Crowdbusting

I was hosting last night and Adam T arrived early enough that we squeezed in a quick 2-player in the form of Yokai Septet. I'd played this trick-taker before, but as a team game: the goal is to win four sevens from a deck of suits that vary in their number values. You can also lose if you win 13 tricks without winning four sevens... kinda nuts, but fun. I forgot to take photos though, so busy was I going from solid early-game promise to late-game collapse.

Adam wins
Sam doesn't

Martin knocked on the door first, and then was good enough to do greeting duties for the others - Ian, Katy - as we packed away. We debated options and decided on Klink while we waited for Adam H and Laura. 

Despite some pithy commentary from the table, I enjoy Klink. But maybe it's not best with five, as the passing-of-cards does outweigh the taking-of-cards and subsequent fun of joy/despair it entails. When Adam H rocked up we ended the game early, as Adam T picked up a mildly asterisked win. 

Adam T 18
Sam 26
Katy 36
Martin 56
Ian 61

Katy was keen on Trailblazers and between her and Adam H they were confident they could teach it to Adam T, whose Novocon nickname Big T has sadly not stuck. For a long-running club, we have a surprising dearth of nicknames outside of 'JB' and 'Space Cunt'. Meantime whilst I made tea or something Martin taught Ian the rules to the Fellowship of the Ring, and I joined them as we set out on Chapter 5, striking up a friendship with poet-irritant Tom Bombadil: left out of the movies, but back with a bang for the trick-taking. Inevitably - or perhaps thematically - I forgot to take pictures again, but here's Trailblazers. 

The road goes ever on and on and so my memories, thanks to subsequent games and a couple of glasses of whisky, are now murky over what happened with Tom. I think we initially failed and then triumphed, and triumphed again in Chapter 6. EDIT: Chapter 5. Go us! Meantime trails were being more aesthetically blazed at the other end of the table. 

Adam H definitely won - 81 points - but there was drama over who had came second. Katy demanded Martin and I adjudicate over some bonuses she'd gotten, but I didn't remember the game and Martin had never played it, so we couldn't assist. After the dust settled Katy claimed second with 73 points and Adam T was back on 68. EDIT: I remembered the exchange, but got the game wrong! This occurred over the scores of Fort, a bit later.

By this time, Laura has also arrived and she, Ian, Martin and I were bomb-busting, so they started playing Fort, the game of untrustworthy friendships.

In Bomb Busters we did rather well, even if I do say so my wirecutter-twirling self. After the next mission was successfully navigated, we even got to open a box! It contained some more fun stuff, and prompted a mission set to a 15 minute timer, which we initially rushed in a mad panic (actually in fairness, this was mostly me and Laura) before attempting a second time and pulling it off with over five minutes remaining!

Then Laura watched the first half of Cat Blues before going home. This is a set (or quartet) collecting game over three rounds, with the catch being the same cards you collect are used to bid, giving it a sort of lurching rhythm - and a lot of profanity. 

I took a narrow win in a very funny play, mainly because of Martin continuously ranting at my high bids. Ian was victim of the game's somewhat opaque decision space. 

Sam 31
Martin 26
Ian 8

I'm not sure what happened in Fort. It was a bit more sweary than Trailblazers though. Scores provided verbally by Katy:

Adam Fucking Hillmann 37
Big T 35
Katy 33

Maybe we do have another nickname after all. Laura had left by now, and Adam H was next to go. But with five of us remaining we moved on to our standard closer of So Clover. Initially Katy's clue of 'And' looked like another Just One moment, but when Big T spotted the words war and peace it came into focus. Adam T rescued my clover from doom when he spotted photo went with 'cheese'. Overall, a solid effort with just Katy's red herring denying us a perfect score. 

Another excellent night!