The rules were explained to newcomer Quentin, and before long the game(s) began! Joe and Sam bought a Loge to maximise their chances of getting some toff to attend their shows, while Andrew and Quentin decided on an early season ticket to maximise its returns.
Andrew made the early running, scoring the most points in the first three rounds, but with no resources to expand his limited repetiore (his Circus Maximus started out as a bit of a Circus Minimus), he found himself with only two shows under his belt by the end. Others fared better. Sam found himself with plenty of boats early on so he bought the rights to The Fury of Neptune way in advance of being able to stage it, and what seemed like folly at the time was to prove instrumental in the final rounds.
Meanwhile Joe and Andrew battled over who had best horse and/or gladiator as Joe put on a number of shows which left him cash-poor early on, but those +5 points all added up and he ended on a triumphant show about lion hunters. Quentin was still finding his feet, and while he managed to stage a convincing Great Prophecies of Jupiter, Joe cursed him for giving Sam an extra 4 points in a trade that gave Sam the best actor.
By the end, the leaders were clearly those that had chosen the Loge as an opening move. Like hawkers outside a theatre, they were able to usher point-scoring nobility into their stadiums or onto resting points from an early stage. As such, Sam took the year’s first first place with 82 points, Joe followed with 77, then Andrew with 66 and Quentin with 63.
The Leaderboard
The new scoring system, after several half-hearted attempts at discussion (and this can still be changed), is now that the first place always gets seven points. Second gets six, third gets five etc. I think this is fair and it rewards those who turn up when no one else can be bothered. But I’m not sure if an evening with just two players should count. Unless they play Caylus.
The ratio of points per game will come in once we’ve played four or five games. It’s a bit meaningless just now.
| Played | Points | |
| Sam | 1 | 7 |
| Joe | 1 | 6 |
| Andrew | 1 | 5 |
| Quentin | 1 | 4 |
Any ideas on when we should end? First to fifty points?
(Oh, and thanks to Quentin for the Circus Minimus joke)
Yes, lots of fun. A little point is that those star performers give you +4 points not +5, and I would dispute the notion that buying a loge in the first round is key — it's a way of potentially getting points from a noble and an emperors medal, but it's down to the luck of the dice.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, I was cursing my bad planning, though I think Sam would have pipped it in any case — his Fury of Neptune starring Rick Moranis in the lead role had real understated menace.