December 29, 1999 RussCon Report, New Year's Edition

Due to the holidays, we had an unusually low turnout. Only 9 of us.

I remember several years ago when it was often hard to get enough people together even to play one boardgame, and I marvel at almost 2 years now of RussCon with our regular weekly evenings of multiple simultaneous games and camaraderie, so that now 9 of us seems like a "low" turnout. Cool beans.

So of course tonight was the night Jay ordered 3 pizzas instead of just 2...

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Game Results:

Tayu 2 Marty 1 RussW -1
Bluff 3 RussW 2 ChrisH 0 Marty -2
LostCities 2 Fred 1 Allen -1
FlinkePinke 5 RussW 2 Fred 2 Marty 2 ChrisH -2 Allen -4
LetzteParadies 4 Allen 3 ChrisH 1 RussW -1 Marty -3
RoboRally 4 Jay 3 JeffS 1 Clayton -1 JP -3
BleedingSherwood 4 Allen 3 ChrisH 1 RussW -1 Marty -3
BleedingSherwood 4 Marty 3 RussW 1 ChrisH -2 Allen -2

There was yet another lengthy RoboRally game at the dining table! They played with 2 laps around a 2x2 board map, with 8 flags along the way. The reactor core board was used again, leading again to using all the option cards. Ironically, JP (who insists the flywheel is The Greatest Option) finally got it and then chose to discard it because he had locked registers and no extra program card to store on the flywheel.

FlinkePinke was fun. Kind of a more simple elegant abstract version of Titan the Arena or Grand National Derby.

Bleeding Sherwood is that weird Cheapass auction game of selling useless goods to Sherwood Forest peasants. It has disturbing bidding where it's real easy to run out of money (because all the bidders lose their bids, not just the one who wins the auction). It has quite amusingly daft flavor text on the cards. I see that it has not been played at all at RussCon until now, but we played it a couple times back at SimTex over 2 years ago, where I recall WendyWhi & Ken & I weren't sure what to make of it. Tonight we enjoyed it enough to play a second time!

Pointed Styckes: The Diamonde is the hardest substance on Earthe. Yet thou canst not cook a rat on it!

Quick Lard Soap: Helps in removing the foul greasy stuff left upon you by various farme animals. Made of foul greasy stuff from farme animals.

Sour Fruit: Rub on thy skin to preserve its youthful glow, or feed to guests and strangers as a harmless prank.

Murphys Love Wax: To rub on thy hair and belly. Seemingly foul smelling, this fyne love wax smelleth sweet to others.

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Evening's Soundtrack:

The times they are a-changin'. Music for the new year, century, millenium...

Cracker, The Golden Age
Fight Club, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
King Crimson, Schizoid Man
Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain
Strange Days, Music from the Motion Picture

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Twenty First Century Schizoid Man:

Cat's foot iron claw
Neuro-surgeons scream for more
At paranoia's poison door
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Blood rack barbed wire
Politicians' funeral pyre
Innocents raped with napalm fire
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Death seed blind man's greed
Poets' starving children bleed
Nothing he's got he really needs
Twenty first century schizoid man.

King Crimson, 1969

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Rank ratings:
 1.0000 Jay (1 game played)
 0.6000 Fred (2)
 0.3333 JeffS (1)
 0.1250 RussW (6)
-0.0714 Allen (5)
-0.1250 Marty (6)
-0.1333 ChrisH (5)
-0.3333 Clayton (1)
-1.0000 JP (1)

New Win ratings:
 1.0000 Jay (1)
 0.6000 Fred (2)
 0.1875 Marty (6)
 0.0714 Allen (5)
 0.0000 RussW (6)
-0.3333 JeffS (1)
-0.3333 Clayton (1)
-0.3333 JP (1)
-0.4667 ChrisH (5)

Jay pulled a Brady Maneuver, so Fred is the Devil! Next in line are Jeff (ineligible due to playing only 1 game), me, Allen, and Marty. Bottom rung holds Chris, Clayton, and JP. JP pulled a Reverse Brady Maneuver. Marty and I share the Dedicated Award.

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Party like it's 1999

Russ