Pharoah killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est?

 For the first time in years, I was first to arrive at Joe’s. I sat in the kitchen, anticipating playing one of those short little games that I usually interrupt on my arrival. Martin, Ian and Laura came in almost simultaneously but instead of playing, we chatted. Joe anguished over his new speaker not connecting properly, and some of his distress centered around the fact that he shouldn’t be this distressed about it.

Adam H and Katy arrived and now we were all present we began.

Adam, Joe and Ian played Knizia's temple building game, Tajuto while Laura, Katy, Martin and I chose Noli. Despite worries that it might be too loud with Katy playing, we promised to keep the noise down. I assured Laura of its simplicity - "there are only three rules," I insisted.

I started well. In the first round I split my 9 coins into three piles of three and each one succeeded. That, it transpired, was the high watermark of my game. Katy and Martin both overtook me on towers and then Katy persuaded Laura to remove one of Martin's two boats instead of one of her three, insisting that Martin was the one to attack.

.Katy's plan (if it was a plan) worked better than she could've imagined as she won lots of cash in the next race and built the fourth and fifth parts of her tower. After that, it was a bit of a victory parade until the end.

Katy 6

Martin 3

Laura 1

Andrew 1

With Tajuto still midgame, we played a quick Harvest. This is another game of ruining other players' chances and there seemed to be a little meta gaming hangover from Noli as Katy received more than her fair share of negatives.

Martin 140

Andrew 110

Laura 50

Katy 40

As Tajuto wound to a close, we finished off a quick one-hand-only game of Sea Salt and Paper with the extension (a few extra cards) “Extra Salt.” It was brief and I was poised to win until Martin stole one of my octopuses.

Martin 8

Laura 6

Katy 5

Andrew 4

Then Tajuto ended and a close finish – the final placings decided only on the final turn.

Adam 8

Ian 7

Joe 4

Then there was a brief reshuffling of chairs and groups before we reformed as Joe, Laura, Ian and I playing Ra (Luxury Ra, of course) while Katy, Martin and Adam turned their back on opulence and played the sparse, clip-art themed Muscat.

Lots of pointing in Muscat

I don’t know anything about Muscat except for something to do with turning elephants in burning sticks.

Adam 42

Katy 18

Martin 17

As for Ra, just like Noli, I started quite well. I collected lots of Nile tiles and then cleverly used my God to pick up a lone Flood tile so that they’d score. I was pleased with myself until loads of Flood tiles came out in the first epoch. I could’ve kept that God tile for something rarer, like a Civ tile.

Then, in rounds two and three, Floods all but vanished. My niles shrivelled up and died. Everyone else went for monuments. Ian hung on to his 13-tile for about two-thirds of the game. Ian ended the game alone on the auction track, although the round was almost over and he filled up the track with tiles. But only one Ra tile would end the round and we were begging him to stop. Which he did, and he scored ten points from just those tiles.

Turns out he should’ve kept going after all

Joe 40

Ian 36

Laura 31

Andrew 30

Joe maintains his vice-like grip on this game.

And then Me, Katy and Adam left. The rest stayed for what might have been a round of So Clover but who knows.

Thanks for the evening, everyone. See you next Tuesday.

Mel Fiori

A bumper pack of gamers on Tuesday kicked off with Adam T and I facing off across the two 'islands' of BORD, the abstract viking punch-up game.

This plays over two seasons (summer and winter) but we ran out of time at the end of summer with Adam in a points lead. Martin, Ian and Gareth now here, we kicked off proper with Hot Lead, another Knizia of devilish properties. It reminded me of 6Nimmt in the all-choose, all-reveal pattern, and how hazarding others choices define your own, in part at least. 

It was a baptism of fire for Gareth and I, as we were both stung with negative points hauls:

Martin 67

Adam 61

Ian 53

Gareth and Sam 35 each

Still a quintet, we busted out my recently-returned copy of Cross Clues and scored a moderately bad 19/25, enough - or not enough - to make us attempt it again. I was stuck on Mars/King for ages until the word came to me unbidden: Apollo! And immediately Martin and Adam agreed it was Mars/King. Then they talked themselves out of it with two qualities my own brain lacks - knowledge, and logic. Still, we got 22/25 and were emboldened to go one more time (I forgot to take photos) this time with the presence of Mel assisting. It was a nearly-triumphant 24/25, and I wish I could remember any of the words/clues/funny moments but unfortunately it's been too long now, sorry. 

My notes say that Laura now arrived however, with Joe hot on her heels, and - although she didn't join the table - Sally returned as well, adding to the sense of a full house. We split into two groups, with Martin introducing Joe Laura and Gareth to Harvest, the multi-player Connect 4 with tornadoes. At the other end of the table, Adam thrashed the three of us at Photograph, and Ian and I fell foul of multiple over-exposures.

Adam T 28

Mel 15

Ian 12

Sam 6

Although it was pretty speedy, it wasn't as quick as Harvest. Martin beat the others 110-70 (each) in the first game, and they dealt a newly-arrived Katy in for the second. Laura cleaned up in this one:

Laura 160

Joe 90

Katy 70

Martin 60

Gareth 40 

With everyone now present who was going to be, we split into three - three! - groups across the table. Katy was keen to have a history-making (we suspect) GNN women-only game, and corralled Laura and Mel into Mille Fiori. Martin, Joe and Gareth set up KuZOOka leaving the remaining three of us just enough table space for Babylonia. Good times!

With two Knizias and a non-quarterbacking minimal-comms co-op on the table, Martin rhapsodized at length, almost as though his long-term scheme had finally come to fruition and he could move on to the next group enjoying some heads-down individual player boards somewhere in the south-west. But hopefully he'll stay - they triumphed at Kuzooka on the final round just as we finished not only a tense and tight Babylonia (Adam 155, Sam 152, Ian 151) but a dastardly chaser in Harvest, which Adam won again. Who invited this guy?

We packed away our games whilst also attending to the drama playing out on Mille Fiori, where debutant Mel was having the debut from heaven, a fact which Laura and Katy both tried to take credit for by being good teachers. Possibly true, but either way it was a spectacular score!

Mel 323

Katy 257

Laura 236

Incredible stuff.

However, that was the headliners done with and we lost some players to fatigue, with Joe, Adam and Mel retiring and leaving the rest of us to crack out a couple of attempts at So Clover. Our first attempt was very impressive, too, as we scored 34/36. Sadly I took no photos of our clovers and time hasn't been kind to my memory for the last decade or two, and especially since Tuesday. But it was a triumphant finale.

Or was it? As Laura and Ian headed for their respective beds, a brightly awake Katy cajoled us into the second game and this time we were rather less triumphant, scoring just 16/24 and prompting an unusually mournful tone from Martin about staying after the bell has rung. 

*

Somewhere in the midst of all this I think we played Strike twice as well. I won one of them, and Martin the other. I think?