Novocon 2015

Friday

As the starlings gather in fields to set of across the continents on their yearly migration, so it is that the GNN faithful gather together on email exchanges, eager to swap city concrete for the feeling of fresh country grass under our feet. Or at least visible through the window.

Sam, Stanley and I set off from Bristol heading south-west to Devon which, apparently, sat under a giant black storm cloud. Day swiftly turned to night as rain fell. The journey was arduous, but not complicated and after a couple of hours, we had arrived in Croyde!

Adam, Hannah, Arthur and Katy were there to meet us with freshly cooked lasagna. And as we ate, Steve, Anja and Luther arrived, followed by Jon. Finally, we were all together so the games could commence!

The first game was Steve’s egg game, in which he had to balance eggs on a shelf in the fridge door, unaware that it would give way any second. It did, with Steve unable to catch them all. In the blink of an eye we went from eighteen eggs down to three. There then came the tricky matter of how to pick up albumen from a kitchen floor. Mopping it up with a sponge? Scooping it up with a spatula? Steve worked hard to clean it up.

The second game was Steve’s beer game, in which he had to pour a drink from his new Old Speckled Hen mini-keg without it suddenly spurting drink everywhere. He lost. More cleaning up.

Steve's beer. Fresh from the mini-keg!

Finally, while Arthur and Luther were being put to bed, we played a real game. You know, one that comes in a box with rules. We chose Forbidden Desert, a nice co-op game to ease everyone into the weekend. Jon, Stanley, Katy, Sam, Adam and myself all tried to find the pieces of the ancient flying machine in the shifting sands of the aforementioned desert. But we couldn’t. We were able to stave off thirst, only to die, buried under piles of sand.

Next, Adam beat Steve at Hive, and Anja joined the group on the Big Table where they broke out Celestia. Sam took out the special action cards, apart from the jet pac and spy-glass, I think. They sped through two games of high drama.

Jon 55
Katy 38
Sam 36
Stanley 30
Anja 29

Then...

Anja 52
Jon 43
Stanley 39
Sam 36
Steve 33

During the second game, Adam beat Katy at Hey, That’s My Fish, 59-38. Then, Adam took over Arthur-duties and Hannah and I did battle in 7 Wonders Duel. I explained the rules to her, and spent most of the game balefully believing she had beaten me easy. But then I picked up a number of guilds in round three to come out an easy winner, 76-51.

By now there was talk of trying something a little more substantial. Anja, Steve and I played Snowdonia. For a change, we tried the Blaenau Ffestiniog variant. This involves the players choosing which end they start from, with the events alternating between ends.

It only added frustration, as best-laid plans were scuppered by the game triggering an event to dig/build/lay tracks in exactly the place we wanted. I was unable to build any station buildings at all. However, we kept our spirits up in these arduous times by singing the hits of Bernard Cribbins. Yes, all three of them.

Steve 72
Anja 52
Andrew 25

While all this fraught contemplation was going on, the other half of the room indulged in light-hearted party games. First, they played Deep Sea Adventure, featuring Katy’s plaintive wail of “but I was being so careful!”

Jon 29
Adam 14
Hannah 13
Katy 0

This was followed by Spyfall, the game of using questions to try and deduce which player is the spy who doesn’t know the secret location. Who won? I’ve no idea, but it ended with Jon coming into the kitchen complaining that he’s always the spy.

This was followed by 6 nimmt.

Katy 23
Adam 26
Sam 27
Hannah 44
Jon 66

Finally for them, after Hannah and Adam retired, they played Raj.

Sam 59
Jon 54
Katy 25

Saturday

The very epicentre of the games weekend, and a whole day of games for all concerned. However, it was a slow start with people arising at different times, such that the thought of gaming was put to one side in preference for getting children to eat breakfast or trying to work out why the wi-fi/playstation2/TV/electric hob/wall socket doesn’t work.

In an attempt at getting us away from all this useless technology, we decided to walk to the nearby beach. Although the forecast was grim, the sun was out and myself, Sam, Stanley, Hannah, Arthur , Jon and Katy all set out defiantly into the buffeting wind.

The only game we played was pooh sticks between Jon, Katy and Stanley, which Jon won with his large chunk of branch beating Katy and Stanley’s twigs. Although we also played the running up and down the sand dunes game, which I was quite bad at and needed Jon to give me a helping hand.

As we were heading home we met Anja, Steve and Luther going the other way. After a brief chat and our friendly advice about which way they should go, we parted ways. We looked back and were impressed that they too were successfully attempting to scale the same huge dune that we had climbed.

We then paused at a local shop to buy pasties (English Breakfast Pasty was a big hit with me) before heading back.

Back at the house, there was still some time before lunch and so - at 11.45 - we began the first game of the day: Celestia!

Katy 52
Stanley 37
Andrew 37
Sam 36
Hannah 28
Jon 20

And this was followed by the serene delights of Takenoko. Hannah was the last to complete any actual cards, and was complaining how badly she was doing. Then she completed three high scoring cards in one turn and the game changed in her favour. Jon cursed his luck at only ever picking up green tiles (ironically, the colour that I wanted but never got). Katy was amazed at how badly she did at a game that she usually won. They seemed to find it a uniquely stressful game.

Hannah 38
Andrew 26
Jon 21
Katy 14

After Sam’s lunch of stuffed peppers, there was a kickabout in the garden for the more energetic of us, while others preferred to watch languidly from the sofa.

But soon we were back to the board games, and Hannah, Katy and Anja played Fauna while us guys hung out in the kitchen and played the slightly more boyish game of Cube Quest. We tried to complete a full league contain six players: Stanley, Adam, Andrew, Steve, Jon and Sam. We didn’t really get close but at the end the mini league looked like:

Sam 2 wins out of 2
Andrew 2 wins out of 3
Adam 2 wins out of 3
Steve 2 wins out of 3
Jon 1 wins out of 3
Stanley 0 wins out of 4

As grown men, should we be ashamed at how seriously we took our games against Stanley? Perhaps.

Cube Quest. A serious business.

Notable victories were Adam’s win over me, in which he picked out my king from a crowd of cubes. Also when Jon beat Stanley, his winning flick was so strong, the king flew off the table and hit Sam in the face.

Meanwhile, Fauna ended

Hannah 130
Katy 85
Anja 72

Hannah put down her comfortable win due to the fact that three animals came up that she already knew about, and she seemed somehow disappointed that she didn’t win by guessing. Surely rewarding knowledge is the whole point of the game.

Then I taught Adam how to play 7 Wonders Duel, and I didn’t patronise him by going easy on him just because it was his first go. I won 83-53. Meanwhile, Katy did not enjoy her introduction to Chocolatl, giving Dirk control of her game halfway through.

Sam 56
Steve 43
Hannah 43
Anja 33
Katy/Dirk 13

Then Steve and Anja broke away to prepare food, while Katy, Sam, Jon, Adam and me played a rousing game of Mystery at the Abbey. Adam found it hard going and, at two hours, it did last longer than I expected. Jon got a free revelation (ie, didn’t lose you points at the end of the game) and seemingly used it to confuse us, saying the murderer was a Franciscan, when it turned out to be a Templar. I successfully got the murderer, so I was happy at least. I don’t think Adam was impressed by how low-scoring a game it was for so much effort.

Andrew 2
Katy 2
Adam 2
Sam 0
Jon 0

Finally, I tried to teach Matcha to Adam, but the rule book text was too small and my brain couldn’t cope, and food was imminent. I apologised and gave up.

After a hearty feast of frittata, salad and something else I can’t recall, six of us played Midnight Party while the toddlers were being put to bed since this would be our last chance this evening to shout and scream.

Stanley 22
Katy 25
Steve 25
Andrew 27
Sam 34
Jon 44

Then Adam beat me twice on Hive, using the same tactic twice. Grr. Meanwhile, Jon introduced Hannah, Katy and Steve to Waggle Dance, another game of considerable length and low scores:

Jon 5 honey
Hannah 4 plus 5 nectar
Katy 4 plus 3
Steve 3

And Adam, Anja, Sam and me played a couple of games of No Thanks in which those who gambled on the high cards were richly rewarded for their bravery.

Sam 11 (with a run from 35-29)
Anja 15
Andrew 19
Adam 43

And then...

Anja 5 (with a run from 32-26)
Sam 19
Andrew 20
Adam 28

By now it was just past nine o’clock and anyone who wanted to play a long game needed to make a decision and convince others soon. Jon persuaded Adam and I to play Power grid with the promise of robots. Steve and Anja felt their chances of playing Wallenstein slipping away, as they agreed to an evening of short, fun games which would give Hannah the chance to bow out early if needed.

They played Celestia, the hit of the weekend.

Sam 51
Katy 43
Steve 34
Hannah 25
Anja 22

Then Bandu:

1. Steve
2. Anja
3. Hannah
4. Katy
5. Sam

And then, after a few retirements, Anja and Sam played a couple of games of Matcha, winning one game each.

On Power Grid, meanwhile, Adam played like a pro, quickly moving to trap Jon and me into a corner of the map. The robot, meanwhile, was actually a cardboard cut-out made up of several pieces with rules that the robot always obeys when it’s his turn. You can put this robot together from a wide selection, meaning it will almost never play the same way twice.

Anyway, there were a couple of hairy moments when the robot was in second place. The honour of the whole human race was at stake here. In the end, Adamn had such a good start that he could barely lose, even though Jon said Adam had made a big mistake in one of the closing rounds and might have ruined his chances. I hadn’t noticed anything.

Adam 17 cities
Jon 15
Andrew 14
Robot 13

And, with the time at midnight, the day was finally over. Phew.

Sunday

And, as we all know, after Saturday came Sunday. Known for its sleepy slow awakenings and quiet gentle breakfasts. Unless you’re us, in which case it involves a massive space epic. I mean Eclipse, of course, and because Sam, Stanley and I were scheduled to head home mid-afternoon, we pushed for a meaty epic before lunch. Railways of the World was mooted until a thirst for new rules and sci-fi adventures won the debate and Eclipse was set up.

Sam talked us (Jon, Stanley, Adam and myself) through the rules, with Adam referring to the rules throughout, much to everyone’s dismay. Indeed, he found a couple of rule clarifications which would have helped his military plans if he’d known about them. This, at least, counts as mitigating circumstances regarding his final placing.

We played a truncated game, since (lunch) time was pressing. When round six ended, we finished with the scores at:

Jon 25
Stanley 22
Andrew 19
Sam 18
Adam 17

After this, while I made pizzas Steve and Anja played two games of Matcha, winning one each while Jon, Adam, Katy, Stanley and Sam played football. This was followed by a swift one-round blast of Raj for some of the mud-crusted footballers.

Stanley 20
Adam 12
Sam 8

Then at around three o'clock, Sam, Stanley and I set off back to Bristol, leaving the rest to play the “Five adults with child care duties decide what to play next” game.

Adam emailed me with scores and a little description of the final games of the weekend. Adam's home made Settlers of Catan finally got an airing. He reports...

Settlers:
Katie 10
Hannah 7
Adam 6
Jon 5

Katie got a strong position picking on the turn and ended up getting 5 wheat everytime 9 was rolled. Hannah was Close behind while John and I grumbled and stumbled in soundly beaten. Don't let the scores fool you into thinking it was close...

Waggle dance
Anja 5 honey, fewest dice
Steve 5 honey, next fewest dice
Katie 5 honey, more nectar
Hannah 5 honey, dead weight

7wonders duel:
Katy 74
Hannah 68

Wallenstein:
Anja 62
Adam 52
Steve 47

Steve was unceremoniously squashed between Anja and I. Meanwhile she and I danced around cagily loading more and more troops into Sachsen until Anja finally struck in the second last round, taking one territory and reducing another to one cube. That victory proved decisive as I collapsed to farmer revolts in the second winter and we were definitely finished by midnight...

- - - - - -

Thanks Adam. All that remains is the division. Well done, Drs Katy and Anja. Looks like Anja was right to insist on that game of Wallenstein after all.

 And, since we played quite a lot of two player games, I made a division for those games too.

Thanks, everyone. A lovely weekend and nice to get some epics onto the table. It'll be a long time until we have a table large enough to host five-player Eclipse.

Then we take Berlin!

Steve and Anja hosted for this week’s games night. Sam and I were only slightly late, which was a lot less late then Adam and Hannah, who arrived after twenty minutes! I almost put a red circle beside their names in the GNN register.

They arrived, and we decided on two three-player games. Anja had been keen on Wallenstein from the start, so she, I and Steve became a group. Adam, Sam and Hannah plumped for the equally-German Castles of Burgundy.

I was wished the best of luck, since I was up against two old hands at Wallensteining. Steve started the psychological games early, by reminding me of how I never stood up to Anja in the last game the three of us played. I stayed above it, vowing that it wouldn’t sway me from my tactic.

There was a quick rule refresher, during which I was briefly distracted by the fact that Burgundy (ie, the location of the other game) was on the map of the game we were playing. That both tables were playing a game in the same territory felt like a sort of Marvel-DC crossover.

The game commenced, and I leapt into action. This time I was determined not to wait for my opponents to build up their armies on my borders. Thus, when Anja threatened on my northern side, I attacked, despite being understrength. I got a result. I didn’t win, but I did nullify her threat, which allowed me to concentrate elsewhere.

In fact, tonight was not Anja’s lucky night. She fought one battle, and I put the armies into the tower, only to see her commanding lead vanish by a freakish number of farmers coming out too. The next time she went to war, she asked Steve to drop the armies into the tower, only for the same thing to happen again. She was sitting too far away to see, but there was definitely a stunned silence when Steve and I saw the result as we tried to work out how best to tell her. We tried to cheer her up by telling her that the tower must be packed with red cubes by now.

In the event, none of them came out until the very last battle. By that time, her strategy was in ruins. I had expanded from my position in the west, slowly but surely, eating into Steve’s territories and keeping Anja at arm’s length. I was helped by Anja and Steve fighting over Austria, giving me precious breathing space.

It was a long war, especially with Luther coming down for a visit mid-game. By the time we’d finished, Adam and Hannah had already left. Luckily for me, Sam stayed until the end so I got a lift back.

On the other table, it ended:

Sam 225
Adam 199
Hannah 173

And on our table, it finished

Andrew 56
Steve 51
Anja 46

Interesting to note how symmetrical our scores were: on Wallenstein, 5 points separated first from second AND second from third, while on CoB 26 points separated first from second AND second from third. Good work, everyone!

Wallenstein is great, if stressful. And it does tell a good story, in which alliances rise and fall and the path of history can change on the result of one battle. Not a game I fancy playing every week, but definitely worth a look every now and again.

On the form table, I think I reach a personal best! Sam squeezes into second on the best-most-recent rule.

						Points
Andrew	1	2	1	1	2	7
Sam	1	3	3	1	3	11
Adam	2	1	2	2	4	11
Joe	4	4	2	2	2	14
Steve	2	3	3	3	4	15
Hannah	3	3	4	1	4	15
Anja	3	2	5	1	5	16
Miles	2	3	5	5	5	20
Quentin	3	3	5	5	5	21
Lizzy	2	5	5	5	5	22

Long Divisions

There's nothing more entertaining than spreadsheets and so, inspired by a comment made by Adam in the "Happy Birthday" post, I've decided to go back and do some divisions for individual games. (Three-player or more only.)

First was Biblios. Any enigma it may have once held seems to have been cracked by Sam. His winning formula, whatever it is, gives him the win in Points and Points Ratio.

Biblios

Next is Alhambra, won in similar style by Sam. Paul comes in second in his highest performance on any division but perhaps the big surprise (apart from the fact that Hannah hasn't played it) is how well Dirk did: a comfortable mid-table finish for our imaginary friend.

Alhambra

Next up are the divisions for Stone Age and Tinners' Trail, both won on Points by Sam, and on Points Ratio by Adam.

Stone Age

Tinners' Trail

Then we come to Adam's two strong suits. Ticket To Ride and Brass. He won comprehensively on Brass, with a series of five wins in a row. I have yet to score higher than last.

Brass

Ticket To Ride

Onto the division for 7 Wonders. Again, Sam takes the Points title, with Steve taking the crown on Points Ratio. Meanwhile, Joe is yet to take a single win on 7 Wonders in ten attempts. But, no matter. He can cheer himself up with the next division after it.

7 Wonders

Railways of the World is, perhaps, the most exciting division. If you happen to be Joe or Adam. The rivalry between these two is fierce and fearsome, as demonstrated by the fact that apart from them, no one else has won a single game. Joe just wins Points and Points Ratio by the narrowest of margins.

Railways Of The World

Meanwhile, early rumours of Joe having won Lords of Waterdeep were wrong. Although, his fledgling points ratio is the best, he's only played two games, so it doesn't count. Sam comes top of a very even table, with Steve winning Points Ratio.

Lords of Waterdeep

Finally, Wallenstein. The two new parents share the honours on this game, Steve on Points, Anja on Points ratio.

Wallenstein

And that's all for now. Of course, there are more games to examine in this exciting an fascinating way, but I'll leave those for a sequel to this post.

No Sachsen please, we're Bm Luttich

The freezing fog whirled around the streets as we convened in Easton for the weekly battle of wits. Joe was away at a showbiz party in London or something, so it was me, Adam, Sam and our hosts Anja and Steve.

We decided on Wallenstein for this evening's entertainment, if you can call it that. This cross between El Grande, Risk and Diplomacy is popular but still not fully understood by many of us GNNers. Especially since the first few times you pay it, you usually get the rules wrong.

Anja and Steve, however, are much more up to speed regarding tactics. We began by drawing territories at semi-random. I stayed in the north, Sam in the west, Steve in the east, Anja in the south and Adam set up camp bang in the middle. This, as it turns out, was a mistake.

I still haven't got the hang of Wallenstein: when to consolidate and when to expand. There's an awful lot of sledging going on as almost every move is accompanied by Adam asking why would you want to do that, and I couldn't help but tut at Steve's tactic of shuffling his armies from one region and then back again. Meanwhile, Anja grew in strength and numbers while her neighbours, Adam and Steve, pretended to be more concerned about the threat of me and Sam. Steve even went so far as to try and convince everyone that Sam was in joint first at one point. Nice try, buster.

The game is a bit of a beast, and as the end of the game rolled into view, it was almost midnight. In the end, Anja won. In fact, she got as many points in the second round as me or Adam got in the whole game. Let's never play again.

Anja 47
Steve 38
Sam 31
Adam 27
Andrew 25

Meanwhile, on the form table, Steve manages to extend his lead as we head into what is probably the last week of the season. I manage to fall a place, despite being already pretty low. By the way, I've only just noticed Joe's perfect "countdown" combo on the form table, as his recent results go from 5 to 1 in order.

						Points
Steve	2	1	1	1	2	7
Anja	1	2	3	3	1	10
Sam	3	2	4	1	1	11
Adam	3	4	1	2	3	13
Joe	5	4	3	2	1	15
Hannah	1	1	5	5	5	17
Paul	1	3	5	5	5	19
Andrew	5	3	5	4	3	20
Jon	3	5	5	5	5	23
Chris	6	2	5	5	5	23

Three orthogonally-adjacent days of fun

Friday began like any other Friday. The sun rose, trains rattled out of sidings and into service, the recycling was collected, children went to school. But for a few of us, the heart beat a little faster. Because today was the first day of the games night weekend.

Sam, Joe and myself set off for a converted chapel in the middle of nowhere in the early afternoon, and arrived at around half past three. Paul and Chris turned up half an hour later, and we stood around for ten minutes or so chatting, before we realised: what are we doing? We should be playing games!

The weekend starts here...

Tsuro was the game to kick it all off. We trailed, we blazed, and we eventually toppled off the edge of the board like an ageing old man sinking face first into his soup. We then played Incan Gold twice and by now Joe had sped into an early lead with two wins out of three. But it was early days, and nothing substantial had been brought to the table.

When Jon, Steve and Anja arrived, all that nonsense ended. We split into two groups and set ourselves a real challenge. Anja, Steve and Joe went for that family favourite of recreating the German postal system, Thurn and Taxis. How anyone can call board games "niche", I've no idea. The rest of us (Sam, Chris, Paul, Jon and me) became Lords of Waterdeep. Sam talked the newbies through the rules and I tried to help, too. I remember explaining that you didn't get the owner's bonus if you used your own buildings by saying "... because you can't tickle yourself, can you?" I meant: you don't get an extra benefit from your own actions, but I don't know if that's how it came across.

"It looks like a pub" said Charlotte when she saw this photo.
Like that was somehow a bad thing. JB

(By now, you may be wondering where the scores are. Well, that would turn this blog post into an epic. So to save time, when I've decided to list the people playing I've put them in the order they ended, from first to last. So in the last paragraph, Anja won Thurn and Taxis, and Sam won Lords of Waterdeep.)

While Jon, Anja and Steve prepared food, we all played Lost Temple. Sam won this slightly silly race game by a tactic of finding a "Go forward five spaces" bonus tile five spaces before the finish line. Well done him.

Steve and Anja discovered some ancient artifacts to prepare food in. JB

After we ate some delicious food, Anja, Steve and myself played Wallenstein. I upset Steve by ignoring the unwritten rule of always going after whoever is in first halfway through. Instead, I went after him since he was in second and I was third. It made no difference.

Wallenstein by sunset

Hannah and Joe and Sam played Glory to Rome, while Paul, Adam, Chris and Jon played the multi-coloured strategy game Nexus Ops which really does look like armies of models from Games Workshop fighting over some puke.

But despite the dusk having long gone, a hardy band of gamers determinedly carried on. Joe, Adam, Chris and Jon tried Sewer Pirates (or Die GulliPiratten), a game which looked quite pretty, but baffling. Something about boarding boats. And snails are rubbish. I was too tired to watch for too long, and left them to it, well past one a.m.

The next day, I awoke at seven, and went for a walk in the early morning mist.

Outside. Complicated rules, but some great artwork.

When I came back, Joe was up and about so I taught him how to play Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small. This became the game of the weekend, with pairs of gamers using it as a filler while they waited for games to end or food to be served.

This was followed by me, Chris, Adam and Joe playing Alhambra while Sam, Anja, Hannah and Jon played Ys. But soon after that game, Jon retired to his room, ill, and wasn't seen again til the afternoon. Paul, too, didn't emerge from his room until noon, having not slept for thirty-six hours due to work shifts. Steve stayed in bed for hours, too. No idea why. Maybe he was still annoyed about Wallenstein.

There followed a flurry of short two-player games. Adam beat Joe at Manoeuvre, Hannah beat me at Mr Jack and Chris beat Sam at Scrabble. Once Steve and Paul had risen and dinner had been eaten (my hand made pizzas, although I shot myself in the foot since I'd put my own pizza sauce into a Sainsbury's pasta sauce jar. Didn't look very home-made.) we could start gaming in seriousness again.

Chris, Sam, Steve, Anja and a-still-not-100% Jon played Bohnanza and Joe and Paul played Aton. Then Hannah beat Adam at Mr Jack, and Sam, Chris, Paul and Joe played Biblios. Chris came second which, by now, was becoming a recurring theme.

But as Joe had always wanted, Saturday afternoon hosted a game every bit as epic and American as the old western that was probably on Channel Five at that very same time. Railways of the World: Eastern US is a monster of a game, and with five players, it was expected to last. Joe spent some time preparing the gaming area with comfy chairs and set up all the pieces beforehand. He reminded me of a bird preparing its nest.

Home-maker Joe

While Adam, Paul, Joe, Anja and Steve played Railways..., Sam, Hannah, Chris and me played San Marco. The three of them fought of first place, while I fell further and further behind. Then, with the railways of the Eastern American sea board still far from complete, Jon (looking healthier now), me and Hannah played Power Grid. I'd played this once before, and did not have great memories of it, but found it a more enjoyable affair this time. Perhaps in the years since then, I've learnt more about what makes a board game work. Sam and Chris played Macao.

Finally, after three and a half hours, Railways of the World was complete. Adam won, and I was impressed by their stamina. They all stood around and reminisced about the last few hours as if it were some great ordeal they'd all been through, and come out the other side as better people.

RotW in progress, with Power Grid in the background.
This is the exact moment Adam realised he could get his revenge
on me for denying him access to the rulebook. JB

The final board and scoretrack from space. And my socks. JB

After this, some of us went for a walk in the country side. Steve had the map, which lead to some... "creative" navigating. Leading us into a dark cluster of trees, insisting "It's all good" was only the high point of a series of exciting new rambling options he found. Meanwhile, Joe was startled by a cat and Jon trod down brambles like a real man.

... and we never saw them again.

Back at the house, Paul beat Chris by one point in two-player Agricola. Then with everyone back from the walk, Joe dug out Pickomino. This dice-based worm-collecting game is easy to learn and agonising to play. Sam, me, Joe, Jon, Steve and Anja battled out one game, and then Anja, Steve, Sam, Paul, Chris, Jon and me played a second round.

After food supplied by Hannah and Adam, we split into two. Adam persuaded Paul and Hannah to play Puerto Rico, and then duly won. Meanwhile, Joe and I convinced Chris and Sam that Lords of Vegas was the perfect game for a Saturday night. We adopted bad gangster accents, and rolled them bones while trying to set up successful casinos along Sunset Strip. I quickly built up a very commanding lead, but then watched in horror as Chris slowly gained on me, with me keeping one step ahead by some lucky dice rolls. For the last two rounds, I was just wishing each card would be the End Game card, which thankfully came just in time. Meanwhile Joe and Sam languished far behind, which shows up the game's flaw. Very few opportunities for catching up if you fall too far behind. Some games claim to be fun for all the family, but I'm not even sure if Lords of Vegas is fun for all the players. I like it, though.

Garish colours? Artificial lighting? It's Vegas, baby!

As we finished our game, Paul beat Hannah at Agricola; All Creatures... and Steve, Anja and Jon played Lords of Waterdeep. Then, once we were all between games, we decided on the only ten-player option we had: 6nimmt. The game was quite different, since every card in the deck was in someone's hand or on the table. There was no point in putting a card down, hoping that the cards immediately below it wouldn't be in play. Still, it was fun, once we'd worked out how to show that everyone had made their decision (place a finger on your card). Sam won.

After that, people retired to sleep, except Chris and Paul who played one final game of Nile. A card game of harvesting and speculating. I watched, and I think I understood it, apart from the speculating bits. Not too clear on harvesting, either, but apart from that...

Sunday dawned, grey and wet. Perfect gaming weather. Once again, Joe and I were the early birds, and Joe taught me Castles of Burgundy. Hannah and Jon played two games of Hey, That's My Fish!, sharing a victory each. Joe commended Jon on getting the emphasis right on the title. Jon called it "Hey, That's MY Fish", stressing the ownership of the fish in question. Joe had always said "Hey, that's my FISH", stressing the nature of the thing being argued over. But, Joe reasoned, what else would a penguin have to argue about? A stereo? Some flapjacks? Of course not. So Jon's pronunciation must be correct. Chris, Adam, Sam and Hannah played a third game, quite oblivious to Joe's eureka moment.

Following that, Adam beat Joe at Agricola: All Creatures, while Steve and Anja shared a Thelma and Louise moment, throwing themselves off the board in Tsuro at the same time.

Breakfast was done, and time was ticking on. For the majority, there was just one last game to be played. Adam, Joe and Jon chose Railways of the World, but chose the smaller, faster Mexico map. In the end Adam won a very close game by a tie-breaker on money. Hannah, Chris and I played Macao. I went for a new tactic of ignoring the items and relying on bonuses for cards. It didn't work.

Pretty little railways down Mexico way, at the end of the game. JB

Paul, Sam, Steve and Anja played Genoa. Paul won by delivering messages and bartering, with no contracts or owning any buildings. Quite an impressive strategy. Finally, it was time for some of us to leave. Chris and Paul went first, and then after a little cleaning (and discovering that the vacuum cleaner really smelt odd when you used it) Joe, Sam and I leapt in the car and sped away into the rain.

This left Jon, Steve, Anja, Hannah and Adam to finish off with one last game, Il Principe. Adam texted me the results, and it must have been a frustrating game for him, since he ended the text with "Don't ask."

So those are all words, what about the numbers?! There is no form table, since we didn't stop playing long enough to think about our recent form. (Forty-three games in three days, by the way. That's about that same we play in three months.)

Instead it's all about the Q-system. And we find a very interesting new face on top of the pile at the end of the weekend.

Chris' consistent form at coming in second is just what you'd expect from an Arsenal fan. But unlike his beloved Gunners, it puts him at the top of the pile. And well done to Sam for highest points ratio and for leading the medals table. Judging by his gloomy review of his own form as we drove home, I know he won't be expecting this result.

Sam wins on points and Anja takes the points ratio, demonstrating that these two aren't sprinters but are grand master tacticians, preferring a deeper challenge to the silly lightweight games.

(In this table, the points you get on the Q-system are multiplied by the number of hours a game lasts. So, a thirty minute game would see your points halved, while a game lasting an hour and a half would be multiplied by 1.5. Game lengths taken from boardgamegeek.)

A quick note to end, Paul wins on the absolute score. If you take his games and add them all together, he scored 1070 points, beating Anja (998 points) and Sam (997 points). Well done, Paul. I suspect winning Genoa helped. Here are all the numbers!

Thanks everyone for a great weekend. Quick wits, quicker strategies and some very good food.

Oh, and the list of labels was too long for blogger (200 character maximum, apparently), so a lot of the games are missing from the list below and that's why it says Agricola, not Agricola: All Creatures etc etc.