Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Germantown 08/17/09

Every week we seem to be adding someone new. In this case, we welcomed Mike Rudmann and Mark Love.

  • Leslie Barkley
  • Chris & Tiffany Bass
  • Aubrey & Shannon Bell
  • David & Martha Briggs
  • Marc Drexler
  • Todd Heidenreich
  • Jo Hogan
  • Doug Hoylman
  • Bob & Ben Jones
  • Nathaniel Klinger
  • Eric & Laura Reinhold
  • Sam Zenlizard
  • Mike Rudmann
  • Mark Love
Wildlife - Marc 70, Zenlizard 61, Jo 47, Chris 35, Tiffany 29
Race for the Galaxy - Todd 60, Aubrey 36, Nathaniel 30
Alhambra - Doug 99, Laura 75, Eric 74, Leslie 73, Mike 71
Traumfabrik - Doug 111, Eric 84, Leslie 70
Ingenious - Shannon 17, Martha 10, Bob 9, David 8 - Shannon crushed us mere mortals.
Dominion - Nathaniel 39, Todd 33, Mark 28, Mike 19
Rheinlander - Bob 34, Shannon 34, David 34, Aubrey 27, Martha 26 - I've never actually seen a three-way tie for first before.
Can't Stop - Mark, Mike and Nathaniel did not finish.
Race for the Galaxy - Zenlizard 37, Marc 29, Jo 25, Eric 25, Leslie 20, Doug “no comment”
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation - Played two games, Bob won both over Ben.

We're up for the next two Mondays. Hope to see you!

Bob

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Brunswick, 8/15/09

Starting with the most recent gaming day I am going to get up to date on these blogs. Saturday at Beans in the Belfrey in Brunswick - hmmm, I should bring more games starting with B.

We had five folk for a few hours, Brian and Lije Carpenter, Ben Stewart, and Leslie Barkley were all there around 1pm. Tim Whieldon showed up a bit later.

We started with a game of China, brought by Leslie. We all commented that it reminded of us of another game, set in Europe, although none of us could recall the name. Play was close for much of the game, even into the final scoring with Brian and Lije both at 42, Ben at 41, and Leslie at 36.

Next up was a game of Monopoly Deal, brought by Brian and Lije, a card game which plays quite quickly. Brian won the game with 3 completed sets. Sadly, I don't remember too much of the game play itself, although Ben did have a few Birthdays. Tim arrived during play so it was nice to finish up and start a five player game.

We played Augsberg 1520, brought by Ben and acquired for $3 at a Columbus, OH gaming event. Once again we commented that it reminded us all of another game, although again none of could recall the game we were thinking of. Game play went pretty quickly, and closely, with Tim winning at 70, Leslie at 68, Brian at 67, Ben at 63 and Lije at 59.

We were approaching 6pm, when both Ben and Tim needed to leave, so we played another round of Monopoly Deal with Ben winning when he stole a card to complete a set, and then stole a complete set to give him three complete sets.

Afterwards, Brian, Lije and myself played Dominion Intrigue, brought by Leslie, with a random set. We had no multiple action cards available so the turns went very quickly. We finished shortly after 7pm, when the music starts, with Lije winning at 45, Brian at 35, and Leslie at 31.

All in all, a nice afternoon of gaming in a pleasant coffee shop. Thanks to all who came, looking forward to next month.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Frederick 8/8/09

The first official GCOM session of the new Frederick South group. We started in the Cafe area as the Community Room was in use. My agreement with the Common Market was that we would have the Community Room when it wasn't scheduled for another event. They had the room cleaned up and vacated by 4pm, and we finished the day playing in the room.

Jack Ridgeway showed up and we played X's and O's a few times. A nice little game easily finished in a few minutes, played with pen and paper. Jack won twice, and then may have taken pity on me and allowed for a win by me, or perhaps he taught it well enough for me to grasp the strategy.

Fran Lunney showed up next, both Jack and Fran were regulars at the prior Frederick South group so it was a nice little reunion. The three of us played Ticket to Ride, 1910 expansion, with Jack winning at 129, Fran at 116, and Leslie at 79. Bill Salvatore showed up and we played another round of Ticket. I did much better this game winning at 130, Fran with 125, Jack with 113, and Bill with 100.

Laura and Eric Reinhold showed up during the Ticket game and grabbed a quick bite to eat. By then the room was ready for us and we moved on in to continue gaming. It gets a bit confusing as to when games were played from here on, sorry.

I know the first game was Igel Argern with 6 players. Fran won, with both Bill and Laura at 2 and Eric, Leslie and Jack with only 1 hedgehog finished. During game play Martha and David Briggs showed up. We now had 8 gamers and broke into two groups of play.

Laura, David, Fran and Leslie played Settlers of Catan. We called the game after a good bit of play as all but Leslie were at 6 points, she was at 4. Looking at the board there was little possibility of a clear win within the near future and the other group were finishing their game.

Eric, Bill, Jack and Martha had been playing Dominion. Bill won with 33, Eric had 27, Martha had 25, and Jack had 22.

During the game play Helen Powell had arrived, and then wandered off to explore the store. We then had Michelle Hirsh show up, who wandered off to explore the store and look for Helen. As they drifted back in and out during our games they finally both arrived together and played a game of TransAmerica with Helen winning.

We now had 10 gamers and my list of games and recollection of order played becomes chaotic.

Dominoes was enjoyed by Jack (200) Eric (195) Martha (144) and Fran (41).

Qwirkle was played by Bill (96) Helen (94) Michelle (91) and David (77). It was also played by Jack (96) Michelle (85) Martha (76) and Eric (71).

Aquaduct was played by Bill (41) Fran (34) and Helen (33).

Pegs and Jokers was played by Laura and Leslie (won)

San Juan was played by Laura (32) Leslie (31) and David (23)

We played to closing at 9pm and I'll have to do a better job of keeping an eye on the clock as we were a touch late vacating the store due to clean-up. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and the location.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Germantown 08/03/2009

Another average night with 22 gamers. :-)

  • Leslie Barkley
  • Chris & Tiffany Bass
  • Aubrey & Shannon Bell
  • David & Martha Briggs & Rebecca
  • Marc Drexler
  • Ethan Goffman
  • Jo Hogan
  • Doug Hoylman
  • Bob & Ben Jones
  • Nathaniel Klinger
  • Carol Loman
  • Eileen Martz
  • Ben Neustifter
  • Eric & Laura Reinhold
  • Bill Salvatore
  • Sam Zenlizard
Aquaretto - Carol 35, Laura 28, Eric 28
Zombie Fluxx - Shannon won, Aubrey, Leslie
Billabong - Doug 1st, Tiffany 2nd, Nathaniel 3rd, Chris 4th.
Puerto Rico - Ethan 57 (won tie), Mark 57, Ben 54, Bill 48, Sam 29
Race for the Galaxy - Jo 58, Eileen 20
Dominion - Leslie 39, Aubrey 35, Shannon 35, Carol 31
Thurn and Taxis - Chris 25, Doug 24, Tiffany 16
Tiki Topple - Rebecca beat Ben.
Tiki Topple - Ben 22, Mark 21, Rebecca 15, Ethan 9
Transamerica - Nathaniel 2, Elieen and Jo 0.
Blue Moon City - Eric 4, Bob 3, David 3, Martha 2
Poison - Leslie 12, Shannon 18, Aubrey 18, Zenlizard 22, Bill 27
Qwirkle - Doug 155, Chris 136, Tiffany 129
Democrazy - Ethan 20, Leslie 20, Zenlizard 20, Nathaniel 20, Bob 17, Eileen 17, Shannon 15, Aubrey 12
Dominion - Bill, David, Martha, Eric. Did not finish.
Rattlesnake - Ben won 2 against Rebecca and Mark.
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation - Ben and Bob. No winner recorded.

Thanks to everyone for coming out. That's a LOT of games in a four hour period.

Germantown 07/20/09

Attendance was again up due to a whole new group who joined us tonight! We're regularly pushing 20+ people!

  • Leslie Barkley
  • David & Martha Briggs
  • Marc Drexler
  • Dave Fair
  • Ethan Goffman
  • Jo Hogan
  • Doug Hoylman
  • Bob Jones
  • Nathaniel Klinger
  • Carol Loman
  • Anna Maclung
  • Eileen Martz
  • Tim Mossman
  • Ben Neustifter
  • Laura & Eric Reinhold
  • Bill Salvatore
  • Tiffany & Chris
  • Sara M
  • Zenlizard
Zendo - Mark, Jo, Ben, Dave F, Eileen.
Ticket to Ride - Bill 123, Laura 96, Sara 83, Eric 40.
Puerto Rico - Doug 66, Ethan 58, Zenlizard 56, Leslie 54.
Small World - Tim 109, Chris 100, Tiffany 81.
Thebes - Tiffany 55, Bill 52, Chris 51, Tim 44.
Race for the Galaxy - Ben 39, Leslie 37, Nathaniel 33, Dave 28, Doug 19, Ethan 18.
Dragonland - Martha 73, Bob 62, David B 40.
Pack & Store - Dave 65, Leslie 53, David B 45,Doug 0.
Pack & Store - Dave 65, Leslie 53, Doug 31, David B 0.
Race for the Galaxy - Mark 50, Ben 47, Zenlizard 40.
Continuum (not finished) - Eric 65, Ethan 62, Bob 36.

Brunswick, 7/18/09

My first co-host day for Brunswick. Ben Stewart showed up at 1pm and with just the two of us we played quite a few games before Brian and Lije Carpenter showed up.

First up was Igel Argern, Ben's hedgehogs proved the faster giving him the win.

Then came Agricola for two, a quicker game play, and easier for me to grasp apparently as I won with 35 to Ben's 31.

Poison came into play next, and I seem to be quite good at mixing potions, winning with 12 to Ben's 23.

However, with Settlers of Catan Ben showed his skills at exploring and settling a land, winning the game handily.

Brian and Lije arrived and we all played a game of Roll Through the Ages. It was a close game with Ben winning with 20, then Leslie with 19, Brian with 14, and Lije with 13.

Ben needed to leave at 6, so the 3 of us remaining played a few more games. The musical group playing that evening was not playing at too noisily a level so we actually played to closing time.

First up was another Roll game, followed by another Roll game. Brian won the first with 23 to Leslie and Lije both having 11. The next game Lije had 15, Leslie 13, and Brian 12 - a closer game.

I'm not sure what order the following games were played in.

Qwirkle - Brian made quite a few qwirkles and won with 158. Leslie with 128 and Lije with 126.

Race for the Galaxy - Brian won with 49, Lije 31, and Leslie with 23

Igel Argern - Lije's hedgehogs proved the fastest.

Closing time came and we left, a good afternoon and evening of gaming had by those who came. Even the musicians profited as their CD's were purchased.

More on Hal Haag

Here's a forwarded message from Hal's son, Evan:

Hello everyone.

For those of you that do not know me, I am Hal's son. I want to thank everyone that receives this e-mail, and everyone that it is forwarded to (and everyone that should have gotten it but for whom I was unable to find any contact info) for their thoughts, their support, and their patience. So far, I've seen some lovely remembrances of him, and I hope that all of you will be able to keep your good memories of him firmly in your minds and hearts.

In the interest of honest disclosure, I feel I should let those of you that do not yet know the basic details. Hal was found (by me and my wife, Kris) here at his home on Wednesday, August 12th. He had apparently had a heart attack just as he was getting up that morning. From all indications, it was very quick and probably painless for him.

He is currently awaiting cremation at an extremely helpful and understanding funeral parlor. Unfortunately for those who may have hoped for a viewing or an immediate memorial, my father has never wanted either of those things. I do apologize and ask that you be understanding in this regard, as my father would much rather have everyone get together for each other. In his own words..."Why do I have to be there?" I know that sounds odd, but he actually told me that himself. He believed in the wake, not the funeral. I think, in his own thoughts, he knew he would be there, and that the vehicle of his body would be fairly superfluous at that point.

My wife and I have created a LiveJournal community for all of us to share our anecdotes, well-wishes, and prayers, and we ask that any who wish to join it do so.

The community is http://community.livejournal.com/halhaagmemorial/
and I hope to be able to bring as many of you together on it as possible. For those of you without LiveJournal, this e-mail address is my focal point for all direct questions and communication regarding any memorial plans. The LiveJournal community will also be used to disseminate information about any upcoming memorials once they have been more solidified. Right now, we are looking to have a large-ish event (as large as we can manage) in the near future that we hope many will be able to attend.

Please forward this e-mail to anyone you know that has not already received it. I ask also that any friends of Hal that are not already on this email list please contact me, so that I may keep them better updated as to the memorial plans and schedules. If need be, my cell phone may be used as a last resort: 443-851-1036. Understand, though, that I have a lot of phone calls to make in the next week or two, so I may not be able to answer or call back quickly.

Any finalized plans will be broadcast via e-mail, as well as being posted on the LiveJournal page, so that everyone knows as soon as possible. Should anyone feel the need to then relay that info via FaceBook or any similar means, feel free. We are trying to find a space to accommodate Dad's many, many friends (and he had a LOT), so we are looking at early to mid-September as our best date. That should give us (and hopefully all of you) enough time to plan and prepare.

Again, thank you all for having been my father's friends and companions over the years. He appreciated every one of you (whether he said it or not).

Evan Haag

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Sad News

One of our GCOM Hosts, Hal Haag, died yesterday of a heart attack. Here's the announcement from Keith.

To all,
It is with great sadness that I report that Hal Haag passed away from an apparent heart attack this morning, Wednesday, August 12th.

I received a phone call from Evan Haag, Hal's son this evening at around 6pm. Hal passed away from an apparent heart attack this morning. Evan had no other information or details at this time.

I will do my best to keep everyone informed.

Hal was an active member of Games Club of Maryland. He was the host of Alphabet Soup, co-host of Glen Burnie, Elkridge and the former Columbia locations, a GCOM Director at Large, and a regular at several GCOM locations and events. He was also very active in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and the annual Baltimore Science Fiction Convention ("Balticon").

We will all miss him greatly.

Keith Levy
President and Founder, Games Club of Maryland