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Game Journal: Illusions of Salisbury
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An on-going list of games I've played with our Games Club of Maryland (GCOM) chapter, primarily at Illusions Games & Comics, in Salisbury, Maryland. GCOM members, Blondie81702, locusshifter, & kattinmage, host regular board gaming sessions Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons at my (sort of) FLGS, Illusions. This list also includes games played at regional conventions, attended by our GCOM chapter, including: €uroquest, PrezCon, & Game Days. Comments are always welcome!A few notes on the images:
1. These are all stock BGG pictures, not from our sessions.
2. I prefer to use the in-game pics of the components to remind me of the games, themselves--as opposed to shots of their boxes. (Not being the owner of many of these games, I rarely see the boxes, except during setup & teardown.)
Okay? 
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Posted Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:05 pm
Edited Fri May 8, 2009 7:27 pm
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Date: 28 July 2007
The first session started off with a game I know well. We just used the basic components, as no one felt adventurous enough to try out (read: "wrestle with the rules to") the Expansion Tiles, which I'd brought.
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2.
Board Game: Poison
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:690]
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Date: 28 July 2007
This is a light, trick-avoiding game by Reiner Knizia. It's frequently played in between 'heavier' titles. The object is to stick your opponents with as many unwanted cards as possible--low scores rule!
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Date: 28 July 2007
It took me a bit to track down this Reiner Knizia game, not surprisingly, since we actually played the original Traumfabrik edition (which contains real actors' names and German translations of classic American Movie titles. See: Traumfabrik Comparison for differences).
I generally don't like "auction" games, but this one seemed light enough, with its wealth-redistribution mechanic.
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Date: 28 July 2007
This was the final game of the session. It's a 'light-weight' tile-collecting game, which relies heavily on knowing when to move & when to stay put (the last player to leave a tile must take it, which then shrinks the board). Some tiles raise your score, many lower it, a few let you reverse the effects of a single tile in your possession.
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5.
Board Game: Caylus
[Average Rating:8.02 Overall Rank:10]
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Date: 04 August 2007
The afternoon's session started with another game I know well (my copy, in fact).
Note that a full, five-player game of Caylus is a wholly different experience from a three (or two) -player game!
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6.
Board Game: Poison
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:690]
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Date: 04 August 2007
Another quick 'filler' game of Poison, while waiting for several other players to complete their game of Power Grid.
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Date: 04 August 2007
Next, a game that was new to me: auctions, actors, awards, & arenas! This one plays somewhat similarly to Hollywood Blockbuster, above, although it's definitely more complex.
After another playing or two, I expect this game to make an appearance on my "To Buy" -list, even though it contains an auction mechanic.
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Date: 04 August 2007
The final game of the session. Until today, I'd only played the basic Ticket To Ride game.
I didn't "appreciate" the Train Stations' mechanics until it was too late to use them effectively, but I made very good use of the Tunnels.
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9.
Board Game: Taluva
[Average Rating:7.19 Overall Rank:174]
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Date: 11 August 2007
Today's session began with an interesting tile-laying/settlement-building game. Since the tiles are built up, on top of one another (often wiping out existing settlements), this can become a very cut-throat game!
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10.
Board Game: Poison
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:690]
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Date: 11 August 2007
Another game of Poison, which I won with an amazingly low score of FOUR! (Much to the dismay of my 30-point opponents...). Ouch! 
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Date: 11 August 2007
This one's another Reiner Knizia game, which I'd never heard of before (surprisingly, as it's 24th in the current BGG Rankings).
It has some unique mechanics, but a very poorly-written rulebook--definitely a game to have been taught, instead of "self-learnt." 
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Date: 11 August 2007
This one has been on my "To Try Out" -list for quite a while now. I think we played with only the basic game components.
My "Longest Contiguous Walls/Most Towers" strategy landed me in second place.
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Date: 11 August 2007
The final game of the session and another from my "To Try Out" -list (it's spent a long time on that list--since I first watched it played at Origins several years back, I think). This was a 6-player game on the United States board, with its Southwest Region blocked out.
Note that my "Trash Monopoly" strategy did NOT win. 
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Date: 18 August 2007
Today's session began with the "M&Ms and swizzle-stick game." This is a real crowd-drawer.
However, despite successfully ignoring all yelling & gesticulating by a so-called 'helpful' bystander, I didn't manage to get to the board's center before the purple egg was snatched--it was the top card in the "stack." Foo!
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Date: 18 August 2007
Next, I introduced several players to this great filler by Cheapass Games.
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Date: 18 August 2007
Next, we played this game twice, as various players made food runs.
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Date: 18 August 2007
Time for the session's "heavy" game: five players, fierce bidding & trading, and even though I produced events each turn (including a recurring medium & a large), my 'star performing' gladiators & lions only landed me in third place.
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18.
Board Game: Hansa
[Average Rating:7.09 Overall Rank:193]
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Date: 18 August 2007
The session's final game was another new one to me.
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19.
Board Game: Poison
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:690]
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Date: 01 Sept 2007
A change of venue today, but first a quick game of Poison, while waiting for everyone to arrive.
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20.
Board Game: Tsuro
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:652]
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Date: 01 Sept 2007
A few rounds of Tsuro, while everyone was arriving and getting situated.
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Date: 01 Sept 2007
Next, a heavier game with fairly simple mechanics.
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Date: 01 Sept 2007
This session's final game was The Red Dragon Inn. This is a light-hearted game of (unfairly) dividing up the treasure after a dungeon crawl.
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Date: 08 Sept 2007
Today's session began with this overlooked title by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede.
Any game which (literally) allows you to RAIN FIERY DEATH on your opponents & THROW THEM IN THE VOLCANO is alright in my book!
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Date: 08 Sept 2007
Next, a quick game of Fairy Tale.
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Posted Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:04 pm
