Beer & Pretzels 2012

[Zarniwoop]

Well it's all over again but once again another fantastic weekend of gaming.

A big Thankyou to Phil & Sally of Spirit Games for providing this event and to all those who help them run this.
It was a fantastic turn out on both days and it was relay great to catch up with people whom we do not always get to see during the year.

The staff at the hall are always friendly and the food available was up to it's usual good standard. There was a good selection of beers available at the bar, which is always a bonus.



OK, Saturday we got in early setup in one of the alcoves on a round table. We started off the day with a game Belfort which is a really beautifully looking game which is a mix of worker placement and area control. Having gotten over the rules explanation we got going in earnest with everyone getting into the swing of thins gs quite well, my friend visiting us for the weekend managed to get the grasp of this quite well and went on to win this but overall it was quite an even game I think. The final scores were: Paul M:42, Nick & Caz:34 with Caz winning the tie and me:29



By this point my other visitor for the weekend finally managed to make it to the hall after getting lost amongst the shelves at Spirit Games and Paul M decided to make his way to Spirit Games for a browse so with a few new arrivals we decided to go for a game of PowerGrid: First Sparks

This is the latest in the Powergrid Series of games and is a lighter, re-themed version of the Powergrid game. Players take on the roles of clans who are trying to forage for food to feed their growing clan whilst trying to learn better techniques to achieve this so they can expand. Along the way they can also develop technologies, like fire and ploughs or learn new skills like Speech.

Players start with Herbs (which provide 1 food a turn) and 7 food, food being used as currency throughout the game. The herbs are numbered 1-6 and are dealt at random thereby determing turn order for the first turn.
The board is in sections and each player is given a piece at random, then these are laid out in reverse turn order, then each player gets to place a clan member for free (again in reverse order) then they may place a 2nd (Paying the cost in food) in player order.

At the start of the turn, like in the original, players get the option to go for the available cards (Tools for hunting, technologies etc.) but unlike the original there is no bidding, the first player decides what they would like to try and buy then each other player in turn decides whether they would. The last player to declare they want it gets to actually buy it, this continues until everyone has bought or passed. Then everyone without Fire has to rot 1/3 of their food rounded down.

Play continues with Hunting / feeding(in reverse order) where players gather their food using tools if they have them for the food their clan is next too. When this is complete they have to feed their clan (1 food per member) anyone not fed starves and has to be removed but any remaining clan members have to remain adjacent to one another. Players can then spread their clan paying the relevant costs in food, finally in the bureaucracy phase the player order is adjusted, food is restocked and the highest card is placed at the bottom of the deck and replaced.

This game, just like the original, scales well to different numbers of players but is a lot simpler to pick up and play than its bigger brother. The components and artwork are excellent fitting in well with the theme, each of the food items has an appropriate shaped wooden piece although our group has nicknamed the Bear pieces "PigBears" as they look more like pigs than bears.

It plays quite quickly but does suffer the same "flaw" as powergrid that it is possible to overreach and leave yourself unable to expand or compete further in the game. This can be mitigated somewhat by explaining this can happen to a group before starting to play and ensuring they understand the economics of the turn. That said this game is really great fun, is quite quick to play even with 6 people.

Final Scores for this were: Dave:10, Me:13, Andy:14²,Matt:14², caz:14² and Nick:14¹

We then went on to play 7 Wonders this time Nick went went on walkabout and Paul M returned to sit in on this game.
This is essentially a drafting game but whilst you are playing against the group as a whole to win you are directing competing against your neighbours as they can aid/hinder your progress by their choices. Each era you are handed a number of cards from which you chose a card to put into play or use to build a section of your wonder. In order to play a card (or build a section of wonder) you need to have access to the relevant resources required. These can be from those in front of you (Each player starts with one) or from one of your neighbours but if you use these you have to pay 2 coin to them. The rest of your cards you pass to the left/right depending on the current era. The selected cards are revealed simultaneously, this continues until you get down to the final 2 cards where you play one and discard the other.

When this section is complete warfare is completed, during this players work out if they have defeated or been defeated by their neighbours military strength, for every loss you take a -1 VP for each victory you take a 1/3/5 VP (Era 1/II/II). Play continues in this manner for the other two ages at the end you total your scores, applying any bonuses from cards.

There are a lot of cards in this game of differering types (Colours) providing resources, scoring, money, military strength etc etc. all of which you have to decide what to play or deny your neighbour so there is a lot to consider.
I really like this game as the quality of the cards and pieces is very good as is the gameplay to go with them. It plays quite quickly and with the Wonders having two sides there is a lot of options to keep the game fresh.

Final Scores: Dave:37, Caz:45, Andy:50, Matt:53, Me:53^t and PaulM:60

Nick returned, Andy and Dave wondered off to do other things so we went for a game of Kingdom Builder with the Nomads Expansion which adds some new twists to an already brilliant game as well as providing pieces for a 5th player. I always enjoy this game, it is quick to teach, plays quickly and provides a lot of fun with plenty of replayability.

Final Scores: Me:24, Matt and Nick:29, Paul M:36 and Caz:42



To finish the day of gaming off we went with Braggart which is a simple card game but with some fantastic artwork and hilarious stories that get constructed from the cards. An Ideal end to the evening, Caz:21, Matt:23, PaulM:28, me:32 and Dave:33

A large group of us descended on the Chinese just up from the Town Hall for a well deserved meal to round off the excellent day of gaming. This was a great chance to catch up with old and new friends and wind down from what was a very long day.

Here are my pictures from both days of the weekend:


I will post a report of Sunday's events soon.

[Zarniwoop]

Well Sunday had us inside the town Hall whilst all the good weather was outside

Still we did have another full day of gaming ahead and the Town Hall soon filled up which was a good sign.
We got round our table, now with added cloth (which we had forgotten the day before):



I kind of twisted Chris's arm, as he had played it more recently than me and he teaches games well, to teach us how to play Santiago da Cuba
This is a like a little version of Cuba that plays in about an hour. The aim is to collect Victory points achieved by loading goods on ships (the demand determined by rolling dice) and/or by using the abilities on various buildings.

Each turn the players can move a car along a track to the next Charactor on the board or pay money to skip ahead 1 or 2. Each character provides a reward of some sort and allows the player to place a meeple one of a set of buildings marked with a coloured flower. These buildings, and the characters are laid out randomly at the start of the game. Each building allows the player the option of taking its action, of which there are many. All these help you on your way to victory. One of the Characters allows you to place one (of 3) control markers you have on a building, these mean you get a reward when another player uses that building. Only one player can occupy a building at any time. The value for goods loaded onto the boats can be changed by various means, and normally the boat can only be loaded by the car being moved to the dock, though there is a means to load a good early.

This continues until the 7th ship has sailed then scores are totalled. This was great fun and enjoyable to play with our little group, helped by how close the outcome was which is always a sign of a good game

Final Scores: Chris:30, Me:31, Simon:32 and Caz:33


As with the day before we had a musical chairs moment where the others drifter off to have a game of something else and we gained some new players. This time we setup for a game of Kingsburg where each player takes the role of a Governor vying for resources to build their provinces, military to help defend their realm and to win favour from the king. The game is played out over five years and the winner is the player with the most VP's at the end of year five. We played with several of the expansions from the Kingsburg: To Forge a Realm expansion, the larger building board, governor cards, destiny deck and the Soldier tokens.

The new boards give you a wider choice of buildings, the destiny deck adds various effects each year some good/some not so good, the governor cards gives players on going special actions/abilities and finally the soldier tokens replace the Dice for getting the Kings aid in the battle during winter. All of these add new depth and interest to a game which is already an excellent game. This is always fun and every game is different but I have to say for once I did not suck too badly at this and actually did rather well for me

Final Scores: Caz:33, Peter:50, Me:52, Gary:58 and Melissa:59 (Despite Gary continually pointing out he had regained points after his negative start, Melissa deservedly beat him to first place )


We then finished off the day with a game of Utopia essentially an area control game where you are competeting with the other players to build monuments for various civilisations or one of the 4 wonders. Monuments score for you at the end of each round but there value can be influenced each round by the players, Wonders score when you build them and also whenever you or anyone else builds a monument on that island. The aim is to gain prestige as you invite princes from the various civilisations and encourage them to build their monuments and wonders.

Sadly we had to bring this to an early conclusion, though you can see from the scores that it was only probably a round away from finishing anyways, as Gary & Melissa needed to get back.

Final Scores: Caz:27, Me:30, Gary:33, Peter:39 and Melissa:45

Well after that epic we tidied away our bits & pieces and went for a chat with various people as they all started to drift off. We helped to start tidy up the Hall ready for closure and were on standby to help ferry stuff in the car back to the shop after close.

Well, there we have it for another year (well at least till November as Phil has opted for running another Autumn B&P but this time for a full weekend 3-4th Nov 2012) once again this is one of the friendliest gaming conventions I attend and it's thanks to the efforts of Phil, Sally and the "Volunteers" on the front desk that this event keeps on running.

As with all conventions they are nothing without a good friendly crowd of people attending and the people that visit this event are certainly that so I would like to pass on my gratitude to ALL those who attend this event for helping to make it what it is. I may not know all of you, hopefully overtime I will get to meet and /or play games with some but you all make it special so thanks.

See you all gain next time and above all lets all keep on just having FUN!

[Pallet Ranger]

Gutted to have missed it this year

[Zarniwoop]

Well there is always the Autumn B&P a full weekend Nov 3-4th 2012

[EvilGinger]

indeed there is & I have decided to spend that week end playing other folks games as I have an annoying tendency to burn out else.....

& the I suppose we should now call it Spring Beer & Pretzels will be back on its normal week end next year.

 Ginger