Gentlemen,
Last
night we had game night. Dave, Joe, Paul, Pete and a new player Chuck
(any myself of course) played on the big board. We put off Seafarers of
Catan for next month in an effort to smooth the learning curve of a new
player on the basic game.
We
dined on a nachos buffet (taco meat, refried beans, salsas, hot and
cold cheese, and guacamole--plus perhaps the first vegetable ever to
grace game night, shredded lettuce) and assorted cookies along with the
house brew Labatt Blue Light. As well as non-alcoholic beverages, of
course.
And Paul had his particular dietary needs met, of course.
Thanks
to those who brought additional brews. I try to keep leftovers for the
next game night and mostly succeed unless I am completely out of the
house brew.
Also, Chuck brought some high class bourbon which Paul nearly mixed with Sprite. Apparently that's a bad thing.
We had a full happy hour 7 to 8. And the games started a bit early as all arrived before game start.
Chuck
had a relatively mild intro to the game, with Paul (not Joe, oddly
enough) demonstrating how to break a road. Although he had already lost
the longest road to Dave, so we didn't get to see that special look of
surprise that comes with learning that rule the really hard way. I
suspect plying players with bourbon was part of Chuck's plan, perhaps
hearing horror stories of how new players are ritually sacrificed to the
robber (ball gag optional).
Oh, and still no hookers of any nationality.
We
managed only 3 games playing on the big board that seemed oddly short
on key resources. One game had a green belt of sheep bisecting the
Although my position on the edge of the table may have just made the far
side too hazy to see. And it isn't often we get 6 players, so perhaps
that slowed us down too.
One
game the strategy to overcome the resource shortage was Dave's all in
on wood. Port plus a starting settlement at a triple-wood location.
I
tried to overcome my wheat shortage by building 3 settlements on an 11
wheat. While much mocked by Catanians for my plight, when 11 finally
came up the opportunity to give a double middle finger and "f*ck you
all!" was a nice parting gift before someone else won the game.
Pete
tried to rely on engineering background and "probability" which let him
down completely. Yeah, like 8s are "supposed" to hit more often. Mumbo
jumbo on Catan if you ask me.
Davehenge
looked sadly like a pile of rubble rather than the pinnacle of a proud
civilization that he has constructed in the past.
Defying
the Joe Rule and all that is good and holy on Catan, Joe swept to
victory in the first two games. All of a sudden he had 9 points and a
shit-eating grin. I think in those two games I had built but one city
upgrade. But others seemed to be in better position to possibly win
those games had the Joeggernaut been stopped somehow.
Are people unclear about the Joe Rule?
By
game 3 Paul was sobering up enough to make a push for victory; while
Dave settled on a "Joe must be denied a hat trick" strategy. Why he
needlessly cluttered the Catan Compiled Laws with a more complicated
duplicate of the Joe Rule is beyond me.
I
think Paul was scared straight after he offered to trade 2 wood for
"any" single card and so I gave him a single wood. I'll pay for that,
I'm sure. My own damn fault for reminding him.I seem to recall someone
else piled on at which time Paul shut down his trading floor. I'd name
names to dilute the wrath but can't remember. Anyone want to own up to
the crime?
Amazingly,
Dave took the carpet's virginity as the first person ever to knock a
drink onto the floor during Game Night. So the OSHA no accidents in __
days sign was reset to 1 this morning. I blame the bourbon. And gravity.
And possibly "probability."
But
truth and justice finally prevailed (hey, I write the history books
here--you try this hungover if you want a better tale) as I swept to
victory with my transcatanental longest road and largest army added to
my single city and 4 settlements. Huzzah. That was the only game I
bought lottery tickets.
Lottery
tickets weren't that popular overall. Oddly, sheep and wheat were
scarce a lot. Even I was not pimping out sheep to the derision of the
crowd. And I don't think more than one victory point card was held (Pete
had one in one game).
We
wrapped up late so just had coffee without Game of Thrones, with last
guests departing at about 2:15, I think. Late night allowed sobering up.
For a while there I was figuring out how many might be sacked out on
the first floor when I came down in the morning. As always, nobody needs
to drive home if you can't. Casa Beej has a late checkout time on
Sunday.
And the carnage in my kitchen awaits me.
Thanks to all who attended. Much fun as always.
And
remember that we have contingencies for more than 6. If 7 players, I
sit out the first game and the winner sits out the next game. If 8
players show, as host I sit out the game all night; and the low roller
sits out the first game with the winner bowing out of the next game.
I
do have a simple game once popular pre-Catan (Viktory II) that has a
similar board style to Catan with plastic pieces (ships, cannons,
infantry, and cavalry reliant on different terrain types). you can get a
few games of that in during a night. It can handle 8 players.
I
think expanded Civilization might handle 9? I haven't played that in 30
years. With an abbreviated victory condition level we could get a game
in during an evening (maybe 2 games). It is simple to play. With victory
conditions as written that game would go 12 hours with the last 9 or
more hours a series of genocidal wars to wipe out the leader until the
military capacity of non-leaders faded to allow someone to escape that
fate and crawl across the finish line.
If
we ever get more than 8--in addition to me running out to the store for
more food and beer--we could set up a card table with another game. I
have Car Wars, Nuclear War Card Game, Escape from New York, Kingdoms,
and Snapshot (a Traveller-based game). All could be played quickly and
we could rotate.
I'll actually have to start thinking about February game night soon.
Also
in a first, I don't have massive leftovers of food that I eat until
next game night. I busted out the reserve bag of corn chips and that
barely kept the bourbon-fueled rioters at bay.
Also,
I'm not sure if anybody so much as garnished their gut bomb plates with
lettuce. But I tried. You can kiss your hopes for kale goodbye.
