A Night of Games

The art of gaming has been quickly becoming a very satisfying hobby.  I'm not sure how long it will last but I have passed through the gateway via the portal of Settlers of Catan well and truly.  The mathematical reduction of civilisation with structured limitations but enabling it to be just as good with a 10 year old or the scheming, ruthless lady of Catan.  In short, like they always do, the Germans have brought their optimising skills to something new - the most efficient way for three to six people to enjoy themselves for 60 to 90 minutes (or 150 if you play with some of my friends). 
Each game has varying strategies and outcomes - tonight the dice were against me and whilst there was jostling for front stage, a tenuous longest road pushed James out in front and he edged towards an early victory, there was only one resource producing industrial powerhouse led by PJ, Ade strengthened himself by striking at me and the two closed in on the prize (I started to see possibilities in the future but had no time to close the gap).  PJ hovered at the edge and when Ade knocked everything down by building an unneccesary city and wresting the longest road from James it appeared that he was, once again, a laird.  Had it not been for PJ's lack of gaming knowledge he would have already claimed the game and the isle of Catan but the rules do state somewhere that if you forget to claim victory on your turn you forfeit but the points had been legitimitely taken - the palace he bought at the end brought instant gravitas to his empire and he was the true laird.
All three of us contenders had been allowed a basic flub, and one had been issued to PJ on layby.  So, perhaps the game was his (but also Ade's ... ... ..?).
The victories were spread around the table generously - the poker games that followed brought riches of a more tangible kind to James, the one in need of gold to brighten his heart, an, to a smaller amount, me, who hasn't won a game in ages ...