants were not his power base. despite having lingered in the back throughout much of the game both Tim and Sue rode waves of popularity to surge ahead of the embattled Tammany Hall veterans. Sue's surge fell just shy but did enable her to go from a distant fifth to second place behind Tim's impressive victory.
Afterwards Mike O, Rob and I tried Rob's game Sentinels of the Multiverse, a superhero themed co-op game. The game features a variety of different heroes each with their own respective power and equipment decks squaring off against a dastardly super villain and his minions. We may have inadvertently extended the length of the game at one point but our trio of masked avengers seemed largely incompetent in terms of dealing the villain a mortal blow. Next time Citizen whatsyourface...next time.
At the other table Andrew, St. Jay Mike, Beth and Dennis played Dominion. Apparently Mike and Dennis were slightly soured on he game based on their original introduction to the game. Having gone through the game with people willing to teach them instead of just beat them appears to have made new converts to the former Game of the Year.
Who knows what merrymaking will accompany the Border Board Games in April but I for one wouldn't mind tossing out a Uwe Rosenberg title onto the table.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
In the morass of 19th century politics, nice gals finish first
This month marked the unveiling of several new games from our collection. The first to hit the table was the Kickstarter gem Tammany Hall. History buffs and gamers alike will enjoy this rollicking romp through mid-19th century politics in New York City. Joining me for the ride were Dennis, Kim, Homer and Mike O. As this was our first play-through we had no idea what to expect and even less of an idea as to the best path to proceed.
What resulted was bizarre table-talk, double-dealing and treachery. For anyone familiar with Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, Tammany Hall maintains many of the same devices of wheeling and dealing. Indeed, this element is what makes the game shine both for its crisp mechanics as well as a solid social experience. Dennis and Homer jumped right in securing a deal that gave up wards to one another in exchange for considerations in other areas. They also were the first to make use of their slander tokens, driving my poor, beleaguered gang bosses out of the largely Italian dominated Lower East Side.
Several battlegrounds emerged throughout the game as the mixture of immigrant populations ebbed and flowed. As the German and English populations spread, the Italians became increasingly confined to only a few areas while the Irish presence remained hotly contested throughout. In the end, Kim's practice of keeping her deals and avoiding using slander to best opponents as well as a single, well-timed deception enabled her to pull ahead of her less virtuous rivals and snag the victory.
At the second table St. Jay Mike, Beth, Sue and Noah competed in a good old-fashioned Power Grid throwdown. Using the Germany map, Beth pulled ahead and St. Jay Mike admitted he saw the writing on the wall. Forty-five minutes before the game officially ended he said he could see that Beth's line placement and generation assets would propel her to the win.
After the first round of games we proceeded to break out At the Gates of Loyang where Beth once again displayed her vegetable mastery. Though three plays, two being two-player games, Beth's unapparent strategy continued to serve her well. Though Homer, kim and I managed respectable finsihes (all three of us tied for second place as it turned out), Beth's economic engine prevailed.
At the second table the Mikes, Noah and Dennis ran through a game of Navegador. I am uncertain how it played through but it appeared that everyone seemed much satisfied at game's end.
I suspect that Tammany Hall will again return at the March Border Board Games game night as well as a few other favorites and new titles such as Urbanization and Netrunner. I also suspect that if either Agricola or Ora et Labora were to be proposed it is highly likely that they too might hit the tables.
What resulted was bizarre table-talk, double-dealing and treachery. For anyone familiar with Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, Tammany Hall maintains many of the same devices of wheeling and dealing. Indeed, this element is what makes the game shine both for its crisp mechanics as well as a solid social experience. Dennis and Homer jumped right in securing a deal that gave up wards to one another in exchange for considerations in other areas. They also were the first to make use of their slander tokens, driving my poor, beleaguered gang bosses out of the largely Italian dominated Lower East Side.
Several battlegrounds emerged throughout the game as the mixture of immigrant populations ebbed and flowed. As the German and English populations spread, the Italians became increasingly confined to only a few areas while the Irish presence remained hotly contested throughout. In the end, Kim's practice of keeping her deals and avoiding using slander to best opponents as well as a single, well-timed deception enabled her to pull ahead of her less virtuous rivals and snag the victory.
At the second table St. Jay Mike, Beth, Sue and Noah competed in a good old-fashioned Power Grid throwdown. Using the Germany map, Beth pulled ahead and St. Jay Mike admitted he saw the writing on the wall. Forty-five minutes before the game officially ended he said he could see that Beth's line placement and generation assets would propel her to the win.
After the first round of games we proceeded to break out At the Gates of Loyang where Beth once again displayed her vegetable mastery. Though three plays, two being two-player games, Beth's unapparent strategy continued to serve her well. Though Homer, kim and I managed respectable finsihes (all three of us tied for second place as it turned out), Beth's economic engine prevailed.
At the second table the Mikes, Noah and Dennis ran through a game of Navegador. I am uncertain how it played through but it appeared that everyone seemed much satisfied at game's end.
I suspect that Tammany Hall will again return at the March Border Board Games game night as well as a few other favorites and new titles such as Urbanization and Netrunner. I also suspect that if either Agricola or Ora et Labora were to be proposed it is highly likely that they too might hit the tables.
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