30th Anniversary Rivals Weekend

Somehow three decades have past since the formation of Rivals games nights.  Last weekend we got together to mark this and play a load of games.  Sadly Adrian couldn't make it, he was much missed.

We played a range of games, figures and board, old favourites and new.  We started with a "Bearers' Steeplechase" - a simple race game James had been planning for a while with some of the figures he had been collecting:

The figures were (from left to right, starting with the back row) Captain Scott on his Husky Sled, Lady Tsukiyama in a Palanquin, Sir Henry Pottinger in a Sedan Chair, Wilfred Owen on a WW1 Stretcher, Chief El Dorado the Muisca Chief, and Mrs Mavis Pike on her bicycle.

After looking for suitable rules for some time, James came across a game called Stage Chaser in a charity shop, a card based game simulating cycle races, with counters and tiles.  The tiles were reproduced as strips the figures could be placed along side.  The game uses three colours of poker chips to represent the energy a player has for attacking uphill, downhill and on the flat.  

Unfortunately this energy is depleted not by effort but by other players landing on your space and nicking your tokens.  This was quite fun but makes it tough to catch up, particularly if your hand of cards doesn't help your current position.  A good little filler game but if we play again, we'll use David's suggestions of allowing players the option of missing a turn in order to discard and replenish their hand in full.

The second game was a Dad's Army scenario - full write in this blog post.

Alternating with games of old favourites Ra and Pelopennes (and a picnic-style lunch and pizzas for dinner), we also had a couple of games of Hare and Tortoise that James had bought specially having recently discovered it was the first Spiel des Jahres winner back in 1979.  It was actually first published in 1974 but the German edition came out in 1978.

This 2010 edition from Gibson Games comes in an uninspiring box with an almost Victorian style board, suggesting a game of ludo-like simplicity.  But it's much more complex and devious than that - a race game that doesn't use any dice and (unless you take a chance card) has little luck element at all.  Suggested for ages 7 and up, we could imagine some very unhappy families trying to play this together - no doubt the reason there are so many copies under a tenner on eBay.

Each player starts with 65 carrots and 3 cabbages.  You move by paying carrots in triangle numbers for the number of spaces i.e. 1, 3, 6, 10, 15 etc carrots for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc spaces, and have to visit limited and busy locations to drop off your cabbages.  The added challenge is passing the finishing line with 10 or less carrots (or 20 or less if in 2nd place, etc).  You can collect a lot more carrots by going backwards and taking a tortoise approach, resulting in some large moves e.g. 20 spaces costing 210 carrots!

We really enjoyed it and played it twice.  The first game especially had much hilarity as we struggled to get over the finishing line with the right number of carrots remaining.

We next played the bidding game Medici followed by a 6 Nimmt, a Board Game Arena favourite from the COVID lockdowns.

After David left, we had a game of St Petersburg with James' new copy recently acquired from a Board Game Geek seller for a reasonable price.  This rare but excellent game attracts some very high prices on most selling sites.

In the morning, we had a hearty full English breakfast before a very close game of Airlines Europe.

A great weekend, missing only Adrian, in both senses of the word.  Our last games weekend was just before the first COVID lockdown, so over three and a half years ago now.  We felt we should try and do this more often!

Rivals' 20th Anniversary weekend - June 2013

Regrettably without Adrian, the remaining six Rivals set off to Llangarren for a weekend of gaming.  Llangarren is a village comprising a church and just a handful of houses.  No shop or pub but set in beautiful countryside.

We stayed in really well converted and kitted-out granary - loads of space and a bit of lawn for eating and playing outside (board games as well as a nail-biting game of boule).

This was probably the hottest weekend of the year so far and there were a few pink patches after Saturday - even Kieron's getup didn't completely protect him.

We played some excellent old favourites (Pelopennes, 7 Wonders) and tried out what were disappointingly less than excellent (Warriors & Traders, Wild Fun West) and the not-quite-there Porto Carthago (even with the correct rules).  I particularly enjoyed the late night games of O Zoo le Mio with Stuart and Andy.

We even made time for a circular walk around the countryside.  We enjoyed the views and old houses, and narrowly avoided being run down by a Tesco delivery van.

With no pub within walking distance, we did the usual pizzas on the first night, and then a barbecue on Saturday evening.  On Sunday morning, no-one could face a second cooked breakfast, but we did make a pretty good dent into our meat-packed fridge.

All in all, a pretty excellent way to mark twenty years of weekly games-playing!