January 12 19100 RussCon Report

The RussCon Management regrets any confusion caused by last week's erroneous date (January 5 1999). Those responsible have been sacked.

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Clearing out Stuff:

I've got a box full of back issues of Asimov's, Analog, F&SF etc magazines if anyone wants to grab some for free sf reading. Those black plastic & metal folding TV tables are also up for grabs if anyone wants 'em.

Also, if you have been storing games in my living room which are unpopular games that never get played at RussCon, please return them to their rightful home. My living room is getting awfully crowded lately. Thanks!

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Top Ten Survey:

In the tradition of all those real publications, the RussCon Report solicits your opinions on the Top Ten RussCon Games of the Millennium.

Email a list of your favorite RussCon games to russw at austin.rr.com, in sorted order from favorite to 10th favorite. (Fewer than 10 is fine too if you can't think of 10 favorites. Lists longer than 10 will be ruthlessly truncated after the tenth entry.) Trained RussCon technicians will compile the data in Austin Chronicle style: each 1st place mention earns a game 10 points, 2nd place is 9 points, etc. and publish the results. (Yes, there are better and more complex methods of doing this sort of thing. I'm keeping it simple, stupid.)

The games should be RussCon style games (whether or not they literally get played at RussCon). I.e. games like Go (which is the greatest game anyway, and Dave should play it more) or Advanced Squad Leader or Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit don't really fall into the realm of RussCon. What is a RussCon game? Difficult to define, but we all know one when we see one... sort of. Use the Force. Trust your feelings.

And to help the RussCon Report feel more like a real publication, send your Top Ten Movies of 1999 also if you like, and we'll see the results of that too.

And just to be meta, the truly perverse with too much time on their hands should send a list of their Top Ten Categories of Things You Wish There'd Be a RussCon Survey About.

Just as a reminder of established RussCon games, here are the frequency of play data for all games recorded in RussCon History as of now:

1 2038
1 666
1 AddamsFamily
1 Alibi
1 ArkhamHorror
1 AusbrecherAG
1 BenHurt
1 BlackMornManor
1 Borderlands
1 Britannia
1 BritishRails
1 BuddelBande
1 Calamity
1 Candidate
1 Chinatown
1 ChineseCheckers
1 Cribbage
1 Dilbert
1 Doolittle&Waite
1 Dungeon
1 DungeonDice
1 DungeonQuest
1 Egomania
1 Elfengold
1 EnGarde
1 EnemyInSight
1 ExecutiveDecision
1 FamilyBusiness
1 ForSale
1 Frank'sZoo
1 FreshFish
1 Gangsters
1 GetOut
1 Giganten
1 GreatDalmuti
1 Guerilla
1 Gunfight
1 HeroesOfAsfar
1 Hexagony
1 HonorOfTheSamurai
1 Huzzah
1 Ido
1 IronDragon
1 Landlord
1 LostPueblo
1 LunchMoney
1 MaterialWorld
1 Monopoly
1 OrcsAtTheGates
1 Overthrone
1 PartsUnknown
1 Pit
1 Pits
1 Putsch
1 Rollout
1 SamuraiSwords
1 SettlersAlexander
1 Shanghai
1 ShanghaiTrader
1 Snit'sRevenge
1 Sokrates
1 SpaceBeans
1 Stephenson'sRocket
1 Superstition
1 Syzygy
1 TVWars
1 Torres
1 TrainsportSwitzerland
1 Tripoley
1 TurboHearts
1 Twins
1 UmReifenbreite
1 VeryCleverPipeGame
1 Vinci
1 WhichWitch
1 Wizards
2 AgeOfRenaissance
2 AtlanticStorm
2 Auction
2 AustralianRails
2 BitinOffHedz
2 BleedingSherwood
2 ButtonMen
2 Canyon
2 CultsAcrossAmerica
2 David&Goliath
2 Deadwood
2 DragonMaster
2 Edison
2 Europa
2 FilthyRich
2 FootballStrategy
2 GiveMeTheBrain
2 GrandNationalDerby
2 Hoax
2 Illuminati
2 JumboGrandPrix
2 Konzern
2 Kremlin
2 MinionHunter
2 MonstersRavageAmerica
2 MysticWar
2 Nile
2 SecretLabyrinth
2 SettlersCardGame
2 Spammers
2 StarbaseJeff
2 Transsib
2 Trumpet
2 Twilight
2 Vegas
2 VeldSpoorweg
2 Wizard
3 1830
3 AmFuss
3 Automania
3 ColoradoRails
3 Condottiere
3 ElCaballero
3 FlinkePinke
3 Goldrausch
3 Hearts
3 Instinct
3 IronHorse
3 KatzenjammerBlues
3 RottenFish
3 ThroneWorld
3 Tikal
3 Titan
3 Victory
4 Airlines
4 Ferkelei
4 FerroPampas
4 ForThePeople
4 Hare&Tortoise
4 Ico
4 It'sMine
4 MasterLabyrinth
4 MembersOnly
4 MrBond
4 Mu
4 Outpost
4 PlagueAndPestilence
4 Priceless
4 TakeItEasy
4 Tutanchamun
4 UncleHappy'sTrainGame
5 AirBaron
5 Elfenwizards
5 Halunken&Spelunken
5 HongKong
5 LordOfTheFries
5 McMulti
5 Metropolis
5 Siesta
6 Dorada
6 Downtown
6 FreightTrain
6 Groo
6 Palmyra
6 RicochetRobot
6 SafariJack
6 Streetcar
6 Successors
6 Ursuppe
6 Wettstreit
6 WizWar
7 BigCheese
7 Cosmic
7 DevilBunny
7 Fossil
7 KillDrLucky
7 Manhattan
7 Samarkand
7 SantaFe
8 Cheops
8 Earthquake
8 MedievalMerchant
8 Pirat
9 Money
9 ResPublica
9 Rheinlaender
10 AufHellerUndPfennig
10 Dampfross
10 Exxtra
10 HookOrCrook
10 LetzteParadies
10 Survive
11 Montgolfiere
12 Fluxx
12 HighSociety
12 LastChance
12 ModernArt
12 Rainbows
13 GhostParty
13 Kahuna
14 Bohnanza
15 TrainsportAustria
16 MississippiQueen
17 ElGrande
17 HoneyBears
17 LostCities
17 Ra
18 UnionPacific
20 QuoVadis
23 Elfenland
24 Acquire
24 Loewenherz
24 MoleHill
25 DurchDieWueste
25 Samurai
26 Fight
28 TitanArena
32 Entdecker
32 RoboRally
32 ZirkusFlohcati
34 Raj
35 Can'tStop
37 Tayu
40 Brawl
44 Guillotine
47 Medici
52 Euphrates
79 Bluff
90 Settlers

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Game Results:

Frank'sZoo 6 Clayton 5 Jonobie 3 Steve 1 Marty -1 DaveB -3 JeffF -5
Ferkelei 5 Tim 4 Bob 2 RussW 0 William -2 JP -4
RottenFish 6 Tim 4 RussW 4 Bob 1 William -1 JP -3 JonathanC -5
SpaceBeans 5 RussW 4 JeffF 2 Jay 0 Clayton -2 Jonobie -4
Rheinlaender 4 DaveB 3 Bob 1 Tim -2 JP -2
ZirkusFlohcati 3 Clayton 2 RussW 0 Jay -2
HighSociety 3 RussW 2 Clayton 0 Jay -2
SafariJack 2 Allen 1 Matt -1
Dorada 4 Jay 3 Matt 1 Allen -1 RussW -3
Bluff 4 RussW 3 Matt 1 Jay -1 Allen -3
Torres 4 Bob 3 DaveB 1 JeffF -1 JP -3
Stephenson'sRocket 4 Marty 2 Steve 2 William -1 JonathanC -3
TitanArena 5 Allen 3 JonathanC 3 RussW 0 Steve -3 William -3
Euphrates 3 Bob 2 JP 0 Matt -2
Exxtra 4 William 3 Steve 1 RussW -1 Allen -3
HongKong 2 JP 1 Matt -1

(I have no idea if you want high or low scores in Frank's Zoo, and no winner or devil points were recorded. I assumed high since that's far more common. Someone should correct me if I'm wrong.)

Ferkelei (aka The Naked Pig Game) is a fun elegant game, vaguely analogous to Flinke Pinke or Honey Bears.

My second game of Rotten Fish. It's a very nice quick game with secret simultaneous actions. Check it out.

Space Beans was a fun little game in the Bohnanza family, though rather different from Bohnanza. E.g. there is a single hand shared by all players and passed to the left after you do your turn.

Stephenson's Rocket is a new Knizia game with trains, stock, hex map, track tiles, etc. in 1830s England! Woohoo! I want to play it!

Lots of tied games tonight (Rotten Fish, Titan the Arena, Stephenson's Rocket).

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Evening's Soundtrack:

Alpha Team, Speed
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
The Flirtations Live, Out on the Road
Railroad Jerk, Raise the Plow
U-Turn, Music from the Motion Picture

On the road again....

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Rank ratings:
 0.5294 Bob (5 games played)
 0.5000 Tim (3)
 0.3846 Clayton (4)
 0.3000 RussW (9)
 0.1250 Marty (2)
 0.0909 DaveB (3)
 0.0667 Steve (4)
-0.1111 Jonobie (2)
-0.1429 Jay (5)
-0.2000 Matt (5)
-0.2105 William (5)
-0.2143 Allen (5)
-0.3333 JeffF (3)
-0.4167 JonathanC (3)
-0.6111 JP (6)

New Win ratings:
 0.5833 Tim (3)
 0.3846 Clayton (4)
 0.2333 RussW (9)
 0.1250 Marty (2)
 0.0909 DaveB (3)
 0.0714 Allen (5)
 0.0588 Bob (5)
-0.0714 Jay (5)
-0.0833 JonathanC (3)
-0.1333 Steve (4)
-0.2105 William (5)
-0.2222 Jonobie (2)
-0.2500 JeffF (3)
-0.2778 JP (6)
-0.5000 Matt (5)

Bob and Tim are Co-Devils! Clayton is the Vice Devil. I am Vice-Vice-Devil. I also win the Dedicated Award.

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News:

Some of y'all know Jeremy aka Jerm from SimTex & Kinesoft. He has a modern rock band called Left Out that will be headlining at Babe's on Monday Jan 17. He says they go on at 11:30pm, and there's no cover. Their website:
http://www.austinmp3.com/artists/left_out.php3

Some of y'all have seen JeffS perform various cool magic tricks, including the Pokemon mentalism trick of his own devising which he's been marketing as "Pokemental Power". A magic store has started distributing it:
http://www.magicsmith.com

WendyWhe just got a note and contracts in the mail telling her that Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling selected her story "Skin So Green..." for their latest _Year's Best Fantasy and Horror_ anthology.

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Here he comes,
Here comes Speed Racer!

Russ