Annie and I started playing this on Friday night and finished on Saturday morning. She won three trophies to my zero.

Jung convinced us to play a 'quick' 18xx, so with two new players we broke out 18FL. I got the FEC private and decided not to start it, so Jung started it for me. I managed to pull out the win anyway.

This was my first 18xx, and I was surprised at how quickly the four hours went, though owning two companies may have had something to do with it. I'm not sure I like these mechanics quite as much as those of the crayon rail games (buying and selling stock in my own and opponents' companies got the better of me at times, and a turn summary chart would've gone a long way), but I'd definitely be up for playing again. Thanks to Chris and Jung for their patience and willingness to teach.

This was a really fun negotiation game. I saw the Board Games with Scott episode on it a while ago so it had been on the edge of my radar for a while. Glad I got to try it. I liked the juxtaposition of this raucous game being played in one room while the next room had a rather quieter game of 18FL going on.

I catapulted into third by getting any gems at all.

Bit of an anticlimax with the first two cards drawn on the last mine both being explosions.

After two plays now, this is right up near the top of my wish list. I was able to be pretty efficient getting gold, and got the big 14 vp building. I also forced the end of the game one round before a couple of others would have added significantly to their scores. Despite making some good tactical plays, however, I still don't feel like I have a real handle on the overall strategies yet. This is a good thing, as it makes me want to play more often.

This moved up a notch on my want list. I really like the spatial aspects of moving the river.

I enjoyed this one. I saw the value of getting spots at the top of the river. In a second game I would try to do a few things differently.

I've had this for a while now but this is only the second time I've gotten to play, which is a shame. The dam building/river diversion mechanic is really cool. I just don't have enough time for all the games I like.

Thanks to Eric for taking over when I had to go. Looks like he couldn't pull me out of my tailspin. I had about 12 aristocrats down; I turn around and have about five. Yeesh.

It was an odd game. I've never seen so few aristocrats out on the board late in the game. Plus, getting 4 doge cards to split 3 ways on one turn is pretty extreme. I thought you did a good job, Jim, with what were some truly odd mixtures of cards.

We played without the special power cards which, imho, makes it a much better game. Jason's 20 point white set won, but not by much.

It's a fun game. You'll never have to work very hard to get me to play it.

This game was the rest my mind needed after 18FL. That's not to say there wasn't plenty going on, but at least I didn't need to buy shares of the other archeologists. I had fun with this one, despite some rotten luck digging in Egypt, and I won't be surprised if its huge box ends up on my game shelf this year.

I am glad I got in on this one. I like it quite a bit and have gotten a few people in PA to enjoy it as well. I even nominated it for a Golden Geek. Thanks for the intro.