A nice game of 7 Wonders and Ticket to Ride USA

Anita made a suggestion that we all play a family game and so we dug out the family favourite 7 Wonders and played 5 player in which Anita won with 57 points. Later in the day we played Ticket to Ride USA and Anita beat we hands down. As always!

Beaten at Ticket to Ride....again!!!!

Anita wanted a game of Ticket to Ride in prelude to the new Ticket to Ride: Asia coming soon. So I got out the US Ticket to Ride with the 1910 add on that brings new tickets and large format cards.With some good tickets, I set out to try to beat Anita - knowing my track record is against me. In the end, we had completed our tickets and got maximum scores - Anita was on 110 and I was on 113!! Brilliant! I had won. But then we recounted the Longest Track score - and again - and again!! And it came out that if Anita counted another way, she came out two on top!! And won again! No!! Her track record goes unbeaten!

I win (yellow)!!

With a double recount, Anita wins!!

Birthday game vouchers ahoy!!

Had a nice birthday which involved £50 of battlequestgames vouchers plus £10 from my loyalty card which was full. Mmmm now what do I get with these???
In the evening we also had a game of Scandinavian Ticket to Ride - Anita won - and a 5 player 7 Wonders which Kavita won.

New game! Nordic Ticket to Ride. And a replay of Ticket to Ride Europe

Crikey it is turning into a game fest couple of months - games ordered, preordered, purchased from afar - apparently the new Space Hulk and Back to the Future card games are out soon too which I'll take a look at (Although Anita has put a bit of an embargo on game purchases for a while). Friday I picked up a copy of Nordic Ticket to Ride, a snow bound version of the popular train game, covering the Scandinavian arena and parts of Russia. It uses some of the rules introduced in Europe (Tunnels and Ferries), but leaves out Stations and some of the rules introduced in the Marklin Edition. Very nice version - up to 3 players only - using white, black and purple trains. The cards are lovely, the European size and the trains/carriages are covered in snow. There is even one huge 27-point link between Finland and Russia! This is one great game - lovely for two players over a glass of wine! Anita beat me by 3 points! 

Then we had a go at Ticket to Ride Europe - Anita had big reservations when we first got this - the rules for tunnels especially seemed overly complex, when added in with Stations and Ferries. Therefore we've not played this one for a while, but with the experience from the Nordic one, we played again and found it very enjoyable. 

A weekend of gameplay - 3 player Ticket to Ride and Germany changes history!

Blimey what a busy gaming weekend! We tried to get in as many games as possible with Citadels and Dominion on Saturday and Ticket to Ride: USA and Memoir '44 on Sunday. 

Citadels was another great game as usual, big family winner this. I just managed to win this with Roshni just denied an extra 4 points for all 5 colours in her Citadel cards by Anita Warlord destroying one of her coloured cards. 

Then we had another go at Dominion - this time was much better than the last with the game over in about 50 minutes. This time we learned the lessons of the past and used our money to buy more money and then use this to buy victory cards. Although the game is supposed to be only for 4 players max, we managed to  include Maya as a fifth player - she was happy to just buy up kingdom or money cards and randomly attack the rest of us with a Militia card, but as long as she was happy that was all that matter. 

Sunday we started with Ticket to Ride and this time Roshni played with Anita as a team, Maya played alongside me and Kavita by herself. This proved to be interesting as we'd only ever played TtR with 2 players/teams, so Kavita playing was a curveball - as Anita discovered! All of her normal gaming tactics seemed to go out of the window in the face of two rather than one opponent! :-) Kavita won in the end. 

Initial set up - look at those tanks!

Finally in the afternoon, Roshni and I took on our first Soviet vs German Memoir scenario. Wow, this turned into a huge battle! The Germans were on a push for the gates of Moscow with a huge en-masse of tanks and soldiers. The middle and right Russian positions could not withhold the attacks, even with the backup of artillery, and moved back to more secure positions. To the left, brave Soviet peasant infantry tried to hold out with German tanks in one direction and Commissars waving pistols in the other. A German tank platoon split a wedge between the left and centre Soviet commands by taking the bridge over the river. Then German tanks, which had been badly hit, in the centre, took the hills overlooking the city and forced a general retreat to the bottom right of the board. The remaining left hand command were left to their own devices and eventually destroyed by a huge tank advance! 

The Germans take the hills, ready to capture the Bridge!

The left command is crushed!

With German guns firing from the hills, there was little to do, but try to rush them from the right and try to retake the hills, but all was lost with the loss of the Left command and the capture of the bridge over the river! The road to Moscow was open and history changed again! 

With the left, Bridge and hills taken,
little remains but for the Soviets to retreat!

First play of Ticket to Ride with the kids

This weekend we also reintroduced Ticket to Ride: USA to the kids - as Roshni and Maya were a little older now, they joined Anita and I in teams to play it out - as usual I lost to Anita but the kids found it very enjoyable so we'll be playing this again in the future.

Half term but no gaming!

The kids are away for half term and so far it's been a game free week and bank holiday! :( May be some late night games of ticket to ride. We've been looking at some new games; the German game of the year is about to be announced, perhaps that may be a good indicator of what to get next. I've had a self imposed ban from Battlequest Games simply because I'd just keep buying and buying and buying! My birthday is coming up soon this month and I'm hoping to get some gift vouchers which Andy has started selling recently to get some great new games!

1 point win over Anita on Ticket to Ride: USA yay!

Fought a very close contest with Anita late Friday on Ticket to Ride - even with her 10 point addition for the longest length of track, I won by 1 point! yay!

Another purchase - but lying low for a while to avoid Wrath of Wife!

I couldn't escape the Gravitational Pull of Battlequest on Saturday and popped in to get some more Top Trumps and the Stalingrad add on for Memoir. Andy's also had a bit of a change around and added some more family friendly stock. First to catch my eye was Pandemic which I'd had my eye on for a while, but I'm worried about the "domineering individual" over a group of co-op players - especially as I'd be playing with a younger team and I'd end up being THAT player! :) Which I don't want. Was sorely tempted to get the 1910 add on for Ticket to Ride USA and/or the couple of new Zooleretto add ons I'd spotted but I decided against it - buying one thing was wrath enough! I'll have to avoid the place for a couple of weeks...

A Saturday of gaming

Wow - a whole load of games today - first Eketorp, then Zooloetto then Ticket to Ride (USA map). Eketorp was played by myself, Roshni and Maya - a fab game of warring Viking tribes (I think Eketorp is German for Viking although Google Translate doesn't seem to think so, but hey, what does Google know...). The idea is everyone gets a group of little wooden guys, a card is drawn that shows where to place several pieces of material (Bales of grass/hay, wood, clay and stone) - each worth more in points value.

Once these have been placed, players then secretly using a marked board and screen place their warriors where they want to attack or claim materials. Once revealed, everyone moves their warriors to the appropriate places - any in dispute then have to fight over the materials using combat cards marked 1 to 6; the higher card wins, knocking the other to a hospital, the bigger the difference in card numbers, the longer they have to stay in the hospital - but the cards are swapped over and placed on the board where they can be picked up again if the the players cards run out, so you can't ever have one dominating player - neat idea.

After all combat has taken place, including any attacks on villages, players take back their "booty" to store in their village. The first to 18 pieces ends the game and score is counted on the number of pieces * their value (grass/hay worth 1 whilst stone is worth 5).

This is a medium length game, but a fantastic play - everyone one can get involved and it is simple to play; combat mechanics is very simple, but effective and play never becomes stagnated. An all round favourite.

Later in the evening was a 4 player Zooloretto - again a great game, Roshni won just in time; taking the Polar Bear Cub add on was decisive. The Cub halves all Barn negative scores at the end of the game.

Finally in the evening over drinks and crisps, Anita and I duked it out in a game of Ticket to Ride: USA map. In a close fought contest, Anita passed me by 3 points when it came to the ticket count up at the end, but she failed on one ticket, loosing her 10 points - final score 92 to me, 87 to Anita! I never win at this! Yay!

Bank Holiday Gaming Madness!!

Wow! What a bank holiday weekend! What do you do when it's the standard UK Bank Holiday fair ie cold wet and damp? Get out your favourite Euro games and start gaming like mad!! This was a weekend we wanted to spend time as a family, and gaming is one of the best ways we can do this.



Firstly, it was one of Maya's favourites - Gulo Gulo. A fun family favourite - nice quick and simple especially for the younger gamer - results: Roshni won! :)



Ok, then it was Ticket to Ride: USA version. An excellent tactical game with nice and simple rules. Last time we played this, the Europe version, the kids just didn't quite get it, so we thought we would play the simpler US one in teams. So it was Kavita and I vs Roshni and Anita with Maya playing with her own stuff by her own accord. They started to get a good idea of what was involved to play, especially Kavita who started to get into the tactical side. Still, it was an Anita/Roshni win at a crushing 131 to 57.

Then came another big family fav, especially with Anita, Zooloretto. This is a brilliant family game with so many tactical aspects that are very subtle and easily played by the kids, even Maya with a little help. Anita obsolutely loves this one and it shows! :) Final scores Roshni/Anita - 35, Maya - 29, Kavita 26 and me bringing up the rear at 17.

The addons really bring great new dimensions to the game and are thoroughly worth it. Cannot wait to get Aquaretto!

Up next was Queens Necklace - a great little 'Days of Wonder' Gem trading game set in the 1800s or something in France. The idea is to purchase gems that may well sell for large amounts at the Kings court at three sales that will occur during the game. And that is what I love about Euro style games - the time limit on the back of the box is how long it will last! When they say 1 hr, its how long it will last because of in built game mechanics and rules. Its an amazing principle. So if we know we have only 45 mins spare, we dig out Zooleretto knowing it will last 45 mins. Again Anita won this hands down - Kavita: £140, Anita: £480, Maya: £240 and me: £280.

Then there was time for quick game of Diamant - always a favourite with Maya - and yes, yet again she wiped the floor with us! Maya: 43, Kavita: 35, Anita: 25 and Me: 18...

Finally today we played Eketorp. Just a great game - all sorts of fun - although I tried lots of tactical gaming and Viking raids on other villages, yet again Maya won us out (She is 5 remember...!) - 5th place - Me 17 points 4th place - Roshni 26 points 3rd place - Kavita 30 points, 2nd place - Anita with 32 points and finally Maya with a whopping 47 points!!

A great gaming weekend for one and all.

Gulo gulo....means "Wolverine"??

Surely this is a mistake.... when someone mentions a Wolverine, the first thing I think of that guy with the hair and claws from the X-Men. Not little cute furry things clutching eggs. But so it seems they are. "Gulo Gulo" is a great little game and much enjoyed by the kids. We played a couple of games last weekend.


Then last night, Anita and I played a great game of Ticket to Ride: Europe - after lights out for the kids and over a glass of wine and a drop of Malibu white rum. :) It turned out to be a complete thrashing by Anita - 120 points to 55. I tried desperately to link up Copenhagen to some place in Turkey but Anita cut me out by using all the trains up, leaving me with a 21 point penalty! Yikes! We agreed we should get the Ticket to Ride:USA edition at some point.


Final Score: Anita 120 Me 55

This morning we decided to crack open the new game Mystery of the Abbey - an interesting Whodunnit based in a monestary. A monk has been done over and it is up to each character to find out which of the 24 characters on the detective sheet did the deed. The abbey is divided up into a series of Latin named rooms, such as the Chapel, Bedrooms, Library etc. On each turn, the players visit rooms and question their fellow monks in the game to determine the characteristics of the wrong-doer - such as fat/thin, bearded/unshaven and which of the three Chapters. This is done by questioning the other players about the cards they hold or which they have marked off on their sheet.


Rooms also allow certain events to take place or cards to be drawn which effect the game. On each rotation of the game circle of players, the current First player moves a little Mass bell one space on the current Mass card until 5th rotation when mass is called (The little tinkling bell is shaken for effect) and all characters return to the Chapel.

It took a little while to get into with me returning to the rule book several times to help people out, but eventually we all got into the game with Anita finally revealing who she thought had done it and was successful. It was a little difficult to understand, especially for the children, what were the right sort of questions to ask, but eventually we all got into the swing of things. It was generally enjoyed by all but again, introducing adults-only to the game may present a different level of game play. Beware, this is a long game - 1 to 1.5hrs recommended.

A Friday night of gaming fun planned

Just been around to invite our neighbours and friends, Andy and Maggie, for a relaxing evening of wine, nibbles and games. Ok it may not sound great, but they are both teachers, a highly stressful job, and next Friday marks the start of half-term (hurray they say!) so it'll be good for them to cool their heels with a free evening of fun, over a bottle of wine or three. Probably introduce them to Ticket to Ride: Europe, then maybe a quick filler like Formula Motor Racing and then finish up with something like Zooleretto or Citadels. Should be a nice evening in!

A weekend of gaming - yay!

Well, what an action packed weekend that was - gaming wise.

Friday night involved a fun game of Zooleretto - this is quickly becoming a family favourite. Saturday we picked up two new games from our local game supplier, www.battlequestgames.co.uk, a great guy called Andy based in Horsham who can get in any game on a whim and we save on postage as we just take a drive over! :)

The games were Gulo Gulo and Bohnanza. The first was received with much anticipation as it is a really kid friendly game where players play gulo gulos/wolverines sent to rescue a baby one from the bird lair. A series of octagonal markers mark out which coloured egg from the nest must be stolen - these eggs vary in size from large blue ones to tiny child-size-only-fingers yellow ones. The problem is that the nest (A wooden bowl) has an alarm - a stick with a small egg weight on the top. The idea is to take an egg without any other eggs falling out and/or the sticking falling out of the bowl to the table. Tricker than it sounds. If you successfully take that coloured egg, you move on to the coloured tile you uncovered, otherwise you move back to the last tile of that colour. Maya and the girls love this game, especially Maya with her tiny fingers. But fortunes change quickly and you can look like you are winning and suddenly the alarm goes off and you fall back several spaces.... recommended for 4+

We didn't play Bohnanza, although I plan to try to get in a game soon. In the evening, Anita and I played an enjoyable game of Ticket to Ride: Europe over a glass of wine. This game makes an enjoyable experience of strategy and skill with the children who just really didnt get the idea.