Big Bang Burger Bar

I fear that Wednesday nights at the shop is becoming a victim of its own success lately.They are getting a lot of new people, some of whom have become regular visitors. Whilst this is fantastic for the local gaming it does mean on occasions the shop is bursting at the seams.

I have often considered whether to remain an attendee on Weds as by the time I get there, which is at least 1/2hr after the official start typically, there is either no space or having to just jump into an available space rather than getting a chance to be involved on the game selection. Unfortunately there are currently not many alternatives, other than hosting something myself or going to a pub. Pubs are fine but generally the tables are not really suited to most of the modern boardgames as their functionality is really to hold drinks  +:beer=+::beer: so sized accordingly. The other "issue" is of course you are obliqued to buy drinks/snacks in order to support using the space, not necessarily a problem but does mean there is now a monetary cost to play!

Not sure what the real alternative is here but it's certainly something I am considering seriously. Like everyone else that goes on Wed night I have a large collection I struggle to play all of in any given year, so with the choice of games taken on the night it is not always possible to get one of your own games played. I have considered going to more of the larger cons, as I am buying less games but then you look at the cost of taking 2 people to them and it equates to more than a price of a game to just go play not really value for money.

At least there is B&P and of course Raiders of the Game Cupboard, though as an organiser I do not often get to play as many games as the attendees but I do get some played which is a bonus.

All that being said gaming at the shop is thriving and there is a good crowd there with a good diverse selection of games. It remains a great place to meet up with new friends and old as well as getting in some excellent gaming amongst friendly people.

Wednesday 1st Aug 2018

Tonight I broke out my copy of Ophir (https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/151275/ophir) with a plan to play/learn with Carole whilst we waited for other games to finish. As it turned out Stefan turned up and was willing to sit in whilst learning from the rulebook.

As it turned out it was relatively simple to pick up and the turns are quite quick. Good fun game and I'll be bringing it along again this week to try again. I did get one rule wrong regarding the refresh of the market cards but as it was equally detrimental to all players no real harm done.

This was followed by a full 5-player Imaginarium (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12625), not a huge a problem except not all had played before. In hindsight given the late start a smaller player count may have been preferable, but That said it was a fun game.

I think that we played Lowlands (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12746), but my memory's not great.

Oh, is this a thing again? - documenting Wednesday nights.

I think that I'm pretty much done with Lowlands now. I've played it 7 times now, albeit probably only last Monday's play was with all the right rules. There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just not enjoying it. It's no Castell...


Wednesday 1st - I had a call out for Work, so didn't arrive until about 10pm. I just popped into say "hi" as I was passing.

Played one game of Braggart, had a bit of a chat, which included a depressing conversation about the state of the board game retail market and proper gaming shops.

Right on both counts; the marker conditions for the FLGS, and the fact that Lowlands is good but not great. I think I might extract one more game from it.

Wednesday 18th Aug 2018
Started the evening off with another game of Ophir (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/151275/ophir) this time correcting a rule I had gotten wrong the previous week. In the process however I did manage to get another rule wrong though I corrected this after a couple of turns.

This game was with four players and proved to be a lot more interactive with the final scores being relatively close overall. Really fun game that should see a good number of plays.

This was then followed by Okanagan: Valley of the Lakes (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12433) which has seen quite a lot of plays since buying it. This was another 4-player and again the final scores were very close.

Finally we played Codinca (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=10759) this is an abstract game where you try and match pattern cards in your hand by manipulating tiles. The tiles are either on their white or gold face and you have 3 special cards that be used for one of two special moves or they set all of the tiles into a certain pattern.

This is a nice game but it always messes with my head as my spacial awareness/pattern recognition skills are not that great, especially not late on a wed eve. Phil seemed to be in the same predicament .... though that may not be a surprise :)

I arrived a bit before 8pm to find yet another packed out Spirit Games. 

We took the tiny table and played something short to give other people a chance to turn up.  Sally and I showed Daniel Marrakech (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29223/marrakech) as he hadn't played before and it is a short game.  For obvious reasons, I'm not a fan of everyone starting big games before 8pm.  I don't record scores, but I know that I came way last. I was concerned about running out of coins at one point :)

Philsy showed up, so we re-orientated the table so that we could fit four of us around it without blocking the path to the back of the shop too much.  Then it was off for a hunt for a four player game that would fit on the tiny table.  Daniel hadn't played clank (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=10982) before, so that was what we went for.  I was sceptical that it would fit, but it did and it was fun.  Despite me insisting that Clank was a push your luck game rather than a race game and that grabbing the first artifact and running is not a viable strategy, Philsy went for it. Again, I don't remember specific scores, I know that the grab and run didn't win, but in fairness he wasn't that far off.

Some people had left, so we upgraded our table to a proper one in the front of the shop and knocked out a Honshū (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/207336/honshu).  It has the card patching mechanism that I love from Patchistory (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/144041/patchistory) but in a fraction of the time. I think that we lost Daniel and were joined by Alex and another young person who I haven't met enough times for his name to stick, sorry.  I do remember that I won this one.

Wednesday 15th August 2018

Started the evening off teaching a game of Citrus (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8268) a really fantastic little game that I have not played in far too long. Really good game where I hopefully faffed my way through the rules without too many gaffs... Scores: Paul:80, Caz:87, Phillipa:60 and Adam:83

Finished off the evening with Nations (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7876), quite a lot going on here as the first game there was a lot of just trying things to see how they worked rather than maybe optimal choices. Good fun game, I would try again.
Scores:  Paul:35, Caz:37, Phillipa:49 and Adam:51

Wednesday 22nd August 2018

Planned .. Yes Planned a game of Madeira (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8366) and actually played it ;)

Struggled a bit with teaching the rules as sadly it had been far too long since the last play. Nowhere near as smooth a teach as it could have been but we got there in the end. Really love this game and despite this  being the only game we played that night it was really enjoyable to get it to the table again. We had to call it a turn early as time got away from us but even so good fun and the scores relatively close:

Paul:47, Phil:33, Phillipa:30 and Adam:45

Wednesday 29th August 2018

Really busy in the shop again tonight and was being wooed by various tables  as I stepped through the door to join in.

In the end Clank! in Space! (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=11924) won out as I do enjoy that game and I knew roughly what was going on. Really fun, close game with a lot of banter and shenanigans as always. Final scores: Paul:99, Richard:89 and Peter:83

We then dived straight into My Little Scythe (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12630) a cute, cut-down version of Scythe. I really like this as it quite fun, quicker to learn/play than its big brother and for me at least a lot more enjoyable. Peter won this, with Richard a close 2nd and apparently I played ;)

Next up was Majesty (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12274) which I didn't recognise the name but did remember the game a little once the cards came out. Nice little card game that plays reasonable quickly but with some interesting choices to be made. Really enjoyed this and the final scores were: Paul:156, Richard:164, Peter:189 and Mez:169

I was tempted away then by one of the other groups and ended up playing A Castle for all Seasons (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38386/castle-all-seasons). This was a great game that was actually quite good fun to play and I managed to faff my way through despite some poorly timed choices. Final scores:Paul:48, Francis:56, Chris:49 and Ezme:65

We managed a Roll for the Galaxy after Magesty. And we'd played some Jump Drive at the start of the evening, too. Five games in one session.

Wednesday 5th Sep 2018

Tonight the shop was busy again, good to see, so I nabbed the table out the back and proceeded to setup Brass: Lancashire (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=n&tagno=&game=12886) in the hopes of snaring any other late arrivals.

In the end Neil and Kathy arrived so setup for a 3 player and began that rules explanation. Philsy arrived a little later so we reset for 4 and I quickly recapped the rules again.

This took a little longer than I expected but with 3 new players that not really unexpected. Really different game with 4 than the 2 players I have managed previously. I am liking this game a lot and everytime I play it feels different which is great. I look forward to playing this again with 3 or 4 players and getting a few more games under my belt before trying out the Birmingham variant which I am excited to try.

Thanks to everyone that played I am still learning how to teach this effectively and I think I managed to get through it without making any rules errors this time.....

Scores: Paul:89, Philsy:114, Kathy:95 and Neil:104

We blasted through our latest Gloomhaven scenario (an easy win - the first for a long time), and then played Trickerion.  First time I had played it, so beating Nick at his own game (literally and figuratively) made for a really great evening :)

Wednesday 12th Sep 2018

We were joined by Dan - a new face - this week, expressing a wish to play some new games.

Meanwhile, I had just purchased Clank! In! Space! Apocalypse! (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12871), which is both new and good. So much so that we had more people wanting to play it than the game can actually accommodate I have yet to decide if the four-player maximum is a curse - because the more the merrier - or a blessing (because with more players, the downtime increases significantly. OUr four crystalised into me, Dan, Mez and Amar - Peter wanted to play Clank! but will join in th enext time we play.

As Dan had never played a deckbuilder before, we started with a quick game of The Quest for El Dorado (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/217372/quest-el-dorado). Nice and simple. I think Amar won - i finished the same round, but lost on the tie-breaker.

Clank! went quite a bit worse for me - I started putting noise cubes in the bag early on, and everyone else was drawing them out again. The turn I was able to pick up an artifact - the easiest, least valuable one - I died! Good game though.

Wednesday 12th Sept 2018

This evening I played a 2-player game of Brass:Lancashire (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=12886) with amar.

I'm really enjoying this game and plays extemely well and quickly with 2.
Over the last few weeks I have played thi game a lot, which is unusual for me, but shows just how replayable this game actually is.

Final Scores: Paul:102 and Amar:124

Wednesday 19th Sep 2018

Tonight we started with a quick game of Infinite City (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46807/infinite-city) a fantastic little game that is always fun to play. So fun in fact when Chris arrived just as we were finishing the first one we played a second game there and then.

Game1: Paul:14, Dan: 9, Vanda:13 and Andy:19
Game2: Paul:22, Dan:11, Vanda:22, Andy:19 and Chris:15

I had just gotten my copy of Endeavor: Age of Sail (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/233398/endeavor-age-sail) so decided to break that out and have a first play.

We elected to just play the basic game, without the exploits, just to get used to the newer rules. Though we did throw in the Charter Companies mini expansion as that only involved a building variant.

Really enjoyed the new rules and game design. Game seemed to be flow a lot better than previously and it was a good game already!. I can see that this will get a lot of plays just like the previous version.

Final Scores:Paul:47, Andy:67, Chris:43, Frances:59 and Bamber:52

Wednesday 26th Sep 2018

Started off the evening with a 2-player game of Endeavor: Age of Sail (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/233398/endeavor-age-sail) with Bamber. It plays really well with 2 and is quite a quick game compared to the higher player counts. Good game really enjoying it, again no exploits this time.

Final Scores: Paul:64 and Bamber:53

Then Chris was a suprise late arrival so we grabbed Amar who as also milling around and setup Plague Inc.: The Boardgame (https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=11463) which I had not played in a long while but is a very fun game to play.

Final Scores: Amar:109, Paul:92 and Chris:80

Wednesday 19th Sep 2018

I forget what we played. More Clank In Space and Flamme Rouge, I think. Yeah, that's right - I pulled off an absolute masterclass in how to win at Flamme Rouge.

Wednesday 26th Sep 2018

We played Root (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/237182/root). Had to wait for Peter to finish his game of some awful circus game first, but that just meant we had a better opportunity to play through and understand the first two (scripted) turns.

Utterly bonkers game. It'll be interesting to see if I still enjoy it as much after the 2nd or 3rd play, but there will be a 2nd and a 3rd.