9th Feb 2014 Posted by Zarnipwoop
So we had the second monthly gaming session of 2014 at Spirit Games where we had a good turnout throughout the day.
When we arrived there were a few early birds just starting off with a game of King of Tokyo so we joined in. This is always good fun with plenty of table banter and this game proved no different. My dice tower Xmas pressy got some use, though sad to say it did not help me to win, that honour went to caz. A brilliant stroke of genius where she looked a gonner then pulled a win under all of our noses, well done!!!!
The next game was Vasco da Gama this is a really well executed worker placement game with a unique mechanism for choosing the order you take actions. Each player takes a number from a pool and adds it to their action disc the area that they wish to take an action, however when it comes to taking the actions a card is turned over that moves a marker in the area the numbers came from. This then determines the cost actions, below the marker is free and each place above the marker costs 1 coin. The actions are recruiting sailors and captains, entertaining a character who then provides you a bonus, a planning area where you get ship plans and a navigation area where you can launch your ships.
This was a really enjoyable game that I had always heard good things about but had never got to play. It took way longer than the box said but we did a lot of gas bagging around the table and there was a lot of amusing banter. On the whole a great game I look forward to playing again now I actually have a clue about what I am doing.
Final Scores (Pictured below, Sam:Yellow, Paul:Red, Martin:Black and Andy:Blue)
Next up, after a bit of debating as always, we got a game of Glory to Rome which is always good fun and has been a favourite of the Wednesday night group for some time only superseded by Uchronia which has been nicknamed glory to dinosaur. The leader selects a role from his hand of cards or decides to think to draw cards. If a role is played then each other player gets a chance to follow by playing a similar card or think. In this way players use actions to build buildings, gain influence and place cards in their vaults for points. The cards do multiple tasks and they work well in this game, there is obviously more complicated rules than I have explained but you get the basic idea. Really enjoy this game and always willing to give it a go. Andy:5, Richard:12, Paul:14, Martin:19 and Sam:24
We also had a go with Fresco an older game that we have not played in a long time but no the less very enjoyable, in fact I had forgotten how much I like this game. I will have to get this back to the table again soon in order to try the many expansions I have for it.
Followed by another old classic, RoboRally, always great fun if a little chaotic and silly. We managed to introduce a couple of new players into this wacky world of racing robot mayhem, which has just got to be good no?! (What a fun game it was, haven't played it for ages, and it showed, one of the new players, Sam, had me thoroughly beaten up even when she was trying very hard not to! so I came thoroughly last. We need a re-match! Sally.)
We finished of the day with some quick games of The Three Little Pigs which is a dice game where you try and build the best houses and survive the wolves to score then at the end. Great fun game that provides a suitable end of evening or filler between games.
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Posted by Sally
I started the day with a game of Mijnlieff, Pete had been teaching Sam how to play, then I played Sam, I can't quite remember but I think I won, I do remember it being a very close game, one point in it.
Then we played some of Pete's kickstarter games, Eight Minute Empire: Legends, which is a neat game. It took a bit longer than eight minutes, but as Sam and I hadn't played before we had to learn the rules. Pete won that game. Next was a motor race card game. Due to 2 players overdoing it and crashing out I came 1st and third, a car which nobody was controlling had a 'move up six places' played on it and sneaked into 2nd place at the last minute. Another was a matching your dice with the cards game, we had a couple of games of this and I came thoroughly last in both. The other game was Velociraptor Canibalism. In this game you need to lay the most eggs. First you go into the jungle where you pick up cards which are either prey, predators or events. Prey gives you calories, predators need to be beaten or evaded, running away costs calories, events can be good or bad. Once these cards have been encountered, you go to the next phase, spending your calories. First pay upkeep (any mutations you have on your creature must be paid for or you have to eat them) then any calories left can buy new mutations which add to your strength, defence or movement, or buy eggs. The if you want you can attack another player and steal their eggs. The way you could end up with and elephant's head, a pterodactyl's wings, scorpions legs and tentacles reminded me of the old Workshop game Quirks. It was an enjoyable game but I can't remember the scores, as my memory is so bad these days I must try and write them down!
The next game I played was Skull & Roses. I am usually rubbish at this type of bluffing game, and it showed. I didn't manage to win anything, but it was fun watching the anguished looks on people faces as they tried to determine who had roses and who had a skull in front of them.
As mentioned above we finished with a game The Three Little Pigs to fill in the time while waiting for the game of Elder Sign to finish. Fortunately the Ancient Horrors were dispatched and the world was saved before we went home.
Spirit Games (Est. 1984, Lefglow Ltd) - Supplying role playing games (RPG),
wargames rules, miniatures
and
scenery, new and traditional board and card games for the last 40 years
