Navarre Beach, Florida
May 1 – 3, 1998
Talon ‘Ty’ Douds, Ted Cheatham and I, with families in tow, headed to the pristine beaches of Navarre Beach, Florida on May 1st – 3rd for Gulf Games 1, a weekend of gaming and family socializing. Brent Carter was scheduled to join us, but an overload of work prevented him from attending.
Ted & I have met several times, but this was the first for either of us in meeting Ty & his family. Well, let me tell you, a nicer guy and family would be difficult to find. Ty is extremely friendly and animated and can weave a story with the best of ’em. And his wife Shay is equally as friendly and could easily grace the cover of any cover-girl magazine.
Ted and his family are simply a joy to be with. They are both so easy going and full of ‘good southern charm’. Even though I’ve known him for less than a year, I feel that we’ve been friends for ages.
Ty arrived early on Thursday evening so got to enjoy the gorgeous beaches and fabulous facilities of the Holidome. Gail & I (along with my daughter Lindsay and her cousin Karie) arrived around Noon Friday. We found the Douds sunning and playing on the beach. We gathered that afternoon for some gaming.
LIARS DICE (BLUFF)
Ty, Gail & I played a round of this Rich Borg classic. This was Gail’s first playing of it, but Ty proved the wily veteran. After an initial lead, I was quickly out-bluffed by Ty and he soared to the victory.
Rating: Ty 7, Greg 6
CODE 777
Ty, Gail & I were joined by Shay for this mind bender of deciphering one’s correct code. Shay seemed pretty confident surprisingly early and made a stab at here code but was incorrect. Ty sensed that both Gail &I were getting close to nailing down our numbers so took a guess and proved correct. Another win for Ty.
Ratings: Ty 6, Greg 5
MANITOU
Ty and I played this one two-player after Gail opted out due to my lengthy explanation of the rules (if it takes me more than 2 minutes to explain a game, she’s history!). We both found the game very intriguing and agreed that it would be even better with 3 or 4 players. We hoped to try it again later when Ted arrived.
The match proved very close with Ty capturing the victory 23 to 18. 3 in a row for Ty.
Ratings: Both 7’s.
KILL DR. LUCKY
The ladies again joined us for this wacky game of murder & mayhem. No less than 19 attempts were made on the life of the good doctor, with Ty making the final successful attempt using rat poison in the Green House. I was definitely worried as this was yet another victory for the Sultan from Seminole.
Ratings: Ty 6.5, Greg 6
We broke for dinner, where we all enjoyed a great seafood buffet. It was nice sharing dinner with some new found friends.
WUCHERER
After dinner, the Cheathams arrived, having flown in on their own plane from Mississippi. Ted’s children opted for the indoor pool, so he joined Ty, Gail & I for a game of Wucherer. This is a wild and fast game of apartment building, tenant hunting, bombing, murder, homeless people, rock musicians … and much, much more. This game was a big hit with everyone … except Gail. Gail doesn’t like games where you can be brutalized by your opponents (she’d get along just great with you, Sheila Davis!). So, after Ty & #38; Ted bombed and pillaged her apartment of tenants, she soured on the game. Ultimately, due to the late hour, she left the game and her position was left dormant. That’s a shame since we all felt she was in a good position to win.
Ultimately, the final scores broke down as follows: Ty 65, Ted 53, Greg 41, Gail 34
Ratings: Ty 8, Greg 7, Ted 7
Oh, oh … five in a row for Ty.
VIVA PAMPLONA
This time, Lindsay and Karie joined us guys for a run with the bull. Amazingly enough, the bull only rampaged once through the entire game and was only stuck behind the spilled apple section for one turn. Equally amazing, though, was that we almost completely filled the arena before the bull entered it.
Final scores: Ty 50, Ted 38, Karie 17, Lindsay 17, Greg 13
This was getting scary … six in a row for Ty. This had to end.
Ratings: All 6’s
The hour being late … very late (around 3AM), we called it an evening.
Day 2
After some early morning frolicking on the beach, Ted, Ty & I gathered for some of Ty’s gems. First up was Coup
COUP
This is a game with only one page of rules, and most of that page is the components list. Yet, it plays very well. It is a bit abstract, but the decision making process reminds one of Acquire.
The final scores: Greg 6050, Ty 5350, Ted 5200
AHHHH…we finally ended Ty’s winning streak!!
VENDETTA
This was a Doris and Frank title from a few weeks back about gangsters struggling for control of Italian districts. I personally found the game very pretty, but very, very random. I had fun, but don’t know if we really had much control of what happened each turn. Great wooden blocks and artwork, though!
We all came close to achieving control of the required six districts during the game. Ted burst out to an early lead on points, scoring 250 during the first round. Scores settled down thereafter, however, and it became obvious that the game would be won on control of districts as opposed to points. Sure enough, Ted managed to take control of six districts on the fourth turn and capture the victory.
Ratings: Ted 6, Ty 6, Greg 5
DOWNTOWN
Another gem Ty introduced us to. Why this one isn’t more popular stunned us all. The game is basically a real estate development game but involves some great bidding and planning. We all agreed that this one is a true gem.
Final scores: Ty 67, Ted 63, Greg 23
Ratings: Ty 8, Greg 7, Ted 7
SHOW MANAGER
Having played Premier at The Gathering, I was charged with explaining this game of producing Broadway type shows to the group. Shay joined us and joined in the fun as we joked about the quality of shows being produced. We all got a great laugh at the abysmal rendition of Queenie she produced … rated only a 7!!
The Show Manager version of the game is gorgeous as compared to Premier. The components are easy to read and understand and everything is perfectly color-coded. This has hit my ‘Wish List’.
Final scores: Greg 47, Ted 40, Ty 39, Shay 38
Ratings: Greg 8, Ty 8, Shay 8, Ted 6
HIGH SOCIETY
We then played what turned out to be a very quick hand of Knizia’s High Society. Ted & I had played before, but this was the first time for Shay & #38; Ty. The game ended fairly quickly, which proved to be to my advantage as Ty, who had the most valuable point totals, was eliminated for having the least money left.
Final scores: Greg 14, Ted 7.5, Shay 6, Ty – disqualified
Ratings: All 7’s.
OLYMPIA 2000
We opted for a quick game of Olympics in this light card game which bears some similarity to Hols der Geier. See my Westbank Gamers Games Review section for a full description of the game.
Final scores: Ted 15, Ty 14, Shay 11, Greg 4 (I fielded a woeful assortment of overweight athletes)
KUHHANDEL
Oh, boy … this one really sucked. The game, which had come recommended by some sources, involves bidding for farm animal cards and trying to build them into sets of four so they would score. The second half of the game involves trying to ‘steal’ cards from your opponents in order to complete your sets. This is done by placing secret wagers on the desired farm animal … high wager scoops the card. Man, was this one boring and pointless ..and we all agreed on that point.
I captured the victory, but was really just happy that it was over.
Ratings: Ty 3, Ted 2, Greg 2
MANITOU
Ted, Ty & I then played a hand of Manitou. The game does work much better with three players as opposed to two and makes it a much more intriguing game. I thought I was doing well, but kept getting stuck with the dreaded ‘-10’ hide thief cards for fielding the strongest band of hunters. This cost me dearly in the end.
Final scores: Ted 37, Ty 23, Greg 16
Ratings: Ty 7, Greg 7, Ted 6.5
We retired a bit earlier, around 12:30 AM.
Day 3
We began the day with Auf Achse
AUF ACHSE
Ty and Ted really wanted to try this one, and I had absolutely no objections as I had thoroughly enjoyed my first playing of this at The Gathering. Of course, we did catch quite a few comments from the wives of being ‘boys playing with their toy trucks’! The game hasn’t lost any of its appeal … it is lots of fun and does involve lots of decisions and some nice bidding. It was a big hit.
Final scores: Ty 20,100, Greg 17,500, Ted 17,200
Ratings: All 8’s.
RANSOM
Ted departed early around 11:30 AM as a line of thunderstorms were approaching and he wanted to be able to fly around them.
After some great conversation with Ty while the wives were out doing their thing, Ty and I played two hands of a nifty little game called Ransom. The game is very much like a Metropolis-lite and was designed by Phillip O’Neill of Birmingham, Great Britain.
On each turn, a card is turned up and is either bricks, labor, a land parcel, or a contract to build a building. Players bid for the item, high bidder securing it. Each contract requires a certain number of bricks and labor in order to complete it. More important, however, is that the buildings on the contracts come in various shapes and sizes, so one must make sure that he purchases the appropriate land blocks so that the building can be constructed (not unlike Metropolis). In multi-player games, deals can be made to split profits, trade land, bricks and labor, pool money, etc. This element is lost in a two-player game, but the game is still enjoyable.
I managed to capture the victory in both games we played.
Ratings: Greg 8, Ty 7
That wrapped up a great weekend of gaming and socializing. It was really great to meet Ty for the first time and get all of our families together. Thanks to the Cheathams and Douds for making this a super weekend.
We are already making plans for another event in the Fall.