Wonders and Citadels

Just a couple of short games, they said. It won’t last long, they said. But tonight, GNN was caught out by a game that seemed short when you remembered it, but lasted a long time when you played it.

But that’s all to come. We began with Anja and Hannah upstairs talking about babies or whatnot while three fellows (me, Steve and Jon ) played 7 Wonders downstairs. It was short and we all knew the rules (more or less) and we got stuck in. Although our memories were a little rusty, with a little reference to the rules, and Steve made a mistake which he didn’t realise until a few turns later. He didn’t ask to take it back, though, saying it was “ancient history” which got an appreciative chuckle from the other two players.

Marilyn the bunny admires my still-unstarted wonder

As it turned out, I ran out of money at the start of round three – a disastrous place to be broke. Jon and Steve were cash rich, but Steve was a late convert to the joys of war and science, while Jon was scoring in all categories. In the end, I was saved by some cheap blue buildings and my “copy guild” super power.

Jon 50
Andrew 46
Steve 40

After this game, Anja and Hannah came down with the baby and, after a little discussion and rule-telling and exchanging of babies, we were ready for our next quick game of the evening: Citadels.

Now, when I remember previous games of Citadel, they do seem fairly short. But then, they are usually two or three player affairs. It turns out that five-player Citadels is a bit of a beast. Everyone suffered a bit of AP, and the game took a little longer than we expected.

Citadels: not a photogenic game

Both Anja and Steve suffered from consecutive assassinations, and Hannah had her money stolen twice by Jon, but despite all that and having to feed his newborn child, Steve came out on top. Jon fell just short, and the eternal Warlord (which is why she kept being assassinated) Anja squeezed into third by attacking Hannah on her last go. An action which saw me earn fourth.

Steve 32
Jon 30
Anja 22
Andrew 20
Hannah 17

And so it was that our "two short games" ended at half past eleven in the evening. All of this means that Jon leaps up to fourth, while the three absent leaders enjoy another week in the penthouse suite of the Form Table.

						Points
Joe	1	1	2	1	2	7
Sam	2	1	1	2	3	9
Adam	1	2	4	3	1	11
Jon	2	1	2	3	5	13
Anja	3	1	1	3	5	13
Hannah	5	2	1	4	2	14
Andrew	4	2	3	3	3	15
Steve	1	3	4	4	4	16
Quentin	2	2	3	5	5	18
Will	3	3	5	5	5	21

And since it's the end of the month, it's time to look at The Division. Well, the core four are rewarded for their loyal attendance, by taking the top four places but that shouldn't detract from Adam's stunning run of form which has put him on top of the table. And Sam is the new Mr Consistency, having never placed outside the top three. It's very much between those two for the top of the table. In terms of Points Ratio, it's a little more clear cut, with Anja a full 0.92 above her nearest rival Steve.

Dirk you forget about me.

There was a change of venue this bi-weekly James and Chris night which saw our respective wives meet up at my house (Chris) and us chaps set up at James'. There was a strange crossing of paths, like an improbable hostage exchange, en-route to each others houses. Thankfully each evening went off without much incident and both parties were allowed to return home.

Tonight's main (and only it turned out) fare was to be 7 Wonders. The two player variant with the Free City (Played by the non player, Dirk) proving to be a popular one. We elected to play the A side of the wonders boards for the first game and then try out the B sides for our second match. James and I must have remembered from last time that utilising Dirk to stitch up your opponent was a sound strategy. Before long he boasted a long line of resources, a tidy sum of structures and most importantly a very impressive long list of sciences. In most games up to now James and I had disregarded the science route as a sub-optimal tactic. However, posing as two benevolent funders of the sciences we generated a surge in progress not seen since the 80's and all of sudden it didn't seem so weak after all. We had shot ourselves in the foot. With an arrow naturally. There is a danger that by chunking good cards Dirk's way to stymy your opponent you in fact inadvertently create a super power.

Dirk surged to a win courtesy of a 31 point score in the sciences leaving James and I slightly shame faced although, very sportingly, we did point out he'd had a lot of luck...

Dirk - 52

James - 48

Chris - 45

With the decks shuffled again and boards selected we began the second game. James, maybe encouraged by what he saw in the previous match went after scholarly pursuits where as I elected to chase after more traditional elements with structures and military. Even though James racked up an impressive score through his science multipliers he had accomplished it at the expense of other scoring avenues and again the science route had proved fruitless. James noted that whoever gets the Palace complete with its 8 victory points tends to win. This time it was sitting pretty in my city and so it proved   that I won the game.

Chris - 54

James - 46

Dirk - 31

Plow Factor Beats Wow Factor

For the second time in a week, Chris and James faced each other, farmers at the ready, for another game of Agricola. But this time, Paul was along for the plough ride. Literally, because Paul was dealt the much-envied (okay, twice-envied) riding plow in his hand of minor improvements. But first he played the clay pit and specialised in clay, threatening to disappear behind clay as he stacked it up.

James was determined to sow some grains this time round, but he fanned out his hands of cards and the cards told him instead to build a sprawling farmhouse so good it could feature on Grand Designs. In the meantime, Chris showed signs of dabbling in a bit of everything. Again. 

Paul didn’t actually do much of anything with his hoard of clay. Instead, he was again drawn to the sheep, collecting them up and promising them a good life (most got eaten). Chris soon had a frenzied grain industry on the go but also did up his farmhouse, often snatching reed and stone just before James reached for it. James’ architectural plans had the need for reed, but reed baron Chris hogged the lot, even flaunting his reed pond full of, erm, reed.

James treaded water, well fed as he was with his fishing rod and his fruit orchard. Paul took his riding plow for a spin, rapidly surrounding his sheep with fields before planting his grain. Chris grumbled constantly that he was falling behind even as his windmill churned out the foodstuff. But if the grass seemed greener on the other side, it was only because James, once again, wasn’t really doing anything in it.

James' field is looking a bit empty unlike farmer Paul's!

New Starburst Morphs were tried and the ceiling was stared at as the players tried to guess what flavours were morphing in their mouths. Ever-changing they were not and Wonker-style wonder was not achieved.

Again, the game’s end loomed too soon over the horizon. James searched his occupations cards for a chrono-mancer, hoping something would stop the march of game-time. But just as he completed the most splendid five-room farmhouse of stone, he could do little else but once again fence off his entire board as a single, empty pasture. With no points for tumbleweeds, he knew he was doomed to last place.

Paul seemed quietly confident, adding a few flourishes to his farming utopia. Chris couldn’t hide his frustration at his unused squares and regretted doing up his farmhouse as much as he had.

The scoring was totted up. Paul had done it, though only by a fairly small margin. An award-winning farm, run from an undeveloped farmhouse, marked by an unused pile of clay. Chris’ farm came second, all windmill and waste ground. James needs to swear on someone’s life that he will actually sow some grain next time. But nobody especially close, in case he doesn’t.

Final score: Paul 37, Chris 34, James 24.  

A quick glance at the clock and it was decided a game of Medici would end the night nicely. James rubbed his miserly merchant hands and readied his pea-green ship. James’ fingertips were gold magnets and he roared ahead, twice finding gold and having the best ship in all three rounds. Chris was always in second place, Paul always in third.

Final score: James 170, Chris 121, Paul 115.

Report by Paul, rumoured to be ghost written by James.

Adam wasn’t yellow

A new(ish) venue for GNN tonight. We all arrived at Will’s house despite (or perhaps because of) his 4 o’clock start tomorrow morning.

As well as Will, Joe and Quentin also arrived, no doubt tempted by the school reunion flavour of the evening (didn’t they all go to school together or something? I wasn’t really listening). Sam, Adam and I made up the rest. At first Sam and Adam ate chips, and Will very kindly added to their feast with fried egg and baked beans. If he thought that might make them go easy on him, he was in for a rude awakening.

We began with Incan Gold, an amusing game of bluff and facing down Lady Fate with a steel-cold glare. All with a light-hearted theme of exploring Incan temples. I was a little disappointed in the lack of Zombie Ladies! since they are, after all, part of the fun of the game. This time we had to put up with a new foe: the fire/spider combo which repeatedly turned an otherwise safe and tranquil temple into a death trap. With devastating results. In this situation, Sam’s tactic of get-out-early paid off.

1. Sam 30
2. Joe 20
3= Andrew 15
3= Quentin 15
4. Adam 10
5. Will 6

Then we split up into two groups of three. Me, Joe and Quentin took one half of the table, and Will, Sam and Adam took the other. At our end, we chose San Juan since we all knew it. This Puerto Rico-esque game of card management is a lot of fun, but I found myself quickly out of the running between Joe and Quentin.

Quentin rearranges the options in San Juan. Glass, bottle. Bottle, glass.

I’m sure Joe raises his game whenever there’s someone from school at the table. Maybe he thinks it’s payback time for when he got humiliated in double science or something. I don’t know. But whatever, tonight saw Joe in his pomp, chaining together purple buildings for maximum effect (except his Gold Mine, which was rubbish). Quentin played his part, though, and it remained close until the end. Joe squeaked it just because Quentin had mis-identified some cards as monuments, when they weren’t. His final plaintive cry of "I could've built a palace" will haunt me for years.

Joe 31
Quentin 30
Andrew 18

On the other half of the table, they’d chosen Tinners’ Trail. It was new to Will, and I suppose you have to start somewhere, but to go up against Adam and Sam in your first game is a tough proposition, and feeding them doesn’t help at all. A joke springs to mind: What’s the difference between Adam and Sam and a pack of hyenas? When hyenas are full, they stop eating.

However, it wasn't easy for the experienced players. Whenever I looked over at the board, the prices for copper and tin were pretty low. So much so that no one invested money in round two. Sam came first in a low-scoring game. I was, however, struck by the lack of yellow counters in front of Adam. It didn't seem right somehow.

Adam is... red?! The creeping ketchup?

Sam 97
Adam 77
Will 60

After San Juan, we chose Ra as our third course of the evening. No need for an introduction for this beauty. However, it was more of the same for me, as I ended up a distant last to the two who clearly still have unresolved issues from the sixth form common room.

The exciting early stages of Ra

Joe 55
Quentin 51
Andrew 28

Over on the other side of the table, they’d managed to squeeze in one more game. This time 6nimmt was brought into play, and Adam won again, making everyone suspicious that he had a strategy. He tried to explain it: something to do with “thinning out” and “spreading”. Or maybe he was describing his physique as he approaches middle age. Either way, he won.

Adam 15
Sam 38
Will 74

On the form table, Joe leaps to the top after a very productive evening. Quentin makes an appearance hot on my heels, and he's still got those red fives weighing him down! Thanks to Will for hosting and see (some of) you next week!

						Points
Joe	1	1	2	1	2	7
Sam	2	1	1	2	3	9
Adam	1	2	4	3	1	11
Hannah	2	1	4	2	5	14
Anja	1	1	3	5	5	15
Steve	4	4	4	2	1	15
Andrew	3	3	3	4	3	16
Quentin	2	2	3	5	5	18
Jon	2	3	5	5	5	20
Will	3	3	5	5	5	21

Extreme Biblios

Us gamers - us real gamers, who prioritise games above the things most sentient humans do - are a little like hurricane chasers. We get a sniff of a vacant couple of hours and we immediately converge upon them, eager to test our wits against each other or, as was the case with 7 Wonders tonight, surf a wave of jam to victory.

I'm talking about myself and Andrew of course, who meet on an almost weekly basis to battle it out. So while Adam wasn't checking his texts, Dan was turning in early and Joe was rolling around in his swimming-pool-sized dice arena (see prev. post), we sat at the kitchen table and discussed our options. I had a mild hankering to try out Campaign but Andrew mooted Arkadia and I readily agreed. No-one else has really bitten with this yet but it's a firm favourite with Andrew and I.

With a brief glance at the rules on a couple of finer points we were away, building buildings and placing workers to the manner born. Last time we played it it was a full-on Tuesday night session and I was obliterated as I held back from placing workers (by Andrew in fact, I seem to recall). But I was sure there was a value in that strategy and pursued the same path again, hedging my bets until an opportune scoring moment came up. I don't know if it's a failsafe approach - it certainly wouldn't be with more players - but it paid dividends a couple of times, and it was enough to secure me a win:

Sam 144
Andrew 91

Andrew chose the second game, and it was another perennial: 7 Wonders, which in a two-player has an additional level of strategy. Like Alhambra the game itself supplies a third player (we also call him Dirk) and each (real) player takes turns deciding what Dirk will do: a chance to prevent your opponent getting their hands on a productive card, dispose of a potential danger or just get Dirk to buy things form you. It was exceedingly close, and despite my plethora of blue buildings (38 points!) I wasn't certain of victory until I very luckily picked up (from Dirk's hand) a cost-effective military card in the very last round to get me ten points:

Dirk, in the baby chair. Forgot to build his monument.

Sam 62
Andrew 57
Dirk 23

We packed in one final game - Biblios. By this point we were both slightly tired and a little drunk so I can't remember how the extreme Biblios gag came about. Rest assured it was hilarious.

Sam 8
Andrew 6

Our gaming yen sated - until Tuesday.

Say hello to Das Exclusive

Those who know me know how much I love to trawl the charity shops for gaming treasure - among my prize finds are Bohnanza, Lord of the Rings, Traders of Carthage and Dancing Eggs. I've even bumped into Steve doing the same thing - we both found ourselves gazing at the same, flood-damaged (we hope) copy of an obscure Alan R Moon game called Wonga in a charity shop on the Gloucester Road. Have you tried it yet Steve?

I've also scooped up a few packs of good quality poker chips, a card table and various other gaming peripherals - a lovely Tudor Rose 2-pack of playing cards. Oh yes, and the card-shuffler.

I've always been on the lookout for a dice arena, and I've even made a few, but I've never found one whilst out hunting. Until yesterday. This dinky little fellow was waiting for me in a junk shop on the Gloucester Road.

 It's eminently suitable for games nights - here's Martha putting it through it's paces.

Perfectly functional

Perfect. I paid £1.50 and walked away a happy man.
And then . . .
And then I wandered into another charity shop further up the road, and my life changed forever. As I glanced around at the nick nacks and gee-gaws, I heard a weird sub-sonic rumble, and something drifted into my peripheral vision, like a Star Wars star destroyer. A German-made, deluxe Würfelbrett, still in shrink - 'Das Exclusive', no less. Just look at the size of the box it came in!

Sun-faded down the right hand side. Mmm.

I've never seen anything like it, and subsequent trawl of the internet seems to confirm it's rarity.
The box was worryingly light, and they wouldn't let me open it without paying, but I couldn't walk away without it - all £5 worth. And once I got it home and opened it up, I was not disappointed.

Genuine stained and varnished wood; four pointless dice 'docks' along the sides; no less than two synthetic baize-lined rolling cups. And two gold-effect pens (non-working).

I'm pretty sure these will start working if I grow a moustache.

It's vast - much too big to be useful for 99.9% of the games we play, but I'll make it work; even if I have to build some sort of harness to suspend it from the ceiling; and I will insist we all stand around it with cut-crystal glasses of scotch every time a dice needs to be rolled in any game.

I've got to go now - it's calling me, demanding I put on some Drakkar Noir aftershave and smoke a Hamlet cigar, whilst playing Pikomino by myself. But rest assured, Lords of Vegas will never be the same again . . . JB

A sheep learning curve for James!

Two days after games night was postponed due to Chris’ cold, James was summoned  and promised a germ-free night of farm warfare. Agricola was strewn across the table, leaving barely enough room for a huge and rarely seen bar of Ritter Sport chocolate. This was the night the occupation and minor improvement cards were to be added to James’ training in board games. Scarred by the leap from counting apples in primary school to quadratic equations in secondary school, it was with some trepidation James fanned out two extra hands of cards. But the extra/advanced components were much enjoyed.

James had previously had some unexpected success from merely feeding his farmers, upgrading their home and then fencing off the whole farm without putting anything in it. He hoped to find a tactic more in keeping with the game. One with some farming involved.

Chris was soon ploughing and sowing and knocking up a few pastures. James’ masterplans all seemed to require far more rounds than the game allowed and he sweated under an end-is-all-too-nigh cloud of anxiety. Buying a riding plow, James churned up fields furiously as Chris looked on with envy. But James struggled to feed his farmers and picked up the begging cards (though two were negated by the mendicant being employed). Chris produced grain and vegetables and even had a lettuce patch on the side. Then he snatched up a veritable hoard of sheep (left to multiply on the space with the absence of notorious sheep-grabber, Paul).

Sweeping up the fruits of his orchard and his well, James finished neatly, mental arithmetic almost audible as he racked up the points in the final round, while adding a good showing of cattle. But that left more sheep for Chris, who squashed them together, battery-style. Even so, James felt confident of a victory with only a slight worry about Chris’ vegetable department. So it was with some shock that Chris’ score was quite a lot higher! James was happier that his finished gameboard actually featured farming this time, but there were no bonus points for happiness.

Final score: Chris 46, James 31.

Out came Roll Through The Ages, and having feared catching something horrible from Chris a few days earlier, it was Chris who caught a double-dose of well-rolled plague from James. Floundering as James lobbed yet more cracking dice rolls, Chris brought the game to an early end before the gap between scores widened to humiliating levels.

Final score James 21, Chris 19