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M.J.E. Hendriks
Netherlands
Velp
Gelderland
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K2
Game Weight: 2.4
Playing Time: 120 min
Players: Jaap, Marianne, Bjorn, Bas, Michiel
Location: Jaap & Marianne
Date: 21-06-2011
Conquering K2 in Winter
Never done before? Hell, not a problem, we'll be able to do this, I tell thee! And thus the five of us set out on our very own mission impossible - to conquer K2 in winter.
Bjorn got off to a running start, but with bad weather coming up, the others took it easier and especially Michiel lagged behind, getting stuck behind spaces with the maximum number of climbers a few times.
Then after a few turns, with the first bad weather rolling in, the first climbers started to work their way up the mountain.
Michiel continued to wait for the weather to turn, getting set to climb to the top. Some of the others tried to get their tent set up but the wind and a sudden snow storm really did mess up the plans of especially Marianne.
Then, with the weather clearing a little, it became clear there were two front runners: Michiel and Jaap, with Michiel leading by one ledge. Both climbers were on the west flank of the mountain, with their partners way down below, just under the 6,000 meter level.
However, snow storms were drifting in again and it rapidly became clear that there were problems ahead, so Michiel quickly pitched his tent. Jaap followed suit one ledge down.
Astonishingly, Michiel made the push for the top with a snow storm ready to hit. He made it to the top and having planted his flag there first he scrambled down only to be hit by the snow storm, altitude sickness and a lack of oxygen caused by the speed he was going at. This brought him to his knees, but barely alive he managed, the next day, to scramble down to his tent, despite the icy conditions, to suck some oxygen. Later he would claim everything went exactly as planned, but few would believe such a narrow escape could be part of a plan - no sane climber would risk their life for the mountain, would they?
Marianne, Bas and Bjorn, meanwhile, were struggling with their own little hell a little ways down the mountain, not seeming to make any progress - in fact, with the huge snow storm heading in, they were forced to retreat a little. The same counted for Jaap's climber, who did not make it to the top for another 3 days. When he did he was happy to have captured the top only to find he had been bested by Michiel before him.
Michiel in the meantime had his climber return to the area below 7,000 meters, as a high altitude snow storm hit the top.
Days later Marianne made it to the top, gasping for air, sucking the oxygen out of the bottle she had brought along just for this emergency, and barely survived. She too had made it to the top. She too was a happy camper now!
Bas near the end of the 18 day period - day 17 in fact - managed in his final attempt to get to the top as well.
Flying - I mean, climbing - in under the radar, however, was Michiel's second climber, who steadily worked his way up to the top, making it there on the very last day, with his lungs full to the brim and a big smile! The 18 days had finished and Michiel had won with a mighty 20 points!
Marianne's second climber had done well enough to best Jaap, and Jaap just barely claimed third spot over Bas due to the "I got to the top first" boast.
And Bjorn, I hear you ask? Well, Bjorn, poor Bjorn, he failed miserably in pretty much all he tried to achieve. The glory that was his in the Himalaya was not to be found with a tooth comb here. Ah well, you can't win them all, right?
FINAL SCORE
Michiel 20
Marianne 16
Jaap 15+
Bas 15
Bjorn 13
Ra
Game Weight: 2.4
Playing Time: 2 x 45 min
Players: Jaap, Bas, Michiel
Location: Jaap & Marianne
Date: 21-06-2011
Bidding Like an Egyptian
Having made it to the top, we decided it was time to visit a warmer spot, and Egypt it was - we'd not seen the pyramids for too long. Bjorn, however, as well as Marianne, decided it was time for bed, and so they left us, though not together.
Never minding our friends forsaking us, we pushed on to see if we could indeed bid like an Egyptian.
Jaap got off to a great start, gunning for a monument strategy and keeping Michiel honest by outbidding him whenever he threatened to grab some nice tiles. Bas, in all this, just grabbed the odd tile here and there and hoped for the best.
The first, second and third era all ended in Michiel having some time left on his own, and then drawing the feared Ra tiles in a row to finish him off. Sure, he did get some nice booty, and if not for a mistake in the last round, he would've won. Instead, it was Jaap who won with his amazing monument strategy, racking up 35 points with those wonders.
Game 1
Jaap 62
Michiel 59
Bas 50
In the second game, Bas continued to do what he did best - grabbing points left and right and seeing where it would get him. Jaap of course went with the monument strategy again as it had gone so well for him in the first game, and Michiel set out to do the same and more importantly, to stop Jaap.
Michiel and Jaap indeed did get in each other's way, but more than that was the fact that Bas finished up early and then the Ra tiles came out practically in a row, with neither Michiel nor Jaap getting much.
At the end of the first era, Bas had 19, Michiel 11 and Jaap 3 (despite starting with 10!). "So what happens when you run out of points?" Jaap asked... I didn't know. I told him he better not. So he didn't - in era 2 he grabbed a whole point to take him up to 4. I didn't get any points and stayed at 11. Bas worked himself up to 30. The same had happened as in Era 1.
Era 3 saw not much change. Neither Jaap nor Michiel had any monuments to speak of (strangely enough - all we saw was Ra tiles, so...), and it was clear that Bas had already won this game. The only thing we still played this last era for was to see who would end up 2nd and who 3rd.
The cold war that ensued was nothing but ugly, and once again Bas grabbed more points than either of us (well, that's not true actually - he grabbed as many as Jaap), but the win was his, obviously.
Michiel, though, did manage to hold out long enough against Bas, after seeing Jaap out of it, to pull out 2nd spot (again). A real disappointment for Jaap.
Game 2
Bas 60
Michiel 28
Jaap 24
All in all a fun evening! 
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