5th May 2009 Session Report: The One Where I Came Excruciatingly Close...

First of all, I must say it's fantastic to have a wife who's willing to game with me on a regular basis. Van and I attended a Marriage retreat with our church last week and during one of the sessions, it was mentioned that one of men's key emotional needs is to have 'recreational companionship'. I can totally identify and I'm thankful my wife makes an effort to express her love for me by obliging my gaming requests. Having said that, gaming with me and going easy on me during the game are completely different matters.

We went head to head in the Catan Card Game with our existing decks with minor modifications. And I came awfully close to winning but still feel short at the end 12-13, with Van having control of both the knight and commerce tokens. Nonetheless, I was encouraged that my efforts to enhance my resource production was somewhat successful as I managed to acquire victory points through buildings much more rapidly than Van. In addition, I managed to pip her to the 5th settlement for only the 2nd or 3rd time in 10 games. Nonetheless, my downfall was in my inability to control either token and left me struggling to hamper her progress towards victory. 

I came agonizing close in the last turn as I was one brick resource short of victory. I realized that my deck not only gave me no opportunity to nab the commerce token but I also had no answer for her Cannon (which gives her 6 strength points and is immune against Lady Imelda). I arsoned her University which was the requirement for her Cannon to function but she managed to rebuild it and gained victory soon after.

I lost my sole Arsonist for my defeat and I find myself at a huge disadvantage for the next game with Van holding both Arsonists, and 2 of the 3 available Spy cards. I'm tempted to request a re-draft especially with our Tournament record at 0-3 but find it challenging to build a winning deck with what's available. The tweaking between games keeps me motivated though Van seems somewhat bored at how I'm failing to offer much of her challenge. She nonetheless noticed that my deck has become much stronger this time round.

The challenge for me lies in enhancing the commerce ability of my deck with minimal additions and a way of tackling Van's Cannon. I also need to defend myself against her barrage of attack action cards and find a way of putting my Mint into play earlier which I failed to this game. Daunting indeed - will I succeed? Stay tuned....