May 9, 2006 |
Rakesh and Amanda called to deny that they were coming at about 6:30, then, with Dan, Lee, Scott, and Karla in tow, I forced them to play the meta-game in order to choose which game we'd play. I brought out Santiago, El Grande, Princes of Florence, Traders of Genoa, and Wallenstein. The group chose Princes, and it wasn't even close. Three people put their highest cards on Princes.
Not that I mind Princes, but my order was (1) El Grande, (2) Wallenstein, (3) Princes, (4) Santiago/Traders. They're all great - that's why I chose them...but we haven't played El Grande or Wallenstein in frickin' forever, and they're two of the best games I've got.
| Princes of Florence |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | 61 | 1 | |
| Dan | 51 | 2 | |
| Mike | 47 | 3 (Tie) | |
| Scott | 47 | 3 (Tie) | |
| Lee | 46 | 5 | |
Notes: I think everyone had played before, but I know it had been a long time since Lee or Scott had played. I was finishing up the rules and Karla was getting upset. "Let's just play!" Well, okay for you, Princess Grumperilla.
Everyone was determined not to get hosed in the first round of bidding, so when I bid 300 for a Lake that Karla started bidding on, I got stuck with it. That was okay. What wasn't as okay was that I didn't really get too many matching Landscapes or Buildings (try none of either) in my first hand. So I had to build a lot of stuff from scratch.
Lee, Scott, and I all managed to build a work worth 10 in the first round, though Lee could have built something worth 11 if he had tried. We all got the +3 and were very happy.
As the game wore on, Scott stopped building works in the last two rounds, and passed doing an action one round. Lee was doing okay, but stumbling over a couple of boo-boos here and there, costing him points. I seemed to be getting hosed on the auctions. It seemed like I was paying more for some things than the other folks were, and though I managed to build five works, had things worked out a bit better with my Profession card draws, I could have built one more work in the 2nd or 3rd round. I also managed a pure crap draw on Prestige cards - costing me more money for no points.
Really, though, Karla or Dan was going to win. Karla built great stuff, and ended up with some wonderful draw cards. Every time she built (except once), she built the best work, and I had to use my Bonus Card to keep her from clinching the game in round 6. Dan was doing fine, but not really opposing anybody. Lee hosed himself in round 6 by not bidding on the last builder. Had he won it in the auction, he would have added 7 or 8 points. Scott also hosed himself by starting his first building (the hospital, I believe) right smack in the middle of his Piazza. By about the end of round 2, he was completely regretting it.
There were a couple things Karla did to win. First, she completed five works, winning the final recruitment card of the game when Dan was 100 florins short of knocking her out (she had 900 and he had only 800). Had Dan won that, he most certainly would have won the game.
Second, she completed her Prestige card. No one else except Scott (who was way behind because he only built 3 works) completed a prestige card, as Lee and I both failed (I failed to tie, too).
Third, Karla had a building strategy, and when she could, she'd build something. By the end she had 5 or 6 buildings and two builders, so that space wasn't a worry.
No one else had such a combo of stuff. I had 5 works, Scott had Prestige, but no one had the combo.
| Metro |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 56 | 1 | |
| Scott | 54 | 2 | |
| Dan | 53 | 3 | |
| Lee | 42 | 4 | * |
Notes: To finish the night, I managed to get Karla to agree to letting us stay until 10. We played some Metro to finish out the night, and I ended up winning.
My basic strategy was to close out a line if someone was doing well and keep my own lines alive. Dan met with a couple quick closures early on, then built a fantastic line in midgame that he kept expanding. Lee was hit with closures about 2/3 of the way through the game, and when my guys were safe or had scored, I focused on Scott.
It barely worked out, as I pulled off a two-point victory. After the game I chased everyone off.