Dominion Strategy Forum

Dominion => Dominion General Discussion => Topic started by: Warrior on May 17, 2014, 01:05:51 pm

Title: Board Analysis
Post by: Warrior on May 17, 2014, 01:05:51 pm
How would you play this board in a 3 player game?

Harem, Cartographer, Mine, Wharf, Monument, Shanty Town, Storeroom, Village, Workshop, Crossroads.

Looks like an interesting one...could spark some good discussion.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: silverspawn on May 17, 2014, 08:58:32 pm
pretty much exactly like i would play it in 2player: a wharf-village engine. open silver/silver, get wharf whenever you can, get village whenever you can't get wharf. don't buy monument, it's a trap. workshop seems nice because you want lots of villages, but you can't do it, it will delay wharfs too much, and getting wharfs is everything. if you get 4 and your opponents split 3/3, you're in good shape.

once your engine is going, you can probably buy harems and some crossroads. i'd expect an early 3pile, so don't even bother with gold.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: Awaclus on May 17, 2014, 09:13:42 pm
pretty much exactly like i would play it in 2player: a wharf-village engine. open silver/silver, get wharf whenever you can, get village whenever you can't get wharf. don't buy monument, it's a trap. workshop seems nice because you want lots of villages, but you can't do it, it will delay wharfs too much, and getting wharfs is everything. if you get 4 and your opponents split 3/3, you're in good shape.

once your engine is going, you can probably buy harems and some crossroads. i'd expect an early 3pile, so don't even bother with gold.
I don't think that Monument is a trap. There's plenty of +actions in the kingdom and the points are important.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: DG on May 17, 2014, 09:38:01 pm
I'd go with something along the lines of Silverspawn's answer but also consider setting up the mid game with a storeroom, some crossroads and harems. Shanty towns might have a place too, maybe even as an opener but probably not. I wouldn't rule out a more exotic crossroads+green card deck but I suspect there just isn't enough in there and you still need to compete for wharves from the start.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: Warrior on May 17, 2014, 11:20:55 pm
I think the ideal opening would be Monument/Silver. Get to wharves just as quickly as silver/silver, but you also have the VP tokens at your advantage, which often swing the outcome of the game. Seems there are definitely enough villages to make Monument worth it.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: Moneymodel on May 18, 2014, 05:20:56 pm
I think Crossroads/Harem looks pretty strong with Wharf on the board. Open Silver/Silver, get Wharves, use their +Buys to get Crossroads, and then get Harems after 4 or 5 Wharves. Village, and later Shanty Town after Harems build up, will be useful for support. You largely won't need Golds, aside a couple to give your economy an early start, since once you load up on Crossroads you'll be happier to see Harems in your hand. Maybe you could throw Monument in there, but more than one would likely cost Actions and time.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: serakfalcon on May 18, 2014, 11:17:07 pm
I think Crossroads/Harem looks pretty strong with Wharf on the board. Open Silver/Silver, get Wharves, use their +Buys to get Crossroads, and then get Harems after 4 or 5 Wharves. Village, and later Shanty Town after Harems build up, will be useful for support. You largely won't need Golds, aside a couple to give your economy an early start, since once you load up on Crossroads you'll be happier to see Harems in your hand. Maybe you could throw Monument in there, but more than one would likely cost Actions and time.

And then your opponent, who realized that they could just as easily just buy wharves, load up on villages when they have extra money, and buy a few golds, and will start double province turns way before you will. You can always buy crossroads with leftover buying power, and use provinces and duchies to enable it. harems are too slow, and you don't really 'need' the cards from crossroads if you're playing 2-3 wharves a turn. No point to over-build an engine!

I think there is a case for monument, but you just have to be careful about negative effects from monument/shanty town. I might open monument/silver anyways, however the important thing is picking up enough wharves, so you do need money and will be short actions a little early on, though that'll correct fast. In this board an early monument might put you up a duchy or a province, which is worth the action cost IMO for a mostly-mirror match.
Title: Re: Board Analysis
Post by: Awaclus on May 18, 2014, 11:22:24 pm
I think there is a case for monument, but you just have to be careful about negative effects from monument/shanty town.
In other words, you just have to buy Villages and Crossroads, not Shanty Towns.