Last week saw a new game of mine hit the table, one which I had been extremely keen to try; Chicago Express (Queen Games).
This is a train game of sorts, but has more to do with investing in the four companies at the right time to gain money than laying down routes. This was one of the most eagerly-awaited games released in Essen 2008 & a revamped/better-looking edition of Wabash Cannonball from 2007 (Winsome Games).
The basic premise involves trying to extend your companies’ routes into Chicago via cities & profitable areas as quickly as possible for income. In each round, there is a limit to the three different actions that players can take; Auction (bidding for a share in one of the four companies that the active player chooses), Extend (where you lay down up to three trains of one company – usually one that benefits you) & Develop (where you increase income for companies in a given city/mountain/forest). Despite the simple & few possible actions, there are a lot of complex dynamics involved in strategising which is the best option for you & who you invest in because, very possibly, whatever you do is going to have some immediate benefit also for your opponents! Once Chicago is entered, which means a lot more income for the companies lucky enough, the Wabash company also enters play.
There is a lot of assessing the situation as the game develops to determining what to take advantage of. Great fun, but I haven’t worked out what the best strategy is! I won the first game by miles ($136) then lost the second game by miles ($44). Definitely one I want to try again very soon!
Wednesday 25 February 2009
Various gaming in February
Well, I haven't been blogging on this as much as I was previously. That's partly due to being a bit busy and/or lazy at times, but I've also had quite a lot of repeat plays of the same games lately so it felt somewhat redundant to write about the same ones again & again... so I'll just stick with a brief re-cap.
A couple of weeks ago - me, Keith, Julian, Ester & Nasty Nick all sat down for Agricola at the Legion. Nick was the only new person to this although J&E had only had one game of it previously. Keith is proving to be the master of all things farming lately, so I was looking forward to locking horns with him once again. Unfortunately, he ran away with the game on 39pts - followed by me on 23pts, Nick on 22pts, Ester on 12pts or so & Julian doing remarkably bad with... -5pts! Keith had a very well-rounded farm; plenty of stone hut rooms, family members, animals, pastures, etc whereas I always felt I was struggling for food & so my precious actions were taken up gathering food tokens more often than I'd've liked. Nick was narrowly behind me & Julian's farm was, in a funny way, appalling! Lots of unused spaces, one sheep & no grain/veg... he also had picked up a total of SEVEN begging cards! But he had played the Medicant occupation which allows to you get rid of two begging cards before scoring. I think his downfall was he had a lot of cards that would work well together & spent too much time laying a lot of them down. By then, it was too late to get his farm up & running as it should have been.
I've also been to Julian & Ester's place a couple of times, where we've had repeat plays - namely Pillars Of The Earth, Stone Age (the last time was with the mini Huts expansion tiles added), Zooloretto, For Sale, Modern Art & a couple of other new games to either me or them. Some good sessions going on!
A couple of weeks ago - me, Keith, Julian, Ester & Nasty Nick all sat down for Agricola at the Legion. Nick was the only new person to this although J&E had only had one game of it previously. Keith is proving to be the master of all things farming lately, so I was looking forward to locking horns with him once again. Unfortunately, he ran away with the game on 39pts - followed by me on 23pts, Nick on 22pts, Ester on 12pts or so & Julian doing remarkably bad with... -5pts! Keith had a very well-rounded farm; plenty of stone hut rooms, family members, animals, pastures, etc whereas I always felt I was struggling for food & so my precious actions were taken up gathering food tokens more often than I'd've liked. Nick was narrowly behind me & Julian's farm was, in a funny way, appalling! Lots of unused spaces, one sheep & no grain/veg... he also had picked up a total of SEVEN begging cards! But he had played the Medicant occupation which allows to you get rid of two begging cards before scoring. I think his downfall was he had a lot of cards that would work well together & spent too much time laying a lot of them down. By then, it was too late to get his farm up & running as it should have been.
I've also been to Julian & Ester's place a couple of times, where we've had repeat plays - namely Pillars Of The Earth, Stone Age (the last time was with the mini Huts expansion tiles added), Zooloretto, For Sale, Modern Art & a couple of other new games to either me or them. Some good sessions going on!
Sunday 8 February 2009
7th Feb - Gaming at Julian's & Ester's
I met Julian & Ester at their place in the evening for some more gaming; having already played the previous two nights, we clearly hadn't had quite enough of games!
Knowing they both liked (especially Ester) Stone Age & the resource-management games such as Agricola, even if the latter is fairly complex due to the number of options, I thought Pillars Of The Earth would hit the right buttons with them. So we kicked off with that... after a little explaining of the rules, they understood the aim & flow of the game after the 1st year, which showed as they played really well.
1st - Matt, 47pts
2nd - Ester, 43 pts & 8 Gold
3rd - Julian 43ps & no Gold.
Next up, we played Modern Art which I had not got round to playing since I bought it, so was looking forward to it. The different types of auctions in the game gave all of us a bit of pause for thought as there were certainly times for me where I found it difficult to read the situation & potential bids of Julian & Ester, especially the sealed bids. I had a disasterous first round in which I pulled in a miserable amount of money for my paintings compared to J & E. From the 2nd auction round onwards, I paid more attention to trying to get a good ranking for the artists I already had in my hand that had a good amount of prior value in previous rounds. This paid dividends as I was able to catch up by game end:-
1st - Ester, $500k approx.
2nd - Matt, $391k.
3rd - Julian, he gave up counting but had less than me! Approximately $350k.
Both me & Julian got a good laugh at Ester's bidding antics; she was spending money & more money like there was no tomorrow... typical of any woman. The biggest overstatement was when I said to Julian he couldn't lose with Ester bidding like she was; turns out she won convincingly. Not bad for someone who said she 'didn't give a f*** about what she was paying out' (not that she didn't enjoy the game)!
3rd game, we played Dominion using the First Game set-up; I was keen to see how they would like it. A very unfamilar type of game for them, but they soon got the hang of it. I deliberately started buying cards to draw in the money for Provinces; Villages & Smithys to get extra cards & action, then onto the Markets & Militia, as well as a good sprinkling of Silvers & Golds. Once I started to put some of the combos together, J & E's faces were a picture! It took a while to finish given they were learning the cards, etc... so I picked up most of the Provinces, but they did manage to get some as well & Duchys... Ester ended the game by picking up the last Province, which was a bit of a blow to Julian as he had the money to get it next!
Final score:-
1st - Matt, 50pts
2nd - Ester, 34pts
3rd - Julian, 33pts
We decided on Zooloretto for our last game, where they demonstrated their liking for this light & quick game...
1st - Ester, 31pts
2nd - Julian, 27pts
3rd - Matt, 23pts
Another great session, which left me really knackered once I got home at 1am in the morning!
Knowing they both liked (especially Ester) Stone Age & the resource-management games such as Agricola, even if the latter is fairly complex due to the number of options, I thought Pillars Of The Earth would hit the right buttons with them. So we kicked off with that... after a little explaining of the rules, they understood the aim & flow of the game after the 1st year, which showed as they played really well.
1st - Matt, 47pts
2nd - Ester, 43 pts & 8 Gold
3rd - Julian 43ps & no Gold.
Next up, we played Modern Art which I had not got round to playing since I bought it, so was looking forward to it. The different types of auctions in the game gave all of us a bit of pause for thought as there were certainly times for me where I found it difficult to read the situation & potential bids of Julian & Ester, especially the sealed bids. I had a disasterous first round in which I pulled in a miserable amount of money for my paintings compared to J & E. From the 2nd auction round onwards, I paid more attention to trying to get a good ranking for the artists I already had in my hand that had a good amount of prior value in previous rounds. This paid dividends as I was able to catch up by game end:-
1st - Ester, $500k approx.
2nd - Matt, $391k.
3rd - Julian, he gave up counting but had less than me! Approximately $350k.
Both me & Julian got a good laugh at Ester's bidding antics; she was spending money & more money like there was no tomorrow... typical of any woman. The biggest overstatement was when I said to Julian he couldn't lose with Ester bidding like she was; turns out she won convincingly. Not bad for someone who said she 'didn't give a f*** about what she was paying out' (not that she didn't enjoy the game)!
3rd game, we played Dominion using the First Game set-up; I was keen to see how they would like it. A very unfamilar type of game for them, but they soon got the hang of it. I deliberately started buying cards to draw in the money for Provinces; Villages & Smithys to get extra cards & action, then onto the Markets & Militia, as well as a good sprinkling of Silvers & Golds. Once I started to put some of the combos together, J & E's faces were a picture! It took a while to finish given they were learning the cards, etc... so I picked up most of the Provinces, but they did manage to get some as well & Duchys... Ester ended the game by picking up the last Province, which was a bit of a blow to Julian as he had the money to get it next!
Final score:-
1st - Matt, 50pts
2nd - Ester, 34pts
3rd - Julian, 33pts
We decided on Zooloretto for our last game, where they demonstrated their liking for this light & quick game...
1st - Ester, 31pts
2nd - Julian, 27pts
3rd - Matt, 23pts
Another great session, which left me really knackered once I got home at 1am in the morning!
Fri 6th Feb - Agricola & Domaine at Keith's
Having already arranged to meet at Keith's with Julian & Ester at Keith's place earlier in the week, there was some uncertainity about whether we would because of the overnight snow that had stopped many people from going to work. Thankfully, it seemed to stop & thaw a bit so we went ahead for the session...
We kicked off with a 4-player game of Agricola as me & Keith wanted another game, while Julian & Ester had heard about it being the current #1 on BoardGameGeek so they wanted to give it a go. With a rules explanation for them, we were off & running using the E-Deck of Occupations & Minor Improvements.
This felt like an awkward game for me; I never felt like I was being as efficient as I could be with my worker placements for the action spaces. My end strategy became clear to me as I looked through my occupations; I had the Wooden Hut Builder which gives you one bonus points per room in my Wooden Hut. I normally aim for a Clay Hut at least, if not a Stone Hut, for the points at game end but decided to play this Occupation by game end. Very quickly, I laid down an Occupation card & a Minor Imp card that would help me out with my initial food supply; Basketmaker (convert 1 Reed into 3 Food in each Harvest) & the Minor Imp allowed me to convert Grain into 2 Food at any time with needing to Bake Bread. As a result, I started by taking Reed when I could & sowing Grain. Keith played the Potter occupation to convert 1 Clay into 2 Food in each Harvest at some point - sounds tasty(!) Ester also had one Occupation; Seasonal Worker (take a Grain or Vegetable when using the Day Labourer action space, depending on which Round it is), which Julian didn't play any Occupation if I remember right.
As seems to be his favourite strategy, Keith quickly built a 3rd room & took the Family Growth actio space in Round 5 when it came up for a 3rd family member. I did the same two Rounds later before the Harvest. Again, Julian picked up at one stage that my farm didn't look very accomplished, before adding: ' you're going to do it again, aren't you?' - he is very perceptive with my playing style!
A quick summary of each of our farms:-
Keith - 4 Stone Hut rooms & 5 family members, with a good number of everything; fields, pastures, animals, stables, grain & vegs. Only two unused spaces.
Matt - 5 Wooden Hut rooms (for the bonus points) & 5 family members; very similar to Keith's in terms of having something of everything, perhaps a bit less. 3 unused spaces.
Julian - 2 Clay Hut rooms & only 2 family members. A decent number of fields & pastures, but was let down by having no boar or cattle. 3 unused spaces.
Ester - 3 (I think) Wooden Hut rooms & 3 family members. Plenty of pastures with animals of each category, but she was let down by having no fields & SEVEN unused spaces! I think I knew who was in last place...
Final scoring
(Fields/Pastures/Grain/Vegs/Sheep/Boar/Cattle/Unused Spaces/Fenced Stables/Clay Hut rooms/Stone Hut rooms/Family Members/Points for cards/bonus points) :-
1st - Keith (2/3/1/2/2/2/2/-2/1/0/8/15/1/0) = 37pts.
2nd - Matt (3/2/1/1/2/2/1/-3/1/0/0/15/3/5) = 33pts.
3rd - Julian (2/3/1/1/1/-1/-1/-3/0/2/0/6/1/0) = 12pts.
4th - Ester (-1/3/-1/1/1/2/1/-7/0/0/0/9/1/0) = 9pts.
Great fun had by all, but the most important things was that Julian & Ester really liked it despite the array of options available. Now that they have a better idea of what they're trying to do, next time should be closer.
~~~~~~
We decided to play one more game & Keith suggested Domaine. He was the only one who had played & I also have this in my collection so I was keen to give it a try. After a rules explanation, we were off.
At first, I was a bit unsure about the best approach & strategy to go for, but it soon became clear that starting a territory quickly is key to score a few points & get some income from mines. I was soon getting 3 coins from owning three different mine types & had managed to control 3 towns for 6VPs so was in the lead at one stage. Keith attacked & took these two villages, but I went back at him & regained them. Julian controlled three of the same type of mines to get bonus points(? or something else).
Late game, it became clear that with territories expanding we were starting to help one another out by enclosing some of their castles & giving them VPs. The crucial point came when it appeared that Ester had perhaps unwisely put a village & a forest on my side of a border; the potential territory that I could take as a result would give me 9pts, enough to win the game automatically. Poor Keith looked for a way to prevent this, but conceded & it was down to whether or not I had the right card to finish the territory... I did!
Final score:-
1st - Matt, 31pts.
2nd - Keith, 24pts/25pts?
3rd - Julian, 20pts?
4th - Ester, about 8pts.
We kicked off with a 4-player game of Agricola as me & Keith wanted another game, while Julian & Ester had heard about it being the current #1 on BoardGameGeek so they wanted to give it a go. With a rules explanation for them, we were off & running using the E-Deck of Occupations & Minor Improvements.
This felt like an awkward game for me; I never felt like I was being as efficient as I could be with my worker placements for the action spaces. My end strategy became clear to me as I looked through my occupations; I had the Wooden Hut Builder which gives you one bonus points per room in my Wooden Hut. I normally aim for a Clay Hut at least, if not a Stone Hut, for the points at game end but decided to play this Occupation by game end. Very quickly, I laid down an Occupation card & a Minor Imp card that would help me out with my initial food supply; Basketmaker (convert 1 Reed into 3 Food in each Harvest) & the Minor Imp allowed me to convert Grain into 2 Food at any time with needing to Bake Bread. As a result, I started by taking Reed when I could & sowing Grain. Keith played the Potter occupation to convert 1 Clay into 2 Food in each Harvest at some point - sounds tasty(!) Ester also had one Occupation; Seasonal Worker (take a Grain or Vegetable when using the Day Labourer action space, depending on which Round it is), which Julian didn't play any Occupation if I remember right.
As seems to be his favourite strategy, Keith quickly built a 3rd room & took the Family Growth actio space in Round 5 when it came up for a 3rd family member. I did the same two Rounds later before the Harvest. Again, Julian picked up at one stage that my farm didn't look very accomplished, before adding: ' you're going to do it again, aren't you?' - he is very perceptive with my playing style!
A quick summary of each of our farms:-
Keith - 4 Stone Hut rooms & 5 family members, with a good number of everything; fields, pastures, animals, stables, grain & vegs. Only two unused spaces.
Matt - 5 Wooden Hut rooms (for the bonus points) & 5 family members; very similar to Keith's in terms of having something of everything, perhaps a bit less. 3 unused spaces.
Julian - 2 Clay Hut rooms & only 2 family members. A decent number of fields & pastures, but was let down by having no boar or cattle. 3 unused spaces.
Ester - 3 (I think) Wooden Hut rooms & 3 family members. Plenty of pastures with animals of each category, but she was let down by having no fields & SEVEN unused spaces! I think I knew who was in last place...
Final scoring
(Fields/Pastures/Grain/Vegs/Sheep/Boar/Cattle/Unused Spaces/Fenced Stables/Clay Hut rooms/Stone Hut rooms/Family Members/Points for cards/bonus points) :-
1st - Keith (2/3/1/2/2/2/2/-2/1/0/8/15/1/0) = 37pts.
2nd - Matt (3/2/1/1/2/2/1/-3/1/0/0/15/3/5) = 33pts.
3rd - Julian (2/3/1/1/1/-1/-1/-3/0/2/0/6/1/0) = 12pts.
4th - Ester (-1/3/-1/1/1/2/1/-7/0/0/0/9/1/0) = 9pts.
Great fun had by all, but the most important things was that Julian & Ester really liked it despite the array of options available. Now that they have a better idea of what they're trying to do, next time should be closer.
~~~~~~
We decided to play one more game & Keith suggested Domaine. He was the only one who had played & I also have this in my collection so I was keen to give it a try. After a rules explanation, we were off.
At first, I was a bit unsure about the best approach & strategy to go for, but it soon became clear that starting a territory quickly is key to score a few points & get some income from mines. I was soon getting 3 coins from owning three different mine types & had managed to control 3 towns for 6VPs so was in the lead at one stage. Keith attacked & took these two villages, but I went back at him & regained them. Julian controlled three of the same type of mines to get bonus points(? or something else).
Late game, it became clear that with territories expanding we were starting to help one another out by enclosing some of their castles & giving them VPs. The crucial point came when it appeared that Ester had perhaps unwisely put a village & a forest on my side of a border; the potential territory that I could take as a result would give me 9pts, enough to win the game automatically. Poor Keith looked for a way to prevent this, but conceded & it was down to whether or not I had the right card to finish the territory... I did!
Final score:-
1st - Matt, 31pts.
2nd - Keith, 24pts/25pts?
3rd - Julian, 20pts?
4th - Ester, about 8pts.
Thurs 5th Feb - Krawkow 1325AD & In The Year Of The Dragon
A low turn-out at the Legion at this session, mainly due to the snow problems this week; 6 (Simon, Peter C, Ian, Richard & 2 others) had pre-arranged to play Battlestar Galactica while the other 4 of us (me, Nasty Nick, Julian & Ester) tried out Krakow 1325AD. Me, Julian & Ester had wanted to try this 4-player only game from Essen 2008, so Nick got roped into taking the last space.
Initial impressions: an odd game of teamwork & secret identities; you had two teams of two competing against each other for area control in different areas of Krakow 1325AD by using hands of intrigue cards relating four different factions vying for power in Krakow. The twist is that each player is also dealt a secret identity at the start of the game to determine which group they are. Each player/group has an enemy in one of the other three, which can either be one of your opponents or your own teammate! The game take over an agreed number of years (1-3) split into 4 seasons, in which 7 rounds are played out of 9 in your hand.
When an intrigue card is started, the strength of it is determined by a value, it also shows which areas to add influence tokens in if successful. It also has a colour on it relating to which faction it will help out (in terms of points) if successful. The first opponent plays one of his/her cards to Oppose the intrigue with one of their cards using the negative Support values. The teammate then plays a card to Support the intrigue using the positive Support values, followed by the final opponent in the same manner for Opposing. If the end result is positive, the intrigue is successful & goes to the successful intrigue pile & the influence tokens are placed as directed on the card - also if the intrigue was a Special, this give a bonus benefit to the team that played it (such as replacing or removing certain enemy influence). If the result is negative, the intrigue is discarded & the opponents get to start an intrigue. If the result is Zero, the person with seasonal advantage get the tie-break. There are also cards that Block very high-valued intrigues for an automatic victory...
So there are quite a lot of difficult decisions to consider; you teammate might start an intrigue which would give a lot of influence for the team, but also happens to be for you secret enemy - do you support his intrigue for the influence tokens or deliberately play a weak Support value to get rid of the intrigue & hand the advantage with the opponents? Do you start intrigues in your group's colour at the risk of giving everyone else an idea of which group you are?
Anyway, with that brief description over... this was a difficult game to explain due to the unfamilarity with this type of game & it caused some confusion, so I wasn't sure it would go over well. We played two years; the first year me & Nick were doing hideously bad! Julian & Ester had lots of influence tokens on the board, whereas we had practically none. This gave them a lot of team victory points by the end of the years & there was quite a wide range in group victory points once we scored the successful intrigues - I was worse off than anyone else & knew I was definitely last! I think me & Nick were very frustrated at our lack of success, but we pushed on for another year & it was definitely better with a better understanding of the game from the 1st year. We had a good start with our influence going on the board more, Nick started a lot of red intrigues, which happened to be my enemy, & I began to suspect we were really working against each other :-( ! By the end of the 2nd year, we had caught up a few team VPs but it was clear that either Julian or Ester had won...
1st - Julian (blue - Mystic Monks) VPs in the 50's
2nd - Ester (blue - ???) VPs in the 40's
3rd - Nick (red - The Underword) VPs in the 30's
4th - Matt (green - Good Citizens) 21 VPs
We then moved onto In The Year Of The Dragon; alea's most recent big-box release. Me & Nick were fairly experienced at it, so explained it to the newcomers. After that we selected our initial workers; I was last on the person track so would be going last - and I didn't bother to get myself ahead on this, so went last for the whole game.
I quickly built some more palace floors as this seems to be the best strategy to hold more workers in & plan ahead better. I cannot remember the exactly sequence of things, but after the first few events in which no-one really suffered any drastic consequences, I was last in VPs, followed by Ester, then Nick & Julian were fairly close together - Nick had the prestige scroll thing which cost 6 coins from the the start of the game that would give him 2VPs each turn; a very typcial strategy I've seen him use to good effect previously. Ester later got one of these, then Julian, so I had to contend myself with a 1VP scroll. I did pick up a dragon lady at least as early as halfway through for an extra VP. I was still propping up the rear in VPs, which Julian pointed out at some point & I just looked at him - he must have seen something in my eyes as he exclaimed that I knew what I was doing & that I was going to pull ahead before the end of the game; I could only grin at this!!!
The only big issue I had was the second famine event which I got blocked out from getting rice in the action phase by Nasty Nick (with a hint of a smile on his face as he did so) so I had to lose three workers in total as I had three palaces. This wasn't too disasterous as I was able to lose workers I didn't need any more for upcoming events, but this would cost me a few points. I think Julian & Ester began to slip behind as they didn't build as much as me & Nick so had to get rid of their people more often, which probably hinder their ability to deal with events.
Final scoring:-
1st - Nasty Nick, 106pts approx.
2nd - Matt, 98pts approx.
3rd - Ester (I think), 88pts approx.
4th Julian (I think), VPs in the 70's.
A good session had by all of us, I think... despite the initial confusion in starting Krakow 1325AD.
Initial impressions: an odd game of teamwork & secret identities; you had two teams of two competing against each other for area control in different areas of Krakow 1325AD by using hands of intrigue cards relating four different factions vying for power in Krakow. The twist is that each player is also dealt a secret identity at the start of the game to determine which group they are. Each player/group has an enemy in one of the other three, which can either be one of your opponents or your own teammate! The game take over an agreed number of years (1-3) split into 4 seasons, in which 7 rounds are played out of 9 in your hand.
When an intrigue card is started, the strength of it is determined by a value, it also shows which areas to add influence tokens in if successful. It also has a colour on it relating to which faction it will help out (in terms of points) if successful. The first opponent plays one of his/her cards to Oppose the intrigue with one of their cards using the negative Support values. The teammate then plays a card to Support the intrigue using the positive Support values, followed by the final opponent in the same manner for Opposing. If the end result is positive, the intrigue is successful & goes to the successful intrigue pile & the influence tokens are placed as directed on the card - also if the intrigue was a Special, this give a bonus benefit to the team that played it (such as replacing or removing certain enemy influence). If the result is negative, the intrigue is discarded & the opponents get to start an intrigue. If the result is Zero, the person with seasonal advantage get the tie-break. There are also cards that Block very high-valued intrigues for an automatic victory...
So there are quite a lot of difficult decisions to consider; you teammate might start an intrigue which would give a lot of influence for the team, but also happens to be for you secret enemy - do you support his intrigue for the influence tokens or deliberately play a weak Support value to get rid of the intrigue & hand the advantage with the opponents? Do you start intrigues in your group's colour at the risk of giving everyone else an idea of which group you are?
Anyway, with that brief description over... this was a difficult game to explain due to the unfamilarity with this type of game & it caused some confusion, so I wasn't sure it would go over well. We played two years; the first year me & Nick were doing hideously bad! Julian & Ester had lots of influence tokens on the board, whereas we had practically none. This gave them a lot of team victory points by the end of the years & there was quite a wide range in group victory points once we scored the successful intrigues - I was worse off than anyone else & knew I was definitely last! I think me & Nick were very frustrated at our lack of success, but we pushed on for another year & it was definitely better with a better understanding of the game from the 1st year. We had a good start with our influence going on the board more, Nick started a lot of red intrigues, which happened to be my enemy, & I began to suspect we were really working against each other :-( ! By the end of the 2nd year, we had caught up a few team VPs but it was clear that either Julian or Ester had won...
1st - Julian (blue - Mystic Monks) VPs in the 50's
2nd - Ester (blue - ???) VPs in the 40's
3rd - Nick (red - The Underword) VPs in the 30's
4th - Matt (green - Good Citizens) 21 VPs
We then moved onto In The Year Of The Dragon; alea's most recent big-box release. Me & Nick were fairly experienced at it, so explained it to the newcomers. After that we selected our initial workers; I was last on the person track so would be going last - and I didn't bother to get myself ahead on this, so went last for the whole game.
I quickly built some more palace floors as this seems to be the best strategy to hold more workers in & plan ahead better. I cannot remember the exactly sequence of things, but after the first few events in which no-one really suffered any drastic consequences, I was last in VPs, followed by Ester, then Nick & Julian were fairly close together - Nick had the prestige scroll thing which cost 6 coins from the the start of the game that would give him 2VPs each turn; a very typcial strategy I've seen him use to good effect previously. Ester later got one of these, then Julian, so I had to contend myself with a 1VP scroll. I did pick up a dragon lady at least as early as halfway through for an extra VP. I was still propping up the rear in VPs, which Julian pointed out at some point & I just looked at him - he must have seen something in my eyes as he exclaimed that I knew what I was doing & that I was going to pull ahead before the end of the game; I could only grin at this!!!
The only big issue I had was the second famine event which I got blocked out from getting rice in the action phase by Nasty Nick (with a hint of a smile on his face as he did so) so I had to lose three workers in total as I had three palaces. This wasn't too disasterous as I was able to lose workers I didn't need any more for upcoming events, but this would cost me a few points. I think Julian & Ester began to slip behind as they didn't build as much as me & Nick so had to get rid of their people more often, which probably hinder their ability to deal with events.
Final scoring:-
1st - Nasty Nick, 106pts approx.
2nd - Matt, 98pts approx.
3rd - Ester (I think), 88pts approx.
4th Julian (I think), VPs in the 70's.
A good session had by all of us, I think... despite the initial confusion in starting Krakow 1325AD.
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