I periodically do bulk game orders for my local group through Boards and Bits, my favorite online retailer.  This works reasonably well, though with my work and travel schedule lately it has been a challenge to deliver all of the games to my group.  Chuck and I arranged for him to stop by on his way home from work in Wilsonville tonight, and as long as he is stopping by why not play some games?

Originally we had planned on 2p games as I was expecting Julie and the boys to stay out at the coast all week.  They came back mid day and Matthew was around, so we let Matthew choose a game off the shelf.  His all-time favorite is the Lord of the Rings boardgame, a cooperative game.

Chuck (Frodo), Matthew (Sam), and I (Pippin) battle Sauron. 

The stars were aligned tonight (read: somebody must have stacked the event tile deck) because we sailed through Moria, Helms Deep, Shelob's Lair, and Mordor in an almost effortless fashion.  Our family's previous high score was 79 (60 for destroying the ring plus 19 shield points) and we blew that record away tonight with a score of 88.

We had about an hour left and Chuck had never played St. Petersburg, so that was a logical choice.  This game is still top shelf for me - plays quickly, is easy to teach, and plenty of tension.

Matthew posing during our game of St. Petersburg.

Chuck picked up on the mechanics and strategy quickly, made great choices and pulled out the victory in the end.

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