Serenissima

Since Sam and Andrew are unable to make this Tuesday's games night, a weekend fixture was arranged. With four hungry gamers around the board, a truncated game (only eight rounds) of Serenissima was chosen as this evening's feast. This game mixes co-operation with warfare in a delicately balanced recreation of two hundred years of trading history across the Mediterranean using specially designed boats that sink the moment the last sailor steps off them.

Adam and Jonny were the first to build up their reserves, making a deal to sell into each others' capitals for 1000 ducat bonuses. The extra wealth went to Adam's head as he built two galleys full of men and set forth to Istanbul to take Andrew's capital, only to find his path blocked by Jonny who had plans to sell there for another 1000 ducat bonus. His plan scuppered, he never quite got back into the game.

Soon after that, in round five, the sight of five newly built war galleys flying under Sam's flag were sighted on the Lybian coast. Everyone took evasive action as battle commenced, such that Sam couldn't get through his opponents' blockade to their capitals. Unable to deliver a knockout blow, he struggled against his newly distrustful trading partners despite offering to make tea. Round eight rolled around, and Andrew made sure of victory by filling his capital with goods and swooping in for a last minute raid on one of Jonny's full warehouses. Final score: Andrew 42, Jonny 34, Adam 32, Sam 25.

So Andrew, in an uncommon run of form, picked up his second win in as many games nights. Although it cannot be described as a great victory considering Jonny had never played it before, Adam thought he might have played it but wasn't sure, and Sam was clearly not on best form as he spent most of the evening forgetting colours and words.

The Leaderboard

	Played	Points
Joe	10	15
Adam	11	12
Sam	7	10
Andrew	13	10
Jonny	6	8
Steve	3	6
Quentin	1	1
Hannah	1	1
Will	1	1

From now there'll be a new scoring system, whereby the amount of points you get for a win depends on the number of players. So in a four-player game, first place gets four points, second place gets three, third gets two and last gets one. That way, everyone gets something for turning up. Which is also why all the people on zero points last time have now got points for being there. I know, in theory, everyone else should also get points for attending, but I'm too lazy to go back over the emails and work out the scores again.

Medici in excelsis

Tuesday evening rolled around, Venus sat high and bright in the night sky, and people descended on Joe's for some table-top fun. First, Joe regaled us with his tales of meeting the chief play-tester for Martin Wallace games. The very same Martin Wallace who we'd been cursing for his lack of play-testing only seven days previously. Meanwhile, Quentin marvelled at the idea of having so many play-testers that you needed a chief one to keep the others in check.

With late arrivals expected, Joe, Andrew and Quentin played a couple of light games of For Sale. Andrew won the first one after a recount (sorry Quentin), and it doesn't matter who won the second one, does it? Probably Joe.

Then Quentin departed for work reasons, as Sam and newcomer Will joined us. Since it was quite late to start a large-scale game, Medici was decided upon. Will quickly picked up the rules and was impressed by the range of strategies that could be employed, but the plaudits went to Andrew who rode his luck with some randomly drawn tiles at the end of rounds one and two. This put him in a strong second place, from which he pushed into first while Joe dropped to second due to him and Sam battling over the same commodities.

This was followed by some light relief in the shape of No Thanks. A low scoring first game was played out with Joe winning on a Roger Bannister-esque epoch-defining minus 6 points! And this, only minutes after telling Will that a score below zero was pretty much impossible. Almost as remarkable was Andrew's display in the second game, which saw him involuntarily picking up high cards due to a lack of chips and ending with 118.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

The Leaderboard!

Points: First place gets 3 points, Second place gets one. In the event of equal points in the table, the person who's turned up to the most evenings is given preference as a reward for most loyalty to the cause! (And as compensation for not having a life.) “Light” games aren't included (ie, Perudo, No Thanks, etc) although we can change this. I've also included the scores from the previous games night reports we did by email, although a couple of them didn't mention second places.

	Played	Points
Joe	10	15
Adam	10	10
Sam	6	9
Andrew	12	6
Steve	3	6
Jonny	5	0
Quentin	1	0
Hannah	1	0
Will	1	0

As you can see, the idea that Adam always wins is a myth, and it's Joe we need to start going for.

Brass Drubbing

So finally, after weeks of gentle pleading, dropping hints and waving the box under everyone's noses, it finally happened. Last night, with Andrew and Adam in, Brass hit the table. Martin Wallace's Brass, a wood and cardboard poem to Industrial Revolution era Lancashire. And an epic poem at that. It's not that it's complicated, I kept insisting, it's just that there are some (ok lots of) very fiddly little rules. Which means when you're learning and playing for the first time, it can be daunting. Which means lots of knitted brows, and cursing "Wallace" from between gritted teeth.

Since it popped on to my radar 6 months ago, I've wanted to play Brass. I've wanted to play it so much I've listened to several podcasts about it (links below), checked out the free online version (almost impossible to contemplate until you've played it in the flesh), and generally talked myself in to buying it. And then the long, hard slog of persuading all you other chaps to play. You have been rightfully ambivalent — we have, between us, more than enough games that deserve deeper exploration than we can give them; why add another, and a behemoth at that, to the list of games tried but not fully explored? It's true, it's the cult of the new, and it's my little problem, one I will try and keep under control. From now on.

So was it worth it? Hmm . . . Adam said afterwards "I think I enjoyed that." Andrew said, during the game "This is good, but those rules. Really." And did it live up to my expectations? A guest on Mark Johnson's excellent All about Brass podcast said "if you play Brass once, and you don't hate it, you should definitely play a few more times". I'd like to play again, but it's not really tuesday night friendly. I know we were learning, but still — we started bang on 7.30pm, and packed up at nearly midnight. And it's not fun fun like some games — it's mature, serious, thoughtful stuff. I explained this to Charlotte afterwards, and she said "please say you'll never make me play it."

It is a game that plays well online (I have played and lost twice online), so sign up and say the word, I'll be there in an instant. And thanks to Adam and Andrew for indulging me, it wasn't horrible, right? - JB

Oh, and the scores:

Joe 177

Adam 169

Andrew 140

Further reading/listening/playing:

Mark Johnson's excellent All about Brass podcast

Ryan Sturm's equally excellent How to Play Brass podcast

Brass Online — you know you want to . . .

. . . and a very funny blog post about Martin Wallace on a Glaswegian boardgame blog

So it's up

Dear internet and friends,

this is a blog for a group of board gamers to post up reports of our adventures across the kitchen table.

I decided against any punning titles or witty acronyms, and just went for a "does what it says on the tin" style title.