Pounding sand and raking in the big money

After an inexcusable delay in compiling Border Board games game logs, BBG returns with this installment of the July Olympics of gaming.  In addition to the usual crew of Kim, Homer, Beth, Dennis, St. Jay Mike, Mike O and I Rob popped in and Andrew returned for a second visit to the Derby Line Village Hall.  Things got off to a fast paced start as we whipped out our newest game Toc Toc Woodman.  The smash hit Korean game went over well even if some of us, most of us actually, never saw our scores rise out of the range of integers.

After a few rounds of Toc Toc we split up into two groups to tackle Thebes and Black Gold respectively.  Kim, Homer, Rob and I plunged into the deserts of the Near East to plunder the treasures of the ancient world.  It being Rob's first time playing, he appeared to be off to a strong start handily dishing out treasures.  As it turned out, his luck would eventually dissipate like a mirage and soon he was pulling nothing but sand.  Indeed, we began to suspect that Homer was the evil Sand Djinn sucking us down into his vortex of sand and despair.  Who needs treasure when you can enjoy a beer on the beach?  It eventually came down to a contest between Kim and I.  Having scored a five point show on the final turn of the final year I was able to pull out a two point victory 58-56.

Over at the Black Gold table Beth, St. Jay Mike and Dennis drilled for oil.  Dennis would emerge atop the heap amassing a sizeable fortune before the oil barons arrived.  beth finished a close second while, as Mike exclaimed in his own words "I finished a distant fourth."  In a three player game, such results are particularly dismal.

As the Black Gold game wound down, the Thebes table turned into a game of A La Carte.  Kim, Rob, Mike O and I attempted to create the most resplendent dishes possible out of cigars, elephant trunks and beret wearing octopus.  Rob demonstrated his early mastery of the game with Gordon Ramsay-like precision and attention to detail.  Though it took him some time to get used to the "one shake" mechanic of the ingredient containers, he turned out three perfect dishes to earn his Michelin stars and victory.  Indeed, he only ruined one dish and that early on.  It was the first time that I have ever seen a victory by stars.

Next up we split again into two tables featuring Lords of Waterdeep and Le Havre.  In LoWD Rob, Beth, Mike O and St. Jay Mike squared off to see who would rule the city.  Rob would emerge victorious with a fair margin of victory.  The table then set about playing a round of Thebes with Andrew, St. Jay Mike, Mike O and Beth heading to the desert.  St. Jay Mike possessed the finest collection of Egyptian antiquities anyone could ever hope to see.  Sadly, his collection paled in comparison to Beth prodigious talent at public speaking.  On the strength of a pittance of treasures and a solid hold on the Congress cards, Beth ran off with the win.

Meanwhile, Kim, Homer, Dennis and I ventured into the shipping trade with Le Havre.  Being a fan of Agricola, we thought this might be right up Dennis' alley.  As it turns out, it was.  Dennis boasted an impressive array of buildings and cleverly sniped the docks away from me and my mighty merchant marine.  Homer, as per usual, constructed a fine fleet of steel ships falling just short of the time necessary to build the HMS Homer luxury liner.  In the end Dennis claimed the win with a sizeable hoard of francs.

So concluded the July Border Board Games game night.  Based on post-game chatter, it seems highly probable that Age of Empires III, Agricola and Bang! will be featured at the August game night scheduled for August 18th at 6 p.m. in the Derby Line Village Hall.