Damascus 12/21/07

The last gaming day of the year for GCOM-Damascus had 17 gamers arrive:

• David, Noreen, & Corwin Fair
• David & Martha Briggs
• Bob, Carol, Rachel, Ben, & Beth (Bob's Mom) Jones
• Luke Conte
• Rick Pasquale
• Raphael Lehrer
• Jason Cheng
• Philippe Hebert
• Marshall Miller
• John Stup

We played a good mix of old and new favorites. First up was a 3-player game of Race for the Galaxy. Jason and I taught Philippe to play, and then we set about on our tasks of dominating the stars. This game takes a few plays to get on track, but by the end, I think Philippe was getting it. David (62) won, followed by Jason (33) and Philippe (27).

Raphael taught the game R-Eco to David, Martha, and Marshall. It's a cute card game about recycling with some interesting scoring twists. David won, scoring 4 points, followed by Marshall with 3, Raphael with 3, and Martha with -3. Ouch!

Next up was the game McGartlin Motorsports Stock Car Championship Racing Game. I think I got a few rules wrong, as the game play was not right... I will have to read them off line and we can try it again... Jason came first in the race, followed by Philippe, Rick, Dave, and Marshall.

Raphael and the Briggs played 3-player Agricola, no word on which deck... Raphael won with a score of 50 points, followed by a tie for second place, as both David and Martha scored 26.

We played a 4-player game of Imperial, and it went very well. I usually like this with 5, but it was just as good with 4. In the end, Jason managed to grab the victory with 103 points, followed by Dave with 99, Philippe with 84, and John with 62.

Taj Mahal is a great game combining bluffing, bidding, and some board connection elements with set collecting elements. Bob taught it to Luke, and 3 others joined in the fun. At one point, I think Marshall had more cards than remained in the draw deck! Final scores were: Bob-52, Carol-42, Luke-33, Beth-30, Marshall-21.

Franz-Benno DeLonge has designed many great games, but his best, in my opinion, is Big City. In this game you work with the other players to build business parks, housing developments, civic properties, and a streetcar line. Whoever contributes most to the city, wins. Raphael did it this game, scoring 103 points, followed by Rick with 78, Dave with 63, and Martha with 58.

Was there any Tichu? You betchu. Noreen and Rachel paired up against newcomer Beth and Carol. It was a decidedly one-sided game, as the cards just seemed to fall right for Noreen and Rachel. They got 4 one-two hands, including the last hand of the night to win 1185 to 515.

David and Jason played a 2-player Agricola, using all the 1+ occupation cards (E, I, & K) and the K minor improvements. David was able to play the Reed Hut to get an additional person in to play quickly, while Jason scarfed the wood and built fences early. David also played an occupation that allowed him to take a grain every time he plowed a field, and he plowed 3 fields right away, then sowed and got both ovens so he could bake bread. Jason used the spindle (free food for having sheep) to keep his food costs low, and David built as many improvements as he could. In the end, David won, scoring 41 points to Jason's 26.

The final game of the night was Race for the Galaxy this time 4-player, with Bob & Raphael tying for the win with 46, but Bob getting the tiebreaker. Marshall took 3rd with 36, and Luke came 4th with 29.

We hope you all enjoyed the night, and indeed the whole year of gaming. We look forward to playing with you all again next week in Middletown, and in the coming year, every Friday, in Damascus, and alternating Mondays in Germantown.