Saturday 29 March 2014

Back on the trail again

The last season may have only just ended but, unable to wait those few short days until April and realising that because we’re adults we don’t have to wait, it’s not like Christmas or anything, let’s bring next season forward. The invite went out and Gonz and I arrived at Sam’s.

I got there first, and discovered that Sam had already set up a game of Tinners’ Trail. He said he was happy to unset it up, but he thought tonight might be a good time for Gonz to have his first experience of Cornish tin and copper mining.

As we waited for Gonz, Sally came in and, seeing the boot-shaped peninsula, thought it was a game set in Italy. She walked over, all interested, until she recognised it. She exclaimed “Oh Jesus, Tinners’ Trail!” demonstrating that the scars hadn’t healed from last time.

Gonz arrived and agreed to give the game a try. First signs were good, as he rolled high numbers for the values of copper and tin. But his luck didn’t last. Throughout the game, he went for cheap mines in the unexplored north-west of the map. Each time it came back full of water with a little bit of tin in it.

I went for an odd strategy. I decided not to invest at all in the low-scoring first round, and try to get as much as I could in the last three rounds. By round three I decided to put my fate in the hands of lady luck: I got as much out of my mines as possible, and invested everything, ending the round with one pound, hoping that the prices of both commodities would collapse in the final round.

Unfortunately, tin remained valuable, so it didn’t work. And, besides, I think Sam was already ahead of me by then, anyway.

Sam 150
Andrew 134
Gonz 103

Gonz seemed underwhelmed by the game. He said it was a typical dry Eurogame. Ironic, considering how much water there was in his mines. Oh, how we laughed!


After this, we chose Quantum as our next game. We couldn’t find the sheet of paper that had the official maps on it, so we put one together. It seemed to do the trick. And now, with a better understanding of the rules, we set off into space. Woosh, we went. Kablam! We cried. Dice were rolled and put into battle. We picked up cards. Gonz was conformist and I was curious. Sam had two cards that helped him win battles. And helped him win the game.

1. Sam
2= Gonz
2= Andrew

After this we had a quick trip down memory lane with Timeline. I ended in first after a lucky guess about the invention of the rubber band.

1. Andrew
2= Sam
2= Gonz








Points
Sam2 11 55 14
Andrew1 22 55 15
Gonz2 23 55 17

1 comment:

  1. Ha ha, the oldest trick in the book! Well, it was good of Gonz to play a game I subsequently remembered he had witnessed us playing before and was distinctly underwhelmed by then. Now he's had his suspicions confirmed - but it remains a favourite for me. We talked afterwards about Gonz not liking it for the lack of tension you get in a game like a Agricola. Maybe that's why I like it so much... food for thought. Thanks chaps, see you at Wills on Tuesday.

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