March 11th, 2005 |
It was the first anniversary of my keeping this website updated, and I was itching to play some games, so I put out a telepathic distress signal that Sam was gracious enough to receive and respond to. Scott and I met him and Jill at home, and after waiting forever (or about an hour and a half) for Dan to get his ass out of bed and come over, we finally got to play a couple. The next morning, Sam called me to let me know I left my notes at his house. (He must have been pleased with his performance and really wanted this posted...)
| Modern Art |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Sam | $496,000 | 1 | |
| Dan | $330,000 | 2 | |
| Scott | $326,000 | 3 | |
| Mike | $320,000 | 4 | |
Notes: In the first bout of paintings, Scott went exclusively for Lukshina paintings, which managed to go for $20,000 apiece by the end of the round. Dan and I pretty much went for a "big profit and sell" strategy, which meant that we tried to sell expensive stuff or buy things for ridiculous profits. Dan managed to buy two Gonzalez paintings in the first round, for about $12,000, netting him $8000 in profit, as Gonzalez sold for $10,000. Tex was the big seller in the first round, though, edging out Lukshina by 1 painting, getting Sam $60,000 for his two Texes. I managed one as did Dan. It seemed pretty close after one.
The second round was interesting. Sam started the round again and it looked like Tex would be a big seller again. Sam was putting money hand over fist into paintings this round, and he was always willing to outpay me. Basically, I target whoever has the most money and try to make more of a profit than they do. So I refuse to overpay for paintings from my biggest competitor. Anyway, Sam usually outbid everyone on his own paintings, ensuring that he would make about a $15,000 profit or so without anyone else getting money. Scott again went for Lukshina paintings, and I managed to grab one. Then there was a big fight for third place, as people were running out of Tex and Lukshina paintings to put out, and Polke and PeterSharpe fought for the honor of third. The paintings didn't go for too much, but Sam's three PeterSharpes took a useless 4th, as Dan ended the round holding onto 3 Polkes (which held the tiebreaker). Still, Dan hosed everyone by giving Sam $60K apiece for his Tex paintings, of which he had 4!! This was critical. Dan didn't want to end the round, but he didn't want to give Sam the chance to put PeterSharpe back in the 3rd place lead. What Dan could have done (but didn't), was to play an "equal" sign Lukshina, forcing Sam (or Scott, or whoever) to put down another Lukshina, and that would have given Lukshina the #1 bid, and Sam would only have scored $50,000 per Tex whereas the rest of us would have reaped more cash from Lukshina.
The third round was super quick, as Scott ended the round with only two artists being sold. Gonzalez was the top winner, I believe, with $40,000 per painting, and Lukshina went second (I think), for $60,000 per painting. Sam and Scott received the most cash. Scott was the only one with Lukshina and managed to have an okay round. I didn't buy anything this round.
In the last round, Sam bid and re-bid, and I managed to purchase a Tex painting for $21,000, with the hope that it would sell for $70,000. It did, but just barely, edging out the 4th place PeterSharpe in the tiebreaker. Polke took 1st and Gonzalez took second (I think - memory is fuzzy now). Sam again bought and bought and bought, and frequently sold to himself.
I knew I hadn't won, and I was sure Scott was out, too. Scott focused too much on one painting and wasn't getting an overwhelming majority in them and also wasn't selling paintings for much money. Sam wasn't selling much, and he paid a lot for his paintings, but I should have made him pay more. My big problem, though, was that I didn't have the best paintings to sell. I made nice profits on the few that I bought (probably no more than 5 all game), but I always seemed to be in the position of selling a new painting, either because my hand was Tex-less and Lukshina-less or because Scott and Sam had already put three of one or the other out already in the first two rounds. I didn't want to give them first place too easily, so I frequently had to sell cheaper paintings. The big thing, though, was letting Sam get such a huge profit in the 2nd round. He made a lot of money that round despite wasting about $40K on PeterSharpe. Next time I'm going to be less careful with my bidding.
The Board... (Tiebreakers go to the paintings further to the left, as there are fewer of them)
| Princes of Florence |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Scott | 47 | 1 | |
| Sam | 42 | 2 | |
| Mike | 40 | 3 | |
| Annie | 39 | 4 | |
| Dan | 30 | 5 | |
Notes:Annie joined us and we played Princes of Florence. Sam was already kind of buzzed by this point. I started with all three Lab building cards, which I thought would be awesome for me, meaning I only had to purchase one building and could focus on other things for the first few rounds. Although that was nice (and kept me from losing a card to a recruitment at one point), I'm not sure it was so great. For one, to maximize the points I needed all three freedoms and all three Landscapes. My focus early on landscapes was a bit too distracting.
In the first round, only Dan and I built works. I managed to get a jester and create a 9 point work. I took mostly cash for it. Then Dan freaked me out by building a 10 point work, taking my 3 prestige point bonus (curses!) and taking all points! Taking all points made me jittery, and I started taking more points later, too.
In the second round, Scott and Annie builts some works while I decided to save up to make some nicer works down the road. After this round, we were all pretty tightly bunched around 10 points, as Dan's early "grab points instead of money" idea had infected everyone. Sam was back at 3 points. Scott had top work for the round, I believe.
In the third round, Dan and I again built works - Dan using his recruitment card to take Annie's Astronomer - but I managed best work. Dan again took points, and this made me take more points than I normally would have. Dan was soon to be incredibly short on money. I was all set for another work to be built next round, so I picked up a Profession card in this round and got ready to build for it. Sam still hadn't built any works, and had very little stuff over in his piazza. I was wondering at this point if Sam was too drunk (or giddy from his Modern Art victory) to keep up. Scott kept quiet and picked up some profession and bonus cards.
In the fourth round I was still focusing on landscapes. Annie took a recruitment card...and re-took the Astronomer from Dan, a move that Dan complained about. "Oh, Annie!" he moaned, "I might as well quit now!" Dan was especially upset because he diagnosed (correctly, I believe) that if there is no optimal strategy available for Annie she tends to 1) look to hose Dan, or 1a) look to hose Mike. In this case, though, I thought she made the right move. After all, she already had made the Astonomer earlier, so she had all the pieces in place for it. There's only one card that works with the Tower, and Dan's mistake may have been to use a recruitment card to take that work. Annie then tried to take one of my guys, but she was unable to fit the Lab onto her piazza, so she took Dan's card anyway. Sam finally built a work, taking the Organ Maker. Sam's work was pretty good, so I didn't compete with him. Scott built the best work and took another Bonus card.
In the fifth round I was STILL focusing on landscapes. I managed a tremendous amount of points and took mostly cash. I easily had the best work, as I used a bonus card I had picked up to boost its worth to around 20 points. No one really tried to compete with me, though Dan did build a work. He was now really low on cash and actually had to back up down the track to get some money back. Sam built another work - he was on a roll now. Annie had a ton of money, as she had been taking money. By this point, both Sam and Scott had prestige cards, and I had no long-term cards (like Recruitment or Prestige). It was still anyone's game, though Dan was in grim shape from his lack of cash.
The sixth and deciding round. Annie stole Sam's Organ Maker and built it, giving her a decent work. Dan didn't do too much, though he had amassed a tremendous amount of Profession cards (despite losing the Astronomer to Annie a couple turns earlier). Scott and I each had one Profession card left. I built my work first, and managed a nice 18 point work. It was for the Pharmacist, and I had the Hospital, Park, Opinion Freedom, 2 jesters, and 4 Prof. cards. Scott's work (the Mathematician) was almost as good, but then he expended his 3 bonus cards and scooped up a bunch of points as well as grabbing the best work and having about a 25 point work overall. He whizzed into a tight second place. He had more money than I did, and he also had a prestige card. For my turn (keep in mind I went before Scott), I built my work, then built the University, expecting in the next round to win the Recruiting card at auction and then take Scott's Mathematician.
That move (probably) cost me the game. I had 1100 florins left, but Scott, Sam, and Annie each had more, and the Recruitment card is the MVP of Round 7. Had I taken the last Profession card instead, I figure I had a 66.666% chance of winning. I'll explain this below.
In Round 7, which quickly came to show me how grossly I had miscalculated in the previous round, Annie spent 1500 florins to get a prestige card. Sam easily outbid me for the Recruiting card. Scott didn't really want anything, neither did Dan, and I had to take a second park for 300 florins, netting me an extra 3 points, and giving me a very slim lead over Scott. Annie took the last Profession card but couldn't use it. Dan built a minor work and moved up a little bit. Sam stole back his Organ Maker from Annie and creeped up into a tie for third with Annie. Scott and I did nothing, as I lamented the fact that Annie took the last Profession card and didn't use it. Dan took a bonus card at one point and tried to use it as a prestige card. Sorry, dude, bonus cards help out WORKS, prestige cards are end of game POINTS. Dan got pissed at the end when he realized he could have used an earlier Bonus card to get better works. No one felt sorry for him, though, because Bonus Cards are specifically mentioned on every Profession card as a way to get more points.
In the end, Scott had an 8 point prestige card to smoosh my 1 point lead, and Sam had a 6 pointer, to zip into second. Annie managed a couple more points and I was scared I was doomed to fourth. Dan's prestige card got him to 30 points on the nose.
Had I had the 6th turn to do over, I would have done it the same, but I would have taken the last profession card. I would have had to build a new building, but I had the room for it anyway. Then, I would have had the building (4 points), the landscape (3 points - I had all three), 2 jesters (4 points), 5 profession cards (5 points). That results in 16 points. I would have needed one more point, which I had a 2 out of 3 chance of getting, since freedoms give 3 points and I had 2 of the 3 (no religion). Thus, I would have had a 2 out of 3 chance of winning, for I would have taken all 9 points, which would have given me 49.
Since I've been reading about poker and the importance of position, it really dawns on me how important position is. People on Boardgamegeek fret over position a lot in some games, especially Puerto Rico, but it's something that must be considered and overcome, like I should have done in Princes of Florence. I needed to look three steps ahead instead of two, mostly because I was first to act in the deciding 6th round.
Shit. Still, Scott played well, being very patient. Sam, despite his close finish, never really threatened first place all game, and being within 4 points was as close as he got all game. Dan started well but finished poorly (perhaps due to his misunderstanding of the bonus cards).