Henning Repeats as Champion!

This was my first year as GM of Age of Renaissance. The COVID years took a toll on our attendance. With any luck, though, we will be able to accumulate the votes to make it back as a Trial event for 2023.

Several games did not finish within the prescribed 6 hours this year. In at least one case, this was due to most high value commodity cards paying out (nothing) in the first round, leaving everyone low on cash until well into the second epoch. The misery was quite high in some of the heat games as well, including one player reaching the chaos square and eliminating them from the game.

Since one of the qualifiers for the final had a conflict, the first alternate was selected, and the final was underway. High bid went to Barcelona, followed by Venice and Genoa.

Some of the highlights and turning points in the final included Hamburg bidding max tokens, capturing all available metal territories, and bidding 0 the next round to pay out double metal for $300. At that point, it was up to the rest of the field to try to catch up, as Hamburg was poised to run away with the game after purchasing cathedral when no one else had the cash.

Venice and Genoa jockeyed for position in the east, while Paris marched up the commerce track, even eschewing Holy Indulgences at a cost of 10 tokens in favor of I&P. That gamble paid off, but not well enough to catch the leaders (Hamburg, Venice, and Genoa). Barcelona was hit with a four-city war by London that effectively sidelined them for the rest of the game.

Somehow Genoa was able to climb back into the lead at the end with some great last-round payouts, despite Venice and London throwing in their lots with Hamburg to try to ride their coattails. Advance totals for the top three were in the reverse order of their finish (Venice at 2010 in third place, Hamburg at 1930 in second place, and Genoa at 1890 in first place), showing how important final cash can be.

Misery was quite manageable, helped by the leaders gaining New World fairly early. Only Barcelona and London finished outside the blue.

The timing of the heats was a bit difficult, with some 18xx players mentioning that they would play if we had a heat that did not conflict. Assuming we make it back as a trial event next year, that will be taken into account.

Thanks to everyone who played. See you next year!