Yesterday
I played Eclipse very badly, scarcely remembering the rules let alone
any of the game's strategy or tactics. The game also stretched out
to five hours, a point that I wouldn't raise except for the fact that
it took quite a lot longer to complete thanks to the number of
complaints about the amount of time it was taking. You've probably
been there, reader, and if you haven't – I envy you.
After
a break to relocate, play recommenced with Race for the Galaxy.
Historically, I've been pretty bad at Race. However, thanks to an
obvious starting hand I mustered a good second-place finish, just a
point or two behind the winner. As there was a bit more disruption
among the available players – errands had to be run and there was
no agreement about what serious game to play next – we then settled
in for King of Tokyo with the expansion pack in play and the
Panda-kai banned by mutual consent. I mustered a last-to-fall with
my Kraken, with the winner only coming through by the skin of his
teeth.
We
finally settled in to play Avalon Hill's 1997 Princess Ryan's Star
Marines, largely because most of us hadn't played it and therefore
had nothing against it. Also it promised a 90 minute game, which
seemed like a good idea as the time pushed towards midnight.
Unfortunately, the people who had played it were trying to remember
the game from ten years ago and the rules had a bad habit of ending
up at the end of the table with the worst vision, leading to a number
of early rules mistakes such as “<” being read as “greater
than”.
