I taught Archipelago to Joe, Kevin, Louis, and Phil Saturday evening. There was a fair bit of confusion, and no one really had a defined strategy. Joe was being disruptive with the barbarian card, so that didn’t help anything. The surplus worker market was also getting pretty full from all of the exploration we were doing. We ended up losing after about four rounds. It was interesting. We all agreed that a learning game like this was needed, and that things should be smoother next time.
Louis took off, so the rest of us broke out Railways of Europe. Phil quickly went into debt connecting to Moscow. I had the baron for fewest books, so I picked up a couple of hotels early to keep my expenses down. Joe grabbed the other hotel available, while Kevin started in the Berlin and Paris region.
Joe was building in Italy and was keeping his debt low, forcing me to carefully consider every expense. I did get some good routes into my hotels, and managed to be the first to deliver four different goods. I also completed the Berlin to Rome line.
We were all very close on scores, but Joe was my biggest concern with his low debt. I noticed late that the Paris to Constantinople was available, and quickly started that direction. One the last turn, a service bounty into Constantinople came up, but I didn’t have any goods to deliver. Joe won the bid and quickly built and delivered the bounty. I had other deliveries, though and wasn’t terribly concerned.
The game finished, and I had completed my baron. Joe did not have the most advanced train, and I managed to win by two.
We finished the night with Eminent Domain. Joe was the only one going military and was making headway that way. Kevin was researching, and Phil was just colonizing everything. I had picked up a couple good production planets, and focused heavily production and trade. I managed to score 11 points from trade and another 11 for my planets, just barely beating Kevin and his 21 points.
Until next time, happy gaming.
