My Hovercraft is Full Of Eels.

Another month has almost slipped out of sight. October 2011 will be remembered for the unseasonal weather, the death of Steve Jobs and Muammar Gaddafi and here, at NoBoG, Andy Malcolm’s most unlikely win at Power Grid. But that was last week and this is this week...

We had only one confirmed casualty from the Norwich Beer Festival. Jimmy had fallen in the line of duty; taken down by the relentless ale. Rich and Crocker are both MIA. And no one has seen Lovely Rich for a long, long time. Offically he’s been sent on a classified mission, but rumour is that he’s ‘gone native’. If you see the lad, send him back our way. We miss him dearly. But never fear! We have new recruits. John has been with us four weeks and coped admirably with everything that has been thrown at him. And then last night saw the arrival of reinforcements from Germany; Heike and Maren. Welcome.

So, three tables last night. Pete ambitiously brought down the latest incarnation of Sid Meier’s Civilisation (or simply ‘Civ’), it’s far better than the poor effort from Eagle Games and thankfully much shorter than the Avalon Hill version from 1980. Diane and Tom signed up to this one and were still playing when I left a few minutes before time. I think it can certainly be played at the club, but with a rules session it will always be a rush to finish.

On the middle table I fumbled my way through the rules for Hansa Teutonica - Young Pete, Heike and Maren were the bewildered pupils. In the end it came down to the wire as I beat Pete by 1 point, who managed to connect the red banner cities. We also played Monty Python Fluxx, which is a tedious game if it wasn't for the outragous accents and the fact it provided the title for this weeks post.

The other table slapped Alien Frontiers down on the baize. Diane won, though Moritz came close to overhauling her lead at the end. And then they succumbed to Phil’s whim and agreed to play the ridiculous cooperative game Red November – all about gnomes trying to save an ailing submarine. From the sound of it they had fun trying, but ultimately failed; with most of the gnomes burning to death before sinking to the bottom the ocean and a watery grave. Harrowing.

Beer: Woodforde’s Admiral’s Reserve. They’d pulled out all the stops to bring this fine ale to the Ribs. Chestnut coloured beer with almonds, sultanas, a deep sweetness, but still light enough to be quaffable. Like drinking a delicious fruit cake. 9/10.