Carcassonne Central

On Friday, (Canada Day), we had some friends over for a Lobster boil and a day of games. It was a nice day, so we ended up playing a few games outdoors.

Tumblin' Dice - Silly dexterity game that is perfect for an outdoor gathering where beer is involved.

Bamboleo - Another silly dexterity game that we played outside. The wind can wreak havoc though. Smile

Taktika - Four people played a game of taktika while I started cooking the mussels. This is a great little dexterity wargame that is always a hit when we bring it out.

Turfmaster - After Lobster we moved inside and got an 8 player game of Turfmaster in. This is a fun horse racing game that requires you manage you cards well. This game gets better with every play.

Saboteur - We then played a 9 player game of Saboteur. Good game for larger groups. Light and plays quick.

Ca$h & Gun$ - We ended the evening with a 9 player game of Ca$h & Gun$. (I have two copies that we have combined to allow us to play up to 12 people. This is always a hit and a nice way to end the day.

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Then on Saturday night, my darling wife and I played a game of Mega-Carcassonne.
We both enjoy Carcassonne and an evening spent with an epic game is one we both look forward to. We did not finish before we called it a night. The score was
Kathy: 475 / Matt: 241
She always mops the floor with me at this game. She finds new ways to hose me over. I love it.

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Last night, a friend came over for Monday night game night and he introduced me to the BattleTech CCG. Enjoyable game.
After that, Kathy joined us for a game of Blue Moon City. Colin won that in a very close race in the end game.

We ended the evening with a game of Ruse & Bruise in which Colin and I tied. I think Ruse & Bruise plays better with more players.

Working on building prototype "Canadian Nalvic" board :)

Dominion (Base, Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity, Alchemy, BGG Promos), Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries, Ticket to Ride: Europe (with Europa 1912), Agricola: Farmers of the Moor, Dixit (with Dixit 2), and Small World (with Grand Dames, Cursed!, and Be Not Afraid). I've also been playing Memoir '44 Online on my Mac with the expectation of receiving it for my wedding.

I have not tried Dixit yet, what are your thoughts on the game?

Dixit is rather fun for a party game, but it can get old unfortunately. It doesn't have the various feel of, say, the Cranium games, but it does have this very artistic feel to it...like you are art connoisseurs examining pieces of abstract art. I like it and am planning to use it at my wedding. I was hoping to pick up Odyssey too to expand the game to support more people, but that will have to wait. Rules are fairly intuitive, though it takes a little work to explain them the first time around.

Thanks. Appreciate the insights.

Played some Mag Blast on Friday.  Then a game of Mad Zeppelin.  Finished the evening with a game of Munchkin Cthulhu.
The week before it was Carc and Dominion, using the new Cornucopia cards. 

We played Dominion: Cornucopia a couple of weeks ago. I like the addition of the new cards. Never played Mad Zeppelin before, do you recommend it?

I call it a fun, "in-between" game.  We don't generally play it more than 3 games in a row and then we play something else.  It's not long.  It is fun, and random.  I enjoy it quite a bit.  I feel it was worth the $25 I paid for it.  It was easy to learn too.  We generally drag it out every 2-3 weeks.  We seem to have so many games it's hard to get them all in now.   

I have enjoyed Ascension a lot recently. the group I play with almost always plays tichu. if you need a good two player i love Jambo.
GREED is a nice quick game as well, along the lines of tichu we enjoy haggis. lastly, Ingenious is a favorite of mine.

Settlers of Catan, Super Scrabble, Zooloretto, Hunters and Gatherers, RISK...

Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Trails to Rails, Agricola, the Farming Game

Not much lately, unfortunately.  :(

We played Season Three / Race Nine of our Formula De League tonight. big fun. (My driver really sucks this year though)

If you like racing games and haven't tried Bolide I definitely recommend it. Having never played Formula De I will have to assume the mechanics are very different. Bolide works well for people who are good with vector analysis, but fun for anyone who likes race cars.

Inspired by a user on BGG, I have decided to track the games I have played for the year. Doing a quick tally I came up with the following totals for 2011 to date:

Carcassonne - 14 Plays
Dominion - 11
Wings of War - 10
Great Dalmuti - 10*
Pandemic - 7
Ricochet Robots - 7
Guillotine - 6
Pirateer - 6
Dixit - 6
Cloud Nine - 5
Forbidden Island - 5
Betrayal at House on the Hill - 5

This was supposed to be a top 10 list, but the 3-way tie had not been broken at the time of this post.

*We often play Great Dalmuti in between other games to adjust turn order. I discovered that over the years we all have 'assigned' seats we all like to use. This randomization gives us an opportunity to lead/follow different players, usually changing our overall strategy (even if only slightly).

McJazz:

Thanks for the tip on Bolide. It is on my want to play list for sure. We love race games. That is a very interesting selection of games you have been playing. Lots of variety. What is your handle on BGG?

McJazz, same as here.

I am fortunate to have a group of gamers who enjoy playing a wide variety. To me, games are like music: Sometimes you are in the mood for something light, other times you need something a little more hard core. The key is finding something everyone can enjoy.

Not yet listed in the top 10, our current group favorite is Smallworld. I've had this game for awhile now, but it never really clicked for everyone until recently.

Last night we had 7 players so we played a game of Turfmaster. We followed that up with Bang! and ended with Saboteur.

Last weekend we played a couple of games of 7 Wonders with the Leaders expansion. I also got to play a game of Werewolves of Miller's Hollow for the first time.

Played an incredibly awesome game of Twilight Struggle last night. The game went the full ten turns and was a victory point tug of war the whole game. Some great card combinations and well timed plays. In the end I lost the game. My opponent played USA and had 3VP at the end of the game. Great game; the whole session as a nail biter.

This is a game that I have on my shelf and would love to learn to play. It's just gathering dust at the moment...

Another game that is gathering rather a lot of dust is War of the Ring. We tried once, but my teenage son and I became a little frustrated when trying to learn the game. We have been waiting patiently for someone to make a video of the first few turns, so we can understand what is actually going on. The wait goes on...

However, last night we played Airlines Europe. This is fast becoming one of my favourite games. We also had a couple of games of Triumvirate, that I am not very good at, but I enjoy the game.

Looking forward to getting my hands on Flash Point: Fire Rescue. It is supposed to be out for Essen and is on Kickstarter right now. I think this will be replacing Pandemic as our go-to co-op game. I have played a PC version (java) and the gameplay is really cool... or should that be hot?  ;D

Othello.

I tried making my own pieces, but I spent more than buying the game cost at the store, and they didn't turn out at all.  :'(

Lots of Dominion, Pandemic, and Arkham Horror for me.

Do you play Dominion with the expansions, or just the base game?

WOW-TBG + WOW-TAG + Emmerlaüs + munchkin + Heroes od Graxia + carcassonne(d'uh), D&D Wrath of Ashardalon/Castle Ravenloft + Skip Bo + Milles Bornes + Ninja Burger + Age Of Conan

about once a month, maybe 2 for WOW-TBG 6-8 hours a game!!

That is quite a list!!!

I play with all expansions mixed together, but some games I'll just play with a single expansion (or the base) to mix things up and really focus on the strengths of each. I play Arkham with one or two expansions every time, but haven't put forth the effort of an all in game yet. Pandemic is a new purchase so I haven't gotten the expansion yet. And I play as many expansions as my opponents will allow for in Carc. I usually love expansions. How do you play Dominion?

Dominion:
We play with all expansions and promos and just pick 10 Kingdom cards and leave it up to fate. We have played some interested combos. :)

Carcassonne:
If it is my wife and I, we play many / most expansions. If we are introducing new players, we play base game with maybe 1 expansion rule. I think the Selector Cards are really working well for us, as we play with the cards set out showing which rules from the expansions are in play.

Pandemic:
Great game and it plays well without the expansion. The expansion adds a fifth players (Bio-Terrorist) that introduces a fun and diabolical element to play. :)

Pandemic is on my list to get after I satisfy my Munchkin craving.  I would like to get TtR eventually, but and settling for the Xbox version for now.  I don't know anything about Dominion, but I'd like to watch a game sometime soon.  Not sure how to pull that off.

Ticket to Ride can be a lot of fun, especially if you play the Europe version. It ads to the game and makes it a little more complex than simple TtR. You can try out Dominion on dominion.isotropic.org (http://dominion.isotropic.org)
This website features live play with a high degree of game customization and is perfect for getting the feel of the game before purchasing it.

Very cool.  Thanks!

Lost first game 83-18.  I have no real idea what I'm doing...

GenCon man. It's the only way to go. :)

Where do you live? Could be plenty of opportunities nearby for getting a game or to under your belt.

I live about an hour from Raleigh, NC.  There is a LGS that is supposed to have a board game night every Friday, but every time I've gone, either nobody showed up or they cancelled for one reason or another.  Friday is also Magic night and they have a big crowd.  Seems to me like a little restructuring is in order.

It can be brutal at times on isotropic. There are definitely people there who have thousands of plays under their belts and have analyzed it to death. You can play matches against specific opponents (i.e. your friends) on there as well. I'd be happy to play with you and walk you through some basic strategy some time if you'd like.

Meetup may have some options for you if you search for Boardgames:
http://boardgames.meetup.com/cities/us/nc/raleigh/?sort=default&radius=50

Possible Conventions Near You:
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/66079/game-convention-calendar

Registered BGG Users Near Raleigh:
http://boardgamegeek.com/browser.php?itemtype=flag&country=United+States&state=North+Carolina&city=Raleigh

Bought so many new games at Gen Con...wow...
The big ones were Ticket To Ride, and I got the wood box edition of Carcassonne the City for $25.  I also won FRAG by Steve Jackson Games for $1...lol...
Picked up some other little odds and ends. 

Dominion can be super fun.  I just recently put all my cards into a card box to save space and I downloaded a random generator app to pick Kingdoms; that's how we'll probably play moving forward. 

Cool. Have you been to GenCON before, or was this your first trip? Also, what app do you use for Dominion? Is it a PC app, or a smart phone app?

Last Night saw a variety pack of games hit the table.

Played 2 games of Battle Line. This is a great two player game & it travels well too. Plays quick and is easy to learn.

Played a game of Oshi. It is an abstract strategy game. Had not played in years and now I remember why. The end game drags on a bit. It is now on my trade-away list. 

Another great, quick, and simple two player game is Balloon Cup. I got schooled in a game of that last night.

Played a three player game of Venture (The old 3M version). Nice game with clever mechanics. Boy do I suck and seeing patterns and building corporations.

Ended the evening with a three player game of The Bridges of Shangri-La. It is a very clever game that is easily obtained on the cheap. Check it out.

Last Night:

Played Quarriors with 4 players last night. Interesting spin on the deck-building mechanic that uses dice instead of cards. Fun game. It you are a geek about custom dice, you should check this out.

We followed that up with a 4 players game of Fresco.

Quarriors is getting a lot of attention right now it seems.  I've seen lots of ads on BGG.

Last Night:

Played 3 games of Quarriors (2 player). It was fun and I am starting to see the expansion potential for this game. Dominion with dice.

After that, we played a silly game of Micro Mutant: Evolution. I really must try this game with 4 players. :D

Three games of Hive were next. Great abstract game and I love the quality of the Bakelite edition components.

We ended the night with a game of Battle Line. Classic.

My daughter and son-in-law just got me Civilization the board game. It's awesome but took us about 6 hours over 3 days to get it set up and get the hang of it. We finished the game last weekend and can't wait to start another one this weekend!

Anyone else know it?

There are a few versions of Civilization, which one did you play?

The cover of the box shows ancient times in the foreground - then progresses to a rocket launching in the back center.

Any idea when it was published?

This seventh Gen Con now...I live like 50 minutes from downtown Indy so it's no issue for me to go. 

The app I use to generate kingdoms is for the iPod platform.  I use it on my iPad and iPod.

This it right here. If the link works.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/77130/sid-meiers-civilization-the-board-game

Cool. Thanks. I have not played that one, although I have heard many good things about it.

Last night:

We started with a two player game of Heave-Ho! Scottish tug of war fighting over whiskey barrels. Fun filler and would be ideal for an afternoon at the pub. :)

Next we played a four player game of Safranito where the players are all chefs vying for spices at an Indian Spice Market in order to complete their spice blends. Interesting use of dexterity mechanics in this game.

We then played a three player game of Quarriors!

The night was finished with a very clever abstract strategy game called Chase.

All in all, a fun evening with an eclectic mix of games.

So what do you think of Quarriors so far?

I like Quarriors. I think it is a fun, quick, lite game. I have logged 5 plays so far. Here is a quick run down on my take on the game.

PROS
...I think it plays well with 2, 3, and 4 players
...Quick game play
...Easy to learn
...Cool Dice (I love dice)
...I look forward to the expansion capability

CONS
...Game play may stagnate after many plays (even with lots of cards).
...Do not look to this game to be your brain-burner.
...Some people may not like that this game is set up for expansions.
...Some of the numbers on the dice are small and hard to read in low light conditions.

Tonight we played a five player game of Railways of the World (Eastern USA Map)

Even if you are not a fan of train games, you should give this game a try. This is one of our favourite games and it always gets received well by members of our gaming group. My wife won this game and I came in dead last. It was an awesome game.

I concur. This is simply a good game and one of our favourites too. We enjoy playing the Mexico map with 2 players. We also have the Railways of England and Wales expansion and that map plays well 3+ players.

Last night was an evening of two player games...
I played 2 games of Zertz. It is one of the abstract games in the GIPF series. Nice to get that to the table again. After Zertz, a silly game of Micro Mutants: Evolution was in order, cool fun and very silly. We finished up the night with a game of Catacombs. This game is the love child of Crokinole and D&D. :)

Two nights ago, I  played a two player game of Neuroshima Hex. That was followed up with a six player game of Asteroyds. We managed to get a six player game of Jamaica played as well as a six player game of Infinite City. The night ended with the awesomeness that is four player Loopin' Louie. :)

So, my wife and I have been traveling a lot this year and I got out of the habit of posting in this thread. Not sure if anyone actually reads this stuff or not, so it may not have been a big loss. :)

I thought I would catch up with at least posting my November plays thus far...

Played a game of FITS. Think of it as a boardgame version of tetris. This is losing its luster for me and may soon hit the trade pile. It is light and accessible for non gamers, just leaving me a bit cold these days.

Another light game we played was Tiki Topple. This has some depth to it, but not much. The components are great and it would be a great game to play with kids.

Managed to get a game of Crokinole in. I love the game and would like to play it more. I think I need to organize a period gather with the express purpose to play the game if I want to play more.

We managed to get another playtest in of our game "The Earth Shook". It is a light Mech battling game and I am pleased with how the playtests are going. The core rules work well and we are only making evolutionary tweaks at this point. This was a six player game that involved three teams of two.

A La Carte hit the table again. Silly. Fun. Light. Full of laughs.

I bought That's Life in September after reading a brief review and I must say, it has been a great addition to our collection. It is easy to teach, plays with up to 6 people, and has some interesting decisions with a tiny dash of screw you. Played it again in November.

Dug Sorry Sliders out and dusted it off. Played 5 games with my wife as a way to end an evening of gaming. Light, fun. Can probably be bought for quite cheap. WIll not get played often, but it is an ok dexterity diversion.

A quick game of Flicking Football. I can see what this is a popular pub game.

Played a game of Mexican Train Dominoes with my wife using some variant rules we learned on a recent trip. Fun game.

I won a copy of Robber Knights a couple of years ago and felt I either needed to play it or sell it. I played it and I am glad I did. Fun game. I would like to play this with 3 or 4 players to see how that plays.

Some family visited from Alberta last weekend and my nephew requested a game of Small World. I had not played it in awhile and set it up. We had four players. I forgot how much fun this game is. It is light and works as a good introductory "wargame" to people not used to conflict in most of the euro-style games. I need to play this more.

My nephew also schooled me in a game of Kogworks. I think he is pretty good at abstract games. Next time we gather I must show him some of my abstract games.

The real treat for me was playing a game of Rallyman. I like race games to begin with and this has some cool mechanics that simulate the feel of rally racing. This will hit the table again, soon.

Bixby - I, for one, enjoy reading your reviews of the various games I don't have exposure to. Keep reviewing and posting.  :sa

Thanks. Will do.  :)

Awful Green Things From Outer Space is a fun 2 player game.  It's never the same game twice!

Chrononauts is another favorite of mine.  I purchased Alhambra some time ago, but we haven't broken it out yet.  I'm hoping to get a new game for Christmas!

I have never played AGTFOS. Is this the magazine version or the commercial version of the game?
Played Chrononauts once, enjoyed it. Need to play it again now that I know what is going on. :D

Alhambra is a game my wife requests quite a bit. She also wins quite a bit. Coincidence??? :D

I'm reading this thread too, though I read it cautiously because you guys get me hooked on games that have lots of expansions.

Mexican Train Dominos was very popular at our house a few years ago. When we were first introduced to it, we played every night for 2 or 3 weeks. That we don't play it anymore is more a problem of having others around to play with as our schedules have become more full.

I played Alhambra once and enjoyed it, though fortunately not enough to feel the urge to buy it because I think it has several expansions as well. The idea of each player building on their own was both appealing and unappealing at the same time. I find with tile-laying games I don't feel that other players are crowding me, whereas with a fixed-size game like Catan I feel constricted, so in the case of Catan I prefer the card game where each player builds on their own.

I have the newest commercial version (2011) and the pocket pack edition (1988).  It's a fun, wacky game.  IMHO, the green things win most of the time.  That's why we play 2 games & switch sides.  We take the points at the end and add them up to see who the winner is.

I need to break out Alhambra...

I was lucky enough to buy the Big Box version of Alhambra that has all of the expansions included. Tom Vasel (The Dice Tower) did a great series of videso on the game and the expansions. Each expansion consists of a number of mini expansions and he highlights each one very well. Here is the link on SaskGames that summarizes info and links to videos...

http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=396.0

Alhambra looks interesting, but I think I'd like to try Glen More first.  Do you agree with Tom's module rankings for the most part Bixby?

We have not played all of the expansions. Ones that I have played along with an approximate ranking...

• 10/10 - Currency Exchange Cards
• 10/10 - The Change
• 10/10 - The Diamonds
• 08/10 - Worker's Huts
• 08/10 - The Characters
• 07/10 - City Gates
• 07/10 - The Camps
• 05/10 - The Bonus Cards

Instead of my usual post, here is a Geeklist account of our BGG.CON 2011 experience...

Click Here (http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/74951/a-squirrel-and-a-cat-walk-into-a-bar-bgg-con-2)

Nice, well done!  I'm going to have to attend this some time for sure!

This weekend saw us play:

Two games of That's Life which is a quick game, easy to teach, and accommodates up to 6 players. After that, we got in 1 four player game of Crokinole (played in teams. Sequence then hit the table and five games were played by four of us. I finished the evening by teaching Elk Fest and playing a quick game. 

I rarely play Video Games, but Skyrim has drawn me in, so I have been logging a few hours here and there on the xBox. Great game.

I watched my cousins play this over the weekend, definitely a jawdropper.. I wish I had enough time left in my day for this!

This week I have been playing some Cribbage on and off with my mom. She is here for an extended visit and this is a family favourite.

I played two games of Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel (Kursk) this week. I was the Germans in both games. Both games were Firefight #6 Sneak Attack. I REALLY like this game and want to play this much more. This is my third play and they have all been this scenario. I am goinf=g over the rules to make sure I understand them completely before getting into the more involved scenarios with some of the additional rules. I am getting rid of Squad Leader as COH will now be my go-to game for WWII Squad level skirmishes.

This weekend, my wife and I hosted the 2nd Annual WSOP November Nine Blind Bid Poker Grindfest. It was a full day of food, friends, poker, and laughs. This is a great format for a poker tournament and will only get more popular every year. Lots of fun. Neither of us placed in the money, but we had lots of fun.

At the end of the evening of Poker, we played RockBand for a couple of hours and finished the evening with Crokinole and some Loopin' Louie. A damn fine weekend.

I finally sat down and order a few new games for the family (Father, Mother, Myself, wife, daughter and future son-in-law) to try.  Played all of them over the last two week save one.

Railways of the World - Wife and I liked it so much that I ordered every expansion for it.
7 Wonders - Everyone in the family enjoyed this.
Small World - Ended up ordering every expansion for it.  Even my Mother wanted to play it.
Elder Sign - Wife loves this.
Forbidden Island - Daughter and I love it.
Airlines Europe - Daughter, myself and wife love it.  Hopefully Moon will do more maps.
Kingdom Builder - Me, daughter and wife only played one game but we all want to play again.  We like that the game is a random setup.
Carcassonne Dice Game - We had to up the score because the games were ending too fast.  Will be designing house rules to give more options.


Didn't get to play Lord Of The Rings: The Card Game.  Hopefully next weekend.

Wow. That is a great line up of games. I hear you about Railways of the World. Fantastic game. My wife loves that game quite a bit. We have all of the expansions, but have only played Eastern USA to date. I think we are ready to move into some of the other maps. The game is like a fine fine and we are savoring the flavour of each map before moving onto another. :)

We played the Maps in this order: Mexico, Eastern, Europe, Western, England & Whales and Through Time.

I think each map is more than unique enough to justify its existence.  And each map forced us to come up with new strategies.  Especially Through Time.  I think my favorite is Western with Through Time a very very close second.  Western actually forced my mother to start Urbanizing stuff along my route so I couldn't do 6 and 7 length hauls.  I was actually shocked the first time she did it.  Cut my scoring potential almost in half.

I've been playing a lot of Munchkin and Flash Point: Fire Rescue lately.  A little bit of Pandemic too.  This is mostly because I don't own many games.  Really liking Flash Point.  My little group finally beat the advanced version last night after several attempts over the past couple weeks.  We nearly saved all ten victims and lost the last one just before we could rescue him.  I think we like it a little better than Pandemic probably just because we got it first.  I'm pretty sure I'll like Pandemic a lot more when I get the expansion... eventually.

We are really enjoying Munchkin and I've got the bug, so I keep getting expansions here and there.  My birthday was this week so I rounded out most of the base set expansions and "regular" booster packs.  We enjoy it quite a bit.  

Tonight is my Board Game Night at the FLGS.  I think I'm going to play Settlers of Catan.  Most of my group have only played what I've showed them so far so everything is new.  I figure everyone has to play Catan, right?  Last week we played Flash Point and the week before we played Ticket to Ride.  It's going pretty well so far.

My mother loves Cribbage.  She plays it quite often with her card game buddies.

I'm intrigued, what is that?

Hmm... Railways of the World appears to resolve what I didn't like about Ticket to Ride. I think I'll be adding it to my wish list.

I don't know anything about Railways.  What was it you didn't like about TTR?

Are you familiar with Texas Hold'em and the World Series of Poker? If so, I can explain how we have created a format that mirrors the November Nine (Final table of the annual WSOP). It is really quite fun. :D

Ticket to Ride is an excellent beginners "euro" game. But Railways blows Ticket to Ride away for strategy and different approaches to win.  I like Railways scoring system, over T2R, because only one thing is hiding (Baron Cards vs all routes) and you can mitigate that factor by taking a good 7+ point lead with strong play.

Sounds interesting.  I'll have to take a look at it.


Texas Hold'em - yes, WSOP - not so much.

The WSOP is the World Series of Poker played in Las Vegas every year. It is a high profile Non Limit Texas Hold'em Freeze out tournament. The have a very large field of players that play down to 9 players. The 9 final table players then go back to Vegas in November to play what is called the November 9. This in reality is just the culmination of the main poker event. All of the chips from all of the players in the main event wind up in the stacks of the final 9 players. Our event mirrors the November Nine table set up and blind structure. Here is the posting from our personal site that gives the details to the event:

---

----- Format -----
This is the re-enactment of the November Nine final table 2011 WSOP Main Event and as such there will be different chip stacks in a certain order on the table. This will be the same format that I ran last year with a blind bid system in place for players to submit their bids in advance of the game. High bid gets high stack, and so on. This will be a deep stack, game of Texas Hold'em. The blind structure is tuned to be about a 8-10hr game of poker. An epic game for our annual gathering. This is also a potluck so please prepare to bring some food for sharing. Kathy and I will be preparing a slow cooker full of spiced pulled pork.
This year's game will be held on Saturday, December 10th and will be an all day event, same as last year.

----- WSOP Player Roster -----
Here are the Actual WSOP players, their stacks, and their seating assignments for this year's event...
40,175,000...Martin Staszko (SEAT 9)
33,925,000...Eoghan O'Dea (SEAT 3)
24,750,000...Matt Giannetti (SEAT 1)
23,875,000...Phil Collins (SEAT 4)
20,875,000...Ben Lamb (SEAT 8)
19,700,000...Badih Bounahra (SEAT 2)
16,425,000...Pius Heinz (SEAT 7)
13,825,000...Anton Makiievskyi (SEAT 5)
12,375,000...Sam Holden (SEAT 6)    

----- Blind Structure -----
We will be starting our tournament at level 36 of the official blind structure. The only difference is that Vegas runs these levels for 2 hours, and our levels will be set to 45 minutes. We will take a break after each two levels of play.
LVL - ANTE - BLINDS
36 - 50,000 - 250,000  /  500,000
37 - 75,000 - 300,000  /  600,000
38 - 100,000 - 400,000  /  800,000
39 - 150,000 - 500,000  /  1,000,000

Remove 25,000 Chips

40 - 200,000 - 600,000  /  1,200,000
41 - 200,000 - 800,000  /  1,600,000
42 - 300,000 - 1,000,000  /  2,000,000
43 - 300,000 - 1,200,000  /  2,400,000
44 - 400,000 - 1,500,000  /  3,000,000
45 - 500,000 - 2,000,000  /  4,000,000
46 - 500,000 - 2,500,000  /  5,000,000
47 - 1,000,000 - 3,000,000  /  6,000,000

----- Prize Pool -----
Payouts will be top 3 spots and the payout percentages are as follows: 60%, 30%, & 10%. The actual payout amounts will not be known until we know what the top 9 bids are. Remember, we have more people bidding this year so the total pot and prize pool are likely to be higher. I want to remind everyone that this is a FUN SOCIAL event and must be treated as such. Great thing about our group is that the stakes do not interfere with the friendship and respect. I cherish that and want to make sure we keep it that way. :)

----- Bid Process -----
OK Poker Peeps, the Bidding is NOW OPEN! (This was posted on November 24th)

Remember: The Game is scheduled to occur on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 (ALL DAY)
RULES:
( 1 ) Email your bid to BixbyPoker@x.y
( 2 ) Bids must be in Whole Dollar increments.
( 3 ) Minimum bid is $30.
( 4 ) In the case of a tie amount, the first bid received is given priority.
( 5 ) Choose your bid wisely, your first email is binding. Others will be ignored.
( 6 ) DO NOT discuss your bids with anyone, as there may be late comers to the party. I welcome that.
( 7 ) I will reveal all bids on Sunday, December 4th at 5pm. (Will post in this thread).
( 8 ) All bids are binding. You bid - You pay & play. (In the event there are more than 9 bidders, only top 9 pay & play).
( 9 ) All bids MUST BE EMAILED by noon on Sunday, December 4th. If there are not at least 9 bids. The event is canceled.
(10) Re-read these rules before posting any questions. I think things are spelled out quite clearly. :)

I will submit my bid right away so it will be the first bid and I will be bound to that bid. Also, by bidding first, I will not know other bids. Let's get this Grindfest rolling!!!

BID REVEAL (In the order of receiving the bids)
$116 Matt IN THE GAME - Ben Lamb (SEAT 8 )
$069 John DID NOT CUT IT
$070 Guy DID NOT CUT IT
$083 Dwight IN THE GAME - Sam Holden (SEAT 6)
$122 Kathy IN THE GAME - Phil Collins (SEAT 4)
$050 Jason DID NOT CUT IT
$087 Devin IN THE GAME - Anton Makiievskyi (SEAT 5)
$111 Shawn IN THE GAME - Badih Bounahra (SEAT 2)
$099 Tim IN THE GAME - Pius Heinz (SEAT 7)
$060 Brad DID NOT CUT IT
$047 Rob DID NOT CUT IT
$060 Carly DID NOT CUT IT
$126 Andy IN THE GAME - Martin Staszko (SEAT 9)
$123 Jen IN THE GAME - Eoghan O'Dea (SEAT 3)
$123 Richard IN THE GAME - Matt Giannetti (SEAT 1)

Average of All Bids: $89.73
Average of Winnings Bids: $110.00

$595 - 1st Place
$295 - 2nd Place
$100 - 3rd Place
$990 - TOTAL PRIZE POOL

Good luck. Have fun. Shuffle up and Deal!!!!

Wow, that looks pretty interesting.  So for the people who didn't win a bid, did you still have something for them, or do they just not come?  Did you have a dealer or just deal with the button?

We revealed the bids a week in advance and the non-winning bidders did not attend. Next year, we are thinking of having a secondary game for them. No dealer, the button dealt.

Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers
Cargo Noir
Forbidden Island
Infarkt
Small World

What do you think of cargo Noir? I have heard mixed reviews about the game.

Played two 7-Player games of Cosmic Encounter last night. What a goofy, hectic, chaotic game. :)

I saw that at the FLGS last night and wondered about it too.

Played another game of Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel - Kursk 1943 last night. Played firefight #7. The Germans had a wounded Tiger tank on the field and sent a small group of tanks and an Opel truck to retrieve the tank. In the meantime, a group of Russian tanks moved in to prevent the rescue of the immobilized Tiger. I am really digging this game. I played the Germans last night and barely managed to get the off of the board to safety. Look forward to logging more plays.

You know, it;s a nice and easy...quick game. It's easy to understand and still fun, but there;s not much to it. It begs to get an expansion made soon.

It''s easy to explain and understand, but you still interact with each other. The design is nice and all the material is top-notch.

CON:
- They should have done more with the theme...include cards like "snitch" or "bust" to 'attack' each other or something.
- They should have also given each 'family' like a special privilige or something.
- The drawing bag with the tiles is a b*tch to store in the box, unless you're willing to cut the insert.

PRO:
- Nice, easy, quick game.

Thanks Khonnor83 for the info. I will see if I can find someone who has this to get in a play or two.

This past weekend was a mini-Christmas for us. Our youngest daughter has moved away and is living in Calgary, Alberta. She has to work over Christmas so this is her first Christmas away from home. We had a family gathering this past weekend and she was able to come to Regina, SK for a few days. My mom is here on an extended visit from Nova Scotia. Our oldest daughter is on her own but living in Regina so she was able to come over. Add in a boyfriend and we had a group of 6 people. for dinner, wine, and some games.

One of the cool things we have done for Christmas, is get out of the gift-buying race. We instead add money every year to our Kiva.org account to lend money to those in need. Our gift to each other every year is time spent together and a joint meal we all spend the day preparing and savoring.

Here is our Kiva Profile... http://www.kiva.org/lender/RobertLewisons

Enough of that, what about the games...

We played a half dozen games of Toc Toc Woodman, a crazy silly dexterity game that is a fun filler and a good group ice breaker. No depth, just laughs. Also played a number of games of Loopin Louie which falls in the same category. Also got a game of Downfall of Pompeii and two games of Ticket to Ride. A rather heart-warming weekend gathered around the dining room table with family, games, and good food. We are blessed.
 

Sounds like a great weekend Bixby!  I had a really good gaming Sunday as well.  My wife and I met with a local MIB for SJGames and her husband at a game store and we played a game of Munchkin with a few expansions (I won!).  Then we played the new Axe Cop version of Munchkin.  It was quite different, but it was pretty fun. 

We then branched out from Munchkin games and tried Forbidden Island.  It was the first time for all of us and we were able to pull out a victory.  I got the game for my sister's kids for Christmas so I was glad to give it a play. 

We did play one game of Carcassonne (WoF) since they were new to the game and wanted to make sure they were playing it right.  We ended the night with a quick two-player Quarriors.  It was my first time seeing the game and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  It was OK, but I'm still not sure I understood all that was going on.  I was very close to winning during the last three turns or so, but lost in the end. 

It was a really fun night and I went home with a whole bunch of Munchkin promos so that made it even that much more fun.

That sounds awesome CK. Quarriors is a game that needs more expansions I believe. The game is getting repetitive for me after only a few plays. I am a real geek for custom dice so I guess I have a weakness for the game. :)

Last night four of us played Power Struggle. I quite enjoy the game. There is a lot going on and a healthy dose of back stabbing involved. :)
We followed up that with a game of Downfall of Pompeii, Martian Dice, 3 games of Toc Toc Woodman, and finished up with Nacht der Magier

...all in all, a fun night.

My wonderful wife gave me Ticket to Ride for our anniversary on Saturday.  Hopefully, we'll be able to play sometime this week!!  It's been in my wishlist for some time now...   :D

Great fun!  Be sure to get the 1910 expansion.

We just started playing Ticket to Ride with my mom lately. I will certainly look at the 1910 expansion. Thanks.

Last night, we had an evening of three player games. We started with A La Carte which is a cooking game. Quite light and silly. Keeping up with the silly theme, we then played 5 quick games of Loopin Louie and followed that up with 3 quick games of Toc Toc Woodman. Funny how games for 4 year olds are becoming a regular staple at our house. :)

On to the main event, we played a game of Castles of Burgundy. What an exceptionally great game. It was my first play and I really liked it. Look forward to more plays with this one for sure.

Finished the evening off with a quick game of Fiki Flicking Football.

Last night we had a six-player game of Munchkin.  My wife's two brother were just learning so we were taking it kinda slow.  It got nasty early since we were showing them most of what could happen and we were playing with all the Santa expansions.  One brother quit when he died (cause he had to go) and the other did too a little later, so my wife took over in his spot continuing the game with five.  It lasted for nearly 5 hours!  It didn't help that it was particularly ruthless or that we had to play to level 11.  We had told her brothers that it could last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  I guess we underestimated.

We capped that off with two games of Flash Point.  The first one was lost by damage.  In the second game we won and then decided to try for all 10 POIs and ended up losing the last POI one space from the door.  Going for that perfect victory kinda feels like double or nothing in that game.  We kept having to remind ourselves that we won.  Co-op games have a totally different feel when you win or lose.  It's more of a feeling of satisfaction like a puzzle.

Here's a list of everything I played during the week from Christmas to New Years Day with family and friends.  It was a good week.  

Carcassonne
Flash Point
Sequence
Wits & Wagers
Set
Slide 5
Dixit
Crappy Birthday
Seven Dragons
Forbidden Island
Cribbage
Incan Gold
Apples to Apples
Panic Station
Wizard
Qwirkle
Five Crowns
Ticket to Ride
Bohnanza

Great list CK! Best part of holiday season is gaming. :)

Played a 6 player game of Cosmic Encounter last night, followed by two games of 7 Wonders.

Resurrecting the list. :)

Played Duel of Ages last night. I cannot really decide how I feel about this game yet, want to play a couple more times before I rate it. Other than that, I am excited that I have played 2 games of War of the Ring: Collector's Edition in the last few weeks. Wow, what a great game and the collector's edition looks superb when set up. Another highlight for me, was this past weekend. I finally got to play Merchants of Venus. Another fantastic game that I hope to play much more. Really been some great gaming lately.

 

Just finished up our tuesday night game night here, we got a few rounds of King of Tokyo in http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo , which was amazingly fun, Then we played Robo Rally http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally , also very fun, but a bit more complex.

I'd highly recommend both games.

Two great games. I have played RoboRally a number of times and think it is a blast. My wife quite enjoys it as well. I managed to get all of the old expansions too. Played King of Tokyo once and had a hoot. Been trying to find a copy ever since. It is hard to find.

Last week was a pretty strong week for me gaming wise.

War of the Ring Collector's Edition x2
I have owned this for awhile and it is really just recently that I have been able to get some quality time in with the game. I am the first to admit that I am a real sucker for great game components. This game is a treat to behold. I bought all of the custom Strongholds made by user "Fubar Awol" on BGG site to pimp the game out even further. I now have 5 plays logged for this game and I am a solid 0 wins for 5 plays. Even though I apparently suck at playing, I am really enjoying the game play.

Santiago x1
I logged my first play of Santiago this past week. It is an interesting game that involves some negotiation / screwage. I am also not a skilled negotiator so I did not do well at this. Had fun and look forward to more plays.

Endeavor x1
Played this game for the third time. It is really a gem. I like the mechanics and the theme. My wife enjoys it too so I am sure we will be playing more of this in the future. I think this game is best played with 5 players.

Tsuro x3
This is a quick little filler with gorgeous components. We knocked off three quick games while waiting for our fifth player to show up for Monday night game night. This plays quick and would be a good game to play with kids.

The Settlers of Catan x1
We spent Friday night at a friend's house. They had us over for a wonderful meal and we ended the evening with a four player game of Settlers with the Cities & Knights expansion. I burnt out on Settlers years ago, and we have slowly been bringing it back out to the table. I like the addition of Cities & Knights. Fun evening.

Cyclades x1
We had no plans for Saturday night, so a friend popped over and brought Cyclades. We played a three player game. This was my second play of the game and I quite enjoyed it. It is heavy with theme and allows for conflict. I look forward to playing this again.

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas x1
After Cyclades, we played this game. It is quite unlike any other games I have played. I like the theme and the components. It is always a hit when I put this on the table.

Infinite City x1
We ended our Saturday game session with a 3 player game of Infinite City. This is another quick game that is easy to teach and easy to play. I like the components and feel of the game. Enjoyable evening of play.

That was my week. I do not play any PBEM games so nothing to report there. I have been enjoying Disc Drivin' on the iPad though. A fun implementation of Pitchcar for the iOS.

Recently, we have been playing Castles of Burgundy. A great game designed by Stefan Feld that uses dice allocation as a mechanic. We have also been playing another game designed by him called Trajan. I am very impressed with his designs. A lot going on and very engaging game play.

Hosted a Crokinole Tournament for 8 players a couple of weeks ago. It was a great trial run and we plan on hosting a larger event soon.

Played the third race of our Formula De season last week. My driver still sucks, but teh game is really fun with a full ten players.

Recently got Formula D.  My group likes it a lot.  I think it's becoming the favorite.  It appeals to everyone, even the ladies.  I've played with seven, but not 10 yet.  Looking forward to a long, full session.  Should be fun.  I've played 6 or 7 times now and I seem to wreck or come in the middle of pack.  Got to find the balance between living on the edge and playing it safe.  Haven't gotten there yet.  Lots of fun though.

If you ever get a chance to try league play... jump on it. The game shines in a league. Here is our League structure if you are interested in having a peak. We use a couple of additional rules that add to the game.
http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=1611.0

Fighting Formations: Grossdeutschland Motorized Infantry Division
Cavan was over on Thursday and introduced me to this game. I really like the activation matrix and how it alters the initiative track. Would like to play this a couple more times to get a solid feel for the game system. This was a first play for me.

Dominant Species
Another first play. We had a Saturday full of boardgame goodness that started with a game of Dominant Species. Four player game. Very enjoyable and I would definitely like to play this again.

Risk Legacy
We played game #7 of our Risk Legacy World. Kathy has now got her name on the board. The fortress I have built in South America is getting dismantled, brick by brick. Brick by stinking brick I say. This was a five player game.

Cosmic Encounter
Played a five player game of this. Goofy race combinations and abilities. Three players tied for the win leaving Alex and I to despair in the icy cold vacuum of space.

Lords of Vegas
Another first play. We had four players. This game is best served with beer. Fun times with a bit of hosebaggery added for good measure.

Last week I had a first play as well. I'm working on developing a game of my own and convinced my brother to help me test it. It doesn't have a name yet, but it's a train-themed dice/card game. The dice part is working really well, but one of the cards was a little too powerful. The object of the game is to reach 100 points, and one of the cards gives +10 points. Because each card occurs multiple times, I was able to stack two of them and get a massive early lead. There is also a card which you can play against someone to end their turn with no points scored, and once this started hitting the table it helped to combat the +10 bonus cards. I think I'll be changing the bonus to +5 instead. Towards the end of the game, I was hanging on to cards that I couldn't play in the hopes that I would be able to play them later, but my brother suspected what I had in mind. On our last turns, we were each within 10 points of winning and had each picked up a +10 bonus card. My brother almost didn't play his, in which case I would have won, but he did end up playing his +10 and won the game.

Interested to see this develop Scott. Sounds like a cool design.

HeroScape
Played a three player game of HeroScape tonight. Played on our large map and I was eliminated from the game. Greg ended up beating Morty by a decent margin. Thank goodness we will not be seeing the Venoc Vipers back in the game anytime soon. :)
Check out the large map we play on Here (http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=1841.msg7530#msg7530)