Back to ACWest, which has returned to the Ramada, a small and
comfortable venue. With images;
cc-by-sa on
everything.
Someone had helpfully left their notes behind.
The first evening's games began with
Tinderblox
Sunset
and we carried on with
Sea Salt &
Paper/.
Then a slightly longer game of Flash Point: Fire
Rescue,
this time on the apartment building board (back side of the hotel). We
got on top of things pretty quickly and the fire never got far out of
hand. (Generalist, Captain, Hazmat and Veteran; Captain switched to
Paramedic later.)
Then some
Project L
and
Compile: Main 1
for which I think we were both a little too tired to do it well.
Finally for the night,
Xenon Profiteer
Duty Magpie, off somewhere in a hurry, and posing later.
Good honest hotel breakfast. I don't get enough of these; many places
can't even manage fried egg any more.
A slightly more awake Compile: Main
1 to
start the day,
followed by Sea Salt &
Paper.
Then on to some larger games with Turing
Machine,
which one of us had wanted to try:
and he also hadn't played with Extra Pepper for Sea Salt &
Paper.
Next, the huge game that we haven't played for too long, Xia: Legends
of a Drift
System.
"Never a cop around when you want one." "Wouldn’t know."
“Space cheese it! It’s the space rozzers!”
“Did Terry Nation have a hand in this script?”
"Sorry I single-handedly crashed the galactic economy."
One of his unplayed games,
Endless Pass: A Viking
Saga.
I think the theme isn't quite right—framing it as the endless battles
in Valhalla might work better—but this was an enjoyable
resource-juggling game, in desperate need of a better rulebook. Which
it now has.
More Turing
Machine,
then onto
Small
Islands,
mildly frustrating but in a good way.
Some Project L
to clear the palate, then Imperium:
Horizons
as the last game of the night: Olmecs, Polynesians and Arthurians.
This was a much more separate game than usual, with most of our
attention on managing our own cards; I think I've got the hang of what
the Arthurians are trying to do, but the documentation isn't as clear
as it might be.
King Arthur rides to the last battle of all aboard the Great Beetle
that Eats the Sun.
Next morning, more Tinderblox
Sunset
and Sea Salt &
Paper.
Then our first larger game was Lost Ruins of
Arnak.
I'd been put off this by suspiciously well-timed enthusiasm from the
usual quarters, but it is quite enjoyable, in the modern Euro mould:
get things to get other things to get other things that may eventually
give you points. The actual exploring ancient ruins seemed to take
second place to the research track. Still, I wouldn't mind playing
again, particularly with the expansion that has unique player powers,
“My science is a yellow blob.”
“Hanging around the labour exchange with a sign: WILL ARCHAEOLOGISE
FOR GIN.”
“And spend the parrot, which it turns out also works as a boat.”
“Can I move my camp to be further away from him?”
“I think you walk there, rather than it ‘costing you a foot’.”
“Tell my assistant that.”
“The guardian is… a giant ant. Well, I assume. Maybe it’s just an
ant.”
A few quite poor rounds of
Landmarks
and then with some more players
The Thing: Infection at Outpost
31.
This is clearly in the Shadows Over Camelot, Battlestar Galactica
and indeed Homeland sort of space: there's a series of missions,
several people chuck in cards which may help or may hinder, but maybe
they just didn't have any good cards rather than actually being a
saboteur. I tend to prefer purer social deduction but I still had a
good time making sure everything fell apart.
“I want to trust you.”
“I want to trust me.”
On to
Decrypto (which
some of us had played at 3, where it's less good). A very close game,
which my team just barely won on the final round.
Flip 7, aways fun
though I think I may have got my lowest score ever¸
And finally for the night, Steampunk Rally Fusion: Atomic
Edition:
Lise Meitner, Rube Goldberg, Nikola Tesla and Hedy Lamarr racing on
the Macchu Pichu track. Chaotic and great fun.
In the morning, three-sided Ashes Reborn: Rise of the
Phoenixborn:
I haven't played this for Far Too Long, but still enjoyed myself hugely.
“Maeoni Viper: snakes are snakes, and frogs are nervous.”
“Jessa, we talked about this. Cutting yourself is not the answer.
Cutting other people is the answer.”
“Dark Transformation!” "Harold, did you paint your bedroom black
again?"
“If in doubt, Snek!”
“There is a fine line between 'committing to the theme' and 'going
into battle in a tit hammock'.”
Then to wind down some more
Project L
and finally
Sea Salt & Paper
then the long road home. An excellent weekend all round.