February 2022 Game Night

We played the February game night this last Saturday. At one point we thought we might be playing Mega Catan. But we ended up with a scrappy group on the small board. Still, though the board was small, the screwing was mega.

Joe, Tony--who apparently hijacked a library van on the way here--and Pete joined me to play. Paul stopped by briefly to eat and drink, and to mock our play. Apparently.

We dined on pinwheel sandwiches, a couple types of corn chips and salsa, cookies, and mini cupcakes. The House Swill was available in basic and full strength, plus a smattering of better beers left over from a prior game night.

We of course played the harbor master variant for all games. So you needed 11 points to win.

Game 1.

The order of placement was me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue).

This is the start map.

I jumped on the wood and rock. By the time I could place last, I had to decide between brick and some open space to the west. I chose the bricks. I chose poorly. In retrospect I should have gotten the 3,4,6 wheat and sheep combo and tried to trade for brick. At least I'd have had more room to spread out.

Joe had limited but reasonable initial expansion options; while Tony had open spaces if he could beat Pete.

I did manage to expand more than I feared I might. If I could build on my last option, I'd be able to get 9 building points and hope for largest army. Joe managed to carve out an adequate space with more options available. And Tony had his longest-road Lineland cut off at both ends, most critically by Pete, leaving Tony with even fewer build spots than I had available.

Pete ended up on top by getting 4 points on the last turn. He built a settlement on a port, promoted it to city, and thus took harbor master from Joe. Congratulations Pete!

This is the end map.

Joe followed with 6 points. Tony and I had 5 each, with Tony using the longest road to reach his score.

Game 2.

The order of placement was me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue).

This is the start map.

I took the decent rock and best wood, with an adequate wheat. With plenty of territory open to me with the desert shielding me, I opted for the coastal brick and woods. Which didn't make Joe a fan of me. But Pete totally grokked my decision.

Tony absolutely needed a quick break out in the south. Pete had lots of room in the north. And Joe had room in the north with a small window in the south.

I did as well as I hoped in the south, but not as well as I hoped in the west. But with a full build I'd need just largest army or a single victory point card to win. Joe was trapped in the south but his northern settlement expanded nicely to the coast. Even without another build spot, with harbor master he could win. Tony again had a Lineland but couldn't hold it. Although if the game went on long enough he could retake it.

But in the short run Pete grabbed longest road long enough to get to 11 points, aided by a nicely played monopoly card. Congratulations Pete!

Looking at the end map, we really built inefficiently. Although it protected Tony's road.

This is the end map.

Joe finished with 9 points, including the harbor master. Tony and I tied at 7 each.

Game 3.

The order of placement was me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue).

I switched to the golden dice to interrupt my "probability" deficit.

This is the start map.

I prioritized getting the best wood on the map. I then picked last for another wood resource and some barely adequate rock and wheat. I at least had all resources with some decent potential in the northwest and good options in the south for expansion, notwithstanding the desert.

I bought my only development card of the night this game, which helped to get the robber off of me at one point.

Tony was blocked going for longest road, getting penned in  at his southern territory and managing to wrap around the woods in the north. Despite no wheat he fully promoted all of his cities. Pete was cut off in the north but expanded pretty well in the east. Although with only five build spots and one port, he needed the largest army (or VP cards, of course) to win. By the end he did have two knights. Joe fortunately didn't build too much in the southeast but got bottled up in the north quickly after cutting Pete off from the coast. But with 4 harbor points Joe locked up harbor master. His big wheat monopoly play gave us a scare as he built but then passed the poop.

I managed to build nicely in my eastern outpost, blocking Joe at both ends along the coast. At one point I built three roads in one turn to connect my roads. Which denied Joe the ability to link his roads. I built to the coast in the southeast, protecting my longest road card from Pete. Eventually I guaranteed I could hold it. I built one last settlement and made it to 11!

This is the end map.

Joe finished second with 10 points, including the harbor master. Tony had 9 and Pete had 8. It was a tense closely fought game.

Game 4.

The order of placement was the by-now traditional me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue) in the coveted DP spot.

This is the start map.

I grabbed the bricks and good wheat in the southeast. Shockingly, I had the wood spaces open, although I had to forfeit rocks, practically speaking. Bu my expansion options seemed barely adequate. And with good wood and the best brick resources I thought I was in good shape to stake out build spots.

But Pete managed to beat me to build spots at both of my enclaves. I couldn't be to vindictive given how hemmed in he was even with that. I got to 5 build spots and 2 cities, with Joe blocking me in the north where I hoped a crappy port build spot would be unappealing. Joe staked out a good enclave in the north and really expanded in the south, with lots of build spaces secured, securing the harbor master card.

Tony almost built a Lineland again, but expanded out from it, securing the longest road anyway. At ten point but unable to promote a city and no options to build another settlement, Tony played the classic lottery ticket ploy. As he reached for the pile, I tossed down my cards and said, "I think we know how this will work out." And he drew the victory point for 11. Congratulations Tony!

I will say it was karma given that months ago in our first return to in-person game night Tony lost a game because he was rusty and thought he could only play his two victory point cards one at a time. And he didn't realize the error of his ways until after he lost his longest road. Dave's victory* in that game will always have the footnote.

This is the end map.

 Joe finished in second place with 9 points and the harbor master. I had 7 points and Pete had 6.

 

And a meme gif. With hat tips to Dave and Paul:

See you next month! Perhaps with a 3:00 happy hour. But the afternoon start seems to be liked.