Sunday, October 7, 2001
October 6, 2001
Axis & Allies was the only game of the evening. Glenn played Russia, Steve played Germany, Dan played the U.K., Bob played Japan and Eric played the USA. The USA never got involved in Europe, and was basically stalemated against Japan in the Pacific. Russia and Britian did well against Germany in Europe. The Allies won.
Saturday, August 4, 2001
August 4, 2001
Thanks to Kimberly, Royal, Stephanie, Eric, and my friend Marc Schneider, from work, for coming out Saturday night. We played Carolus Magnus, Carcassonne, Raj, Formula Dé, Air Baron, and Ice Towers.
Bob, Carol, Eric and Kimberly played Carolus Magnus. Bob was partners with Kimberly and, Eric was partners with Carol. Bob was the only one who had played this game previously, and the Bob/Kimberly partnership had an easy victory.
Carol, Kimberly, Rachel and Stephanie played two games of Raj, while Bob, Eric, Marc and Royal played one game of Carcassonne. Rachel won both games of Raj.
Marc played only one game, Carcassonne, before having to leave, but he emerged victorious in his first ever game with us and his first time playing Carcassonne.
Royal discovered a new strategy for Air Baron based on a rule that, we think, we had never known before. Unfortunately for Royal, only Bob was able to successfully utilize it!
Benjamin was the big story of the night, literally bringing the walls down! (Show up to game and you’ll see what I mean.)
Bob, Carol, Eric and Kimberly played Carolus Magnus. Bob was partners with Kimberly and, Eric was partners with Carol. Bob was the only one who had played this game previously, and the Bob/Kimberly partnership had an easy victory.
Carol, Kimberly, Rachel and Stephanie played two games of Raj, while Bob, Eric, Marc and Royal played one game of Carcassonne. Rachel won both games of Raj.
Marc played only one game, Carcassonne, before having to leave, but he emerged victorious in his first ever game with us and his first time playing Carcassonne.
Royal discovered a new strategy for Air Baron based on a rule that, we think, we had never known before. Unfortunately for Royal, only Bob was able to successfully utilize it!
Benjamin was the big story of the night, literally bringing the walls down! (Show up to game and you’ll see what I mean.)
Monday, May 28, 2001
Babycon VIII
Babycon 8 is history. From May 25 to 28, upwards of 16 players attended at the Jones house in Germantown, MD. Our thanks to everyone who attended. Carol and I had a great time.
Bob will endeavor to produce a Babycon report quicker than last year’s report. At first blush, it looks like the theme for B8 was “Oh, no. C-c-c-carol and K-k-k-ken are c-c-coming to k-k-kill me!”. Both Carol and Ken cleaned up.
We learned several new games including Princes of Florence, Plague and Pestilence, Dune, Cities and Knights, and Carcassonne. All were big hits.
Thanks to those who donated games we had an ample prize chest this year. And special thanks to those who came in from out of town, Brady, Marvin, and Joe and Karen (and Samantha). We hope to see you at future Babycons.
Brady took a bunch of pictures. Some of them will go into the report. If you’d like Bob to forward the actual images to you, let him know. See you next year.
Bob will endeavor to produce a Babycon report quicker than last year’s report. At first blush, it looks like the theme for B8 was “Oh, no. C-c-c-carol and K-k-k-ken are c-c-coming to k-k-kill me!”. Both Carol and Ken cleaned up.
We learned several new games including Princes of Florence, Plague and Pestilence, Dune, Cities and Knights, and Carcassonne. All were big hits.
Thanks to those who donated games we had an ample prize chest this year. And special thanks to those who came in from out of town, Brady, Marvin, and Joe and Karen (and Samantha). We hope to see you at future Babycons.
Brady took a bunch of pictures. Some of them will go into the report. If you’d like Bob to forward the actual images to you, let him know. See you next year.
Sunday, February 18, 2001
Sunday, January 14, 2001
January 14, 2001
Thanks to Jay, Eric, and Glenn who came out Sunday for some good old-fashioned gaming at Honeybear Lane.
Jay arrived at 1PM and joined Carol, Rachel and me for two games of LOTR. First time we were toasted. Second time we were incredibly lucky and sailed through rather easily. We’re looking forward to playing this with the larger group.
When Glenn and Eric arrived, we played Taj Mahal (Jay), Big City (Bob), Castle (Eric), Landlord (Jay), Acquire (Eric), and Ra (Eric and I tied at 50 but he had the highest sun tile and so won). After Jay and Glenn left at about 11PM, the remaining three of us plus Rachel played Frank’s Zoo (Rachel). All in all, a good night.
Looking forward to next time!
Jay arrived at 1PM and joined Carol, Rachel and me for two games of LOTR. First time we were toasted. Second time we were incredibly lucky and sailed through rather easily. We’re looking forward to playing this with the larger group.
When Glenn and Eric arrived, we played Taj Mahal (Jay), Big City (Bob), Castle (Eric), Landlord (Jay), Acquire (Eric), and Ra (Eric and I tied at 50 but he had the highest sun tile and so won). After Jay and Glenn left at about 11PM, the remaining three of us plus Rachel played Frank’s Zoo (Rachel). All in all, a good night.
Looking forward to next time!
Sunday, November 5, 2000
November 5, 2000
The first game up was Formula Dé. We ran a two-lap race, running on the Portugal Estoril track for the first time. Eric took the lead near the end of the first lap. Eric still had most of his tire points left, so he chose not to make a pit stop. Glenn also decided not to make a pit stop. Bob and Carol both stopped. Bob went into the second lap with no break points left. Throughout the second lap, Eric’s lead increased, while Bob and Glenn fought each other for second place. Two die rolls before the finish line, Eric rolled a 30 on the 6th gear die, lost his last engine point, and did not finish the race. Bob crossed the finish line first, followed by Glenn. Carol finished third.
Next up was Chrononauts. This was the first time any of us had played this game. It reminded everyone a little of Fluxx (both games are by the same designer). A timeline consisting of 32 cards is laid out. Each card represents some important historical event. Players each have an ID card (listing a certain sequence of historic events) and a mission card (listing three artifacts). Players play cards to alter the timeline (for instance, flipping the “1865 - Lincoln Assassinated” card over to “1865' - Lincoln Wounded”) or collect historic artifacts. The first person to match the timeline on his ID or collect the three artifacts on his mission card wins. Eric won on his ID (Werner). The game received good reviews from all four of us.
Then we played Lord of the Fries. We only played one round, using the Long Wok menu. Eric was the only one who had played this game previously. At the end of the round, Bob had the high score of 38. This game seemed a little lack-luster but, that may have been because we were playing with too many cards for the small number of people. If each player has too many cards, menu items are created too easily, eliminating much of the strategy in picking them (not that there’s all that much strategy to begin with).
After Lord of the Fries, came Hare and Tortoise. This was the second time for this game for Bob and Carol but, the first for Eric and Glenn. For most of this game, we were all fairly even. Near the end, Eric pulled out ahead. Then Bob passed him and, stopped just short of the finish line. Eric didn’t have enough carrots to reach the finish line in one move, and it looked like Bob was going to win. However, Eric landed on a rabbit space, rolled a 6, and got a second move and crossed the finish line first. Bob came in second.
Last up was Frank’s Zoo. This game bears a strong resemblance to The Great Dalmuti and Corporate Shuffle. One player leads with any number of cards of a certain animal. The next player can either play the same number of a higher ranking animal or, one more of the same animal (for example, if the lead is two fish, the next player can either play two whales or three fish). One significant difference between this game and Great Dalumti is, certain high ranking animals can be out-ranked by certain low ranking animals (for example, elephants can be out-ranked by lowly mice). Another difference is, while you get points for playing all of your cards first, you also get points for having collected certain cards. Eric won this game by a narrow margin.
Next up was Chrononauts. This was the first time any of us had played this game. It reminded everyone a little of Fluxx (both games are by the same designer). A timeline consisting of 32 cards is laid out. Each card represents some important historical event. Players each have an ID card (listing a certain sequence of historic events) and a mission card (listing three artifacts). Players play cards to alter the timeline (for instance, flipping the “1865 - Lincoln Assassinated” card over to “1865' - Lincoln Wounded”) or collect historic artifacts. The first person to match the timeline on his ID or collect the three artifacts on his mission card wins. Eric won on his ID (Werner). The game received good reviews from all four of us.
Then we played Lord of the Fries. We only played one round, using the Long Wok menu. Eric was the only one who had played this game previously. At the end of the round, Bob had the high score of 38. This game seemed a little lack-luster but, that may have been because we were playing with too many cards for the small number of people. If each player has too many cards, menu items are created too easily, eliminating much of the strategy in picking them (not that there’s all that much strategy to begin with).
After Lord of the Fries, came Hare and Tortoise. This was the second time for this game for Bob and Carol but, the first for Eric and Glenn. For most of this game, we were all fairly even. Near the end, Eric pulled out ahead. Then Bob passed him and, stopped just short of the finish line. Eric didn’t have enough carrots to reach the finish line in one move, and it looked like Bob was going to win. However, Eric landed on a rabbit space, rolled a 6, and got a second move and crossed the finish line first. Bob came in second.
Last up was Frank’s Zoo. This game bears a strong resemblance to The Great Dalmuti and Corporate Shuffle. One player leads with any number of cards of a certain animal. The next player can either play the same number of a higher ranking animal or, one more of the same animal (for example, if the lead is two fish, the next player can either play two whales or three fish). One significant difference between this game and Great Dalumti is, certain high ranking animals can be out-ranked by certain low ranking animals (for example, elephants can be out-ranked by lowly mice). Another difference is, while you get points for playing all of your cards first, you also get points for having collected certain cards. Eric won this game by a narrow margin.
Monday, May 29, 2000
Babycon VII
A funny thing happened after Babycon last year. I was really excited about doing the annual report and vowed to get on it. Then, we put our house up for sale and things went haywire. We moved in July and somehow I misplaced the Master Tote Board. Then Carol dropped our printer and scanner so I couldn’t scan in any Babycon pictures. Well, a few weeks ago I unearthed the Tote Board and realized it was time to get the Babycon Eight invitations out, so here we are.
Erik and Paul arrived early, so we got a few games in on Friday afternoon before the main group arrived. Friday night, we dined at Old Shanghai, a local Japanese-Chinese restaurant. Some had Chinese while others had sushi, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Happily, Dan brought his fiancee, Becky, whom most of us had never met.
As decorations, I had taken game bits (cards, tokens, tiles, etc.), scanned them, blew them up to monstrous size, mounted and displayed them upon the walls. Upon arrival and before departure, each guest was asked to identify which game each bit came from. Eric Haas won handily on Friday, correctly guessing 23 of 25. The post-Babycon contest found Glenn the winner with 17 of 23 identified.
Our third annual Team Robo-Rally game was a bloodbath. After the valiant sacrifice of his entire team, except for Carol who drove herself into a pit, Bob got the enemy flag to within three squares of his home base before Dan killed him. Afterwards, it was Bob against most of the other team who quickly crushed him and won the game.
On Sunday morning, we played a small fleet encounter (16 ships) of Wooden Ships and Iron Men prepared by Glenn. The French (!) handily beat the British in a quick and bloody encounter.
As you can see by the enclosed information, it was the year of Paul Czarnota. Paul set new records in every category by winning the most games at any Babycon, having the longest winning streak, and accumulating the most points. Happily, Paul is unable to attend this year. (Just kidding about the happily part. We want revenge and won’t get it.)
This was the last Babycon at Teakwood Circle. Our townhouse served us well for seven Babycons and we will miss it. We hope that our new house will do as well and that you will join us for Babycon Eight.
Thanks to everyone who attended.
Bob
Erik and Paul arrived early, so we got a few games in on Friday afternoon before the main group arrived. Friday night, we dined at Old Shanghai, a local Japanese-Chinese restaurant. Some had Chinese while others had sushi, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Happily, Dan brought his fiancee, Becky, whom most of us had never met.
As decorations, I had taken game bits (cards, tokens, tiles, etc.), scanned them, blew them up to monstrous size, mounted and displayed them upon the walls. Upon arrival and before departure, each guest was asked to identify which game each bit came from. Eric Haas won handily on Friday, correctly guessing 23 of 25. The post-Babycon contest found Glenn the winner with 17 of 23 identified.
Our third annual Team Robo-Rally game was a bloodbath. After the valiant sacrifice of his entire team, except for Carol who drove herself into a pit, Bob got the enemy flag to within three squares of his home base before Dan killed him. Afterwards, it was Bob against most of the other team who quickly crushed him and won the game.
On Sunday morning, we played a small fleet encounter (16 ships) of Wooden Ships and Iron Men prepared by Glenn. The French (!) handily beat the British in a quick and bloody encounter.
As you can see by the enclosed information, it was the year of Paul Czarnota. Paul set new records in every category by winning the most games at any Babycon, having the longest winning streak, and accumulating the most points. Happily, Paul is unable to attend this year. (Just kidding about the happily part. We want revenge and won’t get it.)
This was the last Babycon at Teakwood Circle. Our townhouse served us well for seven Babycons and we will miss it. We hope that our new house will do as well and that you will join us for Babycon Eight.
Thanks to everyone who attended.
Bob
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