Game Night #23 and July's Player of the Month Named

In his first month of attending game night, Hunter attains the much sought after Player of the Month! Congratulations, Hunter!!

Players of Months Past: Zeb (June)
Mark (May)
Mark (April)
Kat (March)
John (February)

Attendees: Mark and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Hunter 7
Joey 5
Mark 4
Brent 1
Jarrod 0
Tanner -2
Jose -3
Zeb -4
Porter -8

This Event's Standings:
Joey 1
Mark -1

July's Overall Standings:
Hunter 7
Joey 6
Mark 3
Brent 1
Jarrod 0
Tanner -2
Jose -3
Zeb -4
Porter -8

Mark arrived first and we decided to play Lost Cities until any others might arrive. In the first round, Mark committed himself heavily to a couple of expeditions and hadn't begun to lay too many cards down yet. I found myself in the position of ending the round early and not getting many points, but sticking Mark with a heap of negative points. It worked. From there, we nearly remained equidistant in score for the entirety of the game. Mark worked his way in to the positive and by the end of the third round it was I that had won.
Lost Cities Standings: Joey 1, Mark -1

No one else showed, so we played another two-player game. Wings of War: Burning Drachens. Mark took the side of the Germans and I played a French pilot. After an initial head-on pass at each other, we began to circle each other. And, as if our minds were synced, we kept choosing the same maneuvers and for a while got no closer to each other; mirroring each other in the sky. Except for that collision, that seriously damaged Mark's plane and left me nearly unscathed. A few more shots at each other and Mark's plane went down in a trail of black smoke.
Wings of War: Burning Drachens Standings: Joey 1, Mark -1

Lastly, we played Formula De. We decided on two cars each and it was a very interesting race. I played the blue team and Mark the green. We chose a two-lapper in Holland. For the first half of the race, we were bookended in the pole-positioning. Mark had a lead car, my two cars were in the middle and Mark's other car was tailing. Then it flip-flopped; where Mark's team was in the middle, then back again. Finally, my front car broke away and in order to keep my lead I decided not to pit-in. Bad decision. This limited all of my decisions for the second lap and that car ended up coming in last place. Mark, who's cars were not nearly as bad off as mine, was able to zoom past in the last two turns and scream across the finish line.
Formula De Standings: Mark 1, Joey -1

So there you have it, Hunter it is still your turn to decide next week. See you then!

Images by Ted Alspach and Joe Belanger.

Game Night #22

A great showing tonight. Many people and a real tense game of Formula De.

Attendees: Mark, Tanner, Hunter, Porter, Jarrod and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Mark 5
Jarrod 2
Hunter 1
Brent 1
Joey 0
Tanner -2
Jose -3
Zeb -4

This Event's Standings:
Hunter 6
Joey 5
Tanner 0
Mark -1
Jarrod -2
Porter -8

July's Overall Standings:
Hunter 7
Joey 5
Mark 4
Brent 1
Jarrod 0
Tanner -2
Jose -3
Zeb -4
Porter -8

As has become standard, we started out with Pirate's Dice while we waited for people to show up. Porter, Tanner, Hunter and Jarrod had not played it before. Porter and Tanner were knocked out quick. Tanner's elimination was due to his kindness of letting my son be on his team and my son is very quick to call people's bluffs. Then the two titans went head-to-head. Both Jarrod and Hunter had not lost hardly any dice. It came down to Hunter with two dice and Jarrod with one and Hunter prevailed.
Pirate's Dice Standings: Hunter 3, Jarrod 1, Tanner -1, Porter -3

Mark then selected Formula De for the game of the night. I love Formula De with a lot of people/cars. The track is SO crowded and the game becomes more tense. We played a two-lap race, in Monaco; and for the better part of the first lap, Mark and I had the lead with Tanner in a solid last. As the second lap played out, Tanner moved up to the middle of the pack, Porter exploded, and Mark dropped to last. Mark fought to catch up as Hunter and I edged toward the finish line. I managed to cross the line a bit before Hunter. Tanner claimed third place as Mark and Jarrod collided into each other, causing Jarrod's car to explode. Mark took fourth. The first game of Formula De that I played was kind of boring compared to this one. The leader was a foregone conclusion, but this game was far more compelling.
Formula De Standings: Joey 5, Hunter 3, Tanner 1, Mark -1, Jarrod -3, Porter -5

With a decisive lead, it is Hunter's pick next week! So what's it going to be Hunter?

Images by Chris Norwood and Joe Belanger.

Game Night #21

Nice turnout tonight, three games played; it was my pick tonight and I was in the mood to race!

Attendees: Mark, Brent, Tanner, Zeb, Hunter and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Joey 3
Jarrod 2
Hunter 2
Mark -1
Tanner -3
Jose -3

This Event's Standings:
Mark 6
Brent 1
Tanner 1
Hunter -1
Joey -3
Zeb -4

July's Overall Standings:
Mark 5
Jarrod 2
Hunter 1
Brent 1
Joey 0
Tanner -2
Jose -3
Zeb -4

As people started to arrive we played a quick game of Pirate's Dice. Brent had never played before and Mark had only played when we were playing incorrectly. That being said Mark caught on to the new rules quickly. No one player dominated the game. We all had one or two dice at the end. I was eliminated first. Then Brent and Mark went at each other with one dice each.
Pirate's Dice Standings: Mark 2, Brent 0, Joey -2

After that a good sized mob was here and I hadn't played Formidable Foes in a while and it had been a long time since I'd played with more than three people. As the game progressed, Mark had a huge pile of Power Tokens and Zeb and Tanner kept passing the Dumbest Player Award back and forth (I'm not being a snot here, that is actually part of the game). When the end of the game drew near, it was a race to grab up what could be had. I was sure it was going to be close, but I thought that I had eeked out the victory. Nope, Mark squeezed by (by one point!) for the win.
Formidable Foes Standings: Mark 4, Joey 2, Tanner 0, Brent -2, Zeb -4

We had an hour or so left and I still wanted to get my race on, so I picked Mississippi Queen. Fairly standard game of Mississippi Queen: bumping, burning coal, regret, dramatic crashes, et al. I was clearly in second place as the race neared the end and I realized that I needed to do something drastic in order to win. By drastic, I mean burning all of my coal and crashing into the side of the river, one hex from the finish line... whoops. Brent managed to plan a little better and swooped in for the victory with Tanner finishing right behind him. Hunter was picking up his last Belle at the time and was wondering what all of the ruckus was down-river.
Mississippi Queen's Standings: Brent 3, Tanner 1, Hunter -1, Joey -3

With a enormous lead in the standings, it is Mark's pick next week. See you there!

Images by Jorg Kuck, Chris Norwood and Joey Belanger

Game Night #20

Very small showing tonight. But, hey, got to play one of my new favorite games again.

Attendees: Mark and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Jarrod 2
Hunter 2
Joey 2
Tanner -3
Jose -3

This Event's Standings:
Joey 1
Mark -1

July's Overall Standings:
Joey 3
Jarrod 2
Hunter 2
Mark -1
Tanner -3
Jose -3

Mark was the only one who showed up and was open to play something two-player, new and fun. That sounded like Tide of Iron to me! We played the "Crossroads" scenario. Mark played the Germans and I played the Americans. Mark rushed for the American command markers and held them nearly the entire game. With Mark's clever and strong use of op fire, he kept me to one side of the board. I managed to get an engineer up to the tank traps on the Western side of the map and clear one of them. Then my Shermans rushed the back of the map. Before this, when Mark had a smaller defensible area, he was tearing me apart. But after I broke the line, the area was nigh impossible to defend. The crossroads went to the Americans (this time).
Tide of Iron Standings: Joey 1, Mark -1

So next week it's my pick again. July is looking good! See you next week.

Images by Joe Belanger

Game Night #19

We initially had a small showing (which is expected the night before a holiday), but a few more showed up and the party ensued.

Attendees: Jose, Jarrod, Tanner, Hunter and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Zeb 7
Josh 6
Brandt 0
Kyle 0
Erin -1
Mark -2
Joey -2
Jarrod -4
Tanner -4

This Event's Standings:
Jarrod 2
Hunter 2
Joey 2
Tanner -3
Jose -3

July's Overall Standings:
Jarrod 2
Hunter 2
Joey 2
Tanner -3
Jose -3

It was my pick tonight and I've been buzzing about Tide of Iron. We played the "Liberation" scenario. I had played the Germans before with my son, but had not played the American side in the scenario. So as it started Jose was the Germans and I took the side of the Americans. A few seconds later, Jarrod, Tanner and Hunter arrived and with a minor amount of shuffling the sides were Jarrod and Hunter: Americans; Jose and Tanner: Germans; me: Referee/game 'splainer. The Americans rushed up to the bridge and held it. In fact for the entirety of the game there was a single light infantry unit that held the bridge among a couple of other specialized squads and/or vehicles. That was one steadfast soldier! At the bridge, the Germans tore the Americans apart. With German machine gunners in opportunity fire mode, the Americans could hardly move an inch. Then the cavalry arrived. Halfway through the scenario, the Americans received reinforcements. As the Americans finally got into position to make their move; Jarrod, Tanner and Hunter had to leave. I took over for the Americans. On my next turn, I made a massive combined attack on the last pesky machine gunner, took him out and made a mad dash for the buildings. I managed to spread out to all of the outlying buildings as the game was called. The Americans were able to save the day!
We made a few rules mistakes, but the game is new and that's bound to happen. Hunter displayed that he is a huge risk-taker.
Tide of Iron Standings: Jarrod 2, Hunter 2, Joey 2, Tanner -3, Jose -3

So next week it's my pick. See you next week!

Images by Joe Belanger