Happy Birthday to Mom

We celebrated Mom's birthday today. (The photo to the right is from our trip to Washington, DC last August.) Her birthday is February 29th, so she doesn't have an actual birthday this year. We all met at her house for dinner and games. Part of Mom's present was that we didn't force her to play games.

First we played a game of Killer Bunnies REMIX. This is the second time we've played the starter deck with six players. It seems too easy for someone to go half of the game without a bunny. I'm hoping that adding in the additional decks (from the REMIX set) will add more bunnies. Otherwise we may need to limit the game to five people. I wasn't dealt a bunny today, and it took me about five draws to get one in play. He was quickly killed by Teresa, and I then went about five more rounds without one. Andrew had two bunnies at one point, but lost them both; he then spent the second half of the game without a bunny. Gillian lost her only bunny in the third round (on an attack by Patrick) and never had another one for the rest of the game. I ended up buying two carrots at the end of the game, and one of them (the martial arts carrot) ended up the magic carrot. Dennis played and didn't like the game.

Patrick beat me in two games of Hive this morning on the iPod Touch. We brought the board version over to Mom's, and Patrick beat me while we explained the rules to the rest of the group. Patrick also beat Dennis, but then Andrew beat Patrick. Patrick is the best in the group at the game, but he's also played it the most. I would definitely recommend Hive anyone who likes abstract strategy games, especially anyone who would like something faster and easier than chess. The simplicity and portability would also make it attractive to anyone looking for a light filler game. Anyone curious about the game can try a free online version (solitaire, against the AI) at the Hive website.

Return of Killer Bunnies

We played a game of Killer Bunnies REMIX tonight at Mom's. I held the magic carrot (Remington) at the end of the game. Also playing were Gillian, Patrick, Mom, Andrew and Teresa. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Mom and Teresa want to play again with the starter deck before adding in the extra cards.

I Need Gaming Rehab

I'm thinking that I may need to check into rehab. I ordered three games this morning at Amazon.

The first game is Campaign Manager 2008 by Z-Man Games. I listened to Episode #38 this morning of Game On! with Cody and John. They had a fairly positive review of it, and I was hooked by their description. The game uses a card-play mechanic to re-create the 2008 presidential campaign, with one player managing the McCain campaign and the other managing the Obama campaign. The game was designed by Christian Leonhard and Jason Matthews. Matthews was the co-designer of one of my all-time favorite games, GMT's Twilight Struggle, which uses similar mechanics to re-create the Cold War. The pair also teamed up for 1960: The Making of a President (also published by Z-Man) that re-creates the 1960 US presidential election. Kathryn gave me 1960 for Christmas last year, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet. (Yes -- I realize the irony of buying a game because it's similar to another game that I haven't yet taken out of the box. I already said that I need rehab.) Campaign Manager is supposed to be faster and easier than 1960. I'm hoping to give it a try with Gillian in Jamaica next month.

I also ordered Hive by Gen 42. Hive is an abstract strategy game that I'd describe as 30% dominoes + 30% chess + 30% Go + 10% other abstracts. Like dominoes, players place pieces on a table (with no playing board) to build a line of play. The pieces, however, are hex-shaped, creating a bee-hive shape as the pieces are played. Like Go, each player has a "deck" of pieces -- black or white. The pieces, however, are marked with insect icons and can be moved after placement, chess-like, with each insect having its own movement rules. The goal is to surround the other player's queen bee. I had seen photos of the game at BoardGameGeek and read some positive reviews. I don't normally like abstracts, but the game's portability (as it is played without a board) and the small number of total pieces (10 per side) appealed to me enough that I downloaded the iPhone app for $3.99 last week. Patrick and I played a few games this weekend (on the iPod Touch), and we enjoyed it enough that I ordered the physical version. (The game had been listed for $35 at Amazon, but it was marked down to $25 today.)

Finally, I ordered the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #2 from an Amazon reseller, Old Fort Games. As I discussed in my February 18th posting, I was getting a little disgusted with the length of time that it has taken Multiman Publishing to ship my copy of the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1, which I ordered on February 8th. I finally got ahold of a human being today at MMP, and she told me that my order would probably ship in the next couple of days. I had already decided that I was going to order the second starter kit after I received the first -- figuring that it would arrive about the time that Andrew and I finished working our way through the first. But I really want to have the rulebook to take with me to Jamaica. And the way MMP is going, I didn't know if they would make it in time. (The second starter kit's rules include the first kit's rules, plus additional rules for mortars and big guns.) At this point, I'm not a happy MMP customer.

Renaissance Gaming

Without realizing it, Patrick and I chose a Renaissance theme for our Monday afternoon gaming. First Patrick won two games of Renaissance Go Fish for Art. Then I won a game of chess using my Renaissance-style pieces.

Teresa gave us the Go Fish game a couple of years ago. Published by Birdcage Press, it's essentially a deck of 30 high-quality playing cards with photos of works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli and Fra Angelico. The rules suggest playing either Go Fish or Memory with the deck. Birdcage Press also makes decks with Impressionists, Van Gogh (and friends) and modern artists. I'd recommend it as a fun way to learn the works, but it's still Go Fish and Memory. I'm the first person to report a play at BoardGameGeek.

I got the Renaissance chess set for Christmas when I was in grade school. I remember that when I was five or six, Dennis's friend Gary Holder would come over to Mom and Dad's house to play chess with Dennis. Gary had a Renaissance set, and I would "battle" with the eliminated pieces. So, I always wanted a Renaissance set, and it was on my Christmas list for several years before I got one. I really do not enjoy chess, but everyone has to own a set, and this set has a lot of sentimental value to me.

Two Killer Bunnies Quests

We played Killer Bunnies REMIX at Mom's last night and again this afternoon. Both games were a lot of fun. We're starting to get the hang of it, using the starter deck, but I don't think we're ready to use the full deck yet.

Teresa won last night's game. I spent most of the game without a bunny in the circle. Yet only one of my bunnies was killed by an attack -- the other three bunnies were killed by Terrible Misfortune cards. So, when the game ended, I lost my one carrot to Teresa, giving her a total of two. Mom and Andrew had three apiece, while Patrick had two. The magic carrot ended up being Tucker the Pirate Carrot -- held by Teresa (giving her the victory). It took everyone awhile to figure out the rules, and get comfortable with the idea of attacking each other without feeling guilty. Well, to be honest, it didn't take the boys long to enjoy attacking each other, but Mom and Teresa felt guilty for most of the game.

Andrew, Patrick and I played another game this afternoon. While Andrew had the most bunnies for most of the game, he wasn't able to get many carrots -- and one of them was stolen by Patrick. At the end of the game, Patrick had six carrots, I had three, and Andrew had only one. Patrick had the magic carrot -- Butch, the construction-worker carrot -- and won the game.

It's a hard game to explain to someone. Killing bunnies isn't a theme that attracts most people. Mom described the game to Non, who said it "sounded awful." But it is fun if you can get past the silliness. I'm also sympathetic to those who complain that the game is too driven by luck. In Friday night's game there was literally nothing that I could do, since I didn't draw a bunny after the first ten minutes. Also, while I like the mechanic that allows anyone with one bunny and one carrot at the end of the game to have a shot at winning, it may be overly frustrating for some folks to lose despite having a majority of the carrots. In short, while I enjoy Killer Bunnies, it probably is a game that should be tried first before buying.

Special (and Not-So-Special) Delivery

The good news is that Descent: Journeys in the Dark (which I ordered on February 15th) arrived yesterday. Amazon Prime comes through again. Hopefully I can skim through the rules this weekend.

The bad news is that the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1 still hasn't arrived. (See my February 8th post.) I was hoping to have it show up this week, so that Andrew and I could give it a try this weekend. Al volunteered to come over and help us up the learning curve. I'm not optimistic, since Multiman Publishing posted this message at their web page:

Maryland was hammered with snow over the past weekend, with our office receiving over 30". Since this is more than Maryland may see an entire winter, you can imagine the problems the state has clearing roads and getting back to work/school. So, we are likely to be closed the first few days of this week.

Please be patient as we strive to ship preorder copies of Doomed Battalions, Journal #8, and the recent rush of orders for the Winter Offensive Bonus Pack.

Thank you,
MMP

I'm especially concerned for two reasons: (1) Even though the storm ran through Maryland on the 6th and 7th (and the message is dated the 7th), the message wasn't actually posted at their web site until the 15th. (2) They are likely focused on getting their new products out the door, so a lowly single order for an old product may sit in the in-box for awhile.

I'll just have to hope for the best.

Killer Bunnies Experiment

Patrick and I played an experimental game of Killer Bunnies this afternoon. By experimental, I mean that I was trying to read the rulebook at the same time as we were playing. Upon re-reading the rules this evening, there were a few things that we were doing wrong. But I'm still counting it as a play, and Patrick is still claiming his victory.

I'll need a couple more plays before I'm ready to give it an official review, but I definitely enjoyed it. Patrick gave it a thumbs-up as well. The few things that troubled me are likely to be improved by playing with more than two people. I plan to bring the game to Mom's Friday night, where we'll be able to try it with a bigger group.