Stalingrad

The last weeks gaming has been very different. First up Mudhoney came over to give the new Stalingrad expansion for Combat Commander a go. We are both keen Combat Commander players but there are so many games in our collections that it doesn't see the light that often.

Stalingrad gives you more scenarios, rules to cover urban combat and some more counters. All in not a bad little bundle, its just a tad over priced. We played the Sea Devils scenario which saw my rag tag band of Russians attempting to defend the important grain silo from the invading German Wehrmacht. I had less units but spread them over the center of the map and both flanks and awaited the impending assault. The game played really well, my troops were generally decimated but luck was with me. A couple of well placed mine cards and slung satchel charges took care of a few Germans and time event cards slowly brought the end closer. After a few hard fought incursions I had lost a few objective areas and the victory point marker was on 0. We were in sudden death and things were not looking to good for my comrades. Luckily another time event was pulled. I got 1 VP for defending and Mudhoney pulled a card. Sudden death was triggered and it was all over. I had scraped a win by 1 point. All in a great game and a lovely scenario, edge of your seat gaming.

Zooloretto has also been played twice in the last week. The first time with my 5yr old son who seemed to get it and lost by 3 points. Last night he wanted to play it again as did my youngest (3) and my wife was brought in to help out. She isn't a big gamer but after a couple of rounds had picked up the game. Things were going well with us all managing to fill our enclosures when the tiles started to turn bad. Well for me they were. I was being hosed by my kids.
Game ended with Noah winning by 2 points. Everyone enjoyed it so I am expecting it to be played more often.

I have managed to post two reviews on the IGUK blog, dominion my favorite new game and Army of Zero a new English designed and produced game. Give them a read when you have a few minutes.

Pitchcar arrives tomorrow, just in time for the gathering of POB on Friday. Festing pub in Southsea from 6:30PM if anyone is free.

I'm a villager!

Friday was an impromptu gathering at Mudhoney for some game time. It was a pretty good turnout with 9 of us eager to play some new games.
We split into a couple of groups with 5 playing Snow Tails. It's a game where players are each racing a team of huskies over a snow and ice covered course. I never played it but it looked like good fun.

I took the others off to teach them how to play Ubongo. Its a puzzle game that I have mentioned earlier and it went down really well. IT played fast enough for us to get two games in with me winning the first and Hannah winning the second. Four players was a lot more hectic than my previous 2 player goes. Scrabbling for gems after solving the puzzle was a lot more tricky.

As the others were still mushing there huskies we needed something else to play. Pandemic was to hand so the four of us attempted to save the world, but failed. The outbreaks just game to fast at the end of the game with black and blue cubes multiplying across Europe at an astonishing rate. We managed to get 3 cures but not the last one. A good game but you can't always win them.

By now everyone had finished playing and as there was a decent enough number of players Werewolf was suggested. I quite like Werewolf, in fact it was shown to me the first time I met up with the POB crowd. My comment of "I'm not a Villager" always bring a laugh. I wasn't a villager but the seer. My ineptitude at the game had my strung up by the villagers then but times have changed.
We played 4 games of Werewolf and the furry killers managed to win 3 of them. I was the seer in the last game and immediately told the rest of the players who I was and who a villager was in the first day. I knew I was setting myself up to die but I really wanted the villagers to win for a change. I didn't die that night as the werewolves wanted to sow some seeds of doubt into the mix but on the second night I was pushing daisies. Too late for our silver phobic friends they were outed that day.

All in, a good night gaming with a variety of games being played.

Ubongo, Ubongo they play it in the jungle!

Lastest purchase was a used copy of Ubongo. It's been on my games radar for a while and after a recent episode of the spiel I ramped up my effort to grab a copy.
I have not bought a used game before, I like that new game smell and unpunching cardboard bits but as Ubongo has been out of print for a while I had no choice.

Ubongo is a puzzle game and a type of game that I have not played before. Basically users race to use Tetris shaped pieces to cover a pattern on a board. Sounds easy but when you are under pressure it can get a bit tricky.
After you have finished your puzzle you have to yell Ubongo! then move your player piece on a board and grab a couple of coloured jewels. Player with the most of a single colour wins.

The rules are all pretty simple and there is a fair bit of re playability in the game. It's also nice and quick. I managed to get 3 games in over lunch today against Dobbie. Both enjoyed the game as we are pretty competitive.

I have heard that there is a reprint by Z-Man games later this year which is good news as its a great game and something different from the more mainstream types of games.

Otherwise gaming has been pretty good. Dominion has hit the table again and this game just gets better. There are still cards that I haven't played before and combo's to be put together. I keep promising a review on IGUK but the game is getting played too much.

I also managed to get a face to face game of Tigris in. This game has had me puzzled for ages. It's one of those games that I really wanted to play but after a couple of online attempts I just didn't get it. Face to Face changed this (Thanks Hannah & Ed) and I now understand the rules enough to actually play the game. Winning is a different manner but a few more games and this may change.

POB is having a mini meet this week so more games to be played, unless we get snowed in.

Gaming in Year 2009

So a new year is upon us and I am sure there is a whole raft of games out there waiting to hit the shelves and make a dent in my pocket. So what am I looking forward to in this year?

Well, I think this year is going to be all about expansions. I know that there is going to be an expansion for Pandemic some time this year so that is definitely going to be of interest to me.
A expansion for Command & colours Ancients that add scenarios about the Rome civil war also gets a nod.
Formula D is going to get some new tracks which should be fun and probably needed by at least March. There is only so many times you can go around Monaco.
Dominion is my latest purchase and I will be putting up a review on the IGUK site later and this is literally been made for expansions. I can see a couple coming this year, especially as the base game is doing so well.

As for full games, Days of Wonder is teasing us with images of factions for something. Amazons, Skeletons, Orcs. All sounds interesting but not sure what it all means.
We shall just have to wait and see, but knowing Days of Wonder I am sure its going to be good.

Gaming recently has been very good, I managed to play Battlestar Galactica this week and it was a huge amount of fun. I played the Chief character and while repairing vipers managed to win/loose the game by sending the rest of the fleet towards the attacking cylons. Much to the surprise of the human players. Yep, I was a cylon and it was great fun seeing the look on there faces.
Dominion continues to take center stage, mainly due to its quick play time, easy to teach rules and mainly because its on BSW.

So, keep an eye out on the Days of Wonder site, somethings brewing and watch your back for anyone with red eyes. They have either been playing Dominion till the early hours or are a frakkin toaster.

Indigo growing F1 drivers

Wednesday night saw Dobbie and Moley over for a few hours gaming. I had planned to teach them Puerto Rico, my new favorite game. I had missed Puerto when it was realease and it just sort of fell by the wayside.

After explaining the rules the game started and the others picked up the rules and the way the game plays quite quickly. The colonist supply started to drain very quickly due to lots of building large process buildings. Dobbie setup a good trade route with repeated use of the captain role. Moley managed a fair bit of trading but was slow to apply manpower to his wharf and harbour.
I went for a mixed building and shipping plan. Just enough shipping to get a few points but built a couple of the larger VP buildings.
end score was me on 42, Dobbie 40 and Moley on 30. A good game.

Next up was Pandemic, another new game for Dobbie. The initial spread of virus's was harsh. Black was very concentrated along with red. Outbreaks were rife for the first quarter of the game but we managed to cure blue and eradicate it. By then Moley the medic had calmed down Black and we were making good work against Red. Cures for Red and black came next. Yellow had been ignored up until now and was started to spread. All hands to the deck and a bit of card trading and a cure was in site. We finally won the game with 6 outbreaks, a good session with a few tense bits and it felt like we had worked hard to win the game.

Finally Formula D hit the table, basic rules on the Monaco track. Two cars each and lots of dice rolling to be done. Moley initially stormed into the lead while the middle pack kept together. Dobbie and Moley both had a trailing car but half way through the game Dobbies had caught up with the middle pack. By now we realised that pushing your car through a corner for WP damage was not the end of the world so the last third of the track saw some crazy dice rolling and damage. Unfortunately it was all a bit too much for Moleys trailing car and he crashed on the second to last corner. It was all down to first place and a just high enough dice roll from me clinched the win.

All in a good evening of gaming, plus a copy of Dominion to open. But more on that later.

Christmas Gaming

Didn't get a huge amount of gaming in over the Christmas period. Mainly because we did a fair bit of visiting and the Xbox 360 was used maybe a bit too much.

Anyway, new additions to the gaming libary are

• Puerto Rico, my BGG Secret Santa present. I was a bit suprised to recieve it but after playing it I absolutely love it and want to give it another go asap.
• Dungeon Twister Expansion #1, I love Dungeon Twister but find it hard to get opponents to play against. I am hoping that new character may spark a bit of enthusiasm into the game again.
• Munchkin, I used to play D&D allot and this game looks like it could be fun.
• Formula D, The new Asmodee version. Components look fantastic and I have given it a quick game against the wife. Really enjoyed it and look forward to giving it a go against more players.

Hopeing to get more gaming in over the next week, and I will try to blog a bit more on whats going on.
Also expect more game reviews on the IGUK blog.

Vikings Tournament at IGUK

New Tourney is up, so join up if you want to win £10 store credit.