Advanced Civilisation 8 November 2014

On 8 November 6 of us gathered at the Stag for a day of Advanced Civilisation (well actually an afternoon and evening).

Games Day 2 - 20 September 2014

On Saturday, we held our second Games Day, following the first held back in April. 18 people attended for some or the whole day and a total of 22 games were played. The total number of people is down on the previous figure but the number of games played is actually up, I think due to the number of short fillers played in between the longer games. Dave C took a few photographs throughout the day and has said he'll pass them on, so I hope to add them to this post if they fit in with what I've written. For more details of events read on.

Games Day 1 - 5 April 2014

On 5 April, which was coincidentally International Tabletop Day, the club held its first Games Day at the Stag. This was an event which we could not have held at the Townsend, due to lack of space and also due to getting access during the game. I believe that the event was a great success, despite a slight hiccup at the start when we couldn't get in due to a last minute meeting in the room we use, so people were standing outside at the 11:30 start time. We were in by 12:00 though and I think the Stag also did all right due to the number of accumulated glasses I saw and the amount of food that was brought up to the room at various times.

According to the results sheet a total of 28 people were in attendance at various points during the day including regulars and a few who have not been around for a long time. Also a few new faces. In total 20 games were played, assuming none were missed off the list.

Britannia – 19 September 2010

Mike & I gathered at Steve H's house for a game of Britannia, we had been having difficulty finding a fourth player, but at the last moment Steve's son James stepped in a put in a good performance, I guess Steve had been coaching him.

This was the first time I'd played since August 2008 and that is too long a period not to play this game. We distributed factions by consensus, giving James the Greens as they are probably most straight forward for a new player. I played Blue as I have played all the others in my most recent games and I felt I was due for it. Mike played Yellow with Steve as Red. The individual faction scores are as shown below in movement order.

Romans	102
Romano- British	4
Belgae	26
Welsh	98
Brigantes	42
Caledonians	52
Picts	82
Irish	28
Scots	8
Norsemen	31
Dubliners	8
Danes	62
Norwegians	44
Saxons	114
Jutes	16
Angles	114
Normans	52

Things started reasonably well for the Romans of their first turn and they made good progress, only losing 1 legion, but everything went wrong after that with the Belgae destroying the fort in York and then on following turns Mike was to suffer probably the unluckiest series of die rolls I've ever witnessed. I was saying early on that I didn't think it was a very good Roman score, due mainly to losses of forts and that although the Brigantes were forced to submit, neither the Welsh nor the Picts were. All that said however I have looked over the scores for all the games I have played using the FFG version (5 games total) and see that this was (by a very small margin) the best Roman score in all of those games, though it has to be said that Yellow has not come better than third in any of those games, I don't think any of us is really proficient with that faction, except perhaps Steve who won with them at Rosliston this year in a game I didn't play. In this game Yellow really suffered due to the performance of the Romano-British, Scots & Dubliners (all of which were the worst of any of the games I have recorded), particularly the Scots who managed to accumulate just 8 points (6 of them from destroying a Roman fort). The Norwegians at the end of the game performed well with the best score in my 5 recorded games with Harald Hardrada controlling the North at the end.

Red probably suffered most due to underperformance by the Brigantes, who were forced to submit to the Angles (the first time I've seen this). The Irish and Norsemen performed OK if not spectacularly, while the Saxons performed well (claiming the crown at the end of turn 13)although they did not quite make it to the end, being finally wiped out in a battle with the Normans in South Mercia on the last turn, where William killed Harold.

Green performed well, particularly as it was James' first game. The Caledonian performance was the best in the 5 recorded games as they were able to expand into the Scottish mainland after about 5 turns. Although they were eventually forced out by first the Picts and later the Norsemen, they survived until the end of the game. The Jutes did well enough considering that they were the Jutes and the Welsh again performed strongly throughout the game, although they did not succeed in their turn 8/9 run at York due to the strength of the Angles at that time in the game. The Danes did well initially and succeeding in crowning Cnut before the army withdrawal after their turn 14. They did not do so well at the very end holding a few territories in the East, despite Svein having been killed by William in the Battle of Essex.

This was the first game I have won of the 5 recorded having a reasonable performance by the Belgae at the start before their inevitable demise, claiming a toll on Roma forts and legions. The Picts performed strongly throughout, always controlling their 3 major scoring areas in East Scotland, while at various points taking other areas at the expense of Caledonians and Brigantes. The strongest performers were the Angles, in the mid game, maintained essential control of the North and Midlands before the arrival of the Danes on turns 11 & 12, winning all the Bretwalda elections, with help of the submitted Brigantes in Galloway. The biggest problem I had at this point is that there were so many units on the board that I never had enough in stock for full population expansion. At the end the Normans performed well enough with William killing 2 of the other 3 claimants to the throne, although the Norwegian strength in the North meant that the crown was not claimed.

All in all a great game and I hope it isn't another 2 years before the next one.

The Game Graph.

Rosliston 2010

Over the last week end a group gathered for the annual Rosliston event and it looks like there were a few good games among those played. Andy has posted a geeklist here.

I have to say though that if 7½ hours is accurate for Britannia that is pushing it even for a game as great as that is.

Mike Con

On 6 Feb, Mike held a get together at his mother's house, Steve Perkins christened it Mike Con, this is Mike's report

A simple idea really, get together four players for some of my games that don't get much table-time at the Club and give them a dusting-off.  While we waited for Steve H, who depsite living closer to the venue than anybody else manged to get lost on the way, we managed a quick game of classic Knizia-fare :

KATZENJAMMER BLUES

1st Donald 8 pts
2nd Steve Pe 4pts
3rd Mike 3 pts

then a re-run of a very bizarre card-driven game which I think was spoiled last time I aired it by a very dodgy translation, fixed this time by an effort from the Geek.  The amount of luck involved is mitigated by the fact that the game is just about perfect length for its' content :

VOM KAP BIS KAIRO

1st Donald
2nd= Steve Pe Steve H, Mike

Time for an old favourite just before lunch :

SAN JUAN

1st Steve H 40 VP
2nd Mike 36 VP
3rd Donald 30 VP
4th Steve Pe 29 VP

On to Mykerinos : there is a school of thought that getting a Brown patron early on is a huge advantage, well, I managed to disprove that mightily by failing to pick up a Violet patron until last turn and being constantly short of cubes as a result.  Donald suffered a bit from the learning curve but I think he still enjoyed it :

MYKERINOS

1st Steve Pe 50 VP
2nd= Steve H, Mike 42 VP
4th Donald 29 VP

I'm afraid that the luck element that affects all card games hit me a bit in Caylus Magna Carta : after ditching my opening hand for free, the replacements weren't much better, and with hindsight I should have ditch those too, it left me without any resource producing buildings and I was always behind the others in VPs, Steve H built two producers, didn't make any mistakes and cruised to victory :

CAYLUS MAGNA CARTA

1st Steve H 34 VP
2nd Donald 28 VP
3rd Steve Pe 27 VP
4th Mike 21 VP

By now a pattern was emerging : me not winning anything.  Having failed in the previous San Juan to win with a score that would usually give victory, I managed to do it again in this one.  3 early Libraries and 2 Prefectures meant that the player losing out (Steve Pe) was always going to struggle, and even though I had a brilliant non-production building engine going, Steve H getting the Palace while I failed to find the last Monument gave him the edge :

SAN JUAN

1st Steve H 45 VP
2nd Mike 37 VP
3rd Donald 28 VP
4th Steve Pe 21 VP

Donald then had to go, time for the three remaining to play the only game I think that Steve Pe hadn't encountered before.  New England tends to be a bit less competitive in the land grab with three, but there was still a bit of nasty stuff going around, with me being the main culprit, unfortunately this didn't compensate for getting constantly short on cash when I didn't pick up the few very early pilgrims and then the supply of them completely drying up, and paying through the nose to deny Steve H a prime development card, only for 2 of them to turn up in the next round and he picked one up for peanuts!  In the end I'm amazed I wasn't even more heavily beaten :

NEW ENGLAND

1st Steve H 35+ VP
2nd Steve Pe 35 VP
3rd Mike 29 VP

All in all, I thought it was a really enjoyable day amongst good company, for me all of the games were fun, none outstayed their welcome.

Alternative British History 43-1085AD

Documents, recently discovered during an archaeological dig have caused some consternation among historians as they seemingly cast doubt on the accepted course of British History from the Roman invasion until the year 1085. Many have questioned their accuracy, while others have puzzled over peculiar aspects of the papers, such as the points allocated to the various nations, and colour coding seeming to link what might otherwise be considered totally unconnected groups. Their follows a summary of the contents of these mysterious documents.
The Romans invaded in the year 43, by order of the emperor Claudius. The invasion took place along the south coast from Kent to Devon, dealing with token resistance of the Belgae and Welsh, before heading further north in England to engage the Brigantes in March and across to Dyfed in the south of Wales. The Belgae and Welsh showed know stomach for a fight and submitted at first opportunity. In this first phase of the invasion, no Roman losses were suffered, but a revolt of the Belgae under their warrior queen Boudicca then had to be put down with some minor damage.
The bulk of the Roman conquest took place in the first 15 years, the next 40 mostly taken up with dealing with the rebellious Belgae and some modest progress further north. Bernicia was reached around 150 and taken unopposed, this being the furthest northern advancement, alongside the Pennines, taken by force from the Brigantes. The remaining approximately 300 years of the occupation were spent protecting forts and eliminating the last Belgae. The Romans withdrew around 430, when matters on the continent became pressing, at a time when defence of their holdings was becoming increasingly difficult due to the number of other invading forces. Points-100
The Romano-British took over much of the Roman territory following the withdrawal and initially consolidated in the South with the intent of invading Jutish lands. They had to content themselves with Saxons, who got in between them, they had some success with King Arthur around 500 and migrated north following the death of their legendary leader (of old age). They then gradually dwindled, becoming a lessening force, finally being eliminated by the Welsh around 800. Points- 18.
The Belgae capitulated to the Romans at the first opportunity, but rose up around the year 60 under the leadership of Boudicca laying waste to some Roman forts and eliminating a legion, but their rebellion was short-lived, ending with the death of the Queen. The Belgae died out around 300. Points -28.
The Welsh spent nearly 400 hundred years as Roman subjects; this inhibited their growth and left them vulnerable to Irish raids and after the Roman withdrawal, it took until about the year 700 to re-establish control over their ancestral lands and evict the Irish who had settled in Dyfed. In the 100 years or so prior to this, although raids into England toward York were considered this was not possible due to intervening Romano-British forces and the Angles in occupation of the City. After 700, there was peace at home for over 200 years, with forays into the adjacent English areas of Hwicce and Avalon, where the last Irish colony was wiped out.
Peace came to an end around 940, with the invasion of the South by Dubliners led by Olaf Guthfrithsson. Although the Dubliners were later forced out of Dyfed, a settlement remained in Gwent after 1085. The Welsh had also been forced out of Devon and Cornwall by 1085, falling to Saxons retreating from the Wars raging in England, although they had expanded to take March & Hwicce. Points - 73.
The Brigantes were untouched in the early years of the Roman invasion, but in the late 50s March & Cheshire were overrun, this was a cue to withdraw North abandoning York and Bernicia and capturing Dunedin from the Picts. The Pennines fell around 80, but after that the Brigantes were not bothered by Roman forces and had comparative peace, until the arrival of the Scots invasion led by Fergus Mor Mac Erc around 500, at which time Dunedin and Lothian were lost.
The next nearly 600 years were a time of near continuous War, with Dunedin, Lothian and the Pennines changing hands many times as variously Scots, Angles and Danes came and went. Throughout these turbulent years, the Brigantes were always able to remain in occupation of their Strathclyde and Galloway core until sometime in the 1070's, when a force of Picts, having previously regained control of Dunedin, launched a major attack on Strathclyde resulting in the total elimination of both large armies. The Brigantes survived after 1085 as a small population living in the mountains of Galloway. Points – 62.
The Caledonians occupied their homelands of Orkneys, Hebrides and Caithness for about 750 years and despite occasional forays against the Picts in Mar & Skye, were never able to expand further.
The arrival of Ketil and his Norsemen around 800, led to the loss of Orkneys and Caithness and the Caledonians were finally eliminated in 1070, when an army of Norsemen from Skye captured Hebrides. Points- 38.
The Picts lost Dunedin to the Brigantes in the late 50s, leaving them confined to the mountains with Caledonians a constant threat to the North and Brigantes to the South. Despite trying, they could not reclaim Dunedin and things deteriorated still more, with a Scots invasion leading to the additional loss of Dalriada. Alban also fell by 710, but was recaptured by 800 as the Scots declined.
The improvement of fortunes against the Scots however coincided with the arrival of Norse invaders, who captured Skye around the year 900, reducing pictish influence to their homelands of Alban, Mar & Moray. Toward the end of the period covered by these documents, in around 1050, the Picts finally reoccupied Dunedin and it was the entire army of that region that set out to engage the Brigantes stronghold of Strathclyde, the ensuing battle resulting in the elimination of both armies. The Picts survived beyond 1085, in occupation of Alban Mar and Moray. Points - 64.
The Irish are first recorded as small raiding parties around 200, but the first evidence of an Irish colony is around 300, when they landed and sacked a Roman fort in Wessex. As the Romans were withdrawing, they moved from Wessex to Avalon, also occupying Dyfed and Cheshire.
A further trickle of Irish imigrants continued until around 710 and it was around then that the Welsh were able to firmly re-establish control of Dyfed. The last Irish colony in Avalon survived until around 800 when it was conquered by the Welsh. Points – 30.
The Scots were first seen around 300, but it was not until about 100 years later that a landing took place, with the conquest of Dalriada from the Picts. In about the year 500, Fergus appeared with more forces and Dunedin and Lothian fell. At the height of Scottish power they also controlled Alban, before a decline due to resurgent Picts and Brigantes, together with the arrival of new invaders in the form of Norsemen and Danes, reduced them to the one area of Dalriada, where they remained in 1085. Points-40.
The Norsemen arrived in around the year 800 led by Ketil Flatnose and set about the conquest of the Caledonians. Orkneys and Caithness fell by 860 and during this time there was also an unopposed raid into Cumbria, which had been left vacant, due to some secret deal, which led the Brigantes to withdraw from that area.
After this progress was hard and only Skye and Hebrides were added to Norse territory. In 1085, the Norsemen occupied Orkneys, Caithness, Hebrides and Skye. Points – 43.
The Dubliners were first seen in around 900, but no incursions into Britain were made until 950 or thereabouts, when, led by Olaf Guthfrithsson, they landed in Cumbria and South Wales. By 1085 they were reduced to the single area of Gwent, driven out of Dyfed by the Welsh and forced to withdraw from Cumbria, which had become untenable due to the actions of Brigantes and Danes, as well as an impending Norwegian invasion. Points – 13.
The Danes first raided in 793, laying waste to Lothian, Bernicia, York and Cheshire, before withdrawing. They returned in 865, led by the brothers Ivar and Halfdan, taking territory on the east coast form Lothian in the North down to Lindsey in the south as well as reaching inland to the Pennines and Mercia, reaching as far west as March.
There now followed a period of consolidation in the face of renewed attacks by the Saxons and Angles, who took Lindsey and then York, which had perhaps been left too lightly defended. In the early 11^th century, further forces arrived from Denmark and Danish rule was established over East Anglia, York and South Mercia, in the process eliminating the last vestiges of the Angle nation. By 1085, following the arrival of further reinforcements under Svein Estrithson, the Danes were the major power in England (Svein having engaged William of Normandy in Essex, forcing him to flee into the Downlands) controlling territory from Bernicia down to Essex. Bernicia and York had briefly been ceded to the Norwegians, but recaptured without difficulty. Points – 82.
The Norwegians landed at York in 1066 and quickly occupied the city together with Bernicia, Cheshire and March. The only resistance was briefly put up by the Danes in North Mercia, before they withdrew to Suffolk.
Following the successful initial invasion, the forces were forced out of York and Bernicia, leaving Harald Hardrada to rule over Lothian, Pennine, Cheshire and North Mercia from his court in Cumbria. Points – 38.
The Saxons first appeared around 300, destroying the Roman Fort in Sussex, with further forces arriving over the next 100 years or so, destroying Roman forts in Kent and Essex, while moving a little inland ahead of the Jute invasion which swept into Kent & Sussex in their wake. Around 442 a large force led by Aelle established a Saxon presence in much of Southern England, but were met by stiff resistance by the Jutes and Romano-British, led by Arthur. The Romano-British threat died out following the death of Arthur, but it was to take something like 350 years before the threat of the Jutes was finally eliminated with the fall of Kent around the year 800.
In the next 150 years or so under the leadership of Alfred and Edgar, control was gained over much of the South, but the continuing threat of the Welsh in the west and surviving Angles, together with the new danger of the Danes in the east, prevented progress further north than South Mercia and Hwicce.
By 1066, the South Coast had been heavily fortified, but a Norman invasion under William cut through the Saxon forces. A somewhat low key battle near the town of Hastings on the coast led to the loss of Sussex, but neither leader was present with William campaigning in Essex, while the Saxon Harold cowered in Devon.
By the end of 1085, the Saxons were a spent force, surviving only in Kent, together with Devon, Cornwall and Avalon in the west. Points- 84.
The Jutes landed following the Saxons in around 400 and occupied the areas of Kent and Sussex, vacated by the Saxons as they moved in land. They came under heavy attack during Aelle's major invasion shortly afterward, but were able to hold Kent and in an audacious move attack and take Wessex from the Saxons.
Wessex was lost again in around 600, but the Jutes held on in Kent for approximately a further 200 years before falling to a Saxon army led by Egbert. Points- 22.
The Angles appeared as one of a host of raiders in the latter part of the Roman occupation, and their efforts resulted in the destruction of a Roman fort. It was in around 600 that a major force led by Ida established control over much of East Anglia and the East coast.
For the next 200 years or so, the Angles were probably the strongest nation in England, but attempts to expand their territory further west and south led to pyrrhic victories at best, with many troops going to their deaths and the Danish raids of 793 resulted in the lost of all Angle holdings in the north confining them to East Anglia.
Following the Danish invasion of 865, the Angles fought back taking York, but they were confined to the areas of York, Lindsey & Norfolk by the start of the second millennium, and these areas fell easily to the renewed Danish invasion under Cnut. Points – 78.
The Normans invaded in 1066 led by William of Normandy, but were met by heavy Saxon forces on the south coast and the invasion petered out in Essex, following the loss of many infantry.
William barely escaped with his life some years later, when an attack on Essex by Svein the Dane, forced him to withdraw to Downlands with his remaining Cavalry unit. He remained there in 1085, the proud ruler of Downlands, Sussex and Wessex. Points- 28.

_________________________

At the beginning of the year, Matt, Mike, Steve & I played a game of Britannia, which went down well and we agreed that we would repeat it sometime. On Saturday we finally did so on what was probably our last opportunity, with Matt moving down south at the end of next week.
We agreed in advance, who would play which colour. Steve had played Yellow in the previous game and was keen to try that again, while I wanted to try Green (I know a lot of people find this faction a bit uninteresting, but it's a long time since I played it, in fact it was the Black faction in those days). Mike had expressed an interest in playing Red, but was happy to switch to Blue, as Matt had played Blue in the previous game and wanted to try something different.
It should be noted that while we have all played before, none of us would claim to be great experts, lacking the time to play often and become accustomed to the use of the different nations. That said, this was a very enjoyable game, the closest that I can recall taking part in although as can be seen from the scores not a tremendously high scoring game. Two of the reasons for the low scores, may be another couple of features of this game that seemed unusual in my experience, firstly that at no time was any nation able to claim the title of Bretwalda or later king, secondly at the end of the game all four of the claimants to the throne were still alive even if they couldn't claim the prize.
The above "history" represents my recollection of the game. It is possibly not 100% accurate in places, but I have tried to ensure that what I have written fits in with the record of points scored at different moments during the game. Below is a progress chart for the game, showing the final scores.

Rosliston 2008

Belatedly, here are the results from the Rosliston weekend away of June 2008, with brief comments from me on each one. As usual we had a great time, and many thanks to Gordon for organising it.

As the non-serious competition for the weekend, we decided to adopt the old points system we used to have at the club, the formula being number of players x number of minutes in points for the winner, with that number halved for 2nd place, halved again for 3rd, halved again for 4th, with zero for coming last.

I've included here every competitive game we played, so the cooperative game I can't remember about plagues is excluded.

Game 1: Settlers (60 mins)
1: Gordon 10 (240pts)
2=: Mike 8 (90)
2=: Steve 8 (90)
4: Simon 7 (0)

Ah, the traditional start to the weekend of a game of Settlers; subtitle - hand Gordon a nice easy win to begin with. He didn't disappoint. Matt arrived.

Game 2: El Grande (135 mins)
1=: Simon 116 (506 pts)
1=: Steve 116 (506)
3: Matt 113 (169)
4: Mike 102 (84)
5: Gordon 101 (0)

The mad Spanish game - I absolutely love it. Exciting from start to finish, and everyone has a chance to win throughout. Simon and I somehow emerged from the chaos.

Game 3: Poker (90 mins)
1: Gordon (450 pts)
2: Mike (225)
3: Steve (113)
4=: Simon (28)
4=: Matt (28)

Wow I didn't come last. Gordon got the best bed for the third year running.

Game 4: Age of Empires III (210 mins)
1: Steve 76 (1050 pts)
2: Mike 73 (525)
3: Gordon 70 (263)
4: Simon 64 (131)
5: Matt 58 (0)

A stunning game, highlight of the weekend. My shoot everything that moves strategy paid off for the second year in a row. The best bit for me was murdering the entire Dutch population of Peru in one turn (6 of 'em). But in the end it was the faintest of margins - Mike missed out by one discovery going wrong.

Game 5: Koalition (80 mins)
1: Simon 53 (400 pts)
2: Matt 22 (200)
3: Gordon 21 (100)
4: Mike 16 (50)
5: Steve 15 (0)

Suddenly there was no one left for me to shoot, and you had to be devious instead. So of course Simon won.

Game 6: Container (120 mins)
1: Matt 116 (600 pts)
2: Simon 70 (300)
3: Steve 67 (150)
4: Mike 56 (75)
5: Gordon 36 (0)

I started off hating the game, then I warmed to it, then I sort of hated it again. Ok it's a crap review, but you'd know what I mean if you were there. I remember Gordon was badly stuffed by the games mechanics. Matt crushed us all with his production strategy.

Game 7: Amun-Re (110 mins)
1: Matt 45 (550 pts)
2=: Steve 41 (206)
2=: Gordon 41 (206)
4: Mike 39 (69)
5: Simon 36 (0)

The Knizia classic, one of the best five-player games ever. Simon's first try and I think he liked it. Matt's hot streak continued.

Game 8: Poker (110 mins)
1: Simon (550 pts)
2=: Matt (206)
2=: Mike (206)
4: Gordon (69)
5: Steve (0)

Back to my usual poker form, Matt took me out with a straight flush. So I went to bed.

Game 9: Zooleretto (90 mins)
1: Gordon 27+ (450 pts)
2: Mike 27 (225)
3: Simon 24 (113)
4: Matt 21 (56)
5: Steve 17 (0)

After this I had a strong desire to kill every zoo animal in the whole world with my bare hands. And then strangle myself.

Game 10: Power Grid (105 mins)
1: Steve 15+ (525 pts)
2: Matt 15 (263)
3: Simon 14+ (131)
4: Mike 14 (66)
5: Gordon 11 (0)

Eastern Europe board. Gordon would have won but I did that fiendish brown-out thing to him that leaves you all bitter and twisted if it happens to you. Gordon, being a brilliant sport, took it in his stride.

Game 11: Ra (60 mins)
1: Mike 48 (300 pts)
2: Steve 47 (150)
3: Gordon 28 (75)
4: Simon 26 (38)
5: Matt 25 (0)

You can't beat a game of Ra. Even if you get a drubbing it's only an hour.

Game 12: Caylus (140 mins)
1: Mike 70 (700 pts)
2: Matt 66 (350)
3: Steve 62 (175)
4: Simon 58 (88)
5: Gordon 44 (0)

Ditto, you can't beat a game of Caylus. It's always different which is why it's so playable. This time we filled every space in the castle which I've never seen happen before. Mike won by nicking all "my" gold. Gordon, normally the Caylus king, was oddly sluggish - maybe it was a stamina thing...

Game 13: 6 Nimmt (40 mins)
1: Gordon (200 pts)
2: Steve (100)
3: Matt (50)
4: Mike (25)
5: Simon (0)

This game was a blast - I'm going to get it when I can. Just when everyone thought Gordon was out for the count, he minimised his bull count to great effect. What do you mean, "huh"?

Game 14: Il Principe (60 mins)
1: Gordon 68+ (300 pts)
2: Mike 68 (150)
3: Simon 49 (75)
4: Steve 48 (38)
5: Matt 45 (0)

This game is an acquired taste that most don't acquire. Gordon claimed not to know what he was doing but we weren't buying it. Simon went.

Game 15: Taj Mahal (100 mins)
1=: Matt 61 (300 pts)
1=: Steve 61 (300)
3: Gordon 45 (100)
4: Mike 38 (0)

Great end to the weekend. This was Matt's best performance among many good ones. His connection strategy was perfect. I only drew on the old sneaky card collection count.

Well I've just enough energy to compile the final table:

Rosliston 08
1: Steve 3403 pts
2: Mike 2790 pts
3: Matt 2772 pts
4: Gordon 2453 pts
5: Simon 2360 pts

Champion again! Interestingly, if you average this out by number of games played, Matt beats Mike and Simon beats Gordon. So argue amongst yourself chaps. Until next year.

Britannia - 2 Jan/11 Jan

So Britannia began with the Roman invasion (Steve playing yellow), sweeping northwards almost wiping out the Belgae (Matt blue) who briefly submitted before revolting under Boudicca almost immediately not that it helped them much. The Romans also made inroads against the Welsh (Mike green) and forced submission from the Brigantes (me red). Everything seemed to be going extremely well until they entered the highlands of the Picts and were heavily defeated with the loss of many troops. This weakened their ability to defend their forts with the result that many were lost to the arriving Angles, Saxons and Irish as well as counterattacks from the Welsh.

Moving into the middle game, my Saxons became the dominant force and everything seemed to be going well at this stage, with the Irish also doing well, Mike's Jutes appeared briefly and settled in Kent as is their wont before falling before being quickly wiped out by the Saxons. The remnants of the Belgae lingered in Lindsey for a short time as did the Romano British in Downlands, but neither made any real impression, while the Scots established a small area up north.

For a few turns everything seemed OK as I achieved successive Bretwaldas and a couple of Kingships until everything went wrong with the arrival of Mike and the Danes, who caused much destruction. In a short period the Brigantes, Irish and Norsemen, who had not achieved much were all eliminated and the Saxons were seriously damaged, I failed to score a single points after turn 13.

In the end the game was close for first and second, with Matt and the Normans coming out on top after a decisive battle with Mike's Danes but I can't remember where it took place. Steve took third place due to the decisive Battle of Chester where Harald Hardrada was victorious over Harold, although he was soon to fall victim to the Normans or the Danes. So William the Conqueror was again victorious albeit that the events were different to expected.

Final Scores

Britannia 300 mins
Player	Posn.	Points
Matt (Blue)	1	268
Mike (Green)	2	264
Steve H (Yellow)	3	201
Dave D (Red)	4	200

Rosliston '07

OK - I'll get the important stuff out of the way first, five gamers shut in a lodge in the countryside for a long weekend. 18 games played, here's what we did:

1. Taj Mahal

1st Gordon 62
2nd Steve 45
3rd Mike 41
4th Rich 37
5th Matt 29

A nice Knizia loosener, Matt's first try and I think he liked it. Gordon got a phenomenal score from connections, and he probably had it too easy. I blame the others because I was concentrating on elephants / resources...

2. Ra

1st Gordon 41
2nd Mike 34
3rd Steve 30
4th Rich 28
5th Matt 27

More Knizia, another Gordon win - was it going to be another winning weekend for the G-Man? We shall see...

3. Poker

1st Matt
2nd Rich
3rd Steve
4th Mike
5th Gordon

It was getting late on Friday so as per tradition the poker came out(!). A morale boosting win for Matt.

4. Age of Empires

1st Steve 83
2nd Gordon 72+
3rd Matt 72
4th Rich 66
5th Mike 64

Now this is what games weekends are about - what a game! Four hours of intense activity, all of us in the hunt for the win. This is a game where you can follow five or six different strategies in the discovery-of-the-New-World theme. Matt, Gordon and Richard tended to focus on Discovery, which is medium risk but potentially high yield. Gordon and Mike also went heavy on merchant ships and trade, and the latter in particular had frightening amounts of cash by the end. I did my usual in such situations and focussed on the military and colonising other people's discoveries. Only Mike really fought back (in the vicious Battle of Peru) and I may have had enough troops elsewhere to discourage others from restricting my VP mountain. Superb experience, I loved this game.

5. Colosseum

1st Mike 77
2nd Steve 71
3rd Rich 65
4th Matt 62
5th Gordon 59

The jury's out on Colosseum - I really like it but others worry about the random elements in the game. Great theme, great production; it always feels like something good's going to happen when you set it up.

6. Amun Re

1st Steve 39
2nd Matt 38+
3rd Rich 38
4th Mike 36
5th Gordon 32

All in the 30s, you can see how close this one was. I sprang a bit of a surprise by hording cash and then building 8 blocks on the last turn.

7. Power Grid - Germany

1st Steve 14
2nd Mike 12++
3rd Gordon 12+
4th Matt 12
5th Rich 10

This was a very odd game because all the high plants came out first and players disdn't know whether to gamble all on the high plants or not. I ended up with a 6 and a 5 very early on, and it was really a race from there to get 15 connections out. There was no scarcity at all of raw materials due to the high efficiency of the plants that came out. Won in Phase 2. This was turning into my best ever boardgaming day.

8. Medici

1st Matt 132
2nd = Rich 102
2nd = Steve 102
4th Gordon 88
5th Mike 80

I'm surprised this one doesn't surface at the club more. Very playable one hour game.

9. Poker

1st Matt
2nd Rich
3rd Steve
4th Gordon
5th Mike

10. Poker

1st Rich
2nd Gordon
3rd Mike
4th Steve
5th Matt

Two games of poker to finish the day. We vowed not to get the cards out again that weekend...

11. Caylus

1st Gordon 65
2nd Matt 56
3rd Rich 54
4th Mike 51
5th Steve 50

The final day started with a classic. Gordon is very good at this game.

12. Great Wall of China

1st Matt 30
2nd Gordon 29
3rd Steve 27
4th Rich 25
5th Mike 22

This was only an hour but it seemed longer and was a trifle dull. Another win for Matt though.

13. Il Principe

1st Steve 58
2nd Rich 52+
3rd Gordon 52
4th Mike 43
5th Matt 38

This was one of those games where you spent the first hour querying the rules, and then at the end realised you got them wrong anyway. I won but I'm not sure how. We agreed it was worth another try or two on club nights.

14. Puerto Rico

1st Gordon 45
2nd Mike 40
3rd Rich 39
4th Steve 37
5th Matt 34

On went the somewhat anti-climactic Sunday. We all pretty much agreed that PR is broken , and you can't play it "straight". By that I mean everything I did seemed to play into the hands of Gordon and Rich who were like a pair of vultures waiting for me to do what you're supposed to do, ie produce goods. I'm really surprised that PR is so popular...

15. Web of Power

1st Mike 50
2nd Gordon 47
3rd Rich 37
4th Steve 36
5th Matt 31

Ugh it got worse! I've played this game half a dozen times and can now conclude that it is an absolute stinker. About 5 turns in a row I was compelled to play one card, while opening up vast opportunities for the other players. Mike tells me that if I'd done my Geek research I would have gone for a smaller territory to break the cycle. My response is, not worth the effort, and I know it's short but then so is a Robbie Williams single, and both are ghastly and best avoided.

16. El Grande

1st Rich 79
2nd Matt 74
3rd Gordon 72
4th Steve 68
5th Mike 59

The last of the five-player games and by contrast to the previous few this one was great fun. El Grande is a really charming game where lots of wild things happen. Sometimes that's good for a change of pace.

We'd decided on a simple points system that concluded with this game. It was 5 pts for a win, descending to 1 pt for 5th in each game. Unfortunately that meant Web of Power was equal to Age of Empires, but hindsight etc etc..

Rosliston 07 Championship (!)

1st Steve 52.5
2nd Gordon 52
3rd Rich 49.5
4th Matt 45
5th Mike 41

I hope I added it up right (over to you Dave??). A good time was had by all anyway. For an alternative scoring system based entirely on wins, see below.

17. Caylus Magna Carta

1st Steve 51
2nd Rich 49
3rd Gordon 45

Two fine 3-player games to finish with. I'm too knackered to do a review but this was probably at least as good a game as the original in my view. More emphasis on building, no emphasis on favours.

18. Pillars of the Earth

1st Steve 48
2nd Rich 47
3rd Gordon 45

Incredibly close and a very satisfying game as usual. I'm edging towards Dave's view that 3 is best for this game, although still very playable with 4.

Here's the alternative table, based on wins and including those last two:

1st Steve 6
2nd = Matt 4
2nd = Gordon 4
4th = Mike 2
4th = Rich 2

Here's to next year!

1856 - 24 March 2007

Earlier in the year we played a 6 player game of this and later Steve suggested that he'd like to give it another try, but thought that 4 might be a better number. Mike and I were happy to agree as we are big 18XX fans, although we rarely get the chance to play, and I also thought it would be a chance for Dave C to join in, having missed the earlier game. So it was that we gathered at my place on Saturday.

We all started a public company at the beginning. Mike had the GW, I had the LPS, Dave the WGB and Steve the CPR. In the early stage of the game I was able to make some quick money with LPS and at the first opportunity I had it buy the Great Lakes Shipping Company off me at the same time putting money in my pocket and increasing the LPS revenue by using the port. During this time Mike built up the GW and I was able to link into his track allowing me to run to London for further revenue, Steve slowly started building up the CPR, while Dave was stuck in the middle without easy access to a big city and no other company close by to help in the WGB development. As we moved out of this early stage I had been able to build up enough cash to start another company (the CA) which seemed like a good combination with the LPS. Soon after Mike started the BBG and Steve took the Welland.

It was here I think that things started to go wrong as I should have kept more money in LPS while the pickings were good. When the the first 6 train was available, I found myself with a lot of money sitting idle and used it to start the CV. Having looked around I had thought that all the companies would be able to repay their loans, the WGB was vulnerable but I was able to help it to its destination before the CV bought the 6 train, so releasing the necessary funds. As it turned out the Welland could not repay and so the CGR was formed from this one company. At this point I was terribly vulnerable. I had considered folding one of my 2 companies into the CGR, but this was not possible as they had too much money to default on their loans (the CA actually had none outstanding) as a result both were left sitting on a single 4 train each which was liable to be rendered obsolete at any moment on the purchase of a Diesel and not a huge amount of cash. If this had happened I would have been destroyed, fortunately Mike who had the GW with a 6 & 4, which was making the most revenue, chose not to trade in for the diesel, instead carrying on, while seeing his share price rise. The CGR, having formed in a corner of the board without immediate access to the wider network, would take several rounds before being able to buy a diesel and the other companies, already having permanent trains were content to keep paying dividends, rather than saving for another train. I was able to use these few rounds grace to build up the LPS and CA treasuries before buying permanent trains (in the LPS case the 6 from the CV). During this time the LPS & CA share prices fell though the floor, but I was able to keep a good personal income from the CV and major minority holdings in the GW and CPR.

Once all the companies were on a stable footing the game moved to a fairly swift conclusion, during it was a case of Steve using CGR tokens to block stations limit the revenue of other companies, while I desperately tried to bypass the blocks using the combine efforts of LPS, CA and CV. The game ended about 8pm for a total playing time between 6 & 7 hours.

Scores as follows
Dave D $9486
Steve $7982
Mike $6521
Dave C $5967

If I had been Mike I think I would probably have bought the diesel and caused me much pain, but he considered that even if he had done so he would only have given the game to Steve instead and he is probably right. What I think the game does show is we could all do with a lot more practice (but how to find the time).

1856 - January 27 2007

Back in October 2005, we had a Saturday afternoon and evening session, playing Advanced Civilization. We agreed after that to repeat the following year to play some other game that would not be possible on Wednesday evening. So, although a little later than planned, a group of us gathered at my place for a session of 1856. The players were myself, Mike, Steve H, John (a school friend of Mike and I, who also came up for the Civ game) and some friends of John, father and son Les and John(2).

We met at 2pm and spent about an hour going over the rules (Mike being the only one to have recent play experience, through postal play) before starting about 3. Money is very tight with 6 players but despite this we got 6 companies up and running in the first operating round, I'm not entirely sure that this was a good idea, since all the companies were very parlously financed, but everyone had a company to run giving them something to do.

Mike did very well in the early stages, although he effectively ran the Grand Trunk into the ground, and was able to fund a second company (Credit Valley) when the '5' trains were available. Mike's thought is that this was the advantage that won him the game and that someone else should also have started a new company at this stage, I'm not exactly sure this is true since while the CV was able to buy a '5' train, I'm sure that any other company started would have been stuck with needing a '6' train or buying a '4' off the presidents other company damaging that company and meaning the new company would still have had to buy a permanent train later. Also I think it would have needed more than one player to cooperate to form the company unless the president was willing to sell valuable shares to do it himself.

Between 7 & 8 we had a break and the dodgy picture above shows the board at that point. It was agreed at the restart that we would call the game at 10, completing the current set of operating rounds. The next stock round was a long one (I think Steve found it interminable) as people bought and sold shares, 2 new companies were formed and due to shares sold, I was able to take over the Great Western from John. After all the stock shenanigans were sorted out it was on to the last 3 operating rounds, which because of the new companies buying trains soon brought about the compulsory repayment of loans and the formation of the Canadian Government Railways, although in fact this almost didn't happen as only the Grand Trunk was unable to repay. After this I was able to have the London and Port Sarnia trade in a '4' train for a diesel, rendering the other '4's scrap and it was this that Steve thought (probably correctly) that gave me the advantage over him in the final scoring. After things sorted themselves out and many companies had diesels, money flowed out of the bank and the game would definitely have finished naturally after another set of OR's.

Final Scores
Mike $3338, Dave $3015, Steve $2770, John $2474, John(2) $1906, Les $1732

I think, allowing for breaks we played for about 6.5 to 7 hours, which I don't think is too bad considering the newness of this type of game to many of the players, Steve has admitted that this is not really his type of game and he'd rather play Civilization as an all dayer. I still love the 18XX series. I showed our game list to Les and John who are from Stourbridge and they have indicated they may come along on a Wednesday some time. They will of course be most welcome.

Apologies to those to whom the foregoing is a load of meainingless waffle, normal service will now be resumed until we decide to do something like this again.