BGN Session Report 27 July 2011

Games played:
1. Cargo Noir
2. Alien Frontiers
3. Sneak & Snitches
4. Airlines Europe
5. Management Material
6. Qwirkle
7. Ricochet Robots
8. Chronicle
9. 7 Wonders
10. Alhambra
11. The Downfall of Pompeii
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The Cult of the New

The Aliens have landed! And I don’t mean these guys:

Although that would have been cool too. 😀

But in the form of Alien Frontiers and a whole bunch of games that arrived on our shores in BGC’s new shipment. This week also featured the appearance of the 2010 SdJ and KSdJ winners – Qwirkle and 7 Wonders. So what did we have in store for our night owls? 😛

I apologize if this sessrep seems incomplete. I had to rush a project that night and missed most of the action. 😦

Table 1

Game: Alien Frontiers
Players: Bernard, Norman, Joel T, Joel L

Our first table got it cracking with a game of Alien Frontiers, courtesy of BGC. Alien Frontiers is a surprise hit from last year, making many gamer’s list for Top 3 games of 2010. First published as a Kickstarter (for more info on other Kickstarter projects – checkout the marketplace section. Ok, enough shameless plugging. Heh) project, many were surprised that the game turned out so well. Clever Mojo, the publisher really poured a lot of love into the production values and have reaped rewards.

The Sci-fi Theme and really great bits come together to make an impressive game. 

Players are competing to colonize and develop an unknown planet using ships (represented in the game by dice). If you’ve ever played Kingsburg or similar games, you be very familiar with the mechanics of the game. Players roll dices and choose which stations to dock them in. These stations have abilities ranging from producing goods, giving alien cards, allowing you to steal from others (yeah, steal!), building more ships, to colonizing the planet (the main objective). Colonizing an area on the planet gives you bonuses which in turn makes docking in the connected station lucrative (bonus to abilities).

In this game, Bernard took the victory. The Joels shared similar points (and thereby opening a wormhole in the time space continuum). 😛

Bernard checking the rules… Or exploiting the game? Hmmm…..

Game: Chronicle
Players: Kaz, Sam, Norman

Joel L & Bernard had to leave and Joel T was seduced by the Jedi Council’s mindtricks, leaving Norman all alone. Sam and I dove in for a quick game of Chronicle.

Chronicle is a new Z-man release and is a trick taking game with a wicked twist. Each card has a crazy ability that can mess with the game. Players aim to win tricks (called meetings) with goals that are pre-selected before the round starts. The winner of the round receives Fame and the person with 3 Fame wins!

Norman beat us comprehensively. :O

Sadly, I wasn’t supposed to collect Power (Blue) cards!  Grr…


Table 2

Game: Cargo Noir
Players: Amanda, Pamela, Vicknesh, Ronnie, Nic

Except for Nic, this group joined BGN for the first time! Thanks guys and gals for coming! Cargo Noir, which was the hit of our last meetup, got a play (for more info on CN, check out my previous sessrep). The game was won by Ronnie (115).

The traffickers. Joshua, the Kastam Officer. LOL.


Tres Sombreros smuggling…. ART?! 

This group continued later with a game of Management Material brought by Ronnie (Thanks!). Don’t know much about the game but there was certainly crazy laughter coming from the table!

Management Material in play.

Table 3

Game: Airlines Europe, 7 Wonders
Players: Emil, Leong, Justin, Ernest, Lucas.

Ailrines Europe is Alan R. Moon’s latest release. He is the designer of Ticket to Ride –  the staple and some say ultimate “gateway” game (introducing newcomers to boardgaming) that has sold thousands. Airlines Europe is a combination of his older games Airlines and Union Pacific – games about being the smartest (or shrewdest?) investor in the airline / train business.

Another game with excellent production values!

In Airlines Europe, players will be investing in airlines that travel across Europe (duh). They do not own any airlines but can choose to develop and invest in them through actions.

Justin: To specialize or diversify? 

As the airlines are more connected, their values will go up, scoring points for the players that have the most shares in them. There are 3 scoring cards buried in the deck of shares and the game ends after the 3rd scoring is done. Who has the most points wins!

Air traffic across Europe getting congested.

Lucas, a first timer to BGN, became Europe’s Tony Fernandes. Emil, backed by kAz Incorporated, lost by 1 point!

The group continued with a game of 7 Wonders – last years Kinnerspiel des Jahres Winner. KSdJ is a new award given to best gamer’s game. 7 Wonders is a real quick civilization game that uses a card drafting mechanism. Players aim to build civilizations that are wealthy, strong in science in military, is well developed and of course contains their wonder!

Leong: I will haz your resources. Justin: Om nom nom nom.

Justin took this game with 57 points (a nice score!).

Table 4

Game: The Downfall of Pompeii & Alhambra.
Players: John, Ek Hau, David, CS.

Want to thank John for bringing and teaching this group Pompeii and Alhambra. Wasn’t around to catch the action, but here are some pics:

The volcano demands sacrificessss!

John teaching Alhambra

Table 5

Game: Qwirkle, Ricochet Robots
Players: Jeff, Wai Yan, Joshua, Joel T.

Aha. The illusive Jedi Council makes an appearance at BGN!

The force is strong in these padawans.

Their mindtricks appear to work wonders, drawing Joel T and Joshua into games of Qwirkle and Ricochet Robots. Qwirkle won last year’s SdJ, and from what I hear is a simple game that appeals those that like scrabble. Ricochet Robots on the other hand is a brain burner disguised in harmless looking droids!

Wai Yan tallying the scores. Left: Jedi mindtricks still at work? 😛

Joel’s brain getting juiced by droidecar. 😀

Others:
2 games of Sneak & Snitches sneaked their way onto the tables towards the end of the night.

It’s been another crazy awesome BGN! Thanks for all that showed up and props to John & Ronnie for bringing and teaching games. And of course major props to the Jedi Council of BGC for their constant support of gaming groups and boardgaming in general in Malaysia!

See y’all
kAz