February 6th, 2005 |
After we watched the Patriots beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl, Matt, Karla, and I headed home, where Karla's post-game show impatience resulted in her pre-empting of the eagerly awaited Simpsons for bed. I managed to get Matt to play Hera & Zeus, and when the birds were too noisy we had to finish the game in semi-darkness.
| Hera and Zeus |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | Caught Io | 1 | |
| Matt | Found, but didn't catch Argus | 2 | * |
Notes: Matt, like Sam, caught on pretty quickly, and we both stacked up a lot of cards in our hands and on the board. Matt was rather tentative in making attacks, and as my second draw resulted in holding Argus, I made certain to get him on the board rather quickly so as to keep him safe behind a Medusa and Poseidon.
Matt started taking out some of my guys, and used a Pythia very early to flip over my Argus column - so he knew where he was. I also made the mistake of leaving Poseidon vulnerable, and Matt was able to nab him with his Pythia. I, however, had just snagged his Nemesis (whom I had captured with a Pythia as well) from his discard pile by use of the Sirens.
I made a few attacks on his hand with my Pegasus cards. I did this mostly because I was scared of hitting Pandora (I was particularly afraid that she was in the center row, where Argus was), and because I knew what most of his front row cards were. It turned out to be a good move, as I managed to hit his Sirens, an Amazon (which went onto the board), and his Persephone card. I did find his Pandora in his left column, costing me only a Giant and a Cyclops and costing Matt a Harpy.
Matt ran out of cards first, and after a few assaults, I was still able to protect Argus from capture. After Matt captured Poseidon with Pythia, I placed Nemesis in the way, and Matt captured her with the exact same Pythia (again after I left her a bit vulnerable). Nemesis was in the front row, and Pythia in the third row for Matt. (Argus was only behind Nemesis.) Matt sacrificed both a Fury and an Amazon to move the Pythia into position, and Nemesis was toast. In my next turn, however, I was able to move an Apollo card over for protection via a Dionysus card - he was my most powerful card left, and Matt's only remaining Artemis was hiding somewhere else - and then drew a Medusa, which I placed behind him.
On the next turn, Matt, with no more draws left, was forced to make an attack, and as he had discovered an Apollo guarding Argus, he attacked my left column with a Pegasus, only to find Pandora, who quickly obliterated the entire column on both sides - capturing two centaurs of mine as well as two Hydras of Matt's plus a Harpy and...Io. Victory goes to Zeus.
I asked Matt what he thought of the game and he said he thought it was pretty cool. I really enjoy this game and I'm glad I'm bringing it out to play more. I don't understand the people on boardgamegeek.com that think it's a game of luck. I find that there are countless tactical plays and a LOT of decisions to make. Generally, if a player is forced into some bad places it's due to his own poor play or his opponent's clever play. It has the same sort of luck factor as Attika - that is, not much.