Friday Night Gaming: Giants, Bang!
May 1, 2009
On Monday, Zach sent a message saying, "I will be there friday and there will be SF. BE READY TO RUMBLE!" On Friday, it was, "It doesn't change my attendance but... can we board game tonight? I'm not feeling so hot myself today." And since Max was also under the weather and Jill under multiple deadlines, Zach was told to stay home and keep his germs to himself. So no Street Fighter. Again.
Giants
I hate it when we break the seal on a game at the table. I hate listening to someone else read the rules from the book (even when I do it), which is completely different than having someone teach the game. I hate stumbling through the rules and arguing for 10 minutes because no one looked at the FAQ or discussions online. So, I wasn't happy when we started the game. I was further dismayed when in the first blind bid auction, I got exactly zilch.
Like Moai, this is a game about building statues on Easter Island. Unlike that cutthroat and claustrophobic game, Giants reminded me of Tikal. Both games have worker allocation, but no one starves in Giants. You can cut off and screw players in both games, but only in Moai can you cannibalize the opposition. And while both games involve getting victory points by building moai, only in Giants do you actually move them across the island and into position; plus, you can add the pukao for extra points.
Even though I got off to a very slow start (and was cut out of a couple of later auctions as well), I came in second. The reason was that Merwin went for a blitz win, something that I had contemplated at the beginning but didn't have the moai to accomplish. The end of game is triggered once someone erects five moai, which gives someone the opportunity to build cheap and fast and end the game before the others can transport their maoi to the highest-scoring spots. And that's exactly what happened to Brian and Ian. Like me, Robert was taking the middle ground, and the first/only one to start a pukao (and I was going to start the next turn, had the game not ended).
The various workers and tokens in Giants are kept hidden behind a screen. Also, when you build a moai, you place your marker face-down under it. So, you have to remember who built which moai. Ideally, all this information is very trackable and someone with a perfect memory can tell you what everyone has. In practice, though, you simply lose track. This allowed Merwin to build his fifth moai while the rest of us were thinking "Really? Already?" Merwin ended with 48 points, I had 23, and everyone else was below that.
I'm sure we'll play again and when we do, we'll be watching and guarding against the blitz win. But I can't say that I'm thrilled at the prospect.
Bang!
Merwin is the worst Deputy, ever. As Sheriff, I got far more assistance from Robert the Renegade than I did him. Never once did Merwin attack either Outlaw, even though we knew Ian was one of them. See, he was eliminated by Robert and I, but was later resurrected by a card from the Fistful of Cards supplement. By the time Robert killed Brian, the other Outlaw, Ian had regained his strength. I started attacking Merwin simply because I was tired of hitting Ian. Luckily, I didn't kill him--that was left to Robert. With the three of us left, we went a few turns until the High Noon deck hit the end. Ian then blasted me and I died when my turn came around and the High Noon card made me lose my last life point. Not bad for a dead guy.
On Monday, Zach sent a message saying, "I will be there friday and there will be SF. BE READY TO RUMBLE!" On Friday, it was, "It doesn't change my attendance but... can we board game tonight? I'm not feeling so hot myself today." And since Max was also under the weather and Jill under multiple deadlines, Zach was told to stay home and keep his germs to himself. So no Street Fighter. Again.
Giants
I hate it when we break the seal on a game at the table. I hate listening to someone else read the rules from the book (even when I do it), which is completely different than having someone teach the game. I hate stumbling through the rules and arguing for 10 minutes because no one looked at the FAQ or discussions online. So, I wasn't happy when we started the game. I was further dismayed when in the first blind bid auction, I got exactly zilch.
Like Moai, this is a game about building statues on Easter Island. Unlike that cutthroat and claustrophobic game, Giants reminded me of Tikal. Both games have worker allocation, but no one starves in Giants. You can cut off and screw players in both games, but only in Moai can you cannibalize the opposition. And while both games involve getting victory points by building moai, only in Giants do you actually move them across the island and into position; plus, you can add the pukao for extra points.
Even though I got off to a very slow start (and was cut out of a couple of later auctions as well), I came in second. The reason was that Merwin went for a blitz win, something that I had contemplated at the beginning but didn't have the moai to accomplish. The end of game is triggered once someone erects five moai, which gives someone the opportunity to build cheap and fast and end the game before the others can transport their maoi to the highest-scoring spots. And that's exactly what happened to Brian and Ian. Like me, Robert was taking the middle ground, and the first/only one to start a pukao (and I was going to start the next turn, had the game not ended).
The various workers and tokens in Giants are kept hidden behind a screen. Also, when you build a moai, you place your marker face-down under it. So, you have to remember who built which moai. Ideally, all this information is very trackable and someone with a perfect memory can tell you what everyone has. In practice, though, you simply lose track. This allowed Merwin to build his fifth moai while the rest of us were thinking "Really? Already?" Merwin ended with 48 points, I had 23, and everyone else was below that.
I'm sure we'll play again and when we do, we'll be watching and guarding against the blitz win. But I can't say that I'm thrilled at the prospect.
Bang!
Merwin is the worst Deputy, ever. As Sheriff, I got far more assistance from Robert the Renegade than I did him. Never once did Merwin attack either Outlaw, even though we knew Ian was one of them. See, he was eliminated by Robert and I, but was later resurrected by a card from the Fistful of Cards supplement. By the time Robert killed Brian, the other Outlaw, Ian had regained his strength. I started attacking Merwin simply because I was tired of hitting Ian. Luckily, I didn't kill him--that was left to Robert. With the three of us left, we went a few turns until the High Noon deck hit the end. Ian then blasted me and I died when my turn came around and the High Noon card made me lose my last life point. Not bad for a dead guy.
Labels: Other Games
posted by Patrick at 8:49 AM
<< Home