Friday Night Gaming: Vinci, Neuroshima Hex!
March 6, 2009
Earlier in the week, Zach emailed the group and told us that work would prevent him from game night and running Street Fighter, so this week turned into a board game night. With Robert away for work-related training, we only had a group of four this night.
Vinci
I really have to learn how to not make myself target. Long story short, I was keeping pace with Brian and had established a pretty good persistent empire in decline. But then Brian slammed me with the help of Merwin. At one point, I only had a single token on the board and though I was still in the lead pack, it would take me several turns to regroup. Meanwhile, Ian benefited from being ignored. During the entire game, he only had two empires, both of which had Currency (which provides a bonus victory point for each controlled territory). So though he was in third for two-thirds of the game, he caught up very quickly and became a major threat once I was out of the way.
One of the complaints about Vinci appears to be that its deterministic combat system and open scoring means that the endgame can devolve into over-analysis. I don't mind this so much as the kingmaker situation that occurred. Depending on what Merwin did, either Brian or Ian would win. Choosing not to make a choice, Merwin instead maximized his own victory points, which is a good way to cut that particular knot. But it also meant that Ian won.
Overall, the game was well received and we finished in just over three hours. I predict it will hit the table again and I look forward to it. I just need to do a better job convicing people that Brian and Ian are the biggest threats. In any game.
The same designer has created a revised version of the Vinci system in a game called Small World, which moves the action from Europe to a fantasy world, simplifies/restricts the civilization combinations, and helps mitigates the endgame problems. I really want to try this version out as well.
Neuroshima Hex!
The four of us decided on a team game and it was randomly chosen that Merwin and I would be against Brian and Ian. After a very quick rundown of the basic rules for Ian, we jumped right in. Brian and Ian had the tougher and harder-hitting forces. Merwin and I had more mobile and flexible forces; I predicted that we were going to get creamed.
Much to my surprise, we got off to a quick start, making some lightning strikes and severely damaging Ian's base. Since the team game ends when the first base is lost, it made sense to concentrate on a single base rather than split attacks. Brian lamented discarding his Sniper earlier (when there weren't any units to target with the Sniper) and mentally checked out of the game. They were getting poor tile draws and we were able to take advantage of it. I tried to explain that the next rounds could completely turn their luck around.
I hated being right. Ian was able to bring in his heavy-hitters, get some good synergies, and focused on Merwin's base. At one point he had one unit that could do 6 points of damage. And it was tough (meaning hard to kill). And there were two other armored units also hitting the base. I tried to neutralize them, but was thwarted by Brian's nets. In other words, our agile units got pinned down and just couldn't stop the onslaught. I don't think we had gone through half the tiles before Merwin's base went under.
Ian seemed particularly excited to play again in the future, but as it only handles two to four players, it will have to wait for another week when multiple people cannot make it.
Earlier in the week, Zach emailed the group and told us that work would prevent him from game night and running Street Fighter, so this week turned into a board game night. With Robert away for work-related training, we only had a group of four this night.
Vinci
I really have to learn how to not make myself target. Long story short, I was keeping pace with Brian and had established a pretty good persistent empire in decline. But then Brian slammed me with the help of Merwin. At one point, I only had a single token on the board and though I was still in the lead pack, it would take me several turns to regroup. Meanwhile, Ian benefited from being ignored. During the entire game, he only had two empires, both of which had Currency (which provides a bonus victory point for each controlled territory). So though he was in third for two-thirds of the game, he caught up very quickly and became a major threat once I was out of the way.
One of the complaints about Vinci appears to be that its deterministic combat system and open scoring means that the endgame can devolve into over-analysis. I don't mind this so much as the kingmaker situation that occurred. Depending on what Merwin did, either Brian or Ian would win. Choosing not to make a choice, Merwin instead maximized his own victory points, which is a good way to cut that particular knot. But it also meant that Ian won.
Overall, the game was well received and we finished in just over three hours. I predict it will hit the table again and I look forward to it. I just need to do a better job convicing people that Brian and Ian are the biggest threats. In any game.
The same designer has created a revised version of the Vinci system in a game called Small World, which moves the action from Europe to a fantasy world, simplifies/restricts the civilization combinations, and helps mitigates the endgame problems. I really want to try this version out as well.
Neuroshima Hex!
The four of us decided on a team game and it was randomly chosen that Merwin and I would be against Brian and Ian. After a very quick rundown of the basic rules for Ian, we jumped right in. Brian and Ian had the tougher and harder-hitting forces. Merwin and I had more mobile and flexible forces; I predicted that we were going to get creamed.
Much to my surprise, we got off to a quick start, making some lightning strikes and severely damaging Ian's base. Since the team game ends when the first base is lost, it made sense to concentrate on a single base rather than split attacks. Brian lamented discarding his Sniper earlier (when there weren't any units to target with the Sniper) and mentally checked out of the game. They were getting poor tile draws and we were able to take advantage of it. I tried to explain that the next rounds could completely turn their luck around.
I hated being right. Ian was able to bring in his heavy-hitters, get some good synergies, and focused on Merwin's base. At one point he had one unit that could do 6 points of damage. And it was tough (meaning hard to kill). And there were two other armored units also hitting the base. I tried to neutralize them, but was thwarted by Brian's nets. In other words, our agile units got pinned down and just couldn't stop the onslaught. I don't think we had gone through half the tiles before Merwin's base went under.
Ian seemed particularly excited to play again in the future, but as it only handles two to four players, it will have to wait for another week when multiple people cannot make it.
Labels: Other Games
posted by Patrick at 7:52 PM
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