Tichu

Well, I decided to go to the new location where the RussCon group plays. And that is now at J.P. and William’s apartment. I went there since Russ was going and he has little time left in the best country on the planet. So, of course, my first game was Tichu. This seems to be a tradition among the RussCon crowd. The good new was that I called and made a Grand Tichu on the second hand of the game after a 1/2 by the other team. The bad news was that we only played to 666 and therefore lost.

Kaivai

I probably made a mistake in bringing Kaivai here. After all it can be a long game and the rules are not extremely simple. One person was scared off by the rules and left for another game. And two people playing the game are very slow and methodical players. At least everyone agreed we could shorten the game.

In my first playing of it, we later found out that we got some of the rules wrong. When I bought it, I later noticed that we got even more rules wrong. And sadly, I got one rule wrong in this game. But I think that I have ironed everything out now!

I actually started out the day by going to the mad house that is known as Fry’s after Thanksgiving sale. And wow was it packed both inside and outside. The line was twice as long as normal but it actually went quicker than usual since they had 60+? registers open.

Lucca Citta

Ed made us play another one of his free games again. Actually, I should feel lucky. Since I won’t be buying it for myself.

Mission: Planete Rouge

The next game that we played was one that I wanted to play. The new Faidutti game. And true to Faidutti design, there is a lot of chaos in it. Enough to give me the feeling that playing the game was essentially random. Sure, there is some strategy for you to consider. It is an area control game. But a lot of things can happen to those meeples. You start off by selecting one of nine “characters” that have special powers (shades of Citadels). Some of the choices by your opponents can cause chaos. For example, Ed was forced to blow up the ship that only contained his meeples. And there are other chaotic factors. You can draw cards during the game that are bonus cards for you or will modify the gameboard at the end scoring. You place the later group of cards face down under the playing board. So they will be a complete surprise to your opponents.

Elasund: The First City of Catan

Dan finally showed up for a game day! And after much heclking, we sat down to play Elasund. In this game, the dice hated me and loved Dan (rolling many fives for two gold cards for himself and nothing for us). Surprisingly enough, Susan won this game. I thought that she was second place in the dice love.

Lost Valley

To end out the night, I suggested Lost Valley. It has been too long since I have played this game. It is a game I should play more often. Towards the end of the game, I wanted to go mining for mountain gold, but was unable to draw a forrest tile to place next to the sites for necessary timber. So I was reduced to getting lower valued river gold and stealing mountain gold from other players. Surprisingly enough, I was able to win the game.

Crokinole

John was nice enough to invite me over for a Thanksgiving feast. There was good food and good gaming. The first game was Crokinole which we played while dinner was being prepared. I am not dexterous enough to be good at this game, so I don’t really like it. But I dont mind playing it once in a long while.

Quarto

John has a lot of two player games to play with his wife, Gina. And he introduced me to one, called Quarto. This is a connect four game where you try to connect a line of pegs that have four of the same attributes (light/dark, round/square, or hole/solid). You pick the piece that the opponent must play. I forgot about the solid attribute which let John win the game.

Anno 1503 Aristokraten & Piraten

John wanted to introduce Gina to Anno 1503 since she likes games where there is no direct picking on your opponent and each player has their own board. The dice was not as kind to me as it was for the others. But the game was surprisingly close with all three of us vying for the win. Fortunately for me, I had two cards that would allow me to steal the resource that I needed for me to win and stop John from winning. I learned this trick from Doug, who used it against me in the last game.

Ganoven Jagd

We played another simple and quick two player game. This has a movement mechanism like Billabong. And the goal to move the numbered piece representing your detective on top of the opponent’s crook.

Honey Bears

And then we introduced Gina to the classic game of Honey Bears. And, of course, introduced her to the house rule of “Go Red Bear!” Enough said on that topic.

Subulata

For the last game of the night, we played John’s Board Game Geek prize table pick. We got one rule wrong where we moved the pieces backwards as well as forwards. This turned the game into a much more meatier and chess-like game. I was too focused on eliminating John’s pieces. This allowed John to set up a trap when I took one of his last pieces. This ended the game and gave him the win. I had forgotten about that rule. It was my fault. I could have instead moved my pieces into the target area instead. But I choose to go for the blood instead.

Mu

Yay, another game of Mu was played! There seems to be hope for this gaming group after all. Both Ed and Mike, who are avid anti-muers were not here tonight. I think Doug is starting to get more of a feel for the game.

Euphrat & Tigris

Since Marty was here, he suggested that we play E&T again. And I tried a different strategy when my tiles consisted of 5 blue. I created an external conflict that won in blue but lost in black and red just to get those tiles out of my hand. Later in the game I was limited by black tiles and could not draw any.

Tichu

Ahhh, Tichu, the perfect compliment to Mu. I started the game off well by making my Tichu call. However our luck changed for the worst. On my first Grand Tichu call, I had 3 aces and was passed the mahjong so I wished for the remaining ace. I made that GT call. And on my next GT call, I once again had 3 aces, was passed the mahjong, and called out the remaining ace. I didn’t make that call unfortunately and we lost the game.

99

And for the last game of the night, Adam suggested 99. This is yet another trick taking card game. But this one is designed for three players (not many are). I had played this game once, long ago and made a couple of mistakes (like not knowing that there was a trump suit). But still fun, and is a game I would play again.

Diamant

Another trip up to South Oklahoma. We started with a quick filler. I usually press my luck too far in the first few rounds, and this game was no exception. In fact, the first few rounds were brutal! Many disasters came out and not many gems came out.
So, as usual, Ed and I were behind and had to press our luck even more. And fortunately for me, I received some huge payouts and escaped before it was too late. And this game me the win.

Elasund

Ahhh, the sweet smell of another brand new Settlers game. I could have played this at BGG.con, but I resisted the temptation since I knew Ed had a copy. This game is probably the least settlers like after Candamir. I think that the new mechanics
soften the harsh dice rolls but remove it too much from the original Settlers feel. In this game, my starting numbers hit a lot. So I felt more in the game. In fact, it was a close game between myself, Mike, and Kevin. I probably should not have
spent four gold to protect one of my positions and instead went for victory points. I do still like this game though even with the new changes.

Barbarossa

While we were waiting for the other tables to finish up, we broke out another clay game. I really don’t like the new rules to this game since there are two rolls that can hurt you and help everyone else. At least I was able to make yet another flat
sculpture!

Magna Grecia

It has been a long time since I have played this game. Too long in fact. I feel that this game should be getting more play time than it currently does. In this game, I was the only person who had played it before. So, of course, I won it since you
need to play it once before you start to get the hang of the strategy that you need.

Die Schlacht der Dinosaurier

Ahhh, the dinosaurs have returned! This is a light and fun dice fest of a game. We played it with two player teams and my mission was to fight Tim for dominance! And the dice were with me in this game. My velociraptors (“velo crapters”) were
slaughterhouses and took out many of enemy-Tim dinos. One particular brutal lucky roll of mine was a 37 (plateosaurus) vs 36 (T-rex). I probably should have taken Tim out quicker for the win. But I let him live and he killed off Lauren for the win.

Vampire

And to finish it off, we played Vampire. I am starting to play this more now that Russcon is over and I don’t feel like this game is always being suggested. Towards the end, I needed one yellow card for a strong score. But I was unlucky and could not
draw it at all.