The Premise and Standings
Each week we’ll face off in a best of three series playing a different board game from our collection. The winner claims the moniker of C&C Clash Champ for the week. The loser should probably resign in shame. The lesser player also gets to choose the game for the next week.
We will maintain a record of wins and losses throughout the year to see who finishes 2022 as the ultimate board game champ in our household.
Our current C&C Champion is Chaos after winning last week’s A Little Wordy war.
Pre-Clash Current Standings:
- Weekly Winner: 9 Chaos – 8 Confetti
- Individual game wins: 26 Chaos – 22 Confetti
After losing last week, Confetti has chosen Watergate (Amazon Affiliate Link).
The Game – Watergate
Watergate is a card-driven asymmetrical, two-player game which will have players reliving the Watergate Scandal. One player will take on the role of President Nixon as he tries to keep enough information concealed to make it to the end of his term. The other player inhabits the role of a journalist who is trying to gather enough evidence to expose Nixon.
Each round is played like a political game of tug-of-war. Using their own unique deck of cards, players will attempt to maneuver evidence, momentum, and initiative onto their side of the board. Every card can be played for its value, how many spaces it can move specific items, or as its action. This gives players flexibility with their strategy, but they must also beware because using some actions removes the card entirely from the game. Each side will have to weigh when is the best time to burn a card for its action and when do they need to focus more on more straightforward movement.
At the end of each round, players get to keep what is on their side of the board. The initiative token determines who plays first the next round and how many cards each player gets to draw for the next round (5 four the player with initiative, 4 for the other player). The momentum token will unlock one-time bonuses for the journalist. However, five momentum tokens will win the game for Nixon. Nixon also wins if there are no more momentum tokens available to add to the board.
Finally, the evidence pieces will be placed on the evidence board, a web of spaces working their way out from Nixon to a ring of potential informants. Starting with whatever player has initiative, players will put their earned evidence on a space matching their evidence’s color. The journalist is hoping to create a chain of evidence that connects two informants directly to Nixon. If the journalist can achieve that goal, they win. Nixon will place his evidence facedown, creating roadblocks and deadends for the chains of evidence. Think of this aspect of Watergate as a more complex version of tic-tac-toe or Connect Four.
Watergate is a strategy game which will have players racing on multiple fronts as the pressure builds. Can you achieve your goals without burning out too quickly or leaving too many gaps open for your opponent to get through?
Chaos’ Pre-Clash Thoughts:
A game focused on a moment in history where the big cheese got exposed and had to step away from power. As the current C&C Clash Champion, I hope this isn’t a bad omen for my current reign. I know there is a lot to juggle when playing Watergate, so hopefully like with my real life juggling skills, I’ll be able to keep all my balls in the air long enough to find a path to victory. Let me wrap up by saying: I am not a crook, but I am a champ!
Confetti’s Pre-Clash Thoughts:
I bought Watergate for Chaos during the pandemic, but it turns out I really have a knack for it. I’ve won the majority of times we’ve played, so I’m hoping that I can carry this past momentum into a victory this week.
Game 1 –
It was decided that it would be most fair to randomly assign who played as Nixon and who played as the journalist. For the first game, Confetti would suit up as Nixon and Chaos would fight for truth as the journalist.
Early in the game, both players clashed slightly, but mostly aimed for different goals. Chaos grabbed evidence tokens and happily built mostly complete evidence chains to Nixon. Confetti mostly chased the momentum token and was able to secure it several times.
By late game, they both had to shift to being a little more defensive. Confetti tried to block some routes, but Chaos had a few clear paths to victory as long as he could get his informants on the board. Meanwhile, Chaos also had to wrestle the momentum token away from Confetti.
In the end, the evidence didn’t come together fast enough for Chaos and Confetti gained her fifth momentum token along with the win.
Game 1 Winner: Confetti
Game 2 –
Through a random drawing, Confetti played as Nixon again and Chaos tried to wield the power of journalism.
With more experience under their belts, Chaos and Confetti tried to change up their play styles slightly. Chaos went into full-on assault mode. He started burning his one-time use cards left and right in order to gain early advantage on evidence gathering. Meanwhile, Confetti stayed true to aiming for the momentum token, but also did her best to hold onto initiative (she started with initiative all but two rounds of the game). Confetti also let Chaos grab a lot of evidence while making sure to scoop up a piece here and there.
Plans started to deteriorate quickly for Chaos as his deck started to sputter out a bit. Confetti continued to gain momentum while throwing up roadblocks for Chaos’ evidence chains. Progress slowed down enough that Chaos couldn’t work his way around the blocks and Confetti eventually grabbed her last momentum token.
Game 2 Winner: Confetti
Game 3 –
Despite the championship already being determined for the week, Chaos opted to get in one last game of Watergate. This time, he had the honor of playing Nixon.
With their roles reversed, both players had to adjust to new strategies while trying to build off what they had seen the other do previously.
Confetti soon faced the tough balancing act of trying to get enough evidence while not allowing momentum to fall into Nixon’s (Chaos’) hands too often. While she gathered quite a bit of evidence, she was having trouble making the connections she needed.
Chaos slowly gathered momentum and inched his way toward a win. To ensure his victory, he threw up a few blocks on the evidence board and also did everything he could to remove potentially helpful evidence tokens from play, returning them to the bag. Chaos’ wasn’t making quick progress on his momentum gathering, but he hoped to play the long game.
The final win came in as a photo finish. Confetti prevented Chaos from getting his fifth momentum token and grabbed two yellow evidence tokens she could use to finish her second chain. However, Chaos got ahold of one more piece of evidence and, just as importantly, he also took a hold of the initiative token. That meant he got to place his evidence down first. The one token was all he needed to block out Confetti’s chain and render her unable to establish victory.
With no more momentum tokens available, the Nixon Administration ran out the clock and claimed victory by reaching the end of his term still in office! It wasn’t the most dominant victory, but it was still a win.
Game 3 Winner: Chaos
Your Winner and NEW C&C Clash Champion: Confetti!
Chaos’ Post-Clash Thoughts:
Welp… I guess I am not a crook or a champ. Confetti played well, but I think I also have to blame my habit for tunnel vision somewhat. There were definitely times when shaking up my strategy might have worked better, but sometimes I focus on one aspect of the game too much or start to panic about giving up one token when I should have shifted to grabbing another. Too often I let myself get into the danger zone with momentum and then it was all about managing that one fire while everything else burned. I suppose I should seriously reconsider my potential bid for the presidency in 2024.
Confetti’s Post-Clash Thoughts:
I came so close to shutting Chaos out of all three games! One day I’ll pull off a shutout. I’m excited that I won, although I know Chaos is already plotting on how to beat me next week.
New Standings:
Post-Clash Standings:
- Weekly Winner: 9 Chaos – 9 Confetti
- Individual game wins: 27 Chaos – 24 Confetti
Next Week:
Prepare to marvel at the united power of Marvel United and Marvel United: X-Men! Chaos and Confetti will bust out the recently delivered Marvel United: X-Men expansions that allow for player vs. player action. It’s a battle over who can be the best hero. It’s going to be a super good time!
Chaos & Confetti 