August 25, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Mark (1058), Brett (1038), David (1016), Samuel (977)

Mark continued his complete and utter dominance with two more victories in this game (even though the first game he won on a tie-breaker with David).  Mark utilized a heavy orange strategy in the first game with his battleship making an appearance on the board, wreaking havoc in whatever quadrant it was in.  In the second game, he scored his points in a more peaceful manner through technological upgrades and defense.  All in all, an impressive night as he showed two completely different ways to win at this game.

Game 1 Result:
1) Mark (22)
2) David (22)
3) Samuel (18)
4) Brett (16)

Game 2 Result:
1) Mark (25)
2) Samuel (23)
3) David (18)
4) Brett (15)

Ratings Results:
Mark (+61) = 1119
Samuel (+8) = 985
David  (-- ) = 1016
Brett (-45) = 993

August 20, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Brett (1051), Art (1008), Samuel (998), Mark (993)

Ascending Empires at BoardGameGeek.com

With all four players having some experience at this game now, the play moved along much faster.  Mark used a nice blend of technology and military strength to win both games that were played this evening.  Though some of the other players tried to thwart his efforts, Mark was able to handle such conflicts successfully.

Game 1 Result:
1) Mark (25)
2) Brett (20)
3) Art (16)
4) Samuel (16)

Game 2 Result:
1) Mark (24)
2) Art (18)
3) Samuel (17)
4) Brett (14)

Ratings Results:
Mark (+65) = 1058
Art (+5) = 1013
Brett (-13) = 1038
Samuel (-21) = 977

August 16, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Brett, David, Mark, Samuel

Having enjoyed this game immensely over the past weekend, Mark, David and I were ready for some more, with Samuel joining us this time for his first taste of the game.  Mark and I began the game with some skirmishes and then I got into another territorial battle with Samuel while David sat back and enjoyed all the drama as he quietly built up his kingdom.  The rest of us were too crippled to mount much of an attack on his dominance of the galaxy and he won easily.

Result:
1) David (33)
2) Mark (25)
3) Brett (25)
4) Samuel (20)

August 13, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Brett, Dan, David, Mark

Mark is constantly getting new games and wanting to try out his latest purchase.  Tonight we played Ascending Empires, a game I was immediately biased against since it involved flicking.  We have played other flicking games in the past and I've never been fond of them due to the reliance that is placed upon skills of physical dexterity and not necessarily sheer brainpower.  Despite this "drawback", I fell in love with this game.  It is about space exploration, harvesting planetary resources, expanding your kingdom while engaging in military maneuvers to both defend your own planets and conquer others' planets.  Flicking is definitely a factor, but one that I can stomach as I can't really think of a better alternative.

Result:
1) Brett (31)
2) Dan (27)
3) Mark (25)
4) David (23)

July 30, 2011 - Princes of Florence, 7 Wonders

Location: Barton

Players: Brett, Dan, Mark, Samuel, Scott

Summary: Princes of Florence and 3 games of 7 Wonders

It had been a number of years since the last playing of Princes of Florence, so I was thrilled that it found its way to the table with this quality group of players.  Both Samuel and Scott were playing this game for the first time.  I was able to grab some jesters early on and was fortunate to be able to play all of my profession cards which helped me overcome strong play from Dan.

Princes of Florence Result:
1) Brett
2) Dan
3) Samuel
4) Scott

Mark jumped in for the next three games of 7 Wonders which proved to be fast and furious as always.  This was my first time playing this game with 5 players and I thought it was just as good as (if not better than) with 4.

7 Wonders Game 1 Result:
1) Mark (56)
2) Scott (55)
3) Dan (53)
4) Samuel (39)
5) Brett (36)

7 Wonders Game 2 Result:
1) Brett (61)
2) Scott (57)
3) Samuel (56)
4) Mark (55)
5) Dan (37)

7 Wonders Game 3 Result:
1) Brett
2) Dan
3) Samuel
4) Scott
5) Mark

July 23, 2011 - Tinners' Trail

Location: Swanson

Players: Art, Brett, Dan, Mark, Samuel

Summary: 2 games of Tinners' Trail

Tinners' Trail at BoardGameGeek.com

This was the group's first try at this game.  I found it to have some enjoyable elements as it was a race to grab certain available items to refine copper and tin, to then sell those commodities on the market.  While I enjoyed it, I did not rate this game all that high as there are plenty of other games that I have much more fun playing.

Game 1 Result:
1) Samuel
2) Dan
3) Brett
4) Art

Game 2 Result:
1) Art
2) Dan
3) Mark
4) Brett

July 4, 2011 - Puerto Rico, 7 Wonders

Location: Barton

Players: Brett, David, Samuel, Timothy

Summary: Puerto Rico and 2 games of 7 Wonders

Puerto Rico at BoardGameGeek.com                    7 Wonders at BoardGameGeek.com

David, Samuel and I have had an ongoing rivalry in Puerto Rico which has been very satisfying for all of us.  We have a nice system of determining the order of play based upon the results of our last game together.  Since I had taken the last two games, I was to start this game off, followed by Samuel and then David.  I ended up having a nice coffee monopoly which proved to be enough to carry me to victory in this game which we played in 40 minutes (certainly a record time for our gaming group).

Puerto Rico Result:
1) Brett (50)
2) David (47)
3) Samuel (43)

Timothy Dunne joined the table and we broke out one of our new favorites, 7 Wonders.  This game is so quick to learn and even quicker to play.  It's hard not to like it as it makes a really nice filler game for any game gathering.

7 Wonders Game 1 Result:
1) Brett (55)
2) Samuel (54)
3) David (45)
4) Timothy (42)

7 Wonders Game 2 Result:
1) Samuel (58)
2) David (50)
3) Brett (44)
4) Timothy (39)

July 2, 2011 - 7 Wonders

Location: Pfeiffer

Players: Brett, Jake, Samuel, Sara

Summary: 3 games of 7 Wonders

7 Wonders at BoardGameGeek.com

Samuel brought the game and had played it before.  The rest of us were playing this for the first time.  It's a drafting game, which is fun and probably a little bit under-represented in the world of boardgames.  Jake, Sara and I were immediately smitten by the quick play and fun nuances as we picked, passed and played.

Game 1 Result:
1) Brett (59)
2) Sara (50)
3) Samuel (49)
4) Jake (34)

Game 2 Result:
1) Sara (50)
2) Samuel (48)
3) Brett (47)
4) Jake (45)

Game 3 Result:
1) Samuel (62)
2) Brett (60)
3) Sara (57)
4) Jake (53)

Commentary:
This was definitely not Jake's best night at the game table.