Me, Sam and Adam began with Biblios. Time and experience shall not dull its attractions. Nor will it tell us how to win. After a hesitant start, with rules forgotten and cards put onto the wrong piles (seriously, they'll chuck us out of the Britannia if we're like this at Stabcon) we got into the swing of things.
Adam 8
Andrew 5
Sam 3
During that game, Anja and Steve arrived, carrying Snowdonia. All of us except Adam had played, and since they'd brought it all this way, it was chosen as the night's main game. Anja explain the rules to Adam, and there was frequent reference to the rule book throughout as we wished Joe was with us: He'd know what to do!
But we managed. We told Steve to stop putting resource cubes on the cards instead of his own cubes. We mostly allowed people to retake their goes. We mostly played the game as it was intended. There was a lot of one-upmanship over owning a train, which I felt acutely having never bought a train. And Sam and Steve and Adam felt too, having once owned trains, only to have them cruelly snatched away.
By the end, I had no idea who'd won. I suspected Adam had, but maybe that was just out of habit. When the scores were totted up, I could hardly believe it myself. Anja scored in every category, and Steve had 47 points for buildings alone but thanks to my surveyor plus bonus for surveyor (36 points, just for that) I managed to edge into top spot.
Andrew 89
Anja 86
Sam 82
Adam 78
Steve 77
And that was that. The new season baptised with a couple of games that defy prediction. It's nice to play two games that leave you guessing right 'til the end, especially if you win one of them! It leaves me on top of the form table. Steve's fifth place means he may as well have not turned up at all (except we're glad he did - he's a lovely man).
| Points | ||||||
| Andrew | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
| Adam | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| Sam | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| Anja | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 22 |
| Steve | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
And now, the new system to replace the Q-system: The Division. This was introduced at the end of last season and from now on it will be popping up at the end of the month, alongside the trusty form table. It includes the Olympic style medal table, and the points are based on the golden trinity of gaming: length of game, number of players and size of win. Points ratio will come in once you've played three games or more, I think.
And this is how it would look if it was in an old newspaper...
How very retro!
I might have been sitting pretty with a Biblios win if I'd played my usual game, but I saw in the New Year with a misplaced sense of optimism, manifest in a silly gamble where I ignored the opportunity to seal the red books, and was beaten alphabetically. Next time I won't be so careless!
ReplyDeleteI like Snowdonia, it ticks a lot of boxes, including sadly the one that says this game allows you think you're doing well when in fact you're not. I'm sure Adam feels just as crestfallen this morning... I think we all suspected he was on for a debut win, and I was thinking maybe I'll sneak second. Andrew's right; the count-up feels like part of the game rather than just a confirmation. I like it.
Thanks everyone!
I knew I didn't have a chance, but you have to keep playing just in case! The three events coming out all at once meant I couldn't get my 18 point bonus, I kept forgetting to play the cards I'd picked up and I lost my train for an action that didn't even get me any points.
ReplyDeleteI think I had the hang of it by the end, but it's the sort of game where you need to see how all the aspects relate to get an idea of what the best strategy is. Even then keeping track of this number of interacting factors is some feat - exactly Anja's sort of game! (So I'm not sure how Andrew won it...)
Well played everybody.
Maybe it was all that yellow along the tracks and stations Adam - or maybe just that you looked like you knew what you were doing. I thought you threatened to use your card deliberately to make me sacrifice a worker to the steelworks, especially as you then didn't play it!
ReplyDeleteYeah that was it...
ReplyDelete