Game Night #56 and Player of the Month!

April's Player of the Month: Jose!

Attendees: Jose, Zeb, Brent, Mark and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Brent 9.7 (9.7/1)
Jose 8.9 (62.8/7)
April 8.2 (49.3/6)
Zeb 7.9 (39.9/5)
Joey 6.9 (48.4/7)
Mark 6.3 (38.3/6)
Ben 5.0 (5.0/1)

This Event's Standings:
Mark 8.3 (16.7/2)
Jose 7.7 (15.5/2)
Joey 7.65 (15.3/2)
Brent 7.60 (7.6/1)
Zeb 6.9 (6.9/1)

April's Overall Standings:
Jose 8.7 (78.3/9)
Brent 8.6 (17.3/2)
April 8.2 (49.3/6)
Zeb 7.8 (46.8/6)
Joey 7.0 (63.7/9)
Mark 6.8 (55/8)
Ben 5.0 (5.0/1)

I was very excited when Brent showed up and wanted to play Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery. I recently acquired this game and was dying to play it. Age of Empires III did not disappoint! This game is tense and there is little luck to the game. None of us had played this game before so it was a learning experience and also a bit clunky at the start. I read the rules twice and thought that I had a handle on them. Thankfully we made no rules mistakes, but it took a couple of looks at the rule book to make sure about a few things. We had no warfare until the end and even then no one fought. It seems that the scores were relatively close, but having no frame of reference it's difficult to gauge. Each of us had our own strategy and by then end of the game you realize what a tenuous hold you have on the colonies in the New World. I really liked this game and I'll admit that it may be due to winning. But I still think this game holds its own.
Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery Standings:
Joey 10.0 (117 points)
Jose 8.5 (100 points)
Brent 7.6 (89 points)
Mark 6.7 (79 points)

It was getting late and we decided to play on more game, so we picked Nexus Ops. The game went a bit longer than we had anticipated. But this game of Nexus Ops was unlike any other. First off, Mark had NOTHING on his side of the board. Jose and I each had your average layout and Zeb had a 2-mine rich layout. Very rarely did anyone give away points by leaving a space poorly defended. There was a couple of these incidents and they were devastating, but for the most part everyone retreated without giving points away. Ironically, there were a couple of single mine spaces that remained unoccupied on Zeb's side of the board for a large part of the game. This drove Mark crazy, as he had to scratch for his subsistence. In the end it was Mark, who had the least to work with, who won the game. He conquered the monolith early and held it for the better part of the game. All of those Energize cards, played at the right time, made up for a lack of mines.
Nexus Ops Standings:
Mark 10.0 (13 points)
Zeb 6.9 (9 points)
Jose 5.3 (7 points)
Joey 5.3 (7 points)

Additional Stats
2008 Points Total
Jose 7.8 (110.2/14)
Zeb 7.6 (212.8/28)
Brent 7.54 (37.7/5)
Joey 7.53 (323.9/43)
Ben 7.4 (37.4/5)
Mark 7.3 (204.6/28)
April 7.2 (158.5/22)
Brandt 7.16 (35.8/5)
Erin 7.11 (49.8/7)

Previous Players of the Month
Mark (January)
Zeb (February)
Ben (March)
Jose (April)

Games Played in 2008, Sorted by Popularity
Manila 4
Pirate's Cove 2
Hey! That's My Fish! 2
Space Dealer 2
No Thanks! 2
Fairy Tale 2
Railroad Tycoon 2
Nexus Ops 2
Gang of Four 1
Chez Geek 1
Hive 1
Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot 1
Ticket to Ride 1
Lost Cities 1
Elk Fest 1
Wits and Wagers 1
Puerto Rico 1
Cold War: CIA vs. KGB 1
Formula De 1
Take Stock 1
Shadows Over Camelot 1
Arkham Horror 1
Twilight Imperium 1
Wings of War 1
Fury of Dracula 1
Space Beans 1
Bang! 1
For Sale 1
Marvel Heroes 1
Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond 1
World of Warcraft 1
Settlers of Catan 1
Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery 1