Great post Dan
This year has been a blast, but it's flown by pretty quick. I'm not sure I remembered what happened during the start of the year.
Pictures says a 1000-words, so I'll post a picture review of my Carcassonne year:
January saw me 'complete' my Carcassonne Collection:
and get addicted to spin-offs:
February, received a Big Box from Basically Wooden
:
It also saw me making contact with Japanese Carcassonne Players, which reminds me, I must make contact again:
March, saw my Carcassonne addiction go to the next-next level.....Russian Tiles:
April saw a goodie bag from kettlefish
and the exclusive JCloisterDan:
Certainly the highlight of the year for me was visiting the UK Games Expo (see Dan's post above). This was the first time I decided to meet people I knew from the internet. The prize goes to Rosco btw (Dan was fashionably late)
.
I was hoping a large event would secure my safety, from all those psychopaths you meet online; in fact everyone I've met was jolly nice. I've said it numerous times, as have others: We seemed to get along and be on the same wave-length it was like we had known each other for years.
The UK Meetup saw me crack open my craft drawer, for what seemed like the first time in about 15years. Having seen the Russian Tiles, Dan and I struck upon an idea to share Mythological stories from our home nations: England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. After some careful thought we stumbled across the legends of the Patron Saints and next thing you know I'm off to Staples to buy label paper, scalpels and cutting boards. You should know now: I'm not artistic; I cannot draw myself out of a paperbag; however somehow, I bodged together some simple artwork and every CarcC member who attended the meetup got a little pack. I stayed up many nights 'perfecting' the craft, in fact I even missed an important game with Jere to complete them in time:
They made quite a stir - A Polish Carcassonne player on BGG asked me if they were legitimate after they made it to the HiG Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Brettspiele/photos/pb.237314407298.-2207520000.1450873266./10153336774682299/?type=3&theaterJune saw Artscow take all my money:
Being a relatively new member of Carcassonne Central, and after the success of the UK Expo, I began to think Carcassonne Central needs to invest a little time on encouraging new people to join our ranks and at the start of July the Welcome Tournament began. This was the first time I ran a tournament. My intention was that it was slightly slower paced than the 'pro' tournaments members were used to here. Needless to say, I have a new appreciation of the time, energy and effort DanisThirty & kettlefish spend keeping these tournaments running. It was great to see new people join the forum and play some excellent Carcassonne.
July also saw the 'Most Loved' thread -
http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=1943.0The people that congress here are what make the community and seeing the wonderful creations people have shared with each other, means an awful lot.
and an addiction to Purple Teacher Meeples:
and the construction of my own Meeple:
AND the particularly awesome (if I don't say so myself): GenCan't Tournament:
http://www.gencant.com/carcassonne-solo-play-contest/Well done to Leven scoring 303!
August was where I stumbled into Orange Phantoms:
Stacked a Lot of meeple:
September: I've not got a photo here, but I was travelling to NY, where I got hold of Kids of Carcassonne & Travel Edition from the Carcassonne Shoppe
October was Carcassonne 2.0:
nuff said...
October was also the first UK Meetup (see Dan's link):
A fantastic day in Rugby! It was brilliant meeting even more members from Carcassonne Central and finding out they're all jolly nice too!
and a vast collection of Russian Tiles:
November - More Phantoms & Teachers:
December: Tile Printing:
What a quick review of my year. No doubt I've forgotten all sorts of things. I know there's lots of people I'd like to mention and many kind words said by members too:
Those people who posted things from afar with little knowledge of who I really was.
Those members who share their processes when crafting.
Those members who share their creations having spent hours perfecting their art.
Those members who run tournaments and invent new ways for us to play.
Those members who compete in the tournaments.
Those members who keep us posted with events going on abroad.
Those members who share a recent playthroughs or meetups or events.
Those members who come to events!
Those members who keep this forum functioning (and adding new emoji).
Those members who just love Carcassonne.
It's incredible really, just how many things our community manages to get done. I hope 2016 sees the same!