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Here are recaps of our 2003 gaming sessions.  Any of our members can post session reports. Look at the bottom of each entry to find out who wrote the report.
 

December 31, 2003
December 27, 2003
December 20, 2003
December 12, 2003
December 5, 2003
November 29, 2003
November 19, 2003
Great Lakes Games
November 7, 2003
October 10, 2003
September 28, 2003
September 12, 2003
August 9, 2003
July 12, 2003
July 5, 2003
July 3, 2003
June 18, 2003
June 14, 2003
June 13, 2003
June 7, 2003
Cincinnati Game Day
May 23, 2003
May 21, 2003
May 12, 2003
May 9, 2003
May 7, 2003
April 4, 2003
March 7, 2003
February 7, 2003
January 25, 2003
January 21, 2003
January 3, 2003

2002 Sessions
2001 Sessions
2000 Sessions

Gamers in attendance:  Rick, Matt H, Matt G, Luke, Scott & Cheryl T, John P, John Mc
Games played:  Fist of Dragonstones, Dungeoneer, Mississippi Queen, Edel Stein & Reich, Two Towers Card Game, Amun-Re, Mare Nostrum

Friday night brought another meeting of the Cincinnati Gamers, this time graciously hosted by Rick Vonderbrink in the sleepy East Side hamlet of Loveland.

I was there for six hours, and only played three games, all of them new to me.  One of them was a fluffy kids' game involving jugglers and circus clowns, so you know the other two had to be meaty game experiences.

AMUN-RE

The latest "serious" game from my favorite game designer, Reiner Knizia [Drahtseilakt, Lost Cities, Ra, Zirkus Flohcati, etc].  Five of us set out to buy and develop 15 provinces along the banks of the Nile.

A nifty auction mechanism is used to stake your land claims, but this is essentially a business game, in which you make investments in farmers, power cards, and buildings, in hopes of maximizing your return on investment.  As you know, I love business games like Puerto Rico and Die Handler.  The Egyptian theme worked for me, and overall the game actually reminded me of the classic computer game M.U.L.E.  High praise indeed.

I finished in dead last place by a significant margin, but still enjoyed the process.  Overall, I give the game a tentative thumbs up.  Any reservations I have stem from my fear that after spending 60-90 minutes scheming and planning, the game will just swing at the last minute based on who draws the five "power cards".  In our game, I couldn't draw one to save my life, yet Scott T., by his own admission, lucked into four out of the five, crushing us down the stretch.

Amun-Re is a well-produced game with an attractive board and game bits.  The little cardboard Amun-Re character is a little chintzy, however.  Seems like a good value at $27.50 or less.


MARE NOSTRUM

Eureka!  I think I've found it at last - A board game that captures the feeling of Sid Meier's Civilization, but distills it down to a 2-3 hour playing time.  The board and cards are absolutely beautiful, which is always a plus in my book.  The "tech tree" concept, and researching technology is completely thrown out, which really streamlines things.

Up to five players take command of five civs located around the Mediterranean Sea - Rome, Greece, Babylon, Egypt, and Carthage.  MN is reminiscent of Axis & Allies in that no effort is made to equalize the five countries.  Each civ starts with different strengths and weaknesses, and different numbers of cities, commodities, and troops.   You'll have to tailor your whole approach based on which civ you are.

The turn order:
1. PRODUCE GOODS
2. TRADE GOODS
3. BUILD STUFF
4. MOVE TROOPS & RESOLVE COMBAT
repeat

To win the game, you must be the first civ to acquire three great heroes and/or wonders of the world.  Or, if you're able to build the Great Pyramids you win instantly.

At first, I was felt overwhelmed by the rules, but after a couple of passes through the process, the proverbial light bulb went on.  The game is balanced to the point that you can win without much fighting, as long as you're a shrewd trader and negotiator.

Our game Friday consisted of four newbies, so we just picked the civ closest to us, based on where we happened to sit at the table.  I was Egypt, who I soon discovered had a strong advantage in cities and political influence, which game me a strong tax base.  I didn't have much land or goods however.  At first everyone developed their land peacefully, but soon I was butting up against the Babylonian empire, while the Roman and Carthaginian fleets eyed each other near Sicily.

Rome struck first, seizing Sicily from Carthage.  I launched a surprise strike in the desert, capturing a Babylonian city.  The Babylonian player looked genuinely pissed off, and vowed revenge!  He had it soon, as a crafty naval assault totally outflanked my forces.  Meanwhile, Carthage kicked me while I was down, grabbing a couple of my undefended Western territories.  Rome had recruited Helen of Troy, and seemed to be on the cusp of victory.

Carthage really took one "for the team", setting aside his own development, instead building an army which eventually surrounded Rome itself!  The resulting carnage allowed me to sneak within sight of the Great Pyramid and victory.  To build it, I would need 12 tax cards.  On one turn I traded my way to 10.  Close.  I decided to build the Colossus instead.  On the next turn, I obtained 11 tax cards.   Arrrggh.  I fell short, allowing the Roman player to build his third Wonder, and win the game.

Mare Nostrum ain't cheap.  It seems to be going for well over $30 everywhere I look.  However, it's a quality production, and could be the "Civ Light" game I've been looking for to draw in Steve, Dale, and Sean.  My one playing definitely left me wanting more.

Uh, maybe after some sleep.  It was 1:45am on Friday night!   I headed for home.

Report by John Mc - top

Gamers in attendance: John P, Luke H
Games played:  Two Towers Board Game, Richeleau, Crazy Chicken, Razzle, Jitters, Make 7

Report by - top

Gamers in attendance: Dale Y, John P, John & Trish Mc, Luke H, Matt G & more
Games played:  Carcassonne Hunters & Gatherers, Wallenstein, Atlantic Star & more

Report by  - top

Gamers in attendance:
Games played: Kraut and Ruben, Clippers, For Sale, Merchants of Amsterdam, Mexica, Zircus Flocati, Africa and Wildlife Adventure

Report by  - top

Gamers in attendance: Matt & Lynda G, Scott & Cheryl, Dave E, John P, Andi, Rick, Cal
Games played: 

Mystery Rummy 2: Murders at the Rue Morgue - (Matt G/Cheryl), (Scott/Lynda)
Citadels - John P
Puerto Rico - Lynda, Andi, Matt G, Dave E
Puerto Rico - Cheryl, John P, Rick, Scott
Torres - Matt G, Lynda, Rick, Cal

Report by Matt G - top

Gamers in attendance:  Dale Y, Matt H, Luke H, John P
Games played: Boccerball, Keywood, Liberte, Funkenschlag

1/25/2003 Dale's House
Session Length:  330 min.

Attendees:  Dale Yu, Luke Hedgren, John Palagyi, Matt Hearst

Games Played:  Keywood, Liberté

Keywood

Played By:  1-Dale Y.   2-Luke H.   3-Matt H.   4-John P.
Game Length:  150 min.

This was our first playing of Keywood, which turn into a cutthroat affair!  I took took the strategy of going after any and all merchant liscences I could afford and did not receive too much competition in the aucitons, but I did get a ton of attention and was the target of revoke 1 trade liscence *each* turn of the game.  I was able to keep enough liscences around and in play so that I still held on for the lead despite being the leader for everyone to pick on.

I thoroughly like the game play and mechanics but this was really like Rette sich wer kann with much more strategy and venom.  It was almost too viscious to still enjoy, but I think everyone liked nonetheless.

Winner(s):  Matt H.
Finish:  1-Matt H. (75)   2-Dale Y.   3-Luke H.   4-John P.
Ratings:  Matt H. (8)

Liberté

Played By:  Dale Y.   Luke H.   John P.   Matt H.
Game Length:  150 min.

I was in the lead at the closing of the 4th round with 12 VP's and 3 point lead over Dale and John when Dale managed to end the game with the Counter Revolution alternate ending.  This ending was being threatened during the better part of the 4th round when  I decided to wait and hold my Terror card for another round and left Dale with 5 CR points on the board to work with.  If I had actually used my Terror card, I was in a good position to try and hold onto first place, but as it was, the counter revolution happened and I ended up in last! Ugh!

Still think this game is awesome as it combines a ton of different mechanisms that work well together and it has a great theme to it.  Points off for the board colors and card colors not matching, but aside from that I really like this game.
Winner(s):  Dale Y.
Finish:  1-Dale Y.   2-Luke H.   3-John P.   4-Matt H.
Ratings:  Matt H. (8)

Session Report generated by GameTracker ((c)Goldraven 2002)

Report by Matt H - top

Gamers in attendance:  Matt H, Luke H, John P
Games played:  Roads & Boats

Once again Luke is left alone on his path to victory.  Conflict is definitely NOT good in this game!  Please take note of that Dale, Mike and Matt H.

Report by JP - top

Gamers in attendance: Matt H, Luke, John P, Eve, DeeAnn & Joe, Andy S, Dave E, David & Rhonda
Games played: Liberte, Blooming Gardens, Ra, Samarkand, Liar's Dice (x2)

Matt's checking out the Game Tracker program and made this session report on it.

1/3/2003 Matt's apartment
Session Length:  480 min.

Attendees:  Matt Hearst, Luke Hedgren, John Palagyi, Eve Keys, DeeAnn Gehring, Joe Gehring, Andy Szucs, Dave Ehlers, Dave Pfaltzgraff-Carlson, Rhonda Pfaltzgraff-Carlson

Games Played:  Blooming Gardens, Ra, Samarkand, Liar's Dice, Liar's Dice, Liberté

Blooming Gardens

Played By:  1-Matt H.   2-John P.   3-DeeAnn G.   4-Joe G.   5-Luke H.
Game Length:  40 min.

Pretty neat little rummy variant from the Ragnar Brothers.  It looks like something your grandmother would have fun playing.  Luke felt it was a pretty cool game but the theme didn't do it for him
Winner(s):  Luke H.
Finish:  Matt H. (12)   John P. (33)   DeeAnn G. (47)   Joe G. (11)   1-Luke H. (48)
Ratings:  Matt H. (5)

Ra

Played By:  Matt H.   Luke H.   John P.   DeeAnn G.   Joe G.
Game Length:  75 min.

Winner(s):  Joe G.
Finish:  Matt H. (11)   Luke H. (32)   John P. (20)   DeeAnn G. (27)   1-Joe G. (35)
Ratings:  Matt H. (8)

Samarkand

Played By:  Matt H.   Luke H.   John P.   DeeAnn G.   Joe G.
Game Length:  75 min.

A basic run around and collect stuff to sell stuff kind of game.  All in all nothing particularly novel to the game and it seemed to drag on a bit for me.  By the end I was rooting for all five of us to make it to the 500 point mark.
Winner(s):  Luke H.
Finish:  Matt H. (445)   1-Luke H. (500)   John P. (300)   DeeAnn G. (310) Joe G. (480)
Ratings:  Matt H. (4)

Liar's Dice

Played By:  Matt H.   Luke H.   John P.   DeeAnn G.   Joe G.
Game Length:  30 min.

First game was with the standard rules, second with the modification that when called on a bluff and exactly correct the loser gives one die to the winner of the bluff.  We liked this fix better than the original version, but in the second game there was a point where Luke had 7/12 dice and that increased to 6/8.  Surprise!  Luke won that one ;)
Winner(s):  DeeAnn G.
Ratings:  Matt H. (8)

Liar's Dice

Played By:  Matt H.   Luke H.   John P.   Eve K.   DeeAnn G.   Joe G.
Game Length:  30 min.

Winner(s):  Luke H.
Ratings:  Matt H. (8)

Liberté

Played By:  Matt H.   John P.   DeeAnn G.   Dave P.
Game Length:  210 min.

DeeAnn won the tie-breaker as she had more personality cards with cubes to win the decision.  Everyone in the game could have won if just one thing had gone differently, but things fell right for DeeAnn.  All in all, a great game that is definitely weighty, but not to crazy a brain-burner to be fun.  Would like to own this one, but it is not a game that will see frequent playings.

Winner(s):  DeeAnn G.
Finish:  Matt H. (17)   John P.   1-DeeAnn G. (17)   Dave P.
Session Report generated by GameTracker ((c)Goldraven 2002)

Report by Matt H- top