Everyday Life in Victorian England

I was perusing a city thrift store when I came across a book entitled The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England From 1811-1901.

From the blurb on the back:

In this timesaving reference book, respected author and historian Kristine Hughes brings 19th century England to life as she leads you through the details that characterize this fascinating era. From slice-of-life facts, anecdotes and firsthand accounts, to sweeping timelines and major historical events, this guide presents the delightful and often surprising daily realities of Regency and Victorian England. With it, you'll craft a vibrant story as you learn:

• What people ate, from pigeon pie and turtle dinners to syllabub and milk punch.
• Where a prisoner would go if he were remanded to the "hulks".
• The four coats a gentleman must have in his wardrobe, and other fashion requirements of the era.
• The rules honored by decent society, from the proper way to promenade to the polite hours to "call".
• How couples married and divorced, through churching, wife-selling and other practices.
• What people did for work, from cottagers and climbing boys to milkmaids and manservants.
• The meaning of common slang words like mawleys and moleskins.
• What Cook's Tours were like and where they could take the adventurous.
• Trends in entertainment, such as dandies, panoramas and more.

I've been fascinated with the 19th century for some time now so naturally I immediately bought the book. My interest in this era probably began through the reading of military history. Britain was involved in many conflicts during this period; most notably the Napoleonic Wars, the First and Second Afghan Wars, the Crimean War, the First and Second Sikh Wars, the Indian Mutiny, the Zulu War and the First and Second Boer Wars.

I'm also interested in genealogy and am currently in the slow and often disrupted process of tracing my ancestry. I have traced some of my English ancestors back to the early 19th century. To me, tracing my ancestors is more than just noting down dates from birth, death and wedding certificates, it's about understanding the times in which they lived. This book will be just another piece in the puzzle of building a picture of their environment at that time.

Solitaire Carcassonne

The other day I came across this thread on BoardGameGeek on a suggested way to play solitaire Carcassonne. Today at work during my lunch time I decided to try it out. I separated a random selection of original Carcassonne tiles and also the Inns & Cathedrals tiles into four piles of 19 tiles. I played the game over four rounds using the original starting tile each round plus one of the 19 tile piles for a total of 20 tiles each round. Each round, using only 4 meeple, I tried to score the highest points I could.

Round 1: 28
Round 2: 56
Round 3: 15
Round 4: 63
Total: 162 points

It took me about 30 minutes from set-up to to the game end. Although it was a pleasant diversion it didn't compare to playing against live opponents.

Under a Blood Red Moon

At exactly 8.37pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time) the Sun, Earth and Moon were in exact alignment causing a total lunar eclipse, also known as a "blood moon". It was the first total lunar eclipse to be seen from start to finish in the city's skies since July 2000. The next blood moon will not be visible until 11.45pm on December 10, 2011.

I managed to get a couple of photos of the eclipse before the moon became too dark to properly photograph.

Gaming With Grandma - 29

My Mum (Grandma to our kids) came over for her regular Saturday morning visit. After a cup of tea and a chat we sat down to a game of Scrabble.

I went first after drawing a W to Mum's X.

Turn 1 [Me] SMEARER 68, [Mum] FINGE(R) 20
Turn 2 [Me] (F)OOTY 22, [Mum] GA(Y) 21
Turn 3 [Me] JA(M)BS 34, [Mum] F(E)/F(E)Z 20
Turn 4 [Me] LO(O)N 10, [Mum] (R)UNT 5
Turn 5 [Me] (T)REY 14, [Mum] DARN(S) 10
Turn 6 [Me] (Y)EW 18, [Mum] PLAI(D) 14
Turn 7 [Me] ROUTErS/(YEW)S 70, [Mum] Q(I) 11
Turn 8 [Me] HO(U)R 33, [Mum] (R)IVEN 16
Turn 9 [Me] (D)RIVEN 10, [Mum] (J)UMP 15
Turn 10 [Me] HOTE(L) 24, [Mum] (H)ILT 8
Turn 11 [Me] (W)AX 26, [Mum] SI(X) 10
Turn 12 [Me] (D)I(B)/(S)I(N) 9, [Mum] DI(R)T 5
Turn 13 [Me] NEA(T) 4, [Mum] CLU(E) 8
Turn 14 [Me] EO(N) 6, [Mum] (P)EG 6
Turn 15 [Me] WAnE/n(EON) 33, [Mum] DIK(E) 18
Turn 16 [Me] (T)A 4, [Mum] B(E) 4
Turn 17 [Me] (N)O 4, [Mum] Pass
Turn 18 [Me] I(D) 3,

Mum was left with C & V for minus 7 points. This was an exciting game with me getting 2 bingos in the one game (a first for me). The first bingo was on my very first turn when I was extremely pleased to find in my initial rack the word SMEARER. My second bingo came on turn 7 when I put down the word ROUTERS with the help of a blank. Probably the most obscure words I played were FOOTY (paltry), JAMBS (plural of jamb, i.e. the vertical portion of the frame onto which a door is secured), LOON (a diving waterfowl), TREY (a three in cards, dice or dominoes), ROUTERS (pluralised form of a scooping tool), DIB (to fish by letting the bait bob lightly on the water) and ID (a part of the psyche). Final scores were [Me] 392 and [Mum] 184. I averaged 21.78 points per turn which is another personal best.

After that, Maddie (6) joined Grandma and I for a game of Der Plumpsack Geht Um (AKA Sherlock). It's a memory game where players must memorise the cards on the table which are then turned over. The player to your left places the plumpsack card next to one of the face down cards and you must guess what item is on that card. If you guess correctly the plumpsack is then placed next to a face down card as per the instructions on the just-guessed card. For example, there will be an arrow pointing left or right and a number stating how many cards away in that direction. Your turn continues until you fail to guess correctly. If you keep guessing correctly you will eventually be directed back to a face up card you had previously guessed. You then take that card as a point and another card is put in its place from the draw deck. The play continues with the player on your left. Games are normally played with the winner being the first player to achieve a certain number of points.

We played one game with 6 cards with the winner being the first player to get 3 points. I came first with 3 points and neither Grandma or Maddie scoring a single point.

Gaming With Grandma - 28

My Mum (Grandma), my daughter Maddie (6) and I got together for some games this morning after a two week break.

First up, Mum and I sat down to a game of Scrabble.

I went first after drawing a D to Mum's L.

Turn 1 [Me] HOT 12, [Mum] (H)OT 6
Turn 2 [Me] YE(T) 14, [Mum] NOIS(Y) 10
Turn 3 [Me] (O)X/(O)X 34, [Mum] PU(T) 11
Turn 4 [Me] NI(P) 5, [Mum] CA(N) 8
Turn 5 [Me] GI(N) 4, [Mum] (G)ROG 7
Turn 6 [Me] (HOT)EL 9, [Mum] (E)D/D(E)AN 8
Turn 7 [Me] (C)ROUPY 26, [Mum] (HOTEL)iER 30
Turn 8 [Me] HEA(P) 13, [Mum] (HEAP)ED 12
Turn 9 [Me] (H)INT 21, [Mum] (D)EW 15
Turn 10 [Me] TO(i)L 5, [Mum] (W)AD 7
Turn 11 [Me] BI(D)S 30, [Mum] (I)F 9
Turn 12 [Me] MAG(I) 14, [Mum] LI(M)E 12
Turn 13 [Me] (DEAN)S 12, [Mum] KIN(G) 10
Turn 14 [Me] JO(K)E 45, [Mum] (S)ELF 7
Turn 15 [Me] BE(GIN) 14, [Mum] CA(B) 7
Turn 16 [Me] (L)IVE 14, [Mum] M(E)N/(A)N 13
Turn 17 [Me] QuART/A(MEN) 75, [Mum] S(LIME)/S(CAB) 15
Turn 18 [Me] VOT(E)D 34, [Mum] R(O)W 6
Turn 19 [Me] (QuART)ER 15, [Mum] A(N) 4
Turn 20 [Me] (I)F 7,

Mum was left with Z,U,U and A for minus 13 points. Probably the most obscure words I played were CROUPY (affected with croup, a disease of the throat) and MAGI (plural of Magus, i.e. magician). I was pleased to see Mum get IER on to the end of HOTEL to score HOTELIER on a triple word score. Also impressed with her turning CAB and LIME into SCAB and SLIME with a single S on the same turn. Unfortunately she only scored 15 for that placement but it was a cool move nonetheless.

I was very happy to put QUART down, scoring both with the Q on a double letter square and the word on a triple word square and also simultaneously scoring the word AMEN. I scored 75 points for that combination which is my highest ever single turn score since playing Scrabble. I also scored a personal best final score in this game, finally cracking the 400 point score. Final scores were [Me] 403 and [Mum] 184. I averaged 20.15 points per turn.

After that, Maddie (6) joined Grandma and I for a game of Fraidy Cats. This is always a fun game to play with kids. There is always that tension as Mugs the dog careens around the board. We played two games. Game 1 - 1st Grandma, 2nd Maddie and 3rd Me. Game 2 - 1st Me, 2nd Grandma and 3rd Maddie.

Racetrack

I was perusing BoardGameGeek recently when I came across a GeekList entitled 'How Bolide save my life..... or your favorite games that you can play with pen and paper to keep yourself from going mad!' Bolide is a racing game which uses no cards or dice to move the cars, rather it uses a revolutionary mechanism able to reproduce the real accelerations, decelerations and inertial movements of the cars during the races. I really enjoy racing games and Bolide had been on my radar for a while but I'd never really done much research on it. So, curious, I checked out this GeekList.

Now, as GeekLists go, this one was unfortunately pretty spartan. It only had the single game entry for Bolide to explain how the user, TGov, had used the rules, sheets of graph paper and a pen to play the game during a particularly boring work conference. What really interested me was that he mentioned the mechanics were based on an earlier public domain paper and pencil game called Racetrack. I love it when GeekLists such as this alert me to cool games of which I was previously unaware.

The Wikipedia site for Racetrack states "Racetrack is a paper and pencil game of unknown origins, played by two or more players. It is also known under names such as Vector Formula, Vector rally or Vector race, or Graph racers, PolyRace, Paper and pencil racing, or the Graph paper race game. Racetrack is played on a squared sheet of paper ("quad pad", e.g. Letter preprinted with a 1/4" square grid, or A4 with a 5 mm square grid). The game simulates a car race. As the cars have a certain inertia, one must e.g. slow down before a dangerous bent in the track. Thus, the game requires foresight and planning for successful play."

I'm always interested in games that can be played with paper and pencil. There was also a link to a Java-based game called Vector Racer. I went to this site and played the game. I soon got a feel for the rules and was amazed out how elegantly this game mimicked the inertia of race cars. It really promotes gaining the 'racing line' just like in real car races. Click on the link and check it out for yourself.

So at lunchtime today I played a solitaire game of Racetrack. I made up a track (see below) and used three different coloured pens (blue, red and black) to represent the three race cars. I tried to win with each car but used slightly different tactics with each one. I tried not to think too far ahead and tried to play fairly quickly. It was quite fun and I crashed a few times.

Although I suspect there may be a runaway leader problem to this game (as there can be in real life races), I think the mechanics model the movement of race cars very well. I've been looking for a suitable set of rules to use for racing my Star Wars podracers. I think I'll play around with the Racetrack rules a little.

My Replacement Battlelore Dice Arrive

My replacement Battlelore dice arrived in Australia this morning, exactly 1 week after Days of Wonder confirmed they had sent them. That's great service.

Battlelore Replacement Dice Update

A day after I ordered my replacement Battlelore dice from the Days of Wonder site I received the following email.

We are pleased to inform you that your Days of Wonder order ##### was shipped on 08/06/2007. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any problem with your package. We shall be happy to assist you. Again, we thank you for your order, and hope you will enjoy our games.
Best regards
The Days of Wonder team

Days of Wonder are renowned for their great customer service and this is another example. It's not the fact that they must have packed and posted my replacement dice within 24 hours of receiving my order (I may have been just lucky that it coincided with their weekly shipment), no, it's that they promised to send me an e-mail when my dice were shipped and they did.

Compare this to an earlier experience I had with Mayfair Games. On that occasion I emailed Mayfair to request them to replace a missing piece from my new copy of The Downfall of Pompeii. Although I received a standard automatic response within 90 minutes stating that they would send me an e-mail when my order was shipped, I heard nothing until a month later when the replacement piece turned up in my mail box. Now for that entire month, as I had not received my promised e-mail, I was wondering when, or even if, I would receive my missing piece.

It may only seem like a minor difference in my two experiences, but those experiences do affect customers, either positively or negatively. Hey, I'm blogging about them for goodness sake. The lesson for those in business is very clear - communication, and managing a customer's expectations is vitally important.

Ordered Replacement Battlelore Dice

Back in a post on 29 December 2006 I wrote about the problem Days of Wonder had identified with their first production run of Battlelore dice. Although I took the precaution of spraying my dice with a protective coat of laquer, I wasn't that satisfied with their quality straight out of the box. Unfortunately, for various reasons, I haven't had the opportunity to play Battlelore as much as I'd hoped this year, so haven't experienced the wearing of the dice to the extent that other people have. Due to the initial lack of quality of the dice, I'd always had the intention of taking Days of Wonder up on their offer to replace them, however, I thought I'd wait until the hubbub over the issue had died down.

Well, today I ordered my replacement Battlelore dice. It was very simple. My copy of the game had the relevent Battlelore Web Card access code commencing with BL-10 so I was eligible for the offer. I just went to the site and input my details.

This is the message I received:

Order Confirmation
Thank you for your order. Your order reference is:
#####
You will receive an e-mail when your replacement dice are shipped. Shipment occurs once a week. Dice are shipped via regular mail, so it will take several days to reach you - up to several weeks if you are located outside US, France or Germany. There is no use to contact us: as these shipments are not tracked, we would not be able to give you any useful information beyond "Yes it shipped, check your mail and wait". Thank you for your patience and your understanding.

Gaming With Grandma - 27

My Mum (Grandma) visited today for her regular Saturday morning catch-up and gaming session. The third member of our gaming group, my 6 year old daughter Maddie, was out with Deb visiting a school fete. That left me, 18 month old Georgia and Grandma alone at home. Georgie soon went down for a nap which left Grandma and I ready to game.

Our first game was Scrabble. Mum's been practicing Scrabble with a neighbour of hers and I've seen her game improve since doing so. However, I keep telling her she often throws away her blanks and S's for too few points.

Mum went first after drawing an A to my T.

Turn 1 [Mum] DENT 10, [Me] RA(N)CH 20
Turn 2 [Mum] (H)EW 9, [Me] B(RANCH) 13
Turn 3 [Mum] (B)IN 10, [Me] ZOOS/(HEW)S 34
Turn 4 [Mum] H(I) 5, [Me] (W)AVY 26
Turn 5 [Mum] (BIN)D 7, [Me] (H)I/I(N) 14
Turn 6 [Mum] G(Y)M 18, [Me] OILE(D) 7
Turn 7 [Mum] (M)IX 12, [Me] TRA(IN) 5
Turn 8 [Mum] SE(X)ES 39, [Me] N(O)N 3
Turn 9 [Mum] (O)PT 15, [Me] AL(L) 5
Turn 10 [Mum] (T)INT 12, [Me] FORD/F(ALL) 15
Turn 11 [Mum] KI(D) 13, [Me] (BRANCH)ES 15
Turn 12 [Mum] (N)AVE 14, [Me] (FORD)ED 22
Turn 13 [Mum] BA(D) 6, [Me] (A)WE 12
Turn 14 [Mum] (E)GG, [Me] QUI(E)T 28
Turn 15 [Mum] (T)AR 3, [Me] (Q)Is 33
Turn 16 [Mum] (R)AFT 21, [Me] (G)ONE 6
Turn 17 [Mum] (T)ROUt 4, [Me] PU(N) 6
Turn 18 [Mum] JI(N) 11, [Me] (E)LM 8
Turn 19 [Mum] LOC(K) 11, [Me] (J)A(P)E 15
Turn 20 [Mum] (S)O 1, [Me] Y(A) 15
Turn 21 [Mum] (O)R 2,

Mum ended the game by playing her last tile. I was left with an E and a U for minus 2 points from my final score.

Probably the most obscure words I played were QIS (plural form of a Chinese 'life force'), JAPE (to mock) and YA (you). Mum got the highest scoring word with SEXES for 39 points. However, I felt she threw away a blank on TROUT for only 4 points.

Final scores were me on 300 points and Mum on 232 points. I averaged exactly 15 points per turn which I'm fairly happy with. Anytime I score in the 300's is also very satisfying.

As we had some time left before Mum had to leave, I suggested Lost Cities. I haven't played Lost Cities since the 23rd of September 2006 so it was certainly overdue for a play. We always play 3 rounds as suggested in the rules. It turned out to be a very exciting and close game.

Round 1: Mum 27 - Me 72

Round 2: Mum 120 - Me 70

At the end of round 2 Mum was sitting on 147 points and I was on 142 points. The 3rd round would decide it.

Round 3: Mum 17 - Me 22

Total: Mum 164 - Me 164.

Yep, our points were tied! I carefully checked the rules to see if there was a tiebreak but there wasn't. We were both happy to call it a draw.

Some new (2nd hand) games

I arrived home from work this evening to find my wife had a little surprise for me. She'd stopped by a jumble sale (I think it was at a church somewhere) and picked me up some games. Deb knows to always look out for games and books for me when she's out and about. I'm even fine if she picks up games that are incomplete because I always have the option of using the components for other games.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted Speed Circuit. This is a game I've been after for quite some time. It appears occasionally on Australian eBay and I've bid on a few but they've always gone for more than I was willing to play. Here was a complete copy of the 1971 3M version in excellent condition.

There is also a later Avalon Hill version with slightly modified rules and lesser quality components but this was the original 3M version with the double-sided plastic mounted map board which folds around the internal cardboard box that holds the components. I also couldn't believe it when Deb told me what she'd paid for it - $3.00!

It had all the original components - the rules, plastic-coated score sheet and holder, cards, nifty circular speed trackers, 6 painted metal cars and even the original crayon. I was so excited. Speed Circuit is probably the classic formula 1 racing game. There is no luck involved - it all comes down to the skill of the players in designing a car and making choices throughout the race.

The two other games were Seejeh, an abstract game of capturing your opponent's pieces by first placing your pieces and then moving them strategically, and Trippples, another abstract game where you are attempting to move your piece to a spot on the board but your move options are determined not by the three arrows on the tile under your (transparent) game piece, but by those under your opponent's piece. Deb had paid $1.00 for Seejeh and $2.00 for Trippples. Unfortunately, they were both missing a couple of playing pieces. Ah well, I guess I can't complain... :-)

Gaming With Grandma - 26

Another episode of my regular Saturday morning gaming group consisting of my mother (Grandma to our kids), my daughter Maddie, aged 6, and myself.

First up was Madeline which was selected by Madeline (Maddie). This is basically a memory game with a fair dose of luck where players move around a board representing the city of Paris searching for the 5 lost puppies of Madeline's dog, Genevieve. Maddie and I shared the win finding 2 puppies each. Grandma came 2nd with 1 puppy.

We then moved on to another of Maddie's requests - Tumblin' Monkeys. It's a Ker-Plunk rip-off with little plastic monkeys instead of marbles. I think I enjoy it slightly more than Ker-Plunk (which isn't saying much) because the monkeys will hang on the sticks and you can sometimes slide them off onto other sticks when you pull a stick out. The winner is the player with the least monkeys at the end of the game. I won with 3, Grandma came 2nd with 12 and Maddie came 3rd with 15.

18 month old Georgia peeks out from behind a chair in the background

Next up was another kid's game - the Snail Game. I loaded this game on BoardGameGeek and apparently I'm the only person who owns the game out of all the people registered. This would have to be one of my earliest memories of playing a board game. My grandmother bought it for my brother and I in the early 70's. Players lay card tiles on a track on a board of coloured (red, yellow, green & blue) squares. Whether you may lay a tile or not depends on background colours of the tiles and the relationship of other similar tiles already on the board. The winner is the player with the least number of tiles at the end.

Apologies for the blurry photo

Maddie then left to watch some episodes of Futurama on DVD while my Mum and I sat down for a game of Scrabble.

I went first after drawing a D to Mum's I.

Turn 1 [Me] FEE 12, [Mum] (FEE)D 8
Turn 2 [Me] NOD(E), [Mum] (D)AB 12
Turn 3 [Me] EL(F) 7, [Mum] (N)O 2
Turn 4 [Me] (FEED)ING 13, [Mum] (NO)ISE 10
Turn 5 [Me] (P)E(N) 5, [Mum] FIV(E) 18
Turn 6 [Me] QU(I)Z 44, [Mum] (G)OAD 7
Turn 7 [Me] (N)OR 5, [Mum] T(R)AM 18
Turn 8 [Me] CA(B) 7, [Mum] (O)X/(O)X 50
Turn 9 [Me] (Q)I 11, [Mum] (O)PEN 12
Turn 10 [Me] (A)WE 14, [Mum] (O)IL 3
Turn 11 [Me] PA(L) 15, [Mum] HEL(P) 13
Turn 12 [Me] (QUIZ)zES 24, [Mum] (C)RAG 8
Turn 13 [Me] BOaTIN(G) 20, [Mum] (CRAG)S 8
Turn 14 [Me] (S)EW 14, [Mum] (B)IN 10
Turn 15 [Me] TOOT(S) 7, [Mum] E(N)SUE 18
Turn 16 [Me] (T)RY 10, [Mum] DE(W) 7
Turn 17 [Me] (D)AM 12, [Mum] T(O)N 4
Turn 18 [Me] (M)ACK 17, [Mum] (A)IR 6
Turn 19 [Me] (K)ITE 24, [Mum] H(I) 5
Turn 20 [Me] (H)U(P)/U(S) 20, [Mum] JA(R) 10
Turn 21 [Me] (DEW)Y 11, [Mum] (R)U(T) 6



I was left with a V and G for minus 6 points and Mum was left with R,R,L for minus 3 points.
Probably the most obscure words I played were QI (Chinese 'life force'), MACK (wet weather gear i.e. Mackintosh), and HUP (a cadence marker). I was pleased to see Mum get the top-scoring word of the game with the 50 point skillful placing of a single X to form OX twice and score a double word score both ways. Final scores were [Me] 293 and [Mum] 232. I averaged 13.95 points per turn.

Gaming With Grandma - 25

My Mum (Grandma to our kids) was ill last week so we didn't get a chance to play any games together. This week, however, she was feeling a bit better so popped around for her usual Saturday morning visit.

My wife, Deb, had visited a few garage sales in the neighbourhood this morning and had brought me home a new shrinkwrapped copy of Tri-Ominos which she'd bought for $1.00. Mum and I decided to sit down and try it out.

Apparently it's similar to dominoes (which I've never played), but this time the pieces are triangles instead of rectangles. Each triangle has 3 numbers at the points, so to place a piece next to it, it must match two numbers on the side. There are bonus points for completing a hexagon or making a bridge between two rows. It's not a bad little abstract and would be good for teaching kids to look for patterns. Instead of playing to 400 points we decided to only play until the first person reached 200 points. I won 326 to 166 which took two rounds.

Gaming With Grandma - 24

Another Saturday morning gaming with my Mum (Grandma to our kids). Deb was helping Maddie clean her room so that gave me a chance to play a game of Scrabble with Mum.

I went first after drawing a G to Mum's H.

Turn 1 [Me] DIVE 16, [Mum] BOL(D) 14
Turn 2 [Me] T(O)Y 14, [Mum] (I)mP 10
Turn 3 [Me] (BEA(T)/A(B) 16, [Mum] HIR(E) 11
Turn 4 [Me] O(V)A/(M)A 10, [Mum] (H)OT 6
Turn 5 [Me] (MA)G/(E)GG 8, [Mum] (G)IN 6
Turn 6 [Me] (HOT)eL 21, [Mum] (HOTeL)S 8
Turn 7 [Me] PA(R)/A(B) 18, [Mum] (S)UN 4
Turn 8 [Me] (ImP)I 5, [Mum] TA(P) 10
Turn 9 [Me] I(T) 6, [Mum] (U)RN 5
Turn 10 [Me] (N)AIL 4, [Mum] VA(I)L 11
Turn 11 [Me] Z(I)N 24, [Mum] (V)ETS 21
Turn 12 [Me] (NAIL)ED 9, [Mum] HO(T) 14
Turn 13 [Me] (N)O/OUNCE 16, [Mum] (D)IRT 6
Turn 14 [Me] (Z)AG 13, [Mum] FE(E) 18
Turn 15 [Me] JOIN(T) 24, [Mum] W(I)RE 7
Turn 16 [Me] QU(E)ER 45, [Mum] (FEE)S 8
Turn 17 [Me] (T)O 4, [Mum] (TO)N 3
Turn 18 [Me] (AB)A 5, [Mum] (ZAG)S/S(HOT) 21
Turn 19 [Me] LE(A) 3, [Mum] (L)YRE 21
Turn 20 [Me] (E)XAM 16, [Mum] F(A)D 13
Turn 21 [Me] (M)E/(D)EW 11, [Mum] pass
Turn 22 [Me] (H)I 5 [Mum] (ME)D 6
Turn 23 [Me] pass [Mum] pass

I was left with a C for minus 3 points and Mum was left with an M, K & U for minus 9 points. It was a strange game with my early to mid-game being deluged with vowels and from the mid to end game being constrained by places to put down words. Final scores were [Me] 290 and [Mum] 214. I averaged 12.61 points per turn.

Probably the most obscure words I played were IMPI (a group of warriors - ie Zulus), AB (abdomen), ZIN (a dry red wine), ABA (a sleeveless Arab garment), LEA (a meadow), and OVA (plural of ovum).

Maddie then joined Grandma and I for a game of The Simpsons Slam Dunk Card Game. I picked this up at Toyworld in the Myer Centre in Brisbane for only $2.50. Even more surprisingly is it's designed by the famous Reiner Knizia (previously published as It's Mine!).

Slam Dunk is simple - watch the cards the dealer lays down. When you like what you see, hit the "Slam Dunk!" board and grab them all. The catch? Somebody else may want the same cards you do. The first one to slam the board claims the cards. Most cards are good, but some aren't. "Double or Nothing" cards only count if you claim a pair of them. "Toast or Most" cards only score if you have the most of them, and "Jackpot" cards score jackpot points depending on how many you get.

We played one hand with me 1st on 47 points, Maddie 2nd on 40 points and Grandma 3rd on 37 points.

Gaming With Grandma - 23

On Saturday my Mum (Grandma to our kids), Maddie (my daughter who has just turned 6) and myself got together for our weekly gaming session.

First up was Piranha which Maddie selected. Another gorgeous Ravensburger game with all the quality components for which they are well known. It's a dexterity game where you try and hang your piranhas off either the hat or other piranhas. The trick is that there can only be one of each colour piranha hanging off the hat and you can never have a piranha hanging from a piranha of the same colour. It's a fun game which is made even harder when the hat starts to spin. If any piranhas fall into the water on your turn you take them. The person who successfully places their last piranha wins.

It was a close game with Grandma and I neck and neck for most of the time. She ended up winning with me left with only one piranha and Maddie left with, well, the rest of them...

Maddie attempts to place her piranha...

Our next game was also picked by Maddie - Bratz Passion for Fashion. Can you hear the sound of my teeth gritting together? I was Yasmin. 'Nuff said the better. Oh yeah, I won! Take that Cloe and Sasha! Go girl!

Maddie turns the circular wardrobe. Will she find those stylish boots to wear to the party?

Last but not least was my choice - No Thanks! (AKA Geschenkt). This was the first time Grandma or Maddie had played it and I wasn't sure if Maddie would understand the play. No Thanks! is rated for ages 8 and up and Maddie's just turned 6.

In this game each player has 11 chips. There is a deck cards valued in ascending order from 3 to 35. 9 cards are randomly removed (without looking at them) after shuffling so none of the players know for sure what cards the deck holds. On a turn the top card is turned over and players make a choice either to take the card or pass by placing a chip next to the card. The person who takes the card also takes any chips sitting with it. The aim of the game is to have the lowest score when all cards have been taken. Cards are scored at their face value. The trick is that runs of consecutive cards are only scored as the lowest valued card. For example if I had the 23, 24 & 25 I only score the lowest of the run which would be 23 points. Any chips a player has left at the end of the game take a further 1 point each off their final score.

Maddie didn't really understand and she ended up just taking a lot of cards without really knowing what she was doing. Grandma got it pretty quickly and enjoyed it. Three players doesn't really do the game justice though. I ended up winning with 8 points, Grandma came 2nd with 48 points and Maddie came a distant 3rd with, well, lots and lots of points.

The Z-Man Games version of No Thanks!

Service From Mayfair Games

You may remember last month I bought The Downfall of Pompeii by Mayfair Games. It's a great game and I'm very happy with it. Unfortunately, it was missing one yellow playing piece.

I sent an email to Mayfair Games explaining the problem on 19 May 2007. Within an hour an a half I had a standard response back from their customer service. This is what it said:

Thank you for contacting Mayfair Games customer service. You will receive an e mail when your request is being processed. We look forward to serving you, thank you for your patience while we process your request. Requests are processed in the order they were received.

I then heard nothing until I received the solitary missing piece in the mail yesterday on 18 June 2007. While I would have appreciated a quick email as they'd promised to let me know when my request was processed I was happy to receive the missing piece. I guess a month is not too bad considering I'm in Australia.

So a thumbs up to Mayfair Games for replacing the missing piece.

Gaming With Grandma - 22

My Mum (Grandma) changed her visiting day to Sunday due to Maddie having a birthday party with some school friends at a local rollerskating rink on Saturday. One of Maddie's friends gave her the board game Fairyland Adventure as a present and Maddie was eager to try it out this morning.

Fairyland Adventure is a children's roll and move game where the players (fairies) are searching for items in the forest to enable them to gain a magical ring which will then allow them to travel to the Castle Clouds to locate an invitation into Fairyland. I must admit that while I found the game play boring the board and bits were beautiful. The game is based on based on Shirley Barber's Fairies books.

Some of the beautiful artwork on the board with coloured plastic gem playing pieces

Maddie displaying one of the magic rings players may wear

I was the first fairy to enter Fairyland with Maddie and Grandma coming 2nd and 3rd respectively.

I chose the next game. Coloretto was part of a recent gaming purchase and this was my first opportunity to get it on the table. I've played Coloretto once before and my records indicate that was back on 22 February 2006.

It's a quick fun game where the choice is either to play a card from the face down deck and play it to a row of cards on the table or take a row of cards that is already on the table. It's a set collection game where you try and score points in three colours only because cards of other colours will score against you.

I quite enjoyed this game. I was 1st on 49, Maddie was 2nd on 41 and Grandma was 3rd on 37.

Gaming With Grandma - 21

My Mum (Grandma), my daughter (Maddie), and I sat down to our weekly Saturday morning gaming session. We chose to sit inside at the dining room table as the first really chilly day of winter has arrived and it was too cold and windy on the deck.

Our first game was Loco! by Reiner Knizia. This was one of the new games that arrived yesterday as the final part of my recent game order. Loco! is amazingly simple; play a card and then take a chip. This would be an ideal game to play with people who are new to games.

The coloured chips are placed in piles in the middle of the table. There are five matching coloured suits of six cards ranging in value from 0 (Loco!) to 5. As there were three players we discarded three cards face down. Not knowing which cards are missing adds a bit of unknown to the game. The remaining cards were dealt evenly between the three of us.

On your turn you place a card in front of the matching pile of coloured chips. You then take a chip from any pile. Play passes to the left with the next player placing a card in front of a matching pile of coloured chips and then taking a chip from any pile. Cards are added on top of any matching coloured cards already on the table so that you can see what values have previously been played. As soon as six cards of any colour are laid down the game ends.

Scoring is based on the values of the colours of the chips you've taken. The value of a coloured chip is determined by the value of the uppermost matching coloured card. So for example, if you have two red chips and the top red card is a 3 then you've scored 6 points for your two red chips.

There is a tension as you can see the end of the game approaching and you're waiting to lay your value 5 card on the colour that you've got the most chips of. There is also the fun of throwing a Loco! (0 point) card on the colour that your opponents have the most chips of just before the end. We found Loco! to be lots of fun.

We decided to play three games and the person who had the most points at the end was the overall winner.

Game 1: 1st Me 26, 2nd Grandma 24, 3rd Maddie 20
Game 2: 1st Maddie 29, 2nd Grandma and Me 28 each
Game 3: 1st Me 38, 2nd Grandma 37, 3rd Maddie 30

So the overall winner was me on 92 points, Grandma 2nd on 89 points and Maddie 3rd on 79 points.


Maddie then chose Elefant Hunt as our next game. This is an insert game from a Dragon Magazine I'd purchased back in August 1984 when I was into Dungeons & Dragons. Elefant Hunt is a roll and move game where you organise a group of hunters to go on safari to capture animals. As you move around the board you land on Elefant squares which determine the number of animal chits you may draw from a cup. You then use the value of your hunters along with the roll of a 6-sided die to try to equal or exceed the value of the specific animal you are attempting to capture. You then sell the captured animals at the ports getting their value as points. First person to 100 points wins.

This is a game all about managing resources. You randomly select a team of hunters of varying skills and then must gather enough supplies to last until you return to either port city. As movement is only in one direction you must ensure you have enough supplies otherwise your hunters will leave. Along the way you also encounter rivers, swamps, quicksand, lost cities, and elefant graveyards which can all affect your resources in one way or another. There is also a huge element of luck involved.

My initial strategy was to load up on supplies and hunters before leaving the port. Grandma and Maddie left port before me on their safaris but soon found they were running short on supplies. Maddie experienced a lot of bad rolls in this game. She handled her bad luck quite well which is a sign she's maturing as a gamer. Maddie will be six years old in a couple of weeks and her reading skills are improving daily. When she is able to read it will open up a whole lot of new games for us to play.

Final scores were me 1st on 100, Grandma 2nd on 63 and Maddie 3rd on 8.

Another Parcel Arrives

A parcel arrived for me today. It was the final part of the games order I'd placed last month. There were three card games and an expansion.

No Thanks! - AKA Geschenkt is a simple yet fun card game.

Coloretto - Another fun, quick card game.

Loco! - AKA Flinke Pinke this simple card game is by Reiner Knizia.

BattleLore: Call to Arms - An expansion for BattleLore which allows personalised deployment of troops.

Gaming With Grandma - 20

My Mum (Grandma to our kids) came over for a visit this morning. First game we played today was The Downfall of Pompeii. Maddie (5 yrs old) really wanted to try it so we made it a 3-player game. This was only my 2nd game of Pompeii and my first 3-player game.

During the first half of the game we placed our playing pieces (people) throughout the city of Pompeii. I played black, Grandma red and Maddie was yellow. Both Grandma and myself showed Maddie how to place her people and also explained the relative rule which comes into effect when Vesuvius starts to seethe. Maddie picked it up pretty quick.

By the time the second Vesuvius card had been drawn both Maddie and Grandma had 18 people in the city and I had 17. Then came the fun part of the game when the lava starts to flow. Looking back on the game I realise we forgot the rule to only start moving people when the 6th lava tile was down. As we started moving people immediately the first lava tile hit the city I guess that meant more people escaped than should have.

It was still fun. The final score was Maddie and I tied for 1st with 12 people (we also tied on the count back of people in the volcano) and Grandma 2nd with 9 people. I would have won the game when Maddie had only 9 people out as I had the opportunity near the end to block the only means of escape for her last 3 people but relented when I saw the effect it would have had on her (ie, potential waterworks).

Maddie then went off for a little while. That left my Mum and I. Mum suggested we play Pass the Pigs. The first game I won 100 to nil. The second game Mum won 100 to nil. We decided to make it the best of three and were both more cautious with banking our points. Mum won 100 to 61.

After that we played the Labyrinth Card Game. My wife, Deb, joined in and co-played with Maddie. Final scores were me 1st on 8, Deb/Maddie 2nd on 6 and Grandma 3rd on 1.

Blue Max Online

I enjoy playing Blue Max online. I love the theme as I have an interest in WWI air combat. It's free. It fills my daily desire for gaming. I can sign up for as many, or as few, games as I like. It's easy and quick to complete a turn. There are hundreds of players from all around the world to play against. There are numerous planes to fly. There are hundreds of different scenarios to compete in. It fits perfectly into my busy schedule. Even though I don't get much time to play games I can always find 5 to 10 minutes to enter some moves.

You can play Blue Max at YouPlayIt.

Geek of the Week

BoardGameGeek (BGG) is one of my favourite sites. Thanks to an excellent idea by a local Brisbane boardgamer, Critical Mass, the Geek of the Week was born. Each week, one of the users of BGG is nominated as Geek of the Week and featured in their own thread and the BGG community learns a little about them.

The Geek of the Week for this week has just been announced and it's the first time that it's been someone I've actually met and gamed with. Congratulations to Friendless who is the 90th Geek of the Week.

I Get Vomitted On Twice! (er...Make That Three Times!)

My Mum didn't come over this morning for her weekly visit and gaming session. It was probably for the best as little 16 month old Georgia wasn't feeling well. My wife, Deb, and our 5 year old daughter, Maddie, were out all morning helping Deb's Dad with his garage sale while I stayed home to look after Georgia.

After giving Georgie a bottle I was sitting with her on my lap watching TV. Next thing I know she's vomiting all over me. After settling her and removing her clothes I notice that she's got spew in her hair and all over her arm. So I run a bath, get her cleaned up and then put her in fresh clothes.

She seemed to be a bit more herself after that. She ate morning tea at about 10.00am and after that went down for a nap. I took the opportunity to soak my spew-covered shorts and shirt, have a shower and change into some fresh clothes.

Georgia woke up about 11.30am crying. I sat down with her to give her a cuddle and switched on the TV. Five minutes later she vomits all over my front again! She's crying, I stand up and carry her to the bathroom, one arm holding her and the other arm across my middle trying to prevent the vomit from running down my shirt and splattering all over the floor.

Another bath for Georgia and another change of clothes for us both. Luckily, my wife arrived home about this time to give some assistance. Some medicine and a little bit of TLC from Mum, Dad and her big sister and Georgia's feeling a little better this afternoon.

Ah, the joys of parenthood.

[EDIT] 8.05pm - My wife was helping Maddie clean her room when we heard Georgia start crying from her cot in her room. I went in to check on why she'd woken up and found that she felt a little hot. I picked her up and was taking her to my wife to suggest some more medicine when - you guessed it - Georgia upchucks all over me again. That's THREE TIMES today! And as it was a couple of hours after her dinner this vomit had the most volume of all three. Now I've been spewed on before by my kids, but three times in one day has gotta be a new record.

Hopefully this is one of those 24-hour bugs our kids occasionally get. After another bath, a fresh set of clothes, some medicine and a cuddle Georgia soon fell asleep. I bet you she will be fine tomorrow morning and I'll be sick for the next week ;)

Happy 30th Birthday Star Wars!

I was only 9 and a half years old when Star Wars was released on 25 May 1977. I first saw it when my parents took my younger brother and I to the Redcliffe Drive-In Theatre. Although the drive-in is now long gone, my memory of that first viewing and my love of this movie still remains.

And regardless of what changes George Lucas has made to the original movie, in my mind, Han Solo always shot Greedo first!

Han Solo shoots first!

Greedo: [Though some believe he is speaking in Rodian, Greedo is actually speaking Huttese] Going somewhere, Solo?

Han Solo: Yes, Greedo; I was just coming to see your boss. Tell Jabba I have his money, at last.

Greedo: It's too late. You should have paid him at the first chance you had. Now Jabba's put a price on your head so large, every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I'm lucky I found you first.

Han Solo: Yeah, but this time I've *got* the money.

Greedo: If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.

Han Solo: I don't have it *with* me. Tell Jabba...

Greedo: Jabba's through with you. He has no use for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.

Han Solo: Even *I* get boarded *sometimes*. Do you think I had a choice?

Greedo: You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.

Han Solo: Over my dead body!

Greedo: [He doesn't notice Han going for his gun] That's the idea... I've been looking forward to this for a long time.

Han Solo: Yeah, I'll bet you have. [Blows Greedo away]

[Han calmly leaves. On the way out he flips the bartender a coin]

Han Solo: [to the bartender] Sorry about the mess.

Adult Asian House Gecko

I had an earlier entry on a young Asian House Gecko I'd discovered on our back door. This evening as I arrived home I noticed this adult Asian House Gecko on the ceiling of our front porch. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

This particular gecko was about 10cm (4 inches) in length. You'll also notice the different colouration of his tail, a sure sign that the tail has recently grown back. This may be the one we nicknamed Stumpy, an adult gecko who'd lost his tail and often appeared on our kitchen window in the evening to feast on moths drawn to the light. We hadn't seen Stumpy for several months so maybe he's grown his tail back.

Postcards From Brisbane - The Mephisto

Back on 1 March 2006 I took the family to the Queensland Museum. One of the exhibits, a WWI German tank particularly interested me.

The Mephisto is the last surviving example of the first German military tank, the A7V Sturmpanzerwagen. Although Britain and France developed several types of light, medium and heavy tank during the World War I, the Germans produced only one: the A7V. The prototype was completed and demonstrated in April 1917, but because of production delays the first operational A7V (Chassis Number 501) was not rolled out of the Daimler plant at Berlin-Marienfelde until October 1917. Mephisto has the chassis serial number 506. Only 20 A7Vs were built by the Germans, the rest of their tank force was made up of captured Allied vehicles.

Unlike modern tanks, the A7V has no single, large central turret, but instead is armed with a number of smaller casemates, two on each side and one at each end. A replica A7V was built in Germany in 1991, which is modelled substantially upon Mephisto.

The Mephisto was captured at Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918 by a battalion of Australian troops, mostly from Queensland. It was shipped to England in January 1919 and then sent to Queensland, Australia as a 'war trophy', arriving in Brisbane in June 1919. It was displayed at the Queensland Museum in Gregory Terrace where it remained until 1986 when both it and the Museum were relocated to the Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank.

You can click on the following links to check out Mephisto's story, combat history, inside, fate, specifications, and general info on the A7V.

Maddie, then aged 4 (almost 5) in front of the Mephisto

Western Buildings - Outhouse

This is another in my series of Old West buildings that I've scratchbuilt in 25mm scale. The outhouse is made out of balsa wood and then painted and drybrushed with acrylic paint.

You can see my Dry Goods Store and my Undertaker's by clicking on the links.

"Stinky Pete! Come out with yer hands up!"

Writing In Books

I enjoy reading about early North American history, particularly the history of the American Old West. I’m currently reading Gold Dust & Gunsmoke – Tales of Gold Rush, Outlaws, Gunfighters, Lawmen, and Vigilantes by John Boessenecker (1999) which I picked up last week at a city thrift store.

Now, 90% of the books in my personal library are second-hand. About the only thing that annoys me about second-hand books is when people have written in them. Sometimes it is the previous owner’s name, or if the book was a gift there may be an inscription to the recipient, or sometimes someone has written notes in the margins or highlighted or underlined certain words in the text. That sort of thing really bugs me. I always take good care of my books and would never consider marking them in any way.

So when I opened Gold Dust & Gunsmoke I noticed that the previous owner had written his name on the title page. As that was the only marking I could see, and as the book was reasonably priced and on a topic I was interested in, I purchased it.

As I was perusing the book on the train home, I wondered why the previous owner had not printed their name, rather than what appeared to be their signature. Looking closer at the signature I could make out ‘John Boessenecker’. That name seemed familiar. Then the penny dropped - it was the author’s name. The author of Gold Dust & Gunsmoke had signed this particular copy of his book.

I then reflected on my distaste of people writing in books. Author’s signatures usually increase the value of a book rather than decrease it. With that thought in mind I guess I can now make one exception; if the author wants to sign their book then that’s ok with me.

Crikey! Tigers!

I live less than an hours drive from Australia Zoo - Home of The Crocodile Hunter. Here are some photos from our family visit back on 15 March 2006.

They have both Bengal and Sumatran tigers at the zoo. You can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

All I can say is that we weren't expecting to see what happened next in the tiger enclosure...

The tiger stalks the trainer. Something is wrong! The trainer flees...

The tiger chases the trainer who attempts to escape by jumping into the water...

The big cat launches itself at the trainer!

Oh, the humanity! I can't show you any more pictures because they're too horrific.

Nah...only joking! This was all part of the show.

Gaming With Grandma - 19

Another Saturday morning session of gaming with my Mum (Grandma to our kids). Maddie, my elder daughter, aged 5, didn't play today as she was playing with a friend.

Mum and I only played the one game today. I was eager to get The Downfall of Pompeii onto the table and Mum was happy to learn a new game. I'd only just received Pompeii two days ago and in that time I'd bagged all the various components into plastic zip-lock bags. I usually do this with my games to save on set-up time and also to reduce the chance of pieces getting lost. Unfortunately, I found that I was missing 1 yellow wooden playing piece. This effectively means I'm unable to play 3-player games (without substituting something else for the playing piece). I sent an email to Mayfair Games customer service so hopefully they'll be able to send me the missing part.

Mount Vesuvius overlooking the city of Pompeii

The Downfall of Pompeii is a game for 2-4 players by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede who is the designer of the well-known and popular tile-laying game Carcassonne. Pompeii is played in two parts. In the first part of the game you play cards to determine into which buildings you may place your people. In the second part of the game you place lava tiles and move your people out of the city. The person who has the most people escaped from the city wins the game.

The map board showing an overhead view of Pompeii is beautiful and really evokes life in a bustling Roman city in AD 79. The cards are sturdy and have a nice feel to them and the artwork is beautiful. The rules are easy to understand and have plenty of examples of play with helpful illustrations. The coloured hexagonal-shaped wooden playing pieces are also very nice. The volcano representing Mount Vesuvius is made of plastic and fits together easily. Overall, the quality of the components is top notch.

In the first part of the game Mum and I placed our people. Where you place your people depends on the cards in your hand. You always have four cards in your hand in this part of the game. As you discard a card and place a person you may draw another card from the draw pile. A card will tell you into which building you may place your people. Naturally, we both tried to place people close to the seven exits of the city.

The board at the point when the first AD 79 card is drawn

The deck is cleverly 'seeded' with event cards which have certain effects when revealed. When the first of two AD 79 cards are revealed the Omen cards and the Relative rule comes into effect. If you now draw an Omen card you may pick up an opponent's person from any building and throw it into the volcano. This is one of the fun parts of the game. The Relative rule allows you to place additional 'relatives' depending on how many people are on the square you initially place a person on your turn. For example, if I place a person into a building where there are already two people, I get to place an additional two people in other buildings of the same colour or into 'neutral' beige buildings.

Mum about to drop one of my people into the volcano

When the second AD 79 card is drawn the second part of the game begins. At this point in the game Mum had 25 people in the city and I had 17. Now you draw lava tiles from the lovely red cloth drawstring bag that came with the game and place those tiles onto the board in such a way as to help yourself and hinder your opponent. Unfortunately, I was so engrossed in the game at this stage that I forgot to take pictures of us laying the lava tiles.

Each lava tile has a symbol on it. The first tile you draw of a specific symbol goes onto the matching 'starting space' for that symbol. After that, if you draw a symbol that matches a lava tile already on the board you may place the new tile adjacent to it (orthagonally, not diagonally). If you place a lava tile on a space containing people they all die and are thrown into the volcano. If you surround people with lava in such a way that they can't get to a gate then they also die and are thrown into the volcano.

So, on your turn you first lay a lava tile then you move two of your people. You normally will move two different people. How far a person can move is determined by how many people are in the space when they begin their movement. For example, if I move one of my people from a space containing three people (including my own) then I can move my person three spaces. You cannot move the same person twice in one turn with the following exceptions, 1) it's the only piece of your own left on the board, or 2) If it is alone in a space at the beginning of your turn you can move the person to one space and then move again. It can now move a number of spaces depending on how many people are now in the new space (including the moving piece).

Even though Mum had 25 people in the city to my 17 I was able to go on to win the game. I ended up getting 14 people out of the city to Mum's 13. If our scores had been tied we would have counted the number of people in the volcano and the person with the least number of people in the volcano would have won.

We both really enjoyed this game and I'm sure it will be played again soon. Now, just to remember to check the camera doesn't display the date-stamp next time I take photos of games in progress.