Summoner Wars

Challenged Lisa to a game tonight. Being the first game for both of us neither was certain of what to expect. Lisa took the Orcs and I the Elfs, we set up and the battle began. Lisa came out with quite the attack. She

built Ice Walls deep in her territory to protect her Summoner and then proceeded to attack me with all she had. Each race gets 3 Champions and hers came up early, it was all I could do to protect my Summoner, in fact she had my Summoner half dead a bit too early for my taste. And the Orcs Fury ability. . ouch but really not as bad as the Freeze she threw on me. Somehow I was able to survive and mount a comeback. With her down to just Common cards to play it was my turn to start pulling Champions and pulling I did. With 3 Elf Champions on the board it was clean up time and the outcome was painfully obvious to both her and I.

Her final verdict...she didn't the game. Going into this game I already predicted what her feelings would be. The game is very tactical and she has never had a hankering for these types of games. I, however, loved it! Actually a lot of thinking can go into this game as you set up your moves and the luck of the dice is just enough to keep you on your toes and possibly going to plan B, assuming you thought that far ahead. Can't wait to try out the other Summoners as well as playing 4 player. Now to make a better board to compliment this great game.

RA + Dice = Fun

Introduced Lisa to it the other night and we both had a blast. It took a first game for us both to grasp some sort of strategy and scoring but this has a bright future with us. We later found we were scoring the Monuments incorrectly and will correct. With the RA symbol starting in the middle of the board I thought the Epoch's would move swiftly but surprisingly the game went on about 60 minutes and ended up being rather quick paced. Lots of decisions to be made here, and lots of fun.

Warm Winter Play or Prepping for Dominion

Broke the game out for the first time with my wife thinking that tomorrow during gaming night she, perhaps, would join in for a game.

The game went well with only one card played wrong which I caught on my turn (thus played right from that point on even though wife's eyebrow rose).

We fought hard and she read me too well and I basically went a few turns with little to nothing to do when she assigned me.

When all was said and done she had 26 points to my 21 and told me point blank, " if we played the Merchant right from the start I would have kicked your ass".

As for possibly joining in tomorrow night when the 'boys' get here she thought for a moment and responded with, "those guys are killers, NO WAY". She enjoyed and would play again but with Dominion coming tomorrow my only hope is that this card game warms her up for the latter.

Gaming of the Taste Buds

Most recent gaming night took place at a window table overlooking the woods, unfortunately it was too dark out to enjoy a view but letting your imagination roam you could easily imagine seating at the finest restaurant near the alps as you knew the snow and winds were just feet away.

Upon entering the house you were swept away with the aroma of a delicious meal that had been brewing most of the day in anticipation of this evening. The menu was restrictive but with anticipations of a good home cooked stew I would have considered little else even if the menu was bristling with sights of fish and meat from around the world.

                                                                    A meal fit for a King

As soon as I was seated the entertainment started with a beautifully staged show from Max & Bailey. I missed the title of the performance but it was a lovely play of 2 wild animals held captive in an isolated cottage with only a slipper to eat. The loser of the slipper meal had dibs on leftovers on the counter left behind by masters long gone. I found the play quite entertaining and can say it only highlighted the meal soon enjoyed.

When the stew did arrive at my table I was met by a medley of colors and smells none of which over dominated the other. The beef was both tender and remarkably tasty with hints of spices to compliment. Carrots galore were on the verge of melting on the fork but somehow held their form until they entered your mouth and only then would tantalize your taste buds just prior to warming your stomach and in turn warming your spirit.

What's this?? Another performance by the Max and Bailey team?? Indeed. This short play, during dinner, told a heart warming story of two brothers both in need of freedom. Freedom from the ho hum trappings of life on the inside. It was of freedom and the meaning of 'I need to go when I need to go!'. It was all I could do to hold back the tears when they finally gained their freedom from the 'gulag' only to find out that while Max was free to escape, his best bud Bailey was held from freedom by a chain wrapped around his neck (with the chain representing man's inability to gain, or have control, of his future)  his freedom was just a dream...a vision of trees never to be the target of his release...I would love a repeat of this masterful Shakespearean type mastery.

As the play wrapped up I was met with an empty bowl of what once held my taste buds captive! Without hesitation my bowl was refilled to the brim and again I was in heaven.

A surprise late addition was Dave who also had his senses satisfied by the masterful chef Robert. Unfortunately Max and Bailey had no performances planned at that late hour but no matter I was still quite emotional from their last show.

               Snacks....hit the spot later on.

 Pro's of Gaming Night:

• STEW
• 2 Surprise plays by the team of Max and Bailey
• Surprise guest Dave
• Dominion 
• 1960: The Making of the President

Con's of Gaming Night

• Diet 7up was where???

All said it was a grand night of gaming even thought that Damn Witch cursed the hell out of me! I swear never again!!!

Axis and Allies and a few rules here and there

Dave prepping for battle

Axis and Allies played out quite well Tuesday night even thought it seemed we were still learning the rules right down to the last move. A good board game often takes a few plays to not only understand the rules completely but more so in developing a strategy on how to beat an opponent or a game when taking co-op games into account. No doubt this game will go much smoother next time around and the consensus was it will be welcome if introduced again.

What was most annoying to me was how much of the map was devoted to Africa and Australia among other areas that play almost no importance in battle or otherwise yet Germany and Europe, where it seemed so much time was spent, was small and crammed. I am not familiar with A&A outside of this 1984 version we played but there must be a version out there for Europe alone or maybe even a better map with the 2009 version soon to be on sale. Oh, and the colors were so close - I must be more colorblind than I thought. I had military sitting still thinking they were Japans long into the game.

The Axis won most easily. I would swear Russia had secret plans with Germany to crumble at every battle, at least that was the way the dice rolls went. Russia took such a beating at the expense of the damn dice Germany had little problem doing almost whatever they wanted to. Japan proved very powerful once they mastered the transport rule and the UK found out much too late how powerful bombing raids could have been.

The Witch of Salem + 12

Don't try to adjust your monitor, we control the focus...

Practicing the Witch of Salem  game at home for a week or so now getting the rules down and the thing that stood out in this co-op game was how difficult it would be. Every time it made the table I was over my 'practice' in defeat half way through wondering how it could possibly be won when considering the luck of a die roll and the luck of dealing with the random chits drawn and placed and the random drawing of monsters and...well random. But like in Ghost Stories it can be done with the right calling, in this case a 12 year old.

Megan jumped at the opportunity to deal with a Great Old One (GOO) and put it in its place. Watching her orchestrate her Mother and I around the board was impressive. With very few turns into the game she had an uncanny understanding of what needed to be accomplished and was equally impressive of how to get it done. With our death only 2 turns away due to a nasty GOO speeding it up  she showed little fear and pranced us to a victory, the whole time playing with her cat on her lap and discussing an idea she had for a boardgame consisting of zombies.

I may never win this game again solo or otherwise but if I want a better chance of doing so I'll make another trip to Massachusetts and hope she'll be in the mood for a game.

Tuesday Night Gang

Here we sit on a Tuesday night in the middle of a game of Battlestar Galactica. With Lisa using the dining/gaming room as her bed room this shows to the extent of what diegards will go through for a game. For weeks it consisted of dragging out a table, setting up chairs, moving furniture and putting it all back when we finished which usually was early Wednesday morning. Good games, good friends and good fun. Note that this is pre spilling of the beer on Roberts game. Something you don't think will happen to you till it does.