DATE: Wednesday, December 4
PLACE: Rick's
Attendees: DaveO, Rick
Some background info is in order before we jump in. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, several of the Byrens clan got together to gorge themselves, and were joined by a frequent visitor (and college buddy of Rick's) Jim Finney. Jim is a veteran of many games of yesteryear (many drunken games of Empire Builder were played back in the day on the Newport Peninsula...), and on Turkey day we introduced him to the land of German Games. Needless to say, the hook has taken...Jim gamed again on Saturday night with some other newbies at Rick's (6-Nimmt, Palmyra, Grand National Derby, Clash of the Gladiators, and TransAmerica for the record).
Fast forward to Wednesday night. Jim, now a grizzled veteran, goes up against the O'Connor Advantage, and fellow guitar maestro Matt!
First up, I felt it was time for Mr. Finney to be introduced to Fabrik der Traume. This time around, Matthias dominated, with DaveO and Jim running not too far behind....we won't discuss the now regular poor performance by Rick at this game.
Matt 89
DaveO 81
Jim 78
Rick 39
Next, in the spirit of Knizia, we broke out Samurai. My guess was that Jim would be great at this game....after all, influence is his bag! I was not mistaken - he picked it up quickly, carving out a nice slice of the main island. Rick went north, and repeatedly fell on DaveO's sword. Matt took the south.....in the end, Matt, DaveO, and Jim each had a majority, with Jim picking up the win with the most "others"
Jim 1, 6
DaveO 1, 4
Matt 1, 3
Rick Nyet
Time for a quickie, and since Helen was about to go to bed, we did a couple of quick games of Raj. Rick found some redemption in the first game
Rick 25
Matt, Helen 5
Jim 3
DaveO 2
...and in the second, it was all Matt
Matt 20
Jim 8
Helen 6
Rick, DaveO 3
OK, it was time to test Jim's mettle. Can he handle Reiner's heavy side? Would his brain burst? Stephenson's Rocket (my "best choo-choo game of all time" on the geek) was the just the game to see. Matt had also never tried this gem, and all seemed to take to it quickly, after some quick schooling by the Gamemaster. Well, Rick rode his tried and true "build one big railroad" strategy to victory, and a fine showing by the two newcomers. DaveO was left to scratch his head once again...
Rick 82,000
Jim 61,000
Matt 54,000
DaveO 47,000
The closer was a game all of us know, another Reiner Knizia game - Clash of the Gladiators. Rick finished his comeback on the night with some hot die-rolling.
Rick 20
Matt 17
Jim 14
DaveO 11
A great night, and welcome to a great new OCBGer!