Monday, January 6, 2014

Boardgames & Beer

So, Allen wanted to host the first Sunday in January so we could help him drink his leftover Christmas beer. In addition, he'd also received a "flight" of beer shot glasses -- essentially a wooden paddle with round slots for four glasses. Appropriately, there were four in attendance to sample the variety of beers from his fridge. I actually found a smoked porter that wasn't repulsive and did not taste like bacon. Despite universal acclaim for bacon's taste, when the main flavor in a beer it is gagging. Stone's Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean was actually quite tasty.

On to the games! There were six of us in attendance, so we had a choice of about a half dozen board games to choose from. Allen was the only one with a preference, so we ended up playing Wildlife by Uberplay. This game is best with six players, and has each player taking on the role of a creature (Men, Crocodiles, Snakes, Eagles, Mammoths, Bears) trying to become the dominant one on the planet. I actually picked up this game years ago in the "swag party" after volunteering at Origins. It is a fun, interactive game -- your choices definitely affect the fortunes of the others. For some reason, both of the last two times we've played, I've ended up playing the Snakes. I am not sure what is says about me, but the others made no bones about what is said about my advice -- particularly when offered up to Joel (the Human player).

Steve V played the Eagles and cruised to an early lead. Allen (Bears) and Mike S (Mammoths) gave him a run towards the middle of the game, but he pulled away even more at the end. Allen was a distant second, while I ended up middle of the pack. That was better than last place, where I was most of the game. I didn't do a very good job of adjusting my strategy when others circumvented it early on. Although Keith (Crocodiles) and I -- while not actually cooperating -- did not interfere with each other overly, it still wasn't enough. I was unable to really dominate enough of the regions to score many victory points.

Next week, we are scheduled to give Mike S and his Star Wars skirmish another try. He uses Flying Lead rules, and we've played it once before and had a good time with it. My third running of Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures is scheduled for the last Sunday of the month -- Jan. 26th. That gives me extra time to finish up the last of the terrain pieces I need to for the scenario...

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