Next Meeting, 7th April 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 7^th April 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Igel Ärgern, which roughly translates as “harassing hedgehogs” (rules; video review and tutorial). It is an older racing game in which, similar to Turf Horse Racing, players move any pieces, though rather than betting on the winner, players use other players’ prickly critters to obstruct, annoy, and generally harass their opposition.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of prickles…

Two toothpicks were strolling through the forest and spot a hedgehog. “Oh,” said one of the toothpicks, “I didn’t know there was a bus…”

Next Meeting, 24th March 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 24^th March 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.30pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be SCENERY, which is a tableau building, tile laying game where players are creating hiking routes through a hexagonal landscape with tiles of varying altitudes (rules). The game is by the same designer as Nova Luna, Habitats, Powerships and Waddle, Corné van Moorsel.

– Image from kickstarter.com

And speaking of hiking…

Jeff was planning a trip in the northern Cascades and he was really hoping his friend Joe would go along.

“Sounds great, but I’m not sure I can afford it, or even get the time off work,” said Joe sadly.

“That’s a shame, I had some hikes planned and really wanted you to come along,” answered Jeff.

“It sounds a lovely idea—I’m sure you could find someone else to go with you though.” replied Joe.

“Oh, but I really wanted YOU to go,” Jeff went on.

“Well, I’d love to, I mean, we always have so much fun when we are out and about, don’t we!” added Joe.

“Well, yes we do, but it’s not that,” Jeff explained, “I read that you should always go hiking with someone in worse shape than yourself—there are bears out there…”

Next Meeting, 17th March 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 17^th March 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food again, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.30pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Planet Unknown, a sort of poly-ominos tile-laying game where players are trying to develop the most successful planet (rules, review and instructional video).

– Image by BGG contributor PZS69

And speaking of unknowns…

Jeff was chatting to his mate Joe over a pint at their local.

“I keep getting these calls from unknown numbers,” said Jeff. “It’s really weird,” he continued, “They just sneeze and then cough a bit, and then they hang up.”

“Have you registered with the Telephone Preference Service?” asked Joe.

“No, not yet,” replied Jeff, “But I hear they are very good at stopping cold calls…”

Next Meeting, 3rd March 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 3^rd March 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food again, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.30pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the new Bordeaux Expansion for one of the group’s favourite games, Viticulture (base game rules, review and how to play video; expansion rules and review). With just a new board, this new expansion incudes an engine building element by changing the actions and adding upgrade options. It also makes a number of other small tweaks that effectively provide a faster start to the game (for example, players begin with income and only one field making the fairly standard strategy of selling land early in the game obsolete).

– Image from stonemaiergames.com

And speaking of wine…

Jeff was relaxing with his girlfriend, sharing a bottle of wine, when she said, “I love you so much. I don’t know how I could ever live without you.”

Jeff was surprised, but very pleased—she’d never said anything like that to him before. In disbelief, he replied, “Is that you or the wine talking?

She answered, “It’s me talking to the wine…”

Next Meeting, 17th February 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 17^th February 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food again, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.30pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Americas Expansion for one of the group’s favourite games, the 2019 Golden GOAT winner, Wingspan (base game rules, review and how to play video; expansion rules and overview). This may or may not additionally include cards from the European, Oceania and Asia expansions, but whatever happens, lots of eggs and birds are guaranteed.

– Image from stonemaiergames.com

And speaking of birds…

Jeff’s latest job was working on the check-in desk at Fuerteventura Airport. He’d been up early and his final customer of the day was an Egyptian Vulture who had decided to take a commercial flight rather than flying South for the winter.

The Vulture had heard about airline food, however, so he had brought along a dead rat for an in-flight snack.

As Jeff gave the Vulture his boarding pass, he noticed the rat tucked under the Vulture’s wing and politely asked, “Would you like me to check that in, sir?”

“No, thank you,” the Vulture replied. “It’s carrion.”

Next Meeting, 3rd February 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 3^rd February 2026. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is likely only doing “basket meals”, due to ongoing problems with their cooking facilities.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Out of the Oubliette! expansion for Castle Combo (base game rules, review, how to play video; expansion review). Castle Combo is a fairly light, tile-laying type game where players combine cards to build an array. It has been very popular within the group, and we are excited to see what difference the expansion makes.

– Image from boardGOATS

And speaking of oubliettes…

Jeff had been fired… yet again. This time, he had been working as a medieval guard at a tourist attraction in Carcassonne. Problem was, he kept losing things, the latest was the key to the oubliette. Jeff was particularly aggrieved when he was given his marching orders though, as nobody could remember what was in it anyway.

Next Meeting, 20th January 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 20^th January 2026. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is likely only doing “basket meals”, due to ongoing problems with their cooking facilities.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Formaggio (rules, review & two-player tutorial video), which is the shiny new sequel to Fromage which won the Golden GOAT award just before Christmas. The game play is much the same as the original, with players simultaneously placing their Workers and gathering resources from their section of the board, before the board rotates, ageing any cheese that was made, and presenting each player with a new quadrant to place Workers on. The main difference is the scoring segments, and as such Formaggio is also an expansion to Fromage as these pieces can be swapped between the games, though we won’t be mixing them this time.

– Image from kickstarter.com

And speaking of cheese…

Jeff was driving through Germany with a truck full of sausages when another truck containing cheese pulled out in front of him. Unable to stop, Jeff swerved and clipped the second waggon, causing both to shed their load over the Autobahn. The German police described it as it a würste käse scenario…

Goats in the News: Festive Frolicking

Goats love Christmas just as much as everyone else, and can get up to just as much mischief during the festive season as at any other time. For example, shortly before Christmas this year, Billy the billy goat chased a lady around Upper Seagry near Chippenham before moving on to pinching oranges from Christmas wreathes. Eventually, the PCs Ferris and Miller deployed riot shields and a lasso to capture the miscreant, who then proceeded to try to eat the patrol car. After briefly breaking loose again, Billy was eventually recaptured and returned to its owner.

@ghrnews

Wiltshire Police have had an unusual festive call out – to an escaped goat terrorising a woman in her own garden. ‘Billy’ was charging around a street in Upper Seagry – before stopping to much on a Christmas wreath. He’s now safely back at home after an officer managed to lasso him.

♬ original sound – Greatest Hits Radio News

– From tiktok.com

In contrast, Boomer, Dingle, Tootle and Tumble, the pygmy goats from Abingdon Lock, were rewarded for their good behaviour with a special post-Christmas meal of festive foliage. While some plants are like laurel and onions are can make goats very ill, it turns out that fresh pine-needles are full of anti-oxidants and vitamins and Christmas tree bark is a really special Tree-t!

@drwoomanchu

Serving up Christmas trees as a snack! Meet the Abingdon Lock pygmy goats, Boomer, Dingle, Tootle and Tumble! 🎄🐐🥰

♬ original sound – drwoomanchu

– From tiktok.com

Next Meeting, 6th January 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 6^th January 2026. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is NOT doing food tonight, due to problems with their cooking facilities.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Taxi Derby (rules & video review) which is a “pick up and deliver” game where players are trying to take passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible without getting caught speeding.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of getting nicked by the fuzz…

A policeman saw Jeff driving incredibly slowly on the motorway, so they pulled alongside and, as they did so, they saw he was knitting. As they watched, Jeff remained focused on the road and kept knitting and driving.

The policeman in the passenger seat waved to get his attention, but Jeff was oblivious and carried on, driving and knitting.

Getting more frustrated, the policeman driving turned on his “blues and twos” and, as Jeff finally noticed, the copper in the passenger seat signalled for him to wind the window down.

After a moment or two, Jeff finally lowered the window and the incensed policeman yelled, “PULL OVER!”

“Oh, no,” Jeff replied. “It’s a scarf, see?”

Next Meeting, 23rd December 2025

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 23^rd December 2025. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. Please note, the pub is NOT DOING FOOD.

As this is likely to be a very quiet evening (aside from the live music party in the next room), we will be playing some of our favourite games from the year or maybe some of the Christmas and winter themed games like Waddle, Jokkmokk, Santa’s Workshop, Christmas Tree, Snow Tails and Gingerbread House.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of Christmas…

Jeff had run out of time to buy Christmas presents and the only gift he’d bought for Joe was a pack of very sticky playing cards. He knew he’d find that very hard to deal with…