♫ ♬ "(Gaming) Memories...In The Corner Of My Mind" ♩♪

So, as you read this you'll probably be wondering...why is he writing about a game day that happened waaaaay back in September of 2015?

Welp, five reasons, offa the top o' my head:

1. My regular weekly gaming group really isn't an option for me anymore so I'll be dipping back into the archives more and more.
2. To ensure that I don't freeze and / or starve to death during the winter (and can finance a new vehicle that won't fly apart on the highway when it exceeds 60 kilometers per hour) I've been forced to take on more paying work, leaving me less and less time to game and write. And write about games. Such is "life" I guess. 
3. I always like to be reminded of a time when the world around me wasn't a cold, damp monochromatic hellscape.
4. I actually played some really fun games that day that are worth talking about. 
5. I want to give youze guys some tips for teaching these games to your own friends. 

This was actually the third annual "Quadruple B": I.E. the "Brother's Booze BBQ and Boardgames" event, which happened back on September 12'th 2015. Mark and Dawn were kind enough to throw their homes open to us yahoos for another full day of gamin', drinkin' and wantonly carnivorous behavior. 

As one of the resident "game masters" (I'm getting some business cards done up as we speak) I decided to kick things off with something lite: namely Click Clack Lumberjack, which I first spotlighted on the blog right hur.

Basically, the players are lumberjacks who are trying to strip the bark off of a tree without harming the core of the tree. I know, I know, that makes about as much sense as Willow flaying Warren alive in Buffy and then expecting him to be the Big Bad in Season Seven, but, hey, whatevs.

During their turn, players take two whacks at the plastic tree with their l'il plastic axe. Every piece of bark they strip off the tree is one point to the good. If the bark they just knocked off has a l'il grub sticker underneath it, that's worth another point, plus it gives you a free chop.

If you fuck up royal and shear a piece of the white core offa the tree then that's bad. Like real bad. Like "minus five points to your score" kinda bad.

Anyway I had a blast watching Cheryl, Sabina, Allison, Mark and Trevor cope with this one. Eventually people start to marvel at the tree's gravity-defying contortions. Mid-way through the game, the thing looks like a pine tree that's been "out on the bank" for the past one-hundred years.

In the end, Alllicene proved to be the most deft of hand. Here are the final scores:

Cheryl: -4

Me: -3

Sabina: -2

Mark: 0

Trevor: +3

Allicenne: +6

Everyone seemed to dig this one so I quickly re-racked it for another game. I get a kick out of watching folks discover sneaky tactics like cherry-picking pieces that are on the verge of falling off, using a flick action to knock back off the top tier or deliberately knocking the whole thing outta whack just to fuck with the next person. Good times.

Our overall score in game two was slightly better and my more-conservative strategy let me eke out a tie. Here, then, are the final scores from game two:

Sabina: -3

Mark: -2

Cheryl: +3

Me, Trevor & Allicenne: +4

Sorry, but I love this stupid game. It's a wonderful opener and / or a great wind-down closer at the end of the night. It's cat-nip for non-gamers and kids in particular. In a world where Jenga is the only dexterity game that people know of, this one is Campaign for North Africa in comparison.

Pro tip: I've house-ruled the "grub" rule ever so slightly. In the original game if you reveal a grub you get a free full two-whack turn but that's totes cray-cray IMHO, especially if you turn up several of them at once. So, in my games, I just limit it to a single bonus strike.

Next up was Dead Man's Draw, which I originally profiled right hur.

Dead Man's Draw is a press-your-luck pirate-themed card game. On a player's turn, they draw the top card on the deck and play it in their "run". There are ten different suits in the game and each card is numbered from two to nine. Each time a card hits the table it triggers a special ability that you can use to help your effort or screw around with your opponents.

Anytime you want to stop drawing cards you can. Cards you collect at the end of your turn are placed in a chest of "booty" in front of you, stacked in different suits with the highest value on top. Alternately, you can keep drawing cards as long as you want but as soon as you draw a suit that's already in your "run" you bust and all of your cards go into the discard pile. Bee-boo.

The game continues until the draw pile is exhausted. Players then count up the top deck value in each of their suit stacks and the highest total value wins the game.

This is another one that's a blast to teach to people. I'm so good at it now that I don't have to do any up-front rules dump, I just get the first player to draw their first card and I talk them through their options. The most important thing to communicate to them right off the bat is that, with ten different suits, your really start to flirt with the possibility of busting when you get up around three or four draws.

Here's how the score rattled out in this one:

Allicenne...16 points

Trevor...35 points

Me...48 points

Cheryl...60 points    

The same group stuck around for game two. Trevor and Allicenne proved to be quick studies and dominated the game. Here are the final scores:

Cheryl...34 points

Me & Allicenne...50 points

Trevor...57 points

Some tips about teaching this one to people: feel free to explain what the cards do and how they work in tandem, but always let your players discover the combos themselves. It's particularly gratifying when they figure out some crazy, Machiavellian plan all by themselves. "Hmmm, a Treasure Map. Let's see, if I use the Hook I just turned up to drag that Sword back into my run, I can steal your Key and complete my Chest / Key combo! Yis!"

Indeed, the best part of the game is discovering the synergy amongst different suits which you can use to rack up mondo points. It's not the deepest game in the world, but its another good, light, portable opener that makes your brain percolate.

Next up was Roll For It! which I've also previously covered here and here.

This one is a super-lite, odds-making, Vegas-style dice game. To start things off, three cards are randomly flipped up on the table from the top of the deck. Each one is a "blueprint" you're trying to fulfill with your six dice. The more dice required, the more it's worth.

On your turn you roll all six of your dice and dock 'em anywhere you like. Vis a vis you can split 'em up amongst several card, and that's a big part of the strategy. Do go all in on one card or hedge my bet among several and roll less dice?

Here, I'll give you an example. Say you've got a five-pointer on the table requiring three "3"s, just like in the photo below. On my first turn I roll two "3's" so I plop 'em next to that card. But then, my jack-hole opponent comes along and rolls three "3"s in one go. They can snipe my card, bump my dice back to me, and now they're well on their way to the 40 points needed to win.

Right off the bat I took the lead by going after some quick, low-value cards. Trevor scored a big 10 points but every time he started to invest in a new card, someone would just steal it away from him! Eventually he became obsessed with completing a juicy 15 pointer but this caused him to stall completely. Both Cheryl and Allicenne both tried to take a run at me but by then all I needed was another easily-acquired ten-pointer to put me over the top.

Final Scores

Trevor...10 Points

Allicenne...30 Points

Cheryl...37 Points

Me...41 Points

Whereas Click Clack Lumberjack is catnip for kids, Roll For It! is catnip for parents. It's quick, super-easy to teach and, hey, everybody loves dice! Just remember the following three important things when teaching the game to people:

1. Sometimes players will make the mistake of splitting their dice up while going for a 15-pointer. Be sure to remind them that they need all six dice on that one card in order to claim it. 
2. Get players to temporarily set aside any dice they just used to buy a card and then turn up a new card from the top of the deck. This gives the player a chance to allocate any of their remaining, unspent dice. In fact, with a particularly lucky roll, you can actually pick up several cards in one turn. Be sure to remind players that they'll get all of the dice they set aside back at the start of their next turn.
3. If players opt to take their dice back they can't cherry pick just some of them. They have to take all of them back but then they get to roll all six again. 

Next up we decided to play one of the better party games to come down the pike in a while: Konito?.  
To set things up, you construct a "race track" with a bunch of brightly-colored puzzle pieces. This alone is awesome enough since you can use all of the pieces for a 30-40 minute game or just half or three-quarters of the pieces for a shorter 20-minute game.

After everyone is divided up into teams, get them to pick a colored token and place it on the start space. Choose a team at random to start and then elect one member to be the first phrase-reader. An example of a phrase might be:

"May The Force __ ____ ___." 

Now if you've been living underneath a rock since 1977 and you had no idea what I was taking about talking about, I can then launch into word-association, songs, gestures...anything to get my team-mates to finish the phrase. Green spaces have three phrases per card, the orange spaces have four and the red spaces are the most challenging with five phrases per card. Each card your team clears in the allotted time is a movement point for your token around the race track.

Oh, one final thing: if you start your turn on a "Konito?" space the phrase-reader begins by drawing the top "Konito?" card and asking their team-mates "Do you wanna do 1, 2 or 3?". The random number they settle on corresponds to a particular stunt that your team must now accommodate for the upcoming turn. An example of this would be: "After each response, the answerer must give their first and last name". Typically these challenges make things slightly harder but also offer some sort of rewards if you succeed.

The first team token to reach the end of the track wins! 

The Teams

Team Blue: Angie, Cheryl and Allicenne

Team Black: Me, Chad and Trevor

Team Green: Angela, Claudia and Sabina

Since this was our first game, and a lot of the stunts are kinda humiliating, we decided to play 'em. As the game began we were getting our asses kicked. Angela, Claudia and Sabina were working in perfect tandem with one another. But eventually we started to settle down and close the gap by deliberately landing on the easier green spaces. Eventually Team Green got hung up on a tough Red spot just one space away from the finish line!

With Chad up, Trevor blew through the phrases as quick as possible and Chad's responses were unerring. So, right at the very end, we blasted by our rivals to claim the win!

This was one of my first times teaching the game to people so I goofed up one critical rule: everyone on the phrase-reader's team can answer. We were playing it so that the phrase reader and answerer kept changing and only one person could answer that round. This put people on the spot and made it a lot harder.

I.E. I can't slight the game for my grievous fuck-up. It's actually one of the better party games I've played in recent memory but, then again, I'm also a weirdo English major and writer who loves phrases. Full disclosure: I've taught the game to a lot of people and I've noticed that, for some strange reason, some Millennials have no sweet clue what a lot of these phrases are. So be sure to divide younger players evenly amongst the teams to make things are fair as possible.

Next up: one of my favorite press-your-luck dice games: Pickomino by Reiner "I Loves Me Some Numbers" Knizia.

In Pickomino (originally titled Heck Meck) players are mama hens trying to bring back as many tasty barbecued worms for their chicks to eat. They do so by rolling eight dice and keeping one matching set. For example, if my first throw was two "2's",  two "1's", three "4's" and one Worm symbol I could keep the three "4's" for 12 points. Now, I'm gonna hafta roll again 'cuz the lowest valued tile on the table is 21.

So I go again, and this time I throw one "1",  one "3",  four "4's" and two Worm symbols. Unfortunately I can't take the four "4's" 'cuz I kept 'em on a previous throw. But I can take the two Worms, which is a good idea for two reasons: they're worth five points a pop and I need at least one of 'em sitting in front of me by the time I stop. So I decide to take 'em and now I'm up to 22 points.

Now I can stop right there, take the "22" tile with a single worm on it and then pass the dice on to the next person. Every time I stop and keep a tile it goes on top of my stack. This gives the game another interesting wrinkle: if you roll the exact number on the top of someone's stack you can steal that tile away from them. Zing!

I can also keep rolling as often as I want, but if I can't keep a die result that's different from my previous throws I bust, my top tile goes back into the sequence and I flip over the highest valued tile on the table. This ensures that the the game lasts no longer than a half hour. The game ends when all the tiles are passed around and / or flipped and the highest worm count wins the game.

I introduced this one to Allicenne as well as Dawn's two friends Paula and Rhonda. Everybody picked up on it right away and pretty soon we were all rollin' as if our chick's lives depended on it. Right from the start I settled for a lot of low valued tiles but Paula proved to be particularly adept at pressing her luck. Instead of chickening out (seewutididthur?) she persevered and kept rolling long after logic (and sanity) dictated that she should stop. For me, such gambits never seem to pan out, but for her it really paid off.

Final Scores

Rhonda...0 Points

Allicenne...1 Point

Me...6 Points

Paula...8 Points

Game two played out in a similar fashion with me sniping the lowest valued tiles. This time it was Rhonda's turn to snap up those scrumptious high-worm tiles. I also suffered a bit from "game master" syndrome which dictates that if someone's gonna get a tile stolen from them, it's gonna be the guy who taught the game to people. Clearly he's the greatest threat! Yeah, um, no.

Here's how the scores shook out for game two:

Me...0 points

Allicenne and Paula...3 Points

Rhonda...4 Points

No matter how well you "elevator pitch" Pickomino to people, they'll typically just stand there and blink at you. So now I just throw it down on the table and tell people "YOU ARE PLAYING THIS GAME RITE NOW" in my best Dr. Klaw voice. Once it's down and people start chuckin' dem bones, they can't stop. It's like the "potato chip" of dice games, you just can't play one!

Next up: the smash-hit party game of 2015: Codenames.

Leave it to wonderkind designer Vlaada Chvátil to take a simple word-association party game like Catch Phrase and turn it into a super-cool spy-themed game.

Before I get started I just wanna say up front that the optimal number of players here is either four or six but it still technically works with three or two (kinda) or seven plus (decreasingly so). The game play itself is deceptively easy: players split into red and blue teams and nominate a "Spymaster" as their guide. It's the Spymaster's job to get their color-coded agents to rendezvous with affiliated spies in the field and keep them away from rival agents, the unwitting general populace or, even worse, the deadly Assassin. 

After a random, 5 x 5 grid of "code name" cards is laid out on the table, a "blueprint" is revealed to the Spymasters only. This instantly identifies where your field agents are as well as rival spies, Innocent Bystanders and the Assassin. The Spymasters are then given a moment to look at this grid and try to find as many links between their team cards as possible.

So as not to tip off their rivals with the movement of their agents, the Spymasters will alternate back and forth, giving their team a one-word clue and then a number which indicates how many code name cards they're referring to. For example if I'm the blue Spymaster and the secret blueprint tells me that three of my blue spies in the field are "GOLD", "SHIP" and "PLANK", I might tell them "PIRATE - 3". This tips them off to look for three pirate-related code name cards.

After talking among themselves, a team must eventually settle on a guess by physically pointing to it. Every time they guess right, you get to overlay one of your color-coded Agent tiles. If they get all of their guesses right, they can press their luck by taking take one more bonus guess, perhaps based on a previous clue they've been given.

If they screw up and pick a rival team's color, the enemy team gets to drop one of their team color tiles on the board and the turn immediately passes to them. If you send an agent to meet with an Innocent Bystander, then a neutral cards hits the table and your turn is over. But the worst case scenario is sending your agents to meet with the deadly Assassin. If that happens you immediately lose the game and the other team wins. In other words, if I didn't notice that "ISLAND" was the Assassin in the example above, I've just put my players in genuine peril with my PIRATE-themed clue! 
    

Game One Teams

Red Team

Spymaster: Me

Agents: Jeremy and Trevor

Blue Team

Spymaster: Andrew

Agents: Cheryl and Matt

Even though I'm usually the dude who comes in last on our first play of deep Eurogames, but I'm a real savant when it comes to Codenames. Sometimes you'll get lucky and there'll be plenty of blatant links between some of the cards, but in most instances, you really have to think creatively. Sure, you can give a clue linked to a single card, but that isn't going to get you ahead! You gotta gamble a bit by doling out clever clues that relate to two, three, even four or more code name cards at a time.

Things were still pretty close mid-way through our first game but then Andrew got a little gun shy. Even though some of the links were tenuous at best, I managed to press my luck and us nudge into the lead. This gave me a chance to deliver the coup de grâce in the form of a conservative one-word clue: "MacDonald" for "BRIDGE", which probably only makes sense if you're from Halifax.  

Winners: Me, Jeremy and Trevor.

Game Two Teams

Red Team

Spymaster: Jeremy

Agents: Me and Trevor

Blue Team

Spymaster: Matt

Agents: Cheryl and Andrew

No offense to Jeremy but some of his clues, such as the incredibly esoteric "ANGELES" (as is LOS Angeles), put us behind the eight-ball pretty quick. Conversely, Matt was laser-focused, bangin' out one 2 to 3-word clue after another. As such, Team Blue trounced us soundly by a score of 8 - 5.

Winners: Matt, Cheryl and Andrew.

Things were starting to wind down by then, with many of the remaining party-goers distracted by some sort of DVD party game that I had zero interest in. This gave Andrew, Cheryl, Matt and I a chance to bust out one of my favorites from last year: Splendor.

Since I've already talked about this one pretty extensively (namely here, here, here and here) I'm not going to re-hash it in any detail. I do want to preface the following account by telling you that Andrew had just come off a Splendor tournament. He's prepared for this by weight-training with the app so much that he claimed to be invincible. Naturally we took this as a challenge and Cheryl, Matt and myself promptly took up the gauntlet against him.

Unfortunately, Andrew's prediction proved prescient and he charted an incredibly streamlined path through the game. I did a reasonably good job picking up some Prestige but my choices were considerably less optimal. For the record, my Splendor skills have really improved since this last meeting and now I think I could really give him a run for his money.

Matt, sharp cookie that he is, grasped the rules very quickly but by the time he started to divine a clear strategy it was already too late. Cheryl, normally a super-sharp contender in Splendor, Cheryl spent way too long developing her base before collecting any Prestige Points, which, as we know, is what the game's all about! 

Final Scores

Cheryl...2 Points

Matt...4 Points

Me...9 Points

Andrew...15 Points

I've played Splendor so much now that it's the gaming equivalent of a warm, fluffy robe. It's comforting, cozy and reassuringly simple. I'd like to challenge Andrew once again, this time applying some recent epiphanies about the game which involve the creation of deep discounts for the most plentiful developments while exploiting reservations to the maximum.

Speaking of gaming comfort foods, our last match of the evening was Lords of Waterdeep, which I've already featured here and here. I only had the base game with me, but since it was getting late, I needed something with a quick set up time and fewer options.

This time I was the one on point, snapping up the primo quests, becoming a prolific slumlord and nailing people with irksome Mandatory Quests. Andrew, on the other hand, altered his strategy mid-game, killing his momentum in the process. Meanwhile Cheryl had a hard time picking up quests that dovetailed with her Lord's special ability.

Final Scores

 

Cheryl...131 Points

Andrew...134 Points

Me...142 Points

What can I say about Lords that hasn't already been said? To this day it's still one of my all-time favorite worker placement games. Even though I consider the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion to be de rigueur now every time I play it, there's something to be said about clean, elegant simplicity of the core game as well.

What I like most about Lords of Waterdeep is that it practically begs you to pay attention to the Buildings, the Quest spread and the Intrigue cards. Successful players will be the ones who juggle all of these elements in the most efficient manner.

***

By the time Lords of Waterdeep wrapped up it was around 11:30 pm and we'd been drinkin', gamin' and eating like kings for about eight hours straight. Ergo, it was time to pack it in. We thanked Mark and Dawn extensively for being such great hosts before heading out into the crisp, late-summer air. I drove home very happy, content in the knowledge that I'd presided over a few new gaming epiphanies, especially amongst valued friends.

Pity that my opportunities to game are becoming increasingly scarce. But, fear not! There's hope on the horizon! Stay tuned, folks, I've got a massive entry coming soon featuring a crap-ton of new games, some new reviews on deck, plans for a new video series and some exciting events on the horizon!

***

Wanna impress your friends with some cool, hipster-ish game knowledge? Well, click on any of the images below to learn more about the games we played and keep this blog on fleek!

Good 'Lord!' : "Lords of Waterdeep"

After we had such a blast playing Lords of Waterdeep at Hal-Con, we really wanted to revisit the game as soon as possible while it was still fresh in our collective brains.  A few weeks ago Andrew, Chad and I had our chance to do battle again for supremacy over the legendary Dungeons & Dragons "Forgotten Realms" city.  The resulting clash may very well be the reason why the word "epic" was invented.

To give the following blow-by-blow session report a bit of context, I highly recommend that you check out this super-slick instructional video handily provided by the fine folks over at Wizards:

  

And if you're one of those weirdos who enjoy reading rule books for games that you don't even own, then you could do worse then clicking on this link.  

AGENT ASSIGNMENTS

Andrew...Red Sashes

Chad...Knights of the Shield

Me...City Guard

Round One

I hastily dispatched an Agent to Waterdeep Harbour to play "Call in a Favor", which allowed me to retain the First Player Token and hire a lone Wizard.  Andrew toddled off to Aurora's Realm's Shop to collect four Gold.  Chad followed my lead, sending his first Agent to Waterdeep Harbor to play "Lack of Faith" and score four Victory Points!  

My second Agent ventured off to the Field of Triumph and came back to my tavern with two new Fighters in tow.  Andrew went down to Waterdeep Harbor and played "Arcane Mishap", which jacked my brand new Wizard and earned him a misbegotten Intrigue Card.  Asshole!  One of Chad's agents wandered off to Blackstaff Tower to collect a considerably better-timed Wizard.

On my next turn, I sent an Agent off to the Builder's Hall to construct the House of Wonder for four Gold.  Andrew's Agent popped into the Grinning Lion to be the meat in a Rogue sammich.  Even before the paint had a chance to dry on my newly-minted Wonder House, Chad ducked under the dedication tape and paid me two Gold for the privilege of scoring a similar count of Clerics.  

Round Two     

Two more Fighters were persuaded to join my cause after my first Agent visited Waterdeep Harbor and played "Ambush".  Andrew also retained a pair of scrappers via the Field of Triumph.  Chad dispatched one of his minions to Aurora's Realm's Shop to procure four Gold.  

Looking to become my own best customer, I popped into the House of Wonder and lured a pair of Wizards back to my Tavern.  Andrew put an Agent to work in the Builder's Hall, paying four Gold for the Jester's Court.  After that he turned in one Fighter, one Rogue and one Cleric to complete the "Lure Artisans of Mirabar" Quest, netting four Victory Points and a bonus building (The Spires of Morning).  Chad's Agent took a stroll down to Waterdeep Harbor to orchestrate a "Change of Plans", which prompted a rash of discards.

A quick trip to the Jester's Court earned me a foursome of Rogues who were anxious to "Retrieve Ancient Artifacts" and earn me eleven big Victory Points and four Gold!  Andrew strolled along Waterdeep Harbor and sparked a "Bidding War" by putting some new Quests into circulation.  To keep the options flowing, Chad checked into the Cliffwatch Inn and dumped the current assortment of Quests in lieu of four new ones!  He also managed to "Heal Fallen Gray Hand Soldiers" for six Victory Points.

Round Three   

I nipped down to the Cliffwatch Inn to pick up some new Quest and Intrigue Cards.  Andrew's first Agent swaggered into the Grinning Lion to re-stock his supply of Rogues.  After his Agent entered the Spires of the Morning, Chad acquired the valuable wisdom of several priests.

Badly in need of coinage, one of my Agents managed to wring four Gold out of Aurora.  With re-enforcements levied from the Field of Triumph, Andrew's minions successfully "Spied on the Lighthouse" for six Victory Points.  After a refreshing dip in Waterdeep Harbour, Chad's Agent conjured up four Victory points by "Training Bladesingers".

Wanting to stay on the vanguard of real estate acquisition, I contracted the Builder's Hall to construct Fetlock Court.  After a few casuals at The Grinning Lion, Andrew gained the liquid courage required to "Fence Goods for the Duke of Darkness" and score six Veeps.  Craving more options, Chad's henchmen marched into the Cliffwatch Inn and picked up a new Quest and two Gold to boot.

Round Four 

Unable to to secure a restraining order against myself, I visited Fetlock Court to hire two Fighters and a Wizard.  Likening the current allotment off Quests to the contents of a toilet, Andrew flushed the floaters and took his pick of four considerably more palatable options.  Meanwhile, Chad's Agent pulled a Mike Holmes and constructed the cozy-sounding Stone House.

So cozy, in fact, that I immediately rented a room and inherited a metric shit-ton of Gold in the process.  Andrew paid a visit to my Fetlock Court to retain two Fighters and a Wizard, netting me a free mage in the process.  Still discontent with his current allotment of schemes, Chad dispatched an Agent to Cliffwatch Inn for a new Quest and two Gold.

"Defeat Uprising" gave me eleven Victory Points after my third Agent arrived at the House of Wonder.  Seeking more attractive options, Andrew picked up some new Quest and Intrigue Cards at Cliffwatch Inn.  Next, Chad rushed down to the Jester's Court to snap up a quadrilogy of Rogues.

Round Five  

Annoyed by the dearth of appropriate Quests, my Agent at Cliffwatch Inn rebooted them all.  Andrew took the mercenary route, collecting four Gold from Aurora's Realms.  Chad sent his first Agent to the Builders Hall for help and constructed his House of Good Spirits exactly to specification.  

The six Gold sitting now on the Stone House proved irresistible to me.  Moments later my hirelings "Exposed The Red Wizards' Spies", netting me twenty huge Victory Points!  From the Spires of the Morning, Andrew's Agent wrangled up an entire cathedral of Clerics who "Impersonated Adarbrent Noble" for eighteen Victory Points!  Not to be outclassed, Chad's henchman went to Cliffwatch Inn to get some fresh Quest and Intrigue Cards.  As if this wasn't enough, a mob of his Adventurers successfully "Sealed The Gate To Cyric's Realm" for twenty Victory Points!

Disheartened by my opponent's relentless pace, I sent an Agent to Cliffwatch Inn to ferret out some new plans.  After dispatching an Agent to Winterdeep Harbor, Andrew played an Intrigue Card which allowed him to raid the Stone House for six Gold.  Chad's Agent joined him there, giving him the opportunity to play "Good Faith" and rustle up a pair of vicars. 

My fourth Agent took a dart down to Fetlock Court to recruit two Fighters and a Wizard.  Andrew snagged the equivalent of Xena and Gabrielle from The House of Good Spirits.  Not long after, Chad retained two Van Helsing-types on the Field of Triumph, who went on to "Eliminate a Vampire Coven" for 11 Victory Points!  

Round Six    

I sent my first Agent merrily skipping along to the Jester's Court, which had become a veritable den of thieves in the interim.  Revealing that they may have a drinking problem (as well as a fetish for burglars), Andrew's minions continued to frequent the Grinning Lion.  This also allowed him to "Ally With House Thann" for a truly obscene twenty-five Victory Points!  By Drizzt's Ebony Wang, that's a lotta cheddar for one Quest!

Andrew's next play saw an Agent off to Castle Waterdeep for an Intrigue Card and the First Player Token.  Chad found Aurora's Realms Shop at the end of a rainbow and scored a pot o' Gold.  Andrew also redeployed his Agent to Cliffwatch Inn to pimp his Quests and snag two Gold coins.

Chad then sent one of his drones down to the Builder's Hall to construct the Helmstar Warehouse for three Gold.  Meanwhile, I ordered one of my Agents to go down to the House of Wonder to seek council from a pair of priests.  Andrew hit the jackpot when he sent a representative to the Stone House, hauling in a seven coins.  Looking to shake things up, Chad sent one of his gofers to the Cliffside Inn to generate a new spread of Quests and draw an Intrigue Card.

One of my Agents convinced a pair of Fighters and one Wizard to join my cause in Fetlock Court.  My newly assembled motley bad of Adventurers then went off to "Confront The Xanathar" for another twenty big Victory Points.  After hitting the Field of Triumph, Andrew's peons "Established A New Merchant Guild" for eight Victory Points!  Chad "Requested Assistance" from the longshoremen at Waterdeep Harbour, who provided him with two Fighters.

Since Chad was clearly outpacing us, I dispatched an Agent to Waterdeep Harbor and played a Mandatory Quest on him, hoping to bleed off some of his critical resources and slow him down a bit.  Unfortunately this was like trying to stop a charging rhino with a Popsicle stick and a Styrofoam plate.  All Chad needed to do was send one of his underlings to the House of Wonders, hire the appropriate staff and then swat it aside during his next turn.

I toddled off to Castle Waterdeep to capture the First Player token and draw an Intrigue card.  For their bonus plays, Chad patronized his own Helmstar Warehouse for two Rogues and two Gold while Andrew had to settle for a twin-cutpurse consolation prize via his own Jester's Court.

Round Seven

I started this new round by sending an agent to Cliffwatch Inn to procure a desperately-needed Quest and some cash monies.  Andrew followed suit but ended up with a new Quest and an Intrigue Card.  Chad hit the Builders Hall and paid four Gold to construct the Palace of Waterdeep.

My Agent hit Waterdeep Harbour in order to play "Sample Wares", allowing me to use the still-formative Tower of the Order to score two Wizards.  Andrew sent one of his goons to the House of Good Spirits to secure the two bodies required to "Send Aid to the Harpers" for fifteen Victory Points.  Chad dispatched an emissary to the House of Wonders, finding precisely who he needed to "Deliver an Ultimatum" for eleven Victory Points.

In order to score another Intrigue Card and wrestle back the initiative for next round, I sent an Agent to Castle Waterdeep.  Andrew picked up two burly types in the Field of Triumph.  After Clerics from the Spires of the Morning helped him "Defend the Tower of Luck", Chad gained the ability to cherry-pick his hirelings from there on in; a truly clutch ability.

During our Agent Re-assignments, I went to Blackstaff Tower to beg a Wizard for his table scraps, Andrew visited Fetlock Court for two Fighters and a Wizard and Chad re-set all of the Quests from the comfort of the penthouse suite in Cliffwatch Inn.

Round Eight

My first Agent took a trip to the Jester's Court to acquire the services of some Rogues who promptly "Infiltrated Halaster's Circle" for a crazy 25 Victory Points!  Andrew continued to keep pace, "Raiding an Orc Stronghold" for eight Victory Points thanks to a pair of ballsy pickpockets sourced from the Helmstar Warehouse.  Meanwhile, Chad's Agent returned to the Cliffwatch Inn for a new Quest and Intrigue Card.

Some divine re-enforcements procured from the House of Wonder helped me "Expose Cult Corruption" and score four Victory Points.  Lured by the promise of eight Gold, Andrew ventured off to the Stone House.  After strolling down to Waterdeep Harbour, Chad exacted a measure of revenge on me by playing the obligatory "Stamp Out Cultists".

In reaction, I was forced to visit my own Fetlock Court, hire two Fighters and one Wizard and complete the Mandatory Quest earning a whopping two Victory Points for my trouble.  Knowing that Chad was officially THE RUNAWAY LEADER™, Andrew visited the Harbor to saddle Chad with a Mandatory Quest called "Repel Drow Invaders".  Nonplussed, Chad nipped into the House of Good Spirits, collected precisely what he needed and then drilled this slow-pitch Quest into the cheap seats for two Victory Points.

In a Hail Mary effort to weasel as many last minute Victory Points as possible, I sent my last Agent to the Builder Hall to construct the Tower of the Order and claim a small platoon of Wizards.  Andrew's Agent barged into the Grinning Lion for a dwarven ale and two Gold.  Chad set off to the House of Wonder, gathered up the human resources required to "Discover The Hidden Temple Of Lolth" and then collected a last-minute windfall of ten Victory Points!

For our final Agent Re-assignments, I sent a minion to the Field of Triumph for two Fighters while Andrew went into Aurora's place for four Gold.

And with that, the match was over, leaving us to tally up the end-game scoring...

IN-TAVERN VICTORY POINTS

Andrew...2

Chad...14

Me...5

IN-TAVERN GOLD

            

Andrew...12

Chad...4

Me...6

IN-TAVERN ADVENTURERS

Andrew...4

Chad...3

Me...4

LORD CARD BONUSES

Andrew's Lord was revealed to be Durnan the Wanderer...28 points

Chad Lord turned out to be Piergeiron the Paladinson...36 points

My Lord Card was Khelben Arunsun...20 points

FINAL SCORE
Chad...161
Andrew...143
Me...135

As for my review, my comments from the Hal-Con post still stand:

This game was a genuine revelation.  Much in the same way that Castle Ravenloft stripped dungeon crawls down to the bare bones, Lords of Waterdeep manages take deep worker-placement Euro-fare like Agricola, Stone Age and Pillars of the Earth and distill it down into a completely immersive, compulsively playable hour long experience.

The components for the game are awesome.  The sheer volume of artwork used on the Intrigue and Quest Cards is impressive.  The building tiles and counters are made of a heavy-gauge cardboard and actually feel substantial.  The game board is gorgeously illustrated and the old-world style map is a joy to behold.  Even the game box storage tray represents a quantum leap in design innovation!  

Is the theme tacked on?  A bit.  Sorry, but whenever I turn in an allotment of tiny colored wooden blocks, I really don't feel as if I'm completing a 'Quest'.  The funny thing is, the flavor of the game would probably have been improved greatly with the inclusion of plastic figures or accurate meeples to represent Agents and Adventurers.  In fact, the way it is now, you could make a pretty lethal drinking by taking a shot every time someone refers to a Cleric, Fighter, Wizard or Rogue by their respective cube color. 

Nevertheless, I absolutely loved this game and it's gone right up on my 'wish list.'  

I will add that I enjoyed my second play of the game just as much as the first, if not a bit more.  I like how new strategies continued to emerge.  For example, I've learned the importance of investing in buildings that you know your opponents will patronize and the value of a well timed Intrigue Card play / Agent Re-assignment.

Honestly, I have no idea how well Lords of Waterdeep will hold up to multiple plays.  So far, I really can't detect any glaringly obvious issues with the game and the rules are all clear, concise and easy to digest.  In fact, I'm desperately anxious to tackle it again, if only to apply what I've learned thus far and experiment with new tactics.  

Lords of Waterdeep handily scores five pips out of six.   

***

Looking to 'Lord' your mad skillz over your friends?  Click on the link below to order Lords of Waterdeep from Amazon.com and help support the blog!        

        

Hal-Con 2012 - Day Two

Given the scarcity of open gaming tables at Hal-Con this year I made sure to be in the lineup at 9 AM sharp on Sunday when the doors opened.  I managed to secure the same table we'd used the day before and waited patiently for my peeps to show up.  Although Sabina, Chad and his family were out for Day Two Dean was in, giving us a four-person player pool.    

DAY TWO

Immediately after Andrew purchased Lords of Waterdeep in the vendor room the previous day I began a concentrated campaign of naggery to make sure he prepped the game for Sunday.  Although he didn't get around to digesting it completely, he offered to lock it down while the rest of us played something else.

It was the perfect opportunity for Dean to run a game of Kingsburg.  Although we'd played it fairly recently, Dean had recently acquired the game's highly-prized To Forge a Realm expansion, which was supposed to patch up some of the game's minor gremlins.

Encouraged by this (and looking to avenge my craptacular showing in the last game), I wholeheartedly agreed to play.

Since I'd been clobbered in the final Winter battle right at the end of the last game, I decided to pick the General as my Governor Card, giving me an immediate +1 defensive bump.  Dean opted for the Sculptor, which gave him free Stone and the ability to swap out Gold for Stone when building.  Mike was the buxom Princess, granting him the King's Envoy (!), a Gold (!!), a Victory Point (!!!) and an extra die (! x 4) before the game even started!

Needless to say, the Governor role was kinda weak-sauce in comparison.

Overall, Mike orchestrated a considerably more efficient version of my strategy: going for high Victory Point buildings only after setting up a solid defense:

Dean also played a more focused game then I did, following a military track all the way up to the Wizard's Guild.  He also wrung a lot of additional production flexibility and bonus Veeps out of the "Embassy" path.   

Despite telling myself at the beginning of the game that I should concentrate exclusively on a military tableau, I still got lured in by high Victory Points along the "Religilous" track.  By constructing "Barracks" and "Improvised Defenses" I got lulled into a false sense of security, especially considering how conditional those bonuses are.  Overall, my strategy was way too scattered.  

Although my rolling wasn't universally awful like last game, but it was wildly inconsistent.  I rolled under eight a slew of times, causing me to pull a "Chad" and go for free Victory Points.  Then, all of a a sudden, I'd roll a consistent streak of ten plus for awhile.  Hells, I even hit the eighteen jackpot once and claimed the King.  Still, I didn't have any surplus cash to spend on soldiers at the end of the game like Mike and Dean did, which ended up being my downfall.  Again.  

Actually, I'm probably being be a bit too hard on myself.  After buying the Cathedral (for nine whopping Victory Points) I was actually still right in the middle of the pack as we began the end game.  Unfortunately this exhausted all my resources and I really couldn't do anything after Dean took a peek at the final challenge and promptly started levying troops like a madman.

Right at the end of the game, Dean and Mike parleyed their superior rolls into five and three bonus soldiers respectively.  Even though I couldn't afford any mercenaries, I knew that if Mike rolled anything but a one on our defense we'd all be safe.

Well, guess what?  He rolled a fucking one.  Again!

It was the exact same fucking finale as the last game I'd played.  Mike and Dean beat the challenge, getting a Victory Point bump while the seven-strength Barbarians broke into my Cathedral, stole everything of value, lit the place on fire and then gang-peed on the ashes.        

Final Scores

Dean...46

Mike...39

Me...a dismal 30

Even though Kingsburg keeps fucking me in every available orifice, I'll keep coming back to it like a battered spouse, hoping, just hoping, that this time the game won't push me down a flight of steps at the last second.  Although the expansion offers a metric shit-ton of new options, I really wish that they'd addressed the fact that a single shitty die roll can still completely dismantle your efforts.

By the time we were done, Andrew was ready to table his new purchase:

Lords of Waterdeep is like Stone Age by way of the D&D campaign setting Forgotten Realms.  Players are influential landowners fighting for dominance over the vast city of legend.  Via the strategic placement of Agents, you retain a host of Adventurers to complete Quests, earn rewards and broker influence.  Through the purchase of new buildings and the well-timed play of Intrigue cards, you must improve your efficiencies while hindering your opponents.

The player with the most Victory Points earned during and after the game is declared the winner!

Andrew 

House: Red Sashes

Lord: Durnan the Wanderer  

Me

House: City Guard

Lord: Brianne Byndraeth

Dean 

House: Knights of the Shield 

Lord: Piergeiron the Paladinson

Mike 

House: Silverstars

Lord: Sammereza Sulphontis

Since Andrew was shooting for Commerce and Warfare Quests, Fighters, Rogues and the odd Cleric were his bread and butter.  He patronized his own Fetlock Court to keep him in a good supply of warriors and visited The Three Pearls to parley a surplus of useless minions into what he needed.  Indeed, his vast tracts of real estate served him well, netting him bonus Victory Points and Gold from the Heroes Garden and the Golden Horn.  He also popped into Mike's Waymoot (?) to augment his in- game Victory Point haul.

Given my focus on Skullduggery and Arcana, my Agents were tasked to frequent seedy spots like the Grinning Lion and build my own dives in the form of the Rogue-a-riffic Tower of Luck.  When funds began to dwindle, I opted for the more lucrative deals offered by the Golden Horn versus the fixed cache at Aurora's Realms.  Towards mid-game I really began to lean heavily on Andrew's Heroes Garden and chained together the completion of several quick four-point Quests.

Dean tried to avoid buying his own buildings, opting instead to exploit the ones that his rivals had purchased.  In his attempt to close as many Piety and Warfare Quests as possible, he sought out Fighters and Clerics via my Tower of Luck.  He also tried to keep the coffers full with several visits to Mike's Stone House.  This strategy was supplemented by the Cliffwatch Inn, which allowed him to cherry-pick Quests and earn a bit of coin on the side.

Seeking the completion of Arcana and Commerce Quests, Mike was constantly trying to retain a veritable Rogues Gallery of adventurers.  After falling behind a tad on construction, he surged back mid-game, building the very popular Waymoot and Stone House, both of which provided periodic windfalls of Gold and Victory Points.  Unfortunately, he was also forced to rely heavily on the basic Waterdeep destinations which let some inefficiencies creep in.      

At the end of the game, Victory Points were scored for extra Adventurers, bonus Gold and Lord Card "Secret Agendas".

FINAL SCORES 

 Me...110

Andrew...106

Mike...101

Dean...89

This game was a genuine revelation.  Much in the same way that Castle Ravenloft stripped dungeon crawls down to the bare bones, Lords of Waterdeep manages take deep worker-placement Euro-fare like Agricola, Stone Age and Pillars of the Earth and distill it down into a completely immersive, compulsively playable hour long experience.

The components for the game are awesome.  The sheer volume of artwork used on the Intrigue and Quest Cards is impressive.  The building tiles and counters are made of a heavy-gauge cardboard and actually feel substantial.  The game board is gorgeously illustrated and the old-world style map is a joy to behold.  Even the game box storage tray represents a quantum leap in design innovation!  

Is the theme tacked on?  A bit.  Sorry, but whenever I turn in an allotment of tiny colored wooden blocks, I really don't feel as if I'm completing a "Quest".  The funny thing is, the flavor of the game would probably have been improved greatly with the inclusion of plastic figures or accurate meeples to represent Agents and Adventurers.  In fact, the way it is now, you could make a pretty lethal drinking by taking a shot every time someone refers to a Cleric, Fighter, Wizard or Rogue by their respective cube color. 

Nevertheless, I absolutely loved this game and it's gone right up on my "wish list."  Indeed, I can't help but reward Lords of Waterdeep with a perfect score!  

  

While Andrew prepped a proposed run of 7 Wonders, Dean, Mike and I got into a quick game of Magic: The Gathering.  Even before the turn had a chance to get all the way around the table, Andrew threw down his 7 Wonders rules sheet and dealt himself in.  

I played a Black Vampire deck, Dean played Red Haste, Mike played a Speedy Godzilla Deck and Andrew played an Elvish Piper deck.

As the more experienced players, Dean and I immediately went at each other like Itchy and Scratchy, giving Mike and Andrew an opportunity to consolidate their holdings.  Dean threw everything but the kitchen Sinkhole at me: Lightning Elementals, Raging Goblins and Viashino Sandstalkers assaulted me at every turn whilst my Acolyte of Xathrid and Guul Draz Vampires were felled mercilessly by Shocks.  

Now hopelessly outnumbered, you can probably imagine my elation when I drew my ninth Swamp, giving me the ability to cast Plague Wind and annihilate all of my opponent's creatures.  This effectively hit the reset button, allowing me to regain the initiative.  I did so in style, using my Gatekeeper of Malakir's Kicker cost to remove Dean's sole defender.  After my Gravedigger exhumed a Fear-driven Severed Legion, I knew that I had a lock on Dean.  Not long after, Mike trampled him to death with a few attackers, getting revenge for an earlier Lava Axe to the mush.  

Since Andrew was stagnant under a crippling Mana drought, I focused exclusively on Mike, dropping him down to five Life Points before some Llanowar Elves and a Yavimaya Enchantress came to his defense.  I dropped a Contaminated Bond on the Enchantress and then promptly kicked myself as a big, fat, hairy Emperor Crocodile came waddling out of nowhere.  

And then Mike played this beast:

  

Since my Plague Wind had eliminated all of Andrew's big fatties, Andrew was instantly killed.  Biorhythm was certainly was decent equalizer, dropping me down to three life points to Mike's five.  And since ,  wiped off the board, he hit a crippling Mana drought and I was  quick to perform a mercy-kill. 

Unfortunately his timing was a slightly off.  After bringing out a Zombie Goliath to hold off Mike's attackers, my unblockable Severed Legion eventually did him in.

We quickly dealt a new hand for a second game.  This time Dean had no help with Mana draws and quickly became the first victim in our survival of the fittest.  Meanwhile, Mike was having the opposite problem and quickly sprouted the equivalent of Germany's Black Forest in front of him.  This allowed him to effortlessly push out some big critters like a Trained Armodon and the appropriately-named Enormous Baloth.

Like Dean, I was also experiencing serious Mana issues and could only conjure up a woefully inadequate Mindless Null and Acolyte of Xathrid to block for me.  Needless to say, it wasn't long before Mike's Baloth stomped a colossal mud-hole in my ass.

At the same time, Andrew was using his own Mana avalanche to protect himself with a Traproot Kami and bring a dangerous Elvish Piper onto the battlefield.  With no way to inflict direct damage on the Piper, Mike soon sound himself hip-deep in Elvish Archdruids, Greenweaver Druids and an Avatar of Might whose already-obscene Power and Toughness was needlessly inflated with Blanchwood Armor.

Mike couldn't compete with this one-sided arms race and eventually he was over-run, giving Andrew the duke.

As a debate broke out regarding what our final game of the day should be, I took a stroll around the convention hall, first pausing to admire yet another stellar "History of Dungeons & Dragons" display set up by The Gelatinous Dudes:

And me without me glass-cutter.  Damn!

I also made an eleventh hour purchase in the vendor room, picking up a copy of the recent Dungeon! reprint from Monster Comic Lounge.  Although I know it's a pretty simple game, this one holds some sentimental value for me.  And not from playing it as a kid but from not being able to play it as a kid!

Y'see, in the late Eighties / early Nineties, I fell out of board gaming and ended up passing on several prototypical dungeon crawl / adventure games like HeroQuest, DungeonQuest and Talisman.  I'd also passed on The New Dungeon and The Classic Dungeon reprints so I wasn't about to let that happen again.  Hence, for twenty measly bucks, I finally managed to snag the one that got away!

When I got back to the table, the general consensus was that we were gonna give Smallworld Underground a bash.

Small World Underground is a variation on the original Small World, which we've played several times before.  This version gives players oodles of variety in the form of fifteen new races and twenty-one original special powers.  During the course of the game players use a draft-style mechanic to take command of various creatures and powers and then use these combos to conquer regions on the new subterranean map.  When your chosen race's ability to expand has been all but exhausted, you can put them into Decline and pick a new race.  Timing this option well is a sure key to victory.

Dean had just picked up this expansion, so he was super-anxious to give it a try.  Unfortunately he also didn't have a lot of time to prep it, so we went into the game assuming that it was nothing more then a cosmetic re-theme of the original game.  Man, were we wrong.

But that realization didn't hit us until much, much later.  Right off the bat, my Mining Cultists swarmed the south-eastern corner of the map, snapping up as many mines as possible while keeping my Great Ancient marker away from the front lines.  Dean's Drow were contained to the central riverbanks while Mike's oxymoronic Stone Mudmen launched incursions from both the north and southwest.  Andrew went full-tilt with the Wise Spiderines for only two rounds before wisely dumping them in lieu of a  Shroom surge.

I declined my Cultists and quickly snapped up the Immortal Iron Dwarves, who drove all the way to the banks of the river from the northwest.  The aquatic Muddy Kraken not only occupied the actual river, they also ousted some of the defunct Drow from their warrens along the banks.  Undaunted, Andrew's stealthy Vampire Lizardmen bypassed the river blockade to took over almost the entire  peninsula.  Meanwhile, Andrew's Royal Flames ran riot in the south.        

The Flames and Lizard men went into decline, joining remnants of the Cultists, Mudmen, Kraken, Drow and Shrooms.  Armed with their Silver Hammers my Iron Dwarves continued to drive deep into the heartland.  Andrew sent a fresh onslaught of Tomb Shadow Mimes in from the northwest, seriously impacting my Dwarves.  They also got a swift kick in the chops from Mike's Will-o'-Wisps, which sprang out of the river and earned bonus points for occupying the nearby river banks with their Fisher ability.  Finally, my lingering Cultists got done up a real treat by Dean's mob of Mystic Mummies.          

The final score of the game seemed inordinately high yet well-in-line with the players who'd declined the most races.  Dean won with 103 points, Andrew had 101, I scored 95 and Mike hauled in 85.

While we were playing the game a fellow conventioneer (and massive Smallworld fan) came over periodically to watch us play.  Each time he stopped by, he seemed increasingly agitated by something.  Eventually he felt compelled to speak up, cataloging a litany of rules that we were were fucking up.  Such as:

• Ignoring the customized Underground rule regarding Relics.
• Failing to implement the Places of Power option.  
• Dwarves who can apparently tread water longer then Michael Phelps.  
• Worst of all: we somehow telegraphed the rule that prevents players from having more than one race in decline at a time.  This could explain why Mudmen, Shrooms, Drow, Flames, Cultist and Lizardmen where all still loitering around at the end of the game.  I guess that explains the ludicrously high scores, huh?  Heh, heh.  

At one point in time I thought the spectator was gonna call designer Philippe Keyaerts and have Days of Wonder's rules lawyers arrest us for gross negligence.  And frankly, we wouldn't have had a leg to stand on.

Despite fucking up out last game to the point of parody, we all had a great time at Hal-Con 2012 and agreed that it was the perfect venue for unfettered gamery.  Next year, please Vishnu, more of us will be back and this time we'll be there for all three days.

Keep a table free for us, Hal-Con!  We're already counting down the days!

***

Can't wait 'til next year?  Click on the images below to order the games featured in this post and help out ye olde blog all at the same time!