July 28th, 2005 |
Game Night began with the triumphant return of Lee, our Points Per Game Leader. After we played a new one that Lee liked and an old one he liked, 4 more folks joined in for some quests in Camelot.
| Edel, Stein & Reich |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | $84 Million | 1 | |
| Lee | $76 Million | 2 | * |
| Mike | $66 Million | 3 | |
Notes: For our first game, I wanted to play something good, but quick, as I was anticipating Dan's arrival any time now. Lee hadn't been around in a while, so I wanted to re-break him in with a simple game, too. So we traded gems in Germany.
Lee caught on quick and I had a rockin' first round, amassing leads in 3 of the 4 gems, though I surrendered an opportunity to grab a contract. Karla had some money and first place in contracts, and Lee took second in contracts and nabbed first in Rubies, the only gem I hadn't overwhelmed everyone in. First round scores: Mike $39 Million, Lee $25 Million, Karla $14 Million. (Karla was stuck making more trades than Lee or I.)
The second round was okay, though I blew it at the end. I was caught in a trade with Karla for some cash, and I made an offer that surrendered my sole lead in the blue gems to a tie. This was a problem because I had a card that gave me $4 million extra for every sole majority. Had I been able to use it, I would have had an extra $4 million. Lee struggled this round, and I managed second in contracts after Karla (again). Mike $57 Million, Karla $49 Million, Lee $40 Million. (Karla made a rebound by focusing on mostly money.)
In the last round I got completely hosed. As the round neared the end, I had a good majority in Topaz and Emeralds, but Karla made a deal with Lee in turn 7, giving him the lead in Topaz by one, and in the final round, Lee took three free sapphires by using an action card (while I was collecting money) that gypped me out of another $8 million. Had I held onto both, I would have won by $2 million. But Karla parlayed a lead in Emeralds and Rubies into a first place finish as she scooped up more loot than Lee and I.
Lee said he liked it.
| Vom Kap bis Kairo |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 8 | 1 | |
| Lee | 7 | 2 | |
| Karla | 6 | 3 | |
Lee and I bided our time, leaping ahead of Karla as we jumped forward in big chunks. Everyone collected some free tracks via a River, and as we closed in on the ending, it looked like Lee or I would win, as Karla was VERY short on cash and had a big ugly mountain ahead of her (Lee had to fight an early mountain, and after getting by it he avoided mountains like the plague).
Finally, Lee & I were tied at 6 (Karla was at 5) and I jumped across the 7th track. We auctioned off the last 3 cards, and as I had 46 pounds left, I bid only 6, giving me 4 track to buy if needed. As the last three terrains were 2 villages and a savannah, I figured I'd get something good. I did. Lee won the auction and quickly made it to the 7th terrain. Karla then bought enough track to cross the 6th terrain. I needed a card with at least one track on it to win, and I got it. Victory!
| Shadows Over Camelot |
| Results | ||||
| Player | Character | Role | Result | First Time? |
| Dan | King Arthur | Loyal | Won, Alive | |
| Brian | Sir Kay | Loyal | Won, Alive | * |
| Kaveh | Sir Tristan | Loyal | Won, Perished | * |
| Jamie | Sir Palamedes | Loyal | Won, Alive | * |
| Karla | Sir Galahad | Loyal | Won, Alive | |
| Lee | Sir Gawain | Loyal | Won, Alive | * |
| Mike | Sir Percival | Traitor | Lost, Alive | |
Notes:With 7 of us, I figured Shadows Over Camelot would be the most interesting game and one that everyone would like. I was right. Everyone liked it. I announced that we'd be playing with the Traitor and Karla got upset though. (Karla really doesn't like being the Traitor.)
Guess what? I was the traitor! It was hard as heck. I was doing pretty well until mid-game, but then the tide turned and I was doomed. I had to yell at Jamie and Karla before starting so that I wouldn't have to yell to explain the rules. They got quiet, though Karla gave me a mean look first.
There were a few times when the King Arthur trade was a little too chatty and Karla, using Clairvoyance, told people what was coming, so we'll have to stop that for next time.
A big force of Picts started showing up quickly as the Knights started getting everything together, and by the second turn Sir Palamedes had exposed Sir Percival as the traitor by use of a special card. The Traitorous knight hissed and vanished in a dark mist.
King Arthur managed to get things started against the Picts, though the evil Sir Percival tried to slow him down. Sirs Tristan and Galahad helped at various times, and eventually the first quest was completed, as King Arthur reaped the benefits of conquering the Picts.
The knights were then scattered, and the evil Sir Percival used this opportunity to wreak havoc and add siege engines, getting them up to 8 with only one quest completed. Plus, the quest for excalibur and Lancelot's armor were looking bad for the knights of Camelot, though Sir Tristan easily vanquished the Black Knight. 2 Whites, 0 Blacks.
Then the Knights started solidifying their efforts, going in groups to defeat the quests. Arthur, Gawain, and Palamedes went off to find the Holy Grail, but Lancelot's Armor was lost forever. (2 Whites, 1 Black)
Galahad ran around fighting the invading Saxons while Gawain, Kay, and Tristan returned to Camelot to regroup and take care of some siege engines. King Arthur, meanwhile, despite the treacherous Sir Percival's best efforts, managed to find the Holy Grail, and within a couple turns he used it to save a nigh-suicidal Sir Galahad. (5 whites, 1 black)
Sir Kay and Sir Gawain began to battle the siege engines, which had run to 10, as Sir Tristan and King Arthur fought valiantly against the invading Saxons, who, should they win, would not only add another black sword, but add two siege engines. Here the treacherous Sir Percival made a bad mistake. Rather than add siege engines, he drew cards, and only added them to the Picts (who were no threat) and the Black Knight. The Saxons were quickly rooted out for an extra white sword thanks to a Heroism card, and the knights now focused almost all their efforts on the siege engines, as they had reached the required 7 white swords. (7 whites, 1 black)
Sir Kay, using his special power, began to focus on the siege engines exclusively, and wiped out three of them. Sir Palamedes joined him, taking out 2 more. Sir Gawain fended off two early ones, then tried to finish a quest against the Saxons. Meanwhile, the too busy knights watched Excalibur vanish forever and the Black Knight rein unchallenged in a tournament. The first was extra saddening, as Sir Tristan had died trying to get the sword from the Lady of the Lake. (7 whites, 4 black)
In the end, the knights resolved to let the Dragon Quest go unchallenged, though Gawain tried to defeat the Black Knight. It wasn't needed. The knights held on to Camelot long enough, getting the siege engine total down to 7 as the Dragon Quest ended, and, as the Traitor had been exposed, they received no penalties. The Loyal knights won, 7 white swords to 6 black.