Session 2 of GCOM Damascus had 8 attendees, 3 GCOM regular members, and 5 who were either new to GCOM or have not attended 3 sessions and become members yet.

Attendees: Noreen & David F. (Hosts, GCOM members), Bill (member), Scott, Carly, Calvin, David M., & Andrew

Games Played: Wyatt Earp, Formula Dé, Bohnanza, Puerto Rico, Alhambra, King's Breakfast

The evening started out with Bill, Noreen, and I (David F.) playing Wyatt Earp. It was the third play for me, the first for Noreen, and the second for Bill, so it took us a few moments to leaf through the rules and remember how to play. As we were finishing the first hand, Scott, Carly, Calvin, and David M. arrived, and we decided to score the hand as it was and play a game that everyone could do together, as most of did not know the others.

Formula Dé was chosen, and we raced on the Daytona track. Daytona has 4 lanes, and makes it a little easier for 8 players. My son, Andrew, joined us since Formula Dé is one of his favorites. A quick moment to explain the rules and we were "off to the races", as it were. There was some bunching up by most of the pack in the first corner, with David F. and Bill as the only ones able to avoid the mess. David F. and Bill fought for the lead through the second turn, but David M. negotiated the second turn exceptionally well and pulled into the lead. On the back side he pushed into 6th gear and rolled a 30 to zoom past. Bill got stuck in a low gear and had to make up time. The third (and final) turn proved to be little difficulty for anyone and the finishing order was: David M., David F. Scott, Calvin, Noreen, Carly, Andrew, Bill. Bill is definitely a safe driver!

We decided to stick with another large group game, and played Bohnanza. It had been some time since I played and we mangled the rules up fairly badly due to my poor memory and not reading well. Still, it was fun. Bohnanza is a card game of negotiation and trading and has a little twist in that cards MUST be played in the order dealt. This seemingly small change makes all the difference. To the best of my recollection Scott finished first, but the rest of the order was misplaced.

At this point, Bill, Scott, David M., and David F. decided to play Puerto Rico while Noreen, Carly and Calvin played a game of Alhambra.

David F. drew the dreaded second seat, and proved that he is not of a caliber (yet) to make it work. Puerto Rico is a financial game where each turn the players select "roles" that gain actions that all players can benefit from. The trick is to select actions which benefit you more than the other players. This is harder than it sounds.

Some interesting choices throughout the game, and the game was ended early when Bill filled his city. The scores were much closer than the game felt, and had Bill not filled his city when he did, the outcome would likely have been very different. The final scores were: Scott 46, Bill 42, David M. 39, David F. 38. Bill only scored 6 (or was it 7) VP's from shipping!

Carly was able to construct an impressive city wall in Alhambra, completely surrounding her city when she laid her last tile. This allowed her to walk away with a clear victory. Noreen and Calvin tied for second, as Calvin shrewdly played the final few turns to ensure Noreen did not gain any easy points.

As the game of PR had not finished yet, the three decided to play a game of King Lui/King's Breakfast. This is a card game involving a clever scoring mechanic wherein you attempt to have a high number of cards in a given area, but not higher than those left for the king. The finishing order was: Noreen, Carly, Calvin.

We were hoping to play a game of Liar's Dice or Coloretto, but it was already midnight at this point, so we all felt it was time and called it a night.

Another great night of gaming, we had fun with new friends and old, and learned a new game or two (or learned that we need to read the rules a bit clos