Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 5^th February, at the Horse and Jockey pub in Stanford-in-the-Vale.  As usual, we will be playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer.

This week the “Feature Game” will be Through the Desert, an area control game with pastel camels that many feel is reminiscent of the classic, Go.  During the game, players try to score the most points by snaking caravans of camels through the dunes, trying to reach oases and blocking off sections of the desert.

– Image by BGG contributor haslo

And speaking of camels…

Jeff was working for the army in a remote part of Iraq. When he arrived, he was given a tour of the site and towards the end, he noticed a particularly mangy old camel tied up behind the barracks, so he asked his guide what it was for.

The young soldier looked extremely embarrassed, but eventually said, “Well sir, there are over two hundred men here far and no women. Sometimes the men get… urges.”

“Oh right,” replied Jeff, now equally embarrassed, “I see.”

Six weeks later, Jeff was coming to the end of his stay in Iraq. He’d spent almost all of the time in camp and was starting to feel very… frustrated. Lying in bed early one morning, he suddenly remembered the camel and no matter what he did he couldn’t get the idea out of his mind.  So after an hour, he got out of bed and sneaked out of the building to the back of the barracks where the camel was quietly minding it’s own business.

Jeff, who by this time had only one thing on his mind, dropped his trousers, grabbed a conveniently nearby stool, clambered up, and proceeded to vent his frustration by giving the poor unfortunate camel the ride of its life. He was so engrossed, he didn’t see the soldier who had given him the tour and was on his way to guard duty. The young man stopped and stared; as Jeff finished and dressed, he suddenly realised he had an audience.

Jeff felt he had to break the oppressive silence. He pointed at the stool, “Is that how the others do it?” he asked.

“Well, no sir,” replied the soldier slightly awkwardly, “They normally just use the camel to ride to the nearest brothel…”