Grommit

Turn 8 Fuel Purchasing through End of Game Statements

Players

GPS is Generic Power Supplier, GEGS is Gas Energy Generates Synergy, POWER is Providing Oil, Wood, and Electrical Resources, Le-duQ is L'ėlectricitė du Quebec, HALO1 is Hydrogen-Acetylene Liquification Operation #1.

Turn 8

Phase 3: Purchasing Fuel

HALO1 buys 2 urainum for 3 Elektros, POWER buys 1 trash for 5 Elektros, 1 oil for 3 Elektros, and 2 coal for 12 Elektros, GPS buys 2 uranium for 7 Elektros and 5 coal for 35 Elektros, GEGS buys 4 oil for 14 Elektros and 2 coal for 16 Elektros, Le-duQ buys 3 trash for 17 Elektros and 2 oil for 9 Elektros.

Phase 4: Connecting Cities

HALO1 connects to St. Georges for 27 Elektros, Alma for 19, Roberval for 25, and Chicoutimi for 19, POWER passes, GPS passes, GEGS passes, Le-duQ expands to Maniwaki for 30 Elektros and Mont-Laurier for 20.

Phase 5: Bureaucracy

Power Cities

Le-duQ powers 11 cities, using 2 oil and 3 trash and gaining 112 Elektros.

GEGS powers 6 cities, using 2 oil and 2 coal and gaining 73 Elektros.

GPS powers 11 cities, using 1 uranium and 3 coal and gaining 112 Elekctros.

POWER powers 10 cities, using 2 coal, 2 oil, and 1 trash and gaining 105 Elektros.

HALO1 powers 9 cities, using 1 uranium and gaining 98 Elektros.

Adjust Power Plant Market

Power plant #38 goes to the bottom of the deck and the #17 card is drawn, pushing the #34 plant into the future market.

Turn 9

Phase 2: Power Plant Bidding

Le-duQ passes.

HALO1 passes.

GEGS passes.

GPS passes.

POWER passes.

Since no plant was purchased, the smallest one (#16) is now obsolete and is discarded. The #24 plant is drawn to replace it and it joins the current market.

Phase 3: Purchasing Fuel

POWER buys 1 trash for 5 Elektros, 1 oil for 3, and 2 coal for 12, GPS buys 2 coal for 16 Elektros, GEGS buys 1 coal for 8 Elektros, HALO1 passes, Le-duQ passes.

Phase 4: Connecting Cities

POWER passes, GPS connects to Port Cartier for 26, Sept-Iles for 16, Sherbrook for 24, and St-Simeon for 31, GEGS passes, HALO1 passes, Le-duQ passes.

Phase 5: Bureaucracy

Power Cities

Le-duQ powers 11 cities, using 2 oil and 3 trash and gaining 112 Elektros.

HALO1 powers 9 cities, using 1 uranium and gaining 98 Elektros.

GEGS powers 4 cities, using 2 oil and gaining 54 Elektros.

GPS powers 11 cities, using 1 uranium and 3 coal and gaining 112 Elekctros.

POWER powers 10 cities, using 2 coal, 1 oil, and 1 trash and gaining 105 Elektros.

Notes

And with that, the game is over, since GPS connected to 15 cities, triggering game end. Both GPS and Le-duQ can power the most cities (11), and thus the game is decided by the tie breaker of the most money, which GPS wins by 7 Elektros. Congratulations to Andy York!

End of Game Statements

Bill Sharf (HALO1): The thing I really like about this game is there's no winning strategy that works all the time. It's dependent on what the other players decide to do, and when they decide to do it, and, face it, which cards come up when it's your turn to bid. A good plant pull after everyone else has bought/passed can make a big difference.

Getting power plants is important, but fuel type can matter if you're buying fuel late...there may not be enough of the type you need and you'll be paying more for it. City connections are important too, if you spend twice as much as others to expand you'll lose. First time I've played this board and its pretty harsh....a lot of expensive builds...which is a big factor too, on other boards with a smaller price difference it's not as critical when and where you expand.

This is a great game to play, thanks to everyone for playing, and Chris for running it. It was a lot of fun once I got a better handle on this strange new thing called e-mail.

Chris Geggus (GEGS): Well done to Andy and another big thanks to Chris. Doing these games in real time must take even more of your valuable time. Not a worry for the lazy unemployed like me!

Only my second game of PG and I enjoyed most of it - in part due to the jovial banter of my oppos. I made a couple of tactical errors, such as my over-reliance on coal based plants, although I was more than happy with my map position. I would certainly like to play again, but I suspect that this particular map is more suited to setting up earlier rather than later at game start. Too many bonus locations in my opinion. I've not tried the other maps yet, but I'm sure each has it's own peculiarities.

Onward we go.

Andy York (GPS): Wow - it wasn't until the last two turns that I thought I might have a chance. With the Coal shortage coming up, I decided to try to shift "up" in the order so that I could have an early shot at resources. Then, the crappy (sorry Chris) power plant draws meant nothing was moving in that arena.

In the last turn, it was Chris's reminder that 15 connected cities was the goal that made an alteration in strategy (until he said that I was on track thinking it was 17). And, with that nugget, I had to be very careful in what I bought and how I could connect up enough cities to win. As it was, I barely squeaked through with the victory (even with forgetting we weren't in phase 3 yet).

BTW - I on the second to last turn, I considered buying another available coal that I was (somewhat) praised for leaving. The real reason I left it was that I wanted to make sure I had room on the next turn to be sure I could run the coal supply nearly out.

That being said, I'm a bit surprised that no one at least shifted from a coal plant to one that ran on oil (more of a lateral move). They wouldn't necessarily have been able to power more cities (at least in potential numbers), but in a practical sense would have been able to due to avoiding the coal shortage.

The other thought, especially before finding out the 15 city limit, was to buy a plant that would have allowed me to power 12 cities (trade in my Eco ->2 for a non-coal X->3). However, my big concern was on what the next plant draw was (Richard could make a big jump in the number of cities he could power). As it was, I didn't have to worry with the continued crappy power plants being put on the market. But, of course the players don't know that at the time.

Thanks to all the players and, as always, to Chris for his stellar GMing!