May 2021 (Virtual) Game Night

The Saturday game night is almost certainly the last virtual game night. Off-the-books virtual game nights are likely.

Joe, Paul, Pete, and I started out the night; and Pat and Katie joined later.

I forgot to note order of placement this last evening. I completely forgot to take notes on the games as I did last week. But by taking pictures not as tightly focused on the map, my initial maps tell us who went first and so the order!

Anyway, on to the games.

Game One

I was red, Paul was purple, Pete was pink, and Joe was blue. Paul placed first.

This is the initial set up:

Oh my, wheat was bad. I began to regret my placement despite having all the resources--technically. I was basically surrounded and needed to build roads fast if I was to have build spaces! Paul placed and played first. How Joe got the only decent wheat is beyond me. Although the sheep were a deterrent, I guess.

As Joe, then Paul, and then Pete closed off my easiest expansion options, I was forced to threat the needle north. I figured it was a long shot and that basically I was doomed. But I refrained from wasting resources on pushing south unless I could also build a settlement in one move. Luckily I got a road building card and pushed north to the coast in two moves. Then my wood resources started to come in and with the longest road I pushed to 9 points. I still didn't have enough building spots in the north (thanks Joe!). Although part of my problem is that I built when I reached the coast rather than try to branch off because I worried Pete would dash north and wreck that strategy. I needed one more city promotion and largest army or a victory point to win. Joe's push was aided by blocking Paul on the northwestern coast, while Paul cut off Joe from the southeast coast.

But Pete went nomad and settled around the desert to grab harbormaster and reach 11 first.

This is the end map:

Congratulations Pete! I had 9 with longest road. Joe had 8 with the largest army. And Paul had 7 with a victory point card.

And this is the dice chart:

Nine was really good. Sadly I had to use early 9 rolls to buy wood at usurious rates. Three failed Pete and I completely. Eight was good. The robber was only a bit above average in our long game.

 

Game Two.

I was red, Paul was purple, Pete was green, and Joe was brown. I placed first.

This is the initial set up:

My heavy brick and rock investment kept me in wood and wheat while 11 came in enough to supply my modest sheep needs. Joe and Pete blocked my hopes for building to wheat. Although even if they had placed more efficiently, Paul's settlement ruled out a third build around that wheat field. My only hope for wheat was a last placement at the 9,10,11 vertex, but I'd be pretty boxed in there. 

Lord knows how Paul built three cities given that even his 2 never hit once. I assume I supplied a lot of that, although perhaps his wood resources provided bank trade options, too. It isn't too surprising that Joe built the longest road with his wood and brick strongholds. I had hoped Joe would build south on the coast and give me a chance to build on that sheep hex port in the north.  Alas, it was not to be. Pete was handicapped by lack of rock and insufficiently productive wood for his wood port. Five was productive enough to make me really miss any shot of building there.

This is the end map:

I made it to 11 with the harbormaster and largest army. Joe had 8 with longest road and a victory point. Paul had 7. And Peter had 5 (although my poor map placement obscures his settlement under the overlay bar).

And this is the dice chart.

Wow were 5 and 9 good. The robber arrived as expected.

Game Three.

I was red, Paul was purple, Pete was brown, and Joe was blue. Joe placed and moved first.

This is the initial set up:

Rock was a problem. And wheat was weak. I probably should have jumped on the big rock source. But I worried about wheat and brick more.

To say I felt besieged this game is an understatement. Joe was not content to block my southern city from expanding southeast. He almost completely cut that city off from the outside world. My effort to reach the 9,10 coastal port was blocked by Pete. But I at least had some building spots in the north.

The race for longest road was pretty interesting. Joe had it but he could have been blocked by me or Pete from maxing out. That left Pete with an option to max out. And Paul could almost max out by building down the southeast coast.

But nobody challenged Joe's longest road in time and nobody could take his harbormaster.

This is the end map:

Joe had 11 with the longest road and harbormaster. Paul had 8, riding on his rock strength. I had 7. And Pete had 5. Congratulations Joe!

And this is the dice chart.

Obviously, my 12 investment didn't pay off and my hopes for 3,4 wheat failed. Two was bizarrely good.

 

Game Four.

We went up to the big board with the mid-round non-rolling player build phase for game four, so of course had no harbormaster variant.

I was red. Pat was gray. Katie was pink. Paul was brown. Pete was purple. And Joe was blue. Pete went first.

This is the initial set up:

I counted myself lucky to to expand east and west to the deserts.  Otherwise I was penned in. I had some hope in the north for expansion had the game gone on. And after reaching decent wheat and more rocks, cities might have been in my future.

Paul grabbed longest road. And while 5 knights were played, nobody got largest army. Pat had a good enclave in the northeast plus his lone city. Katie managed two cities but her expansion along the coast had the potential for just one more site. Luckily her ability to get lottery tickets was an advantage. Pete was penned in on all sides. He maxed out at 3 cities. With a lot of luck he might have gotten longest road. But Joe scratched out two enclaves, and with four cities and a settlement, his victory point got him to 10. Congratulations Joe!

This is the end map:

After Joe's 10, Paul had 9 with longest road, Pete had 7 with a victory point, Pat had 6, and Katie and I had 5.

And this is the dice chart.

Once again, 12 was absent. The robber was as expected. And 3, 4, 10, and 11 were pretty good.

 

Game Five.

I was red. Pat was blue. Paul was green. Joe was grey. And Pete was purple.

This is the initial set up:

I was reasonably happy except for wood and sheep. I figured getting wood would be easy and sheep wouldn't be a crisis. And with the desert in the northeast I thought getting an enclave would be easy. Rocks were plentiful. Wheat was good. Wood was ... problematic given the locations of decent forests.

Getting wood was more of a problem than I hoped. Paul almost outflanked me to reach the sea and Pat ended up staking out extra wheat that I thought I had the edge in reaching. But Pat's northern push at the expense of his southern option gave Paul a chance to expand in the south. That helped me get my northeastern enclave but ultimately doomed me.

I reached 9 points with the longest road. And then the knives came out with an Unholy Cabal of organized military and organized crime. I don't think I went more than a roll without multiple knights and robbers stealing my hopes of building one more settlement! I managed to build a road spur before losing the raw material and just needed 4 cards of the right type!

But then Paul accumulated a shit ton of cards with I believe a monopoly card and traded his way to 4-5 road segments, the longest road and the win. If I'd just defended my road instead of preparing for one settlement I might have held Paul off and had a shot. And Pete. Maybe.

Anyway, congratulations Paul!

This is the end map:

Paul had 10 with the longest road. Pete had 9 with the largest army and a victory point. I had 7. Pat had 6 with a victory point, And Joe had 3 completely disconnected settlements. Whoa.

And this is the dice chart.

Again, there seems to have been something wrong with out bloody 12s tonight. There were 3 in game 1 but just one in the next four. There were nine 2s in the evening, by contrast. And 8? What about 4? But 3, 9, and 10 ended up pretty sweet. With 6 a bit above average.

It was great to have another game night. Thanks to those who played. 

Next month in-person Ito Night for sure! And Game of Boobs!

As always, please add your perspectives in the comments or correct errors of memory.

And a meme: