Anne and I played two games of Aton tonight.
In game one I initially tried for a temple three victory but was successfully blocked so I switched my attention to temple one. In the end we both passed forty during the second scoring round. I got 55 and Anne got 46.
In game two I tried for a temple two victory, unusually we both played low in the first cartouche most of the time. Anne blocked me sufficiently to stop me getting a victory before the first scoring round, and she roared ahead of me around the score track. I switched my attention to yellow as I already had 4 in temple two and I grabbed 4 more in temple one. I then grabbed the 3 in temple four and temple three became the battle ground. I was pretty reckless when it came to points and other majorities, but unluckily for Anne she wasn't drawing many threes and fours at this point and I grabbed the last yellow for victory before the second scoring round. Anne got 30 points to my 8.
So a yellow or green victory is possible.
Sunday 30 April 2006
Aton at home - 29 April
Anne and I played 5 games of Aton tonight (Anne's first games and my second to sixth games).
Neither of us tried for a green or yellow victory. On reflection both of us think that a yellow or green victory is the hardest type. There are 14 green (or yellow) squares to occupy (compared with 12 in a temple), no guarantee of points while you are doing it and it is easy to spot and counter.
- I won with a points victory
- I changed strategy and won with a first temple victory
- Anne went for a first temple victory and I went for a 4th temple victory. I gave away lots of points and got very close but Anne got closer and filled her temple
- I went for a first temple victory but won on points
- I won on points
Neither of us tried for a green or yellow victory. On reflection both of us think that a yellow or green victory is the hardest type. There are 14 green (or yellow) squares to occupy (compared with 12 in a temple), no guarantee of points while you are doing it and it is easy to spot and counter.
Saturday 29 April 2006
The three game session week - 24, 26, 28 April
I haven't written up any game sessions for awhile. But I think it is good practice for writing skills and game analysis skills.
This week we had three game sessions. Because Peter was sick last Wednesday we had games at our place. Peter was probably feeling under-gamed because he invited us to games on Monday night, Tuesday being a public holiday was another useful excuse for more gaming.
Peter’s place - Monday 24 April
Ticket to Ride - Märklin Edition
The passenger rule makes this game more interesting than the original Ticket to Ride. There are passenger cards in the deck, a little pile of tokens on most of the stations and everyone has 3 plastic passengers. When you play a set cards and claim a section of track you can optionally put down one of your passengers on one of the two stations. On a future turn you can (instead of the normal actions) move your passenger along your track as far as you like picking up the station tokens as you go. You can also play passenger cards to allow you to use other peoples track sections. The tokens have decreasing values (like the bonus tiles in Thurn und Taxis). Most of the stations have tokens ranging between 1 and 4 points but Berlin starts at 7 points. Your passenger is discarded after it moved.
Even though Peter warned us of the importance of getting ones passengers down on the board and then moving them most of us didn’t make much effort to do so until the middle of the game. The passengers mean it is important to decide where to place your early track so that your first passengers get a good run through the best stations. This is often at conflict with securing the important choke points to score your tickets. I enjoyed this game a lot more than the original, though still think it take a bit long for a game of its weight.
There are other differences from the original game: 2 separate decks of tickets (long & short), 2 types of wild card, a ten point bonus for most tickets completed rather than longest route and bigger cards. But the passengers are the most important difference.
Note: Ticket to Ride - Europe also has big cards and separate long and short ticket decks (players start with 1 long and 3 short), players may need 0-3 extra cards to build a section with a tunnel., some sections need 1 or more wild cards to complete (ferry routes), each player has 3 stations which cost 1-3 cards to lay and cost 4 points if not laid, each station allows the use of another players section when scoring a ticket.
Thurm und Taxis
Lance and I introduced Jarratt to 'Thurm und Taxis'. I was half expecting Jarratt to win but he didn't. The scores make it look like Lance ran away with the game but the game didn't feel like that.
Lance 29
Jarratt 16
Ian 14
Peter’s place - Wednesday 26 April
Die Handler
Kate, Luke, Peter and I played this game while the other eight people played on the other two tables. For most of us this was our second playing of this game but it had been many months and many other new games in between playings and we all needed a rules refresh.
This is a game of buying, transporting and selling goods coupled with an increasingly expensive status ladder, which must be climbed to win. There is reasonable scope for shafting when it comes to loading the wagons, moving the wagons and manipulating the prices. There is also a shortage of cash caused by the increasing expenses on higher rungs of the status ladder we all must climb to win, and the increasing cost of moving up the ladder as the game progresses. Experience should speed this game up and should also make us ready for the advanced version of the game.
Everyone enjoyed the game and I beat Peter by 400 guilders on the tie break.
Medici
Peter, Kate, Luke, John B and I played this purest of auction games. It turned out to be one of the most brutal games of Medici we have played, including the most nasty accidental shaft we have seen when John after thinking carefully for awhile bid 16 without noticing that this was exactly the number of points that Luke had (Luke being the other person interested in the cards on offer).
Carl’s place - Friday 28 April
Aton
This was the first time anyone had played my new two player game about vying for power in the temples of Egypt. The components are straight forward: two identical decks of numbered cards, 2 sets of counters and a pretty board containing four 12 square temples, an eight square city of the dead, a score track and 4 cartouches each. But the rules are more complex. Basically each player draws four cards from their deck and places them face down against the 4 cartouches, then all cards are turned up. The cartouches determine how the number on each card is evaluated: turn order, how many counters you get to take off, how many you get to put on and which temples can you do this in. The game is about controlling the temples and scoring points in various ways. There are four different game-end/win conditions and seven ways to score points so there is plenty to keep track of.
I ignored the first cartouche (which scores someone up to six points per turn) to my cost and concentrated on going for a green victory (placing counters in all the green squares). Carl played for points and won on about turn 7 or 8. We both enjoyed this game.
Oltre Mare
Sharon’s liked this game so much last week that I brought it again, this time Carl and Matt were also keen so Oltre Mare edged out California and Great Wall of China as the game to play. It was Carl’s first game but he caught on quickly. In the first half Matt, John and I dominated the trading but the half way scoring saw Carl, Matt and John clustered around the thirty mark while Sharon and I trailed ten points behind, but I had more pirate cards than all the others put together. In the second half Matt, Carl and Sharon dominated the trading. Matt and I did the most sailing while the other three spent much of the game sitting on pirate free ports. Sharon did her usual thing with sticking on "hand limit 6, play 1" cards and planning up to three moves in advance.
Carl won and I think this game will get played again.
Great Wall of China
This new game was also a big hit last week and this time we played five player, with Sharon being the new player. Last week we had decided that conflict would mainly benefit the non-competing players and we were very peaceable about dividing the spoils. This meant that no-one was in danger of playing all the cards much before the others and also that we all had plenty of good cards left at the end to squabble over the last few tokens. The 7 and 8 point tokens all came out in the first half of the game and those last tokens we fought over were mainly 1s, 2s and 3s! The scores were very close this week and I think we all have more to learn about this game.
Matt 31
Carl & Sharon 30
Ian 29
John 27
This week we had three game sessions. Because Peter was sick last Wednesday we had games at our place. Peter was probably feeling under-gamed because he invited us to games on Monday night, Tuesday being a public holiday was another useful excuse for more gaming.
Peter’s place - Monday 24 April
Ticket to Ride - Märklin Edition
The passenger rule makes this game more interesting than the original Ticket to Ride. There are passenger cards in the deck, a little pile of tokens on most of the stations and everyone has 3 plastic passengers. When you play a set cards and claim a section of track you can optionally put down one of your passengers on one of the two stations. On a future turn you can (instead of the normal actions) move your passenger along your track as far as you like picking up the station tokens as you go. You can also play passenger cards to allow you to use other peoples track sections. The tokens have decreasing values (like the bonus tiles in Thurn und Taxis). Most of the stations have tokens ranging between 1 and 4 points but Berlin starts at 7 points. Your passenger is discarded after it moved.
Even though Peter warned us of the importance of getting ones passengers down on the board and then moving them most of us didn’t make much effort to do so until the middle of the game. The passengers mean it is important to decide where to place your early track so that your first passengers get a good run through the best stations. This is often at conflict with securing the important choke points to score your tickets. I enjoyed this game a lot more than the original, though still think it take a bit long for a game of its weight.
There are other differences from the original game: 2 separate decks of tickets (long & short), 2 types of wild card, a ten point bonus for most tickets completed rather than longest route and bigger cards. But the passengers are the most important difference.
Note: Ticket to Ride - Europe also has big cards and separate long and short ticket decks (players start with 1 long and 3 short), players may need 0-3 extra cards to build a section with a tunnel., some sections need 1 or more wild cards to complete (ferry routes), each player has 3 stations which cost 1-3 cards to lay and cost 4 points if not laid, each station allows the use of another players section when scoring a ticket.
Thurm und Taxis
Lance and I introduced Jarratt to 'Thurm und Taxis'. I was half expecting Jarratt to win but he didn't. The scores make it look like Lance ran away with the game but the game didn't feel like that.
Lance 29
Jarratt 16
Ian 14
Peter’s place - Wednesday 26 April
Die Handler
Kate, Luke, Peter and I played this game while the other eight people played on the other two tables. For most of us this was our second playing of this game but it had been many months and many other new games in between playings and we all needed a rules refresh.
This is a game of buying, transporting and selling goods coupled with an increasingly expensive status ladder, which must be climbed to win. There is reasonable scope for shafting when it comes to loading the wagons, moving the wagons and manipulating the prices. There is also a shortage of cash caused by the increasing expenses on higher rungs of the status ladder we all must climb to win, and the increasing cost of moving up the ladder as the game progresses. Experience should speed this game up and should also make us ready for the advanced version of the game.
Everyone enjoyed the game and I beat Peter by 400 guilders on the tie break.
Medici
Peter, Kate, Luke, John B and I played this purest of auction games. It turned out to be one of the most brutal games of Medici we have played, including the most nasty accidental shaft we have seen when John after thinking carefully for awhile bid 16 without noticing that this was exactly the number of points that Luke had (Luke being the other person interested in the cards on offer).
Carl’s place - Friday 28 April
Aton
This was the first time anyone had played my new two player game about vying for power in the temples of Egypt. The components are straight forward: two identical decks of numbered cards, 2 sets of counters and a pretty board containing four 12 square temples, an eight square city of the dead, a score track and 4 cartouches each. But the rules are more complex. Basically each player draws four cards from their deck and places them face down against the 4 cartouches, then all cards are turned up. The cartouches determine how the number on each card is evaluated: turn order, how many counters you get to take off, how many you get to put on and which temples can you do this in. The game is about controlling the temples and scoring points in various ways. There are four different game-end/win conditions and seven ways to score points so there is plenty to keep track of.
I ignored the first cartouche (which scores someone up to six points per turn) to my cost and concentrated on going for a green victory (placing counters in all the green squares). Carl played for points and won on about turn 7 or 8. We both enjoyed this game.
Oltre Mare
Sharon’s liked this game so much last week that I brought it again, this time Carl and Matt were also keen so Oltre Mare edged out California and Great Wall of China as the game to play. It was Carl’s first game but he caught on quickly. In the first half Matt, John and I dominated the trading but the half way scoring saw Carl, Matt and John clustered around the thirty mark while Sharon and I trailed ten points behind, but I had more pirate cards than all the others put together. In the second half Matt, Carl and Sharon dominated the trading. Matt and I did the most sailing while the other three spent much of the game sitting on pirate free ports. Sharon did her usual thing with sticking on "hand limit 6, play 1" cards and planning up to three moves in advance.
Carl won and I think this game will get played again.
Great Wall of China
This new game was also a big hit last week and this time we played five player, with Sharon being the new player. Last week we had decided that conflict would mainly benefit the non-competing players and we were very peaceable about dividing the spoils. This meant that no-one was in danger of playing all the cards much before the others and also that we all had plenty of good cards left at the end to squabble over the last few tokens. The 7 and 8 point tokens all came out in the first half of the game and those last tokens we fought over were mainly 1s, 2s and 3s! The scores were very close this week and I think we all have more to learn about this game.
Matt 31
Carl & Sharon 30
Ian 29
John 27
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