Thanks for the report Bob! Wish I could have been there - especially if that rumor about GoS is true...
On Feb 28, 12:29 pm, NinjaBob <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, yesterday I ended up going to SaltCon and Mark Crane asked for a > detailed sessions report, so here goes. > > I got there at 8:15 AM and didn't miss a thing. There was a long line > as they had just barely started admitting people. So rather than wait > in line, I went back to my car and got the games I was trying to trade > during the day and put them on the trading table. > > By the time I'd done that, the line was down to nothing so I bought my > ticket. Yes, it was $15 since I didn't prepurchase--so it was a > little pricey, but it's not something that I dwelt on the rest of the > day. > > When I looked around I didn't see anyone there I knew. So I joined 4 > college age guys and played 2 games of Witch's > Brew.http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34084/witchs-brew > They were just sitting down to read the rules, so I spared them that > tedious task and we had a good time. I resolved again that someday I > will own this game (along with the expansions from the Alea box!--so > if someone bought that and doesn't want the Witch's Brew expansion > part, let me know). We all had a good time. I don't remember exactly > who won, so I must have lost both times :) > > After those 2 plays, a lot of people from Utah County had arrived: > Mark T. & Son, Josh & Wife, Jeremy, Matt (Nate's Bro in law), Chris, > Jeff, and Andrew. > > Next, I tried Spies & Spooks which was being demoed all > day.http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/67422/spiesspooks-the-cold-war... > Josh joined me along with 4 other players. Spies & Spooks is a Cold- > War Themed card game where you try to collect sets of secrets and > knock off other players using hidden bomb cards and daggers. While > fun for the $15 price tag, the strategy is minimal and it comes down > to luck of getting the right cards. The game ends when 3 missions > have been completed. Josh completed 2 of them and I the other. All > day they were giving the winners a free Spies & Spooks t-shirt so Josh > left with a nice trophy (and I tossed out sour grapes thinking they > probably didn't have any 3x sized shirts anyway! hahahaha) Spies & > Spooks was fun for one play, but in the end, not one that I would > purchase. > > Every hour or so they called out numbers for free games, t-shirts, > etc. Once again I won nothing even though the number right before and > right after mine were called! The only Utah County person I know that > won was Jeremy Coe who got 10 days in Europe. > > I also heard during the convention that A Gathering of Strangers may > not happen this year and that SaltCon was replacing it. I'm keeping > my fingers crossed that it's not true, since I like the Summer dates > for a game con more than the Winter. > > Next I joined Mark T. & Jeremy C. for 2 games of Diamonds > Club.http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37907/diamonds-club > We had played this twice at UCBG on a Friday and I was happy to play > it again. The first game I massed produced and tried to get as many > bonus cards as possible, but I couldn't beat Mark's animal strategy :P > hehehehe! For the 2nd game we were joined by Ryan Bruns "The Board > Game Guy" who I met at the first Gathering of Strangers and have > enjoyed playing with ever since. This time I went all out on trees > and just edged out a win over Mark. Those trees are tough to beat. > Diamonds Club continues to be a great game, but not one that would > appeal to the people I play with at home, so I will probably never own > it. > > Next, we played Long Shot, a new Horse racing/Betting > game.http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40237/long-shot > A friend of Ryan's joined us, so we had 5 players. It's a unique game > in that you can bet on horses as the race progresses and also buy & > own the horses in the race. The whole game is just one race long and > it takes about an hour. Horse movement is luck driven--by die roll-- > plus some strategy movement based on a hand of cards you can play > from. While not realistic--horses can be moved backwards, horses can > move from last to toed for first with one particular card used in just > the right circumstance--it is a lot of fun and which horses will take > 1st, 2nd, & 3rd the race is in question right to the very end. While > correct betting is primarily how you win this game I managed to win by > owning 2 of the 3 winning horses which also pays out quite well. I > enjoyed this game more than Winner's Circle, but I got the impression > that Mark did not. This is a game I'd like to own trough a trade, but > I would probably not go out and purchase it. > > Next Ryan wanted to learn Tichu and I was the 5th wheel (just kidding, > I left by my own choice :) so I went and watched a demo of S'quarrels, > as Ryan recommended it as a good family > game.http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/33427/squarrels-a-game-of-abso... > While it looked like it could be fun, it wasn't WOW enough to add to a > game collection the size of mine. :) > > Finally, I ended the day with the same group of guys I started the day > with. I taught them Zooloretto. While playing the magic hour of 4:00 > PM came so I was interested to see how that was handled since my > ticket and those I was playing with were only good until 4 PM. One of > the organizers stopped by our table and asked to see our tickets. He > was very polite and said we could pay more money if we wanted to > stay. We asked if we could finish our game and that was no problem. > Anyway, we had a good time and I took last place--can't beat 4 people > with beginner's luck! :) > > Other observations and comments: > > I tried out the new MayDay games $100 crokinole board. It's nothing > special, but good enough for playing--not a piece of art that you'd > hang on the wall though. It was a bit scratched up, the pegs looked > cheap and one was leaning ever so slightly--but I think it was only > because it was a demo copy that had seen a lot of use. Score/storage > box = nice as any. Surface = fine, but not quite as shiny, probably > not as many clear coats applied. For $100, I probably would buy one > if I didn't already and then not worry about taking it to family > reunions where nieces and nephews might beat on it :) (maybe I should > get one just for that use--but where to store it in the mean time) > > I don't like the 2 session thing, but who does. Some guys like Steve > Kimball that I like to play with were coming just as I was going. The > price is also rather high for 2 sessions. The 2 sessions also puts a > damper on on-site trading. Usually that gets really good as people > get ready to go for the night. Since some people were just arriving > as I was leaving, I didn't ever get a really good chance to make trade > deals--although I did sell 2 of my games. > > The guys running the show did as good as any, but I was disappointed > more Brand New games weren't there. I was really hoping to try out 3 > Musketeers, but it was not in the library of games. I think the past > Gathering of Strangers has been better about showing off brand new > games...of course if you have Jay Tummelson in attendance.... :) > > There is still no easy way to get something to eat unless you wanted > to buy there over priced candy bars, apples or nuts. But as a rule I > don't eat during conventions anyway. :) > > I had a great time. I'm glad I went. I'll probably go again and > again. Mostly because money means a lot less to me than fun! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "utah county boardgamers association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ucboardgamers?hl=en.
