| This article published with permission of Kit Woolsey's GammOnLine |
By Jake Jacobs
"I THINK we have to hit." "Never mind hit! First, we come out, then we build our two-point, and then we hit." Gerhardt had it all planned out. Of course, if Paul anchored in the meantime his plan might need revision. Andreas, the Captain, agreed with me. Hit it would be. Here was the position.
Andreas and I wanted to hit with 6/1*, while Gerhardt wanted run with 23/18. Gerhardt knew something about running, so perhaps we should have listened. As a youngster Gerhardt decided that his mission in life was to come to Thailand and meet beautiful women. Thwarting this noble goal was a rather large wall bisecting his hometown, Berlin. On one side were Lufthansa flights to balmy Bangkok; on Gerhardt's side were Aeroflot flights to less sunny climes.
Gerhardt and a friend found a wooded spot about 150 meters from the Wall. They would have to run across that 150 meters and climb the wall before the guards from the military outpost 200 meters away intercepted them. So, they would have a 50-meter head start, and the element of surprise. The guards, on the other hand, would have a jeep, and machine guns.
"As long as we had the angle, they could not fire. If they did, their bullets would cross the Wall, and the other side would shoot back. So they had to come and catch us with their hands." The jeep was only 50 meters away, and closing fast, when they reached the Wall. Gerhardt gave his friend a boost, and then, as the jeep pulled up, leapt up the Wall, catching his friend's outstretched hands. From the top he gave the guards a goodbye wave, and hopped to freedom. One month later the 40-year Cold War ended, and he could walk back and forth across the border.
We convinced Gerhardt we had to hit. Well, we didn't actually convince, but Andreas went ahead and hit, then picked up his dice. Paul fanned, and we covered with 2-2: 7/1, 13/11. He fanned again. This was working out great. Our next two rolls were 6-6 and 4-4. Things were no longer great.
Page 2 - UN Rules
Page 3 - Landing the Bird
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