September 7th, 2004 |
With the pressure of our Fantasy football draft going on, I was able to shrug it aside and host a little game night. Scott was no doubt too flustered to make it over.
| Management Material |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | NOT Promoted | 1 | |
| Annie | Promoted Last | 2 | |
| Dan | Promoted 2nd | 3 | |
| Mike | Promoted 1st | 4 | |
Notes: This cute little game really depends a lot on luck of the draw, and I was hammered pretty quickly, getting hit with a "10" project, then a "9" and a "6". Each time it was my chance to draw some excuses, I got 1's or Recognition cards. The Recognition cards are good when you have some excuses, but I had very few. My turn ended when, with 7 points of excuses ready to go, I drew a project of size 9.
Dan didn't last much longer, and it was a duel between Annie and Karla, who were taking small projects on and stocking their hands. Finally, though, Annie drew an event that rotated her projects to Karla and vice-versa, and as Karla had more points, the new project card Annie drew pushed her over the top.
Karla was the only worker good enough to avoid being promoted!
| Traders of Genoa |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | 765 | 1 | * |
| Dan | 610 | 2 | * |
| Annie | 465 | 3 | * |
| Mike | 420 | 4 | * |
Notes: Of the 4 games I bought a couple weeks ago, Traders of Genoa was one of the few we hadn't played. In this game, everyone gets a turn to move the "tower" around the city of Genoa. You make deals to let people visit the buildings (each with a different ability) trying to get money or goods or both. There are a lot of ways to make money.
Annie went first and went for a small order strategy all game. I got hosed by some deals early on - people tend not to trust me in these negotiation games - and I was WAAAAYY behind early on. Karla managed to get to the Cathedral several times and ended up in control of 6 or 7 buildings most of the game, including some that were wildly popular. By doing this she netted 10 ducats per visit and really had a ton of cash. She also went to the Villas a lot, and she managed to get at least 12 privilege cards. About the only other thing she ever did was to deliver a couple messages.
I went for the Special cards, which allow for a free good, a free 1 to 1 trade, an extra action per turn, and to start the tower (on your movement turn) anywhere one wants. I had up to about 7 of them during the game, and was able to use a lot of them to make some deliveries late, but they were woefully under-utilized all game. Part of the problem was that Annie would just decide not to let anyone do anything and she'd take her one action and end the turn. (Note: This is not legal. According to what I've read since, Annie would have been forced to accept any offer from another player for the right to use the building.) My only profitable turns were my own.
Dan made good bargains throughout the game and managed to make a lot of deliveries, as did Annie. Part of Annie's problem stemmed from an occasional desire (as I stated above) not to make any deals on her turn.
In the end, I think I tried to do too much of everything, and that killed me. Annie and Dan focused on deliveries and Karla got privileges and building control. Annie and Dan also managed to make some large deliveries late, too. I on the other hand, delivered about 5 things, delivered one message, had 2 privilege cards, and controlled 2 buildings. In essence, I did everything in meagerness whereas everyone else forsook balance to focus on one or two areas.
At the end, I figured Karla would win because she had all those damned privilege cards, and sure enough, she had a TON of them, netting her probably around 300 ducats. She also had 60 ducats in bonus buildings that she controlled. The game was pretty fun, but I thought I would enjoy it more. Everyone kept saying how it looks just like Princes of Florence.