I think we're not in Canvas any more

I rolled into Sam's place a little before 8 just as the already-full kitchen of gamers were finishing up Cross Clues. Andy, Martin, Ian, Katy, Adam H and Laura had joined our host. Adding me and an en route Joe, we would number nine in total. 

As we packed away Cross Clues (the score was 17) Martin suggested Biss 20 as a reasonable filler until Joe arrived. Adam had never played but since this is a game where you literally explain the rules as you go along, that wasn't a problem.

The game involves repeatedly counting from one to twenty with numbers slowly being replaced by gestures. Two of those gestures were folding your arms and shaking your head and since Andy was usually doing those things anyway, he did quite well. The game was fun, but there was a genuine cheer of relief when Joe's arrival meant we could play something else.

Katy, Ian, Joe, Martin and Laura played 49. A very interesting looking game that everyone wanted to try but it only plays up to five. It's basically four-in-a-row but you bid on the square available for auction. Katy seemed to be enjoying it even before the lid was off the box. Then she bamboozled everyone by taking green as her colour, giving us the rare sight of watching Martin playing in yellow. Curiously, Katy insisted her counters weren't green at all, more blue. Or teal.

The game was pretty raucous. Everyone except Martin had chances to win, while Martin seemed to spend too many moves stopping other people from winning. Laura was first to reach match point but got locked into a bidding war with Martin until they eventually decided to see how much money Laura had and if Martin could beat it. He could. Finally Katy won by buying a square for 177. And to think the first square only cost 8. Mind you, at when I heard someone mention 177, I had assumed they meant decibels.

At the sophisticated end of the table we played Canvas. In this simple game, you buy half finished paintings and then layer them up in order to achieve certain criteria, such as one of each colour or two triangles. Just like real art appreciation. 

I thought I was doing well, while Adam professed that he wasn't sure what he was doing. A bad sign if ever there was one. The game was sweet (with tiny wooden easles) and had certain role playing opportunities as we revealed our works complete with pompous name. 

Adam 44

Andy 37

Andrew 34

Sam 25

The night was still young but by now we’d already demolished four big bags of crisps as well as a number of tiny cup cakes.

My glass of sake, tiny easel and mini cup cake all made me feel like a giant.

The four of us had a quick game of Spicy to tide us over until 49 ended. I won thanks to clearing my cards at the end of the game to pick up a 10 point bonus.

Andrew 20

Sam 18

Adam 11

Andy 10

Then we all reorganised. Martin, Andy, Joe and Sam played Die Crew. Not sure which version and I’m not sure how far they got. Great blogging.

Katy was in need of some relaxation, so Tsuro was brought out again. Can’t say it was too relaxing, watching Adam win twice.

Adam

Katy

Ian 

Laura

Andrew

Adam

Andrew & Ian

Katy

Laura

Then came a quick game of Avenue before I left. Sam had to be parachuted in from Die Crew for rules explaining purposes, but we were mostly okay after that. Apart from Ian who had cut himself off by the end of round three. I, meanwhile, came tantalizingly close to glory.

Adam 52

Andrew 44

Katy 41

Ian 23

And so I dashed off at this point, with Adam heading out too. The rest, I am told, played Colt Express which Sam won narrowly…

And then another game of Cross Clues, with a (new high?) score of 23 points.

Thanks all. See you next tuesday.

 

Technical Difficulties

After last week's blogger-less games night, which is lost to history without a written record, six gamers (Joe, Ian, Adam H, Katy, Martin and myself) sat at their computers to do virtual battle once more.

But for much longer? Katy told us that she and Joe had played a real game, face to face, recently. Is this the first sign of life beyond the lockdown?

We were waiting for Andy who was expected in fifteen minutes so we tried talking for a bit. But as the time approached, we regretted not playing a quick game. We decided that he wouldn't mind watching for a while so we banged out a quick game of 7 Wonders.

Joe struggled with money but that might have been because he only had three resources and two of them were wood. Martin had lots of resources but still found himself unable to build much.

Adam 65
Joe 51
Ian 49
Martin 48
Katy 43
Andrew 39

Bang on cue, Andy arrived and we split into two groups. Adam, Martin and Joe played Race For The Galaxy. I did keep an eye on it but I understood nothing.

Martin 68
Joe 23
Adam 18

Andy, Katy, Ian and I chose Colt Express as an amusing slice of gaming. But it was short lived. At the start of the second round, after an eventful opener where Ian punched and shot Katy, Andy suddenly vanished. We waited for him to reconnect and then Sam arrived. We chatted and waited and after fifteen minutes we quit the game after we found out we couldn't start a new one until Colt Express was finished.

By this time, Martin popped in to make sure I'd got the details of his impressive win. Andy returned and we split into two new groups. Sam, Martin, Andy and Ian played American Bookshop. I know little else about it.

We played Tichu. Eventually.

First, Adam set up a table but didn't password protect it and a bunch of strangers sat there. Abandoning that, Joe made a new table but left a timer on. Again we changed tables (and Joe changed the web browser) and finally we got our own password protected timer-free table.

We began with Joe calling Grand Tichu immediately, reminding his partner Katy that this meant she should give his best card. He would have done it too except for three bombs at the table; his, mine Adam's.

Joe made amends in the next round, completing a Tichu, but then Adam successfully did a Grand Tichu with a 1-2 finish, netting us 400 points. Joe then completed another Tichu and then suggested we finish at 500 points. With the score at 495 - 205 Adam and I readily agreed. Joe called Tichu and Katy admitted that she wanted to call Tichu but now had to lose, a concept she was unfamiliar with. Joe mentioned if they go out 1-2 with the Tichu, then they'd win. But I had meant to call Tichu but had forgotten to press the right button. So I had a good hand and was able to take the win, ending on a bomb, for style.

I had the dragon, phoenix, three queens and a bomb. Possibly should've called Tichu

Andrew and Adam 570
Joe and Katy 130

American Bookshop had ended too, so while I was on a toilet break, Sam and Joe bade us farewell. When I came back, we remaining six chose For Sale as a quick six-player hit. Katy seemed reluctant, apparently believing this to be her gaming nemesis but this time she did better than she was expecting.

Andrew 52
Ian 49
Martin 46
Adam 43
Katy 41
Andy 34

A second game was agreed upon, and Katy’s gradual improvement continued.

Martin 50
Andrew 49
Adam 47
Katy 42
Andy 40
Ian 38

Finally we chose Perudo as our nightcap. Martin was keen to go to bed and went out quickly. He didn’t go, though, preferring to watch until the end. And what an end it was! The final two were Adam (5 dice) versus Katy (2 dice) and I’m still not sure what happened but Adam got himself into a death spiral. All the more astonishing after playing such a perfect game. Admittedly he pretty much threw away one die: when it was 2 dice each, Adam bid 3 twos. In other words, If Katy had no twos or aces, she could dudo with confidence. Which she did. A schoolboy error from Adam.

Katy 2 dice left
Adam
Andy
Andrew
Martin

And so that was that. Good nights were spoken and connections broken. See you next week!

Dead Men Don't Bluff

Tuesday night is, as usual, games night. Arriving at Joes at 7.45, we broke up the gender politics discussion Katy, Joe and his family were having and set down to the serious business of balancing cards on a tripod.

There were five of us to start; me (Ian), Joe, Martin, Katy and Ben. Librium's second appearance at Games Night lasted slightly longer than the first play. We got through the entire deck, at which point we had to start removing cards from the structure. There was some discussion about the aesthetics of the game; I personally quite like it but I can't deny it does look like a corporate desk toy.

During Libirum Andy arrived, but he didn't have to wait around too long before the game wrapped up. I can't recall if we agreed this was leader board or not, but for posterity the results were:

Librium

1st. Ian

2nd. Joe

3rd. Katy

4th. Martin

5th. Ben

There was a brief discussion about whether we should split into two groups of three, but we decided to stick to one large group. Andy had boughtColt Express and several people seemed keen, so we assembled the cardboard train and cacti and, after Andy explained the rules to Joe, we were off.

As usual, it was a chaotic, delightful play. Andy went for an aggressive shooting strategy, seeming to not pick up any loot for much of the game. Joe and I raced to the front of the train to try and claim the suitcase after the guard had deserted his post.  Despite Ben having no loot and being stuck at the back of the train due to repeatedly being knocked back by a series of punches, the guard seemed to be making an inexorable bee-line for him.

It was Joe who claimed the suitcase, but it wasn't quite enough to earn second place. Andy's trigger-happy approach won him the game:

Colt Express

1st. Andy  $2200

2nd. Ian  $1800

3rd. Joe  $1750

4th. Martin  $1650

5th. Katy  $1250

6th. Ben  $250

Interesting to note that Colt Express was the first game this evening where Katy felt compelled to describe the turn of events as "a crock of shit". The second game to provoke this reaction was For Sale.

For Sale has seen a bit of action recently, Joe's new copy having been played for three weeks in a row now. There was a particularly interesting auction where the houses were split between three very lower cards (2, 3, 4) and three reasonably high cards (21, 23, 25). Who was going to crack first and take the lower cards?

Like last week we ended up playing two games of For Sale.

For Sale

1st. Martin  $50k

Joint 2nd. Ian and Joe  $45k

3rd. Katy  $43k

4th. Andy $42k

5th. Ben $34k

1st. Katy  $49k

2nd. Ian  $48k

3rd. Martin $46k

4th. Andy $37k

5th. Ben $38k

6th. Joe $36k

Dead Man's Chest was next. The hidden-dice rolling and bluffing game hasn't been seen since early March, and it's  absence has been a slight mystery as it proved to be highly entertaining.

After clarifying  the rules regarding a "Dead Man" (when the dice show a 21), Joe started proceedings by calling Dead Man on the very first roll of the game. Surely it was some kind of audacious bluff? Katy seemed to think so and called him out on it. It was indeed a Dead Man. 

Martin seemed to be constantly rolling doubles, at one point claiming the dice were showing 33. I called him out. They were showing  44, losing me a gem. There was a lot of bluffing and a lot of cracking up; icy-faced poker-bluffing this was not. Joe called Dead Man at least three more times. One by one we dropped out until it was down to Martin and Joe, both with a single gem left. The tension was palpable, akin to the Russian roulette scene in The Deer Hunter. Only with a tiny box of dice instead of guns.

This tense situation couldn't last long though, and Martin emerged victorious.

Dead Man's Chest

1st. Martin

2nd. Joe

3rd. Ben

4th. Katy

5th. Ian

6th. Andy

What better way to follow one bluffing game than with another? Kakerlakenpoker was dealt out, and we were off.

Martin seemed to go into an early death spiral, ending up with two cockroaches, two scorpions and a toad. But Martin held on admirbaly, correctly calling out other people's bluffs and playing a war of attrition as other people slowly collected cards of their own. Katy seemed to be entering a death spiral of her own, but ultimately Martin couldn't keep from collecting the third card of a set.

Kakerlakenpoker

Martin loses

With time for one more game, Katy and Martin bought out their Push It sets and we prepared for some co-operative battles.

Katy and I took and early lead, being five points towards the winning seven. Unfortunately, I was on Katy's team and I knocked the Jack off the table, knocking us down to three points. The scores remained fairly even from that point; several of us seemed to veer between accurate and fluffed shots. Somehow Katy and I clawed our way back up to six points, closely followed by Joe and Martin on five and Andy and Ben on four. The Jack ended up coming to rest very near me, allowing me to slide my puck next to it for a safe win.

Push It

1st. Katy and Ian  7 points

2nd. Joe and Martin  5 points

3rd. Andy and Ben  4 points

And with that, it was time to flee into the night. Thanks to Joe for hosting and everyone else!

Thrice Upon A Time In America

The last Tuesday of the season and what a festive end to the season it was. Well, not really. Katy wore a red tracksuit top that had white fleece trimmings which she said made it Christmassy. At least she made the effort.

The rest of us (“us” meaning: Adam and Hannah (hosts), Ian, Ben, Andy, Katy, Joe, Martin, myself and then, later on, a friend of Adam/Hannah/Katy’s: yet another Andy aka AW) were dressed for games. We began with an eight (or nine)-player game of Panic On Wall Street. In this game, investors buy shares in four different products from the managers. The aim is to be the investor or manager with the most money. Effectively, it’s two games in one.

We played a couple of rounds before deciding that another three rounds might be a little too long, especially now AW had arrived and Arthur had been put to bed. Hannah had meant to join us in the game, but was called away by her son’s distant cries. To reward her efforts, I decided to keep her score as the amount of money she had when she’d started.

So, the final reckoning after three rounds was:

Investors

Adam $180,000
Andrew $160,000
Joe $160,000
Hannah $120,000
Martin BUST!

Yes, poor old Martin was cleaned out when he went big on reds, only to see them crash from highest to their lowest possible value thanks to a –7 roll on the red die. It was a galling defeat, as he had carefully calculated the odds and any other roll would have got him a win or second.

And as for the managers:

Andy $395,000
Ian $300,000
Ben $285,000
Katy $285,000

Ben went for a huge portfolio to try and bring in as much as possible. Ian, perhaps by choice or perhaps by Ben buying everything, had a very small portfolio. The eventual victory, Andy, had a medium sized range of shares but which, crucially, included those tempting reds.

Next we split into two groups. Joe mentioned casually that he’d brought Lords of Vegas with him, and Martin and Ian instantly volunteered themselves before volunteering Ben to make up the quartet. They set off for the front room to make their fortunes on Sunset Strip.

As for the rest of us, there was some idle talk about splitting into two groups of three but Andy had brought Colt Express with him so we decided to stay together for the third US-themed game of the evening.

This time Katy was Belle, whose beauty was so great it could stop a bullet. Or at least, divert it towards someone else. I was Ghost, the mysterious enigmatic bandit who always starts in a tunnel. Or something.

The game’s notable event was the Marshall’s sudden rampage along the train. During a tunnel round (when all cards are played face down) four people chose to move the Marshall, and so he stormed his way along the train, shooting anyone he saw, sending them scuttling up to the roof. Where there wasn’t any loot. Oh, how we laughed.

Katy played a perfect game, nabbing the suitcase and then an armful of gems while the rest of us shot and punched each other in the middle of the train. This game did not favour people whose name begins with ‘A’. Poor old Adam was today’s target of choice in most gunfights.

Katy $3,010
Hannah $2,550
Andy $1,550
Andrew $1,550
AW $1,200
Adam $800

Lords of Vegas was still nowhere near finishing, and Andy had another six-player game which caught our eye: Between Two Cities. This is a game where you built two cities: one with each of your neighbours. You get a number of tiles and, like 7 Wonders, you pass them on after each turn. Then there are the cunning double tiles before returning to drawing single tiles again.

At the end of three rounds, you should be sitting next to two 4x4 cities, complete with parks, factories, offices, houses, shops and pubs/hotels/venues. Each one has it’s own way of scoring points. The trick is: the lowest scoring city you’re next to is your score, with the other city acting as a tie-breaker.

It was all very civil, as we collaborated to make our little creations. Hannah and I built a green capital, with two three-tile parks (12 points each) while Adam and Katy created Smog City, stuffed full of factories (4 points per factory if you have the most).

It was almost too nice, and I wasn’t really paying attention to the other cities. Like Takenoko, it lulls you into a false sense of tranquillity before the end of the game looms and you have to make some decisions fast. Of course, the best decision is to sit between Andy and Katy, so well done to Adam!

Adam 56 (61)
Katy 56 (60)
Andy 54 (61)
Andrew 54 (60)
Hannah 53 (54)
AW 53 (54)

As we packed that game away, Lords of Vegas was coming to an end. All I’d heard from it was the occasional groan of disbelief and Martin’s loud assertion that “This is bullshit!” at one point. I watched the final round as Ian spent big to reorganise two casinos (one went to Joe, though) before the Strip finally paid out again. It was to prove a winning move as he leapfrogged Martin and Joe. Meanwhile, it was tight for second.

Ian 44
Martin 40 (plus $47m)
Joe 40 (plus $45m)
Ben 18

It must have been tough for Ben playing against such seasoned professionals, but he said he enjoyed it on the journey home.

Finally, there was time for a quick two-round game of 6nimmt – Adam’s zombie version. I know some poo-poo this design, but I think 6nimmt’s relentless onslaught of a mindless enemy and a desperate sense that you can’t possibly escape quite fits the zombie motif.

At the start of the second round, we decided that Adam's dealing was too slow, so AW helped deal from the other half of the deck! Two dealers for one game. It was madness, I tell you! My phone didn't know what to focus on.

AW 9
Adam 12
Katy 13
Joe 15
Martin 17
Ben 26
Andrew 26
Ian 33
Hannah 42
Andy 65

And with that we were away. Four of us packed into my tiny car. As we went down Devon Road (the somewhat seedy back street made up of garage doors and graffiti) Katy missed a call from Hannah. Thinking we must have forgotten something she asked me to stop so I did, engine running and lights on, while she called back.

This must’ve been disconcerting for the lone cyclist who was coming the other way. Especially when Katy discovered that Joe had left his glasses behind, and I pulled away again just as the cyclist had gone past us. Whatever must he have thought?

But to more pressing matters: the Division. Alas, there were no last minute twists of fate: Katy and Adam take the plaudits as we thought they probably would. But how remarkable to see a dead heat (in points) between two of the newcomers. Well done Tim and AW.

See you in the New Year for the next exciting instalment etc etc...

Colt Calling

Christmas is time of cheer for many but, for boardgamers, trying to arrange a weekly event is fraught with difficulties. This week it looked like there would be hardly any attendees but in the end we were eight in total: Martin (the host), Katy, Hannah (a surprise late entrant), Andy, Ian, Sam (feeling ill but trying Ian’s “beer cure”), Ben and myself.

We split into two groups of four. At one end of the table Discworld: Ankh Morpock. This caught Ben’s eye as a fan of Terry Pratchett’s work and Martin was keen to get it to the table. Ian and Katy were recruited to complete the quartet.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table we considered what to play. Nothing seemed to appeal to everyone, as various options were mooted and objected. We chose Oregon.

I’ve played Discworld once before, a long time ago, as a two-player game with Sam. It didn’t really grab me, but judging by the whoops of surprise (Katy) and melodramatic reading of various cards’ powers (Martin) they seemed to be having a rare old time of it.

Oregon, however, was proving to be a sterner task for our brain cells. Sam was a newcomer and had to learn a new set of rules at less than 100%. The other newcomer, Hannah, seemed to have no such issues and focused on mining, building up a large pile of gold and coal.

This proved to be pivotal as these meant she was able to overtake Andy in the final round of scoring. I got into third by going where Sam was about to go, thus ruining his chance of a 12-point move.

Hannah 69
Andy 68
Andrew 61
Sam 60

Over in Discworld, there was last-minute hilarity as a series of unexpected events ruined Martin’s strategy. “All my buildings fell down” he complained once the scores had been added up. No one seemed very sympathetic, though.

Ian 70
Katy 65
Ben 58
Martin 30

Happily, the two games ended at around the same time, so before Sam and Hannah called it a night, Martin went for the old faithful, Pairs, to tempt them into one more game.

The game had it’s usual round of coincidence-defying defeats. Katy and Andy went out in the same round with pairs of grapes, despite their being only four in the pack. And in one round, a desperate Ian (on 16 points) dealt a card to Sam (on 17 points) yelling “Lemon” as he did. And so it was, sending Sam crashing out of the round.

Three pumpkins in a row!

But despite getting so close, neither Ian nor Sam finished the game that round. There were two more rounds after that: enough for Martin to overtake and claim the win.

Martin 25
Ian 23
Hannah 22
Andrew 19
Sam 17
Katy 15
Andy 14
Ben 8

We should note Ben’s interesting tactic of never sticking, unless he’s in first. This man is goal-oriented. All of his eight points came from just one round.

Then Hannah and Sam left, so the remaining six of us played Colt Express. This 3D Robo Rally-ish game without the grim tedium and with a dash of Loony Tunes slapstick seemed like the perfect way to finish an evening.

Martin was a little put out that he wasn’t green for a change, but he was comforted by the fact that he was Belle: the character that is never shot if there is another legitimate target available. As he noted, he would always be chosen to be shot, if at all possible.

I was Doc, allowed a hand of seven cards instead of the usual six, and my coup de grace was to nip past the Marshall and grab the briefcase for $1000. For the rest of the game, Doc must have looked a bit odd as he ducked from roof to carriage, swinging punches at random in a desperate attempt at hanging onto his swag.

Everyone took turns shooting each other, with Andy mostly on the receiving end. The Marshall was also instrumental in shooting people up through the roof, thus spoiling the rest of their plans and they usually took out their frustration by shooting anyone within range.

Ian was the mysterious Ghost, whose first move is always a mystery. And his enigmatic ways worked best as he scooped up gem after gem, sack after sack of money. Ben’s ability to punch and steal at the same time didn’t do him much good, though.

Ian $2950
Andrew $2000
Katy $1800
Martin $1250
Andy $1250
Ben $750

And with that, we were on our way. Another evening done.

I noticed a couple of mistakes in my spreadsheet from last week, so this is definitely the proper standings at the moment. Not much has changed, though. And with one week of the season left, there’s not much left to play for.

Apart from fun, of course!

American Express

Recently, non-Tuesday events have been limited to myself, Sam and Ian but tonight a sudden rush of people accepting Sam’s invite pushed the number of attendees up to a giddy six: Sam, me, Ian and Andy, Steve and Chris who’d come visiting from the Bracknell branch. We all arrived with tales of picking our way through Bristol Rovers fans, and cyclist Steve even told us about how he yelled at a careless pedestrian, knowing there was a policeman nearby and he was in no danger of getting beaten up.

Any discussion of the first game to play was circumvented when Andy casually put Colt Express on the table when he came in. Since it played six and it was only forty minutes long according to the box, we decided to give it a go.

Our previous reluctance to play it in Bristol was due to it being compared to Robo Rally, but on actually playing it, I found it to be a shorter and funnier game. Due to the limited space, there’s always something happening to you. Each of the six characters had their own special power. Cheyenne can steal money from people when she punches them, Django can shoot people into the next carriage and Belle is so pretty that she is never chosen to be shot or punched if someone else is available. Ian was Belle, and he found his newfound physical attractiveness very useful as he/she stayed in the most crowded part of the train and picked up gems. Sam/Cheyenne got shot a lot in his/her dash along the roof for the Marshall’s $1,000 suitcase. Chris/Tuco got picked on.

Ian $2,750
Andrew $1,900
Andy $1,700
Sam $1,500
Steve $1,300
Chris $250

After that amusing episode, we split into two groups: Sam, Ian and Chris chose Rialto and Andy, Steve and I chose The Castles of Mad King Ludwig.

Not sure how Rialto went, but I shot into an early lead on CoMKL thanks to plenty of bonuses for a particular room that then scored again on completion!

Talking of completing a room, a rereading of the rules about putting doors next to walls reassured us that this was a legal move, but it meant that the room couldn’t be counted as “completed” – a subtle distinction. As it happened, it didn’t change the placings as I managed to win by a single point with my castle built in the style of Number 5 from the film Short Circuit.

Andrew 113
Andy 112
Steve 70

In the time it took us to finish that game, Rialto had ended:

Sam 69
Chris 61
Ian 57

And they had enough time for a game of Raj. This game always throws up amazing strokes of luck as ties cancel each other out, but none perhaps as remarkable as Chris picking up a 9 tile with only a 1 card as Ian and Sam both played their 15s.

Ian 53
Chris 51
Sam 34

After this, Steve and Andy went home, and I stayed on for a game of No Thanks. I watched in amazement as Chris went for a coin-focused approach, picking up cards with lots of coins even if there was little chance of chaining them together. At the end of the game he had 37 out of the 44 coins available in the game.

Didn’t help, though.

Andrew 22
Ian 36
Sam 45
Chris 68

And with that, it was back out into the Spring drizzle and off home to bed. A fun-packed evening, and we didn't even get to play Buckaroo!

Essen Essence.

So this years Essen came and went and a 5th Wednesday in the month meet for the Reading Boardgame Social was hastily arranged so that the multifarious purchases of the group could be tabled. I arrived just in time to squeeze myself into a 6 player game of Colt Express. This game has an impressive "board" as it is made up of 6 little 3d train carriages complete with engine.

You want theme? - you got it

In this game each player is a wild west bad ass robbing a train of all its swag. Using a deck of movement cards you program your moves by handing them to the dealer in a predetermined turn order so that they can be re-revealed.

My baddie

Those familiar with Roborally will see a similarity here. Other players actions can interfere with your actions and cause unexpected results. Add into the mix that you can pick up damage from being shot by others and a roaming marshall you have something that starts veer into party game territory. It's not as frustrating as Roborally and only lasts four rounds. Its fast moving and actually a lot of fun with 6 players. Any hoo I managed to win in slightly fortuitous circumstances when a player carrying a suitcase full of cash dropped into my carriage at the same time I had programmed my guy to sock anyone nearby in the jaw. He dropped his booty and my next card was to pick it up.....

Me 3200
Dave 2000
Shane 1750
Chris 1550
Matt 1250
Paul H 1150

Next up for those wanting a challenge was Steam punk space exploration game Onward to Venus. This beautifully themed concoction is set in our very own solar system and playing factions that were world powers in the Victorian era. I got Ze Germans because they were the yellow counters and was facing the massed ranks of Russia, Britain, France and USA. The object of the game is to spread your influence around the planets and moons of our solar system setting up mines and factories, nabbing resource cards, victory point counters and averting the odd crisis. Players with the most mines and factories on a celestial body wins VP's in a 1st 2nd 3rd kind of way.

Earth - In an alternate Victorian space age universe

I decided I liked the look of Mars so in my first turn I flew my little space rocket to the red planet leaving one troop ship back on earth for reinforcements. This, I found out quickly, was my first mistake as no sooner than I had left orbit when the next player beat me up and nicked my factory. "Welcome to Earth!" My next mistake was to be taken in by a damsel in distress. Next to me Laura had been steadfastly collecting action cards until it was discovered that she had passed the 10 card threshold. Since we were all new to the game I felt it unfair to penalise her into discarding them as she had been using actions to collect them, therefore we agreed she could use them next turn. To repay that kindness she promptly destroyed several of my military units using the same cards in her hand that I had strived to save. (This is a little dramatic. She probably would kept those anyway BUT THATS NOT THE POINT.) In fact this became quite a theme throughout the game with my shiny yellow units being taken off the board due to a Yankee sneak attack. It was enough to give one a complex. Anyway the damage was done and the game owner Chris, strolled to the win.

Chris 41
Laura 34
Daryl 31
Me 22
Dave 13

The night was still relatively young so I jumped table again and joined the unboxing of another new game Boxes. This extremely simple game appears to have taken it's inspiration from the bizarre and not and all staged TV programme Storage Wars. Here, like the show, we are bidding for unknown lots of cardboard boxes each of which may or may not contain things of value. At the start of each round players may look at a certain number of boxes secretly so that they might be able to decide how much to bid. Multiples of the same colour goods create a bonus. Bidding is in two forms, closed and open.

Totally pointless gavel

I managed to not win any boxes at all through out the game. The prices just seemed too high.  Therefore I was left with the money I started with! It wasn't a winning strategy.

Paul 4150
Matt 3480
Me 3400
Paul H 3360

To end the evening we then played a couple of games of timeline which I seem to be quite good at and won both games. In fact I don't think I've lost with my deck yet....