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....