Archive
Games Sessions - Dec 2001/Jan 2002
25th
January 2002
Games
Played: Kardinal & Konig Das Kartenspiel, Vabanque, Liar's Dice
Kardinal
& Konig Das Kartenspiel
Players: Mark G, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
I had been lucky enough to get hold of this limited edition variant of
K&K, which is one of my favourite games. The aims are pretty similar
to the board game, but the information is all in the open as the cards are
laid face up in four rows and you pick cards from either end of a row. So
you have to balance taking good cards for yourself with releasing good
cards for your opponents.
I don't think any of us thought it as good as the boardgame, although
there was enough in the game to keep us thinking. Mark K and Nige seemed
to spread their nets pretty wide and this seemed to be the right tactic as
Mark won and Nige came second.
Result: Mark K 40, Nige 36, Garry 28, Ben 27, Mark G 24
Ratings: Mark K 5, Nige 5, Garry 6, Ben 6, Mark G 5
Vabanque
Players: Mark G, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
We then tried another new game, this time a fun gambling game from Bruno
Faidutti and Leo Colovini. Players try to raise the stakes at various
gambling tables in a casino and position themselves at the best paying
tables, while avoiding opponents' thieves. As the game goes on, the stakes
get bigger so everyone is still in with a chance until the end. In fact,
in our game Mark G managed to come from a long way behind to win because
he chose a table where the stakes were quadrupled. That didn't please me
as I had been comfortably in front throughout the game and even scored
moderately well on the last turn. However, it was still a fun game, as
shown by Nige's low rating. :-)
Result: Mark G 505, Mark K=Garry 440, Ben 405, Nige 365
Ratings: Mark G 7, Mark K 5, Garry 7, Ben 7, Nige 4
Liar's
Dice
Players: Mark G, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
We finished of with a quick game of Liar's Dice. Mark G managed to hold
onto his dice very well early on and looked as though he might secure his
second win of the night. However, Ben managed to peg him back and in the
showdown had enough left to secure the victory.
Result: Ben, Mark G, Garry, Mark K, Nige
Ratings: already rated
18th
January 2002
Games
Played: Der Fliegende Hollander, Holiday AG, Hat Trick
Der
Fliegende Hollander
Players: Mark G, John Williams, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
Six of us this week, so I introduced the others to this early 90s release
by Klaus Teuber. Each player holds 3 shares in a number of shipping
companies. During the game the price of the shares increases unless the
Flying Dutchman pays a call to the company, in which case the price
crashes and the players have to pay out cash for each of that company's
shares held. Each turn players choose to try and move the Dutchman,
exchange shares with the bank or gain bidding currency. After a certain
number of turns, the game ends and players reveal which shares they hold
and cash them in at the current share price. The richest player wins.
Nige took a big gamble as he was dealt 3 red shares. He could easily have
come a cropper if the Dutchman had landed on one of the red ship spaces,
but he managed to keep steering the Dutchman away from red. This enabled
him to claim a fairly easy victory.
Result: Nige 68, Garry 56, John W 44, Ben 33, Mark G 27, Mark K 19
Ratings: Nige 6, Garry 6, John W 7, Ben 6, Mark G 7, Mark K 6
Ho;iday
AG
Players: Mark G, John Williams, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
We then went for another older game Holiday AG. This is another game where
you try to acquire the most valuable shares, this time in holiday
companies. The value of the shares is related to the number of linked
suitcases placed on the board by the end of the game, with the suitcases
being placed when a player plays the corresponding card for that suitcase.
The game ends soon after a chain of 10 suitcases in one company is formed.
Again richest player wins.
This time I managed to form the chain of 10 and the bonus for doing so was
just enough to give me victory over Mark.
Result: Garry 135, Mark K 130, John W 129, Mark G 111, Ben 101, Nige 75
Ratings: Garry 7, Mark K 8, John W 7, Mark G 8, Ben 7, Nige 6
Hat Trick
Players: Mark G, John Williams, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
We finished of with a quick game of Hat Trick, which everyone enjoyed and
is one of the best card game 'closers'. Mark K had a fine first round
score of 11, but this was surpassed by John W's 12 in the second round.
These two tied for the win closely followed by Nige and myself.
Result: John W=Mark K 16, Nige=Garry 15, Ben 8, Mark G 4
Ratings: John W 7, Mark K 7, Nige 8, Garry 7, Ben 7, Mark G 7
11th
January 2002
Games
Played: Drakon, Ghost Chase
Drakon
Players: John Williams, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
My first session at the Club since November and I was glad to play two
games new to me. The first was a game by Tom Jolly recommended by John. We
told him that would result in us all hating it and probably never
listening to him again. However, it turned out to be quite a nice quick
affair, although I think it has a bit of a problem at the end.
Players are adventurers wandering a dragon's cavern network and have to
collect five gold pieces that are hidden around the place to win. Everyone
starts in the centre on the only cavern tile in play at that time. Thay
then have a choice of either laying a cavern tile, expanding the network,
or moving to another tile and taking the action (if any) shown on the new
tile. Some of the tiles allow players to destroy other tiles, rotate them
to make them more or less accessible, find a gold piece, lose an already
held gold piece, teleport on their next move to any other tile etc.
Players have to think carefully about tile placement because a good tile
for you is likely also to be good for your opponents. Also, if it is too
good for you, others may try to destroy it or hinder you from using it.
The only problem is that, eventually, all players need only one more gold
piece and the game descends into a "stop the other players from
winning" phase, until at some point it becomes impossible to do so.
In our game, Mark K and Nige were ganged up on when they looked likely to
win but Ben managed to engineer a position where nobody could stop him
from claiming his 5th gold piece and the win. Overall, quite a nice half
hour game, which I'm sure we'll play again. Luckily for a John
recommendation, none of us hated it.
Result: Ben 5, Nige+Garry 4, Mark K 3, John 1
Ratings: Ben 7, Nige 6, Garry 6, Mark K 7, John 9
Ghost
Chase
Players: John Williams, Mark K, Nige, Ben, Garry
We followed Drakon up with a couple of games of Ghost Chase. This is
Scotland Yard re-themed around a haunted house with a band of ghost
chasers seeking the ghost. Unlike S.Y. moves are only to adjacent rooms
and the ghost is only able to visit each room once ( except for 2
occasions when he can declare he is cheating and break this rule).
The other players can only use certain routes between rooms whereas the
ghost can naturally move through walls ceilings and floors. After a
certain number of turns the ghost escapes and wins unless, beforehand, the
ghost chasers capture him.
The one visit per room rule makes it more restrictive for the ghost and it
is possible to get boxed in if you aren't careful. Like SY, you sometimes
have to take a risk when the Ghost Chasers are closing in, to escape their
clutches. In the first game, with me as the Ghost, I tried to do this and,
if successful, stood a great chance of evading them completely. However,
Mark decided to move to a room that he thought I'd already left and
discovered I was actually there. Captured after a pathetic 9 moves. In the
second game Nige did much better, but got boxed in towards the end,
allowing us to bring an end to his haunting days on turn 19.
Result 1: John Williams+Mark K+Nige+Ben WIN, Garry LOSE (9)
Result 2: John Williams+Mark K+Ben+Garry WIN, Nige LOSE (19)
Ratings: John Williams 6, Mark K 7, Nige 7, Ben 8, Garry 7
4th
January 2002
Games
Played: Quandary, Web Of Power, Royal Turf
Quandary
Players: Mark K, Nige, Mark G, Ben
As I wasn't at the Club tonight, Mark K recorded the action:
"Excellent simple game which was most notable for Mark Grimes' first
win."
Result: Mark G 69, Ben 68, Mark K 57, Nige 54
Ratings: Mark G 8, Ben 7, Mark K 8, Nige 8
Web Of
Power
Players: Mark K, Nige, Mark G, Ben
"My win (Mark K) more pleasurable due to marginal defeat of Nige."
Result: Mark K 67, Nige 66, Ben 45, Mark G 41
Ratings: Mark K 8, Nige 9, Ben 7, Mark G 8
Royal
Turf
Players: Mark K, Nige, Mark G, Ben
"A predictable rating from No-Fun Nige despite being a Reiner
game."
Result: Mark K 1600, Ben 1550, Mark G=Nige 1150
Ratings: Mark K 6, Ben 6, Mark G 7, Nige 4
21st
December 2001
Games
Played: Tycoon
Tycoon
Players: John Williams, Mark K, Nige
As I wasn't at the Club tonight, Mark K recorded the action:
"Overall, thought this was quite a simple game which, although played
quite well with the 3 of us, thought it would be much better with 4."
Result: Nige 178, Mark K 111, John 79
Ratings: Nige 8, Mark K 8, John 6
This page was last updated on 22 November 2004
