-+@ Superior Tactics @+-

won me a game today, more on that later...



That's 2 of the promos that Logan got for me and one that I wish I asked him to get. But I didn't so Oh Well. From left to right - Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica CCG, a mecha from Robotech TCG, and We Must Find Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas TCG.

Just two quick things to write here.

1. I played a game of MND with Cole. He used a burrow deck and all I had was a pure (and by pure I mean 100% of one region, no universal cards even!) Bograth deck. He started off well with a 'fuf and Trygar and I was drawing like crazy with Baa. He dropped an Ormagon and I was devastated, so I just let Baa bite the dust. Wiep flipped next and although I wanted to do a flip-kill, I can't, thanks to his Tunnel Hyren burrowing his Ormagon. I had to settle for waiting a turn before Darkness struck and Trygar went away, but not before leaving a Freep.

I played out a cautious line of creatures, but when he revealed his magi, it was Trug, which, thanks to Freep had enough energy for a Cataclysm. Bye, Bye Wiep. Grahnna flipped next and played a Black Stuff from the discard pile after I had use Transform to grab that Darkness. The response was Strag with another 'fuf. Darkness + Spirit Drain = dead Strag.

That was rather unexpected though as I had only that one card which could take out the burrow creatures. I told Cole that had he been more aggressive he would have got me. Also, if he didn't boast about his Ormagons and Trug, I would have done things differently. Instead I converted my creatures to cards most of the time to be able to survive getting all my cards in played being wiped out. I never got to Ninibom - more than meets the eye! - nor did I get to play that Mist Hyren that I never got a chance to draw.

I enjoyed that game, and there were 3 observers for most part. I think near the end, especially after 2 successful comebacks after getting all my cards in play cleared away, the observers were rooting for me as the underdog. That's the great thing about MND - it's not just great cards that wins a game, it has to do with deckbuilding and skill in playing. Oh and of course, psyching up the opponent with annoying cards always help!

2. I've been playing a lot more Ticket to Ride today, mostly out of boredom, but I have to say, I'm enjoying the "kiddie" version more than the more complicated European map. There's simplicity in the rules, yet there is a whole lot of complexity with the game and that's what I've been enjoying.

There's two different type of players - grandees and annoyers as I call them. Grandees tend to build the longest lines with the longest tracks raking up a huge score in the process by getting the right cards. Annoyers though, are the opposite. They will choose 2 short routes and complete them fast, then play interference with everyone else to prevent them from reaching their goal. I don't have the patience to be a grandee, and running interference is hard because I really, really like those long intercontinental stretches.

My strategy though has been to be a speed-hog (i.e. a cross between a speed-demon and a ground-hog) - take up the most regularly used up line on the west coast and finish as quick as possible to deny everyone else from completing theirs. That usually wins me the game.

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And in other news - I had a go at Mark for not blogging as frequent as he said he would about his week of boardgames. Consequently he's been getting more regular - there's even a picture in the last installment. Well, thanks to him I'm now playing on TtR...

I hope Martin has finally added those 350 cards to his test version of VteSO. Just over a week left before he'll have to release it. I gave him a formula in Excel to help him speed out the process instead of doing it manually, but I have not yet had a chance to talk with him to see if it works.

Ed's getting headaches these days, the server although seems rather stable is not at 100% yet. He's trying to straighten out the last kinks and he's also pondering the future of CCG Workshop. I hope there's a future.

Logan still hasn't wrote up his Origins report although he said he would a while back. I guess he's just busy. He's been dribbling out info now and again about what went on and stuff, but I can't wait to read about it in full. I hope this doesn't mean he's gonna shelf MoA until next year's Origins!

Oh and I hung out on the engine today in the usual MND timeslot and chatted with a few other people regarding the game. I seem to have demigod status or something. Sheesh! Also got my CCG Workshop email account fixed so that I can send out official emails and stuff. My first email was as Tech support to some guy in Korea.