Back to school
Despite the sudden, sharp climate transition from Summer (hottest year on record, parched and yellowed gardens) to Autumn (sudden downpours, the need put a Jumper on) that has accompanied August 31st 11:59PM ticking over to 12:00AM September 1st, I walked down to The King's Arms (sensible shoes, coat packed) with a spring in my step.
After (long) four holiday weeks, Wayne and Chrissie welcomed me into the Front Bar with cheery halloos and the promise of Faggots & Mash on the re-vamped specials menu. Already tucking into their Supper, I joined Paul and David in a side nook as the Pub bustled and mumbled around us. There was some juggling to be done to accommodate the WhatsApp-promised 16-or-so 'first day of the new Term' attendees but, in the end, the Womens' group had half the skittle alley and the Morris dancers just had to make do with whatever and we got most of the back dining room to ourselves.
Photosynthesis and Wyrmspan occupied most of the others' attention while Bruce, Richard, Paul and Gary were deeply entrenched in Pandemic: Middle Earth:
For Steve, Peter and myself it was time to revisit a bona fide classic:
The OG edition: none of that chunky plastic twatting about.
Entirely new to Peter, and many years since I've played it myself, CoB is a fabulous reminder of the Golden Age of Euro games: innovative and yet straightforward, unburdened by over-production and needless complications; within the four basic dice actions, many possibilities emerge and it is absolutely breathtaking. Of course, one could easily play this in digital form - and have the computer do all of the tedious admin - BUT face-to-face, the physicality and tacticility enhances the experience even more.
Peter snaffled an excellent 'yellow' -1/+1 dice modifier in the first turn that left him entirely untroubled by those 'just one pip away from what I need' rolls for the rest of the game (unlike myself, who must have gotten through at least 20 worker tokens); Steve ran a quietly-efficient development curve that saw him leap to just 2 points behind Peter at the end. And me? Well, I filled all my building spaces by the mid-game - which is good for points but removes all your options for piggyback moves / flexibility the late game. No matter, as it was a complete joy.
Peter, glowing from his victory, reached into his new Games Bag for Flip 7:
Daft but fun and, importantly, quick.
Peter has experienced something of a Damascene conversion over the break and has stepped up from 'coming along and playing whatever is available' to starting a collection of his own (!). Tucked in the black holdall were August's acquisitions: Takenoko, Ticket To Ride: Europe, 13 Dead End Drive and a whole slew of pocket-friendly fillers.
Now, I wonder if he'd like his very own copy of Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set..?