Notes from Hades

hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season. I was quite happy to spend it at home. My parents flew down from north Idaho for Christmas, and a good time was had by all. We also got a chance to visit the newly remodeled Griffith Observatory, which was quite nice. It's amazing how they were able to add so much onto it without changing the exterior at all. A whole new large exhibit area was built underground, and they actually had to lift the existing reinforced concrete building off its foundations to build it. We unfortunately did not get to see a planetarium show, because children under 5 years old are only allowed at the first show of the day, and by the time we got there, that show was sold out. The boys still enjoyed the experience, however, and I'm pretty sure we'll go back.

One nice thing about all of the travel I've been doing is that I build up a lot of comp time – so much so that I still had all of my vacation time unused by the end of November. So, I was able to take my two weeks, plus a week of comp time, and take most of December off. It was nice to be able to have the first week (while the boys were still in school) to relax and finish my Christmas shopping, although I did have to spend part of that time installing a new garage door opener, since our old one died on us.

As expected, this issue sees the conclusion of Dogwood, and Andy Lewis pulls out another victory. This one was quite close – the difference between first place and third place was a mere 4 points. Congratulation to Andy. It also means that a new game will be starting up, and that game will be Hound, the new Outpost game. There's still room for one more.

I am also contemplating stating up a play-by-email game of Republic of Rome. If I get enough interest, I might do so, depending on other demands on my time. So, if you are interested, let me know.

The next deadline is Tuesday, February 27 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Please do not call or fax orders after 10:00 p.m. Pacific time. My wife and I tend to retire early. Also, if you want to fax in orders, call first. We hang up on unannounced faxes.

Game Openings

Hound. Outpost. Dave Partridge, Bill Scharf, Kevin Wilson, Andy Lewis, Michael Lowrey, Andy York, Eric Brosius, Michael Longdin, and Cary Nichols, will take up to 1 more. Starts next issue!

Dog Park. Machiavelli. Rules determined by player vote as usual. Have Kevin Wilson, Dave Partridge, Bob Robles, Pasquale Giovine, Mike Scott, Dale Horsely, Jerry Roalstad, and Lynn Mercer. This game is full.

Bulldog. Seafarers of Catan. We will be playing the Oceans scenario. Have Mike Scott, Dave Partridge, Michael Longdin, Andy York, and Dave Hooton, need up to 1 more.

Greyhound. Age of Renaissance. This game will start when Dog Chow finishes and will use the European rules and alternate map. Have Michael Longdin, Bob Robles, Dave Partridge, Dennis Cain, and Steve Koehler, will take 1 more.

Wish List

Dune. We will use the optional Lansraad, Ixians, and Bene Tleilaxu powers. Have Kevin Wilson, Bob Robles, and Paul Bolduc, will take up to 3 more (4 if one player plays the Bene Tleilaxu).

History of the World. Have Andy Lewis, Kevin Wilson, and Dave Partridge, will take up to 4 more.

New World. Have Dennis Cain and Andy Lewis, will take up to 4 more.

Gunslinger. Scenario to be determined. Will take up to 7.

Kremlin. Will start after Flea Collar ends. Will take up to 6.

Silverton. Will start after Terrier ends. Will take up to 6.

In general, game ownership is recommended, but not required.

Note that a subscription to S.O.B. is not required to play in a game run by flier, but that a game fee will be charged to non-subbers.