Germantown 07/02/07

Record attendance for GCOM Germantown this week!

• Kevin Bealer
• Leslie Barkley
• Rose Byington
• April and Mike Charbonneau
• Andrew, Dave and Noreen Fair
• Doug Hoylman
• Ben, Bob and Carol Jones
• David Raley
• Eric and Laura Reinhold
• Bill Salvatore
• Antwann Rawls
  

We had a crowd at 6PM and so jumped right into a couple of games.

Tsuro is a quick, fun tile-laying game with diminishing choices as the game goes on. With seven players, I doubt there's a lot of opportunity for decision-making in any event, but it's still fun to see how things develop. Players were eliminated from the board in this order: Bill, April, Laura, Eric, David Raley, and Mike, leaving Doug with the win.

Since my son, Ben, came with us, we broke out one of his favorite games, Gemblo. Gemblo is a Korean version of Blokus which, because of it's shape, can play up to six players. It's a beautiful game requiring some thought to play. The object is to place all of your pieces on the board. Any segments left at the end count against you. Leslie proved the most adept. Final scores were Leslie 12, Bob 13, Ben 18 and Carol 24.

After Gemblo, we played another of Ben's favorites, Emerald. In Emerald, each player controls four knights making their way through a Dragon's cave, stealing treasure. If a knight ends its turn on a space near the Dragon, watch out! The knight may get eaten. The treasure consists of colored gems and gold cards. Collecting sets of gems gives bonus points at the end of the game. Ben was the first to collect one of each color gem, getting a bonus card worth 4 points. Dave collected the most yellow and green gems for 8 points, while Leslie collected the most blue and Bob the most red for 4 points each. Final scores were Leslie 30, Carol 23, Ben 20, Dave 20, and Bob in the rear with 19.

Rose arrived and joined Bill, Eric and Laura for another Germantown favorite, San Juan. Final scores were Rose, Eric and Laura tied with 20, Bill with 17. The tiebreaker is the number of goods left on production buildings plus cards left in hand. Rose and Eric both had three to Laura's two.

Meanwhile, Doug, April, Mike, and David Raley began the process of rebuilding Blue Moon City. The game was new to April who apparently really liked it, ranking it a 10. I don't blame her. Final scores were April 4, Doug and Michael 3, and David 2.

Kevin having arrived and Noreen looking for a game lead to another table in play. At one point we had four separate tables with games in progress. Joining Kevin and Noreen were Carol and Dave Fair for a game of Qwirkle. Final scores were Kevin 155, Carol 140, Noreen 112, and Dave 108.

I was happy to introduce one of my favorite games, Web of Power, to Leslie and Antwann. Just before we started, Bill joined us. Web of Power is a game that definitely rewards experience. The strategy involved is rather subtle, putting new players at a disadvantage until they've played a couple of times. This proved true as I was able to generate significant points using all of my Advisors. Still, the game was hard fought with final scores of Bob 61, Leslie 54, Bill 49, and Antwann 38. I suspect a rematch would result in a very different outcome.

A large group then formed to play another in the interminable, I mean eternal, Munchkin series, Munchkin Chtulhu. Final scores were Mike 10, David Raley 9, Doug 7, Laura 6, Eric 6, and April 5. It's not easy but I really enjoy it when we can get in a game at Borders with a whole bunch of players. I was told afterwards that the players had fun struggling with the minions of the Great Old Ones.

Meanwhile, Dave Fair, Bob, Kevin, and Noreen sat down for the newish game, Alchemist, where players design and produce potions for victory points. This was another game with a learning curve where experience would seem to be very important. Final scores were Dave 70, Noreen 58, Kevin 51, and Bob 50. A beautiful game, I look forward to trying this one again.

At another table, Bill, Leslie, Carol, and Antwann sat down for the second game of Blue Moon City of the night. Just before closing, Bill built his 4th cube for the win. Following were Leslie and Carol with 3 each, Antwann with 2.

Finally, having finished Alchemist, Bob, Kevin and Dave were joined by Andrew for a rousing game of the excellent filler, Zircus Flohcati. The first game was won handily by Dave 46 to Kevin's 41, Bob 35, and Andrew 30. In the second game, Kevin won with 64 to my 60, Dave 54, and Andrew 48. This is a quick fun game we should play more often.

All in all, we played 11 different games over 4 hours. Incredible!

Our next session is July 16. Hope to see you there.