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Subject: Fort Worth Gamers: gaming session 10/17/17
From: Michael Ward <mward258@gmail.com>
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Tuesday, 10/17/17 6 to 9 PM at the Hulen Mall food court, at 4800 South
Hulen Street, in southwest Fort Worth, TX.

We eventually had ten gamers at two tables.

This was Andreas and Meg's last session for a few years. As they would very soon move abroad. And as packing space was at a premium, they brought four small games and offered them to anyone who wanted them. I know Malachi got the last one. I didn't notice who accepted the other three.


Table #1 - Written by Duane

Players: Connor, Duane, Emanuel & Trevor

Game: 7 Wonders

We played Duane’s game 7 Wonders which was new to Trevor but the other three hadn’t played it in over a year and were rusty on the rules. We were bit confused on the start until Malachi (Turtle) came by and got us going correctly. By the third round we were going pretty good.

Connor played Babylon A, Duane Ephesus A, Emanuel Olympia A, and Trevor played Halicarnassus. Military scores: Connor -15 pts, Duane 0, Trevor 4 and Emanuel 6. Coin XP (1 xp for every 3 coins): Emanuel 5xp, Connor 2 xp, Trevor 1xp. Wonders: Emanuel 3xp and all others 10xp. Civilian Structures: D 21xp, Trevor 13xp, Emanuel 10xp, Connor 6 xp. Commercial structures: Trevor 10xp, Emanuel 4 xp. Guilds: Connor 16xp, Emanuel 4 xp. Science: Connor 9 xp. Final rank and scores: 1st - Trevor 38 pts. 2nd - Emanuel 32 pts. 3rd - Duane 31 pts. 4th - Connor 19 pts. The game took 1 hr 10 minutes.

We enjoyed it so played it again. Trevor had to leave so Malachi (Turtle) took
his place. Game went a bit faster as we knew a bit more on how to play and everyone started thinking strategy or keeping a card from another player. Connor played Babylon B. D played the same as last game as did Emanuel.. Turtle played Alexandrea A. Military: D had 9xp. Emanuel had 1xp. Turtle had -4 xp and Connor had -18 xp. Coins: Emanuel 6xp, D 4xp, Connor 3xp, Turtle 2xp. Wonders: Connor had 3xp and the others had 10xp. Civilian Structures had
Turtle with 28xp, Emanuel with 11 and D with 9. Commercial Structures Connor 6xp and Emanuel with 3xp. Guilds: Connor 27xp and 2 for D and Emanuel. Science had Connor with 7 and Turtle with 1. Final score and ranks: 1st Turtle 37 pts., 2nd D 34 pts, 3rd Emanuel 33 pts, and 4th Connor 28 pts. Game took 50 minutes.

We then broke out Monster Fluxx. The game was new for all players (but all have played some kind of Fluxx game in the past). We played three games. Game one in 17 mins won by Duane, game 2 in 12 minutes won by Connor and Game 3 in 13 minutes won by Connor.



Table #2 - First, my Vinci, which was new to the rest. Play order: Kellan, Michael, Meg, then Andreas. Turn 1- All anyone does on turn one is choose their
first civilization (one of the six pairs of tiles on display). Taking the first pair is no harm / no foul score-wise. Skipping over pairs can give you a better pair, but at a negative score hit of -2 to -10 points. Because this is possible, all players are spotted 10 points to begin with. Kellan chose first and did what seemed to me, the *worst* possible thing. He skipped over the first five pairs. The -10 score hit he took was bad, but could have been offset
if he'd done so to pick a great pair. Alas, the sixth pair was in my opinion only mediocre. Everyone else at the table could see he was shooting himself in the foot and tried to get him to change his mind. Yet he was adamant. Kellan wanted that sixth pair (Livestock and especially Medicine). I then took the first pair, a *great* set (that Kellen should have scarfed up without a moment's hesitation) of Messages and Field General.. The first one's ability was pretty useless early in the game. But it did give 5 armies. That amount had
great synergy with the other tile's ability that gave 3 permanent armies, plus
7(!) temporary armies. I also gained two points for taking a tile set Kellan had skipped over. Meg then took Barbarians (6 armies) and Livestock; a good combo. Lastly, Andreas chose Mountineering (made mountains worth something and easier to conquer) and Agriculture. At the end of turn 1 scores were: Michael 12, Meg 12, Andreas 10, Kellan 0.

Turn 2 - Kellan's (blue) first empire entered the board in Norway and took five
nearby provinces. Then my (white) first empire entered the board in the SW corner and claimed six provinces. Next, Meg's green armies came ashore in Scotland and expanded southward into France. Two of the lands she took were light green, which her Livestock tile gave her an extra point each for.. Lastly, Andreas entered the board in the NE corner. He snagged one yellow province for which his Agriculture tile gave him an extra point. At the end of turn 2 scores were: Michael 18, Andreas 17, Meg 16, Kellan 5.

Turn 3 - As we were all now ashore in Europe we all expanded outward. At this point there was still no conflict between players (until Andreas whacked me). For the most part we spent our time killing helpless tan Celts. Turn end scores: Michael 28, Andreas 26, Meg 25, Kellan 14. So three of us were neck and
neck, while Kellan was still trying to recover from the massive -10 score hit he took on turn one.

Turn 4 - Kellan expanded southward out of Scandinavia into a couple of green provinces which was good for his Livestock tile. I had at this point expanded about as far as possible. Those 7 extra armies were really nice for fighting, but as they evaporated at the end of each of my turns they were useless for holding territory. So I put my first civilization into Decline and chose a new pair of tiles. Well, well, well, look what's now in the first slot; Slavery and
(yet another) Field General. Meg and Andreas groaned, while I grinned immensely. And as they'd been skipped over previously, I got 2 free VPs to boot! Meg then expanded eastward, taking two more green provinces for her Livestock (one at Kellan's expense). Then Andreas took a couple of provinces in
Central Europe from my old first empire, which was in decline. Turn end scores: Michael 41, Andreas 38, Meg 37, Kellan 25.

Turn 5 - At this point Kellan quite suddenly announced he had to leave(!?!).. Luckily for us, Phil J, who had arrived late, had been watching our game. He was able to take over Kellan's position with a bare minimum of help. Phil then used the blue armies to expand southward and recover the territories Andreas had taken from Kellan. My new (second) civilization now came on board right on top of Phil blue horde in Norway. Yet instead of expanding straight south on top of Phil, I soon veered SW into Meg's green armies in Denmark and Germany. Besides taking territory, I also took 5-6 slaves. Next, Meg put her now decimated civilization into Decline and chose a new pair of tiles for her second. She picked Astronomy and Mining. Lastly, Andreas made one final expansion with the red armies into Central Europe. Turn end scores: Michael 60,
Andreas 49, Meg 46, Phil 37. Ah, I was beginning to pull away form the pack.

Turn 6 - Phil hunkered down and did his best to keep two of the three green livestock friendly provinces he'd had. One was lost due to the rule of cohesion, as Andres had cut Phil's empire in half. I then expanded my second civilization outward from Norway further. I concentrated on Meg's green armies in France. I think I took three of her green armies as slaves, and one blue army of Phil's. Meg then expanded her second empire by leaps and bounds, due to
her Astronomy tile. She mainly whacked my old/first empire. She took several mining symbols on the board for 2 extra points a pop. Finally, Andreas put his first civ into decline and chose two new tiles: Currency and Barbarians. Turn end scores: Michael 78, Meg 58, Andreas 52, Phil 42. I had now moved from last turn's 11 points ahead to 20 points ahead of my nearest competitor. Therefor I expected all three of my opponents to land on me next turn like a ton of bricks.

Turn 7 - Everyone expanded with their second empires. I wasn't encroached upon as much as I'd feared. Meg's mining and Andreas' currency (which made every province worth +1 point) kept them competitive. Yet my Field General and Slavery tile combo continued to propel me up the scoretrack. For I was now 26 points ahead. Turn end scores: Michael 96, Meg 70, Andreas 66, Phil 49.

Turn 8 - Phil put his first civ into decline and chose two new tiles (frankly
tried to get him to do this last turn, but he demurred). He chose Heritage and
Espionage. Which to me was sort of "eh". But then the six choices of pairs weren't any great shakes by that point. At least he did receive a goodly number
of armies. I then took more slaves in France/Germany/Ireland. Next, Meg took back a couple of provinces I'd taken from her. And Andreas did the same. Turn end scores: Michael 110, Andreas 85, Meg 84, Phil 51. I was till 25 points ahead. And as this was a four-player game, 120 points was the victory threshold. Andreas was sure I'd make the 10 points I needed next turn to win.
wasn't certain, though it would be close.

Turn 9 - Phil's second empire came ashore and expanded (in Norway, yet again!).
I whacked Meg & Andreas, taking a couple of slaves from them in Germany/Poland. Just enough to cross the victory threshold. Yet as we all were due to get the same number of turns, the game wasn't quite over. Meg and Andreas then did their best to make a few more points. Neither was anywhere close to surpassing me. Yet they did narrow the gap a bit; down to a 23 point lead.

Final scores: Michael W 121, Meg W 98, Andreas W 95, Kellan/Phil J 60. Duration: one hour and 52 minutes. Everyone enjoyed the game. Props to Phil for
taking over a hopeless position mid-game and doing the best he could to improve it.



Next, my Cambria, which was new to the rest. Yet they took to it easily, their raiding Irishmen merrily sacking Welsh cities, circa 400 AD. Andreas and Meg made several early gains. Then slowed, as Phil did a lot of catching up. I mostly seemed to be a day late and a dollar short. Just before final scoring I only had 9 points. Final (partial) scoring helped me the most, but not enough.


Scores: Andreas 21, Phil J 18, Meg W 15, Michael W 15. Duration: 19 minutes.. Everyone enjoyed the game.



See BoardgameGeek http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ for more information on the games mentioned above. And if you're in the area on a Tuesday night feel
free to join us for a game.

--
Michael Ward
Fort Worth Gamers
And check out our MeetUp page http://www.meetup.com/FortWorthGamers/ .
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