Another four player meet up, but a change of faces as Paul turned up for the first time this year while Stevan was away.

Game 1

Sam 4/5 Ventrue Vote > Graham Samedi Corpses > Paul Gargoyle Starter > Geoff AUS CEL PRE bleed

A slow start for me as I pulled up a 10 cap meant I was powerless to stop Geoffs early big bleeds. This put me on the back foot where I remained for the rest of my short game. Both of my minions ended in torpor, and my pool drained away. Meanwhile Graham bought up lots of Reanimated Corpses, which moved forward against Paul. However Paul was prepared with intercept and prevention which caused all sorts of delays. Paul had little else though, and couldn’t really apply much pressure to Geoff. Geoff started working over Graham, shooting down a number of Corpses and getting his second oust. It wasn’t looking good for Paul, and despite some struggling he went down as well.

Win
Geoff 4vps GW, Graham 0vps, Paul 0vps, Sam 0vps.

Current Standings.

Current Standings

Geoff 1 GWs 1 Draws 6.0 vps 3 Total Games 0.33

Sam 1 GWs 0 Draws 3.0 vps 3 Total Games 0.33

Stevan 0 GWs 1 Draws 3.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Graham 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 3 Total Games 0.00

Paul 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Andy 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Steve 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Total: 3 Games (2 GW, 1 Draws 66%)

So Geoff regains his top position and now has three winning decks with the !Tre, Malk and AUS/CEL/PRE in his collection.

Next week we will hopefully start the Starter Draft League, if we can manage to get all five of us together at the same time. If we don’t start next week, then we will start the week after with who ever is available.
We will have to have a think about which boosters we want to add, and when we want to add them.

Sam

We got four Vtes players in the same place at the same time, so we actually managed to play a game of Vtes! Its a shocker.

Sam !Nos Toolbox > Graham Samedi Starter Mashup > Stevan !Tremere Starter > Geoff !Tremere Cryptics

A tentative start, as new decks and new cards came up. I built up slowly, getting a few bleed modifiers in place. Graham tried to bloat, but was blocked or struggled with the clash of Nos and Samedi in his crypt. Stevan powered out the DOM, and managed to find a good selection of AUS in the precon, which gave Geoff lots of problems. Geoff also had problems of a lack of press cards, meaning his second round stuff was mostly useless. This slowed his cycling and thus even with bouncing various bleeds to me he was first ousted. Graham followed soon afterwards, as the Reanimated Corpses ran out of Pathos and he ran out of minions. I then started to draw in to POT combat, which battered all of Stevans minions into torpor – although two of mine were down and one was burnt as well before he conceded on two pool.

Win
Sam 3vps GW, Stevan 1vp, Geoff 0vps, Graham 0vsp

Current Standings

Current Standings

Sam 1 GWs 0 Draws 3.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.50

Stevan 0 GWs 1 Draws 3.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Geoff 0 GWs 1 Draws 2.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Graham 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Andy 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Paul 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00
Steve 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Still all close, but its only the second game of the year – second month too! Anyway next week we are down a Stevan, as he is off on holiday. It is also Wesleys birthday, but given he will be in bed by the time we play it shouldn’t be a problem. It is also Steves birthday, but he is off in Iraq, so we don’t need to plan for him.

So will have to decide what to play, could be four of us but might have transport issues.

Sam

We got four players for the first time this year to play Vtes. Only managed one game, but it is a start.

Stevan Assamite Combat/Bleed > Graham Tzimisce Combat/Bleed > Sam Ahrimanes Block/Bleed > Geoff Malk Sneak/Bleed

A violent game from the off, with The Siamese being the first to hit torpor as Breath of the Dragon hit her in the face. Graham and I battered each other, with torpors on both sides and Howler being burnt with six Horrid Forms and Chiropteran Marauder! Meanwhile Geoff got to push bleeds into Stevan who had no bounce and too little intercept for the stealth. However Stevan continued to toil away, and got the first oust on Graham. He followed that up with a Khabar:Glory oust on me for a further ten pool. This meant that Geoff had his work cut out, but he continued to push forward, and could now use more of his defensive cards as he was under attack for the first time. Geoff got the oust, and thus the first game of the year was a draw.

Draw
Geoff 2vps, Stevan 2vps, Graham 0vps, Sam 0vps.

Current Standings

Geoff 0 GWs 1 Draws 2.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Stevan 0 GWs 1 Draws 2.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Graham 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Sam 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Andy 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Paul 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Steve 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 0 Total Games 0.00

Total: 1 Games (0 GW, 1 Draws 0%)

So Geoff is top of the table, alphabetically, so will have to watch him.

Graham and I played the Lego game Robo Champ while Geoff and Stevan played, it is a simple set matching game which Graham won. I think it is a little odd to have Lego games like this, because surely Lego is a building toy, yet once the pieces are built to play then you don’t really want to lose them in the rest of the collection (don’t build with them any more!)

After that Geoff, Graham and Stevan played the third game of Ad Astra. I left before it finished, with Graham in a slight lead. I think everyone is getting used to the game and it plays a lot quicker. It is definitely a race game though.

Finally next week. Should have five players again for Wednesday 3rd February. Vtes doesn’t seem to be very popular at the moment (at least, making decks/sorting cards is not) so there is little enthusiasm for it. So what do people want to play? Vtes (if so any variants – PMF, precons, other?) or boardgames (if so what?)

Sam

So we didn’t actually meet up for this one, but it is the conclusion of our experiment with that high fangled internet JOL thing.

Game 1

Graham 4/5 Brujah > Richard 4/5 !Brujah > Sam Jack Dawson Rush > Stevan Followers Bleed > Geoff !Tremere

Graham and Richard battered against each other for a couple of turns, while I churned out weenies and shot up Stevans minions with Jack and his Assault Rifle. Geoff sat pretty building up in his corner, getting an oust on Graham. Unfortunately the time ran out (end of the year) before he could sweep the table, which looked very likely as Richard was low on minions, Jack was Banished with not enough pool to bring him back and Stevan had no ready minions left.

Draw
Geoff 1.5vps, Richard 0.5vps, Sam 0.5vps, Stevan 0.5vps, Graham 0vps.

Game 2

Geoff Malk Bleed > Graham Assamites > Sam Malk Block > Richard Nos Anarchs

Only four players for this one, and a slightly unbalanced game. We dodn’t get any ousted in the time, but again it was looking promising for Geoff as Graham had problems acting, while I wasn’t really up to much blocking. Richard had the minions, but complications of Anarchness (and lack there of) had hampered him.

Draw
All players 0.5vps.

2009 Standings

Results 2009

Graham 10 GWs 7 Draws 50.0 vps 34 Total Games 0.29

Paul 7 GWs 3 Draws 31.0 vps 31 Total Games 0.23

Geoff 5 GWs 6 Draws 26.5 vps 26 Total Games 0.19

Steve 4 GWs 2 Draws 15.0 vps 15 Total Games 0.27

Sam 3 GWs 6 Draws 19.5 vps 28 Total Games 0.11

Stevan 2 GWs 5 Draws 13.5 vps 30 Total Games 0.07

Andy 0 GWs 1 Draws 1.5 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 3 Draws 1.5 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Nick 0 GWs 0 Draws 1.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.5 vps 7 Total Games 0.00

Mark 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Total: 40 Games (31 GW, 9 Draws 78%)

So Graham wins this year, taking the crown from Paul. We have only managed 40 games this year compared with 53 and 52 in previous years. Although the win ratio is way up, from 30% and 29% previously. It would look like this years list of players will be shorter, as we won’t see Nick and also seems unlikely to see much of Andy or Richard. Will have to see.

This weeks plan is Ad Astra, Grahams new board game. If you get the time the rules are downloadable from here.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/ad-astra/Site/NDS001-Rulebook_EN.pdf

Sam

We managed to get six players in the end, so we played six player games as we didn’t have the time for three rounds with people sitting out.

Game 1
Sam !Brujah > Stevan Followers > Paul Assamites > Graham Osebo > Geoff !Tremere > Steve Brujah

We each had to chose a motivation for our search for the Codex of Edenic Groundskeepers.
Sam !Brujah motivated by Gehenna
Stevan Followers motivated by Secrecy
Paul Assamites motivated by Secrecy
Graham Osebo motivated by Knowledge
Geoff !Tremere motivated by Secrecy
Steve Brujah motivated by Secrecy

This game started off quite quickly, with the !Brujah bringing out the guns. This combined with the Codex meant Stevan had a lot of pressure, while Paul did not. So he could batter against Graham, who used his Knowledge to draw cards. In one turn he burnt all the blood on all of his minions trying to draw cards, but it was no good. However he stayed in the game. Geoff built up, and applied lots of pressure to Steve who was having to negotiate the votes with Paul. Stevan cracked under the pressure, with Paul following soon after. However Geoff also started rolling forward, and his larger healthier minions pushed by mine and he got the oust and took the rest of the table.

Geoff GW, 4vps, Sam 2vps, Graham 0vps, Paul 0vps, Stevan 0vps, Steve 0vps.

Game 2

Graham > Steve > Stevan > Geoff > Paul > Sam

This time everyone knew each others motivations and decks, so the game cracked on. Steve piled up the votes, which allowed him to take out Stevan quickly, while I blasted my way through Graham. Geoff ousted Paul and we were down to three, Steves minions quickly got pushed into torpor taking the pressure off Geoff who then swept the table for his second win.

Geoff GW, 4vps, Sam 1vp, Steve 1vp, Graham 0vps, Paul 0vps, Stevan 0vps.

Geoff put his Key Minion as Malgorzata as she does normally win games for him. Although she only turned up once this time. I haven’t got the decklist, if Geoff would like to supply it then I will post it up.

The most memorable moment was Sarah Brando going Frontal Assault on Jake Washington with a .44 Magnum. Mostly because we are all sick puppies!

The next storyline event has been put up as Battlelines, which sounds promising.

Sam

So last night we got three players, which is normally not enough for Vtes. However we cracked out the PMF and gave that a go.

Sam !Toreador Toolbox > Graham AUS OBF Anarchs > Geoff DOM THA Bleed

The game started slowly as everyone built up, with a couple of bounced bleeds being the main action. I played Revelations on Graham, and could see the Reckless Agitations and S:CE which would cause Geoff and myself problems. Geoff got set up with Rutors Hand, although he tried use it a little bit too much.
I bought out a Magnum, and the Kaymakli Fragment which got little use in the end. We had some more bounced bleeds, including one which bounced from Graham to Geoff to Graham and back to Geoff. With this and the Reckless Agitations, Geoff crumbled, and Graham managed to Cheat a second bleed through on me for the win.

A reasonable game, although Geoff and Graham are still not playing PMF decks. I think PMF works better than the normal game for three players because focused decks cannot overwhelm in the usual way – limited number of bleeds/votes/rushes, and so the table remains more balanced.

Next time we will be playing the Eden’s Legacy storyline event. It will be the last event of 2009.

Sam

Game 1

We played this using the Phased Motion Format rules, which lead to mixed comments.

Sam !Toreador Toolbox > Steve Ventrue Vote > Geoff !Tremere Bleed > Graham Brujah Toolbox > Paul Anarch Assamite Vote.

With the mixed turns people struggled to put much pressure on their prey, although the strong decks still managed to out pace others. My !Toreador didn’t manage quite as much as I hoped, with the mix of cards not working as well as it could. Steve used my Ventrue to good effect, working Geoff over with votes the most killer one being Neonate Breech! This combined with the fact that we all had Embraces in play was very painful. Geoff struggled, as he had quite a focussed bleed deck, and he was reduced to one bleed a turn (two if he Cheated). Graham used the lack of pressure to build up, although he had a few combats stall out due to the stifled flow of cards, while Paul bought out minions and got some big Loss bleeds off. However the votes on the table prevented him from doing too much damage, and Graham got the oust. Steve also took Geoff, although by that stage Geoff was pretty much self ousting. The remaining three players stayed in until time was called.

Current Standings

Graham 10 GWs 6 Draws 49.5 vps 32 Total Games 0.31

Paul 7 GWs 3 Draws 31.0 vps 31 Total Games 0.23

Geoff 5 GWs 5 Draws 24.5 vps 24 Total Games 0.21

Steve 4 GWs 2 Draws 15.0 vps 15 Total Games 0.27

Sam 3 GWs 4 Draws 18.5 vps 26 Total Games 0.12

Stevan 2 GWs 4 Draws 13.0 vps 29 Total Games 0.07

Andy 0 GWs 1 Draws 1.5 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Nick 0 GWs 0 Draws 1.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 1 Draws 0.5 vps 3 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.5 vps 7 Total Games 0.00

Mark 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Total: 38 Games (31 GW, 7 Draws 82%)

Graham is still at the top, with only a few sessions to go. Can Paul catch him? Can anyone else move up the table? We will have to see.

Next week 18/11/09
Steve will have gone back to Iraq, and Geoff could be working up in Birmingham. This means we are probably dipping down to three players – Graham, Paul and Sam. So need to think what we want to do. PMF with three players? Get some non Vtes players* and play something else? What do you fancy?

Following week 25/11/09
Last Wednesday of the month means no Geoff, so similar problems to above. Any ideas?

Sam

Game One
Sam Undue Anarchs > Geoff New Gangrel > Steve POT Beasts > Kieran New Ventrue > Paul Nephandi Horde

This could probably have fallen in several different ways, but was largely decided (IMO) by rushes, namely Geoff’s backwards rushes on Sam and Steve’s forwards on Kieran. If Sam could have gone forwards quicker without losing minions he would have started to accumulate vps (as the deck has proved on previous outings), and if Kieran could have called more votes prior to being torpered, Paul would have been under more pressure. Either way, Paul was able to build up sufficently to bleed Sam out, then a weakened Geoff and finally Steve; although he had lost four Nephandi by this stage to POT Beasts of one sort or another.

Game timed out: Paul 3.5 vps GW and Kieran 0.5 vps.

Game Two
Geoff Kindred Spirit Bleed > Kieran New Brujah > Steve New Brujah > Paul Baltimore Purge

A rather close game in many respects due to four strong decks being on the table. Steve suffered early from Kieran getting Dimitra into play first and then having to back transfer, plus he then lost a 7 cap Prince to graverobbing by Paul and had only a 4 cap primogen for many turns. However, he did crawl back until he had the 10 cap Prince of Monaco on the table and recovered pool steadily. Many fixed votes were on the table, stifling Kieran’s game and only Geoff was able to proceed relatively unchecked with repeated bleeds of 2 to 5 on Kieran. Awkwardly, though, Kieran was bloating semi-effectively (and often exceeding Geoff’s pool damage each turn). Paul had virtually zero pressure from Steve all game, but despite building up well was often reduced to simply bleeding Geoff for 2 a couple of times per turn. Everyone had been understandably twitchy about Purges hitting the table, but unfortunately Paul wasn’t able to draw any until the mid to late game, indeed he was jammed on stelth for several turns. When eventually he did drop his first Purge there was a blocking frenzy with Steve matching the required three stealth with intercept but then failing to negate the subsequent Shadow Body, Geoff then took over and was able to block (just), with a borrowed Rumour Mill. There was a minor rules violation here, Geoff should have blocked first, then Steve, but I think the result would have been the same, so no problem. Geoff then pushed forwards to oust Kieran, then Steve. Geoff lost Umma the Malk Justicar to another Purge and we then timed out.

Geoff 2.5 vps GW, Paul 0.5 vps.

Current Standings

Graham 10 GWs 5 Draws 48.0 vps 31 Total Games 0.32

Paul 7 GWs 3 Draws 31.0 vps 30 Total Games 0.23

Geoff 5 GWs 5 Draws 24.5vps 23 Total Games 0.22

Steve 4 GWs 1 Draws 13.5 vps 14 Total Games 0.29

Sam 3 GWs 3 Draws 18.0 vps 25 Total Games 0.12

Stevan 2 GWs 4 Draws 13.0 vps 29 Total Games 0.07

Andy 0 GWs 1 Draws 1.5 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Nick 0 GWs 0 Draws 1.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 1 Draws 0.5 vps 3 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.5 vps 7 Total Games 0.00

Mark 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Total: 37 Games (31 GW, 6 Draws 84%)

No positional changes, but points scored closing the gap on Graham. Will have to see if anyone can catch him.

Sam

First Vtes game of October, and it was a mere four player. Still, its as good as it gets at the moment.

Graham Tremere Gargoyle > Paul Toreador Vote > Geoff Malk Bleed > Sam Ahrimanes.

A good start for me with first turn Dreams of the Sphinx, however the deck match ups were bad. POT FOR in front, so much pain and prevent, and stealth bleed behind. This combined with Pauls cross table Camarilla Segregation (which only affected me!) I was quickly ousted – another fun game of Vtes. Graham then battered his way through Paul, using his dom weenies with Gargoyle attack/defence. Pauls Toreador had many Parity Shifts, which he tried to call but most were foiled. Geoff came close to taking Graham but a couple of little mistakes and he was left without minions.

Win
Graham 3vps GW, Geoff 1vp, Paul 0vp, Sam 0vp.

Current Standings

Graham 10 GWs 5 Draws 48.0 vps 31 Total Games 0.32

Paul 6 GWs 3 Draws 27.0 vps 28 Total Games 0.21

Geoff 4 GWs 5 Draws 22.0vps 21 Total Games 0.19

Steve 4 GWs 1 Draws 13.5 vps 12 Total Games 0.33

Sam 3 GWs 3 Draws 18.0 vps 24 Total Games 0.13

Stevan 2 GWs 4 Draws 13.0 vps 29 Total Games 0.07

Andy 0 GWs 1 Draws 1.5 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Nick 0 GWs 0 Draws 1.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 1 Draws 0.5 vps 3 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Mark 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Total: 35 Games (29 GW, 6 Draws 83%)

Graham has now got a firm grip on the top of the table, and with the number of games we are getting in it could be enough for him to take the 2009 Title.

Next week should see the return of Steve from Iraq, and a visit from Kieran, however we will be down a Geoff so still only five players.

Sam

It has been awhile since we gathered enough Vtes players for game, indeed the last Meet was back on the 29th of July. So six weeks without Vtes.
Anyway we managed to scrape together just enough players to play, with four of us sat ready to play at Grahams.

Graham Tzimisce Bleed > Sam Jack Dawson Rush > Geoff THA DOM Bleed > Paul THA Smiling Jack.

It was a poor start for me, which just got worse and worse as the game went on. I could not draw an Assault Rifle*, which left my multi rush actions hanging in the wind. I couldn’t defend against Graham, and I couldn’t put any pressure on Geoff. To make matters worse Smiling Jack was eating through what little pool I had, quickly ending my game. Paul followed soon after, as Geoff had been able to hammer into him. However Graham had more minions, which slowly overwhelmed Geoff’s and he conceded.

*5 Assault Rifles in 60 cards, so 1:12 chance to draw. I drew through 30 cards before I died and saw none!

Current Standings

Graham 9 GWs 5 Draws 45.0 vps 30 Total Games 0.30

Paul 6 GWs 3 Draws 27.0 vps 27 Total Games 0.22

Geoff 4 GWs 5 Draws 21.0vps 20 Total Games 0.20

Steve 4 GWs 1 Draws 13.5 vps 12 Total Games 0.33

Sam 3 GWs 3 Draws 18.0 vps 23 Total Games 0.13

Stevan 2 GWs 4 Draws 13.0 vps 29 Total Games 0.07

Andy 0 GWs 1 Draws 1.5 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Nick 0 GWs 0 Draws 1.0 vps 1 Total Games 0.00

Richard 0 GWs 1 Draws 0.5 vps 3 Total Games 0.00

Kieran 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 5 Total Games 0.00

Mark 0 GWs 0 Draws 0.0 vps 2 Total Games 0.00

Total: 34 Games (28 GW, 6 Draws 82%)

So Graham strengthens his grip on first place, and given the number of games likely to be played in the last few months of the year it could be all over.

Next Week
Unfortunately Geoff is busy, so best we probably manage is three. Everyone else has pretty much said they are unavailable for September, so it doesn’t seem likely**.

Sam

**11 players listed on the League Table, and can’t even get four in the same place at the same time.