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JohnKerr - all messages by user

7/9/2021 1:26:11 PM
July 10th Gaming - CANCELLED EDIT - Sounds like we don't have a quorum for today, so we will figure on next time!



I'm not clear on gaming tomorrow as there are (non-critical, but needed to be handled) family issues going on with indeterminate time frames.
If we have enough interest aside from me (3 people), I'm happy to agree to host regardless of my being able to actually be there.
Sounds like Marvin is in, who else would be interested?
edited by JohnKerr on 7/10/2021
7/20/2021 4:57:26 AM
Advance notice helpful for fourth saturday, 7/24 Who is interested in some gaming on July 24th, the fourth saturday of July?




We _might_ be joined once again by the lost legend, Larry Levy! But he needs to plan ahead, so I'm looking to see if we have a quorum...




I plan to be there! Will you join me? What would you like to play?
8/13/2021 6:09:11 AM
Dog days of gaming? August 14th Clearly it's too hot for doing anything outside. Conserve your cool by coming by for 2nd Saturday gaming!




August 14th! Starting at 1! Who is coming?
8/26/2021 5:29:02 PM
August 28th, fourth saturday Who's in? 1pm... I hear we might luck into a copy of coffee traders being brought, but no guarantees at this point.




What else would you like to play?




I hope to see you!
8/28/2021 1:00:00 PM
August 28th, fourth saturday We are on for today but with a small group, so text if you are joining us so we can adjust
9/9/2021 1:41:10 AM
9-11 gaming! What better way to celebrate our way of life than with some board gaming?




1pm start, who is coming? What would you like to play?
9/12/2021 6:11:31 PM
9-11 gaming! Thanks everyone for coming out to the 9/11 ABG game day, it was fun.




Chris, Marvin and Larry learned Merv from Ed. It sounded like the game was received favorably. Marvin won with 115, Larry 109, Ed 107 and Chris 79.




While that was going on, Jeff, Molly and I played Lost Ruins of Arnak, which I like. With three players, we did pretty well on killing monsters, I think we killed 4 of 8 of the level one and 3 of 4 of the level 2 monsters. Two of us made the same mistake of stranding the notebook marker on the wrong bottom track and not being able to make use of the resources we had right away. I tend to focus on getting the assistants as quickly as possible, so that threw off my tempo a little, but it was a quick recovery. By the end, Jeff and I had maxed out or close to maxed out the tech tracks. Jeff had done a little better on killing monsters, but I had gotten more of the "1st to a space" markers, which I think contributed to getting one of the big point tablets and I was able to edge him out, 73 to 67 to 49.




As Merv was still going, we followed up with a game of Ra. It was a game of odd timing. The first round, Jeff and Molly were both out while I still had a couple suns, so I was able to get a couple very large scores, which gave me a huge lead in pharaohs. I also was able to steal away the 13 sun and kept it for the rest of the game, by way of never actually using it. Round two went in a flash as we drew many Ra tiles, finishing with a combined six unused sun tiles. All through the game, we seemed to have a knack for drawing the disaster tiles to drastically lower the values of groups, so the game as a whole felt underpowered. In the end, the early pharaoh majority led to a result 56 to 41 to 35, John, Jeff and Molly, respectively.




Everyone took off except Larry, Ed and I, a perfect chance to launch into a game of Faiyum, with a great run through the rules by Larry. It was my second play and I liked it. No one owning anything makes for some interesting development, as well as the random ordering of the cards. You really have to take advantage of what's happening and can't go in with some kind of set plan. In our case, it seemed like a lot of the cards intended for early game came out late, which I'm sure skewed the way things flowed. In an interesting way, I think it works. Larry developed into a good engine that included putting down and then selling off lots of farmers, then producing a lot of stone that he converted into stronghold tiles. As well as building towns along the way. Ed had more of a diversification of goods strategy, including roses, which fed well into building a lot of towns as well. I focused on money and trying to make it easy to get cards, which made play easy and fun, but didn't translate well into points at the end. Larry and Ed were neck and neck, with Larry coming in at 77 to Ed's 75 to my 60.



I had to rush the end of the game, unfortunately, but Larry and Ed were great about it and I think we got the end game pretty accurately done.




A good time!
9/23/2021 5:29:50 PM
Fall in for some 9/25 gaming! 9/25 is a game day! The first of all, which we all know is perfect gaming weather. Much like winter. And spring... summer too, really.




Who can make it? What would you like to play?
10/7/2021 2:18:56 PM
October gaming, 10/9/21 Who is up for some gaming this week?




I actually got some new games... Imperium: classics, Dune imperium and nidevallir.




If there is interest in a particular one, I'll try to be ready to teach it come saturday, though perhaps Chris can teach us Nidevallir.
10/9/2021 10:16:31 AM
October gaming, 10/9/21 Via email sounds like we have Marvin, Chris and Scott so far.
10/21/2021 3:07:04 PM
Oct 23, 4th saturday gaming Who is interested in some gaming this weekend?




We'll open the doors at 12:30 for the lunch eating crew and try to start gaming at 1pm.




I picked up a copy of Anno 1800 and have played it once... it is not a short game, but interesting.




Still have Imperium: classics, Dune imperium and nidevallir from last time, if you want to play either of the first two, warn me before tomorrow night and I'll try to learn it.




Who is coming and what do you want to play?
10/22/2021 2:39:02 PM
Oct 23, 4th saturday gaming So far:




Chris: In for probably one game

Marvin: In (typically until 5ish)

Jeff: Maybe

Scott: Out
11/12/2021 1:36:18 PM
Oct 23, 4th saturday gaming We ended up starting with me, Chris and Marvin playing a teaching game of Anno 1800. Marvin sped through his starting cards and triggered the end game first. I had a lot of cards that gave me more people, giving me more cards, which worked well. I also build a number of level 2 explorer ships. All of us did pretty well in the factory building department! In the end, my extra cards won it, John: 126, Chris: 89 and Marvin 78.




Marvin and Chris left after that, but Ed and Jeff came in as the 2nd shift and we played a game of Gaia Project. The end game bonuses were for different sectors you are in and different planet types you have terraformed. Ed played the Geodens, which get extra science for terraforming a new planet type, so that dovetailed well and he was able to play that up with great success. Jeff played the Lantids, which can coexist on a planet with other players, getting bonus science for doing so. A strong race, but they don't get the terraforming credit for coexisting with another race, so it made it hard for him to compete for the different terraforming types. I played the Gleens, who don't need QIC to build on green planets and have a federation token you can get early with the planetary institute, which were nice, but perhaps were only a mild fit for the bonus points. In the end, Ed came in with 151, me with 143 and Jeff with 115.
11/12/2021 1:37:28 PM
November 13th, 2nd saturday gaming! Hey, tomorrow is the 2nd Saturday of the month and a game day!




A strong possibility is Dune: Imperium, which at least one person (Chris) has played. I also got a chance to play Pipeline yesterday and ordered a copy to arrive sometime tomorrow, perhaps in time to play!




I'm sure we will have the other recently new options, or many older options. What would you like to play?
11/25/2021 12:27:25 AM
November 13th, 2nd saturday gaming! Last game day started with 5, Chris, Marvin, Scott and Mike M. We started out with Nidavellir. Mike went for the miner (orange) cards, developing a solid majority, including the hero. I went for the green hunter cards and managed to get both green heroes, but only a middling collection of standard greens. Scott and Chris both went after the red warrior cards. Scott ended up getting the hero that lets you bid last, which he made good use of. I don't recall exactly which heroes Chris got, but he had a number of them! Marvin went after the purple blacksmith cards, with a solid block of explorer blues to back them up. My major score was 100 for the greens. Mike pulled in a solid 117 for the oranges. Marvin got both 52 for the purples and 46 for the blues. Scott had 78 for the reds and the highest coin scorage of 75. Chris had 65 for the reds, but solid scores in a number of other categories and easily took the win! Chris 232, Scott 203, John 200, Mike 199, Marvin 169.




We followed up with some cooperative gaming with the crew... we got a good starting run, but ran into some trouble around game 6, where we started having to repeat. Five makes it a fair bit more difficult, but fun was had by all. We ended up finishing 8 expeditions before abandoning ship.




That left us with 3, a great number to teach Scott and Mike Anno 1800. All seemed to enjoy it. We each managed to get one turquoise worker and run with that. We used the recommended starter set, which was fine, though the Zoo (+1 point for each visited animal) seemed particularly weak. In the end the scores were fairly tight. Mike dominated on the happy people scoring with 94 points from those cards, but had little end game scoring. Scott and I both had more meager happiness (62 and 67, respectively), but higher end game bonus points. I was able to use a couple of 'discard two cards' effects to cause the game to end a little before anyone was ready, which gave me surprise, the 7 point firework bonus and an extra turn to adjust my population colors to just fit my navigation cards. The fireworks proved key, as I edged out Mike by 7. John 115, Mike 108, Scott 99.
11/25/2021 12:32:23 AM
Giving thanks for gaming, 11/27 Happy Thanksgiving, ABGers!




This Saturday, the 27th, is the fourth Saturday of the month, and, thankfully, a game day!




We can add pipeline to the list of recent additions.




Who is coming by and what do you want to play? Normal timing.


Edit - date


edited by JohnKerr on 12/10/2021
11/27/2021 10:12:46 AM
Giving thanks for gaming, 11/27 Sounds like we got:



In: Larry, Rick, Ed, Me

Out: Scott, Marvin (recent change)

Maybe: Jeff, Ben, Chris, Cheryl




Sounds like a great bunch!




I don't have any particular time I need to stop.




Mentioned possibilities for gaming: Whistle Mountain (Ed bringing), Lost cities, roll and move (rick bringing), Beyond the Sun (Chris, maybe bringing), the crew I and II (Rick?), The Grand Trunk Journey (Larry).




Of the newish, I have pipeline (played once), nidavellir (played several times), imperium: classics (never played), dune: imperium (others have played), anno: 1800 (played several times).




See you soon!
12/10/2021 1:14:38 PM
Giving thanks for gaming, 11/27 Thanks, everyone, for the amazing game day last time. We had the highest turn out since pre-covid days and it was a really great time.

It started with Jeff, Bob, Rick and Chris playing Dune: Imperium. Turned into a very close game, as both Jeff and Bob finished with 10, with Jeff breaking the tie (4 space vs Bob's 3). Rick finished with 7 and Chris 6.

They must have enjoyed it, as they launched into another game of it. This time it was just as close, but Bob pulled out the win at 10 with 4 space, vs Chris' 10 with 3 spice. Rick and Jeff also tied at 6, with 5 spice for Rick pulling ahead of Jeff's 4 spice.

Meanwhile, Mike, Ed, Larry and I were playing Anno 1800. It was an unusual game, with Mike attempting a people rush strategy, which centered around the free action card of using a turquoise guy to get 5 coins. In the process of pursuing that goal, he sped up the exhaustion of the supply of red guys, which turns out to be limited. In the end, Larry ended the game before he quite got his engine running, but another few turns and he likely would have been swimming in cash (turned into points). Larry's sterling performance led to a score of 102, with Ed and I with a not too close 2nd and third of 87 and 83. Mike ended up with a big pile of cash and a big stack of unfulfilled happiness cards, but still finished with a solid 74.

We then tried out Lost cities Roll and Write. It still felt mostly like lost cities with a little 'clever' like action chaining. A light game, but a fun filler. After I computed my score a few times, I came out in the lead with 320, with Mike close behind at 315. Ed finished with 235 and Larry 195.

At that point, we mixed it back up and Chris taught Lost Ruins of Arnak to Rick, with me joining in. We played the "basic" side and I think some early assistants helped propel me to the win. By the end, we had killed all but one of the level 2 and one of the level 1 monsters! i was the only one to buy a tablet, which was the difference between first at 75 and chris' 2nd at 67. Rick was a quick learner and came in at 52.

Meanwhile, Ed had brought Whistle Mountain and taught it (thanks Ed!). I was able to observe the end of the game, but all I really picked up was that a lot of meeples drowned and folks were not so sure about the game. It looked interesting, but not sure it passed muster. Bob won decisively at 85, with a close run for 2nd, with Larry at 70, Mike 68 and Ed 67.

Thanks again to everyone!
12/10/2021 1:21:15 PM
2nd Saturday of Dec gaming, 12/11 As the days get shorter and colder, what better way to stay warm and jolly than good company and a good board game?




This Saturday, 12/11 (tomorrow) is the 2nd of the month and a game day!




I got a chance to try Dune Imperium last night and found it to be a very fun deck builder with worker placement and a space theme added in. I do have a copy, as well as the other recent new ones Anno 1800, Imperium: classic (unplayed so far) and Pipeline.





Who can make it and what do you want to play?




So far I think Marvin, Chris and Larry are planning to attend.
12/29/2021 2:56:51 PM
2nd Saturday of January gaming? - cancelled This is more of a polling than an announcement. What do people think about having face to face gaming in the current climate? Would you prefer online gaming at this point?




The day in question here is the 2nd Saturday of January, 1/8/22.




Personally, I'm still just watching and hoping things settle down. I'm not sure how I feel about live gaming and am interested in what everyone thinks.
edited by JohnKerr on 1/8/2022
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