June 11, 2015 Session Report

Another good group 12 for this week's session: Mike, Eugene, Tim, Lina, Rembert, Ben, Marie (back for her third session), Neville (whom we haven't seen for awhile), Joseph (a first-time attendee), and the three Johns (John B, the other John W and myself) were the attendees. We had three tables going at once, games played were Risk, Concordia, Eggs and Empires, Camel Cup and TransAmerica.

Concordia was a five-player and ended in a three way tiebreaker! The ties were broken by reverse player order depending on who held the 2x production marker. Ben, Mike and Tim were the top three, all with 105. John B (92) and John W (91) brought up the rear.

Risk (which Marie brought) was another five-player. I was first one out, followed by Marie, but Joseph, Lina and Rembert did well enough to survive to the end of the session, so another three-way tie that did not get resolved as we ran out of time.

Neville and Eugene occupied the third table and played a couple of two-player games: Eggs and Empires, a quick-playing card game, which was one win apiece. Camel Cup was next, with Eugene winning over Neville by 54 to 43.

I joined Eugene and Neville for a couple of games of Eggs and Empires. Eugene won both. Game 1 scores: Eugene 31, John 21, Neville 18. Game 2: Eugene 48, Neville 23, yours truly 9.

I managed to bounce back with a strong performance in the final game of the evening, TransAmerica. The game only lasted two rounds, with Tim getting knocked off the chart. Final scores were myself 9, John B 8, John W 7, Eugene (best of the non-Johns) 3, Mike 2, Tim off the chart. A 1-2-3 finish for the three Johns, whoopee!

A reminder that the GCOM Family Picnic will be free to all GCOM Members, regardless of membership level. Check out the GCOM website (link to left of this page) and follow the links to "Family Picnic."

June 4, 2015 Session Report

Good attendance, a total of 15 this week. Patrick, Mike, Alex, Doug, Lina, Linda, Greg, Alec, Erin, Tim, Will, Rouslan, Rembert, Ron (a first-time attendee) and I were the attendees. This meant we got in quite a few games, including Cheeky Monkey, California Gold, Tash-Kalar, Power Grid: North America, Homsteaders and King of Tokyo. Details (if available) follow.

Cheeky Monkey was the warm-up game while waiting for more folks to show up. It was a five-player, won by Doug. Scores were Doug 31, Mike 22, Rouslan 19, myself 15, Alex 3. We then broke into three groups (which turned into four) for the rest of the session).

One group of five played California Gold. This game ended in a time between Linda (one of the new players) at Lina, each at 12. Once again, the money tiebreaker came into play, which meant Lina was the winner. I was third with 10, then Ron (the other new player) and Alex were at 9, and Ron had more money. Tough night for Alex, who is usually near the top instead of the bottom when reporting the scores.

Tash-Kalar was a four-player, with Will winning (with 6), Doug second (at 5). Although the scoresheet indicates they both won, so maybe it was a team game. Eri and Patrick (both at 0) were the other two players.

Power Grid: North America was played, another close four-player game. Greg emerged the winner with 17 cities and 15 left over for the money tiebreaker. Tim (17 with 7 money) and Alec (17 with 0 money) just missed out, while Mike overpaid for a powerplant and could only build to 16.

Rouslan and Rembert played Homesteaders, and Rouslan won, 36 to 28, it what seems to be a relatively low scoring game.

Those who finished up early got in one final game, King of Tokyo. It was six-player, and the game did not finish. Will (with 10 points) was ahead, but this may be misleading because he was low on health and bonus card abilities. Other players and scores at the time the game was picked up were Patrick (8), Erin (6), Doug and Rouslan (4), Rembert (2).

May 28, 2015 Session Report

We had 12 in attendance for this week's session: Mike, Patrick, Lina, Tim, Doug, Rouslan, Rich (whom we haven't seen for awhile), Marie (back for a second week in a row), Erin, Rembert, Paul and myself were the attendees. Games played: Castles of Burgundy, California Gold, Stratego, Samurai and Lanterns. Scores and details follow.

Castles of Burgundy was a four-player, won by Rouslan. Scores were Rouslan 229, Doug 219, Mike 191, Tim 167.

California Gold was a five-player, and the game filled up the entire time slot. It ended in a tie, myself and Lina at 12 but I had more money and was therefore the winner. Others: Rich (9) third ahead of Erin (9) with more money, Patrick (8) was fifth and last.

I had trouble keeping track of what was happening on the third table. Marie and Rembert played a game of Stratego, which Marie had brought. Then Paul arrived and there was a three-player game of Samurai. Then there was a game of Lanterns, which I believe Rembert won by one point (46 to 45) over Paul.

May 21, 2015 Session Report

Had a much larger than usual crowd of 14 for this week's session. David, Patrick, Lina, Rouslan, Greg, Will, Eugene, Ben, Tim, Rembert, Paul, Adam (who had been here once before), Marie (here for first time) and myself were the attendees. With this many, we had four games going for most of the session. Games played (at least the ones I was able to keep track of) were Elysium, California Gold, Brew Crafters, Lanterns, Cockroach Poker and Sys Hack.

Elysium (brought by Patrick) was a four-player, turned into a really close game which I was able to pull out by a narrow margin with Greg second. Final scores were John 48, Greg 45, Patrick 43, Lina 34.

California Gold was a four-player, won by Rouslan. Scores were Rouslan 15, Adam 14, Will 13, David 11.

When Eugene showed up, a game of Brew Crafters commenced. Eugene, Ben and Tim were the participants; since I was already in the Elysium game, it marked the first time Brew Crafters has been played at the club when I was not in the game. Eugene proved to be the Brewmaster once again, winning by a wide margin while Tim and Ben battled in out for second. Scores: Eugene 105 Tim 70 Ben 67.

Paul, Rembert and Marie arrived a bit later but still managed to get in three shorter games. First up was Lanterns, which Paul had brought. This was won by Paul, by just one point. Scores were Paul 44, Rembert 43, Marie 39. Then, after this and the California Gold game finished, there was time for a couple of six-player games. Next was SysHack, Paul's invention, with the hacker team (David, Marie and Rouslan) edging out the Professionals (Paul, Rembert and Will). Finally, Cockroach Poker (a game I am unfamiliar with) was played, with everyone (Rouslan, Paul, Rembert, Marie and Will) winning except for Dave, who managed to finish last at both Calfornia Gold and then Cockroach Poker, but at least he was on the winning side in SysHack.

May 14, 2015 Session Report

Nine for this week's session. Attendees were David, Mike, Alex, Rembert, Lina, Tim, Will, Paul and myself. Games played: Keyflower, California Gold (with Northern Expansion), TransAmerica and 7 Wonders.

Keyflower was a four-player, scores were close, Time first with 62, Rembert second with 61, Mike next at 59, David trailing at 48.

California Gold was played (without David for the first time) as I brought my set with the expansion. It was a four-player, won by Alex (15). Others were Lina (14), Will (13) with yours truly bringing up the rear at 11.

Paul arrived late but was still able to get in a couple of games that finished off the evening. First of these was 7 Wonders, won by Tim (61) ahead of Mike (57), Paul (56), David (47) and Rembert (43). Then, those that were left played a quick round of TransAmerica. Players were David, Tim, Paul, Mike and myself, can't remember who won or was leading when time expired.

May 7, 2015 Session Report

Ten for this week's session: attendees were Alex, Patrick, Mike, Tim, Eugene, Alec, Lina, Doug, Rembert, Will and myself. Games played: Scoville, Brew Crafters and Trans America.

Scoville was a full table of six, scores were very close. Lina and Patrick tied at 65, Lina had the most money and was therefore the winner (or was it least money, can't tell from the notes). Other scores were Alex 63, Alec 61, Mike 60, Rembert 54. All but Alex stayed for a final game of TransAmerica which did not finish.

Doug and Will joined Eugene and me for a game of Brew Crafters that barely made it to the finish line (we actually ran a few minutes over). Eugene was the winner, with an excellent score of 99. I was second with 87, followed by Will and Doug with 62 apiece.

Main St. Festival was last weekend. This weekend, on Sunday afternoon, May 17, is Beltsville Day, and there will be a table of games set up at the Beltsville CC as in past years.

April 30, 2015 Session Report

Ten for this week's session -- Patrick, David, Mike, Ben, Tim, Greg, Rembert, Lina, Paul and I were the attendees. Games played: Red 7, Quilt Show, California Gold (with Northern Counties Expansion) and Belfort.

Red 7 was the warmup game. It only lasted one round, and Mike won. Patrick, David and I were the other three participants.

One group played Quilt Show, which I had brought. Final scores were Greg and Lina (50), myself (45) and David (42). We checked the rules and determined that Greg was the winner on the tiebreak. This same group, joined by Paul, played California Gold, which David had brought. We played with the Northern Counties Expansion. We didn't finish and just counted the scores at the 9 PM witching hour. Turns out everyone was at 7 except for one player (me) trailing at 5. The tiebreaker was most money and, once again, Greg was the winner.

The other group played Belfort. Final scores were Tim 39, Mike 34, Rembert 31, Patrick and Ben tied for last with 28.

A reminder that this coming Saturday is Main Street Festival in Laurel, and once again the Games Club of Maryland is running a booth with open-air gaming (rain or shine). Should be near the same location as in past years, which is on the South Side of the Street between 5th and 6th Streets -- look for the GCOM banner and a double-spaced booth (20 x 10 feet). Rodney (the other Laurel host) and I plan to be on hand.