Boardgaming Gals (MY)

Autobots....transform !

shrapnel — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:08:00 GMT

The forecaster said the weather was gonna be bad. But any guy on the streets can tell that too. The radio warned of possible road-blocks... again.

Is this a good Friday to be gaming at OTK (YKS)?

The time to meet was 8pm. Only Cmun and Shrapnel was there. After some drinks were ordered, Cmun wanted to see whether shrapnel is strategist or not by a game of chess. Shrapnel protested. He cant play no chess!!

“But it's a Transformer Chess set wor....”

“OK :)”

During the battle of the bots, John walked in with his charismatic grin. A smaller figure popped out from behind him- and he introduced Fiona to us.They ordered food and drink.

The autobots were winning and near the ending of the game, Steven and Fiona walked in. Such a delight to see them again after 'Hobby Canteen'

So now, there are two Fionas amongst us.

Citadels: Fiona & Steven introduced this little game to us. It didnt looked like much at the beginning but soon after a round or two- it's a pretty neat game! Even Fiona (John's) liked it. It's her first time gaming, by the way.

The game has 8 characters and there were 6 of us. Every round we can choose which ever available character to be next. Starting with the player who was KING the previous round. The remaining two is put in the middle- non playable this round. Also, no one know who's who!

The other characters are: ASSASIN, MERCHANT, PRIEST, THIEF, WARLOCK, ARCHITECT, WIZARD.

Each character has special ability.

The main objective however, is to build up to 8 districts – all from players own hand. Sounds easy but if cheap districts are built, then player will get low points. So build expensive ones then! But dont have enuff money? Then be a Thief : steal someone's money. Or a Merchant :you'll get extra coins.

You want to be ahead of everyone else so you want to build fast. Choose Architect : you can build an extra district. But watch for the Warlock : he can tear down a district... unless, of course, you have chosen a Priest : he protects all his religious buildings. Another sleazy way of ensuring the safety of your districts is to be an Assassin : can kill the Warlock. Heck! Can kill off any character you like.... or dont like!

( Citadels expansion set ,check out the Queen......)

Last, but not the least- if you fancy the cards in your hand one bit, the Wizard allows you to switch hands with other players. That's simply outrageous!

Citadel is a crazy fun game!! The artwork is awesome!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next we decided to mingle in the Cafe with other various nationality.

Cafe International. Very easy to learn. Fast Playing. FUN.

Then 'On the Underground' is on the table. Rules were explained clearly >ahem!< V

( Whoa, check out Sharpnel's new rail roads organisers in groovy tones from a DIY Shop, One U . Just the right sizes in the right colour. Cool! )

( Station cards )

When finished, we >yawn< thot it's best to ignore Cmun plea for another game : Carcasonne Big Box. We know she's >yawn< all excited about it but we >yawn< just .... zzz

No rain.., no road-blocks. It's a darn good Friday to be gaming at OTK (YKS) Yeah!!

( From left : John Lim, Shrapnel, Stephen, Fiona Rodrigues, Fiona Lim )

( Pictures and captions added by C mun )

Vous le vous , tea for two !

c mun — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:41:00 GMT

Vanilla Cup Cakes with Butter Cream Frosting 30/07/08 Idle Monday afternoons are common for eccentuating the Monday blues however Soon Siang and I, being the very eccentrics we are, have decided not to allow the buds of melancholic to bloom. Therefore we planned for an early tea at a cafe......the Cafe International to be precise.

Incidently it's my new fancy that arrived in the collection recently and a picture of it was also published in a recent Sat. NST. pull out SIX in the article Organising a Gaming Meet-Up which tickled us much. I can't wait to amuse her with this fresh treat.

This Winner of Spiel des Jahres 1989 is about seating guests from 12 nations (tiles) at their tables. At the end of the game, whoever has the most points (represented by blue, red and black chips) wins. At each table, 2 ladies and 2 gentlemen may be seated. They must be of the same nationalities as the table indicates of which some chairs are shared by 2 tables. A guest of either nationality may sit there. Apart from nationality, guests must sit so as to maintain gender balance. A player do exactly only ONE of the following actions:

-Seat 1 or 2 guests at a table (thereafter replenish her tiles to a total of 5 again) or

-Seat a guest at the bar or

-Exchange a Joker ( there a 2 male and 2 female Jokers which can represent any Nationality. Once decided, the player must determine the Nationality of the Joker when seating him/her. Later on, other players may exchange the Joker with a tile of that Nationality )

( The area in the centre of the board represents the Bar. A guest who does not find a seat at a table must sit at the bar. At the bar, nationality and gender are irrelevent. )

Soon Siang fell in love with the board at first sight and I assured her it is equally fun to play with. The rules and mechanics were easily understood, scoring were noted and we were all set and determined to seat our guests.

We discussed how wonderful a teaching tool this can be to interest children in learning of countries and their flags. In fact, in between the game and sips of green tea with morsels of popiah, we were engaging in another different game. Guessing the names of the Prime Ministers or Presidents and their latest gossips. Imagine my surprise to learn of her ignorance of Carla Bruni , that First Lady too picture perfect ( bodily perfect, to be precise) for even the French to comprehend. Well, our intuition can just predict whether her beau will stay in office in the next election.

As our guests began to grace their tables, we were finally introduced to a hiatus of higgledy-piggledy doubting with the correct scoring calculations. Of course, thanks to the later insight by the Jedi on BGC's forum, I now have fully comprehended the unnecessary confusion.

We ended the tea party when Soon Siang "goes out" - she successfully created 5 single nation tables thus reducing her tiles in hand size to zero. I must say, my first encounter to such an end as my past 3 plays wrapped up after guests filled up the seats at the bar. ( The game also ends as soon as one of the other 3 posibilities occurs : All 20 bar seats are occupied or All chairs around the table are occupied or Only four guest tiles are left in the bag )

All said, the best moment was not her victory but the afternoon of chatting and gossips and more chatting which brought a strategy of 45min to 2 1/2 hours. 'Sigh', the male gamers would have plenty of frustrations in a 'session' like ours nevertheless you can't deny we're best at dispelling the Monday blues. So girls, if retail therapy has got enough of you, it's time to use that boardgame for therapeutic properties.

More about the game here -

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/214

We went Underground !

c mun — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:08:00 GMT

UNDERGROUND

Last Friday's BGC Meet Up saw us doing Sharpnel's Underground, a new box hot off the mailers ,blessed by its proud owner and played once just last week.
Being absolutely immersed at connecting little strips of wooden railway that nearly transported me to a near out of mind state at London's famous subway, dug nearly 100 years ago .

So dramatic are these rails, that it even has it own mosquito species and rarely interbreeding with their aboveground colleagues, their DNA actually varies from subway line to another! (Discover Mag.Dec o7)

Trust me, if you play this often enough, you can probably work your travel round these rails when in London.

Players relish in constructing their tracks ,raison d'etre is to monopolise the lines, profiting points when the station cards dictates the destination of travel at every turn.

The Traveler reveals his potential travel route by the 4 cards drawn at the beginning of the game. Then she builds her line with 4 tracks prior to her travels.

The player has to choose to ride to 1 yellow follow by 1 white station, imperative to use the route that will require the least walking, the least number of subs change and obviously the most opportunities available to ride on her own rails. Every rail travelled on will earn its owner 1 point.

Stations cards that have been played will be discarded , impelling a top up to 4 cards from the stack of Station Cards. In the event when all 4 are white cards, the player will just have to choose either one of the white stations.

During her turn, a player have the option of exchanging every track for a branch token in hope to position a new branch from his existing line. Commencement of a new branch requires 2 tokens.

Reticent schemes for boom scores:
1) When a player's line reached a Pass, that scores her 1 point.
2) Success in connecting your line from the 'handbag' to 'handbag' stops, 'wine' to 'wine' and such will propel you a delightful 3 points ahead!

3) Reaching the last Red Stations benefit the player 2 points and a free marker however one might only consider that move the last resort as she will want to save her rails to maximise opportunistic constructions.

4) Building a rail enclosure around Main stations will mark 1 point for every Yellow Stations within your the perimeter of the enclosed area.

Verdict: Wow, loved the scheming. Would want to play it over and over again .A game I'm sure girls will be exhilirated about. Simple enough for age 7 onwards as indicated nonetheless exciting and mind-challenging for grown ups to relish in. Brilliant!

Frown :
You cant play this if you're colour blind.(hehehe)

Station Markers ( to be placed accordingly after the 4 Station Cards are drawn) without colours thus can be tedious in locating them at times. Probably a coat of paint in bright red or black might do the trick.

Pirates Night 16/05/08

c mun — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:57:00 GMT

Dinner was good.
And then we had to meet with John. Apparently he just got back home from Australia.

I dont know John, but Cmun does. And he, according to Cmun, is an avid boardgamer. An avid gamer who hasnt played Settlers of Catan yet, we found out!

The rendezvous was in OTK, but in YKS (Yap Kwan Seng). John was on time so we hurried across the road to greet him.
And he was holding dearly to two of his games he brought along!
“Claim” and “Go for broke”.

I brought “Coloseum” and one of my favourites “Pirates Cove”.
Cmun brought “Hey! That's my fish!”

We started with “Hey! That's my fish!” - a very simple game, but fun nonetheless. Each player controls some penguins- and by moving them across the ice floes, players get to collect the ice floes (with fishes inside) the penguin was previously standing upon. Some ice floes contains 3 fishes and some 2. Mostly 1 fish.

As soon as the ice-floe is removed, that will leave a gap in between other floes. Penguins cannot jump across the gap. They cannot jump over each other too.
Diminishing ice-floes also mean that penguins may get trapped so a little planning helps.
Hint : while planning to trap other penguins – try not to get trapped yourself!

What a remarkable game to start!

Soon after, Siew Hui (who is also John's friend) joined us. She brought Ms. Violet along. Since both are new to boardgaming, so “Hey! That's my fish!” again!

Later, some drinks were ordered. Then “Pirates Cove” was setup. It's a nutty game where each player, a Captain of a Pirate ship seeks fame! The most famous pirate around the Cove wins. Who doesnt want to be famous!!?

There are six beautiful island around the cove:
1 – Tavern island. Ahh.. share some Rum! Better yet, share some swashbuckling tales... and perhaps a brave parrot may join you!
2 – Hull island. Here you will find expert hull makers. They will repair and upgrade you hull for a small fee.
3 – Sail island. Home to some sarong makers. Pay them well and they knit a sail for you, repair or upgrade.
4 – Cannon island. Get your upgrades here. And the only thing that will make your cannon balls defy gravity is ... gun powder. Never forget them!
5 - Crew island. Lads that'll seek fame together with you, for you! I tell you, these lads will make your cannon spit phlegms of fire!>Harrrrgh...Ptui!<
6 – Treasure Island. Ahh....

Here's how you get fame:
Each of the islands sometimes contain several gold. Some has treasures. Some even has fame points!
Get the fame points, and the gold and treasures. Go to the Treasure island and bury them. Every treasure buried gives 1 fame point.
If two captains happened to navigate to the same island then battle is ensued. Throw your lucky dice.

If you win, you'll be famous. If not, then you're low class shameless drunk captain and therefore must make your way back to the cove for repair.

So win your fights by upgrading your ships! Strike fear to the other puny captains! But dont be cocky, aye? For who knows you might meet legendary pirates like 'Blackbeard'!?

Cowardice will eat away your fame, aye?

Captain John Lim won this game. Captain Ian the least famous.>sniff<

Captain Siew Hui Borrowed “Hey! That my Fish”. Captain John gave to Captain Cmun both his games!!

Pssst John, anymore games to give away ah? :)

^ The TREASURE CARDS on the right reads FAME POINTS (pic of skull), GOLD COINS (pic of a gold coin), TREASURE (pic of a treasure chest), TAVERN CARDS (pic of a card). When pirates land on an island uncontested, they'll will be awarded the treasure as indicated. Pirates will choose beforehand the islands of their choice as to the desires of their hearts, offered by each island. If 2 or more Pirates landed on the same Island, battles commenced with dice throwing. Your SAILS power determine the player in priority to 'attack' first.

The little brown crates are treasures. They're 'dumped' on Island 6 in exchange for FAME POINTS.

Colourful markers tracked our FAME POINTS which can be earned from the Treasure Cards.

^ The Wheel at the top most make known your island of choice at the start of every round.

Notice the Tavern Cards (2 on the left and one on the right) that empowers you, gold coins which we pirates use to increase

1) the amount of SAILS (numbers on the first row)

2) the strength of our CREW (numbers on the 2nd row)

3) the power of our CANONS (numbers on the 3rd row)

4) the capacity of our HULL, which is the treasure storage (numbers on 4th row)

The red rings are the Indicators. You may fire 4 canons on condition there must be also 4 crewmen to handle ye balls of fire!

From the left : John Lim, Violet, Datin Siw Hui, Ian Tan.

16/05/08 Meet Up, OTK Jln. Yap Kwan Seng.

c mun — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:17:00 GMT

Our initial plan was to join the BGC's session at OTK, Jln Cheras, however BGC's play was cancelled as informed by Jeff. High spirits from our gang boosted our insistence to game elsewhere ,without the hardcore Jedi(s) whom I was hopeful to lend insight to our boardgaming. I am, after all very much a nincompoop 'newbie'.

With a large dose of persuasion and whining from the Boardgaming Gals,my Advisor and Mentor, Sharpnel, didn't let us down though.I suppose I accorded him Advisor status in BG with the condition he maintained his Meterosexual status.

The glamour gals of the night :

1. CMun 2. Siew Hui 3. Violet

(Wai Yan and the rest of Facebook list of Boargaming Gals were invited but none could make it)

The guys we invited :

1. John Lim 2. Sharpnel

Venue : OTK Jln. Yap Kwan Seng

The reason for this chic kopitiam was that it is not as crowded as OTK Cheras and the big chest level rectangular marble tables make excellent gaming top.

Appetizer: Hey,That's My Fish!

Entre: PIRATE"S COVE

Session report to be posted soon.Getting the pics ready and FHM managing 3 rugrats for school days again.