Session Report - December 19 - "Do you know the way to San... Juan?"

We have a fine pre-Christmas turn-out with 8 players showing up for another Virtual Board Game Group gamenight.

A quick split to two tables, and we're off!

Table 1 - Pete, Beth, Karen, Bill -

Karen suggests what is starting to become a favorite, San Juan:

Pete goes for the city hall strategy, but adds in a couple of handy buildings to get there, and a fully triumphant arch. Bill has massive production, but can't quite beat Pete -

-- kayakpete erreichte 42 SP, davon 24 SP durch Gebaeude und 18 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 39 SP, davon 27 SP durch Gebaeude und 12 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 28 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 11 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- magennis erreichte 36 SP, davon 20 SP durch Gebaeude und 15 SP durch grosse Gebaeude. Kapelle: 1
-- If kayakpete hadn't gotten 42 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so in an exemplary fashion victoriously. (41:30 min.)


Pete bows out for the night, and the table caries on with a second round. And yet again the winner only wins by 3 points. Are close finishes a mark of a good/fun game? Maybe so.

Here are the second game results for San Juan.

-- Lamork erreichte 35 SP, davon 21 SP durch Gebaeude und 14 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 27 SP, davon 27 SP durch Gebaeude und 0 SP
durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- magennis erreichte 38 SP, davon 16 SP durch Gebaeude und 18 SP
durch grosse Gebaeude. Kapelle: 4
-- Now magennis has won distinguishedly with 38 points! (39:08 min.)

Table 2 - Collin, Brian, Dana, Lisa, as reported by Collin:

Group 2 consisted of Dana, Lisa, Brian, and Collin

Game 1: Ra!

"Here comes the sun...."

This turned out to be a challenging game, with Lisa and Brian playing for
the first time, and Dana trying to recall his strategy. Lisa was strong out
of the gate and crushed everyone in the first epoch. Dana suffered with
bidding coins that did't allow him to win many auctions, in fact, he didn't
win any auctions in the last epoch. Brian was strong in the second round
with his Nile tiles scoring points for him. Collin used the monument
strategy, and, it was just enough to score a 2 point victory over Brian.

-- brian7 scores 8 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- danar scores 10 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- brynna scores 14 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- brian7 scores 11 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 7 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- danar scores 4 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- brynna scores 4 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- brian7 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 16 (Total: 45) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 30 (Total: 47)
points.
-- danar scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) -8 (Total: 16) points.
-- brynna scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 4 (Total: 32) points.
-- The victory of IceFire2112 was planned extraordinarily and ended with 47
points. (50:04 min.)

Game 2

"Do you know the way to San... Juan?"

Brian decided to head off to "Z"land, so Dana, Lisa, and Collin played San
Juan. Another new learning experience for Lisa. With both Collin and Dana
trying to coach her on some of the finer points of the game, it was hard to
tell if they were more a help than a hindrance. Dana tried the chapel
strategy early on, and used the Guild Hall for extra points for production
buildings. Collin got the Guild hall early along with 2 silver smelters,
and was able to get the cards rolling often to build frequently. In the end
Collin's ability to build many times forced the game to end with both Dana
and Lisa with 3 blank spots in their field. It was enough to hold off Dana,
who scored 12 points off his chapel.

-- IceFire2112 erreichte 41 SP, davon 23 SP durch Gebaeude und 18 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- brynna erreichte 30 SP, davon 23 SP durch Gebaeude und 7 SP durch grosse
Gebaeude.
-- danar erreichte 39 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 10 SP durch grosse
Gebaeude. Kapelle: 12
-- The game went without equal, and produced IceFire2112 as the winner with
41 points. (50:35 min.)

Good games everyone, and Merry Christmas!

Session Report - December 12 - We got the Power!

Game Log Dec 12

Pete seemed to be really running away with the game, building low cost purples quickly then the purple multiplier. But, as you can see, this was not a strategy that worked:

San Juan, bill, karen pete

-- kayakpete erreichte 24 SP, davon 14 SP durch Gebaeude und 10 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 26 SP, davon 14 SP durch Gebaeude und 12 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 25 SP, davon 19 SP durch Gebaeude und 6 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- The victory of Lamork was planned in an exemplary fashion and ended with 26 points. (29:38 min.)


Some of the subtle strategy and tactics is of Power Grid are starting to be uncovered. As seems is always the case, careful calculation in the final rounds will lead to victory.

Close game!

Powergrid
Karen, bill, dana, Brian, pete

-- Wow, Danar just put it away with 17 points. Outstandingly. (134:36 min.)
Danar: 17 Städte,
Städte, kayakpete: 16
Amazon4God: 14
Städte, ebri7: 14 Städte,
Städte, Lamork: 13

Session Report - December 5 - TrainsAmerica

Game Log - Dec 5

Busy time of the year! Didn't stop us from having some games on a Wednesday night:

San Juan:

-- kayakpete erreichte 31 SP, davon 21 SP durch Gebaeude und 10 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 27 SP, davon 20 SP durch Gebaeude und 7 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 26 SP, davon 21 SP durch Gebaeude und 5 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Wow, kayakpete just put it away with 31 points. Gigantically. (33:54 min.)

Trainsamerica

LadyCassandra verdichtet sich aus einer Wolke glitzernder Partikel.
-- Lamork achieved his goal.
-- kayakpete achieved his goal.
-- Amazon4God connected all her cities.
-- Amazon4God connected all her cities.
-- Masterfully, Amazon4God smashed the opposition's hopes with 7 points. (18:34 min.)

Transamerica

Wow! one round!

-- kayakpete achieved his goal.
-- Isn't it great how kayakpete won the game so without equal with 13 points? (5:24 min.)

transamerica

-- Amazon4God connected all her cities.
-- Lamork achieved his goal.
-- kayakpete achieved his goal.
-- Amazon4God connected all her cities.
-- Notably, Amazon4God won the game with 10 points. (19:42 min.)

Transamerica

-- Lamork achieved his goal.
-- danar connected all her cities.
-- danar connected all her cities.
-- danar connected all her cities.
-- danar won the game unparalleled. The victory was with 10 points. (20:47 min.)

Transamerica

-- brynna connected all her cities.
-- danar connected all her cities.
-- Amazon4God connected all her cities.
-- brynna connected all her cities.
-- Wow, Lamork just put it away with 6 points. Impressively. (17:27 min.)

Session Report: November 14 2007 - Thurn and Taxis First Go

San Juan: Paul, Dana, Bill, and Karen (Winner Bill)
Thurn and Taxis: Bill, Karen, Dana, Collin (Winner Bill)

San Juan: Paul, Dana, Bill, and Karen

Collin came in late and watched the game. Dana, Bill and Karen all completed their build tiles on the last turn. Bill played the monument strategy pretty well, and won the game.

-- Lamork erreichte 41 SP, davon 25 SP durch Gebaeude und 16 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- fineltour erreichte 24 SP, davon 24 SP durch Gebaeude und 0 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 33 SP, davon 23 SP durch Gebaeude und 10 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- G.t.Lion erreichte 28 SP, davon 16 SP durch Gebaeude und 12 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork won the game impressively. The victory was with 41 points. (43:38 min.)

Thurn and Taxis: Bill, Karen, Dana, Collin

First time on this one, and the learning curve was steep at the start, but a few turns into it, we were doing fine. Paul had to duck out early, so Bill Karen, Dana, and Collin played. Bill got the hang of getting bonuses early, and raked in the points. Watch out, unused milestones at the end of the game penalize you! Bill wins for the seoncd time tonight!

-- The opponents of Lamork had to concede, with 24 points the victory was simply impressively. (94:10 min.)

Session Report: November 7 2007 - Where's the what?

TransAmerica - Dana, Bill, Karen, Paul - Winner Dana
Fearsome Floors - Dana, Bill, Karen, Paul, Beth, Collin - Winner Dana

Where's the beef?

With Collin, Beth and Pete nowhere to be found, Dana (despite his microphone
problems), Bill, Karen and Paul played a quick game of TransAmerica, hoping
the no-shows would just be late.

Paul had two bad rounds putting him close to death, but he won the third
round. Bill had bad last round, dropping him to third. Dana played it safer
than Karen, winning the game.

Beth and Collin show up, and a spirited game of Fearsome Floors ensues. We
all took a moment to refamiliarize ourselves with the game, and then some
serious munching occurs. With 18 characters on the board, there the monster
was never in short supply of players to eat. In the end with players
clowding around the door, the monstar gets close and goes on a rampage,
eating several people. Dana is fortunate, and pulls out the win.

-- If fineltour hadn't gotten 2 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so
distinguishedly victoriously. (77:04 min.)

See you next week!

Session Report - October 31 2007 - Of Course We Play Fearsom Floors!

Report From Collin -

Fearsom Floors - Beth, Paul, Collin - Winner Paul
Transamerica - Beth, Paul, Collin - Winner Collin

Happy Halloween!

3 brave players showed up for some ghoulishly delightful games in a Halloween edition of VBGG!

What to play while all the ghosts, goblins, and witches are about? Why Fearsome Floors, of course! What better way to spend our time than to dash about trying to avoid being eaten by the monster lurching around the dungeon. Beth, Paul, and Collin were our intrepid (foolish?) explorers, hoping to make it out alive! The monster found plenty to eat, unfortunately, most of the time it was Beth's characters who got chomped. Collin had a brilliant play where a couple of his opponents' characters were devoured, and had one of his characters escape the blood bath first. However, that was nothing compared to Paul, who was able to whisk his next three characters to safety very quickly. Nice job, Paul!

-- Fabulously, G.t.Lion, scores 3 points, leaving the opponents no chance. (71:09 min.)

Bill stopped in for a short chat in the middle of the carnage, explaining that the power had finally been restored at their house. Hard to do the VBGG without a steady supply of electrons running to your house. We're glad everything turned out OK!

With their nerves shot, and time running short, Beth, Paul, and Collin moved on to something a little more, um, "normal" - not to mention shorter. Wait! What's that sound? Some high pitched whistle! It's getting closer! It's.... it's.... Arrrrrgh! Oh, it's just a train whistle! Transamerica has rolled into town!

The first few rounds were pretty tight, with everyone within one or two points of each other. Suddenly, Beth had a bad round, and was on the verge of elimination. That round featured a brillant piece of misdirection strategy by Paul, and it worked very well for him. However, the next round was not in his favor, and he was close to elimination himself. Beth won that round, and held off the executioner for a short bit. However, in the end, it was all for naught. Collin played a solid, steady strategy, either winning the round or only being one or two track lengths from finishing, and ended up winning the game.

-- Now IceFire2112 has won unparalleled with 6 points! (44:31 min.)

Good games everyone! We hope to see more of you next week!

Session Report - October 24 2007 - German San Juans?

San Juan - Bill, Beth, Karen Dana - Winner Karen

While Pete was in Seattle (But not on the San Juan islands), the crew played Puerto Rico (But not in German).

But, here's the report, in German, anyway. :-)

On 10/25/07, Karen wrote:

Guten Morgen Pete!

Unser spiel var Puerto Rico. Es var fiele spass!

Meine Mann, Bill hat auch Risk gespielt im das geselbe ziet von wier haben Puerto Rico gespielt. Das is varum Bill hat nich gut getan.

Bis spater!

Karen

On 10/25/07, Pete wrote:

meine deutsch ist nicht so gut.

was spiel ist es.

tag von seattle

On 10/24/07, Karen Fitz La Barge wrote:
> -- fineltour erreichte 36 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 19 SP durch
> grosse Gebaeude.
> -- Lamork erreichte 35 SP, davon 22 SP durch Gebaeude und 13 SP durch grosse
> Gebaeude.
> -- Amazon4God erreichte 40 SP, davon 25 SP durch Gebaeude und 15 SP durch
> grosse Gebaeude.
> -- magennis erreichte 30 SP, davon 24 SP durch Gebaeude und 6 SP durch
> grosse Gebaeude.
> -- Super, Amazon4God, scores 40 points, leaving the opponents no chance.
> (56:20 min.)
>
> Sometimes being sick and not thinking too much about your strategy works.
> Build, build, build strategy takes the game again.
>
> K
>
>
> --

>

Session Report - October 17 2007 - Watching The Detectives

Hoity Toity - Beth, Collin, Pete, Paul, Dana - Winner Collin

Paul, Pete, Bill and Karen started a nice peaceful game of San Juan, only to have BSW totally crash. Bummer! We gave up as Beth, Collin and Dana showed up.

The web-based game team (Pete, Dana, Karen and Bill) have been playing Hoity Toity this week. We thought it would play much better real time, so we tried it out.

http://www.spielbyweb.com/game.php?games_id=34137

Karen, Bill, Pete and Dana played at Table 1 (Not really a VBGG Wednesday night game, so I won't mention that Karen kicked our butts on that one), and Beth, Collin, Pete, Paul, and Dana sat at table 2. Yes, you read that right. Pete and Dana played two games of Hoity Toity at once. It was not pretty, as in the end game Pete played a Detective, when he should have exibited, costing him the game.

Well, maybe he threw it, just to give someone else a chance to win. Yeah, let's stick with that.

SpielByWeb is a valid engine for Wednesday night VBGG sessions. We hope to play more of the games there.

Session Report - October 10 2007 - Caylus? Where's that?

Slow start today, with BSW acting weird. Well, at least we'll blame them.


Table 1 Caylus - Karen, Bill, Paul, Pete - Winner Karen
Table 2 Caylus - Collin, Beth, Dana - Winner Dana


Table 1:

Karen moved in on the standard two factory strategy. Bill held off the other one, but it was enough to keep her flowing. A couple rounds of good money, and she cinched it.

Pete booked good points on a couple building builds, and the castle, moving him from last to second.

Paul says he needed just one more turn.

Karen 65
Pete 58
Paul 51
Bill 46


-- Without Amazon4God's 65 points, the game may never have ended so without equal. (114:47 min.)


Table 2:

Close game! Dana picked up 30 points in the end scoring. Very handy. Collin's happy with his game, doing pretty well on earlier castle builds, and building buildings. He made it into the blue buildings.

Oddly, they didn't use the inn at all, and only used turn order change once!

Dana - 96
Collin - 95
Beth - 57

-- Classy, fineltour smashed the opposition's hopes with 96 points. (114:26 min.)


Note that the two games finished within 21 seconds elapsed time.

First SpielByWeb game Complete!

Greetings friendly Gamers!

The first VBGG sponsored pay-by-web game has been completed! Karen, Bill, Dana and Pete played a game of Tikal, and took 9 days to do it!

http://www.spielbyweb.com/game.php?games_id=32924

Dana scored very nicely in the last round to push Pete out of the lead:

Karen: 88
Bill: 77
Pete: 96
Dana: 107

We had a good time figuring out the game on our own for the first few days. The next game should be a little more interesting, as we all know how to play.

Tikal is a very nice game, with many decisions to make and strategies to follow. We think that the play-by-web system may work for a Wednesday night VBGG session. If anyone's interested in Learning and Playing Tikal, just let us know!

Go check out SpielByWeb. Playing games "offline" is sort of like communicating via Email instead of IM. It definitely has some benefits!

And now we have one more opportunity to play.

Anyone else interested in another SpielByWeb game? Tikal? Something Else?

Session Report: October 3, 2007 - Life of Brian

Transamerica (Brian, Dana, Karen) - Winner Brian
San Juan (Brian, Dana, Karen) - Winner Brian

Thanks to Karen for this session report!




The night belongs to Brian!

In a slow night where only three of the faithful decided to brave the fiber optic cables to join for VBGG, there was only to be one victor.

Brian put Dana and Karen away at Transamerica where he won overwhelmingly with 7 points.

Then Dana and Karen taught Brian San Juan. Brian caught on to the game strategy very quickly and built a quarry and a library in order to halve his building costs. Dana utilized the ever popular Chapel method, and tucked away a lot of the town's monuments in the chapel catacombs. The few monuments that slipped past Dana's catacomb collection tended to head over to Brian's corner, and he pulled off a triumphal arch trifecta with three monuments for an 8 point addition to his 40 point winning score. Karen's 37 points were made up of a couple of wandering monuments, a guild hall and palace that will come in handy as she heads inside to lick her wounds over this severe defeat!

Session Report - September 26 2007 - Bag O' Builders

Pillars of the Earth (Collin, Dana, Pete, Beth) - Winner Pete

Another trip to that little town. What is the name of that town anyway? Anyway, it was fun!

Dana started with a gold strategy, but quickly left it as he ran out of money. That and an oops on selling his mortar mixer.

Collin just couldn't get traction, blaming a bad round 2.

Beth had a good game, but came into end game with no metal, nor high vp production.

Pete focused on making vp, and came into the final round with 2 metal.


Collin - 31
Dana - 44
Pete - 49
Beth - 36

-- kayakpete won the game in an exemplary fashion. The victory was with 49 points. (68:14 min.)

Great game!

Session Report: September 19 2007 - Pillars of the Earth

Pillars of the Earth (Pete, Dana, Brian, Karen) - Winner Karen
Pillars of the Earth (Beth, Collin, Bill) - Winner Bill

I've been wanting to play Pillars of the Earth for some time, but was scared to try to figure it out on BSW. Bill bought the boardgame at Gencon, and we figured it out. We really like it. It's a bit easier than Caylus.

I think we can get a 4 player game down to 60-80 minutes, at least.

At Table 1, Brian lead very nicely with the priory bonus. But there was some serious production going on with the craftsman. In the end, Karen got a couple metals to run right by everyone.

Pete - 42
Dana - 43
Brian - 46
Karen - 49

-- Greatly, Amazon4God, scores 49 points, leaving the opponents no chance. (108:11 min.)


At Table 2, Beth, Collin and Bill duked it out. Interesting, as they didn't use the Market nearly as much as table 1. We figure that the market is more in play in the 4 player game.

It's close coming into the final round, and the event card is everyone is getting a metal! OUCH! Beth is not set up for any metal crafting... she's gonna be out.

And it's down to the wire!

Beth - 42
Collin - 49
Bill - 51

And it's a Labarge night! Great game, great fun!

See you next week!

Session Report: September 12, 2007 - There's BEANS in them there hills!

Report once again from Collin, as Pete behaves at his 15th wedding anniversary.

Bohnanza (Paul, Collin, Dana) Winner Dana

9/12/07

There's BEANS in them there hills!

With the new school year in full swing, and schedules being crazy, it was alight turnout for gaming this week. Dana, Paul, and Collin show up, and are looking for something different. Collin suggests playing Bohnanza. With the first experience a few weeks back under their belts, they start out, making a few tactical mistakes along the way, but they make it through. Bill joins after the game start, but elects to observe and learn the game. There was lots of trading of beans going on, with the game being pretty close throughout. Dana gets the final cards, and when the final bean harvest occurs, They end in a three way tie!

-- IceFire2112 reached a score of 17.
-- G.t.Lion reached a score of 17.
-- fineltour reached a score of 17.
-- fineltour, G.t.Lion und IceFire2112 won the game greatly. The victory
was with 17 points. (80:50 min.)

Bohnanza has room for 3-5 players, and is slightly less brain taxing than
Power Grid. It will also move along quicker. As the learning curve
progresses, I think this game can be seen in the regular rotation.

See you next week!

Session Report: September 5, 2007 - Where's Pete?

Pete's off messing around with Marc and Jan's wedding planning. Fun!

So Collin brings up the report once again:



Another late start, and the crew arrives at BSW and watches Brian, Heather, and a friend of theirs playing a game of Tongiaki. The late comers figure that game is going to go on for a little while longer, and figures playing a game is more fun than watching a game, so they hit the standby of Transamerica.

Game 1: Bill, Karen, Beth, and Collin start off, and Beth and Karen race to see who can get to 0 first, but they tie. Collin is no match for Bill, who wins impressively. Final score: Bill 10, Collin 5, Beth and Karen 0.

Game 2: Brian's Tongiaki game is over, so he joins us. This time it's Collin and Karen racing to the bottom, and once again, Bill is victorious! Bill 9, Beth 6, Brian 5, and Karen and Collin finish with 0.

Late start, so not much gaming this week. Hopefully next week will have an
earlier start.

Session Report: August 29, 2007 - Trains!

Collin Reports!

TransAmerica (Dana, Karen, Beth, Bill, Brian, Collin) - Winner Karen
TransAmerica (Dana, Karen, Beth, Bill, Brian, Collin) - Winner Brian
TransAmerica (Dana, Karen, Beth, Bill, Brian, Collin) - Winner Bill
TransAmerica (Dana, Karen, Beth, Bill, Brian, Collin) - Winner Collin

It was a late start to gaming, so we played some quick games of TransAmerica!
Beth, Bill, Brian, Collin, Dana, and Karen whipped out some games in short
order. Some games were tight, but the last two were blowouts.

Game 1: Dana and Karen duke it out, and the game ends with the two of them
tied.
-- Amazon4God und fineltour won the game fascinatingly. The victory was
with 4 points. (18:53 min.)

Game 2: Brian plays a good game, and Collin is glad that you can't get
negative points in this game.
-- Isn't it great how brian7 won the game so pointedly with 6 points?
(20:22 min.)

Game 3: Bill's turn to shine, and he runs away with it.
-- The victory of Lamork was planned overwhelmingly and ended with 12
points. (15:45 min.)

Game 4: As impressive as Bill's win was in the previous game, Collin's win
is even more resounding.
-- Wow, IceFire2112 just put it away with 13 points. Excellently. (15:18 min.)

Fun was had by all. See you next week.

Session Report: August 22 2007 - Who needs sleep anyway?

Greetings gamers!

PowerGrid: Brian, Beth, Dana, Collin, Pete - Winner Brian


Marathon session lasting until midnight! Well, it's been a while, and we had a slow start as Dana's BSW freaked, and sailing stragglers got in.

Off to Powergrid! It's a thinking person's game, as is. You need to calculate out your expenses. Buy your plants, buy your pipes, buy your resources. Spend Spend! Think Think Think!

Pete pinned Dana in the corner at the end of phase 1, but it only allowed him to save cash for nice plant builds in a later turn.

Brian got the machine rolling, and was looking great coming into endgame.

Pete made a brilliant move, and bought two oil, when he needed three, leaving most of his plants watching the windmills go round and round. What a putz. That's what he gets for playing the uke between turns.


Game ends at Brian pulling off a pretty commanding win. Dana was very close on his heels, however.

-- If ebri7 hadn't gotten 16 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so masterfully victoriously. (118:23 min.)
kayakpete: 11 Städte, ebri7: 16 Städte, magennis: 14 Städte, IceFire2112: 11 Städte, fineltour: 14 Städte,

See ya NEXT WEEK!

Session Report: August 8 2007: Heather and Brian sittin in a tree, T-O-N-G-I-A-K-I.

Whilst Pete played boardgames in the campground, the VBGGers carried on with normal operations. Here's the report from Collin -

The diehard faithful VBGGers gathered for yet another adventure on
BrettSpielWelt. Brian taught Karen how to play Lost Cities. It is a
two player card game with stackable cards like solitaire that has
suits of five colors.

After that, Brian, Heather (Brian's wife - a newbie to our game night), Karen, and Beth played a long game (63:59)of Tongiaki. Despite weird interface obstacles, Beth was able to pull out a victory with 26 points. There were several Kings and Queens on various islands making navigation difficult. Gentle cruise ship treatment of others turned into pirate vengeance towards the end of the game. Heather ran out of ships (not seen that before) and had to use ships on her other existing islands. Heather has proven to be a worthy opponent. Welcome aboard!

Session Report: August 1 - Field Of Beans

[Posted Late!]

Bohnanza - Brian, Pete, Collin, Karen, Dana - Winner: Dana


-- brian7 reached a score of 9.
-- kayakpete reached a score of 6.
-- IceFire2112 reached a score of 8.
-- Amazon4God reached a score of 8.
-- fineltour reached a score of 11.
-- But will fineltour win the next game so outstandingly with 11 points? (103:57 min.)

Session Report: July 25 2007 - Summer Sun, Had me a Blast

San Juan (Karen, Dana, Collin) - Winner: Karen
San Juan (Karen, Dana, Collin, Bill) - Winner: Collin
San Juan (Karen, Dana, Collin, Bill) - Winner: Bill

While Pete's on vacation out west, Collin once again fills in with this week's session report. Thanks Collin!

A small week for the VBGG. Karen, Dana, and Collin discussed Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hollows while waiting for others to show. Beth had gotten
up early, and decided to call it an early night. The book discussion
ended, and Bill wasn't back from sailing, so we were off to San Juan!

Game one had Collin wondering where everyone was getting their cards
from. He passed on several build turns due to lack of cards. Bill was
able to observe the game from the midpoint onward, but by that point it was
all Karen and Dana. In the end, Karen wins by 2.

-- IceFire2112 erreichte 18 SP, davon 18 SP durch Gebaeude und 0 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- fineltour erreichte 29 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 12 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 31 SP, davon 23 SP durch Gebaeude und 8 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Excellently, Amazon4God won the game with 31 points. (31:33 min.)

Bill joined for game 2, and this time Collin was able to get the cards
rolling in early and often. In the end, the combination of City Hall,
Palace, Triumphal Arch, Hero, and Statue proved to be overwhelming, and he
wins in a landslide.

-- IceFire2112 erreichte 46 SP, davon 22 SP durch Gebaeude und 24 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 30 SP, davon 20 SP durch Gebaeude und 10 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- fineltour erreichte 37 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 20 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 30 SP, davon 21 SP durch Gebaeude und 9 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- 46 points let IceFire2112 grab the whole thing phenomenally! (37:08 min.)

Game 3 had Karen and Collin trying the Chapel strategy, allowing them to
tuck away one card per turn as a Victory Point. Dana went to the extreme
with the Guild Hall and all production buildings strategy, while Bill also
used the Guild Hall and production building strategy, but was somewhat more
balanced. In the end, Collin and Karen's strategy didn't do so well, and
Dana almost pulled it off, but it was Bill who pulled it out.

-- fineltour erreichte 38 SP, davon 20 SP durch Gebaeude und 18 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 40 SP, davon 22 SP durch Gebaeude und 18 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 32 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 7 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude. Kapelle: 8
-- IceFire2112 erreichte 33 SP, davon 19 SP durch Gebaeude und 8 SP durch
grosse Gebaeude. Kapelle: 6
-- Without Lamork's 40 points, the game may never have ended so
excellently. (39:16 min.)

Great games everyone! See you next week!

Session Report: July 18 2007 - Trainin' the N00b

Report from Collin:

TransAmerica (Karen, Brian, Collin, Bill, Dana, Beth) - Winner Karen
TransAmerica (Karen, Brian, Collin, Bill, Dana, Beth) - Winner Bill
TransAmerica (Karen, Brian, Collin, Bill, Dana, Beth) - Winner Collin

Trainin' the n00b....

The VBGG extends a cordial welcome to our newest member, Brian! Brian (BSW
= brian7) joined us as a result of a connection made at this years canoe
trip. He is an avid gamer, and was gracious enough to put us through the
paces in the Cities and Knights expansion of Catan that he
brought. Welcome Brian!

With Dana needing to nod off early the first four of us decided it was a
night for Transamerica, with the house rules variant. Bill and Karen both
ended up winning that game with a score of 11, while Collin and Dana tried
to out race each other to have the lowest score, but the counting stops at
zero! Ouch!

Beth joined up, and so did Brian, and we played more games. With Brian on
board, we played the last 3 games without the house rule. Karen had
another good game, with Brian putting on a good showing in his first VBGG
game. Final score was Karen 10, Brian 9, Collin 7, Bill 4, Dana 2, and
Beth 0.

The third game had Beth and Collin racing for the bottom, leaving Bill and
Dana to battle for the top. Bill wins by a nose! Bill 8, Dana 6, Brian 4,
Karen 4, Collin and Beth both had 0.

Final game of the night, and Dana needed to bow out, but Lisa was able to
step in and play - welcome Lisa! Unfortunately, coming in cold put Lisa at
a disadvantage. Collin and Brian battled it out, and Collin wins a close
one: Collin 9, Brian 8, Karen 6, Bill 5, Beth 5, and Lisa 0.

TransAmerica certainly is a quick one to play, and it works well in large
groups. With a growing VBGG membership, this game will be a keeper. See
you next week!

Session Report: July 11 2007 - The forgotten day

Here's a quick release of a session report for July 11!

Summer is keeping people, namely Pete, busy. But, it was nice to see that we had a chance to get a few rounds of Lost Cities in!


Lost Cities - Pete, Dana - Winner Dana
Lost Cities - Pete, Dana - Winner Dana
Lost Cities - Pete, Dana - Winner Pete
Lost Cities - Paul, Dana - Winner Paul
Piranha Pedro - Collin, Beth, Pete, Paul, Dana, Bill - Looser Beth
Piranha Pedro - Collin, Beth, Pete, Paul, Dana, Bill - Looser Bill
Piranha Pedro - Collin, Beth, Pete, Paul, Dana, Bill - Looser Collin
Piranha Pedro - Collin, Beth, Pete, Paul, Dana, Bill - Looser Collin

-- Overwhelmingly, fineltour obliterated the opposition with -2 points. (8:54 min.)
-- kayakpete (-4), fineltour (-2)


-- If fineltour hadn't gotten 28 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so fascinatingly victoriously. (9:07 min.)
-- kayakpete (18), fineltour (28)

-- If kayakpete hadn't gotten 41 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so fantastically victoriously. (8:11 min.)
-- fineltour (-26), kayakpete (41)

-- If gtlion hadn't gotten 40 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so greatly victoriously. (10:20 min.)
-- fineltour (1), gtlion (40)

-- IceFire2112, Lamork, kayakpete, gtlion und fineltour won the game impressively. The victory was with 1 points. (10:41 min.) (Magennis looses)

-- Prominently, gtlion, IceFire2112, magennis, fineltour und kayakpete won the game with 2 points. (9:22 min.) (Lamork looses)

-- The victory of magennis, Lamork, kayakpete, fineltour und gtlion was planned classy and ended with 2 points. (5:19 min.) (Icefire2112 looses)

-- 1 points let gtlion, Lamork, magennis, fineltour und kayakpete grab the whole thing classy! (14:46 min.) (Icefire2112 looses)

Session Report: June 27 2007 - Doldrums

Tongiaki - Karen, Paul, Bill, Beth and Collin - Winner Collin, I mean, Beth

Our fine contributor, Collin, chimes in with another report. Pete went to bed early only to be woken up at midnight with a stomach flu. Pete Looses!

Another fine day in the VBGG world. Neither Collin nor Bill had a sailing
conflict, so gaming was the order of the evening. After a brief delay,
Beth, Collin, Bill, and Paul started a game of San Juan. Things went fine,
until Paul's internet connect burped, and he was unable to reconnect to the
game. At least it was a learning experience for Paul, so next time he
won't be starting from scratch.

Karen was now available to play, so she joined Paul, Bill, Beth and Collin
in a game of Tongiaki. The word to describe this game was nice. People
were nice to each other, and sailing your opponents off into oblivion
didn't happen as much this time around. In the end, Beth wins by two
points over her closest competitor. The game was pretty tight, with only a
7 point spread between the high and low score.

-- Now magennis has won outstanding with 33 points! (65:40 min.)

Next week Wednesday is July 4! Go and enjoy the fireworks! See you in two
weeks!

Collin

Session Report June 21: Slow Train from Ann Arbor

TransAmerica (Collin, Beth, Bill, Karen, Dana) - Karen
TransAmerica (Collin, Beth, Bill, Karen, Dana) - Collin
TransAmerica (Collin, Beth, Bill, Karen, Dana) - Bill

Thanks, Collin, for submitting this fine report, as Pete tried to recover from a busy few days in Ann Arbor...

It was Wednesday night, and Pete was still on his way back from Ann Arbor. Bill was balancing the checkbook and Karen was playing a game of get-Elisa-to-bed. Dana was in the twilight zone of the internet with a flaked out router. Beth was at her monthly Keno group with the ladies of the neighborhood, and Collin was sitting at his computer, wondering if a game was ever going to get going. Finally at about 10 o'clock we were ready to begin. Beth got home, Elisa was in bed, Dana figured out he really wasn't connected to the internet, and Bill figured, "Eh, maybe the
checkbook will balance itself if I wait long enough"

What to do with 5 tired gamers with only an hour to go? Why the house rules variant of Transamerica, of course! Beth, Bill, Collin, Dana, and Karen got down to business. The first round of the first game was truly nasty. With everyone starting
on the green west coast cities, Karen lucked out with everyone building close to her cities and she went out early. Way early. Collin had to lay 11 track sections to complete his track. This allowed Karen to take a commanding lead and win game 1 handily.

Game 2 started out a bit more even, and lasted longer. There were enough rounds for each color group to be used as the starting point. This game had an unusual round where Karen, in an attempt to get to Boston, builds through Washington and New York, completing both Dana and Collin's cities during her turn. In the end, Collin won in a close game.

Game 3 was also close, with Bill, Collin, and Dana battling it out near the top at the beginning of the third round. However, Karen had to build all the way to Duluth when Bill went out, and had to build this massively long track to get there. This gave Bill the narrow win over Collin.

Fun, fast games! See you next week!

Session Report: June 13 2007 - A horse by any other name still smells as stinky

Greetings gamers!

Ra: Paul, Karen, Pete - Winner Pete
Ra: Paul, Karen, Beth, Pete - Winner Paul
Ra: Pauk, Karen Beth, Bill, Collin - Winner Collin


Summer schedules are settling in, and we are finding that some people are having a tricky time making the 9pm start. Something to do with Wednesday Night Sailing. Sheesh. They definitely have their priorities mixed up.... or do they...

After polling the masses, I've discovered much hums and haws in regards to moving days. So, having not gotten a resounding "DO IT", we are going to leave things on Wednesday for now. Feel free to skype it up on Tuesdays at 9pm, however! That is still "pick-up game night". Who knows, maybe you can find another VBGG'er out there looking for a game.

We currently have a few regulars that have a tough time making the 9pm game. That's ok. We almost always get multiple games in during one session. Just skype in, and wait for the next game to start. This worked pretty well last night, as we see players adding in from game to game.

And they all cheered Rah Rah for Ra!


Game one, and Paul learns the game quickly -

-- kayakpete scores 3 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 7 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- gtlion scores 7 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
magennis materialisiert sich aus milliarden winziger Teilchen.
-- kayakpete scores -2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 16 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- gtlion scores 14 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 18 (Total: 29) points.
-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 28 (Total: 61) points.
-- gtlion scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 6 (Total: 37) points.
-- Amazon4God won the game overwhelmingly. The victory was with 61 points. (56:49 min.)

Game 2:

Gamemaster: Amazon4God sits at position number 1.
Gamemaster: magennis sits at position number 2.
Gamemaster: gtlion sits at position number 3.
Gamemaster: kayakpete sits at position number 4.
-- These game options are active: invisible.
Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by kayakpete; with 4 players).
-- These game options are active: invisible.
-- Amazon4God scores 2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 8 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- gtlion scores 5 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores 3 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 0 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores -2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- gtlion scores 8 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores -2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 21 (Total: 33) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 21 (Total: 37) points.
-- gtlion scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 15 (Total: 38) points.
-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 14 (Total: 25) points.
-- Wow, gtlion just put it away with 38 points. Impressively. (33:12 min.)

Game 3:

Gamemaster: magennis sits at position number 1.
Gamemaster: gtlion sits at position number 2.
Gamemaster: Amazon4God sits at position number 3.
Gamemaster: Lamork sits at position number 4.
Gamemaster: IceFire2112 sits at position number 5.
Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by Amazon4God; with 5 players).
-- magennis scores 11 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- gtlion scores -2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores -4 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 7 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- gtlion scores 0 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 1 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 13 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 5 (Total: 33) points.
-- gtlion scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 16 (Total: 24) points.
-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 14 (Total: 28) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 13 (Total: 20) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 14 (Total: 37) points.
-- The game went extraordinarily, and produced IceFire2112 as the winner with 37 points. (32:31 min.)

Beth's comment in the final round: "Crap it all."

Schedule Review - POLL

Greetings!

We have been running for many months with a Wednesday Night GameNight. In the past, we used to do Tuesdays.

With everyone starting new summer schedules, it's a good time to review this, and think about a possible shift.

Weekends: NO. Goes against the foundation of the VBGG - To play games when you normally couldn't!
Mondays: Nope! Too close to the weekend.
Tuesdays: MMMM MAYBE!
Wednesdays: Yeah, but some people sail on wednesdays, or work late.
Thursdays: Nope! Pine Creek Bay boat night. Bunches of gamers are supposed to be boating on Pine Creek Bay.
Fridays: NO! That's the weekend starting, what are you thinking?!

So, I guess Tuesdays, or leave on Wednesday.

Please leave a comment with your thoughts on the schedule -

Tuesday or Wednesday?

Session Report: June 6 2006 - Bitte erbrechen Sie nicht sich auf dem Zug

Transamerica (Beth, Collin, Karen, Bill, Dana, Paul) - Winner Karen
Transamerica (Beth, Collin, Karen, Bill, Dana, Paul) - Winner Collin
Transamerica (Beth, Collin, Karen, Bill, Dana, Paul) - TIE Bill + Dana

Welcome to Paul, the newest VBGG! Paul is from the East. He is the mighty Alhambra builder. All hail!

The stars were not aligned correctly this night. We had a false start on San Juan, followed by issues with Pete's network. A couple false starts on Power Grid. AHH! Our multiple game starts annoyed some users, as we entered games with an automatic gameyell inviting some 600 players to join us. Ha.

Here's how to rectify that:

When you are the first one entering a room, you will click on the room.
Click, but don't let go! You will get a 3-option button. Select the top or the bottom choices, beitreten (join) or zusehen (watch). Don't select the middle option! If you do, you will invite all BSW players to join your game!

• Beitreten (join): you join the game immediately.
• Eröffnen (open): you join the game immediately and send a gameyell to find players at the same time, too
• Zusehen (watch): you are only beamed to the game room.

For the VBGG, DON'T Eröffnen!!

Not that if you are simply /ghooking pete or something, you have nothing to worry about. It's Pete, that usually is first in the room, that was mucking things up!

The Game Manager is great. Read more about the Game Manager

Back to games -

We decided to take it easy on ourselves because of the time. That and a nice intro for Paul would be good. It's back to a nice easy game - Transamerica!

Round three falls right in Karen's lap, and leader Bill builds for 10 points. OW!

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by IceFire2112; with 6 players).
-- IceFire2112 achieved his goal.
-- Lamork achieved his goal.
-- Amazon4God achieved his goal.
-- Brilliantly, Amazon4God, scores 8 points, leaving the opponents no chance. (17:30 min.)

Game 2:

Game two pete is busy figuring things out, and Collin wins!

Wee hoo! I know it went 12:30 min.

Last game

-- Significantly, Lamork und fineltour, scores 7 points, leaving the opponents no chance. (23:41 min.)

It sure would be nice if Transamerica would sort of display everyone's scores. It doesn't in the text box, however, so I can't paste it into the report!

Pete's working on cleaning up the .prop file a little more. Stay tuned for updates!

See ya!

Session Report - May 30: Power Bills be Dammed

Power Grid - Karen, Beth, Dana, Pete - Winner Pete

Ok, that Power Grid last week? That was sorta fun. That was a lot of fun! Let's do it again. Dana takes the west by himself, while Pete takes the inexpensive spot around Boston. Beth and Karen share the middle states.

-- Now kayakpete has won incredibly with 17 points! (89:30 min.)
Amazon4God: 16 Städte,
kayakpete: 17 Städte,
magennis: 12 Städte,
danar: 10 Städte,

We think that the area control aspect might be critical to winning. You need to block your opponents so they can't build the stuff they want. Good to watch that.

Session Report - May 23: Turn on the AC, Mom!

Power Grid - Bill, Dana, Pete - Winner Pete


Just three showed up anywhere near the 9pm meet time, so we thought we'd give Power Grid a try on BSW. A refreshing round of "Not Bad!" by all three. Karen and Collin came in half way through to watch.

Power Grid seems to be pretty a pretty close race, at least for us beginners. We ended up tied in the end.

Pete wins, but only by a nose! Bill had two less Electra less than pete.

-- kayakpete won the game fascinatingly. The victory was with 17 points. (90:04 min.)
kayakpete: 17 Städte, Lamork: 17 Städte, fineltour: 17 Städte,

We found it to be fun, and worth trying with more.

Add one more game to the VBGG shelf!

Session Report: May 16 - Paso Fino in San Juan

San Juan (Bill, Karen, Dana, Pete) Winner Dana
San Juan (Beth, Collin, Karen, Pete) Winner Beth

While Liz clicks on Paso Fino links, we fire up a game of San Juan. Just 4 players, but that's all that are here! We get into it with a bit of "hey, it's your turn", and a bit of open strategy conversations. As we play online, we realize that you can't really tell if people know it's their turn. Are they looking at the board, or are they busy petting their cat (or ukulele). "Hey, it's your turn!" is a common phrase heard on Skype.

Karen pressures with quick builds, seemingly looking to end the game before others are ready (a common Pete strategy, used in Ticket to Ride). But -

-- Amazon4God erreichte 27 SP, davon 21 SP durch Gebaeude und 6 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- fineltour erreichte 39 SP, davon 23 SP durch Gebaeude und 16 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- kayakpete erreichte 22 SP, davon 22 SP durch Gebaeude und 0 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 24 SP, davon 17 SP durch Gebaeude und 7 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- fineltour won the game brilliant. The victory was with 39 points. (50:44 min.)

But it's not enough. Pete thinks people should make thinking sounds as they take their turn, just so the other players know they are actually paying attention.

"Hmm.... mmmm..."

"Hey, it's your turn Pete!"

"I know, didn't you hear me thinking?"

Woo woo!

Maybe this time is a good time to mention Moritz Eggert's "Black Pawn" curse. Listen to The Dice Tower Episode 93. Moritz talks about his Cursed Black Pawn at 30 minutes into the show - The Black Arpat. Great, great stuff.

I hope you can get a chance to listen to Moritz describe the Black Arpat.

Game two! The girls are all over this game. Beth's first game, but she seems to pick it up just fine, stomping with perfecture followed by silver. Karen built silver first, and kept her flush in cards.

-- magennis erreichte 39 SP, davon 24 SP durch Gebaeude und 15 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- IceFire2112 erreichte 20 SP, davon 16 SP durch Gebaeude und 4 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- kayakpete erreichte 25 SP, davon 14 SP durch Gebaeude und 11 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 37 SP, davon 19 SP durch Gebaeude und 18 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- magennis won the game in an exemplary fashion. The victory was with 39 points. (53:54 min.)

wee woo! We all agree that San Juan is a rightly fun game. Especially with our current appreciation of Puerto Rico, it's nice to be able to play this online.

Session Report: May 9 2007 - Fearsome Floors!

Fearsome Floors (Dana, Collin, Beth, Karen, Bill, Pete) - Winner: Dana
Fearsome Floors (Dana, Collin, Beth, Karen, Bill, Pete) - Winner: Dana

Hey, that's entertaining. Fearsome Floors is a game where the players move their poor victims through a dungeon, trying to evade the monster that will eat 'em.

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by fineltour; with 6 players).
-- These game options are active: invisible.
-- If fineltour hadn't gotten 2 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so classy victoriously. (63:41 min.)

Ok. We try again.

Discovered that it is a very good strategy NOT to cluster your dudes together. Them's that stay together get eaten together.

Bill, Dana, Pete all went out, but Dana got 3 out!

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by fineltour; with 6 players).
-- These game options are active: invisible.
IceFire2112: oh jeez, i'm crying!!!
-- Now fineltour has won masterfully with 3 points! (52:29 min.)

We all had a good laugh with this one. It's strategy might be a little basic, but it is different than , say, Pedro. Good fun!

Session Report: May 2 2007 - Sailing to San Juan

Tonga (Pete, Bill, Karen, Dana) - Winner Pete
San Juan (Pete, Bill, Karen, Dana) - Winner Pete

Spring time! Time to think about water sports, like sailing. Like maybe sailing to Tongiaki!

Tongiaki

-- kayakpete won extraordinarily with 36 points. (35:13 min.)

Nuff said?


In honor of May Day, a big party in Puerto Rico, we played San Juan next:

SanJuan

Gamemaster: fineltour sits at position number 1.
Gamemaster: kayakpete sits at position number 2.
Gamemaster: Amazon4God sits at position number 3.
Gamemaster: Lamork sits at position number 4.

-- fineltour erreichte 30 SP, davon 26 SP durch Gebaeude und 0 SP durch grosse Gebaeude. Kapelle: 4
-- kayakpete erreichte 37 SP, davon 22 SP durch Gebaeude und 15 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Amazon4God erreichte 30 SP, davon 15 SP durch Gebaeude und 15 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Lamork erreichte 25 SP, davon 20 SP durch Gebaeude und 5 SP durch grosse Gebaeude.
-- Brilliantly, kayakpete won the game with 37 points. (49:54 min.)

Pete really liked the game. But maybe that's because he won. Bill and Pete both would like to try this on the tabletop. Too bad it's only 4 player. I won't see much action on the VBGG, unless we scale to two games.

50 minutes isn't a bad time for a first-go on a game.

Gabaeude is buildings, and grosse Gabaeude is the big buildings, or buildings with question marks.

Session Report April 25 2007 - The bumpy Caylus road

Piranna Pedro - Bill, Dana, Collin and Beth
Piranna Pedro - Bill, Dana, Collin and Beth
Piranna Pedro - Bill, Dana, Collin and Beth
Caylus - Bill, Dana, Collin, Karen and Beth

Whilst Pete snoozed, the games went on. Bill reports on this week's fun:

3 games Piranna Pedro,Bill Dana Collin and Beth, waiting for Pete and Karen to show up.

Game One - Boy, that was fast -

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by Lamork; with 4 players).
Pio erscheint ploetzlich aus dem nichts.
Pio loest sich in Luft auf.
-- Extraordinarily, fineltour, magennis und Lamork obliterated the opposition with 2 points. (6:10 min.)

Game Two - Two points? Is that good or bad? I don't remember.

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by IceFire2112; with 4 players).
-- But will Lamork, magennis und IceFire2112 win the next game so impressively with 2 points? (5:21 min.)
Lamork verlässt das Haus hinaus nach Smallville
Lamork tritt durch die Tür in das Haus.

Game 3 - Bill went swimming?

Gamemaster: magennis sits at position number 3.
Gamemaster: IceFire2112 sits at position number 4.
Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by IceFire2112; with 4 players).
-- In an exemplary manner, IceFire2112, magennis und fineltour obliterated the opposition with 2 points. (9:32 min.)

And then they moved on to, of all things, Caylus! Can you believe Pete slept through the VBGG's first attempt at Caylus online? Serves him right for being such a lazy bum.

Then to Caylus as Karen shows up
No Pete?
Skype keeps dropping Karen all night, then finally BSW drops Karen 1/3rd of the way through the Caylus match. Caylus is less forgiving on reconnecting.
It was 10:40 and we decided to call the game. Karen was in the lead, with everyone else but Collin close on her heals.

Thanks to Bill for the report. See you next week!

Session Report: April 18 2007 - Ozzy would be Proud

We went off the rails on a Crazy Train tonight, with a few rounds of Trans America. It was lots of fun!

Transamerica (Bill, Karen, Dana, Beth, Collin, Pete) - Winner Bill
Transamerica (Bill, Karen, Dana, Beth, Collin, Pete) - Winner Collin
Transamerica (Bill, Karen, Dana, Beth, Collin, Pete) - Winner Karen
Transamerica (Bill, Karen, Dana, Beth, Collin, Pete) - Winner Pete
Transamerica (Bill, Karen, Dana, Beth, Collin, Pete) - Winner Dana


Transamerica Game 1:

Pete lost the first round horribly, but won the next two, but wasn't enough. Lost to Bill by one point.

-- Without Lamork's 7 points, the game may never have ended so enormously. (13:51 min.)
Bill 7
Pete 6
Karen 0
Data 0

Transamerica Game 2:

Collin is out of the gates with two rounds won, but then hosed it on the third round. But everyone's still in! one more round. In the end Collin rocks.

-- Fantastically, IceFire2112 dominated the game with 6 points. (27:10 min.)
Pete 3
Dana 3
Bill 4
Karen 0
Collin 6
Beth 3

Transamerica Game 3:

For game game 3 Dana suggests some house rules! Each round you must start in the same color city. We started on east, then to south east, north then middle. AND THEN green west! Lots of rounds. Crazy! Karen got it in the end.

Dana 0
Bill 3
Collin 1
Beth 1
Karen 8
Pete 5

Transamerica Game 4:

Holy cow. House variant again. Take a look at this score. Nuf Said. Quote form Beth: "But I had NINE!", commenting on the fact that she was kicking our butt into the final round. Look at these crazy scores -

Dana 0
Bill 0
Collin 1
Beth 0
Karen 0
Pete 3

Transamerica Game 5:

House variant, but this time Dana whomped our butts. He wins the first two rounds handily and finishes fine in the final round to take a commanding win.

Dana 12
Collin 4
Beth 0
Bill 4
Karen 7
Pete 5

This was quite an entertaining session. Everyone had lots of fun.

Session Report April 11 2007 - Snowing on Catan

Settlers of Catan (Cities 3d 5 islands) Collin, Beth, Karen, Bill, Pete - Winner Beth


We got a nice big game using the the Cities3D interface. We thought we saw a couple bugs, but we managed to finish the game. We agreed that it would probably be better to stick with sea3d until cities3d moves forward a version or 3. Most notable was some turn skips (possible user errors, however) and the error message that pops up every time someone builds a city.

We played 5 islands, with every one pretty much staking out an island with one settlement, then invading someone else's with another. Pete was on the middle island. Early on, Pete held a good lead, but couldn't convert it in end game. The key is to set sail for the other islands, to get the landfall settlement victory point. Pete didn't, and it killed him.

The Fickle Finger of Fate poked Collin but good. A few turns of poor resource production allowed his nearby opponents to move into his space. Bitter was he. He actually made a decent showing given the dice cast him. But you can only go so far with limited land and resources.

Beth was a bit vested in 6's. And it paid off as 6's seemed to come up a lot. We missed the statistics chart that sea3d offers. End game saw Beth starting her turns with LOTS of resources. One turn with 27! With that kind of stockpile, it's no problem to keep your longest road and build a quick settlement for the win.

The game seemed to run a bit long. I think we need to play settlers a bit more, as we seemed to be a bit slow.

We also need to put some more miles on Bill's Cities and Knights of Catan expansion!

Pete is actively looking at the other BSW games. There are several more complex games that may be quite enjoyable for the VBGG. Given our normal 5-6 player group, that cuts out a bunch of the 4-player games....

Until next week!

VBGG UNPLUGGED - April 3 2003

Yes, we've done it! We've had our first VBGG-sanctioned gaming session! It's spring break week, and anyone that was unlucky enough to go on a vacation or had to work missed a fun day of gaming at Pete's house.

It's spring in West Michigan. The snow was deep on the ground, and it's too cold to go outside. Looks like it was going to be a White Easter. And it was.

Pete opened the doors of his home to any VBGG gamers that wanted to sit down and play. Beth showed up and played games all day, with several others coming in the afternoon and evening.

The Attendees:

Beth
Pete
Ben (Bart's son)
Collin
Bill
Karen
Dana
Katie (Pete's daughter)
Bart
Patrick
Gayle
Liz

The Games:

Nexus Ops
Cabndamir: The First Settlers
Tongiaki
Scrabble
Shadows over Camelot


Everyone was winners on a fun-filled game fest. Thanks to everyone that showed up to play games and visit. It was a really nice day.

SEE you next year!!!

- Pete

Session Report: March 28, 2007. Yay for the other guys.

Session Report March 28 2007

Ra - Pete, Collin, Bill, Beth - Winner: Collin
Ra - Pete, Collin, Bill, Beth, Karen - Winner: Karen

Ah, Ra. Fine game. Fine fine fine. How much is the luck of the draw, versus the smarts of your bids? I can't say. I can barely click in the right place on this day.

Game 1 started out on fire for Pete, but it went down from there. Bill started in the dumps but came back. In the end Collin wins the tie with Bill.

Much enjoyment was had.

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by kayakpete; with 4 players).
-- These game options are active: invisible.
-- kayakpete scores 16 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 7 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 5 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores 0 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 5 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 4 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 5 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

Amazon4God Reality cracks in half as Amazon virtually appears.
magennis: i like your tag line karen

-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 7 (Total: 33) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 24 (Total: 46) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 32 (Total: 46) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 16 (Total: 36) points.

-- IceFire2112 won outstanding with 46 points. (31:55 min.)

In the second game, both Pete and Bill click on the wrong spot. They must be trying to let the others have a chance at winning. Bill is that kind of guy. And Pete, sometimes, would just rather play the uke, than win. Well, that's his excuse, and he's sticking with it.

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by kayakpete; with 5 players).
-- These game options are active: invisible.
-- kayakpete scores -2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 13 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 5 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 4 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores 6 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 3 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores -3 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 7 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 11 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 6 (Total: 20) points.
-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 24 (Total: 50) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 15 (Total: 22) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 27 (Total: 49) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 13 (Total: 38) points.

-- Amazon4God won phenomenally with 50 points. (39:58 min.)

Karen just eeks Bill out by one point in the end.

Cheers!

A little game

Session Report: March 21, 2007. First day of Spring in Catan.

Settlers of Catan (standard, BSW) - Winner Collin

A close game, with Karen and Pete close to 10 points, but Collin stole longest road from Karen for the win.

-- 10 points let IceFire2112 grab the whole thing outstandingly! (98:48 min.)

First time we tried the BSW Catan interface. Not bad. Not as nice as Cities3D, but ok to play.

We did get cities3d tested and running well. We should be set to go on that next time. Assuming everyone has downloaded and installed it.

Short report this week. Sorry!

Session Report: March 14 2007 - Jump left. No, your other left!

Piranha Pedro (Beth, Bill, Karen, Pete) LOOSER Karen
Piranha Pedro (Collin, Bill, Karen, Pete) LOOSER Bill
Piranha Pedro (Collin, Bill, Karen, Pete) LOOSER Bill
Piranha Pedro (Collin, Bill, Karen, Pete) LOOSER Bill

Sorry! Been a bit delayed getting the report out. I forgot to write it!

I hope I logged the Piranha Pedro session correctly. Here you go!

Karen Looses :
-- Without magennis, Lamork und kayakpete's 2 points, the game may never have ended so considerably. (16:28 min.)


Bill Looses:
-- But will IceFire2112, Amazon4God und kayakpete win the next game so famously with 2 points? (6:52 min.)

Bill Looooser:
Pete is an idoit and jumps on his own piranha even tho he goes first.
-- If IceFire2112, kayakpete und Amazon4God hadn't gotten 2 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so extraordinarily victoriously. (8:13 min.)

Bill pulled a pete and stepped first go onto a fish.
-- If kayakpete, IceFire2112 und Amazon4God hadn't gotten 1 points, then the game wouldn't have ended so pointedly victoriously. (8:55 min.)

Session Report: March 7 2007 - Let's take a cruise to Hawaii

Tongiaki (Bill, Karen, Collin, Beth, Dana, Pete) - Winner Beth
Tongiaki (Bill, Karen, Collin, Beth, Dana, Pete) - Winner Pete

Time for a new game! Pete picked up Tongiaki from Tanga a few weeks ago in TangaTrash. After a play he didn't like it so much. Then he played over the weekend with more people. Not bad!

Might as well try it out on BSW. Brettspielwelt has gotten to be easier on us now that we've played several games on it. The interface is better known by everyone, and we seem to have less crashing. Most sensible members have moved over to the BSW client, as opposed to the website. Those that have not will soon be playing Piranha Pedro on the ice chunks out in Lake Michigan. You, Bill, have been warned.

Game one went swimmingly, as we learned the rules, and just how treacherous the seas can really be. Many ships were lost. In the end it was a 20 to 20 tie between Dana and Beth. Tie-breaker #1, most islands, tied! Tie-breaker #2, least boats, Beth came out on top!

-- The opponents of magennis had to concede, with 20 points the victory was simply greatly. (35:17 min.)

Ok, everyone's got it now. The strategy and tactics in Tongiaki are not obvious from the get-go. I think it takes a game to really start to get into it. And we did in the second game. Back and forth island battles seemed to be the norm, and there were no qualms about setting the opposing tribe on a sure path to Davy Jones.

In the end, Pete had a nice daisy-chain to move himself on to a couple islands, and boot everyone but Karen off Hawaii. Hawaii's no fun if you are the only one there, however. Pet left Karen crying on the beach, and moved on to a couple more islands, and some nice ship sinkings.

-- Heavenly, kayakpete dominated the game with 24 points. (64:05 min.)

This game should NOT take this long. Hopefully the analysis paralysis will subside in future games.

It seemed to be a hit, and the general consensus was to give it another play. Maybe it will survive better than Clans? Time will tell.

If you have not registered properly on BSW by now, you are missing out on game stats that are kept up at BSW. You can see Pete's Score and Bills, for example.

In fact, here we all are:

• Pete
• Bill
• Beth
• Collin
• Dana
• Karen
  

One of these links is not like the others.
One of these links just doesn't belong.
Can you guess which link is not likes the others.
Before I finish my song.

And now my song is done.


See ya next week on the VBGG!

Session Report February 28 2007 - BSW Domestic Disturbance

Transamerica (Dana, Bill, Karen) Winner - Felix
Transamerica (Dana, Bill, Karen) Winner - Phoebee

We started off with some excitement to move to Puerto Rico. In a sad coincidence, BSW PULLED PR from their games list on the very same day. The buzz is that the online rights to the game have been moved to another company. Perhaps Msoft for Xbox? Who knows. All we know is that we were left out.

We tried another version we found online, but had difficulty getting everyone hooked up. Installing new software during a vbgg session is always a bad idea. It's frustrating and time consuming. And usually doesn't work.

Pete was pulled out on a feline domestic disturbance. Dana, Bill and Karen moved back to Transamerica. No report on who won, so Pete's cats win by default.

Session Report: February 21 2007 - Ra's suns melt snow

Ra (Beth, Collin, Bill, Karen, Pete) - Winner Bill
Ra (Beth, Collin, Bill, Karen, Pete) - Winner Collin

abaate
zhakaagonagaa

It's a big snow melt here in the Land of the Ottawa Indians. Their hearts must have lifted even more than ours do as the weather becomes more bearable. Who did they blame for the cold? Who did they thank for the warmth? Probably not Ra. But maybe the mighty sun?

We turned to Ra, and it's awesome sun disks for a couple rounds of Nile-drenched pharaoh fun. The game plays fast. Fast enough to melt ice, and keep Pete from playing his ukulele between turns. Too bad for Pete, but everyone else was perhaps happy.

Out of the gate, Pete scolds Colin for calling Ra when holding the largest 16 sun disk. Why call Ra when you can win the bigger auction, he thinks. Well, what does Pete know, anyway. Collin fully trounces his final score. But it's Bill whom the sun (or Ra) shines on the brightest - He wins game 1.

Game One:

-- Lamork scores 3 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores -5 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- Lamork scores 11 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores 1 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 13 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 25 (Total: 49) points.
-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 9 (Total: 21) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 16 (Total: 30) points.
-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 9 (Total: 15) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 7 (Total: 32) points.
-- Without Lamork's 49 points, the game may never have ended so without equal. (45:14 min.)

Game 2:

Ok. Everyone's warmed up now. Let's play again! Bill seems to have a solid strategy down, and bids quickly, while everyone else ponders there moves once again in game 2. Decisions are sometimes not easy in Ra. Sometimes ya gotta think.

And smack talk. Pete tries to twist the game his way with a couple "You should by that"'s, and "You'd be wasting your money"'s. He shows better in game 2. A 4-way tie for lowest pharaoh? Ouch.

Gamemaster: The game begins! (Started by IceFire2112; with 5 players).
-- Amazon4God scores 14 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 14 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 4 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores 10 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- Amazon4God scores 3 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores -7 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 3 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 0 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- kayakpete scores 1 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 10 (Total: 37) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 29 (Total: 34) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 11 (Total: 38) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 15 (Total: 29) points.
-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 16 (Total: 37) points.
-- The opponents of IceFire2112 had to concede, with 38 points the victory was simply impressively. (41:49 min.)

We are all now getting to understand the game. Simplistic strategies of last week won't work anymore. Everyone, including Ra, sees what you are doing. And you aren't going to get away with it! Look at those second-game points. The spread is 9 points between 5 players, and 4 points between 4. Now that's classic Kinizia-close gaming.

Just wait until the VBGG discovers Puerto Rico. Ooooh man, is that gonna shine!

Session Report February 14 2007 - Valentines Day Invasion

Invade Earth (Mars) Karen, Bill, Dana, Pete - Winner Karen

We've finished our first game of Invade Earth! Play time is a factor with the VBGG's 2 hour schedule. But, with practice, this game could probably be pulled off in that time. We ran a bit over, as we had a false-start trying to load an old game, and a kid succumbing to a bit of the stomach flu in turn 2. Yucky!

In classic risk 2210 style, assemble mods seemed to be the zinger of the day. Dana pulled of a continent in the start, with Pete and Karen very close. Dana quickly found his hold tenuous , and retreated to the moons. Karen, confidently took over a large swath of the board.

Pete had a nice nest, but was a little to aggressive. Choosing not to "spread and defend", he broke a treaty pushed a force against Karen to reduce her lead. Break a treaty with Karen? Bad idea. Pete suffered heavily under Karen's returning wrath.

Karen finished her turn 5 first with a commanding lead. Bill Took it away with some nukes that destroyed some convenient bonus.

Dana, however, pulled out the acient rule: "On Valentines day, Girls Win." A couple well placed nukes toppled bill from the lead, and gave Karen the win.

Good game!

Happy Birthday VBGG - Reflections

Happy 1st Birthday VBGG!

It's been just over one year since we started the Virtual Board Game Group. I would like to thank my gaming friends for the fun week in and week out at our regular sessions. It's been great!



In my reflection, I found myself telling our story. The Podcast, the DiceTower has been having a bit of a discussion about online board gaming. I had to give my two cents. Here's what I said:

Howdy -

I'm a long time listener to the Dice Tower. New to the forums, however!

I thought I would chime in on the current ongoing discussion of Online Gaming, and how it does (or doesn't) support the hobby of Board Gaming.

Online boardgames emulate table-top games very well, except in one regard. As Tom has attested to, the socialization component does not make the transition from the table top to the PC well.

Online gaming does have an advantage, however. It is convenient. There are always games starting and opponents to play against. As a working parent, finding time during the week to game with friends is neigh impossible!

So it's a double-whammy. Socialization mechanisms are lacking in online board gaming and people want quick, convenient, games. Well, that's not a good way to emulate table-top gaming!

My board game group wanted to try to match the table top gaming experience a little closer. We wanted to play with friends. We wanted to chat between turns. We wanted to smack-talk. Yet we wanted the convenience of being able to play during the week, when there was no time to get together face to face.

Enter the VBGG. A year ago I formed an arm of our small gaming group, and called it the Virtual Board Game Group (VBGG). We have played almost every week since it's inception. I believe our success lies in the efforts to promote socialization. Here's what we did:

* Meet once a week, after all kids are put to bed, and chores are done.
* Strictly end gaming at a certain time, as people have work the next morning
* Use Skype to allow voice communications between players
* Blog all activity as an archive, and information tool

This formula has allowed us to not only get a lot more gaming in, but also maintain friendships. We add socialization to Online Gaming, and convenience to our gaming hobby.

Feel free to check out the VBGG Blog at:

http://vbgg.blogspot.com

I'll post a copy of this note over there, as my group will find it interesting as well. Feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers!

- Kayakpete

Thanks to you all for the good fun AND friendship over the past year. I look forward to the next, as we continue to have fun at the VBGG.

Session Report February 8 2007 - The Delight of Pushing Your Luck

Transamerica (Bill, Pete, Karen, Dana) - Winner Bill
Transamerica (Collin, Bill, Pete, Karen, Dana) - Winner Collin
Ra (Collin, Bill, Pete, Karen, Dana) - Winner UNKNOWN
Ra (Collin, Bill, Pete, Karen, Dana) - Winner Collin


Transamerica for the starting game tonight. Bill walloped us in the first game with some lucky city draws. Or was it luck that his opponents were laying track for him? Perhaps so. All I know is that I (Pete) Got stuck with Boston waaaay in the north east. Ouch!

#1 -- The victory of Lamork was planned brilliant and ended with 13 points. (16:27 min.)

Game Two and I'm stuck in Boston again. Hey, I thought this was a RANDOM draw! This time it's worse... I've got the north-midwest city, and am all alone crossing the great lakes. Meanwile everyone else works together to get out quick.. It's a quick game, as I loose 9 points in a round to end the game quickly. Collin takes it.

#2 -- Wow, IceFire2112 just put it away with 9 points. Gigantically. (16:58 min.)

Back to Ra! Collin suffers through the first learning game, as we teach him some of the subtleties of tactics in the game of Ra. He starts picking it up quickly. I seem to have forgotten to log the winner on this one. I guess we can chalk it up as a learning session anyway.

We play again!

Dana plays a Call-Ra-Lots strategy that seems to actually do rather well for him. Collin struggles with, what I suppose could be termed, noobie bidding woes. When you first start to play Ra, it seems difficult to figure out exactly how much an auction might be worth. When would you bid 5, but not go as high as 7? Tough call to be sure. But that's part of the fun.

Everyone has a good laugh as Dana pushes his luck. The ra track is at 8 and Dana's alone with a free sun disk.. One more Ra tile, and the round's over. He goes from one tile at auction to a full eight, and then proceeds to buy the lot for the #1 sun disk. Sweet!

Not sweet enough. Karen's piles of monuments pushes her into the lead in the end. Well played!

-- kayakpete scores -2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 8 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- fineltour scores 4 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores 3 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Amazon4God scores 8 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- fineltour scores 8 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- IceFire2112 scores 7 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 4 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 10 (Total: 21) points.
-- Amazon4God scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 18 (Total: 44) points.
-- fineltour scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 16 (Total: 38) points.
-- IceFire2112 scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 15 (Total: 32) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 13 (Total: 27) points.
-- Significantly, Amazon4God obliterated the opposition with 44 points. (61:12 min.)

Good Good fun!

See you next week!

VBGG Brettspielwelt How-To

Everyone knows that Brettspielwelt can be a bit overwhelming. The user interface isn't exactly friendly! Here's a quick guilde on how to make your BSW experience just a little better

The Setup:

Register -

It's worth it to register for the BSW. Then your statistics are tracked. If you have two gamers in the same house at the same time, then you MUST be registered.

Click here to Register at Brettspielwelt

Download the Client -

Yes, yes, you can simply go to BSW and play, but you are risking java wackyness! You are much better off downloading the BSW client that has a java virtual machine built in. Here's how to do it.

• Click here to download the client.
  
• Install it
• Download Pete's Prop File
• Move it to C:\Program Files\BrettspielWelt and replace the old (german) brettspielwelt.prop file
• Start your new BSW client (in your start menu)

Note! You should do this BEFORE VBGG game night. The client will connect and update itself. This can take some time!

Once you are in, you need to make a minor toolbar change:

* right-click on the blank part of the toolbar, next to the ? help menu option
* Select configure
* In the right blue box, select Menu
* Click the blue left arrow to move the menu option to your toolbar.
* Click OK
* type /save on the chat line at the bottom of the window

See the Config Tool Help Page for details

If you don't see the bottom chat window, resize your window to be a to be more narrow and more tall. you will see it.

You are now ready to Play!

BSW Navigation Tricks:

Click Menu, select VBGG, and select the option you want, or use the following

Commands:

/ghook (user) - move to the game table that user is in
/join - join a game
/start - start a game
/reset - reset a game before start
/remove (user) - Remove user from game
/masterreset - reset a started game

Here's a full command list

What was that horrible sounds? What are these chat boxes?

Yeah, turn them off. Click on Channels menu option and uncheck SPV_EN and SPV (QP-F). They are good for meeting other people to play with, but not for the VBGG.


Where can I see my BSW statistics

Check out the site

Session Report January 31 - Ra? Rah!

Ra (Beth, Bill, Dana Pete) - Winner Beth
Ra (Beth, Bill, Dana Pete) - Winner Pete

Pete had the good fortune to play Ra with Marc and Ernie (his dog) last weekend. Ra ranks very highly at Boardgame Geek. Number 11, in fact! There is a balance in the game that is so very typical of a Reiner Knizia design. Ra takes about 30 minutes to play. Perhaps less, once you are proficient playing.

In game one Pete floundered through getting every up to speed on the game, along with figuring out the BSW interface. As per the norm, it's not obvious how to play. "Where do I click?" is the phrase of the evening. One troublesome part of BSW's implementation is that the tile scoring is not directly at hand. We utilized a Ra pdf scoring sheet found at BGG. The Rules for Ra ar'nt bad either.

But we got it going! in the end, Beth pulled off the win in what might have been a close game? Who knows. Some of Knizia's games are always close.

-- kayakpete scores 0 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 3 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- fineltour scores 8 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 5 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores 5 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores -2 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- fineltour scores 0 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 9 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 18 (Total: 33) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 23 (Total: 34) points.
-- fineltour scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 26 (Total: 44) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 22 (Total: 46) points.

-- 46 points let magennis grab the whole thing fantastically! (56:35 min.)

Next round up! In game 2 we were starting to see some of the subtle strategies of Ra come out. Bill managed, for example, to win the 3 highest sun tiles at auction leaving himself for what might be thought of as an excellent position for the next epoch. Pete, however, seemed to call Ra on him with little 3 and 4 tile auction blocks, making it seem a shame to spend his 11, 12 or 13. Tricky!

In the end Pete did well:

-- kayakpete scores 15 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- fineltour scores 3 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores 4 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 2 points in the ancient age (2665 - 2155 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores 4 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- fineltour scores 1 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- Lamork scores -1 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).
-- magennis scores 3 points in the middle age (2130 - 1650 B.C.).

-- kayakpete scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 26 (Total: 55) points.
-- fineltour scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 10 (Total: 24) points.
-- Lamork scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 18 (Total: 31) points.
-- magennis scores in the modern age (1555 - 1080 B.C.) 20 (Total: 35) points.

-- In an exemplary manner, kayakpete won the game with 55 points. (33:35 min.)

Everyone enjoyed this game, but thought that there might be some advantages to playing face-to-face over the table. Especially for beginners. And, perhaps, with any player interaction game, there's always something lost in the translation to the virtual world. Auction and bluffing games, however, may suffer more so than other games.

Add one more game to the VBGG shelf. Ra! Good fun!

See you next week!