Bits 'n pieces

It was with a somewhat heavy heart that I 'agreed' to accompany my wife to Bluewater shopping centre this morning ... but in the end I came away with what I think was a great bargain!

After I had parked the car my wife announced that she wanted to have a wander around for an hour or so looking for bargains. This meant that I had some time to kill before the drive home, so I set off for my usual haunts in search of some bargains of my own. The branch of Waterstones book shop seemed to be full of people who wanted to stand about and chat to each other, and Modelzone had nothing new to offer.

It was as I walked out of the latter that I saw that the branch of Menkind that was next door was having a sale ... so I walked in to have a look around.

I am very pleased that I did.

One of the items that was included in the sale was a boxed game entitled PLAY 5. This was billed as being combining 'poker and a crossword puzzle', neither of which particularly appeal to me ... but the bits inside the box certainly did!

The playing pieces consisted of fifty six wooden square playing card tiles, fifty two of which represented one of each of the cards in a standard pack of playing cards plus four Jokers. (The playing card tiles come in a small black cloth bag.)

The box also contained a single D6 die, four tile trays, and forty eight poker chips (twenty four red and twenty four blue).

It was the playing card tiles that were of particular interest to me as I often use playing cards in my solo wargames to determine the order in which units are activated during a turn. (This very simple system was devised by Richard Brooks and Ian Drury, and has been used in almost all of the RED SQUARE game designs they have produced.)

The problem with even the smallest playing cards that I have used is their size ... but these playing card tiles are not only smaller but also easier to read and easier to pick up. (The thickness of the wood they are made from makes them much easier to pick up than a thin playing card.)

I was so pleased to have found such a useful supply of parts that I can use in my game designs that I bought two ... and then discovered that the sale price (£6.99 down from the original price of £12.99) had a further 25% discount on top. This meant that the two boxes only cost me £10.48!

A real bargain ... and one that made my day!