October 2023 Game Night

After a month at German Park and then Dave's, Game Night was back at Casa Beej for October!

We dined on pizza (professionally cooked and not that amateur stuff with dodgy health standards), cookies, chips, and dip. Plus the usual house swill, Labatt Blue Light, and some raids on the liquor cabinet.

Joe, Paul, and Pete joined me for the small board. I invited those coming for game night to watch the noon Michigan-Indiana game as long as I'd be here anyway, and guests trickled in starting around halftime. 

For the evening, I was white, Joe was red, Paul was orange, and Pete was blue. And as usual we played the harbor master variant (boy, that expansion game and 5-6-player extension box sure were worth that single card!). This requires 11 points to win.

Probability took a bizarre form this evening.

GAME 1 

The order of placement and movement was Paul, myself, Pete, and Joe in the coveted double placement position.

Rock was rather a problem due to its coastal concentration. Otherwise the resources were fine. Although everyone had to forego one resource in initial placement. I gave up brick, Joe gave up rock, and Paul and Pete gave up sheep.

STARTING MAP

I was able to build just three roads--the fewest of any--but did get my minimum of five sites with one more possible. And my rock resources at least paid off with two city upgrades and one more in the on-deck circle before the game ended which would have given me and locked harbor master with 5 because Pete had just one more city upgrade available and no other port sites open.

I caused some anger when I used a monopoly card early to get a small number of bricks in my desperation. Without that I don't know If I'd have gotten five sites because my wood production with a wood port was initially low! So I was happy despite the grumblings of faux outrage. I quietly hoped to get harbor master, but Pete was apparently paying attention and defended his grip in time.

Paul built more roads, but was stuck with just four build sites. His heavy rock investment allowed him to promote 3 cities. His only final spot would require 3 roads bypassing Pete's potential road building.

Joe went big on road building on the shoulders of astounding 9 and 11 brick production. He had a lock on the longest road, and in the process cut me off from all but one possible building site.

Pete built out to five sites with one more guaranteed site and another likely. With a really good 10 rock site and a sheep port and a productive sheep 9 and wheat 10, Pete built up 3 cities while getting the harbor master first. And with nothing he could build to add that final point to reach 11, Pete bought a lottery ticket.

And drew a victory point card.

Congratulations Pete!

END MAP

The rest of us had 7 points, with Joe getting 7 with the longest road.

"PROBABILITY"

I suppose the most noteworthy aspect was the low number of robber rolls this game. And the 9 victory in the frequency race, of course. Oh, and 4 and 10!

GAME 2

This game repeated game 1 in the order of builds and placement. And the outcome.

Rock was scarce. And all the hard things, actually. I prioritized rock, and had all the resources this game. Although I had to rely on 11 for brick.

STARTING MAP

Joe again hit the roads, racing Paul for the top spot. But he had only 4 build sites. To get another site--at my expense--he'd have to divert 3 roads from his longest road, risking giving it to Paul.

Eleven never came up in the game. I could only expect three of those rolls in the game, it is true. But ouch. Again, I built just three roads while building at five sites. I had one more building site pretty much locked down and built two cities. And I again had a shot at harbor master.

Paul built out his northern starting position to the coast on his smaller imperial pocket and constructed a nice enclave in the larger portion. He had six building sites settled (two cities) and two more locked in. It's true both were on a 12 wheat. But still, points are points. And he had a shot (unlikely, but I retained some hope) at longest road.

Pete was able to build out from both starting settlements along the coasts. Once more he grabbed harbor master. And with two cities he was at 10 points with nothing he could do to build another city and no settlement spot open. So he bought a lottery ticket.

And drew a victory point card.

Congratulations Pete!

END MAP (sorry for rotating the map)

Paul and I followed with 8 points each (I had a victory point card drawn earlier in the game. And was hopeless enough to be hoping for largest army and more VP cards), while Joe had 7, including the longest road.

"PROBABILITY"

No 11 and another light day for the robber. 4, 6, 8 (!), 9, and 10 were rather good. I had four of those and lots of sheep as a result. But only a generic port.

GAME 3

The order of placement and moving was Pete, Joe, Paul, and myself in the coveted DP spot. And yes, salads are good for you.

Rock rather sucked--again. And brick was only marginally better. I got everything, but relied on a 3 for rock. 

STARTING MAP

Pete started with no bricks and bet heavily on his 6 sheep. And with a port (but not the sheep port which I shagged before Pete could), that held promise. The problem was that he had only four build sites. And no way to really get and hold the harbor master.

Joe went big on road building. But this game, with his almost-completed sperm road, Joe had more build sites, with five out of six settled. Unfortunately, rock was weak and that would be a problem. And Paul was gaining on Joe's road ... 

Paul extended his holdings along the coast, building up the ports to take harbor master and no way anybody could stop him from connecting his two enclaves. With 5 sites built on and one more locked in, this was a good position to be in.

I thought I was going to face plant on road building, with two flux capacitors my limit. But I did manage to thread the needle along the desert to the coast and get a good rock source! My luck was pretty amazing with 3s hitting after I built up my 3 rock and 3 wheat hexes. By the end of the game a 3 gave me a city. Although that only came up once, I think, even though at least once it gave me most of what I needed. The last three came up after I'd maxed out on city upgrades. Regardless I had well-timed 3 production! 

I had ten natural points but no hope of getting harbor master. Or longest road. Or even building one more settlement! And getting largest army would take time. And I had to think about building roads to keep Paul from building beyond Joe's sperm capacity. (Er, you know what I mean.) And I didn't think I could follow Pete's victory path. But whatever. The Development Card deck was my path to largest army if nobody else won in the meantime. I bought a lottery ticket.

And drew a victory point card.

Wooo!

END MAP (again, the rotation thing)

Paul followed with 8, including the harbor master; Joe had 7 and the longest road, and Pete had 5.

"PROBABILITY"

The robber finally woke up and was marginally busy. And 6 and 8 were pretty much on track. But whoa, 4 nicely over-performed. All in all, a decent distribution, eh?

 

GAME 4

The order of placement and movement was Joe, Paul, myself, and Pete in the DP position.

Rock wasn't awful. But sitting on the coast made it musical chairs. Pete remained standing and with the classic DP strategy, counted on bricks and a brick port.

STARTING MAP

I went without sheep at the start but felt pretty good about the rest of my resources. And I did reach sheep. But I was blocked by Joe and Paul leaving my rock/wheat outpost stuck from its starting position. I at least reached five settled areas. But I would get no more. I had two cities and vague hopes of harbor master but put more hope on largest army--and was two cards toward that when the game ended.

Joe again pushed for longest road and was in danger of one of those old video games where your line turns in on itself and explodes. He had five settlements and one more build spot. This was the only game of the night that Joe failed to get longest road.

Pete was stuck building around a 12 sheep hex. But that at least gave him 6 building spots. With one city and harbor master, Pete just needed a couple more city promotions. But with no rock he needed his wheat to produce enough for the wheat and to use his wheat port for rocks, too.

Paul's battle for the longest road paid off as he stretched across Catan to link up his enclaves and claim some sheep. With two cities and the longest road in hand, Paul flipped a victory point card already in his hand to claim the victory. 

Congratulations Paul!

END MAP (yes, yes. It's rotated)

Pete followed with 9 points, including the harbor master; I had 7; and Joe had 5.

"PROBABILITY"

 

Nothing seems too off this game.

We called it a night after this game. It was interesting that in the three games that Joe had the longest road the ultimate winner won with a lottery ticket providing the key 11th point.

A fun afternoon and evening! We'll keep doing this, eh? I think it may catch on. Next month?

And a meme!

Please feel free to comment. I know it works now!