BEWC Meeting Recap 12/15/12

Attendees: Greg Chandra, Chris Cregan, Michael Feinberg, Frank Fulton, Robbie Fulton, Jim Halloran, and Joe Kauffman

Club Business: Nominations for 2013 officers are open.

Games Played:

1,2) Michael and Jim started with two quick games of Lost Cities with Jim winning both decisively.

3) Chris, Michael, and Jim played Kingsburg with all of the To Forge A Realm expansions, with Chris just edging out Jim 46 points to 44 points.

4) Greg, Chris, Michael, Jim, and Joe played Lungarno, where Michael won with 31 points, but the battle for second place was closely fought – Jim had 26 points and the tie breaker of most extra tiles over Chris (also with 26 points) and Greg just behind with 25.

5) Greg, Chris, Michael, Frank, Robbie, Jim, and Joe played a full 7 player game of 7 Wonders with the Leaders expansion. Chris’s money heavy strategy combined with the gamer guild gave him a 69 point victory over Joe’s 68 points from a diversified strategy.

6) Chris and Jim broke of to play Twilight Struggle where history was rewritten. Chris won as the soviets by VP in turn 3 helped by claiming dominance in Asia and three scoring cards coming up that turn.

7) Greg, Michael, Frank, and Robbie finished up with Ascending Empires. Greg went on the offensive early and squabbled with Frank allowing them both to collect victory points from shooting each other’s ships out of the sky. Michael meanwhile was left mostly alone to colonize and then build cities on planets in each of the other quadrants. An endgame attempt from Robbie to steal one of Michael’s planets turned into an opportunity for him to earn more victory points from the back and forth combat, and the game ended with Michael having a comfortable 31 point win with Greg in second at 23 points.

BEWC Meeting Recap 11/17/12

Attendees: Dan Carey, Chris Cregan, Jim Halloran, Dave Olson and Alex Wright.

Club Business: None

Games Played:
1) Jim, Dave and Alex played Elfenland. Alex came away with the win, with 15 points, followed closely by Dave and Jim with 14 points each – a tie for second, which became a theme of the day.

2) Jim, Dave and Alex played the classic Sid Sackson game Can’t Stop, on an artisan board painstakingly hand-crafted by Alex. Jim was victorious.

3) Chris, Jim, Dave and Alex played the classic Sid Sackson game Acquire. Alex, Chris and Dave were pretty evenly matched with $44,800, $47,200 and $47,800 respectively, but Jim was the big winner with a whopping $57,000 at the end of the game.

4) Dan, Chris, Jim, Dave and Alex played Outpost. Dan got out to an early lead with a significant Titanium-based economy, but Alex and Chris were able to challenge him with strong economies of their own. In the end, Chris and Dan were tied with 80 points, with Dan edging out Chris on the tie-breaker, but it was only good enough for second place as Alex was able to pull off the big win with 90 points. Jim ended the game with a respectable 57 points, and Dave brought up the rear with 43 (yes, less than half the winning score). A fun time was had by all.

5) Dan, Chris, Dave and Alex played Lungarno. Chris came away with the win with 33 points, followed by Dave and Alex who each had 28 (another tie for second!), and Dan ended up with 19.

6) Dan, Chris, Dave and Alex played another round of Can’t Stop. This time Dan emerged victorious.

7) Dan, Chris, Dave and Alex finished the day with a round of Bang! Chris and Dave had a tough slog as the outlaws, with Chris going down early, and Dave spending most of the game at 2 HP. Alex was able to pick up a renegade win, finishing Dave off with the Volcanic, and taking out the Sheriff (Dan) in the next turn.

BEWC Meeting Recap 4/21/12

Attendees: John Boyle, Chris Cregan, Michael Feinberg, Frank Fulton, Robbie Fulton, Lionel Galperin, Jim Halloran, Michael Kelly, Dave Olson, and Jay Olson

Club Business: None.

Games Played:
1) Chris, Michael F, Frank, Robbie, and Jim played Lungarno, which Chris taught to the rest. Both Michael and Jim concentrated on a strategy of Tower Houses and Plazas that gave end game points and which payed off for both of them, with Michael just edging out Jim for the win, 30 to 28.

2) When more people showed up, the proposed game of 7 Wonders was abandoned, and Chris, Michael F, Frank, Robbie, and Jim sat down to A Game of Thrones: The Board Game. Alliances were loose and shifting, with a great deal of squabbling in the north between Robbie’s House Stark and Jim’s House Greyjoy, while Michael’s Baratheon forces expanded in the center of the board. In a 5-player game, House Martell’s territory is neutral and their fortress’s are relatively weakly guarded; giving an advantage to House Baratheon and House Tyrell (Frank) who have easy pickings on their borders. After fortuitous supply and muster Westeros cards, Michael was well positioned to strike out for the Martell fortresses and was poised to win in Round 5, but Frank’s forces in south and Chris’s Lannister forces rushing across the Reach were able to beat him back. With Michael having lost the rich supply of blackwater, another supply Westeros card would have decimated his forces leaving Chris well staged to steal the win, but one did not come up. Careful spending of influence combined with the Baratheon’s control of the Iron Throne’s tie breaking ability allowed Michael to position himself near the top of all of the influence tracks and stage an unbeatable force to seize his seventh (winning) fortress at the beginning of Round 7.

3) John, Lionel, and Michael K broke off to play Innovation, where Michael used the dogma effects of mapmaking and montheism to rack up score and take all but 1 of the early achievements for a quick win.

4,5) Dave and Jay played two rounds of Lost Cities, winning one each.

6) Dave and Jay started a game of Unidentified Walking Objects, but Dave surrendered his poorer position so they could go join another game.

7) Lionel, Michael K, Dave, and Jay played Outpost, where Jay was victorious.

8) Chris, Michael F, Robbie, and Jim finished up with a game of Munchkin. Michael and Chris jumped out ahead when Michael used his Kneepads of Allure to force him to help with a level 12 monster. Once it was cursed up to 17 and then doubled with mate, Chris renegotiated the deal so that he could charm one of the monsters and they both raked in the treasure. Another round brought both of them to level 9, but Chris drew an easy combat on his next turn and no one had any curses left, giving him the win.

9) Michael K, Dave, and Jay ran out of time to finish their game of Power Grid Japan, getting just about to the end with it still being anyone’s game. When they stopped, Dave was able to power the most cities, while Michael had the turn order position to expand the most, but only if he got lucky in the power plant market.