Saturday (Nov. 19) was the annual Exploration and Colonization edition of Border Board Games. We were pleased to have ten attendees to the event including several newcomers, some returning guests and core gamers. Dennis and Mike traveled up from the Lower Kingdom while Orleans Mike made his second trip north. Also attending were Rob and Travis (nice to see you again Travis), Kim and Homer and, of course, Beth and myself.
Having so many players available, we divided up into two tables. Beth, Kim, Homer, St. Jay Mike and Travis sat down for an opening game of Age of Empires III. Though Kim was unable to get her traditional spam Monk combo going, she was able to pull out the victory for the Portugese. Like her nation of record, Kim's victory is largely attributable to an abundance of trade goods.
At the second table I guided Dennis, Shannon, Orleans Mike and Rob through one of our newest acquisitions: Merchants and Marauders. The guys got the hang of the trading and raiding game fairly quickly despite only Dennis having managed to play the game once before. Mike experienced some hard times as a merchant ship holed his sloop sending the S.S. Bassboat to the seabed. Shannon was the first to upgrade snagging a nifty galleon after a few successful demand good runs. Dennis likewise sported a pimped out flute boasting most of the available upgrades on what, by any definition, is not a very sexy sailing ship. Though Rob was the last to venture into big boat territory, his galleon came very close to preventing Shannon's eventual win.
Mauled after a scrape with a French warship and barely avoiding Dennis' galleon, Shannon hightailed it for the safety and rumored wedding of Nassau's governor's daughter. Rob's galleon lumbered out of the port to engage Shannon. despite a slight superiority of ship, Rob's superior seamanship enabled him to rake the Golden Hind-End from stem to stern. Only at the last minute was Shannon able to win the sailing contest and escape into port. Even then he required a desperate stab at a rumor to finalize the win. It all came up skulls and crossbones and Shannon walked away with the Pirate Cup.
By This time the gang at table one had shifted over to Puerto Rico. Though details are thin, apparently Mike was able to pull out the win, largely on the strength of capturing two major purple buildings. The Age of Empires III game then swung onto our table. The quick summary of events is that there was more bloodshed in the colonies than ever before (at least in games I've played in). The Dutch-allied Indians in Virginia (my Indian Allies) seemed content to massacre Shannon's Englishmen at Roanoke while Rob's French troops happily picked off Dutchmen in Brazil. In the end, the powerful Dutch economic engine was able to outpace the last minute exploration scramble and pull out the win.
The exact theme for the December game day is still somewhat up in the air though mention of Carson City and Betrayal at House on the Hill have both been mentioned as posibilities. Dennis also mentioned interest in breaking out the venerable Pax Britannica at some future date. Given the almost Diplomacy like length of PB, it may be better to schedule it on a separate, mutually agreed upon day.
Showing posts with label Puerto Rico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puerto Rico. Show all posts
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Something to be thankful for
Saturday, November 20 marked the latest Border Board games game day at the Derby line Village hall. Featuring a theme based around colonization and exploration as well as hauntings, demons and other unassociated things, was held to mark the upcoming holiday.
We had two new faces to the Border Board Games community though neither was especially new per se. Welcome to J-Roc and Carlo and thanks to the Burlington crew for swinging by. Alex, Rachel and Tyler made the trip from parts west to join in the fun and mayhem. My apologies for the lack of squeak in the cheese curd but the large poutine lived up to the hype (I hope!).
We had games, games and more games as the crowd swelled to 16 (plus the wee ones as well) allowing us to run many games simultaneously. The night started off with a game of Age of Empires III. Original Josh's unusual strategy allowed him to sneak off for the win by a significant margin. He never earned much money, had lots of mismatched trade goods, owned few capital buildings but consistently scored well in the colonization rounds. The battle for Canada was fierce as Ken flooded the northlands with tons of British settlers in an attempt to crowd out Shannon's Spanish presence.
Next up we tackled a game of Stone Age. This time Homer came over and worked up a big point tool strategy. He never had much in the way of huts and earned only a few points here and there during the regular rounds but his eight-times tool multiplier catapulted him from the back and into second place. Only my plantings and technologies (7 of 8) allowed me to sneak ahead by a handful of points.
Elsewhere Rob, Ken and Josh ventured into the depths of Castle Ravenloft followed by a game of Cyclades. The Burlington crew and Carlo played Incan Gold before moving on to Battlestar Galactica when Beth came in with Shannon. The game featured a partial introduction of the rules from the Pegasus expansion. Carlo chose to be the Cylon commander John Cavil to add some spice. Rachel (Starbuck) turned out to be the Cylon saboteur. As it turned out the brave crew was unable to defeat the insidious Cylon threat before disaster claimed the fleet.
Later on the group broke out Betrayal at House on the Hill joined this time by Angela. The traitor turned out to be a pre-pubescent boy played by Carlo. Luckily the heroes ended up destroying their voodoo dolls in time to thwart the evil but not before two of them had perished in that grim domicile. At another table Homer, Kim, Zeke and Alexis burned and salted their way through a game of A La Carte as well as played through a game of Puerto Rico earlier in the evening.
A late start coupled with my failing memory of a single play five months earlier derailed an ill-advised foray into Dungeon Lords. We played long enough to get a feel for the game but not long enough to withstand an onslaught of heroic invaders.
We had two new faces to the Border Board Games community though neither was especially new per se. Welcome to J-Roc and Carlo and thanks to the Burlington crew for swinging by. Alex, Rachel and Tyler made the trip from parts west to join in the fun and mayhem. My apologies for the lack of squeak in the cheese curd but the large poutine lived up to the hype (I hope!).
We had games, games and more games as the crowd swelled to 16 (plus the wee ones as well) allowing us to run many games simultaneously. The night started off with a game of Age of Empires III. Original Josh's unusual strategy allowed him to sneak off for the win by a significant margin. He never earned much money, had lots of mismatched trade goods, owned few capital buildings but consistently scored well in the colonization rounds. The battle for Canada was fierce as Ken flooded the northlands with tons of British settlers in an attempt to crowd out Shannon's Spanish presence.
Next up we tackled a game of Stone Age. This time Homer came over and worked up a big point tool strategy. He never had much in the way of huts and earned only a few points here and there during the regular rounds but his eight-times tool multiplier catapulted him from the back and into second place. Only my plantings and technologies (7 of 8) allowed me to sneak ahead by a handful of points.
Elsewhere Rob, Ken and Josh ventured into the depths of Castle Ravenloft followed by a game of Cyclades. The Burlington crew and Carlo played Incan Gold before moving on to Battlestar Galactica when Beth came in with Shannon. The game featured a partial introduction of the rules from the Pegasus expansion. Carlo chose to be the Cylon commander John Cavil to add some spice. Rachel (Starbuck) turned out to be the Cylon saboteur. As it turned out the brave crew was unable to defeat the insidious Cylon threat before disaster claimed the fleet.
Later on the group broke out Betrayal at House on the Hill joined this time by Angela. The traitor turned out to be a pre-pubescent boy played by Carlo. Luckily the heroes ended up destroying their voodoo dolls in time to thwart the evil but not before two of them had perished in that grim domicile. At another table Homer, Kim, Zeke and Alexis burned and salted their way through a game of A La Carte as well as played through a game of Puerto Rico earlier in the evening.
A late start coupled with my failing memory of a single play five months earlier derailed an ill-advised foray into Dungeon Lords. We played long enough to get a feel for the game but not long enough to withstand an onslaught of heroic invaders.
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