June 30th, 2005 |
Another late start for game night, as Dan didn't make it over until just after 7:30. Jim was busy, Scott was in Green Bay, Sam was baby-sitting, and Lee is He Who Is Gone But Not Forgotten. Annie came by at about 7:45 and jumped in for our second game of Circus Flohcati.
| Circus Flohcati |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 96 | 1 | |
| Dan | 86 | 2 | * |
| Karla | 77 | 3 | |
Notes: We started gathering our events for shows, and I placed the first two, a set of 0's and a set of 1's. Karla and Dan kept trying to go for high point cards, but tripped up a few times. I fearfully would just go for low numbers early on.
When Karla and Dan began catching up on my shows, though, I went for the draw strategy. Karla was placing any and all sets down in front of her, including a set of 5's and a set of 7's. A set of 7's costs a player at least 11 points, so that was a bad idea. She also had a set of 5's. The combo of the two cost her (probably) about 16 points.
Near the end I started going for the Gala Event and came up one card short when the deck ended. Still, my 5 shows and a healthy dose of cards got me the victory.
Mike: 5 shows + 46 points
Dan: 4 shows + 46 points
Karla: 6 shows + 17 points
Karla was surprised that she lost. In fact, after she added up her points she said, "I win again." But it was a cruel self-delusion. She demanded we play again after I said, "It's silly to play a set of 7's!"
| Circus Flohcati |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 88 | 1 | |
| Dan | 85 | 2 | |
| Annie | 59 | 3 | * |
| Karla | 49 | 4 | |
Notes: With Annie in tow we played again, and I pretty much went for the same strategy. A couple quick, low numbered sets followed by a push for the gala event. Annie and I tied for most shows with 4 each, but Annie's were higher numbered, including a 5 and a 6, which may have been a poor idea. Dan kept drawing the 7's and 6's for almost every color, but still managed 3 shows. Karla kept drawing in bad luck, usually drawing only low cards or drawing a second color with only 1 or 2 cards already out.
I got a bit lucky at the end, grabbing a 6 that Annie passed up and snagging a late round 5. I was two colors short of the gala, and I thought that Dan would beat me. At first he said he had 65 points in cards in hand (which is nearly impossible!), but he re-added (four 7's and four sixes!) and really only had 55.
Mike: 4 shows + 48 points
Dan: 3 shows + 55 points
Annie: 4 shows + 19 points
Karla: 1 show + 39 points
| Shadows Over Camelot |
| Results | ||||
| Player | Character | Role | Result | First Time? |
| Annie | King Arthur | Loyal | Lost (Siege Engines), Alive | * |
| Karla | Sir Palamedes | Loyal | Lost (Siege Engines), Alive | * |
| Dan | Sir Kay | Loyal | Died Fighting Siege Engines | * |
| Mike | Sir Tristan | Loyal | Died Fighting Siege Engines | * |
Notes: I gave everyone a choice between Tower of Babel and Shadows Over Camelot, and no one would commit. "They both sound unappealing" were the words spoken by Annie. I mentioned that Tower of Babel was a game of cooperation to build wonders and Dan shook his head. Then I said that Shadows was REALLY a game of cooperation and he really groaned. Karla then spoke out and valiantly urged us to play it.
I explained the rules, stressing that only card could be played per round, which everyone said they understood. I, however, forgot about the "everyone put a card out and haggle" part of starting, so we omitted that. My bad. What should have happened was each of us put a card out face up and discuss who would take some. All 4 could go to 1 person, one could go to each, or any combination thereof and in between. I forgot. It may have helped early on, so we already had a minor strike against us.
Everyone but King Arthur, who went to fight the Saxons, remained in Camelot to amass some cards. Sir Palamedes was upset at the number of black cards that moved Excalibur away in first couple rounds and headed over there ASAP. Sir Tristan and Sir Kay went to establish a strong presence on the Grail Quest. King Arthur dithered for a few rounds against the Saxons, hoping to acquire cards through trade, but no knights could help him very much. Sir Palamedes' concern for Excalibur drew him to that quest right away.
Sir Tristan and Sir Kay ran out of Grail cards - King Arthur was little help in card trades, so Sir Kay went to face the Black Knight and Sir Tristan went over to save Excalibur, giving Sir Palamedes enough of a breather to dash over and help out King Arthur against the Saxons. Soon, Sir Kay defeated the Black Knight, giving the Knights their first White Sword, and he returned to Camelot. The siege engines were beginning to pile up, but Sir Palamedes and King Arthur fended off the Saxons for our second victory.
Meanwhile, Tristan exhausted his strength fighting for Excalibur. Sir Kay spent a couple turns keeping the Grail within striking distance, and Arthur and Palamedes teamed up to join the Excalibur Quest. There were three face down black cards on Lancelot's Quest and Sir Kay was worried that his Full House would be too weak, as he only knew two of the face down cards. Sir Tristan told him "not to worry" about the other card, but Sir Kay didn't know if that meant "It's a 3" or "It's a 1." When the cards were flipped, Kay was down, 13 to 12, but he thought it was 15 to 12. Seeing that he was within striking distance, Sir Kay used his special card to play an extra battle card and won the quest, netting us another white sword and Dan a bunch of cards, plus the very helpful Lancelot's Armor.
Tristan began to fret over the Siege Engines and spent turns getting cards and fending them off, keeping the number of them at 8 or 9. Sir Kay's return promised more help. At this point, the Quest for Excalibur was about to be completed, and Sir Tristan (I) should have said something to Arthur (Annie) not to complete the quest until I made it over there. I supposed she would wait, but, of course, she didn't know that I get a free move each turn (as Tristan was in Camelot), so she completed the quest before I could get over there. Thus, I lost a chance at some more cards and a bonus life (not to mention Excalibur). Instead, Arthur managed it. Palamedes had played a Heroism card on Excalibur, so we were up to 6 White Swords vs. 0 Black...but there were 9 Siege Engines!
Sir Kay vowed to defend Camelot, and so did Tristan, as he had very few cards. Sir Kay really used his special power to only play lower cards. Tristan was low on life, though, and was unable to chance playing only low cards to fend off a siege engine. Some special card play got Tristan some cards back. King Arthur sped for the Grail, which was two despair cards away from defeat and fended it back to 4 grail cards. Tristan and Kay traded often with the Grail-Hunting Arthur, who continued to give Sir Kay 1's and 2's, though Arthur did give Tristan a 5.
The table then had a couple setbacks, when Tristan and Kay managed to get the siege engines back down to 8, we lost the war with the Picts. Then we were defeated by the Black Knight and added another black sword because of a card, so we stood at 6 whites to 3 blacks. Karla (Sir Palamedes) selected a siege engine one turn for a Progression of Evil, and then Annie (King Arthur) inexplicably kept flipping black cards instead of losing a life (Arthur had 4). The cards were piling up, and we were losing the battle against the siege engines.
With 10 siege engines out there, I (Tristan) was about to grab cards, but Dan (Kay) groaned, so I chanced a battle against the siege engines. I had a 3 in 8 chance of winning, but I lost. Tristan was dead. Sir Kay followed Tristan's fate about 3 rounds later, as he ran out of cards, and his bonus card play couldn't help him.
We had one last chance. Should the Dragon Quest fail (which was only a matter of time), there would be 6 white to 5 black swords. Sir Kay, before he died, advised the King to go for an easier quest. As the Black Knight had 1 card of high value already on it, the King chose to fight off the Saxons, who had 2 men ashore. Palamedes made it to the beach, but before he could assist in the fighting, the last siege engine was drawn.
It was very close, and we could have won if we'd had a bit better start. I should have said something to get in on the Excalibur bonuses, too. Then I would have had the +1 that goes with it and would have been able to fend off the siege engines better. Though Arthur should have gone for an easier quest late, we were close to losing the Grail altogether, and we definitely needed someone to at least buy some time up there. Sir Kay's ability was really helpful, as was Sir Tristan's and King Arthur's. Sir Palamedes was in on two finished quests and netted a lot of lives, which were good for sacrifices late in the game.
Aside from Annie's not expending life points (and just flipping cards), the only other big mistakes we made were not getting rid of the siege engines early enough. They amass quickly once a one-time quest is completed. Also, we maybe should have waited one more at Camelot getting cards before heading out.
Dan really liked it - a surprise, considering his hatred of Lord of the Rings and its cooperative aspects, and Karla liked it, too. "You get to make your own decisions." (This is my fault - I'm usually a boss when it comes to LotR.)