June 2026 Game Night

We had game night in June at Casa Beej. Guests were blessed with a smooth, newly re-paved road leading in to the Beej Estate, with nary a twang of banjo to be heard:

And it was a lively group! Dennis, Joe, Matt, Paul, and Pete joined me.

We dined on several pizzas, chips and dip, and assorted cookies. Dennis and Matt brought skyline chili dip and corn chips plus a selection of Ohio beers. Pete brought an intriguing hazy peach IPA that wasn't repulsive like IPAs usually are! Thanks guys! In addition we had the usual house swill, Labatt Blue Light plus some other leftover beers and assorted non-alcoholic beverages.

We played on the expanded board with the harbor master variant, meaning winning required 11 points. Obviously, we did not play with the Robber's Lair variant reserved for Mega Catan.

 

GAME ONE

The order of placement and movement was Matt (brown), Dennis (blue), myself (red), Paul (green), Joe (orange), and Pete (white) in the double-placement position.

The opening positions: 

TONY rankings:

What happened? 

• Rock and wheat were good. Wood and brick not so much.
• Dennis was brutally cut off at his southern outpost. Yet he still had shots at two more sites to get that minimum five build spots.
• Joe stretched out through the center to get longest road in a rare empire not even within sight of the coast!
• Paul had an adequate southern realm with a good enclave in the north protected by a desert and "2" hex on the western flank.
• Pete fully industrialized while nearing another build site and link-up to challenge for longest road.
• I built up four cities and two settlements, with the need to build a road and settlement to get that last point--or gamble on a Development Card.
• Matt built four cities but built few roads, with harbor master giving him the points to reach 11! Congratulations, Matt!

The final map:

I followed with 10 points, Paul and Pete had 8 each, Joe had 7 with the longest road, and Dennis had 4.

"Probability":

That's fairly normal other than the slightly low robber problem.

 

GAME TWO

The order of placement and movement was Matt (brown), Dennis (blue), myself (red), Paul (green), Joe (orange), and Pete (white) in the DP position.

The opening positions: 

TONY rankings:

What happened? 

• Wood was great but brick didn't match it. Rock was a problem.
• Dennis stretched out parallel to the coast and then across the southern coast, earning the longest road with a couple players having a shot at it. Curling the northern part of the road inland would protect it. At the expense of city promotion, of course.
• Joe was close to building on his sixth settled site; and if he built four roads would take and lock in longest road.
• Pete had three cities and after a long march was poised to build on what I'd hoped would be my settlement site. 
• I had built just three roads but took harbor master. And with five settled sites, just needed one city promotion! I had most of the cards I needed despite robber attacks. But for one round "probability" failed me. Surely I didn't need to buy a lottery ticket for a shot at the last point and erode my city cards, right?
• And with Matt steadily flipping up knight cards and a wood-focused monopoly card, he was able to reach 10 points--well, 11 with the victory point card he had face down! Woo! Congratulations, Matt. 

The final map:

I followed with 10 points, including the harbor master; Paul had 9, Pete had 8, and Joe and Dennis (longest road) tied with 7 each. Exciting game!

"Probability":

Five was disappointing. We had a "12" sensation for a bit. And '3" quietly excelled for those who bet on it.

GAME THREE

The order of placement and movement was Pete (white), Matt (brown), Dennis (blue), myself (red), Paul (green), and Joe (orange), in the always coveted DP position.

The opening positions: 

TONY rankings:

What happened? 

• Nothing was that bad, but brick was hit or miss. 
• Joe struggled to quickly build roads with the prized "8" brick failing to produce.
• Dennis built an S-curve to pursue longest road and block me from getting actual productive wheat.
• I built around the 4 hex and prioritized my rock/wheat hexes for a city upgrade. While Matt's initial placement on the "8" coastal brick ended my set-up gamble of building to brick, it turned out to be the least of my problems given the Probability Death Sentence on "8" this game! A high point was getting 7 wood with a monopoly card. It at least helped me build on the "6" wheat late in the game.
• Pete tied with Joe for fewest roads built. Despite a sheep port to try to make up for lack of wheat, the Anemic Eight failed to fill the wool bonanza he expected. And the brick bonanza, for that matter. No plan survives contact with the dice ...
• Matt again took harbor master after an impressive march to the sea and had no threat in sight to that. He just needed one more settlement and a promotion of his final city.
• Paul got four harbor points too late to do any good, but somehow promoted all of his cities while building enough roads to barely hold longest road! And with 11 points, ended this final game of the evening. Congratulations, Paul! Drinking strategy is always a force multiplier for Paul by the end of the night.

The final map:

REMAINDER OF RESULTS.

"Probability":

That curve ain't right at all. Of note was Pete's late surge of rolling 7s.

 

We wrapped up well before 10:00 but wrapped up for the night so those with long drives could get to their destinations at a reasonable time. (Hey, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here! Not really. If you can't drive safely, you can always snuggle up with Sadie if she'll have you.)

Miscellaneous

The Grim Reaper of Catan Award for rolling the most 7s and unleashing thievery on the peace-loving people of Catan goes to ...

Also, I compile data for who can validly claim victim status, robbery-wise, from holding too many cards when the 7 robber strikes.

We had a tie so once again there is no "winner for the evening. Notably, Paul never suffered.

And a meme!

Thanks to all who came by to play and swap fluids (beer, you sickos). It's always a blast to get together for Game Night by Beej.® We'll do it again in July!