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Some new mobsters bone up on
da tip sheet. Nobody outprepares John Pack at running a tournament. |
GM John and his main squeeze
Sharee welcome a coupla new mugs to town for the shootout. |
From fedoras, period name tags,
and framed awards to squirt guns, no accessory is left unprovided. |
Raidin' da Joint ...
Before beginning the game, the finalists innovate to compensate
for a missing joint marker. We used the Level-9 joint marker.
As far as I know this is the first recorded use of a Level-9
joint marker! To legitimately use this marker, of course, one
would have to own all nine brown joints and then upgrade at one
level per turn to reach level 9 (instead of simply declaring
a monopoly victory) - which would take a minimum of 15 turns!
The starting and
final positions of the 2006 Final (in order of finish) were as
follows:
Thomas "The Mumbler" Richardson (Green; Moved Fourth)
Start: 5/1/2, Shop 'n' Save, Franklin Hostel, Serva's Market,
$400
Finish: 6/1/1, 2 hits, 0 seductions, 6 joints ($3,000), $11,500
Nick "Dusk" Henning (Yellow; Moved First) -
Start: 5/1/1, Brzkowski's Imports, Ambassadors' Club, Jaeger's
Clothier, $400
Finish: 5/1/1, 0 hits, 3 seductions, 4 joints ($2,500; 3 of 6
Blue), $8,300
John "The Viper" Pack (Red; Moved Second) -
Start: 5/1/1, Downtown Bus Station, Westgate Hotel, SMC Cartage
Co.,$400
Finish: 4/1/1, 2 hits, 4 seductions, 7 joints ($2,900; 2 of 4
Red), $2,900
Steve "Dancin' Man" Cameron (Brown; Moved Third)
-
Start: 5/1/2, Brizelli's Riverside, Greenwood Park, Hotel Belgrave,
$400
Finish: 6/1/2, 3 hits, 1 seduction, 4 joints ($1,900; 3 of 8
Yellow), $4,900
All of the finalists save $400 during the initial setup and
gang purchase. Each has two joints of one color and is poised
for a first-turn upgrade. While the Viper begins with three green
joints, only Dusk begins with both one-jump joints of his chosen
color. Here's a turn-by-turn account reconstructed from my notes
with some additional comments added after reflection:
Turn 1 - Dusk upgrades, vamps the Viper's Racketeer, and scores
a payoff of $1,600 with the Public x2. We're off to the money
races already! The Viper uses the cops to raid Brzkowski's Imports,
vamps Dusk's Racketeer, and pulls in a paltry $300. Dancin' Man
nets $600 for his Thug. The Mumbler vamps the Viper's Racketeer
- showing what a vamp magnet the Downtown Bus Station is - and
picks up $500 with his Thug.
Comments: The better players are all aware of the Downtown
Bus Station and ready to pounce. It's dangerous to keep a Racketeer
there these days!
Turn 2 - Dusk vamps the Viper's Racketeer again and scores
another big payoff of $1,200 using the Public x3 in Brzkowski's.
The Viper flees from the Vamps in the Downtown Bus Station after
upgrading it to Level-3; his Thug brings in $400. With only one
move, the Viper intentionally leaves the Public x3 in Brzkowski's
in an attempt to focus the other players' attention on Dusk.
Dancin' Man moves the Public x3 to Brizelli's Riverside and collects
$1,300. The Mumbler bring in the cops to raid Brizelli's, seduces
Dusk's Thug off the map, and then returns the Public x3 to the
map to patronize the Franklin Hostel.
Comments: I'm down to one move already - road pizza on the
other players' path to victory! Dusk's triple payoff at this
point should have made him the magnet for cop attentions for
a long time to come, but as you'll see it doesn't have that effect.
Even though my move may look unwise, it pretty much ended my
hammering. The location I fled to? The Caravan Club. This was
intentional as I was already looking for a backup strategy at
this point.
Turn 3 - Dusk vamps the Viper's Racketeer for a third time
in as many turns, buys two Thugs for $600, and collects nada.
The Viper buys a Racketeer (to get back up to 3) and collects
$600. Dancin' Man sends a new cop after the Viper's Thug.
Comments: At this point, I've been vamped four times (which
ends up being my final seduction total). I'm hammered. In fact,
the other players only have four seductions among them all at
the end of the game! My Racketeer purchase was based on my green
roll of one and my other lousy rolls (including a blue six).
Turn 4 - Dancin' Man vamps Dusk's Racketeer and collects $600
from the public. The Mumbler collects the same amount.
Turn 5 - Dusk scores with both Public x1 and Public x3 to
collect $2,300. The Viper's Vamp returns Dusk to the two-move
range while boosting his own moves back to two; however, he collects
a paltry $100. Dancin' Man sends another cop toward the Viper's
Thug. He tries to move the Viper's Vamp to begin extorting. "I
think I should'a collected that extortion!"
Comments: Dusk's four big payoffs to this point should have
put everyone on Red Alert.
Turn 6 - The Viper collects his first $1,000. "I'm gonna
have it framed!" The Viper also manages to turn all the
cops away from his criminal Vamp and Thug (which are now in the
same joint). The Mumbler uses the public to score a $1,200 payoff.
Turn 7 - Dusk pulls in $1,500. The Viper again sends the cops
to Brzkowski's. Having utterly failed to collect cash (as a Bus
Station Strategy is intended to do), the Viper buys a red joint
and moves to another. Dancin' Man rolls 1,1,2,2,2. "A roll
to replicate," says Dusk. "That's a pretty nice roll."
The crime level (7) draws a comment - "This is almost a
law-abiding city now." Dancin' Man buys a Vamp and upgrades
his second yellow building (Greenwood Park) to Level-3. Mumbler
steers Barney Fife away from his criminals. "Dusk, start
a gang war!" - The Mumbler "We cordially invite you
all to attend a St. Valentine's Day Party." - The Viper
"Hey, we all get a plaque!" - The Mumbler "You
could surrender now and go get your plaque" - The Viper
Comments: The game really becomes a lot of fun once the players
get to know each other and start to play their comments to each
other. The squirt gun helps people remember that it's a fun game
even when it's an intense Final!
Turn 8 - The Viper buys his seventh joint and his third red
joint. Barney Fife radios for help. Cop #7 answers and moves
in. The crime level stays at 7. Dancin' Man collects $200 with
the public. Dusk to The Mumbler, "You're not the leader
because of joints - it's because you have a boatload of money."
The Viper to the Mumbler, "The public will go away if
you fight." "Thanks, Viper. What would I do without
you?" Dusk to the Mumbler, "Payoffs are before shootouts."
"Thanks, Dusk. What would I do without you two?" Mumbler
eliminates the Viper's red Caravan Club.
Comments: It's easy to see the Red Monopoly threat - which
the Mumbler quickly dispatches. Not so easily seen are the mounting
piles of cash held by the Mumbler and Dusk.
Turn 9 - Dusk (aka "Antonio Banderas" because of
his t-shirt) breaks even for the turn. Viper collects his second
$1,000 bill. Cop #8 headed towards the Viper's Vamp and Thug.
Dancin' Man leaves the public in the Downtown Bus Station. Viper
collects his third $1,000 bill. Greenwood Park at Level-3 pays
$1,800 to Dancin' Man. However, that Public x3 then moves to
the Ambassadors' Club and pays the Mumbler $2,400 (for a total
payoff of $3,200). His Thug slips behind Cop #7. "These
cops need to be like Antonio Banderas," says Dancin' Man.
Comments: It appears the Mumbler managed to score a payout
in one of Dusk's joints, but we didn't catch it at the time.
My cash level is so low that Dancin' Man doesn't have to worry
about leaving a big public in the Bus Station.
Turn 10 - The Mumbler to Dusk, "You have three seconds
left." "Viper, go back to writing!" The Viper
returns to the Caravan Club after buying the other three red
joints. Dusk and the Mumbler repeatedly sing, "C is for
Cookie. Is good enough for me."
Are Gangsters competitive or what? "I'm going to the
bathroom." - Dusk. "You have 30 seconds. Go!"
- The Mumbler.
Dancin' Man takes out the Viper's red Hawthorne Hotel. The
Mumbler collects $3,100 including a big payoff at Brizelli's
Riverside to declare victory with $11,500. (The Viper is still
writing and hasn't clued in that the game is over. "What
happened?")
Here's what the Mumbler had to say for himself, "Dusk
is a clumsy BUM! Viper, I Ü· you. Dusk said I sucked.
Chuck Norris is WAY cooler than the Viper. WAY! Åh Something
tells me we need to have him talk with Willy Wonka.
"What game is this?" - Passerby. "Gangsters!"
- Everyone in unison
Comments: Two huge payoffs in a row vaults the Mumbler past
Dusk, denying Dusk his third championship in a row. The final
totals show it was close. I manage to re-establish a Red Monopoly
threat only to have it blown away once more - as I still managed
to attract more attention than either player with a large cash
pile. There's no question why winning with cash is so much easier.
The Mumbler's big Racketeer allowed him to manipulate the public
effectively and win with the "Sneak up the Cash" strategy
that's won three championships in a row.
Congratulations to Thomas "The Mumbler" Richardson
for winning it all in his first WBC Gangsters Tournament!
Thomas brought his father and brother with him to the tournament
this year - where all three qualified for the semi-finals. Apparently
they can play some pretty good games right at home! The Mumbler's
style of play is very much like our previous Godfather and runer-up
this year, Nick"Dusk" Henning. Who will prevail next
year?
For more details, statistics, and information about this year's
tournament as well as announcements for next year, go to http://www.gameaholics.com/gsr_wbc/gsr_06_yearbook.htm!
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