We returned to Casa Beej in October after July at Joe's, August at German Park (for an unofficial game night), and September at Dave's. So ... I'm waiting for reports from the alternate hosts for July and September. Any day now ...
And I owe a Friday Beer Exchange and Game post for old-school Civilization in August.
German Park was fun. And Game Night at Dave's was a success. It featured the debut of my new travel dice tower:
Note the two layers of the casing for extra strength (shut up). Note the three tumbling ramps just like the larger models. Note the use of the outer casing with a clear coating to repel liquids (shut up) and achieve a smooth grip (shut up). A worthy addition to ... what were we talking about?
Oh right ... rolling dice. Sadly the device won't handle the largest dice, which is a problem for me (seriously, shut up). But it is great for Game Night in Exile months.
Joe, Paul, and Pete joined me for three games of Catan. We wrapped up early to watch the end of the Oregon-Ohio State game. Which brought immediate delight with delayed visions of horror.
We dined on Sliders, chips and dip, and cookies. As well as particular dietary needs. The house swill of Labatt Blue Light was on hand as well as non-alcoholic beverages.
For the night, I was red, Joe was orange, Paul was blue, and Pete was white. We played the harbor master variant, as usual, requiring 11 points to win.
GAME 1
The order of placement and movement was Paul, myself, Pete, and Joe in the double placement position.
We faced this map:
Resource distribution left us with poor rock and nobody willing to sacrifice other resources to get a position around the 8 rock after Paul took the best one. Sheep was poor. The rest were adequate or better.
Pete made the turn at the coast in the north without initially trying to take the port. And with wide open spaces in the west, he marched south along the coast. Paul began to encroach to deny Pete inland builds. Lack of rock or means to efficiently trade slowed his growth and likely denied him harbor master.
Joe was thwarted in reaching the 5/6 wheat (hey, I was equally close!) and turned to the coast. Joe also had some friction with Paul reaching the coast in the south. And let's not dwell on Joe's pick in the north that Pete's second placement doomed hopes of inland settlements. Joe was the first to get harbor master. But not the last, alas.
Paul built a lot of roads, which was shocking given the poor performance of 4 wood. Having 11 and reaching 9 saved that resource. Paul's early award of the longest road provoked his usual gnashing of teeth and rending of garments--but not pants, sort of like a less-green David Banner, I suppose. With two cities, Paul got within easy striking distance of victory.
I was able to build two flux capacitor+ groupings. I beat Joe to the 5/6/12 build spot. And I wasted a road to secure the northern port build spot rather than count on Pete not building a road and settlement there in one turn. It was probably a waste but you just can't know. Later in the game I played a monopoly card and grabbed a lot of wheat. I managed to build three cities, gaining the harbor master, and reached 11 first.
And the end map!
Paul followed with 9 points, including the longest road. Joe had 6 and Pete had 5.
"Probability"
Gotta admit my initial placement on the 5, 9, 10 spot paid off. Joe had that number base on a different resource mix. And his 9 brick factory was impressive. My memory is that my low-odds but heavily built 11 and 12 paid off near the end with a couple rolls providing much-needed city promotions. The robber significantly under-performed.
GAME 2
The order of placement and movement was Pete, Joe, Paul, and myself in the coveted DP position.
We faced this map:
Resource distribution left us with poor rock again and weak wheat. Sheep was flocking good.
I used my double placement to get positions on both 11 rocks in the hope of losing a little on each dice roll but turning a profit on volume. Otherwise I was reasonably happy with my resources. And I started with the cards for a development card if needed early to make up for poor rolls. Unexpectedly I was able to advance inland to get more sheep and another shot at 11 glory! I built to the coast and even had a shot at linking my enclaves for a shot at longest road. Alas, when I had a chance it would not have taken it from Paul to derail his play. But I did have five build spots, which I consider a minimum for a reasonable chance for victory.
Pete won the race on the coast in the north, isolating Joe's bold decision to grab the last 8 spot on the rock, hoping that would work out. Pete also had lots of room in the southeast again, and he expanded there nicely while squeezing another build spot out of the crowded north. Poor wheat slowed city promotion and left him stuck with 5 settlements on the board until he could overcome that. All while seeing Paul expand south on the coast into what seemed like a safe proto-enclave.
Joe started with a harbor point (and thwarted Paul's hope for a port on 8). And in the south he grabbed two more harbor build spots to take harbor master--and hold it. Nobody ever got close to his title. Joe had one more potential build spot if he could beat me to one of my two remaining hopes to gain enough points without harbor master or longest road options open to me. With three cities, two settlements, and harbor master, Joe had 10 points. Only one city promotion, a couple roads and a settlement, or a magic victory point card stood in his way! But no.
Paul once again endured the absolute horror of getting longest road. I can only assume childhood trauma on a family road trip explains his horror of and frequent achievement of longest road honors. I'm still not sure how Paul built all four cities with his poorly performing wheat. Fess up, gentlemen! Who traded with him?! Anyway, somehow Paul built through the center of the map where I hoped I would reign supreme. And, as Pete watched, along the western coast. As Joe desperately searched for one more point, Paul relentlessly built until he reached 11, hanging on to his unloved longest road. Congratulations Paul!
And the end map!
Joe had 10 points, including harbor master; Pete had 8, and I had 6, including a victory point.
"Probability"
That was a nicely balanced curve, really. A rare victory for "probability." And the robber was slightly rare. Six and 8 performed as one would hope.
GAME 3
The order of placement and movement was Paul, myself, Pete, and Joe in the always coveted DP position.
We faced this map:
Resource distribution left us with heaven-or-hell rock. And crappy wheat. Sheep was good and the others adequate.
Joe needed to move quickly, and he did in both enclaves. But he was stymied by Pete in the northwest and myself in the northeast. It was going to be rough with only one more potential build spot open--and I was a road build closer. Happily for Joe, he reached what proved to the the sheep factory on 12.
Paul finally got his wish and did not get longest road. Indeed, nobody did. We could see anguish and desire vying for control in an inner psycho-drama best soothed with drinking more strategy. Yet somehow Paul promoted three cities despite lack of wheat. I can't remember if he ever had harbor master or if Joe had it. But Paul had plenty of potential build spots open to him.
Pete shockingly had inland options open in addition to his coastal proto-enclave in the northwest. Because of the cards he had rather than strategy, I assume, Pete ended up building four cities on four spaces before he expanded very much. In other games that might have meant getting penned in. But Pete still had two build spots in easy striking range and a couple more within reach after that.
I was short on road-building and relied on 12 sheep, which I wrongly assumed would require me to rely on the kindness of strangers. I made a flux capacitor in the south and was close to one in the north. With a bit of luck at the end I promoted a coastal settlement to a city for a point, which gave me two more for taking harbor master--and then flipped the victory point card I had face down. Whew.
And the end map!
Pete followed with 8 points, Paul with 7, and Joe with 5.
"Probability"
Eight decisively defeated 6 in their rivalry. I'm not sure what to say about 11 and 12. Thankfully 11 was my wheat resource and 12 my sheep source. The robber was almost exactly as expected.
There was more talk of more detailed statistics with an app. But I suspect that the more likely outcome of Paul developing an app is that Joe will be using 12 colors of pens on dice sheets made from a flat twin white sheet from Linens and Things. Or we'll stick with what we have.
I was the winner of the Grim Reaper of Catan Award for my prolific rolling of 7.
And that was it. It was fun to bring Game Night back to its home. As God intended it. So on to a meme!
See you next month and we'll do it all over again.
