What is Unity Games XII?
Unity Games is a loose collection of game groups in eastern MA. We play strategy board games, which is difficult to define or categorize, so I won't attempt to do either. A few times a year, UG organizes a convention for open boardgaming. It's always a blast (:
What is a Session Report?
Session reports are a list of games played along with commentary. While writing a session report feels somewhat self-centered (as does, say, blogging), I've really enjoyed reading other people's session reports. It's a good way to learn about new games, compare my opinions to those of other gamers, and even to game vicariously.
Palazzo(45 minutes)
Chip: 36
Gary: 30
Mike: 27
Luke: 12 (or, possibly, 21)
I received Palazzo as a Christmas gift, but haven't had a chance to play it yet. I brought it to UG in the hopes of finding someone to teach it to me, and Mike was kind enough to oblige.
I started the game off by taking money - figuring that I didn't want to pay 9 for a tile, and I didn't want to start an auction for a random tile without having a good feel for the game. Gary and Luke did likewise, and then Mike kicked off with the real game by running the first auction.
A few assorted observations:
* Tiles seemed to be valued at about 7 <random currency> each, unless, of course, multiple players needed a particular tile.
* We never got to the situation where there were too many tiles to auction (so that they would be drafted instead).
* Drafting money is more difficult than it initially appears. Sets of the same value across multiple colors is worth 15 (generic money). While this is obviously a good way to use cards whose values sum to less than 15 (e.g. three 4 cards), it may even be worthwhile to use three 6 cards in this way, as they can all be used together.
* Luke's alternate score is based on placing his last tile on top of a existing building instead of as a separate building.
I tend to like Reiner Knizia's games, and this was no exception. Auctioning, drafting (money), building in order (a la Lost Cities), set collection - all in under an hour. I can't wait to play again.
Although playing a two-player game seems at odds with the communal nature of Unity Games, I couldn't resist Craig's offer to learn this game. Another friend of mine received BattleLore as a Christmas gift, so I've been meaning to learn the system. While it's very similar to
Memoir '44, the fantasy theme is much more appealing to me.
We played a basic scenario (without Magic or Lore), in which my archers were defending themselves against Craig's mounted swordsmen. I had the advantage in hand size (6 to his 4), but I believe he had more powerful units overall. I was fortunate to draw a card early on that allowed each of my archers to attack twice (so long as they were not in melee, and did not move). An early shot forced one of Craig's units to retreat, which then, in turn, freed up those archers to attack that same cavalry unit.
Craig struggled to find cards that made use of the bulk of his army in the center of the board. However, he cleverly copied one of my cards (and, I think, got more us of it than I did). It was a very close game, both of us having opportunities to win during the last few rounds.
One of my friends from college got a copy of BattleLore for, and I'm looking forward to teaching him the basic game and exploring some of the advanced aspects of the game.
While waiting for Erica and Joe to finish a game of Tikal, I started a quick "half-hour" game of Mission: Red Planet. This is an area control game with simultaneous role selection (not unlike
Citadels).
There's a little bit of "take that" in the game, as players occasionally have to decide who to hurt with actions that help themselves. In fact, at one point Nate and Matt took the same action (Femme Fatale, I think) and effectively cancelled each other out, to neither one's advantage.
The end scores reflect the number of bonus cards each of us scored (Marc completed three, Matt and I each completed one (I think), and I think Nate did not complete any). These bonus cards are significant, and (not to whine) each time that I tried to draw a bonus card, I got a pretty rock (e.g. useless card) instead. Bonus cards are similar to
Ticket to Ride's destination cards, and I think some additional selection (e.g. draw three, keep one) would benefit the game. (In fact, I recommend a similar modification to the Secret Objective cards in
Nexus Ops). In all three games, bonus cards also create a sense of strategic goals, which I felt was a little lacking in this game.
That's Life (20 minutes)
Karl: 31
Joe: 6
Erica: 3
Chip: 0
After dinner at Acapulcos, Karl talked us into returning to UG for one last 20-minute game (that did, in fact, turn out to take 20 minutes). That's life is a simple game that still allows for some strategic thought - unfortunately, I didn't have any strategy left in my brain. While my score may seem (and is) pathetically low, I was elated to discover that it wasn't actually negative.
This was a good learning game (especially for people who learn from their mistakes), and I like the game despite how poorly I played it. I even suggested playing it a second time (unusual for me), but I was out-voted.
Thanks
Thanks to Dave Bernazzani and to the UG Steering Committee for yet another fabulous day of gaming!
