WBC 2008 -> Puerto Rico Finals Recap

Prelude
Day 0
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
PR Finals
Recap

Hopefully the formatting works out here, stuff in italics will be from the log I was sent, stuff in normal font will be my comments.

Matt bids .5 for seat 3, Chris bids .5 for seat 4

As mentioned in the earlier recaps, Robb had convinced me the best plan was to try to sit to the right of the ‘best’ player. I didn’t recognize any of the people in the finals (well, I knew John as the GM for PR and Vegas, but I didn’t know anything about PR skill) but there was a former champion in the field. I decided to try to sit to Chris’ right if I could, but not to veer too far from my standard strategy of trying to get the best seat for the right cost. I decided to bid 1 for seat 3. (Optimal as if no other bidding happens I sit to Chris’ right and have the best seat cheap.)

John bids 1.5 for seat 3, Matt bids 0 for seat 1

I think seat 3 is better than seat 4, but I don’t think it’s a full point better. I certainly couldn’t risk that John would take seat 2 leaving me paying a point and a half more than Chris was for corn. I bid 1 on seat 4.

Chris bids 1.5 for seat 4

Well, that’s that then. I can now abort to indigo or jump to 2 for either corn seat. I hate indigo, and as a bonus it’s very unlikely anyone is outbidding Chris so I bid 2 on seat 3.

John bids .5 for seat 1, Matt bids 0 for seat 2

Initial plantation draw: corn, sugar, sugar, tobacco, coffee

TURN ONE. John is Governor.
1. John selects Builder. John builds a Construction Hut for 1. Matt builds a Small Market for 1. Nick builds a Small Market for 1. Chris builds a Small Sugar Mill for 2..
2. Matt selects Setter. Matt selects a quarry. Nick selects a corn. Chris selects a sugar. John selects a coffee. Discards: 1 sugar, 1 tobacco.
New plantation draw: 1 corn, 1 indigo, 1 sugar, 1 tobacco, 1 coffee.
3. Nick selects Mayor. Distribution is 2/1/1/1. Nick places colonists on both corn. Chris places on corn. John places on Construction Hut. Matti places on quarry. 4 colonists on Ship.
4. Chris selects Craftsman. Chris produces 1 corn. Nick produces 2 corn. Chris produces 1 corn (extra).
I sent the raw replay file to Sky as soon as I got it and his comment was something along the lines of disbelief at turn 1 chut. I’ve spent some time thinking about it and it seems like it works out only if player 2 mayors for you. I guess he was happy with any of the settler draws but it still seems like it’s setting yourself back to do so. I built the obvious small market on the builder phase because it’s a 1->1 buck to point conversion and tends to return back much more than you spend on it. On the settler I took corn because I think it’s just the best thing for anything but a hardcore selling/building plan. Mayoring on my turn was also obvious, I had 3 good things to turn on so I need guys and it seemed to be worth more than just 1 from prospector. My experience has always had people spite the early trader so I manned both corn. Chris ended up crafting on turn 1 which was great for me, we both ended up with 2 corn but I would get to pick a job first.

END OF TURN ONE: Doubloons on Prospector, Captain, Trader.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 0 1 1 $2
Matt 0 1 1 $2
Nick 0 1 1 $2 2 C
Chris 0 1 1 $1 2 C

Trading House: Empty
Boats: All empty

TURN TWO. Matt is Governor.
1. Matt selects Prospector (1).
2. Nick selects Captain (1). Nick ships 2 corn on 7 ship for 3 VPs. Chris ships 2 corn for 2 VPs.
3. Chris selects Mayor. Distribution is 2/1/1/1. Chris places on sugar and Small Sugar Mill, all circles covered. John places on indigo. Matt places on Small Market. Nick places on Small Market, all circles covered. 4 colonists on ship.
4. John selects Builder. John builds a Small Indigo for 0. Matt builds a Small Indigo for 0. Nick builds a Small Sugar for 2. Chris passes.
After Matt takes his 2 bucks I’m left with the choice of selling a corn with my market unmanned for a total of 2 dollars and 1 point or shipping for 1 dollar and 3 points. I’ll trade 1 buck for 2 VPs any day, so I captained. If I’d known the picks were going to go craft->prospect I may well have manned my market last turn, but then I may have gotten spited anyway and this was a great outcome. Chris then mayored to turn on his sugar so I manned my market. I’m not sure why I built the sugar mill here. The flop was full rainbow so I had a shot at sugar but it was by no means guaranteed. I was sitting before the only sugar player and had only 3 bucks so I had no other good builds and I will eventually want a sugar anyway.

END OF TURN TWO: Doubloons on Craftsman, Settler, Trader (1).
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 0 2 2 $2
Matt 0 2 2 $4
Nick 3 2 5 $1
Chris 2 1 3 $1

Trading House: Empty
Boats: 4 corn on 7 ship.

TURN THREE. Nick is Governor.
1. Nick selects Trader (2). No one can trade..
2. Chris selects Craftsman (1). Chris produces one corn and one sugar. Nick produces 2 corn. Chris produces an extra corn.
3. John selects Prospector.
4. Matt selects Settler (1). Matt takes a tobacco. Nick takes a sugar. Chris takes a corn. John takes a quarry. Discards: one tobacco, one coffee.
New draw: 1 corn, 1 indigo, 2 tobacco, 1 coffee.
I can’t turn down 2 free bucks. Matt settled for tobacco which seems a little out of place but it did get him to 5 bucks so he could buy tobacco next turn and the fact it was the only one in the flop does mean he was going to be solo-bacco for a while. I scooped up the very sugar I was looking for and Chris grabbed corn putting us in very similar board positions but with me being up 2 points and a buck to his sugar.

END OF TURN THREE: Doubloons on Builder, Captain, Mayor.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 0 2 2 $3
Matt 0 2 2 $5
Nick 3 2 5 $3 2 C
Chris 2 1 3 $2 2 C, 1 S

Trading House: Empty
Boats: 4 corn on 7 ship.

TURN FOUR. Chris is Governor.
1. Chris selects Captain (1). Chris ships 2 corn for 3 VP. Nick ships 1 corn for 1 VP (corn boat full). Chris ships 1 sugar on 6 ship for 1 VP. Corn boat clears. Raphael passes.
2. John selects Mayor (1). Distribution is 2/1/1/1. John places colonists on Small Indigo and quarry. Matt places on Small Indigo and indigo, takes off quarry. Nick places on sugar and Small Sugar, takes off corn. Chris places on corn, all circles covered. 4 colonists on ship.
3. Matt selects Builder (1). Matt builds Tobacco Storage for 4. Nick passes. Chris passes. John builds Tobacco Storage for 4.
4. Nick selects Craftsman. Nick produces one corn and one sugar. Chris produces 2 corn and one sugar. John produces one indigo. Matt produces one indigo. Nick selects a sugar (extra). .
I expected Chris to sell sugar here for 3, but he decided to give up 2 bucks for 2 points which is certainly reasonable. Manning my sugar for my corn is a no-brainer. I still only have 3 dollars so I pass the build phase. (I could build indigo I guess, but I can do that later and I might hit harbour money soon.) My choice is to sell corn for 2 or to craft with a guaranteed sugar sell next turn unless someone spite-captains, in which case I still score a bunch of points. Getting the craft in before the tobacco gets manned also seems important, so I went that route.

END OF TURN FOUR: Doubloons on Settler, Trader, Prospector.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 0 5 5 $0 1 I
Matt 0 5 5 $2 1 I
Nick 4 2 6 $3 2 C, 2 S
Chris 6 1 7 $3 2 C, 1 S

Trading House: Empty
Boats: 1 sugar on 6 ship.

TURN FIVE. John is Governor.
1. John selects Trader (1). John trades indigo for 2. Matt cannot trade. Nick trades sugar for 3. Chris passes.
2. Matt selects Settler. Matt selects a quarry. Nick selects a corn. Chris selects a coffee. John selects a tobacco. Discardsa; Indigo, tobacco.
New draw: 2 sugar, 2 tobacco, 1 coffee.
3. Nick selects Prospector (1).
4. Chris selects Craftsman. Chris produces 2 corn and 1 sugar. John produces 1 indigo. Matt produces 1 indigo. Nick produces 1 corn and 1 sugar. Chris produces 1 sugar (extra).
John sells so I scoop up 3 bucks on not my turn which is pretty hot. I was looking like a hardcore shipping strategy at this point so I drafted another corn instead of grabbing a coffee for future bucks. I prospected to get up to the magical 8 for a harbour, and Chris crafted. I really didn’t expect this, I figured he would ship, but he made 4 goods to my 2 so it was pretty ok I think. (Also, tobacco still wasn’t manned!)

END OF TURN FIVE: Doubloons on Builder, Captain and Mayor.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 0 5 5 $3 1 I
Matt 0 5 5 $3 2 I
Nick 4 2 6 $9 3 C, 2 S
Chris 6 1 7 $3 4 C, 3 S

Trading House: 1 sugar, 1 indigo.
Boats: 1 sugar on 6 ship.

TURN SIX. Matt is Governor.
1. Matt selects Mayor (1). Distribution is 2/1/1/1. Matt places on tobacco and Tobacco Storage, moves from Small Market to quarry. Nick places on corn. Chris places on coffee (all circles covered). John moves from Construction Hut, places on tobacco and Tobacco storage. 6 coloncists on ship.
2. Nick selects Captain (1). Nick ships 3 corn on 5 ship for 4 VP. Chris ships 3 sugar for 3 VP. John ships 1 indigo on 7 ship for 1 VP. Matt ships 2 indigop for 1 VP. Nick ships 2 sugar for 2 VP (filling ship). Chris ships 2 corn for 2 VP (filling ship). Warehousing: Chris loses 1 corn. Corn and sugar ships clear..
3. Chris selects Settler. Chris takes a quarry. John takes a sugar. Matt takes a coffee. Nick takes a tobacco. Discards: 1 sugar, 1 tobacco.
New draw: 1corn, 2 indigo, 1 sugar, 1 coffee.
4. John selects Builder (1). John builds Coffee Roaster for 4. Matt builds Office for 4. Nick builds Harbor for 8. Chris builds Small Warehouse for 3.
Matt finally turns on his tobacco. I grab the captain to scoop up the buck on it and extra points. (Chris would ship if I didn’t, so I wasn’t going to get a manned harbour going yet.) I also forced Chris to rot a corn, making him pay for crafting last turn. Chris later said he called the settler this turn because I was mimicking him to his right. I was going to dominate him with the same strategy so he figured he had to switch gears and hope that would work. I took tobacco over a redundant sugar. I considered building tobacco here, but harbour is just that good. (Also, righty has tobacco so it’s not really a money good for me.)

END OF TURN SIX: Doubloons on Craftsman, Trader and Prospector.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 1 8 9 $0
Matt 2 7 9 $0
Nick 10 5 15 $2
Chris 11 2 13 $0 1 C

Trading House: 1 sugar, 1 indigo.
Boats: 3 indigo on 7 ship.

TURN SEVEN. Nick is Governor.
1. Nick selects Prospector (1).
2. Chris selects Settler. Chris takes a quarry. John takes a corn. Matt takes a sugar. Nick takes an indigo. Discards: indigo, coffee.
New draw: 1 corn, 1 indigo, 1 sugar, 2 coffee..
3. John selects Mayor. Distribution is 3/2/1/1. John places colonists on coffee, Coffee Roaster, Construction Hut. Matt places on Small Market, Office. Nick places on Harbor, moves from Small Market to corn. Chris places on quarry, moves from coffee to quarry. 7 colonists on ship.
4. Matt selects Trader (1). Chris passes. No one else can trade.
More free bucks. I couldn’t see myself buying coffee and tobacco but I could well slip in an indigo hut so I snagged an indigo. I man my harbour and dance a little jig.

END OF TURN SEVEN: Doubloons on Craftsman (1), Captain and Builder.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 1 8 9 $0
Matt 2 7 9 $1
Nick 10 5 15 $4
Chris 11 2 13 $0 1 C

Trading House: 1 sugar, 1 indigo.
Boats: 3 indigo on 7 ship.

TURN EIGHT. Chris is Governor.
1. Chris selects Builder (1). Chris builds Large Indigo Plant for 0. John passes. Matt builds Small Sugar Mill for 1. Nick builds Small Indigo Plant for 1.
2. John selects Craftsman (2). John produces 1 indigo, 1 tobacco, 1 coffee. Matt produces 1 indigo, 1 tobacco. Nick produces 3 corn, 1 sugar. Chris produces 2 corn and 1 sugar. John produces 1 indigo (extra).
3. Matt selects Trader. Matt sells tobacco for 5. Nick and Chris pass. John sells coffee for 4. Trading House clears.
4. Nick selects Captain (1). Nick ships 3 corn on 5 ship for 5 VP. Chris ships 2 corn for 2 VP, filling corn boat. John ships 1 tobacco on 6 ship for 1 VP. Matt ships 1 indigo for 1 VP. John ships 2 indigo for 2 VP. Warehousing: Chris discards 1 corn..
I only have 4 bucks but I have use for an indigo hut so I buy one. The captain with a buck on it seems pretty obvious on my turn, I score up 5 vips, and force Chris to rot more goods. I get to keep a sugar for potential selling.

END OF TURN EIGHT: Doubloons on Mayor (1), Settler and Prospector.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 4 8 12 $6
Matt 3 8 11 $5
Nick 15 6 21 $4 1 S
Chris 13 4 17 $1 1 S

Trading House: Empty
Boats: 1 tobacco on 6 ship. 6 indigo on 7 ship.

TURN NINE. John is Governor.
1. John selects Builder. John builds Factory for 5. Matt builds Coffee Roaster for 5. Nick builds Small Warehouse for 3. Chris builds Small Indigo Plant for 0.
2. Matt selects Prospector (1).
3. Nick selects Mayor (1). Distribution is 3/2/2/1. Nick places colonists on Small Indigo Plant, indigo and Small Market, moves off corn onto Small Warehouse. Chris places on Small Warehouse and coffee. John places on Factory and corn. Matt places on quarry, moves off indigo and Small Indigo to coffee and Coffee Roaster. 12 colonists on ship.
4. Chris selects Trader. Chris sells sugar for 3. No one else can trade.
I still have only 4 bucks, and made a questionable buy of a warehouse. I foresaw Chris eventually jamming me on shipping and wanted to protect against that with a warehouse instead of saving up for a wharf, which may have been a mistake. I turn on indigo and the warehouse instead of selling sugar, which may also have been a mistake. If I don’t buy and do sell then I end up at 7 bucks and am in a decent position to wharf it up. Oh well.

END OF TURN NINE: Doubloons on Settler (1), Craftsman and Captain..
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 4 11 15 $1
Matt 3 11 14 $2
Nick 15 7 22 $2 1 S
Chris 13 5 18 $4

Trading House: 1 sugar.
Boats: 1 tobacco on 6 ship. 6 indigo on 7 ship.

TURN TEN. Matt is Governor.
1. Matt selects Settler (2). Matt takes a quarry. Nick takes a corn. Chris takes an indigo. John takes a quarry. Discards: 1 sugar, 2 coffee.
New draw: 1 corn, 2 indigo, 2 sugar.
2. Nick selects Captain (1). Nick ships 1 sugar on 5 ship for 3 VP.
3. Chris selects Builder. Chris builds Office for 2. John builds Small Sugar Mill for 1. Matt builds Large Market for 3. Nick passes.
4. John selects Mayor. 4/3/3/3 dristribution. John places colonists on quarry, sugar, Small Sugar Mill and second spot on Coffee Roaster. Matt places on tobacco and Tobacco Storage, moves off indigo Small Market, places on Large Market and quarry. Nick places on corn, corn and tobacco (all circles full). Chris places on indigo, Small Indigo Plant and office. 10 colonists on ship.
I snag another corn on the settler and ship my one good for 3 VPs. It’s important to point out that I made it so there wouldn’t be a corn boat which is pretty questionable, but at least I am making sugar and indigo and have a warehouse should a boat ever clear. I pass the build with my 3 bucks, and fill up my board with the mayor.

END OF TURN TEN: Doubloons on Craftsman (1), Trader and Prospector.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 4 12 16 $0
Matt 3 13 16 $1
Nick 18 7 25 $3
Chris 13 7 20 $2

Trading House: 1 sugar.
Boats: 1 sugar on 5 ship. 1 tobacco on 6 ship. 6 indigo on 7 ship.

TURN 11. Nick is Governor.
1. Nick selects Prospector (1).
2. Chris selects Builder. Chris builds Large Market for 2. John passes. Matt builds Large Indigo Plant for 1. Nick passes..
3. John selects Craftsman (2). John produces 1 corn, 1 indigo, 1 sugar, 1 tobacco, 1 coffee and receives 5 in Factory income. Matt produces 1 sugar, 1 tobacco and 1 coffee. Nick produces 4 corn, 1 indigo and 1 sugar. Chris produces 2 corn, 1 indigo and 1 sugar. John produces 1 tobacco (extra).
4. Matt selects Trader (1). Matt sells coffee for 7. Nick sells indigo for 2. Chris sells sugar for 2. Trading House is full.
I’m not sure why I passed the build here with 5 bucks, a tobacco seems like a pretty decent build. I’m pretty sure I was trying to build a wharf so I would be able to ship all my potentially warehoused corn. I sold an indigo, throwing away 2 points to pick up 2 bucks, getting closer to a wharf.

END OF TURN 11: Doubloons on Captain, Mayor and Settler..
Ship VP Bldg. VP Total Cash Goods
John 4 12 16 $7 1 C, 1 I, 1 S, 2 T, 1 K
Matt 3 15 18 $8 1 S, 1T
Nick 18 7 25 $7 4 C, 1 I
Chris 13 9 22 $2 2 C, 1 I

Trading House: Empty
Boats: 1 sugar on 5 ship. 1 tobacco on 6 ship. 6 indigo on 7 ship..

TURN 12. Chris is Governor.
1. Chris selects Settler (1). Chris takes a quarry. John takes a corn (no quarries left). Matt takes an indigo. Nick takes an indigo. Discards: 2 sugar.
New draw: 1 corn, 2 indigo, 1 sugar, 1 tobacco.
2. John selects Builder. John builds Guild Hall for 7. Matt builds City Hall for 7. Nick passes. Chris passes.
3. Matt selects Mayor (1). Distribution is 4/3/2/2. Matt places colonists on indigo, City Hall, Small Market and Small Indigo Plant. Nick places on indigo, has 2 colonists in San Juan. Chris places quarry and Large Market. John places on corn and Guild Hall. 11 colonists on ship.
4. Nick selects Captain (1). Nick ships 1 sugar for 3 VP. Chris ships 1 indigo for 1 VP (filling boat). John ships 2 tobacco for 2 VP. Matt ships 1 tobacco for 1 VP. John ships 1 sugar for 1 VP. Matt ships 1 sugar for 1 VP. Warehousing: John discards 1 corn and 1 indigo.
I have 7 bucks and pass the builder, intending on getting a wharf or a customs house. I ship for the 3 VPs, clearing only one boat and setting up with a lot of corn.

END OF TURN 12: Doubloons on Craftsman, Trader and Prospector.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Bonus Total Cash Goods
John 7 16 6 (GH) 23 (29) $0 1 K
Matt 5 19 4 (CH) 24 (28) $2
Nick 21 7 28 $8 4 C
Chris 14 9 23 $3 2 C

Trading house: Empty.
Boats: 4 sugar on 5 ship. 4 tobacco on 6 ship.

TURN 13. John is Governor.
1. John selects Captain. John ships 1 coffee on 7 ship for 2 VP..
2. Matt selects Prospector (1).
3. Nick selects Trader. Nick sells corn for 2. Chris sells corn for 2.
4. Chris selects Builder. Chris builds Tobacco Storage for 1. John passes. Matt builds Factory for 4. Nick builds Customs House for 10.
John now has a choice, with 1 empty boat. He can ship his coffee, screwing me out of a bunch of corn points or he can sell his coffee for huge bucks. (Note he has no money and captain has no bucks on it, so he can’t ramp up his guild hall if he doesn’t sell.) He decided I would win if I got to captain and chose to screw himself to screw me. As a result I got to sell my corn, getting me up to 10 bucks. The game was going to end next turn, so on Chris’ build I went with the customs house over a wharf.

END OF TURN 13: Doubloons on Craftsman (1), Mayor and Settler.
Ship VP Bldg. VP Bonus Total Cash Goods
John 9 16 6 (GH) 25 (31) $0
Matt 5 22 5 (CH) 32 $0
Nick 21 11 5 (Cust.) 32 (37) $0 3 C
Chris 14 12 26 $4 2 C
Trading house: 2 corn.
Boats: 4 sugar on 5 ship. 4 tobacco on 6 ship. 1 coffee on 7 ship.

TURN 14. Matt is Governor.
1. Matt selects Builder. Matt builds Hacienda for 0. Nick passes. Chris builds Coffee Roaster for 3. John passes. (NOTE: As Matt has filled all his building spaces, this triggers the end of the game.)
2. Nick selects Mayor (1). 4/3/3/2 distribution. All large buildings are covered. [NOTE: Re-Check for Final replay, not needed for tiebreaks or Fort, however.]
3. Chris selects Trader. Chris sells 1 corn for 3. No one else can trade.
4. John selects Craftsman (2). John produces corn, 1 indigo, 1 sugar, 1 tobacco, 2 coffee and 5 doubloons (Factory). Other players produce. John produces a bonus good (irrelevant which one).

Matt builds to end the game. Notice how John was forced to pass the build last turn and the one this turn because he screwed me. Also note how I got a manned large building out of being ‘screwed’. I mayor to turn on my customs house. (Note if I’d built a wharf I wouldn’t get to ship this turn.)

END OF TURN 14: FINAL SCORING:
Ship VP Bldg. VP Bonus Total Cash Goods
John 9 16 6 (GH) 31 $7
Matt 5 23 6 (CH) 34 $0
Nick 21 11 5 (Cust.) 37 $1
Chris 14 15 29 $4
Trading house: 3 corn.
Boats: 4 sugar on 5 ship. 4 tobacco on 6 ship. 1 coffee on 7 ship.

FINAL POSITIONS (taking into account bids for seat position):

1. Nick Page 35 (37 - 2 VP bid)
2. Matt Peterson 34
3. John Weber 30.5 (31 - 0.5 VP bid)
4. Chris Moffa 27.5 (29 - 1.5 VP bid)
Note that I had 8 bucks, so if I get to ship on turn 13 I gain 6 points from shipping and likely build 2 2-point buildings with my 8 bucks for a total of 10 points. The customs house was worth 9. On the flip side John gained 2 points by shipping and lost what I believe is 8 points by not being able to build 2 more production buildings. (He was missing Large Indigo and Large Sugar which cost a total of 3 with his 2 quarries.) So he cost himself 6 points to cost me 1 point, and to hurt Chris. Unless my math is wrong here it looks like I would have come second, except I got ‘screwed’ and therefore won. Overall a pretty low scoring and very close game!