A slightly smaller turnout than last time saw the welcome return of Alex together with Daniela and our stalwart Crispin. The list of possible attendees grows every larger with two new names being added to the list.
As ever we started with a catch up on what we have all been up to and Alex shed some light on the workings of one of the well known Irish travel companies, that on the one hand surprised nobody and on the other left people saying ‘unbelievable’. The most amusing being his flight team being told to head off to an airport 100 miles away but with no contact point, leaving them having to search the airport for their plane and a way of getting to it. The passengers unaware of this farce like activity at least knew where the plane was and had ground crew willing to take them to it!
Well to the games. Our first game of the evening was Landlord (described as” …. a card game for 2 to 6 players. Build apartments, rent them to tenants, and collect rent. In Landlord every card you play gives you two options; one side of the card is an apartment the other side has tenants, roofs, renovations and special actions. Move wealthy tenants into your apartments and put the deadbeats into your opponents'. You can even bomb buildings, but don't get caught; jail awaits those who are careless, although not necessarily guilty!”).
This game started much more gently than our previous outing where mayhem had ensued as a result of early “jockeying” between Ben and myself. On this occasion Alex was pursuing a comprehensive building program with a varied selection of buildings, Daniela was looking at a more low-rise development (always good for attracting those high paying pensioners and professional tenants), Crispin was attracting the younger element with lots of students and single mothers. My approach was to build a state of the art mansion that was specifically designed for the wealthy in a select area of town not surrounded by those noising troublesome neighbours (Crispin) or empty housing estates (Alex). Seeing this delightful residence The Celebrities slumming it with Alex took it upon themselves (my explanation - Alex saw it slightly differently as I had played a move card) to move to this grandiose building, along with a very well paid professor. This resulted in the highest income (20 dollars) generated from a single building I think we have ever seen. I am sad to report that this was immediately followed by an outrageous bombing of the said building and tenants by the troublesome Crispin and whilst the police were called he had a hand full of both Alibi and Court cards ensuring that the police never caught the culprit – justice, what justice?
As the game headed towards it conclusion Alex continued to struggle to find tenants for his estate leaving it looking not unlike the property developments of Ireland. Daniela (no surprise) had managed her opportunities well and was racing towards the winners podium. As is the way in this game, this inspired the skulduggery that makes this such a fun game and her tenants were alternately murdered or moved.
Crispin being particularly horror struck when having also murdered one of her tenants (I have to admit I was also guilty of a similar crime) realised that this might have allowed me to win. But no, Daniela won comfortably although with a number of empty properties. Well done once again to our star player. A quick and rather comical game that we have been playing for many years and still proves popular.
This game started much more gently than our previous outing where mayhem had ensued as a result of early “jockeying” between Ben and myself. On this occasion Alex was pursuing a comprehensive building program with a varied selection of buildings, Daniela was looking at a more low-rise development (always good for attracting those high paying pensioners and professional tenants), Crispin was attracting the younger element with lots of students and single mothers. My approach was to build a state of the art mansion that was specifically designed for the wealthy in a select area of town not surrounded by those noising troublesome neighbours (Crispin) or empty housing estates (Alex). Seeing this delightful residence The Celebrities slumming it with Alex took it upon themselves (my explanation - Alex saw it slightly differently as I had played a move card) to move to this grandiose building, along with a very well paid professor. This resulted in the highest income (20 dollars) generated from a single building I think we have ever seen. I am sad to report that this was immediately followed by an outrageous bombing of the said building and tenants by the troublesome Crispin and whilst the police were called he had a hand full of both Alibi and Court cards ensuring that the police never caught the culprit – justice, what justice?
As the game headed towards it conclusion Alex continued to struggle to find tenants for his estate leaving it looking not unlike the property developments of Ireland. Daniela (no surprise) had managed her opportunities well and was racing towards the winners podium. As is the way in this game, this inspired the skulduggery that makes this such a fun game and her tenants were alternately murdered or moved.
Crispin being particularly horror struck when having also murdered one of her tenants (I have to admit I was also guilty of a similar crime) realised that this might have allowed me to win. But no, Daniela won comfortably although with a number of empty properties. Well done once again to our star player. A quick and rather comical game that we have been playing for many years and still proves popular.Our second game was Race for the Galaxy chosen as it would allow Daniela to duck out early without affecting the other players. Daniela is still feeling her way with this one having not played as many games as the rest of us. It is a quick and very colourful game that allows many different strategies and again nobody really went for a production focused strategy preferring to focus their efforts on expanding their worlds and developments. Crispin quickly discovered the only 7pt world but struggled (not enough in my view) to build up the military might to conquer it. He continually developed new technologies or settled & conquered new worlds quickly getting to the 12 card limit that marks one of the triggers for the end of the game. My efforts to exploit my Alien technologies and planets would have taken another ten goes (it was never a realistic strategy) to yield the results I had hoped for and Alex was having similar problems finding the right mix of cards to allow him to expand his ‘empire’. 
When it came to counting the victory points Crispin was the comfortable winner with a significant lead over the rest of us and although Daniela had left early her efforts placed her well amongst the also-rans behind Crispin’s dominance. Well done sir.
When it came to counting the victory points Crispin was the comfortable winner with a significant lead over the rest of us and although Daniela had left early her efforts placed her well amongst the also-rans behind Crispin’s dominance. Well done sir.
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