Middletown 07/27/07

I am guest-posting for Scott as his schedule is somewhat chaotic at the moment... We had a nice crowd, including several regulars and a few first-timers:

• Scott Fisher & Sarah Upwright
• Steve & Noah Meyers
• Bryan Snyder
• Chris Trimmer
• David, Corwin, & Andrew Fair
• Scott & Liz Percival
• Philippe Hebert
• Jason Cheng
• John Weber
  
• Rose Byington
• Marshall Miller
• Steve Lollis

First up was a six-player game of Alhambra. There are those who complain that there is not enough control in a 6-player game, but we found it fun. There was a lot of contention right from the start for the green and purple tiles, and walls were a big factor for most in the early scoring. In the end, it looked like this: Liz 52, Steve M. 59, Chris 61, Scott F, 64, David 67, Scott P 72.

While we were playing Alhambra, John (German team) arrived and began setting up his prized copy of Tour. He was joined in the Tour de France style racing game by Philippe (French team), Rose (USA), Jason (Italy) and Bryan (Holland). In Tour, each player controls a team of racers and competes to score best overall, meaning that you can have a racer win, but if another player does well in the finishing order, they can win the game by outscoring you. this is exactly what happened, with Rose (USA) winning on points despite not winning the race. John (Germany) was second, Philippe (France) third, followed by Bryan (Holland) and Jason (Italy), who suffered 3 miserable crashes, and was unable to recover.

After everyone had a shot at the chili Sarah had prepared, I induced Steve & Noah, Andrew, Scott P, and Marshall to join me in a game of Arkham Horror (with the Dunwich Horror expansion). We seemed to do OK as an investigatory group, but as the game progressed, we found we could not seal all the gates in time and we decided to face Hastur, the King in Yellow.

Fighting Hastur eventually drives you mad, but we all stood in the breach and gave it our best. Philippe (who had taken over for Noah when he had to leave) was the first to fall, and then Marshall, followed by Scott P and Andrew. Rose (playing for Steve) and I were left, and while she was dealing copious damage, I had more sanity, thanks to a rejuvenation spell I cast. In the end, we were all driven insane, and Hastur was unleashed on the world, but we had done 73 of 78 points of damage to him, so we only hope that there were others left in Arkham who could stop him...

Chris, Liz, Scott F., and Sarah played Zooloretto next. This time, they use all the pieces. :) the game is light, and decently fun, with many small but tough decisions guiding the game. Chris managed his park well, scoring 25 points, and Sarah was close behind (20). Liz scored 18, and Scott F 16. They played again after Steve L. arrived, and the scores for game 2 showed that Scott can learn: Scott F 25, Liz 23 Chris 22, Sarah 20, and Steve L. 19.

John had a prototype game and convinced Sarah, Liz, and Bryan to join him for "Gold Medal Figure Skating". I can't make out the notes too well, but it seems that Sarah performed an amazing quad axle John wiped out on a triple lutz, but Bryan's Artistic Merit was what won him the gold. John earned the silver, Sarah the bronze, and Liz the, I dunno, aluminum?

Jason joined Chris, Steve L, and Scott F for a game of Colosseum. They played with the "Intense Auctions" variant, and I heard a lot of trading going on. It seems that no one wants those ships, though... Jason proved the most entertaining arena owner, scoring 97 points, followed by Steve L (85), Chris (84) and Scott F (83). A very close game!

The final game to end was a great game of Age of Steam. We played on Ted Alspach's 1830's Pennsylvania map, which is usually pretty kind to first timers. It has some ways of making great amounts of money by shipping coal for double you locomotive length, or for double link value, depending on how you work it. In the end, experience paid off, and David (80) won, followed by Marshall (61), Philippe (56) and Rose (46). This was the first play for both Rose and philippe, and they both did very well in what can be a truly difficult, and cutthroat, game.

That is all, see you here in Middletown again next month on the last Friday, and before that, at Germantown and/or Damascus.

Good Gaming!