Damascus 06/20/08

After an aborted game night last week, we had a nice turnout with 20 gamers in attendance:

• David, Noreen, Corwin, & Andrew Fair
• Jennifer, Seth, & Justin Weinstein
• Lance Jones
• Doug Hoylman
• John-Paul Pizzica
• Rick & Linda Pasquale
• Eric & Laura Reinhold
• David & Martha Briggs
• Kevin Bealer
• Rose Byington
• Paul H.
• Nathaniel Klinger

First up was a game of Dominion. We played with a fairly basic setup, similar to the First Game recommended deck, with just 2 cards swapped out. Experience helps, and Dave won with 45 points, followed by John-Paul with 32, Doug with 26, and Lance with 17.

Meanwhile, a quick game of Blokus broke out on another table. I have played many times, but for the life of me I can't figure out what is meant by the following scores: Rick +20, John -7, Linda -24, Jennifer -37.

Diamant is fun and fast, and most importantly, supports 7 players well. Rick took his chances in Mine 4 when early deaths in the first two mines put him in the back of the pack, and that tenacity paid off. Final scores: Rick 30, Jennifer 15, Dave 13, Noreen 12, Linda 10, John-Paul 9, and Lance 7.

After some futzing about and a quick round of musical chairs we settled in for some more gaming. Kevin and Noreen played Tichu with Rick and Linda, winning the first match-up 1030 to 770, but losing the (aborted) second -15 to 315.

We had a 3-player game of Ticket to Ride: Europe, in which Rose (127) had some very good ticket draws on her march to victory. She was playing with Paul (105) and Martha (75).

In Tikal, players wander around the wilderness looking for ancient ruins and collecting artifacts. It's like Indiana Jones without the witty dialog or Nazis shooting at your head... John-Paul obviously owned a fedora as a kid, as he racked up 105 points in his victory, he was followed by Lance (92), Dave (95) and Jennifer (87).

Starfarers of Catan takes the Catan game system and moves it into space, adding a travel and exploration element, along with the coolest game bits ever made, to the familiar resource gathering game. Laura proved most adept, winning the game with 15 VP, and she was followed by Eric (13), Doug (12) and David B (12).

Two more games of Dominion, because, like potato chips and strawberries, you can just not play it once. We did a fairly intense game for the first round, with several less-used cards in the mix. Paul won 33 to Nathaniel's 27 and David's 20. In the second, we dropped in a few more familiar cards and removed the nastier of the attacks. This time David won 20 to Paul's 28 and Nathaniel's 21. One of the best things about Dominion is the ability to scale the interaction and the length of the game by adjusting the makeup of the cards in play. Awesome.

Another repeat, this time it was Diamant that came back. Noreen (30) won this time, followed by Rose (20), Doug (17) and David B (13).

The Downfall of Pompeii is tight and sometimes nastily brutish game, but it fun and mostly tactical. Plus you get to throw other people's pawns in the volcano. Aaaiiiiiieeeeeee! It was a very close game with Paul (8) taking the win, and Doug, Dave, and Nathaniel tied at 7.

A very close game of 2-player Race for the Galaxy was next. Nathaniel built out fast with a lot of planets and great military might, while Dave plodded towards a production engine. Once Dave got the engine going, Nathaniel countered with a string of 6-cost Developments. the game ended on VP chips, and Dave took enough to edge the win 54 to 52. Great game.

One of the favored dice games these days is To Court the King. the yahtzee-esque gameplay combined with cards that give you bonuses and special abilities to affect your rolls makes for a fun and fast little game. Kevin won with 8 6's, both Lance and John-Paul managed 7 6's, and Martha had 6 5's.

Finally, we had a 3 player game of the End of the Triumvirate (Triumvirate: Three who rule, usually with equal power). this is a game in which players take on the role of one of three leaders in ancient Rome: Caesar, Pompeius, or Crassus. Each is seeking to dominate the others by various means. You could try a military victory by creating a massive land block... or perhaps a political victory by being elected as Consul twice... or perhaps you can win by sheer skill by raising your talents... This particular playing had Kevin winning on a military victory, over Lance and John-Paul.

thanks for reading, see you next week!