Christmascon!

Yes, it's the GNN celebration that sounds vaguely punitive.

The day began at my (Sam's house) relatively early: 10am to be precise, when Stanley's friend and Stanley's friend's dad arrived to play Scythe. This is not exactly a gateway game for 9-year-olds, but Stan was keen and everyone else was amenable. All the bits and pieces make it look pretty exciting too - mechs! eagles! planks of wood! We went on slightly longer than planned, but did finish the game. Stan looked like he had things sewn up when he went for a sod-popularity route, ignoring public opinion to bash down his stars as quickly as possible. But two fights went against him when he guessed that opponents would play low, and they didn't. Instead, competitive dad (me) beat him into second place.

As the newbies departed still looking reasonably sane, we chucked some egg sandwiches down our throats and prepared for the arrival of the GNN masses. Just like Field of Dreams, if you clear the table, they will come. First in was Big Joe, who had brought Captain Sonar! Then there was a flurry of gamers; Ben, Matt, and Hannah. Talk began of playing Captain Sonar, but the first game out of the box was Tumbling' Dice. Joe allowed Ben, Matt and Stanley a warm-up, which they all took with impressive unity:

While they then embarked on a tumbling' tussle, Hannah and I had a couple of games of Hounded. This was a birthday present to Stan and I really enjoy it: it's a two-player where one side simply has to avoid capture (the fox) and the other has to somehow surround the very manoeuvrable fox and trap it. I caught Hannah as the hunter then we swapped sides. Hannah discovered that the hunter's side requires a bit more thought, as opposed to the fox who simply gambols about, giving two fingers to the various dogs unable to catch him. The second game went on for a while, but eventually I had to gamble on flipping the final time tile (all three flipped wins the fox the game)  and I gambled wrong. Hannah had me cornered and closed in for the kill.

By the time that had ended, Tumbling' Dice had too, with Stan claiming a convincing debut win:

Stan 132
Joe 78
Ben 60
Matt 50

And the same gang had also managed to bash out a game of Mamma Mia:

Ben 5
Matt 5
Joe 3
Adam 3
Stan 3

And Adam and Arthur had also arrived. They were followed by Katy, and then Jon, as the house began to fill up! With nine of us now present, but one person required to keep Arthur company, the time had finally arrived: Captain Sonar! I almost expected Joe to pull off his normal clothes and reveal a special CS vest underneath. But he didn't. He set up and went through the rules, then we had a few moments to digest them as Chris, Jacquie, Ashton and Ava-Rose paid us a flying visit, generously dropping off a birthday present for Stan en route home. We had a flying catch-up, then it was down to the business of trying to kill each other.

Katy and Hannah took the role of opposing captains whilst Jon and Joe the engineers. Ben and Matt were first mates and Stanley and I the radiographers. Or something. Our job was to record what the opposing captains said, whilst our own dictated the direction we took. The Engineer kept track of various systems and told the Captain when she could fire a torpedo or drop a mine. And the first mate did something else, which I never totally picked up on.

I enjoyed being the guy-who-listens; it seemed less stressful to me than what the others were going through, which was a lot of people talking at the same time. As long as I listened to Hannah I could ignore pretty much everything else. We located their sub and blew them up for the win.

Then we changed teams and Stanley was now captain along with myself, Joe and Jon. Hannah stepped out so Adam could play along with Ben, Katy and Matt. This time the game was short and sharp - they located us and scored two direct hits before we even knew where they were!

Their followed a break for pizza, during which time Andrew arrived from work. The world was now our oyster with everyone present...

(screen goes wobbly signifying change of narrator)

When I arrived, the table was groaning under the weight of co-op pizzas and chip shop chips. Anja and Steve and Luther were there are the table too. During the meal, Stanley tried to drum up support for a third game of Captain Sonar, but to little success. Instead we split into two groups. Joe persuaded four to join him in a game of Adrenalin, winning people over by calling it “super fun”.

The rest of us went for Jamaica, but just before we began, Steve was called away so the rest of us played a game of Micro Robots on top of the game of Jamaica that was already set up to play. Decadence!

Stanley 5
Sam 3
Andrew 1
Jon 1

Then when we were ready to play Stanley was distracted by the lure of Seinfeld, no, Star Wars, no, PS3, so he set up camp in the front room for the rest of the evening.

Jamaica was fun, although both Jon and Steve were undone by a misunderstanding of the rules. Steve repeatedly so. For the most part, Steve sailed around the starting line, picking up gold. Unfortunately he hen tried moving, couldn’t pay for his space and ended up visiting the same “pay 5 gold” space twice.

Jon’s mistake was to take me on in battle, not knowing that I could decide how many cannons to use after he’d attacked and then he was surprised to discover that defenders could take from attackers if they won. But, as we explained, “that’s piracy for you!”

Meanwhile, everyone was else seemed to be very good at landing on treasures while I had none. And no money. My only hope was to end the game before anyone had a chance to amass a fortune, so I sped off to the finishing line and ended the game.

Andrew 13
Sam 9
Steve 6
Jon –8

Meanwhile, Adrenalin was apparently a board game version of a first person shooter. Adam found himself picked on (I can’t imagine why) and Matt impressed everyone with a move near the end of the game: he dragged Joe from apparent safety into range and then leapt into a neighbouring room, grabbed a flamethrower and used it to deal damage to everyone else on the board. Katy won by killing Adam.

Adrenalin, just before Matt causes havoc

Katy 40
Joe 38
Matt 37
Ben 24
Adam 21

Adam takes out his frustration on a 

chocolate Santa

Ben said that he was bad at real (ie, videogame, not REAL real) first-person shooters and he wasn’t surprised to learn he was bad at board-game versions too. He also said that he should be getting back since his girlfriend had only just got back from abroad. We said he should invite her along. He explained he already had. We dropped the subject.

Since we had all ended at the same time, there was a quick reshuffling of groups and the new line-ups looked like: Jon, Steve, Hannah and Katy played Broom Service and me, Sam, Anja, Joe and Matt chose Fool’s Gold.

Joe impressed us all with a high-quality dice-cup. Tall and lithe, it was a million miles away from Stone Age’s stinky receptacle. But, being so tall, it’s distribution of dice was too wide across the table and Joe put it away saying it needed a dice tray.

Joe's new dice cup

In the game, people kept getting in my way, especially Joe who ruined the mountain twice for me (and him, too) by drawing a Foul Weather card when we only had two cards to draw in the first place.

The other feature of the game was how often our player shields fell down. Whenever they did, I found it very entertaining to say “hellooo!”

Sam 30
Joe 23
Matt 21
Andrew 19
Anja 18

Once we’d finished, there was another reshuffle. Broom Service showed no sign of ending so we played a quick game of For Sale.

Doesn't look like a winning hand to me.

I was right.

Adam 59
Joe 51
Matt 49
Anja 49
Andrew 43

Finally Broom Service ended...

Jon 80
Katy 71
Hannah 65
Steve 58

... and we divided up again. Anja was keen on a big game, and so she, I and Adam got out Viticulture. Since I was now in the front room, away from the bustle of the kitchen, my notes get a bit confusing here, but I think there was a game of Junk Art at this time.

Matt 12
Sam 12
Joe 4

Then, just before we got going on Viticulture, we all got together for the GNN Quiz of the Year, hosted by Sam. There were categories like “games designers” and “player performances” (I think) which tested our knowledge of games in general and also events of 2016 at GNN towers.

With the most regular attendees me, Katy and Joe, nominated as captains, we split into three teams and it ended very close.

Katy, Steve, Adam 20
Andrew, Jon, Hannah 20
Joe, Anja, Matt 19

After this, it was 10.15 and we had to get cracking on Viticulture. In the main room, Katy took up photography duties so we have evidence of a game of Super Vampires...

Sam 9
Steve 7
Hannah 3

And Karuba...

Jon 23
Katy 20
Matt 19
Joe 19

As well as this mid-game shot of Viticulture.

Later, I went to check on progress in the kitchen and found a game of World’s Fair

Sam 76
Steve 70
Hannah 58

And a non-used half of the table, while people stood around talking!

Like... wut?

Sanity was restored in a short while with a game of Igloo Pop on one half of the table, and Escape From Aliens In Outer Space on the other half.

Igloo Pop

Sam 22
Hannah 10
Steve 10

The results of Escape From Aliens In Outer Space were, according to my notes:

Katy wins!!
Joe came second and went to get a Coke.
Matt died (by Katy)

Finally, Viticulture ended, thanks to Adam’s efficiency. I doubt it was on purpose, but he played a game using tactics that were the opposite of what we suggested to Anja. Adam said selling a field was a good idea, because you don’t need three fields. Then he used all three fields. I said it was a waste to sell grapes straight from the crush pads, and later Adam did just that. He’s so contrary, that boy.

The margin of victory was pretty immense and I only did as well as I did by using up all my point-scoring visitor cards once I saw that Adam was about to win. If the game had continued, I’d have been hard pushed to score any more points for ages. Anja came last, but said she enjoyed it. Adam really seemed to like it, though. Of course he did.

Adam 22
Andrew 13
Anja 9

And with that, the year was over. There’s no division for this evening and there won’t be the usual big end-of-year statistics run-down that I've done in the past, but there is the little matter of the division for 2016.

Well done Katy and Adam. Well done everyone. Big thanks to Sam for hosting and feeding us all. A marvelous end to a splendid year (GNN-wise, that is.) See you in 2017!

The One Thousand Story Building

Games, eh? Remember when they used to be popular? Four of us do. Me, Sam, Ian and Chris arrived at Sam’s for our weekly fix of board games. Where was everyone else? Some had gigs, others had babies and maybe the rest had just seen the weather forecast. Whatever the reason, it was a sparse night.

And so Sam invited his two sons down to help get the evening off to a lively start. Chris hadn’t arrived yet, so the five of us sat down for a typically boisterous game of Midnight Party. No chance of waking the kids here: they were making the most noise!

Strangely, despite Ian starting with both his pieces next to Stanley’s, he was caught first in round one, while Stanley scored minus points to claim an early lead. However, luck never lasts long and it was Sam’s clever (if dull) strategy of popping in and out of the same rooms that kept him safest for most of the game.

Sam 10
Joe 28
Andrew 29
Stanley 37
Ian 56

After this, the boys were sent to bed while we played Igloo Pop. We dove straight in, without any practice, so I guessing, especially at the start. Guessing quite well, even if I do say so myself.

Andrew 13
Ian 7
Sam 6

By now Chris was here and we decided on giving The Tales of the Arabian Knights another airing. This game has recently got into Sam’s good books by enticing an increasingly apathetic son back into board games.

It was new to Chris, so there was a little explanation of the rules. But it’s mostly a game that you can pick up as you go along. The four of us set off and, like before, Sam’s early game was beset by bad luck. He was sold into slavery before the game even begun and before long he was wounded, ensorcelled and sex-changed.

My game could best be described as “an eventful holiday”. I got in trouble with the local police, and sort of dawdled around Northern Europe, ending up pious and outlawed. Ian started off with an apparent plan to be evil when he abducted a destitute sage. However, the story took a happy turn when Ian taught the sage so well that he mastered a skill.

Chris spent most of the game being envious, and trying to steal any treasure he happened to come across. The moral to this story is that greed and selfishness, if nothing else, get you what you want. Chris ended the game the richest.

Chris 21
Andrew 18
Ian 17
Sam 16

We decided to end the game at nine thirty rather than let it continue to its ending, since it was getting late. We filled the last hour or so with lots of fun and jollity.

We began with Spyfall. Katy’s classic “What’s the atmosphere like?” question was almost replaced by “What’s it smell like?” but we are too canny to keep returning to one question. We were probing, yet cagey. Insightful, yet vague to the point of confusion. We played four rounds. I was the spy twice and guessed the location both times. Ian was spy and got caught. Chris was spy and guessed the location wrong, although he was close: he said Space Station and it was the Polar Station.

Next we played Raj. A lovely card game where you usually end up wishing you didn’t know the people you were playing against as the rules seem to encourage a sort of telepathic cock-blocking whenever you see a tile you want.

The rule of drawn cards cancelling each other out meant that Ian picked up a 7 tile when Sam, Chris and I all played 15s. And Sam got an 8 tile when Chris and Ian played 15s, Sam played a 2 and I played a 1.

Despite this, I did well. I paid attention to when the 15s had been played and I won the first and third rounds to give myself a less-fraught-than-usual win.

Andrew 76
Sam 63
Ian 32
Chris 19

Then Sam suggested Team Push It, perhaps forgetting that there were only four of us this week. Instead we played individual Push It. Sam and I started well, with Chris not scoring at all. Then Ian cancelled out his lone point by sending the jack off the table.

Then Chris started scoring points. One after the other. He stormed past Sam and was hot on my heels. At this point, I was mocked for a bit of gamesmanship. In one round, I had the last go, and my lone puck was already the nearest to the jack. Rather than risk ruining that just for an extra point, I weakly flicked my second puck harmlessly away, prompting cat-calls and boos from Sam and Chris. Ian said it was a good move, though.

Andrew 7
Chris 6
Sam 3
Ian 2

With that, Ian and I called it a night. Sam and Chris tried out Cartography: a two-player game that Sam had got for Chris on his birthday. I watched for a bit, and left them to explore it’s Go-like depths.

I set off into a misty drizzle that turned into an icy downpour. Thank goodness I had decent waterproofs on.

On the Division, with Martin unlikely to attend with his new baby to attend to, it’s all about the chasing pack. Unfortunately Ian did an excellent impersonation of Arsenal this evening, losing vital opportunities to reduce the gap at the top. Meanwhile, my twelve point haul sees me jump from sixth to third.

Don't go Dirk!

Tuesday. Games. Joe's. Seven gamers attended: Joe, Martin, Andy, Matt, Ian, Katy, and myself. When I arrived, people were discussing a new game, Kobayakawa. This is a painfully simple betting game, whereby players bet on whether they have the highest card. The twist being that in the middle of the table whose total is added to the score of the lowest card. On your turn you can do nothing, change your card or change the card in the middle of the table. Very interesting. It plays up to six, but we couldn't think of a reason why seven couldn't play. Until we tried it. If seven play, then there's a good chance that all the cards are used. As such, whoever has the winning hand knows if they've won, and those that don't know that they've lost. We decided to stop playing and split into two groups.

Joe, Martin, Katy and Ian chose Members Only, a game making its GNN debut. It was all about recreating the refined atmosphere of a gentleman's club and their propensity for betting on various things, like hats and cups of tea.

Matt, Andy and I also played a new game: Empire Engine, a small game of few options, but a clever way of choosing those options. To choose an option you have to rotate your cards. It's simple to understand, but hard to explain succinctly.

Matt 15
Andy 13
Andrew 11

Then we played Port Royal, and Matt gave us a real lesson in how to play successfully. He doubled up on cash bonuses for 5+ cards, and it paid off handsomely.

Matt 13
Andy 6
Andrew 5

Since the gentlemans' club across the table were still knee deep in wagers about Big Ben, we continued our little run of short games, deciding to give Kobayakawa a try with three players. I enjoyed it. There's room for bluffing and a bit of manipulation, but mot so much that it gets bogged down in AP. I was in first until the last round, when both Andy and Matt were close enough behind me that I had to bet or I wouldn't win. I bet. I didn't win.

Matt 10
Andrew 6
Andy 3

Finally, the league of extraordinary (the swearing, that is) gentlemen finished. And as you would expect from a modern progressive society, this game of masculine conceits was won by a lady.

Katy 31
Joe 21
Martin 20
Ian 14

Now we were all together as a band of seven. After a little discussion, Igloo Pop was chosen, while Joe and Martin decided to try Patchwork, the rough and tough game of quilting.

I described the rules, while Andy said it seemed a lot like a game he'd sold once. We shook our igloos, we guffawed at our guesses and then were amazed by the result: Andy's first win of the season. Obviously, he'd sold that other game, not because he didn't like it, but because he'd become too expert in it.

Andy 22
Katy 19
Ian 13
Andrew 13
Matt 12

Meanwhile, Patchwork ended:

Martin 11
Joe 6

No idea what kind of game it is, but Katy did note that there wasn't much swearing.

Finally, the seven of us got together for a big old game of Incan Gold. And what a game it was. The first temple ended immediately after two rock falls. And with the laughs of incredulity still audible, the second temple was stuffed full of Zombie Ladies. Surely we'd be able to at least get through the door in the third temple.

And so we did, and the game played out as it should do. Matt demonstrated his expertise in getting out alone when there was an artifact to be had. At one point Martin, baffled as to what to do, decided to Go Dirk and chose randomly. This caused an outcry, as everyone beseeched him “Don't go Dirk!” It then caused a series of copycat threats as Joe and Ian also threatened to chose randomly. This caused Martin to reconsider. And then so did Joe. Only Ian was true to his word and, as it turned out, he left by himself, taking all the loot with him.

Additionally, Joe dazzled us all with his steely nerve in refusing to back out of a temple until he's hit the jackpot. What a shame his plans never panned out. Andy, though, took advantage of all the excitement on the other side of the table to sneak unnoticed to his second win of the evening/season.

Andy 26
Matt 22
Ian 22
Andrew 21
Martin 21
Katy 8
Joe 2

It was now 10.30. Andy and I called it a night, but the remaining five ploughed on, giving Kobayakawa another turn on the table. The results were:

Ian 11
Martin 8
Matt 6
Katie 3
Joe 0

On the division, Katy rebuilds her lead to over ten points again and, just to rub our noses in it, she takes the medal table too. Joe hangs on to Hannah steals Points Ratio from Joe.

Aisha

My first thought when I learned who was coming tonight was "We can play I'm the Boss!". This is not Sam's favourite game, but he wasn't in attendance tonight and there were six of us - the perfect number! 
It was only once we were all assembled; Andrew, Ian, Matt, Gonz, Martin and I, and I went to dig out the game, that I  remembered I'd loaned it to Sam on Sunday for set-dressing on Box Fresh, the board game sitcom he's currently shooting. Bah!

So we played Igloo Pop to warm up. This was new to Gonz and Matt, and it seems one's ears need time to attune - Ian had no such issues, presumably having used a Tibetan ear candle before his arrival in preparation.  

Ian 23
Joe/Martin 13
Andrew 12
Gonz 11
Matt 9

We then split in to two groups of three, and performed the obligatory 15 minute discussion about what to play, eventually arriving at Lords of Vegas and Manila, by way of Vikings anda brief flirtation with Mars, Red Planet. 

Andrew, Ian and Matt set up Manila, and Martin and I brought Gonz up to speed on Lords of Vegas. We had a custom dice-arena, poker chips and even proper Vegas-style dice for gambling; we were all set. 

Vegas as seen from the shores of Manila

Half an hour in, and I was absolutely dead in the Vegas dust. I often find with LoV, much like Settlers of Catan, one player is shut out early on, with no hope of catching up. Tonight this seemed to be my lot, as Gonz and Martin sped off up the scoreboard,and I languished at three points. It seemed to be a two-horse race, despite Martin's reassurance that the game has more swing than Sinatra at the Oasis. But two things happened that turned my game around. First Gonz reorganised a 6 point green casino on the strip, and after three re-rolls for conflicting bosses, I came out on top.

It was agony to watch, but the end-result was my first real showing on the board. And the second piece of luck was that my new shiny green casino paid out on the next three turns, or thereabouts. It was unbelievable, but I was suddenly back in the running. Coupled with this, Martin's game had stalled, after he painted several of his casinos a dodgy shade of pink, which resolutely failed to pay out. As soon as all the greens had come out, the game ended, which was frankly the perfect point of me, and after the strip paid out, we were tied for points, meaning money in hand was the tie-breaker. It was one of the highest scoring games I've played I think; and had I not wrestled control of that green casino, Gonz may have achieved the mythic insta-win of 70 points.

The amazing three-way tie.

Earlier in the game, when I had no chance of catching up, I'd counselled Gonz on the importance of holding onto some money at the end, as in my experience there was often a tie for points. That came back to bite me, as Gonz had a healthy stack of chips for the win, and I came second - I have never been happier to come second. It was an awesome, epic game, though had Lady Luck not shined on me in the second half it would have been an enervating 90 minutes that left me cursing the game. But that's Vegas, baby.

Meanwhile, Andrew had taught Ian and Matt Manila, and these were the scores - shaping up to be a good night for Ian:

Ian 122
Matt 97
Andrew 88

They moved on to TransEuropa, the sequel to TransFattyAcids, and these were the scores:

Andrew 2
Matt 7
Ian 8

The birth of the railways

Andrew, exhausted from his part in shooting Box Fresh, wandered off in to the night, and we remaining five had a quick game of Port Royal. Except we discovered that a five player game of Port Royal is not so quick. I think it took us about an hour. It was fun, as always, but my mind was still on Vegas; I was proudly standing in front of my huge 9 point emerald green casino, Danke Schoen by Wayne Newton ringing in my ears. When the music faded, Port Royal was over and Ian had his third comfortable win of the evening.

Ian 12
Martin 10
Gonz 9
Matt 8 (most money)
Joe 8

Everyone wandered off in to the night, and I settled down to consider a title for the blog. Yurt Cobain had come up in conversation last time we played Igloo Pop, in considering possible sequels to that game. It fits the bill particularly well I think, but if successful, the franchise could run and run: Tent Reznor? Marquee Mark? Caravan Morrison?

In the end I went for something a little more cryptic - there's a prize for the first person who can explain the relevance of word Aisha to the evening's proceedings.

Meanwhile, let's all raise a glass to a new name to top the form table: Ian's recent run of good form mean that he's the man of the moment right now.

						Points
Ian	1	3	1	2	1	8
Andrew	1	3	3	2	1	10
Martin	2	3	2	1	2	10
Sam	1	2	3	3	2	11
Gonz	3	1	4	1	3	12
Joe	5	2	2	3	1	13
Matt	4	2	2	5	2	15
Will	2	4	2	3	5	16
Anja	2	5	5	5	5	22
Steve	4	5	5	5	5	24

Snatch-22

Despite being only two days since the GNN weekend, Sam and I threw ourselves headlong into the board game maelstrom once again, this time at Joe’s house, not a cottage in a village. There were five of us: myself, Sam, Joe, Martin and Ian. And since five is considered perfect for a number of lengthy, strategic games we spent some time wondering what we should play. But instead, we went for several short games that really put the emphasis on fun.

First up was Abluxxen, a German trick-taking game which is based on you placing runs of a certain number (ie, four sixes) to ruin the chances of anyone else who put down a run of the same length but of a smaller value (ie, four threes). If you do this, they either take their cards back into their hands, or draw the same amount of new cards. The first to get rid of all the cards in their hands ends the round, and then scores are counted up.

Maybe it was beginner’s luck, or maybe it was because it seemed like a simple version of President, but I did well, scoring well in the first two rounds and doing enough to stay ahead in the third and final round.

However, modesty prevents me from describing the frequent (and often unintentional) double entendres caused by the terminology of the game. Stealing cards from an opponent was called a “snatch” which prompted all kinds of merriment that falls firmly in the “You Had To Be There” category.

Andrew 30
Martin 21
Ian 16
Sam 16
Joe 8

After this we perused the games cupboard. I vetoed Take It Easy, since I’d had quite a lot of that recently. We debated the ethics of playing 7 Wonders when Gonz wasn’t there to join in. In the end, Joe suggested Igloo Pop. I was doubtful at first, but once he explained it was a game about guessing how many items were in a tiny plastic igloo by shaking them, I was an instant convert.

Only one of these igloos has eight Eskimos in it, though

Each of us picked up an igloo, shook it next to our ear and (if we thought we knew how many were in it) we put the igloo on a card with the corresponding value on it, with our counter stuck in its door.

What was the right tactic? Quickly guessing so you can claim more igloos than the others, or take your time over each one. You’ll have fewer igloos, but feel more certain about your chances (perhaps). I went for option two, which seemed to work okay. Sam seemed confused about the nature of the game, referring to the Eskimos as "astronauts."

Martin 29
Andrew 21
Joe 17
Ian 16
Sam 14

After this we tried another new game: Port Royal. This one is a simple game of building up victory points by buying cards. But each time, you can reveal as many cards as you want (unless you go bust). More cards is better for you, but also better for your opponents, since they can buy whatever is left over from you.

It’s a simple mechanic, and it certainly had people invested in the actions of other players, yelling at them not to turn over another card in case they went bust and all of the cards on display would be discarded. First to 12 VPs triggers the end of the game.

Joe and Ian had an early lead, having completed an expedition (5 VPs each), but I kept buying victory points whenever I could afford them, and built up my points that way. And it worked. Sam never got started, having seen his early fortune cut in half by a tax inspector, and never managed to recover.

Andrew 13
Joe 11
Ian 9
Martin 9
Sam 4

Finally, with the big hand past ten and the little hand on four, we chose our last game. I suggested Skull and Roses, and was very happy to see it accepted. It’s been a while since this game of bluff (and very little else) was played, and it’s odd that such a perfect filler - or nightcap - should be so often overlooked. It was quickly explained to Ian and we were off. Turns out that Ian is something of a natural as he (and Joe, too) ruined Martin’s predictions with their skulls.

1. Joe
2. Andrew
3. Ian
4. Sam
5. Martin

On the form table, Gonz remains safe at the top of the pile while I climb to second. Sam is tonight’s big loser, dropping to the bottom of the table.

						Points
Gonz	1	3	1	1	3	9
Andrew	2	1	2	1	3	9
Joe	1	2	3	4	2	12
Martin	5	3	1	2	1	12
Matt	2	2	1	5	5	15
Ian	3	3	4	3	3	16
Will	2	4	2	3	5	16
Sam	4	4	5	3	4	20

But on the monthly division, Sam is top of the pile: his early good form is enough to carry him through today's drop in form. Plus, he (and I) have played more games than anyone else. But that’s life: play more, win more.