Game Session

Small summer sessions, but still fun gaming. With three of us we just played a couple of games. First we played Thunderstone: Advance, the updated version of Thunderstone. The cards are nicer and some things are clearer, but other rules are still a bit murky. It was real slow going for me at first, but what I considered a lucky draw I was able to grab some large heroes halfway through which enabled me to tie Tyler in the end (I got first on technically have more XP at the end).



Next we revisited Ninjato, I wanted to play again thinking I could do better than last time we played it. I was sooooo wrong. I really like the game, but I played horrible. The strategy I use just doesn't seem to work, and I was far behind in last place. Still, I like the decisions and possible strategies in it, but the skills I select from the sensei don't end up as useful as I think.

I am silver, and as you can see far behind even in the beginning!

Thundserstone: Advance
1- Brett, 2- Tyler, 3- Nathan

Ninjato
1- Nate, 2- Tyler, 3- Brett

Game Session

We have had a "space" theme of late with our gaming, especially tonight. With just a smalll group, we played Race for the Galaxy first. While I feel it is a fun game, at times it can be too "forced" in your choice of strategy. It really depends upon what homeworld you have and what cards you are dealt. And while you can increase your chance to get the cards you need or can really use, it is chance that you get them. Fun but not my favorite.

We then played our first full game of Core Worlds, we never finished our first game some months ago. With the beginnning auction on each turn you have more choice in the cards you want and the strategy you will use, as long as others don't take the cards you want! Tyler took the core world I was preparing for the whole game and snaked a victory. As we are still unfamiliar with the overall selection of cards, the game seemed to take longer than it should have. There is not as much of a variety as RftG, but I think it is more strategic. I just wish it could be a shorter game.

My layout of planets in Core Worlds.

Race for the Galaxy
1- Brett, 2- Tim, 3- Nate

Core Worlds
1- Tyler, 2- Brett, 3- Nate, 4- Tim

CHAMPIONS!!!!!

For the first time in over a decade on any level for Fountain Valley Little League, Jonathan's Juniors team won the Tournament of Champions for 2012. They beat the Huntington Valley team in the championship game today 8-4. They jumped to an 8-0 lead in the first few innings and then held on through some tense moments as Huntington loaded the bases in the last two innings, escaping by doubling the runner off of third on a line drive in the 6th, and then striking out the last batter in the 7th who represented the tying run. Even more remarkable was that this FV team knocked out both Ocean View teams in the first two rounds, the same league that has represented in the Little League world series the past few years. Congratulations to Jonathan and Fountain Valley!

Game Session

Tonight was a smaller group, but we got to play what I think are three good, solid games. We started with Gheos, a game I had not played in a couple of years, and now I remember why I liked it so much. Kind of like the old computer game Populous, you control the face of the land in laying tiles to create islands and continents, and then in an omnipotent way start civilizations. As turns progress you split land to cause migrations or join land together to start war. Each turn you select followers from civilizations and if you time it right they will score you points during an Epoch. Very engaging, thought provoking, and even chaotic with the changing landscape. Pretty quick to play also.

Then for a filler we played Through the Desert, and with 4 players I forgot how quickly the board fills up. I didn't pay enough attention and forgot to connect my caravans and finish sectioning off board space, and before I knew it the game was over. Definitely has a different strategy depending upon the number of players you have.















Lastly we finally dedicated time (3+ hours!) to a full game of Battlestar Galactica. I am still getting the hang of some rules which caused a little delay, but for me the time seemed to fly fast as I was not a cylon and couldn't figure out for sure who was. The theme of the game grips me as I loved the ScyFy TV series. My character was Admiral Adama, the first time I haven't been a pilot. Some players didn't like the game, but it was great for me. Both Cylon players were not selected until the second round of identity cards, and then they revealed late in the game when it was too late to stop the humans from making the jump from Kobol. We didn't have much opposition, but still were only a few points of fuel or cards away from defeat.

That's me as Adama in the brig to end the game as we made the last jump./

 Gheos
1- BrettH, 2- Nate J, 3- Josh D

Through the Desert
1- Josh D, 2- Tim R, 3- Brett H, 4- Nate J

Battlestar Galactica
W- BrettH, Tim R, Tyler H
L- Nate J, Josh D

Game Session

We replayed a few games that we played at Strategicon to introduce them to others.  I taught Endeavor and everyone really liked it. They all caught the strategy of the game fairly quickly, and I felt for most of the game that other players had the upper hand. But what is great about the game is that you can adjust your strategy, and I ended up going for more points through cards than colonizing placement and squeeked out a win by one point over Matt. I always feel its a good game if you don't really know the winner until the very end.

We also played Ra the auction game, and it was again fun. I had difficulty with my timing in taking auctions, and paid for it by getting shut out with much of the scoring. Nate killed us in scoring, which was a good turn around from when he played it at Strategicon.

Another new game we tried tonight is actually an old one, but I picked it up essentially for free at Strategicon so we played it, Family Business. It is a simple card game of mobsters putting hits on each other and eliminating their "family" members. It is pretty brutal as you ineffect just attack each other and try to save your own, it's easy for someone to get ganged upon. It does have a few strategic elements as you can manipulate the "line-up" of those to be taken out, kind of like Guillotine. Kind of fun, but kind of random as well.


Family Business
1- Brett H, 2- Lauren T, 3- John L, 4- Josh D, 5- Nate J

Ra
1- Nate J, 2- Matt N, 3- Brett H, 4- Mike H, 5- Josh D

Endeavor
1- Brett H, 2- Matt N, 3- Nate J, 4- Tyler H, Tim R

Surf and Turf

Believe it or not, there are other activities my boys are involved in besides baseball. Today was a great day in which I was able to see both of them involved in other things that they enjoy. This morning I took Jonathan to one of his last classes for the FVHS surf team at the beach. The swell was not too big, but it was a beautiful morning. Jonathan is growing up way too fast. At 14 he is nearly my height.

Then today I went to the Middle school track meet, where Caleb was competing in the 100. Because Caleb attends the K-8 school Moiola, it is usually dominated by the other 6-8 middle schools. You can see how much smaller he is than the other runners (he hasn't hit a Jonathan-like growth spurt yet), but he has heart and determination and held his own.

Game Session

Last games for May. After Strategicon I was stoked to try out some new games we had played or bought. We started out with NinjaBurger, knowing it wasn't a great strategic game but still thinking it might be fun. I thought wrong. The randomness got as frustrating as the first time I played it. Not bad to play with kids though and still kinda cute. But not one of my favorites, we had to end the game early. We then broke into two groups, one played Thunderstone and we played The New World, a Carcassonne game. It was easy to learn and play, but had some great strategies different from Carcassonne in that you continued to progress west in laying tiles, and scored more if you played in the same rows as the prospectors who kept moving inland. I like it.

 To end the evening we tried Power Grid: The First Sparks. The mechanics play like Power Grid, but yet with the different theme (early man's survival) it had many different elements. There is still an auction, but it is about matching technology with the food sources your clan is around. It seemed simpler than PG, yet had a variety of strategies. I give it a thumbs up.

NinjaBurger
1- Matt N, 2- Dallin E, 3- Tyler H, 4- Brett H, 5- Nate J

Thunderstone
1- Tyler H, 2- Tim R, 3- Nate B

New World
1- Nate J, 2- Brett H, 3- Dallin E

PG: First Sparks
1- Nate J, 2- Brett H, 3- Tim R, 4- Dallin E