The car of Enzo (DNF) of Team Shadowfax at the end of the race
December 1st, 2004 |
Dan was the only guest tonight, and Karla was good enough to play a couple games with us before going off to watch reality TV.
| St. Petersburg |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 77 | 1 | |
| Dan | 71 | 2 | |
| Karla | 53 | 3 | |
Notes: First up, we went for St. Petersburg. Karla was slow in getting aristocrats, Dan had a money majority early on, and I was struggling with cash. In particular, I filled my hand up too quickly and had to buy the Admiral so that no one else would get him later. In the end this was a good move, but it kept me short of cash for a couple rounds.
Karla managed to get a building up (a library), but her weak aristocrats (the author and the administrator), kept her money low. Dan was in pretty good shape, but as we weren't buying many buildings, there weren't very many aristocrats coming up each round, so no one was getting a lot of them. I had the observatory, which kept me in the game by giving me aristocrats every turn whereas only one other person (usually) would even get one.
By the end, I was finally getting enough cash to build, but in the meantime, my excellent aristocrats were giving me enough points to not only keep up, but take the lead. A round, near the end, typically went like this in terms of victory points:
Worker phase: Dan 2 points, Karla 1 point, Mike 0
Building phase: Dan 10 points, Karla 9 points, Mike 3 points
Aristocrat phase: Dan 3 points, Karla 1 point, Mike 10 points
By the end, though, Karla was getting more building points, and I managed a couple of nifty buildings on the last turn to really boost me up. In fact, on the second to last turn, I scooped up the Church of Christ and the ignored Potjomkin's village, thus saving me 4 rubles when I finally purchased it.
After the last turn, I had a 1 or 2 point lead on Dan, which I increased when we counted the aristocrats. I had 7, Dan had 6, and Karla had 4. I managed to win despite a start that felt slow and forced.
Dan said that the key to the game was getting the observatory. I disagree (to an extent). There are several keys, but the most important is making sure you get enough aristocrats. Dan went about every other turn without getting an aristocrat, which is unacceptable. Dan and Karla also didn't use the three hand cards enough. They were scared away from them early and rarely had more than 1 card in their hands. Had they put more buildings or something in their hands, they would have had more chances at aristocrats, and they would have kicked my slow-starting butt.
| High Society |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Dan | 11.5 | 1 | |
| Karla | 0 | 2 | |
| Mike | LEAST MONEY | 3 | |
Notes: Karla wanted a quick game, so we played this little doll. The game was dictated by the first card auctioned - the thief. Karla took it and then watched the game go helplessly between me and Dan.
The thief takes away the first card you purchase (if you don't have any when you get the thief), and all the cards that came out were the high-priced ones - the 8, 9, 10, etc. I managed to get the 4, 9, and 8, but was stuck with the gambling losses (giving me a 13). Karla, though, wasn't really purchasing anything, and Dan was only buying things that would keep his money total above mine.
Once, when the IRS showed up, I played $20 million. Dan took the card rather than pay more than that. Had he not taken that, I probably would have won, though at the time I thought it was a bad play. My idea in this game is to make everyone pay at least once for a penalty card. As the game turned out, Dan was right, because Karla was unwilling to pay exorbitant prices for a card she was going to lose. He just had to have some points to stay ahead of Karla, and not pay more than he knew I had left.
In the end, Karla finally bought the ocean liner, but then the game ended. She also had two recognition cards, so she was all set to start making a big dash.
| Formula Dé |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Propertius (Elegy) | 1st | 1 | |
| Nigel (Shadowfax) | 2nd | 2 | |
| Ovid (Elegy) | 3rd | 3 | |
| Enzo (Shadowfax) | DNF | 4 | |
Notes: Dan and I used to play this game a lot, but the lack of fellow enthusiasts has made it an almost forgotten game.
For the first half plus of this game, I remembered why. We were racing on track #4, SPA-Francorchamps, and Nigel got off to a flying start. Meanwhile, Ovid, in position number 3, stalled his car. So, Propertius had fallen to second and Ovid to last on the first turn. Propertius fought his way back into the race, neck and neck and neck with Enzo and Nigel until the 4th turn, the second double stop. Propertius was in 4th gear and needed anything but a 7 to be in good shape and to keep up with Enzo and Nigel of
Propertius managed to straggle along, one step behind Enzo, who was now one step behind the raging Nigel. Ovid was still 2 steps behind Propertius.
Finally, Nigel messed up on the final 2 turn before the pits, as the smell of brakes and tire swelled up when he was forced to slam on the breaks and triple downshift. Enzo, too, lost a step, and Propertius was almost even. Ovid made a desperate gamble, barreling down the front stretch in 6th gear, and hitting the final turn in a tie with Propertius.
Enzo and Nigel had been forced to slow down, and only entered the first turn of the second lap in 4th gear. Ovid was ready to make his move. He had just passed Propertius, and had come out of the last turn of the lap in 4th gear. He accelerated to 5th, needing only a 13 or higher to hit the corner and then blast into 6th for the back stretch.
He rolled a 12.
Stunned, Mike hung his head in pure depression. Dan laughed in disbelief at Mike's abject dice rolling. "How can this game screw you so badly?" Dan wondered, echoing Mike's thoughts. Dan offered to stop the race at one lap, Mike was so distraught. "Now I know why I don't play this game." Enzo and Nigel were bound to coast into victory in their abused cars.
With Ovid's stunning failure, Team Elegy sadly decided to press on. Propertius, pissed at sitting in last after originally holding the pole, took the bit into his mouth and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. With a "fuck it" and crappy roll - an 11 - in 5th gear, the only roll that would take no damage off his pristine car, he hit the first corner beautifully, then rocketed past Enzo into the back stretch turn by hitting the turn perfectly in 6th gear on one blast.
On the next turn he blew past Nigel (again in 6th gear), and he tripled down, made his second stop, then blasted into a 2 stop lead over Nigel, who struggled to make his turns. At this point, Mike, full of glee, was told by Dan, "This game just went from being sold on ebay to being your favorite ever."
Ovid eventually caught up, pushing his car to the limit, to take 2nd over Nigel and Enzo, too, who suffered some untimely poor rolls. Propertius blasted through the final turns and was rocketing to victory, while Enzo, blocked by the revitalized Ovid, blew out his tires at the second 2 stop corner:
The car of Enzo (DNF) of Team Shadowfax at the end of the race
Ovid's designs on 2nd place took a hit when he overshot the next turn and spun out, allowing Nigel to take second place. Propertius, who had driven so conservatively (and had such poor rolls) in the first lap, hit the gas, and pushed his car - undamaged at all in the first lap - to the limit to ensure the victory.
Dan said that the race was "awesome" and "ridiculous." Mike said it was "dramatic." Dan said, "Way to go, angry guy."
Way to go, indeed.