Chippencon 25

Chippencon - led by Chris, Stuart and Paul H - came around again this weekend just gone, with regular orbiting attendees myself and Paul J also present, along with sixth member and Chippencon newbie Joe. He and I were so excited we left Bristol ludicrously early on Friday and arrived in Axminster three hours before Paul J's scheduled train. That gave us time for coffee and and stroll, taking in both - both! - of Axminster's board game shops. They are admittedly limited in scope for us spoiled big city gamers, but still. Nice to see Root in the wild. Fortunately Paul J arrived on an earlier train, so we took in a waffle lunch at a local cafe then chanced our arm in heading for the venue, Eastcotte, despite being an hour before we were allowed to turn up. As we did, the rain battered down on us, and this deluge continued on our arrival. I was so bamboozled I couldn't even open the front door - Joe stepped in to save me - and it was too wet to be outside taking pictures. But inside was delightful.

The others were an hour away, having already played a couple of games at Chris' house: he took the win in Nunatak... (Chris 215, Stuart 212, Paul 175)

And claimed a second victory in Cosmic Run...

Chris 77

Stuart 55

Paul H 53

Now on the road, they were being subjected the same crazy rain we'd experienced earlier. Meantime at Eastcotte, after trying and failing to get the heating working, we played JamSumo. Or to be more precise, we played Jam, and then we played Sumo.

Joe pickled us at Jam:
Joe 2
Sam 9
Paul J 12

and then I floored them in Sumo
Sam 20
Paul 16
Joe 11

Then the others arrived! There was a lot of bag moving and coat-dripping and then all six of us - to various degrees of engagement and effect - tried to get the heating working again. Chris had a phone conversation with Cottages 4U and Paul J played with the thermostat. Between them - we don't know exactly how - the radiators came on. Stuart had to make a phone call, but we celebrated with a 5-player game of Jam, won by Paul H.

Paul H 7

Chris 15

Sam 19

Paul J 22

Joe 31

Stuart returned in the three-round finale, and we split into two groups of three. The Chippenham trio set up Wingspan whilst I talked Paul J and Joe through Square on Sale, the multi-player Othello-with-auctions. 

Joe completely hammered Paul J and I at this. Both of us were poised to have a last-minute brilliant, game-changing move, but The Berge ended things before we could implement them.

Joe 39

Sam 14

Paul J 11

Wingspan was ongoing, and when we asked how long they might be Stuart said "28 centimetres" but we subsequently realised he was reading a bird card. We began a game of Heckmeck in the meantime with all three of us busting on our first turns. After a rules clarification we were relieved to find that you cannot spend the entire game all busting (sixteen times in a row and then game would end in a spectacularly inept draw). 

We also squeezed in a game of Farm Hand as well. Paul won this (16) with Joe narrowly behind (15) and me bringing up an unimpressive rear (8), with apologies for phrasing. 

Wingspan ended with Chris accusing Paul H of being lucky:

Paul H 73

Stuart 67

Chris 62

Paul H went off to heat up his chilli and conversation broke out like a rash, continuing through dinner and even for a while afterwards, mainly about the ineptitude of places we've worked. "Thank God we didn't talk about my job" said Chris at the end, although whether that's because there is staggering ineptitude or none at all remained enigmatically unknown. We split into teams and played Decrypto. 

Our team spent much of the game foxed by pretty much everything, although Stuart twigged that their third word was 'spring'. We'd forgotten you need to ask for words to be spelled (we had one team member doing all our writing) so didn't realise that 'daily' was actually 'Daley', and missed the Olympic link. In contrast to our bafflement, Joe and co seemed to have no problem figuring out our words - they wrapped up a win with three and a half of our words decoded via their Enigma machine.

Joe Chris and Paul H - decrypto!

Stuart Sam and Paul J - disastro!

After all that intense brow-furrowing it was time for Ethnos to be the 'centaur of attention' as Chris phrased it. We attempted to come up with terrible puns on all of the races but, unless you count Chris' romantic history, ran out of ideas after 'good for your elf' - probably best. 

Joe sped off into an early lead and to be honest, all we managed was to fleetingly spy his score marker turning around far-distant corners: after round two, it was a pretty much a foregone conclusion and most of the drama was either Paul H and I fighting over second or Chris saying how he had fucked everything up. A fun pasting though, with not a hobbit in sight.

Joe 76

Sam 59

Paul H 58

Stuart 54

Paul J 42

Chris 30

It was pretty late but everyone felt they had another game in them. For Joe Stuart and Paul H it was Ra. For myself Chris and Paul J, it was Nunatak, the pyramid/set-collection game of icy dickishness. 

As I write now, memories are hazy but I do recall Paul and I cursing Chris's activity on the architect track, but despite our lamentations we did nothing about it and he duly won.

Chris 205

Sam and Paul J 175 each

It was a double whammy of not-explainer's-curse as Joe took a convincing victory in Ra

Joe 47

Paul H 24

Stuart 21

It was now well past midnight and we all headed to bed. 

Saturday

Joe and I were up first and comparing notes on our dreadful night's sleep, both harvesting a paltry four hours apiece. Next to join us were Chris and Paul H and we kicked off a day's gaming with Knizia's The Hobbit: There and Back Again. As we played. Stuart and Paul arrived and cracked into Fox in the Forest.

In chapter one, it's all about getting a dozen dwarves into Bag End - or seemed to be, anyway. As the game continued we all craved bread, as feeding the hungry dwarves with it has a habit of making them far more adventuresome and point-scory. Joe picked up the first-to-welcome bonuses for both Gandalf and Thorin, and this played a part in his convincing Best Hobbit act, as Chris became concerned about the weird patterns his paths were making. 

Joe 84

Sam 69

Paul H 58

Chris 'accidental swastika' 54

I missed the intense fox-based drama, but clearly Paul J took to the game:

Paul J 22

Stuart 8

There was now a ludological break as Chris made us all egg or egg+bacon butties and, post carb-load, we walked the ten minute walk to the rather beautiful beach. 

Looking back at the photos now, we were so rapt by the view we didn't notice two tiny people clambering over the pebbles below us.

Now there was a flurry of activity with Chris and Paul going on a milk run to Beer - the town, not a Freudian slip - and falling into a conversation about the war. Joe went for a swim (!) and the remaining trio set up - and played - Root. 

This was new to Paul and Stuart, but though I hadn't played in a few months my 50+ plays stood me in good stead for a reasonably unchaotic teach. Paul was the construction-focused Marquis, Stuart the expansionist Eyrie and I the insurgent Woodland Alliance. I bided my time, hoping to maximise the late-game opportunities as the other two went head to head, but my promise of 'explosive action' was less dynamite, more damp Christmas cracker. I did manage a belated surge, but Paul's steady building overcame Stuart's interference, and he policed my sympathy tokens rather too well for my insurrectionist likings. 

Paul 30

Sam 27

Stuart 26

Cracking game though; lovely to revisit. In the couple of hours we ate up, the others had congregated in the Edwardian dining room and bashed through a game of 7 Wonders...

...which Joe won, the others tying for second - and then a couple of plays of Dice Pool Party (not pictured) where the tired-yet-focused Berge established a new record (231 points) before Chris focused his energies to win the rematch. It was now time for lunch! Also not pictured, but feel free to close your eyes and imagine our long-established sea of meats, interrupted only by a bowl of salad and a boulder of cheese, like two islands in an ocean of slow-moving cardiac doom. Perhaps inspired by this, we were all convinced by Chris to play the modern Risk, Spheres of Influence. 

It's Risk-esque in the competing powers, world events and crazy amounts of dice-rolling. But it sidesteps the never-endingness and brings in some special cards and a brilliantly tense turn structure. Controlling oil-rich territories gives you more turns each round, and Joe found that his fetish for gas gave him a lot of early-game shenanigans, as the rest of us reflected on the fact you cannot recruit Merfolk from the sea. 

As things proceeded patterns emerged, with Chris v Paul H largely being stand-offs with occasional skirmishes, and Joe v Sam being a bit more gung-ho and dice-driven. In contrast Paul J and Stuart were mostly both unmolested, and unmolesting, until the sixth and final round when suddenly poor Joe found himself dealing not only with me but also Chris and Stuart. Chris took the win:

Chris 3 spheres of influence, 4 capitals

Stuart 3 spheres of influence, 3 capitals

Paul H 2 spheres of influence, 4 capitals

Sam 2 spheres of influence, 3 capitals

Paul J 2 spheres of influence, 2 capitals

Joe 1 sphere of influence, 1 capital

The highlight of the game for me was Paul J saying that the troops he lost in South Korea didn't really matter. "They don't say that in the War Room!" I said. I went for a lie down and they all played The Gang, and lost. I came back in time for the second game, but couldn't inspire them to a win. 

We split into trios again. Paul H was keen to try The Quest for El Dorado so Joe and I joined him for that, whilst Chris set up Babylonia for him, Stuart and Paul J. 

Quest was going well for me until those assholes Joe and Paul blocked my route for three turns running. I rallied, but there was no catching Joe, who not only won the game but won with every single barrier in his possession. It was a bit embarrassing for Paul H and I, and I didn't have the excuse of being new to it.

Joe - El for leather

Sam and Paul - El for learner

Chris picked up a Babylonia win (124) with Paul J coming in second (114) and Stuart third (80). There was now a lovely chicken dinner interlude, and I remembered to take a picture. 

Our digestif was two games of In Vino Morte (no pics) which Chris won one of and Joe the other. I died in the first round both times. With the dishes cleared away and everyone dead from drinking poison, it was time for the Saturday Evening Chunkers. Joe tempted the Pauls into the drinkin' and gamblin' of Western Legends, whilst Stuart and Chris reintroduced me to Terraforming Mars, which I last played about nine years ago. 

Mars was arid, but we set about growing trees and pouring seas into it. There were also microbes and animals knocking about, but mainly it's a matter of card synergies and managing economies. I enjoyed revisiting it: the turn-by-turn structure and shared board made it far more interesting than the 'faster' but interactionless Ares Expedition, and they had a 'Prelude' expansion which knocks a chunk off the playtime. I'm not sure what happened in the old West except Paul J was most wanted and Paul Harvey the top marshall. But it looked like crime paid, as Joe suffered some seriously dusty Explainer's Curse.

Paul J 34

Paul Harvey 29

Joe 13

We finished making Mars at the same time, with an extremely tight finish:

Chris 77

Sam 75

Stuart 74

We had time for some six-player silliness so plumped for Magical Athlete. 

This was demented as always and two of the most productive racers were the sluggish Sisyphus and Slowcoach. I was eaten by Chris's mouth and Joe's Leaptoad served him well - he used it twice and it was enough for a pretty convincing win:

Joe 14

Stuart 9

Paul J 8

Paul H 5

Chris 3

Sam 1 

Joe and I went off to our rooms at this point - it was gone midnight - but the others stayed up to play Blokus. They didn't take photos but I learned the next day that Chris was called a c**t six times. He didn't win though:

Paul H 5

Chris 8

Paul J 13

Stuart 25

Sunday began with rain outside and Joe attempting the cryptic crossword from Saturday's Guardian. The rest of us were allegedly helping him, but how much exactly was debatable. It got nearly-finished later in the day, with a little online synonym-searching. After that and breakfast, we skipped past any gaming starters and went straight for some biggies: Joe and I walked Paul J through Railways of the World, whilst the others played the marginally-more gory Kemet: Blood and Sand.

Paul J had played Railways before, but a long time ago, and he found himself behind Joe and I from fairly early on. But considering the epic-adjacent length of Railways, he was remarkably sanguine throughout and reflected afterwards that the reason he did poorly is that he just likes building a network that has some kind of sense to it, rather than our hopping about the place with sleepers on our shoulders looking for tactical points. This game also featured Joe being referred to as 'The Slack Banker' - a nickname which didn't stick. I'd been lamenting - largely for comedy purposes - the fact I'd won nothing since JamSumo, but took a solid victory here after overcoming a mid-game crisis of confidence and was happy to now revert back to the peloton. 

Sam 98

Joe 63

Paul J 35

At the other end of the table, Kemet had been a bloody affair, mixed with the occasional incongruous prayer - maybe for more blood - and according to reports Chris mixed in some misdirection with fomenting of discontent. 

Chris 9

Stuart 6

Paul H 4

I can't remember if it was now that Chris first said he 'never wins this game' which is apparently a Chippenham meme (he wins, forgets, then wins again and says he never wins). He definitely said it more than once this weekend.

There was just time for Wriggle Roulette before lunch. 

Chris harvested 21 points to end the game, but bailed hoping Joe and I - in his slipstream - would bust. But we didn't:

Sam 24

Joe 23

Chris 21

Stuart and Paul J - 14 each

Paul H 4

Outside the rain was now battering down. Lunch was also on the table - well, soon after our roulette business - and we carbo-loaded our way through it, stocking up our energies for the afternoon ahead. Joe mentioned Ponzi Scheme in passing and Chris said he would rather shoot himself in the face than play Ponzi Scheme again. Joe stopped mentioning Ponzi Scheme, and he Stuart and Chris played Dune Imperium instead. 

I'd heard enough sympathetic noises from the two Pauls to set up SpaceCorp and introduce them to what would be the longest game of the weekend. Initially we said we'd do two boards and decide on the third depending on where we were at. Fortunately both were happy to continue as we sailed past Pluto and out toward the stars. The juvenile commentary over Uranus was largely absent - Chris would have been disappointed in us - although Paul J said he didn't want to go from there to Rhea. 

I led briefly, then Paul J did a mid-game surge only to be caught by Paul H as we reached for the stars on the last board. I was very pleased to catch them at all, but a post-game stewards enquiry by my conscience demoted me from second to third, as I had allowed myself a pretty preposterous do-over when I realised I'd triggered the endgame. As they say in NASA, don't take the piss Morrison.

Paul H 81

Paul J 71

Sam 60-something

We'd been dicking about in space for so long by now that Joe had triumphed in a very tight Dune: 

Joe 11

Stuart 10

Chris 9

And they'd also played Cascadia, otherwise known as Chris' revenge. 

Chris 108

Joe 104

Stuart 79

I know nothing of what happened in Cascadia other than it contained some kind of expansion and Paul J remarked that it seemed a lot quieter than Dune Imperium. Having triumphed, Chris went off to make dinner, seen only fleetingly during his prep time:

And as we approached the event horizon in SpaceCorp, Joe and Stuart played Circle the Wagons:

Joe 37

Stuart 31

I forgot to take pictures of both the wagons and also, with apologies, Chris' delicious risotto, where for some reason he made seven plates instead of six. Probably a good thing, the portions were enormous. Sadly, Stuart now had to head for home. Shame not to get the Sunday night with him too but duty called. We bade him a fond goodbye and then Paul J washed up and went for a lie down. The rest of us played chapter 2 of The Hobbit. 

Freshly sated, Bilbo and the dwarves - and Gandalf, I suppose - depart the Shire and must deal with orcs on the way to Rivendell, by throwing swords at them. The logic in the game is maybe not entirely coherent, leading Joe at one stage to remark "When I said helmets, I meant yellow". The dwarves are still completely besotted by bread, and even though I reached the Elves before anyone else did, Paul H's vast haul of dough played significant part in his crushing victory:

Paul 100

Sam 85

Joe 70

Chris "titting about in the Prancing Pony" 60

After another discussion - comedy, this time, which is of course always best viewed through the lens of four middle-aged men on a games weekend making epically bad puns - we realised there was still no Paul J, and texts and calls could not locate him. Fortunately he heard us talking and returned from the room next door to us, halting a rising sense of slightly inert chair-bound drama. Joe flourished - verbally, at first - Reiner Knizia's racing game Winner's Circle, and we all agreed that betting, dice rolling, and giving each other shit was probably what we were in the collective mood for. 

Joe got off to a strong start, leading in cash after the first race. As we caught on to the potential shenanigans, Chris and I particular played a lot of spoiling tactics, regularly moving horses a single space for each round if we hadn't backed them. It didn't do us much good, though, as the carefree whims of Joe and Paul J led them to a joint victory:

Paul J and Joe $2050

Sam $1950

Paul H $1100

Chris $300

We officially ended the weekend with So Clover. Nobody seemed all that confident when we looked at our words, but we got off to a solid start with a 6/6 on my reasonably-easy plastic leaf. Then we did two more sixes, and suddenly there was a tingle in the room. We weren't completely convinced we'd cracked Paul Jefferies' clues - and he had to check himself by referencing his photo library - but yes, we had. A record of legends was potentially on the cards, with only Joe's clover remaining. He'd tried something a bit different, clueing a movie on all four sides. 

As Paul J pointed out, 'Hand' might refer to Carrie, because at the end of the movie a bloody hand comes out of the rubble. Chris, who hadn't heard Paul, suddenly realised the same thing. Then I said it as well, having not even seen the movie, but just to get in on the action. Joe was genuinely concerned I'd not heard either Paul or Chris, and I didn't know whether to be pleased about my acting skills or offended about my suspected dimwittedness. Regardless of our little comedy* routine, however, we cracked the clover and strode into the Record of Legends. *see above

High on our spectacular achievements, we decided to have another official endgame, which was Fantasy Realms. I initially tried to veto, but then remembered Chris had mentioned it as his only must-play of the weekend, and as my must-play had lasted about nine and a half hours I could hardly protest at the fifteen minutes this bad boy takes. 

Despite Paul H's sword and shield of Keith, there was no stopping Chris in his current fave. Joe's debut could have been significantly better with just one different card in his final hand, but Paul J ended it before he had a chance to grab hold of it. I was pleased with my score; I think it's twice what I got when I first entered the realms of Keith. 

Chris 203

Paul H 165

Sam 164

Paul J 157

Joe 111

The evening had flown by and it was now, incredibly it seemed, midnight again. We decided that really was the last game of Chippencon and staggered off to bed. On Monday morning, there was just a bit of time for more crossword puzzling then Joe and I sped off to drop Paul J at Axminster, very grateful that Chris and Paul H were happy to do the last once-over around the house. 

All in all a fabulous weekend with a lovely mix of sweeping epics and shorter, sillier stuff. Thanks again all for making it so fun, and also relaxing. I'm sure there were many highlights I've missed out here but for me Railways, Root and SpaceCorp were brilliant, great to revisit Decrypto and Mars, and that So Clover was very funny. Non-game highlights were the world-to-rights chat, the food of course, and the walk to the beach before the monsoon came. Great venue as well. Here's to Chippencon 26!