Game Night #57

Attendees: Jose, Zeb, Mark and Joey

Previous Overall Standings:
Jose
Brent
April
Zeb
Joey
Mark
Ben

This Event's Standings:
Mark 9.0 (45.3/5)
Jose 6.9 (34.7/5)
Joey 6.8 (34.1/5)
Zeb 5.9 (11.9/2)

May's Overall Standings/Picking Order:
Mark 9.0 (45.3/5)
Jose 6.9 (34.7/5)
Joey 6.8 (34.1/5)
Zeb 5.9 (11.9/2)

It's taken longer than usual to post this, so memory might fail. We played Mississippi Queen first as filler; waiting to see if others would arrive. I took off quickly down the river hoping to get a good lead and pick up my belles in peace. Mark and Jose were up river picking up belles and as I was trying to pick up the down river belles, then steamed past me and won the race.
Mississippi Queen Standings:
Mark 10.0 (1st Place)
Jose 6.6 (2nd Place)
Joey 3.3 (3rd Place)

We decided to play another filler as no one else had arrived yet. We played Hey! That's My Fish! There were a few clusters of three-fish tiles and the contest for them really segmented the board. We then fought for those board segments.
Hey! That's My Fish Standings:
Mark 10.0 (37 fish)
Joey 9.4 (35 fish)
Jose 6.4 (24 fish)

Then we played (dare I say?) a new classic Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery. Once again a warless game, which may be the last warless game of this that we play. War is important, especially at the end.
Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery Standings:
Jose 10.0 (152 points)
Joey 9.8 (149 points)
Mark 5.3 (82 points)

Zeb had arrived and the next game was obvious; Nexus Ops. The board was much more evenly distributed; compared to last week. Mark went straight for the monolith. Zeb urged Jose and I to take Mark off of the monolith. There were a couple of us that surged ahead in points. But towards the end I made a bid to end the game and made an all or nothing assault on Mark's front. The assault failed, leaving Mark open to walk past my front lines and end the game on his terms.
Nexus Ops Standings:
Mark 10 (13 points)
Joey 5.3 (7 points)
Zeb 3.8 (5 points)
Jose 2.3 (3 points)

Lastly we played a game of Chez Geek. Zeb was going crazy thwarting our attempts at gathering slack. Mark was about eight points away from winning and didn't seem like a threat. I was holding on to a Cancel Sleep card, in case anyone got too close to winning. Mark, before I knew it, played out eight more slack points and made my trump moot.
Chez Geek Standings:
Mark 10.0 (18/18 Slack)
Jose 9.4 (18/19 Slack)
Zeb 8.1 (13/16 Slack)
Joey 6.3 (14/22 Slack)

Additional Stats
2008 Points Total
Jose 7.6 (144.9/19)
Mark 7.57 (249.9/33)
Brent 7.54 (37.7/5)
Zeb 7.49 (224.7/30)
Ben 7.48 (37.4/5)
Joey 7.45 (358/48)
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
Hey! That's My Fish! 3
Nexus Ops 3
Pirate's Cove 2
Space Dealer 2
No Thanks! 2
Fairy Tale 2
Railroad Tycoon 2
Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery 2
Chez Geek 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
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
Mississippi Queen 1