Windy City Weasels

In a game featuring four players who had joined the club in the past two years, it was cagey old vet Christian Kline who emerged with the board top in Game No. 103, played July 17 at Peter Yeargin's home in Lakeview.

Kline, who joined the club in Game No. 3 back in January 2006, turned in a vintage performance. Drawing Russia, a country that has rebounded this season, he built only once in 1901, but followed that up with two in 1902, three in 1905 and four in 1907 to finish with 13 centers. It was Russia's sixth outright board top of the season.

The final center count for the game, which ended in Spring 1909, were:

Click here to check out the supply center chart. Hopefully the players will post their comments below.

I showed up for the end of the game, and afterward we played a four-year game of Wilsonian Diplomacy, which was fun. Matt's Turkey had 10 centers when we stopped playing to my nine-center France. Josh had six centers as England; John, four as Germany; Peter, three as Austria; and Aash and Christian, one each as Italy and Russia, respectively.

After the Wilsonian game, five of us met Meghan and some of her friends out for drinks. It was a good night.

John Gramila was good enough to grab Best England from Sam Bassett in Game No. 102, played yesterday at Sam's home in Chicago's Near North neighborhood, but he was stopped two short of the magic 18. The game ended after the Fall 1913 turn with the following center counts:

I'd like to publicly thank John and Kurt for answering our call for replacement players and also Matt Sundstrom for graciously stepping aside when we thought we'd found a third. That player couldn't make it, however, so I was called in as an emergency replacement. Sorry, Matt. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I won't ever ask you to sit out again.

We selected powers in reverse order of our standing in the club. Kurt took France; John, England; Ted, Germany; Nate, Russia; Sam, Turkey; Pete, Italy; and me, Austria. The game was really interesting, at least for the first eight years. I had to leave after that. But during those years, we saw Italy twice build three times and once remove three. England also built three times.

We knocked Russia out of the game in 1908, and at that point, with the consent of all the players, we turned over my Austria to Nate so that I could rejoin my plans in progress. Our House Rules actually forbid that, but no one had a problem with it, and we all felt that it was better than the alternatives of playing with Austria in Civil Disorder or turning it over to a reluctant Ashley Bassett, who was a trooper, by the way, as we occupied her home for some 12 hours.

Hopefully the players will post endgame statements. The game was fun, and there was a lot of play remaining when I left.

Here's the supply center chart.