Well, two Saturdays ago brought us a full house. Ed, Alias Johnny, Tom &
Jeanette, Pete and Michelle, and Tim & Beth. We decided to break into two
games, Medici and Settlers of Catan. Tom, anxious to play a game for the
first time that he actually BOUGHT some time ago, opted for Settlers. I
love settlers, so I opted for that also. Ed wanted to play Settlers or
Torres, so he was in for Settlers. I figured after Tim & Beth enjoyed
Medici so much, they would play that. But Tim was riveted by the settlers
board and decided to play that. So, Medici was going to be the 4 women and
Pete. But, due to some sort of social flurry, they did not start right
away and Pete bailed out for Settlers (even though he preferred to play
Medici). When they did get started, Pete attempted first to bail, then to
play both games, but neither group would have it. Pete stuck with
Settlers. This did not work out for the best I think, as Tom put it, "the
board is too crowded". He had a point, I usually play Settlers with 5
people. The board set up we had was too small for 6. It reflection
however, I realize that it was a product of the scenario that Ed selected,
not the game itself. Settlers has numerous board setup options, we just
picked one better suited for 5 players, not 6. Nevertheless, it was a good
game. Tim had a commanding lead at one point, but did not end up winning.
I think Ed did... didn't he? I can't say enough about the "mechanics" of
this game. They are wonderful. Just like Medici and are other favorites.
(Still, I want to play Union Pacific again, another "meatier" game where I
feel the mechanics work very well.)

This last Saturday, only Neal and Laura showed up. We played two 4 player
games. First, we played "Twilight", the game of cults collecting souls.
Neal and Laura did not like this game, stating that the distribution of the
28 cards had too much weight in how the round played. I reluctantly
agreed. They have a very good point and an otherwise intriguing play
system falls short of the mark. Still, the concept of having other people
play a card for you still interests me.

I then taught them Klunker, as Neal was open to any game that did not
involve "adding pipes end to end". Everyone agreed that this was indeed a
fun game, and it was even right to the end... or so we thought. Everyone
thought Jen was last (including Jen), but she won 14 to 12.

[Then Jen and I stayed up and watched the "Waterboy". If you don't like
football, you would not enjoy this movie half as much. What were they
thinking?]

Next week, Neal and Laura are in Florida, but it is the "on" week for Ed
and Alias Johnny. Hope to see you there!

 2/19- Partying is like voting... Drink early, drink often. And that is
what I
did. Fueled by some recent excitement of finding a new house, studying for
my last midterm ever, and things going generally well at work (I left
Friday at 3!), I will report to you everything that happened to the best of
my, um, recollection.

Ed, Alias Johnny, Polio Tim (new nickname) and Beth, Suzanne and Steve, and
of course us, hosted a riotous night of yelling and frolicking. (Suzanne
brought yummy cookies!) We started early with "Frank's Zoo", a card game
that could have been called "Carnivore". Each card has an animal on it,
and a set of animals above it on the food chain. Get rid of you cards by
devouring the animal just played. There are a few bonus scoring quirks,
but that is the jist of it. It did, however, state ages 10 and up... and
after numerous blunders, the big expression after anyone did anything
remotely wrong was, "Hey, ages 10 and up, lets go loser!" or something
like that and equally crass. Nevertheless, I liked the game, it was silly,
supported 7 players, and worked well with beer. We can't remember who
won...

Next we split into 2 games of 4. I had promised Ed a game of "Torres".
This would be the second time we played and we REALLY got the swing of it.
The game is essentially a strategy placement game in the genre of "Through
the Desert" aka "the camel game". But the similarities end quickly as you
are expanding castles to make desired scoring combos. I won the first game
by a few points, but then Tim insisted we play again and Ed mercilessly
slaughtered us by grabbing two towers un-opposed.

The women, who dragged "anti-game" Steve with them, played Guillotine I
think? Then Steve was back to Rally racer on the PC and pinball. And who
can blame him. Rally racing is a game/sport who's time has come. (He
floated in and out from here on in)

We re-merged into one big game of Take 6. IS THERE A STRATEGY IN THIS
GAME?! If so, I can not find it. I just plain suck! Beth won, as usual.
And John lost, a lot. This, of course, prompted me to get off on my now
expected tangent of foul language. Well, that, 6 beers, and everyone
asking for "a purple chip for 2 blues and a red one". I am assuming I did
not offend anyone, but man... what a mouth I can have. That is assuming I
am remembering all this accurately. By the way, you're all still my
"bitches".

Finally, we decided to play Liars Dice. Only 6 players?! Ha! Jen
cannibalized the risk and backgammon set and we had 8 player liars dice.
The number of players who lost all 5 dice on one "call" was amazing!!!!
What fun!!! Suzanne beat me in the showdown. Slapped me like the bitch I
am. Beth won the second game. By this time it was 2 am, and I went off to
nap land.

(Ray and Jen showing house, no game night)