Gaming 1: You are likely to be eaten by a grue
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RFtG
Sorry about the delay, I needed to clarify some things with a couple of players. We have choices:
Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
chrismg: Phase II - Develop
Laga: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)
We will have two phases. Phase II (Develop) is first.
Connie
plays Mining Conglomerate for 2 discards. This is a Brownfest; +1 card when trading Brown, consume up to 2 Brown for 1 VP each, draw 2 cards when outproducing everyone in Brown. It's also worth 2 bonus points on Mining League.
chrismg
plays Research Labs for 2 discards. This is a mixed bag. He can keep 1 extra card when exploring. He can consume 1 Green good for 1 VP. And he draws 1 card for every Yellow good he produces.
Laga
didn't choose this phase, but she still gets -1 cost from Investment Credits. And she plays a 6-cost development, Galactic Federation, for 5 discards. This card gives her -2 cost on any future developments (total -3). It's worth 2 VPs for every 6-cost development, and 1 VP for every other development. At present it's worth 5 VPs in her layout.
RftG
Phase IV begins, and everyone has goods to consume.
Connie
consumes 1 Blue and 1 Brown good on Galactic Studios and Galactic Resort for 2 VPs and 2 cards.
chrismg
consumes 1 Blue good on Free Trade Association and 1 Green good on Research Labs for 2 VPs and 1 card. He still has 1 Brown good on Radioactive World.
Laga
chose this phase, and trades 1 Blue good for 4 cards. Spice World gives her 2 extra cards. She consumes the other 2 Blue goods on Consumer Markets for 2 VPs.
Cards will go out shortly. I just need to check something.
RftG
End-of-round summary:
Round 10
Connie Neil
Layout
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Galactic Resort (Non-Military Blue Windfall World)
Mining League (6-Cost Development)
Asteroid Belt (Non-Military Brown Windfall World)
Mining Conglomerate (Development)
Cards in Hand:
6
Victory Points:
11
Layout Value:
8
6-Cost Developments:
3
chrismg
Layout
Ancient Race (Non-Military Green Windfall World)
Contact Specialist (Development)
Rebel Sympathisers (Military Blue Windfall World)
Export Duties (Development)
Rebel Warrior Race (Military Green Windfall World)
Investment Credits (Development)
Replicant Robots (Development)
Genetics Lab (Development)
Radioactive World (Non-Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Free Trade Association (6-Cost Development)
Research Labs (Development)
Cards in Hand:
4
Victory Points:
3
Layout Value:
13
6-Cost Developments:
1
Laga
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Investment Credits (Development)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Expedition Force (Development)
Consumer Markets (Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Galactic Federation (6-Cost Development)
Cards in Hand:
6
Victory Points:
5
Layout Value:
8
6-Cost Developments:
5
VP Pool: 17
chrismg now has 11 cards in his layout. One more card will end the game.
RftG
Right. Here are the choices for Round 11:
Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
chrismg: Phase III - Settle
Laga: Phase V - Produce
Three phases! And if chrismg is serious about that Phase III call, the game will end this round. Phase II (Develop) is first. Everyone, if you haven't sent me COs yet, please do so.
RftG
Develop (Phase II).
Connie
plays Galactic Survey: SETI for 5 discards. This is a 6-cost development (with -1 for choosing Phase II). She looks at 2 extra cards whenever she explores. Its value at game end is 1 VP per Explore power plus 1 VP per world.
Laga
plays Space Marines for 1 discard. This adds 2 to her military strength, bringing it up to 3.
chrismg
passes. He has more important fish to fry in Phase III.
RftG
And in Phase III (Settle),
chrismg
plays Terraformed World. He gets -2 cost from Replicant Robots, so it costs 3 discards. Terraformed World just has the one power, consume 1 good for 1 VP. However, it's also worth 5 VPs on its own. He picks up a card for choosing Settle.
Connie
passes, she tossed all her cards to play Galactic Survey: SETI.
Laga,
however, still has cards left, and plays Outlaw World. This is a 1-strength military world, so she has suffficient military. It can consume 1 good for 1 VP and 1 card.
Then there's Phase V, in which a bunch of producing happens. But that doesn't matter so much, because chrismg now has 12 cards in his layout, which means the end of the game! Points are up next.
RftG
On the whole, this was quite a low-scoring game. From my perspective, cards never seemed to wind up where they would be most valuable. Alas, it happens sometimes.
Connie managed some significant consumption in this game, total of 11 points. She only used two Consume powers, but they each gave a bonus card, so there's good incentive to use them.
Consumption VPs
Connie Neil: 11
chrismg: 3
Laga: 5
Layout value favoured chrismg. After all, he played 12 cards, the others managed no more than 9. Most of them were cheap though, until Terraformed World in the last round.
Layout Value
Connie Neil: 8
chrismg: 18
Laga: 10
His only 6-cost development, Free Trade Association, was only worth 1 point. To him. It would've been 10 points to Laga. She did play Galactic Federation. Since that gives points for every development, that's generally a decent play for anyone. Connie had two cards here, Mining League and Galactic Survey: SETI, and leads in this category too.
6-Cost Developments
Connie Neil: 7
chrismg: 1
Laga: 6
Connie led in two categories, chrismg in one. Laga finished in second place in each category, for the most balanced strategy.
RftG
And the totals are:
Connie Neil
Victory Points:
11
Layout Value:
8
6-Cost Developments:
7
Total:
26
chrismg
Victory Points:
3
Layout Value:
18
6-Cost Developments:
1
Total:
22
Laga
Victory Points:
5
Layout Value:
10
6-Cost Developments:
6
Total:
21
Congratulations to
Connie,
our winner! With everyone somewhat constrained in layout values, her edge in consumption carries the day. chrismg managed to edge in front of Laga in the final round, with his play of Terraformed World. He ended with bonuses or discounts in every phase but Explore, and was unlucky not to find better card to play with them. (Perhaps an Explore bonus would've helped with that.)
Only one point behind was Laga, who performed credibly in every category, but possibly just ran out of time.
A very good game. Thanks billytea for GMing!
Well played, Connie.
