Post Christmas Blues

Winter in St Wolfgang
First post for a month, we have been in England over Christmas which was nice. We came back on the 11th of January but then we had a bereavement in the family so we are going back on the 17th. Not a great start to 2009!! We had a little snow and I took a walk with my new camera, a Canon Ixus 80, to capture some snowy winter scenes.

6 Foot Icicles!!
On the game front not much is happening at the moment, had a few games of Army of Frogs with my sister-in-law over the festive period but that is all really. Playing a bit of Guild Wars and Settlers on the computer. When we get back this time we can start to settle down for this year and sort ourselves out. Until then.....

Happy Gaming!!

Salzburg Christmas Market and Games

 

We went to Salzburg last Tuesday to see the Christmas Market. The atmosphere was great, lovely Christmas Trees with lights everywhere the horses and carriages adding to the festive scene. Hot Gluhwein, Grostl and lots of other goodies to eat and drink. As the light faded the lights twinkled brighter and it was so nice. We got a lot presents for family and some chocolate for us (yum!).


Of course there are game shops in Salzburg so I couldn't go without just having a little look. Well, I picked up Kreta, a game I have played online quite a lot, for 10 euro. Also Thurn & Taxis, Tina likes TTR so I'm hoping she will like this one as well. I had read about Toledo in the Essen posts so snapped that up as well. Tina also saw Pingu Party, a small cardgame from Knizia, the penguins looked cute so picked that on spec. That's all my Christmas game shopping I think :)


Merry Christmas and Happy Gaming!!

Advent around the Wolfgangsee

Christmas shop in St Wolfgang
At this time of year St Wolfgang and the surrounding villages are transformed into a paradise for all lovers of Christmas. Each village has a Christmas market which is alive with people drinking gluhwein, eating grostl and generally taking in the wonderful atmosphere.

Musical Nutcrackers
The ferry boats are running and you can buy a round ticket to visit all the markets, at Strobl, St Gilgan as well as St Wolfgang. It takes about 35 minutes to St Gilgen

Stall at St Gilgen
Open fires in St Gilgen take off the chill

After an hours boat ride to the other end of the lake we arrive in Strobl.

Stalls in Strobl
In Strobl there are many wood carved figures with a lovely crypt scene in the music pavilion.

Hot gluhwein and chilly weather
Nativity scene in the music pavilion
Well, I hope that gives you a taste of Advent here in the Salzkammergut, wish you could all be here!

Happy Christmas!!!

Back from England

Been a while since my last post, had some family things to do so have been away a bit longer than we thought. When we got back there was snow laying around so and it was a bit colder than Gatwick when we left. While we was in England we went in a Lakeland store to buy some Christmas presents and I saw they were selling Army of Frogs....
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31449
....great I thought, I already have hive so that would a good addition to my collection. We played it a couple of times and it's a nice little game with a bit to it. Nice for non-gamers too, ie my sister-in-law. Now we are back in St. Wolfgang and the Advent Markets are in full swing, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The village is transformed with open fires, Christmas trees and candles, little huts everywhere selling gluwein, grostl, krapfen, handicrafts, wine, cheese and loads of other stuff. I will try and get some pics before we go back to the UK.......Oh! yes we are flying back on the 17th December to spend Christmas back in the UK. I will try and get a few posts in before that.

Happy Gaming!!!

A Successful Games Evening

Well, I think that our first gaming session with Pauline and Stephen was a great success. We may have two more converts to the world of Eurogaming. Yesterday they made a trip into Salzburg and visited the gaming stores I had told them about and bought a bunch of games including, Ticket to Ride, Ticket to Ride Marklin and Carcassonne A New World. We have another session planned at their place next monday, with Ticket to Ride Europe and Settlers of Catan on table. Looking forward to it!!!

Happy Gaming!!

Ticket To Ride gains 2 more converts

 

Our friends Stephen and Pauline came round this evening for a few drinks, nibbles and of course a game or two. They had never played anything like a eurogame so out came TtR, the definitive gateway game. I showed them a few of the games I thought might be suitable for a first time play, Thebes, Settlers of Catan and of course TtR. We decided to give TtR a try and they liked it I think right from the start, the rules are easy to get to grips with so you can start playing pretty much straight from the off. I explained that in the later stages of the game it might be good to take more tickets because you might already have the connection or part at least. Stephen went a different way, after connecting his initial routes he went for all the 6 train routes, scoring a hefty 15 points a pop.
In the end it was pretty close, Stephen closed out his last 6er to leave him with 1 train and me one route short of making two tickets and a large minus. Pauline had the longest route to get the extra 10 points, so the final scores ended like this.

Final Score
Stephen 89, Colin 83, Pauline 81, Tina 80

After TtR I brought out Reiner Knizia's Spiel des Jahres winner, Keltis. This didn't go down so well, quote from Stephen 'tame'. Plus the fact that I forget a crucial rule that the game ends when the last card is taken from the face down deck....ah well, you can't win em all.

Final Score
Pauline 37, Tina 20, Stephen 18, Colin 14

As the time was getting on now I thought we could finish the evening with a little card filler, Geschenkt (No Thanks!). Rules are easy, plays quick and has a bit to it. I think they quite liked this as well, Pauline was definitely on a roll now, just look at the scores for this one.

Final Scores
Game 1 - Pauline 51, Tina 55, Colin 61, Stephen 74

Game 2 - Pauline 59, Stephen 66, Tina 84, Colin 92

Game 3 - Pauline 49, Tina 65, Colin 66, Stephen 99

Game 3 - Tina 36, Pauline 55, Colin 62, Stephen 87

All in all a good evening I think, well, Pauline and Stephen wanted to know where they could buy TtR and took down some names of other likely games. Hopefully 2 more converts the great world of Eurogaming. Can't wait to play again.

Happy Gaming!!

Thebes and Things

So after reading the rules and having a solo run through I finally persuaded the wife to give it a go. I had been reading on BGG how it played 2 player and quite a few couples found it an entertaining game. No such luck, Tina found it quite boring and said what have I got to do with all these cards, well that was her first impression. I know most of the time she only plays to humour me as I have no other opponents at hand. It got better as the game played out, she liked the drawing of artifacts out of the bag, and she laughed a lot when I drew a load of rubble!!
In the end she said it was OK, and she even beat me by 2 points. I think she liked Settlers better, I know Settlers is an old game but it's easy to get into and if she likes it...it's fine with me, I'll play.
Well, Essen is almost over for another year, I didn't go, but I have been reading lots of reports, lists of what people bought and so on. Kulkmann's report is always a great read (and he has prizes), of course loads of stuff on BGG. I also found 'Obsessing about Everything' by Melissa, a good read but I don't understand all this OMG stuff, I expect it's an American thing.


Here is another misty autumn picture of St. Wolfgang for you. Our English friends are back over here for 12 days and we have actually arranged a gaming evening for next Tuesday. They seem quite interested in my game collection, but I don't think they have played anything resembling a Euro game before. I think I have a gateway game or 2 that I can tempt them with....here's hoping anyway!!

Happy Gaming!!