September 27, 2003

Hi, everyone! I haven’t heard from some in our game group for a while. I hope everyone's well. The Joneses are doing fine. Rachel’s in 4th grade now and Ben just started Kindergarten. Yikes!

We gamed last weekend and although we thought we’d have a small group, we ended up with eight gamers! Of course, I was there along with Carol and Rachel (for one game). Our guests were Dan K, Eric, and Jay (his first gaming session in a LONG time. :-) ) Rounding out the group were Alex and Jason. It was a great time, as usual.

The tote board is below along with a few comments. The winner is listed in bold. Eric’s detailed timeline (on which all of this is based) is below. Thanks Eric.

I hope we’ll get to see each of you soon.

Bob

Tote Board

• Coloretto - Carol, Dan, Bob. This continues to be our light filler of choice. Easy, quick and, fun.
• Web of Power - Dan 70, Bob 67, Eric 60, Carol 55. A very close game. We thought Eric’s strength in advisors would carry the day but, Dan pulled a great last minute move that guaranteed him the win.
• Bang! - Alex won as the Renegade. (No small feat.)
• Bang! - Jay and Carol won as the surviving outlaws. The third outlaw, Jason, was killed.
• Tigris & Euphrates - Carol 7, Jay 6, Eric 5, Dan 5
• Merchants of Amsterdam - Jason $1,460,000 Rachel $1,110,000 Bob $1,070,000 Alex $850,000
• Acquire - Eric, Jay, Carol, Dan Only one merger was consummated until very late in the game. Eric won by a large margin.
• Titan: the Arena - Bob 14, Jason 13, Alex 3 Another very tight game. Secret bets won the day.
• TransAmerica - Dan & Jay tied, Carol, Eric
• Puerto Rico - Bob 50, Jay 44, Carol 31, Eric 30, Dan 24. Bob went with a mostly corn strategy. Grow a lot of corn and ship it often. He had nabbed three coffee plantations but was shut out from coffee production when the last coffee roaster was purchased. On the last turn, what he thought was a mistake in not choosing Captain to ship his corn worked to his advantage when he was able to build one of the large buildings to add 10 victory points at the end, fending off a very strong surge by Jay.
• Samurai - Bob, Dan, Eric Bob won by having the most in two of the three categories. A very tense game.

Eric’s Notes

• 2:18 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ house around 1:30. Dan Korn was already there. Dan, Carol and, Bob were playing Coloretto. Carol won. Next, the four of us played Web of Power.
• 2:48 pm: Jason and Alex Ruvinsky arrived during Web of Power.
• 3:23 pm: Dan won with 70, Bob had 67, Eric had 60 and, Carol had 55.
• 3:45 pm: Bob explained the rules to Bang!
• 3:54 pm: Jay arrived and, joined in the game of Bang!
• 5:11 pm: Carol was the Sheriff. Alex won as the Renegade. We decided to play again. Eric was the Sheriff.
• 5:43 pm: Jay and Carol won as the outlaws (Jason was the third outlaw but, he had been killed before the game ended).
• 5:50 pm: Bob started cooking hot dogs. After dinner, Jay, Carol, Dan, and Eric played Tigris & Euphrates while Bob, Alex and Jason played Merchants of Amsterdam.
• 7:42 pm: Carol won Tigris & Euphrates with 7, Jay had 6, Eric had 5 and, Dan had 5.
• 8:04 pm: After Tigris & Euphrates, we started a game of Acquire.
• 8:44 pm: Jason won Merchants of Amsterdam with 1,460,000, Rachel had 1,110,000, Bob had 1,07,0000, and Alex had 850,000. Bob, Jason and, Alex then started a game of Titan: the Arena.
• 9:27 pm: Eric won Acquire with $52,300. Dan, Carol, Jay and Eric started a game of TransAmerica.
• 10:13 pm: Bob won Titan: the Arena with 14, Jason had 13 and Alex had 3.
• 10:23 pm: Dan and Jay tied for the win in TransAmerica.
• 10:28 pm: Jason and Alex left.
• 10:45 pm: The remaining five of us decided to play Puerto Rico.
• 12:40 am: Bob won with 50, Jay had 44, Carol had 31, Eric had 30 and, Dan had 24.
• 1:02 am: Jay left and Carol went to bed after Puerto Rico. Bob, Dan and, Eric decided to play Samurai.
• 1:59 am: Bob won by having the most in two categories.