Last night it was that time once again for Fenland Gamers to meet up and play some games.
I’d been lucky with my shift for the day with it finishing at 6pm. Which meant I was going straight from work to the club night. But also I wouldn’t be missing the evening of gaming.
Club night would mark the start of four days off. I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the much needed r&r.
This was another really well attended evening with seventeen folks turning up. Which included four new faces.
Charlene and myself played Tapestry with three of them.
This wasn’t my copy of the game so we were playing with only the Arts and Architecture expansion. The cards were also unsleeved. Oh the horror of naked cards!
My Leaders were conquering artists. Sadly I got my butt handed to me, the sixty point victory point starting position for The Chosen was too much. But I did get my personal best five player score!
Our second game of the evening was the WotC “filler” card game Dungeon Mayhem.
This is a really fun card game. It’s quick and easy to play.
However it does have one “mechanic“ in it that I really dislike. That may not be a strong enough description but it’ll do for now.
That “mechanic” is the physical activity. For example I had a card in my deck that required players to perform a little dance. Charlene had one that required players to give her praise.
Why? It’s not fun!
But despite that major drawback it is a fun game. And even with players getting knocked out they are still semi involved in the game play.
This will have to join the rotation of games going into the game bag for club nights.
With the game of Dungeon Mayhem I completed one of my gaming challenges for the year.
Yep I’ve played forty new to me games this year so far.
I still find it hard to believe that I’ve played that many new to me games.
As it stands at the moment approximately two thirds of the games I’ve played this year have been new to me.
With roughly forty five percent of those new to me games being games owned by others.
Don’t hold me to those percentages I’ve spitballed those figures as rough guesstimates, they may vary by a percent or two if I actually calculated them. But they are close enough.
Using the 3×3 functionality of the bgstat you can see what those forty games were below.
I’m not going to increase the challenge even with three months of the year left.
But it will be very interesting to see how many new to me games I actually do end up playing at the end of the year.
Not our usual (post lockdowns) numbers with only seven attending.
But then again with her majesty the Queen passing away the previous day and the new King, King Charles III making his first official broadcast to the nation at 6pm.
Was it any real surprise? Even the numbers in the bar area were down (considerably) and no food as they decided to close for the night as a sign of respect.
The positive side of all this was I got to play some games with Jonathan.
We started off playing a quick game of Riverside. I’m still really liking this roll and write.
Our second game of the evening was a three player game of Santorini New York.
Chris our third player hadn’t played the game before so we started off with the recommended role cards for new players to the game (see below).
Recommended role cards for new players
Our first game saw Jonathan eliminated from the game with all his workers removed from the board. I won that game. It felt like a double win with Jonathan being knocked out like that.
The next game saw a determined Jonathan wanting to redeem himself. Which he did by winning.
Our third and final game I decided to shake things up a little and select new role cards for the game (see below).
Role cards used in our final game
I chose roles that looked interesting and fun to play.
Which they were.
Chris won this last game.
I really do like Santorini New York as that multiplayer version of the original game. However the rulebook does leave a lot to be desired especially on clarifying what is classified as an unoccupied space.
Santorini New York
Our final game of the evening was Sushi Go Party!
We went with the “Party Sampler” menu.
Sushi Go Party! Menu played
Obviously we played over the standard three rounds.
I fell behind the other two during the first round trying to play the long game with the green tea ice cream. Hoping to make up any short fall in the final scoring with them.
Alas that was not the case, the gap was too much. Chris ran away with the victory.
Who Won What Game
Yes it wasn’t an evening of heavier games. But they were fun games that we played. And just important we had a good time.
But here we are once again at another Friday evening Fenland Gamers club night.
We weren’t up to the heady club record breaking attendance numbers of the previous club night. But we were at a very respectable eleven. Which is about our average these days.
This weeks game night was a rarity indeed because for the second session in a row I got to play with Jonathan once again.
Our first game of the evening was a new addition to my collection, the roll and write Riverside.
On the roll/flip and write spectrum of complexity Riverside is most certainly on the lighter side. Which isn’t a negative. I enjoy lighter roll/flip and writes as well as the much more complex ones. The important thing is whether they are fun to play. And Riverside most definitely is.
Despite its simplicity compared to some in my collection, there are some nice mechanics in this roll and write.
I love the modular board set up that means no two games will be exactly the same.
The use of the median die to move the cruise ship standee around the board is cool.
This median die also determines the rounds temperature and whether dice are in the heated area or not. The importantance of this is that to use a die in the heated area requires you to cross out fire symbols. If you run out of fire symbols or don’t have enough left you can’t use a die in the heated area.
This gives some interesting choices to make such as when and if to use dice in the heated area. Running out of fire symbols means you can no longer use the green die (which is always in the heated area, and can be added to the other dice) or use one of the base dice in the heated area.
I also like the restriction on scoring trips that each time you score a trip it has to be a higher score than the previous trip of that type.
Add in the captains boat and the points switch that adds at the end of the game. There are some lovely little touches that makes this a fun game to play.
Next up was a new game to Jonathan and myself Colorful.
This game had a Codenames vibe to it. But we loved it.
The game plays very quickly. Is quick to teach. We learnt and played two games in less than fifteen minutes. A perfect little filler game.
I loved that the game starts out as a co-operative game as long as everyone is giving the same answer to the clue. But as soon as there is a difference in an answer then it switches to a competitive game with a single winner. A very nice twist.
Our third and final game of the evening was another new arrival of mine and current hotness Brazil Imperium.
In the run up to playing this I had seen Brazil Imperium being mentioned in the same breath as Scythe. Many comparing it with my favourite game of all time.
Having played it I can see there are some similarities but there are enough differences that Brazil Imperium is it’s own game with room for both in a collection.
I like the modular board setup with the rulebook having several layouts to choose from based on player count and if you want an aggressive game or not. There are additional official maps that can be downloaded off the bgg game page.
However there does seem a basic rule for designing your own maps that the number of “big” tile pieces to use is dependent on the player count. Then the use of the smaller tile sections, positioning of capitals is all then dependent on how confrontational you want your game. So it is possible to randomly generate a board.
Map used for our game
The first similarity with Scythe is the action selection for a turn, and not being able to repeat the same action on the next turn. Add in the ability to upgrade those actions by placing an appropriately shaped product on the action using the manufacture action. You can’t escape that Scythe comparison.
You could argue the player boards and the variable powers of the unique leaders are also Scythe like. But with Brazil Imperium you decide which side of the leader board you use for the game. Plus leaders are linked to a board by colour. So only the blue leaders can be used with the blue player board. I’d like to see more leader options in the future.
When you build a building the resources it generates remain on the tile until used. However if an opposing army occupies that space they get to use any resources there. Also very Scythe like.
Who played which leader in Brazil Imperium
Having the combat cards and gold cards have not only a gold or combat use, but an alternative ability such as end game scoring or some other in game power, is a really nice touch.
The use of era cards that set an objective for you to achieve gives you a focus during the game. Getting era cards that compliment each other and your leader is key. Although you start with an era card for each of the three eras, it is possible to get additional era cards. Completing an era then gives you a choice of which palace to build, opens up more buildings to build, and gives another upgrade for one action spot.
The paintings cards add a great power up mechanic. And another thing to look think about. Some improve production, others break rules, some give combat bonuses. You get the idea.
The exploration tiles are a nice touch, giving some sort of bonus. Along with a feeling of exploring the unknown.
Combat is quick and simple. Which is a plus.
This is a great engine builder that does give a great feeling you are building an empire. I almost want to say this is a civilisation type game. In some ways it does feel like one. Thinking about it it doesn’t feel too dissimilar to Civilization A New Dawn.
Yeah I really like this game.
Winners of the games played!
It was about 9:40pm when I and Jonathan left. The others were still playing games like Gaslands. But I had a 5:30am shift start the next morning. Which means the alarm going off at 4:10am. I needed some sleep before work. Granted not much. But some!
I know a day or late on this one. But better late than never. Besides I do have this whole #RPGaDAY2022 thing going on at the moment if you hadn’t noticed.
Plus I had my last shift at my current store yesterday before moving to a new one and a new role.
I’ve been really taken aback about how supportive and kind everyone at work has been. There’s a bit of me that thinks it doesn’t deserve all these kind words.
Yesterday my boss came in to say good bye, thank me, and give me a card and a bottle of Monkey Shoulder whisky. Charla a friend gave me a couple of chocolate cup cakes (I do have a whole cake thing going on). Then at the end of the shift I was given a card signed by lots of friends and colleagues, lots of chocolate and a chocolate birthday cake.
That last bit nearly made my eyes leak.
I’m kinda sad I won’t be working with them all. However it’s not a good bye. More I’ll see you around. As I’ll still be shopping there, and possibly picking up the odd overtime shift.
Anyway I digress and you want to know more about the blog post title.
Friday was once again that time for another Fenland Gamers club night at our hosts Wisbech St Mary Sports and Community Centre.
As per usual I was there early to get set up. With the help of Charlene, Colin and Ben we put up three tables, and some chairs. Got our refreshments in, and waited for others to turn up. My waiting included ordering and enjoying a banana split.
When Jonathan arrived he pointed out we didn’t have enough tables out! He was expecting seventeen people to turn up! Seventeen!
That is the club record that was broken. We’ve never had that many attend before. That’s massive for us.
Despite having so many attending I did get to game with Jonathan on a club night. Which as I’ve said before is a rarity these days.
But then I did have a couple of games Jonathan was interested in trying with me.
Our first game was The Bloody Inn. A game I came last in. I had an engine built that was good for bribing guests. But that took far too long to set up, and I let it too long before bumping off and burying guests.
Marcin on the other hand took quick and easy points and ran away with the victory.
Our second game of the evening was a new arrival that day Santorini New York.
I quiet enjoyed play this. It’s definitely a much better multi player experience than Santorini. Which is a two player game only. Never play it with more.
There are some nice twists to the core Santorini game play in this new version.
I like the different ways to win. There are now three ways. Two require that you meet the win condition and be the current player with the Statue of Liberty. The third just be the last person standing.
That requiring to be the player with the Statue of Liberty in order to win is nice. It creates some interesting decisions when it comes to selecting a card to play. Possession of the statue goes to the person who played the highest valued card each round. However that also means that person is going last that round.
There is the whole hand management side to the game deciding which and when to play a card. Even which card to keep for the next or future round.
I like the fact everyone has access to the same “god” powers. Although it’s possible to get a hand of cards that are mostly the same ability. In our second game on our final round I had three engineer cards out of the five cards in my hand.
Placing skyscrapers is a nice new addition, and adds in a whole new decision of how best to place to screw over an opponent. Ideally blocking them in so they have to lose a worker.
Visually like it’s predecessor New York looks stunning on the table. A real wow factor.
But there is a but! A big but!! The quality of the game board and cards is atrocious. It really lets the game down. I know it’s not an expensive game. But a better quality game board would be worth an extra couple of pounds to the price of the game.
There is room for both versions of the game in my collection. Especially considering that merits of both games. If I was just playing with another player it’d be Santorini every time. It’s an amazing game, and a better game. But want to play at a higher player count it has to be Santorini New York. That’s where it’s strength is compared to Santorini. It’s a much better multi player experience.
Results of Fridays games
When I left what seemed like the longest game of Ticket to Ride Europe was going on. I think they are still playing!
This was an amazing evening of gaming. So great to see so many people playing games.
Friday was indeed another Fenland Gamers club night.
I’d been looking forward to it after a nine day tour of duty at work.
Earlier in the day I’d had an interview for a shift leader position. Which I think went well. But I’ve never really been that good judging how well an interview really went. I’m meant to find out on Saturday (today as I write this post).
After setting up the tables I treated myself to a banana split before anyone else arrived as a reward for surviving my tour of duty.
Our tables first game of the evening was a learning game of The Bloody Inn.
It was truly a learning game as we learnt from the rulebook at the table. The cards were unsleeved! We went with a short game (removing 22 cards for a four player game) because it was a learning game.
I love the theme of the game. It’s very Devil in the White City. Killing off your guests, robbing their corpses. It’s what attracted me to the game.
We all loved the game.
It’s kinda an engine builder with a little take that thrown in.
I love the multi use cards where you can use them to bribe other guests, build annexes to your inn, kill guests, and bury guests. And depending on the card played you might be able to return the card to your hand instead of the discard pile based on if its symbol matches the activity you are doing.
So you have a decision to make about the guests to how you are going to use them, assuming you are able to afford them. Added on top of you may want a particular guest, but if you take one of the others from a room controlled by another player you deny them money at the end of the round.
Which reminds me you also have to pay close attention to the cash you have. You need to choose the right moment to launder money, either turning it into cheques so you don’t loose money, or cashing a cheque so you have funds to pay accomplices at the end of the round.
Near the end of the game we were regretting not going with the longer game. But I have been sworn to bring it to the next meet up.
oh I won btw.
Our next game of the evening was 6 Nimmit.
What a fun card game. Quick to teach. Quick games. But also very tactical. A perfect little filler game.
This will be added to the collection.
This was a great evenings gaming. Just what the doctor ordered.
Last night was the latest Fenland Gamers club night.
I got to try the heavy (in every sense of the word) flip and write Hadrian’s Wall.
Which was my thirty first new game to me that I’ve played this year. I find this incredible. At this rate I’m going to complete the challenge easily before the end of the year.
I love Hadrian’s Wall.
There I’ve said it.
We played on the standard (green) difficulty. For those into video games and have played the classic video game Doom, is the equivalent of “Hey, not too rough” in difficulty.
Like Three Sisters when you first see the two sheets you will be playing with it’s all a bit overwhelming. But after a brief overview it starts to make sense. Then after using your first couple of resources everything becomes clear.
Generating the resources needed reminded me a bit of Imperium Settlers/51st State. It also gives the game a little euro boardgame vibe. It’s kinda cool how at the start of each round/year players get the same resources based on the flipping of a card, and then addition resources are gathered depending on unlocked sections of your player sheets. Then as you spend those resources you get further ones to spend during the round. Any not spent get lost. Very Imperial Settlers like.
Hadrian’s Wall isn’t as combotastic as Three Sisters. But it has combos. It’s definitely a deep thinker.
If we were putting Hadrian’s Wall on a difficulty scale for Roll/flip and writes, it’s firmly in the heavier, more complicated camp. Not one you’d play with noobs.
Hadrian’s Wall Game 1 Final Score
I really really did like the game. It’s gone on my wish list.
Our second game was Dungeons, Dice and Danger using the Clumsy Cultists map. Which in Doom difficulty level terms is “
Charlene and myself both took a few hits from not being able to use a dice combo. Mine cost me the game by a point.
Dungeons, Dice, and Danger Final Score
Our second play of Hadrian’s Wall saw the difficulty level dialled up to eleven as we played it in hard (Red) mode. Aka it’s version of the Doom “Hurt me plenty” difficulty level.
What this means in reality is that during the year end of each round we are drawing more cards from the Fate Card Draw Pile. Which means we have to defend more attacks from those pesky Picts and potentially taking more damage in the form of Disdain.
Disdain is not good. It’s negative points at the end of the game.
Playing at this harder difficulty level with the greatly increased number of attacks to defend against certainly changed the focus of the game. You are spending more resources trying to build up the cohorts to defend with. Whilst still trying to do the other stuff like meet the criteria for the path cards you decided to score.
I did find the drawing of more cards exciting! Yes I’m that sad.
Hadrian’s Wall Game 2 Final Score
The games that made it to the other tables Transmissions (looks stunning) and Dice Theme Park (sequel to Dice Hospital).
A fun evening of a genre I really like. Off to Westeros later today.
After a week of nights (fuelled by cake, jelly babies, and copious amounts of cold brew) it was really nice to end the week, and start a new month with playing some games.
Unusually for me I was slightly late to the evenings gaming. Which didn’t go uncommented on by one or two when I arrived.
A phone call about work had gone on longer than planned. Plus I had to pop into ASDA on my way to pick up mum’s prescription. There was no way I wanted the pressure of the “will they or won’t they be open when I finish” for the Pharmacy hanging over my head during the evening.
But it was nice to see everything setup and people already there for once.
I had previously arranged with Gavin that we’d be playing Marvel Champions. Earlier in the week Gavin had shared this on the clubs discord server and Charlene had decided to join us.
So guess what we played whilst the others split into two tables?
Our first game saw Captain America (me), Iron Man (Gavin), and Spider-Man (Charlene) take on the machinations of Rhino.
We came to within a single health point of defeating Rhino who had taken out Iron Man, before his schemes came to fruition.
We played another game, this time Doctor Strange (me), Black Widow (Gavin) and The Hulk (Charlene) fancied their chances against the surprising cunning plans and ploys of that brute force of nature Rhino.
The Sorcerer Supreme had just got things into place to start throwing lots of spells at Rhino before being crushed by the explosive physical power of Rhino.
It was then just a case of watching Rhino toss The Hulk and Black Widow around like rag dolls. It was brutal.
First the elephant in the room. This was not sleeved! OMG the inhumanity. The monster. Plus this does need a playmat. Which I believe does have an official one available.
This was the first time I’d ever played Marvel Champions, and I liked it.
I was pretty sure I would.
In a way the game reminded me of Champions of the Multiverse, but better. Which will be heresy to some. I remember (vaguely) that game of Champions of the Multiverse not being very pleasurable.
I liked how the decks felt unique and thematic to the character.
Although Marvel Champions plays one to four players, if I owned it I’d never play it solo. I like the idea of games that can be played solo. But in reality (especially if there is an app version) I can’t be bothered to set them up and play them solo.
If Gavin decides he wants to part with the game I’d definitely be interested in negotiating a deal of some sort.
We finished the evening playing Libertalia. Which was fun as always. Especially since I won (by a narrower margin than I expected).
Our game of Libertalia meant we were the last people there still playing, and unusually for me on a club night putting the tables etc away.
Final Libertalia Scores
It was a great night gaming. Great to see everyone.
Games currently in my gaming bag (for those remotely interested in what I took) :
Roll for the Galaxy
Libertalia Winds of Galecrest
Tsuro
Spirits of the Forest
Sushi Go Party
Survive Escape from Atlantis
Dungeons, Dice & Danger
Plus I also had my game case that also has Regicide in it to.
Our first post UKGE Friday night gaming session was well attended once again.
It really is nice seeing the club nights being so well attended, and also other gaming sessions taking place on other nights between members.
Obviously I was there early to get the tables set up, and welcome any new members who turned up.
We split into two initial groups last night of a four and five. Which saw the other group grow into eight at one point!
Our table started off with a game of the roll and write Dungeons, Dice & Danger.
Once again we played the novice Annoyed Animals map. It was the natural choice really with three new players.
This really is a nice roll and write. I’ve really enjoyed both my plays of this, and I’ve not even touched the other three maps yet.
I did get hit for a whopping minus sixteen points, and was one life away from the minus twenty and being out of the game. That cost me the win, and gave it to Ben.
Final scores for Dungeons, Dice & Danger
Our second game of the evening was the drafting and set collection game Sushi Go Party.
Which is basically Sushi Go with some extras to add variety. So all that drafting and set collecting action we all love about the game is still there but more so!
Sushi Go Party comes with a nice menu board that has a score tract and a meal reminder area. It’s obvious how the score tract is used. However using tiles provided you fill up the menu spaces so you have a reminder of the cards that make up the deck you are playing with. Which is really nice to have for all players to see.
And this is the main difference between the original and Party. Party has a lot more meal items to select from. You can use one of the suggested menus in the rulebook, or just choose at random.
I do like the suggested menus. They are pitched/themed at different players or type of game. So like last night I chose the menu aimed at those new to the game. However if I had wanted a more cut throat competitive game there was a menu for that. Plus there are menu suggestions for everything in between.
The only drawback of all this flexibility is the setup and putting away takes a bit longer than the original. It’s also a less portable game obviously using a much larger storage container.
Having said that still a great, fun game. Just now even more replayable.
Final scores for Sushi Go
The final game on our table was one of the latest hotness games First Rat.
Ok I won this game.
There’s a lot to like about this game. Some great decisions to make as your rats ascend towards boarding the rocket.
I like how there are a variety of tactics you can employ/focus on to score points.
The game looks stunning, and I love the cute first player marker.
At the end of the game it was revealed that the other side of the board you get to randomly setup the spaces and scoring. A more “gamer” oriented side. I like the sound of that and would love to try it.
Haven’t got much time to go any deeper into this game and what I liked. But it’s going on my wish list.
Final scores for First Rat
Another great evening of gaming. Looking forward to the next one.
After the failed attempt to play The Thing the boardgame with Nathan during my recent visit. I was wondering when or even if I’d get it to the table.
But after creating an event on the Fenland Gamers discord server, and limiting the player count (because it would be a learning game) I had a date and time set to get it to the table.
Last night saw that plan to get The Thing the boardgame to the table come to fruition.
Luckily our player count for the game (four) was enough to learn the main game rules. For player counts less than four The Thing becomes a co-op boardgame.
Like Scythe and any other game I’ve organised a session for I’m there early to get things set up. We were using the neoprene playmat for the game, plus the plastic character and alien minis. No cardboard standees in this game.
Setup seems fiddly. But it’s not really. It’s just parts of it are dependent on knowing the player count. I initially setup for a four player count. Although it was potentially possible that we’d have six! It stayed at four.
Once everyone had arrived and selected the character they wanted we started playing.
Characters played
I was the starting leader.
After drawing an infection token to see what our secret role was. We got down to the task of surviving long enough to escape the alien. Or in my case remain undetected long enough to infect the others. Oh yes I was the alien.
There was a definite Battlestar Galactica/Dead of Winter vibe to The Thing! Which isn’t a surprise considering they are all hidden traitor games. The Thing is closer to BSG than DoW. DoW has a story element that the other two don’t.
Once you have had a couple of rounds the turn sequence becomes familiar. They aren’t actually overly complicated turns. We actually skipped the third turn the whole game because no alien was revealed until the very end.
Although we did have fun. I think the game like the other two needs the higher player counts.
In our game no testing of players took place because we didn’t get to the laboratory more than once, nor did we have both parts required to perform a flame test.
We spent our time trying to keep the boiler and generator repaired, finding keys and getting the odd weapon. Initially I did try repairing the radio, and take food from the pantry. But between the four of us we really didn’t have enough actions to do everything except try and keep on top of things and maybe escape via one of the bases broken vehicles.
With the higher player count more actions could be done around the base.
In the end it turned out everyone had been infected as an alien. Which under the rules meant the last human infected lost the game, and the aliens win! Although the aliens won twice as they were on the escape vehicle too! Which is when we discovered everyone was infected. Then it became a question of who was the last person to be infected.
We did enjoy The Thing enough that we want to play it again. Especially with a higher player count. A Saturday session for sure.
To celebrate that fact I organised a Saturday gaming session with some of my favourite people to game with, members of Fenland Gamers. Some of the finest people on this planet of ours. Although one or two of them have dubious opinions on roll and writes, and A Game of Thrones. Heck a couple are so deluded they think Barenpark is a game! But they are salt of the Earth folks that will exploit any weakness to get that all important victory.
We split into two groups of three to play games.
I taught and played Dune Imperium (plus Rise of Ix expansion) with Anthony and Shane.
You can see who played which character below.
Characters played in Dune Imperium
The scores below say it all really. With two rounds to spare Anthony claimed his inevitable victory. Which the seeds for were sown a turn earlier.
Until this point we were all roughly around the same point total. No one pulling away from the pack. It was looking like it would be a ten round game with no one getting ten points.
Then a level three combat card came out that gave the winner a victory point. Then the winner had the option to buy two more victory points using spice and solari.
Anthony won that combat and bought an extra victory point with solari. Which he also followed up by gaining a third victory point using an intrigue card. That was some power play!
The following round the prize for winning the combat was two more victory points. Which Shane and myself could do nothing to prevent Anthony from also winning.
Wow what an incredible play.
Dune Imperium Final Scores
Afterwards Shane, Anthony and Colin had to leave for other commitments. Leaving Jonathan, Julie and myself to play a new game Jonathan had just got, Long Shot the Dice Game.
Yes you read that right. Jonathan bought a roll and write. Well two actually. Whilst we were finishing off Dune Imperium. Jonathan and co were playing a London Underground themed one that he had bought at the same time as Long Shot.
Scenes from the birthday gaming
Long Shot is an enjoyable roll and write. It’s not the heaviest. I’d say it’s almost an entry level roll and write. The theme and lightness make it a great introduction to the genre. In fact I prefer this to Camel Cup (not a roll and write). Which has a similar theme.
Final score for Long Shot: The Dice Game
I had a great afternoon gaming, and a big thank you to those that made it so.
