Monastery attack - 17 September 2019

Six samurai controlled by James attacked a monastery defended by 4 monks and 4 hired fighters, controlled by Andy and David.

The monks' fighters were drawn from the newly painted groups of bowmen and aquebusiers:

These started to inflict some damage on the samurai rushing the front steps, although the heavy armour proved pretty impervious to arrows.

The least bloody samurai then mounted the steps and engaged the monks.

Except one who nipped around the back...

There was a lot of bloodshed on the top of the steps and the lone samurai survived his engagement with three fighters until the end of the battle.

At the end of the ten game turns, all of the monks were dead and so James claimed a victory.  But as a couple of hired fighters were still limping along in defence of the monastery, David & Andy claimed a victory too.  Only the GM and blogger knows the true result...

Puerto Rico - 29 April 2009

A return of a classic game, especially pleasing as games nights these days are often attended by more than the 5 player maximum for Puerto Rico.

The Rivals employed a range of contrasting strategies with duplicate tactics being enforced by the fact that most of the buildings come in pairs. Thus James and Adrian started on the Construction Hut gambit, allowing them, plus Stu to acquire 2 Quarries (with Deej and Kieron only getting one apiece). Stu and Kieron were able to gain Factories. Deej maintained a tobacco monopoly for most of the game. Adrian had no Warehouses but was the only one to enjoy the use of an imaginary ship (via his very own Wharf).

Each of the players acquired a large building, and the bonus points we acquired from them (7 for everyone except Kieron who got 6) showed that they were much of a muchness.

The final scores were close: Kieron winning on 51; Adrian on 48; Stu on 47; Deej on 45; and James, who finished the game by his acquisition of a 12th building, last on 43. Our post-mortem on tactics suggested that Haciendas were not much cop; Hospices and Factories were however dead good.

So, a Smith victory then. But this, Kieron's second win in a row, was a 'Lucky Win' (see tag). Once again Stu helped spoon him onto the winner's podium by a crucial error of judgement which, had he noticed, would have allowed a different move and a joint victory for him and Adrian. Kieron's win then, not so much 'standing on the shoulders of giants' as 'getting a leg up on the back of a distracted fellow schoolteacher'. It can't continue like this...
:-)