I suppose I better start the post off with wishing everyone a very geeky Happy Mario Day.

In other news Libertalia Winds of Galecrest arrived yesterday. But more about that a bit further down in this post.

First we need to talk about the other game I played with Diego this morning.

Diego and I started our morning of gaming off with a two player game of Vampire the Masquerade Rivals.

It was Tremere vs Gangrel.

I think Diego and myself are starting to focus on the clans we want to start building around. I definitely am.

Diego might be right that in a two player game Tremere might be a tad on the op side.

Being able to stay in your haven, play rituals, and slowly drain your opponents blood is pretty powerful. Unless an event drags your leader or coterie into the streets that is when you become pretty exposed.

I think I’m starting to get an idea where I want to go with the deck.

Although there is the ritual Blood Makes Noise, that gets some extra prestige. I’d like a way to get more. During this game I was down to a single prestige. All Diego had to do was deliver that killing blow to get the win. Plus I had a 4 bp vampire in hand I wanted to play but just couldn’t.

I like the Seek Knowledge ritual. Anything that aids getting to cards you need quicker to good by me. Add in Defense of the Sacred Haven to increase the secrecy of vampires in your haven certainly makes it harder for your opponents to attack. Plus stops single S.A.D. attacks from the street.

I’m starting to lean towards having more reaction cards in the deck, and a lot less attack cards. Possibly a 70:30 split in favour of the reaction cards.

The final scores of our game, with me getting an agenda point victory.

Onto our second game of the morning.

Did anyone think I wouldn’t take Libertalia with me to Diego’s?

Before leaving I had decided to sleeve two of the six decks because that’s all I thought I had sleeves for. But as luck would have it I had more than I thought. Enough to do all six decks, but not the Automa deck. Which wasn’t a problem it’s not as if I’d be using those cards anytime soon.

My initial impressions of playing Libertalia for a first time ever, and as a two player game, is I love it.

Naturally I’m going to talk a bit more about the game after I’ve played it with more players. There is a lot to say about the bits I like.

But with the Midshipman tile acting like a “third” player in a two player game. It works so well, it has no overhead, and so simple, it’s genius.

There is some great decision making to make during the game. The reputation system to resolve tiebreakers another simple, genius idea.

I think with the Calm side of the board for a first play the level of player interaction and “meanness” is just right. It’s not overly nasty. Although I think if a new player is going to play who is not a gamer they might need a little heads up that they could end up not getting any loot on a turn.

The final scores confirming Diego’s revenge for losing our Rivals game.

A great mornings gaming with one of my favourite people to game with. Days off don’t get much better than this.