September 13, 2007 Session Report

Strong attendance this week, a total of 12 gamers (one newcomer) to the club: Clayton, Gabe, Paul, Doug, Nicole, Beth, Sarah, Eric, Rodney, Val and Kathryn B. -- newcomer, friend of Sarah's -- and myself. Games played (11): Thurn & Taxis -- Power and Glory; Qwirkle; Blokus Trigon (x3); Quiddler; Lost Cities; Incan Gold (x2); Sequence (x3); Fairy Tale (x3); Gnadenlos; Parlay; Category 5.

Here's the details: Four of us (Gabe, Paul, Doug and myself played the Thurn and Taxis sequel, Power and Glory. This game uses the houses from the original game but a whole new board and set of cards and victory chits. It's a bit longer and more strategic than the regular game, as city cards can be played as horses to pull the carriage or for the city itself. The endgame is different, too, as players aren't collecting those carriage cards and the Cartwright is not part of the game. Gabe was doing real well, picking up multiple VP chits with a nice 6-city route. I was going last in the turn order and, for once, everything clicked as I set myself up for a nice 8-route to put five houses down to end the game. Paul and Doug wound up barely registering on the positive side of the scoreboard, and I nosed out Gabe for the win.

By this time a group consisting of Nicole, Beth, Clayton and Rodney formed to play two "Q" games: first Quirkle, which was won by Clayton by virtue of the six-point bonus for ending the game; final scores were 101 for Clayton, 95 for Beth, 87 for Rodney and 76 for Nicole. The Quiddler game was a close one, with Rodney and Nicole battling it out for the win; final scores were Rodney 144 Nicole 139 Beth 117 Clayton 89.

Kathryn and Sarah arrived at the other table, and they joined Eric to play several three-player games of Blokus-Trigon, two of which were won by Eric with one win for Sarah. I also have scores for one hand of Lost Cities between Eric and Sarah, 24-4 for Eric. By then the T&T players were looking for another game, and it was Incan Gold which was played twice -- first game had seven players, and somehow I managed to win a really close one, with 32 points versus 30 for Gabe and Sarah with Paul not far behind at 29. (We figured out that Sarah could have won by staying in the cave for one more turn.) Second Incan Gold game had Rodney moving over from the other table to score a decisive victory, with 33 pts, well ahead of Eric (20) in second.

At this point we re-split into two groups. Rodney and I took on Clayton and Eric in Sequence (playing as two-player teams). We played three quick games, and I'm pleased to report Rodney and I won two out of three. The other table played three hands of Fairy Tale -- if I am reading the scores right, it was Doug and Kathryn winding up tied with 106 pts overall. Clayton, Eric and I convinced Val, who had just arrived, into joining us for a game of Gnadenlos. The game ended when Val picked up her third Vulture and it turned out the winner was Clayton. Meanwhile, the other group played a game of Parlay -- no scores to report on that one, unfortunately.

Finally, the nine of us who were left played a hand of Category Five, and Paul, who played two low numbers and took no other rows, wound up the winner with only two negative pts, ahead of Doug and Eric who tied for second with 7.