Since I’m behind, as usual, I’m combining this week with last week to make one super week of games! …that took place over two weeks.
At the beginning of this “super week†we played Constantinopolis. It’s a resource management game that takes place in Constantinopolis, the largest city in the Byzantine Empire during the 6th century. (Who knew you’d be learning a little history and geography too?) Each player is an ambitious merchant. The players buy buildings that product raw materials, factories that produce goods, and walls that give them special abilities. (No, I don’t know why a wall would give you special abilities.) Using these resources each player fulfills trade contracts by shipping them off to who-knows-where. You win the game by having the most Fame Points—not Victory Points.
Unlike our previous train gaming session, I did not dominate the game. I think if anyone did that, it would have to had to been Ben. He was in the lead, by a good amount, for most of the game. At first Owen and I languished in the rear watching Ben and Mike skillfully gain fame. Owen must have learned something from watching them, because he starting earning more fame as well. Towards the end of the game, Mike had started to lose steam and was earning less and less fame. Owen now challenged Ben for the lead. Had it not been for the walls that Ben had bought, Owen would have tied Ben for the win. As it was, he came in a close second. Ben had 62 fame. Owen had 59. I had 44 and Evil Mike had 41. I should mention that we all liked this game and want to play it again.
Now let’s leap forward in time to this week. Ta-da! It’s this week and we played Merchants and Marauders at Mike Byrd’s house. Ben was traveling for work and Evil Mike was a no show. (He did mention something about an email he sent, but none of us who showed up remembered it.) So it was just Mike, Owen, and I.
Merchants and Marauders looks complicated. It has lots of bits—counters, cards, and ships. Mike said that setup is difficult. But once we started playing, we found it to be pretty easy. You start the game with a ship. You get to pick from two. A fast, maneuverable sloop or a more merchant worthy flute. The ship you choose somewhat determines how you will play the game. Will you be a fairly respectable merchant or will you be a pirate scoundrel. We all went the way of the merchant, choosing the bigger ship that could haul lots of cargo.
One your turn you can do three actions from a list of actions that include: move, scout, and port. Scout means searching for other ships either to plunder or to sink. Port means going to port to buy/sell goods, upgrade your ship, or hire crew. Most of the game was spent buying goods at one port and then traveling to another port to sell them. I did scout for a ship to plunder thus gaining a Spanish bounty on my head. What I didn’t realize was now I couldn’t sell goods at Spanish ports! Oh well, maybe I should have listened when Mike was explaining the rules.
You win the game by being the first to gain 10 Glory points. You get these points for doing various glorious things during the game. Mike, who has played this game a few times, won the game. Owen, who paid attention to the rules, came in second with 8 Glory points. I came in last with a measly 4 Glory points. But…I was the only sea captain to sink a pirate frigate!
Chaos Steve
