Game(s) Played:
And welcome back to another edition of our monthly meet-ups to teach, learn & play boardgames for the niche group of us who are strangely only free on Saturday mornings. We were supposed to throw down in Dungeon Petz this morning but because of one unit lost, I didn't want to stall the game learning the rules for 3 Players, so we headed to … …
Session – Seasons
Game: Seasons
Designer: Régis Bonnessée
Players: 2 – 4 Players
Playing Time: 60 minutes (This Play: 75 minutes)
Main Mechanisms: Card Drafting, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, Take That
Player(s):
… … The wonderful kingdom of Xidit! The greatest sorcerers of the kingdom have gathered at the heart of the Argos forest, where the legendary tournament of the 12 seasons is taking place. At the end of the three year competition, the new Archmage of the kingdom of Xidit will be chosen from among the competitors. Take your place, wizard! Equip your ancestral magical items, summon your most faithful familiars to your side and be ready to face the challenge!
A cool new "Comic Book" filter I found on my iPhone, I've been having tonnes of fun with it
This being the actual tournament to crown the next Archmage of Xidit, the apprentice mode of pre-selected Power Cards is foregone for the proper free for ALL challenge. In the interest of time, the draft phase is done away with and the sorcerors will play a sealed format instead. In hindsight, it would probably have been better if sorcerors started with 18 cards in hand and picked 9, discarding the other 9.
I take a look at my hand and cringe a little. I didn't really have any good Magic Item combos, though as a small consolation, I had drawn Kairn the Destroyer & Damned Soul of Onys which were powerful Crystal destroying Familiars. Splitting my hand of 9 cards into 3 equal piles, I put the remaining two stacks into the pockets of my handsome wizarding cloak and peer over my starting hand at Sorceror Sean, indicating that he had initiative.
Another cool depth feature I discovered. I didn't get many good rolls and had trouble getting the Energy Tokens I needed
The first year in the Argos forest was going all according to plan. My Damned Soul of Onys was making sure Sorceror Sean was not gaining any Crystals and I had managed to cast all my Power Cards and amassed a tidy sum of Crystals. The closing seasons of the year was spent amassing the Energy Tokens that I would need to cast my Power Cards that were coming in the second year. Alas, at the turn of the season of air, Sorceror Jason summoned… ….
Sigh… So yes, for those who don't like 'Take That' in their games, Seasons is dosed quite heavily with that aspect
Although that gave me more than ample air Energy Tokens to summon Kairn the Destroyer, it took a while to recover from that setback. In the meantime, my little familiar, Damned Soul of Onys was doing a good job wreaking havoc on my opponents. That is until both sorcerors were wise enough to start keeping spare Water Energy Tokens in their reserves just to pass the familiar on to the next sorceror.
There was even a round when the Damned Soul of Onys was passed from me, all the way around, and back to me again. Sigh
Well, he accomplished his purpose by draining Crystals and Water Energy Tokens, although in the end I think the darned familiar drained more of my own Crystals than any other sorceror. His maddening rampage finally came to an end when Sorceror Sean sacrificed it with a Necrotic Kriss (which I just found out was a fan-made card! How cool is that?)
The final year saw Sorceror Sean go on a tear, summoning Magic Item after Magic Item and with the Scepter of Greatness, pulled too far ahead for any of us to catch up to him on Crystal count.
Results Of Game(s)
And so, by a big bum margin, Sorceror Sean is crowned the new Archmage of Xidit!
For the enjoyment of the seasoned Seasons (that was soooooo done on purpose) Players who view this blog… …
Try and guess the Power Cards I had in my tableau at game end
Session – Lorenzo il Magnifico
Game: Lorenzo il Magnifico
Designer: Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Simone Luciani
Players: 2 – 4 Players
Playing Time: 60 – 120 minutes (This Play: 75 minutes)
Main Mechanisms: Dice Rolling, Worker Placement, Card Drafting
Player(s):
The sun rises over the Italian city of Florence as the representatives of 3 famiglias enter the crowded town centre of "The Four", four four-storey high towers that are the objective of the 3 talented and 1 not so talented sons of these 3 famiglias. As the baker cries out "Pane Fresco! Pane Fresco!" the eager sons rush up their targeted towers, eager not to be second and have to pay the extravagant toll of 3 coins.
As if the game depicting four towers of equal height in Florence wasn't loopy enough, this filter certainly emphasizes it
Don Jason was enthusiastically looking out for new territories to conquer, the closer by territories being easier to manage and guard from attacks with just servants and not requiring a military patrol to ensure control. However Don Sean had his eye on the accumulation of wealth… …
Don Sean sadly decided to leave his Faith accumulation to the second round of the game and amass earthly treasures instead
The pious Don Justin (me), having experienced the harshness of the church's excommunication, hired the Abbess and undertook ventures that contributed towards the church, gaining him the much needed Faith as a safety net.
"No more excommunicado for me" says Don Justin fervently
Sadly as expected, there were no cards in the second round that granted Faith and Don Sean was declared excommunicado, suffering a -3 penalty to all his Harvest Actions. Severely hampering his ability to harvest lumber, which was a significant drawback for him. Don Jason and I were neck and neck most of the way but deciding to suffer excommunication in the fourth round (lose access to the marketplace) was the deciding factor for me as my accumulation of resources ended up granting me just enough of an edge to be the most prestigious and famous family in Florence!
Results Of Game(s)
A win once in a while does good for your soul
My winning famiglia which didn't have any civic buildings to shout about, we are a devout family in the wilderness suffering for our sins
Thanks for coming out everyone! I haven't had so much fun in a while that I forgot to finish my drink until after the game! Who knows what the next month will bring?
Until next time, keep calm and play better.
No comments:
Post a Comment