Oct 28 Halloween RussCon Report

19 of us showed up for the spooky proceedings.

Special recognition and glory goes to Jonobie as the only guest to come in costume (belly dancer). Your humble host was also costumed (French maid). (In fairness, Tim also claimed to be costumed with some dubious spiel about 2 faint little vampire tooth marks...) Oh well, I can't say I'm surprised. You're all a fun bunch of gamers, but your Halloween spirit is lacking...

Speaking of spirits, William stepped up his campaign for alcoholism, bringing 18 cans of Miller Lite... which, it turns out, no one particularly likes, including William. If you like Miller Lite, please come and drink some! Hey, even if you don't particularly like it, please come and drink some! 3 down, 15 to go...

The current hit game is Durch Die Wueste, also known as the Pastel Camel Game. You've got to try this clever game (which only takes about a half hour). Raj (the outrageous bidding game) also continues to be popular (and only takes 10 minutes!)

Jeff & Russ each won a game of Durch Die Wueste, and Wendy & Russ tied one!

Russ won a Raj, and JP won 2.

Doug won Acquire.

James won Entdecker.

Ken won Medici.

Harry won Titan the Arena.

Squeaky won Modern Art.

In the spooky part of the evening, Marty won a 7 player Ghost Party. "Hugo! Hugo!" Then Tim won 8 player Dungeon! This is the original purple box edition of the TSR boardgame. The game is broken in many ways, but it was a fun nostalgia trip. Even Squeaky enjoyed it once he had some Miller Lite in him...

Finally JP won Mississippi Queen, in what turned out to be the closest game of that I've played, with 4 of us all jammed up and jockeying for position near the end.

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Air Conditioning, or lack thereof:

Well, it turns out my system is 14 years old, the compressor is shot, and the whole system ought to be replaced. Since cold weather is (surely!) almost upon us, I'm not going to fix the AC until the spring, since I'm about to have some big expenses to repair damaged siding on the back of the house. Ah, the joys of home ownership. The Oct 21 RussCon was quite comfortable with chilly weather, but I apologize for the Oct 28 RussCon being a bit stuffy. I'll have more fans next time in case it's stuffy again. If we open the windows in the stairway and kitchen, we may also get a better cross-breeze going.

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Evening's Soundtrack:

Our spooky music included:

American Gothic compilation
Cat People soundtrack
Insane Clown Posse, The Great Milenko
Jocelyn Montgomery with David Lynch, Lux Vivens
Radio Werewolf, Songs for the End of the World

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Rank ratings:
 1.0000 Harry (1 game played)
 1.0000 James (1)
 0.5000 Ken (2)
 0.5000 JeffF (3)
 0.4286 Brady (1)
 0.2800 Marty (5)
 0.2500 Doug (3)
 0.2250 RussW (9)
 0.1818 Tim (4)
 0.0500 JP (9)
 0.0000 JonathanR (1)
 0.0000 Vas (1)
-0.0294 JonathanB (8)
-0.0833 WendyWhi (3)
-0.1875 William (7)
-0.3243 Steve (8)
-0.8889 Clayton (2)
-1.0000 Jonobie (3)
-1.0000 Daniel (1)

Win ratings:
 1.0000 Harry (1)
 1.0000 James (1)
 0.6000 Ken (2)
 0.3751 JP (9)
 0.3333 JeffF (3)
 0.3294 RussW (9)
 0.2640 Tim (4)
 0.1803 WendyWhi (3)
 0.1236 Doug (3)
-0.0470 Marty (5)
-0.2893 JonathanB (8)
-1.0000 Brady (1)
-1.0000 JonathanR (1)
-1.0000 Vas (1)
-1.0000 William (7)
-1.0000 Steve (8)
-1.0000 Clayton (2)
-1.0000 Jonobie (3)
-1.0000 Daniel (1)

Harry & James pulled the Brady Maneuver (thus being disqualified for Devilhood), Daniel pulled the Reverse Brady Maneuver, and Vas and JonathanR both get the Extra Average Award. JP & I tie for the Dedicated Award. (Amazing how playing Raj lets you play a larger number of games...) Ken would normally be the Devil next week...

but Jonobie is the Devil, by Special Imperial Decree in honor of her excellent belly dancer costume! If Jonobie doesn't show up at 7 or thereabouts, then Ken will be the Devil.

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There have been several requests lately for an explanation of the ratings system. For now refer to back issues of RussCon Report -- the info IS there, several times. Meanwhile, I intend to write up a summary document about it, but I haven't got around to it yet.

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Are you down with the clown?

Russ