Nice one jungleboy! Merit for that report...
In the river and immediate post-river period, I was quite cautious and didn't play many meeples, while Dan and MrNumbers began a battle for the city with the river bridge (I opted to stay out).
Opted to stay out? You were so determined to stay out that you had to lure yourself out of it with a Princess tile at one point!
This turned out to be the biggest farm and neither Dan nor MrNumbers joined their barns to it, choosing instead to place them in other farms much later in the game.
For me it wasn't so much choice as that I couldn't really see anywhere to place my barn that could eventually be joined on without being easily blocked. It was a very "safe" farm you had. All credit for claiming it when you did!
The river-bridge city was eventually won outright by Dan through use of his abbey for a 30-point score, giving him the early lead.
Although I used it early, I was satisfied that this was the best point of the game for me to have used this. It also led to MrNumbers having his Mayor trapped for most of the game and helped me towards the other large city I won.
I had my mayor in it (with four pennants) and my double meeple so I was in control, but Dan used the dragon to eat my mayor and reduce the control of the city to a 2-2 tie.
This was the daftest thing I did (that I'm aware of) throughout the whole game. I wasn't really thinking ahead and ended up letting you both have an equal share of the points which was the worst thing I could have done! Still, I won my second large city soon after this was closed and I think the scores were fairly even at that point so I didn't lose too much ground.
Dan and MrNumbers began some fairly intensive farming in the west which ended with MrNumbers placing his barn on the second biggest farm. Dan got his barn into a nearby farm a little while later. In the end our barn farms supplied 11 cities (mine), 5 (MrNumbers) and 4 (Dan).
I had hoped to merge our barn farms (and almost did) but you scuppered this with a t-junction!
Maybe I got too comfortable with my big farm and didn't work hard enough to score some secondary farms.
You did have a reasonably good second farm but I out-farmed you on it with my mega-meeple.
Congratulations to MrNumbers and to everyone for a well-played and spirited game.
Yes, very well done! I enjoyed the spirit of the game as much as anything else, and the banter especially.
Our apologies to quevy and rosco who joined the chatroom after the game had started, and the three of us were so engrossed in our game that we didn't see them until after it had finished!
Indeed. Very sorry guys.