No Frills, no spills, no shills

Players: James, Alex, David, James, Paul A, Jon, Tom, Dan, Noel, Gareth, Sarah, John B, plus a mystery man who swept in like a moonlight shadow, he passed on worried and warning lost in a riddle that Wednesday night, caught in the middle of a desperate fight.

 

No fancy ruminations on the hobby this week I'm afraid; with the holidays approaching time is short but Paul and Tom have supplied us with plenty of reports for what was played.

Peloponnenennes (thanks Tom W)



Jon triumphed in Peloponnes by a point after realising that he could use the last ditch tempest to eliminate a 1 point tile but secure the grain needed to feed one of his people (worth 3 points). Great game as always. Eight rounds but definitely NOT eight decisions *cough* Noel doesn't know what he's talking about *cough*



Nations: the dice game (thanks Tom W)


Nice to see that Dan has forgotten the game of Nations: The Dice Game that he was involved with for an hour - and even won. Personal highlight was James identifying Dan as his only competition - just before his large army of dice failed in the final era, allowing me to leapfrog over him into 2nd place thanks to building that ancient piece of crumpet, Lady Liberty herself. Still enjoying this greatly - easy to explain and to grasp, difficult decisions and a brisk play time. I've also fallen back in love with dice rolling too. Who knew that'd happen!?


Sushi Go! (thanks Tom W)



An absolute belter - 7 Wonders without the bullshit as Paul so succinctly described it. A well placed pudding in the last round allowed me to share the pudding spoils with Gareth and secure me a one point win over [man who hadn't seen before but Dan reliably informs me had been an attendee a number of years beforehand - but has nevertheless left off the attendee list *deep breath*)



Madame Ching (thanks Paul A)



Madame Ching was an Essen release that I skipped over and heard few praising the virtues of. But it's of that one-hour, light-but-not-too-light, medium-strength sort of game that goes down well, i.e. a typical JohnB joint. Actually, I feel this undersells it, as there is some quite clever mechanics in the game, with you balancing how far to push your expedition with getting more (but cheaper) rewards, and collecting special cards to dick over other players. So, a success.


People say Romans, they go The House 


Paul A: "I attempted a random strategy in Romans Go Home!, but Gareth won anyway. That is, the game is bullshit, but I have a ready-made excuse."
Tom W adds: "Agreed that Romans Go Home is bullshit but if you play with a light heart and a quick hand, it can be a lot of fun watching your best laid plans blow up in smoke. It also has a similar appeal to Limes in terms of seeing the vastly different ways that the players play a very similar set of cards."



A Fake Artist goes to The London Eye (thanks Tom W)



Fake Artist - hmmm. Think that 10.15 start was a bit early for me. Also, am beginning to think that everyone drawing individual clues isn't the right way to go and it needs to return to each player drawing just one line in a bigger picture. Avoids situations like David had when he had to guess the London Eye when given the Thames, House of Parliament and the Gherkin to boot!!! 







Also played: Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Suburbia, Great Fire of London, The Speicherstadt

IBG Q&A
On our Boardgamegeek guild page James has initiated an open Q&A session with a new question each week. Feel free to play along at home, and even if you are not a regular IBG attendee you are more than welcome to join in with your own answers!

Last weeks question: "to keep things topical... What games can you propose for a summer theme'd game evening..."


James: "I'll start with a copy of Sun, Sea & Sand that I think we played once at the club a few years back... not a bad little game around managing an island resort and attracting visitors... but for some reason it was a one-hit wonder at the club..."

Soren: "Titten Ärsche Sonnenschein"

John B: "This one looks like a bundle of laughs: Letnisko"

Tom W: "Neil has Letnisko - not a bad game all told. Perhaps Steam Donkey - building attractions in sunny Blackpool, Southend and Eastbourne! "

Dan: "How about Sun, Sea, and Sand? "


This weeks question: "What's your favourite sports based board game...? Is sports a theme you like to play? Who's the worst sport at the club at losing?"