Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Tuesday 23/05/06 Carcassone the Castle, Gin Rummy (& San Juan)

Fiona was eager to play some Carcassone the Castle, but we didn’t manage to fit it in last weekend, so when my plans to go to the cinema fell through, we managed to fit a few games in.

In a huge break with tradition I absolutely ran away with the first game. I got an absurdly lucky sequence of roads to begin with (the crossroads with a well in the centre, followed by three road ends!) and am able to pick up several bonus tiles. Fee looked like making a comeback when she scores 24 with a Tower x2 tile, but I still win comfortably.

Normal service is resumed in game 2. Fee has a pair of Market bonus tiles, and easily wins the Keep bonus for the win.

Game 3 looks close, but I’m relying on a large road network, with a Well (I have an Incomplete Road bonus tile, so I’ll score it even if it doesn’t complete). But just before the end Fee is able to also get a Meeple onto it, and I’m not able to get a second on before the game end. That’s about 20 points gone, and I lose.

After that I teach Fee Gin Rummy. The rules are pretty simple (for anyone who has ever played any game of Rummy before) , even if they gameplay isn’t (you really need to make some effort to remember what the other guys been doing). I blow the first hand by knocking with a score of 10 far too late, and Fee is able to undercut me. She wins the next as well, but I then get three large wins, including a very early Gin that catches her with about 40 points in hand, to take the first game (game is typically 100-up).

The second game goes the other way, I take an early lead, she then catches up, and after a few hand we both have scores in the 70’s. She takes a small win to take her into the 80’s, and in the next hand she gets a very early Gin, to take the game.


We have time to close with a quick game of San Juan before I leave. I get a poor start, don’t see any six-pointers, and Fiona doesn’t make any mistakes to beat me by about 10 points.

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