Newsletter of The Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Society January 2005
Come to the EPGS meeting this Saturday, January 22nd, in the Community Room of the Oxford Valley Mall. Gaming is from 10:00 AM 9:30 PM. In February we return to our regular first and third Saturday schedule, February 5th and 19th, respectfully.
Photos by Bob Sohn, Part One
Clash of Giants: The Marne Jim Petkovits Neil Zuckerman
Empire Builder Eric Baskin Jen Horan
Finstere Flury Bob Hranek Tina Bounds Rodney Somerstein Steve Corby Eric Freeman Larry Chong
Age of Renaissance Jim Vroom Chester Gates Lee Kendter, Jr. Mark Strouthes Tom Swider Carl Copeland

Announcement

The Boardgame Players Association (BPA) is sponsoring its Winter Activation Meeting (WAM) to play card driven wargames (Paths of Glory, Barbarossa to Berlin, For the People, We the People, Wilderness War, and Hannibal) in Hunt Valley Maryland the weekend after our next meeting (Thursday evening January 27th through Sunday the 30th). Interested members can get more info from the BPA at www.boardgamers.org. Room reservation rates at the hotel are only guaranteed for reservations made on or before the 21st.

Anniversary Gaming

For the January 8th EPGS meeting your editor had hoped to play Battle for the Bayous: The New Orleans Campaign December 1814 to January 1815, as it was the 190th anniversary of the War of 1812s concluding battle. While due to an atypical dearth of wargamers present that day I couldnt find an opponent for that game, late in the day I did play World War I. Subsequently I learned that January 8th was also the anniversary of two WW1 events: the 1916 British retreat from Gallipoli, (seems that the Eighth of January is not a good date for British amphibious invasions), and Woodrow Wilsons 1918 announcement of his Fourteen Points. Would any readers be interested in knowing in advance of historical anniversaries related to games we might play? January 22nd will have many such anniversary games: cinema themed games such as Fabrik der Trume (Hasbro Germany) and Cannes (Splotter), Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa (AH) (too bad most Tobruk games concern later battles for the city), Anzio (AH), Anzio Beachhead (SPI/S&T #20), The Italian Campaign: Anzio (Decision/S&T #155), Title Bout (AH), Vietnam (Gamescience) and Vietnam 1965-1975 (Victory). January 22nd 1875 Film director D.W. Griffith born 1901 British Queen Victoria dies 1905 First Russian Revolution begins 1939 Uranium atom split 1941 British and Australians capture Tobruk from the Italians 1944 United States invades Italy at Anzio 1946 Central Intelligence Agency established 1959 Film director Cecil B. DeMille dies 1973 Abortion legalized 1973 Chuck Foreman wins heavyweight boxing championship from Philadelphias Joe Frazier 1973 Former President Lyndon Baines Johnson dies 1973 Paris Peace Accords signed, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War February 5th doesnt have as abundant an amount of related games, but the following would be appropriate: Scotland Yard (Ravensburger / Milton Bradley), railroad games containing the Southern Pacific such as Rail Baron (AH) and Santa Fe (White Wind / GMT), more cinema-themed games, sports games such as Superstar Baseball (SI/AH), Central America (Victory) and Holy War: Afghanistan (Decision/S&T #147). February 5th 1788 Robert Peel born (founder of Tory party and Scotland Yard; for whom Bobbies are named) 1883 Southern Pacific railroad completes north California route 1919 Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks and Griffith launch United Artists movie studio 1934 Baseball all-time Home Run leader Henry Aaron born 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt announces abortive plan to increase Supreme Court to 12 members 1942 Football quarterback Roger Staubach born 1943 Football quarterback Craig Morton born 1988 Manuel Noriega indicted by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 1989 Soviet evacuate Kabul Afghanistan

EPGS Heroics January 2005 Page 2

The Games We Played

The most played games the last two meetings were Battle Line and (as usual) Puerto Rico, each of which was played a combined four times. In clear third with three plays was the new Der Untergang von Pompeji. EPGS members clearly enjoyed sacrificing their opponents people to appease the Volcano God and then racing their own people for the city gates when Vesuvius erupts anyway. For those interested in the history of the volcano, I saw a poster at a Discovery channel store promoting an upcoming documentary on Pompeii. It will air January 30th at 9pm on the Discovery network. As the reader will notice when getting to the list of games played, I have resumed keeping track of the number of times each game was played. Although this way more errors are likely to creep into our database, this will be more than offset by the amount of good information gathered. A reader inquired about my use of colors in the table of games played. He wondered if I used Blue for railroad games as a memorial to Conrail because Blue was its corporate color and its locomotives were Blue. Initially I was just looking for three contrasting colors. Railroad games were Red, military Blue, and the rest Black. But then I thought it would be good if the colors were appropriate to their categories. I switched the military games to Blood Red, but then couldnt think of a good color for the railroad games. I thought about making them "Steam Engine Soot Black", but Black seemed more appropriate for the more numerous miscellaneous games. I also thought of Brunswick Green to honor the Pennsylvania Railroad whose locomotives were that color, (Pennsylvania being, after all, what the P in EPGS stands for), but that was too close to Black. (Brunswick Green is one part Green to eight parts Black; the result appearing Dark Brown.) So I went with Blue because it contrasted well with the other colors. But, now that I think of it, a cousin of mine financed the creation of the Baltimore & Ohio, which is Blue in all the relevant Avalon Hill games, (Rail Baron, 1830 and of course C&O/B&O). Unfortunately I dont know why Avalon Hill always used Blue for the B&O. A web search of the B&O museums gift shop as well as the B&O items being auctioned on ebay reveal no preponderance of Blue items. But B&O Blue for railgames it is! And, since so many of the non-military non-railroad games are from Germany, Black can be an homage to the German color in Diplomacy, Third Reich, new versions of Axis & Allies, and numerous other wargames. Unfortunately trying to categorize games is difficult. Some games I am unfamiliar with, and others dont easily fit into one of the categories. Should I have categorized El Grande, Ideology, Kings and Things or Tigris & Euphrates as military games? What about Battle Line, which, after all, pits Alexander versus Darius, but then has the two generals essentially play Poker against each other? Clippers and Ur, 1830 BC use systems developed for railgames even though they themselves have nothing to do with trains. And what about the military railgames: Panzer Zug, Confederate Rails and Rebel Rails? Fortunately none of them were played at EPGS last year. Let me know if I clearly have something wrongly categorized. Are there any other categories I should consider? Another change Ive made is to try to list alternate names and publishers for the same game. Ive listed the English name first, since that is usually what we refer to the game as. Otherwise Ive attempted to list titles and publishers in chronological order. Unfortunately this leads to some weird situations such as: Category 5 / 6 Nimmt published by Amigo / U.S. Games Systems, where the first title corresponds to the second publisher and vice versa.

EPGS Heroics

January 2005

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PUBLISHER

DEC 19

G GP GP G GP

G G GP GP

17 / 6
(unnamed napoleonic playtest) (unnamed playtest - Zophiel) 18AL 7 Ages Aladdins Dragons Attack! Expansion Attika Babylone Barbarossa to Berlin Battle Line Bazaar / Samarkand Camelot Legends Carcassonne with many expansions Carcassonne: The City Cartagena Category 5 / 6 Nimmt! Circus Flohcati / Zircus Flohcati Doom: The Boardgame For Whom the Bell Tolls Gavitt's Stock Exchange Goa Happy Holidays! Ivanhoe Lightning War: Midway Lost Valley Lunar Rails Mall World Medici Odin's Ravens Paths of Glory Puerto Rico Ra Railway Rivals / Dampfro: England Reef Encounter Relationship Tightrope / Drahtseilakt Saint Petersburg San Juan Scarab Lords Space 1889 StreetSoccer Tikal Um Reifenbreite Untergang von Pompeji, Der War of the Ring World War I Ys
Bill Micklow Zophiel Mark Derrick Australian Design Group Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Eagle Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Interlude / La Meche Rebeile GMT GMT 3M / Schmidt / Rio Grande Z-Man Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Venice Connection Amigo / US Games Systems Amigo / Ravensburger / Rio Grande Fantasy Flight Games Research/Design Gavitt / Out of the Box Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Anton GMT Decision Kronberger Mayfair Bewitched / Rio Grande Amigo / Rio Grande Kosmos / Rio Grande GMT Alea / Rio Grande Alea / Rio Grande
Rostherne / Games Workshop / Schmidt

19 / / 36

R&D ASS / berplay Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Alea / Rio Grande Fantasy Flight GDW Cwali Ravensburger / Rio Grande Jumbo Amigo Phalanx / Fantasy Flight SPI / Decision Ystari

----------

G = New Game GP = New Game and Publisher
Military Games are Red Railroad games are Blue

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2004 Annual Games Played Statistics
EPGS met 24 times in 2004. At 14 meetings complete records were kept, and at 2 meetings I only kept track of the game titles, but not the number of times each was played. At the meetings in which records were kept, there were 238 different titles played a total of at least 571 times. Congratulations to Puerto Rico, our most played game. Loopin Louie finished second, even though it was only played at the January 17th meeting. The most played military game was ASL, finishing third. Memoir 44 would have come in third with 16 plays had I counted its four plays on both November 20th and December 4th. The top railroad game was Ticket to Ride. GAME Puerto Rico Loopin' Louie Advanced Squad Leader Elchfest Memoir '44 San Juan Ticket to Ride Barbarossa to Berlin Brawl Ra Wilderness War Carcassonne Coloretto High Society Princes of Florence Saint Petersburg Attika Blokus Goa Illuminati Age of Mythology Anno 1503 Bridges of Shangri-la Cosmic Encounter El Grande Exxtra Liar's Dice / Call My Bluff / etc. Paths of Glory Ricochet Robot Robo Rally Samurai Settlers of Catan Star Wars Epic Duels Taj Mahal Alhambra Andersonville Axis & Allies - Pacific Carabande Die Sieben Siegel Domaine PUBLISHER Alea / Rio Grande Milton Bradley Avalon Hill / Multi-Man Kosmos Days of Wonder Alea / Rio Grande Days of Wonder GMT Cheapass Alea / Rio Grande GMT Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Abacus / Rio Grande Ravensburger / Amigo / berplay Alea / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Sekkoia Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Steve Jackson Eagle Kosmos / Mayfair Kosmos / berplay Eon / WE / Mayfair / Hasbro/Avalon Hans Im Glck / Rio Grande Amigo ES Lowe / MB / FX Schmidt / etc. GMT Hans im Glck / Abacus / Rio Grande Wizards of the Coast Hans im Glck / Abacus / Rio Grande Kosmos / Mayfair Hasbro Alea / Rio Grande Queen Minden Hasbro/Avalon Goldsieber Amigo Mayfair PLAYS 3 3

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Go Ideology I'm the Boss / Kohle, Kies & Knete Lightning War: Midway Medici Mexica Piratenbucht Power Grid Princes of the Renaissance Railway Rivals / Dampfro Scotland Yard Settlers of the Stone Age Short Lines Star Wars - The Queen's Gambit Sword of Rome Tahuantinsuyu TransAmerica Traumfabrik / Fabrik der Trume Up Front Zendo 18EU Age of Renaissance Age of Steam Axis & Allies: D-Day Babylone Bazaar / Samarkand Betrayal at House on the Hill Bohnanza Carcassonne - Hunters and Gatherers Carcassonne - The Castle Carcassonne with numerous expansions Citadels / Ohne Furcht und Adel Die Fugger Dune Empire Builder Fifth Avenue Filthy Rich Finstere Flure For Whom the Bell Tolls Funkenschlag Guillotine HeroScape Industria Jokers Keythedral Lord of the Rings CCG Lord of the Rings Miniatures Lost Valley Modern Art Money!
? Z-Man Schmidt / Face 2 Face Decision Amigo / Rio Grande Ravensburger / Rio Grande Amigo Rio Grande Warfrog Rostherne / Games Workshop / Schmidt Milton Bradley Kosmos / Mayfair Bob Stribula Hasbro/Avalon GMT Hangman Rio Grande Hasbro Avalon Hill Icehouse John Tamplin Avalon Hill Warfrog Hasbro/Avalon Interlude / La Meche Rebeile 3M / Schmidt / Rio Grande Hasbro/Avalon Amigo / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Fantasy Flight Adlung Avalon Hill Mayfair Alea / Rio Grande Wizards of the Coast 2F Games Research/Design 2F Wizards of the Coast Hasbro Queen Blue Ox R&D Decipher Sabertooth Kronberger Hans im Glck / Mayfair Goldsieber / Rio Grande

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Net Runner Nuclear War Railroad Dice Reds Risk 2210 Russian Campaign, The Saga Santiago Scrabble Tichu Tigris and Euphrates Tikal Titan Tongiaki Trias TurfMaster Untergang von Pompeji, Der War of the Ring Warcraft Web of Power / Kardinal & Knig Acquire Alexandros Alladin's Dragons Amun-Re Atlantic, CHICAGO and Pacific Rails Austin Poker Axis & Allies Revised Edition Bandu Battle Line Borodino Bucket King, The / Alles im Eimer Buy Word Campaign Trail Can't Stop Capitol Carat / Die Garten der Alhambra Carcassonne, The Count of Carcassonne: The City Categories Category 5 / 6 Nimmt Chickamauga and Chattanooga Circus Flohcati / Zircus Flohcati / Flea Circus Clash of Giants: The Marne Clippers Combat Soldiers Continuo Cribbage Das Motorspiel Daytona 500 Die Ruckkehr der Helden
Wizards of the Coast Nuclear War / Flying Buffalo Wassertal GMT Hasbro/Avalon L2 berplay Amigo Milton Bradley Abacus Hans im Glck / Mayfair Ravensburger / Rio Grande Avalon Hill Schmidt / berplay Gecko AZA Amigo Phalanx / Fantasy Flight Fantasy Flight Goldsieber / Rio Grande 3M / Avalon Hill / Hasbro/Avalon Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Gandy Dancer Hangman Hasbro/Avalon Milton Bradley GMT Games USA Kosmos / Rio Grande Face 2 Face GDW Parker Brothers / Franjos FX Schmidt Queen Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Pando Amigo / US Games Systems Avalanche Amigo / Ravensburger / Rio Grande GMT Eurogames/Descartes Lost Battalion Hiron ? Professional Motor Sports Milton Bradley Pegasus

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Don Pepe / Maffiosi Dos Rios Duel Masters Eagles: Waterloo Emerald En Garde En Pointe Toujours Evo Fist of Dragonstones Fluxx For the People Formula De Formula De Mini Four Dragons Fresh Fish Game of Thrones, A Gavitt's Stock Exchange Ghosts Great Walls Gringo Hansa Happy Holidays! Heroes Incorporated History of the World Inchon Ironclads Ivanhoe Kahuna Kings and Things Kremlin La Citta Lancashire Railways Leapfrog Legend of the Five Rings Light Speed Lucky Loop Lunar Rails Mall World Mamma Mia! Mare Nostrum Medieval Merchant Medina Mystery of the Abbey Napoleon in Europe New England Oasis Oltremare: Mercants of Venice One False Step for Mankind Onslaught Operation Sea Lion
Hasbro / Game Office Kosmos / Mayfair Wizards of the Coast Columbia Abacus Abacus Vae Victus Eurogames/Descartes Days of Wonder Looney Labs / ICE / Amigo Avalon Hill / GMT Eurogames/Descartes Eurogames/Descartes Jolly Roger 2F / Plenery Fantasy Flight Gavitt / Out of the Box Milton Bradley Microcosm GMT Abacus / berplay Anton Quest Machine Ragnar Brothers / AH / Hasbro/Avalon Ultimate Lineup Yaquinto GMT Kosmos / Rio Grande West End Fata Morgana / Avalon Hill Kosmos Winsome Fragor AEG Cheapass Queen Mayfair Bewitched / Rio Grande Abacus / Rio Grande Eurogames/Descartes Goldsieber / Rio Grande Hans im Glck / Rio Grande Days of Wonder Eagle Goldsieber / berplay Schmidt / berplay Mind the Move Cheapass TSR/SPI XTR/Command

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Pass the Bomb Pig Mania / Pass the Pigs Pinochle Pirate's Cove Pit Queen's Necklace Railroad Dice: Deutschland Really Nasty Horseracing Game, The Risk - Lord of the Rings Rossiya, 1917 Royal Turf Runebound Rush Hour Russian Rails San Marco Saratoga Scream Machine Settlers of Zarahemla Siedler von Nrnberg, Die Space Beans Spy Master Star Wars Life - A Jedi's Path Sternenhimmel Sticheln Stock Car Championship Racing StreetSoccer Sweden Fights On Tales of the Arabian Nights Talisman Tay Too Many Cooks Totaler Krieg! Traders of Genoa Triumph and Glory Tyros Um Reifenbreite Ur, 1830 BC Vanished Planet Verrater Vinci VOC Warehouses of Leipzig Was Sticht Wings of War Winter War, A Wreckage Ys ZooSim / O Zoo le Mio 238 GAMES Military Games are Red Railroad games are Blue
Piatnik Recycled Paper Products / Milton Bradley ? Days of Wonder Parker Brothers Days of Wonder Wassertal Upstarts Hasbro Azure Wish Alea Fantasy Flight Binary Arts Mayfair Ravensburger GMT Jolly Roger Inspiration Kosmos Amigo / Rio Grande Tom Parauda Milton Bradley Goldsieber Amigo McGartlin Motorsport Cwali GMT West End Games Workshop Kosmos / Rio Grande R&R Decision Alea / Rio Grande GMT Kosmos Jumbo Splotter Vanished Planet Adlung Eurogames/Descartes Splotter Caf Games Moskito Fantasy Flight Games Research/Design Fantasy Flight Ystari Cwali / Rio Grande 105 PUBLISHERS

571 PLAYS

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ORIGINAL PUBLISHER Hans im Glck GMT Kosmos Amigo 5 Hasbro + 6 Hasbro/Avalon Alea Milton Bradley Abacus Avalon Hill Days of Wonder Eurogames/Descartes Goldsieber Hasbro/Avalon Fantasy Flight Hasbro/Avalon Wizards of the Coast Mayfair Queen Ravensburger 2F Cheapass Rio Grande Schmidt 3M Adlung Decision Eagle Games Research/Design Hangman Jolley Roger Parker Brothers Splotter Warfrog Wassertal West End (71 way tie)
In the publishers section, Eurogame publisher Hans im Glck led the way with 18 different games having been played. GMT, predominantly a publisher of wargames, tied for second with 12 games. 41 games have been republished by Rio Grande. Oddly there were 3 games published by 2F and 2 games published by 3M.
GAME SYSTEMS 24 Card-Driven Wargames system 8 Barbarossa to Berlin 8 Wilderness War 4 Paths of Glory 3 Sword of Rome 1 For the People 15 Carcassonne system 7 Carcassonne 2 Carcassonne - Hunters and Gatherers 2 Carcassonne - The Castle 2 Carcassonne with numerous expansions 1 Carcassonne, The Count of 1 Carcassonne: The City 8 Settlers of Catan system 4 Settlers of Catan 3 Settlers of the Stone Age 1 Settlers of Zarahemla 6 Axis & Allies system 3 Axis & Allies - Pacific 2 Axis & Allies - D-Day 1 Axis & Allies Revision 5 Funkenschlag system 3 Power Grid 2 Funkenschlag 4 Empire Builder system 2 Empire Builder 1 Lunar Rails 1 Russian Rails 3 18xx system 2 18EU 1 Ur, 1830BC 3 Railroad Dice system 2 Railroad Dice 1 Railroad Dice: Deutschland 3 Bohnanza system 2 Bohnanza 1 Space Beans Military Games are Red Railroad games are Blue
Although many games dont garner many plays on their own, combining them with other games using the same system yields the table to the right.

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EPGS Information
Heroics is the official publication of The Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Society, (EPGS). Contributed articles are always welcome. To subscribe to Heroics send an email to: epgs_announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe, send an email to: epgs_announce-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com To view the group on the Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/epgs_announce Visit the EPGS Website: http://epgs.org Join the EPGS email discussion listserve on Yahoo! Groups EPGS Community. Addresses: Post message: epgs@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: epgs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: epgs-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: epgs-owner@yahoogroups.com Home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/epgs

Quartermaster Corps

The following suppliers of gaming merchandise have agreed to post our newsletter or an advertisement for EPGS. To show our support, we list the names of these outlets. Abington Game & Hobby 1562 Easton Road Roslyn PA 19001 (215) 657-9550 Sun-M: N-4, T-Th: N-6, F-Sat: 11-8 www.abingtongh.com Allied Hobbies 243 Oxford Valley Mall Langhorne PA 19047 (215) 757-8086 http://www.alliedhobbies.com Alternate Universes 2034 Parker Avenue, (at McDade Blvd) Holmes PA 19043 (610) 583-9960 M-Th: N-10, F: N-M, St: 11-11, Sn: N-8 http://www.alternateu.com The Compleat Strategist 580 Shoemaker Road King of Prussia PA 19406-4205 (610) 265-8562 M-Th: 11-7, F-Sat: 11-8, Sun: N-5 http://www.compleatstrategist.com Days of Knights 173 East Main Street / P.O. Box 4577 Newark DE 19711 (302) 366-0963 Mon-Sat: 10-7, Sun: Noon-5 www.daysofknights.com The Gamer's Realm Princeton Arms Shopping Center 2025 Old Trenton Road West Windsor NJ 08550 (609) 426-9339 (New Jersey) (877) 658-8754 (toll free) -andRt 130 and Church Rd. (Pep Boys Plaza) Cinnaminson NJ 08077 (856) 829-2900 M-Th: 11-8, F-Sat: 11-9, Sun: N-6 www.gamersrealm.com

EPGS Officers:

18 month term expiring May 20, 2006. President: Steve Cameron (610) 322-3630 (cell) stevegamer@snip.net Treasurer: Randall MacInnis (908) 781-6555 randall.macinnis@verizonwireless.com Publicity: Mike Fisher (215) 438-9966 mikefisher65@yahoo.com Webmaster: Don Myers (610) 917-3664 donmyers@mac.com Editor: Frank Cunliffe (610) 394-9119 fhc2@hotmail.com

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