Last Week - Hello New Rich

Jimmy taught Rich, Pete and me Phonecia which I very much enjoyed and it got a reasonable table reception. It had been an Essen release some while ago and was high on my radar but had slipped down my want list as no one I knew had played it and despite good initial feedback the game had gradually got a more tepid response. Not from us. An interesting turn mechanic linked to an auction that after your go you could no longer compete in. An engine building game where limited resources are auctioned in the middle while the money you receive is linked to your position on the game board. When you improve your village you increase your income for future rounds or acquire VPs (or combinations of each) its very easy for the newbie to underestimate aspects of the game or to pay to much for mediocre goods. Positive feedback is also an issue and these elements stop this game being great, however if we play it often enough these aspects should make little impact in a good group. Jimmy won, timing his last dive for the line with perfection. Had the game gone another round I’m sure things would have been different. Rich was in a strong position but was not acquiring enough VPs, Pete was at least one round behind having in hindsight spent poorly early on.

Matt taught El Grande to a group containing new Rich, Ben and others but I don’t recall who. Ben won and Rich came second. They also played Basari which New Rich won and we played St Petersburg. I won st Pete ahead of Jimmy who got some bad luck which made up for him piping me to the post in Phonecia.