Damascus 01/04/08

First session of the new year... In attendance:

• David & Noreen Fair
• Jason Cheng
• David Raley
• Philippe Hebert
• Tim Rothenhoefer
• Rich O'Brien
• Rose Byington
• David & Martha Briggs
• Scott Fox, Judy & Kayla Trent
• Howard & Nathan Wagner
• Helen Powell
• Rick & Linda Pasquale
• Bob & Ben Jones

First up was Race for the Galaxy. it was a very close game in which David F. (41) was able to build slightly faster than Jason (40) could ship. Philippe (28) held his own in his first game. David R. (25) was unable to get a 6-point development, which hurt his score greatly.

Ben (7), Bob (20), Rick (20), and Linda (14) played Gemblo, with young Ben besting all of the adults. Kayla then joined in, while Ben went to play with my boys, and the scores came out Rick (4), Bob (16), Linda (19), Kayla (23).

Showmanager is one of those rare games that plays best with 6, and so we gave a shot at being the best broadway producer for a season. David F. (49) took top honors (I'd like to thank all the little people), followed by Scott (44), Helen (41), David R. (38), Judy (36). Philippe (13) was also playing, not that you can tell from that score (last place in every city, it might be a record of some kind!).

Next was a game we like to call Crack Tichu. Tim and Jason paired up to crush Rose and Noreen 1010 to 990, and 1030 to 770. Ok, both games were close, but it's more fun to call it a crushing.

David F. taught Martin Wallace's latest game, Brass, to Scott, Judy, and Philippe. In this game players build networks of business in Lancashire. Experience payed off, as it tends to do in economic engine games, and David (128) won, followed by Philippe (107), Scott (106), and Judy (99).

Tikal is a classic game of exploration, and one of our favorite older titles. David R. (107) proved to be best at managing his expedition, followed by Rick (90), Bob (90), and Helen (84).

Setting out to build the best farm is not the most excited theme for a game, but Uwe Rosenberg has made Agricola a very engaging game nonetheless. Howard (42) is an experienced player who did quite well, followed by Martha (33), Rich (28), Nathan (27), and David B (27).

The final game for the night was Ticket to Ride with the USA 1910 expansion. Helen (126) managed to complete a very complementary set of tickets to take the win over Noreen (120) and Tim (48), who lost several tickets when the game ended more quickly than he expected.