Villagers • The Second Market • Who is the winner?

[Farren]

/confirming pre-in.

Village name:

Riverton

, please.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Thatcher

.

[Farren]

I'll take a

Hunter

.

[Farren]

1st: play my Hunter.
2nd: put card 5 in stack B to play a Hayer, then play my Thatcher on top of the Hayer.

[Farren]

I've got to say, I'm impressed with the turnaround time. I was expecting close to a week so having it done in a third of that time is amazing. Keep it up!

I officially endorse and/or approve of this statement.

[Farren]

Take the

Weaver

(and 1¢).

[Farren]

I'll take the

Spinner

(and 1¢).

[Farren]

I'll take the

Tailor

(with the 1¢).

[Farren]

1st: play a Monk.
2nd: play a Spinner on top of the Monk.
3rd: play a Weaver on top of the Spinner, paying 2¢ to Mizzytastic's Carpenter.

[Farren]

Players take turns starting from the first player, taking villagers

one at a time

from the Road.

(formatting added)

Pretty sure you can't take two at a time. I'll leave it to vincentw to confirm, but I'd recommend a back-up play.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Seeker

.

(Edit: and the 1¢.)

[Farren]

I'll take the top of Stack D.

[Farren]

I'll take that

Bed Builder

.

[Farren]

During the Build phase, you don't have to do one build at a time - you do all your builds at once, up to your limit (currently 3), in the order you choose.

[Farren]

Had to think about this one. Think this is best:

1: Play the Tailor on my Weaver.
2: Discard Villager 3 to Stack F in exchange for a Miner. Play the Seeker on top of the Miner.
3: Play the Spelunker on top of the Seeker. Pay the Bank 2¢ (no Chandler in play).

[Farren]

I'll take the top of

Stack D.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Beekeeper

.

[Farren]

Ooh. That's what I was trying to get last time I drew a special.

Smuggler

, please.

[Farren]

0. Play the Smuggler on my Tailor for 12 Gold; pay the 2¢ to Felissan's Shipwright. (Doesn't count towards Build Limit.)
1. Play the Monk in my hand on the Monk in my Wool Stack (as if it were a Spinner).
2. Swap my Apprentice with the Weaver in the Wool Stack; move the Weaver to the newly-placed Monk. Pay the 2¢ to Mizzytastic's *new* Carpenter.
3. Play my Horse Trader on the Hayer.

[Farren]

Nancy, I am going to *not* be evil here. Enjoy that Fromager.

Take the Blacksmith

.

[Farren]

If I'm reading the rulebook accurately, looks like I should be able to draft from the Reserve now? And see the back of the Reserve card, so I know what category it falls in?

(This isn't me drafting from the Reserve - but I do want to know what category it is, as that might affect my play.)

[Farren]

Another Solitary. Not what I was hoping for. Plan B it is.

Take the Plower

.

[Farren]

Think I need to gamble here. Pretty sure all the Grazier / Milk Maid / Fromagers are spoken for ... so that Hay card is probably usable.

Take the Hay card from the Reserve.

[Farren]

0. Discard my

Beekeeper

and my

Plower

in exchange for a pair of

Hayers

. Play both to my village.
1. Play my

Bed Builder

on top of one of the new Hayers. Pay 2¢ to Mizzytastic's less-worked Carpenter.
2. Play my

Thatcher

on top of the other Hayer.
3. Play my

Blacksmith

on top of my Miner.

[Farren]

Well played, everyone! And congratulations to Mizzytastic.

My big money strategy at the cost of economy ended up not paying out; I seriously underestimated the power Silver would have in the game, and that turned out to be a huge mistake. By the time I realized it, it was way too late to do anything about it - except for trying to grab what I could, and my village wasn't set up to take advantage of what I could get. The best I could do were blocking plays, and there were too many good Silver cards out there to be able to stop everything.

Excellent modding throughout. Five stars. Minimal errors, and the ones that did happen were handled in a fair and transparent manner.

I'm ambivalent on the idea of expansions; I think they're a great way to re-energize the game, but they also can provide something of a barrier to new players at times. I like playing with them personally, but I'm hesitant if it's a game I haven't played before.

I'd love to see this run again, whether I'm in it or not. If there's anything I can do to help that along, let me know - whether it's playing, replacing, whatever.

[Farren]

/in, but will yield the slot to a new player if one wants in.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Carpenter

.

[Farren]

Poulterer

, please.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Wattler

.

[Farren]

Give me the

Grapes

villager in Stack B.

[Farren]

Log Rafter

, please.

[Farren]

1) Play the

Log Rafter

on top of the unused Lumberjack.
2) Play the

Wattler

.
3) Plot evilly for the next round.

[Farren]

Take the

Apprentice

(and 1¢).

[Farren]

I'll take the

Hay

villager in Stack E.

[Farren]

I'll take the Wool villager in Stack E.

[Farren]

1) Play the

Shepherd.

2) Use the

Apprentice

to "convince" Mist7676's Graper that they'd be happier in Riverton.
3) Play the

Vintner

on my new Graper. Pay unlocking costs to Mist7676's Cooper.
4) Play the

Wine Trader

on my Vintner. Pay unlocking costs to the bank.

[Farren]

I'll take one of the

Weavers

.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Seeker

.

[Farren]

Ooh. I know what that Wool villager in F is; I put it there earlier. And it's actually useful now!

Take the Wool Villager in Stack F.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Spelunker

.

[Farren]

0) Put Villager 1 in Stack F; exchange for a Miner.
1) Play my Seeker on top of the new Miner.
2) Play my Horse Trader on top of my Hayer.
3) Play my Spinner on top of my Shepherd.
4) Play my Weaver on top of my Spinner (with my own Carpenter).

[Farren]

Gotta be the

Jeweler

.

[Farren]

*rolls the dice*

I'll take the

Wool

villager in Stack F.

[Farren]

Ore Muler

.

[Farren]

I didn't care much for the Developments expansion. I think the developments in general add to the runaway leader problem - the Church and the Marketplace both reward you for things that naturally reward you as-is - they just makes the strong stronger. (The Church at least had the advantage of also pushing for some non-standard play - speculating early on Basic Villagers to push up the Villager count, which at least made things a bit more interesting if ultimately ruinous. But once someone claims the Church, they're highly unlikely to ever lose it, since giving you more Villagers increases the likelihood of being able to play more Villagers, cementing its positions.)

I'd like to see Developments with more likelihood of moving around - maybe those that help out whoever's trailing, directly or indirectly.

[Farren]

/in as

Riverton

once again.

[Farren]

I'll start out with the

Cooper

.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Blacksmith

.

[Farren]

#1 to stack B in exchange for a Miner.
#5 to stack B in exchange for a Lumberjack.
Play #7 on the Miner.
Play #6 on the Lumberjack, using #7 to unlock it.
Flip the Founders over to the Food side.

[Farren]

Two reasons on my end:

1) Consistency between card mentions, which is admittedly mostly aesthetic.
2) If I goof up and make an illegal move, it reveals less information about what I was trying to do.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Glass Blower

.

[Farren]

(looking at Felissan pointedly)

Spinner

.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Locksmith

.

[Farren]

Play #2 and #1, in that order. Use my Cooper to unlock #1.

[Farren]

Let's make it official, then!

I take the

Agent

.

[Farren]

Alas, poor Glass Blower. We had a feast waiting for you and everything. Ah well.

Spinner.

[Farren]

I'll take one of the

Fishers

.

[Farren]

Had to think about this one.

Grocer

. I should spread out the blocking love a bit more.

Felissan, if that's a Monk in stack D ... bon appétit.

[Farren]

#2 on the Miner. Use my Blacksmith to unlock them.
#7 as-is. Unlocking fee goes to the bank for that one.
#1 as-is. Use my Brewer to unlock them.

[Farren]

I'll take the Freemason.

[Farren]

On general principles, I should probably take the Apprentice.

[Farren]

(translate as: yes, I am taking the Apprentice.)

[Farren]

Once again with the unknown Special. And once again, I pass.

Scribe

.

[Farren]

Mmm ... harvests.

Harvester

.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Wattler

.

[Farren]

#8 back to stack F for a Miner. Miner gets a holiday for now.

#9, #10, #5. Use #9 to unlock #5.

[Farren]

I'll take the other

Log Rafter

.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Brewer

.

[Farren]

Monk

.

[Farren]

I'll take the

Peddler

.

[Farren]

Let's take the

Scribe

.

[Farren]

A) Discard #1, #4, #9. Play 3 Hayers.
1) Play #8 on the Founders. Use my Cooper to unlock.
2) Play #5. Use my Brewer (the one with 2¢) to unlock.
3) Play #2 on the Miner. Use my Blacksmith to unlock.
4) Play #3, linked to my Blacksmith.

[Farren]

Yeah, I think this game goes very differently if you pick up either of those Spinners before the First Market.

I've definitely gained an appreciation for the power of silver and the power of unlockers.