January 5th, 2005 |
There was a lot of snow tonight, so I knew attendance would be sparse. After the first game, it became sparser, as Karla bailed on us to bake up some blueberry muffins.
| Through the Desert |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Annie | 77 | 1 | |
| Mike | 74 | 2 | |
| Karla | 70 | 3 | |
| Dan | 57 | 4 | |
Notes: We hadn't played "Trough the Desert" in forever, so I lugged it out. Dan hasn't been very up on this game, and insists that he has never won. From what I recall, he won it once, a long long time ago, and I won it once. Karla also said, before we started (she wasn't so keen on it either for some reason), "I never have a good plan in this game and I always suck." Dan then added, "You mean you're going to have to change your strategy of just 'Sucking'?"
Despite all the grim talk, we got started. I yelled at Dan for putting too many like colors of his camels next to like colors of my own camels - like colored camel caravans prevent more movement than unlike colored caravans - so he stopped doing it.
The first few turns were spent by everyone trying to get oases. Karla managed to get a string to all five oases, but the rest of us managed only four. Annie blocked off two smaller areas right away, capturing some waterholes. I was soon blocked out of my grape and butter regions, so I went with a consistent sea foam and mint strategy. The temptation to take two of camels of one kind is really tempting, but I was behind in waterholes and oases, and I knew my only chance lay in capturing territory with two - and only two - caravans. My other color - ABC gum - picked up an oasis and 3 point waterhole, and I ignored it.
Karla had a huge lead in grape, and surrounded a very nice chunk of territory. Dan didn't really do much. He kept changing direction all game, and never really focused on one strategy. He had a lot of one or two turn plans, and never did amass much of a string of any one type of camel. (I guess he decided to go with the "Sucking" strategy.) Near the end, he focused a bit on the ABC gum, though. Still, Annie had surrounded one last chunk of territory in the middle with her ABC gum string, and it looked like grim tidings for Dan, and my lead in the sea foam and mint caravans was going to be matched by Annie's lead in ABC gum and butter. In the last round, I needed one more turn to get to an oasis, but, unfortunately, I was the only one who could increase his point total substantially at that point, so Karla ended the game right before my turn - which was absolutely her only play at that point.
Had I been able to connect to that last oasis, I would have beaten Annie by 2. This is really an excellent game we should definitely play more often.
| Traders of Genoa |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 820 | 1 | |
| Dan | 790 | 2 | |
| Annie | 660 | 3 | |
Notes: It was our second time playing this little gem. Karla was supposed to play, but she backed out in order to bake some muffins. So, Annie, Dan and I played. Last time we played, I allowed people to go through buildings without bargaining for them if they didn't want to. This time, I made it mandatory (as the rules state), and this helped out a bit. There were only a few times when someone tried to go through a building without letting someone use it, and someone was always able to make a minimum bid for it.
Dan couldn't believe that he had to make 5 or 10 ducat payments for everything. "You must have lost the ones," he kept saying, about five times. I was pretty sure I hadn't lost anything, and I double-checked the game contents anyway, and sure enough, there were no ones missing.
The game progressed quickly, and everyone was always making deal. Annie and I focused on the Privilege cards early on while Dan collected orders. We all managed our early orders pretty quickly, and I managed to deliver some Messenger cards early on. Dan, rather than go for privileges, kept going to the cathedral and getting markers and then owning buildings. I managed to get a couple in mid-game, and Annie grabbed 3 herself by the end, too, but Dan had about 6.
Dan had an incredible supply of goods, probably close to 12 or 13 of them. Annie had orders, but no goods, and I had a couple goods, but a lot of special cards and no orders. I did close out one extra order by the end. Still, the key was an impulse privilege card I bought when Dan went through a villa. I picked up the one card I needed to connect 2 groups of 2 buildings, and by the end, it was what pushed me over the top, as I netted an extra 150 ducats, while Dan and Annie, who had 3 and 4 buildings, respectively, managed buildings that were unconnected.
It felt like a close game, and it certainly was, but I pulled out the victory thanks to my privilege cards. I got nervous near the end, as Dan and Annie kept completing Large Orders, but Dan ran out of useful cards despite his large amount of goods.
One thing we did that I'm not too sure is legal is that we would barter before using the "Start in Any Space" card. I let it fly because it seemed more fun, though I think it's illegal. (Note: This is perhaps not exactly legal, but is in with the spirit of the game, according to a discussion I had at bgg.com)
The 3 player game had cheaper trade-offs, but it also allowed everyone to get in on the action more frequently. It's a pretty dang fun game.