On Mars is a complex strategy game about the colonization of Mars.  It’s currently ranked 36 among strategy games on BGG.  As chief astronaut for a colonization company, you seek to develop the biggest, most advanced colony on Mars by achieving both the United Nations’ mission goals and your company’s private agenda.

We'll provide a refresher but not full teach.  To learn, use the following resources:

• On Mars - Playthrough & Review (Heavy Cardboard)

• How to Play On Mars - Official Tutorial from Gaming Rules!  (Paul Grogan, sponsored by publisher)

• On Mars- 4p Overview, Play-through, & Roundtable by Heavy Cardboard (0:00 - 38:20 - Overview/Rules Teach, Monique and Naveen, Before You Play)

Overview

In the beginning, you will be dependent on supplies from Earth and will have to travel often between the Mars Space Station and the planet's surface. As the colony expands over time, you will shift your activities to construct mines, power generators, water extractors, greenhouses, oxygen factories, and shelters. Your goal is to develop a self-sustaining colony independent of any terrestrial organization. This will require understanding the importance of water, air, power, and food — the necessities for survival.

On Mars is played over several rounds, each consisting of two phases - the Colonization Phase ​and the Shuttle Phase​.

During the Colonization Phase, each player takes a turn during which they take actions. The available actions depend on the side of the board they are on. If you are in orbit, you can take blueprints, buy and develop technologies, and take supplies from the Warehouse. If you are on the surface of the planet, you can construct buildings with your bots, upgrade these buildings using blueprints, take scientists and new contracts, welcome new ships, and explore the planet’s surface with your rover. In the Shuttle Phase, players may travel between the colony and the Space Station in orbit.

All buildings on Mars have a dependency on each other and some are required for the colony to grow. Building shelters for Colonists to live in requires oxygen; generating oxygen requires plants; growing plants requires water; extracting water from ice requires power; generating power requires mining minerals; and mining minerals requires Colonists. Upgrading the colony’s ability to provide each of these resources is vital. As the colony grows, more shelters are needed so that the Colonists can survive the inhospitable conditions on Mars.

During the game, players are also trying to complete missions. Once a total of three missions have been completed, the game ends. To win the game, players must contribute to the development of the first colony on Mars. This is represented during the game by players gaining Opportunity Points (OP). The player with the most OP at the end of the game is declared the winner.

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

Ra and Modern Art are part of Reiner Knizia's auction trilogy, the third of which is Medici.  The games are easy to learn, play in an hour or less, and provide a great mix of strategic options and auction drama.

I will teach both games.  Use the following resources to learn yourself:

• How to Play RA, Play The Game HQ.

• Ra | Board Game | BoardGameGeek (including a playthrough video).

• Ra Teaching, Play-through, & Roundtable by Heavy Cardboard.

• Modern Art - How To Play.

• Modern Art | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Ra

• Theme: Players take on the role of leaders in ancient Egypt competing to influence various aspects of life such as monuments, civilizations, and agriculture.

• Gameplay: The core mechanic of "Ra" is an auction system. Players bid for tiles that represent various aspects of Egyptian society. Each auction is a single go-around, and players must bid from a set of four numbered determined at the start of each round. The game is played over three epochs.  Scoring occurs after each epoch and at game end.

• Set Collection: Players try to collect sets of similar tiles. Different types of tiles score points in different ways. Some score at the end of the round while others only score at game end. 

Modern Art 

• Theme: Players are art dealers, aiming to buy and sell paintings by five fictional artists. The goal is to make the most money by the end of the game through savvy buying, selling, and auctioning of artworks.

• Gameplay: Modern Art is known for its variety of auction formats. There are five types of auctions in the game, including open auctions, sealed bids, and fixed-price sales. Each round, players take turns playing cards from their hand representing artworks, and these artworks are then auctioned off according to the type specified on the card.  Listen to noted designer Jamey Stegmaier rave about the auction mechanic.

• Market Dynamics: The value of an artist's paintings depends on how many of their works are sold during a round. This dynamic market system requires players to speculate on which artists' work will be most valuable by the end of the round, adding a layer of strategy to the game.

• Rounds and Scoring: The game is divided into rounds, and at the end of each round, the paintings are valued based on their popularity. Players earn money based on the value of the paintings they've sold.

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit Strategy Eurogames. 

Age of Industry is often described as a "streamlined redesign of Brass: Lancashire", and Wallace himself said "You can now play something with the depth of Brass, but in half the time."  But this understates the game's originality and quality.  See the overview below for details.

We'll play either the Japan or Minnesota maps, two of my favorites.  Heavy Cardboard recently posted playthroughs and discussions of both; links are in the third item below.

I'll teach the game; to learn yourself, use the following resources:

1. How to play Age of Industry.

2. Age of Industry | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

3. Age of Industry Expansion #1: Japan and Minnesota | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.  

Overview

The theme is the Industrial Revolution; players invest in the production of raw materials, the manufacture of goods, and the transportation networks needed to connect them to markets.  Among the notable differences from Brass Lancashire are the following:

• There is only one era, rail.  This is more than a simplification; it dramatically alters the development process.  In Brass Lancashire (and Birmingham), players must stage, or setup, rail era development in the canal era.  Not having to do this creates a single integral development process.

•  Age of Industry uses region cards instead of location cards.  This is a less random constraint on player strategies.

•  Ships in Age of Industry are meaningful components of the development process (not just raw point generators as in Brass Lancashire).  Ships provide access to goods.

• There are numerous maps for Age of Industry, most with interesting rules adjustments.  I have all of the following ones (player counts in parentheses):

  • New England and Germany (base maps) (3-5).

  • Great Lakes (2) and South Africa (3-5).

  • Japan (3-4) and Minnesota (4-5).

  • Belgium (2) and the USSR (3-5).

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Set in the Italian countryside, La Città features various city-states vying for population. Each player starts with two cities and is charged with expanding the different aspects of those cities to attract larger populations.

I'll teach the game, to learn yourself use the following resources:

• La Città | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. 

• La Citta - How to Setup & Play. 

Overview

Players build farms to feed their people, quarries to finance their expansions, marketplaces to allow growth in their cities, and bathhouses to keep their people clean and healthy. Additionally, structures can be built that give the city influence in one of three categories; superiority in one of these categories causes population to shift from other nearby cities when the "Voice of the People" is decided at the end of each turn.

Great care has to be taken throughout the game to ensure balanced expansion while not losing citizens to the attractions of competing cities.

At the end of six turns, the player with the most points — which are distributed for well-rounded cities, well-fed populations, and the overall size of population — wins.

Note: The correct pronunciation is like "Cheetah", but with the accent on the last syllable: "La Chee-TAH".

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Dune: Imperium Uprising is a standalone spinoff to Dune: Imperium that expands on that game's blend of deck-building and worker placement, while introducing a new six-player mode that pits two teams against one other in the biggest struggle yet. 

Important: We will play with an important rules modification: sandworms will behave as dreadnoughts from the Rise of Ix: combat value of 3, persistent, and no doubling of rewards.

We'll offer a refresher but not a full teach.  Please watch a "how to play" video beforehand:

• Dune Imperium: Uprising (And CHOAM Module) - How To Play.

• Dune: Imperium – Uprising | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Overview

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as a deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice must flow to lead your House to victory!

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

In London players are tasked with rebuilding the city in the decades following the great fire, and must juggle building requirements, bank loans, and poverty as they strive to realize their vision for the city.

The game features a unique mechanism of playing cards to develop the city, then "running" the city by taking all the card actions simultaneously. Players have to repay all their loans before the game ends, but need to worry only about how much poverty they're creating relative to the other players.

We'll teach the game, to learn yourself use the resources below:

• London (Second Edition) | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• London - How To Play (youtube.com).

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Set in the Italian countryside, La Città features various city-states vying for population. Each player starts with two cities and is charged with expanding the different aspects of those cities to attract larger populations.

I'll teach the game, to learn yourself use the following resources:

• La Città | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. 

• La Citta - How to Setup & Play. 

Overview

Players build farms to feed their people, quarries to finance their expansions, marketplaces to allow growth in their cities, and bathhouses to keep their people clean and healthy. Additionally, structures can be built that give the city influence in one of three categories; superiority in one of these categories causes population to shift from other nearby cities when the "Voice of the People" is decided at the end of each turn.

Great care has to be taken throughout the game to ensure balanced expansion while not losing citizens to the attractions of competing cities.

At the end of six turns, the player with the most points — which are distributed for well-rounded cities, well-fed populations, and the overall size of population — wins.

Note: The correct pronunciation is like "Cheetah", but with the accent on the last syllable: "La Chee-TAH".

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

In Concordia, a peaceful strategy game of economic development, you and your fellow players each control a mighty merchant dynasty in the Roman Empire. Establish outposts, produce goods, create new colonists, trade at the market, and recruit important agents to make sure your dynasty is the most influential at the end of the game!

Salsa adds salt, a wild resource, to the base game, as well as two new maps.

Beginners are welcome! The game is pretty easy to learn and is ranked as the #23 overall game on BGG. I will teach the game if needed. For more information about the game, use these resources:

• Concordia: Salsa | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Concordia | Board Game | BoardGameGeek 

• Concordia Salsa, The Dice Tower.

• How to play Concordia (youtube.com) 

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game sequel to Martin Wallace's 2007 masterpiece, Brass. It's also the top-ranked game on BGG's strategy board game list. Brass Birmingham tells the story of competing entrepreneurs during the industrial revolution, between the years 1770-1870. You must develop, build, and establish your industries and network in an effort to exploit low or high market demands.

Please be familiar with the game. I will do a refresher but not a full teach. If you need to learn, see the overview and instructional videos at:

• Brass: Birmingham | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Heavy Cardboard How to Play.

• Heavy Cardboard Teach, Play, and Discuss. 

• Brass Birmingham - How to Play (Rodney Smith).

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com) 

The Palaces of Carrara is a set collection game in which you compete to buy colored blocks used to construct the most beautiful marble buildings in the various cities throughout the region. Once you’ve begun building, you’ll need to tactically choose when to score certain characteristics or locations. Scoring will bring in the money needed to buy more blocks and/or the victory points needed to win the game. 

I'll teach the game. To learn yourself, use the following resources:

• The Palaces of Carrara (Second Edition) | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• The Palaces of Carrara 2nd ed Tutorial.

• Game in a Nutshell - The Palaces of Carrara (how to play).

Designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, gameplay revolves around acquiring marble from the turntables, constructing buildings in designated cities, and scoring points through strategic placement and the fulfillment of specific conditions. Players must balance their actions between acquiring resources, building, and deciding the optimal time to score their achievements. The game encourages players to watch their opponents' moves closely and adapt their strategies accordingly. 

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

Dune: Imperium Uprising is a standalone spinoff to Dune: Imperium that expands on that game's blend of deck-building and worker placement, while introducing a new six-player mode that pits two teams against one other in the biggest struggle yet. 

We may try team play with Uprising if we have the right number of people and there's interest.

We'll teach the game if needed.  Please watch a "how to play" video beforehand:

• Dune Imperium: Uprising (And CHOAM Module) - How To Play.

• Dune: Imperium – Uprising | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Overview

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as a deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice must flow to lead your House to victory!

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

In Great Western Trail: New Zealand, you are a runholder —  the owner of a sheep station — on the South Island of New Zealand at the end of the 19th century. Recent years have seen your family farm prosper by diversifying your breeds of sheep and by increasing the value of your wool.

With the dawn of the new century, new challenges have arisen. You must acquire new and improved breeds of sheep to ensure the prosperity of your family business and the laborers who work for you.

I'll review the game. If you haven't played it, be sure to learn the rules. Great Western Trail New Zealand - How to Play with Tips is an excellent explanation.

Optionally, watch the full playthrough by Paul Grogan: Great Western Trail - New Zealand: Playthrough & Review.

These and many other resources are available at Great Western Trail: New Zealand | BoardGameGeek.

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

The enduringly popular and recently republished El Grande is an easy to learn area control game set in Renaissance Spain. Players distribute their caballeros in regions seeking influence. It's a fluid game with interesting multi-player effects.

I'll teach. To learn yourself, visit:

• How to Play El Grande (Shut up and Sit Down).

• El Grande | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• How to Play El Grande.

I own the Decennial Edition, so we could play one of the expansions.

For more information visit Strategy Eurogames.

Steam is a railroad strategy game where players build networks to deliver goods.  It's friendlier than Age of Steam -- players aren't plagued by money worries -- and also faster -- there's no turn order auction.  This puts the focus squarely on network design and competition for often scarce resources.

I will teach the game. To learn it yourself, see the overview and instructional videos at:

• Steam -- How to Play

• Steam: Rails To Riches -- How to Play (Digital Edition)

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

Orléans is a medieval-themed game in which you recruit followers and put them to work. Farmers and Boatmen supply you with money and goods; Knights expand your scope of action and secure your mercantile expeditions; Craftsmen build trading stations and tools to facilitate work; Scholars make progress in science; Traders open up new locations for you to use your followers; and last but not least, it cannot hurt to get active in monasteries since with Monks on your side you are much less likely to fall prey to fate.

We'll use the New Events, New Beneficial Deeds, and Orders from the Trade & Intrigue expansion. 

I'll teach; learn yourself using the following resources:

• Orleans -- How to Play.

• Orléans | Board Game | BoardGameGeek (includes overview, instructional, and playthrough videos).

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

As a leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, raise your banner and marshal your forces and spies. War is coming, and at the center of the conflict is Arrakis – Dune, the desert planet.

Dune: Imperium Uprising is a standalone spinoff to Dune: Imperium that expands on that game's blend of deck-building and worker placement, while introducing a new six-player mode that pits two teams against one other in the biggest struggle yet. 

We plan to host two boards, one with the Imperium + Rise of Ix and possibly Immortality, the other Dune Uprising.

We'll teach one or both games depending on need.  Please watch a "how to play" video beforehand:

• Dune: Imperium | Board Game | BoardGameGeek  (note the instructional and playthrough videos just below the Overview).

• Dune: Imperium - How to Play 

• Dune: Imperium - Why Own It? Mechanics & Theme Board Game Review.

• Dune Imperium: Rise Of Ix - How To Play. 

• Dune Imperium: Uprising (And CHOAM Module) - How To Play.

• Dune: Imperium – Uprising | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Overview

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as a deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice must flow to lead your House to victory!

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

Steam is a railroad strategy game where players build networks to deliver goods.  It's friendlier than Age of Steam -- players aren't plagued by money worries -- and also faster -- there's no turn order auction.  This puts the focus squarely on network design and competition for often scarce resources.

I will teach the game. To learn it yourself, see the overview and instructional videos at:

• Steam -- How to Play

• Steam: Rails To Riches -- How to Play (Digital Edition)

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

Ra and Modern Art are part of Reiner Knizia's auction trilogy, the third of which is Medici.  The games are easy to learn, play in an hour or less, and provide a great mix of strategic options and auction drama.

I will teach both games.  Use the following resources to learn yourself:

• How to Play RA, Play The Game HQ.

• Ra | Board Game | BoardGameGeek (including a playthrough video).

• Ra Teaching, Play-through, & Roundtable by Heavy Cardboard.

• Modern Art - How To Play.

• Modern Art | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Ra

• Theme: Players take on the role of leaders in ancient Egypt competing to influence various aspects of life such as monuments, civilizations, and agriculture.

• Gameplay: The core mechanic of "Ra" is an auction system. Players bid for tiles that represent various aspects of Egyptian society. Each auction is a single go-around, and players must bid from a set of four numbered determined at the start of each round. The game is played over three epochs.  Scoring occurs after each epoch and at game end.

• Set Collection: Players try to collect sets of similar tiles. Different types of tiles score points in different ways. Some score at the end of the round while others only score at game end. 

Modern Art 

• Theme: Players are art dealers, aiming to buy and sell paintings by five fictional artists. The goal is to make the most money by the end of the game through savvy buying, selling, and auctioning of artworks.

• Gameplay: Modern Art is known for its variety of auction formats. There are five types of auctions in the game, including open auctions, sealed bids, and fixed-price sales. Each round, players take turns playing cards from their hand representing artworks, and these artworks are then auctioned off according to the type specified on the card.  Listen to noted designer Jamey Stegmaier rave about the auction mechanic.

• Market Dynamics: The value of an artist's paintings depends on how many of their works are sold during a round. This dynamic market system requires players to speculate on which artists' work will be most valuable by the end of the round, adding a layer of strategy to the game.

• Rounds and Scoring: The game is divided into rounds, and at the end of each round, the paintings are valued based on their popularity. Players earn money based on the value of the paintings they've sold.

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit Strategy Eurogames. 

Age of Steam is a highly interactive game of railroad network building that requires continual effort to create routes that ship goods -- for income and points -- before other players grab them, all while coping with the threat of bankruptcy. Adding to the difficulty, every round begins with a turn order auction.

Players begin the game with a handful of track markers, a scant $10, and with a board full of unbuilt hexes with a scattering of colored cities waiting for deliveries of the cubes already laid out on the board. Each round they go through the steps of taking loans, bidding in the auction for player order, selecting powers, building track and shipping goods. Of course, the auction is based on a dollar auction, with all the attendant issues of mis-valued sunk cost.

Challenges that await you:

• Can you finance both the most extensive track network and the most powerful locomotives?

• Which routes will give the best returns on their costs?

• Can you beat the opposition to the most lucrative shipments?

• Will you make enough money to pay your aggressive creditors?

• Competition is brutal, with the game usually going to the player who plans most carefully.

Each self-contained phase in the game keeps players constantly involved in making vital decisions and interacting with other players. Age of Steam also allows towns to be developed into cities, ensuring that no two games are exactly the same.

I'll teach; to learn the game yourself use these resources:

• Age of Steam | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Age of Steam Rust Belt map playthrough, Heavy Cardboard.

• Age of Steam - Live playthrough with Paul Grogan and friends.

We have many maps to choose from!

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

On Mars is a complex strategy game (rated 4.67 of 5) about the colonization of Mars.  It’s currently ranked 37 among strategy games on BGG.  As chief astronaut for a colonization company, you seek to develop the biggest, most advanced colony on Mars by achieving both the United Nations’ mission goals and your company’s private agenda.

We’ll teach.  Given the game’s complexity, it is essential that you watch the teach section of one of the following videos if you are a first-time player:

• On Mars - Playthrough & Review (Heavy Cardboard)

• How to Play On Mars - Official Tutorial from Gaming Rules!  (Paul Grogan, sponsored by publisher)

• On Mars- 4p Overview, Play-through, & Roundtable by Heavy Cardboard (0:00 - 38:20 - Overview/Rules Teach, Monique and Naveen, Before You Play)

Overview

In the beginning, you will be dependent on supplies from Earth and will have to travel often between the Mars Space Station and the planet's surface. As the colony expands over time, you will shift your activities to construct mines, power generators, water extractors, greenhouses, oxygen factories, and shelters. Your goal is to develop a self-sustaining colony independent of any terrestrial organization. This will require understanding the importance of water, air, power, and food — the necessities for survival.

On Mars is played over several rounds, each consisting of two phases - the Colonization Phase ​and the Shuttle Phase​.

During the Colonization Phase, each player takes a turn during which they take actions. The available actions depend on the side of the board they are on. If you are in orbit, you can take blueprints, buy and develop technologies, and take supplies from the Warehouse. If you are on the surface of the planet, you can construct buildings with your bots, upgrade these buildings using blueprints, take scientists and new contracts, welcome new ships, and explore the planet’s surface with your rover. In the Shuttle Phase, players may travel between the colony and the Space Station in orbit.

All buildings on Mars have a dependency on each other and some are required for the colony to grow. Building shelters for Colonists to live in requires oxygen; generating oxygen requires plants; growing plants requires water; extracting water from ice requires power; generating power requires mining minerals; and mining minerals requires Colonists. Upgrading the colony’s ability to provide each of these resources is vital. As the colony grows, more shelters are needed so that the Colonists can survive the inhospitable conditions on Mars.

During the game, players are also trying to complete missions. Once a total of three missions have been completed, the game ends. To win the game, players must contribute to the development of the first colony on Mars. This is represented during the game by players gaining Opportunity Points (OP). The player with the most OP at the end of the game is declared the winner.

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.

In Castles of Burgundy, take on the role of an aristocrat in the Burgundy region of High Medieval France, initially controlling a small princedom. Build settlements and castles, practice trade along the river, exploit silver mines, and use the knowledge of travelers to your advantage.

The game is about players taking settlement tiles from the game board and placing them into their princedom which is represented by the player board. Every tile has a function that starts when the tile is placed in the princedom. The princedom itself consists of several regions, each of which demands its own type of settlement tile.

The game is played in five phases, each consisting of five rounds. Each phase begins with the game board stocked with settlement tiles and goods tiles. At the beginning of each round all players roll their two dice, and the player who is currently first in turn order rolls a goods placement die. A goods tile is made available on the game board according to the roll of the goods die.

During each round players take their turns in the current turn order. During his turn, a player may perform any two of the four possible types of actions: 1) take a settlement tile from the numbered depot on the game board corresponding to one of his dice and place it in the staging area on his player board, 2) take a settlement tile from the staging area of his player board to a space on his player board with a number matching one of his dice in the corresponding region for the type of tile and adjacent to a previously placed settlement tile, 3) deliver goods with a number matching one of his dice, or 4) take worker tokens which allow the player to adjust the roll of his dice.

We'll teach the game. To learn, use the following resources:

• BoardGameGeek, Castles of Burgundy.

• The Castles of Burgundy 2p Play-through, Teaching, & Roundtable discussion by Heavy Cardboard.

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

Can you keep your network of cities from going dark, stoke your power plants with costly fuel, buy ever-more efficient power plants, and plan your future expansion, all without going broke? Now, can you do all this as up to five other players compete against you for the same resources and space? Find out in Power Grid! The game combines auctions, network building, cash management, resource purchasing, and a clever mechanism to boost lagging players to make sure it's competitive until the very end. The only problem with the game? The name's better in German: Funkenschlag!

I will teach the game if needed. If you have expansion maps for the game, bring them! For more information about the game, there are resources available on Boardgamegeek.com.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2651/power-grid

If you like, you can watch this 20-minute teaching video to get a grasp of the game.
https://boardgamegeek.com/video/250180/power-grid/power-grid-board-game-how-play-stella-and-tarrant.

For more information on similar upcoming events, please visit https://www.eurostrategygames.com/planned.

A Study in Emerald (2nd edition) draws its central plot from the award-winning short story penned by Neil Gaiman, in which the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft are combined to telling effect. A growing band of revolutionaries wish to free mankind from the Old Ones. These freedom fighters call themselves the Restorationists. A secret war has already broken out between the Restorationists and the forces loyal to the Old Ones. The invention of dynamite has changed the balance of power, and a lone assassin now has the capacity to destroy an Old One. In this shadow world of assassins, informers, police agents and anarchists, nobody is quite sure who is who and which side they fight for.

We'll also teach this game. To learn yourself, visit A Study in Emerald (Second Edition) | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Regarded by many as Reiner Knizia's masterpiece, Tigris & Euphrates is a unique tile placement strategy game. It's set in the ancient fertile crescent with players building civilizations. Players are given four different leaders: farming, trading, religion, and government. The leaders are used to collect victory points in these same categories. However, your score at the end of the game is the number of points in your weakest category, which encourages players not to get overly specialized. Conflict arises when civilizations connect on the board, i.e., external conflicts, with only one leader of each type surviving such a conflict. Leaders can also be replaced within a civilization through internal conflicts.

Tigris & Euphrates is an extraordinary game design with an immense space of tactical and strategic possibilities and a tremendous sense of fluidity, dense interaction, and unpredictability that never goes away. There aren't many games that are, time and again, so exhilarating and mentally exhausting to play.

I will review the game. If you are not already familiar with it, be sure to learn the rules and basics of play from:

• BoardGameGeek Tigris & Euphrates.

• Tigris & Euphrates Teach and Full Play Through.

Now available on Board Game Arena!

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Age of Steam is a highly interactive game of railroad network building that requires continual effort to create routes that ship goods -- for income and points -- before other players grab them, all while coping with the threat of bankruptcy. Adding to the difficulty, every round begins with a turn order auction.

Players begin the game with a handful of track markers, a scant $10, and with a board full of unbuilt hexes with a scattering of colored cities waiting for deliveries of the cubes already laid out on the board. Each round they go through the steps of taking loans, bidding in the auction for player order, selecting powers, building track and shipping goods. Of course, the auction is based on a dollar auction, with all the attendant issues of mis-valued sunk cost.

Challenges that await you:

• Can you finance both the most extensive track network and the most powerful locomotives?

• Which routes will give the best returns on their costs?

• Can you beat the opposition to the most lucrative shipments?

• Will you make enough money to pay your aggressive creditors?

• Competition is brutal, with the game usually going to the player who plans most carefully.

Each self-contained phase in the game keeps players constantly involved in making vital decisions and interacting with other players. Age of Steam also allows towns to be developed into cities, ensuring that no two games are exactly the same.

I'll teach; to learn the game yourself use these resources:

• Age of Steam | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Age of Steam Rust Belt map playthrough, Heavy Cardboard.

• Age of Steam - Live playthrough with Paul Grogan and friends.

We have many maps to choose from!

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

A Study in Emerald is based on the award-winning short story of the same name by Neil Gaiman. In this stylistic mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft, the worst has already happened, and the world is now ruled by the Old Ones. However, a secret war is being fought to free mankind from their servitude. The game A Study in Emerald fleshes out this core idea by including historical figures from the late nineteenth century, most being persons involved in the anarchist movement of the time.

We'll teach the game. To learn yourself, use the resources at A Study in Emerald | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Age of Steam is a highly interactive game of railroad network building that requires continual effort to create routes that ship goods -- for income and points -- before other players grab them, all while coping with the threat of bankruptcy. Adding to the difficulty, every round begins with a turn order auction.

Players begin the game with a handful of track markers, a scant $10, and with a board full of unbuilt hexes with a scattering of colored cities waiting for deliveries of the cubes already laid out on the board. Each round they go through the steps of taking loans, bidding in the auction for player order, selecting powers, building track and shipping goods. Of course, the auction is based on a dollar auction, with all the attendant issues of mis-valued sunk cost.

Challenges that await you:

• Can you finance both the most extensive track network and the most powerful locomotives?

• Which routes will give the best returns on their costs?

• Can you beat the opposition to the most lucrative shipments?

• Will you make enough money to pay your aggressive creditors?

• Competition is brutal, with the game usually going to the player who plans most carefully.

Each self-contained phase in the game keeps players constantly involved in making vital decisions and interacting with other players. Age of Steam also allows towns to be developed into cities, ensuring that no two games are exactly the same.

I'll teach; to learn the game yourself use these resources:

• Age of Steam | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Age of Steam Rust Belt map playthrough, Heavy Cardboard.

• Age of Steam - Live playthrough with Paul Grogan and friends.

We have many maps to choose from!

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

We'll include the Rise of Ix expansion (Dune: Imperium – Rise of Ix | Board Game | BoardGameGeek). To learn, watch Dune Imperium: Rise Of Ix - How To Play. 

We'll also include the Immortality expansion ().  To learn, watch Dune Imperium: Immortality - How To Play.

As a leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, raise your banner and marshal your forces and spies. War is coming, and at the center of the conflict is Arrakis – Dune, the desert planet.

Please be familiar with the game.  I'll review but not do a full teach.  You can learn from videos and other material at:

• Dune: Imperium | Board Game | BoardGameGeek  (note the instructional and playthrough videos just below the Overview)

• Dune: Imperium - How to Play 

• Dune: Imperium - Why Own It? Mechanics & Theme Board Game Review

Overview

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as a deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice must flow to lead your House to victory!

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

Part of our Politics series of games.

Princes of the Renaissance is an auction, negotiation, and bluffing game set in Renaissance Italy from 1470-1500. 

I'll teach; learn yourself using the resources at Princes of the Renaissance | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Overview

Each player takes on the role of one of the minor Condottiere princes, such as the Gonzagas or d'Estes. Then there are the big five major cities: Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, and Naples. These are not controlled by individual players, but players will gain 'interests' in them as the game progresses. Each city has six tiles, most of which represent a famous character such as Lucrezia Borgia or Lorenzo Medici. Each tile has its own special properties that are linked to the character on the tile. Thus Cesare Borgia will help you to become more treacherous, while a Venetian merchant will increase your income. These tiles are also worth victory points, depending on the status of the city at the end of the game.

A city's status will change as a result of war. When two cities fight, they will each need a Condottiere to fight for them. Players bid, using influence points, to decide who will represent each city. The outcome of the war will depend on a little luck and the size of each player's army. Each player also gets paid for fighting, no matter what the outcome of the war is. Thus players can turn influence into gold, which in turn can be used to buy more City tiles.

No game on the Italian Renaissance would be complete without an element of treachery. Players can be openly treacherous by buying Treachery tiles, which will allow them to do nasty things like steal influence, bribe troops, or knock players out of an auction. However, the game allows players to be devious in other ways, that still remain legal. Making sure that a war goes the way you want it to is an important part of the game, and it is not always the player with the best army who ends up fighting. Want a city to lose, well become Condottiere for them and make sure you have a really bad army, or use Treachery tiles to bribe your own troops not to fight. At some point some player will become the Pope, which means he can form a Holy League (i.e. join one side in a battle). Want to make sure the Pope is on the 'right' side, well why not bribe him? What players negotiate over is up to them. The game does not force negotiation and works perfectly well without it, but it remains an avenue for players to explore.

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

We'll play from a selection of two-player strategy games, including:

• 7 Wonders Duel with the Agora expansion. Draft cards from a display of face-down and face-up cards arranged at the start of each round to build your city and increase your capacity for future purchases.  Build four wonders if you're quick or only three otherwise.  Win a military victory, a scientific one, or by having the most points.

• Battle Line. Win five of the nine flags in the battle line -- or any three in a row -- by having higher poker-type 3-card hands beside the flags.

• Patchwork. Create beautiful quilts while making efficient use of patches, buttons, and time.

• Watergate. Expose presidential corruption or hide it until the end of your term.  Which will it be?

• Targi. As leader of a nomadic tribe of the Sahara, trade the goods of the land to acquire gold and better your position.

Plus, we'll have some of the quicker 2-4 player games, including Azul and Splendor.

I'll teach the games.  To learn yourself,  see the instructional videos, play-throughs, and other resources available via the links.

For more information, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Liberté, by Martin Wallace, covers the French Revolution from 1789 and the meeting of the Estates General to the Directory and Bonaparte’s coup d’état in 1799.

I will teach the game.  To learn more about it, see Liberté Review by Drive Thru Games.  For additional information visit Liberté | BoardGameGeek. 

Overview

The game is played in four turns. In each turn there will be a variable number of rounds, followed by an election to see which faction becomes the government. There are three factions, the Radicals (red), the Moderates (blue), and the Royalists (white). The most common action is for a player to place faction blocks on the board. He shows he controls these blocks by placing one of his tokens on top of the stack.

The cards are divided into two sets, set 'A' and 'B'. The 'A' deck is used first and tends to favor the moderates and Royalists. Once this deck has been exhausted the 'B' deck comes into play, which tends to favor the radicals.

The election is triggered when all of one type of faction block has been exhausted. The faction blocks will determine which faction forms the next government. Players are attempting to score victory points by having the most influence in the government and opposition. Points can also be picked up in later turns for being the general in charge at a victorious battle, and for winning elections in specific provinces.

Normally the player with the most victory points will win. However, there are two sudden death game end conditions that may alter the outcome. The first is a radical electoral landslide, triggered by the red faction gaining 17 or more votes. The second is successful Royalist counter-revolution, precipitated by Royalist control of seven counter-revolutionary provinces. In both cases, victory is determined by a different set of criteria, in which accrued victory points do not count. The player who is ahead on points must be aware that one mistake could lead to defeat at the hands of the Jacobins or Royalists!

It is likely that you will never have played a game quite like this one and you may find yourself wondering what strategies to employ. Do not despair! Once you have completed your first game you will realize that amongst the apparent chaos of the game there are many opportunities for long-term planning.

Liberté is #6 in the Valley Games Classic Line.

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

Git along, little doggies, up the GREAT WESTERN TRAIL! It's the 19th Century. You're making your fortune as a rancher herding cattle from Texas to Kansas City, then shipping them by train to points beyond. Compete with up to three other players in order to: Build a diverse herd of cattle! Hire a strong crew of cowboys, craftsmen, and engineers! Construct buildings along the trail to give you bonuses and extract tolls from the other ranchers! "If you cleverly manage your herd and navigate the opportunities and pitfalls of Great Western Trail, you surely will gain the most victory points and win the game."

GREAT WESTERN TRAIL is a fairly heavy Euro (3.71/5.00 on Boardgamegeek.com), rated as the #12 game overall and the #10 strategy game on that website. I will teach the game if needed. We'll use the 1st Edition (as that's what I have) without the expansion.

Game resources are available on Boardgamegeek.com:

• Index of resources and links

• 5 Favorite Things About Great Western Trail (6 minutes)

• How to play video (30 minutes)

• Full playthrough (~2 hours)

For more information about upcoming local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com/planned).

(David Scheftel)

In Railways of the World, players each take on the role of one of the early railroad barons, building railroad networks to deliver good for income and points.

I'll teach the game. To learn, use resources available from BGG:

• Railways of the World | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

Overview

While all players are attempting to gain income by delivering goods between cities, each player also has a secret goal to achieve. Each player starts with a company that has no money, no track, and only the weakest available locomotive – the John Bull. Companies issue shares to raise capital to spend on construction of track and locomotive upgrades. Once a company has developed a network connecting goods with the cities that want them, delivering those goods makes money for the company and allows it to pay dividends to its stockholders. Players earn points for these deliveries as well as for meeting certain challenges that appear on the “Railroad Operation Cards” drawn every turn. The game ends when a certain number of cities have been emptied of goods cubes – with one last turn to give all players a chance to accomplish their most recent goals.

Railways of the World is a really BIG game.  The Eastern US game board comes in three pieces, each trifolded, creating a map with total dimensions of just over 3' by 4'.

I'll bring the Eastern US, Mexico, and Europe maps.

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com).

If "National parks are the best idea we ever had" (Wallace Stegner), then PARKS, the game based on them, must be pretty darn good! Players compete to see the greatest number of national parks, to visit the most prestigious parks, and to take the best photos of wildlife and scenery. Roam along the hiking trail to gain resources that enable you in visiting parks, taking photos, gaining camping gear to give you an advantage, or reserving choice parks before other players visit them. After four seasons of visiting the national parks, will your memories and photos be the most impressive?

The game is easy to learn. I will teach the game -- no experience needed!   For more information, and to learn yourself, see

• PARKS | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. 

• Parks - GameNight! Se7 Ep41 - How to Play and Playthrough.

• PARKS - Tutorial & Full Playthrough.

Playing time for the first game including teaching should be about an hour, depending on the number of players, but in any case, we should be able to get in two games if people want to stick around. 

Vaccination required; booster encouraged.

For more about local strategy Eurogames, visit https://www.eurostrategygames.com/.

Spirit Island is a complex and thematic cooperative game about defending your island home from colonizing Invaders. Players are different spirits of the land, each with its own unique elemental powers. Every turn, players simultaneously choose which of their power cards to play, paying energy to do so. Using combinations of power cards that match a spirit's elemental affinities can grant free bonus effects. Faster powers take effect immediately, before the Invaders spread and ravage, but other magics are slower, requiring forethought and planning to use effectively. In the Spirit phase, spirits gain energy, and choose how / whether to Grow: to reclaim used power cards, to seek for new power, or to spread presence into new areas of the island.

The Invaders expand across the island map in a semi-predictable fashion. Each turn they explore into some lands (portions of the island); the next turn, they build in those lands, forming settlements and cities. The turn after that, they ravage there, bringing blight to the land and attacking any native islanders present.

The islanders fight back against the Invaders when attacked, and lend the spirits some other aid, but may not always do so exactly as you'd hoped. Some Powers work through the islanders, helping them drive out the Invaders or clean the land of blight.

The game escalates as it progresses: spirits spread their presence to new parts of the island and seek out new and more potent powers, while the Invaders step up their colonization efforts. Each turn represents 1-3 years of alternate history.

We'll teach the game. To learn yourself, check-out the instructional videos and files at:

- Spirit Island Playlist (One Stop Co-op Shop)

- Spirit Island | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

For more information about game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames (eurostrategygames.com)

Samurai is set in feudal Japan, where players vie for influence and control over three key social classes: high-helmeted samurai, devout priests, and prosperous rice farmers. Samurai centers on the strategic placement of tiles to influence and claim the three social classes. On each turn, players place one or more tiles, either in the form of influence tiles, which are used to surround and capture the wooden pieces, or special action tiles, which provide unique abilities or modify the game state. Players strive to either dominate a single class or achieve a balanced collection across all three classes. The game's combination of area control, tile placement, and set collection create a rich decision space.

Tigris & Euphrates, set in the ancient fertile crescent, has earned critical acclaim for its deep strategy, intricate decision-making, and dynamic player interaction. Choices of tile placement, leader placement, and conflict initiation give it a vast decision space. The game's unique scoring system, where a player's final score is determined by their weakest category, adds another layer of strategic depth. This encourages players to balance their civilization's growth and not solely focus on a single aspect. Tigris & Euphrates is also a highly interactive game, as players constantly compete for territory, resources, and influence.

I'll teach. To learn these games yourself use these resources:

• Samurai | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Samurai - 4p Teaching, Play-through, & Roundtable by Heavy Cardboard.

• Tigris & Euphrates | Board Game | BoardGameGeek.

• Play Tigris & Euphrates online • Board Game Arena.

For more information about local game events like this, visit Strategy Eurogames.