Commanding presence

Tuesday evening rolled around with a diminished attendance this week. And a later start time. And an earlier finish time. But it still contained enough intrigue and strategies to send us off to bed happier.

We (Andy, Ian, Martin and me) began at 8 with a new game, Mapmaker. It seemed very appropriate that, with the election looming, we should be playing a game of area control with a first-past-the-post criteria for winning. The game is simple enough. Each player puts down four dividers such that they have the highest value within a particular area once it is completely surrounded and below a certain size. 

It was tricky to understand at first. Andy was in last (3, 3, 3, 1) in the closing stages, but had the vast majority of tiles in the remaining part of the board. Then he put down his four dividers to create three new regions, winning each one and finishing the game. Martin called it a "sneaky bastard of a move," with admiration in his voice.

Andy 4

Andrew, Martin, Ian 3

Next we passed over a couple of suggestions until we decided on The Crew. It was a bit daunting to return to Mission 38 (in the heliosphere, looking for planet X), and I flinched a bit when I saw the eight tasks we had to do, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, I suppose.

I didn't start well and my mistake led to mission failure on the very first hand. Then we suffered a similarly swift fate in attempt two before finally sailing to victory in our third attempt!

Mission 39 began well, as we all chose two tricks each of the same colour. This should be easy, observed Martin, optimistically. Unfortunately Ian was too eager to give a card before it was supposed to be taken. None of us noticed so we were all surprised when the “Fail” message appeared on screen. After a couple more turns, we got another perfect colour spilt, and this time we succeeded. By now, though, Ian was sick of always being the commander.

I don’t recall how many attempts we had at Mission 40, but I do remember Ian, when asked why he’d taken a Green 8 as a task when he told us his highest green was a six, admitted “Yeah, I panicked.” But we scraped past, with a little help from Martin who’d pretty much worked out where each card was by the closing stages. Ian chucked his green 6 and then in the penultimate hand, won the green 8 with a trump. Nicely done, and it’s onwards to mission 41, and I think Martin’s the only one to have been there for each one. There’s only 50 in the game. Is Martin’s trick-taking epic nearing its end?

Well, it was nearing the end for us this evening. We went our separate ways at about ten to ten. See you next week.

Snakes on a plan

This week I experienced the rare sight of an empty Discord server as, for a change, I was first to log in. Ian, Martin, Adam H and Katy joined me and we began a game of For Sale to entertain us until Andy B was expected in fifteen minutes or so.

Katy discovered that her newly mended internet (the one she has hand delivered by the postman every morning) didn't work at all. She played on her phone using 4G but she struggled with the tiny screen. "Is that a nine?" She asked before bidding. Despite all that hassle, she still didn't come last.

Martin 56

Andrew 52
Ian 51
Katy 46 (plus cash)
Adam 46

This result pushed my ELO rating for For Sale above 200 and for my efforts I got a slightly patronising message on-screen telling me I was a "good player".  Thanks BGA. I wonder if, should I drop below 200 some time later, I'll get another message telling me I'm a huge disappointment.

Katy left to solve her internet issues and Andy B did his usual performance of appearing and then disappearing before joining us for the evening. Six times this week.

We played 7 Wonders and Adam (whose ELO rating is above 200 and so must also be a "good player") went big on military and won.

Adam 59

Andy 56
Martin 53
Ian 43
Andrew 41

Katy, with internet fixed, came back during this game and said it was quite relaxing just being a spectator.  The six of us played Fuji Flush and enjoyed the short lived alliances and swift treacheries that this game encourages.

Andy won, while me and Martin were on their last card. Don't know about the other three.

Then Sam arrived and we split into two. Sam, Martin, Ian and Katy went off and played Decrypto. Adam, Andy and I tried out Alhambra, one of many old familiars now arriving on BGA in beta, ready to be playtested.

It worked well online, except it was a faff to scroll up and down to see what your opponents are doing.  I forgot any strategy I might have once known and came a distant last. 

Adam 156
Andy 125
Andrew 99

At this point I had to chop some vegetables for my girlfriend and when I came back, everyone was in the same Google Hangout, discussing what to play next. Everyone but Sam, that is, who must have decided to bail early.

I suspect that I was muted from this point on, since no one responded to anything I said. Then again, I didn't say anything worth responding to, so I couldn't say for sure.

First we chose Incan Gold as a fun party game we can all play together. But only if turning over cards illustrating deadly objects is your idea of fun. Martin (whose ELO in this game is zero) broke the habit of a lifetime and left the first temple early. It was to be the only points he scored all game. 

Round two was swift and brutal: spider, snake, snake. And then round three was cruel to anyone playing the odds of snakes being less likely to come out: 3 gems, snake, snake. Round four was only marginally nicer: rocks, spider, artefact,  rocks. Ian nabbed the artefact but it wasn't enough to overtake Andy who'd stayed in longest in round one and got 15 gems all to himself.

Andy 28
Ian 17
Adam 6
Andrew 4
Martin 3
Katy 2

"That was bullshit," declared Katy. And a few minutes later, she'd be insisting "This is bullshit," as we ended with 6nimmt. Katy crashed out early and then picked up a high scoring row, just so she'd go out in style. This unpredictable strategy appalled Martin who said it was "worse than going Dirk". 

Adam 65
Andy 56
Martin 49
Ian 22
Andrew 22
Katy -20

And so we were done. Another night older but certainly no wiser. Thanks all, see you next week.

Whose Thurn Is It Anyway?

Just like last week, I arrived late and caught the other gamers (Martin, Joe, Katy, Ian, Adam, Sam) in the middle of a fraught game of For Sale. In amongst all the complaining about their fate, Katy made the observation “I won’t tell you what my four lowest cards add up to, but it’s quite low,” to which Joe responded “Is it a single figure?” I guess Martin was really distracted because he didn’t point out that the four lowest cards can’t possibly add up to a single figure. Ian won, swooping in on the last round by picking up a 15 card with only a 21 bid.

Ian 54

Adam 49

Sam 47

Joe 44

Martin 39

Katy 21

Next we split into two groups. And, just like last week again, Joe, Adam and I joined up while the others went off and had fun somewhere else. There fun was called Mamma Mia, which Sam won.

Our fun was Thurn and Taxis, a game I wasn’t sure I’ve ever played but it looked familiar. Anyway, Adam gave a quick rules refresher and we were off! Well, Adam was off: picking up a province in his first turn. Joe and I did our best, but it was never to be. I lost a route when I couldn’t add to it. Joe, meanwhile, tried to tie up the entire central province in one long trail. Eventually he closed it with one city left because Adam sportingly told us he was about to end the game.

Adam 23

Joe 6

Andrew 3

Adam admitted to having played a lot against Steve and Anja. I’d like to play it again soon, before the rules slip away again.

In the other team, Mamma Mia had given way to American Bookshop. Katy won with 20 while the rest “collectively” got -10. Ian and Sam retired after this game, so Katy and Martin moseyed on over to our hangout to watch us finish off a quick game of Kingdomino. I don’t remember much about this game (and my notes are pretty illegible) but I do recall being amazed that I had the highest ELO points for this game. Before we started playing, that is.

Adam 64

Joe 59 (+ tiebreaker)

Andrew 59

Lastly as a five we had what is possibly the most exciting game of Texas Showdown I’ve played. After round one I was already in last, with four tricks. Then Katy had a run of bad luck: she kept choosing me to lead and then having to take the trick. She also had some connection problems that threatened the game. We asked who her provider was and discovered it was the Post Office. “No wonder it’s so slow,” we chorused, no doubt all imagining the postman delivering each download by hand.

Just after the start of round four, Joe and I were joint last with 8 tricks while Adam and Katy and Martin were joint first with 7. It was far too tense and the game went on for four or five more hands until one of us (Joe, I think) hit his 10th trick and triggered the end of the game.

Martin 7

Andrew 8

Katy 10

Joe 10

Adam 10

An excellent end to the evening. Well played all.

Crews Control

Arriving, as is usual by now, late I was able to listen to Adam, Andy, Ian, Martin, Joe and Katy curse their way through a jolly game of For Sale while I made myself supper. Bidding was a feisty affair with Katy observing halfway through the that surely no one had any money left. Except somehow they did.

Adam 49

Ian 44

Joe 43

Katy 41

Martin 37

Andy 36

With me joining the throng there was talk of the traditional blast through 7wonders but the shiny newness of Die Crew on Board Game Arena was too much temptation. All seven of us wanted to play so we set up two games. It was Adam's first experience of the game so Joe offered to host the three player game to ease him in. I, having experienced a bit of a meltdown last time I played was happy to join them "in the kiddie pool," as I called it, which Joe stoutly refuted as a fair description.

So while Joe, Adam and I still sat on the launch pad in mission one, Andy, Ian, Katy and Martin were already heading towards the heliosphere in mission 36. 

The earliest missions were, as you'd expect, pretty easy and Adam had no difficulty, notwithstanding a brief hitch with the launch needing two attempts. We got to mission 8 before deciding to play Ninety Nine for a change, assuming the other four would still be deep in space.

But they popped into our Hangout after only a couple of hands saying that space had outstayed its welcome after they struggled only as far as mission 38. This left us with a choice to curtail our game and join them or carry on. 

We decided to keep going, just for a few more hands, giving Joe the chance to come back after his poor opening left him 54-64-4 behind to two novices.

The others went to playing cards dot io and played Merchants of Dunhuang. I know nothing about this apart from Joe pronouncing the name as rudely as possible (Dung Wang).

Meanwhile, in 99 Joe won big on a hand and sped off into the lead. Meanwhile, Adam fell behind and tried to catch up by playing an open hand. While you might think showing everyone your cards makes for a hopeless situation, Joe and I struggled with the extra cognitive load of all that information. Adam didn't succeed in his plan, though.

We stopped after a prearranged six hands and decided on a quiet game of 7 Wonders because you don't have to play it with seven. Adam went big on war and blue buildings and strolled to a win.

Adam 56

Joe 46

Andrew 42

We decided that we didn't have the energy to rejoin our Dung Wanging friends, so bade them goodbye on Discord. We got similar messages in reply, so perhaps they were finishing off too. You might think that two games, one of which was unfinished, but I enjoyed the laid back nature of the evening. Cheers everyone.