by Steph
Hi Everyone!This week Ron was sick almost the whole time. I got in far too few games because of this. We still managed a couple but ended up missing on a few different game days on Saturday. It still worked out since I got in a lot of favorites and won!
Monday night was a big disappointment as there was a pretty bad snow storm in our area. Monday night games was canceled but do not fret Ron and I still got in a few games! :D
I was jealous of all the Caverna talk I have been seeing so I insisted on playing Caverna: The Cave Farmers to start the night off.
I went into this game planning on getting all of my 6 guys. This is a tall order, that is for sure. I hate getting more dwarves - the extra actions are awesome but the feeding is AWFUL! Giving up 2 points for 1 food is like crazy to me (and I had to do it two times!!!). So I got the dormitory pretty early I was a turn behind where I wanted to be in starting the guy train but I managed it ok. I was going to not do adventuring but I had to since I needed the extra pumpkins to plant and grow.
On the plus side it is VERY easy to fill up your board completely. I had a ton of actions I almost felt lost during the game. I know I needed a ton of food. I only regret not making my adventurers sooner to boost the benefits sooner. I needed those pumpkins to make the fields! All was not lost I had a ton of room for buildings and I built by board with yellow scoring tiles. It was awesome. I got a ton of point from those buildings. I ended up with a lot more animals than I thought I would since I had about 9 dogs it seemed. hahaha
All in all my strategy worked this game I managed to beat Ron by a single point I believe it was 82 to 81. Not the best scores I have seen and I knew I could do better. I messed up a lot of actions towards the ending. Hey I still managed to win! yay! I was just happy I got to play- it had been too long!
We topped the night off with a game of The Ravens of Thri Sahashri. I have been looking at my calendar so I was wanting to play it.
So this game was going well until we clarified a rule indicating that we MAY have been playing a bit wrong in our past games. :P So, with that information we continued the game correctly and Ron was having a harder time playing the cards because of it. So perhaps we were playing the "easy" version. :P What we were doing wrong potentially, was covering the clear image but not necessarily covering the cloudy image too. So- in the game you MUST cover a cloudy portion of the card and you MAY only then cover the clear image as well. We might not have always done that.
This changed the game for Ron a bunch. But we continued correctly- we still managed to win but I was unsure we would have been able to. He kept pulling really terrible cards. He seemed to hardly make the "7" combo. I had to kill off a bunch of cards. It was kind hard.
We still managed to win :D But I look forward to next time when we make sure to play correctly and see how well we do! Great game!
Tuesday night was Fields of Arle night! I wish every night was Arle night. I love it so much!
I went into this game saying I am going to get a vehicle in the first season and go with it. So I did that- I didn't have an plans AFTER that... So I worked on getting MORE vehicles. I ended up with 4/3/3 carts and a couple peat boats. I love that 15 points building that gives a wagon. That's a favorite of mine. I always strive for that if I see it. (we still only put 3/4 out each game with the mini promos added)
So I was failing on the track front. I needed to get higher on the tracks so I could get more material goods to ship. It didn't work out until far too late in the game. I was struggling to get the materials to ship and Ron was making it VERY difficult to do so. Kept taking my spots and grrrrr. I did manage to screw him up a bit too. But he was buying my buildings and I was buying his. It was a blood bath. :)
In the end I managed to end up with the victory! I had 125.5 to his 123.5 just by a few points! I will take it! I did much better than I thought too. I love that I can play this all the time. It is hands down a favorite for me.
Wednesday night Ron chose Le Havre to play. I was feeling good about it. I was leaning towards Ora Et Labora but was happy to play Le Havre. I was all set up to lose.
I ended up getting the market card right out of the gate. I enjoy this card since it lets me start stocking up on materials. I kept forgetting its benefit all game to look at the top 2 special cards. The first time I did remember and I worked it to my benefit. The card is awesome- it gave me 2vps for each cow I had at the end of the game! I got 34 points from that alone.
Ron was getting my favorite buildings but I was getting EVERYTHING ELSE! It was working out for me. I managed to ship 3 or 4 times in the game using Ron's Shipping line. I kept getting a whole bunch of material goods from my market card which was awesome- adding up all my cows. I got 1 wooden ship and 2 iron ships and 1 steel ship. I was golden! shipping 12 items in a go. I also had a card that allowed me to use Grain as 2 energy when shipping- I did that a time or 2 so that helped out.
I somehow managed to win this game. I was feeling good about it too. I knew I would be winning. Ron wasn't even close. He messed up some counting and needed 1 more brick in order to get a few really valuable building cards which would have put him much closer to me in the final scoring. He ended with just under 200 points and I was 301!!!!! At least that is what the calculator told me. I had 109 points in coins and 34 points in cows. And then 158 in buildings it seemed. I did have a LOT of buildings. :D
I did play well and I am proud I win this game like 30% of the time or less, so yay! Great game!
I still had time for another game so I selected Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King. It had been a long while since we first played it 2p. I seem to always play this game 5p. It is perfectly good with 5 players but I think 3 might actually be the best count for this game.
So we got to the cut throat nature of this game pretty soon. I fallen only slightly behind so I was getting the benefit of the additional income which helped me a bunch since he was already getting about double income than me! Gees. But I was keeping up well enough and going into the final round I actually passed him and he got the additional income.
I placed my bids high enough when I wanted the tiles and ended up not buying from Ron in the final round in hopes he wasn't able to buy from me. I was correct and he couldn't afford mine so that worked out. I got a TON of points in the final round ending with 81 points. Ron was further behind with about 70 points. I totally kicked butt!
Man I am on a Roll this week. Ron must be tired of losing so much!!! Welcome to my life, RON!!! Always the loser. :P How do you like it now!
Thursday night was the Fun group!! I was happy since Riley brought along Scharfe Schoten.
I have been playing this one a bunch recently! I am not complaining! I really enjoy this card game.
I was teaching 3 others to play this. Riley had wanted to learn it so he was happy to get it played.
It took a while for Eric to see what was going on but he ended up destroying us. Perhaps because he was able to easily accomplish his goals each time since Victor, Riley and I kept picking the same or similar goals each round and Eric was totally different. So that definitely helped his huge win.
We ended up only playing 3 rounds since Eric had to leave but it worked out since we were all losing pretty handily. I think Eric managed to get 13 points average in each of the 3 rounds. He dominated that game! Riley was having a minor come back but it was still no where near Eric. I think Erica had 40 points and Riley was second with 20ish. haha I think I had 15 or something.
I love this game but apparently I am just terrible at it. I am sure I will figure it out sometime... I did pick up a copy so I should be getting that soon!! :D
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Riley also brought along with him The King of Frontier. He had some nice print out player boards and display for the building tiles to lay on... I need to print that out.
I took a picture- everything is so nice and clean - it really helps clarify the meanings for each building.
In this game I was going for strictly land tiles and trying to complete my game board. I found out pretty fast that wasn't going to happen so I picked up the building that allowed me to negate all of the minus points for the empty spaces at the end of the game. That totally helped me. I worked on producing a bit and collecting VPs that way. Riley was working on getting a pretty big city completed but that didn't work out for me. He couldn't find a final closing piece so that cause him the game.
Victor and I worked TIED with the win at 30 points and Riley at 20. I wasn't satisfied with shared victory so I looked up the tie breaker and since I went first last round Victor won. I guess I should have just shared the victory. :(
I always get sad when I pick up the fishing pond for 5 vps and can't play it. Ugh that was a huge downer. At least someone else didn't get it!
Great little game- I would play anytime. It is a winner for sure. The only downfall is the building barrier on what everything means. :) You can work around that though.
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The final game of the night was Steam Time. I was confident in teaching it- it is actually quite easy once you play- so I didn't have any troubles. :)
I did have to try and sell them on playing it. But, I finally just decided to pull it out and play it since we couldn't decide on another. Riley has his copy in shrink so he wanted to know if he should keep it that way.
I am pleased to report he enjoyed the game where he thinks he will keep it. It is hard to say after one play. This was my second play and it was great!! I am beginning to see the strategies and make it work. I definitely had the upper hand having had played but it didn't bother them.
I was going for machine parts early since they provide the income each round which is a nice benefit. Victor was working on the orange gems to get the benefits there.
Once the Omega cards revealed themselves we got owned. They always required 2 pinks and I was working on the pinks because that is what gives your he bonus action. All in all I got one or two extra bonus turn it didn't seem like enough. I was also working on collecting the green end of game cards. I got 5 of them! I managed to complete them all too. Definitely a viable strategy. I managed to get around 80 -90 points and the other guys were just under 60 points so I did much better. We were all about even but then I had all of my bonus cards to calculate.
In the end everyone liked it and wanted to play again. :) My job is completed. I am really loving that game. I look forward to plying it a bunch in the coming weeks! SO PRETTY!
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I was shocked to get an announcement over the speakers at work to call the operator. Why would they want me? Apparently Ron sent me flowers for Valentine's Day! He never got me flowers before so that was awesome. It was more awesome that they were Rainbow ones. :D I felt special- I thought I would share them :)
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Saturday Ron was still sick so we decided to stay home from all game days and just play games there. We kept up with the Uwe streak and played Ora et Labora.
This time we played the French side since last time we played the Irish 2p. he asked if she should play the long or short game. I just said the short game since that is always long enough... :P
This game I was all about Cloisters and setting up my board accordingly so I wouldn't get screwed over on space. I made the mistake of getting the coast when I should have gotten an early mountain. I ended up not even really using the coast and the mountain would have been the better way to go. Eventually I got the mountain and the quarry and the vineyard. I had very strategic placement of my settlements and ended up getting a TON of points.
I had a set up where I could get a bunch of special items from my cloisters. Pay 5 gold and get 14 points worth of goods!! I was essentially getting a wonder every other turn- I had 5 wonders by the end of it!! Ron ended up not getting any cloisters so I got them all- it definitely worked out for me. I creamed Ron this game! Keeping up with winning in Uwe's games- I not only won but I demolished him! :P
313 to 269- I am happy about that one! :D This is really a great game. It is quite long but I had a fun time and would like to see more plays soon!
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I let Ron pick the next game and he choose Roll for the Galaxy.
I wasn't feeling it. I haven't been feeling this game for a while now. I still agreed to play but The tiles I was getting lead me in a direction I didn't want to do and ended up mucking it up big time. I am still shocked that I got over 30 points in the end.
I was really working on getting out another 6+ develop tile and was so close. Had I played a bit differently then I would have gotten like 11 more points to be closer to Ron's final score. He was at 57 or something I ended with 34 I think.
I didn't produce or ship anything ALL game! Ugh I hate that. I would much rather do the shipping strategy. So much better! I don't like digging for tiles and blah blah. Each time I play this game I like it less. I wonder why. I don't dislike the game I just don't want to play it.
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I doubted my luck for winning all Uwe games this week when Ron decided we should play Glass Road next.
I never win 2p Glass Road- ever. Ron always knows which cards I choose and I never have an idea on which cards he will pick. He does a good job of changing it up. I always think I do too but nope- he knows me.
After Round 1 when he was easily able to play all 5 of his cards I thought my luck had ceased with Uwe. I trekked through the game. I managed to pick up a bunch of end game scoring tiles and making it work as best I could.
In the next many rounds Ron continued to match me and I was not successful in matching him once in a blue moon it seemed. I tried so hard to pick the cards I thought it would choose. Failed.
I was sad when I counted my final score to be 18 I knew I was hosed. He said nope I did worse than you! He got 15 points!!! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW!? I managed to win that game! OMG CRAZY!!
Ron was telling me that Uwe is coming out with a heavier version of Glass Road- So I am very anxious to hear more about that...
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So after I wanted to try Eminent Domain. We ended up playing with Eminent Domain: Escalation and NEW TO ME Expansion Eminent Domain: Exotica.
This was really only my 3rd game of EmDo so it was a process to get set up and start playing. We played with Scenario cards this time which totally raised the bar. Loved those! Those are from the Escalation expansion. Ron and I played where we each get 2 and choose one to keep.
The new Exotica expansion was pretty cool. It added new gems to produce and more excited for the asteroid cards. Those cards are missed into the planet deck and you choose them like you would choose a planet. As an action you can discard your hand and defeat the asteroid (or you can defeat it by normal means if you want to spend the fighters or colonies.
There are a LOT of new cards added. I couldn't even possibly go into detail but a new alien symbol appears a bunch and different activations happen with it. It is a full on strategy I choose not to delve into in this game. Everything was like new to me so it is harder to tell what actually changed since I am not a regular to this one. In my final photo there is a card chart and this SAVED ME. Oh man this card chart is so important!!! Since you have full knowledge and access to the decks of cards. I actually started with "Scientific discovery" she allows me to play as an action and acquire ANY card from ANY stack with value 3 research or less. You don't need the required planets you just take into your hand. I was GLUED to that card chart.
This game I definitely felt I had the upper hand with that card as a starting card. I was collecting and forming my strategy from the beginning. I focused mainly on survey and military. I had the card that gave me the ability to survey and keep 2- so that was awesome. It only made sense that I went military too. I really should have focused on upgrading my fighters so I could buy awesome cards. I was just so overwhelmed with options I just kept the game going as best I could (even though I was SUPER AP- thanks Ron for putting up with me)
I definitely could have done a lot better job if I knew what I was doing. I was set up for greatness. As it turned out Ron and I tied with I think 43 points. We were also tied on both tie breakers. He was shooting for production vps.
I ended up just conquering a BUNCH of planets and that's about it. I had a Ton of fighters and should have used my Improved Fleet more.
There is a bit of a confusion with a single card I can't recall (Ron thinks it is called Economic victory) but you can pay 12 vps and win the game automatically or spend 3 BIG ships to auto win the game. But, in the rules you can't have more than 1 ship at a time- or that is how I understood that. Does anyone know what I am talking about and could clarify? Ron totally would have won the game A LOT sooner had that been the case.
Anyway, I am really looking forward to more plays. I am certainly enjoying this game more and more. I think the scenario cards are essential and there is so much to explore in this game It was overwhelming for me! That means there is a lot of replay value. I like it! :D I definitely need to play more frequently so I can remember how to play.
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After dinner we got to playing a few more games. Ron choose Castles of Mad King Ludwig which was good since I wanted to play this anyway- being on the calendar and all.
We of course played with the expansion. This game is a B*tch to set up. So much separation and combining. Ugh, definitely not fun to set up and would benefit from a custom insert. I think they exist?
I still love the game. This time I went into the game saying "I am going to get all the moats!" I made it a point to do this.
I didn't plan very well because Ron ended up getting all of the blue and all of the downstairs rooms which happened to be both common goals. He got 16 points and I got 0.
It somehow worked out since I collected more Swans than he did. The moats got me a TON of points in game and the final pick from the stack allowed me to get another orange building and that was awesome. I ended up winning by 15-20 points. I guess Moats for the win! At the end of the game Ron and I both went "damn" we had forgotten to use the secret passageways. It would have helped me! I gotta remember them next time.
haha That is a great game. I certainly love it. I am pretty good at it too! :D Moats are hard- is the moral of the story.
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We played one more game that night and it was long forgotten Nations. We played with the expansion and I ended up just picking the nation on top the Vikings. I was planning on hurting Ron each round but then decided to upgrade my ability to be +3 raid value- that didn't help me AT ALL only 2 battles came out ALL game. ugh why must every time I pick something to go for the cards fail me.
I was high on military all game. All of the event cards were for stability. Of- course. It wasn't a particularly mean game Ron kept buying the war before me. It only hurt me once when he was ahead of me but I managed.
The game was very low scoring and Ron got a TON of in game points whereas I got a total of 3and I started with 4...*sigh* I had a major mess up in the final round where I had to pay 8 books but I only had 7 to pay. I ended up losing a point for that! I really messed that up. Either way I think I still would have lost. Ron and I both had pretty low scores in the 30s. I was just lower though. I think I was at 33 and he was at 39. I was doing okay in my game but just that final turn ruined me.
I was still happy since at least I got the Aurora Borealis :D I HAD TO. I make irrational choices like that and it is why I lose the game. haha It was not the best choice for me but I wanted it so I took it.
I am glad I played it again. Last time I played was just awful so playing again wasn't high on my list. I don't think the game is in my top 10 anymore but I need to re-evaluate that soon.
I still enjoy the game a bunch- I think there are too many choices in the expansion so I am not sure if I like the expansion as much as I did. Time will tell, I suppose.
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Sunday Ron and I drive up to Maine to visit with my grandparents. While that was great- we didn't get in much gaming.
Afterwards late at night we did get in a few games. I asked Ron to pick and he choose The Castles of Burgundy.
I really enjoy the mini promo expansion from the Advent calendar. It really changes up the game and in a good way. I kinda like that we have been playing this one more. It certainly plays very well with 2p and it plays very quickly.
This game I was banking on my 8 section city region and my 7 section animal region. I was planning on using a special building to make the 7 animal region an 8 region. Turns out Ron snatched up the building before I could get to it! Doh! I didn't end up finishing the animals but I did get closure of all of the buildings/ boats/ and castles. I got my 8 region completed pretty early too so that worked out!
Ron managed to get an 8 region too but I still came through in the end with 211 points to Ron's 201 points.
Fun game- I guess I will have to play more. :D It makes me want to play Helios!
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We played one for fast game before Downton and I choose Qwixx: Big Points.
The more I play this the more I like it. In this game I was rushing the ending- but failed to roll any 12's or 2'. So, I ended up pushing the big points rows and Ron was taking -5s He was sad since I kept being OK on my rolls. In the end I closed off one row and Ron closed another and we both scored pretty well.
I really thought I had him with my 270 but he managed to do the yellow and red rows crazy good!!!! He ended with 296. Damn and I was so good at this game!!!! I guess not so much.
Lovin' it! Great fast game definitely the best of all the Qwixx games.
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That was all for the week. A sad amount of games but some high quality ones. A lot of UR games take long then the norm so it is to be expected.
It was funny since on the drive home from Maine We played a pass and play version of Star Realms but Ron just read me the cards and I gave him my dictations on what to do. I totally creamed him. As I do.
I love Star Realms- I am glad the league starts back up today! #needmorestarrealms
I will definitely get to play more games this week!!! I am excited! :D Yay games!
I hope you all have a great week!!
Thanks for reading!
Until next week!
Happy Gaming!!!
-Steph