RftG

I have orders for Phase II and Phase III. Will the game end this round? Phase II:

omnis plays Free Trade Association for 6 discards. This 6-cost development lets him consume up to 3 Blue goods for 1 VP and 1 card each. It also lets him produce a good on one Blue windfall world. More importantly at this stage, at game end it is worth 2 VPs for each Blue production world, plus 1 VP for each Blue windfall world, and also 2 VPs for each of Expanding Colony and Consumer Markets. omnis has three Blue production worlds and Consumer Markets, so currently it's worth 8 VPs.

askye passes on playing a development.

Connie plays Diversified Economy for 4 discards. She can consume 3 goods of different kinds for 3 VPs, and draws a card ffor each different kind of good she produces.

chrismg plays Galactic Renaissance for 3 discards. When exploring, he may look at 2 extra cards and keep 1 extra. At game end, this card is worth a third of chrismg's consumption VPs, plus 3 VPs for each of Research Labs, Galactic Trendsetters and Artist Colony. He has Research Labs and 5 VPs; this is worth 4 VPs. It also adds 2 VPs to the value of Galactic Federation.

chrismg's layout now contains 11 cards. Phase III is next. If he plays a world, the game will end this round.

RftG

Phase III! omnis opens proceedings by passing. How dull.

askye plays the one card in her hand, Secluded World. This is a Blue production world, that lets her consume a good for 1 card. Thanks to Replicant Robots, it costs nothing to play it.

Connie plays Rebel Outpost, her third conquest over the rebels. Its defence of 5 is easily overwhelmed, and adds 1 to her own strength. She then draws a card for choosing this Phase.

chrismg... passes on playing a world. The game continues to the next round!

RftG

omnis and askye, living in hope, both chose Phase V. Everyone produces new trade goods.

omnis produces 3 Blue goods. He chose this round, so he also produces a Brown good on his windfall world. He draws 4 cards for his troubles, 1 from Gem World and 3 from Consumer Markets.

askye also chose this round, so she produces on a windfall world as well, Alpha Centauri. She produces 2 Blue goods, 2 Brown goods and a Yellow good. She draws a card for producing on Comet Zone. She also produces more Brown goods than any other player, so she draws 2 more cards from Mining Conglomerate for 3 total.

Connie produces a Green good on Malevolent Lifeformms, and draws 1 card from Rebel Underground.

Chris produces 2 Blue goods and draws 2 cards from Merchant Guild.

Cards are going out now.

RftG

And that concludes Round 10. The sun rises on a brand new Round 11. Two players are on 11 cards in their layout, and we have a full deck of goods. I will be very surprised to see this game go to round 12, so smoke 'em if you've got 'em. Everyone, send me your choice of action card for Round 11.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 10
omnis_audis
Layout
Epsilon Eridani (Non-Military World)
Rebel Fuel Cache (Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Terraforming Robots (Development)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
New Survivalists (Military Blue Production World) + good
Consumer Markets (Development)
Galactic Trendsetters (Non-Military World)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Free Trade Association (6-Cost Development)

Cards in Hand: 6
Victory Points: 12
Layout Value: 14

askye
Layout
Alpha Centauri (Non-Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Investment Credits (Development)
Comet Zone (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Prosperous World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Replicant Robots (Development)
Empath World (Non-Military Green Windfall World)
Mining Conglomerate (Development)
Alien Robotic Factory (Non-Military Yellow Production World) + good
Secluded World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 3
Victory Points: 7
Layout Value: 16

Connie Neil
Layout
New Sparta (Military World)
Former Penal Colony (Military Blue Windfall World)
Malevolent Lifeforms (Military Green Production World) + good
Lost Alien Warship (Military Yellow Windfall World)
Export Duties (Development)
Trade League (6-Cost Development)
Drop Ships (Development)
Rebel Homeworld (Military World)
Rebel Underground (Military World)
Diversified Economy (Development)
Rebel Outpost (Military World)

Cards in Hand: 6
Victory Points: 0
Layout Value: 28

chrismg
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Contact Specialist (Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Avian Uplift Race (Military Green Windfall World)
Galactic Federation (6-Cost Development)
Pirate World (Military Blue Windfall World)
Merchant Guild (6-Cost Development)
Research Labs (Development)
Outlaw World (Military World)
Galactic Renaissance (6-Cost Development)

Cards in Hand: 6
Victory Points: 5
Layout Value: 11

VP Pool: 24

RftG

Round 11 begins:

omnis: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)
askye: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)
Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle
chrismg: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)

We will have just two phases, Phase III (Settle) and Phase IV (Consume). Phase III is first. Everyone, please send me orders for if you will play a world.

Next game I'm getting me some Consume powers.

RftG

I have everyone's orders.

omnis plays Blaster Gem Mines, for 3 discards. This is a windfall world, and starts with a Brown good already on it and available for consumption in Phase IV.

askye plays Old Earth for 1 discard. This world lets her consume up to 2 goods for 1 VP each. She didn't have anough Consume powers to consume all her goods, but can use Old Earth to take up the slack in Phase IV.

Connie plays Galactic Resort for 3 discards. This is also a windfall world, starting with a Blue good, and can consume 1 good in Phase IV for 1 VP and 1 card. She chose Phase III, so she draws 1 card.

chrismg plays Bio-Hazard Mining World for 3 discards.

Both Connie and chrismg now have 12 cards in their layout. Round 11 will be the final round.

RftG

Phase IV. It all ends here.

omnis has 3 Blue goods and 2 Brown goods. Using Galactic Trendsetters, Epsilon Eridani and Free Trade Association, he can consume them for 6 VPs and 4 cards. Since he chose Phase IV (x2), the VPs get doubled; he earns 12 VPs and 4 cards.

askye has 2 Blue goods, 2 Brown goods and 1 Yellow good. Her Consume powers on Prosperous World, Mining Conglomerate and the new Old Earth mean she can consume them for 5 VPs. She also chose double points; she earns 10 VPs.

Connie has a Blue good and a Green good. She can consume the Blue good on Galactic Resort for 1 VP and 1 card. The Green good gets consumed on Trade League for 6 cards; she receives 1 VP and 7 cards.

chrismg has 2 Blue goods. He consumes them on Earth's Lost Colony and Outlaw World for 2 VPs and 1 card. He also chose to double his points; he receives 4 VPs and 1 card.

All that's left now is the final reckoning.

BSG

I think it's easiest to split points up into three categories. First, there are the VPs earnt by the players through consumption. Two players went for consumption in earnest, namely omnis and askye. Conversely, Connie's Evil Empire-building left little time for consumption. That's reflected in the points earned:

Consumption VPs
omnis: 24
askye: 17
Connie Neil: 1
chrismg: 9

The next category is the value of the layout. Each card in one's layout has a point value, in most cases a fixed amount. This is where being the Evil Empire really pays off. Points earned in this category:

Layout Value
omnis: 16
askye: 18
Connie Neil: 30
chrismg: 13

But there are some cards with variable points values. these are the 6-cost developments. Each such development has its own formula to determine its value, which depends on, for the most part, the rest of one's layout. askye didn't get any 6-cost developments down, but the other players all did.

omnis played Free Trade Association. This card rewards a focus on Blue good production and consumption. omnis scores 8 points for it.

Connie played Trade League. This rewards trade powers, and she scores 4 points for it.

chrismg made this the centrepiece of his strategy. He played three 6-cost developments. Galactic Renaissance rewards consumption VPs. It's worth 6 points here. Merchant Guild rewards production worlds, and is also worth 6 points. And then there's Galactic Federation. This one rewards playing developments - especially 6-cost developments. It adds 9 points to his total.

Points for 6-cost developments are therefore:

6-Cost Developments
omnis: 8
askye: 0
Connie Neil: 4
chrismg: 21