Birmingham, Alabama
February 13 – 16, 2003
Day 1
Games Played: Tichu, Blokus, Schotten-Totten, Funkenschlag, Take it Easy, Zirkus Flohcati, Take it Easy, Wildlife, Too Many Cooks, Tin Soldiers
Where I have notes or think I can remember accurately, I’ve noted who were first time/novice/experienced players of a particular game. As a purely arbitrary convention, if they said they’d played 5+ games of it, I marked that as Experienced.
Tichu
Played By: Michael W. Julie W. Susan R. Chris C. Teams: 1-Michael W.,Julie W. 2-Susan R.,Chris C.
First timers: Susan, Julie, Chris
Novices: Michael (played online only before)
Taught by: Chris Lohroff
Chris did an excellent job stepping us through the game and basic strategy, and held our hands for most of the game. Like most beginners at this game, very few Tichus were called. Susan and Chris took an early lead, but then Julie and I went 1-2 and pulled up even. Then a missed Tichu by yours truly set us back again and we never recovered. Susan and Chris, with few Tichus, simply outscored us almost every hand, and once scored a 1-2 with a Tichu.
The highlight hand was definitely the one where Julie and I both had bombs, and used them fairly well, but Chris and Susan stopped the 1-2 and gained the better score despite that.
Hopefully I can catch up with Susan and/or Chris at BSW sometime for some more of this great game.
Winner(s): Susan R., Chris C. Finish: Michael W. (565) Julie W. (565) 1-Susan R. (1035) 1-Chris C. (1035)
Blokus
Played By: Michael W. Julie W. Shay D. Kim B.
First timer: Julie
Novices: Me, Shay I don’t recall how many times Kim said she had played.
An excellent game that came down to the wire, though it looked like I had an early lead. Julie made 2 very adroit plays, one to cut down on space I could use near her, and another that let her squeeze in another tile or 2, allowing the well-earned tie for first.
Winner(s): Michael W., Julie W.
Finish: 1-Michael W. (9) 1-Julie W. (9) 3-Shay D. (12) 4-Kim B. (13)
Schotten-Totten
Played By: Michael W. Joe H.
Both experienced.
For a bit of filler and introduction, Joe and I sat down to one of the best games of this I’ve played in a long time. Playing it regularly with the same opponent (Julie) leads to pattern thinking, where I can guess what she’ll do on certain stones. Joe opened up very agressive on a couple of center stones, and I played more aggressively than normal in return. At the end it came to me getting the book end cards on one of his possible straight flushes and I took a middle stone for my 5th and 3 in a row. Some games you really do have to play differently with different players, keeping them fresh and interesting.
Winner(s): Michael W.
Finish: 1-Michael W. (5) Joe H. (2)
Funkenschlag
Played By: Michael W. Joe H. John M. Keith C.
First time played: Me
Novices (<5 times played): John and Keith
Experienced: Joe
This was one of my “goal games” of Gulf Games. It had been on my shelf for a few months, and with the holidays and life, there just hadn’t been an opportunity to try it out.
Joe taught the game and kept everything moving quickly by taking care of the bookkeeping stuff, like new resources and player order. I’ve now played a game in “Joe Huber time.” The game lasted 2 hours including instruction (give or take – I don’t note times), but never felt rushed.
Joe taught mechanics, but left strategy up to us and used all the tricks in the book to keep the lead the whole game. He started in the triangle cities and grew quickly out from there. The luck of the draw pulled up a wind plant in the 3rd or 4th draw or something like that, and Joe had the money to make sure he got it. In Phase 3, John got us to work together more to block Joe where we could, but all we did was slow him down a bit.
A very fun game I’m eager to try again. I do see the power of the 3 cities in the middle, and understand that some would want to move one, or add mountains or something. Personally, I think if all players are aware of the power of that location, then the first auction price will incorporate that, making the first plant expensive, and better play on the board hindering that player will further decrease the initial advantage. I’m an inveterate tweaker, but I’m going to resist all temptation to tweak this one until (if!) I’ve played enough to feel competent at it as is.
Winner(s): Joe H.
Finish: 1-Joe H. (17) 2-John M. (16) 3-Keith C. (14) 4-Michael W. (12)
Take it Easy
Played By: Michael W. Julie W. Susan R. Sarah S. Susan H. Patti A.
First timers: Julie and me
Others unknown
After Funkenschlag I needed something a bit less taxing, and this was perfect. This one is more fun than I thought it would be, especially with a lot of players. This may be one to put on the shelf just for those game nights when we have 7+ folks and don’t want to split up into separate games.
No one else was taking notes (is it a male thing?) and I didn’t catch Susan’s score.
Winner(s): Susan H.
Finish: 1-Susan H. (161) 2-Patti A. (160) 3-Michael W. (139) 4-Julie W. (136) 5-Susan R. 5-Sarah S. (84)
Zirkus Flohcati
Played By: Michael W. Julie W. Susan R. Sarah S. Susan H.
First timers: Susan H.
Others experienced
This has quickly become a favorite filler for Julie and me, right up there with 6 Nimmt! In what would prove a recurring theme for the weekend, Susan and I pulled out the tie, with Sarah and Julie just barely behind.
Winner(s): Michael W., Susan H.
Finish: 1-Michael W. (45) 1-Susan H. (45) 3-Sarah S. (43) 4-Julie W. (42) 5-Susan R. (34)
Take it Easy
Played By: Michael W. Julie W. Susan R. Ed R. Derk S. Charlie D. Kyle B.
This was the Take It Easy Tournament Thursday night. Unfortunately my 163 wasn’t even in the ballpark for the winner, which I think was Ward with a score in the 190s.
Winner(s): Michael W.
Finish: 1-Michael W. (163) 2-Charlie D. (156) 3-Susan R. (134) 4-Julie W. (128) 5-Derk S. (118) 6-Kyle B. (117) 7-Ed R. (113)
Wildlife
Played By: Michael W. Julie W. Chris C. Tim W. Michael B. Matt A.
First timers or novices: all of us, I think
The game got off to a bit of a slow start as it took quite a while for the first few areas to get closed. Once the first big scoring happened, the game began to move faster, then sped to the end with Chris beating everyone in nearly every category at the end. It was clear well before the last scoring that he had an untouchable lead.
I like the breadth of scoring opportunities in this game. I think there are lots of paths to victory, and luck of the draw is very minimal. The pace of the game troubles me some. This particular experience was like a poorly paced movie that doesn’t really get going until just before the climax, and then it’s over without an epilogue. The aftertaste was that I wondered if there’s not quite enough fun there for the length of time involved.
I’m going to try to get WildLife to be a “weekend game of the month” sometime this year to get several back-to-back plays done and see how my taste for it changes or solidifies. If I can get us experienced in the game and get it moving quicker, I think I’ll be able to really enjoy this game without reservation.
Winner(s): Chris C.
Finish: 1-Chris C. (106) 2-Tim W. (71) 3-Julie W. (56) 4-Matt A. (52) 5-Michael B. (48) 6-Michael W. (47)
Too Many Cooks
Played By: Michael W. Chris C. Michael B. Michael A.
My first time with the game. I don’t know about the others.
Neat game, but it didn’t hook me for the short filler category that it fills. For the same amount of time I’d much rather play Zirkus, 6 Nimmt or half a dozen other games that just clicked better for me.
Interesting play note: 4th round of the game, 3 of us come out for Pea Soup while Michael A. went for Chilis. Then the 5th round it’s 3 of us for French Onion while Chris goes for No Soup. Unfortunately for us all, Chris ended up taking almost all the French Onion cards.
Winner(s): Michael B.
Finish: 1-Michael B. (20) 2-Michael A. (16) 3-Michael W. (14) 3-Chris C. (14)
Tin Soldiers
Played By: Michael W. Michael A. Peter M. Greg S.
Teams: 1-Michael W.,Peter M. 2-Michael A.,Greg S.
I had commented to Greg that Tin Soldiers had fallen flat for our group in our only play, and knew he really liked it. This game was better than my first experience, but there still seems to be a huge potential for a runaway game as the point swings seem pretty severe.
No detailed notes, except that we used Greg’s house rule that winning a 2nd Spy could be used to look at the 2nd card in your own pantry instead of having to look in someone else’s pantry.
Winner(s): Michael A., Greg S.
Finish: Michael W. (90) 1-Michael A. (140) Peter M. (90) 1-Greg S. (140)
I realized it’s going to be a while before I get all the games detailed in a GameTracker report, and the vast, vast majority of you out there couldn’t care less for that detail anyway.
The highlight game was Saturday morning’s La Citta. Julie pulled off the well-earned win with 33 points. Thor and Kevin tied for 2nd at 29 and Sarah and I tied for 3rd at 27 points. That shows just how tight this whole game was. The nuts and bolts of it was that Julie had all 3 arches in her cities, and managed to hold onto her population the best in the last round. I overlooked an area where my city lost citizens to Sarah’s and thus failed to take corrective action. Thor built up a monster city with like 6 education or culture points, but at the expense of his other city, which was almost completely wiped out in the last relocation phase. Kevin was unable to feed his people in the last round, and that cost him the game. Absolutely awesome game!
For Sale was the other highlight game for me, playing it twice in the weekend. Fillers are always hit-or-miss with me, and I can’t accurately predict it before playing anything. This was an instant hit and immediately made it to my “Must Find” list (anyone selling a copy?) I like the “chicken” auction and the blind bidding, all packed into less than a half-hour. Wonderful!
Getting to play Intrige with Larry, Jay, Matt and Michael L. was also a blast. I know why this game has its reputation, but I don’t know why it isn’t played more. It was fun! Know what types of players to avoid it with and you’ll be fine. And it was one of the numerous games I played with Larry in which he won with a tie. Numerous, I tell you.
I liked Black Vienna, but I’m not sure I’ll go to the effort of making a home-brew copy. Hopefully Plenary or someone else will republish it, just so I can add another deduction game to the shelf. But until then, Sleuth suits me just fine.
Speaking of it, that Sleuth game did end too quickly, didn’t it, Susan? Next time it comes out for only 4 people, I’ll pull 2 cards to guess. It’s one of my favorites, so I’ll always be willing to play again.
Mark sold us on Basari. I just hope one of this year’s re-releases allows you to play the original game uncorrupted, getting 2 games in 1 box. Next time I’m going to try to get in on more of Fluff Daddy’s fluffy games. After reading the reports I wish I’d played Gnadelos particularly.
I liked Joe’s Theme Park game and look forward to getting it, and wish I’d seen the Princess Bride game. Sounds neat! Be sure to bring it next time.
So many games, and so many wonderful gamers. Julie and I had a really wonderful time and are very excited and happy to be in this family of great folks! Work deadlines are threatening to work their way into August, but I’ve already given the Williamsburg dates to my client as “unavailable” time (I don’t yet have the guts to say it’s to play games. – just that it’s a reunion thing). So unless they’re going to kick me out the door and terminate my income, we’ll be in Williamsburg. We may not get to see as much of the historic stuff as I’d like, but we’ll be at GG.
Lessons learned:
* Greg is as expressive in person as he is in email
* Don’t play Ricochet Robot with Joe Huber except to just sit there and go “Wow.”
* Larry is more expressive in person than he is in email
* You can’t speed-talk Time’s Up like you can Taboo
* Gulf Games is more fun the Christmas.
Three cheers and more for the S’s, W’s, and D’s for all their work and time. I’m amazed how smoothly and wonderfully everything went all 4 days. I can’t even get 30 college chums together for a day without hearing complaints and whines about what didn’t go right. It’s refreshing to see how it works when everyone’s equally interested in making it happen.