oceans a-livin'

 Having missed Tuesday’s regular meet, I was pleased to hear of a Thursday meet up at Sam’s. This was, I thought, just a three-hander with Sam, myself and Adam H playing Dominant Species Marine. Imagine my (slight) surprise when I arrived at the uncommonly prompt time of 7.35 to find Martin also there, with Joe expected shortly.

Martin and Joe played each other at Watergate, a game in which one player is Nixon (Martin, possibly typecast) and the other plays the role of the journalists trying to uncover his evil plot.

I know nothing about it, nor who won. 

As for this end of the table, Sam talked us through DSM and it was a little complicated. When Sam was called away from the table on family business, Adam and I tried to work out what an"action space" might be. But once we began, it seemed to make sense and my source of AP was whether or not to dawdle at the top of the list of actions or head straight to the good stuff at the bottom. Tricky because once you play an action, you can’t choose another action from further up: you must keep going down. Unless you have a special pawn, then you can go anywhere.

I seemed quite good at choosing actions that Sam was relying on, which is a positive sign for a beginner. Adam seemed to get the worst of extinction events, despite him also being a newbie. But I think both Sam and I tried to be fair in who’s animals we killed off.

At the end (after the asteroid), we counted up the points scored for special pawns. I had none while Sam and Adam had three each. This pushed Sam into first place and he celebrated his win for a second or two until Adam reminded him (and me) that we needed to score the board too. Sam’s demeanor instantly fell, as he had little presence on the board whereas my clever use of the aforementioned asteroid meant I had plenty of high scoring land to myself.

Andrew 87

Adam 84

Sam 78

I think being a reptile helped, since I always won ties. Would be keen to play it again. Even though Sam slimmed out the deck beforehand for a shoreter game, it was still a substatial two-hour game that filled me up nicely and I set off home for the evening. The rest of them continued. According to Sam in a text later, Adam beat Sam at Clubs (not sure what Joe and Martin were playing when I left) and then after Sam beat Adam at Schnipp & Weg, Adam went home.

Finally, Martin beat Joe and Sam at Letterpress.

Thanks all, a nice little soiree. See you all soon.

Lose on rails

After  a detour due to a closed road and then trouble parking, I arrived at 8.10pm at Sam’s. I was surprised to find only three people waiting for me. Had the others got bored and left? Nope, it was just a low turnout, due to the extended bank holiday/half term, I suppose.

They’d already played Isle of Cats, which Sam won, and on my arrival they sat me down and began a game of High Score, Knizia’s reworking of his free print-and-play game Decathlon.

I was the early leader, but soon fall away. Joe had a late revival but steady Sam took the gold.

Sam 15

Joe 11

Katy 9

Andrew 7

Then Mel arrived, pushing up the number of attendees to a giddy five, and after a while of rejecting possible games due to having to relearn rules, we settled on Luzon Rails since we’d all played it.

Katy started in fine Katy-style, bidding high on pink shares because they were pink. Mel bought shares in red and green (three in total) early on and then didn’t feel the need to buy any more since they seemed to be doing very well. Joe, Sam and I shared ownership of three firms between us in the expectation that the other players would boost their value, with mixed results.

By round four it was intense enough that Sam and Katy both stood up. Once upon a time that meant an increase in concentration, but this time it was due to health issues (leg and back respectively). Such is life.

Katy ended the game in even finer Katy-style, bidding seven on a share even though she was told it’d only earn her six. Mel’s early eye for a bargain sealed the game for her.

Mel 37

Andrew 31

Joe 19

Katy 17

Sam 16

After this, Katy stayed true to her promise to go home early and the remaining four of us played Cross Clues.

As the words were dealt out Joe misread one of the clues as “Shropshire” which lead to a brief period of trying to work out what definition might suit phrases like “Shropshire laptop” (a paving slab?) or a “Shropshire ankle” (no idea but sounds painful).

Once we got started. Mel’s clues were next level, for example “Victorian” for “Ankle/surprise”. We slipped up on Joe’s clue for “Poos” which we thought was “Brown/surprise” and were so delighted that we didn’t realise that it was plural, which should’ve lead us to “brown/group”.

Disappointed at having run out of time and still got several wrong, we quickly set up again, persuading Mel to stay for one more. This time we were in much better form, speeding through the clues and finishing with a comfortable 25 out of 25.

With that, Mel and I left Joe and Sam to finish of the night. Joe beat Sam 21-20 on Wordpress

And then Joe won at Set & Match, 2-1.

Thanks all, have a lovely long weekend. Enjoy the Queen and I’ll see you next week.

Old dragon drawers

I arrived at about 8.15, I think, and found five players: Joe, Laura, Sam, Mel and Martin trying out a new Oink game, Scout. But as I entered, they put it away and got out something more substantial for six: Auf Teufel Komm Raus. This game of luck pushing and devil dodging involves betting on how many points someone will be able to pull out of a furnace without taking a devil tile by mistake.

It is as cruel as luck can be. If round one was generous, then round three was devious, leaving Martin with just 20 points. Mel lead for most of the game, despite pulling mostly only devils. In round six, Laura was in joint last and needed to do something spectacular. She managed to fulfill her bet but did so by pulling 8 tiles, slowly edging towards her target. "It's like crawling a marathon," she exclaimed when it was all over. Then Joe scored 225 with only three tiles. I know it was random but it seemed like he was making a point.

In the final round, Joe bet low, only needing 100 to finish the game. Martin needed to reach his bet and he pulled one low tile after another, just as Laura had, only somehow worse. After 10 tiles he still hasn't reached his target so he pulled another tile. A devil. So cruel. 

Joe 1600

Mel 1480

Sam 1440

Andrew 1410

Laura 480

Martin 430

Next up was Ethnos, another six player game. This game was as quiet as Teufel was rowdy, but that was mostly due to the spicy peanuts that Joe offered. Instead, Sybil the dog kept us, shall we say, entertained with a constant stream of disapproving noises.

Round one ended in the most sudden way possible - all three dragons came out one after the other. Sam insisted he shuffled them properly after putting them in the deck separately.

At the end of round two the scores were Sam 39, Martin 36, Mel 31, Andrew 28, Joe 27, Laura 22.

I mention this because Laura suddenly embarked upon a rousing comeback that almost got her the win. She got a band of four trolls which meant she won any ties for area control. And there were a lot. She sped past almost everyone and came to a rest just short of triumph. Amazing scenes.

Sam 79

Laura 78

Martin 61

Mel 53

Andrew 46

Joe 37

This game also gave us the blog title as Joe referred to people who drew dragon cards as "dragon drawers" which we thought sounded like a nickname for someone. A mother in law from the 1970s, perhaps.

Then Laura and Mel left and we ended with So Clover. Dreams of another perfect score were shot down early as Martin's clue of "boom" seemed to fit equally well with "gas", "war", and "bang." It took us two attempts for us to get it right.

Another notable clue was "sweater" for "wool/oasis" It was Joe's clue and we thought was a lovely poetic name for a sweater: a wool oasis. The guess was right but Joe explained that sweater linked to oasis in that it was somewhere that you would sweat. 

Score 22 out of 24.

Then I left and the remaining three played Letter Press. A late night text told me the score…

Martin 24

Sam 22

Joe 16

Thanks all. See you next Tuesday.

Into it. Clover it.

I arrived at Sam’s and Katy answered the door, having only just arrived herself. In the kitchen, Sam, Martin and Ian were playing Whale Riders which is currently my most-watched, not-played game of the year. Still don’t know what’s going on but Sam went from “I’m feeling confident” to “I might be third” in the space of one round.

Ian 24

Sam 23

Martin 21

Then Laura arrived and, after the table was dragged from the wall to make more room, the six of us played So Clover – Laura’s introduction to the game. It was a mixed bag: Martin and Sam gave clues that netted six points, Katy and Laura got four points each with their clovers while Ian and I, last to finish writing our clues, only got three points each. My clue of “Casino” for “Luck” and “Patio” wasn’t a huge success.

26 out of 36

Next we split into two groups of three. Martin, Katy and Laura played Biblios while Sam, Ian and I once again crashed on an inhospitable alien planet in Cryo. Katy remarked that, after she’d played it, the game had given her nightmares, or at least some sort of fever dream in which she was playing it. A tleast, I think that’s what she meant: the mime she did to describe it involved plucking things out of the air. Also, she thinks she may have cheated the last time she played, but I don’t think anyone was that bothered except her.

Laura was given a rules explanation and she seemed to get the gist pretty quickly, judging by Katy’s wail of “Are you yanking my chain?” midway through the game. Also, everyone seemed keen on the brown die as it soon rose to six in value with everyone putting it up. I think Katy got it in the end, but it must’ve gone down by the end.

Martin 11

Katy 4

Laura 2

We were still halfway through Cryo, with Ian schooling us on how to max out a super power, rescuing an extra man each time while also spending less. I kept running out of resources and scrapped three ships to get me out of a tight spot. As we still had a way to go, Martin, Katy and Laura played Biblios again.

This time was much closer with it all being decided on the final red dice, which people had been ignoring or discarding for the whole game. In the end, Laura picked it up for 3 reds.

Laura 5

Katy 4

Martin 4

Finally, we finish Cryo when Ian cuts his turn short by returning the only drone he’d used, thus triggering the end of the game with Sam and I still with unfinished plans in progress.

Ian 36

Andrew 28

Sam 28

We’d finished at the same time as the second Biblios so, after Laura left, we played Ten. This is basically a simple push-your-luck game with a few slightly confusing rules regarding money and the circulation thereof. Halfway through, Martin was still unsure we were doing it right while Katy said she liked how it worked. Honestly, will those two ever agree?

Sam 20

Ian 16

Martin 16

Katy 16

Andrew 13

Then I left, but the night was far from over. According to the late night text from Sam they played Spicy.

Sam 21

Ian and Katy 18

Martin 1

Then Ian must have left, unless he was just happy to watch them play Whale Riders the card game.

Sam 78

Martin 70

Katy 48

And then again…

Katy 50

Martin 49

Sam 40

Finally with a win under her belt, Katy left and then Martin ended the evening by beating Sam 21-12 in Letter Press.

Thanks all. Do it again soon please.

Have a Knizia. Have a-knother Knizia

I arrived at Joe's studio after seven to find the evening in full swing. Joe, Andy, Sam, Katy and Anja were playing a boisterous game of Money, the first of many Reiner Knizia games to grace the table tonight. Before I’d even got my coat off, Katy told me she’d been winning but wasn’t anymore. I sat down to watch and was so comfortable that I didn't get up to answer the door despite me being the only one not participating. It ended

Katy 1420
Anja 1400
Sam 1380
Joe 1360
Andy 1350

A close game, but I especially enjoyed Joe saying “that’s what I want” when picking up his selection of cards. Money: that’s what I want. Get it?

Never mind. During this game, Martin arrived and introduced us to In Vino Morte. Very simple. Everyone is dealt a card face down which is either wine or poison. The dealer chooses who gets what. Then they can either drink and reveal the card instantly or, if they think the dealer slipped them a mickey, they can swap with someone else who hasn’t revealed yet. Once everyone has made a decision, everyone reveals what they’ve got. Continue until one is left alive.

We played twice. Sam seemed to have struck upon a clever bluff when he dealt to me, Martin and himself by saying “oh no, I fucked up” leaving us wondering how you could fuck it up. Anyway, I won that won by taking Martin’s card in the final round and giving him my poison. Round two, it ended with Katy versus Martin and Katy drank straight away and won.

We split into two. Joe, Katy and Andy played Tajuto. All I know about this was it took a long time for anyone to score any points.

Joe 13
Katy 8
Andy 8

The rest of us played Babylonia for another Kniz fix. I put down five farmers early on and leapt into the lead. Anja swooped in and grabbed farm tiles and then she was in the lead. Sam went big in cities and got the city bonus tile and before long he was in the lead. Martin cursed me for scoring a city that got Sam nine points when he could have completed it without it scoring at all. I was pleased with beating 100 points, but I looked forlornly at my 18 point move which would never be played since the penultimate city was scored and the game ended.

Sam 152
Martin 147
Anja 116
Andrew 110

Then two quick games of In Vino Morte where the final rounds were Martin beating me and then me beating Anja. Four games and I’d been in the final three times. Finally, a game other than Fuji Flush that I seem to be good at.

Anja left for home at this point so two new groups emerged. Tajuto with Joe, Sam and Martin and Downfall of Pompeii with Andy, Katy and me.

Pompeii began with the usual rules check regarding the set up. Then we populated and depopulated the doomed Roman city with abandon. I got what meeples I could to safety pretty early on, but couldn’t draw the necessary lava tiles to stop the other two.

Katy 13
Andy 11
Andrew 10

I didn’t follow Tajuto at all, apart from noting down that Joe’s heavy sigh of “Fucking finally!” at one point of the game.I guess his point scoring came even later than before.

Sam 15
Martin 14
Joe 4

Then they played Letter Press, which is a reworked Moveable Type or something.

Joe 25 (“Wrecking”)
Martin 19 (“Quizzed”)
Sam 17 (“Whites”)

And we played Keltis, the card game. This now means I’ve played all three types of Keltis. I feel like I should have a badge.

Andy 24
Katy 19
Andrew 18

Then, with the eleventh hour approaching and an offer of a lift from Sam, Katy and I jumped ship and everyone else called it a day, too. Thanks everyone. It was a gem.