Match Report – 9th January 2012

Welcome to the New Year

I had been unsure of when we would be able to get together and only confirmed this meeting the night before so it was tremendously encouraging that so many of our regulars where able to join us and Natalie somehow with under 24 hours notice also managed to bake some of her lovely apricot munchies.

Joining Natalie was Crispin, Malcolm (shortly heading off to Africa for four weeks on what sounds like a very exciting trip), Ben and obviously my long suffering wife!

Our first game in the 10 mins whilst waiting for Natalie to join us was the simple Fuchs and Fertig. This is a game that in the past Crispin has performed particularly badly at but he started well in 2012 only to sadly fall away as the game progressed and let Malcolm win. As the others steadily got rid of their cards I didn’t which left me feeling under pressure to remember longer sequences of my cards and whilst I was good to five the sixth card always caught me out and so I kept all of my original cards (I could blame poor health, man-flu is after an awful affliction) but I guess the first lessons of 2012 was don’t push your luck too far and learn from your mistakes!!

Match Report 21st December 2011

Merry Christmas

With only days to go to Christmas it was probably unsurprising that we had lost some our regular gamers but in the upside we were the grateful recipients of:

a. A 500g slab of Mississippi Mud Pie from Hotel Chocolate, courtesy of Ben, one of the regulars sadly unable to join us.

b. Some of the reindeer munchies that regulars of this blog will have seen last Christmas - thank you again Natalie - they were just as good this Christmas!

c. Crispin’s stunning Christmas cake. This is the 3rd year he has been kind enough to bake one of his excellent Christmas cakes for Gwen & I (in return for a donation to a charity to help the homeless). It is absolutely yummy - a cake lots of fruit and cherries, no nuts but extra brandy. I am very tempted to be uncharitable and hide it away before my brother-in-law arrives since I am sure my wife favours her brother over me when cutting slices!!

News Update - More Zoch Games Available In The UK

Following discussions at Essen Spiel 2011 I am pleased to be able to announce that some of the great games we have been talking about on my blog are at last going to be readily available in the UK through our friends Paul and David at GamesLore.

Aquileia	£32.49
Fuchs and Fertig	£7.49
Bamboleo	£45.99
Bausack	£45.99
El Paso	£18.49
Safranito	£27.49
Geistesblitz	£9.49

The prices are indicative and so may change.

Having only taken delivery of them today (19/12/2011) they may still show as 'pre-orders' on the GamesLore web site but its is great to see that games that we have picked up in Germany and have had so much fun with like Fuchs and Fertig, Geistesblitz, and Bausack are going to be more readily available in the UK.

Match Report 5th December 2011

Racing, digging, chasing and then a party with woodland friends!

Last night saw us change venue for the first time in nearly a year and thereby have the opportunity to involve Daniella’s 3 wonderful youngsters - they told me to write that!

With Malcolm off at a Christmas Party and Gwen resting her weary feet (recovery from the operations is proving to be a long process) we nevertheless mustered 5 of the usual suspects: Natalie, Crispin, Ben, Daniella and obviously your scribe.

Match Report 21st November 2011

An evening playing with spices, chocolate and elephant dung!

Monday night saw another gathering of our games team with on this occasion, Malcolm (with photo’s of his MG project), Natalie (with scrummy chocolate and orange buns), Ben (with news of his new job at Hotel Chocolate - we do wonder if they will have to announce a profits warning having such a chocoholic on the staff - for Ben on the other hand a dream job), Crispin (with his good looks and charm!) and obviously Gwen and myself.

As the conversation was beginning to slow and Natalie trying hard to balance her lack of interest in the photos of Malcolm’s car with not wanting to appear rude (with a car mad father she has I suspect seen all the photo’s of engines and wheels she will ever want to) we repaired to the dining room.

First up was one of our current favourites Fuchs and Fertig a silly but very funny push your luck game where the players need to guess if the next card they are going to turn over will show an animal larger smaller or the same size as the last card; the winner being the first player to get rid of all their cards.

As I sat out of this game I was able to observe at close quarters

Games in a Pub – 13th November 2011

Two new faces and three very different games

We started the evening with the fun family game Fuchs and Fertig – which I am sure would have surprised other punters in the pub had they come close enough to see what we were playing!

Mini Review - Fuchs and Fertig

2 to 5 players, Ages 6+, 10+ Minute Playing time
A review copy of Fuchs and Fertig was kindly provided by the publishers Zoch GmbH.

This is a short fun game that will delight adults (families) and children alike, although it can also be very frustrating. Described by one of our games team as something she could imagine even the most unlikely games player playing, Fuchs and Fertig would be a great game for family gatherings over Christmas. It is quick to explain, has fast play, is funny and whatever end of the age spectrum you are everybody will have an equal chance of winning. Plus it would be pretty funny to watch as well.