November 20, 2004

Hey everyone!

We had a pretty big group and got to play a good number of games. Playing were Bob, Carol and Rachel J, Dave, Noreen and Andrew, Rachel S and Dan K, Bill, Stephanie R, Jason, Rachel R, and Alex, Eric, and for the first time, our good friend from Dave’s Damascus GCOM group (as well as a general GCOM gamer), Gwen.

I don’t think we’re going to be able to get in another Saturday session before January but I will keep everyone up to date.

Hope to see everyone soon!

Bob
Eric’s Notes
1:16 pm:
Eric arrived shortly after 1:00. Dave and Andrew were already there. Carol, Dave, Bob, and Eric played Einfach Genial. Noreen and Gwen arrived while we were playing.
1:57 pm:
Bob won with 14, Carol and Eric had 12 each, and Dave had 11.
2:21 pm:
The six of us played Metro. Dan K arrived while we were playing.
2:38 pm:
Noreen won with 57, Bob had 35, Dave had 33, Carol had 32, Gwen had 31, and Eric had 28.
2:42 pm:
Carol left to pick up Rachel. Dan, Gwen, Dave, Bob, and Eric played Attila.
4:03 pm:
Dan won with 74, Eric had 68, Dave had 57, Bob had 44, and Gwen had 40.
4:10 pm:
Rachel S arrived. We decided to play Boomtown, even though it is only recommended for 3 to 5 players.
5:08 pm:
Rachel S won with 59, Bob had 49, Gwen had 46, Noreen had 45, Dan had 36, and Dave and Eric tied at 30.
5:28 pm:
Rachel J and Carol returned. Dave, Gwen, Rachel S, and Rachel J played Einfach Genial. Carol, Noreen, Bob, Dan, and Eric played Modern Art.
6:15 pm:
At the end of Einfach Genial, Rachel J had 11, Dave had 10, Gwen had 9, and Rachel S had 8.
6:42 pm:
Bob won Modern Art with 440, Dan had 416, Noreen had 370, Eric had 366, Carol had 346.
7:07 pm:
Dave, Carol, Andrew, Rachel J, Gwen, Bob, Dan K, and Eric played Bang! Andrew was the Sheriff. Dave and Bob were the Deputies. Gwen and Dan K were the Renegades. Eric, Carol, and Rachel J were the Outlaws.
7:17 pm:
The Outlaws won in the second round. Andrew and Rachel J were the only two people to even get a second turn.
7:22 pm:
Bob and Dan played Brawl.
7:27 pm:
Bob won.
8:25 pm:
We took a break for dinner: pizza from Domino’s. Bill, Alex, and Stephanie R arrived. Dan K, Rachel S, Alex, Stephanie, and Noreen started Ticket to Ride, while Carol, Bob, Bill, Dave, and Eric played Santiago.
9:47 pm:
Stephanie won TtR with 114, Rachel S had 104, Dan K had 96, Alex had 86, and Noreen had 63.
9:51 pm:
At the end of Santiago, Bill had 77, Bob had 68, Dave had 62, Carol had 54, and Eric had 50.
10:29 pm:
Jason, Bill, Stephanie, Rachel R, Rachel J, and Eric played Metro while Dave, Bill, Alex, and Carol played Dschunke.
11:21 pm:
Rachel J won Metro with 49, Bill had 37, Stephanie had 34, Jason had 30, Eric had 24, and Rachel R had 22.
11:42 pm:
Alex won Dschunke with 78, Bob had 72, Carol had 48, and Dave had 42.
12:02 am:
Bill, Stephanie, and Alex left after Dschunke. Dave, Carol, Rachel, Jason, Bob, and Eric played Power Grid.
3:00 am:
Jason won with 15 cities and $154, Dave had 15 cities and $136, Eric had 14+$209, Bob had 14+$138, Rachel J 14+$140, Carol 12.


Tote Board
Einfach Genial
Bob 14, Carol 12, Eric 12, Dave 11
Bob: This is a great abstract by Reiner Knizia. Everyone who plays it seems to love it.
Metro
Noreen 57, Bob 35, Dave 33, Carol 32, Gwen 31, Eric 28
Bob: Noreen’s last route, finished as the last tile down, scored enough points to win the game for Noreen by itself. Yikes.
Attila
Dan K 74, Eric 68, Dave 57, Bob 44, Gwen 40

Boomtown
Rachel S 59, Bob 49, Gwen 46, Noreen 45, Dan K 36, Dave 30, Eric 30
Bob: We apparently played with more players than the game can handle. Good game, though.

Dan K: I definitely agree with the good game part--I think our objection wasn’t that you can’t play with 7 players, but that the strategy intended by the game designers is severely compromised with so many players. The game ended too quickly--you didn’t have enough turns to execute any real strategy in your gameplay. I would love to play this game again with only 4 or 5 players.
Einfach Genial
Rachel J 11, Dave 10, Gwen 9, Rachel S 8

Modern Art
Bob 440, Dan K 416, Noreen 370, Eric 366, Carol 346

Bang!
Outlaws: Eric, Carol, Rachel J; Sheriff: Andrew; Deputies: Dave, Bob; Renegades: Gwen, Dan K
Eric: We played with the Dodge City expansion and two Renegades. This was one of the shortest games of Bang! ever. Six of the eight players didn’t even get a second turn.
Brawl
Bob, Dan

Ticket to Ride
Stephanie R 114, Rachel S 104, Dan K 96, Alex 86, Noreen 63

Santiago
Bill 77, Bob 68, Dave 62, Carol 54, Eric 50

Metro
Rachel J 49, Bill 37, Stephanie R 34, Jason 30, Eric 24, Rachel R 22

Dschunke
Alex 78, Bob 72, Carol 48, Dave 42

Power Grid
Jason 15+$154, Dave 15+$136, Eric 14+$209, Bob 14+$138, Rachel J 14+$140, Carol 12

September 18, 2004

We had a smaller group than usual this time, but still played a lot of games and had a lot of fun. Congratulations to Alex who was celebrating his sixteenth birthday! Happy Birthday, Alex.

Eric’s summary is below. Check out what happened to him after he left our house. He certainly should have stayed for another game. :-) Bob

Here’s the tally (winner listed in bold):
Metro
Bob 59, Eric 46, Dan 39, Noreen 32, Carol 22, Dave 20
Bob: Metro is very similar to Streetcar but quicker and more chaotic. It plays up to six players. This was my first time playing and I think it’s a great game.
Das Amulett
Bob, Noreen, Dave, Dan, Eric, Carol
Bob: First playing as a group. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Some have commented that it goes long with 6 players but it didn’t. The number and variety of spell cards was not hard to follow. Beautiful bits.
Acquire
Eric 31700, Rachel J 29000, Carol 28500, Dave 26600, Noreen 22100, Bob 20900 Bob: Only a half dozen mergers the entire game. Frustrating.
Einfach Genial
Bob 16, Dave 11, Eric 7
Bob: I’m not big on abstracts, but this is a fantastic game! It’s quick to play, offers lots of choices, some tough decisions, and is quite beautiful. This is why Reiner Knizia is my favorite game designer. Wow.
Bohnanza
Rachel 15, Carol 15, Bob 14, Eric 12, Dave 10, Noreen 8

Piratenbilliard
Eric 16, Dave 14, Bob 10, Rachel 6
Bob: A very odd game of physical dexterity. Dave got this really cheap on-line and it turns out to be lots of fun. Check out the description at BoardGameGeek. Definitely unusual!
Piratenbilliard
Dave 18, Rachel 10, Eric 8, Carol 8
Piratenbilliard
Rachel 8, Eric 6, Bob 6, Carol 4
Quo Vadis
Jason 19, Dave 18, Bill 17, Bob 10
Quo Vadis
Bill 19, Bob 19, Jason 17, Dave 10 Bob: Bill won because of the tie breaker. The second game, we played with the variant tiles for the first time. It added even more intrigue and cut-throatedness (is that a word?). I like the purity of the basic game, but will play the variant again.
San Juan
Carol 28, Alex 27, Rachel 24, Eric 23
Corruption
Dave $2.8 million, Carol $2.2, Jason $2.2, Eric $1.9, Rachel $1.4, Alex $1.2, Bob $0.6 Bob: Fun, fun game! Alex pulled a clever move against me on the final turn to assure he would not finish in last place.
Piratenbilliard
Alex 18, Jason 12, Rachel 2
Amun-Re
Bob 44, Alex 40, Jason 37, Rachel 35, Dave 33 Bob: A good, hard fought game. Dave and I did very poorly in the first round of scoring. It cost Dave the game. I managed to acquire a large number of pyramids during the New Kingdom for the win.


Eric’s Notes
2:23 pm:
I arrived at Bob’s around 1:30. Dan was already there. The Fairs arrived shortly afterwards. We played Metro. Bob won with 59, I had 46, Dan had 39, Noreen had 32, Carol had 22, and Dave had 20.
2:27 pm:
Bob brought out Das Amulett.
4:56 pm:
Bob won with 8 gems. Dan left after Das Amulett.
5:15 pm:
Rachel J joined us for the next game. Dave suggested we play Acquire.
6:43 pm:
I won Acquire with 31700, Rachel had 29000, Carol had 28500, Dave had 26600, Noreen had 22100, and Bob had 20900.
7:18 pm:
We took a break for dinner. After dinner, Bob, Dave, and I played Einfach Genial.
7:51 pm:
Bob won maxing out 5 of his 6 colors, with 16 in his last color. Dave had 11, and I had 7.
Einfach Genial
8:02 pm:
The six of us decided to play Bohnanza.
9:03 pm:
Carol and Rachel tied at 15, Bob had 14, I had 12, Dave had 10, Noreen had 8.
PiratenbilliardPiratenbilliard

9:36 pm:
Noreen left. Dave, Bob, Rachel, and I played Piratenbilliard. I won with 16, Dave had 14, Bob had 10, and Rachel had 6. We played again, and Carol took Bob’s place.
9:53 pm:
Dave won with 18, Rachel had 10, Carol and I had 8.
10:05 pm:
For the third game, Bob replaced Dave. Bill, Alex, and Jason arrived.
10:06 pm:
Rachel won with 8, Eric and Bob had 6, and Carol had 4.
10:09 pm:
Bill, Jason, Dave, and Bob started a game of Quo Vadis.
Quo Vadis
10:13 pm:
Carol, Rachel, Alex, and I played San Juan.
San Juan
10:40 pm:
Quo Vadis ended with Jason the winner at 19, Dave had 18, Bill had 17, and Bob had 10. They decided to play a second game of Quo Vadis.
11:10 pm:
Carol won San Juan with 28, Alex had 27, Rachel had 24, and I had 23.
11:22 pm:
At the end of the second game of Quo Vadis, Bill and Bob had 19, Jason had 17, Dave had 10. Bill won because of the tie breaker.
11:36 pm:
Bill left. The rest of us decided to play Corruption.
12:57 am:
Dave won with $2.8 million, Carol and Jason had 2.2, I had 1.9, Rachel had 1.4, Alex had 1.2, and Bob had 0.6.
Piratenbilliard
3:43 am:
I left Bob’s around 1:00. On the way home, I got caught in a back-up about two miles south of White Marsh at about 2:15. Apparently a major accident. The tow trucks had trouble getting through because so many cars had pulled onto the shoulder. People were getting out of their cars, walking around and chatting. By 3:45, almost everyone had turned their engines off, and it got very dark and quiet.
4:51 am:
Around 4:25, the cars in front of me were starting up again. Within a few minutes, we were moving again. I got home around 4:40.

August 29, 2004

Eight of us gathered in Germantown to play Wooden Ships and Iron Men. I prepared the gameboard and environs and Glenn Bramer prepared the ship log sheets for the chosen scenario.

With eight players, we decided to do the Battle of the Chesapeake, a large encounter between the French and the British involving 42 ships of the line. The French have a numerical superiority (24 versus 19 ships) with large crews, while the smaller British crews are of better quality. We did not use the land mass which is normally an obstacle in this scenario; we played open seas.

Glenn and I each took command of one fleet. Glenn was given the choice and took the French. We then split up Eric Haas and Steve Bramer as the other two experienced players. Eric joined the British, while Steve went with the French. Finally, we randomly assigned Rachel Jones, Alex Ruvinsky, Dave Fair and Dan Korn. The former two went to the British, the latter to the French.

Teams having been assembled, we went through a quick explanation of the rules and set up the game.

The wind, blowing to the north, was favorable to both fleets as they entered along the east and west sides of the game map. The French came in two long lines very far apart, while the British formed up in four lines fairly close together. After several turns of sailing full ahead, the first British ship to hit the French line was the flagship, the Barfleur, commanded by Bob. Enduring several rakes from Glenn’s squadron, the Barfleur tied up the front of the French line while going toe to toe with the French flagship, the Ville de Paris and another of Glenn’s ships.

Because of this, and the general pile up of ships that followed, the Barfleur was the first ship to strike her colors with the Ville de Paris not far behind.

Not long after, Alex’s squadron met up with the French line while Rachel and Steve started some long-distance sparring to the north and Dave and Eric began pummeling each other to the south. A number of struck ships started clogging the sea and it became very difficult to break through the tangle. At one point at least a dozen ships were fouled together.

By the end of the game, nine ships had struck their colors (5 British, 4 French) with many more ships seriously wounded (note, one of Rachel’s ships struck her colors but has not been crossed off the tally).

Glenn’s squadron, in the midst of most of the British fleet, took the worst pounding, with only 15 hull points left between his three remaining ships. However, Glenn is responsible for nearly all of the damage to Bob and Alex’s squadrons while killing two ships and capturing one. Bob’s ship, America, visible all alone approaching Dan’s squadron in the next photo, had only one hull box left.

Sadly, Dan’s squadron went the whole game without firing a shot. Starting farther to the north, Steve and Dan were tacking against the wind all game. Steve was in the van and so able to engage around mid-game. Dan was finally in a position to get into the fight when we called the game. In restrospect, we should have mixed up the squadrons a little more (maybe given him half of Glenn’s ships and vice versa) to make sure everyone got involved. Putting Steve and Dan’s squadrons to the north pretty much guaranteed victory for the French, though. With at least two French squadrons untouched at the end of the game, the British fleet would have been hard pressed.

The point of the session was to teach the rules and get as much done as we could in the time allotted. With a smaller scenario, we could have easily finished. With 42 ships, however, combat took far too long. At 4:30 we decided to play until 6PM at which time we ended the game. Another five or six turns probably would have ended the game more decisively.

At the start of the game, the French had 24 ships comprising 347 hull points. The British had 19 ships with 234 hull points. At the end, the French had lost 31% of their hull points while the British had lost 43%.

Note on pictures: The “struck ship” counters were originally used to denote surrendered ships. However, so many ships fouled, we started using the struck counters to designate that. We ended up flipping over the struck ships (as you will see in some of the pictures.) The arrow in the following photo represents the ship Glenn captured from Alex.

I hope we can play again sometime soon. Glenn has a much smaller scenario already prepared. My crystal mega mat will have arrived by then and I’m going to put together some “fouled ship” counters. :-)

August 14, 2004

Thanks to everyone who came out last Saturday for a day of gaming. As always, I enjoyed myself as I hope everyone did. Of course, the impetus for getting together was Paul Czarnota who was in town for the day.

Thanks to Carol for cooking dinner for everyone.

Looking back, I realized we played four of the great Alea game series, Traders of Genoa, Ra, Taj Mahal, and Puerto Rico. That’s pretty impressive!

Our next game is going to be on Sunday, Aug. 29th, where we’ll be playing a huge Wooden Ships and Iron Men scenario. We may have up to ten players. If you haven’t signed up but are interested, let me know.

The results are below (winner listed in bold).
Titan: the Arena
Bob, Carol, Paul
Bob: T:TA has made quite a comeback over the past few months; we’ve been pulling it off the shelf more and more often. For those who don’t own this game, it’s being rereleased by Fantasy Flight Games as Colossal Arena and will be available this fall.
Titan: the Arena
Carol, Bob, Paul
Modern Art
Jason, Bill, Steph R, Paul, Carol

Ra
Dave 38, Bob 34, Eric 24, Katherina 17

Ticket to Ride
Rachel J 110, Carol 80, Eric 29, Noreen 68, Royal 55

Venture
Dave 193, Paul 180, Bob 152, Stephanie W 146
Bob: This is a classic Sid Sackson (creator of Acquire) game from the late ’60’s. Paul brought it so we could playtest it. We all enjoyed it, although I thought it went a bit long. Still, the mechanisms were way ahead of their time and the game has a great deal of depth for a simple card game. Very nice.
Titan: The Arena
Paul, Stephanie W, Dave

Robo-Rally
Rachel J, Andrew, Noreen, Royal, Carol, Eric

Traders of Genoa
Paul 1020, Bob 965, Stephanie W 840, Alex 705, Dave 580.
Bob: This was an epic game. Many, many deals were made and the negotiations were quite protracted and involved at times. However, I owe both Dave Fair and Alex Ruvinsky an apology. Normally, I’m pretty aware of how each player is doing. As the game went on, Dave Fair was doing an impressive job of fulfilling large order after large order. Since large orders give one of the biggest payoffs in the game, I assumed that Dave was rolling over the rest of us and harped on his lead at every opportunity. When Alex Ruvinsky gave Dave a sweetheart deal, I teased Alex about it more than I should have. As it turns out, Dave wasn’t doing nearly as well as I thought; rarely have I so misjudged a game. In the end, Paul got the well-deserved victory. My apologies to Dave for going on and on about his lead and to Alex for teasing him about a simple mistake.
Sequence
Rachel J, Carol, Eric

Puerto Rico
Carol 57, Rachel J 50, Bob 49, Paul 47, Eric 45
Bob: A great game with lots of different strategies employed. Carol’s effective use of the Wharf and the Harbor gave her a big victory. And congratulations to Rachel Jones who nearly extended her winning streak to four games.
Taj Mahal
Paul 75, Bob 46, Carol 45
Bob: This was no contest. Paul captured 6 or 7 of the Province tiles and crushed Carol and me. Taj Mahal with three players is definitely different than with more players.


Eric’s Notes
2:23 pm:
Eric arrived at Bob’s around 2:30. Bob, Carol and, Paul were playing Titan: the Arena. The Fairs arrived shortly after Eric.
2:34 pm:
The Ruvinskys arrived. Carol won Titan: the Arena.
2:42 pm:
Paul, Carol, Jason, Bill, and Steffie started Modern Art. Dave, Katherina, Bob, and Eric started Ra.
3:09 pm:
The Whites arrived.
3:54 pm:
Jason won Modern Art. Dave won Ra with 38, Bob had 34, Eric had 24, Katherina had 17.
4:03 pm:
The Ruvinskys had to leave.
4:11 pm:
Bob, Dave, Paul, and Stephanie played Venture while Noreen, Carol, Royal, Rachel J, and Eric played Ticket to Ride.
5:11 pm:
At the end of Ticket to Ride, Rachel had 110, Noreen had 68, Carol had 80, Royal had 55, and Eric had 79.
6:22 pm:
Dave won Venture with 193, Paul had 180, Bob had 152, and Stephanie had 146.
7:17 pm:
We took a break for dinner, and then Bob showed us the pictures he and Carol took on their recent vacation.
7:41 pm:
Bob and Rachel left to pick up Alex. Stephanie, Dave, and Paul played Titan: the Arena while they were waiting.
8:09 pm:
Paul won Titan: the Arena.
8:40 pm:
Paul, Dave, Bob, Stephanie, and Alex played Traders of Genoa while, Andrew, Noreen, Royal, Rachel, Carol, and Eric played Robo-Rally.
11:11 pm:
Rachel won Robo-Rally.
11:51 pm:
Rachel, Carol, and Eric started a game of Sequence.
12:07 am:
Rachel won Sequence.
12:39 am:
Paul won Traders of Genoa with 1020, Bob had 965, Stephanie had 840, Alex had 705, and Dave 580.
1:07 am:
Carol, Paul, Rachel, Bob, and Eric started a game of Puerto Rico.
3:18 am:
Carol won with 57, Rachel had 50, Bob had 49, Paul had 47, and Eric had 45. Eric left after Puerto Rico. Paul, Carol and Bob played Taj Mahal.
?:?? am:
Paul won Taj Mahal with 75, Bob had 46, and Carol had 45.

July 10, 2004

Hey all! Here’s the summary of the July 10 game session.

We played Bang! near the end of the night and for the first time, everyone knew the rules and was familiar with all the cards. The game went very quickly and was a blast. There’s a weird learning curve with the game but once you get it, it's loads of fun.

You will note that at one point, Carol had won 6 games in a row!

Here’s what we played (winner listed in bold):
Omega Virus
Corwin, Andrew, Rachel J, Dave
Bob: Through a bit of cooperation, Corwin was able to defeat the Virus with less than 2 minutes to go!
Bohnanza
Dan and Eric (tied), Rachel S, Carol, Noreen

San Juan
Dan 31, Rachel J 28, Bob 21

Loco
Eric 34, Rachel S 33, Dan 29, Carol 24

Die Sieben Weisen
Bob 21, Eric 16, Carol 16, Dave 12
Bob: A new game to the group, very pretty, with shifting alliances attempting to play the highest value cards to take the crystals. Interesting.
Ticket to Ride
Rachel J 116, Dan 102, Rachel S. 59, Noreen 55

Lost Cities
Steph, Bill/Rachel R

Kahuna
Alex, Steph

Big City
Rachel S 64, Bob 60, Eric 56, Dan 55, Alex 52
Bob: A very close game that came down to the last building played.
Maharaja
Carol 7 palaces & 11 gold, Steph 7 palaces & 10 gold, Noreen, Dave, Bill
Bob: First time playing, they got a whole bunch of rules wrong. But all agreed it’s a good game worth playing again.
Web of Power
Carol 67, Dave 59, Eric 44, Rachel S 40

Queen’s Necklace
Alex, Dan, Bob

Samurai
Carol, Dave, Rachel S, Eric

Goa
Bob 49, Dave 39, Rachel J 36, Alex 32

Carcassonne
Carol 88, Bill 81, Dan 57, Steph 57, Eric 48

Guillotine
Carol 29, Dan 26, Eric 25

Bang!
Dan, Bob, Carol (Outlaws), Eric (Sheriff), Rachel J (Deputy), Alex (Deputy), Dave (Renegade)

High Society
Bob 13, Carol 12, Rachel J 9.5, Alex - Busted



Eric’s Notes
2:03 pm:
Eric arrived around 1:45. Dan Korn and the Fairs were already there. Dave, Andrew, Corwyn and, Rachel J started Omega Virus. Rachel S arrived a short time later.
2:43 pm:
Rachel S, Noreen, Carol, Dan, and Eric played Bohnanza. Dave, Rachel, and Bob played San Juan. Dan and Eric tied at 10 for the win in Bohnanza.
2:47 pm:
Rachel S, Carol, Dan, and Eric started Loco.
3:05 pm:
Dave won San Juan with 31, Rachel J had 28 and Bob had 21.
3:08 pm:
Eric won Loco with 34, Rachel S had 33, Dan had 29, and Carol had 24.
3:17 pm:
Corwyn won Omega Virus with two minutes to go. Dave, Bob, Carol, and Eric played Die Sieben Weisen. Rachel S, Noreen, Dan, and Rachel J played Ticket to Ride.
3:46 pm:
The Ruvinskys arrived. Rachel R and Steffie started Lost Cities.
4:03 pm:
Alex and Steffie played Kahuna.
4:41 pm:
Rachel J won Ticket to Ride with 116, Dan 102, Rachel S 59, Noreen 55.
4:44 pm:
Bob won Die Sieben Weisen with 21, Eric and Carol tied at 16, Dave had 12.
4:45 pm:
Alex won Kahuna.
4:58 pm:
Carol, Noreen, Dave, Steffie and Bill played Maharaja. It was the first time that any of them had played and, they got several of the rules wrong. Bob, Dan, Rachel S, Alex and Eric played Big City.
6:44 pm:
Rachel S won with Big City with 64, Bob had 60, Eric had 56, Dan had 55, and Alex had 52.
7:20 pm:
Carol won Maharaja with 7 palaces and 11 gold, Steffie had 7 palaces and 10 gold. We took a break for dinner.
8:56 pm:
Dave, Rachel S, Carol, and Eric played Web of Power. Bob, Dan, and Alex played Queen’s Necklace.
9:42 pm:
Carol won Web of Power with 67, Dave had 59, Eric had 44, Rachel S had 40.
10:04 pm:
Dave, Rachel S, Carol, and Eric played Samurai.
10:32 pm:
Alex won Queen’s Necklace. Carol won Samurai by having the most in two categories.
10:47 pm:
Bob, Alex, Rachel J, and Dave played Goa. Dan, Carol, Bill, Steffie, and Eric played Carcassonne.
12:43 am:
Carol won Carcassonne with 88, Bill had 81, Dan and Steffie tied at 57, Eric had 48.
12:57 am:
Dan, Carol, and Eric played Guillotine.
1:24 am:
Carol won Guillotine with 29, Dan had 26, Eric had 25.
1:36 am:
Dan, Carol, and Eric played Money.
1:46 am:
Bob won Goa with 49, Dave had 39, Rachel J had 36, Alex had 32. Carol won Money with 530, Eric had 500, Dan had 470.
1:54 am:
Bob, Alex, Dave, Dan, Rachel J, Carol and Eric played Bang! Eric was the Sheriff.
2:19 am:
Dave, the Renegade, was killed first. Carol and Bob revealed themselves to be Outlaws very early by attacking the Sheriff. Then Alex, a Deputy, was killed.
2:24 am:
Carol was killed.
2:31 am:
The Sheriff was killed and the Outlaws won.
2:45 am:
Eric left after Bang! Alex, Bob, Carol, and Rachel played High Society.
3:00 am:
Bob won.

Babycon XI

Photos from Babycon XI

For the first time ever, turnout was down from the previous year, but this was expected because of the spectacle that was Babycon X. Still, we had twenty gamers and a bunch of kids attending. First timers to Babycon were Dave, Noreen, Andrew and Corwin Fair.

On Friday night, a large group of us descended on a local Indian restaurant, India Palace, for a very good meal. Okay, so they gave Joe Bloch the wrong dinner, it was still very good. Afterwards, we returned to the house and began gaming in earnest.

As usual, everyone started out with fifteen Babycon bucks. One buck was anted each game and the winner took all.

How to summarize Babycon 11? It was the year of Alex Ruvinsky. After losing his first four games in a row, Alex started winning and kept winning the entire weekend. He won 12 out of 21 games played and finished with 46 Babycon bucks, an unparalleled achievement and a Babycon record that’s unlikely to be broken soon. Well done, Alex. Marvin Gersho also did very well with a score, 29, that most years would be the highest.

Also of note was the mysterious stranger who showed up at our backdoor at around 1AM Sunday. We were playing games (what else?) when a knocking at the back door in the basement startled us. Lo and behold, Paul Czarnota, who wasn’t going to be able to attend, had finished his commitments, hopped in his car and driven 10 hours to join us! It was definitely the coolest Babycon entrance ever.

Thanks to everyone who attended. We hope everyone can make it to Babycon 12.

• Streetcar Carol, Eric, Bob, Royal, Stephanie W
• Union Pacific Marvin, Joe, Dan K, Alex, Jason, Kimberly
• Web of Power Bob, Joe, Marvin, Alex
• Traumfabrik Carol, Eric, Kimberly, Stephanie W
• San Juan Stephanie W, Bob, Alex
• MarraCash Marvin, Eric, Carol, Kimberly
• Medici Eric, Marvin, Bob, Alex, Kimberly, Stephanie W
• Ticket to Ride Alex, Dave, Noreen, Bob, Stephanie W
• Puerto Rico Eric, Joe, Marvin, Carol, Kimberly
• Finstere Flure Alex, Dave, Noreen, Bob, Stephanie R, John, Stephanie W
• Crokinole Eric, Joe
• Crokinole Eric, Alex
• Top Secret Spies Marvin, Joe, Dave, Eric, Kimberly, John, Stephanie W
• Citadels Alex, Noreen, Bob, Carol, Bill, Stephanie R
• Africa Alex, Joe, Andrew, Bill, Rachel R
• Ra Kimberly, Dave, Marvin, Eric, Royal
• Mermaid Rain John, Bob, Rachel J, Stephanie R
• Crokinole Alex, Stephanie R
• LOTR: The Confrontation Rachel J, Alex
• Crokinole Bill, Stephanie R
• Kids of Catan Becca, Royal, Sammy
• Schrille Stille Joe, Marvin, Carol, Kimberly, John
• Mystery Rummy Stephanie R, Bill, Stephanie W
• La Città Dave, Noreen, Eric, Bob, Alex
• Cartagena Joe, Marvin, Rachel J, Bill, Rachel R
• Crokinole Joe, Marvin
• Power Grid John, Jason, Kimberly
• Mystery Rummy Carol, Stephanie W Game not completed.
• Bang! Joe, Carol, Stephanie W, Marvin, Eric, Bob, Rachel J
• Traumfabrik John, Paul, Marvin, Bob, Jason
• Evo Eric, Carol, Rachel J, Kimberly
• Finstere Flure Kimberly, Paul, Eric, Bob, Carol, Rachel J, Jason
• High Society Rachel J, Paul, Eric, Bob, Jason
• Crokinole Royal, Rachel J
• Wiz War Royal, Marvin, Eric, Bob, Rachel J, Stephanie W
• Feudal Paul, Bill, Stephanie R
• Crokinole Royal, Rachel J
• New England Jason, Carol, Kimberly, Stephanie W
• Santiago Marvin, Dave, Noreen, Eric, Bob
• Quinto Paul, Stepanie W
• Clue: The Card Game Rachel J, Paul, Stephanie R
• Cartegena Alex, Paul, Bill, Stephanie R, John
• Yahtzee Paul, Rachel J
• Hansa Bob, Dave, Eric, John
• Settlers of Catan Alex, Paul, Noreen, Bill, Jason
• Crokinole Stephanie R, Rachel J
• Ticket to Ride Marvin, Carol, Kimberly, Royal, Stephanie W
• Lost Cities Stephanie R, John
• Crokinole Eric, Dave
• Guillotine Noreen, Carol, Royal
• Modern Art Bill, Dave, Eric, Rachel J, Jason
• Octi Eric, Dave
• Octi Jason, Eric
• Octi Bill, Jason
• Octi Jason, Bill
• Lost Cities Noreen, Carol
• Attika Marvin, Bob, John
• Ticket to Ride Alex, Paul, Stephanie R, Kimberly, Stephanie W
• Elfenland Bob, Alex, Paul, Rachel J, Kimberly, Stephanie W
• Princes of Florence John, Marvin, Eric, Carol, Jason
• Guillotine Kimberly, Paul, Stephanie W
• Crokinole Alex, Rachel J
• Traumfabrik Paul, Carol, Stephanie W
• Show Manager Jason, Bob, Rachel J, Alex, John
• Medieval Merchant Marvin, Eric, Kimberly
• Lost Cities Alex, Rachel J
• Guillotine Paul, Stephanie W, Carol
• San Juan Carol, Marvin, Eric
• New England Bob, Rachel J, Alex, Stephanie W
• High Society Alex, Eric, Bill, Jason, Stephanie R
• Epic Duels Bob, Rachel J, Kimberly, Stephanie W, Paul, Eric, Carol, Royal
• Elixir Stephanie W, Bob, Carol, Rachel J, Kimberly, Royal

Rank	Name	Bucks won	Games played	Bucks per game	Games won	win ratio
1	Alex	46	21	1.476	12	57%
2	Marvin	29	19	0.737	7	37%
3	John	20	12	0.417	4	33%
4	Joe	19.3	10	0.430	4	40%
5	Royal	15	9	0.000	2	22%
5	Jason	15	15	0.000	5	33%
7	Andrew	14	1	-1.000	0	0%
7	Dan K	14	1	-1.000	0	0%
9	Kimberly	13	19	-0.105	4	21%
10	Noreen	12	8	-0.375	2	25%
10	Bill	12	12	-0.250	2	17%
10	Eric	12	26	-0.115	7	27%
10	Rachel R	12	3	-1.000	0	0%
14	Paul	11.5	15	-0.233	5	33%
15	Carol	10.3	20	-0.235	4	20%
16	Dave	10	10	-0.500	1	10%
16	Bob	10	22	-0.227	5	23%
18	Stephanie R	9	13	-0.462	3	23%
19	Stephanie W	8.8	22	-0.282	5	23%
20	Rachel J	7	20	-0.400	4	20%

May 8, 2004

Hey everyone! Gaming went very well on Saturday. Attending were Carol, Rachel and me, Eric, Cary Abend, Kimberly, Jason, Alex, Bill and Steffi. Unfortunately, Jo couldn’t make it. I have attached some pictures for your enjoyment. This was a somewhat unique gaming session due to the occasion of Jason Ruvinksy’s 18th birthday! Yes, Jason is now “cough” an adult. Congratulations Jason and Happy Birthday!

Here’s what we played and the results (winner listed in bold). As you can see, Eric and Jason had a good day.
Tote Board

• Hansa Eric 49, Rachel J 46, Carol 38, Bob 37 Bob: This is a very good game. Lots of strategy, nice bits and plays quickly.
• San Juan Eric 29, Bob 28, Cary 27, Carol 25 Bob: The card game of Puerto Rico. Certainly lighter and quicker playing, but quite enjoyable. Given it’s shorter play time, I anticipate playing a lot of this.
• Guillotine Jason, Bill, Alex
• Ticket to Ride Eric 130, Kimberly 101, Carol 98, Alex 69, Cary 55 Bob: Another great new game. Simple but strategic.
• Quo Vadis Jason, Bob, Alex, Bill
• Vino Alex 25, Bob 22, Eric 19, Carol 16, Kimberly 16
• Perudo Alex, Eric, Kimberly, Carol, Bob Bob: aka “Call My Bluff” or “Liar’s Dice”
• Modern Art Jason 627, Steffi 443, Eric 439, Bill 337 Bob: Jason’s $627 is a huge score.
• New England Bob 34, Carol 33, Kimberly 30, Alex 28 Bob: I love this game. It’s just fun.
• Royal Turf Bob 3150, Kimberly 2550, Jason 2350, Alex 1800, Carol 1100, Eric 1100
• Bang! Alex - Sheriff, Carol - Deputy, Jason - Renegade, Kimberly, Bob, Rachel - Outlaws Bob: The “good guys” won easily. Alex, the Sheriff, was practically unassailable for much of the game due to his innate ability and the cards he played in front of himself.
• Titan: the Arena Rachel J 14, Bob 9, Jason 5, Alex 5, Carol 4
• Titan: the Arena Rachel J 11, Alex 9, Carol 7, Bob 6, Jason 6

Eric’s Notes

• 1:54 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ house around 1:30. Bob, Carol, Rachel and, Eric played Hansa.
• 2:33 pm: Cary arrived around 2:30 as Hansa was finishing up.
• 2:41 pm: Scores at the end of Hansa were Eric 49, Rachel 46, Carol 38 and, Bob 37.
• 2:46 pm: Rachel left. Bob brought out San Juan.
• San Juan
• 3:12 pm: Kimberly arrived while we were playing San Juan.
• 4:01 pm: The Ruvinskys arrived around 4:00 and decided to play Guillotine.
• 4:13 pm: At the end of San Juan scores were: Eric 29, Bob 28, Cary 27 and, Carol 25.
• 4:21 pm: Carol, Cary, Kimberly, Steffie and, Eric started Ticket to Ride.
• Ticket to Ride
• 4:53 pm: Jason won Guillotine. Bob, Bill, Alex and, Jason started Quo Vadis.
• Quo Vadis
• 5:41 pm: Jason won Quo Vadis. Alex took over for Steffie in Ticket to Ride. Bill, Steffie and, Jason left.
• 6:11 pm: Scores at the end of Ticket to Ride were Eric 130, Kimberly 101, Carol 98, Alex 69 and, Cary 55.
• 6:22 pm: Cary left. Bob, Carol, Alex, Kimberly and, Eric started Vino.
• Vino
• 7:07 pm: The pizza arrived and we took a break for dinner.
• 7:43 pm: After dinner, we went back to the game.
• 8:55 pm: Alex won Vino with 25, Bob had 22, Eric had 19, Carol and Kimberly were tied at 16.
• 9:18 pm: We played Perudo.
• 9:44 pm: Alex won.
• 10:03 pm: Bill, Steffie and, Jason returned. We took a short break to celebrate Jason’s 18th birthday
• Jason's Birthday
• 10:25 pm: Steffie, Jason, Bill and Eric played Modern Art while Carol, Alex, Bob and, Kimberly played New England.
• 11:46 pm: Jason won Modern Art with 627. Steffie had 443, Eric had 439 and, Bill had 337.
• 11:53 pm: Bob won New England with 34, Carol had 33, Kimberly 30 and, Alex 28.
• 12:02 am: Bill and Stephanie left. The rest of us decided to play Royal Turf.
• 1:21 am: Bob won with 3150, Kim 2550, Jason 2350, Alex 1800, Carol 1100 and Eric 1100. Eric left after Royal Turf.

May 1, 2004

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting the Fairs, Dave and Noreen and their two sons, Andrew and Corwyn. Dave and Noreen host the Damascus chapter of the Games Club of Maryland, holding open gaming at their townhouse on most Friday nights. I met them at the GCOM Game Days a couple of weeks ago and invited them to come by last Saturday. They played a couple of games before they had to leave for a prior commitment. We had a great time with them and hope to see them again. :-) Also attending were Dan Korn and Rachel Silber, and Bill, Jason and Alex Ruvinsky. Here are the results of Saturday’s gaming.
Tote Board

• Ticket to Ride Carol 114, Noreen 103, Bob 95, Dan 68, Dave 57
• Pizarro & Co. Alex 51, Noreen 36, Bob 35, Dave 34
• Kahuna Bob and Alex tied
• Odin’s Ravens Bob 14, Alex 6
• Puerto Rico Dan 52, Rachel J. 47, Carol 37, Rachel S 32
• Bang! The Good Guys (Carol, Dan and Alex) vs the Bad Guys (Bob, Jason, Rachel S and Bill) Corporate Shuffle
• Dan 15, Bob 13, Jason 9, Carol 4, Rachel J 4, Alex 4
• Taj Mahal Bob 49, Alex 33, Jason 27, Rachel J. 26, Carol 21
• Hansa Rachel J 39, Bob 38, Jason 36, Alex 33
• Air Baron Jason, Alex, Carol, Bill (Rachel J), Dan, Bob Bob: A game that made it’s way to the table for the first time in a LONG time, Air Baron! Yes, we played Air Baron without any Bramers whatsoever. It was a sobering concept but we made it work. :-) After some initial jockeying, Jason went into Fare Wars and, due to some good bonuses and better dice rolling, walked leisurely to the required 290 market points. We had forgotten that the 290 victory level is reached by market points plus cash on hand, so Jason likely won a turn earlier when he stopped at 260 market points. Rachel took over for Bill when he had to leave. I suspect this will be hitting the table again soon.

March 20, 2004

Hey everyone!

We had a good session last Saturday. Attending were Bob, Carol and Rachel Jones, Dan K and Rachel S, Eric Haas, Bill, Jason, and Alex. As always, I had a great time and I hope everyone else did too. Courtesy of our new digital camera, I have attached a few pictures for your enjoyment. Looking forward to our next session. We should have at least one more session before Babycon.

Bob’s Tote Board (winner listed in bold) followed by Eric’s notes:
Tote Board

• Crokinole Eric, Bob
• Crokinole Eric, Rachel J
• Loco Carol 58, Bob 56, Eric 46
• High Society Dan 14, Bob 14, Eric 13, Rachel S 5, Carol Knizia gem similar in play to Raj but with a few more bells and whistles. Dan and Bob tied but Dan had the highest single luxury and so won. Carol had the least money and so automatically lost.
• Katzenjammer Blues Eric 6, Dan 5, Bob 5, Carol 3, Rachel S 0
• Katzenjammer Blues Carol 5, Rachel S 3, Eric 3, Dan 3, Bob -1
• Pirate’s Cove Alex 45, Carol 44, Rachel S 30, Jason 27 Hard fought game that came down to the very end.
• Verräter Bob 26, Dan 25, Eric 18, Bill 17 Also hard fought. Won by Bob on the last play of the game.
• Pit Carol, Jason, Alex, Bob, Dan, Eric, Bill, Rachel S
• Pit
• Jason, Carol, Alex, Bob, Dan, Eric, Bill, Rachel S
  
• Pit
• Alex, Jason, Carol, Bob, Dan, Eric, Bill, Rachel S
  
• Brawl
• Bob, Dan, Alex, Jason
• Bob, Dan, Alex and Jason played various hands of Brawl.
• Medieval Merchant Alex 51, Eric 43, Bill 41, Bob 37
• Wyatt Earp Dan 37, Jason 26, Carol 16
• Aquarius Dan, Carol, Jason
• Union Pacific Eric 98, Dan 89, Alex 89, Carol 86, Bob 84

Eric’s Notes

• 2:00 pm: Eric arrived at Bob’s around 1:15. Eric played Crokinole against Bob and won. Then Eric played against Rachel J and won.
• CrokinoleCrokinole
• 2:03 pm: Next Bob, Carol and, Eric played Loco.
• 2:23 pm: Carol won with 58, Bob had 56 and, Eric had 46.
• 2:33 pm: Rachel S arrived around 2:30.
• 3:04 pm: Bob and Rachel started a game of Crokinole while waiting for Dan K to arrive. Dan arrived around 3:00.
• 3:15 pm: Dan, Bob, Carol, Rachel S and Eric played High Society.
• 3:40 pm: Carol had the least money with $7 million. Dan and Bob each had 14 but, Dan had the highest luxury and won. Eric had 13 and, Rachel S had 5.
• 3:53 pm: Next we played Katzenjammer Blues.
• 4:18 pm: Eric won with 6. Dan and Bob each had 5. Carol had 3. Rachel S had 0 (she had 5 mice but lost 5 for having the most jokers). We decided to play again.
• 4:27 pm: The Ruvinskys arrived around 4:30.
• 4:37 pm: Carol won with 5. Rachel S and Eric had 3. Dan and Bob were tied for most jokers. Dan ended with 3 and Bob had -1.
• 5:12 pm: Carol, Rachel S, Alex and, Jason played Pirate’s Cove while Dan, Bob, Bill and, Eric played Verräter.
• Pirate’s CoveVerräter
• 6:48 pm: Bob won with 26, Dan had 25, Eric had 18 and, Bill had 17.
• 7:14 pm: Alex won Pirate’s Cove with 45, Carol won 44, Rachel S had 30 and, Jason had 27.
• 7:30 pm: We ordered dinner from Old Shanghai.
• 7:41 pm: We played Pit while waiting for dinner to arrive. Carol won the first round.
• PitPit
• 7:48 pm: Jason won round two.
• 7:52 pm: Alex won round three. Dinner arrived.
• 9:01 pm: After dinner, Bob and Dan played Brawl.
• 9:39 pm: Alex, Bob, Bill and, Eric played Medieval Merchant. Carol, Jason and, Dan played Wyatt Earp.
• Wyatt EarpMedieval Merchant
• 11:25 pm: Dan won Wyatt Earp with 37, Jason had 26 and, Carol had 16. They started a game of Aquarius.
• 11:51 pm: Alex won Medieval Merchant with 51, I had 43, Bill had 41 and, Bob had 37.
• 11:59 pm: Jason and Bill left. Alex took Jason’s place in Aquarius.
• Aquarius
• 12:12 am: Dan won Aquarius. The five of us decided to play Union Pacific.
• 2:17 am: Eric had 98, Bob 84, Dan 89, Carol 86, Alex 89.

February 28, 2004

As expected, we had a big group over for gaming last Saturday. In addition to Bob, Carol and Rachel Jones, attending were Eric, Dan K and Rachel S, Jo and Cary, and a boatload of Ruvinksys, Bill, Steffi, her brother Andrew, Jason, and Alex. The list does not include about a half dozen children. :-)

We’ll do another session in a few weeks. Hope to see everyone soon!

Bob

*************

Below is the tote board followed by Eric’s notes (winner is listed in bold).
Tote Board

• Loco Dan, Bob, Carol, Rachel S Bob: This is a version of Knizia’s classic filler, Flinke Pinke, which has been released in several different editions. It’s quick, fun, and has a decent amount of strategy.
• Goldland Rachel S/Carol 20, Eric 14, Bob 14, Dan 13, Cary 13 Bob: Goldland is a beautiful exploration game. This was a very tight game with a difficult finish. Carol took over for Rachel S who had to leave. (It is interesting to see that the photo on the back of the box, pictured at the link, shows all the tiles laid out initially with the unexplored tiles upside down. This is contrary to the rules and probably done to make it look better for the picture. However, it might be more in the spirit of exploration to start with all the tiles down, provided you could reorient the tile when you explore it.)
• Heave Ho Rachel J, Carol
• Web of Power Carol 53, Dan 48, Bob 45, Eric 40, Cary 38 Bob: Carol and Dan staved off a last minute come-from-behind surge by me with a very strong advisor play. Alas, it wasn’t enough.
• Taj Mahal Jason 50, Carol 40, Bill 38, Dan 36, Eric 31 Bob: I didn’t get to play. Wah.
• El Grande Alex 110, Bob 109, Jo 90, Andrew 71, Cary 62 Bob: A very close game. A 1 point difference is El Grande is about as tight as a game can get.
• Bang! Rachel J (Sheriff), Bob (Deputy), Cary (Deputy), Alex (Renegade), Carol (Outlaw), Dan (Outlaw), Eric (Outlaw) Bob: We learned two important things in this game. One, Alex is probably the best Bang! player we have. He convinced most of the people at the table that he was one of the Deputies and so didn’t get shot at by the good guys while encouraging the Sheriff and other Deputy
• to kill the third Deputy. And two, I have no right playing Bang! ever. I was the stupid Deputy who fell for Alex’s trick and I became convinced
• that Cary was one of the Outlaws. So, I shot him up and then Rachel killed him. Of course, the Outlaws didn’t do much better as Carol killed Eric. All in all, a blast of a game. See Eric’s notes for particulars.
• Bohnanza Bob 13, Carol 11, Rachel 11, Dan 9, Cary 9, Alex 7, Eric 4
• Verräter Alex, Cary, Rachel, Bob Bob: I’ve owned this for a long time but the only time our group has played it was at a Babycon long ago and I didn’t play it then. It’s a quick, cut-throat game of shifting allegiances. The main mechanism in the game was used by Bruno Faidutti in designing Citadels, a game we’ve played many times. I thought Verräter was very good even though I did poorly. I hope to play it more.

Eric’s Notes

• 2:19 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ house around 2:00. Dan K and Rachel S were already there. Cary arrived at the same time Eric did. Bob, Dan, Rachel S and, Carol were playing Loco. Dan won by one point over Bob.
• 2:28 pm: Carol sat out while we played Goldland.
• 3:25 pm: Carol and Rachel J started a game of Heave Ho!
• 3:58 pm: Rachel J won Heave Ho!
• 5:11 pm: Rachel S left and Carol took her place in Goldland. Carol won with 20, Eric had 14, Bob had 14, Dan had 13 and, Cary had 13.
• 5:18 pm: Next Bob brought out Web of Power.
• 5:57 pm: Carol had to leave and was replaced by Rachel J.
• 6:07 pm: Carol returned and took her place back from Rachel J.
• 6:12 pm: Carol won. Final scores were Bob 45, Dan 48, Carol 53, Cary 38, Eric 40.
• 6:18 pm: Cary left to pick up Jo.
• 6:41 pm: We took a break for dinner. The Ruvinskys arrived.
• 7:45 pm: We split into two groups. Carol, Dan, Bill, Jason and, Eric played Taj Mahal. Bob, Andrew, Alex, Cary and, Jo played El Grande.
• 10:17 pm: Jason won Taj Mahal with 50, Carol had 40, Bill had 38, Dan had 36 and, Eric had 31.
• 10:20 pm: Jason and Bill left after Taj Mahal.
• 10:34 pm: Alex won El Grande. Final scores were Bob 109, Andrew 71, Alex 110, Jo 90, Cary 62.
• 11:07 pm: Andrew and Jo left after El Grande.
• 11:12 pm: Rachel J joined us for Bang!
• 11:42 pm: Rachel J was the Sheriff. Dan, an outlaw, was the first killed.
• 12:01 am: Eric, another outlaw, was killed by Carol.
• 12:18 am: Bob, a deputy, was killed by dynamite. Cary, the other deputy, was killed by the Sheriff.
• 12:23 am: Alex, the Renegade, was killed by the Sheriff.
• 12:34 am: Carol, the last outlaw, was killed by the Sheriff. The good guys won.
• 12:46 am: Next we played Bohnanza.
• 2:37 am: Bob won with 13, Carol and Rachel had 11, Dan and Cary had 9, Alex had 7 and, Eric had 4.

February 8, 2004

• 3:00 pm: Eric arrived at Bob’s around 2:45. Royal, Stephanie and, Kimberly were already there. We decided to try Killer Bunnies.
• 4:35 pm: The game ended with Royal having four carrots, Eric had three, Stephanie and Bob had two each and, Kimberly had one. Stephanie won. Carol didn’t draw any money and only drew a bunny very near the end of the game; the game ended before she got to play it.
• 4:54 pm: Next we decided to play Medici.
• 6:14 pm: Stephanie won. Final scores were: Carol 61, Kimberly 73, Bob 112, Stephanie 114, Royal 81, Eric 99.
• 7:31 pm: After Medici, we took a break for dinner.
• 8:04 pm: Rachel joined us for Robo-Rally. We played with four flags on one board (Cannery Row). We decided the flags could be touched in any order. We also decided to play with unlimited lives and started with one option each. Royal started with the jump jet which enabled him to get his first two flags fairly quickly.
• 10:23 pm: Royal won. Carol, Stephanie and, Bob had two flags each. Rachel, Kimberly and, Eric had one flag each.
• 11:05 pm: Royal and Stephanie left and the rest of us decided to play High Society.
• 11:29 pm: Kimberly ended with the least money with $25 million and, was therefore out of the running. Eric won with 18 points.
• 12:02 am: Next we played Filthy Rich.
• 1:10 am: Bob won. We all agreed this would be a decent game except that taxes come up too often.

Bob: When playing Killer Bunnies, we made one mistake which probably made the game play better. Terrible Misfortune cards, which Carol drew in abundance, do not need a bunny to be played. If you do not have a bunny to be killed by the card, you may play it on another player! Since Carol drew somewhere between 4 and 6 of them during the game, it’s possible that none of us would have had a bunny at the end. It certainly might have changed the outcome because it’s likely that everyone who only had one bunny at the end would have had none and had to fork over their carrots. All said, it sounds like we may have been better off playing this incorrectly.

Eric: I’m not so sure about that. If Carol had been whomping our bunnies with misfortune cards, we would have gone through the deck faster, giving Carol more of a chance to draw bunnies. All of the take carrots cards are Aggressive so, we wouldn’t have been able to play as many of those.

For reviews and some suggested house rules, check this out.

January 17, 2004

We had a great session on Saturday. Attending were Bob, Carol and Rachel J, Glenn, Royal, Dan K and Rachel S, Bill, Steffi, Alex and Jason, and in his second appearance, Cary. It was nice to see Glenn back after several months. Despite numerous ties (all involving Dan K) and one misapplied rule in Goldland (entirely my fault), everything went well.

I hope everyone had a good time. Below is the tote (winner listed in bold):

• New England
  • Dan 31 + 14 dollars
  • Carol 31 + 2 dollars
  • Glenn 28
  • Royal 26


• Goldland
  • Steffi (Rachel J) 24
  • Bob 19
  • Alex 19
  • Bill (Carol) 9
  • Jason 8
  (Bill and Steffi had to leave late in the game so Rachel and Carol took over for them.)


• Guillotine
  • Rachel S 16, Dan 16
  • Royal 13
  • Glenn 8


• Traumfabrik
  • Royal 93
  • Bob 87
  • Carol 77
  • Rachel S 47


• Lost Cities
  • Steffi 58
  • Royal 49


• Puerto Rico
  • Jason 45
  • Dan 44
  • Alex 35
  • Glenn 31
  • Rachel J 24


• Guillotine
  • Alex 16, Dan 16
  • Jason 12
  • Glenn 12


• Attila
  • Bob 90
  • Carol 77
  • Steffi 74


• Modern Art
  • Bob 509
  • Dan 458
  • Carol 413
  • Jason 410
  • Cary 308


• Dragon Land
  • Cary 50
  • Bob 42
  • Dan 34
  • Carol 24

I’ll schedule another session for early/mid February. Hope to see everyone then!