Sep 30 RussCon Report

16 of us showed up and played 10 games. The email-impaired Devil Doug was a no-show, so I took over as Vice Devil.

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In reaction to only 4 games being played last week, I chose some shorter games this week.

First up was Groo, which I'd not played in about 9 months! This was the first time with the expansion pack allowing 6 players. I won. Jay gets honorable mention for his rhyming stylings.

Next we tried Alfred's new Cheapass game Parts Unknown, but about a quarter of the way through the game collapsed due to a general malaise and feeling of it just not being much fun. (In light of recent ratings discussions, this game was still duly entered into the records, as a joint victory/loss/take your pick.) This game might be better with a smaller number of people, but it smells of being one of those games whose idea and rules text are quite entertaining but whose gameplay is not. The idea is that we are all body parts dealers in a town of Frankensteinian mad scientists who buy spare parts from us. Parts shortages cause the town population to go down (as villagers are taken by the desperate scientists), and parts surpluses cause the town population to rise (as scientists build new citizens).

Meanwhile Marty won a 6-player Elfenland with the impressive score of 20/4 at the end!

Then KevinH won Acquire.

Tim won Modern Art.

Marty won Montgolfiere.

James won Airlines. This is a pretty neat little German import which combines elements of Acquire and Ferro Pampas, as you acquire stock in airlines and expand their routes, with several randomly occurring income phases.

JonathanB aka Squeaky won Elfenland.

William won Ursuppe, in what sounded like an intense debate about rules phraseology.

Kevin won Priceless, the auction game of impenetrably weird strategy. Last week I swore I was in last place, but I won. This week I swore I was in last place, and I was right. If you like financial or auction games, you should check out Priceless.

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Evening's Soundtrack:

Dune
Blue Velvet
Wild at Heart
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Lost Highway

The common theme (which of course goes beyond the mere fact that these are all film soundtracks) was easy and many people got it. If you can't figure it out, you should be Lynched. (Or have your head erased, or be ostracized like an elephant man.) Jay detected the theme first and wins a prize.

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Rank ratings:
 0.6250 Marty (4 games played)
 0.5000 KevinH (4)
 0.3846 Tim (3)
 0.2727 Brady (3)
 0.2500 JP (2)
 0.1250 William (2)
 0.1111 James (4)
 0.0000 RussW (5)
 0.0000 Clayton (2)
-0.1739 Ken (5)
-0.1905 Alfred (5)
-0.2000 WendyWhi (2)
-0.2727 JonathanB (3)
-0.3750 Dawn (2)
-0.4000 Jay (4)
-1.0000 JonathanC (2)

Win ratings:
 0.8095 KevinH (4)
 0.6364 William (2)
 0.5680 Marty (4)
 0.3714 Tim (3)
 0.3043 JonathanB (3)
 0.1765 James (4)
 0.1765 RussW (5)
-1.0000 Brady (3)
-1.0000 JP (2)
-1.0000 Clayton (2)
-1.0000 Ken (5)
-1.0000 Alfred (5)
-1.0000 WendyWhi (2)
-1.0000 Dawn (2)
-1.0000 Jay (4)
-1.0000 JonathanC (2)

This gives us a partial order with a messy but planar graph:

           Kevin
      Marty / \
         \ /   \
         Tim    \
      /--/ \   William
     /Brady \   /
    /   |   James
   /    JP    |
   |     \  RussW
   |      \  /
Squeaky  Clayton
   \       |
    \     Ken
     \     |
      \  Alfred
       \   |
        \Wendy
         \ |
          Dawn
           |
          Jay
           |
       SeaBiscuit

And so KevinH is again The Devil! I predict further financial dealings at the dining table. Marty is Vice Devil, and Tim is 3rd place.

Clayton wins the coveted Extra Average award. Squeaky gets a virtual Extra Average award by reason of ending up tied with Clayton in the total ordering.

Sea Biscuit receives the rare the Archangel award.

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William needs a ride this week; he writes:

Hi.... my car is sick. Could anyone give me a ride to RussCon this Wednesday? I live right near I-35 on Oltorf. That's south Austin. Send me mail or page me at xxx-xxxx.

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The Spice Must Flow!

see you Wed Oct 7,
Russ