http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/14/game-20120714-181329-051e7577.htmlboard is:
Adventurer, Chancellor, City, Grand Market, Menagerie, Oasis, Pirate Ship, Shanty Town, Stables, and Village with me going first.
I enjoy defeating Pirate Ships, so decide not to buy any myself. His ships hit copper 6 straight times. Good for me because he didn't get lucky to hit a silver or gold I needed to get my first GM. Good for him because he never missed entirely despite me only buying 3 treasures. In his defense he was smart enough to buy 3 almost as fast as possible rather than just 1 or 2.
Turn 4 I wasn't sure what to buy with $5. Went with a city thinking the GM and City piles might ultimately run down. Now I'm thinking a 2nd Stables may have been the way to go (silver, 2nd chancellor, or shift into pirate ships seem main other options ... maybe shanty town or oasis, but both seem a stretch)?
For turn 5 I caught the worst possible ... (SpaceSquirrel draws: a Chancellor, a Stables, and 3 Estates.) is the mere possibility of that draw an argument for silver over chancellor on turn 3? At any rate it lead to nothing on turn 5 and another "wasted" $5 on turn 6 which went to silver (is 2nd Stables, chancellor, or city any better?)
I think I did OK on turn 7,8, & 9 (gold, 2nd Chancellor, 2nd gold). Turn 10 gave me $6 with copper. My opponent had just bought his 3rd Pirate Ship, so I was reluctant to buy a 3rd gold, so I went with a 2nd City. Similar case on turn 11 with $5+2coppers. Thinking now I should have "committed" to cities by buying a 3rd. risking a 3rd gold doesn't feel right at all, but in retrospect, Adventurer feels like a mistake as well (possibly an even bigger one especially since his ships were already at $5, so he probably won't attack with them much more).
12 and 13 brought obvious Grand Markets. 14 could have been Province + city/duchy, but pretty sure 2 Grand Markets makes sense. 15 is kind of similar. Could have been Province + $3, but went with my 5th GM + 1st Menagerie.
I'm thinking turn 16 may have been the key. There were 2 Grand Markets left at this point (my 5 to his 3). I had $18 with no copper or $19 with copper. My opponent had bought his 1st Province on his turn 14 on 2nd City (4th overall) on turn 15. I went with 2xProvince+2nd Menagerie, but now am thinking 2xGM + City would be better (and even better still if I had bought City rather Adventurer on turn 11). I don't think I noticed at the time that I was about to reshuffle.
After turn 17 I have another horrible ... (SpaceSquirrel draws: a Copper, 3 Estates, and a Province.)
Turn 19 is another potentially interesting one. Started with:
(SpaceSquirrel draws: 4 Grand Markets and a Menagerie.)
1 of the 1st 3 Grand Markets drew another. I can't remember exaclty what the other 3 "1st 4 of 5" Grand Markets drew (the logs show exactly what you drew at the end of a turn, why don't they show exactly what you draw during a turn?). I'm pretty sure it was 2 Chancellors and the Stables, so let's go with that. I play the 5th GM, hoping for a city (and wishing I had bought a village or shanty rather then the 2nd menagerie on turn 16) and draw a gold. At that point I could Chancellor for $15, but instead I Stable the gold, again hoping to be able to fully activate the menagerie, and knowing at least I have some hope of Adventurer re-drawing the gold which is what happened).
I end up with $19 and 6 buys. Looking back, it seems opponent has 3 Provinces, 3 Estates, 0 Duchies, and I have 2 Provinces, 0 Duchies, and 0 Estates. I was afraid he was likely to be able to double Province or Province + Duchy (which would beat my Province + Estate). Maybe 2xProvince+Estate (hoping he can't Prov+Duchy) or Province+2Duchy(hoping he can't double Province) and pray are best. Even if I don't want to "risk" those, now I'm thinking 2xDuchy+City+$3 may be better than 3xDuchy+$3? I'm pretty sure I didn't realize at the time I was about to shuffle (which may have influenced my choice). Is 2xCity + duchy or even 3xCity worth considering?
After committing to the greening, I really blew it on the final turn 22. Glanced at the log and thought (incorrectly) it indicated he went first, so i thought "I'll take a tie" and bought the last Province to lose.
I welcome any comments or suggestions (and apologize for any typos or confusing bits ... re-wrote sections, but am too inebriated to to bother with a careful proofread
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