May '09 OGM Session Report

[Victor Kh'BaHzur]

GREETINGS!

   We got 63 participants (plus one drive-by) this time around - that's 10 more from last month and a dozen away from our peak in Residencia!

   Furthermore, a representative from Figaro Coffee, a gamer himself, passed by to discuss how the tabletop hobby and Figaro Coffee can have a mutually beneficial relationship.  With that in mind, the OGM Board will be discussing it this week and hopefully will have a proposal for Figaro Coffee by the end of the week.


   Games played this month were the following (based on my notes and my hazy recollection on what was played when).  Games in all caps are protoypes.  If I missed any game, or wasn't correct on how many times it was played, please reply to the thread and I'll correct this post.

GAME	TYPE	PLAYED
Pimp: the Backhanding	party card game	2
Pandemic	boardgame	3
Murder City	boardgame	2
The End of the Triumvirate	boardgame	1
Last Night on Earth	boardgame	3
Tsuro	boardgame	3
Ghost Stories	boardgame	2
Indonesia	boardgame	1
Arkham Horror	boardgame	1
Cookie Fu	dice game	4
Warmachine	miniature wargame	2
Shadows over Camelot	boardgame	1
Race for the Galaxy	party card game	2
Marrakech	boardgame	2
Frank's Zoo	party card game	1
Shadow Hunters	boardgame	2
Fight Klub	TCG	8
TRIBU TRIBU	party card game	2
Magic: the Gathering	CCG	5
Taboo	party game	1
Legend of the 5 Rings	CCG	1
Betrayal at House on the Hill	boardgame	1
Wits & Wager	boardgame	1
Mwahahaha!	party card game	1
Toledo	boardgame	1
Formula D	boardgame	1
SURVIVING IN THE SERENGETI	boardgame	1
Waterloo 20	classic wargame	2
7th Sea	role-playing game	1
Time's Up	party game	2
Kragmortha	boardgame	1
Carcassone	boardgame	1

   A few new faces - a good mix of guys and gals (yay! more gals).  There was Dick and Kim of Warmachine Philippines (with their awesome identical carrying cases - that was so cool);  Gerald of Game Crab Cafe;  Angelo from UPHGC;  Carlo (Duds' friend);  Mary Ann (sister of Mark P.);  and lastly Zarah (Jovan's friend).

   It was great to see  Alexander,  Mark D.,  Dottie,  Rej & Oneal,  Alex,  Nicco,  &  Duds  show up after a long time (the last time the last three have shown up, the gathering was still known as the Open Meet).  Others that haven't been around for a while were  Carl,  Jovan,  Mark E.,  Myke,  Ralph,  Ranulf,  Icheb,  &  Vlad.

   Notably missed were:  Tobie and his gang of merry men;  Arnold;  Brel, Anabel, & Marie;   Beej & Jme;  Allen;  Dante's friends (like Luna, Caroline, etc.);  Benjie;  Bon;  Cy & Jessica;  Dennis;  Earl & Catherine;  Jac;  Joey G.;  Albert (who is STILL in Japan);  Jeanette;  Jeff;  Kristian;  Johnny;  Marjo;  Tristan & Madz;  Manolet;  Carlo;  Tommy;  JP (all of them);  Paqui;  Wyhan;  Whel;  Samantha;  and the Yu sisters - Chie & Kit.


   Of the featured games/ sessions, all but 1 were able to run on that day...

   Warmachine Philippines showed up early to get a pre-reserved table for their game, and were able to run a few demos.  I realized that they might have been better if they had been setup closer to the entrance, but was also concerned about their game pieces.  I'll defer to their judgement the next time they setup.

   The P·U·G·S peeps were able to demo as well, with Contender Aerol demoing L5R CCG, and Co-Founder Victor demoing the Fight Klub TCG.

   Formula V started 1 hour after the planned start since some of the participants were still finishing off games they were in.  7 drivers in all, and with only Nabs as a newbie driver, this one lap took around 2 hours to finish.  Go here to check the leaderboard.

   Although Philboardgamers were able to show up and had set up a quick intro game to Board Wargaming (estimated at 1 hour only, that is very fast if you compare it to the epic battles they tend to play), they weren't able to get anyone to try it out - partly due to the fact that almost everyone participating were already engaged in a game.


   At the start of the day, we had 11.5 gaming tables in the Function Room, with 1 outside - the square table (the .5) was attached to one of the gaming table and allocated for Jay's Arkham Horror game.  The Cantina had its own dedicated table.  Later in the day, when Vibal's canteen closed, 1 more table was moved to the outside area.

   While the OGM formally closed at around 12 midnight, Jay kept the venue open, and it finally wound down by 2am - with Time's Up having almost all the remaining participants playing.  This allowed us to take the time to pack up and thanks again to all those that helped Nabs close up the Cantina and brought the supplies down.  Adrian joked that at the rate we were leaving later and later, in a few OGM's time we'd be leaving just as the employes of Vibal were showing up for work.


   I'd like to thank those that took the time to teach others how to play games they love.  Since I'm tracking for the GURU MERIT BADGE now, this is now in table format as well - rows that have a blank in the NAME column means it was taught by the same person listed in the entry before it.  If there are any inconsistencies, do not hesitate to reply to this thread and inform me so I can update it with the correct information.

NAME	TIMES	GAME
Nicco Mapua	1	Pimp: the Backhanding
	2	Murder City
	1	Mwahahaha!
Rolf Navarro	2	Tsuro
	1	Shadows over Camelot
	1	Cookie Fu
Thomas Ting	1	Pandemic
	1	Last Night on Earth
	1	Shadow Hunters
Martin Montecillo	1	Tsuro
	1	Marrakech
	1	SURVIVING THE SERENGETI
Jay Mata	1	Arkham Horror
	1	Pimp: the Backhanding
	1	Kragmortha
Aerol Bibat	1	Legend of the 5 Rings CCG
	2	Last Night on Earth
Nicky Humphries	2	Race to the Galaxy
Steve McCallum	1	The End of the Triumvirate
Adrian Manahan	1	Last Night on Earth
Albert Cukingnan	1	Ghost Stories
Gerald Gan	1	Indonesia
Thomas Hu-Rosario	1	Frank's Zoo
Alger Lim	1	TRIBU TRIBU
Jovan De Ocampo	1	Taboo
Daniel Lee	1	Wits and Wager
Titus Abola	1	Time's Up
John Yu	1	Toledo
Erwin Casia / Phil Corpuz	1	Pandemic
Dante Gagelonia / Oneal Rosero	1	Betrayal at House on the Hill
VJ Cabazor	3	Fight Klub

   CONGRATULATIONS to Martin for advancing into ZETA Rank; and to Jay, Rolf, & VJ for reaching DELTA Rank this month.

   Adrian, Aerol, & John Y. got DELTA Rank on Mar., while Titus (who went DELTA Rank on Jan.) is 1 shy of advancing to ZETA Rank.

   We also welcome ALPHA Gurus Steve, Nicco, Gerald, Erwin, Oneal, & Nicky.

   You can see the GURU tally on this thread.


   People who will receive the new IDs on the next month's OGM are:  Nina Reyes,  Mark Escay,  and  Alexander Coronel.


   One thing that has me worried is the fact that Gabriel suddenly did a "Bermuda Triangle" on me.  Here's how it happened - he had shown up and paid his Entrance Fee, accompanied by Patricia, then saw her down... and that was the last I saw of him.  I'm sure that there's a perfectly normal reason why he couldn't return, but since I'm born under the Dog, I am "the world's worst worrier".


'til next month,
Your OGM Host/Coordinator,
VJ

[aerolb]

Demoed Last Night on Earth 2 times - to Rej and Oneal and their friends then Jovan and her friends. Rej and her group got to play 2 times and Jovan's one time.

[Victor Kh'BaHzur]

Thanks for the heads up, Aerol,

   I've corrected the first post, and the Guru tracker.

"I game, therefore I am..."
See what kind of Deviant I am...
Into CCGs?  The P·U·G·S welcomes every and all CCG players.

[vladsee]

Correction... I was there with Dottie last night 

Mark and I were able to play Waterloo 20 too.

[Victor Kh'BaHzur]

Look carefully young grasshopper,

   You will see that your name had always been there.

   I've added the game that you and Mark H. played into the session's list.  Is this a game that both of you are familiar with, or did one of you teach the game to the other?

"I game, therefore I am..."
See what kind of Deviant I am...
Into CCGs?  The P·U·G·S welcomes every and all CCG players.

[vladsee]

It was my game but we kinda learned it on the spot.  It was an easy introductory wargame  that we played twice

[maskmanjoe]

aw, i was missed, how sweet Sorry I couldnt join guys (extra sorry to Jay for skipping on the Arkham game which I signed up) but the sudden rains (and the fact that my car's wipers went kaput) prevented me from trekking north. but wow, huge turnout nevertheless! Way to go guys!

[Alger B C Lim]

Umm does play testing a game count as teachng? Hehe.

Anyway many thanks to albert, martin, ralph (tama b? XD), and victor for helping me playtest tribu during the ogm

Oh and thanks to our hosts especialy jay (for helping me when i got lost . . . Again XD)

-alger

[Sexy Bro]

Ghost Stories was actually played twice. 1 game lost, 1 game won, both on beginner.

[amosias]

Minor Correction:

"While the OGM formally closed at around 12pm"

That should be 12 am, natch.

Also, I'd like to state for the record that our Gang of 4 won our game of Pandemic!

[Titus]

Just a small correction.

I taught Time's Up! Daniel Lee taught Wits & Wagers (to Drix, the only one who hadn't played before).

Looks like a gotta step up on the game teaching. I'm getting left behind. Haha!

[Kim]

I had a great time - Pandemic and Last Night On Earth were awesome!  I'm gonna save up for those two.

I'll try to get a collapsible 4x4 setup for next month.  And definitely some pretty terrain.  I'll try to pimp the OGM events more frequently and maybe get some of the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40000 crowd in as well.

Hats off to the organizers!

[Victor Kh'BaHzur]

It was my game but we kinda learned it on the spot.  It was an easy introductory wargame  that we played twice

Ghost Stories was actually played twice. 1 game lost, 1 game won, both on beginner.

Just a small correction.

I taught Time's Up! Daniel Lee taught Wits & Wagers (to Drix, the only one who hadn't played before).

Looks like a gotta step up on the game teaching. I'm getting left behind. Haha!

Thanks Vlad, Albert, Titus,

   I've updated the first post with your corrections and also the Guru Tracker (to reflect Daniel teaching a game).

"I game, therefore I am..."
See what kind of Deviant I am...
Into CCGs?  The P·U·G·S welcomes every and all CCG players.

[Victor Kh'BaHzur]

Umm does play testing a game count as teachng? Hehe.

Anyway many thanks to albert, martin, ralph (tama b? XD), and victor for helping me playtest tribu during the ogm

Oh and thanks to our hosts especialy jay (for helping me when i got lost . . . Again XD)

-alger

Yup, it does,

   After all, a GURU is a person that teaches (a game).  Even though it's a game that you created, we still had to learn the rules, so it counts.

   My apologies if I couldn't sit down on the restart of the game, I really wanted to see more of the game's dynamics as the game progressed.  But I do agree that combining the warrior cards with another cards lowers the total card count, and adds more decision making "headaches" with the player (should I use the warrior or whatever it is partnered with) - whoops, I realized the last sentence should be in the Tribu thread, I'll go post there as well.

"I game, therefore I am..."
See what kind of Deviant I am...
Into CCGs?  The P·U·G·S welcomes every and all CCG players.

[Victor Kh'BaHzur]

Minor Correction:

"While the OGM formally closed at around 12pm"

That should be 12 am, natch.

Also, I'd like to state for the record that our Gang of 4 won our game of Pandemic!

You're right,

   I corrected the initial post to say "12 midnight", that way it's impossible to misunderstand the time mentioned.

   The evilness of Pandemic is that once you've won, you think that it won't be too difficult to defeat the board in Heroic Mode (5 Epidemic Cards) - and then it squashes you like a bug.  I should know, I've been there.   And don't even get me started with Super Heroic Mode (6 Epidemic Cards!)

"I game, therefore I am..."
See what kind of Deviant I am...
Into CCGs?  The P·U·G·S welcomes every and all CCG players.