7/23 Whine Fest

Today's game was a total whine fest by AP. He had triple 10 to start, with 2 of the 10's being sheep. His first built settlement got him the sheep port. 10 rolled like crazy. I mean, it was unreal, and Ap got a ton of cards and a ton of sheep. He expanded and even built on a 9 of sheep too. It got to the point where he got 8 cards on a 10, 6 of them being sheep. And 3 sheep on a 9. So, he was a target of the robber, a lot. And for some reason, this really bothered him and he kept whining about it. Whine, Whine, Whine, Whine.

At one point, Bill moved the robber off of a 10 of sheep and said, "10 has rolled too much already, it can't keep up." But of course, it did. Zalman had bought a lot of soldiers and kept on robbing Ap. Zalman was out of settlements, and couldn't build any cities. He was in last place. So when Ap rolled a 7, he immediately robbed Zalman, even though he was in last place, because Zalman had robbed him so much. It was an emotional rob! Zalman asked him what he was doing, and Ap replied, "I don't know. I'm blowing the game."

So Zalman ran out of soldiers and the robber was off the 10, and 10 kept rolling, and Ap still couldn't win. He was one point away, forever, and kept on trying to buy VP points, but could not. The game went on an extra 10-15 minutes because of this. It got to the point where Bill was 1 card away from winning, but then on his next turn, Ap won. Because he had no stratgey, was actively trying to blow the game, and whined the whole time, Ap gets credit for blowing the game even though he won. Just terrible.



Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 9 / 4
Crispy: 3 / 4
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 7 / 8
Kongo: 0 / 5

7/22 A close game

Zalman is turning into Kongo. He is running out of settlements and getting the longest road. Bill and Crispy had 6/9/10 placements because they went 1st and 2nd. Zalman got 2 three spots, and all the resources. But one of those resources was a 12 of sheep. Ap had two 3 spots as well, including double 5 on a wood/brick combo. The game was very competitive. Crispy built boats to the sheep port. Zalman could have cut him off, forcing him to build an extra boat to get the sheep port, but elected instead to build and get a VP on an island. Crispy needed stone for his last resource and cut off Bill to build on a 6 of stone. He didn't actually build on that stone, however, until he secured the sheep port.

Ap was looking dangerous and built a boat to go to a 6 of wheat island, and a VP. However, 9's rolled like crazy and Bill got a ton of boats and cut him off! Because Bill was close to the longest road, all he needed to do was build on the island and build a couple of extra boats to win. Crispy looked pathetic so everyone gave him roads to secure longest road from Bill. In the meantime, Bill was buying soldiers instead. Zalman tried to get largest Army from Bill, to prevent him from winning, but AP and Crispy wouldn't trade him stone! Then, on the final turn, Ap and Crispy had cards in their hands to win, but Zalman rolled a 7, they lost half, and when it came back around to Bill, he won. Ap and Crispy blew the game because they refused to make trades to Zalman to stop Bill, and they both ended up losing anyways. Nice job, morons.

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 9 / 4
Crispy: 3 / 4
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 6 / 7
Kongo: 0 / 5

7/21 - WHO CHOOSED STUPID WINNER?

Monday's game had a controversial ending. It started out with Bill and AP both placing on double-brick spots while Zalman and an indecisive Crispy taking "variety" spots. Bill started the game with no wheat, AP started with no sheep.

Zalman started the game belligerently, telling Bill "no trades" when he had 2 points. This embargo, along with a cut-off threat from Crispy, forced Bill to trade two stones for a wheat from AP, which basically gave AP the first city. This also allowed Bill to gain access to a 4 of wheat.

AP began to dominate by taking the brick port and Konging his roads into a variety of settlement triangles. Bill boated to a 6 of wood and got a victory point, setting him up for a run at longest road. Zalman's owned the longest road for most of the game, however.

Near the end of the game, AP managed to set himself up with 11 solid points and two soldiers in play. For at least 3 turns, he kept buying more development cards and was unable to close out the win.

On the final turn, all AP needed to do was flip the 3rd soldier. Zalman had a 1-road lead on Bill who had 10 points. After the dice rolled, Zalman didn't have enough resources to extend his road, but he knew Bill had two roads in his hand. He also knew AP would win with the soldier. Zalman decided he didn't want to "pick the winner" by trading with AP for the road, so he did nothing. Bill extended his road to win, and AP flipped out.

AP was awarded the blown game due to his inability to get 1 more point for 3 turns (instead he wasted resources on road building and year of plenty cards).

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 8 / 4
Crispy: 3 / 3
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 6 / 6
Kongo: 0 / 5

7/17 The forgotten game

Zalman was out, and Kong replaced him. We are a little behind in updating the blog, and nobody can remember the details. Since it was the last game Kong played, we asked him for the details, but he pretty much said, "No Response." Therefore, he blew the game. Bill won.



Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 7 / 4
Crispy: 3 / 3
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 6 / 5
Kongo: 0 / 5

7/16 - Cheater

AP was defrauded by the dealership on 7/15 so there was no game. The 7/16 game was a 3-player affair in which Bill was pathetic, while AP and Crispy were competing for the win.

Bill started buying soldiers, since he was pretty much out of the game. At one point, after Crispy passed the dice, Bill robbed him out of frustration. As soon as the dice were passed, Bill flipped the soldier and simply took the top card from Crispy's pile. Crispy became angry and accused Bill of cheating, which Bill denied (saying he didn't know what card it was anyway). Crispy stated "fine, just cheat!" a number of times, and then the game continued.

Crispy wound up winning the game, despite the questionable play. Later, he called Bill a liar, due to a misunderstanding with Zalman. Bill (the cheater and liar) blew the game.

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 6 / 4
Crispy: 3 / 3
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 6 / 5
Kongo: 0 / 4

7/14

Basically, Ap blew the game. Crispy had a 5, 6, of wheat and the wheat port. Crispy shared the 5 with Zalman and the 6 with Ap. Bill had an 8. 3, 11 spot plus a 6 of wood, and the wood port. About halfway through the game, the robber had been on the 5 of wheat for a long time and nobody was getting wheat (Except Bill on a 10). Then Ap rolled a 7. He didn't want to move the robber off of the 5. "I like it there" is what he said. Instead he took the pirate ship and boated Zalman. This prevented him from getting to a 10/4. However, he could still go the other way to be just on the 10. Ap did this even though Zalman had no cards. An alternative to this, since Ap obvisouly didn't care about getting a card, was to put the pirate ship so that Bill could not build to an island for a VP. But did Ap do that? Of course not. Needless to say, the 3 and the 11 rolled like crazy, the robber stayed on the 5, and Ap blew the game.

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 6 / 3
Crispy: 2 / 3
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 6 / 5
Kongo: 0 / 4

7/11 AP wins again

Basically, Crispy Fries had a chance to win the game, but he blew it by robbing Bill at the end and ignoring AP. AP won the game soon after. Bill and Zalman suffered most of the game with a robber on their 5 of Brick.

After the game was over, Bill accused Crispy of blowing the game. In response, Crispy accused Bill of being a 'whiner' and said "I refuse to accept the authority of your blog!"

Current Standings:Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 5 / 3
Crispy: 2 / 3
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 6 / 4
Kongo: 0 / 4

7/10 Pizza Day!

Today was Pizza thursday! Today's game went pretty quick. There were solid placements available and everyone started in good shape. Bill got off to a quick lead with longest road and was threatening to build on an island. He immediately became a target. Zalman built the first city and got the brick port. Ap and Crispy both started out slow. However, things soon changed. While everyone's attention was on Bill, Zalman's numbers just stopped rolling and he couldn't do anything. He wasn't on a 6, 8, or 11 and they just kept rolling. Crispy got brick on 5, 6, and 9. He also got wood on 4 and 9. Basically, he went wherever he wanted and quickly was running away with the game. As soon as he got on the 8 of stone, he was able to start building cities.

A weird occurance happened when Bill, Ap, and Crispy all ran out of settlements. Bill also had the longest road at that point and was doing his best inpersonination of Kong. Once Ap had 5 settlements, he was pretty much done. He has sucked for 2 straight days. The game came down to Crispy getting the longest road and only needing one point to win. Zalman had a soldier, but decided not to rob Crispy. On Bill's turn Ap and Zalman were able to trade with him so he could get the longest road. However, on Crispy's turn, a 9 rolled and he got 3 roads. He then used all of his remaining cards to build a settlement and win. If Zalman had robbed him, he wouldn't have been able to win on that turn. Therefore, Zalman blew the game.

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 5 / 3
Crispy: 2 / 2
Zalman: 1 / 3
AP: 5 / 4
Kongo: 0 / 4

7/9 No trades

Today's game was bounded by meetings ending at noon and meetings beginning at 1, so we had to play quick. Bill got out to an early lead and his numbers just kept on rolling. It was garbage. 4, 9, 4, 4, 9, 9, 10, 5, 5, 6. It sucked. He had double wood on 5, and the wood port. Because of his lead, and because we were trying to make decisions quickly, it was easy to just pass dice then to decide if trading with him was an OK thing to do. Needless to say, he was on an island.

Bill, however, did not have an 8. On the first turn of the game, Ap, who went last, passed the dice when his turn was over. Zalman asked him if he was done. He said yes. Right when Zalman rolled the dice Ap said, "Wait!". So the roll did not count. It was an 8. Ap moved a boat. Zalman rolled again. It was a 4. On an 8, Ap, Crispy, and Zalman got a brick. Zalman and Crispy also got a wheat. Because of Ap's wait, they did not get anything. On a 4, Bill got brick. 8, then, refused to roll for about 20 minutes. Because of this, nobody had any brick except Bill, and he ran away with it. Obvisouly, Ap blew the game. By the way, it took Ap about 10 turns to build on the place where he moved that boat. Way to go Ap. You jinxed the 8.

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 5 / 3
Crispy: 1 / 2
Zalman: 1 / 2
AP: 5 / 4
Kongo: 0 / 4

1:2 Port

Kongo attempted to lock up the blown game early, and managed to secure it in the end. Initially, all players were able to build a 3rd settlement. After that, Bill got the first city and 3 development cards, making him the most dangerous. AP and Crispy were in bad shape, mainly due to a robber on their only wheat source (4). Kongo extended his settlements to an 8 and 3 of wheat, giving him a good position in the game other than his lack of stone. Kongo managed to build a city, and Bill’s numbers (6,9,3,11,10,12) basically stopped rolling.

At this point, Kongo began announcing to AP and Crispy after every roll “what do you need?” He made every trade with no consideration of winning the game. AP asked for wheat to build development cards, Kongo would trade it to him for anything. Kongo also asked “don’t you want anything else?” a number of times, and made several unsolicited 1:2 trades to both AP and Crispy. Eventually, this allowed AP and Crispy to become powerful, while Kongo slowly built the longest road. Kongo finally ran out of settlements, and at the end he had the longest road and a total of 11 points. One highlight was Kongo trading AP a wheat so he could buy a development card, and one turn later AP using it to steal all of Kongo’s wheat.

Using 4:1 trades, Bill built two new roads and finally a settlement. He also collected a ton of development cards, mostly soldiers. AP and Crispy both had a shot at winning late and tried to compete for the longest road. They were unable to out-build Kongo, and finished with 10 points each. Bill won on the last roll (a 6) by building his 4th city and flipping two victory points.

If Crispy or AP had won, Kongo had long ago blown the game. In the end, he still gets the honor, due to player outrage. AP noted “He (Bill) has 4 development cards face down, and you listened to him and robbed ME????”. Crispy added “This game would have been over long ago if you hadn’t done all those crazy trades. You just wasted 30 minutes of my life.” And finally, he managed to run out of settlements with 11 points on the board for probably the 4th time in a row.

Current Standings:Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 4 / 3
Crispy: 1 / 2
Zalman: 1 / 2
AP: 5 / 3
Kongo: 0 / 4

Everybody blew the game

Well, Zalman finally broke through today and won a game. But he couldn't have done it without everyone else blowing the game for him. Crispy, back from an unannounced vacation, got the best placement. Ap had solid numbers and good rolls. Bill was hopeless. Frankly, I don't know what he was doing.

Anyway, everyone who lost shares in the credit for blowing the game. First off, Zalman's whole strategy depended on him getting the brick port. Early on in the game Crispy could have built on a 9 of sheep and make building on the brick port impossible, but instead chose to build in another direction. Zalman was eventually able to build on the brick port, and then built on the 9 of sheep to get an extra VP and seal the game.

Sheep was hard to come by because only Crispy had a good number on a sheep. Zalman got a sheep from him in a trade and was holding on to it. He only had 2 cards, a wood and a sheep, and both resources he could only obtain through trade. Bill rolled a 7 and knew that Zalman had a sheep, but Zalman pleaded with Bill not to rob him, so instead, Bill robbed Ap. If Bill robbed either of Zalman's cards, he would have had a lot of trouble building on the brick port.

Ap was getting cards like crazy. At one point, he had 17 cards, 8 points, and needed only 3 roads for the longest roads. But he rolled a 7, lost half his cards, and couldn't put us away.

They all blew the game. And with 2 settlements, 2 cites, and a crap load of development cards, Zalman won the game.

Current Standings:Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 3 / 3
Crispy: 1 / 2
Zalman: 1 / 2
AP: 5 / 3
Kongo: 0 / 3

Note: it is possible for multiple people to blow the same game

7/3 A three player game

Today we only had 3 as Crispy is still apparently on vacation, and Kong bailed to have lunch in a grocery store 15 miles away. Needless to say, he gets credit for blowing today's game.

Because there was only 3 of us, we made the board smaller, getting rid of the expansion tiles. Ap placed first, Bill second, me third. There were two good spots, and I got hosed. None of us went on brick to begin with and the start of the game was slow. Bill was the only person to expand to brick and because of this, he was a dangerous trading partner. The number 8 rolled literally 3 times the entire game. I had an 8 of sheep. Twice when 8 rolled, my 8 of sheep was robbed. Fantastic.

Also, since Bill had the only brick, he had the longest road. However, 11 rolled like crazy and Ap got a lot of sheep on that number. There came a time where Ap had 10 points and a bunch of cards in his hand. He needed only 2 boats to get longest road. Instead, he traded in a bunch of stone to build a settlement. I, of course, waited until he passed the dice and Bill rolled before pointing out his mistake. Now if one of us won, Gary would be off the hook for blowing the game. It took 4-5 turns, but Ap was finally able to win by getting enough cards for the longest road. The pirate shop was blocking him on one side and it took him forever to realize he could go another way. When we asked him what took so long, he said, "I wanted to build this way, but the robber was in the way." He pointed when he said this. In doing so, he hit his tall cup of water with no lid, and spilled it all over his development cards and his shorts. Now vlau really needs to get new cards. Bill and I immediately exclaimed, "YES!" It was great. Almost worth him winning. Again.

Crap.

Standings
Bill: 3 / 1.5
Crispy: 1 / 1
Zalman: 0 / 1.5
AP: 5 / 2
Kongo: 0 / 3

7/2 Was it blackmail?

Today's game almost didn't happen. Kongo refused to play and didn't give a reason why he couldn't. So after about an hour of trying to get his reasoning out of him, AP informed us that Kongo will play. How he was able to break the Kongo Iron Curtain, and get him to play, I have no idea. Does Ap have material to blackmail Kongo? Did he use it to get him to play today? I don't know. If you ask either Kongo or Ap about it, you are bound to get "no response"

Anyway, back to today's game. Kongo had longest road, 5 settlements, and 1 city. Where have I heard that before? Today, admittedly, I sucked. I was the weakest player and the best part of the game was when Kongo traded me 4 cards, for 1, so I could cut off Bill from ever building on an island. That trade immediately made Kongo more dangerous than Bill, because Bill's master plan had be thwarted. Even after the trade of which Kongo netted -3 cards, he still had 10 cards in his hand. Ap then rolled a 7, Kongo lost half, and Ap robbed Kongo because he was most dangerous. So Kongo went from 13 cards to 4, in 3 turns. Robbed to death.

For the 4th game in a row, Bill took a robber off Ap, and his number rolled immediately following. This is really uncanny. 6 rolled 3 times in a row and Ap for 6 wood. Needless to say, I think you can figure out who won. Yes, Ap again. He had 4 cities and 3 settlements. An abundance of cards. He did quite well. About 2/3 of the way through the game, with Ap and Gary in the lead, they made a trade with each other that helped them both out. Bill and I couldn't believe that they would trade with the other and proclaimed whoever lost the game, between the 2 of them, would have blown the game. Ap won. Gary blew the game.

Current Standings:Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 3 / 1.5
Crispy: 1 / 1
Zalman: 0 / 1.5
AP: 4 / 2
Kongo: 0 / 2

7/1 -- Something smells

Today we were lucky enough to be joined at lunch by Kongo's stinky fish. It was a classic Kongo game. He built just 1 city. He also had 4 settlements and longest road. In summary, he had no plan on where he was going. Again, I looked strong, but I was robbed to death. I swear, I'm getting robbed way more than I have in the past. Like it's some kind of conspiracy. Anyway, again, FOR THE THIRD GAME IN A ROW, Bill robbed me instead of Ap, and Ap's numbers rolled like crazy immediately following that decision. However, in this game, Ap could not pull away and looked pretty pathetic. But he sneaks up on you like a snake.

Bill had the best numbers and in the end, we couldn't stop him. I finished in second place, again. Is it a coincidence that since vlau left I haven't won? It's like nobody trades with me, always robs me, and then they think I'm the most dangerous. It's unbelievable. I need vlau here to bounce ideas off of and to make dumb trades with. This sucks

Ap gets "blowing the game" because he refused to get the game from Bill's office so that Bill did not have to return to his office after his 11am meeting. Ap being the closest to Bill, it should have been his responsibility. Ap's office was not on the way to Bill's meeting. Instead I walked up a flight of stairs and over the length of the entire building to meet Bill on the way to his meeting, to get the game. Man, if Crispy was in, I don't think Ap should have been allowed to play. What do you think?

::APshrug::

That's right, no response!!


Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 3 / 1.5
Crispy: 1 / 1
Zalman: 0 / 1.5
AP: 3 / 2
Kongo: 0 / 1

quick recap of 6/27 and 6/30 games

Ap won both of these games. In both games I was playing pretty well and looking strong, but not running away with it by any means. However, in both games, there was a crucial part in the middle where Bill decided to rob me, instead of Ap. And then Ap's numbers rolled like crazy for two turns. So then Bill feels like he made a mistake and robs Ap. The only thing is, it was too late in both games! Ap was past the point of anyone catching up to him. You would think Bill would have learned his lesson from the first game, but noooooooooooooooooooooo! He didn't. Thanks Bill. Bill gets 1 blown game from 6/27. Crispy gets the blown game from 6/30 because he was away and didn't tell me he was going to be away. I thought he was just camping for the weekend. We had to invite Kongo.


Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 2 / 1.5
Crispy: 1 / 1
Zalman: 0 / 1.5
AP: 3 / 1
Kongo: 0 / 1

6/26 Game

Ap got the first placement and got an 8-5-9 spot. Crispy and Bill's stragey's were solid and both were able to challenge Ap's Dominance. Zalman had a decent stragey, but his numbers did not roll. Ap had 9, 10, and 4 of sheep, and the sheep port. Bill had 5 and 6 of stone, and the stone port. Crispy had 8, 3 (was hot), and 9 of brick, and the brick port. Bill's only resources he could get were wheat, stone, and sheep.

So as the game went, Zalman got a good trade from AP at the beginning, but it enabled AP to get the sheep port before Bill could cut him off. Bill kept robbing Crispy even though AP looked powerful, and it allowed AP to build unchecked. These two events contributed to AP eventually winning. Because Bill only got wheat, stone, and sheep, he had 92347238947 development cards and had longest soliders. Crispy and Zalman ran out of settlements, and started trading and collecting stone. At that point, Ap used a very well timed monopoly on the stone, crippling Zalman and Crispy, and building two cities. They could not recover.

Bill and Zalman split the blew the game credit for the sheep port enabling trade, and the non-robbing of Ap

Current Standings:
Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 2 / .5
Crispy: 1 / 0
Zalman: 0 / 1.5
AP: 1 / 1
Kongo: 0 / 1

Your Call

Crispy and Kongo teamed up today, and the result was a total nightmare. Every decision took forever, especially simple things like where to build a road and who to rob. At one point, team “Krispo” was discussing where to put a worthless road. Crispy put the road down without paying for it, then proceeded to ask Kongo what he wanted to do. The road was removed after more discussion, since they still hadn’t paid for it. Neither Crispy nor Kongo wanted to make the final decision. Zalman finally got fed up and said “If I hear ‘your call’ one more time….”. After this, there was a long pause, and then Kongo looked at Crispy and said “Your call.”

Before the game, Zalman had predicted he would blow it, and he was right. Bill started out with a quick city on the 2nd turn. The first robber by CrispyKongo was placed away from Bill’s city and AP was robbed. The pirate ship was used against Bill on the second robber. The third robber was placed on Zalman’s 5 of sheep (by CrispyKongo) and it ended up staying there for a long time. Zalman was enraged by this, since he was pathetic and 5 rolled regularly, giving AP and Bill lots of wheat and brick. For the rest of the game, Zalman “emotionally robbed” CrispyKongo regardless of the game situation (Crispy was not pleased).

Bill was able to build 3 cities and get the “Longest Army”, thanks to some sheep trades from Zalman (Bill only got sheep on a 3). Bill also managed to take longest road in the end, along with a victory point and an additional settlement. Crispy accused Zalman of trading the game away, and he was right.

Standings (Wins / Blown Games):
Bill: 2 / 0
Crispy: 1 / 0
Zalman: 0 / 1
AP: 0 / 1
Kongo: 0 / 1

What Now, Moron?!?!?

I was robbed to death.

rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob rob.

I jumped out to the early lead due to a well time monopoly where I got 14 wheat and was able to build 2 cities. I had the longest road, 11 points, and became a target. 7 would not stop rolling. Bill challenged me on longest road and every turn he would add 2, I would add 2. Crispy and Ap, meanwhile kept on building and gaining points. At one point Bill looked powerful because he had 2 soldiers and 1 development card down. I knew it was a VP (He exposed it earlier), but was able to convince Ap that it could be a soldier. If it was a soldier than Bill could have been very close to winning.

So Ap rolled a 7 and was thinking of robbing Bill because of it. He took the robber off my 6, and placed it on Bill's 8. Bill said it wasn't a soldier, flipped the card, and explained, "What now, moron?!?!?". To which Ap replied "::APshrug::" and robbed Bill anyway. The next roll was a 6, and I was one card from winning, but could not. The road race between Bill and myself continued, which allowed Crispy enough time to get the longest soldier, and win. Great. Thanks Bill.

Ap gets the "Blew the game" title for this one for the dumb rob of Bill, even though it did not have a direct effect on Crispy winning.

Standings now are:
Bill: 1
Crispy: 1
Me: 0
Ap: -1
Kongo: -1

6/23

Stupid game today. Ap looked powerful and Kongo didn't build a road, and traded the game to Bill. GREAT. Ap kept being robbed because he had 3 development cards down. He never played the cards, so we figured they were VPs. Turns out they were a soldier, year of plenty, and road building. If he played them, then we would probably have stopped robbing him. Those cards sucked. Kongo ran out of settlements (again) and didnt extend his longest road. Instead, he traded a wheat to Bill (which he won the game with) to build a development card. Nice job, moron.

Hopefully Crispy can play today so Kongo won't have too.

I got robbed to death. DAMNIT!

Current standings

Bill 1
Ap 0
Me 0
Crispy 0
Kongo -1 (He blew the game)

The first one

Blogging about emotional robs all day long!