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On Saturday, December 30 we held the first annual West Virginia Gamers Association Year End Game Blast. Many games were played and everyone had a great time. A special thanks to our host, Mike, for providing the place to play and allowing us to stay late into the evening.

Nick showed up for our game swap and our host Mike declined gaming for the day (although his PS3 got quite the workout!)

We kicked off around noon with a game of El Grande. This was a 5 player game with Charlie being the only experienced player. This didn't help him as he faded after an early lead. It came down to a battle between Kris and Travis in the last round of scoring. The final scores were:

Meanwhile a game of Yspahan was taking place at the other end of the table. James proved to be the master of the caravans in this three way game:

These three then started a game of Power Grid while El Grande was still finishing up. In this game Aaron took the top spot as the superior supplier of power:

While waiting for Aaron to complete his victory in Power Grid another game, Medici, was started. In this one, Travis came from behind to take a commanding victory and rein as the wealthiest trader:

With Medici and Power Grid winding down around the same time we had an opportunity to bring the entire group together for a game of Shadows Over Camelot. The group consisted of:

In this game, the forces of good thoroughly smoked the forces of evil. King Arthur quickly earned Lancelot's Armor while Sir Galahad was able to aquire Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Meanwhile, Palamides kept the knights in the hunt for the Holy Grail. The valiant defenders of the realm beat back a Saxon invasion but the north was overrun by Picts. Things were getting extremely tight as catapults mounted at an alarming rate around Camelot. The knights fought together to gain the room they needed to pour their resources into the grail quest and gain the holy cup to aid their efforts. Percival then took on the mighty dragon and in the end King Arthur rode to the aid of his knights to strike the death blow to the foul beast, ending the game.

We never did discover who the traitor was until after the game. Charlie did such a great job of disguising himself as the traitor that we were convinced there wasn't one (that and the fact that we crushed evil with a final score of 9 white swords to 3 black!)

It was now time for a light filler and James pulled out the western card game, Bang! In this game, the players were:

The game started out with Sheriff Calamity Jane immediately throwing a bundle of dynamite into the fray (this turned out to be a not so great idea!) The game was relatively quiet until it got to Bart Cassidy, who pulled out a Winchester and shot the sheriff. It was rather obvious in this, the first round, that Bart was up to no good and he would pay dearly in the following rounds. Others continued to take pot shots and pull nefarious tricks. Eventually the dynamite started making the and finally exploded in the Sheriff's face (Calamity Jane was true to her name!) The game ended when Calamity again blundered by killing her deputy with a gatling gun, thus losing all her cards. Black Jack and Willie the Kid then filled the Sheriff full of lead, sealing her fate and winning the game for the outlaws (posthumously for the foolhardy Bart Cassidy!)

It was now time for the game swap which eight of us were participating in. Everyone walked away with a nice game, some of which were: Blokus, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Attika, Age of Mythology, Hoity Toity, Ark of the Covenant, Iliade and Wheedle.

After the game swap, a few stayed to carry on into the night. The first game of this session was Cleopatra and the Society of Architects. In this building game there is a fine balance between building the greatest structures in the temple and succumbing to corruption. The crocodiles fed well in this five player game:

Niklas managed the win by coming in with only five corruption while outbuilding his two surviving rivals.

Charlie, Dave and Travis kept going with a game of Volle Hutte hitting the table. Charlie, the only experienced player, managed the win with his bar earning the most money:

The night ended with a showdown in Las Vegas, as the three remaining players sought to build the most famous hotels and casinos on the strip. In the end Dave managed the win although his approach was a bit odd. Patrons of his facility could gamble, hang out in one of the many lounges, go to the night club or theater…but if they wanted to eat, they were out of luck! Final scores were:

Thus ended the First Annual Game Blast! Thanks to everyone for a great day of gaming and camaraderie. Here's looking forward to more great gaming in 2007!