Seattle Cosmic Game Night, Saturday, 26 April 2003

Neither Spam Nor Troll My Domain, For I Am Master Of It

Seattle Cosmic was more or less compelled to meet again on 26 April at the house of Tim Higgins in Mill Creek (Bothell). Present (in rough order of appearance) were Timothy_Higgins?; Alex_Rockwell?; Jay_Lorch?; Nat_Dupree? and Steve_Dupree?; Kisa_Griffin? and Meredith_Hale?; David_Adams?, his kids, and Kathy_Kizer?; Marty_Hale-Evans?, Ron_Hale-Evans? (that's me), and John_Braley?; newcomer Jody_Eisler?; Alex_Swavely?; Chris_Bender?; and Clyde_Sloniker? and Fred_Sloniker?. I make that 17 adult gamers, a slightly low turnout for Tim's house, but about average for one of the other locations. Perhaps people were out enjoying the pleasant spring weather.

In the interest of getting the session report out quickly, I'm trying a new format this week. Each game entry starts with a little table listing the name of the game (with a link to our page for the game if possible), the players (if not listed in a score chart), where the game was played (e.g. the kitchen), time it was played, winner, and prize. Only if I have something substantial to add to this information will I write a paragraph or two about the game. Please let me know how you like this new format, or whether it's too cold and flavourless.

By the way, we have a whole bunch of new items in the PrizeBag, thanks largely to Eric_Yarnell,_ND? and AlphaTim Schutz.

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

New England (#1)

The importance of prepositions:
Is New England in Tim's living room or is Tim's living room in New England?

Game: New_England?
Location: Living room card table
Time: 5:25-7ish
Winner: Steve Dupree, Alex Rockwell
Prize: ballpoint pen bracelets

Scores

The first play of the evening of the recent Seattle Cosmic hit New_England?. Given that Marty has been dying to play this, I'm not sure why she missed both games of it this evening, except that perhaps the lure of Settlers_of_Catan? was too strong...

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Settlers of Catan (Cities & Knights)

Game: Settlers_of_Catan? with Cities_&_Knights_Expansion?
Location: Kitchen
Time: approx. 5:30-7:45
Winner: Tim Higgins
Prize: groan tube

Scores

Once again, Settlers was broken out. Just about the only way anyone at Seattle Cosmic plays it any more is with the Cities_&_Knights_Expansion?. Marty remarked that due to a paucity of resources, it was nearly impossible for anyone except Tim to build a Knight to protect against the Pirates, so their cities were razed again and again, hence Tim's commanding lead in the game.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Cave Troll

Cave Troll, not to be confused with John Braley.

Game: Cave_Troll?
Location: Dining room
Time: approx. 5:45-7:15
Winner: John Braley
Prize: 3D maze with ball bearing

Scores

Yet another dungeon crawl from Tom Jolly, creator of WizWar?, G.O.O.T.M.U.?, Drakon?, etc. etc. Did you know that the phrase "They have a cave troll!", uttered by Aragorn in the movie of The Fellowship of the Ring, is trademarked? This according to my copy of Lord_of_the_Rings_Risk?. I believe the trademark belongs to New Line Cinema. Sad, isn't it?

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Errata : I never played this game, but AFAIK it's definitely not a dungeon crawl, but more of an area control game. Am I right ? Anyone who played this game can confirm ?

--Steve_Vall\xE9e?

Yes, its not a dungeon crawl. Its area control. The original theme of the game was explorers in a lost ruins, avoiding traps and curses, finding artifacts, and so on.

--Alex_Rockwell?

Someone had better tell the publisher, then. According to BoardgameGeek, the publisher's blurb reads, "Cavetroll is a fast-paced dungeon-crawling board game of strategy, looting, and monster-bashing from Tom Jolly, the creator of Drakon."

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Domain (#1)

1. Completed Domain game.
2. New Guy Jody, with prize.

Game: Domain
Location: Den
Time: 6:15-6:35
Winner: Jody Eisler
Prize: double-sided ball bearing maze

Scores

Newcomer Jody Eisler and I played a quick game of Domain, which can best be described as Othello? played with Blokus pieces. Actually, pieces are not flipped when they are surrounded by pieces of other colours (as in Othello/Reversi), but when they are touched by a newly-placed piece of the opposite colour. Otherwise, the intermediate version we played (the most playable version of the game, according to Abstract Games Magazine) is indeed very similar to Othello. Players must flip at least one opposing piece on their turn, or must pass.

Domain was published in the early 1980s. Jody had played Domain years back and was familiar with some of the strategy. I had read about it, was intrigued, and bought it, but had never yet played it. Jody won, but it was fairly close; if I had controlled one more 4-point piece (or two 2-point pieces, etc.), I would have won.

Jody was awarded an orange plastic maze with a ball bearing rattling around in it, three-dimensional in the sense that the ball has to go all the way around the outside of the plastic box to reach the end. Yet another PrizeBag goodie.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Cosmic Encounter

Deep thought in deep space

Game: Cosmic_Encounter?
Location: Living room card table
Time: 7:00-8:30
Winner: Jody Eisler
Prize: ???

Scores

Although last week (SeattleCosmicGameNight20030419) was supposed to be a CosmicNight, we ended up playing the piecepack game Decay for a couple of hours instead of Cosmic_Encounter?. The Bros. Sloniker proposed on the mailing list to remedy that deficiency this week. They are both experienced (Mayfair) Cosmic players, although they hadn't seen many of the Internet powers with which my set is expanded. Also, being used to the later Mayfair Flares, they weren't used to the Eon practice of keeping Flares after you use them. Jody had never played at all before, so in addition to leaving out Moons, Lucre, Reverse Hexes, etc., we left out War cards this evening (the Slonikers had not seen these either).

We each chose two powers with the UsualCosmicPowerPickingMethod?. Fred had passed me the Machine, which he came to regret, as I was the first player and made about six challenges in a row with it, winning three of them. (That's actually only one more than you could reasonably expect with a good hand anyway.) Clyde had agreed to play a Compromise when I played a Compromise on one challenge, then stabbed me. Fred said Clyde was a "bad liar". I don't know whether this means he lies poorly or lies habitually, but I do think Clyde would make a terrible Diplomacy player -- you don't stab someone in your first encounter with them unless there's a very good reason. Since I could keep making challenges over and over as long as I had Challenge cards, I don't consider that Clyde had a good reason. Word to future players.

On the fourth turn, Clyde lost a challenge, and since he was Reincarnator, got to draw a random power from the deck. He drew Replicant, which let him use his other power twice.

Since there were four players, the fifth turn was supposed to be mine. I had emptied my hand on my first turn, obtained a new hand, and was ready to grind away for my remaining two bases, but someone Super Zapped me, which meant that I lost my turn. (Darned Internet Edicts!)

On the sixth turn, the Masochist (Fred) stubbornly refused a deal with Clyde, and they both went to the Warp. This was good for Fred, because as Masochist his special victory condition was that if he lost all of his tokens to the Warp (or the Vampire, etc.), then he won. I have to say that he came within a few tokens of fulfilling this win condition, but it was not to be. Meanwhile, Clyde had by definition lost a challenge, so he Reincarnated as Diplomat.

Turn 7 was Clyde's. He ended up attacking Jody, and scowled at him, "I will eat your soul!" However, Clyde's soul-eating ambitions didn't quite work out. After a flurry of Edict cards, Jody won the challenge and Clyde went to the Warp.

"Uh, people?" I said. "Has anybody noticed that Jody has four bases?" It was Jody's turn now and he attacked my system. This was for the game. Fred joined me as defensive ally, but Clyde refused. He had already seen my hand and Jody's with his Aura power. "It is numerically impossible for you to win the challenge", he told me, with Spocklike (Mister, not Doctor) demeanor.

"Aw, c'mon, Clyde, how do you know? Anyway, don't you want to go down in a blaze of glory? What have you got to lose?"

"It is numerically impossible for you to win this challenge. I outgrew my 'blazes of glory' phase when I was seven", he said.

"What 'blazes of glory' could you possibly have undergone when you were seven?" I asked, imagining a Harley with training wheels.

"Partial disembowelment."

Whatever. Ol' Clyde was obviously not going to budge. We played our cards, and Jody won by 5 points.

"You see?" said Clyde.

"Fred, did you have a Reinforcement?" I asked. He showed me a +1 Reinforcement. "Clyde, with four of your tokens and Fred's +1, we would have tied with Jody. Defenders win ties. As Defender, I would have won the challenge, and Jody would not have just won the game!"

"I screwed up," was all we could get out of Clyde. Then he admitted that he also could have used his Diplomat power to force a three-way deal in which Jody would not have gotten a base, if he had joined as ally.

"Numerically impossible", my pimpled...

Never mind. Comments from the players?

P.S. Rereading this account, it occurs to me that either

1. my notes are wrong and Clyde did not lose Turn 7, or
2. he did not already have Diplomat at that point, or
3. if he did lose Turn 7 and did have Diplomat already, he should have Reincarnated as another power.

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

I get the feeling that Clyde was getting tired of the game by the time it ended, but he may just have been in a fatalistic mood. Certainly he claimed to be willing to play again, but I wasn't interested in playing again with him, not in that mood, anyway. This said, I don't want to diminish Jody's win, even if he did buy GameInsurance...

--Fred_Sloniker?

Scarab Lords

Game: Scarab_Lords?
Players: Chris Bender, Alex Rockwell
Location: Dining Room
Time: approx. 7:15-7:45
Winner: Alex Rockwell
Prize: miniature deck of cards on keychain

Although Chris had played before and Alex had not, Alex was obviously making using of his 1337 CCG skills. :-?

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Chris and Alex S played a game of this immediately previous which Alex S lost horribly...

--Alex_Swavely?

In this match, we played a rule wrong. The rules say that the player who goes first may play only 2 of the 4 phases of their turn. However, Chris thought it meant that you could play cards in 2 of the 4 phases, and then exercise supremacy, and tought me this way. (Thus, in effect giving you the benefit of 3 phases). This gave an advantage to the player going first. Whoever went first won all three games, and since we were alternating in a best of 3 match, and I went first, I won 2 to 1. Still, the one extra phase is just a small advantage, but with two good players, its relatively significant. We noticed the rule on Tuesday when playing 2 more matches.

Scarab Lords definitely has the CCG feel without the dreaded collectible aspect, and I really like it.

--Alex_Rockwell?

Mare Nostrum

Fresh meat for the Mare Nostrum craze.
P.S. Why is Tim (head of table) scowling at the cameraman?

Answer: Because the cameraman is taking a picture of a not yet set up board with a few pieces strewn about we were using for explanation. We hadnt even moved to be next to our civilizations yet. --Alex_Rockwell?

Game: Mare_Nostrum?
Location: Dining room
Time: 7:45-10:10
Winner: Alex Rockwell
Prize: neon squirt water bottle

Scores

The surprise BigLoser? of this game was Tim Higgins, who usually wins or comes close. Marty did exceptionally well as Greece, normally/formerly considered a weak power. (Marty remarked that she was the terror of the seas.)

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

This game was more combat oriented than previous games, lead by Marty as Greece doing what Greece needs to do to win. That is: get a couple ships and a couple legions and make sneak attacks against any undefended region, and then leave as soon as the player builds an army to kick you out, going and picking on someone else instead. However, she was attackedn later on by Rome, and once again Greece's plans were foiled.

The history of the world from the Egyptian point of view. (These events are spread out through a number of turns)

1) Egypt manages to get an early Hero due to saving 2 tax cards, getting 4 more tax cards next turn, trading for 2 tax cards, and using Cleopatra's ability to get another tax card. Because Greece was threatening the whole board with 2 ships and a pair of legions, I chose to purchase the hero Helen of Troy. For some reason, I have a habit of referring to Helen of Troy as Joan of Arc. I dont know why....its a completely different historical period. I guess when I think "Woman who saves you in combat," I think Joan of Arc.

2) Greece attacks Carthage early on (but would've attacked Egypt had I built something other than Helen, I am sure).

3) Carthage builds an army to repel Greece.

4) Babylon is foiled in his attempts to get a wonder (primarily due to Egypt's stubborn refusal to trade with him). He builds a trireme in the Red Sea and 3 legions, and launches a sneak attack against Egypt. With 3 legions, even after the Helen of Troy ability, he is still ahead 2 to 1.

5) Greece takes advantage of the situation and leaves the territory of Carthage, (who had built an army to repel the Greek invaders), and also attacks Egypt. Egypt now is getting resources from only 1 province. (Both invaders chose to "Occupy"). Greece then builds the Temple of Artemis wonder.

6) Rome attacks Greece's undefended lands in Europe, prompting Greece to pull back out of Egypt for defense. Rome builds a wonder (I forget what).

7) Egypt builds a pair of Legions and moves to liberate its other province from Babylon. The rolls in the 2-2 battle: Egypt 10 (killing 2 legions), Babylon (enought to kill only 1 legion). Babylon is repelled from the region and a defender is left to help protect from future attacks. This roll of a 10 on two dice was an important part of the eventual Egyptian victory.

8) Greece, left without many places to go, attacks the northern areas of Babylon. Babylon then builds defenses at the north, and Egypt is spared from further attacks.

9) Rome builds another wonder or hero, bringing him to 3. Egypt builds a third as well: Solomon, which will prevent the chance of Egypt's losing the Political Director. Thus, next turn if Egypt can collect a set of 9 cards, Egypt wins, even if Rome could also build, since Egypt would choose to build first.

10) Rome makes the mistake of choosing too few cards to trade (Rome was Commerce Director), and Egypt maintains enough tax for a set. Egypt builds a 4th Hero/Wonder to win the game. As soon as Rome called for 4 cards to trade, and we played them down, Tim H announced: "And Alex wins". I confirmed that this was the case, as I would still have at least 9 Taxes during the build phase, with Cleopatra's ability, even if I didnt get any during the trading. We ended the game right there, as it was pointless to continue. (I was going to start the next phase by building to end the game, so no one else was going to get to score anyway).

I have since played 2 more games of MareNostrum?, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. On Tuesday, I was Greece, and actually managed to be winning (as Greece!) before Kisa (Carthage) managed to pull out a surprise win with the Pyramids. None of us were paying attention to what he was getting, because he had lost 2 provinces in combat (one to Greece, one to Rome) and looked to be losing. However, he used his trading power, with the Commerce Director and liberal use of "I'll trade with you if you trade back with me", to get the exact right set of resources to win, with his exactly 12 resource cards. Sigh, foiled by the evil pyramids again.

Two factors I thought was very important in my doing well with Greece (in the tuesday game) were:

1) I managed to steal a city from Egypt in a raid, which gave me the Political director. Then when I left and the city reverted to its rightful owner, we were tied for cities and I retained it for awhile.

2) I got Helen of Troy, and thus managed to get Rome to NOT attack me! Rome instead went and attacked Carthage. Also, Babylon had 2 legions moving across the top of the board, which instead of attacking me, went to attack Rome. I think Greece needs to find a way to get Helen of Troy, and fast.

--Alex_Rockwell?

Rhombo Continuo

1. Meredith (left) plays Kisa (right), in case you have trouble telling which is male and female from their names. :)
2. Trippy Rhombo Continuo board.

Game: Rhombo_Continuo?
Location: Den
Time: 7:15-9:00
Winner: Meredith Hale
Prize: Harry Potter CCG booster

Scores

Kisa is now local demo monkey for U.S. Games, as well as a host of other major gaming companies including Rio Grande. That's how he ended up playing this geometrical TileLayingGame? with Meredith at game night. Meredith squeaked in a victory and was awarded a Harry Potter booster pack, at which point Dave's kids' ears pricked up and they begged Meredith to play a game of it with them. Which she did; see below...

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Industrial Waste (x2)

Tim's house gets polluted.

Game: Industrial_Waste? (2 games)
Location: Den card table
Time: 7ish-9:00 (Game 1); 9:05-10:10 (Game 2)
Winner: Nat Dupree (Game 1); Ron Hale-Evans (Game 2)
Prize: purple canvas dice bag (Nat); glow-in-dark paint pen (Ron)

Game 1 Scores

Game 2 Scores

Nat, Steve, Jay, and Alex S played a game of Industrial_Waste? in the den. Nat won and was awarded a purple canvas dice/tile bag.

Immediately afterwards I popped by and requested another game of it, since I had been wanting to play it for some time. Nat and Steve stayed, while Alex S and Jay made room for me and Jody. This was the first game for Jody and me. I won by getting slightly ahead (using Innovation cards to cut down on my waste production, and saving my money toward the end of the game rather than buying raw materials), then rushing my company to a size of 20, ending the game. I had estimated correctly: I did indeed have more points than anyone else, though it was very, very close. Also, notice how quickly our game ended compared to the previous one.

I selected a glow-in-the-dark paint pen from the PrizeBag, because what else glows in the dark like industrial waste?

Jody remarked that he liked the game because there was very little LederHosen in it.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Spammers

Small child learns the intricacies of selling VIAGRA!!! over the Internet.

Game: Spammers?
Players: Dave Adams, John Braley
Location: Kitchen
Time: 7:45-9:30ish
Winner: Dave Adams
Prize: ???

Although John complained that card games are not his strong suit (ar ar), and that he especially lacks experience with card games of the Spammers?/Chez_Geek? etc. ilk, Dave remarked that John put up quite a fight. Nevertheless, Dave prevailed. I don't remember his being awarded a prize, but when I gave him and Kathy prizes for Filthy_Rich?, he didn't ask for another, so I guess he was.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Harry Potter CCG

Game: Harry_Potter_CCG?
Players: Meredith Hale, Amelia (Dave Adams's daughter)
Location: Den
Time: 9:00-10:15
Winner: Meredith Hale
Prize: declined

This is the game that Dave's kids begged Mer to play after Rhombo_Continuo?. Mer, being Mer, said yes. She won, but declined a prize (beating a nine-year-old is not much to celebrate, I guess).

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Mag-Blast

Game: Mag-Blast?
Location: Living room card table?
Time: 9ish-10:15
Winner: Fred Sloniker
Prize: ???

Scores

A space combat card game. I believe this is the first time it has hit the tables at Seattle Cosmic.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

I saw this light card game, apparently themed after the distinctly beefy Twilight Imperium, in a box of games as I was wandering about in search of a game to join, so I picked it up to have a look. Jay materialized out of the ether to tell me a little about it, and soon battle was joined.

Clyde was the victim of poor luck, taken down within three turns when Jay decided to take him on and I saw an opportunity to use my ship-stealing special ability. By way of saying thanks (and hoping to deflect some wrath away from my growing armada), I decided to save him for last, but my resolve was broken after his plinking on my fleet grew to annoying levels. The time I spent finishing Jay off, though, allowed Kisa to get some good draws and beef his own fleet up enough that, though I was still the victor, it took a surprisingly long time for me to win. (Part of this was due to my inexperience, of course, and part was due to luck; I didn't draw a single fighter or bomber card until after my carrier was put out of commission, for instance.)

I'd like to play it again, but I can see how some people wouldn't care for it. Possibly something less random could be built from its components, like the Wing Commander CCG it reminded me of. Oh, and I didn't get a prize; it's not a huge deal, but if the game qualifies for one, I'll happily collect one at the next session.

--Fred_Sloniker?

Filthy Rich (x2)

Although no longer polluted, Tim's house is now filthy.

Game: Filthy_Rich? (2 games)
Location: Kitchen
Time: 9:40ish-11:15
Winner: Dave Adams (Game 1); Kathy Kizer (Game 2)
Prize: glow-in-dark bouncy balls (Dave); Harry Potter CCG booster (Kathy)

A light card game from Richard Garfield, the designer of Magic:_The_Gathering?. It is sometimes called "three-dimensional" because it involves cards held in multiple layers of plastic card protector sheets in a binder.

Two games were played. Dave and Kathy won one each, not surprising considering they had been playing the game together every night of the previous week. Dave selected Kathy's prize, presumably for his kids' sake.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Lord of the Rings (Sauron, Friends & Foes)

Sauron is astounded. Several other players are dead.

Game: Lord_of_the_Rings?, with Sauron_Expansion? and Friends_&_Foes_Expansion?
Location: Dining room
Time: 10:15-12:30
Winner: Tim Higgins
Prize: n/a

Scores

Lord_of_the_Rings? came out again, with the Sauron_Expansion?, as usual. "Do we draw for Sauron?" semi-newcomer Fred asked.

There was general laughter. "Tim always plays Sauron", someone said. (And he usually insists on the Friends_&_Foes_Expansion?, to make it more likely he will win, too.)

Tim/Sauron won. No prizes were awarded, as usual for LotR?.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Once again, you are all insane for agreeing to play with BOTH the Friends and Foes and the Sauron expansion. One or the other is a good, challenging game. Both is suicide for the forces of good. Of course, Tim likes it when you play that way, because then he gets to crush you. ;)

--Alex_Rockwell?

I don't like losing the last game of the night, and the pill was especially bitter with Sauron as a gloating EvilTim? rather than some faceless board mechanic. I feel rather as if I volunteered to be mugged. That said, I was actually doing quite well right up until everyone else in the Fellowship died, and I think I would have done even better if I hadn't then listened to the advice of the dead and gone for a military victory. (I still would have lost, I think, but I wouldn't have zoomed down the corruption track to Sauron quite as quickly.)

If I play this again, it's going to be earlier in the day, so I have a chance to finish off with something fluffy, and it's not going to be using the Sauron expansion. I've learned better than to Invoke the Terrible Name of Tim... :\

--Fred_Sloniker?

New England (#2)

Meeple's-eye view of New England.

Game: New_England?
Location: Den card table
Time: 10:20-11:30ish
Winner: Nat Dupree
Prize: glow-in-dark bouncy balls

Scores

Second New_England? game of the night. Alex Rockwell says the scores are usually very close in this game. Indeed, there was only a 5-point spread from first to last place.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Once again I failed to get any bonuses for ships, barns, or pilgrims, being close in each one. I plan to be more focused in the future.

Also, I played this game with 3 players on Tuesday. It is BORING with 3 players. I recommend only playing with 4, at which point its a pretty good game. Still, I find it is becoming less exciting to me after 4 plays, its a bit dry.

--Alex_Rockwell?

Domain (#2)

Game: Domain
Location: Living room card table
Time: approx. 11:20-11:40
Winner: Ron Hale-Evans
Prize: declined

Scores

The second Domain game of the evening. Clyde deigned to play it with me, although previously he had disdained this game and several others (Spocklike demeanor and all that), which left me sitting around reading Avram Davidson stories for about an hour, since we were the only free players. Anyway, he got whupped. I declined a prize.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Give Me the Brain

Clyde has the Brain and is not afraid to use it.

Game: Give_Me_the_Brain?
Players: John Braley, Ron Hale-Evans, Clyde Sloniker, Alex Swavely.
Location: Living room card table
Time: 11:40-12:00
Winner: Clyde Sloniker
Prize: 3D slotted ball puzzle

Clyde ended up with the Brain (small pink die in the photo above) with a high bid card on the first turn and managed to hang onto it for most of the game. He emptied his hand and won. It was close, though; I only had one card in my hand at the end, but I made a dumb mistake and handed Clyde the game. (Hey, what can I say? I didn't have a brain at that point.)

Clyde was awarded a multicoloured plastic puzzle ball.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Traumfabrik

Game: Traumfabrik
Location: Den card table?
Time: 11:30ish-12:35
Winner: Alex Rockwell
Prize: wooden backscratcher

Scores

Traumfabrik, the Seattle Cosmic perennial -- or should I say Evergreen? A respectable score for Jody on what I believe was his first game of it. In fact, Jody showed pretty well at most of the games he played this evening; we'll have to keep an eye on him.

Comments from the players?

--Ron_Hale-Evans?

Jody would have scored even higher, except that for several of his movies, the correct point value victory chip was already taken, meaning that he was forced to take a lower one. (This is to reward earlier movies more than later movies). In one case, the value for his movie and two lower values were all taken, and he lost 3 points as a result, just on that one movie. In this game, I managed to be dead last at every single party, and still win. Which leads me to think that the "go early at the parties" strategy is not the best one, unless of course you are getting the actors/actresses for cheap. They were valued fairly highly in this game, which is probably why that strategy didnt win. Completing early movies for point bonuses and the end of round bonuses worked well. ;)

--Alex_Rockwell?

Around midnight, things started wrapping up. Dave Adams, Kathy Kizer, and kids left around 11:40. Alex Swavely and Nat and Steve Dupree left around 12:00, at which time the Fellowship were almost to Isengard. At 12:30, Lord of the Rings ended and just about everybody else went home.

See you next week at Dave and Kathy's new place in Tukwila! It's not on the schedule yet (they just bought their house yesterday as I write this on Wednesday night), but you can find directions in the Files area of the seattle-cosmic mailing list).

Thanks to Marty Hale-Evans as usual for most of the photo captions, as well as light editing.

NEXT MEETING

Saturday, 3 May 2003, 5:00 PM at the NEW house of Dave Adams and Kathy Kizer in Tukwila. Come play for fun and FABULOUS PRIZES from the PrizeBag!

Remember, Seattle Cosmic Game Night occurs every weekend, in one of three locations: Kent, Mill Creek, or Tukwila. Email Ron Hale-Evans for a full schedule and directions. If you come, please bring a snack or drink to share (cookies, chips, soda, juice, etc.)

Supporting Seattle Cosmic and Games to the Rescue

GamesToTheRescue is a philanthropic project of the Center for Ludic Synergy and Seattle Cosmic Game Night. The aim of the project is to provide game rules and equipment to hospitals, for use by patients and visitors. You can support GamesToTheRescue by buying games via our Funagain affiliate program, buying Seattle Cosmic Gear, and in a number of other ways. See the GamesToTheRescue page for more details.

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