Our friends Henry and Rachel are with
us for the bank holiday, and as is traditional, games will be played.
Henry and I played a fair few games of Twilight Struggle back at
Easter, and Henry had texted his intention to "get some Twi-lit
Strugggling in" before their arrival this time.
H & R and their three daughters got to us at five, and after we'd caught up properly (including a tour
of the games cupboard) and eaten some food, it was nine o'clock.
Undeterred, Cahrlotte was keen (yes, that's right - Charlotte -
keen!) to introduce 10 Days in Europe. So we played a couple of
games, which acted as the perfect warm-up to a main course of Lords
of Vegas.
We had played a few games of Lords back
at Easter, and it really worked for the four of us back then, but it
was getting late; I was concerned about the length of the game, and
suggested Skull & Roses. Cha poo-pooed the idea, and opted for
the two hour game over the fifteen minute bluff-fest. Once again, you
heard me right.
Rachel grabbed an early lead in Lords
of Vegas, and the rest of us spent most of the game trying to catch
her, without success. But it was fun trying - Henry's technique was
to gamble vast amounts in Rachels casinos, the net result being
handing her regular stipends of $20 million. Charlotte and I spent
valuable money re-rolling the dice in casinos we had stakes in, but
time and time again, the re-rolls came out exactly the same! In the
end, Rach raced away with a win, Henry and I were tied for
second-place, Charlotte close behind in third.
Lords of Vegas remains one of my all-time
faves - I'm determined to try it on some non-gamers, I think it would
be a great introduction to modern baordgames.
It was midnight now, and Charlotte and
Rachel bowed out gracefully; since Henry rightly pointed out that it
was too late to be learning rules, our only option seemed Twilight
Struggle. Even I was a little daunted by the prospect, but we figured
we'd set it up in the study, where it could remain undisturbed if we
needed to pause for sleep.
In the end, my aggressive stance as
USSR, coupled with some very lucky timing with Middle-East, Asia and
finally Europe scoring cards, meant that the game was over by the end
of turn three, with a decisive victory for the reds. We'd played for
less than an hour!
Twilight Struggle often gets cited as a
long game, but it only rruns long if no-one wins; if the players are
inexperienced or out of practice, it can be over very quickly
(usuaally with a victory for Russia - the US have to cling on until
the late war, when the tide turns in their favour).
More games will doubtless be played
today, and I'll provide another update this evening, just to show
that I'm not slipping, despite my no-show at the recent GNN
games-saturdays . . . JB
Whatever next? Sally drafts a Hansa Teutonica retheme?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very impressive turn of events chez Berger. Charlotte has played Lords of Vegas more than I have!
I almost suggested Biblios last night but after a weekend at Shambala, Sal was clearly knackered, and opted to fall asleep watching The Wire.