Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
-
If you want a light game that isn't devoid of strategy but is attractive to the newcomer, you could do worse than introduce someone to Thebes. That was my thoughts after Chris had struggled through his first game of Agricola. And so, Rich's copy came out and we spend a happy hour losing to Chris.
I'm sorry: the man has uncanny luck. When I spend ten weeks digging for a lone 1 point treasure and he digs eight weeks for about 20 points worth of treasure, you know that the Gods of Luck are not on your side. I'd just try to make it up by knowing lots of stuff.
It was actually quite interesting to look at Chris's knowledge of archaeology this game: a very large amount (6+) of general knowledge - aided by general knowledge tiles from the digs - plus two research assistants and five specific knowledge for the four main dig areas. That's pretty much what you want in this game, and it worked a treat for him. I would have liked to do something similar, but the cards somewhat favoured Chris and Rich in the early part of this game. I went off to do some early digs, and finally consolidated my knowledge in the middle and late game when they were excavating.
We all had some good digs, actually; it was just that Chris's were superb. Rich had a solid game if not spectacular: he gained good knowledge of Egypt and Palastine and had a good dig in Greece. Conferences actually turned up really late in the game, the first one after the first exhibition was displayed, and Chris and Rich basically shared them. I picked up just one (just to stop the others running away with the game).
Exhibitions were likewise shared between us. None of us had treasures from all five dig sites; but Chris had the right three sites to exhibit three times, and his final score was impressive. Rich wasn't that far behind, but I was certainly trailing in last place.
Chris 79 (0 Greece, 0 Crete, 15 Egypt, 24 Palestine, 21 Mesopotamia, 6 Conferences, 13 Exhibitions)
Rich 70 (19 Greece, 8 Crete, 17* Egypt, 11* Palestine, 0 Mesopotamia, 6 Conferences, 9 Exhibitions)
Merric 60 (12* Greece, 23* Crete, 0 Egypt, 0 Palestine, 15* Mesopotamia, 1 Conferences, 9 Exhibitions)
An asterisk indicates having the most knowledge of that area.
-
Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
-
Sorry - this should have gone into the Session Reports section. I must have misclicked.
 (Hopefully a kindly admin will move it).
-
Fraser
Australia
Melbourne
Yep that was 12 Power Grid maps back to back over two days. Worth doing, but possibly not in such a concentrated burst.
Ooh yes, now a little to the left - my nose is itchy. No, no the other left! Now what colour is 12 supporter badge going to be I wonder?
-
MerricB wrote: Sorry - this should have gone into the Session Reports section. I must have misclicked. (Hopefully a kindly admin will move it). 
-
Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
-
Karlsen wrote: MerricB wrote: Sorry - this should have gone into the Session Reports section. I must have misclicked. (Hopefully a kindly admin will move it). Done
Thank you, Kindly Admin!
Cheers,
Merric
-
-
Good session report, identifying that in Thebes luck is a core factor.
This said, I quite like the luck element but what puts me off is the length of time it takes to play the game despite it's fairly limited depth. Any thoughts on the game's length Merric?
-
Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
-
Plays quickly in under an hour is how we generally find it - it's a game we greatly enjoy.
Cheers,
Merric
-
-
Hmmm, I wonder if we are doing something wrong... I Need to time it next time.
-
Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
-
How many players do you have playing? That would affect the amount of time it takes. We're also very, very familiar with the game now, so Rich and I choose what to do very quickly.
Thebes is best with 2, good with 3, and utterly random with 4. (4 can be fun for the experience, but I think the fewer players the better with Thebes).
Cheers,
Merric
-
Andrew MacLeod
Canada
London
Ontario
-
MerricB wrote:
Chris 79 (0 Greece, 0 Crete, 15 Egypt, 24 Palestine, 21 Mesopotamia, 6 Conferences, 13 Exhibitions)
Rich 70 (19 Greece, 8 Crete, 17* Egypt, 11* Palestine, 0 Mesopotamia, 6 Conferences, 9 Exhibitions)
Merric 60 (12* Greece, 23* Crete, 0 Egypt, 0 Palestine, 15* Mesopotamia, 1 Conferences, 9 Exhibitions)
I don't know why it's worked out this way for me, but that is the narrowest range of scores I've ever seen in a game of Thebes!
-
Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
-
Looking back over past reports, we've had such results as:
72-66-59
75-72-64
96-60-54
Cheers,
Merric
-
Andrew MacLeod
Canada
London
Ontario
-
MerricB wrote: Looking back over past reports, we've had such results as:
72-66-59
75-72-64
96-60-54
Cheers,
Merric
Wow..................except for the last one! THAT'S more like it!
-
-
Quote: How many players do you have playing?
I've played it with two, three and four players, with three being the sweet spot.
I guess I'll just have to get it out for a game latter this week and time it... what a blow 
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
MerricB wrote: How many players do you have playing? That would affect the amount of time it takes. We're also very, very familiar with the game now, so Rich and I choose what to do very quickly.
Thebes is best with 2, good with 3, and utterly random with 4. (4 can be fun for the experience, but I think the fewer players the better with Thebes).
Cheers,
Merric
We played a 4 player game with the family last night and my wife felt just the opposite. She thought it is a much better game with 4 than with 2.
-
Dan C
United States
Florida
-
On the length... Are you being sure to shorten how many years you are playing based on players? If not that could prolong the game with 4 players in particular.
-
|
|
Ramping up my reviewing.
