Monday Night Gaming - Nov. 26th (Paladin's & Dragons)

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, March 15

Colossal Arena [Average Rating:7.16 Overall Rank:152]

Jeff and Wade came over from Rochester, which was awesome! It was awesome for two reasons; one is because I don't get the chance to play with them real often and two is because no one from town ended up being able to make it.

We started the night out with Colossal Arena. My wife even decided to join in on this one since she likes it so much.

Things were going pretty well for me through most of this game, until my wife and Wade conspired to kill my Amazon. Poor Jeff kept getting stomped on in this one, so the point totals ended up being:
Wade with 14
Kate with 13
Me with 12
Jeff with 9

WildLife [Average Rating:6.91 Overall Rank:345]

We then broke out WildLife. I had just played it two player the day before. I thought that it seemed like a good game, but I was pretty sure it would be better with more. My wife opted out of this one, but we still had three. I did like it better with three, but I am thinking it would be even more fun with even more people. Once again, the Intelligence cards seemed to be the most powerful and were passed around a lot while Food and Mobility were passed over.

Jeff was the Mammoth, Wade was the Man and I was the Crocodile. I think that was the key to my eventual victory. Jeff and Wade had a lot more conflict, and they left me pretty much alone in the water and desert, so in the 3 major scorings we had I was able to get 4 or 5 points in each of the water and desert regions most of the time.

I don't remember the final scores, but I know I won by a fair amount with Wade next and Jeff after him.

Carcassonne [Average Rating:7.60 Overall Rank:43]

We had time for one more and Jeff was saying that he had recently picked this one up, but had never played it, so I broke it out to teach him and Wade both.

We played with Inns and Cathedrals expansion. The game ended up being very close. Jeff took an early lead with some quick scores and a 30 point castle. I then took Jeff's example and made my own 30 point castle. Wade tried to follow our example and came up with his own 28 point castle. The farmers ended up being fairly split up and the game ended with all of us within about 10 points, but I came out on top.

It was another great night of gameing, and I hope that Jeff and Wade will be able to make it agains sometime.

[Jormi_Boced]

I forgot to add the link:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/16914

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday March 12th

Star Wars - Epic Duels [Average Rating:6.99 Overall Rank:298]

Matt came over and we started the night with Epic Duels. We thought that Nic might be coming and if so, we would break out Matt's new copy of Zombie Town.

Matt had never played Epid Duels before, so I gave him the quick run down, and we began playing. We played in the Emperor's Throne Room with Matt choosing Luke and Leia, while I chose Darth Vader. I mostly drew stormtrooper cards for the first half of the game, so it was pretty slow going I got some hits in on Luke, but Leia kept playing Luke's in Trouble to heal him. Then she also hit Vader for seven damage. I finally chocked her out, but then luke used Justice on Vader to end the game.

Wings of War - Famous Aces [Average Rating:7.00 Overall Rank:241]

Matt then decided on Wings of War for our second game. It had been a while since I had played, and was fairly excited. I played as allies with a Spad and Sopwith, while he was the Axis with an Albatross and Fokker. After some dog fighting, I was able to take out one of his planes. My two planes then teamed up on his remainging, and 12 damage cards later I finally got him with the bang card. The damage on his plane was stacked almost as high as the rest of the damage deck.

Fluxx [Average Rating:5.62 Overall Rank:2877]

Matt then wanted to break out his fairly new deck of Fluxx. I think it is 3.1 or 3.2. I know it is a newer version than mine. I ended up winning the first game by having peace no war.

Fluxx [Average Rating:5.62 Overall Rank:2877]

Matt shuffled it up again, and the game had the same out come with me winning on a Peace No War goal.

Arena Maximus [Average Rating:6.33 Overall Rank:982]

We finished up the night with a new one that neither of us had played. I picked it up at Christmas after sending family members the link to the FFG 5 dollar sale:)

I found it to be a pretty fun game. I definitely want to try it with more than two, but I think it played pretty well with two. I ended up losing after getting a little overzealous:)

It was another great Monday night, and I am already looking forward to the next one.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday April 16th

Betrayal at House on the Hill
Average Rating:6.84 Overall Rank:345

I didn't think anyone was going to be able to make it tonight, so my wife and I were just chilling watching Saving Silverman. But, I got surprised by a call from Tam and TJ, and before I knew it we were all gatherered around the table playing Betrayal at House on the Hill at the request of TJ. He said it was one that he has wanted to play for a while, but hadn't gotten the chance to. I was happy to get it out again and give him the chance to play it.

Everyone else playing was a newb, but everyone caught on real quick and we were rolling along exploring quickly in no time. TJ was playing as the priest, and had some real bad luck real early and that continued to be the trend for the game. He spent most of the game getting bruised and battered by puppets, falling debris and all sorts of other things. TJ's only respite from the onslaught seemed to be when he would get trapped. Anyway, this turned out to be very good for us, as TJ turned out to be the traitor.

Kate, Tam and I ended up winning, and I think it was just in the nick of time, as TJ's Hellbeasts were just about on us.


Citadels
Average Rating:7.37 Overall Rank:90

We then broke out Citadels. It was a pretty good game, but Kate was able to jump out ahead of everyone pretty quickly. She to a couple cheap green buildings and had a good turn with the merchant. She also got a good turn with the architect building 3 buildings, and got the Bell Tower down to help end the game before we could do any catching up. She did end up tieing with TJ though as he had the 5 color bonus, and she did not. Tam and I also tied, but our tie was for last:)

High Society
Average Rating:7.08 Overall Rank:185

Kate ended up heading to bed before we started our last game of the night. We decided to try one more quick one, and High Society happened to be the quickest one in reach.

I thought I was going to do alright once I got the island for 10 points and a recognition award to double its worth, but after dodging some gambling debts and tax evasion, I was down to 4 million, and at the end of the game my opppents had 15 and 20, so I was automatically out. I can't remember if it was Tam or TJ that ended up winning. I know Tam had the tax evasion, and the gambling debts, but she also got a recognition award.

It was another great Monday of gaming. I hope a couple of folks will be able to show up next week too.

[NecroBlade]

Cool stuff. I've only ever played Epic Duels and Fluxx, but I love 'em both.

[Jormi_Boced]

Yeah, I am not a huge fan of fluxx, but it can be a decent filler. I really like Star Wars Epic Duels though.

[TweetyBird]

I really like Star Wars Epic Duels though.

We really enjoy Epic Duels as well, and oftentimes choose it over Heroscape. It's so portable, easy to set up, and quick to play that it's remained a family favorite since it first came out.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, April 30th

Lord of the Rings
[Average Rating:7.13 Overall Rank:152]

Luke made it over tonight.

We started off the night with Lord of the Rings. It was a great game, and we just narrowly destroyed the ring. I was Sam and two spaces from Sauron. Luke as Frodo was only one space away. We were one space away from losing on the event track. I ended up pulling a walking tile on my turn and moved on to the first last space and rolled, which caused me to take one wound. I then had to try and throw the ring, which corrupted me. I passed the ring to Luke, and that lucky guy rolled a blank to win us the game.

Star Wars - The Queen's Gambit
[Average Rating:7.43 Overall Rank:140]

We had about an hour and a half to play, so I thought we could squeeze in a game of Queen's Gambit. It did end up being a squeeze, as I forgot about the actual length of the setup.

The game started out really well for me with some good rolls on the plains and I racked up some good bonus cards, but I wasn't able to get many Maul cards, and he eventually fell. After that, things were mostly down hill for me, and eventually Anakin dropped the ship to win the game.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, May 7th


Battleball

Luke made it over a little after 7 and we decided to start out with a little Battleball. I had bought a new chair for the game room over the weekend, and I was anxious for someone else to check it out, so that I would know if I should get some more. Luke seemed to find it pretty comfy, so I will have to hit the store and pick up some more.

Anyway, on to Battleball. It was Luke's first time playing, and he chose the Iron Wolves with the special rule for Stalwart to tackle multiple guys. I chose to go with Collossal the Swift's special movement rule. I really think the Black Heart's best special is dark running though.

Luke grabbed the ball quickly with a linebacker, but I rushed my swift heavy tackle down the field and tackled his linebacker. I kept moving him down the field shedding tackles until I landed in the end zone.

There were no serious injuries in the first half, so we lined up all our guys for the second round.

I went for my swift heavy tackle strategy again, but this time he got pounded so hard he was out of the game. I was really hoping we woudn't go into overtime now. Things kept getting worse for me. Luke sent a couple more of my guys to the emergency room, although, I did send one of his to the emergency room as well. I ended up making a pass to one of my running backs and got lucky enough not to be tackled, so that I could roll high enough on the next turn to shoot the gap and score.

I was really lucky to end that game in the second half, because overtime would have been really bad for me with some of my good pieces having to sit out.

Star Wars - Epic Duels

We next played Star Wars Epic Duels.

This was another new one for Luke, and he chose to be Yoda and clone troopers for his first time. We randomly selected a bad guy for me that turned out to be Jango Fett and Zam Wessel, and we played on the Genosis Arena.

It was a pretty good game, but I was able to come out on top with Zam actually doing most of the work.

Luke wanted to play again, so we hit the Genosis Arena again with Luke taking Mace with clone troopers and I playing Count Dooku with super battle droids.

Luke was able to take out a super battle droid, but Count Dooku's Taunting proved too powerful for Mace Windu, and I walked away with another win.

We then flipped the board over and played on the Kamino platform. Luke picked out Luke and Liea for himself, and he chose the Emperor and guards for me. It was another good game, although this was probably the longest one, as the Emperor used cards to discard Luke's hand, and Luke used I will not fight you to discard my cards.

Eventually the Emperor was able to triumph though and Luke was handed another loss.

We then played a fourth time, but this time with each of us controlling two groups. Luke picked Mace with clone troopers and Anakin with Padme, while giving me Boba with Greedo and Darth Maul with the wimpy battle droids.

It was a pretty good game, but Luke walked away with this one. Anakin's wrath was pretty rough on me, as it completly took out Greedo in one swing, which left me with some unuseable Greedo cards. Also, as soon as my last battle droid was destroyed, all I could draw was battle droids. I was able to take out Mace, but then Anakin and Padme ran rampant on the rest of my guys, and Luke won.

Star Wars Episode 1 - Clash of the Lightsabers

We had a bit of time left, so we were still on a Star Wars kick, and broke out Clash of Sabers. This was another new one for Luke.

The first game was a learning experience for Luke, and I was able to walk to the end without Luke making it off of the first card.

We played again, and that game must have been a learning experience too, as Luke didn't make it off of his first card.

We played one last time, and this game mus have been a learning experience for me, as I didn't make it off of the first card while Luke went on to win.

It was another great Monday night full of fun. I think next weekend might be devoted to Heroscape, but whatever we end up doing, I know it will be fun.

[Jormi_Boced]

No problem Sheldon. I hope to see you one of these nights.

Monday, May 14th

Starfarers of Catan
[Average Rating:6.98 Overall Rank:238]

Well it was a great night of gaming. A car load of folks from Rochester made it over. Bob got Wade, Jeff and Michael in his PT Cruiser and made the trek over.

I should have just had something setup when everyone got there, because we had the inevitable, what shouls we play problem at the begginning og the night. I think next time I will take the intitiative to set up the first game.

Anyway, after some discussion, it seemed like Wade wanted to do something Catan, and I suggested Starfarer's, as it is my favorite version except for maybe Cities and Knights, but I don't have the 5 and 6 expansion for Cities and Knights. I did forget how much longer the game is with 5 players though, and it ended up taking up a large amount of our gaming time.

We ordered pizza before we started, and it showed up in the middle of the game and at the same time as the reporter from the Daily Herald who was doing a story for the Sunday Living section of the paper. I think these things added to the length of the game, but it would have been pretty long without them too.

It was a pretty even start, but then Michael broke out in front with Wade coming up hot on his heels. I got semi close as well, but Wade surged way ahead and ended up winning the game when Jeff gave him a fame ring through his use of one of the alien cards. I think Wade have one on the next turn anyway though.


Citadels
[Average Rating:7.37 Overall Rank:90]

My wife then joined us for Citadels. I was expecting this game to be pretty quick, but it actually took some time too since everyone buy my wife and I had never played it. It was another close game, but Wade ended up pulling the win out on this one too. I think it was mostly because he convinced Michael to steal from me at the end with the Magician, otherwise I think I would have tied him for the win.

It was another great night of gaming and I can't wait for the next one.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday May, 21st

Star Wars - Epic Duels
[Average Rating:6.98 Overall Rank:303]

Luke and Sam joined me this evening. We started the night with Epic Duels, which Sam had never played before.

We rolled off to see who would start, and Luke and I tied so we rolled off again and Luke won. This happened in our next two games as well. It was a fairly strange occurence.

Luke was playing as Yoda, Sam was Darth Vader and I was Boba Fett. We fought in the Genosis arena. The game started off with Vader laying down a lot of indirect damage in this game with debris choking and wrath. I know it came down to all 3 of our main characters with all of our minor characters dead. I know I shot a Stormtrooper with a Kyber dart to get the +3 cards. We all danced around in the 1-5 damage remaing range for quite a while, but finally I shot at Yoda with a 3 that would have killed him, but he reflected it and I ended up shooting myself. Then Yoda went and put the saber to Vader and finished him as well.

We decided to play another round on the Kamino Platform. This time Luke was Mace Windu, Sam was Darth Maul and I was the Emperor. There was a fun little back in forth in this game as Luke kept trying to stockpile cards in his hand for the Mace card that has attack and defense equal to cards in hand, while I kept using force cards to discard from his hand. My bodyguards protected me well in this one, and I was able to take Mace out and then Darth Maul for the win.

Ark of the Covenant
[Average Rating:7.39 Overall Rank:162]

Both Sam and Luke really like Carcassonne, but they had never played the Ark of the Covenant version, so we broke that out next.

Both Sam and Luke picked up the new mechanics easily with their Carc experience, and It eneded up being a very close game. I had my prophet in a city that would have been a 36 pointer, but I couldn't get an elbow piece. Then Luke placed a piece that made it so even an elbow wouldn't do it for me. He was also able to complete a 20 point city towards the end, and I thought that might have won the game for him. As we counted up the farms at the end though, I was able to go ahead of him by 1 point. Sam was about 10 points back.

Blokus Trigon
[Average Rating:7.29 Overall Rank:243]

We had 40 minutes left, so we brought Blokus Trigon to the table. This was another close one. Sam ended up having about 10 points left at the end, but Luke and I went out. I had the edge on Luke though, because I placed my 1 triangle piece last.

Since that game only took us 20 minutes, we decided to do it again. This was another close game, but this time, Luke decided to hold his 1 triangle til last. He was able to go out again this time too, but unfortunately for me, I was stuck with a 4 piece one, and Sam had 14.

It was another great night of gameing. It was too bad Sam and Luke missed the photographer last week, but maybe someday he will come again:)

[Jormi_Boced]

I finally got around to recapping the day.

Monday, May 28th

San Juan
[Average Rating:7.62 Overall Rank:37]

Since this past Monday was Memorial Day we decided ot have an all day gaming event from noon til midnight with a little good old American holiday grilling thrown in for good measure.

The first gamers to arrive were Travis and Amy who I had just recently met at a Chateau Theater Game Night. They made the trek all the way from the Winona area. It was really fun to get a chance to play some more games with them. Since they were the guests, they had the honors of picking first game.

They chose San Juan. We dug right in with both of them playing Puerto Rico before, they already had the role choosing down, and just took a round turn or so to get the hang of the resource management with the cards being buildings, gold and goods.

I was very lucky with an opening hand Guild Hall. I then took every change I could to build any type of production building I could. Travis ended up ending the game, but I pulled out a win with my guild hall and 9 production buildings I believe.

Thurn and Taxis
[Average Rating:7.45 Overall Rank:70]

We were discussing the next game to play when Travis and Amy said at their house the winner chooses the next game. I think that isn't a bad idea, as it helps to alleviate the "what do we do next" pauses in gaming.

Since they brought Thurn and Taxis with them, and I actually hadn't played it yet (I know, shame on me), I asked for that one.

I really enjoyed our play of this. I think it is a little solitairish, with the main conflict coming in racing players to higher point chips. There can also be a little conflict by using the administrator to get rid of cities that you know your opponent is interested in. I am pretty sure I will end up picking this one up, because Kate liked it and I think my parents will like it as well.

I ended up winning this one by quite a few points. I think it must have been beginners luck.

Amun-Re
[Average Rating:7.65 Overall Rank:38]

Tristan and RJ showed up while we were still finishing Thurn and Taxis, so we told them they could pick out the next game. Kate said that she was probably going to sit out as her parents were going to be swinging through town with something. So with 5 players they chose Amun Re. (They also sorted some of my Lord of the Rings TCG cards while they waited, Thanks Guys!)

It was a good game, with some interesting bidding conflicts. Especially in the new kingdom. Travis must have caught on real quick, because he ended up beating me by one point to take the win.

It was now time to start the grill, so I asked my guests to pick up the game for me while I did that, and to also pick the next game.

Betrayal at House on the Hill
[Average Rating:6.82 Overall Rank:350]

I may be a bit biased, but I thought the food was excellent. I got a few of the burgers and dogs a bit overcooked, but I didn't hear much complaining. I also heard some compliments on Kate's pasta salad and veggie pizza.

Micre and Kim showed up about the time we were finishing eating, so we ended up splitting off into two tables at this point.

I got Betrayal setup and kind of put Kate in charge over there, which I know she didn't feel real confident of. She had played if before and it is a simple enough game that I figured everyone could catch on quicly; plus I was only a table away for questions.

So Kate, Tristan, Travis and Amy were just starting when Luke and Sam showed up, so they jumped into the game as well just a couple of turns behind.

They only called me with questions on a couple of occasions and it sounded like a ton of fun. I heard many collective laughs, gasps and eewwws.

The scenario had something to do with voodoo dolls, and Travis was the traitor who eventually won.

Settlers of the Stone Age
[Average Rating:6.94 Overall Rank:283]

While the other group was running around the haunted house, RJ, Micre and I were running around the stone age.

I think Stone Age is a pretty fun version of settlers with enough differences to make it worth breaking out every once in while.

Our game went pretty quickly, as the dice gods smiled upon me and saw fit to give me most of the resources I wanted when I wanted them. I started off doing a lot of expoloring. This helped me out a ton as I got some key desertification tiles to make my opponents lives miserable:)

I ended up winning this one by a fair amount even with the end game consisting of both RJ and Micre working there way up the hunting track in order to steal cards from me so that I couldn't build my lest camp for the win.

Dragon Strike
[Average Rating:6.11 Overall Rank:1682]

We then had a little desert and lost Travis, Amy, Tristan and RJ to the road.

Luke and Sam really wanted to play Dragon Strike so we set that up next. My wife opted out in order to clean up the dinner mess (Thank you sweetie!). I decided to be the Dungeon Master, Kim chose the Thief, Luke took the Warrior, Micre took the Dwarf and Sam took the Wizard. They decided they wanted to try the very difficult task of slaying Darkfyre in his lair.

We were probably about halfway through the game when Luke and Sam's ride showed up, so we bid them adieu, but were able to carry on without them with Micre and Kim shuffling characters and controlling two. Kim now controlled the Thief and the Dwarf, while Micre controlled the Warror and the Wizard.

The game came down to the wire with most of the heroes having 1 hit point left as well as Darkfyre, but alas the draon was slain and good triumphed over me:)

Kung Fu Fighting
[Average Rating:6.37 Overall Rank:1087]

We decided to play one more game, and we wanted one that was semi-quick, so Kung Fu Fighting hit the table.

At the end of the fight one woman stood above two broken men, and Kim took home the honor of being the Kung Fu Master.

It was a great day of gaming. I am already looking forward to next week, even though it is not going to be quite the gaming extravaganza that this week was.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, June 4th

Carcassonne
[Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:46]

Wade arrived first a little before seven, so we played a little Mortal Kombat: Armageddon while we waited for the rest of the crew. Wade mostly schooled me.

Luke and Sam got there shortly after seven and we started the night out with Carcassonne. Everyone had played before, but Wade had not played with the Tower. I was way behind for the almost the entire game, but I was lucky enough to sneak my big meeple into a castle that sam had been diligently working on. I then got lucky enough to keep him in there and not lose him to a tower. The castle ended up netting me 66 points, which was awesome, and bumped me into first place. Unfortunately, I had been neglecting farming, and Luke overtook me at the end game with 120 points. Sam and I tied at 110 and Wade had some 78.

Wade really got hosed towards the end of the game when I had nothing better to do than steal his meeples. I belive I had 3 at the end of the game, and four at one time.

Citadels
[Average Rating:7.37 Overall Rank:88]

My wife then joined us for a game of Citadels.

This game was a pretty close one all around. I was doing real well, til Sam knocked out my School of Magic with the Armory. I really thought it was game over for me there. Luke was about to go out, but Wade successfully guessed his role and assassinated him. I then figured Wade would win, but when it came down to the end game, I had 31 points. Wade and Kate had 28, while Luke had 27 and Sam had 24.

It was another fun filled night. I am excited for next week as normal, but it is even more exciting because it sounds like we might have a new member.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, June 11th

Star Wars CCG
[Average Rating:6.27 Overall Rank:1137]

My brother showed up first, so we decided to go old school Star Wars. It ended up being a pretty boring game that I won by seven cards. We were both playing grind style decks and with him spending all his time on Dagobah, I was unable to battle him, so we both slowy took turns with little drains til the game ended. Sorry it wasn't more exciting than that.

Loco!
[Average Rating:6.71 Overall Rank:407]

Luke and Sam then showed up about a quarter til seven. I was expecting Jo to get here around 7, so I figured we should play something quick. Loco!, as usual took longer to explain than it did to play. I think Steven won. I thought we might just hit this one a couple more times to pass the time, but it didn't seem like anyone else really wanted to play it again.

Transformers Armada: Battle for Cybertron
[Average Rating:6.05 Overall Rank:2119]

So, we broke out Transformers Armada due to a suggestion by Luke. I figured it is a pretty quick game too, so it would work out alright. Jo ended up showing up just shortly after we started playing, so her and my wife chatted and looked at some of the games in my room til we finished.

I was Megatron with my brother being Starscream. Sam was Hot Shot with Luke bing Optimus Prime. Luke didn't really draw into any of his real good cards, and we were able to put him away and then double team Sam. Chalk one up for the Decepticons:)

Bang!
[Average Rating:7.00 Overall Rank:211]

Since we now had six players with my wife and Jo, my brother Steven really wanted to play Bang! again. He had gotten a chance to play it at Chateau the Friday before and really liked it. I was as always happy to break this one out.

I ended up getting the Sheriff role and had Bart Cassidy. My brother Steven was seated to my left and seemed to be an Outlaw, so I went to work on him quickly and he was eliminated pretty easily. Things got bad for me though, when the dynamite went off in my hands. We then got Luke eliminated, who was another Outlaw, but then Kate blew me away to give the Outlaws the win. Sam was the renegade and Jo was the deputy.

Citadels
[Average Rating:7.37 Overall Rank:89]

My wife had to go make a call and Jo didn't have enough time to start another game, so we played four player Citadels. Jo stuck around and watched about half ot the game, so that she would be ready to play it next time.

This was a pretty good game for everyone except for Sam. He seemed to lose his turn or get thieved pretty often. I know I lost one turn to the stupid ballroom:(

I did end up winning though with 28 points. I belive Luke was second with 24 and Steven had like 23 while Sam had 9.

Apples to Apples - Expansion Set #4
[Average Rating:6.64 Unranked]

We finished up the night with 3 games of Apples to Apples. I am not a huge fan of this game, but I can be talked into it. I probably would have been more than happy with just one game of it though:) I did end up winning the third one though, so maybe it was good that we played three:)

All in all, I would say it was another great night. I had a ton of fun and am happy that Jo could make it. She sounded like she had a good time and was planning on returning next week. I am guessing Luke and Sam will be back as well, but I think my brother will be traveling back down south again. Like always, I can't wait for next Monday.

[Grungebob]

Love that Monday night gaming!! You take an otherwise crappy day and totally transform it! I'm jealous!! Good going yall.

[Jormi_Boced]

Love that Monday night gaming!! You take an otherwise crappy day and totally transform it! I'm jealous!! Good going yall.

Thanks, that is how I feel too. With Monday night gaming, I actually kind of look forward to Monday instead of dreading it:)

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, June 25th

Attacktix Battle Figure Game (Star Wars)
[Average Rating:6.44 Overall Rank:1264]

Nic made it over a little after six and I still had some Attacktix out on the table from my little sister playing with them over the weekend, so I showed him how it worked and we decided to play a 180 point battle.

It was a pretty good match. I took a good early lead with Venom and Landmine closing the distance and wreaking havoc. Venom took a lot of hits, but eventually he went down, and then my forces started to break as well. It came down to his Megatron vs. my Optimus, Magneto and Imperial Officer. Magneto was still in the game due to his ability to replace my Pyro, and Optimus was still in the game due to his ability to stand back up if I still had a figure in play. If it wasn't for those two whites coming up, I think Nic would have had the game.

Luke and Sam showed up midway through our game and liked the looks of Attacktix, so we tried a team game. I was Sam's partner and Luke was Nic's. We sat across from our partners and went clockwise, so that it went back and forth for turns. Nic took a team of all strikers and it worked out pretty well for him. On my first turn I almost knocked his vader off the table with a lucky shot from my Stormtrooper. Luke was playing with the Omega Supreme, which came over and decimated my forces, while Nic's strikers closed the distance on Sam's shooters. Things started to really go down then. I finally took out the Omega Sumpreme, but I was down to just a Stormtrooper. Luke's Imperial Officer and Nic's strike force closed in on Sam and put him away.

Dragon Strike
[Average Rating:6.09 Overall Rank:1822]

Nic had to leave, so the boys and I broke out Dragon Strike.

We played the Body Thief scenario and the boys made a valiant attempt at destroying Teraptus, but alas Darkfyre was unleashed and finished off the heroes before they could finish off Teraptus. Teraptus had three life remaining when Darkfyre sent the last fireball forth.

Ker Plunk
[Average Rating:4.81 Overall Rank:3592]

Sam really wanted to play Ker Plunk, so I gave in and brought it down. It was no wonder he wanted to play so badly, as he won twice. in a row.

Attacktix Battle Figure Game (Transformers)
[Average Rating:7.03 Unranked]

We finished off the night with a three player game of Attacktix where I just randomly reached in and grabbed two figs for each player. Luke was the luckiest and got Omega Supreme and Elektra. I recieved an Insecticon and Vader, while Sam got The Punisher and Vader. Sam and I mostly teamed up against Luke in order try and stop his Omega Supreme. We were both taking shots at the Omega. I finally landed one and Vader took out Elektra, but then the Omega took out both of my guys. Sam had a really close call on the Omega's other knee, but in the end the Omega trounced his guys as well.

It was another fun night and I can't wait to play again next week.

[Grungebob]

Wow I don't think I've ever read anything about Attacktix!! I have just passed it by as another kid's game. Jormi, what kind of off the cuff review would you give the game?

[Jormi_Boced]

Wow I don't think I've ever read anything about Attacktix!! I have just passed it by as another kid's game. Jormi, what kind of off the cuff review would you give the game?

Well it is definitely a light game geared towards kids, but it can be quite a bit of fun and there is some strategy involved especially in constructing your army.

Each figure has a little wheel under the base and a movement value usually from four to twelve. As you roll the wheel it makes a tick, whatever your move value equals is how many tix you can move.

Each figure also has a point value ranging from 10-80 at least as far as I know. A standard battle is 100 points a piece. The figures all have classes and factions as well, like Warrior and Republic, or Mega and Autobot or Leader and Brotherhood.

On your turn you can move as many figures as you would like up to there movment, you can then attack with any two of them. Most figures fall into one of two categories. Some figures called launchers have spring loaded missile weapons that they can fire at enemy figures. There are also some figures called strikers that attack by either twisting their torso like Vader to swing his saber at a figure, or pulling their army down and uppercutting like Venom. There are a some other things, but they are exceptions.

So after you make an attack, if a players piece is knocked over, that player looks at his or her base. If the little window shows white and not black, that means the figures special ability activates and they do what it says. Sometimes it will allow you to put a new figure into play, stand the fallen figure back up, a free turn with someone else in play, etc... If the white is not showing, that figure is just eliminated.

The game goes back and forth until only one player has figures left standing. I think it definitely appeals to kids more than adults, but I have a good time with it. There is something about firing projectiles around the room that will pretty much always lead to a good time.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, July 23rd

Tiki Mountain
[Average Rating:5.00 Unranked]

Luke and Sam made it over and I broke out Tiki Mountain since I just got it while I was away on vacation. I had only watched it at Gen Con, but the gameplay is pretty simple and the play went pretty quickly. I felt the end game dragged on a little bit, but overall it was a pretty enjoyable. Sam ended up coming from behind for the win after Luke and I had a few failed attempts.

I will be demoing it at the August 11th Games Day, so anyone that wants to can check it out.

Bermuda Triangle
[Average Rating:5.35 Overall Rank:3391]

Sam then suggested Bermuda Triangle which we had all played before. Luke ended up pulling off the win. I lost a couple of ships early, but was still doing well and had 330,000 dollars. Sam then lost all four of his ships quickly. I was then going for my last 20,000 dollars to win the game, but my last two ships got picked up by the storm before I could accomplish my mission and Luke won by being the only one with ships left on the board.

Attacktix Battle Figure Game (Transformers)
[Average Rating:6.94 Unranked]

We then played one round of Attacktix where I pulled out the win with a team of Battle Ravage x2, Megatron, an Insecticon and a Clone Trooper. Battle Ravage was the MVP for me with lots of death reaped from the ball and chain.

So the night ended with a win for each of us. I can't wait for next week already.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, August 13th


HeroScape Marvel: The Conflict Begins
[Average Rating:7.65 Overall Rank:1054]

Luke and Sam made it over and we started off with a battle of heroic proportions with my new copy of Marvel Heroscape. I had played a couple of times before, but Sam and Luke were new. I ended up winning with a team of Red Skull, Captain America and Ironman. Luke had Hulk and Doom, while Sam controlled Abomination, Spidey and Venom.

Betrayal at House on the Hill
[Average Rating:6.83 Overall Rank:362]

Next up Luke suggested Betrayal at House on the Hill. We ended up playing the Feast, which is one I had unfortunately played before. It had been a while, so I really didn't remember the particulars too much though. I was the traitor and I don't want to give away too much of the scenario, so I will just say the heroes one and the traitor was vanquished, but it was very close.

Dead Man's Treasure
[Average Rating:6.08 Overall Rank:1686]

I then brought out Dead Man's Treasure. It is one that I have had sitting around unplayed for a while. I knew it was a quick and easy learn, so we were off and at it quickly. I thought it played pretty well and I enjoyed it. I ended up winning by a fairly hefty amount. It will be a good one to teach my fam.


Magdar
[Average Rating:5.42 Overall Rank:3239]

Luke then picked out Magdar. This was another new play for all of us. I thought it was just Ok. We only played the basic rules, but I read through the advanced rules too, and they didn't seem like they would add anymore fun, just complexity. Luke ended up edging me out by two points for the win.

Ark of the Covenant
[Average Rating:7.39 Overall Rank:163]

I think Ark of the Covenant is becoming my favorite version of Carc. Luke suggest Carc, and since we only had an hour left, I told him I thought we should do the Ark version, because the regular would take too long (due to expansions or sorting the expansions out).

It was a good game with Sam leading most of the way, but then I came around and took the lead and kept it til the end. Luke made a valiant effort to close the distance, but he came up a bit short.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, August 27th

HeroScape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie
[Average Rating:7.37 Overall Rank:122]

My dad and I started the night with a game of Heroscape on one of the new Swarm of th Marro maps.

The game went very poorly for me. I was facing his Orcish Horde with some of the new Swarm of the Marro units. Tor Kul Na and Major Q10 formed the bulk of my army with Nagrubs to fill most of the rest of the space and Guilty and Isamu filled the rest. I wanted to stomp Tor Kul Na all over his army, but unfortunately Mimring got a couple lucky hits on him early and ended that after only one stomp. I was hoping Major Q10 could fill his empty shoes, and he did alright killing Mimring and some Orcs and Swogs until Krug engaged and ended him. It was all downhill from there with Krug laying waste to the remainder of my army.

The Hobbit
[Average Rating:4.66 Overall Rank:3787]

Sam and Luke showed up while we were finishing up Scape. My dad decided he best get on the road, so Luke, Sam and I broke out The Hobbit. It was my first play of this one, and I had heard it was pretty bad, so I didn't have my hopes up.

I did find the adventures and gifts from Gandalf cards to be kind of cool and fun in and adventure game style, but the game was mostly random with few chances to really develop a strategy.

In the end I was the big loser, as I thought I would go a bit slower to build up my power more, but I should have just rushed ahead heedlessly, as there really wasn't much punishment for doing so. Luke won and chose the next game.

King's Gate
[Average Rating:6.42 Overall Rank:831]

Luke decided on King's Gate and we played a good match, although Luke again pulled out the win. We got to the point where he played his last tile, and Sam had already went out. I still had four tiles, but his last tile ended the scoring for the building we were on, and the rules stated that if only one player has tiles left upon completion, the next city piece is not played and the game ends then. I would have beat Luke if we would have put out the next one, no matter where he placed it. With Luke's second victory of the night, he chose the next game.

I have been liking this one. I just wish I could get my hands on the German Lord of the Rings themed one.

Senator
[Average Rating:5.68 Overall Rank:2607]

Luke kept the FFG theme going with Senator. This was my first play and found the game to be alright. I would like to try it again with 5 players sometime, as I believe that could make the game shine. Sam won with ease because Luke and I both overextended ourselves on the very first round with Hannibal out.

Blokus Trigon
[Average Rating:7.29 Overall Rank:243]


We only had 20 minutes left, so we broke the FFG theme and finished the night with some Blokus Trigon. It was a pretty close match between Luke and I. It ended up at the end that Luke had one 4 piece left and I was completely out.

It was another great night of gaming. I am looking forward to next week already.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, September 10th

Memoir '44
[Average Rating:7.73 Overall Rank:27]

Luke made it over tonight and we started in on a game of Memoir '44 since I already had it spread out over the table from playing it with my dad over the weekend and not picking it up (oh the joys of my own gaming room, no wife telling me to pick that game up:)). We ran the Sword Beach Scenario with myself playing the Axis and Luke as the Allies.

I was able to grab the win just in the nick of time. Luke was about to score some major victories as most of his units were in heavy striking distance of my troops and all my front-line troops were reduced to one or two units I believe.

Under the Shadow of the Dragon
[Average Rating:6.83 Overall Rank:656]


Luke asked to play this one next, as he had been eyeing it for several Monday night game sessions, but we always had more than two players, so we couldn't break it out till now.

This was my first play too. I remember I had read through the rulebook when I first got it and was thinking this will be one of those that I will just have to sit down and mush through. Even that was really hard. I think the second play will be much smoother, especially after visiting the geek, but man it is a hard one to just pick up and play. I ended up winning, but Luke was on his way as well.

Another fun night of gaming was had. I enjoyed being able to get a couple two player games out. It seems like lately I haven't gotten a chance to play many two player games.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, September 17th

Stratego: Legends
[Average Rating:5.85 Overall Rank:2320]

Luke came over and said he wanted to play some Stratego. I had picked up the Celestial Vengeance and Qa'ans Resurgence at Gen Con and hadn't gotten the chance to play them yet, so we pitted them against each other. They seemed pretty balanced that way and Luke ended up capturing my flag.

Stratego: The Chronicles of Narnia
[Average Rating:6.23 Overall]

We kept the Stratego theme going with the Narnia version. Luke elected to play the forces of good once again. Things were going pretty well for me until Luke sacked Peter to allow Aslan to take the witch. It was a clever move that I didn't see coming in my haste to capture the four children and win the game. He had me on the ropes then and was picking apart my army. I had my Harpy in his back field and I was trying to probe for magic traps with my Minoboars, when Aslan backed my Harpy into a corner. With its only alternative being dieing to Aslan, the Harpy moved back onto Luke's flag, and I captured victory that way instead of having to find the other two children.

Buy Low Sell High
[Average Rating:6.37 Overall Rank:930]

I have had this one sitting on the shelf for a while unplayed, so I asked Luke if he would be willing to try it out. I think we both found it to be pretty good, but agreed that four players would probably be best and more cutthroat. I ended up raking in quite a bit on the final sale and beating Luke.

Battleball
[Average Rating:6.36 Overall Rank:817]

We had under an hour left, so Luke suggested Battleball. We had an overtime game with Luke scoring the first round, but I put his heavy tackle out of the game as well as my regular tackle in that round. I think that gave me a pretty good advantage in the next two rounds and I was able to score pretty easily in the second half. The overtime round was intense though, and I it came down to just three figs on the table, when he attempted to tackle one of my two and failed I took the win.

It was another fun filled night of gaming that just leaves me craving more!

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, Oct. 1st 2007

Return of the Heroes
[Average Rating:6.84 Overall Rank:368]

I had just played this over the weekend, but it was my first time and after one play, I wanted to try it again but smoother this time:)

Luke came over and Ben, a new face to Monday night gaming at my house. Luke chose the slow but steady Dwarf. Ben took the nimble elf, and I took the rugged fighter.

The game was going really well with lots of fun events and crazy happenings:) I think the really pivotal moment was when I narrowly beat Luke to the Scorpion to start the Quest for the Axe of Bragg. This let me defeat the Red Dragon and win the game. Ben was part way through the Magical Bow Quest, and Luke had just started a heroic deed.

I did feel that the end was a little anti-climatic because I was full up on my close combat experience, so even the -3 made it impossible for me to lose to the dragon. I suppose maybe in a game with more than 3 it wouldn't be quite that easy.

Star Wars: Epic Duels
[Average Rating:6.98 Overall Rank:316]

Ben had to get going to finish up a paper, but Luke stuck around for a quick Epic Duel. We pitted his Yoda vs. my Vader. I was a very close game, and I think I won with only like 3 life left. My direct damage cards were really the savior in this game.

[Grungebob]

Going back and reading your Monday night recaps, you seem to be on a strong winning streak these days. :lol: Luke's going to have to request some of his favorites and burst your bubble soon!!

[Jormi_Boced]

Going back and reading your Monday night recaps, you seem to be on a strong winning streak these days. :lol: Luke's going to have to request some of his favorites and burst your bubble soon!!

I actually think he has the higher percentage of picks :D

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, October 8th, 2007

Memoir '44
[Average Rating:7.72 Overall Rank:29]

Ben made his second appearance to Monday Night Gaming. It didn't sound like anyone else was going to make it, so we played Memoir '44. It is always nice to have a two player night so games like this can come out to play.

We started off with the Point Du Hoc scenario (I have been playing each scenario in the book, starting with the first one and am up to this one now.)with myself playing the Germans and Ben playing the Rangers. As a current National Guardsman, he didn't feel he should play any side but the US. The game went pretty well and was fairly close, but Ben broke through and destroyed both sets of guns in the orchard after already killing my artillery, which set him up for an easy fourth medal.

After my defeat I asked if he wanted to try the next scenario, which happened to be Omaha beach. This ended up being a massacre for the Americans. It was an uphill battle across the beach, that was made worse by me getting good card draws and good dice rolls. I think I got all six of my points without Ben getting any. I pretty much kept him on the beach the whole game. Any time a unit got up the bluff or through a pass, I pushed them back or killed them.

I had a lot of fun, and it appeared that Ben did too. He mentioned that he really liked Return of the Heroes, so next week depending on who else shows up, I think it might be a good night for Runebound or something of that nature.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

Runebound Second Edition
[Average Rating:7.31 Overall Rank:150]

Ben came over and since he like Return of the Heroes quite a bit, I decided to show him Runebound!

I like this game quite a bit. I wish it played a bit faster though, I know there are some things you can do to speed it up, like make the experience accrue quicker, which we did, but it still took about 3 hours for just two players. I know the Doom track will help as well, but I hadn't ever played that way before, so I wanted to keep it simple and show him the way I had always played before. Next time I play, I will look into the doom track.

It was a real good game. I really thought Ben was going to win. He hopped out to an early lead, and I didn't think I would catch up, but late in the game, I started taking out red ones. I actually got really lucky on one of my red kills, and then Ben got really unlucky and did not roll a single plains, and was unable to attack a red that I was nearby. So, on my turn, I was able to attack a final red and take over the win.

Ben seemed to really enjoy it, even though it did take a while, and I have a feeling we will be trying it again soon. I definitely want to check out some of the expansions at some point and get them in the mix as well.

[Tiberius]

The runebound expansions add quite a bit, even altering the goals and gameplay is interesting. There is one that forces the players to have player on player fights at the end and that was a tough thing for us to decipher to figure out how that played. Other than that, great game, we play it quite a bit here.

[Dreaded Gazebo]

I love Runebound but yeah, the game can take a long time. For the length I'd generally rather play Descent but I fired up a solo game of Runebound the other night after having not played it for several months and forgot how much fun it is. I especially like the expansion with the end-game giants, it's a fun alternate goal which I love they could easily do with cards.

[Jormi_Boced]

I haven't picked up any expansions yet, but would like to. What are the best ones?

[Dreaded Gazebo]

I haven't picked up any expansions yet, but would like to. What are the best ones?

Check out this geeklist for all of the expansions and comments on them:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/12332/

Most of the item and event decks are worth it... more "stuff" in the game is always a good thing. In all honesty I don't even recall which ones I have but I'm fairly certain that Terrors of the Tomb (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18625) and The Dark Forest (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18624) are worthwhile. I don't have all of them yet but my least favorite is the Relics of Legend. (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18627) It adds in banners that really only apply to multiplayer games and even then they aren't very good items. The animal companions added in it are okay but I don't even play with the banners.

The Scepter of Krytos (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18622) is cool, it changes the end-game. Instead of a race to kill the final boss you are fighting giants across the land. Once enough are killed the rest go on a rampage and take over some cities. The fun part is that they'll use whatever items are in that city :) Some of the upcoming decks look sweet as well.

Haven't tried any of the big board expansions but I thought they all looked okay at best. I don't play the game often enough to feel like I've even come close to tired of the base game. The card decks are cheap enough that you can always pick up one here and there to add in a little variety though.

There are also the class decks which I haven't tried yet either. Again, they are primarily for multiplayer games and they do let you build your character up more. From what I understand, though, they'll likely increase the game's length.

[Jormi_Boced]

Thanks, I was already scouting around on BGG some. I think they all look like they would be some fun!

It will probably end up like Pokemon, Gotta Catch em All!

[Jormi_Boced]

November 5th, 2007

Duel of Ages Set 1 - Worldspanner
[Average Rating:6.90 Overall Rank:382]

Ben made it over tonight and I was glad we had two players, because I was hoping to get another game of Duel of Ages in. I had played a short game with a friend on the previous Friday and was wanting to get into it again.

We played 6 characters on 3 platters for 2 hours. I thought the game went pretty well, but I started to runaway with the lead. I had Grok on my side and I utilized him immediately to start beating on people while my other folks went to make challenges. Grok started to get double teamed, so I retreated him and gave him some back up. He got picked on all game, but was still alive at the end with 7 wounds.

I also had Agent 911 on my team. I was reading him, and I thought he was horrible, and I guess he is, but in a good way. I realized it was probably just best to park him in a cave entrance and hinder people. It worked out good, actually too good. Ben rolled 5s twice against him and Geronimo ended up killing himself with a warhammer.

Even though I had a very lopsided victory, I think we both had fun with the funny and interesting situations that arose. I really enjoyed it, and hope to get a chance to play it with 4 players soon.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, November 26th

Dungeon Twister
[Average Rating:7.24 Overall Rank:157]

Ben came over tonight and I was kind of excited that it would be just a two player night, as I have Sheldon's Dungeon Twister on loan for my Through the Desert. DT has been on my wish-list for a while. I had played DT 3 times before and was pretty excited to get another play in. Having a few games under my belt (albeit they were a while back) it pretty much just took a brief refresher on the rules to get the game running.

I was able to win with a score of 5-1. I think the game was a bit closer than the score indicated, and I definitely think it would have been a lot closer if we had played again, as DT really takes a game or two to get a good grasp on.

My first point came from beating up his thief. I think I kind of surprised him, as I was able to place his thief on the edge of a board. On the next turn I used my Wall Walker to go through a wall and rotate the board around so my troll was adjacent and able to attack the thief. My second point was also a sneaky rotate and smash with the troll on the cleric. I was then able to get my Wall Walker off the board for a point, and my Troll bashed his Goblin for a fourth point. My Troll was now in scoring position, and he used his Troll to block mine, but I was able to sneak around for my final point.

Ben's point came from crushing my Goblin with his Troll. If Ben could have stalled my Troll a bit more, I think he could have had the game, or at least been real close, as he had his Mekanork, Wizard, Wall Walker and Warrior close to my zones and one of them was carrying treasure. I did have his Mekanork pinned into an alcove with my Warrior, but I couldn't really press the attack, as he had his ork on the armor.

I still really want to get this one and really enjoyed playing it again. It was a shame that we only got one game in, but Ben is in college, and had to get to studying.

[Jormi_Boced]

Monday, December 3rd

Dungeon Twister - Paladins & Dragons
[Average Rating:7.87 Unranked]

Tonight Ben trudged through the frozen tundra to get in a game of Dungeon Twister with the Paladins and Dragons expansion. We decided to just use all the characters and tiles form the Paladins and Dragons set. I really enjoyed playing with all the new characters. I had played with a few of them before at Chateau with Sheldon, but not all of them.

I ended up winning 5-0, but I really thought I was in a pickle at one point, and I think things could have been bad for me if Ben would have played one card different.

My first point came pretty easy. I put my ghost in a square right outside Ben's starting zone. He revealed it on his first turn, and on my second turn, I just moved it all the way across the board and off for a point.

The game then went quite a while without any scoring, but then the pickle occurred. He advanced his Weapon master with a Ring of Teleportaion. I engaged with my Golem and Pickpocket, but I didn't have an action left to attack. I wasn't worried, because I figured I would just do it next turn, because he couldn't reinforce and attack that round. Oops, I guess I misread the board, because that is exactly what he did. We ended up having a group combat with his Golem and Weapon Master vs. My Golem and Pickpocket. So the battle was definitely in his favor with the a higher combined strength and the awesome ability of the Weapon Master. I decided that if I was going to go down in a blaze of glory, I would force his six. So, I played my six, he looked at it and he chose to play his 5 instead. I guess he wanted to short me on cards for the long haul. I can see where that could be a good strategy, but it left me open for a big escape.

On my next turn I used the pickpocket to take the ring and then I teleported to an adjacent tile and walked off the board for my second point.

My Golem was then just engaged to the Weapon Master, and I was in a position that kept his Golem from getting adjacent at the same time as the Weapon Master, so I was safe for another turn.

He spent his next turn chasing my Golem and advancing on my right side toward the rift. I could see where he was going to use his ghost to cross the rift and spin the board with a large raiding party ready on my side of the board.

My Golem was then able to engage his Illusionist on my retreat. It was a quick beat down for my third point. I then was able to move my Golem and I got him on a rotation gear and spun him out of harms way.

The next turn Ben continued his push with the raiding party, but I was equipping my Paladin with a sword and Shield and charging his Dragon. My Paladin was able to slay the dragon for the win before the raiding party could assault me. If he could have stalled my Paladin. He very easily could have won, as I was low on combat cards and he had a lot of guys within reach of my starting zone and my weaker members.

I really like Dungeon Twister and can't wait to play it again!