Ruling the Board: SSHS February Board Game Bonanza: Final Thoughts

The day started off pretty well with an hour on the treadmill and a foot-long tuna sub.  Once I arrived at SSHS, there were already a couple of games going and it didn't take long before a couple ended and those of us that were standing around were able to jump in and play.

I used this time wisely to raid the walls and purchase a number of games and supplements due to the moving sale.

We started a game of Glen More and after figuring it out for a few turns and realizing some of the major things we were doing wrong, we started over and played through.  It was a fun game that I was able to pull out a victory in during the final scoring.

After this, the group stayed together and we played a quick game of Castle Panic as we waited for the other groups to break finish up their games.  We won pretty easily.

After this, the other games finished and I along with two others in my current group joined Jack for another couple games.  First was the best game of the day, Tokaido, that was allot of fun and really well themed.

We finished up with another game with Jack, Home Stretch.  This was the most fun game of the day as we cheered our horses on throughout.

In the end, I was able to get in four games played, three bought along with an expansion, and 2 supplements.

It was a really fun day.  I thought about just hanging around the house and was really glad that I kicked myself out and headed over there.

Many people got some great deals that day and we bought out most of the board and card game stock that day.

They even opened up the miniature sales online and one guy bought $4,000 worth of miniatures for $2,000.  That’s allot of miniatures.

Here’s hoping that the new location with have at least as much space if not more as at one point we had four board games and one war game going at the same time and the gaming space got a bit cramped.  I love that it was that busy though as it really shows how the industry is thriving right now.

I’m already looking to their March Board Gaming Bonanza and wondering if the store will still be called Silver Springs Hobby Shop with it now moving to Port Washington Road.

Ruling the Board: SSHS February Board Game Bonanza: Home Stretch

If I was nervous about Tokaido, I was downright worried about Home Stretch.  Could a game about horse racing really be any good?

Well, the short answer is yes, good and very fun.

In the game, you are horse owners/gamblers.  You first do a pick one and pass to draw three horses that you own, you then bet and run a race, then pick and pass for two more horses, and then bet and race three more times for the end.

So, the race comprises of horses 2-12 (all combinations of 2d6).  Each player rolls the dice and chooses to move that horse 1 or 2 spaces of the 10 the track is comprised of.  If they chose 1, they can roll again and that horse must go 2 spaces.  Also, some horses are handicapped so their first roll they do not move, and others get a 2, 4, or 6 space bump when they are first rolled.  These usually go to the harder to roll numbers, but not always.

So, once you see the handicaps, players be from leader to last only placing chips of their rank in any given spot.  The bets are for winner, place, or show for each horse.  If your bet wins, you count up the number you bet times the number on the betting square and move that number of spaces, also, for each race the horse owners for first, second, and third split the winnings as listed on the card used for the race.  The player with the most points at the end of the four races wins.

It may seem like allot of rules, but in actuality, there aren't that many and the setup and rules teaching are pretty fast.

In our game, Bob started out with a commanding lead after the first race.  This allowed him to pay more in the 2^nd owner phase, but after having a couple bad races in a row he was lagging back.  I took the lead after two and three races.  In the final race it was a two owner race with Jack coming up strong late and John betting the house on one chance to come back.  In the end, Bob and I tied for the win.

Final Scores:

Me – 151

Bob – 151

Jack – 145

Dan – 131

Justine – 120

John - 54

Final Thoughts:

This was the most fun game of the day.  People really got into the racing around the track and pulling for their horses, both the ones they bet for and the ones they owned.

I would have never thought I would enjoy this game so much or that I could think about playing it with other crowds and them enjoying it as well, but the game play is really simple and fun and I could see it being played anywhere.

I was very pleasantly surprised with Home Stretch.

Ruling the Board: SSHS February Board Game Bonanza: Tokaido

In Tokaido, players take on the roles of travelers in Japan making their way from one city to the next.  Players don’t have much money, though, and must choose to use it wisely between giving money to the temple, buying souvenirs, enjoying the scenery, visiting the hot springs, partaking in encounters, and eating food at the inns.

The game goes in a furthest back order with each stop having a limited number of people who can stop there.  So, figuring out where you want to go and getting there can be a chore or impossible determined by who else wants to get there and who goes first.

You really have to be careful with your money and use it to the best of your ability to have a chance to win.  Sometimes this will mean using it to focus on a couple of types and others on spreading it out effectively among many types.

My traveler was Chuubie who got a free encounter card at every inn.  This actually worked out really well for me although it only activated at inns.  I decided to go for the four piece scenery of the 3, 4, and 5, and spread around between all types of actions.

I was able to take the lead about 1/3^rd of the way in and keep it through until the end of the final scoring.  It killed me not to be able to purchase food and get 6 points at the final end.

Final Score:

John – 72

Jack – 71

Me – 71

Justine – 63

Dan – 46

Final Thoughts:

This game came out of nowhere for me and blew me away.  I had never heard of it before and was a bit hesitant to step in for it, but I had wanted to play with Jack after meeting him at two previous events and not getting to play with him.

The theme in the game was really cool and the game won me over about two rounds in as I was buying souvenirs and then food at the inn along my trip.

This game is allot of fun with allot of options.  It took my brain a bit to get used to the order going from the furthest back to the first up and recognizing that certain options would only be available on the current turn as someone would be there the next turn and I would have to jump ahead of them.

I look forward to being able to play this one again in the future.

Ruling the Board: SSHS February Board Game Bonanza: Castle Panic

Next up was Castle Panic, one of the games I have played the most.  Due to it’s quick setup and rules, it is a great game to fill time between games.

In this game with the same players in Glen More we were able to very quickly move through the monsters and achieve victory.  At the finish, 2 walls and 4 turrets remained standing.  We did a really good job of working together and coming up with optimal strategies.  A couple of times we got in trouble with monster pulls, but mostly things were under control.  We even had the board fully wiped with six tokens left to draw.  

These came out all at once and we mowed them down.

So, we left victorious and the hero points were as follows.

Me – 17

Justine – 13

Dan – 13

Other Dan – 10

Ruling the Board: SSHS February Board Game Bonanza: Glen More

In Glen More, players build their city somewhat like Alhombra, but instead of buying buildings with money from the board, you use resources that your tiles create when activated.  You can also activate them for other functions such as changing unrefined goods into refined goods and changing unrefined goods into victory points.

There are also castles and lochs that can be built, people to change into chieftans, and determinations to be made on how to place your tiles and how many to use.

One neat mechanic here that almost cost me dearly in the end is that all players with more tiles that the player with the least has to give back victory points equal to three times the number of tiles over they are.

This balances out players that gobble up all of the tiles for VP’s as they play for those who are going for slower end game pieces.

I was a tile gobbler and did so through most of the game while amassing allot of VP’s.  Once the game ended, though, I knew I was in trouble.  I needed to finish high in most of the categories so I could pay for my extra tiles and have a shot.  In the end, I was able to get a few major bonuses at the end from other players not gaining any of those types and came out on top.

Final Score:

Me – 44

Justine – 37

Dan – 35

Other Dan – 28

Final Thoughts:

This was a decent game that didn't seem too deep, but that a player could really get into if they wanted too.  There were some cool mechanics that I haven’t seen before and the big/little movement and use it or lose it tiles made things interesting.

We got so lost after three turns the first time that we had to treat it as a tutorial and start from scratch.  We were playing some things pretty wrong, so that was good and everyone was laid back enough to be OK with it.

Even though this one wasn't my favorite, I would still play it again were it to hit the board.

Ruling the Board: Shaw Gaming 2/2/13: Wrap-Up

A great night of food and game started as it usually does with some appetizers, drinks, and cocktails in the kitchen.  While people finished up, we sat up Castle Panic and sat down for a nice start to the evening.  Dani and Simo showed up just in time to be dealt in, which really worked out well.

After this, we moved on to Dixit, which everyone seemed to really enjoy.  Next came the building and cooking of the pizza’s followed by a fun game of Elder Sign.

After this we tried out but did not finish Citadels and Muchkin before finishing the evening with another game of Dixit.  We ended up getting in about 7 hours or so of gaming and everyone seemed to have a really good time.  We had so good of a time that we are talking about a regularly scheduled bat show… gaming night.  I was glad that Simo and Dani were able to enjoy themselves as much as they seemed to since it was their first time.

I think we have gained another couple of gaming addicts in the Shaw’s as well.

Ruling the Board: Shaw Gaming 2/2/13: Dixit (2)

So as not to leave disappointed, with a bad taste in our mouths, we went back to a fun game from earlier in the night, Dixit.

This time, people understood a bit better how to phrase things and we were able to burn through the game with a much closer finish in the end.

Paul once again ended up on top, but it was a three bunny race at the end.

This was a great pallet cleanser after not finishing two straight games to remind us of how much fun we had throughout.

Thank you Dixit for coming through for us twice on this night.