Puerto Rico, Game 02: Summer Scorpion: GAME OVER!

[bb2112]

Congratulations Q! Very well played. You didn't just win, you dominated.

Grund, thanks for running. I know it was a lot of work, but you did a great job. The game was very entertaining, and I had a great time.

[Chaosraven]

Nevermind, I see it

[Qantaga]

Thank you Grund for running the game. It was a joy to play. All of your pictures, resources, time, and effort made it even that much more so. Thank you for exposing me to a new and glorious gaming experience.

It was a fun game and a great group to play with. The pace of the game (like the first) was perfect. I was very lucky at a couple of key junctures of the game. I suspect that, had I not been able to close the game out when I did, I would have been lapped very soon.

Good game all.

On the strategy side, I will say that I the Library. I'm sure I'm over-valuing it, but it was such a nice feeling to get the double privilege each time I took a role.

[Remus West]

Thanks Grund. Awesome job running the game.

Q, you were not in any danger of getting caught by anyone soon.

[Grundbegriff]

I made a mistake: I counted Chaosraven's statue both as a bonus and as a building. It counts only as a valuable building. Therefore, Chaosraven's final tally was 31-- tied with Remus West!!!-- and second place actually belongs to bb2112.

[Remus West]

You also forgot my bonus crate of Tobacco for choosing Craftsman which also gives me another doubloon. Does that mean I beat him due to the tie break?

[Grundbegriff]

You also forgot my bonus crate of Tobacco for choosing Craftsman which also gives me another doubloon. Does that mean I beat him due to the tie break?

Ah, yes. You were due another pack o' 'bacc'.

Even without that, you prevail in a tiebreaker for 3rd place.

[bb2112]

Remus, you and I can both claim to have beaten CR, but we all know that he teamed up with Q for the win.

[Grundbegriff]

Any observations about the expansion buildings, the strategies anyone employed, or anything else?

[Qantaga]

Remus, you and I can both claim to have beaten CR, but we all know that he teamed up with Q for the win.

Interesting, given that LordMortis (in the previous game) said:

This is largely a learning a game for every one but CR and myself and CR is sitting in the "Lordmortis, I can fuck you at every turn and I intend to" seat, so it's going to be even more of learning game, even for me. That is to say the person who goes before you largely holds your destiny in his hands. I can tell you strategically exactly how he's crippling but he would call it whining.

Looking at how raven cripples me and how I react to it is you should look to the person who goes before you. It is strategically my job to screw Qantaga... which I am already unable to begin to do as chaosraven has been too effective in screwing me.

So, either:

A. My Puerto Rico skills have become adequate enough to overcome Chaos strategically attempting to cripple the person behind him (me).

-or-

B. Chaos has become a kinder, gentler player.

[Qantaga]

Any observations about the expansion buildings, the strategies anyone employed, or anything else?

I'm going to read back through the game to see if I can learn anything in hindsight, but my general impressions before I do so are:

1. It is interesting that El Guapo won the first game with a balanced approach, while I focused almost entirely on a building approach. I suspect the next game might be won by a shipping/VP approach. It's such a cool game that every turn (much less every game) takes on a life of its own.

2. I really enjoyed the mix of expansion buildings and original buildings. I loved the Harbor in the first game (even though it served EG better than it did me). When this game started without the Harbor on the board, it forced me to re-evaluate all the building choices.

3. I am intrigued now by the expansion buildings that did not get randomly inserted into this game and would love to see how they would play out.

4. I have a hard time seeing the value of a forest house. I suppose if you adopt a pure build strategy, it would be more beneficial than a marginal crop choice, but having to get two forests to equal one quarry left me ignoring it completely.

5. Chaos and Issy made good use of their Black Markets, but I (probably over) value VPs, crops, and colonists so much that it would be hard for me to sacrifice any of them to take advantage of the Black Market.

6. As I mentioned earlier, I fell in love with the Library, especially in conjunction with the University. I realize that in a different game, they would not play out exactly like they did for me, but it felt like a perfect storm once I had a foundation of coffee, large market, university, and library.

7. I found that my one big regret (that haunted me the entire game) was choosing an office when I could have had a hospice. I haven't had a hospice in either game, but it has moved way up my list of priority buildings.

Hopefully, I'll have more thoughts after going back through the game again.