January 5, 2013 - Ascending Empires, Royal Turf

Location: Barton

Players: Brett (1096), Mark (1073), David (978), Samuel

Ascending Empires Result:
1) Samuel (23)
2) Brett (22)
3) David (21)
4) Mark (13)

Royal Turf Result:
1) Brett (3400)
2) Samuel (1850)
3) Mark (1350)

Ratings Results:
Brett (+20) = 1116
David (+0) = 978
Mark (-35) = 1038

December 24, 2012 - Goa, Ascending Empires

Location: Barton

Players: Brett (1066), Mark (1052), David (994), Clay

Result:
1) Brett (59)
2) Clay (49)
3) David (37)

Game Time: 3:20

Result:
1) Mark (32)
2) Brett (19)
3) David (19)
4) Clay (15)

Game Time: 2:15

Ratings Results:
Mark (+20) = 1072
Brett (+15) = 1081
David (-16) = 978
Clay = 968

August 25, 2012 - Goa

Location: Barton

Players: Dan (1098), Brett (1075), David (982), Brian

Result:
1) Dan (43)
2) David (41)
3) Brett (35)
4) Brian (34)

Game time: 2:55

Ratings Results:
Dan (+18) = 1116
David (+12) = 994
Brett (-11) = 1064
Brian = 968

August 15, 2012 - Agricola

Location: Boyd

Players: Brett (1069), David (988)

Result:
1) Brett (46)
2) David (42)

Game Time: 1:40

Ratings Results:
Brett (+6) = 1075
David (-6) = 982

May 27, 2012 - Goa

Location: Barton

Players: Dan (1095), Brett (1059), David (1008), Mark (996)

Result:
1) Mark (43)
2) Dan (40)
3) Brett (35)
4) David (33)

Game Time: 3:40

Ratings Results:
Mark (+26) = 1022
Dan (+3) = 1098
Brett (-9) = 1050
David (-20) = 988

December 30, 2011 - Dominant Species

Location: Barton

Players: Samuel (1071), Dan (1041), David (1030), Brett (978)

We played our first game of Dominant Species, a game currently ranked in the Top 20.  While it is a nice game, it is VERY long.  This particular game took just under 6 hours.  Samuel started slowly but ended strong by scoring in almost every tile.

Result:
1) Samuel (220)
2) Brett (178)
3) Dan (144)
4) David (143)

Ratings Results:
Samuel (+19) = 1090
Brett (+12) = 990
Dan (-8) = 1033
David (-22) = 1008

November 26, 2011 - Brass

Location: Barton

Players: Samuel (1065), Dan (1055), David (1022), Brett (965)

Result:
1) Samuel (149)
2) David (132)
3) Dan (114)
4) Brett (112)

Ratings Results:
Samuel (+19) = 1084
David (+8) = 1030
Dan (-10) = 1045
Brett (-17) = 948

November 5, 2011 - Brass

Location: Barton

Players: Mark (1063), Dan (1018), David (1013), Brett (1008)

A couple of firsts in this game: (1) it was David's first go at Brass, (2) Brett built his first ship and (3) we saw Mark have to give up an industry to pay expenses.  What was NOT a first was seeing Dan win.

Result:
1) Dan (128)
2) David (124)
3) Brett (114)
4) Mark (89)

Ratings Results:
Dan (+23) = 1041
David (+9) = 1022
Brett (-6) = 1002
Mark (-26) = 1037

October 15, 2011 - The Princes of Florence, Brass

Location: Barton

Players: Dan (1065), Mark (1033), David (1028), Brett (1014), Samuel (1005)

Tonight was the third day in a row of gaming at the Barton Gaming Palace.  Mark took a works-based strategy to victory, utilizing recruiting cards and jesters to complete six works.

Princes of Florence Result:
1) Mark (54)
2) Brett (51)
3) Samuel (48)
4) David (43)
5) Dan (42)

Our fastest game of Brass yet was completed in exactly 140 minutes.  But the real story was how close the final scores were after the rail period.

Brass Result:
1) Brett (169)
2) Dan (166)
3) Samuel (165)

Ratings Results:
Brett (+32) = 1046
Mark (+30) = 1063
Samuel (-11) = 994
David (-15) = 1013
Dan (-34) = 1031

October 1, 2011 - Puerto Rico, Chicago Express

Location: Barton

Players: Brett (1062), David (1029), Samuel (985)

Puerto Rico Game 1 Result:
1) David (50)
2) Brett (48)
3) Samuel (46)

Puerto Rico Game 2 Result:
1) Samuel (55)
2) Brett (51)
3) David (46)

Chicago Express Result:
1) Samuel (144)
2) Brett (115)

Ratings Results:
Samuel (+15) = 1000
David (-1) = 1028
Brett (-13) = 1049

September 29, 2011 - Chicago Express, Taj Mahal

Location: Barton

Players: Dan (1059), Samuel (1036), Brett (1027), David (1012), Mark (1011)

The group's second playing of Chicago Express had a similar result as the first game as the red train took off running and never looked back.  Brett and David hopped on while everyone else watched in frustration.

Result:
1) Brett (59)
2) David (40)
3) Dan (29)
4) Mark (23)
5) Samuel (21)

Mark started off fast and ended strong to take a very convincing victory in Taj Mahal.  The yellow lady, combined with some nifty connections through use of the Mogul were key to his success.

Result:
1) Mark (50)
2) Brett (41)
3) Dan (39)
4) Samuel (31)

Ratings Results:
Brett (+35) = 1062
David (+17) = 1029
Mark (+12) = 1023
Dan (-13) = 1046
Samuel (-51) = 985

September 21, 2011 - Puerto Rico

Location: Barton

Players: Samuel (1036), Brett (1032), David (1011)

David, Samuel and I have had a great Puerto Rico rivalry where we have high-quality games that move fairly quickly.  Tonight's games were no exception.  In the first game, David (starting in the favored 3rd spot) took control fairly early and absolutely dominated, finishing with the highest score I've ever seen for a game of Puerto Rico -- 65 points!  Brett took advantage of starting 3rd in the second game and barely squeaked by Samuel.  After two games, very little movement in the ratings -- a testament to how competitive our 3-player series has been.

Game 1:
1) David (65)
2) Samuel (52)
3) Brett (51)

Game 2:
1) Brett (59)
2) Samuel (57)
3) David (51)

Ratings Results:
David (+1) = 1012
Brett (+1) = 1033
Samuel (-2) = 1034

September 13, 2011 - Puerto Rico

Location: Barton

Players: Mark (1078), Samuel (1037), David (1033), Brett (999)

Mark was shipping corn, Samuel and Brett were building and David was trying to do a little of both.  A last turn error by Samuel helped give Brett the victory.

Result:
1) Brett (56)
2) Samuel (53)
3) Mark (49)
4) David (48)

Ratings Result:
Brett (+26) = 1025
Samuel (+7) = 1044
Mark (-11) = 1067
David (-22) = 1011

September 4, 2011 - Puerto Rico, Ascending Empires

Location: Barton

Players: Mark (1119), David (1016), Samuel (1011), Brett (993)

Puerto Rico Game 1:
1) Brett (53)
2) David (53)
3) Samuel (47)

Puerto Rico Game 2:
1) Samuel (55)
2) Brett (50)
3) David (44)

Ascending Empires Game 1:
1) Samuel (19)
2) David (19)
3) Brett (15)
4) Mark (12)

Ascending Empires Game 2:
1) David (25)
2) Samuel (23)
3) Brett (22)
4) Mark (20)

Ratings Results:
Samuel (+32) = 1043
David (+17) = 1033
Brett (+5) = 998
Mark (-57) = 1062

August 25, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Mark (1058), Brett (1038), David (1016), Samuel (977)

Mark continued his complete and utter dominance with two more victories in this game (even though the first game he won on a tie-breaker with David).  Mark utilized a heavy orange strategy in the first game with his battleship making an appearance on the board, wreaking havoc in whatever quadrant it was in.  In the second game, he scored his points in a more peaceful manner through technological upgrades and defense.  All in all, an impressive night as he showed two completely different ways to win at this game.

Game 1 Result:
1) Mark (22)
2) David (22)
3) Samuel (18)
4) Brett (16)

Game 2 Result:
1) Mark (25)
2) Samuel (23)
3) David (18)
4) Brett (15)

Ratings Results:
Mark (+61) = 1119
Samuel (+8) = 985
David  (-- ) = 1016
Brett (-45) = 993

August 16, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Brett, David, Mark, Samuel

Having enjoyed this game immensely over the past weekend, Mark, David and I were ready for some more, with Samuel joining us this time for his first taste of the game.  Mark and I began the game with some skirmishes and then I got into another territorial battle with Samuel while David sat back and enjoyed all the drama as he quietly built up his kingdom.  The rest of us were too crippled to mount much of an attack on his dominance of the galaxy and he won easily.

Result:
1) David (33)
2) Mark (25)
3) Brett (25)
4) Samuel (20)

August 13, 2011 - Ascending Empires

Location: Swanson

Players: Brett, Dan, David, Mark

Mark is constantly getting new games and wanting to try out his latest purchase.  Tonight we played Ascending Empires, a game I was immediately biased against since it involved flicking.  We have played other flicking games in the past and I've never been fond of them due to the reliance that is placed upon skills of physical dexterity and not necessarily sheer brainpower.  Despite this "drawback", I fell in love with this game.  It is about space exploration, harvesting planetary resources, expanding your kingdom while engaging in military maneuvers to both defend your own planets and conquer others' planets.  Flicking is definitely a factor, but one that I can stomach as I can't really think of a better alternative.

Result:
1) Brett (31)
2) Dan (27)
3) Mark (25)
4) David (23)

July 4, 2011 - Puerto Rico, 7 Wonders

Location: Barton

Players: Brett, David, Samuel, Timothy

Summary: Puerto Rico and 2 games of 7 Wonders

Puerto Rico at BoardGameGeek.com                    7 Wonders at BoardGameGeek.com

David, Samuel and I have had an ongoing rivalry in Puerto Rico which has been very satisfying for all of us.  We have a nice system of determining the order of play based upon the results of our last game together.  Since I had taken the last two games, I was to start this game off, followed by Samuel and then David.  I ended up having a nice coffee monopoly which proved to be enough to carry me to victory in this game which we played in 40 minutes (certainly a record time for our gaming group).

Puerto Rico Result:
1) Brett (50)
2) David (47)
3) Samuel (43)

Timothy Dunne joined the table and we broke out one of our new favorites, 7 Wonders.  This game is so quick to learn and even quicker to play.  It's hard not to like it as it makes a really nice filler game for any game gathering.

7 Wonders Game 1 Result:
1) Brett (55)
2) Samuel (54)
3) David (45)
4) Timothy (42)

7 Wonders Game 2 Result:
1) Samuel (58)
2) David (50)
3) Brett (44)
4) Timothy (39)