Author Topic: PLAY ME NOW! (Read 127088 times)

Valheru · « **Reply #45 on:** February 22, 2016, 10:26:55 AM »

Available for a game. Or two. Or three. Or...

Adrornalin · « **Reply #46 on:** March 08, 2016, 01:56:24 AM »

hello guys,
whoever wants to play, i am in the jcz lobby constantly, waiting for a match

i think all of you are experienced and play fast, so we can add a lot of good expansions
ty

danisthirty · « **Reply #47 on:** March 08, 2016, 02:20:22 AM »

Quote from: Adrornalin on March 08, 2016, 01:56:24 AM

hello guys,
whoever wants to play, i am in the jcz lobby constantly, waiting for a match
i think all of you are experienced and play fast, so we can add a lot of good expansions
ty

Where are you from Adrornalin? I’m at work at the moment (in the UK) but will be available this evening (in about 10 hours).

Also, many of us here don’t use the JCloisterZone online server and it isn’t always 100% reliable. Many of us have the technical capacity to host games on our computers and let others connect to them which generally seems to work better. It does mean that we rarely spot people looking for a game in the JCZ lobby though, so you’ll be more likely to find opponents in the chat room (or better still, log in to both!)

Adrornalin · « **Reply #48 on:** March 08, 2016, 04:05:49 AM »

i'm from germany. tell me a suitable time for you and i will be ready to play then (if technical and connection stuff will work out). waiting in irc and jcz. ty

danisthirty · « **Reply #49 on:** March 08, 2016, 04:12:28 AM »

Quote from: Adrornalin on March 08, 2016, 04:05:49 AM

i'm from germany. tell me a suitable time for you and i will be ready to play then (if technical and connection stuff will work out). waiting in irc and jcz. ty

OK cool. Since you're only an hour ahead of me, I'll arrange to be in the chat room at 9pm (UK time) as my kids will be in bed and I will have had a chance to settle down by then. Perhaps we could play a basic game or two followed by another with expansions?

Adrornalin · « **Reply #50 on:** March 08, 2016, 05:26:28 AM »

that sounds very good

danisthirty · « **Reply #51 on:** March 08, 2016, 11:47:23 AM »

I'm ready earlier than expected and am in the chat room now if anyone wants a game.

danisthirty · « **Reply #52 on:** March 08, 2016, 03:25:33 PM »

I played 3 very enjoyable games with new forum member Adrornalin this evening. Here's how they went...

Game 1 (basic game, no expansions)

danisthirty : 94 - 85 : Adrornalin

Game 2 (basic game, no expansions)

danisthirty : 102 - 75 : Adrornalin

Game 3 (basic game + Inns & Cathedrals + Bridges, Castles & Bazaars)

danisthirty : 142 - 124 : Adrornalin

This game was the most interesting of the three. Adrornalin got off to a great start, and in the early stages of the game built a lead which kept him consistently 30 - 40 points ahead of me for the rest of the game. He'd also managed to get 2 farmers down on the main farm and foiled several of my attempts to get some worthwhile castle points.

As well as drawing all but one of the 4-sided city tiles which I used to prevent Adrornalin from stealing my cathedral city and then closing it (hence trapping his double-meeple), I also drew every single one of the bazaar tiles which felt like a disadvantage as Adrornalin got to bid first and place first on every occasion. However, most of our "auctions" were Adrornalin offering to buy a tile, me accepting his bid and getting the other tile for free as no interesting tiles really came up.

I was sure I'd lost, but in the final third of the game I decided to try and take the farm. Using bridges to steal farms is generally considered to be quite easy compared to the normal way of glomming on, but it always confuses me and is something I tend to struggle with. However, on this occasion I got 2 farmers down without much resistance and in the dying stages of the game got a third farmer on whilst preventing Adrornalin from doing the same. In the end, I took the farm and it won me the game, even though I felt that Adrornalin had played a better game than I had and probably deserved the win.

Thanks for the games Adrornalin. Looking forward to playing again soon!

Adrornalin · « **Reply #53 on:** March 09, 2016, 02:47:23 AM »

wow very nice. yes, it was very enjoyable. i can sign that description totally.

i really like to play with the castles and bridges exp., even though it confuses me sometimes also. bridges are so powerful, especially with the farm in A&M. the castles also makes it interesting, if you recognize which building contains to the 6 tiles around. sometimes also a second or third look is needed. very tactical then

playing against very strong opponents now, i discovered i have to improve in two ways: not placing too many meeples in a too risky way at the beginning, save some powerful meeple and do not run into all very first opportunities. and focussing more on the points and on the competition, instead of placing a tile because "it looks good" on the board.

i am in any time when you can play again, Dan! thx

danisthirty · « **Reply #54 on:** March 10, 2016, 02:51:48 AM »

I'm in the chat room if anyone else is around?

danisthirty · « **Reply #55 on:** March 10, 2016, 10:45:04 AM »

Valheru and I played a fun game today. We both chose 1 large and 1 small expansion: I chose Abbey & Mayor and King & Robber Baron, Valheru chose Princess & Dragon and The Fliers. Here is the screenshot:

I took a risk by placing my barn before there were even any completed cities on what became my barn farm, but it didn't take long to expand it outwards as the game progressed and it ended up being worth 52 points for 13 cities. Valheru made a valiant effort to get his own barn onto my barn farm some time later but a fortunately-timed ccrr (for me) followed by placement of my abbey ensured that he didn't succeed in this endeavor. I then spent much of the game sneaking extra farmers onto my farm for the extra points whilst ensuring that I hung on to the Robber Baron tile.

I didn't use my mayor at all, and didn't use my wagon very lucratively either. With hindsight, it seems obvious that I should have claimed the incomplete city in the middle with my mayor but I was fairly sure it couldn't be completed even when I first claimed it and I didn't want to tie him up. It was a no-brainer for Valheru to steal it from me with his mayor when the opportunity arose but I wasn't able to do anything about it, despite kicking him out with a princess the first time to he took it! He soon took it from me again though so I left it at that and didn't really fight back.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that I drew a surprising number of cloisters. Valheru cleared me out of at least 2 or 3 of these with the dragon, but each time I was able to re-claim them with a magic portal and complete them. Other than this, the dragon didn't really eat any key meeples and kept himself to himself apart from the odd stroll across the landscape. Fliers had no significant effect either.

As you can see from the breakdown of scores, we were almost completely even for roads, cities and fairy points. Same goes for the bonus we each got for the King and Robber Baron tiles respectively. What made the difference in this game were the farmers and monks, but otherwise we were close and it felt like a good match! Thanks for the game Valheru

Valheru · « **Reply #56 on:** March 10, 2016, 10:50:49 AM »

In hindsight, it was a great game. Sometimes really frustrating, especially with the barn but overall I enjoyed it! Merit to you for the detailed and fun to read write-up and thank you for the game in the middle of the day.

Adrornalin · « **Reply #57 on:** March 11, 2016, 10:37:17 AM »

I'm available for some games today, from approx. 9-11pm (german time)

danisthirty · « **Reply #58 on:** March 14, 2016, 03:20:54 PM »

Another great game with Adrornalin this evening:

Despite having two meeples trapped from an early stage, Adrornalin certainly made the most of them, netting 13 points for his incomplete city.

The main point of interest for this game was the farm. Adrornalin was first to claim it but I snuck two farmers onto it and from then on made it my goal to keep at least one farmer ahead of him as I needed to win the farm outright in order to stand any chance of winning the game. Both of us seemed to draw exactly what we needed each time we tried to add another farmer, but this worked in my favour as it meant I stayed ahead!

Thanks for the game Adrorlin - sorry I didn't have time for a few more...