At first, it was Sam and I. We played Cube Quest. We flicked with all the accuracy of a firework falling down some stairs. In the end, it was mutually assured destruction, as a flick from Sam sent all cubes off the table for a draw. Then Joe arrived, and he and I played a game. After a short while, quite against the run of play, I fluked a ricochet onto his king to take him out. Then Joe and Sam played and Sam scored a quick win against Joe’s unprotected king. It was all so quick, they played again, only for Joe to fall prey to some sniper-style flicking from Sam again.
Then we decided to bring something more substantial to the table. With Adam and Hannah half an hour away, we chose 7 Wonders. It’s amazing to think that once this game fell out of favour with us. It’s a perfect short, yet deep, game.
Sam started wars, I built up on sciences, and Joe built blue buildings. It was all pretty close. Despite the lack of parchment, I built the talismanic Palace with my wonder’s ability to build one building for free. This, and the fact that Sam paid me a lot of money in the final round gave me a narrow win.
Andrew 47
Sam 45
Joe 43
Then we ate some lovely chorizo stew and Hannah and Adam arrived. We discussed what to play, and during this discussion, Railways of the World kept being mentioned. Then, when we discovered that Hannah had never played it, any discussion ended as RotW was immediately brought to the table.
Five-player RotW may be a beast of a game that eats up entire evenings, but I for one was happy to see the eastern seaboard of the US spread out across Sam’s kitchen table. While Hannah learnt the rules, I looked over the cubes and cities and I formulated a plan. A plan that Sam swiftly squashed with his first move. So I decided to go head to head against Joe around the north-east.
At first it worked, and I sprang into an early lead. Sam piled on one bond after another, as he went for lengthy connections and their bonus points. Adam was in last for much of the game, but that doesn’t mean anything, as we all know by now. Hannah played a solid game for a first-timer.
But halfway through the game, my options dried up. Joe was able to put together long deliveries of cubes right up until the end, and Adam, too, put his network to good use. By the end, Sam was sunk by his bond addiction, and I found myself falling back to fourth.
Joe 81
Adam 72
Hannah 68
Andrew 66
Sam 58
Disappointing to come fourth, but despite that, I really do enjoy RotW. I know exactly where I went wrong, and it was nothing to do with a roll of a die or picking the wrong card. It was totally my fault, and that’s what I like in a game. As we walked home, Joe and I admired RotW for it’s thematic qualities, and whether or not we could ever go back to Age Of Steam.
On the form table, Adam reclaims top spot. Jonny, are you going to let him get away with that?
| Points | ||||||
| Adam | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Sam | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Joe | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Andrew | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Hannah | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| Miles | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| Lizzy | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 22 |
Age of Steam is far less forgiving - it's possible to bankrupt yourself in the first few turns, and there's no cornucopia of operations cards - the auction determines full turn order and choice of the special actions (such as upgrade your engine do free or ship first). I seem to remember Adam being extremely good at it.
ReplyDeleteRailways is friendlier, and I like the first player auction: it allows for some strategy in trying to get the player to your right to pay for first, so you get second for free.
3 player 7 Wonders takes no prisoners, on the other hand. I thought I was flying, having fully built my wonder at the beginning of the 1st age. Interesting to note that Chris's assertion that the palace wins held true - also that without it Andrew would have dropped from first to last (assuming he had played a card scoring less than 4 pts instead).
One last thing about Railways. It's a long game; two hours plus, maybe? All of us spent almost the entire game on our feet. Which Hannah pointed out is much better for you than sitting down.
Really enjoyed Railways - not often I can say that after finishing stony last. In fact it was clear from early on that would be the case but having taken too many bonds already, it appeared my only course of action was to keep doing so in an effort to get the longest routes - anything else would have been damage control. Instead I did damage increase!
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those games I wake up wanting to play again straight away.