- Babel - Bob, Eric
- Octi - Eric, Bob
- Octi - Eric, Rachel
- Doge - Carol, Eric, Rachel, Bob
- Octi - Rachel, Carol
- Carolus Magnus - Eric, Bob, Carol
- Chinatown - Bob $150000, Carol $102000, Eric $101000
- Burn Rate - Carol, Eric, Rachel, Bob
- Citadels - Eric 29, Jason 24, Bob 25, Bill 24, Alex 29, Carol 24
- Taj Mahal - Eric 40, Carol 38, Bob 33, Jason 45, Rachel 16
Saturday, July 27, 2002
July 27
Saturday, June 8, 2002
June 8
First up was Puerto Rico. Eric got an early monopoly in coffee but, kept getting shut out of shipping until he bought a wharf. Carol won, Jay came in second, Eric in third and Bob last. We then played Atilla. Once again, Carol won, Jay came in second, Eric in third and Bob last. Then we played Starfarers of Catan. This time the finish was reversed: Bob won, Eric came in second, Jay third and Carol last.
We took a break for dinner and, then Glenn and Steve arrived. Jay ran his Boldhome D&D campaign until 11:00pm. The party wandered through an old missile silo, killing giant ants and other things, then finally escaped.
Eric left at 11. Carol, Bob, Jay, Steve and Glenn played a game of Acquire, which Carol won.
We took a break for dinner and, then Glenn and Steve arrived. Jay ran his Boldhome D&D campaign until 11:00pm. The party wandered through an old missile silo, killing giant ants and other things, then finally escaped.
Eric left at 11. Carol, Bob, Jay, Steve and Glenn played a game of Acquire, which Carol won.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Babycon IX
We need a bigger house. Only our second year in the new house and we had the biggest Babycon attendance ever. A whopping 24 people played at least one game at the event. If you count attendees (kids and spouses who didn’t play), we saw 31 people during the weekend.
First time attendees were George Lewis, Zoe Spencer, Dan Korn and, Rachel Silber (and their children, Zachary and Rebecca), and the entire Ruvinsky family (Bill, Stephanie, Jason, Alex, Rachel and, Rebecca). Yikes! We pretty much set up a full day care center in the family room!
We had planned Friday night’s kick off dinner at the new Red Robin hamburger restaurant in Germantown. Unfortunately, Red Robin ignored our twice-confirmed reservations for twenty-five people and forced us to make an on-the-fly change. We ended up at our old favorite, Old Shanghai, which accommodated all of us quite nicely. Despite the confusion, dinner was great.
One highlight of the weekend was the 18 player team Robo Rally using two boards in different rooms! When your robot stepped into a teleport space, you immediately appeared in the other room on the other board, not knowing what would be awaiting you. It was wild, loud and, chaotic but, a lot of fun. Much of the action took place in the board in the main room as the board layout made it rather difficult to get onto the teleporter to go back to the other board. The team that won (see the Master Tote Board) leapt to an early lead by killing off most of the other team. However, a small group (Steve, Glenn and, Alex) remained alive to rally and nearly won, making it an exciting finish.
Thanks to Royal and Eric, who provided most of the pictures. Also, thanks to Glenn who contributed to the prize bin and Mark who donated a couple of good games to Bob’s Ultimate Game Room for the enjoyment of all. Thanks to everyone who donated food and drink.
As always, everyone started with 15 Babycon coins and had to ante one per game. Jeff Spencer had a good year, winning the most coins with Bob close behind, followed by Royal.
Babycon 10 is looking to be the biggest Babycon ever. We are already deep in preperations. Thanks to Glenn, we now have a web domain. Go to
Sunday, March 10, 2002
March 9
We started at about 3 P.M.. Bob, Dan K, Kimberly and Rachel S played Settlers of Catan, while Carol, Eric and Rachel J played two games of Aquarius. Rachel J won the first game of Aquarius and Eric won the second. Royal and Stephanie arrived at this point, while the Settlers game continued on. Carol, Eric, Rachel J, Royal and Stephanie then played a game of Wiz War, which Royal won pretty quickly. As the Settlers game looked like it was finally winding down, Carol, Eric Rachel J, Royal and Stephanie decided to play a quick game of Fluxx, which was won by Rachel J. The Settlers game finally ended with Rachel S winning and, Bob and Dan at 9 points each.
At this point, it was about 6 P.M. so, we decided to break for dinner. Some ordered from Old Shanghai and others from Pizza Hut.
After dinner, Rachel S left. The remainder played two games of Werewolf. With this small number of people, we figured one werewolf would work better than two. Bob acted as narrator for both games. In the first game, Rachel J accidentally revealed herself as the Seer and, of course, was immediately killed by the Werewolf. The Werewolf won, and turned out to be Dan K. In the second game, Stephanie as the Seer, was able to determine fairly quickly that the Werewolf was Rachel J and, was able to convince the other villagers to vote to lynch her. The Villagers won.
For the last game of the evening, we decided to play Robo-Rally. We used our homebrew team, capture the flag variant. Bob, Carol, Rachel J and Dan K were on the red team, while Royal, Stephanie, Kimberly and Eric were on the green team. There was some initial concern that the board layout was not completely fair as most of the conveyer belts ran from the red side to the green side but, it was decided that since both teams had to traverse the boards in both directions that this would even out over the course of the game. The green team got off to a poor start, with Stephanie getting hit by one of her own proximity mines and Royal shooting himself in the back with one of his own missiles. However, they quickly made up lost ground and Stephanie grabbed the red flag. Meanwhile, the red team’s offensive ground to a halt. So, Bob who had held back on defense, switched to offense. Dan K was the first person to lose all three of his lives and was out of the game. As Stephanie was heading back for the green home square, Bob simultaneously pushed Royal off the board and grabbed the green flag. It was Royal’s last life and now, both teams were down to three players. By the time Bob made it one quarter of the way back towards the red home square, he was heavily damaged and elected to power down. At this point, dissension broke out on the red team; several members felt Bob should drop the flag and allow Carol to carry it back to the red home square. Bob elected to keep the flag as Kimberly was close and he felt there was no good way to get it to his team mates. While Bob was powered down, Stephanie made excellent progress towards the green home square. In the meantime, Eric dropped goo at points near the red home square, just in case Stephanie couldn’t get back to the green home square. With Stephanie only a few squares from the green home, Bob tried to catch her and use a self-destruct option to stop her but, he was too late. Stephanie made it to the green home square and won the game for the green team.
At the end of Robo-Rally, it was about 1:30 A.M. and, we decided to call it a night.
At this point, it was about 6 P.M. so, we decided to break for dinner. Some ordered from Old Shanghai and others from Pizza Hut.
After dinner, Rachel S left. The remainder played two games of Werewolf. With this small number of people, we figured one werewolf would work better than two. Bob acted as narrator for both games. In the first game, Rachel J accidentally revealed herself as the Seer and, of course, was immediately killed by the Werewolf. The Werewolf won, and turned out to be Dan K. In the second game, Stephanie as the Seer, was able to determine fairly quickly that the Werewolf was Rachel J and, was able to convince the other villagers to vote to lynch her. The Villagers won.
For the last game of the evening, we decided to play Robo-Rally. We used our homebrew team, capture the flag variant. Bob, Carol, Rachel J and Dan K were on the red team, while Royal, Stephanie, Kimberly and Eric were on the green team. There was some initial concern that the board layout was not completely fair as most of the conveyer belts ran from the red side to the green side but, it was decided that since both teams had to traverse the boards in both directions that this would even out over the course of the game. The green team got off to a poor start, with Stephanie getting hit by one of her own proximity mines and Royal shooting himself in the back with one of his own missiles. However, they quickly made up lost ground and Stephanie grabbed the red flag. Meanwhile, the red team’s offensive ground to a halt. So, Bob who had held back on defense, switched to offense. Dan K was the first person to lose all three of his lives and was out of the game. As Stephanie was heading back for the green home square, Bob simultaneously pushed Royal off the board and grabbed the green flag. It was Royal’s last life and now, both teams were down to three players. By the time Bob made it one quarter of the way back towards the red home square, he was heavily damaged and elected to power down. At this point, dissension broke out on the red team; several members felt Bob should drop the flag and allow Carol to carry it back to the red home square. Bob elected to keep the flag as Kimberly was close and he felt there was no good way to get it to his team mates. While Bob was powered down, Stephanie made excellent progress towards the green home square. In the meantime, Eric dropped goo at points near the red home square, just in case Stephanie couldn’t get back to the green home square. With Stephanie only a few squares from the green home, Bob tried to catch her and use a self-destruct option to stop her but, he was too late. Stephanie made it to the green home square and won the game for the green team.
At the end of Robo-Rally, it was about 1:30 A.M. and, we decided to call it a night.
Sunday, January 13, 2002
January 12
Before gaming, several of us went to see Lord of the Rings. This was at least a second viewing for everyone who went and, for some a third or fourth viewing. As you can guess, we really like this movie.
On our return from the theater, Glenn, Bob, Bill, Jason and Eric started a game of Quo Vadis. Unfortunately, Jason had to leave part way through the game. From that point on, his pieces were moved by general agreement of the other players. At the end of the game, everyone had one senator in the head committee. Eric won with 16 laurels, Bill had 15, Bob had 14, Glenn 11 and Jason 8. Bill had to leave after the game.
While the Quo Vadis game was on going, Carol, Royal, Stephanie and Alex played a game of Carcassonne. Royal won. After Carcassonne, Royal and Stephanie left.
In the meantime, Rachel and Connor played a game of Hera & Zeus, a 2-player card game, which Rachel won.
Next, Bob, Glenn, Carol, Alex and Eric played a game of Traders of Genoa. We made a mistake during the game and, Glenn took ownership of several buildings in one turn early in the game when, the rules allow one to take ownership of only one building per turn. Glenn won with 610 ducats. Bob came in second with 520. Alex, who kept making what seemed to be very generous deals with other players, came in third with 450. Carol came in fourth with 445 and, Eric was last with 435. After Traders of Genoa, Glenn left.
Carol, Bob, Rachel, Alex and Eric played Evo. Carol won with 46. Bob had 45, Rachel 39, Alex 34 and Eric 30. After Evo, Carol and Rachel went to bed.
Bob, Alex and Eric played one last game of Samurai, which Bob won.
On our return from the theater, Glenn, Bob, Bill, Jason and Eric started a game of Quo Vadis. Unfortunately, Jason had to leave part way through the game. From that point on, his pieces were moved by general agreement of the other players. At the end of the game, everyone had one senator in the head committee. Eric won with 16 laurels, Bill had 15, Bob had 14, Glenn 11 and Jason 8. Bill had to leave after the game.
While the Quo Vadis game was on going, Carol, Royal, Stephanie and Alex played a game of Carcassonne. Royal won. After Carcassonne, Royal and Stephanie left.
In the meantime, Rachel and Connor played a game of Hera & Zeus, a 2-player card game, which Rachel won.
Next, Bob, Glenn, Carol, Alex and Eric played a game of Traders of Genoa. We made a mistake during the game and, Glenn took ownership of several buildings in one turn early in the game when, the rules allow one to take ownership of only one building per turn. Glenn won with 610 ducats. Bob came in second with 520. Alex, who kept making what seemed to be very generous deals with other players, came in third with 450. Carol came in fourth with 445 and, Eric was last with 435. After Traders of Genoa, Glenn left.
Carol, Bob, Rachel, Alex and Eric played Evo. Carol won with 46. Bob had 45, Rachel 39, Alex 34 and Eric 30. After Evo, Carol and Rachel went to bed.
Bob, Alex and Eric played one last game of Samurai, which Bob won.
Sunday, December 16, 2001
December 15
Glenn and Eric were the first to arrive. While waiting for the others, we decided to play a game of Torres. This is the third or fourth time we’ve played but, unfortunately, none of the earlier games seem to have made it into the log. Having been a while since we last played, we were all a little rusty on the rules at the start but, pretty much had them straight a couple of turns into the game. Eric won with 279, Bob came in second with 261, Carol had 248 and Glenn had 230.
By the time we had finished Torres, Dan and Jay had arrived. We decided to try Jay’s new game, Munchkin. Usually, whenever we play a game for the first time, we get a few of the rules wrong. This time was no exception. At one point, Dan drew the Amazon, which will not attack females. Dan had an elf card which pictured a female elf and, he assumed that the sex of the character on the card was what the Amazon card meant but, the errata page makes it clear that the card refers to the sex of the player. Also, Jay, who was at level 9, won the game by playing a card that gave him a level but, it turns out that you can only reach level 10 by killing a monster.
Tony came in half-way through Munchkin. We dealt him into the game and, he managed to do quite well despite starting out at a significant disadvantage.
Now we had seven people, which is an awkward number for gaming. There aren’t all that many games that can take seven players nor are there many games that are good with three players, which makes splitting into two groups not so attractive. Settlers of Catan can take up to eight if you combine two sets so, we played a seven player game with the “peanut” configuration shown in the Mayfair rules. We also used the rules that you can keep up to 13 cards when the robber is rolled and, no robber on the first two rounds of the game. The game progressed fairly quickly. Bob won, with several other people only one turn away from winning.
Next we decided to play an old favorite, Advanced Civilization, which can take up to eight players. Because of its long playing time (8+ hours), “Civ” rarely gets played at our regular gaming sessions. We used the Western Expansion map. Bob played Babylon, Tony played Crete, Dan played Egypt, Carol played Italy, Jay played Illyria, Glenn played Thrace and, Eric played Assyria. We started at about 6 P.M. Dan and Glenn both had to leave around 11 P.M. so, just before 11 we decided to play one more turn and then end the game. At the end, Jay won with 2240, Bob came in second with 2082, Eric was in third with 1932, Carol was in fourth with 1659, Glenn was in fifth with 1529, Tony in sixth with 1427 and Dan, who got hit with more than his fair share of calamities, came in last with 1106.
After Dan and Glenn left, the rest of us decided to play one more game. We chose Princes of Florence. This was the first time Tony had played the game. Bob again tried the strategy of collecting profession and recruitment cards that did so well in the last game (10/13/01). Near the end of the game had trouble making the minimum point value required to produce a work but, finally won with 61 points. Carol came in second with 55, Jay was third with 54, Tony was in fourth with 44 and Eric came in last with 43.
By the time we had finished Torres, Dan and Jay had arrived. We decided to try Jay’s new game, Munchkin. Usually, whenever we play a game for the first time, we get a few of the rules wrong. This time was no exception. At one point, Dan drew the Amazon, which will not attack females. Dan had an elf card which pictured a female elf and, he assumed that the sex of the character on the card was what the Amazon card meant but, the errata page makes it clear that the card refers to the sex of the player. Also, Jay, who was at level 9, won the game by playing a card that gave him a level but, it turns out that you can only reach level 10 by killing a monster.
Tony came in half-way through Munchkin. We dealt him into the game and, he managed to do quite well despite starting out at a significant disadvantage.
Now we had seven people, which is an awkward number for gaming. There aren’t all that many games that can take seven players nor are there many games that are good with three players, which makes splitting into two groups not so attractive. Settlers of Catan can take up to eight if you combine two sets so, we played a seven player game with the “peanut” configuration shown in the Mayfair rules. We also used the rules that you can keep up to 13 cards when the robber is rolled and, no robber on the first two rounds of the game. The game progressed fairly quickly. Bob won, with several other people only one turn away from winning.
Next we decided to play an old favorite, Advanced Civilization, which can take up to eight players. Because of its long playing time (8+ hours), “Civ” rarely gets played at our regular gaming sessions. We used the Western Expansion map. Bob played Babylon, Tony played Crete, Dan played Egypt, Carol played Italy, Jay played Illyria, Glenn played Thrace and, Eric played Assyria. We started at about 6 P.M. Dan and Glenn both had to leave around 11 P.M. so, just before 11 we decided to play one more turn and then end the game. At the end, Jay won with 2240, Bob came in second with 2082, Eric was in third with 1932, Carol was in fourth with 1659, Glenn was in fifth with 1529, Tony in sixth with 1427 and Dan, who got hit with more than his fair share of calamities, came in last with 1106.
After Dan and Glenn left, the rest of us decided to play one more game. We chose Princes of Florence. This was the first time Tony had played the game. Bob again tried the strategy of collecting profession and recruitment cards that did so well in the last game (10/13/01). Near the end of the game had trouble making the minimum point value required to produce a work but, finally won with 61 points. Carol came in second with 55, Jay was third with 54, Tony was in fourth with 44 and Eric came in last with 43.
Sunday, November 18, 2001
November 17
The first game up was Evergreen. Kimberly won by a fair margin.
Next came Split. This is a card game that bears a strong resemblance to Sequence. The general consensus was that this game has more strategic depth than Sequence, primarily because the placement of chips is less restricted by the cards than it is in Sequence. We played two games, with three teams of 2: Bob & Kimberly, Stephanie & Royal and, Eric & Carol. Bob & Kimberly won the first game. Stephanie & Royal won the second.
At this point, Royal volunteered to go out and pick up dinner for everyone. While waiting for Royal to return, Bob, Eric, Kimberly, Rachel and Stephanie played Dragon’s Gold (see 10/13/01). Rachel got the “Invisible Hand” card which Carol was able to use so successfully on October 13 but, was only able to steal one treasure before she was caught. Bob won. Royal returned before the game was finished and, while waiting, he and Carol played Atlantis.
Next, Bob, Carol, Eric, Kimberly, Royal and Stephanie played Hare & Tortoise (see 11/05/00). Bob won easily, Royal came in second, Carol in third, Eric in fourth. Stephanie and Kimberly both ended up near the finish line with way too many carrots. Kimberly ended up backing up 34 spaces so she could use most of her carrots in one long run and, she crossed the finish line in fifth place.
The last game of the evening was Landlord! Unfortunately, we got the timing of the rent payments wrong and collected rents at the beginning of the turn rather than at the end, which screwed up the strategy somewhat. Stephanie won.
About 10 minutes before midnight, several of us went out back to look for meteors. We saw one really spectacular meteor and, then another about 15 or 20 minutes later. Then we all went back in and said good night.
Next came Split. This is a card game that bears a strong resemblance to Sequence. The general consensus was that this game has more strategic depth than Sequence, primarily because the placement of chips is less restricted by the cards than it is in Sequence. We played two games, with three teams of 2: Bob & Kimberly, Stephanie & Royal and, Eric & Carol. Bob & Kimberly won the first game. Stephanie & Royal won the second.
At this point, Royal volunteered to go out and pick up dinner for everyone. While waiting for Royal to return, Bob, Eric, Kimberly, Rachel and Stephanie played Dragon’s Gold (see 10/13/01). Rachel got the “Invisible Hand” card which Carol was able to use so successfully on October 13 but, was only able to steal one treasure before she was caught. Bob won. Royal returned before the game was finished and, while waiting, he and Carol played Atlantis.
Next, Bob, Carol, Eric, Kimberly, Royal and Stephanie played Hare & Tortoise (see 11/05/00). Bob won easily, Royal came in second, Carol in third, Eric in fourth. Stephanie and Kimberly both ended up near the finish line with way too many carrots. Kimberly ended up backing up 34 spaces so she could use most of her carrots in one long run and, she crossed the finish line in fifth place.
The last game of the evening was Landlord! Unfortunately, we got the timing of the rent payments wrong and collected rents at the beginning of the turn rather than at the end, which screwed up the strategy somewhat. Stephanie won.
About 10 minutes before midnight, several of us went out back to look for meteors. We saw one really spectacular meteor and, then another about 15 or 20 minutes later. Then we all went back in and said good night.
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