I haven’t talked much lately about gaming podcasts, but I just have to say how much I like Board Games with Scott.  Scott’s a little goofy (who in this hobby isn’t?), but he does a really nice job on production and he clearly has put in a great deal of thought into staging and producing this series.  I can’t wait to watch the Die Macher episode.

There are some subtleties to how he produces the show that lead to very digestible download times – notice how many of his scenes involve very little changing scenery.  He holds his head still against a high contrast background, uses many shots where he has a fixed camera pointing to the game board with just his hand moving bits around, etc.  Keep up the good work.

I failed to mention in my final Origins post that I participated in an ad-hoc tournament on Friday.  This wasn’t a typical tournament for me – I got roped into a foam sword combat tournament with 7 other players sponsored by Edhellen Armoury.  We played through an elimination bracket and I somehow managed to win.

Jacob and Matthew have coveted those foam swords ever since they first saw that at GenCon a few years ago.  Given that they won’t make it to GenCon, Essen, or Origins this year, I wanted to bring back a special gift for them.  So of course after winning the tournament and getting a taste of play combat, I had to pick up a sword and shield for each of the boys.

These games are played by a strict set of rules – the Belegarth Book of War.  The emphasis is on safety and honor, offering some nice boundaries and lessons for the boys.  For example, you are required to call hits on yourself and aren’t supposed to call hits on your opponent (i.e., no “hey, I hit your arm!”).  I like honor systems like this and the spirit of competition it fosters.

The boys have had some fun dueling in our back yard, and even Julie has joined the action.  I was most surprised by how aerobic the activity was – after the tournament at Origins I was completely spent.

On Saturday morning, Julie, Matthew, and I left home at about 5am to drive to Camp Pioneer to get Jacob at summer camp (more on that in a future post).  We made it home by about 11:30am and after cleaning up and some rest and relaxation, I talked the boys into playing Hacienda with me.

Unlike some other new games that I’ve played recently (most notably Thurn & Taxis), I had no clue going into the game what was going to lead to a good score and thus had a hard time formulating any sort of reasonable strategy.  It comes down to the economics are various choices on your turn.  How important is income?  How much should I focus on blocking other players from markets?  Is harvesting a worthwhile action?

I figured that connecting to many markets would be a good thing.  Jacob and Matthew both had the lead over me at the mid-way point in the game, but I felt good about my position as I expected to be able to connect to 6–8 markets.  One mistake I made was laying down a water tile to block Jacob that in the end just gave him more victory points.  I over-valued income… if the block had prevented him from reaching a market, then it may have been worthwhile.  As it was, I just prevented him from getting some additional herd income.

Jacob forced the game to end 1 turn before Matthew and I wanted (good play on his part), preventing me from reaching my 7th market and giving him the victory.  I beat Matthew by one point.

Everyone enjoyed the game and the wide range of choices offered.  The rules and strategy are not trivial in this game – I would put it on the heavier scale for euro games.  We look forward to playing it again soon.

Day 3 meant final day for me as I needed to scoot back to Oregon to get ready for Boy Scout summer camp with Jacob – I’m going to join him for 4 days out at Camp Pioneer in central Oregon.

I spent most of Friday on the exhibit hall floor, taking some time to play some games with vendors and just chat with other publishers.  My first stop was at the Hidden City Games booth to try out a game launched at GenCon last year – Clout Fantasy.   Now this game doesn’t get the best reviews on the ‘geek, and I was skeptical enough about the game to pass on a try last summer.

Something was nagging me though – perhaps the thought that this might be something the boys would like – so I stopped by to get a demo.  The instructor-lady was very knowledgeable and helpful and did a fine job explaining the game.  Four of us gave it a try with mini sampler stacks of chips.

The idea of the game is that you want to finish with the most victory points on the table when all the chips have been tossed.  Each chip is part of a faction (elves, goblins, centaurs, undead, and merfolk) and has special abilities that can help it knock out other chips or help your own chips.  This is a combination dexterity and tactical game that certainly requires some thought and manual skill.  I played the goblin stack and did well enough to win my match.  I must admit I had fun – fun enough to pick up a starter and a few boosters.  Hidden City Games also gave away starters in the give-away bags for Origins, so I was able to snag two more.  I think the game might be struggling in retail, which gives way to concerns about viability of the product going forward.  If you like dexterity games this one is worth a try.

Next up was a visit to the Rio Grande Games booth to try out their new release Thurn & Taxis.  I had the luck of playing with Randy Schmucker (gamed with him last year at GenCon), Randy’s wife, and John Butitta (regular Counter columnist), and being taught by Jay Tummelson himself.

This is a very attractive game, with the setting Germany and the theme delivering the mail.  Think Ticket to Ride with mail carriages instead of trains.  Comparisons aside, this game was fun and I will seriously consider purchasing it.  There seems to be less conflict and stress in the game than Ticket to Ride, though there is some competition to grab the scoring markers before someone else takes them.  If you want to learn more about the game, why not check out Scott’s detailed video?

I somewhat unwittingly fell into a strategy of “grab some points and end the game quickly”, taking the carriage master 3 times to work my way up the carriage progression and force the game to end.  I never built a route more than 5 segments long, and only managed to grab 3 regional scoring markers.  Still, I finished with the most points and had fun getting there.

After some lunch and a conference call for work, I went back upstairs to the CABS Board Room to try and squeeze in a game and say goodbye to folks before leaving for the airport.  I worked in a game of Can’t Stop (I couldn’t and lost) but the highlight was watching Glen Drover teach Age of Empires III.  I really wanted to get in on this game but alas I had but an hour before leaving for the airport.  I heard enough about the game to think that I’ll like it – a very euro feel to it, more so than even Age of Mythology.

That’s it for me this year – wish I had been able to spend the whole weekend there.  Thanks to Funagain Games for the badge, to Rick and Tom for hanging out with me so much on Wednesday, to Valerie and Tyler for hosting us for BBQ on Wednesday night, and to everyone that sat down to play some games with me.  Until next time…

I’ve got a Flickr photostream setup for the Origins photos I’m taking… I’ll just post a few photos here to highlight the games I played today.

I had a pure chance encounter with friend Jay Schindler, which was a very pleasant surprise.  Last I heard about Jay he was dealing with some serious heart issues but is on the path to recovery and well enough to attend the convention.

Jay and I sat down for a demonstration game of Cleopatra and the Society of Architects with Days of Wonder marketing guru Mark Kaufman.  I was prepared to be let down a bit based on feedback of heard, but the game was quite fun (though we didn’t finish).  It is hard not to pick up each DoW game given the production quality, and I think this would get played at home.

Saw a lot of Tempus being played.

I hooked up with designer Kevin Nunn on the show floor.  We played a prototype, had some dinner, and played a three-handed game of Ingenious.  Another very tight game that was resolved by 2nd and 3rd tie-breakers (I finished last this time).

The guys from Northstar Games ran a very enjoyable Wits & Wagers tournament.  My group (with Kevin Nunn and Rick Thornquist) was in the running after the first round but collapsed on the final question on the second round, taking us out of the running.  Good fun though – this is a great party game.

Last stop this evening was a prototype called North Dakota Cola War by JM Rasmus et al (JM gave our demo).  This is an Americanized area control game set in the cut-throat soda industry of North Dakota.  Very good game with some unbalanced special cards that we think can be fixed – we liked it enough that we want to try it again tomorrow.

Overall it was a fun second day – I was working in the morning but managed to spend time from noon to 10:30pm at the show.  The scale is quite a bit smaller than GenCon, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The show floor, however, is much less impressive.  Notably absent are the huge-scale setups from Wizards and Fantasy Flight.  Tomorrow I’ll enjoy about a half day there before flying back home in the early evening.

I’m able to mix some business with pleasure this week.  I’m here in Columbus, OH doing some customer visits but I’ll be able to squeeze in about 2 days at the Origins International Game Expo.  I’ve got some more work to do tomorrow morning, but starting Thursday afternoon I’m free for some gaming until late Friday afternoon when I fly back to Portland.

Tom Vasel and I made a date a few weeks ago to have dinner tonight.  We hooked up in the Board Room hosted by the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS) at about 4:30.  Also there was the omnipresent (and omniscient?) Rick Thornquist.  We chatted for a bit while Rick and some others wrapped up a game of GemBlo.  Tom’s been in country for about 2 weeks, spending his time up until now with family in Pennsylvania.  He returns across the Pacific to Korea in about a week.

Tom, Rick, and I then hopped in my car to drive over to Valerie Putman’s home for some fellowship and BBQ.  Met some interesting folks there, including the infamous Mr. Cranky and Jay Tummelson.

After dinner it was time to return to the gaming hall.  Rick, Michael Pennisi, and I sat down to try out the new Mayfair Games release Bison.  This is a tile-laying area majority game with some interesting elements.  The game is very action constrained (this is a Kramer / Kiesling game, after all) and has some bizarre scoring elements – it isn’t uncommon for the player that finished 3rd in the majority to score more points than the 2nd player.  It sort of made sense, and I’m interested in playing again to see how I can play better given a better understanding of the system.

The components are pretty nice, but the theme is pretty thin and the game feels abstract.  I was hoping for bison miniatures but I only saw cardboard tiles and wooden cubes.

Halfway through the game I was a bit turned off – it felt like a Colovini game with a touch of Trias.  It did improve as we finished and I’d like to try it again, though I doubt it will be a purchase.  We finished in a dead-heat with 26 points each, with Michael and I also in a tie for the tie-breaker.  We had identical scores, though he claimed since he had more bison points than I that he should win.

A rarity – we got in some family gaming this weekend!  After spending about 24 total hours on baseball fields this weekend (local tournament for both boys), I got some relief Sunday afternoon and managed to sit down and watch the US Open and play a game.  We pulled out a new acquisition – Winner’s Circle, the Face2Face games remake of Royal Turf.

Julie and Matthew had played this one before, but it was new to me and quite a good game. We played with the default rules where bets are open but only played two races.

The components are decent – I love the horses and the cards and board are decent quality, though my board had a printing smudge on one corner.  My only complaint, which is quite significant, is that it is quite hard to tell which horse matches which starting slot for the 3–4 horses that are close to a neutral grey.  I think I have some mild color blindess, but even Julie and the boys had problems at times figuring out which horse on the track matched which card.  Face2Face should have placed a number or some other matching / distinguishing mark on the horse to help keep everything straight – you shouldn’t have to work this hard when playing a game!

I suspect the hidden bet variant (including the zero bet chit) makes for a better game.

I first saw Axis & Allies Miniatures at GenCon 2005 and after hearing so-so playtest reports from Jacob and Matthew I decided to skip it.  Besides, it was near impossible to buy starter packs after the second day of the convention.

Last weekend KC, Rita, and I took a trip down to Medford / Ashland Oregon to spend some time with Jeff Deboer and the Funagain team.  We had a blast playing games (and prototypes), talking some business, and visiting the Funagain retail store.  I had a bit too much fun, walking away with about 8 or 9 purchased games.  On an impulse I picked up a starter and one booster of Axis & Allies Miniatures, and with Jacob eager to try it tonight we set out to play a quick scenario. He stayed up later than usual but with only 1.5 days of school left, no big deal.

We each chose 83 point armies.  Why 83?  Well, that’s all the armies the Axis could muster up with what I purchased.  As it was, I played the Axis with a blend of Germans, Japanese, and Romanians.  Jacob played the US, Brits, and Chinese.  So much for historic realism.  Guess I need to go out and buy more boosters.  Do you think that’s what WOTC wants me to do?

The game was quite fun – very simplistic combat system that I think we got mostly right.  There are no complex timing rules as damage is deferred to a casualty phase, though I suspect things might get dicey with some of the special abilities like most collectible games (no evidence to back that up yet).

Our armies were knocked down quickly – we each lost three of our starting 8 units in the first turn, and were down to 2 or 3 units each by the end of the second.  This was partly due to the fact that we both wanted to dive into combat to see what the game was about.  We still aren’t clear about the disruption / damage rules, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find some clarifications online.

I’m wondering if it would be worthwhile to pick up a set of commons and uncommons on eBay to get decent armies.  It looks like this can be done pretty cheaply (about $30 total).