G&G XIV.V: Getting Together While Staying Apart

It should have been different.

We had a hard time finding a date for this year's Gaming & Guinness that worked for everyone due to other commitments, seasonal vacillations, job changes and two of us having kids who are graduating high school this spring. We eventually decided on this weekend but didn't lock it down until January, whereas in previous years it's been established by the end of November. In the end, though, COVID-19 meant that travelling in from out of province for the 2-3 non-Albertans in attendance was a non-starter even if the half-dozen of us in town were willing to congregate together, which we weren't.

Back in April we reluctantly postponed G&G XV until September but managed to cobble together a virtual version (G&G XIV.V) for most of us this weekend, using the Tabletop Simulator available on Steam. I even had time to whip up a t-shirt using the awesome graphics Pete provided, thanks to curbside pickup from Staples and Mark's!

Friday night we gathered together in TTS and Google Meet to play one of our marquee games, Circus Maximus. A staple since G&G IV (or possibly II), this venerable chariot-racing game from Avalon Hill is not without its flaws, but supports up to 12 players pretty easily and is a furious mix of racing and combat.

This year was decidedly combat-oriented, and despite choosing a heavy chariot with scythed wheels, I didn't even complete a full lap before one of my damaged wheels shattered, flipping my chariot. My driver was mercilessly run down by a sadist who will remain nameless but is no doubt giggling conclusively as he reads this, since he took out two other drivers the same way. 

Pete's speedier chariot took an early lead, and by the end of the second lap, no one had any chance of catching him. A high number of DNFs didn't make the game any less entertaining though, and TTS has a great setup for the game that took very little adaptation for us to use.

Best of all was the interaction and catching up, the trash-talking and bad jokes mailing light of the terrible dice rolls of others. Some of us enjoyed some Guinness Bombs together remotely, and there was even a non-binding challenge coin check.

Saturday afternoon saw eight of us gather to race in Buenos Aires via Formula Dé, another long-time favourite due to its ability to have 10 players on the board simultaneously. A kit built in the Steam Workshop has digitized all the components for TTS nicely, and most of us had played in this medium a few weeks back. 

This was yer another race that saw it's share of DNFs, and only 4 cars of the starting eight actually managed to finish. I hit a couple of turns just right in the first lap, and was able to maintain my lead through the second lap and claim victory.

After a short break for dinner, the half-dozen of us who remained got in a game of Robo Rally. Normally this game supports up to eight, but this version from the Steam Workshop contained scripted elements that would handle elements like dealing cards, managing damage on your card, etc,. but only allowed six players.

Audrey and I played this game more than two decades ago with friends in Ottawa and loved how each player programs their movement and then watches helplessly as their plans are undone by the unanticipated movement of other robots or the conveyor belts and other items on the factory floor where the race takes place.

Despite being the second last player to reach the first checkpoint, I managed to be the first player to reach the third one and won the game, for perhaps the first time ever.

Half of the group turned in at that point, but, as has become tradition, Pete, Totty and I stayed up for a game of The Captain is Dead, a cooperative game similar to Pandemic, but set in a starship similar to Star Trek, complete with colour-coded uniforms. Unlike the other TTS games which were supplied for free by like-minded hobbyists, TCiD was a commercial purchase that even included a virtual room that uses the same modern art style as the game itself - a pretty good deal for $6.50!

Despite getting off to a good start though, the three of us were unable to repair our jump core and escape before the alien vessels punched through our shields and ended the game.

More players might have helped, so if we do this next time, perhaps we will badger more of the others to stay up late with us...

Like the other, "normal" years of G&G, the games were great fun, but secondary to the joking and conviviality carried through cyberspace to three different time zones. Having old friends sharing conviviality and fellowship in a shared space felt very real, even if the space we did it in was not.