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26

General Discussion / Re: Game of Thrones (show) [spoiler warning]

« on: August 17, 2017, 10:05:57 am »

My episode 6 gripes:

* So Jon and Jorah sail together from Dragonstone to Eastwatch for a month before heading out into the frozen north, and only after they're well away from Eastwatch and its armoury does Jon get around to deciding he needs to offer to give his only sword away?
* Tyrion is being made irrationally softhearted for the purpose of injecting unnecessary dramatic tension.
* Arya is being made irrationally psychotic for the purpose of injecting unnecessary dramatic tension.
* Sansa is being made unbelievably stupid for the purpose of injecting unnecessary dramatic tension.  Caveat:  If she and Arya are playing up their enmity deliberately to sucker Littlefinger, then all will be forgiven.
* Gendry was apparently training to run a frozen marathon while working his forge.
* Jon has been made into a complete tactical idiot, needlessly delaying the group's escape, by charging the enemy for the purpose of injecting unnecessary dramatic tension.

27

Dominion Articles / Re: Combo: Donate-market square.

« on: August 09, 2017, 06:55:18 pm »

I should note that this was a three-player tournament, so non-Victory cards would be a bit more contested than in 2p.

28

Dominion Articles / Re: Combo: Donate-market square.

« on: August 09, 2017, 10:34:46 am »

I put this combo in a Kingdom in my last tournament, but I don't think anyone played it to its full effect:

I hope everyone can make this year's event!

29

General Discussion / Re: Game of Thrones (show) [spoiler warning]

« on: August 08, 2017, 08:42:39 am »

Finally, going alone before the army is actually not something I would do. The whole point Tyrion made was "one arrow and you can be dead." This way way the smaller risk.

Clearly she wasn't worried about that, though.  My point was that a gliding dragon is pretty silent, so she could have probably maximized its effectiveness by doing one properly timed
surprise attack from a different direction than her very loud charging barbarians.  And one such attack might have been all she needed to do.

Oh, and as for Jamie not being warned, well if they just approached in full gallop, wouldn't the warning arrive at the same time that they hear it anyway?

There are these things called horns...plus that's why you put scouts in high places, so they see the enemy coming in advance.

30

General Discussion / Re: Game of Thrones (show) [spoiler warning]

« on: August 07, 2017, 08:41:52 pm »

Another thing I thought about – it would have been smarter if Dani, after seeing the weapon initially (it did miss once before it hit), had turned around and fled. The battle was won at that point, the main purpose of the dragon was arguably to scare the shit out of everyone and totally annihilate the defenders advantage, and had already worked. But of course she's super mad and furious at that point and took the risk.

I enjoyed the episode, but the horrible tactics made it rather painful:

The Lannister troops were all lined up to meet the Dothraki charge; if Dani had flown in from the side, she could have torched their entire line in the first pass, instead of just punching a small hole in it.  Or, if she'd simply made a surprise attack run before the horde became audible, she could have thrown the camp into enough disarray that the Dothraki charge would have caught them before they could form the shield wall.

Torching the wagons also made no sense.  With that many barbarians plus the dragon, this was not a hit-and-run raid; she intended to own the field of battle after the fight, which means she just incinerated her own spoils.  She should have taken the supplies, and brought them, along with any Highgarden survivors, to Casterly Rock, to break the siege and resupply her Unsullied.

Plus, as others have noted, there was no need for her to make an attack run on the scorpion; her own troops could have (should have, would have) seen the threat to her and overrun it themselves.

These tactical mistakes particularly irked me because she's getting advice from Tyrion, who has been presented as having a gift for clever plans. 

Of course, Jamie should be executed for incompetence for not having outriders atop that rise so that an entire barbarian army didn't sneak up on his troops while they were strung out and vulnerable.

31

Dominion World Masters / Re: Save The Date: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov 18 2017, Ypsilanti, MI

« on: July 14, 2017, 02:24:17 am »

As someone who has never played in a dominion tournament (I have played in chess tournaments for years) what do I need to know to be ready to compete (rules, regulations, entry fees, memberships, etc.).

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Awesome, great to have you!

First off, if you're relatively new to the game, get in as much practice as you can, online and off; we have some very good players in this area.  Try to get to the point where you've at least played a bit with every card.

It'll cost around $25-30 for a convention badge (the convention runs Fri-Sun, and this money mainly pays for the space), and another $10 for the tournament ticket (this money covers prizes and tournament supplies).

You will get to stack your deck at the start of the game.

All games will be 3-player, with 4-player where necessary.  There are generally four prelim rounds, narrowing the field to nine players.  Then three semifinal games, with the top three advancing to a single-game final.  All players at the final table receive prizes, and the winner is pre-qualified for the finals of the Dominion World Masters (usually held at GenCon, with a $1000 top prize).

32

Dominion World Masters / Re: Save The Date: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov 18 2017, Ypsilanti, MI

« on: July 02, 2017, 06:22:14 pm »

when i quote it and do toggle view the only thing added to the img tag is "alt=Register" and then previewing that just puts the picture at the top

There should also be a "float=right" tag enclosing the img tag.

33

Dominion World Masters / Re: Save The Date: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov 18 2017, Ypsilanti, MI

« on: July 02, 2017, 04:58:00 pm »

how did you picture like that

It's a float block, similar to what I used here.  Quote a reply to see the code for it.

34

Dominion World Masters / Save The Date: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov 18 2017, Ypsilanti, MI

« on: July 02, 2017, 12:49:14 pm »

EDIT:Pre-registration is now open; just click on the 'Add' button and proceed through the checkout process.  You'll need a tournament ticket and a convention badge.

It's that time again!  Join us for another epic clash of Dominion masters!  Compete against all the handles you've gotten to know here, using real cards!

This tournament is sanctioned by Rio Grande, judged by the current World Champion, and will be a qualifier for the World Masters, if there is one in 2018.  All players receive promotional cards!

The competition will feature custom-designed kingdoms drawn from all of the Dominion sets and expansions, and will emphasize strategy and high-level play. 

Exact event times and registration details will be posted once available.

If you can, I'd encourage everyone to pick out other games to play in and attend the whole convention, which runs from Nov 17-19, all day (and late into the night Friday and Saturday).  For out of town visitors, discounted hotel rooms will be available.

  I hope to see you there!

35

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Black Market

« on: November 16, 2016, 10:00:01 am »

Black Market deck:  Village, Mining Village, Shanty Town, Bazaar, Worker's Village, Farming Village, Hamlet, Festival, Fishing Village, Walled Village, City, Ironmonger

Why did you set up the BM deck so that it contains nothing but villages? That takes all the luck and variance out of BM.

Precisely.  This was at one of my tournaments; I want them to be tests of Dominion playing skill to the extent possible, rather than luck.  So I allow players to stack their starting decks as they wish, and I set up the black market here to test their judgement:  Is it worth it to get a village in this Kingdom?  Two villages?  What's the right number?  What about Prizes?  Do you want them when they're -3VP each?  How about Castles?

Wolf Den, Black Market and Menagerie seems like a particularly cruel combination.

Thank you.  A few of the players made the same observation.  :-)

You can see the other Kingdoms from the tournament here.

36

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Black Market

« on: November 15, 2016, 10:57:10 am »

I definatly hate Castles here though

So what happens if two players ignore Castles, and the third takes them all?

Then they have -36 points?
Or is there more castles in 3p?

In 3p there are two each of Humble, Small, Opulent, and King’s Castle.  The whole stack is worth over 90 VP.  Even in a 2p game it's worth at least 45 VP (less 24 for Wolf Den here), so I'm not sure where your -36 number came from.

37

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Black Market

« on: November 15, 2016, 09:58:23 am »

I definatly hate Castles here though

So what happens if two players ignore Castles, and the third takes them all?

38

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Landmarks: Tomb

« on: November 15, 2016, 12:17:50 am »

Coincidentally, I just ran a (3-player format) tournament in which Tomb figured prominently in one of the sets:

39

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Black Market

« on: November 15, 2016, 12:17:11 am »

Coincidentally, I just ran a (3-player format) tournament in which Black Market figured prominently in one of the sets:

Black Market deck:  Village, Mining Village, Shanty Town, Bazaar, Worker's Village, Farming Village, Hamlet, Festival, Fishing Village, Walled Village, City, Ironmonger

40

Dominion World Masters / Re: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov. 12 2016, Ypsilanti, MI, 1pm - 11pm

« on: November 14, 2016, 09:50:45 pm »

Congratulations and thanks to ben_king for winning the tournament and for posting that great writeup here.  It was a somewhat smaller field this year, with the absence of several great local players including shark_bait, Roadrunner7671, Liopoil, and EFHW.  You were all missed, and I hope that we'll be able to see you next year!  Special thanks also goes to AdamH, for his assistance in sanity-checking the kingdoms, and for helping with table setup and repack.

ben_king and his wonderful spouse nana_king indeed grabbed the top two spots, competing in the following kingdoms:

Preliminaries:

Set 2016-1: [Defiled Shrine, Ritual], Lighthouse, Settlers, Forum, Legionary, Mine, Treasury, Upgrade, Wine Merchant, Engineer, Royal Blacksmith

Set 2016-2: [Banquet, Bandit Fort], Poorhouse, Encampment/Plunder, Cutpurse, Magpie, Taxman, Mandarin, Mint, Storyteller, Grand Market, City Quarter

Set 2016-3: [Palace, Quest], Beggar, Coin of the Realm, Vagrant, Forager, Gardens, Masterpiece, Tunnel, Jack, Talisman, Torturer

Semifinals:

Set 2016-A: [Wall, Plan], Lurker, Chariot Race, Farmers' Market, Jack, Procession, Rats, Butcher, Soothsayer, Hireling, Expand

Set 2016-B: [Tomb, Donate], Lurker, Market Square, Masterpiece, Feodum, Gardens, Messenger, Rats, Council Room, Haggler, Border Village
 
Set 2016-C: [Wolf Den, Borrow], Black Market, Menagerie, Castles, Remake, Tournament, Courtier, Groundskeeper, Patrol, Replace, Farmland

Black Market Deck: Village, Mining Village, Shanty Town, Bazaar, Worker's Village, Farming Village, Hamlet, Festival, Fishing Village, Walled Village, City, Ironmonger
 
Finals:

Set 2016-F: [Shelters, Traveling Fair, Ferry], Peasant (Bane), Enchantress, Advisor, Bishop, Herald, Transmogrify, Villa, Young Witch, Band of Misfits, Graverobber, Prince

As always, I love to hear thoughts and analysis on the kingdoms, both from those who played them in the tourney, and those who play them (or plan to play them) IRL.

41

Dominion World Masters / Re: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov. 12 2016, Ypsilanti, MI, 1pm - 11pm

« on: November 02, 2016, 08:51:34 pm »

Just a reminder that online registration for this closes within the next day!

42

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The most missed removed card.

« on: October 01, 2016, 11:34:33 am »

As a side note, shouldn't the removed cards now go under Variants and Fan Cards due to no longer being official cards?

There's nothing "unofficial" about the removed cards, we just (I hope) aren't printing more of them.

Good to know; then I won't feel obliged to avoid them in my tournament.

As for my most-missed:  It's Tribute, because of the way it alters your strategy based on your opponent's strategy.  Not many cards can do that to such a degree.

43

Dominion World Masters / Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov. 12 2016, Ypsilanti, MI, 1pm - 11pm

« on: October 01, 2016, 04:50:10 am »

It's that time again!  Join us for the largest in-person gathering of F.DS players in the world!  Compete against all the handles you've gotten to know here, using real cards!

This tournament is sanctioned by Rio Grande, and will be a qualifier for the World Masters, if there is one in 2017.  All players receive promotional cards!

The competition will feature custom-designed kingdoms drawn from all of the Dominion sets and expansions, and will emphasize strategy and high-level play. 

Tournament seating is limited, so pre-register for the event here; just click on the 'Add' button and proceed through the checkout process.  You'll need a tournament ticket ($10), and a convention badge ($20 for Saturday, or $25 for the whole convention).

If you can, I'd encourage everyone to pick out other games to play in and attend the whole convention, which runs from Nov 11-13, all day (and late into the night Friday and Saturday).  For out of town visitors, discounted hotel rooms are available for only $92/night.

  I hope to see you there!

44

News and Announcements / Re: Forum downtime

« on: August 07, 2016, 11:48:45 am »

faults only count in horseshoes and hand grenades

Also tennis and electrical wiring.

45

Dominion World Masters / Re: Gencon Tournament 2016

« on: July 15, 2016, 01:35:34 pm »

I've assumed there will be one. My wife got confirmation from Jay that she'll be representing Sweden.

Ironically, Roadrunner, a Michigander, will be representing Adam's Ohio tournament, while Adam, an Ohioan, will be representing my Michigan tournament.

46

Dominion: Empires Previews / Re: Empires Rulebook

« on: June 07, 2016, 10:02:36 am »

Donate - Wow, this turns the game on its head.

Indeed.  Villa was the card that most twisted my head in knots trying to think through the game mechanics implications, but Donate was my biggest OMG moment.  I'm particularly interested in seeing how the strategies for best using it evolve.

Mountain Pass - OK, so this is the card with bidding[...]

...and hopefully people now understand why the fears about a bidding mechanic were perhaps somewhat overblown.  :-)

47

Dominion: Empires Previews / Re: Empires Rulebook

« on: June 07, 2016, 09:28:20 am »

Also, nobody has mentioned it yet, so I'll point out the obvious: Forum+cost reduction is the insta-pile card that we've all been waiting for.

Villa works as well.

48

Dominion: Empires Previews / Re: Empires Previews #2: Split Piles

« on: June 02, 2016, 03:19:05 am »

Yeah, the (faulty) logic that leads to Fortune not triggering would also say that if you play 2 Coppers and then Fortune, that Fortune does nothing, because the second Copper "doubled your money" by taking it from 1 to 2.

Coppersmith!

Coppersmith does not double your money.  It makes Copper yield +$1.

49

Dominion: Empires Previews / Re: Release date

« on: May 26, 2016, 09:32:49 pm »

If you want, you can pretend that "only" 3 cards were previewed per day, and count the other previews as bonuses. Wow, 17 bonus previews. He really does care.

Perhaps people would feel like there were more previews and be happier if only one card was revealed each day?  That way, they could have more days where they wake up and think "I get to discover a new card today!"

50

Puzzles and Challenges / Re: win without taking a turn

« on: May 18, 2016, 11:12:48 am »

Using perfect shuffle luck and full control of all opponents, win a game of Dominion without ever taking a turn.

My first thought is to be the last player in an Ambassador game, and have the other players empty piles and pass me Estates.  I'll end up with more VP than anyone else when the person before me empties the game-ending pile.

EDIT: Although, all that's really needed is for the player before you to end the game on piles without scoring VP, and a previous thread had a way of doing that in a 5P game, didn't it?  Then you win on turns.