Innovation (1) St. Petersburg (1)

Quiet Sunday nights are always really cool. Quiet Sunday nights when we get to play 2 games and still go to bed early are even cooler. Every so often, we have one of those gaming sessions where HL is just going through the motions while HB is still going super hard (well as hard as super hard can be when it's a strategy game). When this happens, we get the kind of blowouts that just don't seem right. Last night was one of those nights.

Game one

Innovation

When we first bought this game, HL would dominate at it. It made HB so mad he insisted that the game was just a luck-of-the-draw card game with no skill. One day HB learned how to play (pretty much by copying HL's strategy). Ever since then, Innovation and Dominion have been our most competitive, down to the end games. I actually don't think either of us play this game that well because there are just too many choices and I believe it takes a high number of plays really learn their true underlying powers. There are so many choices I can't even tell you all the cards HB used to win because I can't remember. He used "paper" and "code of laws" to do a lot of splaying, but overall it was a very balanced attack. HB used various dogmas to gain an advantage in cards in hand, scoring, and splaying. In the end, he won 5-0 in a blow out victory. The next time I play, I'm going to try harder to make a mental note of what dogma's dominated the game because I realize this is a very poor recap. Once again, the sheer number of choices in Innovation makes it really hard to remember.

Game two

St. Petersburg



Later that night, HB and HL played a game of St. Petersburg (with the new society and banquet expansion). HL made the mistake of buying buildings too early. I don't think she'll make that mistake again. That's one thing I don't like about this game. Bad early decisions seem impossible to overcome. Maybe I haven't played enough, but I've also never had to make a tough choice in this game (i've also only played 2 player). Anyway, since HL made that early mistake, her income was significantly lower for the entire game, and her early VP lead was quickly overwhelmed. we played the game with (worker building) and (aristocrat improvement) turn markers together. HB ended up with double her income, all the big money Buildings and Aristocrats and a 175 to 98 victory. HB's early game choice of the secretary was best move of the game. It set a constant income for HB throughout the whole game. Once again, the choice seemed overly obvious. Income early, VP late.