Spirit Games Wednesday Night - 2013

[Spirit Games]

March 6th & 13th Wednesday Night Gamers

Last week Carole, Paul, Chris and I spent all evening learning and playing Bora Bora. It took a couple of turns to start to get the hang of things as there is so much going on. It's one of those games where you need to do more things in your go than you are able to (in this case lots more!) and it's very easy to get scuppered by the opposition. It was our first play, so learning the rules as we went slowed the first couple of rounds down, this meant we did not finish all the rounds, and this was reflected in the final scoring as I was gifted a second due to being next to so many fish at the end. After another couple of rounds I would most certainly have lost most if not all of the those points. We all got an idea of the different strategies needed to win, being able to execute them will not be so easy, but we are all up for another game while the rules are still fresh in our minds.

I cannot remember all of the games from the week before, but here are a few pictures of some of them.

Posted by Sally


Descent


Elder Sign


Innovation


How did Phil get so many cards? He's usually hopeless at it!

[EvilGinger]

Very much like the new lay out & especially the pictures

 Ginger

[RichardD]

Innovation (the original Asmadi edition, anyway) has now spawned two expansions, with a third due later this year.

So I'm partway through making a wooden box for my copy - though I doubt that it'll be finished in time for Weds evening, as I'm currently waiting for glue to dry before I can start with the three coats of finish.

[Zarniwoop]

We have a good crowd at the Wednesday night games at #spiritgames and there is a wide variety of games played, from quick filler style games up to longer more strategic affairs.

There is a friendly atmosphere and everyone there enjoys playing as well as teaching games, so if you new to boardgames or just want to find a friendly local group to join in playing games then come along and say hi.

Around the area there are plenty of 1 day or weekend events that happen throughout the year so keep an eye out on our calendar for forthcoming events you might be interested in attending.

Rather than go through each game that has been played over the last few months (as I have been a bit forgetful in writing them up lately) here is a quick slideshow of the last few weeks in the shop:

[Zarniwoop]

8th May 2013

Well we had our first games evening in the new shop and it was a great night with some new faces which is always good. The gaming area was roomy with plenty of light and the general atmosphere in the room was jovial with great banter.

All in all the new shop is going to provide an excellent space for gaming as well as shopping and has oodles of character. Excellent find by Phil & Sally and I will look forward to spending time in this new oasis of gaming goodness.

Tonight we Played Endevaour which is an old favourite that just has not made it to the table in a long time. Really enjoyed this, it has beautiful artwork and great pieces with plenty of choices to be made it makes quite a compelling game. It rattles along at a reasonable pace with no real downtime for players as well as opportunities to scupper other players options. Nice game that will definately have to be taken down to another games night. Chris:54, Paul:45, Caz:44 and Jason:40 which shows that despite people taking very different paths to victory the scores remained quite close.

We then played The Golden City which is a really interesting fun little game that falls into the deceptively simple category. The rules and mechanics of the game are quite simple but there is plenty of strategic choices to be made despite a small element of luck involving which cards become available to bid for each turn. There are chaneces to gain both hidden and visible scoring bonuses, plus the scoring changes for each turn all of which amounts to a game that can be revisited which each game feeling different. Good fun and quick to play. Jason:83, Caz:62, Chris:59 and Paul:55

So here are a few pictures from our first evening in the new shop:

[EvilGinger]

was in the shop earlier & heard the reports 22 people & you could still move - much better than the old shop where that number meant it was rammed to the gunnel's

Have to pop down on a non roleplaying week & have a go myself.


 Ginger

[RichardD]

I don't know whether the new shop actually *is* any bigger than the old one, but it *feels* bigger - more open, more airy.  But there was barely enough space on one of the collapsible tables for Terra Mystica.  I'm going to try and beat the rush tomorrow night and bag a larger table for this week .  Definitely looking forward to playing it again. 

[EvilGinger]

If I was not otherwise engaged doing the work I should have done today I would join you Terra Mystica does rather sound my type of game....


 Ginger

[Zarniwoop]

15th May 2013

So the 2nd week gaming at the shop proved to be just as good as the first, another good turn out of people with a great variety of games being played as you will see from the photos. I will try and arm twist the other Wed night regulars to actually post some reports of what they play here but I fear you will have to rely on my infrequent posts for updates.

	I started the evening off with a 2 player game of Race to Adventure a quick filler game running at approx 30mins or so that handles 2-5 players. The artwork and components are of excellent quality and it is a really enjoyable game, which when played with a good number, can be quite tense as people compete for various actions to complete the missions on at the various world locations in order to collect stamps. The stamps , once you have collected them all, allow you to win the game should you be the first back to the Century club. The game is quite simple but there are tactics and plans to be made in order to make best use of your turn. The cards that form the world locations are dealt randomly to form a 3x3 grid, this makes for a different challenge each game with the addition that there is a Shadow side of each location as well as the century club. This should provide numerous combinations to keep the game fresh and interesting. Great design as I always enjoy playing this, though with 2 players the tension is somewhat lost as you can pretty much get the action you want as well as move (as you always get a move one as part of the 2-player variant). I would recommend a min of 3 or more to play this. Myself and Chris played this, with me winning but only I think based on the fact I had played before.
	Well for me tonight I tried out the latest Bodger based outing from Privateer Press - BodgerMania this is a card game with a theme based around a wrestling match. This is played over 4 rounds with each round comprising 3 fights culminating in Title fight. Each fight fight involves a draft where players are dealt a hand of cards from which they keep one face down and play another face up next to one round of the fight in order to bid for which suit of cards will be the trump for that round. This continues until each player is left with a hand of 4 cards, then the trump cards are determined for each round by the most of a particular suit being there or in case of a tie the most valuable, if there is still a tie there is no trump for that round. Players then look at their cards and select a card to be played at each fight. Each fight has a different criteria on how the cards score, for some its the highest number, for others it is the lowest and some make the high cards worth 0 making the middle numbers the best. The trump suit will win over the others making the outcomes tricky to predict but fun. The winner of each fight is awarded prizes which can be used later in the Main Event to help sway the outcome of certain fights and gains the refs favour card. In each round the player with the refs favour card will determine the outcome of any ties. In the main event there is no refs favour so any tied 'bouts everyone gets to share, the winner of the most rounds in the main event is the winner. This is a quick fire game that plays quite quickly and is suited as a filler between games or a start or finish game of a session. There is not a lot of depth here and for me this is not my favourite of the Bodger series but is none the less a solid game which is fun to play. Myself, Phil and Caz played this with Phil using his vast gaming experience to basically trounce us to the WIN.
	To finish the evening we played a game of Medieval Mastery which was the final production version of the game which had the upgraded components. I own the original hand produced version which was well made and good quality but this has definitely upped the bar, the new coloured artwork is top notch, the card art has also seen a similar improved workover and all in all the game just looks so much better. The fact I bought a copy of the newer version, to me, shows just how well this game is designed and plays. On a players turn they add 3 additional Knights to their Castle then they can make one advance, Knights can move out from the Castle through areas controlled by you own Knights into either empty areas or into an area controlled by another Player. If the area is empty those Knights take control and earn the player points (1-3), the first player to 13 points wins. Various tiles have special effects or conditions that need to be taken into consideration, but in general each hex can only have upto 6 Knights of that player. Battles are handled by cards each player choosing a Conflict Card (Valued 1-5), if they have one otherwise they are assumed to be playing a 0 value card, playing it face down. The conflict card value is added to the number of knights they have, support cards can also be played at this point which add to the total, the highest wins and the loser loses the difference in numbers from their Knights, the remainder fleeing back to their Castle. On a draw the attacking player loses 1 Knight, players can also use their Artifacts if appropriate, there are also cards that shatter these making them unavailable until the end of that players next turn. As cards are used you do not draw any replacements, the only time you make your hand back up to 5 is when you enter Combat, thereby encouraging players to encroach on occupied areas both to decrease players points but to gain those much needed cards. This is a brief overview, there is much more details to the tiles and cards. Myself, Phil and Caz played this with me managing to sneak a win as the others fighting amongst themselves failed to see my land grabbing Luckily the universe did not collapse as I won one of my own games.

[EvilGinger]

Wonderful stuff..

I need to drop in to a wednesday but I cant do it & role-play the following night & this coming week I had promised myself a trip to Derby to harass the poor folks at the Bean Caffe. I do wish I could afford to employ some one so I did not have to do all the work.

 Ginger

[MountainGoatNinja]

Hey everyone, just needed to find out if there will be another Wednesday game night this week?

I turned up the first time on the 29th, and got involved with the World of Darkness Rpg that was being setup. I was looking forward to playing the character I made this week, but noticed that the event is not posted beyond the 29th. Is it running or did i just catching the end of it?

MN.

[Snakes in the Tiki Lounge]

The Wednesday games have been running on a weekly basis for more than five years. maybe six or seven?
We tend not to post them as events here. The WoD game will be starting properly next week, (as it's alternating with another game).

[EvilGinger]

Second that point & the only reason nothings bee posted here is that Zarni is off taking out his frustrations on several primitive life forms in an other galaxy...

I am so Jealous....


 Ginger

[MountainGoatNinja]

That's great  thanks.

taking frustration out on primitive in another galaxy! don't we all wish we were doing that.

MN. 

[Zarniwoop]

The Wednesday games have been running on a weekly basis for more than five years. maybe six or seven?
We tend not to post them as events here. The WoD game will be starting properly next week, (as it's alternating with another game).

 Because of mountaingoatninja's post is exactly the reason for a similar amount of time I have been asking you guys to post details of games. I know you organise at the table,  facepalm, sms, smoke signals etc but if we get new people interested in what's going on it looks like nothing.  So a post or event link here would help new people know what is going on and whether they can join in.  As I have said before real life gets in the way of groups so having new people join helps keep groups active and dynamic.  But hey who am I to interfere, I should be enjoying the sun ;-)