Priceless Game (4/12/1997)

Players: Mike B., Mike C., Vishal

All that is known of this game of Priceless is the following. The two experienced players, Mike B. and Mike C., cost each other MAJOR coin trying to get each other to overpay for items. The plan failed, however, because they forgot there was a third player, and thus Vishal discredited the Mutually Assured Destruction strategy by kicking their tushies and is now one of the few undefeated Priceless players we know. The final tally (as can be best estimated) was about $900,000 to a pair of $450,000s (though Mike B. claims victory over Mike C. - perhaps a reamatch is on tap). What wisdom does Vishal have to pass along? Read below and learn, Grasshopper.

A word from our winner, Vishal
I will attribute to my victory less to my skills and more to Mike B. and Mike C. mutual destruction play. This was the first time I was playing the game. When Mike C. expalined to me about the the game, one thing was clear -- that you have use your checks very carefully. I could see that both of these guys had used up their checks very quickly. Here are some tips which I think will be useful:

1. Don't buy the 4th item in the group, rather it would be good to buy articles from the adjacent groups as they save your checks and allow you to form a chain.
2. In the auction, if you think the price has gone to high, don't go for it.

Scott's words to live by:
- When ordering from Wok & Roll, split a dinner, don't try to eat one yourself -- they put in too much food

Time Agent Game (4/12/1997)

Players: Allan, Joshua, Mike B., Mike C., Scott, Vishal

Three reasons this summary will bite: with a new game you have to explain the game and the action of that night; I can't remember any of the other player's character names; and I waited way to long to write this up. Bear with me. In Time Agent, players send agents into the past to change key events from history -- events that once hurt their race (or that once helped other races) -- and try to destroy time travel when history smiles more upon their race. For some players, it's tougher to find events that help your race (umm... the Buralti spring to mind), so those players should change what they can to hurt other races, whereas some players benefit from almost every alteration in history and simply look around for the changes that help them most.

During your turn, you can look into the past (up to three tiles per time machine), build new equipment, buy new squads and agents, or send agents and/or squads into the past where they can rotate tiles or alter events. Combat ensues when opposing squads/agents have opposing plans for the same hexagon. Most players opted to search before sending troops into the past, except for the richest player (Scott) who sent troops back to explore rather than waiting a turn and for the most economically challenged player (Allan) who didn't even have the cash to explore (SUCK!). After that first turn, all players started exploring the past, searching in accordance with the "cheat sheet" provided that tells you where your most important events are. Josh had to take away his own Victory Points to get cash (a cruel twist in the rules), and Allan built his empire from the ground up, exploring the less expensive tiles of the recent past and working his way back. The two Mikes tried with little success to bolster their empires (for every step forward, seemed one backward was right behind), and after a slow start, Vishal roamed the western part of the board unopposed for most of the game.

At this point, "blood" was spilled for the first time in our gaming sessions. Mike B. knocked over his wine glass, and as Malcom McDowell once said, "The vino was flowing," flowing all over Mike B.'s cheat sheet and character description. We surveyed the damage and all realized that this would be a much cooler (and cleaner) game if ACTUAL Time Travel was available. Also might've helped if loose fitting clothes were out of style. Mike C. dispensed his advice for all time: "When you're gaming with a new group, this is how NOT to get invited back."

Perhaps spurred by the sight of blood on the table, Allan roared to second place (all the while whining about other players' advantages -- deception at its finest), and the rest of the pack crept toward the Buralti (who start the game miles ahead), so Scott tried to end the game but was temporarily rebuffed by those pesky rules. Mike C. cost Allan and Vishal points just to play spoiler, and knowing the game might end the next turn, Joshua sold back his economic advantage for Victory Points. When Scott destroyed Time Travel, the Victory Points jumbled and juked, and in the end, Josh won with Allan a close second and all others crushed in defeat.

A word from our winner, Joshua
When playing the alienraceIplayed (sorry, can't remember what they're called) the VERY first thing you MUST do is reverse the invention of alienraceIplayed's philosophy. This does two things for you:

1. You get 15 more bucks per round.
2. Your victory points go down so you look weak and helpless (pretty much true).

Once this has been accomplished (by turn 2 at the latest) always buy one time machine per round since the only way to win the game is for the alienraceIplayed to know which turn the game is going to end and reverse all of the key events on that turn only. (Since you're going to lose that 15 extra bucks per round and have too many points to fain weakness.) Figure out who is going to stop time travel and "advise" them sufficiently such that you know/control when the game will end.

Scott's word to live by:
- Time Agent might be a keeper if the different character advantages don't get predictable
- For years now, "Guild counter in the salsa" was our worst disaster. Now that Mike B. has raised the bar, should we fear our next gaming session?

Joshua Brings the Hammer (2/15/1997)

Players: Allan (Harkonnen), Anne (did not play Dune), Brian (Fremen), Joshua (Atreides), Mike B. (Emporer), Mike C. (Guild), Scott (Bene Gesserit)

Dune...

What an effin' wipeout. Played four games, Joshua won three and we didn't finish the fourth. He brought the hammer alright, and my head still aches. We started out with Dune, skipping the Spice Harvest because of time constraints on one player (he had only three hours), though it turned out we should've played Spice Harvest and skipped Dune. First round was pretty boring, Atreides took Habbanya Ridge Sietch sans opposition (and with only two tokens), the Fremen got spice in The Great Flat. The Worm appeared and the Fremen rode it into Tuek's Sietch, and next turn, the Guild moved out for spice and the Emporer swooped in to fight the newly arrived Fremen in Tuek's. Everyone else passed until Atreides sold some information to the Emporer, which gave him just enough spice to ship into Sietch Tabr to battle the Fremen. The Bene Gesserit (and everyone else at the table) did not realize that this was for the win, and the spiritual sisters skipped their turn. This meant that an Atreides win in Sietch Tabr meant a one-player victory on turn two of a six-player game, which is exactly what happened as he wiped out the no-treachery-card Fremen and ended the game early.

Robo Rally...

After we detached our chins from the floor, we decided to play a serious game of Robo Rally. Mike C. screamed out to an early lead (first one to the second gameboard), while the other players bumped and lasered each other around on the massive "conveyer belt vortex." Allan reached the second gameboard next, and his reward was a robot that immediately spun into a small pit, and the "bots" got pretty spread out due to robots enticed by the edge of the board or Scott and Joshua's "laser-magnet-bots." Mike C. muddled around around between walls and lasers and couldn't get himself going, Scott's bot took serious damage and shutdown (while on a slow conveyer), while Joshua, Anne, and Allan rebuilt their robots and started over. Eventually, Mike was forced to shut down, and Brian flew into a pit; but restarting looked like a pretty good strategy when Allan got back to the second gameboard right away and Anne kicked ass with her nine cards. Scott avoided the crushers by swooping across them toward the backside conveyers. Mike B. stopped for multiple rounds on a repair spot to shed some damage, and Mike C.'s robot was finally compacted into a can and had to restart (though his archive point was close to the flag -- close geographically, that is), and Scott finally navigated the conveyers to land first on the first flag, which left only two flags to go.

Brian had to leave, so we removed his bot. Allan reached goal No. 1 next, and was hot on Scott's trail (and halfway to the next flag) when Mike B. made it. Joshua got there next, and Scott and Allan missed on their first pass at the 2nd flag, meanwhile, Mike C. and Anne pounded each other into oblivion at the edge of the board, and Mike's robot died as he was trying to shutdown whereas Anne rode the momentum of Mike's defeat to the first flag. The second flag was on the edge of the board and had three layers of conveyers between you and it, and was particularly difficult to reach, but Allan appeared to have it in sight when he changed his plan just before the timer sounded (we used a two minute timer). His new plan was safer, but he realized he would've gotten there with the old one and kicked himself the rest of the game. Scott shut down again (and again was on the conveyer at the time) Finally, after the shutdown, Scott reached the second flag, followed closely by Joshua and Anne (the latter of whom knocked the former off the board -- which was Joshua's third death and the end of the game for him). We called it quits then (with still one flag to go). Finally tally was as follows: Mike B., Mike C. & Allan reached the first flag, Allan nearly reached the second one (Anne nuked him before he got there) and Mike B. had the healthiest robot ever after spending multiple turns on repair spots. Scott, Anne, & Joshua reached the second flag, with Joshua knocked out of the game by Anne right afterward, and Scott on his way to the third flag, carrying no damage at all (and still on his first life).

Priceless...

Priceless went sour fast. In the first game, Joshua built an early lead with cars and coins, Mike B. and Scott competed for games and in the end they both lost (overpaying for half the points), and Mike wandered around the board because he had nothing together. The luck of the draw indicated that Joshua should win, and he did -- by about $500,000 -- as he locked up antiques, cars and coins (the three most valuable groups on the board).

The second game was more competitive, with Allan moving out to a quick lead (collecting antiques), Mike C. gaining when he lost an early auction to Scott (who once again overpaid -- this time for glassware). Joshua started slowly, lining up some stamps and card through shrewd trading, while Scott tried to recover by grouping clocks and one antique with his early glassware error. Mike started a nice collection of cars and married it to a chain in toys (and one glassware) that brought him to the lead for a moment before Allan filled in his third artwork item and catapulted back in front. Joshua added a few coins (and one jewelry) to his chain, and built momentum that appeared ready to carry him to second place.

Allan erronously thought Scott was ahead of Joshua and used an Auctioneer card to spoil Scott's attempt at a respectable last-place finish, and when Joshua bought his third stamp right afterward, Allan realized he should've saved that dastardly deed for Joshua. Mike could never finish his jewelery collection (price was driven through the roof), and that ultimately relegated him to 3rd place. The Joshua/Allan sweepstakes ended with Joshua at $1.4 million and Allan at $1.36 million -- our closest finish ever and quite a disappointment to Allan who might've won if he'd hosed Joshua rather than Scott.

A word from our winner, Joshua
For Dune:
"ANY time a player has two cities (no matter how weakly held), assume that his next move will be for the game and block him. Especially when he's got a mere 2 troops holding a city. Remember this: The more pathetic a player looks the more he deserves to be in tanks instead of being in a city. If nothing else lobby to pay someone to eradicate the weakest city held. Otherwise you might as well go for the six player alliance."

For Priceless:
"Don't listen to the bull look at their points. That's where the real money comes from. Keep a tally of how many checks each player has spent and you immediately know how much their worth and probably where they're headed next. Also, if you go with a middle group then don't plan on buying the 4th item; it's just way too expensive. However if you go with one of the outer groups then it's just a measely $100,000 for the 4th item and you still get the 10 bonus points. Two adjacent outer groups can be worth way more than solid inner groups since they won't deplete your check supply while your building up points. One check makes a difference big time."

Scott's words to live by:
- Joshua was lucky enough to follow both his Priceless strategies in one night -- and win twice
- In Robo Rally, anyone else notice the correlation between the name "Anne" and the phrase "knocked out of the game"?
- Also in Robo Rally, don't give up a life too easily; shutting down for a turn is better because you don't go back to your archive point and you (usually) come back with fewer damage points
- Next time I'm that far behind in Priceless, I vow to cheat
- I propse a variant on 1830 where we play Spice Harvest first for either cash or stock in companies. This might eliminate some of the predictability of the game

Priceless Games (11/16/1996)

Players: Joshua, Mike, Scott

You gotta love Priceless, a game with blank checks that can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (especially considering that you start with NINE of them). Leaping off point for this game: players start with little cash and a bunch of blank checks (that are also worth little, at first), and they then purchase collectible objects (from Art to Cars to Cards). Buying additional items within one category increases the value of your collection but is also more difficult financially, and putting together "chains" of items (i.e. items that connect to each other on the game board) builds your wealth faster as well. At game's end, the player with the greatest value (comprised of cash on hand and value of remaing blank checks) wins.

I won't describe all three games we played (play time is roughly one hour per game), so I'll just provide some specific rememberances and general principles that we discovered while playing. I remember Scott won all three games -- there, I said it, and I'm glad. The first game started out close, with all three of us trying to put together chains, without spending too many checks. The strategy of the game dictates that you cannot use all your checks if you expect to win, so we all struggled with the balance of saving checks and building income so that we could make future purchases in cash. In the first game, Mike and Scott managed that balance better than Joshua, who eventually overspent checks to start his first chain. No specific turning point stands out, but Mike and Joshua battled over some similar objects d'art, while Scott built a collection along the western side of the board. Joshua and Mike traded property cards a few times, and Mike made it out of the cellar first, followed by Scott.

We encourage trading as it makes the game more interactive and interesting and offsets the luck factor (which can become enormous if players don't trade). In the third game, early trading between Joshua and the two other players put Mike out in front at first, and a late trade between Mike and Scott locked in two entire categories for Scott and a long chain for Mike. However, you should always (and only) trade when it helps you corner a certian category or build a chain for yourself. In fact, this strategy worked for both Mike and Scott in the last game, where Scott collected within a category while Mike traded and auctioned effectively enough to chain seven items together; in the end, both players built their buying power exponentially and raced toward the finish and ended up within 15% of each other. Overall, the first and third games were competitive whereas the second game was a wipeout.

A word from our winner, Scott
"At first, this game feels like a delicate balance between building your wealth while trying to save blank checks for the end, but the more we play it, the more it appears that you simply have to bite the bullet and spend checks aggressively to get over the income hump. That hump is the point at which you can purchase a property each round (up to about $35,000) without spending checks; that way, you can build within a category without suffering much and you can effectively bid on items in an effort to get them or to make others pay more for them."

Scott's words to live by:
1. If an auctioned item is worth $20,000 to you and $100,000 to another player, force that player to PAY for it. Lack of blank checks hurts more than plenty of collectibles helps
2. If given a choice, build within a category rather than in a chain
3. If your hand stinks, don't pass your turn until you've explored all trading opportunities

Settlers of Catan Game (9/28/1996)

Players: Joshua, Mike B, Mike C, Scott

Settlers is a pretty fun game, loosely based some other game (though what it is, I don't know). You randomly deal out land, water, and seaport hexagons, interlocking them into the shape of a large hexagon, and then (sort of randomly) put numbers onto the land hexes. Players build their initial settlements and roads (two of each), the former placed at the intersection of three hexes and the latter placed along the edge of land hexes, and then the fun begins. You roll two dice and the land segments with that number produce raw materials that correspond with the type of land on that segment (forest produces lumber, rocks/ore, et cetera), and players then trade these raw materials either with each other or for roads, settlements and other cool cards. All settlements and cities, longest road in the game, biggest army, and so on -- all that stuff is worth victory points (VP), and ten VP win the game. Seemed simple enough and was just what we needed to pass the time until Nazim showed up for the main event (a rousing game of Dune).

Unfortunately, there isn't much to tell about the game as it went. The Thief showed up right away (moves around the board whenever someone rolls a "7" and steals from the people adjacent to the new hexagon). We started out with a lack of timber that seemed to stretch far into the game, brick was plentiful and we were all poor at first. Mike C. had the grain market cornered, but didn't harvest much of it; Scott made bricks by the truckload, but without timber, it was virtually useless; Mike B. had sheep, sheep, sheep, and Joshua the same. As I saw the board, the southwestern quarter was the most crowded, hemming in the building process for the first five or so rounds. All of this didn't leave the Thief much to steal.

Mike B. offered wholsale trades to his friends (one of something for one of something else) and retail to other players (seemingly all of us) where he wanted greater quantity for in-demand items. Mike C. did the same but actually treated some of us as friends, and Joshua and Scott traded more with the "bank" than with other players. Later in the game, we were all screaming for ore (which lead to several bad puns about how many "ores" it took to build a city) and grain, as Mike C. moved into the lead. The "Longest Road" bonus changed hands several times, finally won out by Mike C., and Joshua, Scott and Mike C. started their quest for the largest army (and another two VP), with Joshua beginning a drive for institutions (Library, Tower, et cetera) at one VP each.

Mike B. played the Monopoly Card (which gave him all of one commodity from all players), and then regretted it when the Timber market exploded, with literally dozens of timber cards produced and now in the hands of his opponents. With the Longest Road bonus out of his hands, Scott fell hopelessly behind, and Mike C.'s only challenger was Joshua. With Mike C. at nine VP, Joshua gambled by trading in most all of his materials for Institution Cards, and the gamble paid off when he pulled up a Tower to complete his ten VP and the win. Sorry I didn't make this more dramatic or interesting, but it's the first time we played and I'm still trying to figure out how to play, let alone how to report on it. I promise to do better next time.

A word from our winner, Joshua
"The best thing to do is spread out as fast as you can, remebering that it's better to be getting a little of everything than to dominate a certain resource. Also, don't underestimate the development cards. Buildings are a sure way to victory and using the Knight to attack acquire resources that your opponents are hording isn't too bad either. (Beware the robber.)"

Scott's words to live by:

This game has definite possibilities, and here's why:
1. The land set-up is random enough to keep the game almost endlessly interesting
2. It supports between three and four players, so we don't need a big crowd to play
3. It's fast enough that we can play a few games of this or a quick one while waiting for the main event (just as we did on Saturday)
4. Economy works pretty well, as one player cannot corner any market unless other players allow it to happen.
5. My loser's tip: Don't get caught up trying for the longest road. It's a sure path to defeat (just ask Mike C., with whom I warred over the road thing)

Dune Game (9/28/1996)

Players: Joshua (Guild), Mike B (Fremen), Mike C (Emporer), Nazim (Harkonnen), Scott (Bene Gesserit)

Aaaalllllrighty-then... Dune it is. The Fremen placed their troops near Tuek's Sietch and in Sietch Tabr (right by the spice blow), putting them in a strong position already, but Harkonnen was lured by the spice and held a quasi-threat against the Fremen city after the colletion round. As you can see, the game started with no Atreides, which left Arrakeen open for whomever wanted it and left us in the dark when we bid on Treachery Cards. The Emporer and Guild battled over the empty city first, with three Saurdukar up against a dozen or so Guild troops, which of course, meant that the Guild squeaked out a victory.

Undaunted, the Emporer went for Carthag next round, a move that the Emporer believed would convince Harkonnen to fight the Guild in Arrakeen, but instead, Harkonnen reinforced Carthag and left the spice for a hungry Bene Gesserit. The Fremen became even more dangerous when they took over Habbanya Ridge Sietch, and with their proximity to Tuek's (and Sietch Tabr already in their pocket) they were looking mighty mighty. Carthag went to Harkonnen (doesn't it always), and the Emporer appeared pretty beaten and bruised. The Guild went for spice just above Arrakeen, opening them up to another attack, and the B.G. continued to mass in the Polar Sink (hole); meanwhile the storm parked itself over Sietch Tabr, thus allowing the Fremen to commit troops all over the board.

The Guild then donated spice to Harkonnen so that the latter could stop the Fremen from ending the game. It was the first time in all our memories that Joshua did something so wonderful, so selfless, so benevoleant, and we thank him for having us in his presence when the blessed event took place.

Harkonnen brought some of his tired troops into Habbanya, and the Fremen (aren't we always talking about them?) moved out to the rocks and were thus no threat to end the game by sweeping into Tuek's. The Guild moved back into Arrakeen, the Emporer and Bene Gesserit took the round off to collect their thoughts, and STILL no worms so no alliances (and boy did I need one). Next round, the Emporer fought Harkonnen over Carthag again (must be good-looking 'ores there), but this time the Baron (Harkonnen) could not reinforce from on-planet, so he split off three troops from Habbanya to pursue spice. Seeing this, the B.G. moved non-advisors into the partially-vacated city, while the Fremen finally attacked Tuek's Sietch, convincing the Guild to call a special conference in Arrakeen (all Guild required to attend). The Shield/Lasegun brought all that Carthag business to an ugly close, Harkonnen collected his spice and lost Habbanya to "those bitches" in religious garb.

The Bene Gesserit bought erroneous storm information from the Fremen, and thus did not play Weather Control, a crucial mistake as Habbanya was now vulnerable to attack, which the Guild gladly provided. In fact, the Guild went for the win by splitting forces between Arrakeen and Carthag in addition to Habbanya, and the chase for a longer game was on again. With donations from Harkonnen and the Emporer, the B.G. guaranteed a victory over the Guild in Habbanya, and the Baron attacked a weakened Guild in Carthag while the Emporer spent the round recovering from the force of that Lasegun. The Fremen then surprised few when they marched troops into Arrakeen, and the combination of that city with Sietch Tabr (which they occupied from the start) and Tuek's Sietch gave them the win when the Guild could offer little resistance (due to lousy cards). So the Fremen were finally free men (which hadn't happened in a long time), and the rest of us had to "pound sand" as slaves to Dune's natives.

A word from our winner, Mike B
"It may have looked like patience and cunning were what gave the Fremen the win. However, part of the victory must go to stubborn pride. The way the spice came up in the game (which was remarkably short, all things considered), Harkonen always had a shot at it. His offer to let me get it and pay him for not attacking offended my native sensibilities, so I preferred to remain poor and weaponless through the whole game. Also I didn't want to fight the Baron without any weapon. I believe it was just good fortune that all the other players except the Guild slaughtered each other, and then the Guild made a play for victory without weapons or overwhelming force.

"I was pretty surprised to win the game with one battle. If I had gone along with the Harkie offer, I would have obtained cards, and may well have been more aggressive, and who knows what would have happened. In retrospect, I think that in most of the games the Fremen can successfully adopt a wait untill the other guys finish each other off strategy, just by lurking near three cities ready to pounce."

Scott's words to live by:
- Sometimes, a lack of alliances makes this game feel a bit like McMulti
- Did the Fremen deliberately hose me with bad storm-movement information? Just to win the game? Can't be, can it?
- The Emporer aptly pointed out that it's easier to play when you know the other players, something he learned during those massive and unexpected wars with Harkonnen
- Happy Birthday to Lori (8/2) and Mike C. (8/4).

McMulti Game (8/3/1996)

Players: Allan, Joshua, Mike B, Mike C

I apologize for any errors in reporting, but I wasn't there so I take no responsibility for same. As McMulti opened, three basic strategies were apparent: Mike C. made a grab for the retail market, purchasing three stations and a refinery to capitalize on the differential between the foreign/domestic and consumer markets; Allan went after the oil-production market, hoping to find some inexpensive wells before the other players; Joshua and Mike B. played balanced stratgies, with a few stations, some oil exploration, and a refinery thrown in here and there. The consumer market remained relatively stable for a while, so Joshua and the two Mikes made some decent profit whereas Allan patiently awaited his first oil strike (eying the other players' cash piles all the while).

An oil embargo came to light, sealing off the foreign market and driving all prices down. His patience finally wearing out, Allan filled his entire island with exploratory rigs; he hit one, but then Joshua found the next four, driving up the price Allan would ultimately pay for his next few. The news forecast wasn't good for anyone who owned gas stations, and the consumer market fell into the bubbling bidet along with the domestic market. Reaction to these events varied, with Allan hungrily waiting for the news to crush his competitors, Mike B. and Joshua holding their stations and their breath for better news (though both claim they had the cash to handle any tax levy), and Mike C. pretty much clearing off his island to avoid projected taxes (which left him close to where he started -- with about $250 million).

When the news disappeared, some bizarre dice rolls bounced the market from PROSPERITY to RECOVERY and back several times, bringing about explosive growth in the consumer market. This growth worked in favor of those who took the news risk, and at that point, it was pretty much a two-player scramble for the victory, with Joshua and Mike B. in a Porche and Lambourghini (respectively), Mike C. in a Taurus Wagon, and Allan in a '76 Pinto (American-made, of course). Allan finally hit his second and third wells, but probably overpaid for them (given the number already owned by other players), and with his capacity added to that of other players, the crude oil market bottomed out again and again. From this point on, it was "buy oil for $1 million, refine it for free and sell it on the consumer market for somewhere between $15 and $60 Million (a tidy profit no matter the final price). The whole gang employed this strategy (to the best of their individual ability) for many rounds, and the game was decided when Mike B. was able to sell the last of his equipment during PROSPERITY while Joshua had to sell his in RECOVERY. The final count was (approx.) Mike B. $1.16 billion, Joshua $1.1 billion, Mike $700 million, Allan $500 million.

A word from our winner, Mike B
"I tried to kep a balanced asset set, and to weight it in the direction the market was moving at all times. I placed a few rigs and took my wells when they came, slowly securing a steady supply for my refineries. I always had enough cash on hand to pay whatever (outrageous) taxes were threatening and never let the tax situation influence my decisions about the market."

Allan's words to live by:

Aggressive play can win or lose you the game:
1. Mike B. and Joshua kept their stations in the face of serious taxes, and the strategy paid off
2. Mike C. was ahead but sold his equipment too aggressively and fell behind at mid-game
3. Allan bought tons of rigs but unlucky rolls doomed his strategy, aggressive as it was.

- Posted by Scott on behalf of Allan