Tuesday 15th March

DaveB wrote:Really enjoyed playing Merchants & Marauders last night.

Wouldn't mind giving this a go Dave, if it get's some more play. Seemed quite a lengthy game, how long did it go on for?

Jamie wrote:

DaveB wrote:Really enjoyed playing Merchants & Marauders last night.

Wouldn't mind giving this a go Dave, if it get's some more play. Seemed quite a lengthy game, how long did it go on for?

We finished at 2230-2300 but I'm not sure when exactly we started - as we were all either a) new to the game or b) not played in ages there was quite a bit of faffing over rules and setup and whatnot. The first few rounds were pretty slow but once everyone settled in it moved fairly quickly

Colonial Andy wrote:leave a bad taste in my mouth that a player (Jamie, in this case) can play with precision and do so much right and still lose.

I very much enjoyed playing the game; so didn't feel like a I lost at all!

But yeah, if only I had built a chapel on my last go (rather than a ship) I would have come joint first. That was the VP condition on my private objective card, 'have the most chapels'. Also, had I been on the ball, I probably should have noticed all those towns in wood spaces you were building, and followed suit!

I guess that's a big part of the game, as Dale mentions; trying to work out what the other players objectives are, and then ranking on that criteria.

Totally agree, in that reading the Evolution cards was a bit fiddly. For me; I feel it needs some kind of hand-out reference sheet, detailing all the Evolution cards. Plus, something that allows them to be easily passed around. I'll put something together, for the next time we play.

DaveB wrote:

Jamie wrote:

DaveB wrote:Really enjoyed playing Merchants & Marauders last night.

Wouldn't mind giving this a go Dave, if it get's some more play. Seemed quite a lengthy game, how long did it go on for?

We finished at 2230-2300 but I'm not sure when exactly we started - as we were all either a) new to the game or b) not played in ages there was quite a bit of faffing over rules and setup and whatnot. The first few rounds were pretty slow but once everyone settled in it moved fairly quickly

Yeah, it looks like a super fun game. Really liking the theme too! Would love to give it a go, next time you bring it along.

Need to talk to PaulC about that - it's his game

Jamie wrote:

Colonial Andy wrote:leave a bad taste in my mouth that a player (Jamie, in this case) can play with precision and do so much right and still lose.

I very much enjoyed playing the game; so didn't feel like a I lost at all!

But yeah, if only I had built a chapel on my last go (rather than a ship) I would have come joint first. That was the VP condition on my private objective card, 'have the most chapels'. Also, had I been on the ball, I probably should have noticed all those towns in wood spaces you were building, and followed suit!

I guess that's a big part of the game, as Dale mentions; trying to work out what the other players objectives are, and then ranking on that criteria.

Totally agree, in that reading the Evolution cards was a bit fiddly. For me; I feel it needs some kind of hand-out reference sheet, detailing all the Evolution cards. Plus, something that allows them to be easily passed around. I'll put something together, for the next time we play.

I enjoyed it although wasn't sure on my strategy at all really .. I was concentrating on completing my personal objective (exploring) whilst struggling to get anywhere near any stone for the group objective - in the end I knew Jamie had that all sewn up - but what we didn't know was that he hadn't done his chapel objective... so it all fell apart for him at the end... It was a good game. I'm glad we played with 3 players, Things seemed to move along at just the right pace. Maxing out games with a full compliment of players is something we often do at the club, but quite often these aren't the best gaming experiences, with games going on a bit long... I felt this was just right..

Maybe you grabbed too many explorer tokens Evan? You only needed more than either myself or Andy, in order to rank first on your private objective (and gain the 3VP); over-kill doesn't get you more VP. Ideally, I guess if you can rank high on the public objective, and first on your own private objective; then try working out what everyone else is going for, and try to get a little bit of that too; then you're probably in with a good chance of winning.

For me; my ideal player count would be 3 or 4. I think 5 probably would draw the game out a little too much (plus, more down-time between your turns).

Jamie wrote:

Yeah, it looks like a super fun game. Really liking the theme too! Would love to give it a go, next time you bring it along.

I've got it too and am up for another game sometime. Maybe in a couple of weeks or so? I won't be there next week.

Dale wrote:

Jamie wrote:

Yeah, it looks like a super fun game. Really liking the theme too! Would love to give it a go, next time you bring it along.

I've got it too and am up for another game sometime. Maybe in a couple of weeks or so? I won't be there next week.

Sounds good to me!