Need...More...CULTURE!!

The Universe as we discovered it...

We bravely went where no man has gone before, and learned that The Federation rules. In an highly *ed game we used to learn the mechanics we found several corrections and direly await a rematch. 

It didn't help that Q made an appearance and threw me half way across the universe. It didn't help that, coincidentally just as the Klingon's were about to make 'their conquering move', the power went off at which point the Federation decided to 'help' by sabotaging my only way to produce light on my oil lamp then choose to retire to his house until power returned. 

Even thought the Federations die rolls were up to par as shown above where anything below a 5 would have saved his ships, the Federation still found a way to pull off a victory. In a strategy which I am certain they would like to be kept hidden so they can reproduce it in the future I will go into detail here: As the Romulan's and Klingon's were discovering the other and finding one turning on the other the Federation refused to partake going so far as to not even making contact with another world until very late in the game choosing only then to use underhanded methods to 'clean house'. 

Ofcourse old tactics were also used by the Federation, the old trick of making quite public his opinion of how 'dominant ' the Romulans were and how they could not possibly be beat. Even going so far as suggest he would, once again, lock himself in the bathroom to show his frustration in him not being in a commanding lead. Only to get our sympathy and at that point make his move to connest his small part of the universe to ours. 

How long we fall for that ploy is anyone's guess but it works and the Federation knows it.

Sunday night brought the Roman Empire onto Slab City Road, always a welcome theme. With my collection of Italian games growing, and this game missing,  I may have to grab it from Mike when he isn't looking.

This was an interesting game with surprising depth and quick play with enough luck of the draw to say that is how Mike won.

Supper....yumm

Mike's Review Corner

Not bad

Finished with a game of Clank! where Dave pulled out an impressive win. Mike went on a tear adding clank after clank into the bag and we were going mad when his color never got pulled. 

Zombie!!!

With Halloween around the corner the three amigos wanted to start out with a thematic game. 3 of us were suppose to be fighting the good fight, trying to save the colony from devastation - one of us was full of betrayal. I found it harder than usual to stay the course and try to sabotage the colony but surprisingly every time I was being second guessed by Dave I was protected by Mike in that he would remind Dave that I possibly could be acting irrationally because I was trying to accomplish my secret agenda and not necessarily the traitor. In the end, with morale down to 2, I found sending 5 of the folks I was controlling back to the colony home was enough to not get them fed, morale fell by 2 and I pulled off a win. Sneaky but so satisfying. 

CLANK! has turned into a favorite rather quick game and so ends the evening playing. Mike pulled off a close win with second place only 3 points away from him. He chose to run in get a relic quick and run out. I found myself fooling around the top of the board when I noticed him escaping with a relic. I had just enough time to run down and get 2 relics and escape. Dave was also able to escape barely himself picking up 20 valuable points. 

LOTUS

No pics of Lotus but we did get 2 fun games of this in and I would gladly play again. A fun, light and rather quick card game. And so ends a night of fun filled gaming

Oh for meals Lisa whipped out a lasagna that was delicious. Bread and salad complimented the meal. 

And The Gang Played On

With Mike away Dave and I tabled for the first time Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King, We enjoyed it so much we played a 2nd and would have gone a third but chose to move on knowing we mastered the flow of the game enough to kick some Mike arse in the future, at least in the first game while he learns the mechanics of it.

And then it was time to enjoy a meal!

Back to gaming after our bellies were full, our lips tingling of Italian liquor and the smell of fresh pipe tobacco filled the room.

Two rather quick games of Tiny Epic Galixies followed to end the evening. 

Game over!

Hail Caesar

On a rare game night on March 30th Spartacus hit the table with Mike pulling off a brutal win. Love this nasty, backstabbing game and can't wait for the delayed expansion!

Also played Kingdom Builder where I pulled off a dominant win. I played white/natural...note the cities I connected which was a victory condition.

Not sure how often we'll play on Saturdays opposed to our regular Monday's but this was certainly go down as a rare treat.

2012...Not The Best Starts For Some, corrections:

* correct: website should be VanInwagen_does_NOT_stink.LI as noted by the fanbase. "We tried to get a more familiar website domain origin", states fan Imma Weasel "but Liechtenstein was the only Country willing to host us".

For the record:

Name                 W        L         T   

Kurtz                  6         5          0
RIchmond           6         4          0
Gregory              2         2          0 - West coast tour not included
VanInwagen        1*        9**        0***

2012....Not the Best Start For Some

Claremont

In what appeared to start as another wildly one sided affair with Dave VanInwagen taking, yet again, another beating this time at the hands of Mike Gregory and yet again by Dana Richmond ended up not to be so, or so it first appears.

In the Northeast rankings VanInwagen has proven to be a solid performer in the past, that is if you definition of the past is the 2011 season where he placed solidly to get into the finals. As the 2012 season started we saw expansion team Becky Kurtz come out of nowhere and put Richmond, and especially CanInwagen (as called by his fans of late for being at the bottom of the trash'can') fighting for life in the standings.

If you recall BanInwagen (as called by his ex-fans in an attempt to get him banned from the Division) was involved in the highly publicized 'handshake' game of 2012. In what should have been a comfortable win at the expense of team Richmond ended up being what has been called the 'Slap down at Slab City'. "Kicked to the balls I tell you, kicked to the balls", VanInwagen was overheard stating repeatedly after the 3 hour blood fest.

That game was followed by the 'Bombing at Baghdad' where TanInwagen (as called by his fans who think he should spend less time sun tanning and more time practicing dice rolling)  where somehow what looked like a comfortable win ended up being yet another disappointing loss.

Monday night game night started similar to how the 2012 season had started, with FanInwagen (as called by his one fan from his dwindling fan base who has recently started selling 'Vaninwagen - let's not forget' t-shirts via the internet www.VanInwagen_does_NOT_stink.com $19.95 +S&H...all sizes available). As what has become known as the 'VanInwagen start' he promptly took hold of last place and refused to give it up. This particular night China wanted nothing to do with him and he proved Vegas was a place to avoid at all costs. "If I can't win then nobody will win. OK that makes no sense at all!" he was heard muttering.

Blood Bowl 2012 should have been a notch on the old die for team VanInwagen but nothing has come easy for him in 2012. At the beginning of the game the scoreboard showed Richmond with 3 points, Gregory with 8 and VaInwagen with 50! "A mistake, I swear it!!" VanInwagen was heard saying as the score was changed to reflect the truth. Yet another asterisks follows team VanInwagen. It appears even this long sought after victory has tainted his winning streak of one game. What's next we're left to wonder...a 75 yard field goal in 1st and Goal? an indestructible space ship in Galaxy Trucker or maybe even another gaming error 'I thought the black chip was 1 not 10! I guess I only have 4 dollars then not the 325million I show, sorry'.

Team RanInwagen (as called by his fans who are concerned by his apparent 'ran to the door incident' to make a cell call instead of taking his turn leaving them to wonder where his priorities are in the 2012 season) has a lot to prove in 2012. We'll certainly keep an eye out to see if this one time 'Boy Wonder' has anything left in him or if he was one of the many boy bands who have come...left their mark...and now are a part of history with an occasional reunion tour. With a one, possibly 2 week by, we'll see if he can once again find his stride and prove wortth of seating himself with the likes of Gregory, Kurtz and Richmond.