‘Taj Mahal’ by Reiner Knitzia.
Games night......14th November
Spiller is early and alone. Paul and Liz have cried off at the last minute and Dicken is still down-loading some goodies off the Internet. Time for a quiet chat about the world and his dog.
Dicken arrives and attention focuses on ‘Taj Mahal’. Played two weeks ago with Paul and Liz, it was discovered that a major rule mistake had crept in. maybe, it had always been present – if so, apologies to anyone who read an earlier review and winced. Tonight was to be ‘put it right, night’. Despite the absentees it is determined to play anyhow and see how it goes.
It goes like a train. Three player outings of this game have been rare. Before you can say ‘has this got anything to do with India....?’ three areas have been visited and a pattern of play emerges. Spiller and Dicken are hot for elephants and the bounty they provide in commodities, whereas Kendall is building Castles faster than Shah Jahan.
Spiller tells a joke... ‘What do you call a couple of raincoats at a funeral?’ – (how surreal is that?). Answer – ‘Max Bygraves’ Of course – and no-one mentioned that the top forty is fifty years old today and that MB was in the very first top forty!
Kendall tells a joke .... ‘How do you get Pikachu onto a bus?’ Answer – ‘Pokemon’.
The scoring for Castles was the BIG mistake in the previous game(s). Instead of scoring each visit, the Castles were added up at the end of the game. A staggering error, but possibly derived from the scoring system in ‘Web of Power’. At least that’s the excuse we’re going with. It probably makes about 10 + points difference in a three player game.
Prompted by discovering this ‘whoppa’, the rules had been re-read just in case... And just as well, as three other mistakes emerged (considerably more minor, however).
Visit 5 and Spiller drops out without dropping in, thereby strengthening his hand. These drop-outs are far less common in the three player game, as players can’t abide allowing a.n.other to clean up in an area. That said, Kendall cleans up all four Castles in two areas. Despite not being in the lead, he is declared the ‘Tall Poppy’.
Dorittos and salsa are going down well, though the drinking is sluggish tonight.
Spiller leads, Kendall drops out without dropping in, Dicken claws back some more points. End of visit 10 and it’s equal scoring, but strength of commodities, Castles and cards in hand are more important. Good stuff.
Visit 11 and Kendall blows it by missing out on a Castle by being too greedy. His hand is shafted. Spiller is pretty well home and dry, but can’t resist letting the cat out of the bag that his last hand is weak.
Visit 12 and Dicken grabs Agra (4 points). Kendall can only squeeze a single Castle, but gets good points (confound visit 11). Spiller wins through with the elephants. Final tally makes for a tight score-line, with Kendall 2 points behind Spiller and Dicken 3 points behind Kendall.
It is agreed that Paul and Liz will not be afforded any help next time.
It’s also agreed that an early night wouldn’t go amiss - we are all a little weary after Spiller's excellent birthday curry ( yesterday ), so after coffee and chat life returns to normal.
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