ÿþ<html> <header> <title>My boardgame hobby - Sep to Nov 2006</title> </header> <body bgcolor="#FCFCCC"> <center><h2>My boardgame hobby - Sep to Nov 2006</h2></center> <HR> <table cellpadding=10><tr><td><u>Oct - Nov 2006</u></td></tr></table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061025_4099.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061025_4099.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18100">China</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>My colleagues Russ and Soong came to play during the Raya break (25 Oct 2006). Russ has played a few times before. First time for Soong (well, since the last time we've played Axis & Allies / Samurai Swords together many years ago). We played Lost Cities, China and Ticket To Ride. Now Soong is interested to get Ticket To Ride for his nieces/nephews. Good job to me in spreading the word!</p> <p><i>Russ, Soong</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061105_4171.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061105_4171.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8095">Prophecy</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>5 Nov 2006. Didn't manage to find any other kaki, so Han and I gave Prophecy a go. This is a role-playing game with a fantasy theme. You start with some basic capabilities, and go around killing monsters / fulfilling quests / meeting people / do training etc to make yourself stronger and smarter. The objective of the game is to collect artefacts (by defeating big mean monsters guarding them. </p> <p><i>The Paladin guy in the middle, that's me</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061105_4172.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061105_4172.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8095">Prophecy</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>In the standard game, to win you need to get 4 out of the 5 artefacts, which means even if you choose not to fight other players and focus on other monsters, you eventually will have to fight them in order to rob the artefacts from them (or they will fight you to take yours). We played with a variant - the first to get 3 artefacts win. So it's a slightly shorter game. </p> <p><i>I start with physical strength level 4 and willpower (also = magic power) at level 4. Those beautiful gems represent money (yellow), experience (green), strength (red) and willpower (blue).</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061105_4173.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061105_4173.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8095">Prophecy</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Han won the game with three artefacts against my two. I was slower to switch from "make myself stronger" mode to "race to get artefacts" mode. </p> <p><i>It's a very colourful board, and there are lots of cards! They represent events, weapons bought, monsters to fight, various encounters, skills to be learnt etc. The 5 artefacts and the 2 monsters guarding each of them (one big one small) are placed on those dark clouds near the edge of the board.</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4209.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4209.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284">Star Wars: Epic Duels</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>12 Nov 2006. Star Wars: Epic Duels is a quick, simple, fun game about, well, fighting! Each player controls a team of characters and your objective is to defeat the other player's main character. When playing with multiple teams, you need to defeat all your opponents' main characters. </p> <p><i>Team A: Darth Maul team + Anakin Skywalker team (Padme is the minor character) played by Han. Team B: Jango Fett team played by me (minor character is the female bounty hunter which was already killed by the time I took this photo) and Obiwan Kenobi team played by Chee Seng.</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4210.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4210.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284">Star Wars: Epic Duels</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Each turn is very simple. Roll a die to move (if desired), and take two actions. The two actions can be any combination of drawing a card, attacking (by playing a card), or healing (by discarding an unusable card). The cards consist of normal attack/defend cards (most have an attack and a defend value, but some have only an attack or only a defend value), and special cards which allow special actions, usually unique for the character. </p> <P>When being attacked, you can decide to try to defend by using a card from your hand (one with a defend value), or decide not to defend. The injury you take is opponent's attack value minus your defend value. </p> <p><i>Chee Seng and Han</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4211.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4211.JPG" width=280 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284">Star Wars: Epic Duels</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>You have one main character and one or two minor characters. Your card deck is about two thirds for the main character, and one third for the minor character(s). Cards can only apply for the character they are for. If that character is dead, they can be used to heal the other character (by one life point). </p> <p><i>Han (not Han Solo)</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4212.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4212.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284">Star Wars: Epic Duels</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>I quite like this game. Although sometimes you can be screwed by bad luck with your cards, this is a short and light game so no need to feel frustrated. There are twelve different teams, 6 teams are bad guys, 6 teams are good guys. But any team can fight any team, not necessarily good vs bad. And these characters are from all 6 Star Wars movies, from Luke Skywalker to Darth Vader, Darth Maul to Jango Fett.</p> <p><i>Cornered, literally</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4213.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4213.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284">Star Wars: Epic Duels</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>I had a terrible game playing Luke Skywalker. Chee Seng played Han Solo and was on the same side as me. Han played Emperor Palpatine and Ricky played Count Dooku and they were on the other side. Luke is strong offensively and weak in defence. Unfortunately he was the target of the Emperor's special powers and kept being forced to discard cards. So I spent my turns doing nothing much but drawing cards. Luke died young.</p> <p><i>The good friends happened to be on the same side - Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo. Naturally, Luke and Leia are one team and Han Solo & Chewbacca on the other. </i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4215.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4215.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3307">Wallenstein</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Wallenstein is a rare type among German games. It has war as the main theme. The background is the Thirty Years War (but in the game you only play 2 years). You get to build palaces, build churches, build trading houses, tax your people, harvest grain, build up your armies, and, of course, you get to wage war. At the end of each winter, you score victory points for each province you own, each building you own, and for having the most of each type of building within each of the five regions. So, in a way, this game is a lot about building, and conquering lands with buildings.</p> <p><i>Chee Seng, Han, Ricky. I had completed my planning for this round so I could take the photo.</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4216.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4216.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3307">Wallenstein</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>In each round you can execute up to ten actions, however each action can only be executed in one of your provinces. You plan secretly in which province you want to execute which action, or you may not execute an action at all (because you don't want to, or because you don't have enough provinces to do all actions, or you can't afford it). </p> <p><i>I can't play green in this game because green cubes represent unhappy peasants. The green counters indicate unhappy peasants, i.e. provinces which have been taxed or where grain has been confiscated for military purposes. If I were a peasant I'd be upset too!</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4217.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4217.JPG" width=280 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3307">Wallenstein</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>The order in which actions are executed is randomly determined each round. When you do your planning you only know the order of the first five actions. The order for the remaining five is unknown and will only be revealed one by one as the earlier actions are executed. So planning can be tricky. If you are counting on taxation to occur first so that you can use the money to raise troops, you plan will be foiled if the raise troops action turns up too early (or, worse still, your province gets conquered even before you can tax or raise troops).</p> <p><i>Ricky. "Damned... I can't train soldiers AND attack in the same round." </p><p>That's the cube tower in the foreground. This is a unique feature of this game. Battles are resolved by throwing attacking and defending armies (wooden cubes) into the tower. There are two platforms inside, with holes. Some cubes will get stuck in there, and some cubes stuck there previously may get knocked out. The winner of the battle is determined by who has more cubes coming out.</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4218.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4218.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3307">Wallenstein</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>We started the game with our positions mostly quite dispersed, especially Chee Seng's and mine. Ricky's provinces were slightly concentrated in the central region, and Han had more concentration in the west. I played the game in an opportunistic way - I didn't build much and tried to build up my army to conquer others' provinces with nice juicy buildings. I attacked whatever looked tempting, regardless of who it was, sometimes taking risks, and resulting in all buildings being destroyed (when the outcome of a battle is a draw, it means mutual destruction and all buildings will be destroyed). I probably made too many enemies. </p> <p><i>Early stage of the game. Han yellow, Ricky red, Chee Seng blue, me brown.</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061112_4220.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061112_4220.JPG" width=280 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3307">Wallenstein</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>I was the leader (by 1 point) in mid game, but my 2nd half went very badly. I ended up a distant third. Maybe I should have tried to consolidate my provinces and build a stronger power base, instead of being too opportunistic and going in all directions. Too many battles (whether launched by myself or others) destroyed my holdings.</p> <p><i>At end of the game. Han yellow winner, Ricky red 2nd place, me brown 3rd, Chee Seng blue last.</i></p> </td> </table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr><td><u>Sep - Oct 2006</u></td></tr></table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20060910_3605.JPG"><img src="hcs_20060910_3605.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15510">Tower of Babel</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Tower of Babel is about building the eight wonders of the world. Eight? Why eight? Well, in the game you will at most be able to build seven actually. The "eighth" wonder is the Tower of Babel. The other seven are the original seven wonders of the world. </p> <p>There are many interpretations of the seven wonders of the world, but the original list is actually only contains the wonders in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Later this list gets updated by different people, to contain other wonders like the Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, etc. But actually there is no definitive updated list (as far as I know). Only the original one is the definitive one. </p> <p><i>Michelle, Jeanne and Han</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20060910_3606.JPG"><img src="hcs_20060910_3606.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15510">Tower of Babel</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>The rules to the game are actually quite simple. On your turn you have two choices - to attempt to build a portion of a wonder, or not to do so. If you decide to attempt to build, then you will be asking contributions from others to assist you. Deciding whether to contribute, deciding to accept or to reject an offer, all have implications on scoring victory points. There are multiple ways of scoring. Despite the simple rules, I think this game is not for beginners. You need to see all the implications of your actions, and you have to watch what your opponents are doing. </p> <p>Some say the game is a bit boring, but I think it's alright. Having played it 5 times, I still can't say I've mastered the strategies. </p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20060913_3619.JPG"><img src="hcs_20060913_3619.JPG" width=280 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2596">Villa Paletti</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>When this game won the 2002 Spiel des Jahres award (the prestigious Game of the Year award in Germany), many people complained, because that year's favourite was Puerto Rico, which is still the Number 1 ranked game at www.boardgamegeek.com. Villa Paletti is a dexterity game, something like Jenga. Definitely very different from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a deep strategy game and Villa Paletti is a family / party / children's game. </p> <p>In this game players are building a structure. Each player has pillars in his/her own colour. As the pillars run out, you need to take your pillars from a lower level and move them to a higher level, so that you can build further up. Thus the structure gets more and more unstable. When it all comes falling down, the winner is determined by whoever has the highest valued pillars (different shaped pillars have different values) on the top floor just before the collapse. Of course, the person who caused the collapse automatically loses. </p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061008_3820.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061008_3820.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/23950">Viktory II</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Han brought Viktory II, his new purchase, on 8 Oct 2006. Kew, Lew and Theng were able to join us, so we went for this multiplayer wargame. It was the first time Lew and Theng visited my house.</p> <p>In Viktory II, you explore new lands, settle them by establishing towns, upgrade your towns to cities, build troops, and, of course, you fight. Like Risk, you win by killing off all your opponents. One thing special in this game is your troops don't die in battle. They get regenerated at the end of your turn. You only lose troops when you lose your cities / towns. So this game encourages fighting because you don't need to worry about exhausting your troops. </p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061008_3822.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061008_3822.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/23950">Viktory II</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Lew and Theng rallied everyone to fight Han from the start of the game. Poor Han, being their old friend and the game owner, was the target from the get-go. He had good starting terrain and played well, but was no match against 3 fronts (I was a bit further from him and didn't attack him much). </p> <p>I started my offensive when both Han and Kew were quite weakened. I attacked Lew, who was next to me. But it was no good. After the initial success, my gains were quickly lost as Lew counter-attacked with his stronger forces. Later after Lew and Theng have jointly eliminated Han, Theng betrayed his long time ally Lew. Lew being stuck between me (no threat to him but just slowed him down a little) and Theng (the strongest, after the very successful initial offensive), surrendered, and we called the game.</p> <p><i>Han, Kew, Lew, Theng</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061008_3823.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061008_3823.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/23950">Viktory II</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>"You take this city, and then I take this city"</p> <p><i>Lew, Theng</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061008_3825.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061008_3825.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/23950">Viktory II</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>My little green country and little green men in a corner, on a peninsula. Not good for expansion at the beginning of the game.</p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061016_3976.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061016_3976.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/72">Verrater / Traitor</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Playing Verrater (Traitor) in Kuching. This is a game I home-made, because it is out of print. I used a Chinese theme instead of the original Scottish highland theme. I used some pictures from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" PC game, some from the "Age of Empires II" PC game, and some from the "Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom" PC game. </p> <p>I did very poorly in this game. My score at the end of the game was exactly zero, nil, zip, kosong. </p> <P><i>Alicia, Chee Seng, Ricky, Cin Yee</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061016_3977.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061016_3977.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/72">Verrater / Traitor</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>Verrater (Traitor) is a bit simpler than Meuterer (Mutineer), its younger brother game, which I own. I downloaded a free computer version and tried it a few times, and liked it. So I decided to make it myself. However after that crushing defeat, I'm having a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe one problem with this game compared to Meuterer is that the alliances are less volatile. At most one person can be the traitor in any round. That's why I was stuck at the bottom - I always remained in the losing alliance. In Meuterer, only the captain has no choice. The other players can either start a mutiny (or help the mutineer), help the captain, or stay out of the fight. So, in terms of alliances Meuterer is more flexible. </p> <p>Well, maybe I've just played poorly and had I played better, would have got myself out of that hole. </p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061016_3978.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061016_3978.JPG" width=380 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/72">Verrater / Traitor</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>In Kuching for Ah An's wedding, I managed to play quite many games, with Chee Seng, Alicia, Ricky and Cin Yee. I brought Verrater, Bohnanza, Ca$h 'n Gun$, Sticheln and Pickomino. Chee Seng brought King Me and Saboteur. So happened that we had quite a few games with a "traitor" element, and thus the fun of double-guessing. Verrater, Ca$h 'n Gun$ (with the undercover cop variant) and Saboteur all had this element.</p> <p>Here's one description of one of our games of <a href="http://hiewchoksien.blogspot.com/2006/10/cah-n-gun.html">Ca$h 'n Gun$</a> at my blog. </p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061017_4015.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061017_4015.JPG" width=280 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11">Bohnanza</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>"I want your stink bean!"</p> <p><i>Alicia, Chee Seng</i></p> </td> </table> <table cellpadding=10> <tr> <td width=410><center><a href="hcs_20061017_4016.JPG"><img src="hcs_20061017_4016.JPG" width=280 border="0"></a><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11">Bohnanza</a></i></center></td> <td valign=top> <p>"You gotta trust me! I'm your husband. So of course you should trade with me instead of him."</p> <p><i>Ricky, Cin Yee</i></p> </td> </table> <hr> <center>Back to <a href="http://hecose.tripod.com/boardgame/boardgame.html">boardgame page</a><br> Back to <a href="http://choksienhiew.tripod.com">homepage</a></center> <hr> </body> </html>