Puerto Rico, Game 03: Moët Margarita - The Game is Afoot!

[LordMortis]

Wooooo!!!! I continue my 100% success ratio in Puerto Rico games.

I gotta say - the storehouse was *vastly* more useful than I was expecting it to be. I should've picked that thing up awhile ago.

Now I want in

[Grundbegriff]

I'd welcome feedback about any or all of the following (or anything else):

• Online game mechanics
• The Nobles expansion
• Strategies or tactics in this particular game session
• Playing as a newb
• Playing as a vet

[LordMortis]

From the outsiders perspective, it's got to be hard for a newbie. You don't get to see the board and there is very little strategic table talk to help them see the concepts or even visual result of consequences of actions.

For me the elegance of Puerto Rico is that one tiny random factor, what plantations come up in the settler phase, determine the entire approach to the game. And the main approach you have to work with is forcing other people to do what's best for you. (Note I have not played a lot with expansions, or any PR much, really in the last five years or more)

The timing of the craftsman and it's relationship to the trader and captain are the best examples and they're hard to conceptualize in a forum.

But maybe that's just the way my brain works and newer players don't actually have that problem.

[Vorret]

Guess I'll seell my tobacco, why not

[El Guapo]

Ideally games like this would be set up in multigame tournaments where your standing is tracked.

That would be ideal since I learned a few things playing for the first time. Understanding that I am buying a land office and not an office is one example.

That's what learning curves are for.

In your learning game you get to see things like timing of craftsmanning is muy muy muy importante.

Yeah I think Vorret got hammered by the craftsman / captain stuff happening on the other end of the table (with Moliere and me), so by the time captaining got to him the boats were mostly or entirely full. I guess if that starts to take shape you have to either go for a building based strategy, or pick up stuff like a wharf, royal supplier, storehouse, etc.

[Vorret]

Feedback from a complete newb.

I had a hard time... I guess not really knowing everything and not being able to see the board made me do some very crucial mistakes that really killed my chance at competing, I believe I had a not so bad start, lots of production but sadly I kept miss-timing my craftman and ended up wasting all that sweet corn.

I also realize that unliky most boardgame you REALLY need to think ahead of that specific turn before making any decision, it was alot of fun though and I'd love to participate again now that I know what to do and what NOT to do (I've done alot of that).

[Grundbegriff]

Guess I'll seell my tobacco, why not

Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.

[LordMortis]

Ideally games like this would be set up in multigame tournaments where your standing is tracked.

That would be ideal since I learned a few things playing for the first time. Understanding that I am buying a land office and not an office is one example.

That's what learning curves are for.

In your learning game you get to see things like timing of craftsmanning is muy muy muy importante.

Yeah I think Vorret got hammered by the craftsman / captain stuff happening on the other end of the table (with Moliere and me), so by the time captaining got to him the boats were mostly or entirely full. I guess if that starts to take shape you have to either go for a building based strategy, or pick up stuff like a wharf, royal supplier, storehouse, etc.

That happens to anyone who craftsman with bad timing. It's part of paying attention to who produces what and part of why you don't want to compete with the guy putting good on the boats before you. The best time to craftsman is generally (but no exclusively, you could have other plans in motion) as the governor is about to pass or in the same round a captain has already shipped. Messing up that mojo to your benefit is part of the game (again in an effort to force someone else to help you)

Other things to consider, the trader. Who benefits from the trader when you CM? Cash doesn't win you the game but it is the road to victory in most games.

[El Guapo]

I'd welcome feedback about any or all of the following (or anything else):

• Online game mechanics
• The Nobles expansion
• Strategies or tactics in this particular game session
• Playing as a newb
• Playing as a vet

The online mechanics worked great, I thought. I've never played Puerto Rico in person, so I don't know how it compares exactly (I'm sure there are some differences), but this seemed to work totally fine. Thank you for running it, incidentally.

I thought the Nobles expansion was interesting, though I've only played one PR game before this (that you ran) so I don't have a more extended perspective on it. I thought that most of the nobles-based buildings were slightly underwhelming for the most part (the Church and the Zoning Office seemed significantly underpowered for what they do, in particular), though the Chapel was great.

As for strategies it's interesting to see how islands develop. IIRC last time I went pretty heavy into a building-based (as opposed to shipping based) strategy, whereas this time I wound up with a shipping heavy strategy. Partly because I got the Factory last time which was great (I think better than the specialized factory for the most part). I didn't really set out with a master plan at any point though, just evolved as things came up.

[El Guapo]

Ideally games like this would be set up in multigame tournaments where your standing is tracked.

That would be ideal since I learned a few things playing for the first time. Understanding that I am buying a land office and not an office is one example.

That's what learning curves are for.

In your learning game you get to see things like timing of craftsmanning is muy muy muy importante.

Yeah I think Vorret got hammered by the craftsman / captain stuff happening on the other end of the table (with Moliere and me), so by the time captaining got to him the boats were mostly or entirely full. I guess if that starts to take shape you have to either go for a building based strategy, or pick up stuff like a wharf, royal supplier, storehouse, etc.

That happens to anyone who craftsman with bad timing. It's part of paying attention to who produces what and part of why you don't want to compete with the guy putting good on the boats before you. The best time to craftsman is generally (but no exclusively, you could have other plans in motion) as the governor is about to pass or in the same round a captain has already shipped. Messing up that mojo to your benefit is part of the game (again in an effort to force someone else to help you)

This is also where the storehouse (or warehouse(s) if those wind up being in the game) become super useful. You don't get hammered by bad craftsman / captain timing, and next round you can then captain while everyone else has few or no goods.

[LordMortis]

I didn't really set out with a master plan at any point though, just evolved as things came up.

You have to evolve your game. There are great opening moves but the game really depends on adapting to changing dynamics.

[Moliere]

Do we get a VP tally or just the inference that El Guapo won with the "moot moot" comment?

[Grundbegriff]

The online mechanics worked great, I thought. I've never played Puerto Rico in person, so I don't know how it compares exactly (I'm sure there are some differences), but this seemed to work totally fine.

I've played it once.

Thank you for running it, incidentally.

My pleasure.

If anyone else wants to run one, I'd be happy to play...

[El Guapo]

And the Emperor of the Fertile Island of Puerto Rico is....
El Guapo

Celebrate with a Moët Margarita!

Player	VP Counters	Small Buildings	Large Bldg Bonuses	Nobles	Total
Moliere	33	19	0	0	52
El Guapo	37	18	0	9	64
Remus West	34	16	8	4	62
NickAragua	20	23	6	3	52
Vorret	21	11	7	4	43

The spreadsheet has two tabs at the bottom: Actions and Victory Points.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

This is the VP tally.

[Grundbegriff]

Do we get a VP tally or just the inference that El Guapo won with the "moot moot" comment?

You mean something like this?

[Grundbegriff]

Quick and dirty guide to Puerto Rico strategy:

(A)
The game is 12-15 rounds long, so
Rounds: 1 through 4 or 5, put money in thy purse.
Rounds: 5 or 6 through 8 or 10, use the money to create VP-generating engines.
Rounds: 9 or 11 through 12 or 15, generate as many VP as possible.

(B)
"Craftsman Fear": don't craft unless you're quite sure it's better for you than for most others.

(C)
Don't trade unless you're quite sure it's better for you than for most others.

(D)
The two basic ways to earn VP are to build, build, build or to ship, ship, ship. Figure out the approach that fits the position you're in, and then pursue it.

(E)
The law of right and left: don't do what the player who precedes you is doing; that player will get there first. Do what you can to foil the person who follows you.

Anything else that doesn't involve multi-page strategy guides?

[LordMortis]

The online mechanics worked great, I thought. I've never played Puerto Rico in person, so I don't know how it compares exactly (I'm sure there are some differences), but this seemed to work totally fine.

I've played it once.

Thank you for running it, incidentally.

My pleasure.

If anyone else wants to run one, I'd be happy to play...

I don't own a copy but maybe I could fake it. I'd likely just run the basic game as that's all I really know and probably would be easiest to track without actually having a physical representation of the game.

[Moliere]

Do we get a VP tally or just the inference that El Guapo won with the "moot moot" comment?

You mean something like this?

Weird that it didn't show up when I've been reading this thread. Too many updates happening, I guess. Thanks for taking the time and effort to run the game. It was a good experience all around.

[El Guapo]

It's too time consuming for anyone to do it, but it'd be interesting to see what the final breakdown was in terms of actions chosen by each person (like, how many times did I pick trader vs. settler vs. mayor, etc.), who chose which action the most, etc. I don't think I chose craftsman even once, for example.

We really need to get an OO intern.

[Vorret]

It's too time consuming for anyone to do it, but it'd be interesting to see what the final breakdown was in terms of actions chosen by each person (like, how many times did I pick trader vs. settler vs. mayor, etc.), who chose which action the most, etc. I don't think I chose craftsman even once, for example.

We really need to get an OO intern.

Thought that was Morliere's job

[Grundbegriff]

It's too time consuming for anyone to do it, but it'd be interesting to see what the final breakdown was in terms of actions chosen by each person (like, how many times did I pick trader vs. settler vs. mayor, etc.), who chose which action the most, etc. I don't think I chose craftsman even once, for example.
We really need to get an OO intern.

Did you not see the link to the spreadsheet? That includes everything: choices and actions on tab 1, and outcomes on tab 2.

[Grundbegriff]

For your convenience:

And the Emperor of the Fertile Island of Puerto Rico is....
El Guapo

Celebrate with a Moët Margarita!

Player	VP Counters	Small Buildings	Large Bldg Bonuses	Nobles	Total
Moliere	33	19	0	0	52
El Guapo	37	18	0	9	64
Remus West	34	16	8	4	62
NickAragua	20	23	6	3	52
Vorret	21	11	7	4	43

The spreadsheet has two tabs at the bottom: Actions and Victory Points.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Note spreadsheet link....

[El Guapo]

It's too time consuming for anyone to do it, but it'd be interesting to see what the final breakdown was in terms of actions chosen by each person (like, how many times did I pick trader vs. settler vs. mayor, etc.), who chose which action the most, etc. I don't think I chose craftsman even once, for example.
We really need to get an OO intern.

Did you not see the link to the spreadsheet? That includes everything: choices and actions on tab 1, and outcomes on tab 2.

Did I see the link to the spreadsheet? Yes. Had I considered clicking on said link? No.

It does indeed have the information that I was seeking. In fact I did select craftsman exactly once, while otherwise I mainly cycled between builder, trader, and mayor.

[Grundbegriff]

Moliere: settler, prospector, builder, builder, trader, builder, settler, settler, trader, trader, builder, captain, craftsman, captain, craftsman

Builder: 4
Captain: 2
Craftsman: 2
Mayor: 0
Prospector: 1
Settler: 3
Trader: 3


El Guapo: builder, mayor, prospector, craftsman, settler, trader, prospector, captain, builder, mayor, trader, builder, builder, mayor, captain

Builder: 4
Captain: 2
Craftsman: 1
Mayor: 3
Prospector: 2
Settler: 1
Trader: 2


Remus West: mayor, craftsman, trader, prospector, captain, prospector, builder, mayor, captain, craftsman, prospector, mayor, prospector, settler, mayor

Builder: 1
Captain: 2
Craftsman: 2
Mayor: 4
Prospector: 4
Settler: 1
Trader: 1


NickAragua: prospector, settler, mayor, settler, prospector, mayor, craftsman, builder, mayor, captain, settler, prospector, trader, trader, trader

Builder: 1
Captain: 1
Craftsman: 1
Mayor: 3
Prospector: 3
Settler: 3
Trader: 3


Vorret: prospector, builder, captain, mayor, mayor, settler, captain, prospector, craftsman, prospector, mayor, craftsman, mayor, prospector, builder

Builder: 2
Captain: 2
Craftsman: 2
Mayor: 4
Prospector: 4
Settler: 1
Trader:

[Remus West]

Never should have bought the stupid hunting lodge so late in the game. Ah well. Very fun again. Thanks for running it Grund.

[Grundbegriff]

For most of the game, you were in the catbird seat. El Guapo came from behind.

[El Guapo]

Never should have bought the stupid hunting lodge so late in the game. Ah well. Very fun again. Thanks for running it Grund.

On the plus side, you get to down some beautiful deer.

Also if NickAragua had picked settler the lodge would've gotten you 2 VP, which would've tied me. And I think you would've won the tie-breaker via having 5 doubloons (vs. my 0 doubloons and 2 goods), unless I'm missing something.

[NickAragua]

I tried to focus on building, but didn't implement a cash flow mechanism until too late in the game for it to matter. I also should have tried better to keep track of my VPs, but, to be honest, I can't be bothered. It's not like I'd be able to say "whoop, I'm not producing enough VPs, better speed it up."

Had a lot of fun though.

In the future, it may be worthwhile to look into the Puerto Rico Vassal module as a good visual aid: http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Puerto_Rico

[El Guapo]

I'll take craftsman, and take tobacco for my privilege.

[NickAragua]

Hate to tell you, but the game's over.

[El Guapo]

But I have nowhere to go.

[Vorret]

I thought we were waiting on Morliere's action?

Oh well

[Moliere]

I thought we were waiting on Morliere's action?

Oh well

Captain follows Craftsman, right? Where's my 11 VP?

[Grundbegriff]

What is this... withdrawals?

[Remus West]

What is this... withdrawals?

Game 4.....Game 4....Game 4......Game 4!!!!!!!

[Moliere]

What is this... withdrawals?

Game 4.....Game 4....Game 4......Game 4!!!!!!!

It's either that or trying to round up 10+ people for a WW game.

[Vorret]

What is this... withdrawals?

Game 4.....Game 4....Game 4......Game 4!!!!!!!

It's either that or trying to round up 10+ people for a WW game.

Yeah that hasn't worked too well lately...

[Moliere]

I miss playing this game. Who can we talk into hosting another one since I don't own the game?

[Vorret]

I'm so in if another one starts