Big Bang Burger Bar

Wednesday 30th June, National Brewery Museum

Well it was a Wednesday night and it definitely wasn't at the shop so I guess this is the appropriate place.

Tonight we decamped to the pub at the National Brewery Museum just around the corner from Spirit Games. After a welcome drink in the conservatory we were shown into a private hall where were served dinner, drinks and had plenty of space to play games in the meantime. How very civilised, we should do it again sometime.

Tonight we were joined by Neil who was present when I came for my very first session and to be honest I've not seen much of since so it was nice to see him again.

Happily for us but sadly for the write up we started off with the Game With No Name (tm) which I'm still no better at but still liked anyway. Roll on this one getting published so we can talk about it.

To finish the evening I played a 4 player Infinite City with Paul, Carole and Neil.

This is definitely a game were there is no point planning too far in advance. For everybody else's go I great cards and a master plan. By the time it was my go thanks to cards that meant we had to build around them and others which protected those around them my plan was in tatters.

I managed to scrape a few points back but came in second to last (just pipping Paul by one point) and nowhere near Carole who was the clear winner.

Any game with a rule book you can fit on one size of A4 has got to be worth a go and when the game is as much fun to play as Infinite City it's worth several more gos. At least until I win one.

So Phil at Spirit Games (http://spiritgames.co.uk) decided that it was worth giving some support to newly reopened National Brewing Museum (http://www.nationalbrewerycentre.co.uk/) who opened their Worthington Suite (http://) for us to have a meal and play games.

The room is very large and there is plenty of room and tables where you can play games. I have to say we had a pretty good turn out for the first event and look forward to future ones. The plan is to decamp from the shop once a month and play at the Brewery Tap (http://www.nationalbrewerycentre.co.uk/brewery-tap-bar-restaurant-burton-on-trent.htm) where the Worthington Suite is located.

So tonight after having had a very nice meal we got to the business of playing games we started off with a game of Thurn and Taxis (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=2899) this is good little game with lovely artwork and pieces which is always great fun to play, I managed to win this (yes I own the game and this is wrong) with 38 but only just with Sally on 37 and Carole on 22.

We then played a game of Infinite City (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=4873) a simple game but with lots of depth every game is different which is why we are always willing to play a game of this. We managed to introduce new players to this one tonight. The final scores were: Carole 22, Neil 17, Carl 13 and me 12 (Re-asserting the gaming Karma of me losing games I own  +:drunk_smile=+::drunk_smile:

The evening went very well and everyone looked to be having fun so see you all again at the next one.

It was good to re-surface finally after around 12 months in the wilderness. An excellent choice of venue too. Hope the monthly plan comes to fruition.

One thing I had forgotten however, is the one reason I haven't missed Spirit Gamers Wednesday night sessions as much as I perhaps should have....

..... but maybe I shouldn't post what that is in such a public forum  ;)

If you really are interested, drop me a PM and I'll fill you in...

Nuff said ;)

I could be wrong but I think we are at the national Brewery museum tonight, I Had meant to confirm this with Phil but have been very busy doing more boring stuff & you have to have a two hour window in your plans to risk going anywhere near Spirit Games as you are all no doubt aware.

 >:DGinger

Started off this evening with a quick game of Musketeers (http://spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=4637) this is a neat little game and is always good fun to play, Paul: 16, Carole:21, Phil:14, Sally:30

I then got another game of Dungeon Lords (http://spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=4828) the first year still ended up being a bit of a learning curve but I did feel that this 2nd game I had a better grasp of what I was doing which resulted in me not losing which I take as a good sign :)

Richard: 29, Paul: 15 and Peter: 9

I played a "quick" game of coliseum with Phil & sally which I had never played before. Its a game about staging Roman games and other similar entertainments  for those of you who have not played it. The game has an interesting scoring track variant where your score is not cumulative but based on the best you did through the period of the game which lasts five turns if I recall correctly. 

I was learning and as usual made several beginners mistakes so really was not in the running but it was a good game and Phil & Sally chased each other up the track until Sally staged a truly spectacular event in turn five piping Phil at the post with me as an also ran. I however want to play it again as I know where I went wrong so want to be able to make new but just as crippling mistakes next time.

 >:DGinger

I've been a bit remiss with my session reports of late...

It's been a while so sit back relax pour yourself a stiffner or two and luxuriate in a bumper book of session reports.

25th August

Starting off with Beowulf the Movie which Carole won with Paul not that far behind. Quite a tactical game this one with much use being made of tiles which move or modify others.

Just time for Carole to scoop A game of Atlantic Triangle which Paul his best to arrange by scuppering his ships just out of port on a storm of his own making a couple of times. I started off strongly with a nice easy voyage to the cape for ivory but it quickly went downhill from there. Good game if slightly dodgy theme.

And so on to September and more specifcally the 1st.

While others finished off meals we dove into Zombie Dice which I'm sure somebody won and I'm pretty sure it wasn't me.

Vanilla Dominion up next with Carole and Neil winning after much Milita and moating.

Finally I was dragged back from the jaws of going home early for a quick Roll Through the Ages with Frog and Sylvia. Sylvia was far too nice a bronze age dictator and was mostly concerned with feeding her population, not so for Frog and myself but since she was also very good at sowing disease in our civs her and Frog both ended on 14 while I empired to a victory. All in all I was glad I stayed.  ;D

Now I'm not one to correct people, but as I do not win games very often I feel compelled to put the records straight...

According to Carole's notes for the excellent Beowolf (http://spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=3644) game the scores were: Me: 218, Carole: 178 and Carl: 112 (?).

But at the end of the day the game was immensely fun and quick to pick up and play. With a finite set of pieces to use across the 3 rounds to enhance your scoring it becomes quite tactical as to when to use them. The choice of playing a tile or a piece makes the game very interesting. I would play this again (though I doubt I could replicate my initial success :) )

Ooops. You won?  :o

See you knew there was a reason you kept notes.

Wed 29th Sept 2010
We started off the evening with a couple of games of Tsuro (http://spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=2639) whilst we waited for the rest to arrive.

We then broke out Carson City (http://spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=4867) which I really like the game has very nice components and the mechanics suit the theme extremely well. Myself, Andy, Carl and Carole played this and it would seem this is Andy's game as he won this with 48pts, followed by Me 30pts, Carole 28pts and Carl 22pts.

This will be the last session at the Brewery Tap for a while.