Nadine slaughtered me, Bill, and Shirley in Puerto Rico.
Bill and Shirley are newer players. The position order was Nadine, Bill, me, Shirley. Bill's effect on me was to take coffee before my coffee; neither one of us produced coffee until past mid-game. I was already behind Nadine who had an early Factory and then Harbor, and I made the mistake of taking Factory on turn 8 or 9; that gave me lots of useless money by the end of the game but no points. I also made the mistake of not taking a Wharf a few turns before the game ended, instead taking buildings to complete my Guild Hall. I didn't anticipate how often I could have used it by the end of the game. Not that it would have made much difference.
Shirley's effect on Nadine was give her an early trade; this let Nadine get an early Factory and then Harbor. Nadine went on to get Custom's House and Wharf. Shirley also had a Harbor, so it was in her interests to keep taking Captain; this let her ship 4 or 5 points to Nadine's 9 or 10 points and also let Nadine take Craftsman again (instead of having to take Captain and Craftsman on alternate turns). My money-heavy strategy was only sufficient to beat Bill and Shirley.
Shirley had a tobacco monopoly which she used for trading but only occasionally for shipping.
Scores: Nadine 79 (44 shipping, 11 Custom's House), me 55, Shirley and Bill 52.
1 comment:
I think not being blocked helped me more than it helped you because you play more defensively because you understand more of what's going on and can happen. Like I forgot that you could trade sugar instead of coffee to block me, which made my crafting a waste. One of the many things that make PR such a good game is that you can do pretty well if you just take moves that help you, because that also makes you less predictable. Shirley had a tobacco boat most of the game; when she took Captain to make sure she could ship tobacco, it wasn't just that she should ship corn first like we pointed out, she didn't need to take Captain because she wouldn't have lost any goods. Both previous games they played were 5-player, with other new players, so pretty chaotic.
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