Earth Reborn - Pillage

For those unable to see the BGG forum...

Any interest in having a bash at Earth Reborn next week ?

Possibly Mission 5, Pillage. The NORAD forces must search the base and escape before the Evil Salemites can hunt them down.

Low Res or High Res mission details.

Gaming Galore

 T he dark and the cold have arrived in Norwich, and the weather minions at NoBoG HQ inform me that snow may be here by the end of October. However, I am dubious of the divinations of the weather lackeys on their crystal balls. We shall see.

Eleven souls sought comfort from the Autumn chill in the cosy confines of The Ribs of Beef, with more games on offer than a professional stick shaker could shake a stick at. Sheepland, Endeavour, Hansa Teutonica, Hey that's my fish, Archipelago and Saboteur 2 were played, in some instances more than once, for a total of ten plays, not including the multi rounds of Saboteur 2.

Pete's hair - a wondrous thing that is an almost honourary NoBoG member in its own right - was for the first time in quite a while not present. It seems that it had finally gained sentience after observing one too many games of Race for the Galaxy and had made a break for freedom and a new life in South America. Whether it was escaping Pete or Race for the Galaxy is hard to say. Pete on the other hand arrived somewhat diminished and sporting a new streamlined look, with a good deal less hair.

But on with the games !

Bondy brought Endeavour to the table, which in his own words is "a game about doing things". A surefire marketing tagline if ever I heard one. Stu, Matt and Moritz challenged Bondy in the battle of vying European powers, with Stu triumphing in building the most glorious Empire of them all. Next up on their table was Stu's Sheepland with which Bondy repaired his bruised Endeavour reputation by becoming the most sheep herding Shepherd.

Meanwhile myself, Ed, Tom and Alina tackled the deceptively tricky Archipelago which almost predictably saw the colony explode in rebellion during the first game causing everyone to lose. Vowing that everyone knew what was going on, the second game kicked off with suspiciously similar strategies in place. The ugly practice of Slavery quickly wormed its way into the colony which I snapped up to add to my capabilities - much to the disgust of everyone else. Enduring slurs about being an evil slaver during following negotiations it was somewhat ironic to then find both Ed and Alina indulging in the use of Slavery themselves.

 Hypocrisy of the highest order ! Unbeknownst to all however, I was the evil Separatist and was secretly happy people where employing the powerful slavery at the cost of increasing levels of rebellion.

Co-operation warred with blind self interest amongst the players, and given the number of times Ed disappeared under his hood with a pained expression, a certain amount of nail biting and worry was also involved. As time ran out on the evening levels of rebellion drew critically close to sending the whole colony down once more. The game finished with a probable win for the Separatist, but unfortunately we couldn't quite finish to find out.

Pete, Rich and Phil sat down with Hansa Teutonica - which once again is getting a hammering of plays - and interspersed the merchant shenanigans with brutal penguin fish gobbling.

 Rich and Pete took wins in Hansa, and as for the penguins. . . who knows. Hey That's my Fish seems to be slowly spreading its influence in the group as people get introduced to it or replay it.

Saboteur 2 finished the evening with a 7 handed set of rounds, the shifty Saboteurish Phil always a suspicious player.

Just Seventeen

Just Seventeen, often referred to as J-17, was a weekly magazine aimed at teenage girls, published by Emap from October 1983. The market leader until the launch of Sugar in 1994, after which sales began to fall. In 1997, the magazine was changed to a monthly format in response to the declining circulation, but finally closed in 2004. OK, so that has nothing to do with NoBoG and is just a circuitous way of mentioning that we had record attendance at the Ribs of Beef with SEVENTEEN turning up to play games. Is this the Golden Age of NoBoG? I’m certainly not declaring such a thing. I know full well that if I did we’d be down to just two of us next week -  forced to play Kogge, Vampire: Prince of the City or Medici with a man drinking cream.  So no, I dare not suggest such a thing.

Last night was great, if a little cramped in the Wherry Room. So I took a contingent consisting of Ed and three newcomers, Owen, Grant and Mark, upstairs to play Amun-Re. Nicky, Alina, Matt and Martin played Hansa Teutonica - and then played it again for good measure. Jimmy, Tom and Dean played Castles of Burgundy. And on the end table there was the only marr on the evening as Pete, Rich, Stu, Moritz and Sam inflicted Race for the Galaxy on themselves - twice - followed by Alhambra.

Winners for the evening were: myself (tie-breaker with Ed), Alina, Matt, Jimmy. And on the table of gruelling punishments: Rich swept the board with three victories.