2 minute read

My group’s regular game night is each month on the 2nd Wed and 4th Fri this year. I’m hosting on odd month (Jan, Mar, etc) Wednesdays. Last night I had a eight players. We split into two tables of four to play Louis XIV and Duel of Ages.

Kieron, Dale, George and Leroy were at the Duel of Ages table. I’d say this is K’s hot game right now. He’s playing quite often and is willing to teach others how to play. Kieron and Dale were team white while George and Leroy played team black. Each controlled 4 characters. As I understand it, there was some action with Genghis Khan of team white using a flamethrower to take out team black’s Bladed Terror.

As the 3 hour time limit passed, each side was tied with an equal number of points. George and Leroy won in sudden death overtime by destroying Kieron and Dale’s HQ.

Across the room, Bob, Troy, Jeff and I played Louis XIV. Second full game for me and the first time for everyone else. Both games I’ve played have lasted between 90 and 120 minutes and feels like about the right amount of time for this game. An experienced group ought to be able to finish this consistently in about 90 minutes. The mechanics in Louis XIV aren’t anything stunningly new or different. However, the way they’ve been assembled give the game a feel quite unlike anything else I’ve ever played. In this game Jeff and I worked hard at fulfilling multiple missions each turn. Since we were scooping up an above average number of mission chips, Troy and Bob were shut out of some chips. However, we weren’t paying close enough attention to Bob’s growing pile of coat of arms chips. Even Bob didn’t think he was in the game but as it turned out, he walked away with the win due to that advantage. Troy took second with Jeff and I tied for last. The scores were clumped together at 40-37-36-36. I like this game a lot right now would like to play more.

Troy took off after we finished. Duel of Ages was also finishing up about the same time. Jeff, Bob and I played a quick game of For Sale before calling it quits for the night. Jeff ran away with this one with a score in the 70s while Bob and I trailed in the 60s.

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