Following the success of last year’s New Year party, we are having another one this year be on Monday 31^st December.  As it is New Year’s Eve and the pub have their own event, we will be meeting at a private house in Stanford and starting slightly earlier at 7pm with food served sometime around 8pm.  Please get in touch if you would like to come along so we know how much food will be needed.

The plan is to start off early with the “Feature Game”, which, as has become traditional, will be the gorgeous, dexterity car-racing game, PitchCar.  After that, we will be eating, pulling more crackers, popping party poppers, playing more games and maybe set off some fireworks at midnight, depending on how cold it is!

– Image by BGG contributor visard

And talking of cars…

A policeman sees an elderly woman driving incredibly slowly on the motorway, so he pulls along side and notices her knitting in the driver’s seat.  She remains focused on the road and keeps knitting and driving.

He beeps his horn to get her attention, but she is oblivious and carries on.

Getting more frustrated, the policeman turns his siren on and, as she finally notices him, he signals for her to wind the window down.

After a time she finds the button and down goes the window.

Incensed, the cop yells, “PULL OVER!”

“Oh, no sweetie,” she replies.  “It’s a scarf, see?”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 11^th December, at the Horse and Jockey pub in Stanford-in-the-Vale.

As this is our last meeting before Christmas
we will be meeting early at 7pm for pizzas and Christmas festivities.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Giftmas at Dungeon Abbey followed by a range of Christmas and winter themed games like Christmas Tree, Snow Tails, The Great Downhill Ski Game, Snowboard, Antarctica, Carcassonne: Winter Edition and Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries.  Giftmas at Dungeon Abbey is a short game set in a world somewhere between Downton and The Adams Family, designed by a local gamer and member of the Didcot Games Club, Rob Harper.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of Christmas…

Jeff wasn’t in a festive mood.  He was in a lot of pain, so he went to see his doctor to get the problem looked at.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 27^th Movember, 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 Ambition, the expansion to one of our most popular games, Roll for the Galaxy. Roll for the Galaxy is the dice game of the popular empire building card game, Race for the Galaxy.  The dice represent the players’ populace, which are directed to develop new technologies, settle worlds, and ship goods. The Ambition expansion adds the new black Leader and orange Entrepreneur dice as well as Objective tiles which give players a bonus when they are achieved.

– Image used with permission of BGG contributor punkin312

And talking of dice…

Jeff was sitting his finals and, for the last multiple choice exam took a handful of dice with him into the hall.  As soon as the exam started, be began furiously rolling the dice to select his answers.  The invigilator gave him a long look as he passed, but it is not uncommon for students to resort to luck when they get stuck.  Jeff soon finished the paper and, tired with all the exertion, pillowed his head on his arms and went to sleep.  After about half an hour, Jeff suddenly sat up, and started furiously rolling his dice again.  The invigilator was curious and suddenly worried that maybe something was going on, so he approached the candidate.

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” he asked.  “Why are you rolling the dice again if you finished the questions earlier?”

Jeff replied, “I’m just double checking my answers…”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 13^th Movember, 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 Imaginarium (also known as “the game with the elephant on the box”).  Subtitled “The Dream Factory”, this game is a worker-placement, engine builder with a Steam Punk theme where players are building machines in a factory.

– Image from kickstarter.com

And speaking of dreams…

Jeff had been having a lot of strange dreams, so he went to his GP to see anything could be done.

“Doctor, I really need your help,” he said. “Every night for the past two weeks I’ve been dreaming about rats playing football.”

The doctor twirled his moustache thoughtfully for a moment and then said, “I know, I have just the thing for you.  If you take these pills just before you go to bed tonight you will be fine.”

Jeff, looked a little conflicted, and after a pause asked, “Can I start tomorrow?”

The doctor was perplexed, “I suppose, but why though?”

“Well,” answered Jeff, “Tonight they play the final….”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 30^th October, 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 Peppers of the Caribbean, a cute little set collecting card game with a loose pirate theme, that was released at Essen last week.  The game is very quick to play, giving us lots of time to play other games depending on who comes and what mood they are in.  Originally we had planned to play Key Flow, however, it’s still packed and there wasn’t time to learn the rules…!

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of pirates…

Jeff was going to a fancy-dress party, but he was feeling a bit shy about his outfit so on his way he called into his local pub for some Dutch courage.  He walked up to the bar complete with eye patch, wooden leg, parrot on his shoulder and ships wheel sticking out of his fly.  The landlord asked why he was dressed as a pirate, so Jeff explained about the party.

The barman answered, “OK, I get that by why do you have the ships wheel down your trousers?”

Jeff thought for a moment then replied, “To be honest, I do don’t really know, but it’s been driving me nuts…”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 16^th October, 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 Greed, a card drafting game where players are crime lords trying to earn more money than anyone else through clever use of their cards.  The game is very quick to play, giving us lots of time to play other games depending on who comes and what mood they are in.

– Image used with permission of BGG contributor punkin312

And speaking of greed…

When Jeff met friend in the street, Joe was horrified to find him looking very morose and almost on the verge of tears. Joe asked,, “Hey Jeff, what on earth’s the matter mate, d’ya want to tell me about it over a pint?”

Joe began, “Three weeks ago, my uncle died…”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” interrupted Joe, “I guess you were close then?”

Jeff looked a little confused, “Not really he replied, but he left me £50,000 in his will.”

“That’s amazing,” said Joe.

“Hold on, I’m just getting started.” continued Jeff. “Two weeks ago, a cousin I never knew kicked-the-bucket and left me £95,000, tax-free to boot.”

“Wow,” said Joe, “Well, that’s great! I could really do with a windfall like that.”

Jeff went on, “And last week, my grandfather passed away and I inherited close on £1,000,000.”

There was a pause; Joe knew Jeff was always short of money, and eventually said, “So why are you so glum?”

Jeff answered, “Well all that and then this week…I got nothing…”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 2^nd October, 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.

It will be our sixth birthday, so as is now traditional, the “Feature Game” will be Crappy Birthday.  This is a silly little filler/party game that we can mess about with while people are eating cake allowing us to play something longer once everyone has arrived and finished food and the inevitable Essen discussions.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of birthdays…

It was Jeff’s birthday and, as it was a special birthday, his brother had bought him a special present.  Before opening the gift, Jeff shook it slightly, and noticed that it was wet in the corner.  Touching his finger to the wet spot and tasting it, he asked, “Is it a bottle of wine?”

His brother shook his head, “No…” So, again, Jeff touched his finger to the box and tasted the liquid.

“A bottle of Scotch then?” he asked, beginning to get all excited – this was way better than he’d expected.  Again his brother shook his head though, “No, not a bottle of Scotch…”

Eventually, Jeff said, “OK, I give in, what is it?”

His brother paused for effect, before answering, “A puppy!”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 18^th September, 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 Endeavor: Age of Sail, the new, deluxe edition of  one of our favourite games, Endeavor.  Each player represents a growing empire engaged in a glorious endeavor to expand their influence and status at home and across the great oceans of the world.  Players earn glory by increasing their scores in Industry, Culture, Finance, and Politics, as well as by occupying cities, controlling connections between cities, and by holding certain Asset Cards and Building Tiles.  Although it is quite “thinky”, it usually doesn’t take all that long to play so there should be time for a few other games too.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of Captain Cook…

Jeff was at chic gathering and struggling to make polite conversation.  The person he was talking to was a psychiatrist, so, after a minute or two, Jeff asked him, “Would you mind telling me, how you detect a mental deficiency in somebody who appears completely normal?”

“Nothing is easier,” the doctor replied. “I ask him a simple question, which everyone should answer with no trouble at all. If he hesitates, that tells me just what I need to know.”

“What sort of question?” Jeff asked.

“Well,” replied the psychiatrist, “I might ask a question like ‘Captain Cook made three trips around the world and died during one of them. Which one?'”

Jeff paused a minute and thought for a moment before he replied, “You wouldn’t happen to have another example, would you? I must confess I don’t know much about history.”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 4^th September, 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 the Farmers expansion to one of our favourite games, Keyflower.  The expansion introduces sheep, cows and pigs which players keep in the space between the roads in their village, as well as wheat to feed them with.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of farmers…

A Jeff was driving down a country road, when he spotted a farmer standing in the middle of a huge pasture.  He pulled over to the side of the road and watched:  the farmer was just standing there, doing nothing, looking at nothing.  A little concerned that he there might be something wrong, Jeff got out of the car, walked all the way out to the farmer and asked him, “Are you OK?”

The farmer replied, “Of course, I’m fine.”

Jeff could see that although the farmer was behaving oddly, there was clearly nothing wrong.  His concern had just given way to curiosity though.  He hesitated, but he couldn’t just leave it and walk away.  “So, if you don’t mind, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to win a Nobel Prize,” answered the farmer.

Jeff was non-the-wiser, so continued, “But how?”

The Farmer grinned, “Well, I heard they give the Nobel Prize to people who are out standing in their field…”

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 21^st August, 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 Lancaster, a worker placement game set in the time of Henry V.  Players develop their knighthood, deploy individual knights in the counties of England, work on their own castle, and send them off to the wars in France.  We’ve played Lancaster a few times, but it’s a good game and it’s been a little while since it last got an outing.

– Image used with permission of BGG contributor kilroy_locke

And talking of Plantagenets…

Jeff was visiting a friend in Leicester when he came across the Richard III Visitor Centre.  He had never been much good at History at school, so before paying the entry fee, he wanted to know what it was all about.  The volunteer on the gate was very keen to explain, “Richard III was the last of the Plantagenet Kings who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, but nobody knew where he was buried.”

Jeff was puzzled, “So how did you know he’d died then?” he asked.

“Oh,” replied the guide, “We’ve found him now, we found him a few years ago, in a carpark, and he’s been reburied in Leicester Cathedral.”

“Oh right,” answered Jeff, “I’d have thought he’d have been flushed down the toilet like all the other Richard III’s…”