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.

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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.