Who Stole the Sacrifice?!

Of the 23 games played in the tournament this year, five (including the 4 semi-final tables) were 4-player, with the remaining being the preferred 5-player. For the 5-player games, the winning scores ranged from 34 to 50 (with an average of 39.6 and standard deviation of 4.5). The margin of victory, for the 5-player games, ranged from 0 to 12 (with an average of 4.4 and standard deviation of 4.1), with nine games (i.e. half of the 5-player games) having a margin of victory of 3 or less. There were also two 5-player games with the range between first and last being 6 or less. The winning scores of the five 4-player games, ranged from 35 to 36 (with an average of 39.6), with a margin ranging from 1 to 11 (with an average of 4.2). Three of the 4-player games were decided by a single point, and there were two close games with the range between first and last being 6 or less.

Ties

The tiebreaker in the rulebook is the number of pyramids then the number of stones. The previous GM I believe thought it odd to use something already counted for as points as the first tiebreaker, so he set the first tiebreaker to be the number of stones, and I maintained this ordering for consistency. The in game tiebreakers used for the tournament are: number of stones, number of pyramids, number of farmers, gold, and finally reverse initial turn order.

So out of 23 games played, 12 saw some sort of tie, and one game had two different sets of ties (between 1st&2nd and 4th&5th). Two games had three players tie for first before tiebreakers (Interestingly Michael Kaltman was involved in both of these games, and finished 2nd in one of them.): in the first one, the third place player had a lower number of pyramids (2nd tiebreaker), while first and second had to be sorted out by the number of farmers (3rd tiebreaker); while in the second game the number of pyramids (2nd tiebreaker) sorted the players out. On the other end there was one game with a three player tie for 3rd before tiebreakers: 3rd was determined by the number of stones (1st tiebreaker) and 4th and 5th determined by the number of farmers (3rd tiebreaker). In two other games a tiebreaker was necessary to determine 1st and 2nd, and in both cases it came down to the number of pyramids (2nd tiebreaker). For the remaining eight ties, three were determined by the number of stones (1st tiebreaker), four by the number of pyramids (2nd tiebreaker), and one by the number of farmers (3rd tiebreaker).

That is a lot of ties given the number of games played, but not entirely unexpected given how points are gained in the game. However, it does make me question if some other tiebreaking scheme should be used, in particular for advancement from the heats.

Public Service Announcement

This public service announcement is brought to you by the recent Tasty Minstrel Games (TMG) edition of Amun-Re, where they misstated a scoring rule in at least some versions of their rulebook. The TMG rulebook stated: “+5VP for the player with the most Pyramids on each side of the Nile.” (see page 4) Contrast that with the 1st edition rules: 5 points “for the player with the province with the most pyramids on the west and east sides of the Nile.” (see page 10, emphasis added) The misstated rule in the TMG rulebook makes it too strong to build all on one side of the river, and lessens the tension between going for a pyramid set bonus and most pyramids.

Once this was brought to my attention at the start of the 2nd heat, I declared that we were using the 1st edition rules unless otherwise noted.

SemiFinals

As there were 16 unique heat winners, the semi-final was four 4-player games. To make the 4-player game more strategic in tournament play, the three unused provinces were revealed at the start of the game. The winners and the best 2nd in percentage terms (which was Owen) advanced to the 5-player final. While Richard and Ryan won with comfortable margins, Dominic pulled out a 1 point win over Owen in a tight game with a range of 6 from first to last, and Dvd also pulled out a 1 point win over two players (Eric Freeman and Alex Bove, both of whom were assistant GMs).

Final

The initial player order (and player color) was Owen Kyrollos (white), Dominic Blais (black), Richard Meyer (red), Ryan Feathers (blue), and Dvd Avins (green). Round 1 saw the following provinces up for auction: Abu, Berenike, Dakhla, Edfu, and Kharga. While Owen and Dvd tried to get Berenike and Abu for a cheap 3 gold, the going rate for provinces was 6 gold, except for Edfu which Dvd got for nothing. Owen, Dominic, Richard, and Ryan respectively got Abu, Dakhla, Berenike, and Kharga. For actions/purchases:

For the sacrifice Owen and Dvd paid two, while everyone else stole, thus the total was -5, setting the farmer payout to 1 (and Amun-Re to upset). Owen had the tiebreaker, so he picked up 2 power cards and 1 stone, while Dvd also picked up two power cards. Finally the harvest payouts: Owen 10 gold (thanks to a +1 gold/farmer), Dominic 1 gold, Richard 8 gold, Ryan 7 gold, and Dvd 3 gold.

Round 2 saw no action in the bidding phase with Owen picking up Avaris for 3 gold (he did play a blockade on it), Dominic getting Memphis for 3 gold, Richard got Abydos for 3 gold, Ryan got Baharya for 1 gold, and Dvd again paid nothing to get Amarna. For actions/purchases:

For the sacrifice, Richard and Ryan payed 3 gold, while Owen payed 2 gold, and everyone else stole, thus the total was 2 and the farmer payout stayed at 1. (While not happy, Amun-Re likes the improvement.) Richard dropped a pyramid in Abydos, while Ryan and Owen took power cards. The harvest was better this round, but Dominic and Dvd were still being left behind with Richard collecting 10 gold, Ryan 17 with a +1 gold/farmer card, Dvd 6, Owen 16, and Dominic 9 gold with a +1 gold/farmer card.

Round 3 saw a return to action during the bidding phase with Richard attempting to get Thebes for 6 gold, but Owen needed it (for two bonus point cards) and took it for 10 gold. Ryan took Damanhur for 6 gold and Dvd paid 1 gold for Sawu both uncontested. Dominic tried to get Buto for 1, but Richard decided to take it for 3 after being outbid on Thebes. Dominic was left taking Mended for free. For actions/purchases:

As for the sacrifice, well Amun-Re was miffed when the amount totaled to zero: Ryan paid 6 and Dvd paid 3, but everyone else stole. However, Ryan and Dvd both played sacrifice correction power cards to increase the total to 6 (Dominic also played a sacrifice correction card but it had no effect), which set the farmer payout to 2. For the reward, Ryan took 1 power card and 2 stones in Damanhur, while Dvd took 1 power card and 1 stone in Sawu. Finally, the harvest left all the players in the money. Everyone but Ryan played the +1 gold / farmer card, while Richard and Owen both played the 8 gold card. Owen led the way getting 34 gold, followed by Dvd’s 30, Richard’s 28, Ryan’s 23, and finally Dominic pulled in 18 gold.

As for the Old Kingdom scoring: Owen, Ryan, and Dvd ended up tied for the lead with 13 points. Owen’s points came from 2 pyramids, most pyramids on one side, and two point cards (east/west side Nile province bonus, and power card bonus). Ryan had 3 pyramids, a set of pyramids, 4 points from temples, and the Nile banks province bonus. Dvd point sources are the same as Ryan’s, but Dvd had the farmer bonus card. Dominic scored 9 on the strength of 4 pyramids and the most pyramids on one side. Richard scored 7 based upon 4 pyramids and a pyramid set.

Round 4 saw the most active auction round of the game for the provinces of Amarna, Avaris, Baharya, Damanhur, and Kharga. Ryan started off with a bid of 6 gold for Kharga and was promptly out bid by Dvd who spent 10 gold. Owen tried a bid of 1 gold on Baharya, but was outbid by Richard who spent 6 gold. In between Owen’s and Richard’s bids Dominic bid 6 with a blockade on Damanhur. Ryan then tried a bid of 3 gold on Amarna, but was promptly outbid by Owen who spent 6 gold. Ryan ended up with Avaris for free. For actions/purchases:

While Owen and Richard sacrificed 4 gold each, everyone else stole, so the sacrifice total was -1, which sets the farmer payout to 1 (and Amun-Re back to being upset). Owen decided on 3 power cards for the reward, while Richard took 2 stones in Baharya. We are back to the low money harvests with Ryan picking up 9 gold, Dvd and Richard (who played a +1 gold/farmer card) getting 8, while Dominic and Owen got 2 gold.

For round 5, the provinces of Abu, Dakhla, Memphis, Mendes, and Thebes were auctioned off. While the round 4 auction was the most active, round 5 was by far the most expensive. Owen started things off with a bid of 21 gold on Abu, which wasn’t challenged. Followed by Dominic bidding 15 on Dakhla, which wasn’t enough as Richard promptly bid 21 gold to take that province. Ryan then bid 15 for Memphis, which also wasn’t challenged. Dvd decided on 6 gold with a blockade on Thebes. Leaving Dominic taking Mendes for free. For actions/purchases:

For the thieving, Richard and Dvd dropped a gold piece each while running out of the temple, leaving the “sacrifice” total at -7, the farmer payout at 1, and Amun-Re calling the police. For some reason, Amun-Re granted 3 power cards to Richard, and one power card and one stone in Thebes for Dvd. Power cards came out in force for this harvest phase, with Dvd, Ryan, and Richard playing the +1 gold/farmer card, and Dominic, Richard, and Owen playing the 8 gold card. Thus Dvd and Richard took home 16 gold, followed by Owen at 14, Ryan at 13, and Dominic with 10 gold.

Round 6 started off with Richard paying 15 with a blockade for Abydos, and no one else spent nearly as much money during this auction round with Ryan taking Edfu for 3, and Dominic taking Buto for 1 gold. The only action was Dvd trying to pick up Berenike for 1 gold, which Owen took for 3 gold. Dvd settled for taking Sawu for free. For actions/purchases:

The players also sold back to the bank a number of power cards for a gold each.

There was actually some sacrifice with the thieving this time, with Dominic sacrificing 6 gold, while Owen sacrificed 2 gold; the sacrifice total was -1 and Owen’s sacrifice correction card was irrelevant as the farmer/temple payout was 1 no matter which direction he chose. Dominic’s reward was 2 stones in Mendes along with a power card that he promptly sold, while Owen picked up a farmer and a power card which he also promptly sold. For the harvest, Dvd lead with 27 (while playing a +1 gold/farmer card) gold, followed by Owen with 24 (with an 8 gold card), Ryan at 12, Richard with 6, and Dominic with 2 gold.

For new kingdom scoring, Richard led the way with pulling down 30 points (10 from pyramids, 9 from pyramid sets, 5 from most pyramids on one side, and 6 from the power card bonus and west/east side Nile province bonus cards). Owen followed with 22 points (7 from pyramids, 6 from pyramid sets, 1 from temples, 6 from the farmer bonus and west/east side Nile province bonus cards, and 2 points from being 3rd in game end gold). Next, Dominic generated 20 points (7 from pyramids, 3 from pyramid sets, 5 from most pyramids on one side, 2 from temples, and 3 for the lower/upper Egypt province bonus). Then Dvd scored 21 points (6 from pyramids, 6 from pyramid sets, 3 for the lower/upper Egypt province bonus, and 6 from being 1st in game end gold). Finally, Ryan scored 17 points (6 from pyramids, 6 from pyramid sets, 1 from temples, and 4 from being 2nd in game end gold).

Putting the two scoring rounds together, Richard pulled off a come from behind victory with 37 points, followed by Owen with 35, Dvd with 34, Ryan with 30, and Dominic with 29.

If you are interested in one player’s thoughts on the final, you can check out Ryan Feathers’ Board Game Geek thread for WBC 2019 at: https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/259358/wbc-2019-ryan-feathers-year-2-experiences/page/3.

Closing Thoughts

I would like to congratulate Richard on the win and to all the finalists for a hard fought final. Finally, a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the event; I hope to see you all next year.