Damascus 05/09/08

We had 21 gamers in attendance:

• David, Noreen & Corwin Fair
• Jason Cheng
• Lance Jones
• Marshall Miller
• Doug Hoylman
• Eric & Laura Reinhold
• David & Martha Briggs
• Rose Byington
• Rick & Linda Pasquale
• Paul H.
• Nathaniel Klinger
• Bob, Carol, & Ben Jones
• Steve Lollis
• Leslie Barkley

And here is what we played:

• Attika, in which Jason won by getting all his buildings built before Lance, Doug or I did. There were several threats of a connection victory and the game was close throughout.
  
• Hive, with Jason triumphing over Lance.
  
• Can't Stop, where, in a seriously long and drawn out game, David B. finally capped three columns for the win, followed by Marshall, Rose, and Eric
  
• Dominion, in which Nathaniel (14) was victorious over Laura (9), Rick (8), and Paul (3). Based on those scores, they must have been playing with the Witch in the game, and not have got many provinces!
• Game 2 of Dominion, with Nathaniel (33), again besting the field, this time consisting of Paul (21), Eric (18), Rick (18), and Laura (15)... Ummm, That's supposed to be a 4-player game people!
  
• Aquaretto, with Linda (31) winning easily over her tightly-packed competitors, David B (25), Martha (23) and Doug (22)
  
• Maharaja, a fun, if slightly long game with some excellent mechanics. Jason won with 7 palaces and all other players were tied at 5. Lance had 18 gold, Marshall 16, and Rose some amount that shall forever be a mystery to us all...
• Agricola... Needs no introduction here... Carol (47) had a great-looking farmyard, but her house was only of clay, and her cards brought few points, so David (48) was able to win by the slimmest of margins. Bob (41) also had a good setup, but only had the minimal number of several items. Noreen (37) was hurt by her low-value cards and a dearth of animals. Steve (36) did very well in his second game ever, and had good card points, a large stone house and a large family, but with few crops or animals, was hurt by the negative points.
  
• Circus Flohcati, a great little set-collection game from the big RK,, where Marshall (67), sneaked past Rose (58), Jason (57), and Lance (53).
  
• Unspeakable Words is a word-game with a Cthulhu theme. David B (105) managed to delay his descent to madness and emerge victorious over Jason (91), Rose (80), Eric (78), Lance (77), and Marshall (70)
  
• Big City is a great game of city-building, with a lot of tension and tough choices. Jason (81) built a shopping center and a church on his way to victory. Dave (75) built the other shopping center and had fun dropping a factory on Bob's plans... Steve (73) built several special buildings on the streetcar line. Carol (39) got hosed several times, almost as many as Bob (38).
  
• Kingsburg is a fun dice game of building up fantasy medieval villages, and surviving the inevitable attacks of the winter. Rick (35) and David B (35) tied for first, followed by Martha (28), Doug (27) and Linda (25).
  
• Tichu, you know *that* game. Lance & Rose 91005) beat Noreen & Marshall (695) in a 18-deal endurance game.
  
• Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries is the umpteenth map in the TTR series, and the cute snow-covered cards belie the tough and brutal 3-player game inside. Doug (168) was unmerciful in his game with Linda (152) and Martha (132).
  
• Another game of Aquaretto, this time with Steve (25) prevailing over Carol (24), Dave (16), Jason (16), and Bob (16).
• This just in... we have a late addition: Before the Wind, with Eric winning, Paul and Nathaniel tied for second (Paul won on tiebreaker) and Laura rounding out the number.
  

So... Gaming this week @ Damascus, next week @ Germantown, but not Damascus, and then Damascus on May 30 and Middletown on May 31. See you there!

PS. Were there really only 2 games of Dominion played? It seemed to be out for much longer than just 2 games...