15 points, Surprise Me! (United States)

two images for this game, and two words about it. went second after the dice roll and placed a settlement on a good wood-brick spot. the others had reasonable spots as well, but both went for sheep, which in this game can be hard to get. its always either or with the sheep, meaning, either you go for it or you dont think about it at all. i decided to go without it, which thankfully worked. and how!

another risk i took was to have both spots with many same numbers, this can work very well if the numbers roll but can make you pull your hair out if the numbers dont roll. after starting the game, quickly upgraded both spots and took a wheat port, and more wheat spots, and after half way in the game it was cruise control.

red went for the longest road without thinking, he was battling for it right at 5-6 points, which one shouldnt do, its a fifteen pointer, means you must have the stamina for a longer innings. also, he had two soldiers and sacrificed the largest army strategy for the longest road, and boy it cost him because for me it was too easy in the second half of the game to trade wheat and make roads, while always having a good supply of wood and brick.

anyway, all's well that ends well, and could take this 15 pointer with ease and expertise. both these players were green tabs and i was in negative, so winning this by a good margin gave me 34 points. thats the maximum i remember scoring in one game. and we know such victories are paid in blood in this game of chance. and i tremble for my luck in the next few games..

Metros Ahoy, 13 points

this is the map on which the legend of the unnamed player created history. it was a fine monsoon morning in the capital city of gujarat, clouds in the sky and trees swaying in the slight breeze.. before we go into the analysis of the game, a note on the map and player selection:

metros ahoy all this month, and always hosting a game and never denying players a game whatever their rank.

so in the same spirit this game was hosted and players promptly joined, one guy green tab and the other no colour. i always hesitate, but principles are principles. started the game. one advantage with playing with people at rankings way lower than you is that there are good chances they are easy to beat.

rolled the highest number on the dice and had that superstition-backed feeling that i'm going to win this one. took a good position - 4-5-9 wheat-sheep-brick, and waited for the players selections. you can pretty much tell their skill with the first placements. they took reasonable spots, but blue selected sheep over stone and white put all its money on stone, taking the port and another all-stone settlement. i had good choice for the second settlement: if you get a wheat-sheep-brick first settlement with reasonable numbers there is a good chance that you will get a good stone-wood settlement, because they are many.

as the game started, it was easy to follow the flow and go by the book, and eventually get the road and the army and the settlements make up the golden thirteen.

the other player were making some predictable mistakes with the judgement of the road and not investing in development cards.. but thats a bonus you deserve.

the game was won without any fireworks, and this analysis might seem drab, but dear reader, keep in mind that when i started this game i was on 194, and had a (second) chance this month to breach the 200 mark, so each move my hand was trembling and my mind and my heart were hard to control. i could easily have made a wrong move.. and we know how little and apparently innocent just-one wrong moves may actually derail a good train on schedule. but that didnt happen. and with this victory, i reached 204 points.

i had to cool me down by taking a walk outside. but i wasnt actually walking, and my feet weren't touching the ground.

Golden Circle XL, !3 Points

gg, unlikely winner of the longest road, which helped in winning the game. very risky initial placements, going for the dubious development card strategy, which, this time, worked. now i can exhale.

Discovery, 13 Points

again, on the dark side of luck. tried to minimize the losses and successfully did so. please look at the numbers' roll. this new dice algorithm is turning out to be more on luck than skill.

if we cannot trust mathematics we are doomed to descend into anarchy.

Discovery, 15 Points

The most unfortunate thing has happened with the unnamed player in this game.

winning the toss, he went for the top right waterfall with the plan to make the longest road and the stone port. its the best strategy and often works.

the game had very few rolls of 9, a number very crucial for the unnamedplayer. luck did favor red by opening up an adjacent waterfall and soon he was picking 5-7 cards on the number 5.

the will to survive was thrashed by chronic bad moves for us and soon the game was lost to players with lower rankings. this is most unfortunate.

03 Doughnut of Plenty, 13 Points

what a stunner we have had here today ravi, what can i say about this game? i can do no justice with words, but i will try..

we lost the toss and started last, with the pressure to get spots that cover all resources.

it was quite impossible to do that in this map, and so we went for a 3:1 port and another decent spot. the only thing missing was brick and we know how important it is ravi. it can literally bring your game to a grinding halt and it will just refuse to move on.

as the game started, orange played with all wickedness in his heart and blocked both the chances we had for getting to the magic waterfalls. all seemed lost and the fans started to leave the stadium.

but the unnamedplayer retained his composure, as he stood there at the pitch, while wickets fell at the other end, only he kept his spartan reserve. it is not fear he felt in his heart, just restlessness. and a heightened sense of things.

he did the only thing he could do: upgrade and buy development cards. while the amateurs blocked each other at every roll of 7 the unnamed player bought development cards, occasionally trading stone for brick.

he got the 3 ritters and 2 sicpunkts, and luck did favor him with the road. this is most surprising.. what was orange doing? he had 4 roads with each settlement-cluster. he needed to build just one more, but he didnt think it was necessary and that the game was still on.

and the unnamedplayer leaped from the shadows with the ritter, built a settlement, revealed his library full of books and scrolls worthy of Gandalf's attention and his parliament of Guy Fawkes and the longest road in the empire, swooping 7 points in the final turn straight to victory.

Game 02: Golden Circle XL, 13 Points

Playing with all upper green tabs this was as quick as you want a game to get.

playing first, we took the best waterfall number on the map, and the other two were good spots as well. Statistically, white looked like it had the best spots and as the game progressed it was seen to be true.

Blue played with his mind somewhere else. Started in a mini-forest and the wood port was close by and a lot of 9s rolled in the game. he should have capitalized on that first but did something here and there.

we started to play by the development card strategy but as the game went on the longest road was taken by us, just because no one else was even thinking about it, and eventually bought a lot of development cards, only to finish the game with 4 unopened ritters and a road building card.

a good second game and thats all we have from the presentation area for you today. the unnamedplayer looks well set to pick up the momentum in the next games.

good luck to you ravi, please remember the double golden goal, we dudes need to outprove each other because thats just what we do.

Game 1: Spiral, 10 Points

We were last in placing the settlement, and this being a 10-pointer went for the magic numbers only.

Blue was always going to be a formidable opponent, coming from the League of the Golden Tabs. as the game started, blue did look favored by the Gaia of Catan, and quickly upgraded both the settlements. The unusual rolls of many 11s at the right time sure helped.

Then on, there was no looking back for blue, who promptly bought as many development cards as possible and eventually got the largest army and a couple of sicpunkts.

White played like this was a 15 pointer and missed out an opportunity to make the longest road which would have given it 2 points and a better score. This is most surprising, that white didnt have the longest road at the end of the game, after opening 2 road building cards. Perhaps he was more interested in what boots people wear.

Our game was fairly straight forward, you play to the best of your ability and wish for some luck to win. Only we didnt. No matter. Its a good start anyway.. +4 isnt too bad.

The start this is of 10 select games to be played in this last quarter of february with the goal to make an average of 8 points per game to reach the 200-point mark and the AsoBrain Top 200 list.

Failing and losing the will to do this is quite out of the question.

Discovery, 15 Points

we have seen an absolute stunner today here ravi, what is to be said about this game?

playing with a golden tab, there was initial minor fear of the opponent and we lost the toss sending a brief wave of despair before the match.

the first player took the bottom-left waterfall and the second player to my surprise also built the settlement there. the choice was simple: go for the upper-waterfall with brick and wood and the stone port north west or build both the settlements on the waterfall.

with the spirit of 'try anything once' and 'jump before you think', we took that.

the match began and there was a very good find of stone, which helped upgrade faster which helped make more points which helped reducing the opponents to mincemeat.

not only did the settlements block other players chances for wood or brick, they helped us easily take the longest road. the other players exchanged 4 grains for a wood and other such ridiculous deals.

the match went so smoothly for the unnamed player, thanks to his great planning that it was won on the settlements alone.. no development cards.. no large armies or sicpunkts.. even though it was a fifteen pointer, it lasted shorter than a 10 point spiral. the unnamed player gets a ton of points. and is looking good for the next match.

***********************************

postulate: take the north-east waterfall with both settlements whenever possible.

need observational data from 2 more games to prove this.

thats it from the presentation area.

Doughnut of Plenty, 13 points

Dear Reader, notice the first settlement ever on desert-lands.

Discovery, 13 Points

a very average game we have had, ravi.

winning the toss, the unnamedplayer wisely ignores the bottom left waterfall and takes the wood+brick on the top right, blue plays safe as well but red foolishly goes for the mirage.

and it wasnt a mirage in this game, red playing well, by the books, little or no negativity in the game, from all players, we have had a very fair game, and the unnamedplayer winning by the slightest of margins. gaining a few points, lets hope the bad spell is over.

Some Map, 10 Points

#$@!@$#!@!!!!

Big Gold Island, 13 points

we have seen the world champions on their worst day here today ravi, very very disappointed players out there.

the unnamed player played the worst innings of all.. what was he thinking? there were some excellent 8-9-5 spots on the map but winning the dice he went for the 6-9-3 waterfall, which in itself is not a bad move, just that by the time the second settlement was to be placed, all good positions had been take, forcing the unnamedplayer to play a negative strategy.. which would also have worked well enough, but today was just not the day.

red on the other hand played well, played with a cool head and had control over most of the game. luck favored red, but it was well deserved.

the unnamedplayer played really really bad.. he shouldnt have begun the game in the mood he was in, and for that mistake he has been well punished with a whooping -20.

Doughnut of Plenty, 13 points

a good game we have had here today ravi, the unnamed player was on his second most favorite map.

blue started off with humble numbers, and played really well, put himself in a very strong position and looked good to win towards the end.

white invested well in development cards.

the unnamedplayer never bought development cards... i think that if you buy a very early development card and it is a victory point, you are put off the entire strategy for the game, sadness creeps in and you lose faith in the cards.

looking at the map, one can see how strongly is the unnamedplayer placed and how well blue played with his poor numbers (the waterfall-6 really helped, and no 7s rolled)

all in all a good game, but victory matters little when you get six points for all the effort.

Discovery, 13 Points

a good game this was, catan owed a good game..

going back to the lands of Discovery, against a golden tab player with 200 points.

winning the toss, putting the first settlement on the 6-5-9 top right. thats a lesson i learnt a long time ago.. never trust the bottom left region.. it seems fair but is the precursor to a very locked game.

red foolishly fell in the trap, but not hard as blue had immense bad luck.

so the lessons of Discovery hold true, one does indeed have a better chance while going for the road and the stone ports, because the road does open hidden tiles and the stone is useful for upgrading, trading and development cards.

gaining 20 points, this game nullifies the damage caused by the last few games, and the unnamed player is on 110 at the moment.

over to you ravi.

Golden Circle XL, 13 Points

piss off game

Golden Circle XL, 13 Points

the most baqvas game of the year. worst sequence of numbers rolling on the dice and later the numbers favoring a donkey of a guy. very very disappointed in the game algorithm.

Donought of Plenty, 13 Points

a satisfying victory. a little crushing, a little thumping, a little luck and lots of strategy.

majja aavi

Marching into the Unknown, 15 Points

good game ravi, close finish, taking on two golden tabs.. we didnt win but make 14 points anyway :)

Gold Secret, 15 Points

a very unfair game by fair standards.

players blocking others for no good reason, luck favoring one guy beyond reason, lowest ever roll of 7s in a game, all the things that you want to go right for you are happening, but they arent happening to you.

Spiral, 15 Points

bloody frustrating good game

Doughnut of Plenty, 13 points

n-b-g

(not bad game)

Spiral, 15 Points

avcggi

(a very close good game indeed)

Fifth Element, 15 Points

gg

Doughnut of Plenty, 13 points

epomule/unnamedplayer/harryamsterdam :: 26, 51, -35 :: red, blue, orange

red wins the toss and takes the only waterfall number outside of the blocked waterfall regions

blue takes a 6-5-9 wood, brick, stone

orange takes very good positions, and looks best placed among the three.

***

we have just witnessed the absolute meaning of the phrase "running away with the game"

this is taking the art of thumping others to a whole new level.

after a very crucial first extension (at the lower right waterfall) the game followed the textbook, the unnamedplayer doing just the right things...

its these games which start so small and end so big that life's all about ravi, you never know when its your day, when its your game, and it happens when you least expect it, and when it does, you hardly believe your eyes.

we have had such a victory here, luck did not favor us, and nothing happened in the game that turned it around, or flipped it 180 degrees, just the small things.. all the small things going right, like with middle earth at the end of the third age.

the unnamedplayer gains 20 points and moves on to 71.

and that too on an evening, of one of the landmark days of life, after a very very jaded afternoon.

Big Gold Island, 10 Points

sniper/unnamedplayer/jun-jul-aug :: 4,46,-126 :: white red, blue

jun-jul-aug wins the toss and takes the only good waterfall number- 10.

sniper takes a good brick port with 6-9 brick.

the unnamed takes 6-5-9 sheep-grain-brick and 5-8 stone with 3:1 port.

and we are off! white has a heavy brick strategy, red has a mix strategy and blue seems to be able to find happiness in small things.

***

white's strategy does work in the end, but he never looked threatening. he finished the game at 9 points, which is a very good play. even blue reached 7, and owing to some bad throws of dice, we couldnt use the monopoly card well, and that delayed the win.

sniper gets a token +1 and the unnamed gets +5, moving on to FiftyOne.

thanks for being with us.

Forest Escape, 13 points

hello and welcome to the second match of the day, hours, miles and emotions apart.

cleaned/terryfic/unnamedplayer :: blue, white red :: 20,18,36

unnamedplayer wins the toss and selects from a poor choice of ports. but its good to be back in the woodland dale. more or less everyone has the same start.

white snatched the road card in a hurry, moves on to 5 points. red opens up a waterfall-8! the most awesome tile you can flip in the game and soon settles on it.

at drinks, blue has just snatched the road and jumped on 9 points, white falls on 6 and we are on 5.

and in the first over after drinks, the unnamed upgrades and builds a house moving on 7. and soon to 9, the road card shuffles between the other two, white and red can smell a gg now both on 12 points, the race is in the final lap..

ohhh and the road card is reclaimed by blue, and that leaves the unnamed with a comfortable and a well deserved victory, the captains shake hands and acknowledge a very good game indeed.

the unnamedplayer gains 10 points and moves on to 46.

Gold Secret, 15 points

welcome back to a new season of 'the settlers of catan'

we are here on a warm sunny winter afternoon for a match between :

stupa/travix/unnamedplayer :: red/blue/orange :: 115/16/8

travix won the toss and went in for the only 6-9-5 spot on the map, reluctantly the unnamedplayer takes a 6-9-11 for stone and sheep and stupa takes the most balanced spots covering most resources.

as the game begins, orange leaps up to make a very fast settlement and makes roads. remembering the forest escape strategy of making roads and opening tiles instead of hoarding cards for making a settlement in the next turn did favor orange. with no particularly good spots but all okay spots orange accelerates to a very early lead, reaching 6 points when the opponents together werent 6 points.

upgrading the brick-wood settlement first instead of the stone-sheep settlement in the hope of making more roads soon did offer a minor advantage.

none of the players went for the development cards, which is surprising.

quite a textbook game in the end, orange marched on at his pace, blue never looked threatening while red was comfortably in the economic region most of the times.

orange won with just the settlements, which is a mighty feat in a 15 point game, and had a couple of sicpunkts to grab the cake.

over to you harsha.