Tonight was my first session of what I hope will become my regular board game group. It got started a bit later than I would have liked, we didn't have everyone arrive until about 7 o'clock. Everyone at the table were longtime gamers in regards to video games and tabletop roleplaying games, but were all fairly new to the boardgame world. We ended up with 5 players including my wife and I, and after a 4-player game of Catan we decided to bust out Gangster.

Myself and Jimbob had played the game a few times prior, having each picked up a copy at Gen Con last month; Kat, Luke and Matt were new to the game. The setup went pretty smoothly, people seemed to like the little wooden pieces and the overall look and feel of the game. The scoring system was confusing initially, but after the first scoring round everyone got it, so rounds 2 and 3 were far more competitive. Kat jumped out to a big early lead with some good placement, and the fact that she's female never hurts at a table full of guys, as when all things are equal everyone seemed less apt to go after her.



The second round was a different story, however. Everyone zeroed in on her - the price you pay for being in the lead. A small war of attrition also started between Matt and Jimbob, with them taking turns dumping each other's gangsters in Lake Michigan. While the others fought over the high point value areas, I quietly moved around map and claimed the lesser areas while avoiding any aggression towards the others.

Round 3 opened with me out to a large lead, resulting in an all-out war with the other players at the table and a desperate scramble by me to try and end the game as quickly as possible. I think 9 of my 20 gangsters were at the bottom of the lake by game's end. Some of the players focused on hosing me but neglected to better themselves. I ended up winning the game by 10 points, and everyone fell short of the "King of Chicago" square at the end of the scoring track.



The game went over pretty well, and once everyone understood the scoring mechanics we had a good time. The theme was fun for everyone at the table, with the tommy guns and cement shoes. This is the first time I've played it with a full 5 people, and I can definitely say that it's the best way to play. While Gangsters is best with 4 or 5 at the table, the 3 player game, while fun in its own right, is a little bit lacking by comparison. There are rules for a 2-player game, but that feels tacked on. Anyhow, tonight's game took between 1.5 and 2 hours to finish, and will go better in the future now that everyone gets it. Gangsters is one of my favorites and will definitely see some table time in future game sessions. I hope there will be many.

This is my first ever session post here on BGG, so I've done anything wrong/could've done anything better, please let me know!