Game: Mauer, die

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rossum — 2008-09-09T02:39:36+00:00

Schooling Steven and Norman

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race9 — 2008-03-27T15:35:00+00:00

1 thru 6 point Wall Pieces

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race9 — 2008-03-27T07:02:03+00:00

Arch and Tower

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Eddy Bee — 2007-08-07T08:32:00+00:00

Thread: Re: Opening Move

Big Bad Lex — 2007-01-01T21:03:08+00:00

That will do me.

Cheers

Thread: Re: Opening Move

Dinky_Gnatbane — 2007-01-01T20:56:53+00:00

Big Bad Lex wrote:
OK we've only played one game of this but the rules caused a few heads to be scratched regarding playing a tower or gate on the very first turn. Eventually we settled on the following but please chip in with comments;

Building Reg 2 states that 2 gates and/or towers cannot be built side by side. However if there is only one place for a tower to go (like in the first go) and two or more other players as well as the Master Builder declare a tower, the Master builder gets to place. If only one other player declares a tower, that player places and the MB does not.

The examples seem to perversely bracket this scenario and to contradict each other.

Any observations?
The following quote from the translated rules seems to address the opening Tower/Gate scenario:
"In general, if the number of the other players that have chosen the same piece as the Master Builder is greater than the number of pieces allowed by the building regulations, the Master Builder builds."

Here are the possible cases and outcomes of the opening play using Tower as as example.

1) If Master Builder is the only player to select Tower then Master Builder places Tower.

2) If Master Builder and one other player select Tower then other player places Tower.

3) If Master Builder and two or more other players select Tower then Master Builder places Tower (since only 1 Tower can be legally placed).

I hope this helps.

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samoan_jo — 2006-12-30T07:23:45+00:00

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Ceryon — 2006-12-28T23:26:20+00:00

Thread: Opening Move

Big Bad Lex — 2006-09-04T18:06:59+00:00

OK we've only played one game of this but the rules caused a few heads to be scratched regarding playing a tower or gate on the very first turn. Eventually we settled on the following but please chip in with comments;

Building Reg 2 states that 2 gates and/or towers cannot be built side by side. However if there is only one place for a tower to go (like in the first go) and two or more other players as well as the Master Builder declare a tower, the Master builder gets to place. If only one other player declares a tower, that player places and the MB does not.

The examples seem to perversely bracket this scenario and to contradict each other.

Any observations?

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diemacher — 2006-07-22T03:56:41+00:00

Original Thomas Fackler Metal Edition

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Regai — 2006-04-01T13:20:05+00:00

Photo from AbstractStrategy.com (used with permission)

Thread: Pub time is different to real time

Moviebuffs — 2005-08-03T13:00:36+00:00

John and Richard had to leave, and so we were down to 6.

So for our closer, we chose another game that’s almost impossible to do a session report for!

Players: Charli, Sue, Mark, Nick, Phil, Tim

With the building rules explained, we were off for three rounds of creating castle walls.

I usually get creamed at this game, and tonight was no exception! I think it stems from being a bit cowardly and hardly ever going for the open hand on my turns.

Sue ended round 1 by getting rid of all her pieces; meanwhile all I had managed to get rid of was my Tower, and Charli was struggling even more than I was, having only placed her 2-turret wall early on, when we were all expecting her to build something much larger!

Rd.1 scores: N 26, M 2, C 39, T 6, P 7, S 0

Tim and Mark were both down to one final piece when Sue ended the first round, while Phil had two remaining.

Considering the game was new to four of the players, it was pleasantly surprising to only once see someone offer a piece that couldn’t be played. I won’t mention any names, suffice to say that they were fairly embarrassed about the whole thing.

Oh okay, it was Tim. (sorry, Tim)

I fared much better in the second round, and surprised everyone by getting shot of all my pieces while there were only three towers on the table.

Rd.2 scores: N 26, M 18, C 48, T 16, P 48, S 15

Phil managed to score the full 41 points in round 2 … He did play a piece though, but unfortunately it was one that he had received when his ‘empty hand’ was rumbled.

Mark and Phil were the only ones trying to make use of the ‘empty hand’, and so I tried one in the middle of round three and got away with it! From this point on, I didn’t care if I won the game or not, I was happy …

Sue managed to close out round three, and considering she was already leading after round two, made it easy to determine the winner!

Final Scores:

Sue - 15
Mark - 20
Nick - 28
Tim - 41
Charli – 51
Phil - 65

The end of another good night at the Pub, and – just for the record – we all left at 11.20pm.

Thread: Translation Error

Aldaron — 2004-10-30T16:30:59+00:00

There appears to be an error in both the translation included in the box (at least mine) and in the posted translation linked to from BGG:

Under "Play",
"After each round..."
should read
"After each turn..."

Thread: Combining games?

macron — 2004-07-03T18:51:42+00:00

Has anyone any experience combining more than one game and playing with more than six players?

My first thought is that it could be difficult as the master builder. But I thought I'd ask.

Thread: Session Report

jsdougan — 2003-08-08T13:59:00+00:00

To say that I'm less than fond of this game would be putting it politely, but it was the choice of everybody else around, fitting necessary constraints of time available and players present. I actually managed to perform not too poorly, either.

The highlight of the game was during the second round, when Bert got caught twice with an open palm. The two extra towers he so acquired had the game very firmly lost for him at that point.

Perhaps because Jeff Reinhardt wasn't present, I managed to pull off the best performance I've ever played at this. (Jeff R. is so good that I'm almost not willing to play it with him until I can try to play some other folks and get my skill level up first.) The only round I was caught with substantial points left in my hand, I'd been forced to skip taking a free pass on my gate because there wasn't a legal play for it.

Final scores: Meg 32, Susie 3, Kerrie 22, Bert 51, LouAnn 25, Me (Jeff) 16

Thread: Session Report

Dan Bosley — 2002-09-22T14:09:57+00:00

Next up was Die Mauer - “The Wall”. To put it frankly, this game didn’t exactly blow anyone away. It was kind of dull, and, well, boring.

However...... the rules translation was VERY funny (although I don’t think intentionally so....). When David began reading out loud that “the MasterBuilder takes his piece in his fist...”, the laughter started, and didn’t let up for several minutes as we gradually guffawed our way through the rules.

Yes, how juvenile, I know. But it was very funny at the time....

The game itself was kind of dull. Basically it’s a guessing game with little wooden wall-pieces.. However, you could play the game with a set of different sized Lego bricks just as easily if you really wanted to.

Each player has an identical set of 7 pieces. Five of these are “wall” pieces, each one a different width. One piece is a gate. And the other is a tower.

What happens is that the MasterBuilder (also known as the start-player) takes one of his 7 pieces in his hand, hidden from view. The other players do the same. Then everybody shows everybody else their piece. If no one matched the MasterBuilder’s piece, then the MasterBuilder gets to place his piece. Now he only has 6 pieces left. (The object of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all your pieces.)

If anybody else’s piece matches the MasterBuilder’s piece, then THEY get to add their pieces to the wall - the MasterBuilder does not.

There are some building restrictions, too. Anything can be placed beside an existing wall. A Gate and a Tower can ONLY be placed beside a wall. So if the wall currently has towers or gates at either end, then only wall pieces can be played there.

You can also bluff by NOT having any piece at all in your hand. If the MasterBuilder does this, and no one else does, then his reward is to place any of his remaining pieces into position along the wall. If ONE-only other player besides the MasterBuilder also has an empty hand, then that one-only other player gets to give the MasterBuilder one of his pieces. And if 3 or more total people have empty hands, then nothing at all happens.

When someone finally runs out of pieces, everyone adds up their points. The wall pieces are worth 1 each per their length. The tower is worth 15. The gate is worth 5 or 10 (or maybe even some other value - I really can’t remember). And that’s the round. You play several rounds, and low score wins.

Now, when the game first starts, it is a total luckfest. Whether you “guess” correctly what the MasterBuilder plays is up to chance. However, as the game goes on, there is some opportunity for skill. Obviously you can see what pieces have already been played in the wall. If you have 4 players (as we did), and 3 gates have been placed, and you still have your gate in your possession - well, then you know that you can play your gate now, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop you.

As well, card-counters, or other people who enjoy exercising their memory may do very well at this game, because if you can keep track in your head who has played what, then you will have a definite advantage. For me, that was too much work.

The general consensus was that the game was an O.K. filler, but it seemed to be missing that “fun” factor. One round can be fast, though - only about 10 minutes. And it could be that it might get better with repeated plays. Then again, maybe not..... The game certainly didn’t cry out for us to keep playing it!

The pieces are little wooden carvings. They’re fine. But as I said earlier, you could play this game with lego bricks just as easily. (or any sets of 7 items, for that matter).

We played two rounds.
Round One:
David - zero
Dan - minus 10
Patrick - minus 19
Rick - minus 38

Round Two:
Dan - zero
Patrick - minus 1
Rick - minus 1
David - minus 4

Grand totals:
David - minus 4 (winner)
Dan - minus 10
Patrick - minus 20
Rick - minus 39

Ratings:
David - 6
Patrick - 5
Dan - 5 (although thinking about it, maybe a 4 is more appropriate)
Rick - 4

Game instructions/translation: Patrick gave it an 8 for amusement value.

Thread: Session Report

gamemark — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

We got in one round (out of a usual three) of this simple game of bluff & build. Each player has 7 wooden pieces: a tower (15 pts), an arch (10 pts), and 5 stretches of wall (6, 4, 3, 2, and 1 pt). In turn, each player is the "Master Builder". All players put a piece in their closed fist, attempting to match the Master Builder's choice. If no one matches him, he gets to build. If someone(s) match him, they get to build... unless they can't all build (there are limitations on where the arches & towers can go on the one long wall you're building), then the Master Builder gets to build. (There's also an empty hand bid which keeps the game interesting with it's strange consequences.) Frankly, there's not much to it... but it requires a good memory ("did he play his tower?") and some bluffing skills. After calling a "good filler game" last night, Jason accused me of having "a lot of filler games" in my collection... guilty as charged! I could happily play a night of filler games! Dallas was the whipping boy this time, what with (a) not being able to get rid of many pieces, and (b) me handing him my tower on an empty hand bid. I managed to go out just ahead of Winn.

Mark Jackson 0, Winn Keathley 5, Jason Bennett 11, Jamie ? 15, Dennis Mills 21, Dallas Moore 36

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

After Die Erben von Hoax, there was no place to go but up. The step up, however, wasn't all that big, as Mark followed Hoax with Die Mauer. Kind of like going from being beaten with 2 x 4's to being kicked in the groin. I'm not sure which is worse.

I played Die Mauer once previously at The Gathering. I wasn't impressed then, other than by the heavy pewter pieces. Now, the pieces are plastic, which ruined the only good thing about the game.

This is a bluffing / guessing game wherein players try to rid themselves of all of their castle pieces. Each turn, every player secretly places one piece in their closed fist and reveals it. There's then a procedure used to determine who can build, which is based on who did or didn't match the 'master builder's' piece. I honestly don't recall what that procedure was ... and I no longer care. Walls can always be built (following the 'matching' or 'no matching' process of elimination), but towers and gates are restricted based on what is already constructed. Players can also bring forth a closed fist, which can allow that player to slip a piece to an opponent sight-unseen if the 'match / no match' process is successful.

OK, so there is a bit of calculation involved as you can see what has already been built and know what is left in player's hands. The truly astute can also try to remember what each player has already built so as to calculate what each player has remaining in their hands. Sorry, that's no fun ... but then again, neither is this game.

Mercifully, we played one hand and called it quits.

Cim 0, Mark 4, Buster 5, Ted 13, Greg 20, Chip 31

Ratings: Mark 6, Tim 6 (they both own the game!), Chip 6, Buster 5, Ted 3.5, Greg 3

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2000-04-17T01:39:13+00:00