Boardgamecafe.net @ Cheras
OK, since Jeff has already done some writeup on this meeting at www.boardgamecafe.net, I’ll just put in my two cents on the meetup:
Kuhhandel (You’re Bluffing!)
I arrived late from the traffic jam to observe this game.
Generally, this is a fun negotiation game in which you try to form sets of animals by buying the animals from each other.
The gist of the game is that:
1. You try to get a matching animal from another player by offering them an unknown sum of money.
2. Since an offer can’t be refused, the other player will try to counteroffer with another unknown sum of money that is hopefully more than yours.
3. Both of you then exchange your offers and compare with each other.
4. The player with the higher offer gets the contested animal from the other player, and
5. Both players now continue the game using the money obtained from the offer exchange!
The bluffing aspect comes when you lie about your offer, so that the other player will either give you a lot of money in a supergood counteroffer, or give their animal to you at bargain price.
The fun aspect then comes when the other players pull the same trick on you!
As you can tell by the photos, everybody had fun!
Powergrid - France expansion
3 players squeeze into Paris!
Now, those of you who are my loyal readers will remember my last writeup on the Cameron trip where I lost two games to a ‘trick’. This time, I resolved to avoid the same ‘trick’.
But first, I had to get used to the France map where the connections are different from the US map. There is a special 3-adjacent-sectioned Paris city, an early nuclear power plant, and early cheap uranium.
I started by bidding highly for a low number hybrid power plant. Everyone seems to be scared off by that play and backed off. However, I consider that a good purchase seeing that the low number plant put me in a good position to buy resources and connections first.
My next power plant purchase was a nuclear plant. Again everyone backed off from my high bids. However, I still consider it a good purchase seeing that the uranium resources will be uncontested for awhile.
In mid-game, all the high numbered power plants suddenly came out. I got myself a good high numbered plant uncontested, which put me in the lead several times. Although I overspent on some resources and was screwed out of cheap city connections, I still consider myself in a good position solely because I had a high enough power plant for the end game.
Towards the end, I got myself another high numbered power plant which happens to be a garbage plant. Now, this was critical because:
1. Others are just starting to phase out their garbage plants and I can get cheap garbage resources.
2. Low numbered power plants started showing again, screwing everyone else’s expansion capabilities.
3. Nobody bid for the low numbered plants, causing stagnation in the power plant market.
4. Everyone waited too long for the high numbered green power plants in the futures market to move up, which didn’t, since the current market is stagnant.
5. I pulled the ‘trick’ I learned from Cameron Highlands.
What is the ‘trick’? Essentially, the game ends when someone builds to 15 cities. However, the game rules that you do not have to power all of the 15 cities! So I just make sure I can power 13 cities (which is more than anyone else) and end the game prematurely by building to 15 cities. The phase 3 card didn’t even turn up yet!
Yup, I stole victory right under everyone’s noses. In this game, I consider power plant purchases to be the critical points of my victory. However, I recognise that power plant purchases are subjective and everyone has their own assessment of the ‘correct’ price for a plant. Feel free to discuss on the four plants buying decisions I made, would love to hear opinions!
Powergrid, serious gamers’ game!
St. Petersburg
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t observe every game intimately. I was distracted soon after Rob’s game explanations, by Jeff who proceeded to teach me…
Battleline
me at battlelines, rob at st petersburg
Now this is a tough abstract mathematical game by the creator of Lost Cities. Like that game, there’s some luck in the drawing of the cards. But my mistake was committing my low valued armies too early, resulting in a breakthrough loss. Now that I get a taste of the game, maybe next time I can strategise instead of praying for the right cards to turn up! 
Diplomacy
This game we didn’t play, but Jeff brought it out to be oggled by Long, Henry, Rob and myself. The board was a close reproduction of the map of Europe, but the graphics, the components and the bits! Antique, man. Old Skool.
Yumcha
This is not a game but a hawker session at the nearby foodcourt. (It can be a future M’sian game, where the first expansion will be imaginatively titled ‘mamak’…:P)
For those of you wondering what sort of topics that went around, here’s a sample:
Interest in Gaming Getaway?
Where to go for Gaming Getaway?
Long games or short games for Gaming Getaway?
7 Ages long game Genting Getaway Gaming Galore?
Are Chess, Scrabble and Go considered boardgames?
Are Chess, Scrabble and Go heavier than 18XX?
Are Chess, Scrabble and Go dependent on genius intellect or laborious ‘moves’ and ‘vocab’ memorisation?
Why is ____ considered a word in Scrabble?!
Ticket to Ride & Puerto Rico, are they equally suitable as gateway games?
Why does Long prefer teaching Puerto Rico than Ticket to Ride?
Why does Jeff prefer teaching Powergrid than Puerto Rico?
Bear in mind that the above are a snapshot of the discussions that day, which may be modified by the effects of a 9pm-5am boardgame meetup session length and coffee.
Footnote: Reach home at 6am. So darn tired!
