March Hardcore Night

The Lugar guided gala that I refer to as hardcore night was this past Saturday and a good time was had by all. Amongst the wonders that were on display, the following got pulled out:


Shogun was the definite hit of the night, creating a violation of the hardcore night axiom - thou shalt not play the same game twice in the same night. Not only did we play it twice, but we enjoyed the heck out of it. This game is definitely the spiritual successor to Wallenstein and has me jonesing to pick a copy up before they stop publishing the darned thing. Great mechanics, great components and a level of suspense that I've not seen in a game of this type. Definitely geared towards the more serious gaming crowd, its easy to learn and very confrontational - all in a nice eurogame package. And its got a dice tower!!! Glee!

Also played a game of Caylus. I don't mean to sound like the "me too" crowd over at the Geek, but I feel that this is really the ultimate gamer's game. Fairly complex rules explanation coupled with really simple rules and straightforward mechanics. Another big perk is the fact that it has multiple avenues to victory that don't require multiple plays to deduce. I tried something a little different this time and tried to speed the game's conclusion while maintaining a fairly constant lead. Didn't work out as well as I would have liked, with the Greg sneaking up from behind and trouncing me. Wasn't particularly popular with the crowd, but it remains a game I'll play every chance I get.

We also pulled out Battlestations but put it back in the box when we realized it required a bit more setup than we had and that it had a 4 hour play time to boot! Ay yi yi!

Fury of Dracula is another one of those games you never really get to pull out and I'll admit to be totally surprised when the group suggested it! It tends to be a fairly long-playing game and is very confrontational with one player taking the role of Dracula laying traps across Europe as he attempts to create his vampire army and the other players tracking him down to finish him once and for all. I've played the game twice - the first time we were too tired to finish about 2 hours into the game. This time, I got to be Dracula and showed players everywhere how you do it. We finished the game in 53 minutes with Dracula winning (and killing one of the other players to boot!). In fact, the game was so short, it ended up being really well-received by a group that was already getting a bit tired.

That was about all we had time for this Saturday - not a bad set o' gaming overall and a decidedly pleasant way to spend 10 hours!