Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Armada and Mulberries

 Last weekend was so-so weather wise (no wind = no sailing) but Sean and I did get in a few games of Armada.  The one pictured featured our core set with each side reinforced by a Gladiator (Empire) and a Assault Frigate (Rebels).  I got to play the rebels and Sean was the evil empire.  We're still learning the rules so we didn't add of of the special ability cards to the ships.

 I managed to get both my Assault frigate and corvette behind the Star Destroyer which ended that threat - at the cost of the Neb B.  Sean then brought his Gladiator back into the fray but it wasn't enough - victory to the rebels.  We are both really getting into this game - the maneuver tool adds some real depth to the play style.

 The only other thing of note is that our mulberry trees were ready to be harvested.  We got a bucket and a half of berries after a few hours work.  It was worth the effort, as they've been turned into a few pies and a 2.5 gallons on mulberry chocolate chip ice cream by my lovely wife.

 How does one harvest mulberries?  Lay out a big tarp under the tree, throw a weighted line up to grab a branch and shake.  The berries pop off when they're ripe.
It's a pretty messy affair as mulberries stain everything purple.  Of course you only discover this the hard way - the first year we harvested I forgot to take my shoes off and left a trail of purple foot prints on a carpet.  The carpets been replaced but my wife never seems to tire of reminding me of the incident....

2 comments:

Mad Padre said...

Your Armada set looks very cool - kind of X-Wing meets large capital ships? I would consider that system for playing battle's from David Weber's Honor Harrington books, for sure.
Thanks for explaining where mulberries come from? That ice cream sounds amazing!

Stefan (aka. Monty) said...

Had my first game of Armada last week and enjoyed it. It's really different from X-Wing and I liked the feeling of having a Star Destroyer under my command... Glad to hear that you enjoyed your game as well.

Honestly when I first read 'Mulberrie' in the headline I awaited some kind of Mulberry Harbour terrain project. But ice cream sounds more delicious without any doubt... ;-)

Cheers
Stefan