Middletown March 29, 2008

This is a recap of the GCOM Middletown session held on March 29, 2008. This is the first session that has been held with the new day and time of the last Saturday of the month at 3PM. It was very well attended so I think the Saturday experiment may have been a good idea.

Attendees:

• Scott Fisher (host)
• David Fair (co-host)
• Noreen Fair
• Judy Trent
• Scott Fox
• Scott Percival
• Liz Percival
• Carly Fisher
• Calvin Fisher
• Rick Pasquale
• Linda Pasquale
• John Weber
• Bryan Snyder
• Jason Cheng
• Steve Lollis
• Leslie Barkley
• Helen Powell
• Kayla Trent

Games Played:
R-Eco (David Fair, John Weber, Bryan Snyder, Jason Cheng and Scott Fisher)
Show Manager (David Fair, John Weber, Bryan Snyder, Jason Cheng, Scott Fisher and Steve Lollis)
Bang (Leslie Barkley, Liz and Scott Percival, Scott Fox, Judy Trent and Helen Powell)
Coyote (David Fair, John Weber, Bryan Snyder, Jason Cheng, Steve Lollis and Scott Fisher)
Pacific Typhoon X2 (Game #1 Liz Percival, Leslie Barkley, Scott Fox, Steve Lollis and Scott Fisher) & (Game #2 Calvin Fisher, Leslie Barkley, Scott Fox, Steve Lollis and Scott Fisher)
Roads & Boats (Judy Trent, Scott Fox, David Fair and Scott Percival)
Imperial (John Weber, Bryan Snyder and Helen Powell)
San Juan (Bryan Snyder and Helen Powell)
How Ruck! (Jason Cheng and David Fair)
Ticket to Ride (1910 version of tickets) (Helen Powell, Steve Lollis, Scott Fisher and Bryan Snyder)
Race for the Galaxy (Jason Cheng, Scott Fisher, David Fair and Helen Powell)
Tichu X2 (Game #1 Rick and Linda Pasquale vs. Liz Pervical and Noreen Fair) (Game #2 Calvin Fisher and Carly Fisher vs. Noreen Fair and Leslie Barkley)

The first game of the evening was R-Eco from Z-Man Games. Jason continues his winning streak at this game with the final scores being David (-2), John (9), Bryan (3), Scott (7) and Jason (12). I also broke my streak of finishing last in every game I had played previously. :)

The next game was Show Manager. We (or maybe I should say I) chose this game because Jason said he does not usually win at it. Poor Jason oh well but he was correct because again he did not win it! The final score was David 54, Scott 45, Bryan 36, John 29 (tie break with $1 remaining), Jason 29 and Steve 27. David claimed about a 70% win rate at this game which I have to believe since he has won most of the games I have played with him.

Bang was brought to the table since six of us were in the middle of Show Manager and a few more gamers had arrived. In this game the sheriff was Scott Fox and fittingly it was Judy Trent who killed him. I am sure she has had that inclination before this game? This game was new to Leslie Barkley and Liz Percval.

The next game for the Show Manager table was Coyote. This was my first time with the optional rules. These rules are add a another card to players head band, reverse the order and agree to with the prior guess. I won the game with only 1 coyote marker when David Jason received his 3rd and final marker.


A shuffling of the players happened at this time since the Bang and the Coyote game both had now ended.

The following description was provided for me by David since he was involved in the Roads and Boats game.

Roads and Boats: Played on the most basic 4-player map, since it had been so long since Scott, Judy or I had played, and it was Jason's first time. Scott and Judy got off to a fast start, getting a raft factory and a paper mill down faster than Jason and I. I waited until Jason built the raft factory, then used it to quick advantage. Judy ended up wasting a bit of space on a clay pit and stone factory that she later wished she had used for other things. I waited too long to build my oil rig to get coal/fuel, but once I did my coin production started in earnest. Jason seemed to have a good coin and gold production going, only to have it stolen by Judy's Pirate Ship. Scott pointed out that i am ultimately responsible for Judy's pirate ways, having stolen her iron, coal, and then her brick to block her out of the mine she had built. With three mines, and no one encroaching, I set about making mucho paper and converting that and coin into stocks. With my stock exchange pumping out one stock each turn, it became hard to catch me. In the end, the scores were (Points from Stock, Points from Coins, Points from Gold, Points from Bricks): Dave (727=600+80+10+37), Jason (379=240+40+50+49), Judy (334=120+80+90+44), Scott (322=240+40+40+2). A great long and meaty game.

While R&B was going on the first of two games of Pacific Typhoon were played. The first game was won by the host (that would be me)! The final score was Scott 43, Steve 30, Leslie 23, Liz 22 and Scott Fox 20. The second game Liz decided it was time for some Tichu and since Calvin had arrived he replaced her. This did not bode well for me since he is a shark at the precursor for this game Atlantic Storm and in fact has won the championship at PrezCon. In the end I did in fact win again this time the score was as follows: Scott 38, Leslie 36, Calvin 33, Scott Fox 24 and Steve 20. Scott Fox really enjoyed this game and said it is on his "to buy" list. Steve Lollis had pre-ordered this game from GMT. I later found out that he had ordered 2 copies and was kind enough to give me a copy. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! If you have not played either of these games I recommend give them a try. These are definitely in my Top 10 of all games.

The first game of Tichu was played with Rick and Linda vs. Noreen and Liz. I did not get any information about the game other than the final score of Rick/Linda 1060 and Liz/Noreen 340.

The second game involved Cal and Carly vs. Leslie and Noreen. The final score was Cal and Carly 1000 vs. Leslie and Noreen 600.

Imperial was a closely contested game with the score being John 187, Bryan 183 and Leslie Helen 178. Here is some commentary provided by John, "I was about to end the game with France but a quick calculation suggested Bryan was in position to win so I delayed advancing France on the rondel so that 2 other countries (Italy and Germany) could catch up." Good calculation John since that provided you with a narrow win!


A couple of games that were played head to head. The first between David and Jason was How Ruck! or Heave Oh!. Jason was victorious with a score of 3 to 1. The next game was San Juan between Helen and Bryan. The final score was very tight with Bryan edging Helen by a score of 26 to 25. Wow a very tight score.



Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 was a tight game as well. This is the first time that I have played this version with the new tickets. I won with a score of 130, Helen 116, Steve 90 and Bryan 70. The difference was I had the 15 point bonus for most tickets completed.



The last game of this session was Race for the Galaxy. This is only my second playing but I really enjoyed it again and can see why this game is so popular. I tried to rush the finish by building to 12 as quickly as possible. I thought I might be able to "steal" a victory before others could get their engines running. I was close but not quite over the top. The final score was Jason 23, David 19, Scott 18 and Helen 12. At one point I could have "developed" a bonus card that would have provided me enough points to win (though I am not sure I could have gotten to 12 at the same point in the game).


A great session after a couple of canceled sessions. I hope all will join in the next scheduled session which is April 26. See ya then!!!

Damascus 03/28/08

We had sixteen gamers on Friday...

• David, Noreen, Corwin & Andrew Fair
• Jason Cheng
• Rose Byington
• Steve Lollis
• David & Martha Briggs
• John Stup
• Bob, Carol, Rachel & Ben Jones
• Helen Powell
• Dave Fogel

While the kids rocked out with Rock Band and Guitar Hero II & III and shot each other to pieces with Halo 3, we atarted out with the bargain-hunting game, Schnappchen Jagd. This is an excellent trick-taking game, and one we don't play often enough. Noreen (11) won over David (9) and Jason (4).

Next up was Alhambra (w/Expansion #2), and I had almost forgotten how much fun this can be with fewer players. I know i am one of the people who has, in the past, said that the game is fine with 6, but it really does play much better with fewer. We played with the City Gates and Diamonds from expansion 2, and it made things interesting. Jason had a big wall early on, and a lot of white buildings, and Steve took over Purple's by the third scoring, but this was not enough to overcome Dave's combination of lead in Red and Green, and long wall. Final scores: Dave 131, Jason 102, Steve 98, Rose 72.

We polished off a pair of back-to-back Race for the Galaxy games, with the first game going to Jason over Dave and Bob, 31-23-20, on the strength of his consumption chips, mostly. Game two went to Dave, who had a lot of points on the table, and a moderate number on consumption chips, and the only 6-dev card. Bob consumed for more than 2/3rds of his total points! Final Scores: Dave 38, Bob 29, Jason 26.

At this time, the Agricola game ended, and it seems in doing a Monday Morning Audit, the score sheet had a few errors... Namely, Noreen added points to David and Martha for empty spaces, while deducting them from her own score. This changed what was thought to have been a tie into a win for Noreen (30), followed by Martha (24), and David B (17).

Next up was Timbuktu, an interesting game from Dirk Henn. the theme is one of camels moving in caravans across the desert, carrying goods, but as we move, thieves will attack and steal from the camels. Bob showed once again that he is in league with the dark ones, making sure we were all stolen from while his camels traveled in relative safety. Final scores: Bob 164, Dave 143, Jason 141, Rose 64.

The theme of Diamant has the players scrambling in and out of mines trying to grab gems and avoid disasters. The disasters in this game were plentiful tonight, and it lead to some rather low scores. Final Scores: Martha 20, Noreen, 9, David B. 6, Dave Fogel 0. Ouch!

Another push-your-luck game, this time themed around birds chasing food, is Pickomino. This game uses dice, not cards, but it still takes a mix of luck and skill to win. Final scores: Martha 9 (and the tiebreaker), David B. 9, Noreen 0, David Fogel 0. Again, ouch!

Sequels rarely live up to the original, but that is not the case with Rails of Europe. A tighter board, a shorter game, and a more unforgiving economy make the game an excellent addition for rail game fans. Bob showed he can win on the continent even if not in the colonies. Final scores: Bob 71, Dave Fair 54, Rose 53, David Fogel 51. Look how the scores are grouped. Except for Bob, we all sucked about the same!

Finally, the longest game of Imperial in recorded history came to a close. this is usually a fast game with little downtime between turns, but something made this game go for almost 4 hours. In the end, Helen (201) won the marathon, over Carol (176), Steve (171) and a very tired John (131).

Reminder!
There will be no gaming at Damascus again until 04/18/08.
See you then, and everyone have some great gaming while we are gone!

Damascus 03/21/08

Twenty Gamers, Eighteen Games, and herein lies the tale...

• David & Noreen Fair
• Rick & Linda Pasquale
• Doug Hoylman
• Jason Cheng
• Rose Byington
• Lance Slifka
• Raphael Lehrer
• David & Martha Briggs
• Marshall Miller
• John Stup & Mary Lou Ballew
• Steve Lollis
• Bob, Carol, and Ben Jones
• Dan Hucker
• Chris Johnson

Corwin had a fever this evening and stayed home, and Andrew stayed home to take care of him. this meant Ben was on his own, but he played xBox most of the evening.

We started with a quick 4-player game of Dragon Parade... it uses a now-familiar mechanism of using the same cards to score that you use to move, but has a nice complex method of scoring to keep the tension up... Dave (16) won, followed by Rose (15), Jason (14) and Doug (8).

Rick and Raphael got in a quick game of Hive, the game of insect swarms which is better than it sounds like it would be, which Raphael won.

We played a game of Edel, Stein, and Reich. This is game in which you try to outmaneuver your opponents by taking actions no one else wants. It can be tough to out think everyone... Lance (64) won, followed by Jason (60), Rose (59), Doug (45) and Dave (40).

A game of Pow-Wow was started, but aborted early on...

Yspahan hasn't seen much light of late, but Raphael (102) made a run of it with Martha (76) and David B (38). i think 3 might be the sweet spot for that game...

We played Blue Moon City (sans Expansions) and had a nice close game of it. John (4) won one turn ahead of Dave's (3) ability to win, who was one turn ahead of Doug's (3) ability to win. May Lou (2) played well in her first game with us.

In Mykerinos, players attempt to gain favor with British Lords and Ladies, getting their help in making successful archaeological digs and shows. Bob (55) managed the process well, and took the win, followed by David B. (44), Martha (41) and Marshall (40).

It can be hard to get longer games to the table, but Raphael (270) and Lance (187) played Through the Ages, a lengthy but deep card-based Civilization building game.

Building Casinos and Hotels is the theme of Vegas Showdown, which sounds like it involves gambling, but does not. Rick (68) had a good game of it, followed by Chris (55), dan (53), Steve (49), and Carol (40).

Around the World in 80 Days follows (loosely) the theme of the Jules Verne book of the same name, buts pits the players as racers competing to be first. This day, it was John (61) who did it quickest, followed by Mary Lou (69), and Martha (78). David B did not, alas, ever reach London.

Not many games take the theme of serving drunks during Oktoberfest, so Goldbrau fills a rather interesting void. In reality, it is a stock manipulation game with a nice theme. Bob (85) managed the win followed by Jason (74), Marshall (57) and Doug (46).

A trio of Tichu games... the first had Jason & Noreen in a decisive win over Rose & Linda, 1020 to 280... The next two games pitted Linda & Dave against Noreen & Rose. It took a few hands but the first game was won decisively by Dave & Linda when they went on a tear, making 2 Tichu calls and getting 4 1-2's in 5 hands to win 1195 to 405. the next game was just a decisive, but for Noreen & Rose, who scored 3 1-2's of their own, and set their opponents twice to win 1035 to -135.

Dilbert: Corporate Shuffle is a fun game which re-themes the classic game A$$hole into one of corporate ladder climbing. Steve and Dan (15 each) shared a victory, followed by Rick (13), Carol (7) and Chris (4), who spent many rounds as a Jr. Intern.

A trio of Race for the Galaxy games were played. One of the nicest things about this game is how well it plays with differing numbers, and how fast it is for such a deep game. In game one, Marshall (46) won over Jason (41), Doug (37) and Steve (31). In game two, Raphael won 37 to 27 over Marshall, who got his revenge, winning game three on a tiebreaker, 52 to 52. A very high-scoring and close game!

Finally, Agricola was the last game of the night, and despite my trouble with the scoring, manged to be a very close and good game. David (58) won with a board filled with Sheep, Veggies and Grain, followed by Bob (50) who had a strong hand with good card bonuses. Dan (30) was next, scoring very high in his first game, followed by Chris (24) who likewise did very well. Carol (19) made a crucial error early, forgetting she had a Simple Fireplace in hand, and ended up losing several actions, and having to take a begging card. This hurt a great deal, and she ended the game in last place.

Looking forward to more great gaming... See you Friday!

In Memoriam

Jim Musser, a longtime Game Designer and Editor has passed away. Jim was Karl Musser's Father, and Karl is a contributor here, as well as a friend. My condolences on your father's passing, Karl.

Karl writes:

My father, Jim Musser, passed away today after a long battle with Cirrhosis. Jim spent most of his life working as an editor and journalist for the Chicago Tribune, but his real passion was games. He contributed to many aspects of the gaming industry; as a game designer for Mayfair Games; as a writer and editor for Mayfair, FASA, and TSR; and as a game store owner and manager in Chicago.

And of course as a gamer. I was pretty well doomed as he introduced me to both board games and role-playing games almost as soon as I could read. Thank you father for a wonderful hobby. Who knows, perhaps some of his unpublished games will see the light of day yet.

Gaming Credits:

• Game Designer for Mayfair Games: Designer of Alibi, Road to the Whitehouse, and the re-design of Cosmic Encounter and its expansions.
• Editor for Mayfair Games: DC Heroes and Chill product lines
• Editor and writer for FASA: Battletech, Shadowrun, Star Trek, and Renegede Legion lines
• Editor and writer for TSR: AD&D: Tales of Enchantment, Forgotten Realms: Cormyr
• Retail: owned The Gamer's Place in Oak Park, Illinois; managed The Emperor's Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois

Our thoughts are with you and your family, Karl. Your father touched a lot of people with the games he worked on and the stores he ran, and we are all thankful for his work.

Germantown 03/17/08

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, Dave and I discussed bringing only games with an Irish theme. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be too many of those. So, we decided to play only games with a green box. With one exception, we did.

• Leslie Barkley
• Kevin Bealer
• Aubrey and Shannon Bell
• Dave and Martha Briggs
• Dave Fair
• Todd Heidenreich
• Doug Hoylman
• Bob Jones
• Helen Powell
• Eric Reinhold

First up, the only non-green game of the night, Saint Petersburg. (It should be noted that one of the types of cards is very green.) Leslie jumped out to an early lead with two 4-VP generating buildings, but was hurt by cash flow. Dave got an early judge and an observatory and the money flow and chance to see extra cards helped immensely. Final scores were Dave 83, Leslie 74, Doug 61, and Eric 41.

At this point, I arrived and started out the other group, who had kindly awaited my arrival, on Frank's Zoo. We played the very basic game which, I discovered, isn't particularly exciting. We definitely should play partnership mode and include the hedgehog and lion scoring. Final scores after three rounds were Shannon 11, Bob 11, Dave Briggs 8, Todd 7, Martha 5 and Aubrey 3.

While we finished Frank's Zoo, the other group took on Honeybears... Go Red Bear! This is an interesting game where you use colored cards to move the appropriate bear forward, but then at the round's end you use those same cards to score the bears who have gone the furthest. Leslie and Dave benefited when Dave ended the 2nd round with only the Red Bear scoring any points, leaving Eric and Doug scoring only 3 points each that round. Ouch! Final scores were Dave Fair 104, Leslie 91, Eric 73 and Doug 63.

We then broke into two different groups. The larger group played the trivia game In10sity, playing until everyone but Kevin and Dave Fair had reached the end. Doug won, followed by Leslie, Todd, Eric, Dave and Kevin. This is a fun trivia game with some strategy where all the answers are a number from 1 to 10. They noticed an abundance of Beatles trivia questions.

Meanwhile, I taught the classic rock-paper-scissors game, Adel Verplifchtet. Shannon had a great deal of trouble buying any items early on, but managed a strong comeback. Dave Briggs and I jockeyed for the lead for a while, but in the end, he pulled way ahead of everyone and won with the biggest final show. Final placement order was Dave, Shannon, Bob and Aubrey tied, and Martha.

The larger group played the fun "escape from the monster" game, Fearsome Floors. Leslie won by getting all three of her guys out. Of the people who got two guys out, Eric did so first, followed by Todd, Doug, and Dave Fair. Kevin did not get any out, but was also playing.

With about an hour to go, I brought out the awesome horse-racing game Royal Turf. Aubrey and I were neck and neck through the races with everyone else far behind. In the end, my bet on a single horse that Aubrey didn't bet on, won me the game. Final totals were Bob 1600, Aubrey 1350, Shannon 750, Dave Briggs 500, and Martha 450.

Helen arrived at 9:15 and when Finstere Flure was finished, joined Dave Fair, Leslie, Kevin and Doug for a quick game of Zombie Fluxx. Alas, they were unable to finish before the store closed.

Thanks to everyone for coming out.

(All images from Boardgamegeek)

Damascus 03/14/08

We had a full house, with 27 (Twenty-Seven) gamers in attendance:

• David, Noreen, Corwin, and Andrew Fair
• Marshall Miller
• Jason Cheng
  
• Lance Jones
• Rose Byington
• Jennifer, Seth & Justin Weinstein
• Rick & Linda Pasquale
• John Stup
• Aaron Feliksik (AKA Bert Feliksik)
• Dan Husker
• Judy & Kayla Trent, with Scott Fox in tow
• David & Martha Briggs
• Bob, Carol, Ben, and Rachel Jones
• Luke Conte

We don't usually report this, but I think that is an oversight... We count the kids as attendees, so we need to let people know what they are doing... So from now on, I will start off with a report on what the kids did...

The kids had the XBox 360 going in the conference room and they played Rock Band, Guitar Hero II & III, and Halo III. Rock Band and the two Guitar Hero games are really, really fun. If you have never played one of them, you owe it to yourself to go in and sit in for a song or two. You might just become addicted.

Meanwhile, in the boardgaming room, we started off the night with a light filler by Joe Huber, Ice Cream. The game was pretty quick and offers a healthy dose of luck and chaos, but the theme is cute and you can do some planning. David (22) won over Jennifer (18) Marshall, Jason and Lance (17 each), and Rose (15).

Next came another filler, 6 Nimmt! This game had Dan (17) winning in a close Margin over David (19), Rick (30), Aaron (37), Rose (53), and Jennifer (69).

We had a group play the very confrontational euro-war-game hybrid, Domaine. Marshall (33) won out over the other Dukes and Barons, John (20), Lance (8) and Jason (also 8).

A big ole game of Poison came next, and the group played for 4 rounds, with Luke (10) winning over Lance (11), Marshall (11), Jason (12), Rose (16), and John (20).

Arkadia finished up about now, with 4 new players to the game. Bob (106) held on for the win, followed by Dave (98), Scott (86) and Judy (79). Nice game, I am glad I finally got to play it. Thanks for teaching it, Bob.

We had a few games of Tichu, of course... No idea which order they were actually played in, but in one game Dan & Noreen won 1025 to 775 over Aaron and Linda, and in another Aaron & Noreen lost to Dan & Rose, 1040 to 960.

A classic game sadly never printed in the US, Rheinlander is about building up political influence along some unknown river in medieval Germany. Maybe the Rhine... Bob taught the gaem, perhaps a bit too well as Lance and Marshall tied for the win (27), Jason came next (23), followed by Rose (22) and then Bob (18). Ouch!

Hamburgum is a new game about building cathedrals in Hamburg. We played at a fairly good pace but it still seemed a bit longer than normal. not sure why... Luke (82) won, handily, over Scorr (70), Judy (68) and Dave (58).

Modern Art was next, but despite my predictions of a win for Bob, Marshall (399) won in a rather low-scoring game over Bob (380), Lance (344), and Jason (323).

Carol and Company finally finished Agricola... It seemed a much longer game than normal... Carol (31) won over Rick (29), Martha (29), David B (21), and first time player Jennifer (13). Surprisingly, No one got all 5 family members into play!

Last game of the night was El Grande, the quintessential Area-Majority game. Jason (102) played a strong game throughout and won over Marshall (90), Lance (90), David (85), and Luke (84).

Good Gaming Everyone! See you next week!

Damascus 03/07/08

Fourteen people braved the foggy, misty mess and the traffic it caused to join us for some gaming:

• David & Noreen Fair
• Rick & Linda Pasquale
• Marshall Miller
  
• Jason Cheng
• Rose Byington
• John Stup
• Dan Hucker
• Dan Barnett
• Bryan Snyder
• David & Martha Briggs
• Bill Trac
• Ruben Carbonell

Since the weather-related traffic delays caused some lateness, Jason and I started with a game of Schotten-Totten, a favorite 2-player game for me. I was able to narrowly win the final stone to take the game, 5-4.

Next we tried Race for the Galaxy with the advanced 2-player rules. I was crushed 60 to 45 when I could not keep pace with Jason's military expansion or seem to get any 6-point developments.

A trio of games of Pico-2 were next:

	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Jason	11	16	16
Dave	4	13	19

As you can see, Jason won the first 2 games, and I tried to redeem myself with a win in the third.

Zooloretto was next to end, and everyone always seems to enjoy this game. Rick (36) won, followed by Dan H. (28), Linda 921) and John (20). I believe only a few of the expansions were used.

Oregon made another appearance, and David and Martha finally got to play a game to the end. Bryan (75) won, however, followed by Martha (64), Dan B. (61) and David B. (45)

Taking the theme of exploring a bit further than just the western US was Around the World in 80 Days. In this game, players race to not only get around the world before their opponents, but to do it in fewer game turns as well. Rick didn't need any such tiebreakers, however, as his trip of 72 days was sufficient for the win. He was followed by john (77 days), Dan H. (83) and Marshall (86).

A game of building in medieval Europe, Arkadia has a familiar theme. I STILL have yet to play it... Ruben (101) won this match-up, followed by Lance (84), and Bill (70).

Ticket to Ride, this time on the standard map with the USA 1910 expansion was up next, a familiar game to us all. Linda (128) won this round, followed by Martha (117), Bryan (85), and David B. (77).

A 6-player game of Frank's Zoo, the climbing game for kids of all ages came out, and Rick (22) once again took the win, followed this time by Dan H. (20), Bill (20), Ruben (17), Marshall (14), and Lance (8).

Two games of Tichu, of course. Rose and Noreen paired up against David F. and Jason, only to suffer horribly in game one 1010-690, and fall again in ignominious defeat in game two, 1055-545.

A game of Settlers of Catan, with the Fishermen of Catan expansion was a nice walk down memory lane. Noreen (10) managed the win, followed closely by David (9), Jason (8) and Rose (8).

Finally, the last game of the night was San Juan, in which Dan H. managed to get both the Guild Hall and the City Hall played and win 36 to Marshall's 30 and Lance's 27.

Have a great week, see you soon!

Germantown 03/03/08

Hey everyone! Attendance was back to its usual levels, seating was plentiful, and all was right at GCOM Germantown!

• Leslie Barkley
• Aubrey, Shannon and Tammie Bell
• Dave and Martha Briggs
• Dave Fair
• Todd Heidenreich
• Doug Hoylman
• Bob Jones
• Carol Loman
• Doug Mercer
• Eric and Laura Reinhold
• Howard Wagner

First up, Oregon with Dave Fair, Laura, Carol, and Doug Hoylman. Dave won in a close race with Laura. Only Dave's lucky gold mine and coal mines saved him, since few mines were built and he collected more of those chips than the others did. Final scores were Dave 71, Laura 68, Carol 60, and Doug 41.

When I arrived, Aubrey, Eric, Howard and Leslie were travelling the globe in 10 Days in Asia. Aubrey best managed his travel itinerary and pulled off the win.

We then split up into several groups. I played the fabulous Race for the Galaxy with Todd, Dave Fair and Doug Hoylman. Dave went for a consume/VP strategy, while I built a starship load of developments. Dave's strategy paid off as he consumed a whopping 31 victory points! I managed to pay off three "6" bonus cards for a similar whopping 19 victory points, but it wasn't enough. Final scores were Dave 49, Bob 39, Doug 35, Todd 25.

Meanwhile, Howard, Shannon, Aubrey, Eric and Leslie played the wacky voting game, Democrazy. Players start with a number of colored chips and vote on rules that assign victory points to their chips. At the end of the game, the rules are applied and whoever has the highest value in chips wins. This night, Howard proved the master of voter manipulation. Final scores: Howard 8, Shannon 4, Aubrey 3, Eric 3, Leslie 0.

At the third table, the foursome of Dave Briggs, Martha, Laura and Carol were up for the rummyesque capture of outlaws in the fantastic card game, Wyatt Earp. Laura was the only one who had played before and her experience paid off in a solid victory. Final scores were Laura 31, Martha 21, Dave 17, and Carol 16.

After Race, Doug Hoylman and I joined some of the Democrazy group for the Hedgehog race game, Igel Argern. The lead shifted a couple of times and for a while it looked like Aubrey might manage a win over the leader, Doug. But Doug got the rolls he needed and won. Scores: Doug 3, Shannon 2, Aubrey 2, Leslie 2, Eric 2, Bob 2.

Four player games were the ticket for the rest of the evening.

As soon as the first ended, another game of Race for the Galaxy started with Dave Fair, Todd, Doug Mercer, and Howard. Once again, Dave proved the victor with another impressive amount of VPs from consuming, 27. Dave 39, Todd 30 (won tiebreaker), Howard 30, and Doug 26.

I taught the tile-laying, town-building, outhouse-protecting game, Drunter & Druber. It became pretty clear early on who was protecting which building except for Leslie whose building preference remained hidden. At the end of the game, we were shocked to find out why; most of Leslie's buildings had been demolished. Final scores were Aubrey 6, Bob 5, Shannon 5, and Leslie 2.

After finishing, we were joined by Shannon's sister, Tammie for the quick game of suburban warfare, Escalation!. You're trying to collect the least cards and although I had a lead for most of the game, Shannon edged me out in the final round. Final scores, Shannon 6, Bob 7, Leslie 10, Aubrey 15, Tammie 17.

Sadly, two games started with about an hour to go but didn't finish before Borders had to close. When we had to leave, Doug Mercer was ahead in Masons with everyone else tightly bunched behind. Doug Mercer 102, Howard 86, Doug Hoylman 85, Todd 84.

Dave Fair again taught the Carcassonne-esque building and cowboy placing game, Oregon. When time was up, Martha was ahead in a squeaker over Dave. Scores were Martha 57, Dave 56, Eric 50, and Dave Briggs 35.

Hope to see you next time!