April Games - Part Two

After an extended weekend of Terraforming Mars during the first week of April. We took a few days off of gaming... and then...

Things got busy!


Thursday, 9 April 2020

Starting off with... MORE Terraforming Mars!?



There had been talk of shelving Terraforming Mars for a bit and trying out some new games... Then I was feeling like I wasn't really in the headspace to be reading rules and figuring out new games... but still wanted to play games... and Amanda suggested we play a game on Thursday and I told her I wasn't interested in a new game, she said; "So... Terraforming Mars...?"

I had to laugh because I thought she was sick of it, or at least worked it out of her system... I guess not!

We played with Elysium,  Prelude, and Venus Next. I played Saturn Systems with Aquifer Turbines and Metals Company from Prelude. Amanda played Ecoline with Ecology Experts and Supply Drop.



It was a SUPER CLOSE game! There was her usual complaints remarks about how far ahead I was in the Terraforming rating while putting down card after card with victory points on them... WE BOTH put a bunch of greenery down on the planet - but I put out way more cities...

At the end of the game I had a Terraforming rating of 49 and Amanda was at 39.



I took the Generalist milestone, and the Estate Dealer and Industrialist Awards



Amanda took the Ecologist and Tychoon milestones and the Venuphile Award (I actually HAD a Venus tag in play, this time, so it was only a net 3 gain for her, rather than the net 5 gain the last few times she's done this one!).

We both had 14 green tiles on the board, I had seven cities generating about 23 points, she had five cities generating 16 points. I had 19 points on cards and she had THIRTY SEVEN!?

Final Score
Tim:124
Amanda125

SO CLOSE!!!

Anyway, it was a super fun game and we actually put stuff on the planet and got to realize a bunch of fun and interesting projects.

I'm not sure we're ever going to be able to play 3-4-5 player games anymore - they'll just be over too quickly and we'll feel like were weren't able to accomplish anything!? I guess we could remove the World Governor step (or... whatever it's called... were the First Player, at the end of each turn, gets to move one of the terraforming things forward - with no benefit to themselves - just speeds up the game)

Maybe we need to add Colonies back in...?


Friday, 10 April 2020 

Good Friday.

I've been losing track of days and stuff with all this social distancing and external things being cancelled, I was only really aware it was Easter because every online store I EVER ordered anything from sent me an email with their EASTER DEALS!



Before playing any games I decided to go for a ride. To escape the crowds of wanderers on the local trails, I decided to head south of the city. I'd been riding a lot a couple weeks ago, but then the hobbits in charge of local weather decided they needed Second Winter and temperatures plummeted into the -20s°C and we got a another big dump of snow... But it's back above 0°C (only just...) so I was determined to get out!!!



So some roads that were dry a couple weeks ago were now mud...



And some were still covered in snow!



It was a beautiful, if chilly, ride though...



and for part of it, the sky cleared up and the sun came out...



When I got home, Amanda insisted on running a yoga class for the family. Yoga Instructor is one of the MANY hats she wears, but all her classes have been cancelled for weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic... She wanted to do one along with a video she had - the problem with videos is they're made for women that are 8 stone and know yoga poses and can bend in half in any direction they wish... which describes none in our household, save Amanda.... So... it didn't go great...

I did agree I'd do yoga with her in the future - as long as SHE led the movements and planned and adjusted the sessions for a fat, old, inflexible dude like me. And she can, she has taken a LOT of training and IS very good at what she does and can explain things that no video could ever do...

After supper we DID get in another game of... you guesses it - Terraforming Mars!



You'd think we'd be getting sick of it... or each other...!? But we haven't - on either account!



I played the Mining Guild with Early Settlement and Dome Farming.



Amanda played Morning Star Inc. with Bio Lab and Nitrogen Shipment.



In the end I took the Mayor and Builder Milestones and Amanda took the Planner - on turn two... or three...? By just buying ALL THE CARDS - and then spent the rest of the game trying to put them ALL into play... along with all the other ones she got! She did have 23 victory points on cards at the end of the game (to my 15), but I put a LOT of stuff on the surface of Mars (17 Greenery to her 7, and 8 cities to her 3).

She also took the Venuphile and Scientist Awards and I took the Miner Award.

This was one of my biggest wins yet 124-100 (but I still think she's ahead in combined points)!


Saturday, 11 April 2020

Saturday we actually took a break from Terraforming Mars!



We actually tried out a new (to us) game that Amanda had me buy at the ToonCon Auction.



Amanda actually even read the rules! I think this is the first game EVER that SHE read the rules for - and explained it to US! It really is quite a simple game, but I felt like it was a HUGE step!



Even got The Girl to play - they're laughing at me because I got EVERYTHING about the Pygmy Sperm Whale wrong! You basically place bets on the range, length and weight of an animal and gain points if you get it right or were close. Despite my utter failure at guessing anything correctly about the whale, I knew enough about all the other critters to WIN!!!

Overall it wasn't a terrible game. It was a bit simple. Would have been great if we picked it up 10 years ago - the kids would have loved it. Of course, Finnegan would have pulled all the cards out of the box and memorized all the animals stats and then it would have become unplayable - at least against him.



Finnegan ran (one of) his weekly D&D game(s).



I went for another bike ride. This time I ramble south east of town on the other side of the river.

 It was a LOT colder than the day before - and the headwind coming home was brutal.

When I got home we all had supper... and then Amanda and I tried out ANOTHER game she had me buy at the ToonCon Auction. (For all my complaints about HER purchases, I think we've played MORE of them than the ones I bought!)



This one I read the rules for... Castle. I'd never heard of it, but Amanda had been talking to some guy who said it was a good game (He was probably one of the guys selling one - there were three copies for sale!). It wasn't terrible. Probably take a few plays to figure out how all the different cards work together. Not sure if I love it enough to play it enough times to bother figuring it out...


Sunday, 12 April 2020



More connecting with friends online - Amanda ran another Family Yoga Dance Party for two families with younger children that are friends of ours. It was a pretty good time - despite some hiccups with the technology...

Afterwards I went out for a ride - picked up some easter chocolate for the kids from my folks place. Not sure why I had to be the one to go over and get stuff that isn't for me, that I'd really rather not even have in the house right now!?



 I love spring in Saskatoon and getting out to hit the dirt trails...



It was really cold and windy again, and I was really tired from the last two days, so I mostly just rode around town, rather than heading out of town for a longer ride.



A sure sign spring might actually be on it's way - Richardson Ground Squirrels!



After supper, Amanda and I sat down to play Splendor and try out all the expansions in Cities of Splendor. Cities of Splendor includes four separate expansions for Splendor: Cities, Orient, Trading Posts and Strongholds.



We started with Cities... which removes the nobles and adds different victory conditions. Amanda crushed it.



I was a bit behind...



Next we tried Strongholds. I didn't love this one... Amanda won again.



After that we tried Orient - which adds a bunch of new cards to the game - making for a dizzying amount of options and ways to get stuff done.



Finally we tried out Trading Posts. I didn't really get a picture of the trading posts. This picture above was taken because so many of the starting cards all needed ONE TYPE of gem - which is tricky to get in a four player game - but even HARDER to get together when just playing with two and so many of the gems are removed from the game.

It was good to finally try them all out... We've played Cities a couple times before, and maybe Trading posts once, but had never tried Orient or Strongholds.

Honestly, I could live without them.

I like Splendor because it's simple, fast, and straightforward. I like playing it when I need a game that is just simple, fast, and straightforward. All of these expansions make a game that is simple, fast, and straightforward into a game that is complex, slow, and convoluted...


Monday, 13 April 2020

Woke up to windchill of -20°C!? Stayed like that all morning! Later in the afternoon I went for a short ride and picked up a few groceries. When I got back, Amanda was baking up a storm! Afterwards we played a game of Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress.



There is a full report of this game and loads more pictures here:

Saving Bone'ead Brogan

Afterwards while I was starting the game report I looked to see when our last game was - it felt like forever ago... I asked Amanda when she thought we last played. She said it was a month at least. It was just two weeks earlier.

I saw someone post something on Facebook that said something like: 2020 is a special Leap Year - there are 29 days in February, 300 in March and 5 years in April. It's really starting to feel like it! without reference of all our regular spring activities we're all feeling a bit adrift and lost in time.

The fact that we're STILL having days with highs below 0°C isn't helping!?


Tuesday, 14 April 2020



Warmer weather today and I went for a longer ride - 41Km - but mostly within the city limits (though there are parts of the city within the city limits that still seem pretty remote! Saw piles of Canada Geese in a field at the North end of town.



Tracks in the snow on the river ice - presumably left from geese walking back and forth across it...?



Mostly stuck to the roads in the central part of the city - took to the trails in a few parts - lots of people out walking and riding bikes.



In the evening I read through the rules and we had our first crack at Legendary Encounters Firefly this evening. We actually got Keira to play! (though she seemed mightily bored... or maybe she was just tired...? She does LOVE Firefly - the TV show!).

I played Mal, Keira played Kaylee and Amanda played Zoe. It was pretty tough... definitely an interesting reskin of the Legendary game engine - winning was definitely NOT a foregone conclusion, as it always seemed with Marvel Legendary when we played... We totally lost this one just at the end of the second episode... Yikes!


Wednesday 15 April 2020

Wow, half way through April...



I went out for a ride a bit earlier today.



I rode out to the Chappell Marsh Conservation Area (about a 20Km round trip). Not as cold or windy as the last few days.



Wetlands are still pretty much all iced over.

When I got back...



I actually talked Keira into playing a game of Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress with me!

We used the Army of One rules from the 2019 Annual to run her Harlequin Solitaire through the fortress on a mission to take out Obsidius Mallex, the Chaos Lord bent on taking control of the fortress and turning it into the ultimate weapon in the galaxy!

We both had a great time! Harlequin Solitaires are BRUTAL!

I'll have a full report of the adventure later.

We had to take a break part way through as my friend Other Tim stopped by to offload some games on us - he is downsizing in preparation for a move at the end of the month.



Among the games was Machi Koro. It looked simple enough so we tried it out after supper. Fun. Quick. Keira kicked our butts...

And that's it for this week... last week seems like forever ago!? Anybody else experiencing some extreme time dilation!?


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

A game report of the Harlequin Solitaire's adventures in the Blackstone Fortress. It was pretty exciting - I think she'll be back. Perhaps next time she'll be hunting Astroth Mythrak, Master of Possession!

I have an assortment of Imperial Guard I'll probably be posting pictures of... Then I might get to work on that Master of Possession and the two Greater Possessed  - get me back working on the Chaos project AND preparing something I'll be able to use in Blackstone Fortress - for games with BOTH Amanda and Keira!

In a week I'll have another instalment of April Games. I am looking at trying out a couple more new games... Not sure exactly which just yet - there ARE a LOT of them!