Raidin' da Joint ...
Tournament
Information, Timetable, Format, History, Hall of Fame & Statistics
--
The streets of Chicago were pure pandemonium during our last
year in Baltimore. We had record numbers of participants - especially
during the official squirt gun heat (50 entrants alone). We also
had more fun than ever! 53% of all entrants had so much fun they
came back to play another heat!
After taking a year off to earn cash, the Vamps returned to
the streets with a vengeance this year - reaching an all-time
record number of seductions. Shootout losses were up slightly
too in our never-ending quest to use the squirt gun more often!
That added up to record levels of carnage!
Next year the World Boardgaming Championships moves to Lancaster,
Pennsylvania as does our annual Mob War! Will the rooms still
be warm enough to induce random or even self-inflicted squirtings?
Bring your water gun and find out!
The record attendance has motivated some minor changes - see
the section on changes so you'll be ready. I may also implement
some changes based on the survey at the end - please let me know
what you think!
Table
of Contents
1. Records
2. Winners
3. Special Awards
4. Favorite Joints
5. Quotable Gangsters
6. Final Report
7. Changes for 2005
8. Tie-Breaker Penalties
9. PBEM Competition
10. Copies of the Game
11. Sign-off
12. Survey
1. Records
We set a lot of records and firsts this year. These include
the following:
Records --
Highest Turnout: 76
Largest Heat: 13 games (50 players)
Players in the Final for the First Time: 5
Most successful rate of 5/1/2 gang use: 31%
Most successful rate of 4/1/4 gang use: 50%
Least successful rate of 4/1/3 gang use: 7%
Highest per Winner Average Vamp Losses: 2.32
Highest per Player Average Vamp Losses: 1.98 *
Highest per Player Median Vamp Losses: 2
Highest per Game Average Vamp Losses: 7.97 *
Highest per Player Average Shootout Losses: 2.12
Highest per Game Average Shootout Losses: 8.55
Highest per Winner Average Total Losses: 3.84
Highest per Winner Median Total Losses: 4
Highest per Player Average Total Losses: 4.10 *
Highest per Player Median Total Losses: 4
Highest per Game Average Total Losses: 16.52 *
Firsts --
Use of a 6/1/3 gang (illegally but successfully) **
Winner started with Carlton Apartments
Winner started with Bixby's Books
Winner started with Hawthorne Hotel
* Low was set last year
** The maximum that can be spent on a gang (assuming three
$100 joints) is $2,900. A 6/1/3 gang costs $3,000.
Notes: 1) The 4/1/1 gang was more popular this year than any
year since 1997. 2) The average winner is getting seduced more
than the average player, but shootout losses more than make up
for the difference. 3) The average total losses (16.52) were
much higher than the median (14), suggesting that a few games
were total carnage fests! 4) Firsts are getting harder and harder
to come by! The only legal starting gang that makes any sense
which has yet to be used is the 4/1/5 gang.
You might think that a tough gang is necessary to win, but
our winners this year proved that winning gangs come in all combinations!
Here's how the winning gangs (shown as Racketeer/Vamp/Thug) stacked
up:
Gang Winners
1/1/1 1
1/1/2 1
2/1/1 1
2/1/2 3
3/1/1 2
3/1/4 1
4/1/0 1
4/1/1 1
4/1/2 1
4/1/3 2
4/1/4 1
5/0/1 1
5/1/1 5
5/1/2 2
5/1/4 1
6/0/3 1
6/1/1 3
6/1/2 3
6/1/6 1
7/1/1 2
7/1/2 1
9/1/2 1
Note: Winners who were missing a gang member won their games
based on the tie-breakers at the time-limit (even though the
tie-breaks penalize players for missing gang members)!
2. Winners
It was dusk long before the sun set on the chances of the
other finalists, but when the twilight ended Nick "Dusk"
Henning took the Godfather title home to rest. None of our five
finalists had been there before, but in the end it was a brand-new
player who learned the game during the Thursday demo who took
top honors. This is the only time since 1992 (the year the game
was released by Avalon Hill) that a single player took home both
the Junior Godfather award as well as top honors. Congratulations,
Nick!
Here's the top 25 Wanted List:
1. Nick "Dusk" Henning
2. Jim "The Instigator" Castonguay
3. Robert "Bobby Tweaks" Buccheri
4. Kevin "Big Daddy" Brownell
5. Victor "The Waiter" Hogen
6. Andy "The Duke" Joy
7. Michael Musko
8. Angela "Blue Rose" Collinson
9. Tim "Bite the Bullet" Evinger
10. Forrest "Hatchet Man" Speck
11. Rolinda "Ma" Collinson
12. Mark "Ladykiller" Love
13. Kaarin "The Enforcer" Engelmann
14. Karl "Sweet Cakes" Henning
15. John "The Viper" Pack
16. Wendy "Brutally Honest" DeMarco
17. Tom "Teflon Don" McCorry
18. "Hot Tub Johnny" Kilbride
19. Daniel "The Dasher" Fox
20. Blair "The Plug" Morgen
21. Paul "Da Spider" Bolduc
22. Kevin "Shades" Wojtaszczyk
23. Evan "Chaz 'Domino' Domingo" Tannheimer
24. Joel "The Chair" Tamburo
25. Scott "The Bag Man" Sirianna
Mark "Ladykiller" Love was the best among the tournament
officials! But with the record level of seductions
going on,
you can tell that Ladykiller had an off-year.
This year saw a remarkable number of family groups participate.
Established mob families "Mickey the Wire" and "Bobby
Tweaks" Buccheri, "Blue Rose", "Angel",
and "Ma" Collinson, "The Boot", "Greasy
Thumb", and "Bite the Bullet" Evinger, "Strings"
and "Hell Raiser" Hamel, and "The Kid" and
"The Viper" Pack were joined by newcomers "The
Sore" and "One Arm" Eastman, "Two Guns"
and "Sizzle" Fedin, "The Dasher" and "Plugs"
Fox, "Sweet Cakes" and "Dusk" Henning, Erika
and "Baby Face" Poniske, and "The Infidel"
and "Shotgun" Wojke. I think we can all agree that
Gangsters should be the family business.
We hope ex-Godfather Pitt "Sluggo" Crandlemire returns
to action next year to see if he can't be the first to win the
title four times!
3. Special Awards
Cement Overshoes Sportsmanship Award - Tim "Bite the
Bullet" Evinger has a habit of earning one of the special
plaques each year. Normally, that's because his gangs are being
shredded (which is why Tim needs a sub-machine squirt gun to
keep up with the mayhem). But this year several people went out
of the way to let me know how much they enjoyed their games because
of Tim. Added to nominations made in previous years, Tim makes
the Cement Overshoes his fifth special plaque in a row! Tim has
been cited frequently for help given to new players - helping
them to understand the game even when it hurt his own position.
But more than that, whether his gang is being thrashed, he actually
manages to win a game, or both, Tim is always contagiously enthusiastic.
Thanks for making more fun for everyone, Tim!
Many thanks to Ken "Roulette" Rothstein and Kevin
"Big Daddy" Brownell who were first-time nominees!
All of our good sports make it fun to come back and play again
and again!
Junior Godfather Award - Nick "Dusk" Henning made
it look easy as he took home top honors for the whole shootin'
match too!
"I Think She Likes Me!" Award -With record levels
of seduction going on, this was a very hotly contested category
this year! In fact, there were four players who beat the total
posted by last year's winner! But no one could match Kevin "Big
Daddy" Brownell whose fickle gang lost eleven members to
batting eyelashes in the final. Some players never have eleven
gang members to lose! Stephen "Shocker" Quirke was
the runner-up, losing nine gang members to vamps. These two may
not know much about wine or song, but I suspect they've got the
women part seared into their memories!
Roadkill Award - When womanizing Kevin "Big Daddy"
Brownell turned in his final results, I awarded him the Roadkill
plaque too. Not only did he lose eleven to vamps, he lost another
eleven in shootouts. However, Kevin wasn't this year's roadkill.
That honor rightfully belongs to Stephen "Shocker"
Quirke who lost twelve gang members in the second heat. Didn't
his mom teach him not to play with guns? In the Victory in the
Pacific tradition of not reclaiming plaques that were errantly
awarded, I've re-created the 2004 Roadkill Award and will mail
it to Stephen. What I want to know is where "Shocker"
and "Big Daddy" get all these gang members to lose?!
Honorable Mention - Initially, honorable mention was an easy
choice - when I thought "Big Daddy" had edged "Shocker"
for both the Roadkill and "I think She likes Me!" awards
by a 22 to 21 total body count. However, when it turned out the
awards were split, then it became a very tough choice. I'd had
the other winners posted on my website for almost a week before
I could settle on one.
Daniel "The Dasher" Fox merited consideration for
letting my senior assistant GM, Kaarin "The Enforcer"
Engelmann, sneak her way into the semi-finals when 15 shots from
his Racketeer (over several turns) failed to take out one of
The Enforcer's lowly level one joints. A noble effort, Dasher
Dan!
"Barney Fife" (Cop #2) also deserved some consideration
for failing to bring any criminals to justice so often. In one
game, Barney went after the same vamp several times - falling
to her seductive charms each time. He showed up nine ineffective
times in the final! But I wanted to give the award to a real
player... Nonetheless, I'd love to get the whole list of cop
nicknames on my website. Send me any suggestions you have (Cop
#10 is already affectionately known as "Robocop").
Derek "Kats" Miller, Peter "The Wolf"
Martin, and Victor "The Waiter" Hogen for winning games
by establishing red monopolies. "The Waiter" was the
only semi-final monopolist. Monopolists aren't at the all-time
low they were last year, but it's still a rare event (8% of winners).
More fittingly, this year saw the return of Jason "Sticky
Fingers" Wagner to the tournament. "Sticky Fingers"
won the world championship two years in a row with red monopolies.
Are monopoly wins poised for a comeback (as many as 17% of winners
in the past)?
But in the end, I elected to give "honorable mention"
(worth exactly what it sounds like) to an entire game (played
by Steve "Dancin' Man" Cameron, Stephen "Shocker"
Quirke, Robert "Bobby Tweaks" Buccheri, and John "Baby
Face" Poniske) for the most impressive carnage of the tournament.
"Baby Face" went for a Red Monopoly. After he grabbed
three of the four, "Bobby Tweaks" spent $500 to help
"Dancin' Man" stop him. Then the blood bath began!
Twenty-six dead mobsters and another eleven falling to seduction
- leaving a paltry 16 gangsters between the four players at game's
end! The biggest gang at the end of the game? 3/1/1. The smallest?
0/1/0 (posted by our Roadkill winner, naturally)! "Bobby
Tweaks" didn't win this bloodfest, but he went on to be
the only player this year to play in all six possible games!
4. Favorite Joints
4. Favorite Joints
------------------
The Downtown Bus Station expanded its dominance among winner's
joints - improving its percentage substantially! Over one-third
of all winners held the Bus Station at the start of the game!
Here are the joints ranked in this year's top ten:
Rank |
Winner's
Joints |
2004 |
Total |
Rank |
2003
Rank |
Overall
Trend |
1. |
Do
wntown Bus Station |
36.79% |
30.48% |
1 |
1 |
Up |
2. |
Brizelli's Riverside |
31.13% |
28.1% |
3 |
2 |
Slightly Up |
3. |
Ambassador's Club |
28.3% |
25.24% |
5 |
3 |
Up |
4. |
Greenwood Park |
22.64% |
22.86% |
5 |
4 |
Holding |
4. |
Brzkowski's Imports |
22.64% |
21.9% |
9 |
5 |
Up |
4. |
Palace Chophouse |
22.64% |
17.62% |
2 |
6 |
Down |
7. |
Franklin Hostel |
16.98% |
17.14% |
5 |
7 |
Slightly Down |
8. |
Brandon's Bikeshop |
14.15% |
7.62% |
32 |
12 |
Way Way Up |
9. |
Pussycat Club |
11.32% |
11.43% |
3 |
8 |
Down |
9. |
SMC Cartage Co |
11.32% |
9.05% |
16 |
9 |
Up |
9. |
Westgate Hotel |
11.32% |
6.67% |
16 |
16 |
Way Up |
Shockingly, this list contains 76% of all of the joints listed
by winners in their starting set ups! In fact, many winners had
no starting joints whatsoever that weren't on this short list!
This year's top seven matched identically with the over-all top
seven.
Surprisingly, the top five joints saw an increase in the percentage
of winners which owned them! The usage of the top five is trending
upward even though they're already in the top positions. In other
words, those who win the game are increasingly using the top
five in their starting setups. Will anyone act to stop the Blue
and Green One-Jump strategies from increasing their dominance
next year? (Even the lower part of the top ten are the joints
which round out these strategies!)
The biggest change this year is Brandon's Bikeshop - which
wasn't picked by a single winner in 2003 - but which zooms up
to 8th place this year! On the flip side, the big losers are
Wylie's Storage which dropped from eighth in 2003 to a tie for
17th with Huck's Marine (which dropped from a tie for ninth).
Cavalry Club was tied for ninth last year but wasn't picked by
a single winner this year!
5. Quotable Gangsters
"I never do the Cop thing." - Brutally Honest
"My father gave birth to me." - Shocker
"You know you want to." - The Viper, whispered in
the background as Stanfa Nicademo thought about putting the Public
x3 into a $100 joint (a position that would almost certainly
result in a prompt visit to the Viper's upgraded Pussycat Club,
just as it had twice previously).
"Then it got REALLY bloody." - Dancin' Man
"At this point I am gonna say it anyways." (Unknown
- Paying $500 kibitzing fine) "Ah, not a money win, huh?"
(The Instigator in response)
"You paid top dollar." - Two Guns (taking a lone
Thug that'd just cost Stanfa Nicademo $600 on the previous move)
"I still like it, but vamps are just cheap hoes. Like
vampires, they just suck up everything. But it's OK because it's
better that way." - Sweet Cakes
6. Final Report
The starting and final positions of the 2004 final (in order
of finish) were as follows:
Nick "Dusk" Henning (Southern Syndicate) -
Start: 5/1/2, Franklin Hostel, Brizelli's Riverside, Midland
House, $400
Finish: 1/1/1, 1 hit, 6 seductions, 8 joints ($1,400; 5 Brown),
$10,000
Jim "The Instigator" Castonguay (Purple People-Eaters)
-
Start: 5/1/3, Greenwood Park, Hotel Belgrave, Grinder's, $200
Finish: 3/1/5, 2 hits, 4 seductions, 9 joints ($1,400; 5 Brown),
$2,800
Robert "Bobby Tweaks" Buccheri (North Shore Mob)
-
Start: 5/1/1, Ambassadors' Club, Brzkowski's Imports, Bixby's
Books, $400
Finish: 7/1/0, 8 hits, 2 seductions, 9 joints ($2,200; 5 Brown),
$1,600
Kevin "Big Daddy" Brownell (East Side Gang)
-
Start: 5/1/2, Downtown Bus Station, Palace Chophouse, Westgate
Hotel, $400
Finish: 0/1/1, 11 hits, 11 seductions, 9 joints ($2,700; 2
Purple), $2,200
Victor "The Waiter" Hogen (West Side Association)
-
Start: 4/1/2, Astoria Hous
e, Myrtle's Massage Parlor, Britt's
Sandwich Shop, $800
Finish: 8/1/2, 7 hits, 3 seductions, 5 joints ($3,200; 3 Red),
$700
A quick glance at the final numbers shows that all of the
finalists attempted to win using a joint-based strategy. "The
Waiter" started going for a Red Monopoly and stayed after
it, coming up one joint short at the end (and several times throughout
too). The rest ended up with eight or nine joints. In fact, The
Instigator was in the tenth joint and ready to buy on the very
next move when "Dusk" came up with the 10 G's. Cash
is king.
Only "Bobby Tweaks" started with a traditional one-jump
combination (Ambassadors' Club and Brzkowski's Imports). "The
Instigator" began with a "Mean Yellow Middle"
combination which has sneak-up-the-cash potential as well as
being a good basis for racking up ten joints. Dusk started off
with a mixed one-jump set - allowing him to grab another while
also preventing others from getting key sets to start. Big Daddy
gets the supreme Bus Station but rounds out his initial set with
just one other green joint (Westgate Hotel) in favor of cheap
flexibility (Palace Chophouse).
Many thanks to "Big Daddy" for taking notes throughout
the game. Testimony is incomplete and blood stains cover some
of the evidence, but there's enough here to convict any of 'em:
Turn 2 - Cop #8 busts up Palace Chophouse with the
Public x3 in it. Big Daddy is not pleased. The Instigator's Thug
gets raided by the boys in blue in CK's Tobacco. The Thug gets
off scot-free!
Turn 3 - The North Shore Mob's Vamp got whacked in
revenge by the Purple People-Eaters. Bobby Tweaks is tweaked.
Turn 4 - The Southern Syndicate passes up an opportunity
to "nail" The Instigator's Racketeer with Barney Fife
(Cop #2).
Turn 5 - The Fuzz can't hit the broad side of a barn.
They've whiffed three consecutive times. So far, the Turn 2 raid
is all they've managed.
Turn 6 - Bobby Tweaks' boys gun down Big Daddy's Bikeshop.
Big Daddy declares, "It's on now punk!"
Turn 7 - Barney is back on patrol for the fifth time.
Turn 8 - Big Daddy gets payback on the Instigator's
Vamp for killing his lady.
Turn 9 - Big Daddy sends his Thug to smoke down the
North Shore's stolen Chophouse. The Man (Barney) raids the Syndicate's
joint at Franklin Hostel.
Turn 11 - The Mob hits the Syndicate's Racketeer in
the Pussycat Club.
Turn 12 - The Syndicate's Vamp goes to the Big House
when the cops shoot up her racket. The Purple People-Eaters smoke
down Big Daddy's joint at SMC Cartage Co. The West Side starts
making some noise, vamping The Instigator's Racketeer and hitting
one of his joints.
Turn 13 - The Mob joins the Association in annihilating
the People-Eaters' Racks. The Chophouse Massacre is all over
the headlines. The Chophouse blood bath continues as cops step
in to break it up.
Turn 14 - Barney is elected Sheriff, Marshall, and
Chief Security Officer of the City after arriving for the ninth
time.
Turn 15 - The cops bust Greenwood Park again. The Instigator
vows revenge.
Turn 17 - The Mob has a tough time breaking down Big
Daddy's joint at Burly's Beefhaus. The cops try to raid the Pussycat
Club... "But they're only violins... honest."
And then it was over - just like that. The player with the
weak gang that everyone had mostly ignored had come up with the
dough. Dusk had arrived!
Games where lots of players are going for joints usually end
up being bloody. 30 casualties were racked up in turf wars while
vamps caused gangsters to change sides no less than 26 times
(even more than our honorable mention game)! Given the number
of times Barney was on patrol and the number of cops whiffing,
the casualty numbers are truly impressive!
However, because the players weren't collecting cash, they
could also afford to recruit more often. Even with casualties,
there were still 33 mobsters on the board at the end of the game
(more than double the honorable mention game)! However, the winner
finished with the smallest winning gang of the entire tournament
(1/1/1)! Dusk hoarded his pennies and won the rainy day! (Apparently
it was raining bullets and beauties!)
Nick shows that a player who patiently collects small payoffs
while everyone attacks everyone else will often prevail in the
long run. No doubt Dusk felt thwarted in his run to collect joints
as his gang and movement options were annihilated, but then he
started saving cash instead of spending it - sticking with his
small 1/1/1 gang - until he had enough. The others would have
offed him for certain if they'd suspected he was getting close!
Will there be a dawn next year or has dusk come permanently
to Chicago? Congratulations, Nick!
7. Changes for 2005
The change to the end of the round (where each player plays
once more and then the game continues until everyone has moved
an equal number of times) worked very well. We'll use the same
end-of-round procedure next year.
1) The big change comes as a result of the confusion and delay
caused by having 50 people in a narrow hallway at the start of
the third heat! In 2005, the sign-in procedure will change! I'll
still begin accepting sign-ins (using the player chits) ten minutes
before the official starting time, but now I'll immediately assign
players to tables (using Uno cards to assign table numbers and
player colors). A table may begin as soon as it's got four players
(even if it's ten minutes early)! Players who have a copy of
the game will be assigned a table number.
It's been quite a while since there were less than six games
at a heat, so I'll start the process with six tables and add
more as necessary. During heat #2, one table will be pre-designated
for those wishing to use the advanced rules. During heats #1,
#2, and #4, one table will be pre-designated for those desiring
to use the squirt gun. During heat #3, game owners will designate
their game as squirt gun or not (and be placed within the room
appropriately) and players will be assigned accordingly. During
heats #2 and #3, one table will also be reserved for an early
semi-final should five heat winners show up!
If a player randomly ends up in a game with a family member,
friend, or teammate, that player can be immediately re-assigned
by returning to the GM.
In the best tradition of Gangsters, some of these ideas
were stolen. Many thanks to those they were stolen from!
Come early, play early, play longer, and have more fun! I'm
pretty sure this plan will let everyone start playing within
five minutes of the scheduled time (and some even earlier)!
2) Many thanks go out to Steve "Muscles" Quade for
volunteering to teach the Thursday demo session this year. Muscles
did a terrific job, as evidenced by the triumph of one of his
pupils over the whole shootin' match! As it turned out, my schedule
allowed me to attend Steve's demo - which was an invaluable way
to see it from the attendee's perspective. One thing that became
very clear was that with 20 people crowded around a little board
no one can see the map well enough to understand!
Thanks to that experience, Steve and I split up the crowd
so that everyone could see some examples on the map. If our new
champion's skill is any indication, I think it helped a lot.
I'd like to do the same with every demo from now on - that
is, I'd like to have two or three people teaching each demo so
that the crowd can be split up and thereby see and hear clearly.
If you can volunteer to help teach a smaller demo (roughly
6-8 people), please let me know! Next year's demos will be at
the same times: Tuesday at 9 pm and Thursday at 10 pm.
3) The announcement sheet was too cluttered this year. I will
trim it to the absolute minimum. However, minimal instructions
to alternates and winners will be retained - more semi-finalists
were able to play early this year than ever before as a result.
4) Secondary tie-breakers will no longer be calculated for
any player with a completion percentage (the first tie-breaker)
less than 70%. Experience shows that this will still give us
a list of 25 alternates going into the last heat.
5) The late-night heats will have alternate lists posted on
the kiosk by 11 am the next morning. (This will let the GM get
a good night's sleep instead of staying up to 4 am both Thursday
and Friday nights!)
6) Early semi-finals will require five players.
8. Tie-Breaker Penalties
This year a few players felt that players going for the cash
win are unfairly penalized by the "missing gang member"
penalties. Please read the following information and then let
me know what you think on the survey!
The two tie-breakers, in order, are percentage completion
and percentage of winner's total assets. Missing gang members
result in a penalty against one's cash total of $700 for the
Racketeer, $1,050 for the Vamp, and $350 for the Thug.
The rationale for the penalty is the requirement to have all
gang members on the board in order to win. The amount of the
penalty for the Vamp and Thug is based on an average die roll
(3.5) times the purchase price of the first gang member. The
penalty for the Racketeer is arbitrarily set at twice that of
the Thug simply because a player without a Racketeer is also
effectively losing the entire next turn and has no choice but
to buy. The penalty is assessed against cash because that's the
resource a player would be spending to replace the missing gang
piece.
Naturally, a player who wishes to avoid the tie-break penalty
can simply purchase the missing piece on his/her last turn after
the fifteen minute time-limit is announced. Of course, if the
die roll is higher than 3.5, the penalty is better than making
the purchase.
So, what's the dilemma? These penalties affect the first and
most important tie-breaker only for players going for the cash
win. For example, a cash player with $9,900 who's missing the
Vamp will have a completion percentage of 88.5% ($9,900 -1,050
= $8,850 which is 88.5% of $10,000). On the other hand, a player
with nine joints who's missing the same Vamp still has a completion
percentage of 90%. The penalty affects all players equally with
respect to the second tie-breaker (since both players' assets
would be docked the $1,050 penalty).
That might seem unfair, but here's a few more items for consideration:
1) Cash victory was claimed in 73% of all games. Ten joint
victory occurred in 19% and monopoly victory in 8%. The overall
system is not biased against cash winners.
2) In the five cases where tie-breakers determined victory
at the time-limit this year, four went to cash winners despite
penalties and one went to a player collecting joints. Three of
the five won despite the penalties. These results are consistent
with the over-all percentages where tie-breakers weren't used.
3) Players claiming victory through monopoly or ten joints
rarely have trouble replacing missing gangsters. Their only other
cash needs are the purchase price of the joints.
4) No players who attempted, but failed, to win by joints
were admitted as alternates to the semi-finals. Joint-based victory
conditions do not allow the possibility of being 91-99% complete.
90% is the highest tie-breaker a joint-based player can get.
This year that wasn't enough to make the semis (though it has
been occasionally in the past when more alternates were needed).
5) Longer games are more likely to see Ten Joint victories.
As a result, the tournament time limit and tie-breakers are more
likely to be imposed on games where a ten joint victory is becoming
likely.
That's everything I can think of that seems pertinent to the
issue - now let me know what you think on the survey!
For all of the rule clarifications, see the website at http://www.gameaholics.com/gangsters_tournament.htm!
9. Email Competition
Games are already under way. New games are starting as soon
as I get four players signed up! Join in the fun by emailing
me today at the address below. Check on the action at http://www.gameaholics.com/gangsters_status.htm!
10. Copies of the Game
My supply is almost gone, but I still have new, shrink-wrapped
copies available for $45 (plus $7 shipping). As soon as the supply
is gone, the price will jump to whatever I have to pay to get
more! If you do find a copy somewhere that you don't buy for
yourself, please let me know - I buy them to keep the tournament
well-stocked! If you find one on eBay, let me know so that we
don't bid against each other!
My prices are set to earn slightly less than $5 profit per
game - which I use on the special awards, name tags, timers,
and other goodies for the tournament.
11. See you in 2005!
Next year, you'll be seated at a table as soon as you turn
your player chit in! Come early and play more! I'm also hoping
to have a commemorative squirt gun for everyone who participates!
Don't miss out!
For anyone who wants even more statistics and information
on the games played this year, there's more (and more than ever)
on the website: http://www.gameaholics.com/gangsters_tournament.htm!
See youse criminal masterminds on the streets of Lancaster,
PA next year!
12. Survey
Select all answers that apply.
1. The cash penalties for missing gang members which are applied
to tie-breakers are:
(a) not high enough
(b) appropriate as is
(c) unfairly penalize cash strategies
(d) should be eliminated
(e) should be applied to cash assets only
(f) should be applied to all completion percentages and total
assets
2. As the Gangsters tournament grows, there will eventually
be more than 25 entrants who win a heat and show up to play in
the semi-final. How should that scenario be handled?
(a) stick with "one win and you're in" and
(a.1) play a quarter-final round (32 players; Top 2 advance)
(a.2) reduce the field with a squirt gun competition
(a.3) randomly select the semi-finalists
(a.4) play a partial quarter-final (limiting the game to one
hour)
(a.5) play a partial quarter-final (limiting the game to two
hours)
(b) reduce semi-final to 16 and admit players
(b.1) with mul
tiple wins then combinations of wins and seconds,
etc.
(b.2) based on points earned in multiple heats
For a nicer layout, go to http://www.gameaholics.com/gsr_wbc/gsr_04_yearbook.htm!
The complete and current errata/FAQ for Gangsters is at http://www.gameaholics.com/gsr_clarifications.htm.
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