November 12, 2005

Greetings!

Last Saturday, several of us gathered to play some games. In attendance were Bob, Carol and Rachel Jones, Dave and Noreen Fair, Scott Percival, Eric Haas, Dan Korn and Rachel Silber, and Alex Ruvinsky.

Scott, Eric, Rachel, Dave, Alex and I started with our long-postponed follow up to last August’s Wooden Ships and Iron Men game. We scaled it back considerably to finish in a reasonable amount of time. The scenario was that three Spanish treasure ships had gotten separated from their escort and were making a run for a fortified spanish coastline in the Caribbean. Unfortunately for them, identical French and British fleets found them and raced to intercept before the Spanish ships could get under the protective cover of their coastal batteries. The goal of the French and British fleets was to capture (or sink) the treasure ships and do as much damage to the enemy fleet as possible. Both fleets had nine ships, four ships of the line and five frigates. Dave, Alex and I were the French while Scott, Eric and Rachel J. were the British.

On initial setup, neither fleet sent their faster frigates after the treasure fleet, instead choosing to slug it out in the middle of the map. After several turns, multiple ships had struck their colors with the British taking the heavier losses. After this initial (and largely fatal) engagement, Alex and then Dave peeled off a couple of frigates to intercept the treasure fleet which they did just before the ships entered the firing range of the coastal batteries. The British attempted a similar maneuver but had no frigates left by this point. When the treasure ships struck their colors under fire from the French frigates, the British had two ships of the line still engaged while the French had two ships of the line and two frigates. The remaining British ships fled the battle.

We played on a really big playing surface comprised of a blue/white cloth covered by a crystal megamat. There were two islands and the coastal area to add some obstacles. The ships were the miniatures I got from copies of the old Milton Bradley game, American Heritage Broadsides which I hand-painted over the last few months. In the pictures you can see that the British have lighter decks, red flags and white stripes compared to the French darker decks, blue flags and yellow stripes. All of these elements added a great deal of atmosphere to the game. From start to finish, we played for two hours and forty-five minutes and came to a conclusive end. With two plays under our belts, the French are now 2-0!

Some time ago, Glenn put together an excellent Excel spreadsheet with templates for the Turn Order Sheets. This made it very easy for me to print out customized, individual ship sheets for each player. Thanks, Glenn!

After WS&IM was over, Alex left for several hours while we were joined by Carol, Noreen, Dan and Rachel S.

Not sure when the next session will be. I’m thinking of hosting Texas Hold ’em sometime in December. Possible nights would be the 3rd or the 10th. I’ll send around an invitation when I know more.

Bob
Tote Board

• Wooden Ships & Iron Men French: Bob, Dave, Alex; British: Scott, Rachel J, Eric
• Dungeon Twister Eric, Dave
• Tsuro Dan, Bob
• Tsuro Dave, Bob, Dan, Eric
• Wings of War Dan, Bob, Rachel S, Dave, Carol, Noreen, Eric Bob: Ace of Aces without the book. A nice, fun, easy system of WWI dogfighting which can play large numbers of players.
• Cash’n Guns Bob $135,000, Carol $75,000, Noreen $70,000, Dan $50,000, Dave (killed), Eric (killed) Bob: Basically, “Reservoir Dogs, the Game.” Fun game of pulling guns on your opponents. Are you bluffing or will you really shoot?
• Poison Eric -14, Dan -18, Carol -28, Bob -32, Dan -47 Bob: Knizia card game where you’re trying not to take cards, especially the dreaded Poison cards.
• Edel, Stein & Reich Eric 64:11, Dave 64:6, Carol 48, Bob 35, Noreen 24 Bob: Eric won the tie-breaker with Dave.
• For Sale Bob 60, Carol 46, Alex 45, Eric 35, Dave 35, Noreen 13
• San Marco Bob 66, Dave 58, Eric 58 Bob: A really excellent game for three players. Should make it to the table much more often.

October 29, 2005

Hey everyone! Just a quick update on last weekend’s gaming. Thanks to everyone who made it. We had Bob, Carol, and Rachel Jones, Dave and Noreen Fair, Scott Percival, Eric Haas, and Bill, Stephanie, Jason and Alex Ruvinsky. Tragically, only the Joneses were hip enough to come in costume. :-( We had a good time nonetheless. Carol made some excellent tacos.

Reminder, our next gaming event is next Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1PM. We plan on starting with Wooden Ships and Iron Men and then moving on to whatever. If you aren’t interested in playing Wooden Ships, you can still come and set up a side game. If you will play Wooden Ships, please let me know so I can set things up for the right number of players.

Bob
Tote Board

• King Solomon’s Mine Scott 56, Carol 49, Dave 49, Eric 31, Bob 31 Bob: An interesting game with a mechanic that’s impossible to get over if you have trouble visualizing the board in three dimensions. I had a lot of trouble easily telling which tile was on which level. Scott had no such problems.
• Finstere Flure Bob, Scott, Carol, Dave, Eric, Noreen, Rachel J
• Caylus Eric 56, Carol 47, Bob 46, Dave 44, Scott 44 Bob: Fantastic game with many roads to victory. Looking forward to continued plays of this. Watch for this to stay in BoardGameGeek’s top ten for a long time.
• Pecunia Non Olet Eric, Bob, Scott, Dave, Carol, Noreen Bob: This game is about, believe it or not, privy renters in ancient Rome. You run a latrine with three holes and you are trying to get customers to come in, get rid of their load, and pay you as quickly as possible. Very similar to Guillotine but without as many fun action cards. Notable mostly for the brown logs that represent . . . well, you know.
• Big City Dave 85, Jason 83, Carol 76, Eric 75
• Paris Paris Bill 46, Stephanie R 27, Alex 25, Bob 17
• Princes of Florence Bob 67, Eric 50, Jason 49, Dave 49, Carol 48 Bob: Still a classic. Very good game.
• Power Grid Jason 15, Scott 13:16, Eric 13:14, Bob 12, Dave 11 Bob: We played the Italian map. Very tight. The lesson learned was not to let one player alone in the south while the other three fight for space in the north.

September 3, 2005

Greetings! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I had a great weekend, especially Saturday, a day which involved spending time with friends, running through a darkened maze blazing away at enemy stormtroopers, and lots of game-playing. Thanks to everyone who came. It was a very fun day. I have attached several pictures for your enjoyment.

The group met at Shadowland around 10:00AM. Attending were Bob, Carol, Rachel and Ben Jones, Glenn and Laura Bramer, Scott and Liz Percival, their nephew, Paul and his friend, Henry, Kimberly Stern, Eric Haas, Dave, Andrew and Corwin Fair, Stephanie, Alex and Rachel Ruvinsky, and Dan and Zachary Korn. We quickly divided into teams and started the first game.

The teams were:

• Blue - Corwin Fair, Laura Bramer, Rachel Jones, Bob Jones, Liz Percival, Scott Percival, Rachel Ruvinsky, Glenn Bramer, Stephanie Ruvinsky, and Alex Ruvinsky.
• Red - Ben Jones, Carol Jones, Kimberly Stern, Dave Fair, Andrew Fair, Zachary Korn, Dan Korn, Eric Haas, Paul and Henry.

Luckily, there were no walk-ins so we had the arena to ourselves for both our games. There were some intial technical glitches which were quickly resolved and we proceeded to running around blasting each other. Dave Fair had hurt his leg earlier in the week and so was reluctant to play. He decided to go for it and his “stand in one place and not move” strategy proved bizarrely workable. At the end of the game, Dave had scored the most points followed by Rachel Jones and me. The final score was Blue Team 20,463, Red Team 20,089. Amazingly close. After we emerged from the arena, everyone was talking loudly and happily about the game so it was easy to see that everyone enjoyed it.

Since the two teams seem so well matched, we kept them for the second game. There was a bit less running around in this game as many members of both teams set up positions and engaged in a fierce firefight. Alas, the addition of the rapid fire option elevated scores considerably and produced a much greater disparity of scores. The Red Team decimated the Blue Team by a score of 44,601 to 31,381. Coming out of the arena, Dave and I agreed that I had the upper hand of him this time. To our great surprise, not only had I not bested Dave, he shot me 89 times!

Dave was again the leader followed by Dan Korn and Andrew Fair. We suspect a computer glitch for Dave the Cripple’s continued domination. :-)

After Shadowland, most of us went to Cici’s Pizza for lunch. We then proceeded to the Jones’ house for gaming. We were eventually joined there by Rachel Silber and Bill Ruvinsky. We had sandwiches for dinner and some stayed to game until around 3:30AM. The tote is below (winner listed in bold), followed by Eric’s notes.

Thank again to everyone who attended. I believe we’ll make Shadowland a quarterly event (or as often as people would like to do it). Looking forward to next time.

Bob

Tote Board

• Parking Lot Prototype Dave 46, Carol 46, Dan K 44, Eric 42, Glenn 39, Bob 32
  • Bob: This is my prototype, version 2. I tightened it up from its first version. This playtest gave me a bunch of good ideas for further improvements. Thanks for playing!
• Goa Dave 56, Dan K 45, Eric 32, Stephanie R 27
• Pirate’s Cove Bill 36, Carol 33, Andrew 31, Kimberly 30
• Australia Bob 109 (won on tiebreaker), Scott 109, Rachel S 103, Noreen 75
• Einfach Genial Bob, Scott, Noreen, Rachel S
• Guillotine Dan K 30, Kimberly 28, Carol 25
• Power Grid Scott 15, Dave 14, Bob 13, Eric 12
  • Bob: This was a great game of Power Grid. It was close until the end when Scott surpassed us in power generation and we couldn’t catch up. Well played
• Blokus Kimberly 20, Dan K -7, Carol -13
• Shadows over Camelot Carol, Dave, Bob, Kimberly, Eric, Scott
  • Bob: Also a tremendously fun game. Good was on the ropes when the Traitor, Scott, made a disastrous mistake and accused Kimberly. This actually revealed Scott as the Traitor and assured victory to the forces of light. Had Scott not misunderstood the results of a false accusation, he would have been the sole victor.
• Vino Kimberly 22, Carol 21, Bob 20, Dave 19, Eric 18

July 30, 2005

Hey everyone! We had a great time on Saturday. It took a while for everyone to arrive but all told we had fourteen players. Attending were Bob, Carol and Rachel Jones, Eric Haas, Scott Percival, Dave, Noreen and Andrew Fair, Bill, Stephanie, Jason and Alex Ruvinsky and Paul Bartholomew. As you can see, we played a ton of games.

I hope we can get together and do Shadowland and gaming some Saturday in late August or early September. I’ll send around an e-mail when we get back from Indiana.

Below is the tally of games (winner listed in bold):
Tote Board

• Blokus Dave, Rachel, Carol, Bob
• Parking Lot Game Eric 34, Dave 31, Bob 30, Carol 30, Scott 30, Rachel 25
  • Bob: This is a prototype I’ve been thinking about for some time. It’s a game of tactical vehicle movement in which players maneuver onto a two-dimensional scoring grid. Okay, it’s a parking lot game. The playtest went very well. Thanks to everyone for indulging me. It won’t be the last time.
• Verflixxt! Dave 17, Eric 13, Rachel J 9, Bob 9, Scott 7, Carol 0
• China Scott 41, Dave 40, Bob 36, Eric 30, Carol 22
  • Bob: China is the rerelease and retheming of Web of Power. Very good game.
• Brawl Jason, Paul
• Euphrat & Tigris Eric 7, Scott 5, Bob 4, Dave 4
  • Bob: Haven’t played this in a long time. (9/27/03) Wanted to introduce it to Scott and he loved it. Everyone played a rather nasty, very tight game.
  • Eric: Near the end of the game, I was doing well in every color except green, where I only had two points. I had just drawn two green tiles, when Scott started a conflict between his green leader and mine. The two tiles I had drawn were exactly what I needed to win the battle, which gave me five green points, and ended the game by giving me another treasure.
• Settlers of Catan Jason 10, Paul 7, Carol 6, Rachel J 5
• Einfach Genial Stephanie R (solo game)
• Chinatown Alex 107, Carol 102, Stephanie R 97, Dave 94, Paul 89
• Modern Art Bill 539, Scott 451, Jason 441, Eric 388, Bob 368
• Raj Bob 21, Scott 14, Jason 3, Eric 2, Bill 0
• Raj Eric 18, Bill 9, Bob 9, Scott 4, Jason 0
• Rheinländer Jason 37, Paul 35, Bob 33, Eric 33, Stephanie R 27
• David & Goliath Alex 174, Scott 144, Carol 142, Bill 135, Noreen 115, Dave 119
• For Sale Bill 55, Dave 41, Scott 39, Noreen 43, Carol 43, Alex 41
• Diamant Noreen 25, Rachel J 18, Bob 16, Andrew 5, Carol 2, Eric 2, Dave 2
• Groo Bob 8, Dave 5, Carol 5, Andrew 5, Eric 4, Noreen 0

June 25, 2005

We thought we were going to have a small crowd but ended up with quite a large group. Playing were Bob, Carol, and Rachel Jones, Eric Haas, Alex, Jason, Rachel, Bill and Stephanie Ruvinsky, Dave and Noreen Fair, Dan Korn and Rachel Silber, and Scott Percival. Whew!
Tote Board

• Blokus Bob 20, Alex 28, Rachel J 21
  
• Blokus Alex 3, Eric 5, Bob 22, Rachel J 40
• Circus Flohcati Rachel J 97, Eric 76, Bob 72
• Raj Alex 40, Bob 34, Dave 33, Eric 7, Rachel J 7
• Saboteur Dave, Bob, Rachel J, Alex, Noreen, Carol, Jason, Eric Played incorrectly. Saboteurs won but I have no record of who was what.
• Saboteur Dave, Bob, Rachel J, Alex, Noreen, Carol, Jason, Eric, Dan, Scott Miners won. No record of who was what.
• Shadows over Camelot Scott, David, Alex, Bob, Eric, Rachel J Rachel J was the traitor. The loyalists won. GREAT game!
• Ubongo Dan, Noreen, Jason, Carol
• Settlers of Catan Jason, Carol, Dan, Noreen
• Ubongo Alex, Noreen, Rachel J, Bob
• Tower of Babel Alex, Bob, Scott, Dave, Dan
• Goa Bill, Jason, Carol, Eric
• Ticket to Ride Stephanie R, Rachel R, Rachel J, Rachel S, Noreen
• Rheinländer Bob, Dave, Dan, Alex, Scott
• Jambo Dan 62, Bob 52

Babycon XII

Photos from Babycon XII.

Babycon 12 was held over Memorial Day Weekend, at the Jones’ house in Germantown, Maryland. Attendance was up from Babycon 11 with 23 players. We had several first timers to Babycon, Jason’s friend, Paul Bartholomew, Scott Percival, our good friend from the local GCOM sessions, and Ken Cline’s wife, Vasoula Hatzigeorgalis. With six children running around, we definitely had a full house.

For Friday night’s dinner, nearly everyone went to the local Hard Times Café for an all-you-can-eat chili buffet. This particular Hard Times has two huge recreation rooms with pool tables, darts, miniature golf, a wall of TVs and more. As part of the package, we had three pool tables to ourselves and played many games. There was (typically) some screwup on the restaurant’s part and we didn’t get the choice seating we had reserved, but we worked it out and everyone had a good time.

After dinner, we returned to the house and began our weekend of gaming. As usual, everyone started out with fifteen Babycon bucks. One buck was anted each game and the winner took all.

After last year’s complete domination, Alex Ruvinsky had an average year. High scorers on the Tote Board were Paul Czarnota with 42, Dan Korn with 38, Bill Ruvinsky with 28 and myself with 23. I guess it was the year of the “approaching middle-age” guys.

On Friday night, we committed to playing the new edition of Twilight Imperium. TI is an epic space civilization game where you expand your empire, conduct diplomacy, invest in research and battle it out with other empires. More people wanted to play than the game could support so we drew lots to see who would play. When the game ended on Saturday morning, they had played for about eight hours! The “winners” of the drawing certainly got their money’s worth.

The most played games of the weekend were Spinball, Einfach Genial, Lost Cities, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Octi, and Diamant. All told, 79 games were played.

Thanks to everyone who attended. Special thanks to everyone who brought food, helped cook, and helped to keep things running smoothly. Hope to see you at Babycon 13!

• St. Petersburg John, Joe, Rachel J
• Blokus Marvin, Eric, Bob, Kimberly
• Manitou Joe, Eric, Bob, John
• Twilight Imperium Jason, Paul B, Dave, Eric, Scott, Alex
• Einfach Genial Vasoula, Noreen, Stephanie R, Kimberly
• Santiago Bill, Glenn, Marvin, Bob, John
• Wiz War Carol, Joe, Ken
• Wiz War Ken, Joe, Carol
• Blokus Kimberly, Noreen, Vasoula, Stephanie R
• Munchkin Glenn, Marvin, Kimberly
• Munchkin Paul C, Glenn, Marvin, Kimberly
• Louis XIV Bob, Carol, Rachel J, John
• Medici Bob, Glenn, Paul C, Marvin, Rachel J, Kimberly
• Attika Paul C, Glenn, Bob, Rachel J
• Fibonacci Eric, Marvin
• Diamant Dan K, Dave, Marvin, Eric, Bob
• For Sale Dan K, Dave, Marvin, Eric, Bob
• Boomtown Marvin, Dave, Eric, Rachel J, Dan K
• Einfach Genial Paul C, Noreen, Bob, Kimberly
• Spinball Bob, Rachel J
• Goldland Bob, Ken, Dave, Rachel J
• Spinball Rachel J, Ken
• Spinball Dave, Bob
• Taj Mahal Dan K, Paul C, Marvin, Eric, John
• Ticket to Ride: Europe Carol, Andrew, Noreen, Vasoula, Kimberly
• Metro Bill, Noreen, Eric, Alex, Jason, Stephanie R
• Spinball Jason, Eric
• Octi Jason, Eric
• Einfach Genial Paul C, Alex, Bill, Stephanie R
• Octi Eric, Jason
• Lost Cities Kimberly, Carol
• Das Zepter von Zavandor Dave, Ken, Marvin, Vasoula, Bob, John
• Fibonacci Eric, Jason
• Octi Jason, Stephanie R
• Around the World in 80 Days Alex, Joe, Paul C, Noreen, Eric
• Metro Rachel J, Carol, Bill, Rachel R, Kimberly
• Blokus Jason, Stephanie R
• Around the World in 80 Days Paul C, Joe, Noreen, Carol, Kimberly
• Dragon Delta Marvin, Joe, Ken, Rachel J, Kimberly
• Ticket to Ride: Europe Bill, Eric, Alex, Jason, Stephanie R
• Show Manager Carol, Paul C, Dave, Vasoula, Bob, John
• Octi Eric, Marvin
• Metro Eric, Ken, Marvin
• Bohnanza Paul C, Eric, Bob, Carol, Rachel J, John
• Lost Cities Eric, Paul C
• Lost Cities Paul C, Eric
• Lost Cities Eric, Paul C
• Diamant Bob, Joe, Paul C, Marvin, Eric, Carol, Rachel J, Kimberly
• Royal Turf Dan K, Joe, Carol, Kimberly
• Lost Cities Stephanie R, Dave
• Amun-Re Paul C, Marvin, Eric, Bob, Rachel J
• Manila Bob, Ken, Dave, Vasoula, Rachel J
• Maharaja Dan K, Noreen, Dave, Eric, Bill, Kimberly
• Ticket to Ride: Europe Marvin, Paul C, Carol, Scott, Stephanie R
• Traumfabrik Paul C, Bob, Carol, Rachel J, Stephanie R
• Diamant Jason, Eric, Dan K, Alex, Bill, Kimberly
• Power Grid Marvin, Ken, Dave, Vasoula, Scott
• Spinball Eric, Alex
• Spinball Rachel J, Rachel R
• Lost Cities Alex, Stephanie R
• Spinball Jason, Alex
• Einfach Genial Dan K, Noreen, Eric, Bill
• Quo Vadis? Dan K, Noreen, Eric, Bill
• Lost Cities Alex, Paul C
• Amazonas Dave, Carol, Scott, Kimberly
• Patrons of Venice Ken, Marvin, Vasoula, John
• Niagara Paul C, Bob, Alex, Jason, Stephanie R
• Einfach Genial Rachel J, Ken, Vasoula, Stephanie R
• Traumfabrik John, Paul C, Eric, Jason R, Kimberly
• Einfach Genial Kimberly, Joe, Vasoula, Jason
• El Grande Alex, Dave, Marvin, Bob, Carol
• Ra John, Ken, Eric, Rachel J
• Diamant Eric, Marvin, Bob, Carol, Jason, Kimberly, John
• Hansa Bob, Marvin, Eric, Jason
• Wings of War Eric, Dave, Noreen, Bob
• Tikal Bill, Carol, Rachel J, Stephanie R
• Einfach Genial Bill, Noreen, Carol, Rachel J
• Rheinländer Dave, Paul C, Bob, Stephanie R
• Ticket to Ride: Europe Paul C, Bob, Carol, Rachel J, Jason

May 14, 2005

Hey everyone!

Below are the results of our gaming and Texas Holdem event last Saturday. We saw some old friends, met some new ones and had a wonderful time. Thanks to everyone who contributed food and drink. We certainly had more than enough! What’s left will undoubtedly be eaten at Babycon.

Special thanks to Dave Fair for setting up and running the Holdem game and to Noreen Fair for dealing the remainder of the game once she went out.

We were happy to have Mark Erickson as a first time guest to our game room. We were also very happy to meet Steve Bramer’s wife, Jackie, and Ken Cline’s wife, Vasoula, and her son, Angelo. It was a real pleasure to see Ken and Steve with their new families. I hope we’ll see you all again at future events.

We started playing board games around 2PM. We ate dinner around 6PM and started the Holdem tournament at 7:30PM. Eric Haas came by for the boardgaming part and kept the records. Thanks, Eric.

* * * * * *

Here is the tote of regular gaming (winner listed in bold):
Tote Board

• Spinball Bob, Eric
• Spinball Noreen, Carol
• Spinball Noreen, Rachel J
• Around the World in 80 Days Rachel J, Dave, Noreen, Carol
• Ticket to Ride Europe Eric 129, Bob 115, Ken 108, Vasoula 101
• San Juan Dave 32, Noreen 30, Carol 26.
• Circus Flohcati Dave, Noreen, Rachel, Carol
• Einfach Genial Ken, Rachel, Eric, Vasoula
• Dragonland Bob 43, Noreen 41, Dave 40, Carol 33

Texas Holdem

This was our first Texas Holdem night and, personally, I thought it was a blast. With twelve players, we started with two tables of six. Once two people were eliminated, we combined the rest into one table of ten and played until we had a winner. Each player bought in for $10 and received 1000 points in chips. The top four players won prizes of 50%, 25%, 15% and 10% of the pot. One player bought in again after an early bust so the total pot was $130.

The tables were:

Glenn Bramer, Dan Korn, Mark Erickson, Beth Bramer, Carol Jones, Noreen Fair

And

Bob Jones, Ken Cline, Jackie (Steve’s wife), Steve Bramer, Vasoula (Ken’s wife), Dave Fair

Of the twelve players, only five had played in a Texas Holdem tournament before. Inexperience was apparently not an issue. Unfortunately, with so many players, some of them are not going to get a good hand the entire night and are likely to go out just because of the attrition from the blinds. This happened to at least three players.

At the first table, after some early domination by first time player, Beth, Glenn dominated. He came to the big table as the chip leader. At the second table, Ken and Steve had some early winnings, but didn’t sustain them. Vasoula went bust within the first 30 minutes so we allowed her to buy back in. It proved momentous as she skillfully used her second stack of chips to finish in third place. I had the big stack from this table when we merged.

The players went out in the following order:

• 12. Steve Bramer After some early success, Steve couldn’t get a good hand.
• 11. Dan Korn Dan never got a good hand.
• 10. Jackie Coming to the big table short-stacked, Jackie didn’t last long.
• 9/8. Noreen and Mark Noreen and Mark were both knocked out in the same hand.
• 7. Carol Carol didn’t get many breaks.
• 6. Ken Ken was way ahead at one point at his 6 player table. Alas, it didn’t last.
• 5. Beth For her first time playing, Beth played very well.
• 4. Bob I came to the big table with the second biggest pile of chips. On the first hand head to head with Vasoula, she took half my stack. Later, Glenn took me out with a lucky card on the river. $13.00
• 3. Vasoula Easily the most improved. From an early bust, she came back, played very well and finished third. $19.50
• 2. Glenn With 4 players left, Glenn had the big stack. After he busted me out, he then lost a couple of big hands to Dave. After Dave knocked Vasoula out, Dave and Glenn went head to head. $32.50
• 1. Dave At a couple of points while on the 6 player table, Dave was nearly broke with all his chips on the line. He managed to hold on and after several hours of play, grabbed the win from Glenn. $65.00

I thought everyone played very well and I hope everyone had a good time. I would love to make this a semi-regular event. Elimination games are tough (which is why we play so many German games that aren’t elimination), but fun nonetheless.

Here are Dave Fair’s comments about the play of the final four:

It came down to Glenn Bramer on the big stack, Vasoula after that, and Bob and I both had less than 15 black chips each.

Glenn Busted out Bob, then I doubled up on Vasoula. I doubled up on Glenn two hands later, then tripled up on both of them.

I then knocked out Vasoula, and took on Glenn. He was still big stacked, but I was able to steal the lead, lose it, then steal it again. Finally, after many hands of aggressive raises from the button by me, I was able to take him down when he went all-in after making top pair (K-K) on the flop when I made 2-pair on the flop (8-8 & 7-7).

Attached are some pictures for your enjoyment.

Bob

March 26, 2005

We had a pretty good-sized group this Saturday. Thanks to Dave for keeping score. And thanks to Bill and Dan for staying past their allotted hour to play Robo-Rally.

The tote is below. Winner listed in bold. Looking forward to next time.

Bob


Tote Board

• Hera & Zeus Dan, Bob Bob: Taught the game to Dan, suggested strategy, and he whupped me.
• Das Amulett Rachel J (8 gems, 7 colors), Bob (6 gems, 7 colors), Carol (5 gems, 7 colors), Dan (4 gems, 6 colors), Dave (6 gems, 6 colors), Noreen (6 gems, 6 colors) Bob: Very close game. Going into the last turn, it looked like four players were in a position to win, with Rachel J far behind the pack. Due to some shrewd card-buying and resource hoarding, Rachel pulled out the victory ahead of everyone else.
• Web Of Power Dave 56, Bob 52, Dan 46, Carol 43, Noreen 39
• Easy Come, Easy Go Noreen, Bob, Dave, Carol, Dan Bob: I rolled four perfect rolls in a row. That is, on my first four turns, I won an award with a single throw each time. And yet, I lost. Once I had secured my third award, before the turn would come back around to me, someone would steal one of my awards. Noreen finally acquired her third award and held onto them for the entire round. Afterwards, Dave noticed that we were playing with one more person than the game takes. Oops.
• Pizarro & Co. Noreen 50, Bob 42, Carol 41, Dave 39, Dan 36, Rachel S 34
• eXXtra Bob 21, Dan 13, Alex 12, Rachel 7, Carol 3
• Robo Rally Team A: Bob, Dave, Bill, Alex; Team B: Carol, Jason, Dan, Rachel J Bob: Capture the flag, 2 boards. Team B started out strong, forcing the fight to Team A’s board and immediately threatening Team A's flag. Team A started out in disarray and had a hard time making progress towards B’s flag. Finally, some good defense with Dave and Bill slowed Team B and Carol’s mistaking left for right after she grabbed the flag killed her and ended the B team offensive. Meanwhile, Bob and Alex raced for Team B’s flag, Bob got it and pretty much sailed home for the victory.
• Primordial Soup Dave 42, Alex 41, Jason 37, Bob 32 Bob: Great game involving ameobas fighting it out in the primordial soup but I’m not convinced that the Frugality/Substitution strategy is beatable. Dave got those two genes and won. Jason came up with a nice movement combo of genes. Bob sucked most of the game but managed to get “Struggle for Survival” too late to win.

February 19, 2005

Hey everyone! Here's the after action report from last Saturday’s gaming. As usual, Eric’s notes are below. Thanks to everyone who attended! Looking forward to our next time.

Bob
Eric’s Notes
1:59 pm:
Eric arrived at Bob’s around 1:45. Dan K, Bob, Dave Fair, and Noreen were playing Wettstreit der Baumeister.
2:54 pm:
Dave Fair won with 38, Noreen had 21, Dan K had 24, Bob had 30.
3:31 pm:
Next, the five of us played Wongar.
4:54 pm:
Rachel S, Rachel J, Carol, and Andrew played Einfach Genial. Rachel S won.
5:13 pm:
Eric won Wongar with 61, Noreen had 59, Bob had 54, Dan K had 46, and Dave Fair had 38.
5:23 pm:
Dan K, Bob, Dave Fair, Rachel S, and Eric played Clash of the Gladiators.
6:30 pm:
Eric won with 19, Rachel S had 14, Dave Fair had 13, Dan K had 10, and Bob had 9.
7:02 pm:
We took a break for dinner, then Dan K, Bob, Dave Fair, and Eric played Ys.
7:15 pm:
Carol, Rachel S, Noreen, Rachel J played Ticket to Ride.
8:25 pm:
Noreen won Ticket to Ride with 128, Rachel J had 117, Carol had 100, Rachel S had 55.
9:11 pm:
Bob won Ys with 85 points + 25 gems, Dan K had 85 points + 23 gems, Eric had 82, and Dave Fair had 76. Bill, Jason, and Alex arrived.
9:46 pm:
Dan K, Bill, Eric, and Jason played Metro while Dave Fair, Bob, Carol, and Alex played Santiago.
10:42 pm:
At the end of Metro, Dan K had 73, Jason had 67, Bill had 41, and Eric had 33.
11:28 pm:
Bill and Jason left. Carol won Santiago with 119, Dave had 102, Alex had 100, and Bob had 84. Carol, Alex, Dave Fair, Dan K, Bob, Eric, and Rachel J played Democrazy.
12:02 am:
Eric and Alex tied at 8, Dave Fair, Dan K, and Rachel J had 7 each, Bob had 6, and Carol had 2.
12:43 am:
We played Democrazy again. This time, Rachel J won with 26, Bob, Dave Fair, and Eric had 25 each, Dan K and Alex had 24 each, and Carol had 23.
12:58 am:
Dan K left. Bob, Carol, Alex, Rachel J, Dave Fair, and Eric played Medici.
2:02 am:
Eric won with 121, Alex had 93, Bob had 81, Rachel J had 71, Dave Fair had 59, and Carol had 35.


Tote Board
Wettstreit der Baumeister
Dave 38, Bob 30, Dan K 24, Noreen 21
Bob: This is an overlooked gem that we played a few times when I first bought it and not since. With the Westbank Gamers variants, it becomes a very good, tense game.
Wongar
Eric 61, Noreen 59, Bob 54, Dan K 46, Dave 38
Bob: Another good game we need to play more often. This was pretty close as we all tried to master the many, many options available each turn. By the end, I think we were close to getting it.

Eric: We last played this on 8/31/2002. We did one thing incorrectly. When you choose a symbol card from one of the territories, only the first piece has to go in that territory. The other pieces may go in any territory.
Einfach Genial
Rachel S, Rachel J, Carol, Andrew

Clash of the Gladiators
Eric 19, Rachel S 14, Dave 13, Dan K 10, Bob 9
Bob: First play for this dice-fest from Reiner Knizia. I liked the theme and the setting up of gladitorial teams. Need to try it again to see if there’s more strategy than initially apparent.
Ys
Bob 85 points + 25 gems, Dan K 85 points + 23 gems, Eric 82, Dave 76
Bob: This half-blind bidding game has been compared to Aladdin’s
Dragons and rightly so. Although the theme is less fanciful, there is much
more meat.
Ticket to Ride
Noreen 128, Rachel J 117, Carol 100, Rachel S 55

Metro
Dan K 73, Jason 67, Bill 41, Eric 33

Santiago
Carol 119, Dave 102, Alex 100, Bob 84

Democrazy
Eric 8, Alex 8, Dave 7, Dan K 7, Rachel J 7, Bob 6, Carol 2
Bob: We haven’t played Democrazy in years. My memory was that it was confusing and complicated. We had no such difficulties this time as it seemed very simple (perhaps we’ve become more sophisticated as gamers). We had a lot of fun and I expect this game will hit the table again soon. (Sorry, Eric.)

Eric: Ugh. Coincidentally, we also last played this on 8/31/2002.
Democrazy
Rachel J 26, Bob 25, Dave 25, Eric 25, Dan K 24, Alex 24, Carol 23
Medici
Eric 121, Alex 93, Bob 81, Rachel J 71, Dave 59, Carol 35

January 8, 2005

Last Saturday, a huge group gathered in Germantown for our first gaming session of 2005. Attending were Bob, Carol and Rachel Jones, Dan Korn and Rachel Silber, Dave, Andrew and Noreen Fair, Gwen Alviani and first-timer Dave Fogel, Bill, Stephanie and Alex Ruvinsky, Kimberly Stern and Eric Haas. Whew. At times, we had three games going at once.

Thanks to everyone who came and those who contributed snacks and dessert.

The tote is below. Thanks to Eric for keeping track.
Eric’s Notes
2:01 pm:
Eric arrived at the Jones house a couple of minutes before 2:00. Dave Fair, Noreen, Gwen, Kimberly, and Dave Fogel were already there. Bob, Carol, Dave Fair, Noreen, Gwen, and Dave Fogel were playing Leapfrog. At the end of the game, Carol, Noreen, Gwen, and Dave Fogel had 11, Dave Fair had 10, and Bob had 5. Noreen won by the tie-breaking rule.
2:08 pm:
Carol, Kim, Noreen, and Eric played Einfach Genial, while Bob, Gwen, Dave Fair, and Dave Fogel played Goldbräu.
2:22 pm:
Dan K and Rachel S arrived.
2:34 pm:
Dan K and Rachel S started a game of Bohnanza.
3:03 pm:
Eric won Einfach Genial with 11, Kimberly had 10, Carol had 9, and Noreen had 8.
3:26 pm:
Dan K, Rachel S, and Noreen played Einfach Genial, while Kimberly, Carol, and Eric played MarraCash.
4:07 pm:
Dan K won Einfach Genial with 12, Rachel S had 9, and Noreen had 6. They started another game of Einfach Genial.
4:19 pm:
Dave Fair won Goldbräu with 126, Gwen had 85, Dave Fogel had 81, and Bob had 56.
4:22 pm:
Bill, Stephanie R and Alex arrived.
4:25 pm:
Carol won MarraCash with 6925, Kimberly had 4100, and Eric had 2200.
4:37 pm:
Dan K won the second game of Einfach Genial with 11, Rachel S had 9, and Noreen had 6.
5:05 pm:
We all played Werewolf. Dave Fair was the moderator. Rachel S was the Seer. Bob and Noreen won as the werewolves.
5:08 pm:
Bob, Stephanie R, Bill, and Alex played Vom Kap bis Kairo. Dan K, Kimberly, Dave Fair, Eric, and Noreen played El Grande. Rachel S, Gwen, Carol, Dave Fogel, and Rachel J played Big City.
6:05 pm:
Alex won Vom Kap bis Kairo.
6:09 pm:
Bill and Stephanie R left after Vom Kap bis Kairo.
6:13 pm:
Alex and Bob played Heave-Ho!
6:34 pm:
Carol won Big City, Dave Fogel came in second, Rachel J was 3rd, Rachel S was 4th, and Gwen was 5th.
6:54 pm:
Alex won Heave-Ho!
7:25 pm:
Noreen won El Grande with 96, Dave Fair had 88, Eric had 84, Kimberly had 83, and Dan K had 77. We took a break for dinner.
8:16 pm:
Dave Fair, Noreen, Bob, Kimberly, and Eric played Maharaja while Gwen, Dave Fogel, Carol, Alex, and Dan K played Taj Mahal.
9:59 pm:
Bob won Maharaja by playing all seven of his palaces. Dave Fair was second, Eric was third, Noreen was fourth, and Kimberly was last.
10:11 pm:
Dave Fair, Noreen, Bob, Kimberly, and Eric played Coloretto.
10:37 pm:
Eric won Coloretto with 25, Kimberly had 23, Bob and Noreen tied at 22, and Dave had 21.
10:41 pm:
Bill and Stephanie R returned.
10:46 pm:
Gwen won Taj Mahal with 62, Alex had 31, Dan K had 30, Carol had 29, and Dave Fogel had 26.
10:55 pm:
Dan K and Rachel S left.
11:21 pm:
Stephanie R, Carol, Bob, and Eric played Krieg und Frieden while Dave Fair, Rachel J, Noreen, Kimberly, Gwen, Dave Fogel, and Bill played Why Did the Chicken...?
12:16 am:
At the end of Why Did the Chicken...? Dave Fogel and Bill tied at 4 each, Noreen had 2, and Gwen, Rachel J, Kimberly, and Dave Fair had 1 each. Dave Fogel and Gwen left after Why Did the Chicken...?
12:28 am:
Dave Fair and Noreen left. Rachel J and Kimberly started a game of Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation. Rachel J played white while Kimberly played black.
12:41 am:
Eric won Krieg und Frieden with 14, Bob had 11, Stephanie R had 10, and Carol had 0.
12:52 am:
Bill, Stephanie R, and Alex left. Rachel J won LOTR. Eric left. Bob, Carol, Kimberly, and Rachel J started a game of Carcassonne.


Tote Board
Leapfrog
Noreen 11, Carol 11, Gwen 11, Dave Fogel 11, Dave Fair 10, Bob 5.
Bob: A good game with fun bits including some brightly colored frogs. Confusing at first, but worth figuring out. I had the most points but for landing in the frying pan on the last turn.
Einfach Genial
Eric 11, Kimberly 10, Carol 9, Noreen 8

Goldbräu
Dave Fair 126, Gwen 85, Dave Fogel 81, Bob 56
Bob: Good game very reminiscent of Löwenherz. The fun “Beer Garden” theme makes this a winner.
Bohnanza
Dan K, Rachel S

Einfach Genial
Dan K 12, Rachel S 9, Noreen 6

MarraCash
Carol 6925, Kimberly 4100, Eric 2200

Einfach Genial
Dan K 11, Rachel S 9, Noreen 6

Werewolf
Moderator: Dave Fair; Werewolves: Noreen, Bob; Seer: Rachel S; Villagers: Carol, Gwen, Dave Fogel, Kimberly, Bill, Stephanie R, Alex, Eric, Rachel J, Andrew
Bob: My first ever game of Werewolf not being the moderator. Dave does a great job. Noreen and I managed to kill all the villagers without being discovered. Hooray for the bad guys!
Vom Kap bis Kairo
Alex, Bob, Bill, Stephanie R
Bob: This is a neat little card game that’s easy to play but has some interesting choices. Could be played in very small spaces.
El Grande
Noreen 96, Dave Fair 88, Eric 84, Kimberly 83, Dan K 77

Big City
Carol, Dave Fogel, Rachel J, Rachel S, Gwen

Heave-Ho!
Alex, Bob

Maharaja
Bob, Dave Fair, Eric, Noreen, Kimberly
Bob: My first time playing this great game. Lots of different strategies with many roads to victory.
Taj Mahal
Gwen 62, Alex 31, Dan K 30, Carol 29, Dave Fogel 26

Coloretto
Eric 25, Kimberly 23, Bob 22, Noreen 22, Dave 21

Krieg und Frieden
Eric 14, Bob 11, Stephanie R 10, Carol 0

Why Did the Chicken...?
Dave Fogel 4, Bill 4, Noreen 2, Gwen 1, Rachel J 1, Kimberly 1, Dave Fair 1
Bob: A party game where the players try to come up with the best punch line.
Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation
White: Rachel J, Black: Kimberly

Carcassonne
Kimberly 115, Bob 102, Carol 98
Bob: Played with the “Carcassonne: The Count” expansion. Added some unusual dynamics.