Zach was in town, so we got together and had a big day of gaming. It was a lot of fun– we pulled out a lot of pointed competition games. The antagonism around the table was fun…
We began with Web of Power. Zach, Dad, and I hadn’t played in a long time, while this was Jerret’s first time. The first game was hard fought, but Zach’s advisors really bailed him out in the final count– he rose from last to first on their strength. Even so, the final scores were pretty close.
We decided to play another game of Web. After seeing the power of advisors, Jerret shifted his strategy. This time everyone’s advisors came out early. We had so many countries that filled up with advisors immediately– but positioned in a way that they didn’t talk to their own, they just blocked each other’s advisors from linking. (For example, I dominated advisors in Frankreich– and didn’t establish communication with any other province!) No one completed a road of 4– it was brutal. The game ended with the lowest scored we’ve ever had– the victor (Zach) barely turned the second corner.
We decided to follow up with a game of Domaine. Our ruthlessness carried over unchecked. The board was interestingly lopsided– the three “left” tiles were the 1 mine tiles, so initial placement on that side was very light. In the beginning, the “right” edge was where the building took place. I racked up money as other people started on their walls. Zach was plagued with few wall cards– plus his first settlement was squeezed down to the minimum (castle + knight) on Dad’s first expansion. Meanwhile, Jerret and I finished our Domains along that side. I invested in a few knights early and expanded to 4 mines, while Dad stalled at two and Jerret at one. Jerret soon finished a second domain, locking Dad’s and Zach’s in the corner. My domain, fueled by 4 knights, started expanding like an octopus, snaking through the center of the board. Zach went through several turns of selling cards for cash, hoping to finally draw some wall cards. After several turns, he finally did– and quickly finished an economy Domain on the left. With his many domain cards, and no neighbors, it quickly swelled to a substantial force. Meanwhile, Dad and Jerret were finishing off their other domains– Jerret successfully, Dad less so. I was sneaking across the board with my mighty domain, trying to wall off the large unclaimed area for myself. Unfortunately, Zach realized what I was up to a round before I succeeded and used by build against me, securing a large area. Still, the remainder of the unclaimed territory fell into my hands. From there, I was able to push into mines on both sides of my super domain, securing a monopoly on two mine types… squeaking over the line to 32 points for victory.
We started up Union Pacific while Jennifer ran for Chipotle for us. I was fuzzy on the rules, but Jerret got us back on track before any damage was done. As usual, Jerret began trading in lots of shares for a dominant position in the Union Pacific. The first scoring round was as late as possible– the very next draw was the second scoring round! Dad and I scored 12 each round, while Zach and Jerret scored 9 each round. This prompted a flurry of stock play; Jerret smacked down 5 UP shares, while the contest for El Paso-Rio Grande started getting serious between Zach and Jerret. They were both working on building up the line, while hoping for more stock. By the time the game ended, Jerret was well ahead– he had majority shares in UP and the two most expanded lines: the Miami Southern and El Paso Rio Grande. Very well done.
We then moved to Alhambra. The beginning was very even– we were all within a point or two of each other and no one had much wall. By the second scoring round, I had a few first places to myself (pavilions, mezzanines, and chambers), which pushed me ahead by about 10. This tightened up a bit, and the ties for first in the other 3 buildings got separated out, so the final scoring kept us about the same distance apart, despite the higher scores. This was the first sub 120 game I think we’ve played.
Dad was having trouble reading the pieces by this point, so we decided on light and fast to finish the evening. We played three games of For Sale— with much tighter scores than our norm. The last game we all scored in the 50s.
It was a great afternoon and evening… I’m looking forward to our next.