It’s time for another round of boardgame repo… oh wait, some one beat me to it. Find out our exploits and experiences courtesy of Jeff Au, here:
http://boardgamecafe.net/community/blogs/boardgamecafe_net/archive/2007/01/29/5724.aspx
~end~
coming soon, bubbles using mud for worldpeace! (just kidding :P…)
So you think you saw the last of Heng’s gaming report. Fat Chance! It’s time for another round of….
Boardgame Wars II: The Return to Kopitiam (a.k.a. BGC OTK 19 Jan 07)
This gaming session lured two dormant gamers, Long (Lostboyz) and Ainul (aanemesis) out of the woodworks to join Jeff (jack208), Henry (ryhen) and Heng (ayheng) for a gaming session within the hip and happening crowd at OTK (Old Town Kopitiam). Yeah, yeah, we are vain, we know, we like to show off our hobby to the world. And we also happen to like our coffee to go with our boardgames. Long was lured out by the promise of ‘no traffic jam’ while Ainul was lured out by the promise of good 18XX game. Hopefully, they got what they want!
At 8.30pm, I arrived at OTK to find gamers Long, Ainul and Jeff already in the middle of a game of Coloretto.
This is a game of ‘chicken’ and collecting card sets. The objective of the game is to collect card sets of your own color while avoiding taking colors different from your card sets. The ‘chicken’ aspect comes when you are deciding between going for the easy points or building up your own set of cards at the risk of being tainted by other players’ intervention.
Ainul checking his cards to make sure he’s putting the orange card in the right set!
I was surprised to see the game being played as open information (cards revealed to all) rather than closed information (players’ cards are secret). This actually makes the game more challenging and less random. Thanks, Alvin, for teaching us the wrong gameplay during the Cameron trip! This original version of gameplay is more tense, and has a messing-with-other-players’-plans factor. Definately will play this version next time. (Btw, thanks Alvin also for the Coloretto b’day present!)
When the three of them finished up, I was still in the middle of my tasty Ipoh Hor Fun dinner. But that didn’t stop me as we start a four-player game of Blokus Classic.
me having dinner while playing… who says you can’t play with your food?!
The first Blokus game was rather peaceful as Ainul is new to the game and we didn’t want to show him all the dirty tricks in the book. Jeff won this one handily and we quickly played another.
a peaceful game… wide open spaces…
The second round of Blokus opened with a host of nasty opening moves by all the players. Long even gave some tips to Ainul at Jeff’s expense! This led to Jeff’s being assaulted on three fronts to an early defeat. This also led to Jeff’s claim that the game is broken! (Yea, when you are the winner of the 1st game, you are public enemy no#1!) This is all in good nature jest, of course. Thereafter, Long and Heng went at each other’s throats as they correctly surmised that Ainul posed the least threat as a newbie. However, Ainul played some good moves of his own, surprising Long and Heng, to eke out the win.
By this time, Henry arrived just in time to start a 5 player game of Caylus. Supposedly not a favourite of Jeff’s or Long’s, but definately a favourite of Heng’s and Ainul’s, due to the game’s complexity and mechanics. As a 5-player game, resources are scarce and the players have to scratch their head a bit harder to earn their victory points.
Long experiencing a bit of analysis paralysis as he try to figure out the best move.
Castle building is tight in this game, with many players taking their turns in the castle. Jeff made the first move in the castle while others scrounge for more resources. Heng decided that the castle is overcrowded and spent his time building the city of Caylus instead. As the first part of the game closes, the Bailiff called for the dungeon section of the castle to cease building. Although not all of the dungeon is built, the Bailiff cared not for such incompetence and moved the castle construction along. The dungeon scoring saw Jeff getting a favor from the King for helping out with two sections while Heng was penalised for contributing nothing.
The next construction stage saw the building of the towers and again Heng risk the King’s fury for ignoring the crowded castle. This time, however, the other players caught on and started building out the city of Caylus to win prestige for themselves. Jeff continued his castle strategy and complement it by sending his knight out jousting for the King’s amusement. Jeff continued to earn favors upon favors from the King with his strategy. Meanwhile, Henry concentrated on stockpiling his money for a big job in the future. Ainul and Long both went for a balanced strategy and had their hands both in the castle and city pie.
The end game saw Jeff, Heng and Henry in good positions as they built a prestige building each. In the end, Heng was declared the master of Caylus as he won (narrowly) by his city building strategy. As resources were tight in this game, right till the end, it’s difficult to come out with a sure-fire strategy for winning. The points were very close in the end as well. This game still takes some thought to plan and execute, particularly since the strategies and tactics are flexible depending on other players’ movements.
Our next game however, is pretty easy and refined. Some of us even have our own strategy down to a fine art. It’s a game of Puerto Rico, grand daddy of the Eurogame genre.
Henry, Heng and Ainul contemplating their moves in Puerto Rico.
In this game, there are two core strategies for playing. They are the building and shipping strategy. True to form, Jeff emerged victorious with a balanced approach between the two strategies (building early, shipping late). Henry went for a pure building strategy and finished second. Heng went for a shipping strategy and finished third. (Heng was also saved by a combination of good luck and bad plays by his opponents as he narrowly avoided being screwed by being shut out of key trades and shipping.) Long and Ainul saw their strategy went nowhere as their early hospice was nullified by Henry’s mayor tactics.
As the clock struck 12am/pm, Long bid the other gamers goodbye. The other gamers continued on, shifting operations from OTK to BGC (BoardGameCafe) premises with a heavy game of 1856. As everyone present was familiar with the mechanics of the game, Jeff plunged headlong into highlighting the difference between this game with other 18XX series. This took about 30~60 minutes and then the game begins!
Heng! What are you doing? Err… dunno… everybody watch out for the hot sun?
The auctioning of the private companies saw Jeff and Heng obtaining two companies while Ainul and Henry got one company each. Claiming priority, Ainul started up the first company, WGR. Henry started BBG while Heng scratches his head and started GW, the company with the best starting position. Unaware of the screwage to come, Jeff started LPS.
A little bit of comment here: Most players started their public company according to the private companies that they bought during the first round auction. This is not really a good play but since everyone was still blur as to the public companies’ capabilities, almost everyone sought to use the power of their private companies by setting up companies to benefit from the private companies. This was done regardless of the public companies’ potential profitability.
Second bit of comment: money is rather tight in the game and most players found it hard to invest in public companies other than their own. Most players again floated their company on too low a par value due to the money scarcity. This is not a good play as well, because the low capitalisation will cause problems in the future. When the public company requires funds to upgrade its trains, the public company’s capitalisation will go a long way into ensuring that it can continue to issue dividends while still having enough money to invest in trains.
As the public companies’ are being floated and operated, their first priority was to connect to its target destination as stated in the respective public companies’ charter. This is to ensure investor confidence and the bank’s release of public investment funds held in escrow. GW, WGR and BBG reached their target easily enough but Jeff’s LPS got screwed by an accidental track laying by Heng’s GW, blocking his railroad from further expansion. This placed a dent into Jeff’s plans as he has to now search elsewhere to invest his money temporily away from a stunted LPS.
Woohoo! Dividends time, money, money, money.
As the companies’ operation start ramping up and trains get sold out, newer models of trains started entering the market, promising greater efficiency and return on investments. By now, companies are starting to generate comfortable profits. New towns are being connected. Trade is bustling. Jeff’s LPS can now finally connect to the GW line courtesy of the invention of the combined track. 
Sorry for screwing you, man! Tension is starting to pile up, however, as CEOs start to watch their cashflow in preparation to upgrade obsolete trains.
Third bit of comment: GW with its repertoir of 4 train stations was reaping lots and lots of profit while other companies with less stations found it hard to expand and to block competitors. Again, train stations quantity is a serious consideration for investment and potential returns.
It is about this time that everyone grew confident to startup another company. Citing a dismal future with LPS, Jeff started WR while Henry started CPR. Capitalising at a par value of $90, WR drew a sizable investment from all parties. And it operates promisingly too, paying out good dividends to all loyal shareholders. But then, Jeff executed the dreaded HotSun manuever. What happens is a blur to all as it was quite late/early in the morning. What I can surmise is as follows:
1. Jeff used WR to buy all the trains in LPS for an obscene amount of money, effectively capitalising LPS and crippling WR in one stroke.
2. Jeff dumped all his shares in WR to the open market, effectively passing the controlling stake to Ainul. (all this while adhering to the Stock Exchange Commission’s ‘50% stock in open market’ rule.
3. Ainul now owns a useless company with debts. Ainul was effectively ‘HotSun-ed’!
4. In hindsight, Jeff planned it quite early on as he made some curious move of getting government loans but not using the money. It should have screamed: Hot Sun alert!
Stock dumping! WR shares rock bottom!
Jeff then uses the money to build up LPS to more glory. Ainul by this time was completely blur as to what had happened and went on playing with two debt-ridden companies. Jeff used his money to startup a new company, GT. However, due to the stunt pulled earlier, it did not attract outside investment and was unable to capitalise fast enough.
In a curious turn of events, Jeff made a blunder and purchased a level 6 train, triggering the formation of the CGR (Candian Government Rails). Jeff’s poor GT was stuck with debts while he was doing so and was so absorbed by the government. Ainul’s WGB was also beyond redemption and has to be absorb into what now appears to be a behemoth entity. The CGR apparently does not have to play by a few rules and its potential is staggering. Unfortunately the game have to be called here as it was 4.30pm. Luckily we have a photo to commemorate this momentous event:
CGR online!
the board is actually quite nice with all the tracks laid out towards the game’s end.
Now that we have reached the climax of the game, the next target is to continue the story of the CGR monster and finish 1856! Thanks to all for a great gaming session!
I have been a gamer since I was young. Even in primary, my friends still remember me as the person who plays (homemade) boardgames. Even then I’m pretty cheeky:
Yep, that’s me sticking my tongue out. Game on, everybody!
Well, this is a subject which was highly debated in my university days. And now, it has been finally proven that: Henggy is
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Ok, so maybe not the pure evilness that everyone predicts. But I know some one who is <cough>sze <cough> sze. Ahem.
… continued discussion…
ayheng:
I agree that we, as Malaysians, sometimes don’t take responsibility for their actions and don’t make decisions responsibly based on hard solid facts. Worse, we have that ‘tidak apa’ and ‘mudah lupa’ attitude.
For me, who have not voted yet, I am part of the PROBLEM of how the state of the country is in right now.
However, in reference to the highway issue, I will say that the opposition parties have made known their facts and the highway concesssionaire, Gamuda, have also came out on paper to make known their side of the story. I’m sure the audited accounts of Litrak will prove the concessionaire’s side of the story that they are not earning mountains of money off the hard work of the common people.
I feel that the issue at hand here is whether "The toll hike is burdening the common people unreasonably and hence a need for the government to use the public’s tax money to pay it off?".
LoStBoYz:
I’m surprise you guys can take this sittting down, and give excuses like "this is a problem with developing countries" or "We vote with our dollars. We either take the highway, or we don’t".
This has NOTHING to do with developing country, it has everything to do with GREED and SELFISHNESS. Even matured country like USA has financial scandals that become part of the text books as case studies (Enron?? Remember?).
I agree that "it has everything to do with GREED and SELFISHNESS". Corruption is GREED and SELFISHNESS. We see politicians everywhere driving big cars and live in big houses. Inflation is GREED and SELFISHNESS. We see traders raising prices of RM1.00 PER BOWL of mee when it’s only an extra RM0.10 PER BOWL of mee for petrol price increase. Why? They want to drive big cars and live in big houses as well.
However, I want to change all that starting with myself. I feel that it’s one thing to be ‘tidak apa’ with the increase and another thing to understand the rationale behind the increase and to accept the decision responsibly as part of the community. I hope that I am part of the group that understands and accepts.
"We vote with our dollars." Sound goods isn’t it? So, you’re suggesting we don’t take the highway, take the trunk road to escape the toll? That sound more like a workaround than and actual solution to the problem. As I said in my earlier posts, I don’t mind paying for the service, but I mind paying more for the same service. Did you read the link I posted, do you know WHY you’re paying more for the tolls? So by voting with your dollar, you can change all that? This is 30 years of toll hike that we’re talking about. There is no escape clause for the government.
I don’t suggest we take the trunk roads as we can afford the toll comfortably. The only thing we are concerned about is how we got less money to spend on luxury items. I am concerned that I have to spend more money on tolls as well. Like I mentioned earlier, I am all about greed and selfishness as well.
However, in reading the article and the concessionaire’s point of view in the papers, I believe the concessioanire’s presented facts that we are paying more for the toll in order for the concessionaire to finance the long term loans taken, rather than milking money out of the public for all its worth. Again, our guide will be the concessionaire’s accounts and what our friends in the anti toll hike coalition finds there. I feel that the concessionaire is ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
Again, conspiracy theory does not interest me. Show me cold hard facts, Gamuda made coverup, or Gamuda shareholders making 100% returns on earnings?
With the increase in petrol and tolls, all other stuff will slowly go up eventually, is your personal finances on par with the inflation rate? Is your projected saving seeing a dip? Kiyosaki books will tell you a lot on this.
Don’t remind me of my savings, you’ll trigger the Greed and Selfishness in me.
"confidence in our system of governmance", ugh. Malaysian cepat lupa, this is fact. Remember 9th Malaysia Plan? The multi-billion $$ package that is suppose to be execute last year? Where is it? Some goverment sector is still waiting for their 8th MP package.
I rather wait for the correct implementation rather than a botched attempt and hurried decisions which probably led to the poorly screened highway concession document that the government signed. (the government’s hands are not tied anyway… they can still negotiate, how else will Gamuda/Litrak get future projects with the government? but that’s another issue)
Carefully and accountably is the correct way to do things. Did I mention building a library extension takes 3 years in Australia where it only takes 6 months in Malaysia? Drawing from my experience in the Malaysian building industry, I can surmise that 90% of contracts are NOT READ at all due to the short time between planning and implementation. That, and shortage of manpower to do the job properly due to our culture of doing things as cheaply and quickly as possible. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself.
Give Abdullah some time. His policies now are to buildup the ‘non-polluting’ industries like tourism and the tech industry by upgrading our schools. I like that he upgrades our police and justice system by luring better quality candidates (can you imagine our police system can only lure thugs and corrupted people due to its low pay of RM1,000? Unprofessional!). As much as I would like our dear PM to inject money into the economy and build us some mega projects, I rather he tackle the fundamentals which are plaguing our community.
I do agree with ONE thing, the choice is ours. Vote with our heart and mind come election day (being political here, sorry) don’t bring $$$ into the picture.
I’ll still give Abdullah a vote until proven otherwise.
Another interesting site for you to look into "the other side of the coin", an alternative news apart from the newspaper you’re been reading.www.malaysia-today.net
Hard to give the site any sort of credibility when the editor himself admit in The Star newspaper that a lot of things in his website are sensational, controversial news which appeals to the masses despite being hearsay and have no backing facts whatsoever. Not to say everything is false, but the inability to differentiate truths and lies makes the whole thing hard to swallow anyway.
We all like to say certain factions in Umno Youth makes Chinese the scapegoat for everything. Is there any truth in that? This website makes the government the scapegoat for everything as well. Is there any truth in that?
At the end of the day, these discussions and so called ‘alternative’ news serves to raise my/our awareness of the Malaysian political situation. How we act on it depends on us. I will try to vote next time and continue to take my stand against corruption. I am proud to say that I did not bribe in the driving exam despite having to take it twice. It might be a difficult way, but I will do my part in my way.
So, is the toll hike burdening the people? Some study might be in order, but I am not one of the people burdened.
… discussion continued…
jack208:
Well said. Most ppl actually forgot the "cost" of such transparency. And the convenience too. I bet most ppl "bribed" their way out of court coz more convenient, saves time, dun have to take leave to attend to the matter…. etc so they feed the hands that bite them.
Similarly in such developed countries, you are also EXPECTED to pay for all the software, games, songs and movies that you play/watch. No more cheapo CDs or disc at rm5 or rm8. You pay all original prices.
btw in Russia, it’s common practice "corruption" is actually parked as a tax-deductible business expenses.
Lostboyz:I’m surprise you guys can take this sittting down, and give excuses like "this is a problem with developing countries" or "We vote with our dollars. We either take the highway, or we don’t".
This has NOTHING to do with developing country, it has everything to do with GREED and SELFISHNESS. Even matured country like USA has financial scandals that become part of the text books as case studies (Enron?? Remember?).
"We vote with our dollars." Sound goods isn’t it? So, you’re suggesting we don’t take the highway, take the trunk road to escape the toll? That sound more like a workaround than and actual solution to the problem. As I said in my earlier posts, I don’t mind paying for the service, but I mind paying more for the same service. Did you read the link I posted, do you know WHY you’re paying more for the tolls? So by voting with your dollar, you can change all that? This is 30 years of toll hike that we’re talking about. There is no escape clause for the government.
With the increase in petrol and tolls, all other stuff will slowly go up eventually, is your personal finances on par with the inflation rate? Is your projected saving seeing a dip? Kiyosaki books will tell you a lot on this.
"confidence in our system of governmance", ugh. Malaysian cepat lupa, this is fact. Remember 9th Malaysia Plan? The multi-billion $$ package that is suppose to be execute last year? Where is it? Some goverment sector is still waiting for their 8th MP package.
I do agree with ONE thing, the choice is ours. Vote with our heart and mind come election day (being political here, sorry) don’t bring $$$ into the picture.
Another interesting site for you to look into "the other side of the coin", an alternative news apart from the newspaper you’re been reading.
… discussion continuing…
Normally, only gaming stuff goes here. But this was discussed in my boardgaming forum and this is the first time I thought long and hard about what I’m posting, so I would like to share:
jack208: tis topic started by a very frustrated Padawan from Klang. So is the toll hike affecting your gaming activities? I shud prob add is the petrol price increase affecting your gaming too!
Lostboyz: You guys are lucky I guess. I unfortunately stay in Klang and work in Sri Petaling, so Kesas is the only way there.
Used to be RM1.50 x 3 x 22 x 2 = RM198/Month
Now its RM2.2 x 3 x 22 x 2 = RM290/Month!!! A RM100/Month hike in Toll expenses. Does it affects my gaming? In a way I guess, now I potentially lose RM1200/year of budget in buying boardgames.
If the service level of Kesas increased in lieu of the hike, I might not complain so much, eg. paying so much more = travelling time reduced, why not? But unfortunately I still see the same jam EVERY other day.
Imagine, if a boardgame cost RM200 on the average, some boardgame seller just lost potential 6 boardgames sale due to the toll hike.
Some people might say, who cares, I’m don’t travel on Kesas, I’m not affected. Then I’d suggest you read this and weep :
http://www.jeffooi.com/2007/01/for_whom_the_tolls_toll_2.php#comments
I’m not being political mind you, just being an average joe working on an average job day dreaming about whether will he get an increment of RM1200 to cover such crazy expenses…… Imagine.
ayheng: This is the problem with developing countries… blatant corruption. I’m sure a lot of the highway cost is bloated due to the need to pay off certain factors. Even China with all its chinese people suffer from it.. and is even accepted practice there! It’s not fair to blame the public highway companies as the only people who benefits are the public who buys shares in that company. The board still have a corporate responsibility to their shareholders.
What we can do now is to educate our children and support anti-corruption in small ways, like PAYING your speeding fines instead of bribing your way out of it, so that our future will be less corrupted.
Remember, when you’re in a developed country with no corruption, you are expected to behave this way as well. The government will be more transparent and fair, you will PAY 50% of your salary to TAX, and you will unfortunately still pay the same price for your TOLL fees due to risk factor in UNION safety laws and minimum wage laws and road safety laws. Part of our tax will go to support all the lazy bums who are ‘between jobs’ because it is not humane to let them starve. Transparency and safety regulations and environment laws and workers’ rights to ‘fair’ working hours will STILL make your daily goods prices go up.
However, the consolation we will have is that our currency will appreciate to be on par with US due to confidence in our system of governmance and we will get cheap boardgames for once.
Anyway, is our choice. We vote with our dollars. We either take the highway, or we don’t.
Another year another gaming. This year, for the first 2007 gaming event, Boardgamecafe have an outing at a nearby newly opened Cafe called Old Town Kopitiam! What better way to kick off the year’s activities by yumcha-ing while gaming.
(Ipoh White Coffee!)
At 8.00pm the gamers start to assemble themselves at the cafe. Most of them start themselves on dinner while waiting for late comers.
(Heng eating)
(Alan - left and Marcus - right, eating)
After a lite dinner, the gamers continue to the next item on the menu: El Grande!
This medium weight Euro-strategy game is currently one of the top ten game on boardgamegeek.com. It has an impressive background, coming from renown designer Wolfgang Kramer, who along with Richard Ulrich created this game which won the German 1996 boardgaming awards: Spiel Des Jahres and Deutscher Spiele Preis.
The game itself is an interesting Area-majority game. Players win points by having the most caballeros (knights) in the various regions of Spain circa medieval times. The main draw of the game comes from two interlocking mechanics:
(turn order bidding cards)
1. Players each have a limited set of 13 cards numbered 1 to 13 from which they use to bid each turn. The card determines turn order as well as the no. of caballeros they can bring from the reserve to the frontline that particular turn. Here, players have to balance between being first in turn and bringing enough caballeros out in readiness to control the regions. Being first in turn is important because:
(action cards)
2. Players, according to turn order, gets to pick from a set of 5 action cards. These action cards determine the no. of caballeros a player can send from their frontline onto the regions on the board. These action cards also have different special abilities, ranging from messing with your opponents’ pieces to scoring additional points. Here, players have to balance between choosing a powerful ability and sending enough caballeros out to control the regions.
The interplay between these two mechanics provide lots of choices and agonising decisions for the players each turn. The game plays out in nine turns, during which there is a scoring round after the 3rd, 6th and final turn. And here’s where the fun part begins. In addition to the regions of Spain, the players can opt to influence the King, by tossing their caballeros into this massive tower on one side of the board.
(ze castille to drop caballeros into)
In addition to scoring valuable points, these caballeros are then sent out by their players onto one of the regions on the board! There’ll be plenty of screwage happening as players secretly send their caballeros to usurp regions which their opponents thought was safe! Evil, evil moves galore…
<secret region selection wheel>
In this game, almost all are newbies as Jeff Au sat out. The players are Lai Wah, Marcus, Henry, Alan and myself (Heng). Marcus focused on bringing out lots of caballeros by using the lower turn order cards. However his strategy did him no avail as he can’t get enough caballeros out to gain majority control of the most regions on the board. Henry fared no better as he seemed to run into opposition everywhere he send his caballeros. Alan did a slow buildup and despite making a few mistakes, still managed a respectable second towards the end. Heng pulled out to an early lead only to suffer consecutive attacks which dropped him to 3rd place. Lai Wah, snagging the points heavy Castille region early, pulled away from the pack as she picked scoring cards one after the other to rack up huge points. Good choice of strategy for Lai Wah as she thumps the guys with an unassailable lead despite a late attempt to sabotage her regions.
(intense concentration!)
<no one bothers Marcus (yellow), it’s good to go for the low scoring regions sometimes!>
<aha! i have more caballeros in the castille than you, senor!>
By the time we finished El Grande, Old Town Kopitiam is packed to the brim! Sure is a hip and happening place!
<old town photo>
Some curious customers also came over and see what the bunch of people poring over boards and wooden bits is doing… By this time, Wai Yan has joined us and marcus brought out his game of Saboteur for a seven player extravaganza.
This is an interesting role game a-la Bang!. Players are secretly assigned the role of Dwarf miners or saboteurs and given a handful of cards. The interesting part of the game is that players play cards onto the table to build a mining shaft towards the gold card. Miners will try to reach the gold while the saboteurs have to ensure that the miners do not get there. The winning team gets a certain amount of gold and then the roles are assigned randomly again. The game is played to three rounds and it’s quick and easy. Players, depending on their cards, can help build shaft, sabotage another player’s equipment, destroy tunnet shafts, etc. A quick and dirty game!
<fun fun sabotage game! (from left - Lai Wah, Marcus, Henry, Alan, Heng)>
After that, we went back to Bang! for a quick fun game of sheriff and 2 deputies versus 3 outlaws and one renegade. The outlaws in this game tried very hard to disguise themselves as one of the deputies… so much so that they gunned each other down! Another easy job for the sheriff as Wai Yan mops up the last outlaw and renegade with lots of cards and ammos to spare (she even can afford to jail her own deputy twice!) Advice for the outlaws: next time, just gun hard and fast for the sheriff, take one for the team!
<bang! bang! a 7 player favourite!>
At 12pm midnite, the girls bid the guys goodnite as the guys continue gaming back in Boardgamecafe with Marcus’ favourite - 18GA. After a quick refresher for Alan and an explanation of the rules for Henry, the gamers are good to go. The private companies are bidded up separately by different players and Marcus triggered the purchase by going for the cheapest company. His strategy seems to be going for the public companies. The stock round sees four different companies startup by four different players while Heng opt to sit out and become an investor instead.
Marcus’ ACL and Jeff’s W&A got off to a flying start with a little boost from Heng’s investments. Alan’s Central and Henry’s Georgia however did not acquire enough market capitalisation to startup. With W&A in the North and ACL in the south, both companies operated freely and the earnings start to come in. However, both CEO Jeff and Marcus were quite prudent with their earnings, resulting in non declaration of dividends a few times in a row. Investor Heng got frustrated and started investing in Central.
Pretty Soon, Alan’s Central was up and running, playing with the big boys W&A and ACL. Investors this time were kept happy and CEO Alan declared dividends one after another. Henry’s Georgia was another story as investors declined to invest due to its dimming prospects from the gradual hemming in by ACL and W&A.
As the railroads expand, so did the towns and suddenly, Georgia was back in the game. Georgia was allowed to run unchecked through the upgraded towns as ACL and W&A assessed each other as the greatest threat and started sabotaging each other. Central started facing problems from its dividend declaring ways when it found that it hit an expansion block and needed to save money to upgrade its trains. Sensing the end is near, investors unanimously dumped its stocks in favour of stocks managed by more prudent CEOs.
ACL and W&A continued to expand their horizons as their CEOs took the plunge and invest in another company each. Jeff started GA while Marcus brought up SAL. Both companies, however, were to experience different fortunes as it becomes clear that SAL was a fake front for CEO Marcus to make money! SAL sold all its assets to its sister company ACL and the company became a dead company. Marcus tried to offload his president’s share certificate as part of his operation:hotsun campaign to bankrupt his rival CEOs. Unfortunately, the securities commission got wind of his dirty tactics and slapped him with a share selling restriction, much to the relief of Henry. Muttering about pansy securities commission, Marcus lost wind as he thought that his career was over.
Jeff’s GA was managed more prudently and he managed to work it up to a respectable position, much to the delight of its investors. By this time however, Henry’s Georgia was making loads of money, drawing attention from investor Heng, who snapped up half of the shares. Central stocks was plunging to a new low as CEO Alan again declared no dividends in a desperate attempt to keep up with the train upgrades. ACL, W&A and GA now focused on the new Georgia threat and attempted to shut out Georgia’s lucrative routes.
By now, the game was reaching a climax and one CEO after another started declaring dividends to buff up their own personal fortunes. CEO Henry has the last laugh as his company pushed him to the top as the richest person in 18GA, followed by Jeff with his twin investment machines W&A and GA. Heng narrowly missed second and had to settle for third with his investment strategies. Marcus got burned by his own hot sun, but still finished a respectable fourth. Alan did not recover from his early frivolous spending ways and finished last.
Overall, this was an interesting game in which the ‘vets’ (Henry) crushed the ‘noobs’ (Jeff and Marcus). However, it was a close race to the finish as the ‘noobs’ were close in overtaking the ‘vets’ as the money in the bank ran out, signalling the game end.
One thing which I learned in the game was to pick the proper investment but don’t let go until the company was sure to go bust. The last part of the game came down to a frenzied dividend declaring session where the stock prices experienced a long and continuous bull run, which unfortunately I was unable to take part fully due to some ill-advised disposal of ‘apparently’ non-performing stocks.
Marcus still lamented about his attempt to bankrupt another player foiled by the rulebook while winner Henry was still bewildered about how he won as he was still reeling from the myriad of options offered in the game.
<18GA madness with stocks dumping and route blockings!>
After the game, Jeff took out his copy of 7ages and Antiquity to wow us, which they do since both the games are stuffed chock full of bits… real gamers’ galore. And after a bit of chit-chatting, the gamers then headed home… at 4.30am in the morning. Phew, a real eventful nite for all! Next stop, Antiquity!
Ok, being the lazy bugger that I am, I’m going to just cut and paste the link to Alvin’s report: http://niched.blogspot.com/2007/01/camland-new-year.html
Pretty much summarise the whole trip. I would just like to add that the Bang! game and That’s Life! game was the star of the trip, getting repeat plays through out the trip. Sounds of "I’m your vice! I’m your vice!" as well as "That’s Life! That’s Life!" still sounding through my ears….
