I think League of Six is decent, but although there is some progression through the rounds it does feel rather repetitive to me. Probably not a keeper.

Ming Dynasty, now, I found VERY repetitive. There is actually more progression in the game situation than in League of Six, but it did not feel that way in practice.

I really want to try Ubongo Extreme myself (with the timer, though). I just picked up a new puzzle game by the same designer, Code Omega. I don’t find it as interesting as Ubongo but others may feel differently.

Valerie, my usual Gathering SOP is to show up with a large list of games from the previous year that I haven’t had the chance to try and beg all concerned to play them with me.  The first few days, everyone is consumed with the new stuff, but later in the week, I’m usually pretty successful.  This year, for once, I’ve done a pretty good job of playing most of the ‘07 titles I’ve been interested in.  But I’d be happy to help you out if you’re trying to play one of the older games still on your list.

One of the games I haven’t tried is Tribune and I’d love to get in a game or two of that.  For all intents and purposes, this is an ‘08 design, as we Yanks tend to hold back on a new German game if an English language version is coming out, even if it’s language independent.  The surest way to kill the buzz on a hot new game in the States is to announce an English version and then have it be delayed for half a year.  That seems to be the case here, as the earliest availability I’ve seen for the FFG printing is May.  Still, the Heidelberger version isn’t supposed to be too language dependent, so I’m hoping there will be some copies available, maybe with cheat sheets or even pasted up.  I believe KHS will be in Columbus again this year, so maybe that will make it more likely we’ll see a copy or two.  :-) At any rate, if the game is there, I’d love to try it out with you and a few experienced hands.

Your reaction to Container was very similar to ours.  I’m pretty sure there’s a game here, but it just might be too much hard work to find it.

My one game of League of Six was *extremely* processional.  Pretty much the poster child for lather, rinse, repeat.  I suppose I should give it another chance, but the hangover from that first session still lingers.

If Dale teaches you Perry Rhodan and you like it, maybe you could show it to me.  My two-player gaming has dwindled down to almost zero, but this is an interesting title and I tend to like Heinrich’s games.

See you in two weeks!  I’m doing mental Snoopy dances just thinking about it!

With 5 plays of League of Six under my belt, I still find myself intrigued by the game.  Yes, it’s 6 rounds of the “same” mechanisms, but given the competition for cities, the choices for goods/horses/guards, and the desire to get bonuses, I’ve found the game changes from round to round as everyone tries to jockey for positions.  Planning for future rounds by maybe taking few goods and making sure you have enough guards can be VERY important. Last night in a 4-player game two of the supply hexes had only 2 arrows on them, 1 had three, and the last had 5.  Because I made sure I had enough guards from a previous round, I was able to easily bid up the 5-arrow city and set myself up with many items.

On the other hand, Aldie and I have disagreed about this game as he feels horses are the only way to go.  Last night I tried to see how this played out.  I didn’t have the lead in horses 4 times and was actually 3rd or 4th in the horse order 4 of the 6 rounds.  However, I was able to garner bonuses in 3 of those 4 rounds and just had to make sure I paid attention to what colors others had collected to keep the possibility of getting a bonus.  I was able to win about 5 points.

Finally, we used the “yellow” side of the cities last night and that seemed to provide some interesting variety.  I’ll have to look at the difference, but there seemed to be some nice balance in those versions of the cities that kept everything quite close and competitive.

Doug
http://www.garrettsgames.com

And that final sentence in the second paragraph should read, “I was able to win BY about 5 points.”

D’oh!

My list of unplayed Essen games is about as long as yours Valerie and has lots of similarities.  I won’t get to shave too many off it before or during the Gathering either since I don’t arrive until late Wednesday. 

Larry, Tribune is probably highest on that list so I’m hoping there will be copies available as well as I would love to get a game of this in. 

Best,
Craig

I still don’t know what to think about Container.  It’ll get at least one more play before I can make up my mind… But I think it will be even more difficult because I’d like to try it without the beginner bail-out rule…

Tribune is also on my short list of games to try, but I’m hoping that there will be German copies there or the delegation from FF will have a few of their English copies with them (or pre-production copies at least).  In fact, I’ll try to get in touch with them tonight and make sure they do!

Dale

Since you do not have much time to play all these games ( who has? ;-) ) I would like to make the first Perry Rhodan game count - just take a look at my (english) FAQ for the game as necessary:

http://tinyurl.com/2zuvsw (http://www.erlkoenig.net)

I wish you - most selfishly :-) - a lot of fun!

Heinrich (Glumpler)

It’s been a couple of weeks since my first (and, so far, only) play of Container. Five of us played without domestic sales, and yes, the economy was tight. But the tight economy is a large part of what helped me get into the theme.

The main long-term strategies I used were fairly obvious—(1) come heck or high water, buy at least one container of each type on the foreign island to get the double value bonus, and (2) try to buy exactly one more of your lowest value container on the island than anything else to make sure they are the ones eliminated before the final scoring and that you minimize loss.

The shorter-term tactics I used were also pretty obvious—(1) wait until at least two other players had loads of cash before selling on the foreign island (which usually means being the second or third sale in a row instead of the first), (2) it’s OK to have small profit margins (or merely break even) in your factory and harbor stores because the lower prices (and smaller short-term margins) make your containers more attractive for other players to buy, and (3) in the end game, if you think you’re ahead on the island, produce like crazy and have a fire sale to deplete the containers and end the game.

In the end, I was tied for the win in both points and money, so the tie was broken by the most containers and I lost by two. The next closest competitors were a bit behind, but only one was left in the dust. Overall, I like the game a lot, and look forward to playing again soon. I know some people hate blind bidding, but I think it fits the theme and works well. I would recommend Container as a good gateway game for people who like Monopoly and similar games where cash frequently changes hands.

I’ve played Uptown three times now, and really enjoyed it every time.  It’s an interesting challenge, and very quick to play - about 15 minutes with experienced players.

I really enjoyed Uptown and have played it many times now.

Like you, I have a long list of games to try at the Gathering, but the one we have in common is Perry Rhodan. I really need to get this one played while I am therre.

I can highly recommend Perry Rhodan.  I’m a big fan of pick-up-and-deliver games, and this one fits nicely in the genre--and in the Kosmos 2-player line (though this is now one of my favorites in the series).

I’d be glad to crush you at container any time, Valerie :) Too bad we live so far apart. Maybe at next Essen?

I’ve played ~20 games of Container and you are absolutely correct: None of the players are fully in control of their own fate, but the players can incentivise each other to assist their own fate and that is where the heart of the game lies.  Unlike most other games a player cannot simply charge ahead on their own; they require the explicit and on-going collusion of the other players in order to advance.

No, you may not selectively discard containers you win at auction.

A typical crushing in Container is followed by the realisation that all the players mutually colluded to help that player win by supporting the incentive structures they established.  Detecting and effectively acting against this mid-game can be fiendishly difficult as of course all the players are attempting to do that.