06/01/09 Germantown

A slow night with only fifteen gamers. :-)

• Leslie Barkley
• Aubrey Bell
• David & Martha Briggs
• Dave Fair
• Ben & Bob Jones
• Chris, Tiffany, Alidia & Clarisa
• Doug Hoylman
• Mike Mullins
• Eric & Laura Reinhold
  

Before Ben & I arrived, a group played the new Reiner Knizia designed, “Tetris board game,” Fits. Laura proved exceptionally adept at arranging her shapes, absolutely devastating the opposition. (Leslie only played the last two rounds). Scores per round and final scores were Laura -3+9+8+9=23, Doug -2+6+2+2=8, Leslie +3+2=5 and Dave F -7-2+7-1=-3.

When we arrived, a hearty band were dogsledding in the Yukon with Snow Tails. The order of finish was Doug, Eric, Leslie, Mike, and Laura.

As everyone was already engaged, I indulged Ben in one of his favorites that we see every session now, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. We played two games, each playing the good guys and the bad guys. In both cases the bad guys won, leaving Middle Earth under the iron fisted rule of Sauron.

Small World is still seeing some plays here. I haven’t played it yet but to an outsider, the board looks very busy and hard to follow. I’m told that’s not the case. Final scores were Dave F 122, Aubrey 104, Martha 96, and Dave B 91.

With no open game when they arrived, Chris, Tiffany, Alidia and Clarisa brought out Go Nuts. Clarisa was the first to 50 points and won.

After they finished Go Nuts, I figured it was time to introduce them to an auction game so I grabbed them and we played one of the best, Medici. I was skunked badly during the second round, taking only four cards and having the lowest total of cargo, effectively killing my chances. Chris was knocked out of contention by a couple of really expensive auctions. At the top, though, it was a very close game with a great win by Alidia. Scores were Alidia 108, Clarisa 103, Tiffany 103, Bob 84, Chris 79.

Ben was looking for some Cheeky Monkey love and roped in Laura for one game and David B for another game. Ben won both games. I only heard one of the scores and it was a doozy. Ben beat David B 74 to 16.

While we finished Medici, a group played the 2006 auction game, Fiji, where players offer gemstones in exchange for shrunken heads. Doug 9, Leslie 8, Mike 4, Eric 3.

Finally, down to two groups, four gamers broke out Cartagena. Leslie had a good game and won the freedom of all six of her pirates. Leslie 6, David B 4, Aubrey 4, Eric 3.

The remaining seven of us played the fun filler that plays up to 10 players, Slide 5, aka Wolfgang Kramer's 6 Nimmt. Martha had some early, middle and late disasters and so was first to 66 points. At that point, Clarisa had the least points and claimed the victory. Clarisa 36, Doug 38, Chris 51, Mike 54, Bob 68, Tiffany 73, Martha 83