Game Night #61

Attendees: Erin, Zeb, Jose, Mark M., April, Mark K., Brent and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
April
Mark M.
Joey
Zeb
Jose
Mark K.
Brent

This Event's Standings:
Brent 9.9 (19.9/2)
Zeb 9.7 (19.4/2)
Joey 7.4 (29.6/4)
Mark M. 7.3 (29.3/4)
Erin 6.9 (6.9/1)
Jose 5.9 (23.6/4)
April 5.2 (21/4)
Mark K. 0 (0/1)

June's Overall Standings/Picking Order:
Brent 9.9 (19.9/2)
Zeb 9.7 (19.4/2)
Joey 7.4 (29.6/4)
Mark M. 7.3 (29.3/4)
Erin 6.9 (6.9/1)
Jose 5.9 (23.6/4)
April 5.2 (21/4)
Mark K. 0 (0/1)

Last night was April's pick and we played Cleopatra and the Society of the Architects. This game is interesting with five players. Everyone builds just a few things and it is difficult to dominate any one build area. Also, the market stalls (the rows of cards) don't build up very much. In the end it was Jose that was fed to the crocodiles and Mark M. (Brent tied, but had a little more corruption. Close game!) was named as Chief Architect.
Cleopatra and the Society of the Architects Standings:
Mark M.: 10 (47 Talents)
Brent: 9.9 (47 Talents)
Joey: 6.5 (31 Talents)
April: 5.9 (28 Talents)
Jose: 5.0 (Crocodile Fodder)

After that we played Wits and Wagers. I know it was just last night, but my memory is failing me. Wasn't April getting a lot of the questions right and getting the 10-point bonuses? Anyway, in the last round Zeb bet nothing and it nearly paid off and he kept his 90 points, but Brent jumped ahead for a 95-point win!
Wits and Wagers Standings:
Brent: 10 (95 points)
Zeb: 9.4 (90 points)
Mark M.: 7.3 (70 points)
Joey: 5.2 (50 points)
Jose: 2.1 (20 points)
April: 0 (0 points)
Mark K.: 0 (0 points)

Next we played another new favorite: Vegas Showdown. As the game progressed, Zeb lagged in the back of the pack. Then as the game came close to finishing Zeb shot past everyone and won it all! There was some pretty fierce back and forth bidding wars in this one.
Vegas Showdown Standings:
Zeb: 10 ($58)
Jose: 9.6 ($56)
April: 8.2 ($48)
Mark M.: 8.2 ($48)
Joey: 7.9 ($46)

The last game of the night was a game of Settlers of Catan with the Cities and Knights expansion, but not Seafarers. This was great. It was nice to play a sort of vanilla board. Everyone was progressing along, except for Mark M. I don't know if it was the numbers he was placed on or that the robber sat on his ore tile for a long time during the game, but he was not going anywhere and it didn't look like he was a fun time of it. The rest of us got to about 8 or 9 points and noticed that Jose was one point away from winning! He had Defender of Catan four times and he snuck up on us! We quickly jumped on that and took him down a couple points and then we all moved toward victory at the same pace (except Mark M., that stunk). I couldn't remember that it wasn't my turn and kept trying to trade and build during the build phases. Finally, Erin and I both made for a final push to win and I won by a hairsbreadth!
Settlers of Catan Standings:
Joey: 10 (13 points)
April: 6.9 (9 points)
Erin: 6.9 (9 points)
Jose: 6.9 (9 points)
Mark M.: 3.8 (5 points)

Additional Stats
2008 Points Total
Joey 7.66 (429.3/56)
Mark M. 7.616 (319.9/42)
April 7.610 (213.1/28)
Jose 7.58 (212.3/28)
Zeb 7.57 (257.5/34)
Ben 7.4 (37.4/5)
Brandt 7.16 (35.8/5)
Erin 7.11 (49.8/7)
Brent 7.0 (49.3/7)
Mark K. 5.9 (17.9/3)

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

Games Played in 2008, Sorted by Popularity
Manila 4
Settlers of Catan 4
Hey! That's My Fish! 3
Nexus Ops 3
Pirate's Cove 3
Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery 3
Space Dealer 2
No Thanks! 2
Fairy Tale 2
Railroad Tycoon 2
Chez Geek 2
Arkham Horror 2
Shadows Over Camelot 2
Wits and Wagers 2
Vegas Showdown 2
Gang of Four 1
Hive 1
Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot 1
Ticket to Ride 1
Lost Cities 1
Elk Fest 1
Puerto Rico 1
Cold War: CIA vs. KGB 1
Formula De 1
Take Stock 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
Mississippi Queen 1
Zombies!!! 1
Axis & Allies 1
Blokus 1
Cleopatra and the Society of the Architects 1