What game is hitting your table?

Bix Conners · May 23, 2012, 03:52:32 PM

I am borrowing this idea from another site that I belong to. The basic premise is you post what games are hitting your table. It let's others know what is being played and can be a way to learn about new games or campaigns. Applies to boardgames, wargames, role playing games, etc.

So, what game is hitting your table?

Bix Conners · May 23, 2012, 04:05:39 PM

Where this is the first entry, I will post three weeks worth of plays here to get things rolling, I will try to make smaller posts in teh future as we play various games. Have a question about what we played? Ask away...

War of the Ring Collector's Edition
I have owned this for awhile and it is really just recently that I have been able to get some quality time in with the game. I am the first to admit that I am a real sucker for great game components. This game is a treat to behold. I bought all of the custom Strongholds made by user "Fubar Awol" on this site to pimp the game out even further. I now have 6 plays logged for this game and I am a solid 0 wins for 6 plays. Even though I apparently suck at playing, I am really enjoying the game play.

Santiago
I logged my first play of Santiago this past week. It is an interesting game that involves some negotiation / screwage. I am also not a skilled negotiator so I did not do well at this. Had fun and look forward to more plays.

Endeavor
Played this game for the third time. It is really a gem. I like the mechanics and the theme. My wife enjoys it too so I am sure we will be playing more of this in the future. I think this game is best played with 5 players.

Tsuro
This is a quick little filler with gorgeous components. We knocked off three quick games while waiting for our fifth player to show up for Monday night game night. This plays quick and would be a good game to play with kids.

The Settlers of Catan
We spent Friday night at a friend's house. They had us over for a wonderful meal and we ended the evening with a four player game of Settlers with the Cities & Knights expansion. I burnt out on Settlers years ago, and we have slowly been bringing it back out to the table. I like the addition of Cities & Knights. Fun evening.

Cyclades
We had no plans on a Saturday night, so a friend popped over and brought Cyclades. We played a three player game. This was my second play of the game and I quite enjoyed it. It is heavy with theme and allows for conflict. I look forward to playing this again.

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas
After Cyclades, we played this game. It is quite unlike any other games I have played. I like the theme and the components. It is always a hit when I put this on the table.

Infinite City
We ended our Saturday game session with a 3 player game of Infinite City. This is another quick game that is easy to teach and easy to play. I like the components and feel of the game. Enjoyable evening of play.

Poker
We had 17 people join us for a benefit Poker Tournament. It was a fun evening that started with a gathering around the firepit in the backyard. Kathy cooked up Hamburgers for the crew and we socialized for an hour or so before the main event. We played a standard Texas Hold'em freeze out format for the game. It is a deep stack game so everyone has a lot of chips for game play. If you are not too over the top, you can rally back from some bad hands and still be in fine shape. I was eliminated in 10th position and got banished to the loser's lounge to prep the xBox for some Rockband. My wife Kathy came in second so she actually placed in the money.

Lords of Waterdeep
We pretty well had all of the things done for the Saturday Poker Tourney in advance, so we went out to dinner on Friday night and then played a couple of boardgames with a friend who came over. Our first game was Lords of Waterdeep. This game is an interesting fusion of D&D theme with Eurogame mechanics. It is my second play, and I quite enjoy the game. It plays quick too. It has been years since I played D&D so this is a nostalgic theme for me.

The Castles of Burgundy
We also played this on Friday. This is one of my favourite Euro games right now. I really like the mechanics. This game is always a hit at our house. My only complaint is that I wish Alea would make thicker / better game components.

Trajan
Got this game to the table with three players for our learning game. There are a lot of options in the game and it will take a few plays to reveal the intricacies of strategy. We all enjoyed the game. Got a second play in and we are really liking the options and various paths to victory.

Diamant
I have played Incan Gold a fair bit and had not tried the German version before. Diamant is mostly the same game with better bits. Played 2 three player games of this on Monday and 2 six player games of this on Friday night.

Kingsburg
A friend of ours wanted to play this game so we scheduled a session. It is kind of a house favourite in these parts.

Alien Frontiers
In addition to playing Kingsburg, he wanted to try this game as well. It ended up being an evening of Dice Allocation games. I really liked this game my first couple of plays but find that the end game is quite anti-climatic. I hope some of the future expansions add hidden VP for players to address the predictability of the end game. I like the mechanics and theme, the end game is rather dull though.

Citadels
On Friday night, we had some friends over to sit around the firepit and have a few beers. We eventually wound up in the games room and broke out Citadels. Three of us had played before and the other three had not, so it was an opportunity to teach some friends a classic.

Crokinole
We organized our first ACT (Annual Crokinole Tournament) on Saturday. We only had eight players so it was a small group and we played on two boards. We played 5 rounds and each round you had a random draw for table and seat. Each game meant you would potentially have different partner and opponents. We started the tournament with a gathering at the firepit and fed everyone Pulled Pork sandwiches. The Tournament structure worked well and everyone wants to gather for another one. This will likely be a semi-annual event. Great friends and a Great time.

Dumbox · May 23, 2012, 07:43:19 PM

Well I can not top Matt's list but here is what is hitting my table.

Caveman Curling
Played with a group of youth people, everyone really liked it. Fun and easy.

Viktory II
If you have not played this game you are missing out. It is a light conflict game (it is a war game if you think Risk is a war game) that plays well with 2 to 7 players.

Cosmic Encounter
I host a game afternoon on every third Saturday, this is the game we played last game day. It is a fun light game the only negative is that it felt a little long. If anyone is in the great city of Moose Jaw on a third Saturday (our next game afternoon is June 16 starting at 1:30 p.m.) please come on down, I also bribe people with food. Hold on, if anyone is in Moose Jaw at any time and you want to play a game let me know. (I know that sounds desperate but I am)

Some games I hope to bring to the table..... Mechanisburg, Grand Conquest, Paris Connection, and any game that is requested

Jason Doan · May 23, 2012, 07:53:14 PM

No love for Formula De, Matt? Trying to purge the memory of crashing not one, but 2 cars in a single night from your brain?

Bix Conners · May 23, 2012, 08:02:21 PM

Wow. Caveman Curling and Viktory II are two games on my want to try list. I have been thinking about Viktory II for a year or so.

@Jason: Right you are. I think I blocked that out. Poor Willie Survive needs therapy again.

Lance · May 24, 2012, 08:25:37 AM

Flames of War
Playing in some local fun games (in Regina) but I also have been attending tournaments in Saskatoon this past weekend and will again return there - not this weekend but the following weekend for a doubles tournament. Excellent way to get started on the tournament scene.
Also, there is a singles 1750 point tournament I am hosting in Regina on July 14th @ Tramps.
Battletech/Mechwarrior
Dusting off my old collection of 'Mechs my son has gotten me back into the later half of the 60's - that's 3065 for all you non-'Mechwarriors.

Bix Conners · May 24, 2012, 08:30:09 AM

Quote from: Lance on May 24, 2012, 08:25:37 AM
Flames of War
Playing in some local fun games (in Regina) but I also have been attending tournaments in Saskatoon this past weekend and will again return there - not this weekend but the following weekend for a doubles tournament. Excellent way to get started on the tournament scene.
Also, there is a singles 1750 point tournament I am hosting in Regina on July 14th @ Tramps.
Battletech/Mechwarrior
Dusting off my old collection of 'Mechs my son has gotten me back into the later half of the 60's - that's 3065 for all you non-'Mechwarriors.

Cool. Flames of War is certainly gaining in popularity in the Prairies. Do you play any other WWII minis games?

Bix Conners · May 24, 2012, 08:42:11 AM

Alhambra
Played two player Alhambra last night with my darling better half. We played with the following expansions in play: Currency Conversion Cards, Change (Coins), Bazaars, and The Camps. Fun game with a very good mix of the expansions. The game was very high scoring and Kathy beat me 269 to 247. We are gradually experiencing the variety of the expansions in the Big Box version of this game.

Colin Dearborn · May 24, 2012, 08:51:29 AM

Most of my plays lately have been over at Matts, but I will add in a few others from the last couple weeks. My games are almost all played with my children. Alex is 14 and Amanda is 9

HELLAS

Good little 2 player tile laying conflict game. One of the Kosmos 2 player line. You get to do one of three things on your turn: attack, explore or build your forces. First one to 10 points wins. There is enough strategy with the cards and rules regarding exploration that this will be worth a few replays.

RANKING

Think Dixit light.........not that Dixit has much depth, but this is along the same vein. Everyone gets 6 random tiles with various things on them. You might have a knight, flashlight, sportscar, pencil, suitcase and and a keg. One person draws a random question out of a bag and then you put in your tile that you think is closest. A couple of sample questions are: What would be a good wedding present? or What would a Yeti have the most use for.

Not a bad little game, gets lots of play because of Amanda. This is her current favorite, just beating out Quarriors.

SHIPYARD

This is solid euro. Everyone is building ships to fulfill government contracts. You score points based on how well you meet your own hidden contracts. What makes this game work so well is system, it has 4 rondels that are used for gaining your needed parts as well as an action selection track which works very well together. There is alot of open information (almost too much) and making decisions each turn can be a little daunting. Alex did very well in his first game. I need to get this out with 3 or 4 next.

I would like to thank my friend James Sanheim for turning me on to this one.

SABOTEAUR 2

Fun little card game. Dwarves are trying to tunnel through to the gold, but one of you might be a saboteaur trying to hinder everyone else. The expansion added quite a bit, new roles and new ways to screw with your fellow players. A fair amount of "take that" for a family game, but my family enjoys watching each other suffer.........take that for what you will.

FLASHPOINT: FIRE RESCUE

The best co-op game on the market. If you are a fan of this style, this is the one to get next. Played a couple times, we one once and lost once. My mom enjoyed this. Definately for the whole family

R Newell · May 24, 2012, 10:29:14 AM

Good idea for a thread. I occasionally post at www.fortressat.com, which has similar threads to this (for board games, video games, movies, etc.). They tend to get a lot of activity.

I just hosted a bunch of friends at my house for the long weekend, so we played games pretty much straight from Thursday night to Monday morning (especially tiring because I'd just gotten back from a vacation/work conference). Games played were:

Summoner Wars Got in three games of this. Love it, but I'm wincing at the number of expansions there are. Only $10 a pop, but there are a lot of them.

Sentinels of the Multiverse Also three games of this. Very fun, but can go a bit long if your only plays are to slowly whittle the villain by 1 or 2 points (of like 100) at a time. Good variety in the number of characters and scenarios, but strangely very little variety within the characters and scenarios because there are so many duplicate cards.

Blood Bowl: Team Manager Got in two games of this. Despite the name, I think it does a better job of simulating the micro-level "coaching" of your team more than the "manager" part, since player placement is in my control but the management enhancements are random card draws. Gets a bit busy near the end once you've got a bunch of team upgrades in front of you.

Mord im Arosa Also two games of this. It's a gimmicky novelty (only game I can think of that's based on listening for pitch), though I appreciate that it's novel more than I deride it for being a gimmick. I surprisingly dominated both games I played.

Chaos in the Old World First time I've played this since it first came out, but I was playing against a few guys who had much more experience. About halfway through, I realized I wasn't going to win on dials or VP (I was playing as the blue magic dudes), so I was playing for the total corruption with all players losing. I managed to squeak out my "win" with one player one dial advancement from winning and another at 48 of the needed 50 VP.

A Game of Thrones First time I've played this in almost four years, but the TV show had us ready to brush the dust off. I was playing as the Lannisters in a five-player game. I was never in a position where I could attain seven cities, but I ended up finishing third at the end of 10 turns with four cities, with the winner having five.

Citadels Played once. I never feel like playing Citadels, but then I always enjoy it when we break it out. I think I finished in the middle of the pack.

Red November Played once. I passed out. A fire killed me. I think the sub was destroyed by the Kraken but I had run off to do some hosting duties once my gnome bit it so I missed the end.

Twilight Imperium 3 First time I played this in three years. I truly forgot how much I love this game. My sleep-deprived, beer-addled brain made the stupidest move in the history of board gaming, decimating my fleet and greatly limiting my mobility for the rest of the game (which took about 10 or 11 hours), so I finished in... fourth or fifth out of six. Still, had immense amounts of fun.

The Resistance Played three times. I can't act, and I have no poker face, so I can be easy pickings when I draw a spy card and I try to act like I'm part of the Resistance. My new strategy, which worked pretty well, is to do the opposite and act like I'm a spy when I'm actually a part of the Resistance. A bit nonsensical, but necessary for me to not get picked out everytime I draw the spy.

Space Hulk: Death Angel Played once. This is quickly climbing my list of favourite games. Very fun co-op that also is a very fun solitaire game.

Quarriors Played once. I like the idea of a dice-based deck-builder, but I'd need a few more plays to see if it's got the same kind of legs as a game like Dominion.

I'm tired again just looking at that list. Games that were played that I missed out on included Merchants & Marauders, Eclipse, and Red Dragon Inn. I also wanted to get in a game of Earth Reborn with the last fella to leave on Monday, but I was too wiped. I was asleep within an hour of the last guy leaving.

Incredible weekend. I hope to do it again this year.