It has been quite awhile since I posted anything, but I thought I'd write a little bit about where I've been spending my weekends the past couple months. Normally April, May, and June are all about fishing for me, but this year I decided to spend them playing in Regional Tournaments for Android: Netrunner and Warhammer: Invasion the two card games I try and play competitively.
Invasion - Blue Grass Magic Shop - Louiville, KY
This was a fun trip down to Louiville with Patrick, Julia, Brendan, Emily, and Sean. We brought 6 of the 15 participates to the tourney from Indianapolis! 15 people in an Invasion tournament is pretty impressive, considering they only had 20 at Worlds last year and only 16 at GenCon. I made the top 8 as the #8 seed and then somehow came flying back and took the tourney against Brian. You can read about it here: Regional Report #1.
Netrunner - Saltire Games - Indianapolis, IN
I've got to say this was the worst tournament experience I think I've ever had. Though my first year at Worlds for Invasion was pretty bad. We didn't start until 45 minutes after the start time, because the organizer didn't show up or call. The guy who ran the tourney really didn't know anything about Netrunner. It was advertised poorly, so that only 10 people showed up (which seems low for Netrunner) and in general it just didn't go so well. I finished 6 out of 10, but did enjoy the actual playing of the games. You can read about it here: Regional Report #2.
Netrunner - Games Preserve - Indianapolis, IN
Ah yes, this was really fun. Extremely well organized, everything went really smooth. My only complaint on this one was the room is so small and gets quite crowded with 20 gamers in there. I was 1 point away from pulling 2nd place and just a card or two away from getting first if I remember right. It was fun to play with both Jeremys (my two main Netrunner opponents) in a tourney. Ended up in 3rd place. You can read about it here: Regional Report #3.
Invasion - Something2Do - Louisville, KY
This time it was just Brendan, Emily, and I making the trip. It was great to get to know them a little more as 4 hours in the car will do for people. Also fun, having a Subway right across the hall for pop all day and Brendan trading me his Invasion mug that I now have at work with my two trophies. I made the Top 4 again, but this time was beaten by another Brayherd deck, which makes the 3rd consecutive Louisville Regional won by a Brayherd deck. You can read about it here: Regional Report #4.
Thanks to an awesome wife, I have had a cool first half of the summer when it comes to my card games. Up next is the North American Championships at GenCon, where I hope to place well in Invasion, but probably will fare poorly in Netrunner.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Every 100 Games Series - Wyatt Earp
4,100 individual game sessions. That is where I am at now. I recently purchased Wyatt Earp, not because I was looking to own it, but because I wanted to support Miniature Market for sponsoring IndyCon. Turns out my wife learned the game, taught me, and then we played it. I'd played this game back in 2007 one time, so it wasn't completely new to me, but it might as well have been. So what do I think now?
Components
This is essentially a card game, so there aren't a lot of components. There are 8 real-life outlaw boards. These boards represent various villains like Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, and Bob Dalton (my favorite). The game also comes with some nice card board money tokens in $1,000 and $5,000 denominations. Then there is a deck of cards that not only have the outlaws represented, but also have some special action cards, including the namesake of the game, Wyatt Earp. Other than that, not much else in the game. Except it does have a cool #5 on the spine showing its place in the Alea Small Box line.
Game Play
Basically this is a rummy variant game. On your turn you get to draw a card and play some card or cards. There are outlaw cards which are essentially the colors of the outlaws that you play in a set of 3 at first, but then can add to your own set our your opponent's set to try and get the most in those outlaws. Why do you want the most in a given outlaw you ask? Well, as you play these cards, money is being added for the "capture" of that outlaw and the player who has the highest value of those outlaw cards in front of themselves when the game ends gets the money. Person with the most money wins the game! There are other sheriff cards that give special actions for players as well, which add spice to this rummy play.
Strategy
Just like in many rummy-style games, this one is all about trying to be the one to go out first, and thus control the who wins each outlaw's reward. There is some touch and go with the various action cards, blocking players, adding to your pile, and generally trying to be sneaky. The game however isn't a huge thinking game and really shouldn't be one that taxes your brain so much.
Recommendations
500 Rummy Players - Yes, I'd say get this one. It isn't pure rummy, but it is pretty close. Plays quickly and I think has more decisions that Rummy does.
Western Fans - Again, I'd recommend this one. The artwork is cool. The Western theme isn't that strong (have yet to play a game that it is) but it is there. It is one that would be good to add if you like that theme.
2-Player Gamers - I don't recommend this for you. With two players only this game seems to lose something to me. Since a lot of the game is about fighting over the outlaw rewards, it seems more fun to fight over those rewards with multiple people.
*Every 100 Games Series - Back in March of 2006 I began tracking each session of the various board and card games I play. I soon got the idea to write a review on every 100th game I played, one because I like writing reviews, and two because it is interesting to see what game I review next. You can find a list of all of them here: Every 100 Games Series Reviews.
Components
This is essentially a card game, so there aren't a lot of components. There are 8 real-life outlaw boards. These boards represent various villains like Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, and Bob Dalton (my favorite). The game also comes with some nice card board money tokens in $1,000 and $5,000 denominations. Then there is a deck of cards that not only have the outlaws represented, but also have some special action cards, including the namesake of the game, Wyatt Earp. Other than that, not much else in the game. Except it does have a cool #5 on the spine showing its place in the Alea Small Box line.
Game Play
Basically this is a rummy variant game. On your turn you get to draw a card and play some card or cards. There are outlaw cards which are essentially the colors of the outlaws that you play in a set of 3 at first, but then can add to your own set our your opponent's set to try and get the most in those outlaws. Why do you want the most in a given outlaw you ask? Well, as you play these cards, money is being added for the "capture" of that outlaw and the player who has the highest value of those outlaw cards in front of themselves when the game ends gets the money. Person with the most money wins the game! There are other sheriff cards that give special actions for players as well, which add spice to this rummy play.
Strategy
Just like in many rummy-style games, this one is all about trying to be the one to go out first, and thus control the who wins each outlaw's reward. There is some touch and go with the various action cards, blocking players, adding to your pile, and generally trying to be sneaky. The game however isn't a huge thinking game and really shouldn't be one that taxes your brain so much.
Recommendations
500 Rummy Players - Yes, I'd say get this one. It isn't pure rummy, but it is pretty close. Plays quickly and I think has more decisions that Rummy does.
Western Fans - Again, I'd recommend this one. The artwork is cool. The Western theme isn't that strong (have yet to play a game that it is) but it is there. It is one that would be good to add if you like that theme.
2-Player Gamers - I don't recommend this for you. With two players only this game seems to lose something to me. Since a lot of the game is about fighting over the outlaw rewards, it seems more fun to fight over those rewards with multiple people.
*Every 100 Games Series - Back in March of 2006 I began tracking each session of the various board and card games I play. I soon got the idea to write a review on every 100th game I played, one because I like writing reviews, and two because it is interesting to see what game I review next. You can find a list of all of them here: Every 100 Games Series Reviews.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)