November 17, 2007

Wooden Ships and Iron Men
Originally uploaded by Eric E Haas

Seven of us gathered together for a game of Wooden Ships and Iron Men. The French fleet (Dave Fair, Scott Fox, Liz Percival, and Eric Haas) was trying to land troop ships in order to fortify a small island possession. The British fleet (Bob Jones, Scott Percival, and Erik Light) was trying to blockade the island and prevent the French from landing their troops.

Despite superiority of numbers on the French side, the British were ultimately victorious, the average crews of the French were no match for the elite crews of the British. Eric’s photos are available here.

After WS&IM, several of us stayed to play other games.

• Wooden Ships & Iron Men - British: Bob, Scott P, and Erik, French: Dave, Scott F, Liz, and Eric.
• Race for the Galaxy - Dave 45, Bob 38, Eric 30, Scott F 23
• Agricola - Dave 40, Carol 28, Eric 25, Bob 19

October 6, 2007

Railroad Tycoon
Originally uploaded by Eric E Haas

More photos.

A couple of Saturdays back, we had pretty much the entire group of regulars come out for some long overdue gaming. Attending were Bob, Carol and Ben Jones, Eric Haas, Dave, Corwin and Noreen Fair, Erik Light, Stephanie, Bill, Rachel and Jason Ruvinsky, and Dan Korn. We also had a few non-playing kids.

Here’s the Tote (winner listed first):


• Circus Flohcati - Dave 57, Bob 50, Carol 49, Eric 44, Noreen 34
  
  • Bob: Dave most successfully pushed his luck.


• Coyote - Eric, Erik, Bob, Carol, Noreen, Dave
  
  • Bob: It’s always fun wearing headbands and sticking cards into said headbands.


• Zooloretto - Bob 24, Eric 23, Erik 22, Carol 17, Dave 17


• Michigan Rummy - Stephanie, Bill


• MarraCash - Eric 4775, Carol 4550, Bob 3225, Erik 2675
  
  • Bob: It’s been a long time since this gem made it to the table. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the first thing about strategy and got crushed along with Erik who had never played before.


• Settlers of Catan - Dave 10, Stephanie 7, Noreen 7, Bill 5


• Fairy Tale - Dan 47, Carol 45, Bob 45, Eric 36, Erik 35
  
  • Bob: This Japanese card game using the “Anaconda” mechanic is underrated.
  • Eric: When I first played this, I didn’t care for it all that much, but now that I’ve played it a few more times, I’ve come to appreciate it much more.


• Diamant - Jason 36, Bob 34, Dan 32, Bill 30, Eric 30


• Cariboo - Corwin, Rebecca K, Ben


• Cariboo - Corwin, Rebecca K, Ben


• 3-D Labyrinth - Corwin and Rebecca tied, Ben


• 3-D Labyrinth - Corwin and Ben tied, Rebecca


• Bohnanza - Rachel R 10, Stephanie 9, Dan 9, Bill 9
  
  • Bob: Obviously, a very close game.


• For Sale - Bill 68, Dan 61, Rachel R 59


• For Sale - Bill 67, Rachel R 64, Dan 46, Stephanie 44


• Railroad Tycoon - Noreen 68, Dave 67, Eric 52, Jason 47, Bob 46, Carol 32
  
  • Bob: I love Railroad Tycoon, yet I can’t win at it. In fact, I find it an incredibly frustrating experience almost every time. But I keep coming back for more. On this occasion, Noreen effectively shut me down by shipping “my” cubes and taking bonuses I was going after. She ended up ahead of Dave because she had the least stock while he had sold 23 shares, thus severely impacting his score.


• Metro - Dan 83, Bill 74, Stephanie 56


• Puerto Rico - Dave 55, Jason 51, Bob 48, Carol 44, Eric 36
  
  • Bob: The first playing of PR in a long time. I thought I had this wrapped up, but Jason’s large buildings and Dave’s wharf put them ahead.

It was good having most of the group together. Hope to see everyone again soon.

Bob

Babycon XIV

Photos from Babycon XIV.

February 24, 2007

Hey everyone. Just time for a short (and late) report from last Saturday’s gaming. Aside from non-playing kids and teens, attending were Bob and Carol Jones, Dave and Noreen Fair, Erik and Jenny Light, Dan Korn and Rachel Silber, Laura and Eric Reinhold, and Bill, Stephanie, and Jason Ruvinsky. Thanks to everyone who brought food and snacks.

The tote is below (winner listed first):

• 6 Nimmt - Dave 51, Dan 55, Noreen 64, Carol 72, Bob 73
• Ticket to Ride 1910 - Dan 151, Noreen 139, Laura 134, Carol 56 (ouch)
• Pillars of the Earth - Dave 50, Bob 48, Erik 46, Eric 45.
  • Bob: A good close game of what’s been described as “Caylus lite”. I made a last minute jump but it wasn’t quite enough to catch Dave.
• Quo Vadis - Bill 23, Dan 15, Bob 14, Carol 13, Stephanie 12
  • Bob: Bill just outclassed the rest of us.
• Settlers of Catan: China - Laura 7, Noreen 6, Dave 6, Eric 3
• High Society - Bob 13, Stephanie 12, Bill 12, Carol 9, Dan least money.
  • Bob: Really close game. The only way I could win is if Dan had the least money. Fortunately, he did.
• Einfach Genial - Rachel S. (all 18s), Carol, Noreen, Stephanie
• Big City - Dan, Bill, Bob, Dave
  • Bob: I had spots for two churches reserved. I put one down and was about to place the second when Bill opened up a church spot for Dan and Dan built, taking the last church and the game.
• Railroad Tycoon - Dave 66, Bob 59, Carol 58, Jason 50, Noreen 45
  • Bob: Incredibly close game. I had myself one point above Dave for the final score but, unnoticed until the end, Dave had the longest route and was able to grab the 8 point Tycoon card, giving him a win by 7 points. I maintain my apparently miraculous ability to finish second place in this game.
• Dragonland - Bob 43, Carol 41, Jason 41, Dave 24

My apologies to Jenny for the timing not working right to get her into a game (she was watching the uber-cute Jennifer). Next time the Lights attend, my main goal will be to get Jenny into a game. Promise.

Bob

January 13, 2007

Hey everyone! Here’s the tally from last Saturday’s gaming. We had a full house with Bob, Carol, Rachel and Ben Jones, Dave, Noreen, Andrew and Corwin Fair, Dan, Zachary, Rebecca Korn and Rachel Silber, Eric Haas, Erik, Jenny and Jennifer Light, and Bill, Stephanie, Jason, Alex, Rachel and Rebecca Ruvinsky. It’s been a while since we’ve had such a big group and I really enjoyed it. I am especially glad that Jenny and Jennifer have left Chicago and joined Erik in Rockville. Jennifer is really, really cute and really, really likes pinball. :-) I hope we’ll see more of them.

We played some games we haven’t played in a while as well as a few newer games. I was especially happy to get Merchants of Amsterdam and Vino to the table. Of the newer stuff, Show Manager and Ave Caesar are two really fun games I wish I owned.

Thanks to Carol for making tacos and everyone for contributing to the food bank.

The tote is below (winner listed first):

• Sudoku Card Game - Dave 4, Bob 2
• Gemblo - Carol 6, Bob 7, Noreen 7, Erik 8, Dave 14, Ben 19
• Show Manager - Dave 52, Bob 45, Carol 44, Eric 32, Noreen 26, Erik 23
  
• Can’t Stop - Noreen, Erik, Carol, Bob, Dave, Eric
• Princes of Florence - Dave 56, Eric 53, Dan 46, Noreen 44, Rachel S 40
  
• Pyramids of the Jaguar - Bob, Carol
• Pyramids of the Jaguar - Carol, Bob
• Ave Caeser - Bob 15, Alex 10, Jason 13, Bill 12, Stephanie 12
  
• Bohnanza - Dan 14, Dave 14, Eric 10 Carol 8, Noreen 7, Rachel S 3
• Leonardo da Vinci - Carol 52, Dan 49, Dave 48, Eric 29, Noreen 18
  
• Merchants of Amsterdam - Stephanie 1180, Jason 1120, Bob 920, Alex 870, Bill 750
  
• Vino - Jason 30, Bob 20+, Carol 20, Eric 18, Dave 15

I will post pictures when I have some. Hope to see you all again soon.


Bob

November 18, 2006

Sorry for the delay in reporting. It’s been a busy couple of weeks.

On Saturday, Nov. 18, we had a good group over for gaming. Attending were Bob, Carol and Rachel Jones, Dave, Noreen and Andrew Fair, Eric Haas, Erik Light in his first appearance with the local group, Scott Percival, and Stephanie, Rebecca and Bill Ruvinsky. As usual, it was a lot of fun.

Tote below (winner listed first).

• Verflixxt - Carol, Bob, Dave, Erik, Noreen
• Streetcar - Eric, Erik, Noreen, Carol
• Blue Moon City - Dave 4, Rachel 3, Bob 3, Andrew 2
  • Bob: BMC is unquestionably my favorite of the newer games. The mechanics are a lot of fun with loads of tactical play and some strategic decisions as well.
• Silk Road - Noreen 34, Dave 30, Carol 29, Erik, 28, Eric 25, Bob 21
• Three Dragon Ante - Erik 111, Eric 95, Carol 91, Rachel 4, Dave -3, Bob -5
• Das Störrische Muli - Erik, Bob, Dave, Eric
• Leonardo da Vinci - Scott 67, Dave 50, Carol 36, Eric 25
• Thurn & Taxis - Bob 23, Erik 19, Rachel 14, Noreen 11
• Cash N Guns - Rebecca $105,000, Bill $100,000, Rachel $85,000, Stephanie $70,000, Bob DOA
• Ticket to Ride 1910 - Stephanie 122, Carol 118, Noreen 107, Bill 104, Dave 91
• Rheinländer - Rachel 31, Eric 29, Erik 29, Scott 22, Bob 16
  • Bob: Holy cow, was I piled on. Everyone hammered me in this game.
• Tichu - Carol/Rachel 1050, Scott/Noreen 800
• Kanaloa - Eric 14, Dave 11, Erik 9, Bob 7
• Great Wall of China - Dave 40, Erik 38, Bob 33, Eric 30
• Metromania - Bob 26, Eric 16, Noreen 11, Dave 2
  • Bob: The first game I’ve won while being about 70% asleep. Really, I was swaying in my chair.

Eric’s pictures taken that day are here.

Hope to see everyone again soon.

September 6, 2006

Attending were Bob and Carol Jones, Paul Czarnota, Dave and Noreen Fair, Scott Percival and Eric Haas. Carol made some excellent beef barbecue for dinner.


Tote Board (winner listed first):

• Coyote - Dave, Scott, Noreen, Bob, Eric, Paul, Carol
  • Fun game of putting cards on your forehead and guessing the total. Plays like a combination of Liar’s Dice and Indian Poker.
• Bolide - Scott, Noreen, Paul, Eric, Bob, Dave, Carol
  • Bob: A mathematical car racing game with little luck. Clever maneuvering system marred by difficulty of actually figuring it out. Some of the group really liked it, others not so much.
• Crokinole - Bob, Paul
• Crokinole - Paul, Bob
• Railroad Tycoon - Scott 65, Bob 56, Paul 56, Carol 55, Dave 50, Eric 35
  • Bob: Excellent game of RRT. Very close and hard fought. Paul did an excellent job in his first playing of this great game.
• Crokinole - Paul, Eric
• Rum & Pirates - Paul 76, Eric 71, Bob 66, Dave 64, Carol 51
• Thurn & Taxis - Bob 46, Paul 40, Dave 37, Eric 35
  • Bob: SDJ winner of 2006. Good, middle-weight game similar in feel to Web of Power and Ticket to Ride.

Thanks to everyone for coming!

Bob