Hopes go up in flammes

Tonight was an unusual event in that the six attendees were the six most frequent players, and no one else. Where once we had the Core Four, now we have what I considered calling the Solid Six, until I realised it sounded like something from a medical chart detailing different types of faeces.

We were Sam (host), Joe, Martin, Katy, Ian and me. And, initially, Stanley and Joe. I arrived late, and a game of Fuji Flush was in full flow. Stanley was already on his last card, but couldn't push through, picking up three fours in a row. Katy was busy instructing everyone to stop Martin since, with her cards, she was pretty helpless to do it herself.

Ian 0 cards left
Martin 1
Joe 1
Stanley 1
Sam & Joe 2
Katy 3

After this, we split into two. Joe, Katy and Ian played Cities. Sam, Martin and mep layed Flamme Rouge. We went for a random set up, with Sam using his skills honed over years of improvised train track building with his sons, to swiftly put together a stage fit for the Tour de France. Once we'd flattened down a couple of mountains, that is.

I tried to be sensible, but even so I ended up with a lot of exhaustion cards. Mid game it looked like exhaustion cards were the key to finishing the game, since Sam found both his riders with slim pickings in their decks of cards. He had visions of them just stopping mid race, as if they were working to the clock.

As we rounded the final bend, Martin was in first, Sam right on his shoulder and me not out of contention but needing luck with the cards. I got no luck, and neither did Martin. He saw his rider overtaken by Sam, who also managed to edge over the finish line, to end the game and claim the win. An astonishing win, and one that Martin would mention ruefully throughout the evening.

1st Sam
2nd Martin
3rd Andrew


Then we tried Game Of Thrones: Hand Of The King, a simple but deep game of card collecting by moving around a 7 by 7 grid. It was okay, but I wasn't hugely impressed and keen to move on to something else, so when I saw the chance to end the game, I took it, even if it meant I placed last.

Sam 3
Martin 2 + tie breaker
Andrew 2

Cities had ended...

Joe 63
Katy 60
Ian 59

And in an attempt to synchronise with us, they were playing a game of For Sale. There were some mutterings that it wasn't great with three, and also some mutterings from Katy about how badly she was doing. For once, she was right.

Ian 82 + cash
Joe 82
Katy 80

There was then another reshuffle, and Sam, Ian and Joe chose Gold West, while I had to face the two headed dragon that is Katy and Martin. While we thought about our choice, we tried to identify a game once described by Katy that she'd like to try. Something about a market place in the middle. Was it Portobello Market? Was it that game with the walls that I played once and now can't remember? By sheer chance, Pueblo was mentioned, and Katy recognised it as the game she was talking about! So we got it out with the promise of Biblios afterwards.

Katy got a rules explanation and we all got some kind of understanding of the rules regarding placement, until Martin checked BBG and found out we might be wrong.

Martin started well, tucking himself neatly into books and crannies. I, too, was happy with my start, but then I built upwards and then spent the rest of the game trying to hide it. Katy didn't seem happy as she picked up early points when she made rookie errors. But Katy's skill can never be underestimated, and Martin and me (especially me) were hit heavy in the final scoring round.

Katy 37
Martin 45
Anderw 57

Then we played Biblios. Plenty of pessimism and foretelling of doom in the first round from everyone. Bishop cards were especially useless this game. After five had been played, we found ourselves with the dice the same way up as at the beginning.

In the final reckoning, though, Katy won.

Katy 6
Martin 5
Andrew 3

After this we played Eggs Of Ostrich, agreeing to sum our totals over three rounds into one game. I needed a rules explanation midway through the first round, but otherwise we were fine.

Martin 31
Andrew 22
Katy 18


Gold West had finished.

Joe 123
Sam 100
Ian 95



And we were all together again. Since three of us had copies of Push It, we played a game with three teams of two players with three pucks each. Madness. And a possible six points to win in a single round, which is noteworthy in a game where the target is seven.

Martin & Sam got off to a flier with three points in the first round. After this, they only had to stay one step ahead of the rest of us to secure a comfortable win.

Sam & Martin 7
Katy & Ian 3
Joe & Andrew 2

After that, the evening ended with us having squeezed 5 hours and 25 minutes gaming (according to the figures on BGG) into 3 hours of normal time. And we do this every week! No wonder we look so old.

The Division, meanwhile, looks like this...

From Ostrich to Ore Storage

Tuesday night this week fell on Adam and Hannah's house. In attendance were the two hosts and Martin, Ian, Katy, Joe and me. We all arrived pretty much on time and, in a break from usual proceedings, we had only the briefest chat before the first game was chosen. Having seen that Joe had brought Caverna, Adam put his name forward as a potential player. Joe and I joined him and so we set up in the front room.

The other four played Reined Knizia's Rheinlander. A game about which I know nothing, except for the laughter I heard from the next room, and the final scores that astonished the pessimistic Katy who was sure she was last. Meanwhile, Hannah proved to be unstoppable.

Hannah 52
Katy 36
Ian 35
Martin 32

After this, they played Game Of Thrones: Hand Of The King. This ended...

Hannah& Katy 5
Ian & Martin 2

And this was followed by Rolling America.


Katy 8
Martin 10
Hannah 11
Ian 11

And then Eggs of Ostrich, after Hannah had retired to bed.

Martin 6
Katy 6
Ian 5

All of this excitement occurred quite without my knowledge. I was engrossed in the adventures of my little dwarvish tribe in Caverna. I was the first to have an extra dwarf, and this advantage lasted a couple of rounds so, early on, I was feeling pretty good about my situation.

Joe built the Office Room, allowing him to overhang his tiles off the board for two victory points. He frequently bemoaned his choice, gazing sadly at the wide open spaces in his tableau. But then, whenever he placed a new tile, he'd overhang again, unable to give up on the dream.

Adam went for plants in a big way, not bothering hugely with his caves. I was so impressed by his first moves (get veg, get grain, slash and burn, then sheep farming and build fences) that I copied them as soon as I could. And then, because they worked so well, I did them again. Basically, Adam's opening gambit became my mid-game strategy.

In fact, we all followed a similar path, often choosing each others favorite options. I didn't go adventuring, relying on rubies to get me stuff quickly, much to Joe's annoyance. Adam and Joe both had adventurers, so they were constantly jostling with each other for the best spaces.

While the folks in the other room sped through several games, we appeared to slow down as we approached the end of the game. In the final stages, it was clear that Adam had won (as Hannah had predicted, putting his chances at "100%") but the battle for second was far from over. But Joe's choice to build a Writing Room, absolving him of seven minus points when he had nine empty spaces on his board, proved pivotal.

Adam 88
Joe 75
Andrew 71

It was a great game and I can't complain about bad luck or anything since I thought I'd played a decent game. It was all about small margins. Between me and Joe, that is. Adam was far off in the distance. Plus, this gave him a unique Perfect Five. He'd only played five games this season and he'd won them all. A remarkable achievement, and one that pushed his points ratio up to a stratospheric 5.4, if only for a moment.

By now, though, the six remaining gamers were all together again and there was talk of Fuji Flush to finish the evening. It was new to Adam, but it's not a difficult game to explain.

We played two games, and both were characterised by Adam and Ian being first to get down to their last card and then everyone else trying to stop them or, failing that, join them.

The first game ended

Adam 0 cards left
Ian 1
Katy 1
Joe 2
Martin 2
Andrew 3

This result meant that Adam had matched my "Smug Six" of six wins in a row. And with his only six games of the season! One day, they'll build a statue to him. Although, someone did point out that this season he'd only played when he'd hosted and was well-rested. Hopefully we'll soon see what his away form is like.

Then we played again, and this time, Adam couldn't quite force his way across the finishing line in time.

Ian 0
Katy 1
Adam 1
Andrew 2
Martin 2
Joe 4

And as for those all important Dick Points:

Adam 5
Ian 4
Katy 4
Martin 3
Andrew 2
Joe 1

And if you're now saying “Look! Dick Points are a way to win!” then I wag my index finger in the air, say “aaah” and then wag my index finger some more before pointing out that Adam only had one Dick Point in the first game, where he won. The two aren't necessarily linked. Correlation doesn't imply causation. There. A statistics lesson for us all.

Speaking of which, here's the Division...

I was going to do something exciting with it, but it's already exciting enough. I'm going to go and have a lie down now.