Flip flip hurray

After last week's sparse turn out, we were somewhat back to normal with seven gamers: the host Sam and Joe, Martin, Matt, Katy, Ian and I.

From the start, we split into two groups. Katy had reserved a game of Lords of Vegas, and was all excited about it until it was pointed out that, given the recent tragedy, it might not be the most appropriate game to play. She went off the idea, but by then she had three opponents and so the game began.

Matt, Sam and I (and Stanley, too, in the latter stages of the game) played Flipships, the game that would be the board game version of Space Invaders except there's already a board game version of Space Invaders. I've never played it, but I can't imagine it's better than this.

It looked bad for us early on, with hoards of angry aliens bearing down on us. But it turns out that Matt is the last starfighter, picking off aliens with his short-range cannon, and taking two out with one flick.

He kept us alive long enough that we got to The Last Assault: the part of the game where all pretense of strategy goes out the window and we just target the Mother Ship. The Earth was on one health point, but we whittled the mother ship down and I, the last player to flip their ships, dealt the fatal blow with my penultimate ship! How we all cheered!

Earth Alliance 1
Alien Federation 0

Lords of Vegas was barely underway. They'd been tolerant of our ships overshooting the Mother Ship and landing on Sunset Strip, while they wheeled and dealed in Vegas.

Ian's early attempt at a sprawl, making a four-tile casino, blew up in his face when Katy drew the card that gave her the lot that Ian had sprawled into. Suddenly, that four-tile casino was hers. She made no attempt at hiding her glee, while Ian slipped into glum Eeyore-mode. He fell behind and never recovered.

Meanwhile, the other half of the table was not finished with War In Space. We chose Quantum for our big-ish game to last until the probable end of Lords Of Vegas.

Buy-in setting up Quantum, Sam brushed against a wine glass, sending it to the floor with a smash. I noticed that the first thing he wiped down was the board game box. Sam knows his priorities.

After more wiping and hoovering, we were ready to start. And what a game it was. We chose the Origin Of Thought map, an thanks to some good rolls, the early part of the game was mostly the three of us putting cubes down in the far-flung outer reaches. But then we were forced into the middle where it all kicked off.

I was one cube behind quite early on, and spend a lot of time fighting people to try and stop them. Sam used his Tactical card to good effect, often squeezing in a final attack at the end of his go. Matt, though, was relentless which came in very handy with a seemingly invincible 4-dice the Sam kept attacking but never destroyed.

The end, when it came, was swift and unexpected. I thought Sam was no threat, so focused my attacks on a clearly dangerous Matt. Then Sam launched a ship, and used Tactical to move it into a battle over an orbital point. A battle against Relentless Matt. But Sam won, and he moved into the space with allowed him to put down his final cube. If Casino Royale had been about Quantum, not Poker, that's how it would've ended.

Sam 0 cubes left
Matt 1
Andrew 2

By now, people were remarking on the strange Eighties turn that Sam's YouTube playlist had taken. He tried to put it right, but even then it veered back to Peter Gabriel via a period of Kate Bush.

By now Lords Of Vegas had finished. The final stages were notable by how close it was. Whenever I looked over, the first place space was always occupied by at least two counters.

Maybe the crucial moment was when Martin tried to reorganize a large casino, but failed and gave it to Joe, causing him to declare that the purple casino was cursed.

But was it so important? The Strip paid out for the last time, and Joe squeaked a win.

Joe 32 plus $49m
Katy 32 plus $23m
Martin 29
Ian 23

An odd game of LoV, with no brown casinos built at all. Was that why it was so close?

Then all seven of us played Bemused, the game that so successfully lived up to its name last week. Technically, it's only a six player game so Sam and I joined forces as a team.

The game itself seems like a simple card game with a bit of hidden secrecy regarding our gemina (a card telling us which other we are especially interested in) and how we feel about them (love, hate, disdain etc).

I'm not sure if the whole bit about getting into character is entirely necessary for the game, but we did enjoy a bit of role playing. Joe (painter) complained about Martin (dancer) visiting his studio and making snide remarks. Sam and I (thespians) we're offended by any critique of our stage version of Jaws, and people flung doubts at Ian (poet) telling him to get back to his garret.

Katy (singer) was not enough in character to give us a tune, but she did prove pivotal to the game. She drove Martin insane which curiously lead to the death of Joe. And then, right at the end of the game, she killed Matt who revealed his gemina was Katy, which gave her a Dread card, killing her off too. The only people left standing (albeit insane) was the Thespian. However, it seems that survival is a losing tactic in this game.

Katy 7 (died last)
Joe 7
Matt 5
Ian 5
Martin 5
Sam & Andrew 3

Then we reformed into two new groups. Martin, Ian and Sam banded together to defeat the Alien Federation again (they don't give up, I'll give them that) while Joe, Katy, Matt and I played Animals On Board.

My tactic was to get as many 5 value cards as I could, but it’s an optimistic one. I was soundly beaten by Joe’s and Matt’s set collection.

Matt 46
Joe 39
Andrew 36
Katy 35

As for Flipships, the aliens didn’t last long in the face of Ian’s, Martin’s and Sam’s withering death ray. “Good flicking, guys!” said someone as Ian put the fourth decisive hole in the mothership’s hull.

Earth Alliance 2
Alien Federation 0

They filled in until we finished Animals On Board with Eggs of Ostrich.

Sam 10
Martin 9
Ian 3

Then the night ended with Fuji Flush. It’s all luck of course. Wish I could remember more about it, but by now I was really quite drunk.

Ian 0 cards left
Katy 0
Matt 1
Sam 1
Martin 2
Andrew 2
Joe 2

After that, we bid our fond goodbyes. Or did we? Joe, who was driving, admitted that he couldn’t be arsed to give the Eastonites a lift across the M32, preferring to help out Katy and I since we live closer to his home (and also closer to Sam’s home, which may be where the argument began). Here’s hoping this doesn’t lead to a massive schism in the ranks. Let’s all love each other again next Tuesday!