Mossy Top and Bottom

With Andrew one of the changing-season lurgy drop-outs (get well, everyone), blogging duties fell to me (Sam). I was also hosting. Adam arrived early again, and was treated to the sight of Stan and I eating our tea (and Stan making fun of my cooking skills, naturally). Ten minutes later the others began to arrive: Martin, Gareth, and Ian at first, which was enough of us for a quick blast at Strike. Despite Gareth - when forced to roll all his dice - taking five 2's straight back out again, Martin won and continues to convince that there's more to the game than blind/bad luck. 

As we finished, long-term absentee Andy Mosse arrived, and then Mel joined us too. We split into two groups, with Martin and Gareth teaching Andy The Crew and the rest of us setting up Flamme Rouge. 

From the start Mel led the peloton, alternating occasionally with my Rouller and both of us collecting exhaustion cards as Ian and Adam bided their time. It was an unusual course we'd chosen, as there were no uphills at all until a tiny slope right at the end. Halfway around the track Ian made a break for it and Adam went with him as Mel and I languished. Two-thirds of the way through it was a very obvious two-horse race as we were left far behind, playing out a fairly insignificant sub-plot to the main event. 

It was a dramatic finish as Adam realised his '9' card wouldn't take him over the line because of the last hill. Because of gravity, Ian pedalled frantically home to claim a 1-2 finish, with Adam third and fourth. Mel was fifth and eighth and myself sixth and seventh. Around this time, they finished The Crew as well:

And we swapped chairs as Adam set up Luzon Rails. for himself, Gareth, Mel and Ian. I gave them a brief and panicked precis of the rules before returning to Martin and Ian for a crack at Dandelions, a slightly chaotic dice-moving/placing/majority-claiming game. I profess to have no idea how, but I won:

Sam 62

Martin 51

Ian 41

And whilst Luzon Rails continued, we moved swiftly on to Sea Salt & Paper, a fast-moving set collection game. Like Dandelions, there's a lot of luck, but also a sliver of table-reading and deduction. Cards score points in various ways, including pairs that trigger extra turns/card draws/card thefts. Pairs are played to the table for the reward, but you can keep them hidden instead if you like. When you have 7 points (or more) you can halt the round, either by saying Stop (everyone scores) or Last Chance, in which case everyone else gets one more turn in which to try and beat your score. The latter is more rewarding (and more punishing for opponents) but carries more risk...

Not knowing what you're doing doesn't hurt either. I survived a dramatic last-round comeback by Ian to take the win (first to 35 points)

Sam 35

Ian 31

Martin 13

Luzon Rails were still under construction so we blasted through four games of Strike, winning one apiece before Ian took the decider (2-1-1) assisted by some preposterous rolling, including getting all but two of his dice back when forced to roll 15 of them. 

Ian left, and Martin and I blasted through a ding-dong battle of Schnipp & Weg which was so dramatic I didn't even take a picture, despite winning. Then Luzon rails finished!

early bids

Andy's worries that he'd overbid for shares at the start proved unfounded, as prices escalated and they ended up looking comparative bargains. Other than that, I'm not sure what happened, except to say he'd picked a debut win as Adam suffered (semi) explainer's curse:

Andy M: 57

Gareth 51

Mel 42

Adam 31

And with the hour approaching 10.30, Mel and Gareth left to make their way back to Easton. The remaining four of us played Polterfass, the game of beer pouring, serving, and greedily grabbing. My table-reading skills were abysmal and after a decent first round (16 points!) I was still on the same score several rounds later, as Martin surged ahead, Adam caught him up, and Andy and I floundered around in the dregs on the floor of the tavern. Andy quit on zero beer as the innkeeper caught us all out, and had Martin wailing "Why? Why???" as Adam surged past him for the win.

"I just thought it'd be funny" Andy said. 

And it was. 

Adam 77

Martin 51

Sam 26

Andy 11

That was that! Thanks all, see you next week....

Lords of Tigris

Various maladies kept Andrew and Adam from the table last night (best wishes guys) but there were still seven of us around the kitchen table when 7.30 arrived: Gareth, Ian, Katy, Joe, Adam T, Martin and myself. We inadvertently found ourselves having a conversation which took an unlikely turn when Ian mentioned the Lego version of Tigris and Euphrates he'd seen online. I don't recall how we got from there to vulvas, but Katy said she'd love to see a Lego version, and gestured something the size of an oval dinner plate. At this point we thought we should probably start playing something, and kicked things off with Cross Clues.

We did pretty well, although I let the side down a bit with a rushed guess and a rushed clue. 

Everyone: 21 out of 25

I forgot to take any photos, but you know what it looks like. 

Then it was time to move on to the evening's main courses. As agreed last week, a few of us dived back into the genius (Martin and Adam) or bewilderment (Gareth and I) of Tigris and Euphrates. Martin availed us of the rules whilst at the other end another type of bonkerness began to manifest in the form of Lords of Vegas.

I'd forgotten the intricacies of Tigris - as much as I ever knew them - but the sense of not having a clue what I was doing was present and correct. Players aren't colours but types. Leaders score points for matching-coloured tiles, except the black leader who can score on behalf of absent leaders. Internal conflict (someone arrives in your kingdom) versus external conflict (someone joins two kingdoms together) is enough to think about already, but on top of the initial opacity you've got the joy/frustration of how these things come to life on the board. "I've never seen you this angry playing a game!" Martin said, but my Sybil-esque mutterings were really about my own shortcomings - I find it hard to get my head around. 

Gareth, on his debut, got blue and green leaders mixed up but coped with the fallback with more grace than I would have. Meantime across the table from us, Adam and Martin had conversations we only half-understood. Halfway through, it felt like Martin was definitely leading (points come in four colours, and your final score is your lowest-colour haul) and after that, I wasn't sure what was happening. I started some wars to just to see what happened, and it wasn't good. 

As the game neared its conclusion, Adam at first ended it, but then decided not to, setting some kind of trap for Martin instead. Meanwhile, in Lords of Vegas, Joe announced that all his shitty luck from last week was balancing out now, as his score marker moved into the giddy heights of the sixties! There was a final big casino payout to come, but Katy and Ian where nowhere near him. 

In Tigris, Martin hadn't fallen into Adam's carefully-laid trap, much to his appalled disdain, and Gareth joined two kingdoms to end the game. As we anticipated, Martin was a clear winner, and Adam reflected that despite it being his favourite game for 15 years and counting, he was still rubbish at it.

Rubbish was all he needed for second place, though:

Martin 7

Adam 4 (wins on tiebreaker, or wins on Tuesday according to my autocorrect)

Gareth (third on Tuesday)

Sam (last on Tuesday) 

Martin made the very reasonable point that if we played it more regularly, that sense of grasping for understanding would drop away. I'm not sure Tigris calls my name for regular play, but I'd be up for going again soon. I'd like to play with a vague sense of agency, at least. As the finale to Lords of Vegas played out, the four of us blasted through a super-quick game of Yokai Septet, the partnership trick-taker where you're trying to claim 7's. 

Martin and I won round one, and were wrapping up round 2 (and the game) as Lords finally wrapped up. Joe's score was astonishing. 

Joe 79

Katy 36

Ian 14

Nobody has ever scored anything like that on a GNN night, as far as I'm aware? Then, like the high-rolling gambler he is, Joe sashayed out the door to the airport. I should probably add he was picking up his daughter, but why ruin the enigmatic illusion? 

We played So Clover. 

Katy finished her clues in rapid time but we found ourselves on a different wavelength and couldn't figure out that Mug went with Croc, as in crockery. Sorry Katy! It wasn't the triumph of last week, with only a couple of sixes in the mix, but a half-decent score all the same:

22/30

Again, no pics. As well as not having the brain for Knizia's classic, I also lack basic memory skills. I did remember to take one of Polterfass though: great to get this barrel-rolling, beer-ordering brinkmanship classic back on the table. I short-changed everyone on the very first turn to get some points on the board and backed it up with a big order on turn 2, but as Ian sank immediately to minus figures, Katy was close behind me. 

Both she and Martin wracked up huge amounts of beer, Katy at one point reeling something like 48 on a single turn. Martin rerolled four barrels several times and somehow didn't go bust. As greedy as the rest of us had been on these big beer hauls, Katy was unstoppable and sailed to a convincing victory:

Katy 89

Sam 57

Ian 38

Martin 30

We wanted to finish with Push It, but I realised having leant it to my brother we couldn't. Martin and I pushed for Crokinole, but we settled on Spicy. What a little gem this thing is. As I made challenge after challenge, and Martin and Ian periodically joined in, Katy simply racked up points by telling truths and successful half-truths. "I'm not even doing anything!" she said, as we frantically challenged each other, usually to little avail. She and Martin both managed to empty their hand of cards (+10 points), but Katy was uncatchable - although Martin gave it a good go.

Katy 28

Martin 25

Sam 18

Ian 12

I was too embroiled to take a picture. Another excellent evening, thanks all. And apologies for my grumbling through T+E. 

Bring Your Own Cestus

Tuesday arrived with yet more drama playing out in Parliament - I mention this because I hope one day we'll look back and laugh, but probably not - and so we grasped preoccupations of our own with which to spend the evening. Rovers having a match on meant Joe and Adam were struggling to find places to park, however, so there was a conversation between myself (Sam), Katy, Ian and Sally that lasted at least five minutes.

"Will you be joining us tonight?" Katy asked, but Sally declined. She had children to wrangle into bed, an event they always resist with increasingly demented strategies.

By the time all the willing gamers were finally sat at the table, it was nearing 8 o'clock, and we kicked off with a six-player Bring Your Own Book. Adam had brought his own (Thomas Pynchon) so from our bookshelves we mixed in Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carson McCullers, Zadie Smith, Nick Hornby, and the British Gardeners Guide to Insects.

Joe won this with "How much have you drunk?"

Adam grabbed an early lead with his answer to what one might see on a bumper sticker: I'm driving along the freeway looking for Volkswagens to destroy. Ian requested a name for a Battleship and most of us found suitably aggressive-sounding monikers, but Katy took the point with Puddles. 

Step five in Katy taking over the world was Vibrate, vibrate, and vibrate again (although I still liked my suggestion of several bird calls). My craft beer was called Fuck you, leave me alone and at the end of a good half-hour of Stinker-like nonsense, Adam took the win. 

With the hour closer to 9 than 8, the day's talk of Pax Pamir dissipated with Martin, Adam and Katy trying out Martin's latest Knizian Fix: Clash of the Gladiators. I - along with Joe and Ian - was fixated on our dubiously-motived scramble around Africana, so didn't pick up much about the game aside from the fact there was a lot of swearing going on. When I asked if the game was any good, Martin replied "Yes! Adam just twatted a lion"

Meantime Ian's eerie predictions of his own demise looked like coming true in Africana as we both found ourselves in the northern hemisphere when all the expeditions started in the south - where Joe was. He led the early running, and my optimism aligned aligned to Ian's when I paid no less than eight coins to keep turning the pages of the book (what is the book?) in order to find myself another assistant. 

I love the simplicity of Africana though, even if fate can occasionally crap on you from a height: twice I had a large hand of cards but was unable to use them to any effect. Ian and I thought Joe had the game stitched up, but thanks to my expedition cards I managed an unlikely win. And Ian was closer than we all expected...

Sam 36
Joe 32
Ian 28

At the other end of the table, after some talk about 'fucking the bear' ("Can you fuck it nicely?" Katy asked) Clash of the Gladiators had also finished:

Adam 20
Katy 18
Martin 17

Gladiators: Ready!

The verdict was broadly positive, so hopefully we'll see it again. They'd also squeezed in a game of Hats...

Martin 42
Adam 36
Katy 34

And after Adam retired for the evening, Katy and Martin played a round of Maskmen:

Martin 2
Katy 1

After Africana, Ian elected to depart as well, leaving us as a four. We decided on Polterfass as a nice 10pm game, and began rolling barrels like our livelihoods depended on it. Thank God they actually don't, though, because as always in Polterfass I repeatedly shot myself in the foot, even allowing Katy - 30 points behind me at one stage - to overhaul me. The battle for first was always between Martin and Joe, and Martin's cause was harpooned when we collectively bid for all of his beer. The smirk was wiped from my face when the same thing happened to me moments later - but the round of the night was the final one, where Katy scored a whopping 21 beers and Joe staggered drunkenly over the victory line. Katy caught Martin for joint second.

Joe 84
Martin / Katy 47
Sam 37

I asked if there was a tie-breaker and everyone scathingly cried "What, for second place?" as though I was pedantically foot-noting. I don't know, it's not the same without Andrew here... I forgot to take photos of Polterfass, but here is the box from a funny angle.

The last game of the night was a newbie - Startups, from Oink games - purveyors of interesting decisions and graphically-pleasing bits in small boxes. I wondered if it was a bit late to be learning any rules but Martin batted my feebleness aside, even though he admitted Oink rulebooks were usually "a bit weird".

Point rewards left; Monopoly tokens right

The game is a bit weird too.  A deck of cards represents several startup companies, and during play you're building a tableau of these cards in front of you. At the end of the round what you're aiming for is the most of the company cards you've collected - anyone who has less of that type of card has to pay you, and most money wins the round. It's classic Oink scoring - 2points for first, 1point for second, -1point for last place.

On your turn you pick up a card, and play a card - but inevitably there are catches. The card you pick up can be a free face-up card from the collective dumping ground (the market), or the top card from the deck if you want to pay a coin to any face-up cards in the market. You can then play a card into either the market, or your tableau. Having the most of a type of card gets you the monopoly token - now you don't have to pay to any matching cards in the market - but you're not allowed to pick them up either!

What this makes for is a jostle for positioning on various companies and the desire to avoid having certain cards means you may - as I did, twice - end up spending far too much money avoiding them. A final twist: when the deck runs out the three cards in your hand get added to your tableau, and (unless there are ties) coins are paid to all the monopoly holders before points are scored.

I finished the first two round in third, but collapsed to ignominy in the final round. The others fared a little better - Martin went from a shocking opening round to grabbing the win:

Martin 3
Katy 2
Joe 2
Sam -1

This time there was a decider - Katy won the tie-breaker to claim second. We all liked Startups - very, very Oinky and I think a bit less procedural feeling than Flotsam Fight - closer to Maskmen in how hard it is to get a handle on - in a good way.

But with the hour now 11 o'clock, it was time to head home to bed. Until next time... thank you all, it was special.

Sometimes you get what you ask for

With Ian away giving his dad whiskey for breakfast or something, super-sub Sam stepped in to make up our regular foursome. He wasn’t on top form, however, having recently spent some quality time with the toilet for reasons he couldn’t fathom. Joe drove us to Martin’s house where we set up with the easy familiarity that you might expect after two years. Previous leader Joe omoniously predicted that he was in for “a big loss”. We rolled to see who’d start and three of us rolled nines. I was the only one to roll a nine after that, so I began.

I started in Gallia, Sam in Pannonia, Martin in Macedonia and Joe in Thracia.

In round one we all went two red, three blue and took identical options. But before that, the very first crisis roll sent a Sassanid onto the board, into Galatia. I think that’s the first time that a barbarian made a move before a human did.

I took Hispania, Sam took Britannia, Martin took Africa and Joe (after a second Sassanid went into Syria) took Asia.

In round two I hired a general and built a basilica in Hispania. Sam did the same, putting his building in Britannia. But by now every barbarian had a least one active tribe on our borders. Then Martin sent a Nomad into his own Africa. He had to kill it off, meaning he couldn’t hire a general, but he still built a Basilica in Macedonia. Joe hired a general and built a Limes in Thracia.

In round three I got voted into Syria and tributed the Sassanid there. Sam sent a Nomad into unoccupied Aegyptus and was then voted in there, tributing the Nomad. Martin said “I’m buggered unless I roll Pax Deorum,” at which point he rolled 1-1. The exact opposite of what he needed as new barbarians appeared on our borders.

However, Martin’s pessimism with his 4B 2R hand was unjustified as he moved his army from Africa to Italia, meaning he needed just three votes to unseat the neutral emperor. He hired a governor and still had two blue points left over and a Basilica: three votes! He was the game’s first emperor at 8.27pm.

Joe began his dalliance with bad luck tonight by sending three Alamanni from their homelands into his own Thracia. They were placated by a Limes, but it was still an unwelcome invasion. Meanwhile, he got voted into Emperor Martin’s undefended Africa and then Tributed the Nomad in Sam’s Africa for “unspecified favours” in the future.

The scores now were Martin 15, Andrew 9, Sam 9, Joe 9

In round four I added a legion to Syria and killed the Sassanid there. My plan at the time was to rack up points by building a super army in the east and wander around, killing barbarians, since that seemed to be the way the game was going. And I built a Limes in Gallia.

Sam sent two more Goths into Joe’s already over-populated Thracia. Plus, Sam had a hand of nine blue points which was ample to unseat Martin and become Emperor at 8.39. It was a short lived reign as Martin’s “rainbow hand” (3R 3B 3Y) allowed him straight back into the senate again as the Emperor of a very small empire (Just Italia and Macedonia), and he built a second army in Macedonia. But not before his crisis roll had put a third Goth into Thracia. Joe was not reassured by the fact that it was now impossible for another barbarian to invade because Thracia was full.

Joe, meanwhile, had things to do. With 5R and 2Y he added a legion in Thracia, attacked the Allamani and wiped them out, but got three hits in reply losing his militia and wounding both legions. He healed one legion and used a Forced March to attack the Goths. They won, two hits to Joe’s one but were still inactive thanks to Joe’s Limes. Then he boosted support in Africa.

Martin 20, Joe 18, Andrew 17, Sam 16

Round five saw an Alamanni go into Sam’s Pannonia. I foederatied the Nomad in Aegyptus into my Syrian army and then moved it up to Galatia, beating the Sassanid there for points. I then had enough blue points that I was able to buy my level five governor! And had enough left over to get voted into Galatia. I was feeling good about my position with four territories: Hispania, Gallia, Galatia and the undefended Syria. But I’d been here before and seen it all go wrong so I wasn’t about to get carried away.

Sam then sent three Franks into his own Britannia. This caused a quandry. Which should he save? Britannia or Pannonia? And with only 2Y 3R to do it. HIs response was neat and efficient. He attacked and beat the Alamanni in Pannonia, boosted support in Britannia and added a legion there in preparation for the battle to come.

Emperor Martin finally rolled a seven for the crisis roll. The first of the game! “Posthumus. Fuck.” said Martin as he drew himself a rival emperor. It went into my Gallia which at first was annoying but then I thought it might be useful to keep him alive to stop Martin getting any more Emperor turns. Martin 92R 2B 1Y) moved his army from Macedonia to my Syria and got voted in there.

Joe (4B 3R) took his army from Africa to Italia and fought Martin there, losing 2-1. He then bought a level four governor before ending his “desperately shit turn.”

Martin 28, Andrew 26, Sam 23, Joe 22

Round six began with me rolling another 1-1 crisis roll. Ira Deorum! Barbarians appeared on all borders again. With my 2Y 2B 4R I added legions to Hispania and Gallia, bought a level two governor and boosted support in Gallia which then fell back down thanks to Postumus. A quite round, but deliberately so. I had plans.

Sam’s crisis roll sent four goths onto the board: three into Joe’s Asia and one carried on into Martin’s Macedonia. He (4R 2Y 3B) used his Spiculum to wipe out the remaining Franks in Britannia, and then boosted support in Pannonia. He tried to get voted into Joe’s undefended Africa, needing four votes with three dice, but only got three votes. Then, to fulfil his earlier promise of “unspecified favours,” he tributed the Goths in Joe’s Asia.

Emperor Martin moved his army from Macedonia into Thracia and attacked Joe, wiping him out. He was then voted in there too, and boosted support there for good measure. He was now hosting barbarians in both Macedonia and Thracia. A perilous situation.

And one that instantly got worse as Joe’s crisis roll sent three Alamanni into Martin’s Thracia. Joe moved his army from Asia into Martin’s Macedonia and beat the remaining militia. He used his Forced March to attack the Goth tribe there as well, but failed. His entire military force currently consisted of one wounded legion. Not to be downhearted, he got voted into Macedonia, only to see his Asia go neutral.

Martin 38, Sam 32, Andrew 31, Joe 27

In round seven, I pounced. I figured that everyone had barbarian issues that’ll distract them, so I used my 4R 5B hand to go for Rome. First, my army went from Hispania into Italia and defeated Martin’s wounded legion. Then my army in Gallia beat Postumus. I got myself voted into Asia, tibuting the Goths there, and then finally into Rome as a level five emperor, needing twelve votes if anyone wanted to unseat me! I was even able to buy two level four cards in one go. I had never experienced such riches. It was only 9.40 but Martin was already predicting my certain victory.

Sam (7B 3R) killed some more Franks in Britannia, got voted into my Hispania and added a legion in Pannonia. I later found out that he had been planning on unseating Martin in Rome on that turn. Good job I got there in time.

Martin, with armies in Thracia and Syria, is too far away to do me any real damage and still save himself. He had 3R 3Y 2B so he added a legion in Thracia, beat the Goths there and then got himself voted into Asia after turning it neutral with a Mobile Vulgus. He then boosted support there.

Joe (4R 3B) built an army in Africa, sent it into Italia where it was promptly wiped out by my army stationed there. He then lost an election in Sam’s Hispania. Sadly, only the most recent in a long list of misfortunes to befall him this night.

Andrew 49, Martin 46, Sam 42, Joe 30

At the start of round eight, with my eye on hitting sixty points, I opined out loud that “I’d quite like a Pax Deorum.” I then consequently rolled a 6-6. I added a four red to my hand to make 9R 4B 3Y. I healed and reinforced my army in Italia. I sent my Gallian army into the Franks homeland and beat the barbarian there. Got voted into Hispania and then sent my army from Galatia into Asia, hoping to beat the Goths there, but lost. That last battle was just a flourish since, by then, I’d got past sixty points. Still, it would’ve been nice. I triggered the end of the game at only 10.05pm.

Sam (7B 3R) failed in his attempt to win an election in Hispania but succeeded in Gallia. In a final push for points he sent his three-legion army from Britannia into the Sahara to attack the four barbarians who’d been sitting there doing nothing for most of the game. But the battle ended in a 2-2 draw and he came away empty handed.

The Nomads, once again, massed on the borders seemingly happy to watch

Martin (1Y 3B 6R) rolled an event and drew Bad Augeries from the deck. Roman legions now needed to roll one higher in order to hit. “That’s not what I needed,” he sighed. He charged into Italia with a Spiculum, but it wasn’t as effective as Sam’s was and it does only one hit. In the following battle, I won 2-1. Lastly, my Hispania survived another election, when Martin rolled only 5-1-1.

Lastly Joe, (1B 5R 5Y) healed his legion in Macedonia and killed the Goth there. He built an army in Africa and bravely sent it into Nomadland where it was promptly killed by the remaining two barbarians. Then it was his turn to not get voted into Hispania as my undefended territory seemed to have a charmed life in this final round. Then, just for style, he built an amphitheatre.

Andrew 74
Martin 59
Sam 51
Joe 37

My first win in over two years (and that was a three-player game) and quite a relief. I was kind of lucky in that barbarians mostly didn't attack me but, then again, with a hand full of foederaties and red points, I had initially wanted them too. Plus, Joe had appalling luck with the dice and Martin was screwed by the only two events we had in the whole game. Postumus was especially damaging to him. And that Pax Deorum was absurdly lucky for me.

After this we played Polterfass, a game which Sam mentioned that he’d finished in minus figures last time he’d played. And, mid-game, his pessimism seemed justified as he lay on eight points, thirty-one behind the then leader Joe. He fumed good-naturedly at our choice of rerolling when he was convinced we were about the stick, making a mockery of his low bet.

But halfway through, the tide turned and he began picking up points. Martin, though, was looking set for the win when we luckily bid nine between us when he stuck on nine barrels. Then, once again, luck shone on me. My first roll was a measly Seven barrel. They made their bids but I figured in order to win, I’d have to go big, so I rolled again.

I got this.

I stuck, and ended up scoring twenty-five points that round, pushing me into an unlikely first.

Andrew 77
Martin 75
Sam 45
Joe 45

Thanks everyone. What an evening. I may never see its like again.

Santiago to Rome is a little under one metre

Only a couple of days after Martin had hosted Time Of Crisis, he was the genial MC of another games night: our regular weekly get together. Tonight there were seven of us. Martin, his friend and GNN debutant Adam, Sam, Joe, Ian, Anja and me.

We began as a six and to fill time until Anja arrived, we showed Adam how badly Just One can be played. In the first three rounds we passed and Sam was the first to get us any points at all (he guessed "white" from Christmas, blancmange and Spurs). We struggled to get going, but hats off to whoever wrote "sex offender" as a clue for "register" - Martin got it easily. We finished with our worst score on six, with the ever patronising score sheet rating us as "a good start."

But by now, Anja had arrived and it was time to play something we might be good at. Joe was keen to try Senators while Adam touted Santiago de Cuba. Sam and Anja went to Cuba while the Time Of Crisis cohort returned to the ancient empire of Rome once again. The table hummed to the sound of simultaneous rules explanations.

Cuba on the left, Italy on the right.

I know little about Santiago de Cuba except there are dice on boats and the players all ride around in the same car. Rather sweet, really. There was mild consternation from Sam that he'd been given too many points but for the record it ended

Sam 40
Adam 33
Anja 27

In Rome Joe was having a terrible time of it on his first game. Having just paid for a governor, the next event removed all governors from the game. This hobbled Martin, too, as he explained later that his senator was about to help him strike it rich.

Instead, Joe saw himself going backwards along the score track as he sold Senators to make ends meet while Martin struggled with cash for most of the game.

I got lucky (is it luck, though?) by getting a couple of cheap senators in bidding rounds and when Ian and I were first to cash out, buying three senators each, I was in a considerable early lead which I held on to. Martin clawed his way back to second place but then the fourth war broke out while Ian was on the toilet and the game ended.

Andrew 11
Martin 9
Ian 7
Joe 5

After this, while Santiago De Cuba was ending, we played a couple of rounds of Maskmen. Just like in Senators, Joe began by getting negative points but he redeemed himself with a first place in the second of only two rounds.

Andrew 2
Joe 1
Martin 0
Ian -1

Then we rearranged seats and groups. Joe, Adam and Sam played Spirits Of The Forest. Sam had undersold this by admitting that even he wasn't sure if he wanted to play it after his underwhelming first game, but this was enough to capture the interest of two of us.

Sam 23 wins on a tie breaker
Adam 23
Joe 16

They squeezed in a little one round game of Good Little Tricks, which ended

Sam 7
Adam 9
Joe 11

The rest of us chose Polterfass, a wholesome family game about beer and gambling. There were some huge points on offer as well as moments of real penny-pinching cruelty as some bartenders limited their stock just to annoy everyone else.

I put the cup on top of some barrels on the table and when I picked up the cup the barrels were wedged into the rim of the cup. Should've been worth points.

In the end, it was another shockingly high total that gave Martin the win. When he decided to roll again after an unremarkable opening amount of beer, he can have envisaged the luck he was about to receive. We all got our bets fulfilled but Martin picked up thirty one points in the final round.

Martin 87
Ian 73
Andrew 68
Anja 64

At this point Adam left so we joined together for a six-player nightcap, Texas Showdown. This game is as funny as it is evil and most of us had our share of bad luck. There was a serious discussion in round one about whether to keep your tricks face up on the table or face down. The trouble with face up is the extra information from the visible card, but if you keep them face down then there's the risk of picking them up by accident if you put your cards down.

We decided on face down and to refrain from putting our cards down. We also thought that the game should come with little ceramic animals ("ceranimals" (c) Joe) that you could put on your tricks to distinguish them from your hand.

But as for the game, it was very close unless you were Ian, in which case you had a decent lead. After round three it was 2-5-5-6-6-6 and I was bemoaning how difficult it was to target someone in this game.

This is what Ian looks like in a commanding lead

My bad karma flew back in my face as I entered a death spiral of 6nimmt-ish proportions, picking up five tricks in the second half of round four. Ian had another clear round to seal a comfortable win, and so did Sam which saw him go from joint last into second.

Ian 2
Sam 6
Anja 7
Martin 7
Joe 7
Andrew 11

And with that it was back home thanks to taxi Sam. Thanks to Martin for hosting and hello to another Adam. We should do this again soon.

Desperate Times

Summer continued its grip on our attendance figures, with a mere four gamers around Sam's kitchen table this Tuesday. Sam, Martin, Ian and me.

Both Martin and I were a little late, so Ian and Sam kicked off the fun with a game of Akrotiri. In this game you have to place temples on a modular and ever-expanding map, according to the placement of coloured cubes already on the map (ie, one red to the north, two blues to the east and a grey to the south).

I came in mid game and watched them play for a while. It all looked quite relaxing as they sailed around some islands, selling and buying cubes. Who knows the frantic machinations going on inside their heads, though?

When Martin arrived they ended the game. It was 2-2.

With all gamers present, we began with a little history lesson: Reiner Knizia's first published game, Deserados. How would this proto-Knizia be received?

The game is a team game, with colleagues sitting opposite each other, with six cards and a draw deck in the middle. The idea is to play a mine card (gold, silver or copper) and then between you, keep playing cards with the same element to that mine. The other team can try to grab it with a Desperado, which can then be fought off with other Desperados of a higher (combined) value. To stop this, you can close a mine and that's safely in the bank for points.

To be honest, none of us were massively taken. Martin reminded us that this was made years ago before anyone knew anything about games but, even so, it was a pretty drab exercise.

Martin and Ian 28
Sam and Andrew 9

After this, we all gazed at Sam's games wall, wondering what to play next. Quantum? Flamme Rouge? We could recreate that Welsh bloke winning in France, said Ian, demonstrating his in-depth knowledge of current affairs. Hit Z Road? More of a late night game, really.

Instead we chose The Quest For Eldorado. Not played since Adam used the twin trash card spaces to hone his hand into an unstoppable machine of speed, we were keen to try it again with a gentleman's agreement not to copy Adam's strategy.

Instead, we all went a bit cave crazy, with me even going backwards to grab a useful treat. We took great pleasure in pronouncing the names of the cards in the most obscene way possible. Ian, Martin and I all seemed to have the idea of using a Trash Three Cards space on the penultimate tile to make our hands lean and efficient. We all arrived at the same time, though, meaning we had to wait patiently as we each took a turn to use it. Sam, meanwhile sped through undergrowth. Definitely the long way round but, with no one in his way, he made it count.

In the end, it was between Martin and Sam. Martin couldn't reach the temple but was in a promising position. Sam fell just one space short. Could Martin take advantage with his next, surely final, turn?

But wait! Who's this charging up from behind like Wile E. Coyote with a fully functioning Acme jet pack on his back? It's Ian, whose final turn made a mockery of Sam and Martin's slow progress as he cleared the entire last tile and arrived at the temple. I could only just reach the final tile to make my last place look respectable. And could Martin join Ian at the temple and win on a tie breaker? He showed us his final hand: all money. He couldn't move at all.

The game before Ian's final move...

... and after.

1. Ian
2. Sam
3. Martin
4. Andrew

After this we succumbed to the temptation of Decrypto. Martin and Sam teamed up again to try and avenge some previous defeat that, I admit, couldn't bring to mind. We named our teams after our favourite single entendres from Eldorado, so that Sam and Martin were The Kundschafters, while Ian and I were The Urine Whiners.

In round two, Sam over-thought a clue and actually changed his mind from the correct answer. An early mistake!

But by round four, it looked increasingly like the words had been deduced, as both interceptions were only one word out. "We need cat poo levels of ingenuity here," declared Martin, referring to Joe's stroke of genius when defining the word "message".

Today's themed clues were Martin's very short clues in round two (only used ten letters in total), and Sam's filmic round six which prompted Martin to inform Sam that he doesn't know much about films. Sam also had a short story "Watch / Ugly / Luke"* while my final clues resembled a Marillion album title: "Childhood watches / Puberty become / Death."**

In the end, Ian and I got two interceptions (in rounds six and seven) to win the game. To cap it all, we correctly guessed all their words!

Ian and Andrew gracious winners.
Sam and Martin plucky losers.

Now with a party feel in the air, we couldn't go back to a Euro. Instead Martin brought Polterfass and The Mind in from Sam's living room.

Polterfass has been absent for a while, but tonight's game had everything that reminded us how good it was. We had clever bids that left the bier meister with barely anything. We had a player (Sam) fall back into minus points after an extravagant bid went wrong. But mostly, we had a three way tussle for the lead. After the seventh round the scores were 42, 41, 41, 16 which left us all (except Sam, perhaps) fully invested in the game.

But in round eight, Ian drew ahead and then only needed two points to win when he was the bier meister. There was nothing anyone could do to stop him, except Lady Fate, and she was probably next door partying with all the cool young things next door, singing along to "Africa" by Toto.

What I mean is Ian won.

Ian 83
Martin 69
Andrew 63
Sam 7

Finally we ended on The Mind. It was a fraught affair. Despite collaborating with team games like Desperados and Decrypto, we were horribly out of sync. In the first two rounds we lost lives in the 30s. We didn't improve and were dead by round five.

We reset and tried again. Early signs weren't good when we lost a life to 58/75. We lose a life in round three (11/12) but otherwise seemed pretty solid. Then, in round four Ian was very slow in putting down the 8 and then slower still following it up with the 10. Maybe this unnerved us since we lost a life later on. We had a clear round five thanks to a shuriken getting us through the treacherous thirties. But we lost two lives and failed in round six with 11/12 (again!) and 15/16 providing our downfall.

A lovely evening. Interesting to play a bad game by The Knizia, and the rest were all top notch entertainment. Here's hoping for a venue next week. Damn these summer holidays.


* Time, fruit, cage
** Rainbow, revolution, torpedo

Heaven and Ail

Last night the games were in effect. 

Chris, Ian and Andrew hovered around the table as we debated Heaven and Ale, Calimala, or some undecided other. It was Ian who settled matters, saying he'd like to try Kiesling and Schmidt's game of beer-brewing again. Andrew and I had played a two-hander on Monday, so it was only new to Chris. We breezed through the rules and hopped to it. 

Yeah, hopped.

The broad ins and outs of H+A were covered in Tuesday's post, but we discovered that with four the game plays very differently than with two or three. There are 6 rounds (instead of 3/4 for two/three players) and spaces are at a premium. Not really thinking ahead, both Ian and I triggered some early scoring that seemed to set us up well, but turned out to be the mere red carpet for Andrew and Chris to saunter down as they timed things much better.

Timing is key even in a head to head with Heaven and Ale, but it felt even more so now, as those big leaps along the track for a monk or a scoring marker meant leaving much behind for others to hoover up. But on the other hand, everyone was making those big leaps because scoring markers in particular felt like the keys to the kingdom. 

Andrew gazes down at his competitors

I also noticed that Ian and I played a steady stream of tiles to both sides of our hill (shady side, when activated, gets you money - sunny side moves those precious ingredient markers up the track). In contrast Chris populated his shady side with big numbers, and Andrew was working in the sun with 1s, 2s and 3s. This specialising seemed to serve them well, though I'm not sure that was the only reason we got left behind. This game continues to intrigue, and as on Tuesday Ian could be heard muttering "Weird" as the final round moved into view.

It might not be screwage but there's a lot of inadvertent dickery too. Five times Ian - left of me - took what I was after. And everyone felt that sting at some point. We knew the fight was between Andrew and Chris, and I must admit I though Chris's impressive hoard of barrels would see him crowned Best Boozed-Up Monk. But I was wrong!

Andrew 42

Chris 38

Sam 22

Ian 18

Great game! 

We continued the boozy theme with the only other Andreas Schmidt game I know - Polterfass! 

Everyone knew this one so we hit the inns. Except I kept walking into the door, and reeling around in a daze - going low when I should have gone high, and (many times) going high when I should have gone low. The scores at one point stood at 52-49-48 for the others, while I languished in single figures or less. 

Then Ian was suddenly poised on 74 points and Andrew realised that to catch him he needed to roll big - very big. He pushed and pushed... and it wasn't enough. Ian claimed the victory - although Andrew had at least done enough to snatch second place from Chris. Meanwhile I was back in the twenties. 

Lots of beer-based fun. Thanks chaps.