Well I did get some gaming done in December and the run in to the Christmas holidays.

Ashes: with my all in pledge from the Plaid Hat kickstarter arriving it was only natural that I’d want to get this to the table at the earliest opportunity. Marcin and I played what effectively would be considered the new starter set. Which has a lot going for it. You get two phoenixborn (ie decks), a great intro rule book that takes both players through the first few turns of the game introducing various elements of gameplay, and a comprehensive rule book too. We worked through the intro rule book, and then continued the game. It was great to be playing the game again. Now to slowly work my way through the other 28 phoenixborn and eventually the co-op stuff.

Wyrmspan: played with the Dragon Academy expansion. The fledglings and having to train them was interesting. Luckily having new caves and dragons that allow you to accelerate the training was very handy, and needed. Otherwise I’m not sure how useful or fun these new fledglings would be. Obviously so that we experienced all that the new expansion had we rigged the decks so that we saw the new stuff.

Tokaido: I’m so glad Stonemaier took over this game. It’s bought the game back to the table, and reminded me how much fun it is. Plus it’s been a hit at the club. Glad it’s getting the love it deserves.

Tir na nog: my kickstarter copy with the expansion arrived and it was great getting this to the table. We played just the base game. Which was great fun. Love the drafting mechanic, and the clever way to keep track of how many rounds are left. This was a big hit with Charlene.

Machi Koro 2: what’s to say a great almost filler game. We had some close games where everyone at one point could have won the game. Great light fun.

Splendor Duel: love this two player version of the game. Maybe more so than the full blown game.

Furnace: this worked surprisingly well as a two player game. Love the auction mechanic, and using the gamer variant for running your engine.

Qwirkle Flex: still a fun game now with the tile backgrounds relevant for scoring too.

Take Time: a co-op game in the same vein as The Mind. It was ok.

Stone Age Anniversary Edition: thanks to a fortunate dice roll about three quarters of the way through the game, Ben was able to grab victory without progressing on the farm track. If he had failed on the hunting roll he’d have never recovered. Instead he did amazing and got enough food to see him to the end of the game. He gambled and it paid off.

Rebel Princess: Probably my worst game in a long time. I got 18 points in the final round alone. Needless to say I came last.

In Flanders Field: Jeff’s World War 1 themed push your luck game. Quick, good fun.

New Arrivals

• Ashes Ascendancy All in kickstarter pledge

• Formaggio