I can stay late every 4 weeks from this Tuesday as I am off the Wednesday. But i can stay up to 12 most weeks if I get a lift home as normal. Don't normally nod off until 1am.
I do believe I'm free that night so up for TI. Did you get your replacement TI bits in? Would we be bringing in any variations?
If we're having new players I'd reckon we want:
Leaders: No - Extra complication which is probably not wanted with new players and limited evening time.
Distant suns (random planet events): No - Same as above.
Voice of the Council (voted on floating victory point): Yes - V. simple and adds a bit of punch to the diplomacy card. Plus an extra VP floating around should help stop things going on too long.
Age of Empire (all objectives revealed from the start): Neutral - I'm happy to give it a try but am equally happy sticking with what we know.
I've not got the replacement parts yet, but they did ship on thursday last week so I imagine they will be here in time. I'd suggest keeping most things to how we know while we have new players. Save the variations for when everyone has played before.