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.
