Jack Russel Terrier


Terraforming Mars:  The Dice Game


Pre-Game Corporation Selection

Kevin C. selects Tharsis Republic, gaining 3 wild resources, a steel, a microbe, placing a city in D6, gaining 2VP, and 2 event resource.

Bill selects Robinson Industries, gaining a temperature, energy, titanium, and plant resource.

Kevin selects Teractor, gaining 1 radiation, 2 credit, and 4 wild resources.

Chris selects Valley Trust, gaining 1 Earth, 1 plant, and 6 wild resources, and spends an Earth, and 3 wild resources for Sponsored Academies.

Round 1

Tharsis Republic gives Valley Trust an event resource, selects an Action turn, takes a blue die with the support action, gaining water, and with the main action, reuses a support action to take a yellow die, gaining science.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die with the support action, gaining Earth, and with the main action, takes a support action, discarding a plant resource and changing the titanium to steel.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a blue die with the support action, gaining energy, and with the main action, repeats a support action, taking a yellow die and gaining credits.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, takes a gray die with the support action, gaining titanium, and with the main action, repeats a support action, taking another gray die, gaining steel.

Round 2

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a microbe to flip the event to temperature, and as the main action, spends the temperature and water to play an Aquifer, placing an ocean tile in E4, gaining 2VP and 2 cards.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die, gaining science, and with the main action, repeats a support action, taking a yellow die, gaining credits.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die, gaining Earth, and spends 1 credit, 1 energy, 1 radiation, and a wild for Tectonic Stress Power.
Valley Trust selects and Action turn, takes a blue die, gaining water, and spends 1 steel and 2 wild resources for Rover Construction.

Round 3

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, takes a red die, gaining nuclear, and a blue die, gaining energy.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, takes a green die, gaining microbes, and spends credits, energy, and steel for Building Industries.

Teractor selects a Production turn, draws 2 card, gains 1 yellow, 1 red, and 2 blue dice, gaining credits, event, energy, and water.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, takes a blue die, gaining water, and spends 1 plant, 1 wild, and 2 water for Kelp Farming.

Round 4

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die, gaining science, and a red die, gaining event.

Robinson Industries selects a Production turn, discards 4 cards, draws 5 cards, discards an event, gains 1 red, 2 gray, 1 green, and 1 blue die, gaining nuclear, 2 steel, 1 plant, and 1 oxygen.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a gray die, gaining steel, spends 1 water, 1 event, and 1 wild to play Convoy from Europa, placing an ocean tile in C6, gaining 2VP and 2 gray dice, gaining titanium and city.
Valley Trust selects a Production turn, discards 1 card, draws 4 cards, takes 3 green dice, gaining 1 plant and 2 microbes, and 1 wild resource.

Round 5

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a science resource to flip a science resource to credit, then spends credit, steel, and nuclear to play a Mine.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die, gaining credit, and anther yellow die, gaining science.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a red die, gaining an event, and takes another red die, gaining another event.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spends a microbe to change a microbe to an animal, and spends 1 animal and 1 event to play Safari Dome.

Round 6

Tharsis Republic selects a Production turn, discarding 2 cards, drawing 2 cards, and gaining a plant, steel, and city resource.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die, gaining credits, and spends 2 credits, 1 science, 1 microbe, and 1 nuclear resource for Academia, gaining the Generalist milestone.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a blue die, gaining energy, and spends titanium and event to play Bio Import, gaining plant and animal.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, takes a yellow die, gaining credit, and takes another yellow die, gaining another credit.

Round 7

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, taking a yellow die, gaining credits, and spending a steel to flip the event to temperature.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, taking a yellow die, gaining science, and spending a steel to flip the oxygen to energy.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a red die, gaining temperature, and spends 3 credits to increase the temperature to -28C, gaining 2VP.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, takes a blue die, gaining water, and a yellow die, gaining science.

Round 8

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, taking a green die, gaining microbes, and spending credits, energy, and heat for Geothermal Power.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, spending a steel to flip a science to credit, then spends credit, science, earth, and energy to play Standard Technology.

Teractor selects an Action turn, takes a red die, gaining temperature, then spends 2 temperature and 1 event for Thawing, gaining 2 plants and 2 water.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, takes a red die, gaining nuclear, and a gray die, gaining titanium.

Round 9

Tharsis Republic selects a Production turn, discarding 1 card, drawing 2 cards, and taking 1 blue, 1 green, and 2 gray dice, gaining a plant, an energy, and 2 titanium.

Robinson Industries selects a Production turn, discarding 3 cards, drawing 5 cards, and taking 2 blue, 2 gray, 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining 2 oxygen, 2 steel, 1 microbe, 1 nuclear, and 1 science.

Teractor selects an Action turn, spends a plant to flip another plant to a microbe, then spends another plant to flip an animal to a microbe.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spends a credit to flip the water to energy, then spends a credit, energy, 2 titanium, and nuclear for Asteroid Mining.

Round 10

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a titanium to flip the energy to water, and spends a plant, water, and wild to play Artificial Lake in E2, gaining a microbe, 2VP, and playing the Quality Control bonus card.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, takes a green die, gaining microbes, uses the Standard Technology free action to flip the nuclear to a temperature, and spends a microbe, a science, and a temperature to play Designed Microorganisms.

Teractor takes an Action turn, spends an earth to flip an energy to oxygen, then spends 1 oxygen and 2 microbes for Decomposers.
Valley Trust takes a Production turn, draws 2 cards, and takes 2 gray and 3 green dice, gaining 1 steel, 1 city, 1 microbe, 2 animals, and 1 wild.

Round 11

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a titanium to flip a microbe to animal, and spends a plant, microbe, and animal to play Advanced Ecosystems, gaining 2 cards.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining energy, then spends energy, microbes, and steel for Industrial Microbes, claiming the Scientist milestone.

Teractor selects a Production turn, discards energy and water, draws 4 cards, and rolls 2 blue, 1 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining 2 energy, 1 event, and 1 credit.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining oxygen, and spends a plant, microbe, and wild for Snow Algae.

Round 12

Tharsis Republic selects a Production turn, discards 2 cards and draws 2 cards, rolls 1 blue, 2 gray, and 1 green die, gaining oxygen, 2 steel, and a microbe.

Robinson Industries selects a Production turn, discards 3 cards and steel, draws 5 cards, resets Standard Technology, rolls 2 blue, 2 gray, 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining energy, water, steel, city, plant, event, and credit resources.

Teractor selects an Action turn, spending an energy to flip an event to temperature, and spends 1 temperature, 1 city, and 1 wild to play Greenhouses, gaining 2 microbes and claiming the Philanthrope milestone.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spending an animal to change the oxygen to energy, then spends an energy, steel, and wild to play Development Center.

Round 13

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, rolls a yellow die, gaining earth, and a red die, gaining event.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a gray die, gaining titanium, and a yellow die, gaining science.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a green die, gaining animal, spends the animal via Decomposers to gain a plant and a VP, and gaining the Administrator bonus card.
Valley Trust takes a Production turn, uses Development Center to spend a science to gain a city, discards 2 cards, draws 5 cards, and rolls 2 gray, 3 green, and 1 red die, gaining 2 steel, 1 plant, 1 microbe, 1 animal, 1 nuclear, and 1 wild.

Round 14

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spending a steel to flip a microbe to an animal, and spending an animal and earth for the Martian Zoo, gaining 1VP.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolling a red die and gaining temperature, then spending science and event for a Biogas Experiment, gaining a wild and increasing the temperature to -24C, gaining 2VP and a temperature.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a red die, gaining nuclear, and spends 1 plant and 2 microbes for Soil Preparation, placing a forest tile in E6, gaining a wild and 3VP and increasing the oxygen level to 2%.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spends an animal to flip a steel to city, and spends 3 cities to place a city tile in F6, gaining 3VP, rolling a red die, gaining temperature and 2 credits.

Round 15

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spending an oxygen to flip a steel to titanium, and spending titanium, event, and wild for an Asteroid, rolling a gray die, gaining titanium, increasing the temperature to -24C and gaining 2VP.  Robinson Industries loses a plant and Valley Trust loses an animal.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolling a gray die, gaining a city, uses Standard Technology to rotate a temperature to an event, Industrial Microbes to gain a titanium, spends oxygen, water, 2 titanium, and an event for Towing a Comet, increasing the oxygen level to 4%, gaining 2VP, rolling a green die, gaining plants, and places an ocean in F5, flipping a temperature to nuclear, gaining 2VP, and playing the Bio Expert bonus card.

Teractor selects and Action turn, rolls a red die, gaining event, spends event and nuclear to play Nuclear Zone in F7, gaining 1VP, a nuclear, and increasing the temperature to -16C, gaining 2VP and a temperture.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining oxygen, and spends a plant, temperature, and wild for a Mangrove, placing a forest tile in E5, gaining microbes and 1VP, increasing the oxygen level to 6%, gaining 2VP, and playing the Hive City bonus card in D3, gaining a card, 2VP, and 2 credit.

Round 16

Tharsis Republic selects a Production turn, drawing 2 cards, rolling 1 blue, 2 gray, 1 green, and 1 yellow die, gaining energy, steel, city, microbe, and credit.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, discards a plant to flip a city to steel, and spends 2 steel, 1 nuclear, and 1 wild for a Mohole Area.

Teractor selects a Production turn, discards credit, energy, and temperature and 1 card, draws 4 cards, Decomposers is reset, and rolls 2 blue, 1 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining energy, water, temperature, and credits.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolling a red die, gaining temperature, and rolling another red die, gaining another temperature.

Round 17

Tharsis Republic selects an action turn, rolls a red die, gaining nuclear, and spends credit and energy to play a Mining Area in G5, gaining 3VP, 2 steel, 1 titanium, playing the Heat Expert bonus card, gaining 1VP.

Robinson Industries selects a Production turn, discarding 2 cards, 1 energy, and 1 plant, resetting Standard Technology and Industrial Microbes, and rolling 2 blue, 2 gray, 2 green, 3 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining water, oxygen, steel, titanium, 2 plants, temperature, event, nuclear, and science.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolling a green die and gaining a plant, then spending a plant, water, and steel for a Protected Valley, placing a forest in A1, rolling 2 green dice, gaining 2 plants, increasing the oxygen level to 6%, gaining 2VP, playing Another Aquifer in A2, gaining 2 microbes and 2VP.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spends a credit to flip nuclear to event, spends 2 temperature and an event to play Ice Cap Melting, gaining water, placing an ocean in F5, gaining 2VP, and flipping steel to titanium.

Round 18

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a steel to flip a steel to a city and spends 3 cities to place a city in B1, gaining 3VP, rolling a green die, and gaining microbes.  Valley Trust gains 2 credits.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a green die, gaining an animal, and spends 2 plants and a steel for a Food Factory.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a gray die, gaining steel, and spends energy, steel, plant, temperature, and credit for Diversity.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolls a gray die, gaining titanium, and spends 3 credit to gain 2VP, playing the Coordinator bonus card, selects another Action turn, spends a microbe to flip water to energy, and spends 1 credit and 1 titanium for a space station.

Round 19

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a steel to flip a nuclear to an event and spends wild, titanium, and event to play Imported Nitrogen, rolling 4 green dice and gaining 3 plants and a microbe.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining energy, uses Industrial Microbes to gain a steel, and spends steel, nuclear, and science for a Physics Complex.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a gray die, gaining a city, and spends a city and a wild for an Immigrant City in G4, gaining 2 wild and 2VP.  Valley Trust gains 2 credits.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolls a gray die, gaining steel, and spends titanium and energy to play Giant Space Mirror.

Round 20

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a microbe to flip a microbe to a plant, spends 4 plants for a forest tile in C2, gaining 4VP, rolling a blue die, gaining water, increasing the oxygen level to 10%, and gaining 2 temperature.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining energy, and spends 2 energy with the Physics Complex to gain 3VP.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a gray die, gaining steel, and spends 1 nuclear and 1 wild for a Homeworld Headquarters.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining oxygen, and spends 3 credits to gain 2VP.

Round 21

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, rolls a red die, gaining an event, and a yellow die, gaining science.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a green die, gaining microbes, and spends 1 animal to play Bio Methane, increasing the temperature to -12C and gaining 2VP.

Teractor selects a Production turn, discards 2 microbes and a card, draws 5 cards, rolls 2 blue, 1 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining energy, water, temperature, and credits.
Valley Trust selects a Production turn, discards 1 oxygen and 1 card, draws 4 cards, rolls 2 blue, 2 gray, 3 green, and 1 red die, gaining 2 water, 1 steel, 1 titanium, 3 plants, 1 temperature, and 1 wild.

Round 22

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a titanium to flip an event to temperature, and spends 3 temperature to raise the temperature to -8C and gain 2VP.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, discards an oxygen to gain 2 cards, and spends 1 microbe and 1 temperature for Symbiotic Fungus.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a red die, gaining temperature, uses Homworld HQ to flip steel to titanium, and spends 1 credit, 1 water, 1 energy, 1 titanium, and 2 wild to play Giant Ice Asteroid, gaining temperature and water, increasing the temperature to -4C, placing an ocean in E3, rolling a green die, gaining microbes, and 4VP.  Tharsis Republic loses a microbe and Valley Trust loses a microbe.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, rolls a green die, gaining plants, and spends 4 plants for a forest tile in F3, gaining a wild token and 3VP and increasing the oxygen level to 12%.

Round 23

Tharsis Republic selects a Production turn, draws 2 cards, and rolls 1 blue, 2 gray, 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow die, gaining energy, steel, city, microbbes, nuclear, and science.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, rolls a yellow die, gaining science, spends titanium and event for a Small Asteroid, increasing the temperature to 0C, gaining 2VP and 2 water, and gaining the Another Asteroid bonus, increasing the temperature to 2C and gaining 2VP.

Teractor selects an Action turn, spending a microbe on Decomposers to gain a plant and 1VP, then spends 2 plants and 1 temperature for a Prarie, placing a forest in B4, rolling a gray die, gaining titanium, gaining 2VP and increasing the oxygen to 14%.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spends temperature to flip water to energy, then spends 1 energy, 2 steel, and 1 wild to play Equatorial Magnetizer, rolling 4 green dice, gaining a plant and 3 microbes.

Round 24

Tharsis Republic selects an Action turn, spends a science to flip nuclear to temperature, and spends science, microbe, and water to play Viral Enhancers.

Robinson Industries selects a Production turn, discards 3 water and 4 cards, draws 5 cards, resets Physics Complex and Industrial Microbes, and rolls 2 blue, 2 gray, 2 green 3 red, and 2 yellow dice, gaining 2 energy, 2 titanium, 1 plant, 1 animal, 2 temperature, 1 event, and 2 earth.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a red die, gaining temperature, and spends 3 temperature to raise the temperature to 8C and gain 2VP.
Two out of the three global parameters are now at maximum.  Each player now gets one final turn before game end.
Valley Trust selects an Action turn, spends a microbe to flip titanium to steel, and spends 1 steel, 1 water, and 1 wild for Aquifer Pumping.

Round 25

Tharsis Republic passes.

Robinson Industries selects an Action turn, discards a plant to draw 2 cards, uses Standard Technology to convert earth to credit, spends credit and science to play Adaptation Technology, gaining a wild, and spending 2 energy with Physics Complex, gaining 3VP.

Teractor selects an Action turn, rolls a blue die, gaining water, and spends 3 water to gain 1VP.

Victory Points

Awards

Plants: Teractor has 6, Valley Trust has 3, and Tharsis Republic and Robinson Industries each have 2.  Teractor gains 5VP and Valley Trust gains 3VP.

Energy:  Valley Trust has 5, Robinson Industries and Teractor each have 3, and Tharsis Republic has 2.  Valley Trust gains 5VP, and Robinson Industries and Teractor each gain 3VP.

Credit: Robinson Industries has 5, and Tharsis Republic, Teractor, and Valley Trust each have 3.  Robinson Industries gains 5VP, and Tharsis Republic, Teractor, and Valley Trust each gain 3VP.

Milestones

Generalizer and Scientist both go to Robinson Industries, and Philanthrope goes to Teractor.


Tharsis Republic
Robinson Industries
Teractor
Valley Trust
VPs
22
18
27
18
Awards
3
8
11
11
Milestones
0
8
4
0
Cards
4
2
8
6
Total
29
36
50
34
Congratulations to Kevin Wilson on his resounding victory!

End of Game Statements

Bill Scharf (Robinson Industries):  I’m growing fonder of this version of terraforming Mars, they took the need for money out of the game, and it just flows so well mechanically it’s great to play. Second place, not bad, I’m getting the hang of it. Thanks Chris for running it, and congratulations to Kevin on his win.

Chris Geggus (Valley Trust):  Fully agree with Bill. I was disappointed in Ares, but this one does exactly what it says on the tin. I was still busy admiring my cards when I suddenly realised all the Milestones had gone. I'll learn. Only about my third or fourth game and I still have to learn a lot of the nuances, but really enjoyed it, even coming in third of four. Can't wait for the next one. Well done Kevin and thanks to Chris.

Kevin Wilson (Teractor):  Thanks. I like all the various versions but the later two (Ares Exp and Dice) do go more quickly. I seem to have better luck with them too. Or get the mechanic and connections a bit better. I still usually bring up the rear in the original even after many plays.

This one was fun though. I got a couple of good, early cards along with some playable events that fit my start and allowed me to pick up both plenty of EOG VP (red ribbons) and a milestone.  I just didn’t see that many green cards so never really had much of an engine going but I was able to get cards to play that fit what I did have. 

Thanks to Chris for running the game and to the others for playing. It was fun and I look forward to having a go again.

Kevin Croskery (Tharsis Republic):  Started strong enough but couldn't hit any milestones and never got a decent engine going...

Congratulations to Kevin and thanks to Chris for running the game.

Merry Christmas all!

The Players

Player

Company

Color

Cards

VP

Kevin Croskery
Tharsis Republic
Green
4
22
Bill Scharf
Robinson Industries
Red
6
18
Kevin Wilson
Teractor
Blue 3
27
Chris Geggus
Valley Trust
Yellow 3
17
Production:

Blue Gray Green Red Yellow Wild
Kevin Croskery
1
2
1
1
1
0
Bill Scharf
2
2
2
3
2
0
Kevin Wilson 2
0
0
1
1
0
Chris Geggus
2
2
3
1
0
1
Resources on hand:

Energy
Water
Oxygen
Steel
Titanium
City
Plant
Microbe Animal
Temperature
Event
Nuclear
Credit
Science
Earth
Wild
Kevin Croskery
1


1

1



1




2

Bill Scharf


1

2
1


1
2
1



1
1
Kevin Wilson




1











Chris Geggus


1



1
2








Available Resources:
Blue Gray Green Red Yellow
8
6
7
8
10

Map

Tharsis Republic

Robinson Industries

Teractor

Valley Trust