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Power Grid
has always drawn well but broke the 100-player barrier for the
first time in 2007 while becoming a level 6 event. |
The move to the larger confines of
the Marietta room in 2007 was well timed as all three heats drew
well - as did Thurn & Taxis - another Euro which surprised
with triple digit entries. |
Even More Power ...
Thanks at least partly to Eric Freeman's Euro scheduling initiative,
we saw a 50% increase in attendance over 2006. The first heat
had 65 entrants, for 13 5-player games. The map choices were
Benelux or the United States; eight chose the US map. The second
heat, with a choice of Germany or Central Europe, had 56 entrants
with an overwhelmingl choice of Germany (ten games, vs. two).
The last heat offered France or Italy for 61 attendees; again,
the choice of map was lopsided, with only four of the 13 games
played on the Italian map.
The higher attendance affected not only the size of the heats,
but the requirements for advancing to the semi-final. Whereas
in 2006 all 22 winners were eligible (along with a few alternates)
for the 25 semi-final positions, in 2007 there were 37 winners.
Twenty-two won their first heat, and one person (Rod Davidson)
won two games although not his first heat; but with only 22 first-heat
winners he was certain to have a spot in the semi-finals. There
were some no-shows at the semi-finals, of course, but all twho
advanced had won a game. The semi-final map choices were France
and the United States. France was used in only one of the semi-final
games.
The Final was played in Germany, and lasted only eight turns.
The second turn, Jeff Bowers got the #30 plant for $32 and Tom
McCorry got the #32 plant for cost. This kind of move early in
the game can either be very good -- getting an end-game plant
early -- or very bad -- leaving a player too cash-poor to keep
up with the opposition. In this case, it made no difference because
the very next turn the other three finalists (Rich Meyer, Bill
Murdock and Patrick Shea) purchased similar plants (#39, #26,
and #36, respectively). For most of the game, Patrick was the
only person purchasing coal, which worked in his favor because
that's the only type of fuel he used all game. He managed the
coal well and was able to win the game powering 12 cities --
the same as both Rich (2nd) and Jeff (3rd ), but Patrick had
the most cash. Tom finished 4th with 11 cities, and Bill 5th
with 10.
Patrick earned the most over the first seven turns (the payments
aren't made on the last turn); he earned $522, followed by Rich
($484), Bill ($463), Tom ($415) and Jeff ($398). Jeff paid the
least in resources throughout the game ($67); Tom and Patrick
paid $90 each and Bill and Rich paid $85 and $76, respectively.
The city costs were close: Rich spent $294 for 15 cities (average
cost: $19.60); Jeff spent $241 for 12 cities (average cost: $20.08);
Patrick spent $236 for 12 cities (average cost: $19.67); Tom
spent $227 for 11 cities (average cost: $20.64); and Bill spent
$220 for 10 cities (average cost: $22.00). Patrick only purchased
three power plants throughout the game; the others bought four
except for Bill who purchased six.
The most paid for a power plant was $47, for the #36 plant
(by Patrick). However, there were several games, including one
of the semi-finals, where multiple plants were auctioned off
for more than $100. In fact, on the last turn in one 3rd heat
game, four plants went for $100 or more!
The most common starting plant was #5 (chosen 40 times), followed
by #4 (36 times), #8 (30 times), #9, #10 (23 times each), #7
(22 times), #3 (20 times), #6 (11 times), #13 (twice), and #18
(once - on the Benelux map). The starting plant chosen by the
game winners followed a similar pattern: eight chose #5, seven
the #4 plant, six chose #8, five chose #7 and #10, four chose
#9 and #3, and one chose the #18. The ten most common plants
at game end were: #30 (41 games), #20 & #32 (37 games each),
#28 & #31 (34 games each), #25 & #26 (33 games each),
#29 & #34 (29 games each), and #21 & #24 (25 games each).
Several people finished with starting plants still in their hands:
#4 (twice), #5, #7, #8, #9 (once each), and #10 (five times).
Among the winners, the favorite plant was, again, #30 (14 times),
then #25, #26, and #21 (ten times each), #32 (nine times), #20
& #34 (seven times each), and #31, #33, #35, #36, #40, #46
(five times each).
For the record, Patrick Shea, the champion had these plants
at the end of the Final: #10, #15, #36. Rich Meyer (2nd) had
#16, #23, and #39. Jeff Bowers (3rd) held #27, #28, and #30.
Tom McCorry (4th) had #20, #22, and #32. Bill Murdock (5th) had
#21, #24 and #26.
I will not be able to GM Power Grid in 2008 so another
volunteer is solicited.
| 2007
Euro Quest Laurelists |
J. J. Jaskiewicz, MD
1st |
Bill Crenshaw, VA
2nd |
Bill Salvatore, MD
3rd |
Barb Flaxington, NJ
4th |
Sandra Scanlon, MD
5th |
|
|
Craig Trader [1st Year]
NA
NA