Our game of Tichu got underway without any real fuss (if you don't include the rearranging of chairs around the collapsible card table) since we all knew the rules. Martin got off to a flier, completing two Tichus while Joe failed his, which meant after two rounds the score was 335 to - 35. A healthy lead for Martin and Ian.
But there's no such thing as a healthy lead in Tichu and after two wins for Joe and I and a failed Tichu by Ian, the scores at the end of round four were 250 to 250. Amazing. With Azul coming to an end, we played one more hand as a decider. Martin called Tichu and failed, but he and Ian scored so many points for cards that most of the loss was erased. Most, but not all.
Joe & Andrew 260
Ian and Martin 240
On the big table, Chris was getting a rules explanation of Azul. It's a simple enough game and it seemed he got the hang of it quickly since Katy tried really hard to not be patronising when she told him that he was doing very well for a first-timer.
Katy emphasises her pig-tails which will, apparently, soon be gone.
At the end of the game, where they exhausted the supply of tiles, Katy played a spoiling tactic against Sam which was so blatant that she felt the need to apologise. While laughing, admittedly, but an apology nevertheless.
Katy 91
Sam 74
Chris 71
Matt 46
At this point, we were all between games, so there was a little bout of discussion. Katy was pitching for Lords Of Vegas, but no one was keen. Sam got four for Whistle Stop (himself, Ian, Chris and Matt) and the rest of us agreed to my suggestion of Hab & Gut.
It's been a while since it has been seen at a GNN night and Katy needed a full rules explanation. In the game itself, coal shot up in price and stayed there, firmly lodged against the top of the exchange rate for all of the second half of the game making it effectively worthless to us, having sold all our coal shares thinking it wouldn't get much higher.
Katy struggled with the rule about giving to charity. She thought she'd given enough at the end of the first round, only to find she was 200 Marks behind everyone else.
Martin kept buying shares I wanted, meaning I often ended up taking less than the optimal three and having to make do with Martin's leftovers. Plus, it meant any decision that helped me, helped Martin too. A terrible situation.
Martin 1205
Joe 875
Andrew 775
Katy OUT! Not pious enough! (but had 840)
Whistle Stop was still under way so we banged out a quick Potato Man. The most notable event was round three when all the cards were played and the scores fell in such a way that we were all tied on fourteen points. All except Katy, who had ten. The fourth round proved to be the decider.
Andrew 18
Joe 16
Martin 16
Katy 13
I'm afraid I know little about the shenanigans in Whistle Stop, but long after the scores were totted up and noted, I got an email from Chris saying they'd forgotten a rule in the latter stages that meant Sam should've scored an extra twenty points, thus his slim victory was invalid. This kind of honesty is worth thirty points in my opinion! But thirty points in life. Not in Whistle Stop. So Sam's victory stands.
Sam 130
Chris 115
Matt 111
Ian 94
With evening having firmly drawn in, we ended with a rousing and odds-defying game of Dead Man's Chest. It was Chris's first game and sadly, despite all our experience, a swift and effective rules explanation of this simple game eludes us. It is a grim truth that anyone's first game of Dead Man's Chest is a learning game.
And what lessons it taught us all! I got an early Dead Man and knocked a gem off Joe. Then the players started to be eliminated.
Katy, out when Martin challenged her bet
Chris, out when he challenged by accident by opening the box
Martin, out when I roll Dead Man and call 3-3. Joe passed it on saying 4-4. Martin challenged.
Matt, out when Sam called 3-3. Matt challenged. Another Dead Man!
Ian out when Joe shook the box, looked, shook again and then bid Dead Man. Ian challenged. It was Dead Man! Amazing!
Joe out when he challenged my bid of 1-1.
Andrew out when Sam bid 3-3. I sensed a bluff, since 3-3 had become the preferred bid if you roll Dead Man so I challenged. It was 5-5.
Sam wins!
What an astonishing end to the evening. Isn’t it great to have a hobby where this kind of thing happens all the time.
I'm very much enjoying the Tichu renaissance, and it was lovely to play Hab & Gut and Potato Man after too long an absence. Dead Man's Chest had me crying with laughter and you can't do better than that.
ReplyDeleteThat's very honest of Chris. I had forgotten that we should have had three face-up tiles to choose from (or the face-down stack). I've played it three times already with that rule, so not sure why it slipped my mind!
ReplyDeleteI do like Whistle Stop though. Maybe it's best with three (though it was good as a head-to-head with Adam as well).
I think Azul is a classic, even though I hated Katy's dark heart because of it.
I liked Whistle Stop but I wasn't enamoured with the down time between turns. However, I noticed that Sam was quicker on his goes with some games under his belt so maybe the optimal moves appear quick after a few plays.
ReplyDeleteIt had me thinking about it this morning hence why I reread the rules. I thought that it was a weakness for a victory to be snatched away by an unlucky last draw, which as it turned out, you don't need to make.
That, and Sam's forgotten rule above, would tip the balance into it being a nice game that I'd happily play again....
It was a very fine evening. I love playing card games at the moment - Tichu and Potato Man were just my speed. Great to play Hab & Gut again also - the church donations are a horribly brilliant invention.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dead Man's Chest - what can I say? Always great to see Martin completely lose his shit (in a good way) when probabilities misbehave :)
Thanks all for coming, and Andrew for yet another splendid write-up.