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  • Members: 1125
  • Category: Board Games
  • Founded: Jul 2, 2000
  • Language: English
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#27218 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue May 1, 2007 5:58 pm
Subject: NEXUS @ Yale University, 5/1/2007, 8:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   NEXUS @ Yale University
 
Date:   Tuesday May 1, 2007
Time:   8:00 pm - 12:00 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week until Wednesday May 9, 2007.
Location:   WLH - Harkness Hall on College St.
Street:   Harkness Hall - College St.
City State Zip:   New Haven, CT
Notes:   Yale's undergraduate game club playing EuroGames, CCG's and RPG's - weekly.
 
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#27219 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue May 1, 2007 11:00 pm
Subject: MVGA session - Open to All, 5/3/2007, 7:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   MVGA session - Open to All
 
Date:   Thursday May 3, 2007
Time:   7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 1 day, 1 minute.
Notes:   Merrimack Valley Gamers Assoc. sessions at the Masonic Hall in Holliston. See the doc file in the files area for directions.

And contact Walter Hunt with questions.
 
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#27220 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed May 2, 2007 10:32 pm
Subject: Danger Planet - Open Gaming, 5/3/2007, 6:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Danger Planet - Open Gaming
 
Date:   Thursday May 3, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 11:30 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Open gaming at Danger Planet in Waltham.

The group meets every Thursday night at Danger Planet starting at around 6:30pm. The current attendance runs anywhere from 10 to 15 participants so there are usually two or more games running at a time. There is ample opportunity for latecomers to jump into games and most of the participants play on to 11pm or later. The type of games run the gamut of strategy board games from games like El Grande or Tikal on the 'deeper' side, to Wiz-war or Bohnanza on the 'lighter' side. We encourage folks to bring games they want to try out.
 
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#27221 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed May 2, 2007 11:03 pm
Subject: MVGA session - Open to All, 5/3/2007, 7:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   MVGA session - Open to All
 
Date:   Thursday May 3, 2007
Time:   7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Merrimack Valley Gamers Assoc. sessions at the Masonic Hall in Holliston. See the doc file in the files area for directions.

And contact Walter Hunt with questions.
 
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#27222 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed May 2, 2007 11:27 pm
Subject: FRAGS - Framingham Gamers Society, 5/3/2007, 7:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   FRAGS - Framingham Gamers Society
 
Date:   Thursday May 3, 2007
Time:   7:30 pm - 1:00 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Meeting at Matt's in Framingham from around
7:30 to 1:00 am every Thursday. Admission is free.
All are welcome. For more information, feel free to email Matt - Muttstain@...
 
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#27223 From: "tyromag" <tyromag@...>
Date: Thu May 3, 2007 5:45 pm
Subject: May Wizkids Games at Magic Dragon and Hobby Bunker
tyromag
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hi gamers,
    just to let interested players know that I've posted the May
Schedule of games at Magic Dragon in Arlington, Ma and Hobby Bunker in
Malden, MA at the BostonClickers group:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/bostonclickers/cal

and just as an FYI if your a clicker like our small group, Magic Dragon
will be running the Galactus event.  If you think you may be interested
in that, please, contact the venue at magicdragon307@... and let
them know since these events are sealed and we need to make sure
there's enough product avail for players.

Larry :)

#27224 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu May 3, 2007 9:11 pm
Subject: Bridgewater Open Gaming Session, 5/4/2007, 5:15 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Bridgewater Open Gaming Session
 
Date:   Friday May 4, 2007
Time:   5:15 pm - 3:15 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Weekly games at Cole Hall 15 Cedar St Bridgewater, MA. hosted by Scholars' (800) 823-1712. Hall entry fee $2.00. Coupon to each player 35% off next purchase of game.
 
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#27225 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu May 3, 2007 10:59 pm
Subject: MIT Games Society, 5/4/2007, 7:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   MIT Games Society
 
Date:   Friday May 4, 2007
Time:   7:00 pm - 1:00 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   We play boardgames, and have a huge library. The MIT SGS has been running on Friday nights starting at 7pm for over 20 years.

Recently, we've been playing San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Marco, RA, Third Reich, Aquire, Power Grid, Wizard, Union Pacific and, as always, lots and lots of Titan.

Good directions to our room at MIT at our web site:

http://www.mit.edu/activities/sgs/

We continue to meet during the summer months -- we don't miss a Friday Night!

Open to all.
 
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#27226 From: "brosiuse" <public.brosius@...>
Date: Sat May 5, 2007 6:40 pm
Subject: [SR] MVGA Holliston 2007-04-19
brosiuse
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MVGA meets Thursday nights at 7pm in the
Masonic Hall in Holliston, on Route 16 just
east of the center of town. Turn north on
Church Place (which is more a driveway than
a street) to find parking.  Look for us in
the room at the back of the hall.

We welcome visitors.  The Masons generously
stopped charging us for the space, so there
is no longer a $3.00 fee for anyone!


Roll call:
Anton, Eric, Rich, Dan, Ian, Walt


NOTRE DAME
(Anton, Ian, Walt)

We're now meeting every week in the room at
the back of the Masonic Hall.  As an added
bonus, we are no longer required to pay for
the space, so we've ended the $3.00 fee!  It
was school vacation week, so Dan brought his
son Ian, and we had 6 players on hand.  There
were a number of new games we wanted to try,
so instead of looking for a 6-player game, we
split into two groups of 3.

One group decided to play Notre Dame.  Though
the game is not out yet, Rich won an almost
finished pre-production copy, so we're getting
the chance to play it before most of the rest
of the western hemisphere.  Eric, Rich and Dan
had played Notre Dame the previous week, so we
let the other 3 players have a shot this week.

When you play Notre Dame for the first time, some of the concepts
present difficult decisions.  The park, with dual plague fighting
and victory point amplifying roles, is especially hard to evaluate.
In this game, Ian started in with the park early, at the cost of
building up his economy.  Chip collection was fairly even, as Ian
took three chips and the others took four each.  Despite the varied
strategies, it was looking like a close game for most of the way.

In the final set of rounds, however, Anton somehow managed to be
the sole donor in Notre Dame.  This gave him the VP for his gift,
and the 8 VP for being the only one to donate.  As a result, Anton
won by a wide margin as Walt and Ian were close at the back.  Even
though it's hard to keep that Notre Dame card, it can be fatal to
let it go, because it's a huge advantage to be the only one who
contributes.

Final scores:  Anton 51, Ian 43, Walt 42.

Eric's rating:  8.  I continue to enjoy Notre Dame.  I haven't latched
on to any one strategy yet, though I have little fondness for the wild
card district except under desperate circumstances (perhaps that's how
it's meant to be used.)  One disappointment is that the implementation
of Notre Dame on BSW doesn't work on a Mac.


PILLARS OF THE EARTH
(Eric, Rich, Dan)

It's been a while since we've had two games going at once, but with Ian
on hand, we had 6 gamers.  Actually, we had 7 people present, as Walt had
brought his daughter, Aline, but she was only staying until her mother
was able to pick her up, so she didn't join a game.  For our other game
we chose Pillars of the Earth, a Euro game adaptation of the Ken Follett
novel.  This game has a beautiful board, depicting the environs of a
medieval cathedral that is under construction.  At the start of each turn
you place a wooden cathedral piece, and when the cathedral is built, you
know it's the sixth and last turn.

In each turn of Pillars of the Earth, you begin by gathering raw materials
to use in construction (sand, wood and stone cubes.)  You then send your
master builders to different spots on the board to carry out different
missions.  Finally, the missions are carried out in order (similar to the
way the buildings are resolved in Caylus.)  There are no auctions in
Pillars of the Earth;  players choose items in order, but the order in
which the master builders are placed is innovative.  All of the master
builders are placed in a bag and drawn out one by one.  When one of your
master builders comes out, you may either pay to place it right away or
pass and get a free placement at the end.  Money is tight, so you have to
decide when it's most critical to grab that key spot for your master
builder.

Rich was first player, and during the first raw material phase he passed up
his first acquisition opportunity to take the craftsman that allows you to
sell wood cubes for 4 gold each.  The game is somewhat scripted, in that
there are four craftsmen that come out in Round 1, four that come out in
Round 2, and so forth, but of the four craftsmen for each round, two are
randomly selected to be available for purchase during the raw materials
phase while the other two are placed on the board where they can be taken
for free if you place a master builder on the corresponding spot (of course,
you may have to pay to place the master builder.)  This turned out to be
a good move for Rich, who was able to dispel money problems throughout the
game by selling wood.

Dan and Eric had no easy solution to their money problems.  Dan made an
early trip to the market where he sold a load of stone cubes to raise money,
but he ran out anyway toward the end of the game.  Eric tried to pinch
pennies, but as a result, he was often forced to pass while Dan and
especially Rich paid to place their master builders in attractive spots.
Eric got off to a big lead early, but as a result of his poverty, he lost
ground turn after turn until at the end of Round 5 the score was Rich 35,
Eric 33, Dan 33.

In the final round, two metal were available, one from the tax collector
and the other from a free card.  Eric greedily grabbed both, but this cost
him the opportunity to take the organ builder (a craftsman that pays 6 VP
for a metal and a wood) and also left him without the sand he needed to
keep his glass blower busy.  None of the big VP craftsmen operated on the
final turn, but Rich had the capacity to turn many common raw materials
into VPs and won going away.

Final scores:  Rich 53, Eric 46, Dan 39.

Eric's rating:  8.  I've played Pillars of the Earth about ten times now,
and although it's a beautiful game that's fun to play, I'm wondering whether
the play isn't a bit channeled.  If I don't find that there are alternate
strategies, I fear that my rating may drop to '7', which is still a good
rating, but one that's much more common among the games I've played.


GUATEMALA CAFE
(Anton, Ian, Walt)

The Notre Dame game finished before Pillars of the Earth, so the three Notre
Dame players moved on to Guatemala Cafe, a new game that's been getting a
lot of favorable press.  In Guatemala Cafe, you take turns placing coffee
workers and storage sheds in various colors on a stylized map.  When a
scoring token is played for a color, you score for each worker you have
placed in that color, as long as you have a connecting shed.  It's possible
to multiply the points you earn for a color if your operation is connected
by road to a port that has one or more boats of the matching color.  The
unusual feature of this game is the method by which you determine your
options.  There is a second board (with a map of Guatemala) that contains
workers, sheds, ships and scoring tokens on a squared grid.  A pawn moves
around a track on the outside of this board.  On your turn you move the
pawn and select three pieces from the row or column in which the pawn ends
its move.  This allows you to restrict the options of the player who follows
you in the turn order by placing the pawn in a particular position.

In this game, Walt built his plantations high in the mountains, far from the
ports in areas where land was cheap.  Ian and Anton built closer to the
ports, spending more money.  When the two of them constructed roads from
their own plantations to the ports, Walt took advantage of their efforts,
extending the roads just a bit further and sharing the bonuses for being
connected to the ports.  This gave him a comfortable victory in a short
game (one color was not built by anyone.)

Final scores:  Walt 41, Anton 31, Ian 19.

Eric's rating:  5.  Guatemala Cafe has some clever ideas, but I don't enjoy
extremely tactical games in which your options are determined by your right
hand neighbor.  My preferences aren't typical, however, as can be seen by
the high ratings awarded to games like Torres and Tikal.


YSPAHAN
(Eric, Rich, Dan)

When Pillars of the Earth was finished, Eric briefly considered leaving
early, but agreed to stay for a quick game of Yspahan.  Rich is always a
threat in cube-placement games, and he ran away with this one as we piled
up unusually high scores.  Eric was delighted when he rolled 5 camels on
Tuesday of the first week, but Rich topped this with 7 camels on Monday
of the second week!  Rich put quite a few cubes into Vase-tria, the most
difficult area to access, but one with high payoffs.  He also got the
building that gives 2 VP extra for each region scored, and this building
paid off for him big time.

Eric tried to make the caravan strategy work, but with little help from
Dan or Rich, he only scored 10 VP in the final scoring, with lesser amounts
at the end of the first two weeks.  Dan was far behind early in the game,
but he came back with several strong cards to finish in a respectable
second place.

Final scores:  Rich 102, Dan 90, Eric 80.

Eric's rating:  8.  Yspahan packs a lot of play into a 40 minute time
frame.  It seems like a game with a lot of luck, but this is misleading.
I've played it a dozen times, but I have a strong suspicion that I don't
really understand how to play well yet.  There's no doubt that luck plays
a role, but I think the better player will win significantly more often.


Eric Brosius

#27227 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun May 6, 2007 10:29 am
Subject: File - Unity Games Etiquette.txt
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Unity Games Etiquette - REVISED January 25, 2006

This is an auto-post... Please read carefully so that the UG list is a more
efficient place for both posters and readers.

The number of posts for the Unity Games list has grown rather substantially in
the past months and so here are a few tips to help those who feel a bit lost
under the weight of the emails.

1. When posting to the Unity Games list, try to keep your subject lines in tune
with the content of your message.  If you reply to one email but the subject
starts to drift, please feel free to change the subject line to reflect the new
topic.  This makes it much easier for those reading to filter on the subjects
that interest them most.

2. When posting to the Unity Games list, try to cut down on the unnecessary
quoted text (text from the person you are replying to).  This is especially true
of the boiler-plate Unity Games material that is appended to every posted
message.  It's hard to read these messages with lots of extra quoted text -
especially in digest mode.  The number of messages has grown substantially
lately and not everyone can keep up - so please be judicious in cutting out text
in replies.

3. If the number of messages is getting to you (!!), feel free to go into digest
mode where you receive one message a couple times each day containing a digest
of all posts.  You get the same information, but slightly delayed.  There is
also web-based browsing of the group where you can read the messages online (and
get no emails).  You can configure this at the Unity Games homepage (see below
for the link - use the Edit My Membership option from the UG homepage) or you
can send a message to Unity_Games-owner@yahoogroups.com and we can do it for
you.  If you decided to stay in email mode, be aware that most good email
clients allow you to filter your incoming messages and file them away in a
folder different from your "inbox".  You can easily search on the word
"[Unity_Games]" which appears in every message from the list and use that to
trigger storing your messages in a convenient folder for later viewing.

4. To help people filter on content that is most appropriate for them, please
use the following tags in your subject lines (the braces should be included to
make the tag stand-out for filtering):

[OT] - For posts which are off topic.
[SA] - For Session Announcements (the auto-poster uses "Reminder from the
Calendar of Unity_Games" as the first line).
[SR] - For Session Reports and games played during local Sessions.
[GR] - For Game Reviews.
[META] - for discussions on or about the UG list.

Posts without a tag will be for general game-related discussions, asking about
sessions, discussions of the big Unity Games days, etc. If you miss using a tag,
don't follow up the post with an apology - just let it slide and hopefully
anyone responding will add a tag if needed. Again, most general discussion can
go tag-less. This will go a long way to allowing people to filter on the UG
content.  Remember, all UG posts will have the "[Unity_Games]" tag automatically
applied so these additional tags are used to filter and sort within Unity Games
content.

5. Speaking of off-topic posts... Please try to keep these to a minimum. 
General game discussion is fine but the list has gotten large enough that
off-topic comments (even if short) can overpower and bury the reader as they
might not have time to read everything. I've gotten emails from people who have
missed event announcements buried around lots of off-topic or only marginally
game related postings.  Posting short semi-off-topic or humorous follow-ups to
messages is perfectly fine - just cut down on the original post as much as
possible to keep the read-time short for others.

6. We do allow occasional game-related for-sale or for-trade messages as well.
These should be only for personal trade/sell game-related items and should not
be too frequent - do not flood the list with personal sales emails.  If you have
more than one item for sale/trade, consider posting them together in a single
discrete email.  Do not conduct your sales on the UG list - after the initial
post please keep all excahnges/haggles off-list in private email.  Basically, a
good use of this is when someone wants to clean out thier closet and sell/trade
games to local friends to save on shipping, hassle, etc.  Mentioning bargains
found at a store you have no affiliation with is fine (and encouraged!).  We
currently do not allow any auctions on this forum (either direct auctions or
links to auctions at another site like ebay) and we do not allow posts from
commercial sources (stores or other related parties).

Taking the time to read and understand these steps will make reading the UG list
more enjoyable for everyone.  Thanks!

To configure into digest mode or to change any of your settings, you can visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unity_Games

Our main homepage is now at http://www.unitygames.org

--
Dave Bernazzani
daveber@...

#27228 From: <harald@...>
Date: Sun May 6, 2007 4:02 pm
Subject: Renaissance Faire Jun 2-3, 9-10
haraldmjh
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Announcing the Silver <http://www.kingdomfestival.com/>  Kingdom Renaissance
Festival on June 2-3 and 9-10 in Charlton, Massachusetts !



Check out all the great attractions:



* A superb lineup of artists and entertainers
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/entertainment.html>  to enthrall and amuse
you throughout the whole day - see the schedule
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/schedule.html>  at
http://www.kingdomfestival.com/schedule.html, with different shows every
day!



* A fine selection of nigh 40 merchants
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/merchants.html>  with wares both fair and
wondrous - at http://www.kingdomfestival.com/merchants.html



* A generous bounty of delectables
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/food.html>  to satisfy your palate and to
quench your thirst - see the list at
http://www.kingdomfestival.com/food.html



* A prize-studded tournament
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/boffertourney.html>  of combat to dazzle you
with the contestants' skill - see the rules and sign up yourself for a
chance at the great prizes at
http://www.kingdomfestival.com/boffertourney.html



* A day of adventure and fantasy
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/aththefaire.html> , as you witness the
happening in the Kingdom, and can partake directly in the action if you wish
- read the rules of participation at
http://www.kingdomfestival.com/aththefaire.html



* A children <http://www.kingdomfestival.com/garden.html> 's garden to
delight little guests with games and crafts - they can cross the obstacle
course, fight the invisible knight, and practice target shooting





All this and more located conveniently
<http://www.kingdomfestival.com/directions.html>  close at I-84 and I-91 in
Charlton, Mass - see directions at
http://www.kingdomfestival.com/directions.html



Pre-register <http://www.kingdomfestival.com/Prepay.html>  for tickets at
http://www.kingdomfestival.com/Prepay.html and simply check in at the
entrance gate



We look forward to seeing you on June 2-3 and 9-10!







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#27229 From: "brosiuse" <public.brosius@...>
Date: Sun May 6, 2007 7:40 pm
Subject: [SR] MVGA Holliston 2007-04-26
brosiuse
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MVGA meets Thursday nights at 7pm in the
Masonic Hall in Holliston, on Route 16 just
east of the center of town. Turn north on
Church Place (which is more a driveway than
a street) to find parking.  Look for us in
the room at the back of the hall.

We welcome visitors.  The Masons generously
stopped charging us for the space, so there
is no longer a $3.00 fee for anyone!


Roll call:
Anton, Eric, Rich, Dan, Walt


BOGGLE MASTER
(Anton, Eric, Rich)

Anton typically brings a bag of games out to
MVGA, and more often than not there's a word
game or two in the mix.  We play word games
only infrequently at MVGA, and as Eric and
Anton were walking in, Anton commented that
we probably wouldn't play any of his games.
If a person brings a game in his bag, it only
makes sense that he wants to play it, so Eric
offered to give it a whirl.  Before we could
start, Rich arrived, so we played a 3-player
game (just one set of cubes and one egg timer
flip.)

Boggle is a game in which you form words using
letter cubes in a square grid.  You begin by
shaking the plastic container and allowing the
cubes to settle into the grid at random.  The
original game includes 16 cubes in a 4x4 grid,
but Boggle Master (also known as Big Boggle)
has 25 cubes in a 5x5 grid.  You spell each
word by tracing from cube by cube, vertically,
horizontally or diagonally.  Words must have
at least 4 letters.  When the three minutes
are up, you compare lists, striking out any
word that's also on an opponent's list.  You
then score 1 VP for a 4-letter word, 2, 3 or 5
VP for a 5-, 6- or 7-letter word, respectively,
or a whopping 11 VP for a word that has 8 or
more letters.

We shook the dice, flipped the 3-minute timer, and began to jot
words down.  When the time was up we compared lists.  Anton had
focused on 4-letter words;  he had 8 of them left after striking
out duplicates, together with one 5-letter word for a total of
10 VP.  Rich had a mixture of 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-letter words, but
all his smaller words duplicated words on Anton's list.  Worse,
Rich had mis-read an 'N' as a 'Z'.  As you may imagine, the 'Z'
was much less useful than the 'N' would have been in forming words.
Eric found a string that spelled out 'I-N-G' in one corner, and he
exploited that suffix relentlessly, topping his list off with
"CIPHERING" for 11 VP in a single word.

Final scores:  Eric 31, Rich 11, Anton 10.

Eric's rating:  6.  Boggle Master is an enjoyable word game.  It may
have been an advantage for me to play with opponents I had never played
with before---only two of my words were stricken because of duplication.
I'm not a big word game fan, but this is one of the better ones of the
genre.


EL GRANDE
(Anton, Eric, Rich, Dan, Walt)

By the time we finished one 3-minute game of Boggle Master, Dan and Walt
had arrived to increase our number to 5.  We discussed alternatives and
chose El Grande, a game that's perfect for 5 players.  It's common wisdom
that Rich is a master at the game, but each of the others has won El Grande
at MVGA as well, so there was no reason to think it would be easy.

The cards on display for Round 1 were not particularly attractive, and Eric
won first choice with a '9' card.  He saw the scoring card for fewest cubes
in a region and chose "move the King," placing single cubes in two empty
regions in an attempt to share the wealth.  This failed to pay off, as the
scoring card went untaken until the end of the turn, when Anton killed it
rather than allow opponents to score.  This left the score markers at '0'
after one round.  It was a different story in the second round, as Dan and
Rich shot out to a big lead.  Eric began to regret not grabbing a few VPs
in Round 1 as his marker sat on '0' until the scoring at the end of Round 3.

First scoring:  Rich 38, Dan 37, Anton 29, Walt 27, Eric 20.

One of the cards you have to watch out for in El Grande is the card that
sends all cubes in players' courts back to the provinces.  We began to
accumulate large numbers of cubes in the courts in the mid-game, and some
of us were sitting ducks for this card, but it didn't show up.  As a result
of the surplus cubes, a number of players laid down their '12' and '13'
power cards early, deciding it didn't make sense to wait for the 1-13 play
at the end.  Rich didn't have that many cubes on the board (at least, he
didn't have more than everyone else,) but they were well placed, and he
widened his edge over Dan by the end of Round 6.

Second scoring:  Rich 70, Dan 63, Eric 59, Anton 52, Walt 52.

The final stages of El Grande often feature an attempt to rein in the
leader, but somehow we couldn't get our mitts on Rich, as he left Dan in
the dust at the finish.  Dan scored the "first place in every region" card
for good points, but Rich earned almost as many points from this card as
Dan did, ruining any chances we may have had to catch him.  The "cubes back
to the provinces" card never showed up, though by the end it wouldn't have
made any difference.

Final scores:  Rich 111, Dan 99, Eric 94, Walt 89, Anton 76.

Eric's rating:  10.  El Grande is a tactical game, a strategic game and a
psychological game.  If you can convince an opponent it's futile to try to
catch you, as Rich did here, your lead is a lot safer.  I never feel that
a game of El Grande was decided by luck, though it's clear that there is a
luck element in the flip of the cards and the random targeting of cubes
from the castillo.


TICKET TO RIDE
(Anton, Eric, Rich, Dan, Walt)

It was too early to pack it in for the night, but we couldn't play a long
game (Anton in particular has a long drive home.)  We hadn't played Ticket
to Ride since December 7, and we wanted to use the new '1910' expansion we
picked up a few months ago, so we set up the USA map and pulled the 1910
cards out of the expansion.  We decided to add the four Mystery Train cards
from the expansion deck as well, giving us a set of tickets that differed
from the standard deck we've played so often.

You know it's going to be a tough game when you play with 5 players, even
on the relatively open USA map, and this game was no exception.  The east
filled up quickly, with all of the routes to New York and Washington taken
in the first few placements.  There was an amusing episode in the Pacific
Northwest.  Anton took the 1-space link from Portland to Seattle, Eric took
the link from Seattle to Vancouver, and Rich also took Seattle to Vancouver.
Anton wanted to visit Vancouver, so he had to connect via Calgary, but no
one blocked him so he was able to do so.

Eric stayed out of the crowd in the Northeast.  He not only kept all three
of his starting tickets, but he drew new tickets almost immediately and kept
two of those, giving him five.  Eric built a number of disconnected links
in the Midwest and West.  Gradually the crowded area moved west from the
New York area to St. Louis and Kansas City, and despite the poker faces we
knew there had to be some unhappiness as routes were blocked.

It was well into the mid-game, and every player drew new tickets,hoping to
score something without a lot of work (when this ploy works well, you get a
ticket you have already connected for free points.)  There was a little bit
of shooting involved as it seemed every player thought he was behind and had
to get lucky to win (surely someone must have been in the lead!)  Anton
moved south from Portland to Los Angeles.  We all maneuvered to connect our
scattered networks, though we didn't all succeed.  Eric grabbed several
locomotives near the end and used them to play a few long stretches, using
up all his trains and ending the game.  There was some sighing as players
gave up trying to finish routes and grabbed points instead.

As we counted our track and scored our tickets we learned that Eric had a
ticket for Washington DC that he had abandoned when all the routes were
blocked early.  No one had been able to see that he had taken this hit.  Anton
realized that his last build, from Santa Fe to El Paso, would have completed
a 12 VP ticket if he had built it from Los Angeles to Las Vegas instead.  It's
important to remember what tickets you hold when you play Ticket to Ride!
This caused a 24-VP swing that cost Anton the victory in a game that was
a lot closer than it looked.

Final scores:

Eric 106 = 76 track + 30 tix
Rich 102 = 69 track + 33 tix
Anton 88 = 52 track + 21 tix + 15 most tix
Dan_ 85 = 55 track + 30 tix
Walt 67 = 44 track + 23 tix

Eric's rating:  8.  I enjoy the standard Ticket to Ride game and rules more
than any of the newer versions, but the new tickets create more uncertainty
and eliminate the unfortunate consequences of knowing there's only a single
ticket that connects to San Francisco (for example) in the original game.
When we play, there's always a feeling of tension as one player rushes to
get to the end while others try to squeeze in one last ticket.


Eric Brosius

#27230 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun May 6, 2007 10:25 pm
Subject: South Shore Gamers @ B&N, 5/7/2007, 6:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   South Shore Gamers @ B&N
 
Date:   Monday May 7, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 12 hours, 4 minutes.
Notes:   South Shore Gamers @ Walpole B&N Cafe. Games, food, friends! All are welcome. Email daveber@... with any questions!
 
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#27231 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon May 7, 2007 10:25 am
Subject: South Shore Gamers @ B&N, 5/7/2007, 6:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   South Shore Gamers @ B&N
 
Date:   Monday May 7, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   South Shore Gamers @ Walpole B&N Cafe. Games, food, friends! All are welcome. Email daveber@... with any questions!
 
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#27232 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon May 7, 2007 9:03 pm
Subject: Ye Olde Gaming Society, 5/15/2007, 5:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Ye Olde Gaming Society
 
Date:   Tuesday May 15, 2007
Time:   5:00 pm - 12:00 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every month on the third Tuesday.
Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 6 days, 3 minutes.
Location:   Ye Olde Commons
Street:   120 Northside Rd
City State Zip:   Charlton, MA 01507
Phone:   (508) 248-7075
Notes:   YOGS regular monthly meeting. Membership is free! Come play games!
 
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#27233 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon May 7, 2007 10:26 pm
Subject: Guy Stuff Gaming, 5/8/2007, 6:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Guy Stuff Gaming
 
Date:   Tuesday May 8, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 11:30 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Location:   Mark's House (South Attleboro)
Notes:   Gaming at my house, let me know if you're interested (danger-mouse@...)
 
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#27234 From: "ScottH." <sahenshaw@...>
Date: Tue May 8, 2007 4:23 pm
Subject: Bridgewater Open Gaming this Friday!!!
sahenshaw
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This Friday, May 11th, we will gather at Scholars store for some open
board gaming. I have a fresh new copy of Winds of Plunder in hand and
will bring other games of plenty. Dave has quite a few new titles on
the shelves and a few more might pop in this week.
  All who attend will receive a 35% discount coupon good for board games
at Scholars.
   If you have never been to open gaming, please stop by in Bridgewater
on Friday. We usually start around 7:00- 7:30 P.M. and some stay until
~midnight. It is a very friendly crew and we love teaching new games to
people. Come on down!
  I hope to see many of you there.
ScottH.

#27235 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue May 8, 2007 6:00 pm
Subject: NEXUS @ Yale University, 5/8/2007, 8:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   NEXUS @ Yale University
 
Date:   Tuesday May 8, 2007
Time:   8:00 pm - 12:00 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week until Wednesday May 9, 2007.
Location:   WLH - Harkness Hall on College St.
Street:   Harkness Hall - College St.
City State Zip:   New Haven, CT
Notes:   Yale's undergraduate game club playing EuroGames, CCG's and RPG's - weekly.
 
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#27236 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue May 8, 2007 10:25 pm
Subject: Pandemonium Gaming, 5/9/2007, 6:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Pandemonium Gaming
 
Date:   Wednesday May 9, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every other week.
Location:   Pandemonium Books, at 4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge
Notes:   Gaming starts at 6:30 and will run until 11PM when the doors close.
Pandemonium Books, at 4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge. Their web site is
www.pandemoniumbooks.com.
 
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#27237 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue May 8, 2007 10:58 pm
Subject: MVGA session - Open to All, 5/10/2007, 7:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   MVGA session - Open to All
 
Date:   Thursday May 10, 2007
Time:   7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 1 day, 1 minute.
Notes:   Merrimack Valley Gamers Assoc. sessions at the Masonic Hall in Holliston. See the doc file in the files area for directions.

And contact Walter Hunt with questions.
 
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#27238 From: "Roland Kippenhan" <rolandk@...>
Date: Wed May 9, 2007 5:06 am
Subject: Looking for old games?
iamrolok
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I recently was wandering through Alameda, CA and saw a toy shop.  I went in
and was astounded.  They had new stuff and old stuff.  I took some pictures,
but don't have a convenient place to host them so I'll just list out a few
of the titles there.

The Omega Virus
A line in the sand
Go to the head of the class
GIJoe Adventure Board game.
The Escape from Terror Cave.
Tip-It (loved that game as a kid.)
Partrige Family game
Manhunt
Seduction
Superman Game
Seven Keys
The Bionic Woman
Lavern & Shirley
Close Encounters
NFL Super Bowl Electric Football
Magnetic Basketball
Sports Arena Games

I did a search, and it seems they didn't pay for their hosting.  510 522
1723 is their phone number.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/iIPUEw4EUj6_UTvSjam9Ww
is a page with good feedback.

I'm just posting this for anybody that might be looking to pick up some old
games...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#27239 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed May 9, 2007 10:26 pm
Subject: Danger Planet - Open Gaming, 5/10/2007, 6:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Danger Planet - Open Gaming
 
Date:   Thursday May 10, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 11:30 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Open gaming at Danger Planet in Waltham.

The group meets every Thursday night at Danger Planet starting at around 6:30pm. The current attendance runs anywhere from 10 to 15 participants so there are usually two or more games running at a time. There is ample opportunity for latecomers to jump into games and most of the participants play on to 11pm or later. The type of games run the gamut of strategy board games from games like El Grande or Tikal on the 'deeper' side, to Wiz-war or Bohnanza on the 'lighter' side. We encourage folks to bring games they want to try out.
 
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#27240 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed May 9, 2007 10:59 pm
Subject: MVGA session - Open to All, 5/10/2007, 7:00 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   MVGA session - Open to All
 
Date:   Thursday May 10, 2007
Time:   7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Merrimack Valley Gamers Assoc. sessions at the Masonic Hall in Holliston. See the doc file in the files area for directions.

And contact Walter Hunt with questions.
 
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#27241 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed May 9, 2007 11:26 pm
Subject: FRAGS - Framingham Gamers Society, 5/10/2007, 7:30 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   FRAGS - Framingham Gamers Society
 
Date:   Thursday May 10, 2007
Time:   7:30 pm - 1:00 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Meeting at Matt's in Framingham from around
7:30 to 1:00 am every Thursday. Admission is free.
All are welcome. For more information, feel free to email Matt - Muttstain@...
 
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#27242 From: "Nicholas" <goldeneye@...>
Date: Wed May 9, 2007 6:05 pm
Subject: With regards to Unity Games 13...
nicholas3
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Once the date and place have been set up, I think we should also set up
a rides list in case if the particular place is a fair distance away
from the immediate Boston area.

Just a suggestion.

Nicholas

#27243 From: "Nicholas" <goldeneye@...>
Date: Wed May 9, 2007 6:02 pm
Subject: No Pandemonium Gaming On 5/9/2007
nicholas3
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I've looked up Pandemonium's website and can confirm that there will be
No Pandemonium Gaming tonight.

Nicholas

--- In Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com, Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> Reminder from: Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unity_Games/cal
>
> Pandemonium Gaming
> Wednesday May 9, 2007
> 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm
> (This event repeats every other week.)
> Location: Pandemonium Books, at 4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge
>
> Notes:
> Gaming starts at 6:30 and will run until 11PM when the doors close.
> Pandemonium Books, at 4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge. Their web site is
> www.pandemoniumbooks.com.

#27244 From: "Rick Thornquist" <rickthornquist@...>
Date: Thu May 10, 2007 1:49 pm
Subject: [OT] Got Infocom Games?
rthornqu
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Hi All -

Remember the old computer game company Infocom?  The guys responsible
for text adventures like Zork, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
and a host of others?  Well, I'm writing a book about the company and
their games.  To that end, I'm looking for some of their old games so
I can take pictures of them.

I'll be in the Boston area on May 22nd and will be staying at Chez
Bernazzani for a couple of weeks.  If anyone has some Infocom games
kicking around their basement that I could borrow and take pictures
of, please let me know (I'm at gmail and my id is rickthornquist).  I
may even buy them off you if I don't have them already and they are
in good condition.

Thanks!

- Rick Thornquist

#27245 From: Jeff Michaud <jeff.michaud@...>
Date: Thu May 10, 2007 3:23 pm
Subject: Re: With regards to Unity Games 13...
newenglandgamer
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At 02:05 PM 5/9/2007, you wrote:
>Just a suggestion.

I also have a suggestion... wondering if it would be possible to
have folks provide their location when they register, and have
those printed on the name tags as well.

I think it may make it easier to find new post-UG gaming buddies
if you play with or just see someone who doesn't live far from you.

UG-XIII !!

Jeff

#27246 From: "Edmund Ng" <nomaded@...>
Date: Thu May 10, 2007 5:51 pm
Subject: Re: With regards to Unity Games 13...
BayNomad
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On 5/10/07, Jeff Michaud <jeff.michaud@...> wrote:
>
>  I also have a suggestion... wondering if it would be possible to
>  have folks provide their location when they register, and have
>  those printed on the name tags as well.
>
>  I think it may make it easier to find new post-UG gaming buddies
>  if you play with or just see someone who doesn't live far from you.

I like this idea, and definitely support it.

-- Edmund.

--
Edmund C. Ng
nomaded@...

"Old joke about the optimist and the pessimist:
The pessimist says, 'Everything is terrible. It can't get any worse.'
The optimist says, 'Oh, yes it can.'"

#27247 From: Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu May 10, 2007 9:10 pm
Subject: Bridgewater Open Gaming Session, 5/11/2007, 5:15 pm
Unity_Games@yahoogroups.com
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Reminder from:   Unity_Games Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Bridgewater Open Gaming Session
 
Date:   Friday May 11, 2007
Time:   5:15 pm - 3:15 am
Repeats:   This event repeats every week.
Notes:   Weekly games at Cole Hall 15 Cedar St Bridgewater, MA. hosted by Scholars' (800) 823-1712. Hall entry fee $2.00. Coupon to each player 35% off next purchase of game.
 
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