Puerto Rico, Game 01: Transit of Venus: GAME OVER

[LordMortis]

I was thinking about the indigo production, but then I knew almost for sure that I wanted to build, and without knowing whether we'd produce and sell this turn, I basically could get 1 guaranteed doubloon by manning my quarry, vs. maybe 1 doubloon via producing and selling indigo. Though I would've wounded up denying you the 1 doubloon, as you note.

That's where attempting to forcing people to do what you want comes into play. If Q doesn't trade then you get to trade and get 3 doubloons for your Indigo while he only gets two for his sugar. For you it's a win/win (IMO). The one way you would get hosed if is builds, so you have to ask yourself if you think he (or I because I hadn't gone yet) has a reason to build.

But now trading is off the table until someone wants to trade their one good.

If you are sitting at a table, you are now looking at the trading house, trying to figure out who is most likely to trade for that last spot (not tobacco, sugar, or indigo) and if there is anything you can do to stop it. The answer is lordmortis is most likely to try and trade one corn for two doubloons in two turns from now unless he can be stopped or something better comes along. And everyone at the table is asking themself how you can make that work for them or against me.

What you probably see is the supreme jerkoff opening the next round as the captain, which will net him big while screwing my ability to plan for the trading house. Knowing there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. So you lock that away in your plan.

(Sorry if I confuse. Explaining without a board is almost as hard as playing without a board)

[Chaosraven]

*snort* "supreme nozzle"

[Qantaga]

Great. Now, I'm all kinds of paranoid about my choice.

(Seriously, LM. I am very grateful for your comments. They are most appreciated.)

[Chaosraven]

Most of the game will involve where you are in turn order. I wanted the colony ship loaded to tempt Newcastle, because even if he didn't take it, I got the extra colonists. Having the ship refill with only 5 means the next guy gets 2. Not filling the trade house with a worthless corn leaves it unemptied, so people are unlikely to trade next round, meaning it will have a coin for LordMortis as governor. If he puts a corn in it, nobody else gets to trade and he gets 2 for his single corn. He worries that I will choose Captain next turn and everybody must ship their goods, if possible, getting rid of his corn trade option. Unless, of course, someone chooses Craftsman before his round as Governor. And so on. after that round, he will choose last the next time.

[Chaosraven]

Great. Now, I'm all kinds of paranoid about my choice.

(Seriously, LM. I am very grateful for your comments. They are most appreciated.)

where you will get paranoid is when there is only one coffee and you have to pray nobody chooses it after you spend all your doubloons on a roaster...

[LordMortis]

Great. Now, I'm all kinds of paranoid about my choice.

(Seriously, LM. I am very grateful for your comments. They are most appreciated.)

where you will get paranoid is when there is only one coffee and you have to pray nobody chooses it after you spend all your doubloons on a roaster...

That's why I said if there's a bunch of coffee out there. If there's one coffee out there, unless I have one already, it's sort of my duty to keep you from getting it. Raven knowing that I want it and that Newcastle already has tobacco then considers taking it to protect himself against NC and potentially screwing with me or he considers not taking it forcing me to think about taking it even if I don't want it.

If there are two coffees then you ought to be pretty safe... if you choose to go that way.

[Grundbegriff]

At the end of Settler, the unclaimed Sugar plantation is discarded and six new plantation tiles are dealt:

• sugar
• indigo
• tobacco
• corn
• sugar
• coffee

[Grundbegriff]

At the end of Mayor, Chaosraven has 3 new colonists (1 from supply, 2 from the ship) and everyone else has 1 (from the ship).

El Guapo now has an occupied quarry and an occupied indigo plantation.
Empty plantations: tobacco
Empty bldg cap: 1 on indigo plant
Newcastle now has an occupied tobacco plantation and an occupied tobacco storage.
Empty plantations: tobacco, indigo
Empty bldg cap: 2 on tobacco storage
Chaosraven now has an occupied corn plantation and an occupied indigo plantation and an occupied sugar plantation and an occupied sugar mill.
Empty plantations: 0
Empty bldg cap: 0
LordMortis now has an occupied corn plantation and an occupied indigo plantation.
Empty plantations: indigo
Empty bldg cap: 0
Qantaga now has an occupied sugar plantation and an occupied sugar mill.
Empty plantations: corn, sugar
Empty bldg cap: 0

Total empty building capacity is 3. Player count is 5.
The new incoming ship has 5 colonists.
Formula: playerCount > unusedBldgCap ? playerCount : unusedBldgCap;

[Grundbegriff]

You should get Sugar for 2 Doubloons +1 for Trader Role +1 for the coin sitting on the role.

It's still a good play. Just don't short yourself a coin.

Correct. You get the doubloon on the card just for choosing that card. You get 2 doubloons for your sugar. And since you're "The Trader", you get the perq of an additional doubloon. Still, net +4!

[Grundbegriff]

And after the rest of us build, as well.

Right. Feel free to push to the end of each governorship.
Then I'll give a Round Summary.
A typical game goes 14-18 rounds, and we're careening toward the end of round 2.

[Grundbegriff]

small werewolf for 3 doubloons

[Grundbegriff]

Great. Now, I'm all kinds of paranoid about my choice.
(Seriously, LM. I am very grateful for your comments. They are most appreciated.)

Think carefully about the strategic guidance offered by others. It's all good.
Look at the positions and plays of others; figure out what they might be aiming to do.

You win the game with victory points. You get VPs in two ways: buildings have VP values, and shipped goods are worth 1 per crate. And you get buildings with money.

So you're either pursuing money ASAP, or you're aiming to ship AMAP.

[Qantaga]

Ooo, look, something shiny.

In what may be a monumentally inept noob decision (feel free to giggle), build office.

I believe that takes us to the pause before Chaos' governorship.

[Grundbegriff]

End of Round 02, the first Governorship of Newcastle.

These are bigger and sharper than the last batch. Maybe even useful!

Banked doubloons are in stacks of 10 or spread, so that's 55.

[Grundbegriff]

History:

Round 01
El Guapo: Settler (quarry); Newcastle (indigo); Chaosraven (sugar); LordMortis (corn); Qantaga (indigo)
Newcastle: Prospector (1)
Chaosraven: Builder(sm sugar); LordMortis (sm indigo); Qantaga (sm sugar); El Guapo (sm indigo); Newcastle (tobacco storage)
LordMortis: Mayor (2); Qantaga (1); El Guapo (1); Newcastle (1); Chaosraven (1)
Qantaga: Prospector (1)

Round 2
Newcastle: Settler (tobacco); Chaosraven (corn); LordMortis (indigo); Qantaga (sugar); El Guapo (tobacco)
Chaosraven: Mayor (3); LordMortis (1); Qantaga (1); El Guapo (1); Newcastle (1)
LordMortis: Craftsman (1 corn, 2 indigo); Qantaga (1 sugar); El Guapo (-); Newcastle (1 tobacco); Chaosraven (1 corn, 1 sugar)
Qantaga: Trader (1 sugar); El Guapo (-); Newcastle (1 tobacco); Chaosraven (-); LordMortis (1 indigo)
El Guapo: Builder (tobacco storage); Newcastle (sm warehouse); Chaosraven (sm warehouse); LordMortis (hospice); Qantaga (office)

Start of Round 03:

Victory Point Chips: 122
Doubloons: 55
Colonists in supply: 82
Colonists on inbound ship: 5
Coffee crates in supply: 9
Tobacco crates in supply: 8
Sugar crates in supply: 9
Indigo crates in supply: 9
Corn crates in supply: 8
Trade House: (1) sugar (2) tobacco (3) indigo (4) ---

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
The number on the left is the price in doubloons. For worker capacity and VP value, see the BUILDINGS section above.
As these are acquired, I'll put them under erasure and mark them with the initial of the owner EG, N, C, LM, or Q.

Bank Board
Column 1
(1) [small indigo plant LM] [small indigo plant EG] [small indigo plant] [small indigo plant]
(2) [small sugar mill C] [small sugar mill Q] [small sugar mill] [small sugar mill]
(1) [small market] [small market]
(2) [hacienda] [hacienda]
(2) [construction hut] [construction hut]
(3) [small warehouse N] [small warehouse C]
Column 2
(3) [large indigo plant] [large indigo plant] [large indigo plant]
(4) [large sugar mill] [large sugar mill] [large sugar mill]
(4) [hospice LM] [hospice]
(5) [office Q] [office]
(5) [large market] [large market]
(6) [large warehouse] [large warehouse]
Column 3
(5) [tobacco storage N] [tobacco storage EG] [tobacco storage]
(6) [coffee roaster] [coffee roaster] [coffee roaster]
(7) [university] [university]
(8) [factory] [factory]
(8) [harbor] [harbor]
(9) [wharf] [wharf]
Column 4
(10) [guild hall]
(10) [residence]
(10) [fortress]
(10) [customs house]
(10) [city hall]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Plantations and Quarries Available
Plantations:

• sugar
• indigo
• tobacco
• corn
• sugar
• coffee

Quarries:

• Quarry EG
• Quarry
• Quarry
• Quarry
• Quarry
• Quarry
• Quarry
• Quarry

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
1: El Guapo <== Governor
Victory Points: ???
Doubloons: 00
Idle Colonists: 00
Employed Colonists: 02
Crates on Hand: Corn: 00, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Plantations and workers:
[indigo______________1] [tobacco_____________0] [____________________] [quarry______________1]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
Buildings and workers:
[small indigo plant_____0] [tobacco storage_____0] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

2: Newcastle
Victory Points: ???
Doubloons: 00
Idle Colonists: 00
Employed Colonists: 02
Crates on Hand: Corn: 00, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Plantations and workers:
[indigo______________0] [tobacco_____________1] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [tobacco_____________0] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
Buildings and workers:
[tobacco storage______1] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [small warehouse______0]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

3: Chaosraven
Victory Points: ???
Doubloons: 00
Idle Colonists: 00
Employed Colonists: 04
Crates on Hand: Corn: 01, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 01, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Plantations and workers:
[indigo______________1] [sugar_______________1] [corn_______________1] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
Buildings and workers:
[small sugar mill______1] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [small warehouse______0]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

4: LordMortis
Victory Points: ???
Doubloons: 00
Idle Colonists: 00
Employed Colonists: 03
Crates on Hand: Corn: 01, Indigo: 01, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Plantations and workers:
[corn_______________1] [indigo______________1] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [indigo______________0] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
Buildings and workers:
[small indigo plant_____1] [____________________] [____________________] [___________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [hospice_____________0]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

5: Qantaga
Victory Points: ???
Doubloons: 01
Idle Colonists: 00
Employed Colonists: 02
Crates on Hand: Corn: 00, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Plantations and workers:
[corn_______________0] [sugar_______________1] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [sugar_______________0] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
Buildings and workers:
[small sugar mill______1] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [____________________]
[____________________] [____________________] [____________________] [office______________0]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

• Builder (+0)
• Captain (+2)
• Craftsman (+0)
• Mayor (+0)
• Prospector (+1)
• Prospector (+1)
• Settler (+0)
• Trader (+0)

[Grundbegriff]

Action on Governor Chaosraven!

[Chaosraven]

Builder. Take small indigo for 0.

[Grundbegriff]

Bank Board
Column 1
(1) [small indigo plant LM] [small indigo plant EG] [small indigo plant C] [small indigo plant]
(2) [small sugar mill C] [small sugar mill Q] [small sugar mill] [small sugar mill]
(1) [small market Q] [small market EG]
(2) [hacienda] [hacienda]
(2) [construction hut] [construction hut]
(3) [small warehouse N] [small warehouse C]
Column 2
(3) [large indigo plant] [large indigo plant] [large indigo plant]
(4) [large sugar mill] [large sugar mill] [large sugar mill]
(4) [hospice LM] [hospice]
(5) [office Q] [office]
(5) [large market] [large market]
(6) [large warehouse] [large warehouse]
Column 3
(5) [tobacco storage N] [tobacco storage EG] [tobacco storage]
(6) [coffee roaster] [coffee roaster] [coffee roaster]
(7) [university] [university]
(8) [factory] [factory]
(8) [harbor] [harbor]
(9) [wharf] [wharf]
Column 4
(10) [guild hall]
(10) [residence]
(10) [fortress]
(10) [customs house]
(10) [city hall]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
LordMortis to build!

[LordMortis]

No build to qantaga. Guapo can feel a lot better about manning the quarry.

[Grundbegriff]

Good point. Looks like only Qantaga has 'bloonage.

[Qantaga]

Small market for 1 dubloon, please.

On to Lord Mortis' card play.

[LordMortis]

Guap can still build a small market if he chooses and I imagine he will.

[Grundbegriff]

• Builder (+0) C
• Captain (+2)
• Craftsman (+0)
• Mayor (+0)
• Prospector (+1)
• Prospector (+1)
• Settler (+0)
• Trader (+0)

[Qantaga]

Guap can still build a small market if he chooses and I imagine he will.

I'm on my phone and can't look it up at the moment, so how is it he gets the small market free? A perk of a manned quarry?

[Grundbegriff]

Action on El Guapo, the Quarryman.

[Grundbegriff]

I'm on my phone and can't look it up at the moment, so how is it he gets the small market free? A perk of a manned quarry?

Yes, the manned quarry is worth -1 doubloon in construction. The small market and the small indigo plant are the only 1-doubloon buildings left, but he cannot build the latter since he already has one.

[Qantaga]

Yes, the manned quarry is worth -1 doubloon in construction.

Nice! Thanks for the explanation.

[Chaosraven]

Yes, the manned quarry is worth -1 doubloon in construction.

Nice! Thanks for the explanation.

Essentially the Quarry gives discounts.

If you have 2, you get 2 off the second column, 3 is 3 off third, and 4 is four off fourth.
(But no more discount than the column, for example 4 quarries is still only 2 off second column)

[Grundbegriff]

Essentially the Quarry gives discounts.

If you have 2, you get 2 off the second column, 3 is 3 off third, and 4 is four off fourth.
(But no more discount than the column, for example 4 quarries is still only 2 off second column)

Formulaically: Any number up to N quarries may be used to discount the cost of buildings in column N.

[El Guapo]

Shockingly, I'll build a small market.

It's quite lovely. The weather's great, and we have lots of stuff available, at least if you love indigo and tobacco. Well, raw indigo, anyways.

[Grundbegriff]

And... that wraps the Builder's turn. Placard selection goes to LordMortis.

• Builder (+0) C
• Captain (+2)
• Craftsman (+0)
• Mayor (+0)
• Prospector (+1)
• Prospector (+1)
• Settler (+0)
• Trader (+0)

PR Trivia: The "More Buildings" expansion adds... more buildings. The Bank Board starts empty and each player in turn selects a building (from both the original set and the expansion set) for inclusion. The new buildings offer spicy new ways to bend the rules.

PR Trivia: The "Nobles" expansion adds a few more buildings and a new class of colonist: the noble. These red counters stand for upper class citizens, and certain buildings yield a different effect when occupied by a noble than when occupied by a commoner.

[LordMortis]

I suppose I must Captain.

+2 Doubloons.
1 indigo to 8 space ship for +1VP and +1VP captain bonus. 7 spaces remaining.

1 Corn still to be shipped.

I think that's chaosraven to ship corn or sugar. Correct me if I am wrong. If I am right feel free to put my corn where it must go for +1 more VP.

[Grundbegriff]

I suppose I must Captain.
+2 Doubloons.
1 indigo to 8 space ship for +1VP and +1VP captain bonus. 7 spaces remaining.
1 Corn still to be shipped.
I think that's chaosraven to ship corn or sugar. Correct me if I am wrong. If I am right feel free to put my corn where it must go for +1 more VP.

For the newbs, here's how this works.

Each player who has crates must participate in the Captain round. Each player who has more than one kind of goods may select the kind he wishes to ship first.

The Captain, having selected his kind to ship, offloads as many of his crates as possible onto a ship according to these restrictions:

• A ship may only carry one kind of goods.
• The kind of goods a ship may carry is determined by the first crate placed on it when it's empty.
• No two ships may carry the same kind of goods.
• If two empty ships could receive the player's goods, and choosing the smaller ship would leave some goods of the current kind unshipped, then the player must choose the larger ship.
• In a given time around the table, a player may ship only one kind of goods. The action will come back around until all possible shipping has occurred in this phase.

The action goes clockwise around the circle of players as many times as necessary, and each player, freely choosing one of his kinds of goods (if he has more than 1), loads as many crates as possible onto a suitable ship, if such is available.

If each ship is already carrying a certain kind of good and your crates belong on none of them, tant pis.
If a ship carrying goods of your kind is available but there are not enough spaces for your crates, sux2bu.

Once it is no longer possible for anyone to offload further crates, the following cleanup occurs:
1. Each person stores exactly 1 crate of goods on his player board.
2. Each person who has a small warehouse stores all goods of a single kind on his player board (in addition to the 1 crate, presumably of a different kind).
3. Each person who has a large warehouse stores all goods of two different kinds on his player board (in addition to the 1 crate and anything saved in a small warehouse).
4. Anything not covered by 1, 2, or 3 is spoiled, and must be forfeited to the general supply.

Each crate that makes it onto a ship earns 1 VP, regardless of the kind of goods.

[Grundbegriff]

1 indigo to 8 space ship for +1VP and +1VP captain bonus. 7 spaces remaining.
1 Corn still to be shipped.
I think that's chaosraven to ship corn or sugar. Correct me if I am wrong. If I am right feel free to put my corn where it must go for +1 more VP.

El Guapo: Crates on Hand: Corn: 00, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Newcastle: Crates on Hand: Corn: 00, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Chaosraven: Crates on Hand: Corn: 01, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 01, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
LordMortis: Crates on Hand: Corn: 01, Indigo: 01, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00
Qantaga: Crates on Hand: Corn: 00, Indigo: 00, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00

Action on Chaosraven. Pick a kind of goods, and pick a boat (size 7 or size 6) to put it on.

[Qantaga]

LordMortis: Crates on Hand: Corn: 01, Indigo: 01, Sugar: 00, Tobacco: 00, Coffee:00

Another newb query. Where does LM's indigo on hand come from? He has one indigo plant (similar to my one sugar mill). I traded a sugar last turn, he traded an indigo.

I'm not questioning that he has it, I'm just trying to learn/understand how he has the indigo crate. Captain"s privilege, perhaps?

[Grundbegriff]

Another newb query. Where does LM's indigo on hand come from? He has one indigo plant (similar to my one sugar mill). I traded a sugar last turn, he traded an indigo.

He produced one indigo and one corn. Because he was the Craftsman (i.e., he chose that placard), his bonus was that he was permitted to craft one additional crate of anything he was capable of producing.

Captain"s privilege?

Craftsman's privilege. The Captain, who inaugurates shipping for VPs, gets an extra VP.

[Qantaga]

He produced one indigo and one corn. Because he was the Craftsman (i.e., he chose that placard), his bonus was that he was permitted to craft one additional crate of anything he was capable of producing...Craftsman's privilege.

Thank you, thank you!

[Grundbegriff]

Since it's clear that both of LM's goods and one or two of Chaosraven's good will be shipped, let's proceed with Qantaga's turn. When Chaosraven shows up, he can tell us which of his goods he's placing on which boat. LM's other good will go on the remaining boat, unless Chaosraven's kind to him.

Agreed?

Placard selection proceeds to Qantaga.

[Newcastle]

Hey grund,

sorry if this is somewhere on your posts. But, when you take a photo of each persons placard, can you keep one "empty" where the description of builder, settler....etc...so that we can read what each of the powers do? I am sure its somewhere, but being able to easily go to that board would be nice.

[Grundbegriff]

when you take a photo of each persons placard, can you keep one "empty" where the description of builder, settler....etc...so that we can read what each of the powers do? I am sure its somewhere, but being able to easily go to that board would be nice.

It's right at the top of this post. However, I moved the pictures on my server, and forgot to update those links!

Click the big picture, and it'll zoom in on the powers.