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Bruce, Phil, Mike, Alex and Darryl played some Christmas Games beginning with Bluff and Izzy joined in for Codenames and Escape.  Escape was the usual calamity.  Mike won Bluff as usual and a game of That’s Life.  He was also won Codenames with Izzy and Phil’s team 5-1.  Then Phil joined Darryl and Bruce switching with Alex for a quick game but failed to win miserably due to crown misdirection and difficulty spelling Clark’s.

Codenames was definitely the game of the evening and lots of fun for everyone.

The inglorious Few set out to investigate Gloomhaven warehouse. Tharg the Cragheart, Two’iee the Orchid, Lartang the Tinkerer, and Ratfiend the vermling set out. They hope to reverse Jekserah’s plans.

The first room proved nastier than expected with double hitting skeletons.  Spellweaver summoned her summon and dealt a little damage whilst vermling and cragheart leapt into fray.  Tinkerer pulled one over the trap thus disarming it.  Soon both were in need of healing which Tinkerer supplied whilst the Spellweaver finished off the weakened foes.

Next was the Living Corpse room.  These could hardly move in the cramped rows between the shelves.  The Spellweaver grabbed the chest whilst the Tinkerer and Vermling dealt with the first 3.  Then the spellweaver went invisible in the centre whilst the cragheart leapt over the shelves behind the trap.  The already weakened remaining corpses (Tinkerer again) where soon dispatched with last shambling towards the cragheart (due to Spellweaver being invisible) and being finished off by the trap.  Clever move by cragheart.

At this point the spellweaver decided to not bother with her summon in the next game.  It cannot fight on the turn it is summoned and then it either never moves or is too far away to be of use.

On into the final room after a rest.  The cragheart followed the brave vermling, the heroes being dismayed by the area effect attacks of two Huge Inox Guards.  The ability to stun and pushback or disarm the slow moving guards helped a lot (actually they are immune to 4 things but I forgot).  The spellweaver was able to take short rests and keep up a withering amount of firepower.  Soon the Boss monsters were down just as the players were getting low on cards.  Victory for the players.

Vermling and Spellweaver were able to level up.  3 players now level 2.

Onto the city event were Tinkerer and Spellweaver were conned by a filthy vermling losing all their just accumulated gold.

Lots of options are now open. Two places to seek out the Aesther.  One to chase down Jekserah.  One to visit a diamond mine for Jekserah.  One to visit a level 5 sulphur mine!  Or seek out more information about the Gloom in the Crypt of the Damned.  Obviously the crypt is next.

Onto the road event were they were all wounded in a fight with a bear.  Great.

Next we played Samhain.  This was a bit long and bewildering for a first game.  Darryl won, Phil second, Alex third and Mike last.

Three games in one evening.  Bruce sat out the first, then Alex and then Mike.   Phil and Darryl also played.

We concentrated on the hunt for the Patient Zero.

First game was lost quickly due to lots of bad runs of events with unfortunate epidemic cards and general awful luck.  Players were one action away from capturing Patient Zero on Mike’s turn which was next when the game ended abruptly with horrible chain outbreaks.

Second game:  “This time we are going to get him” said Mike’s soldier armed with binoculars.  This time we did, but it was tough.  With one action point left required for victory on Phil’s turn and Darryl’s Dispatcher’s turn to draw infection cards it was so close yet so far as Khartoum suffered the final outbreak and it was all over.  Sadly Darryl could not risk a scar.  But at least we had patient zero and the new Immunologist character going in to the final game.  With two fails in a row it was off to November and lots of new stuff.

November went smoothly enough thanks to the combination of Immunologist, Scientist, Quarantine and Operations Specialists and with 2 vaccine stations and three vaccinated cities already on the map hopefully we are ready to go for December.   Phil’s turn to sit out next again and hopefully a good result for December lies ahead.

Phil the Spellweaver, Mike the Cragheart, Alex the Tinkerer and Darryl the Mindthief make up the Inglorious Few who have set out upon adventure in Gloomhaven.

In the first scenario our heroes barely survived and just scraped through having been persuaded to recover a lost scroll by a Merchant named Jekserah. The party struggled with card management and became exhausted when the monsters in the last room kept healing. On the road to the barrow the party met up with some wild wolves and were injured by thorn bushes.

Next they delved deeper and slew the bandit leader in his lair. This was despite being cursed. The Tinkerer and the Cragheart amassed some gold. In the city the Mindthief chased a pickpocket back to its Vermling lair and retrieved a flea infested shawl putting a stop to the rogues crime spree. The Tinkerer donated to the church and received a blessing. The players other than the impoverished spellweaver all bought some armour which would come in useful in the next adventure. They chose to work for Jekserah again despite the Spellweaver’s misgivings and headed out to the Dagger Woods in order to deal with Inox Raiders who had been attacking her convoys.

On the road they cleverly avoided a landslide. They then attacked the Inox. The Mindthief opened two side doors whilst the main group headed for the cave. The spellweaver exhausted herself in order to reach the chest in the penultimate turn but only discovered an item pattern useful to a warrior. The Tinkerer kept the Cragheart fighting with useful healing and dealt damage with his own stacks. The Spellweaver did a lot of multiple attacks that cleared the way. The Mindthief as usual dealt out powerful melee attacks. The Cragheart and the Tinkerer especially gathered up all the gold coins.  The Cragheart’s helmet deflected a mighty attack from an elite archer.

Somewhat shaken by their actions our heroes returned to the City.

There they did some shopping and fixed the Tavern Lights. The Tinkerer yet again donated to the Church. The Tinkerer reached Level 2 and gained a new card for their draw deck and hand.

They decided to investigate Merchants warehouse at the behest of the City guard. The Tinkerer and the Spellweaver managing to persuade the Mindthief and the Cragheart not to go after the diamond despite the lure of more money.  Remember also we still have the Crypt of the Damned open to investigate.

Phil, Bruce, Mike, Alex and Darryl played Bruce’s Pandemic Legacy once more.

This time after 3 straight defeats it was three consecutive victories.  However the one shot vaccination cards helped a lot plus the 6 yellow assistance cards for being so far behind for the first game.

Nevertheless it was some good team work and a little fortune which helped the players achieve victory.  Used on the evening were:  Colonel, Generalist, Quarantine Specialist, Operations Specialist, Scientist and Researcher.  In the final game the players rescued the Virologist.  In the second game they managed to get the Black Death to Level 4 upgrade level which makes it easier to handle.   Plus they now have a starting military base in each of the six Regions.

Next one looks tough though and with no bonus yellows to play it is maybe fortunate for Phil that it is his turn to sit one out.

Phil, Mike, Darryl and Alex.

Temple of Elemental Evil

Whilst Bruce’s Ranger was off scouting ahead the party visited Red Larch just in time to be hit by a Dragon Attack.  They deftly saw the Dragon off but had to use the Rogue’s Refresh, haste potion and healing ember to do so!  Justly rewarded they headed into the dungeon to tackle the penultimate quest.  This time they tracked the Water Elemental down to its lair.  A few comic moments when Mike’s warrior complained about being left alone to pin the Elemental in place, getting his army rusty but the heroes were again victorious and Mike was awarded the Trident Drown for his heroics.  Next will be the final quest, taking the fight to the Dragonin his Lair so will need Bruce and his Ranger for that one. This time the Wizard, Fighter and Cleric will possibly have Refresh available to use and Bruce has enough money to buy one or another Boon should he so wish.

Castle Panic

We played two games of fully co-operative Castle Panic.  Each time we survived with just one tower left.

So that was 4 co-operative games we did not lose in a row!  Amazing!

An Evening of Dark Fortresses and Perilous Dungeons:

Mike, Phil, Alex, Darryl and Bruce.

First up was Conan.  The Cursed Shape Shifting Sorcerer Scenario for 5.  Phil as Overlord.  This was a tricky one for the Heroes but the time pressure is on the Overlord which is a nice twist.  7 turns to break the Curse by sacrificing 3 pirates on 3 altars.

Next up:  The Temple of Elemental Evil.  Everyone plays.  An odd scenario as it turned out.  Everyone took lots of hits at the beginning exhausting the Cleric’s Healing and themselves.   In the middle, no Monsters at all but Bruce got his Ranger killed by failing to disarm a Trap.  Then as the roof was about to fall in and knock out Phil and Mike plus Alex, Alex was able to deliver the killing blow on the Ettin for the heroes to win a partial Victory (one surge used).  Also odd was that we only drew gold coins as the treasure cards ended up clustered at the bottom of the treasure deck just out of reach.   Onwards as we get closer to the final showdown before the next expansion arrives hopefully!

First Scenario

Phil played as the overlord and Mike, Alex and DARRYL played as the Heroes.  The first scenario was the Ambush of Belit’s ship by Zaparovo and the Stygian wizard.  The heroes soon cleared the deck of the first wave through a combination of Conan’s sword and the Thief’s Crossbow quickly acquired from the first chest.  However Belit’s guards fell foul of the Archers.  Soon just one guard remained!

The pirates brought on a few reinforcements and spurred on by Zaparovo they leapt aboard.  Again Conan intervened and cut them down but was wounded in the process.  Meanwhile the Thief used his Crossbow on the Wizard nearly killing him!  So he summoned the Outer Dark Demon who pounced on Belit and her guard.  Belit used an orb of power to wound the fiend, but he pounced again.  This time Belit ran it through.  Finally Zaparovo attacked the wounded Belit and would have finished her off had not her last loyal bodyguard intervened and blocked the blow.  Zaparovo was then killed by a nasty Crossbow Bolt in the back and the Heroes were victorious.

Second Scenario

Next the heroes entered the dark foreboding jungle ruin in pursuit of the wizard.  The first time they lost quickly and felt the scenario was impossible.  On the second attempt Belit distracted the Demon whilst the Thief flushed the Wizard out of his Tower and into Conan’s cunning trap.  Before he realised Conan climbed the rubble onto the ramparts and despatched the Stygian outright!

Third Game

Next a quick round of the Lord of the Rings dice game showed Alex winning in ultra-quick time whilst Phil and the rest floundered way behind.

Bruce hosted Blackbeard against Phil, Mike, Alex and Darryl.  Mike’s Francois L’Ollonais took an early big lead retiring successfully from his exploits off the coast of India.  Then the rest of the players stymied each other’s futile attempts to close the gap.  Bruce caught lots of cheap wet fish in the cold waters off America and Phil sat the game out in Port in the Caribbean hiding from the storms.

Well done Mike