August 11th, 2005 |
Game Night came once again, and despite everyone being flustered and disgusted over Scott's gross sex emails, we managed to get Jim, Lee, and Dan to show. Scott was probably watching the Packer pre-season game, a dull and vain 10-7 victory over the Chargers.
| Blokus |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Jim | -1 | 1 | |
| Mike | -3 | 2 (Tie) | |
| Karla | -3 | 2 (Tie) | |
| Lee | -4 | 4 | * |
Notes: We began with a nice game of Blokus that ended up very close. Jim spread his pieces out just a little bit better than the rest of us, and Karla and Lee blocked themselves off from getting to some areas by playing their straight 5 blocks in sub-optimal ways.
Every time a big block maneuver was laid, Lee or Karla would say, "That's Blokus."
At one point I played a tile in a spot that was unthreatened instead of going to a different area, and that kept me from getting at least down to -2, and I didn't try to block Jim until pretty late. It was a good, close game, with the best 4 player scores we've ever had.
| High Society |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 13 | 1 | |
| Lee | 9 | 2 | |
| Jim | 8 | 3 | * |
| Karla | OUT | 4 | |
Notes: I was holding out hope that Dan would make it, though Lee said he wanted to play El Grande, my favorite game (pretty much). I pulled out High Society to give Dan some time.
I won the Island (10) for $31 Million, then Karla took the castle (9) for the same amount, and she got angry with me when I mocked her. She then grabbed a recognition card for a lot of cash. I then managed to get the big screen TV (for $4 million) but was hit with the casino (-5). Lee started getting goods, nabbing the car (4), the painting (3), and the trophy wife (2). Jim won the Jet plane (6) and had the basketball team (8).
Karla was trying to save her money, but couldn't, and was forced to take the IRS (1/2). Then she spent the rest of her money on a second recognition card (2x). There were three tiles left, and I managed to win the Penthouse apartment (7). I was still 1 behind Jim (and 5 behind Karla, who was definitely last in cash). The next card flipped was the thief. I had a $2 Million card left, otherwise I'd have to spend $10 or $12 million, something I was loathe to do. Fortunately, Lee played a $1 million, I played the $2 million, and Jim was forced to take the thief, who ran off with his jet. I was now ahead of him.
The next card was the third recognition card, and the game was over. Thanks to a bit of luck, I held on for the win.
| High Society |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | 13 | 1 | |
| Jim | 11.5 | 2 | |
| Mike | 0 | 3 | |
| Lee | OUT | 4 | |
Notes: My second game was pretty pointless. I grabbed the trophy wife (2) and the painting (3) and took the casino (-5) rather than overpay for it. Jim once again was stuck with the thief, but let him run off with his big screen tv this time (1) instead of a jet.
Lethal was overspending a bit in this game, usually to avoid the bad stuff. Jim built up his stuff, getting the island (10), the castle (9) AND the car (4). I couldn't understand how he got all that stuff and I had jack shit. Karla, though, held on for the victory by getting the jet (6) and the penthouse (7). Jim was stuck with the IRS (1/2 of your score) and when I grabbed the final recognition card (2 times 0 was still 0 for me, I'm afraid), Jim was stuck in a tight second place. Lee had overspent (he had $2 million left at the end) on an early recognition card and also had the basketball team.
Jim wasn't too crazy about this game, and it bugs Karla because it makes her feel like it's no fun to be rich. She likes spending the money, but hates running out of it and losing because she has too little.
| El Grande |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Lee | 106 | 1 | |
| Mike | 103 | 2 | |
| Jim | 101 | 3 | |
| Dan | 98 | 4 | |
Notes: Lastly, we played El Grande. I was hoping Karla would join in, but she was eager to escape, as the game seemed to be too hard and she didn't feel like thinking any more. I re-explained the rules to everyone to make it flow more easily (everyone had played it once or twice before).
The game started with a major hose, as I went first and played an action card that forced everyone to send all the caballeros in their courts back to the provinces. This really hurt Dan, as he would have only 1 caballero in his court for the first round. I then made a play to get guys in New Castile, but for his turn, he used an action to shove all my guys back to my low-scoring home regiion of Galatia.
Lee was situated in Granada, and was unchallenged for a while, and Jim went early and often for the Castillo and for his home region of Valencia. Lee and Dan then went back and forth over New and Old Castile, taking the lead in one and then moving the king to the other for scoring. Lee came out on top of this exchange for the first scoring round, in which I led in Basque Country and Galatia and got some points in New Castile and Valencia. Lee and I both put our Castillo fellows in the empty Catalonia, though he had one more than I did and got more points there. Jim was hurt by focusing only on a couple regions, and Dan was being overwhelmed in his home region. Plus, Lee knocked New Castile down to only 4 points thanks to playing a scoring board there.
First round scores: Lee 37, Mike 28, Dan 27, Jim 24
In the second round, everyone started expanding much better, and Dan reclaimed his home region of Old Castile and also took the scoring board out of New Castile (both times the scoring board was moved the king was there, which I later saw was illegal. I only realized it for the second move - to remove it, and let Dan do so. I figured two wrongs made a right. After Dan removed it, I told them the rules and they obeyed from here on out without any grumbling).
There were more scorings this turn, and everyone was more wiley. I made a mistake and one of the 3 cards was in the 2 card pile, but as 3 people had bid on the piles with that 3 card already out, I just let it pass (it was a score the Castillo card). Dan went first and filled the Castillo with 5 caballeros. After that, no one wanted to score it!
Lee and Dan were always short on guys in their courts, while Jim and I frequently had a bunch. I was also doing the "Price is Right" move on Lee, bidding 1 more than he did every round to go one spot ahead of him. By the end of the second round, Lee had lost his majority across the board but had a lot of caballeros all over. I had continued to protect Galatia, and had okay numbers all over the board, usually for 1 or 2 points, but I was shut out of the Castiles in the second round. Jim was in better shape, managing to get some more places, and he was in very good shape for the final third of the game. His best move was using his three caballeros in the castillo to pass by Lee in Lee's home region of Granada, costing Lee 5 points. Lee was upset because he didn't think he had anyone in the castillo (he had one) and he put the guy in a useless spot.
Second round scores: Lee 68, Jim 67, Mike 61, Dan 61
The third round started with a bang for me, as I grabbed the "score all 4 point regions" card and scooped up about 14 points from it (the 4 point score board was on the board in Basque Country). Dan frequently took the card with 1 guy on it, and created havoc moving caballeros all over the board. Lee went hard for the castillo in the final round, and Jim went after scoring cards, which Dan eschewed. The areas that Jim scored helped him a lot but usually gave Lee second place points, which helped him catch up to me after my "score the fours" move at the start.
Playing my "1" auction card in the 8th round guaranteed my going first in the final round, and I did so. I had the choice between moving the king to Galatia for two extra points (and creating havoc in Old Castile and Basque Country) or getting a 6 guys out of Basque Country (where I was tied in that region which was worth 4-0-0). I went for the latter strategy, tossed a guy in the Castillo, and gave myself a strong second in Old Castile and a tight first place in Catalonia. It was a good move and probably the best I could do.
Jim (who held a Veto over the last two rounds) let Dan move the king to his region of New Castile and reinforced Old Castile in the hopes of warding me off. Lee spread guys around and took a couple of Jim's guys out of Granada so that he might re-claim it. Jim added to his lead in Basque Country and hassled Lee's lead in Seville.
It was now the scoring round, with Dan about 10 behind, and Jim a few points back of me and Lee, who were tied with scores in the high 80's. Lee had a one caballero lead in the castillo and used the caballeros to reclaim first place in his home region of Granada. My men went to solidify second in Old Castile, as Dan used his to keep first there. In retrospect, I probably should have gone to Seville, which would have given me 2 more points while taking 1 away from Lee. But I was worried that Jim might pass me for second in Old Castile. That was silly, as he hadn't put anybody in the Castillo!
Dan made big strides in the scoring, highlighted by his strong majorities in the Castiles. But Lee's holding were too well distributed to overcome. He had presences in every region except Basque Country, and the reclamation of Granada along with his castillo scoring (and some strong second places in Aragon, Catalonia, New Castile, Valencia, and Seville) were just enough to hold me off. Before scoring Valencia, he had a two point lead, and he only expanded the lead by one there.
It was an excellent, close game, but Lee said that he didn't like the game as much after this one. He said it was too much thinking. Dan grumbled and griped all game...not sure if that was usual Dan-ness or a dislike of the game. It's still one of my all-time faves and I'm going to keep making them play it. Mwa-hahahahahahaha!