November 24 1999 RussCon Report (Thanksgiving Edition)

15 of us, including long-lost Curt whom I ran into at The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari last week.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

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Game Results:

ZirkusFlohcati 3 Clayton 2 Harry 0 William -2
Dorada 4 Steve 3 Harry 1 Clayton -1 William -3
Snit'sRevenge 2 JeffF 1 Jonobie -1
Hexagony 6 RussW 5 Jerrie 3 JP 1 KevinH -1 WendyWhe -3 Bob -5
HookOrCrook 5 JeffF 3 Clayton 3 Harry 0 Jonobie -2 Curt -4
ZirkusFlohcati 5 Steve 4 Marty 2 Clayton -1 Allen -1 William -4
Cosmic 5 Allen 4 William 1 Bob 1 Marty -2 Steve -4
Guillotine 3 RussW 2 Jerrie 0 Clayton -2
Euphrates 3 Bob 2 JeffF 0 JP -2
Bluff 6 Steve 5 William 3 Marty 1 Harry -1 RussW -3 Clayton -5
Can'tStop 4 JeffF 3 Allen 1 JP -2 Bob -2
Bluff 5 Marty 4 RussW 2 Steve 0 William -2 Harry -4
McMulti 4 KevinH 3 Curt 1 WendyWhe -1 Harry -3
DurchDieWueste 4 JP 3 Bob 1 JeffF -1 Allen -3
UnionPacific 6 William 5 Steve 3 Marty 1 RussW -1 Clayton -3 Jerrie -5
BigCheese 4 Bob 3 JP 1 WendyWhe -1 Allen -3

We played Hexagony, an old Avalon Hill abstract game which Kevin got from Tom's game auction (I believe). Not particularly thrilling, and a bit long. Like Titan, victory is determined by eliminating other players (not a problem at RussCon, since they just drift off and join another game), but unlike Titan it wasn't a very cool game.

William (apparently driven by a strong desire to stay at the dining table) relented and played one of those dreaded train games (Union Pacific). In a strong state of psychological denial, he acquired stock in railroads and laid track, all the time saying he liked this game since it didn't involve laying track. He went on to win handily. It's a strange world, Sandy.

I'm glad to see Snit's Revenge finally got played. I want to play it sometime; it's been a while. I have happy memories of playing the original Dragon magazine edition back around 1978.

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Evening's Soundtrack:

Apocalyptica, Inquisition Symphony
J.S. Bach, Three Keyboard Concertos
Fight Club, Original Motion Picture Score
Friends of Dean Martinez, Atardecer
Michael Nyman, The Draughtsman's Contract

No words.

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Rank ratings:
 0.4615 JeffF (5)
 0.4400 Steve (6)
 0.2727 Marty (5)
 0.2500 KevinH (2)
 0.2381 RussW (5)
 0.0625 JP (5)
 0.0000 Bob (6)
-0.0741 William (7)
-0.1176 Allen (5)
-0.1667 Jerrie (3)
-0.2800 Clayton (7)
-0.3333 Harry (6)
-0.4286 Curt (2)
-0.4545 WendyWhe (3)
-0.6000 Jonobie (2)

New Win ratings:
 0.3846 JeffF (5)
 0.3600 Steve (6)
 0.2500 KevinH (2)
 0.1905 RussW (5)
 0.0500 Bob (6)
 0.0000 Allen (5)
 0.0000 Clayton (7)
 0.0000 Marty (5)
-0.0370 William (7)
-0.0625 JP (5)
-0.2500 Jerrie (3)
-0.2727 WendyWhe (3)
-0.3333 Harry (6)
-0.4286 Curt (2)
-0.6000 Jonobie (2)

JeffF is the Devil! Steve is Vice-Devil. Marty and Kevin are Co-Vice-Vice-Devils. Jonobie wins the Generous Angel Award.

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Links:

New Study Too Frightening to Release:
http://www.theonion.com/onion3541/frightening_study.html

Check Dr. Ecco's column in December 1999 Dr. Dobbs Journal, or go here to see my name in print as one of the solvers of a previous issue's puzzle.
http://www.ddj.com/articles/1999/9912/9912m/9912m.htm

Photos of funny road signs:
http://www.angelfire.com/de2/witch/images/roadsigns.jpg

A source of wood, plastic, etc. game bits:
http://www.bambusspiele.de/spause/material.htm

Some folks may remember RussCon discussions of the educational game wff-n-proof:
http://www.wff-n-proof.com/www-wff-n-proof-com/WFFN-PRF.chk

The Onion imitates life; remember the Turkish guy?
http://www.theonion.com/onion3541/index.html

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The agony of Hexagony.

Russ