Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Feb 3, 2012, 9:42 pm
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Brian, Andrew, Richard, Jeff, Pat, Paul. Played: Leaping Lemmings, Kingdom Builder, Sequence, Wrath of Ashardalon, Automobile, Celtica, Showbiz. Picture gallery below. Leaping Lemmings: Race your family of (apparently genetically-engineered) lemmings across a fiel...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jan 28, 2012, 12:05 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Alex, Pat, Paul. Played: Celtica, The Legend of Drizzt, Stargate SG1. Picture gallery below. Celtica: A fresh pickup by Pat from a math trade. Build amulets by landing druid monk pieces on the right spaces. Move monks by playing the right card sets. Avoid the ruins...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jan 20, 2012, 12:11 am
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Andrew, Jeff F., Alex, Brian, Richard, Pat, Paul. Played: Dominion Seaside and Cornucopia, Dominant Species, Forbidden Island, Stratego. Picture gallery below. Dominion Seaside and Cornucopia: Two games played here - the first with both sets (Seaside and Cornucop...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - May 31, 2011, 10:37 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Pat, Brad, Alex, Brian, Matt, Paul. Played: N-Tropy, Shadows over Camelot, Lords of Scotland, Corsari. A compact little group lined up for some compact games tonight. N-Tropy: Updated! I had this game recorded here as “Entropy”, and made the point that it wasn�...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - May 23, 2011, 11:18 pm
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Pat, Richard, Andrew, Jeff, Alex, Brian, Paul. Played: Brass, Luna, Richard’s new game, Limits. Forgive me, readers, for I have lapsed. It has been a month since my last report. And in my rush to get to Brian’s on time time I completely forgot to take my camer...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Apr 19, 2011, 6:36 am
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Pat, Richard, Don, Neil F., Jeff, Alex, Brian, Paul. Played: Automobile, Shipyard, Homesteaders, Glen More, Parade It’s good to be back at the table after a three week hiatus. Automobile: My first playing of this new(-ish) release from Martin Wallace. It was gre...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 29, 2011, 1:25 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Brian, Nick, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Paul. Played: Fairy Tale, Travel Blog, Homesteaders, Ghost Stories, Take Two, Canyon, Resistance, Fossil. Great to welcome Nick back to the gaming table after a long absence! Fairy Tale: 14 minutes of ridiculous randomness using cards w...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 28, 2011, 8:34 pm
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Pat, Paul. Played: Homesteaders, Crokinole. The most recent day-session at Pat’s place. Homesteaders: This is a game that has been floating around in the group for some months now (actually, 12 to be precise - a quick search on tMSG shows the first play...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 22, 2011, 5:23 am
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Richard, Andrew, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Paul. Played: Fairy Tale, Factory Fun, Poseidon, Make ‘N’ Break Dice, Pandemic, King of Siam, Ascension, Cartagena. In the lead-up to tonight’s session Brian felt compelled to tell us about “The Dice Man” by Luke Re...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 14, 2011, 11:34 pm
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Bryan, Mark, Lawrence, Don, Brian, Richard, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Paul. Played: Automobile, Red November, 6 Nimmt!, Cheops, Ascension, Steel Driver, Ave Caesar. This week the Thornleigh gaming tables were swollen with numbers not seen for a long while. And the games… So...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 14, 2011, 2:22 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Pat, Paul. Played: De Vulgari Eloquentia. Another daytime session at Pat’s house, just right for a good playing of this game. I have to confess that a good part of the charm of this game is its title. It had me whispering to myself, “vulgari”, in t...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 7, 2011, 6:54 am
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Brian, Brad, Andrew, Don, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Richard, Paul. Played: Radio TMG - The Music Game, Dungeons & Dragons - Wrath of Ashardalon, Vinci, Zombie Dice, Space Junkyard, Ascension. Another night of fun times at Richard High. Radio TMG - The Music Game: Somebody...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 5, 2011, 1:51 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Pat, Paul. Played: Innovation, Container. It’s rare for me to get to one of Pat’s sessions on a non-Sunday but today I was able to make an exception. Innovation: Hadn’t seen this one before. It was my suggestion, inspired only and entirely by the t...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 1, 2011, 9:34 pm
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Richard, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Matt, Don, Paul. Played: Geschenkt, The Resistance, De Vulgari Eloquentia, Poseidon, Take It Easy, Dixit, Ascension. The title of this post refers specifically to our playing of De Vulgari Eloquentia, which is themed on learning by tr...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Feb 22, 2011, 8:24 pm
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Richard, Andrew, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Paul. Played: De Vulgari Eloquentia, Steel Driver, Clans, Ra the Dice Game, Fairy Tale, Mousquetaires du Roy. No special prelim notes for this tidy little session. De Vulgari Eloquentia: This was played on the other table to...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Feb 16, 2011, 9:45 pm
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Don, Pat, Paul. Played: Colonia, The Three Commandments, Dixit, Ascension. A light but fulfilling evening at the games table for a pentet. Colonia: Big, new (at least to our group) and shiny. Don had been lugging this one around in his bag for some week...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Feb 11, 2011, 8:06 pm
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Andrew S, Andrew B, Jeff, Alex, Neil F, Neil M, Don, Pat, Brian, Richard, Paul. Played: 7 Wonders, Simpsons Slam Dunk, Galactic Emperor, Egizia, Bargain Hunter, Stone Age, Magical Athlete. Richard’s dining room was swollen tonight under the numbers - 11 dudes! A...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Feb 3, 2011, 11:12 pm
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Alex, Jeff, Matt, Brian, Richard, Don, Mark, Pat, Paul. Played: Defenders of the Realm, Dixit, Glen More, Container, La Strada, Magical Athlete, Fiasko, Ascension. Post - Aust Games Expo (which I unfortunately missed this year) session, so a few new titles played, an...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jan 20, 2011, 7:13 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Jeff, Matt, Alex, Pat, Brian, Paul. Played: The Resistance, King’s Breakfast, Galloping Pigs, Mousquetaires du Roy, Ghost Stories, Bluff. Witty meta-game anecdotes go right about here. The Resistance: The night was started with something co-operative, “tainted�...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jan 14, 2011, 7:35 am
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Alex, Rick, Jeff, Craig, Mark, Brad, Pat, Paul. Played: Fictionaire, Steam, Cartagena, Diamonds Club, Caption if You Can!, Zombie Dice, Saboteur, Im Reich der Wüstensöhne Insert standard preamble here. Fictionaire: Party game of choosing convincing alternativ...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jan 13, 2011, 3:52 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Alex, Rick, Jeff, Craig, Mark, Brad, Pat, Paul. Played: Mousquetaires du Roy, 7 Wonders, The Resistance, Diamant, The Resistance (again), Shipyard, Dungeon Lords, Claustrophobia, Valdora, Was Sticht? New Year’s Day gaming at Pat’s place is now almost as signific...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Dec 26, 2010, 5:51 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Alex, Richard, Jeff, Pat, Brian, Brad, Paul. Played: The Resistance, Ice Flow, K2, Ra the Dice Game, Zirkus Flohcati, K2 again, New England, Sorry Sliders, Pow Wow. The loose theme for this evening was all things naturally cold, to mark the northern hemisphere seaso...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Dec 19, 2010, 1:09 am
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Alex, Jeff, Richard, Ardrew, Pat, Brian, Paul. Played: Combat Commander: Pacific, Endeavor, Uptown, The Priests of Ra, Set Cubed. Hmm… That blog title line is too good for this lowly post. Anyhoo, tonight wasn’t the night for Alex or for me, as we both shared...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Dec 12, 2010, 12:31 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Alex, Richard, Don, Pat, Paula, Paul. Played: The Weakest Link, Continuo, Bean Trader, FBI, Olé! Small and tight. And funny. The Weakest Link: Yes - yet another thrift sale pick-up for less than $2. The novelty of the included Cornelia Frances mask makes this wo...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Nov 27, 2010, 6:41 pm
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Andrew, Neil F., Pat, Paul. Played: Felix the Cat in the Sack, Battlestar Galactica (Pegasus Expansion), Dia de los Muertos. Felix the Cat in the Sack: This was in progress when I arrived. Final results: Brad: 59. Lindsay: 44. Alex: 43. Pat: 30. Je...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Nov 20, 2010, 7:23 pm
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Richard, Brian, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Andrew, Paul. Played: Drahtseilakt (Relationship Tightrope), Steam, Ur, Andromeda, Wizard. Drahtseilakt (Relationship Tightrope): Balance your losses and gains to achieve the lowest possible net score. This was finishing just as...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Nov 6, 2010, 12:52 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Richard, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Don, Paul. Played: Enkounter, Bunt Herum, My Word, Poison, Samarkand, La Citta, Tycoon, Auf der Pirsch, Ave Caesar, Corsari, Slamwich. A few more school fete games added to the collection today. And for those expecting a Halloween theme i...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Oct 23, 2010, 5:29 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Brian, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Lawrence, Matt, Neil, Paul. Played: Formula I, Code 777, Lawrence’s new game, Columbo, Code 777 again, World of Movies, Smallworld, Parade, Quixo, Graverobbers. Paula picked up a job lot of second-hand games from eBay last week, and some o...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Oct 16, 2010, 1:16 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Brian, Jeff, Alex, Don, Pat, Richard, Paul. Played: Zark City, King Me, Ghost Chase, Big City, Coda, Logistico, Khronos, Traders of Carthage, Thurn and Taxis. Let’s say that for tonight the most significant game played was Logistico. I got smashed in everything el...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Sep 23, 2010, 7:54 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Don, Pat, Richard, Paul. Played: Apples to Apples, Trendy, Phoenicia, Maharaja, Alhambra, Diamonds Club, The Bridges of Shangri-La, Corsari. And another games night rolls around. Check out the pics for Diamonds Club and Phoenicia in particular. Apples...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Sep 15, 2010, 10:11 am
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Andrew, Neil F., Pat, Richard, Paul. Played: Zombie Dice, Die Heisse Schlacht, Shipyard, Dungeon Lords, Lost Valley, Ablaze!. Zombie Dice: You’re a zombie. Roll 3 random dice at a time from a total collection of about 12. Keep “brains” (these a...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Sep 11, 2010, 9:00 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Craig, Pat, Paul. Played: Fairy Tale, Exxtra, Diamant, Durch die Wüste, Race for the Galaxy, Jet Set, Bohnanza, Tsuro. A meta-game played tonight, using I think a Sticheln deck of cards in five different suits (colours – one set for each player), simp...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Sep 1, 2010, 7:58 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Brian, Pat, Paul. Played: Dragon Delta, Chronology, Luna Llena. A small group of hard-core gamers tonight with a modest sample of games to try from Pat’s shelves. Dragon Delta close-up is the nicest pic of the night. Dragon Delta: Brian’s choice, th...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Aug 11, 2010, 8:02 am
Venue: Brian’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Don, Brad, Pat, Richard, Brian, Paul. Played: Roborally, Scottish Highland Whisky Race, Genesis, Rum & Pirates, Assyria, Fairy Tale, Geschenkt, Boomtown, Ticket to Ride Switzerland. In my rush to get here tonight I couldn’t find the camera, so I had ...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Aug 3, 2010, 9:25 am
Venue: Paul’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Don, Matt, Brad, Pat, Richard, Paul. Played: King Lui, Yspahan, Manila, Chaos in the Old World, Cartagena, At the Gates of Loyang, Quixo. King Lui: Regal cuisine-flavoured set collecting to get the evening under way. 2 mins rules and setup; 12 mins gam...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jul 27, 2010, 9:04 am
Venue: Richard’s place. Present: Jeff, Alex, Brian, Neil F., Pat, Richard, Paul. Played: Make ‘n’ Break Würfelspiel (dice game), Uptown, Endeavor, Masquerade, Alea Iacta Est, Ad Astra, Roma. Check out close-ups for Endeavor and Ad Astra… Make ‘n’ Break Würfelspiel: Brian brought th...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jul 24, 2010, 9:00 am
Venue: Pat’s place. Present: Pat, Alex, Jeff, Brad, Richard, Brian, Lindsay, Paul. Played: Genesis, Le Havre, Scripts and Scribes, Macao, Kanaloa, Ra the Dice Game, Uruk. Cosy gaming on a Sydney Winter’s night at Pat’s place. There may have been a bunch of games already played ...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jul 21, 2010, 8:45 am
Venue: Paul’s place Present: Matt, Brad, Alex, Jeff, Pat, Richard, Neil F., Paul. Played: Cave Troll, Star Wars Press-O-Matic Trouble, Golden 7, Cathedral, Ubongo, Trumpet, Chicago Express, Merchants of Venus, Midgard, Star Wars Trouble (again), Ben 10 Uno, Too Many Cooks. In my little game...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jul 18, 2010, 7:59 am
At last, a report on ConTrail 2010 Day Two! To start with, I took few shots of our location in the fresh Winter ConTrail morning. This first one is looking down from the lodge balcony over the soaked “wallaby field”, morning misty clouds hovering around the escarpment over the Hawkesbu...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jul 17, 2010, 7:30 am
What follows is a chronological collection, for the record, of some email back-and-forth on “that Dune session” - perhaps henceforth to be known as the “infamous Dune session of twenty-ten”. Thanks most especially to Brad, who kicked things off here: Brad, Tue June 8: Dune...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jul 17, 2010, 6:02 am
(Cut-and-pasted from an email by Richard V., June 7, 2010…) And the winners of these prestigious awards are……. Worst Prediction: Don: “The no missing card variant of No Thanks! can’t possibly work” - before we played two hysterical games of it Stealth Annihilat...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jun 16, 2010, 10:14 am
A delayed report, but here we are at last. The fifth year of ConTrail (yes!). A new record for participants, I believe - over the course of the whole weekend I count 14: Alex, Brian, Don, Richard, Andrew, Ed, Jeff, Pat, Paul, Brad, Neil M., Euhan, Steve, Craig. Don’t think I’ve left ...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Jun 13, 2010, 7:43 am
Venue: Paul’s place Present: Matt, Richard, Alex, Pat, Brian, Neil F., Paul Played: Cave Troll, Evo, Super Farmer, Finstere Flure, Duck! Duck! Go!, Canyon. Minimalist entry for this session, since I’m so far behind on blog entries! Cave Troll: Post-pizza starter. 10 mins rules and s...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - May 31, 2010, 8:52 am
Venue: Paul’s place Present: Don, Lawrence, Richard, Brad, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Neil F., Paul Played: Nuggets, Intrige, Go Nuts, Shark, Smallworld, Homesteaders, Take it Easy, Brass, Too Many Cooks. Nuggets: Abstract goodness? Sorry - I can’t offer any further knowledge about this...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - May 6, 2010, 10:34 am
Venue: Paul\’s place Present: Don, Alex, Jeff, Pat, Paul Played: Trendy, Valdora, Edel, Stein & Reich, Freya’s Folly, Parade. Gaming off the regular schedule tonight because of public holiday timing. Nice to still get a good quorum! And check out some of the close-ups! Trendy: Don ...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Apr 29, 2010, 12:12 am
Venue: Brian’s place Present: Andrew, Don, Richard, Brad, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Paul Played: Power Grid Italy, Ys, Macao, Freya’s Folly, Mordred (x2), Bluff. Post title is not a reference to tonight’s session being played at Brian’s house. Although it could be - the traf...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Apr 24, 2010, 9:07 am
Venue: Craig’s place Present: Brad, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Rick D., Lindsay, Silvia, Craig, Paul Played: Homesteaders, Wool, Industrial Waste, Who’s the Ass? Not for me, but this was a big day for some of our gamers today, who got off to an early start. No pics from tonight, unfortunate...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Apr 11, 2010, 2:53 am
Venue: Neil F.’s place Present: Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Andrew, Neil M., Neil F., Alison, Paul Played: Munchkin Quest, Gheos, No Thanks!, Power Grid Benelux, Wool, Forbidden, Go Nuts. Atypical night tonight, but always good at Neil and Alison’s…! Munchkin Quest: Roleplaying cra...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Apr 1, 2010, 6:33 am
Venue: Paul’s place Present: Brad, Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Tommy, Craig, Don, Mark, Matt, Richard, Paul Played: Homesteaders, Factory Manager, Amyitis, Chaos in the Old World, Fairy Tale, Wars of the Roses, Ave Caesar, Lascaux. A new ‘52-week high’ turn-out at Thornleigh, in whi...
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Paul M. posted an article on The Mine Shaft Gap - Mar 16, 2010, 1:08 am
Venue: Paul’s place Present: Jeff, Alex, Pat, Brian, Tommy, Neil F., Euhan, Matt, Richard, Paul Played: Fairy Tale, Cartagena, Valdora, Le Havre, Chaos in the Old World, Lascaux, Pick Picknic, Jet Set, Assyria, Arena, Secret Labyrinth, eBay Electronic Talking Auction Game. With no obvious c...
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