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26

General Discussion / Online Movie Reviewers

« on: September 07, 2012, 06:29:18 pm »

Anyone like to watch people talk about movies online? I quite enjoy it myself, even when I disagree. I like watching Confused Matthew, Doug Walker (and others at tgwtg), Brad Jones (he is featured on tgwtg, but he's got his own site with more content from him and his friends), and Jeremy Jahns (actually the only I listed here who primarily uses YouTube).

27

General Discussion / Dvorak keyboard

« on: August 23, 2012, 09:33:00 pm »

Anyone here use it? I started learning the layout a little while ago, and can touch type the whole alphabet for the first time today, though at a rate very much lower than my qwerty speed.

28

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Trashing Attacks in Dark Ages

« on: August 09, 2012, 08:02:43 pm »

Alright, so I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one post asking about this each preview day since the second, and posting this will make me feel better about it even if it doesn't prevent people from asking this same question forever.

The player who plays Saboteur/Swindler/other trashing attacks does not get the "when you trash this" effect given by Feodum/Rats/etc.

+$2
Each other player trashes the top card of his deck and gains a card with the same cost that you choose.

Note the wording; the player playing the trashing attack is not actually the one who trashes the card, ie, if my Swindler hits the Cultist on top of your deck, you draw 3 cards, right now, before I even pick the replacement card you get.

So really, this is yet another question that is easily answered by RTFCing (a lot like RTFMing, except in most Dominion cases, you can just look at the card, and don't actually have to pull out the manual).

greatexpectations, I'm thinking this might be a good thing to add to your wonderful FAQ--unless I'm proven wrong and this stops tripping people up.

29

Goko Dominion Online / Playdominion.com/base exists now, sort of

« on: June 16, 2012, 01:14:58 am »

Playdominion.com/base now redirects to playdomion.com/offer, where it says this:

Sign up & we'll tell you when we launch & when you can redeem your Base Card, Dark Ages, & The Guild card codes.

Sounds like only people buying the physical sets will have access to them in the game. Guess that makes it a good thing this officially licensed version didn't come out sooner (not that it matters for players like me who buy all the cards anyway, but...)

And hey, the /img, /js and /css directories are forbidden from public viewing now.

30

Game Reports / Let me take care of that for you

« on: April 29, 2012, 03:18:19 pm »

So even though the iso logs don't explicitly say what is passed with Masquerade, it's not too hard to piece it together from this bit of the game log:

Code: [Select]

   — michaeljb's turn 13 —
   michaeljb plays a Stash and 2 Coppers.
   michaeljb buys a Silver.
   (michaeljb draws: a Gold, a Silver, a Copper, and 2 Curses.)


— Tarski's turn 14 —
Tarski plays a Village.
... drawing 1 card and getting +2 actions.
Tarski plays a Masquerade.
... drawing 2 cards.
... trashing a Curse.
Tarski plays a Masquerade.
... drawing 2 cards.
... trashing a Curse.
Tarski plays a Gold and a Copper.
Tarski buys a Walled Village.
(Tarski draws: a Gold, a Walled Village, 2 Coppers, and a Curse.)
   

   — michaeljb's turn 14 —
   michaeljb plays a Gold, a Silver, and 3 Coppers.
   michaeljb buys a Province.
   (michaeljb reshuffles.)
   (michaeljb draws: 3 Stashes, a Silver, and an Estate.)

Now since this is a game report post...
I bought exactly one Walled Village, one Masquerade, and one Young Witch (Secret Chamber was the Bane), plus money with Stashes at $5 (except for the fourth and final one, which I bought with $6). Tarski basically picked up more of all those actions, plus an Expand and Shanty Town, and my simpler approach proved victorious.

I wanted to put this in one of those greatest Isotropic moment threads, but I discovered they're not stickied in the Isotropic sub-forum...is there one for 2012 yet?

31

Tournaments and Events / Tournament Report: Dominion at Genghis Con XXXIII

« on: February 22, 2012, 08:56:12 pm »

tl;dr I played an IRL tournament in Denver, it was a lot of fun, and I won!

A few weeks ago, I decided it would be really fun to play in a live Dominion tournament, so I did a quick internet search for Denver Dominion Tournament, and came across info on Genghis Con XXXIII, being held in Denver. I investigated a little, and found there was indeed going to be a Dominion tournament there.

The tournament was held on last Saturday, the 18th. I went with my good friend John, with whom I've played most of the IRL games I've ever played (I do prefer Isotropic, but John never liked it). We had a lot of fun.

Tournament Format
There ended up being 17 entrants for the tourney (it looked like it was going to be 16, but someone else joined in at the last minute, ruining the perfection of 4 tables of 4 players). Play was divided into five tables (three 3 player tables and two 4 player tables), and four rounds were played. Instead of elimination or round-robin, players were awarded points based on their place in a game; first place received 3 points for the round, second place 2, third place 1, and fourth place 0. This unfortunately resulted in every player at the 3-player tables being guaranteed a point, while players at the 4-player tables were not.

Victory point totals through the games were tracked and used as the tiebreaker for determining final rankings.

For each round, a random kingdom was selected from 2 Dominion sets, with 5 kingdom cards coming from each set. Each table played the same board for the round.


Round 1
Base and Intrigue: Moat, Chancellor, Swindler, Workshop, Mining Village, Remodel, Adventurer, Duke, Harem, Torturer

This was the only three player game I played in the tournament.

I opened Swindler/Silver, looking to get a Mining Village/Torturer engine up, and both opponents opened Silver/Mining Village, and it quickly became apparent they bought Expensive Village, not One-Shot Grand Bazaar. Anyway, I drew $2 on turn 3 or 4, so I bought a Moat, figuring that Swindlers and Torturers were going to be the key players, and it proved to be an alright buy. I ended up with only 2 Torturers, but neither of my opponents got a real Torturer chain going either (I don't think anyone bought more than 2), and I focused on Treasure more than my opponents did. They did a little messing around with Remodel and Workshop, which seemed pretty silly to me. After my first Gold, I picked up Harems with $6. In the midgame, the Swindlers did mess with me a bit--Mining Village into a Remodel and 2 Silvers into Chancellors. The Remodel ended up being alright, turning an Adventurer (Swindled Gold) into a Province, and a late Torturer into a Duchy.

It ended up being close, but I felt relatively comfortable the whole time because I had picked up more Treasures than my opponents. The game ended on piles: Moats, Mining Villages, and Curses; first place, 39-34-25.

I even took pictures of my final deck for fun, here's what I had in the end:
5 Coppers, 4 Silvers, 1 Gold, 2 Harems, 2 Moats, 2 Chancellors, 1 Swindler, 1 Remodel, 1 Torturer, 4 Curses, 6 Estates, 3 Duchies, 4 Provinces.

Round 2
Prosperity and Hinterlands: Duchess, Loan, Trade Route, Scheme, Spice Merchant, Talisman, Embassy, Ill-Gotten Gains, Mint, Rabble, Platinum and Colony included

As soon as I saw this board, I knew exactly what I was going to do: 1 Embassy, 1 Gold and/or Platinum, IGG's, Silvers, and green. After I bought my Embassy, I got a fortunate draw, hitting a pretty quick Platinum. I decided I didn't need to bother with Gold, and would just rush IGGs, buying Province or Colony if I could afford it, then buying Duchies once IGGs were low enough.

None of my opponents were nearly as experienced as me (in fact, no one I talked to had played online before), and it was evident they did not realize the power of IGG. Some questionable decisions were made by my opponents, such as opening with Talisman, buying 2 Spice Merchants early, and buying nothing with $4 hands in the midgame.

Embassy+IGG provided smooth sailing, and I cruised to victory, 41-28-22-14.

Final deck: 1 Embassy, 5 Ill-Gotten Gains, 1 Platinum, a small pile of Silvers, a sizable pile of Coppers (I didn't spread them out when I took the picture, so can't tell exactly how many there are), 5 Curses, 3 Estates, 5 Duchies, 3 Provinces, and 1 Colony.

note from another game: my friend finished 3rd overall, tied in ranking points with the 2nd place player, who won the VP tiebreaker because in this round she apparently scored 90 points. I don't really see any way someone could score 90 here without some bad play from opponents...

Round 3
Seaside and Cornucopia: Embargo, Haven, Pearl Diver, Fortune Teller, Menagerie, Horse Traders, Island, Harvest, Hunting Party, Merchant Ship

Another one where I almost instantly knew my plan of attack: Hunting Party+Horse Traders with some Islands for fun. Pretty standard Hunting Party build, and another case of the other players not realizing the full power of a card. An opponent's Fortune Teller helped cycle my deck fairly early on, letting me reshuffle right after buying my second Hunting Party instead of waiting a turn or two more. I got a big turn off pretty quickly, getting $10 and 2 buys, which I used on 2 more Hunting Parties before I started greening. At least twice, and I think it was three times, I bought Island+Province. With my Parties, I was scoring and shuffling every turn. In the late-ish game, after HPs had been exhausted (opponents caught on a bit after a while, but no one else had more than 2 I think), I drew $6 with 2 buys, and decided I didn't a second Gold, and went for Haven+Island. The Haven did help me at one point, setting aside an Estate to help my next turn HPs out. The Island, not so much. I ended up playing an Island to set aside 2 Islands rather than an Island and a Province.

Embargo was bought in the late game, and only played when there was one Province left, which I happily bought--I was even able to afford an Estate that last turn as well.

My biggest victory of the day, 47-30-28-11.

Final deck: 7 Coppers, 1 Silver, 1 Gold, 1 Haven, 1 Horse Traders, 5 Hunting Parties, 4 Islands, 1 Curse, 4 Estates, 6 Provinces.

Round 4
Alchemy and Hinterlands: Crossroads, Fool's Gold, Jack of All Trades, Apprentice, Cartographer, Border Village, Apothecary, Scrying Pool, Familiar, Philosopher's Stone

Having won my first three games, I was feeling pretty pumped, but this board definitely had me the most worried. I ended up thinking that BV+Apprentice with a Jack or 2 for support would give me good Apprentice fuel, keep my economy up, and deal with the Curses moderately well. Turned out to not be so great...I only ever bought one Border Village, and I bought Province over it each time I drew $8. I did have enough Silvers that Apprentice-ing an Apprentice or BV did give me $8, but I probably shouldn't have neglected Familiar completely. 2 of the other players went for Familiars, but they didn't start dishing out Curses terribly quickly, so I thought I would be alright. 2 players went for Fool's Gold (one of which being the one who also bought the most Familiars), so that pile ran out quickly. The game ended after Curses, Fool's Golds, and Apprentices were bought out, and the winner had played...BM+Fool's Gold. I finished second with 5 points and the turns tiebreaker, 8-5-5- -3.

I was frustrated about losing to BM+Fool's Gold in a game involving Cursing, but he got a $9 hand very quickly and bought Provinces right away, which turned out to be a good move as the game ended so quickly. I also messed around with the simulator a bit, and discovered my own strategy was pretty dismal, though I suppose I could blame the simulator not playing Apprentice correctly :p

Anyway, I forgot to take a picture right away of my final deck, but I still pretty much knew it:
2 Jacks, 1 or 2 Apprentices at the end (since they fed each other during the game), 6 Coppers, a pile of Silvers (probably 7 or , 7 Curses and 2 Provinces.

Conclusion
With 3 wins and 1 second place, I was tournament champion! I was given a choice for the prize: a copy of Hinterlands, or a Con-Cash thing; the tournament organizer owns a game store, so he provided the copy of Hinterlands, while the Con-Cash was the convention's award they were giving to all the event winners. Since I already own all the expansions, I went with the Con-Cash, only to discover it was redeemable for what can only be described as a lackluster selection. I ended up with $15 in gift certificates to a local game store, so
Hinterlands was awarded to second place, but the player that finished second actually had left very quickly and wasn't there to claim the prize, so it fell to third place, my friend John! But he doesn't own any of the sets, and never plays with anyone but me, so he let me have Hinterlands, which is going to end up going to my mother, who I got hooked on Dominion almost a year ago (she currently has Base, Seaside, and Prosperity).

That turned out to be a pretty long write-up, so I'll be impressed if anyone actually reads it all 

32

Puzzles and Challenges / 3 Piles of Treasure

« on: February 09, 2012, 10:55:28 pm »

So I had this idea after reading this thread--it'd be crazy to have a game ending on 3 piles where those 3 piles are Copper, Silver, and Gold.

This of course begs the question--what would such a game look like? That prompted me to start a thread here, with the challenge namely being to design a Kingdom (if possible) where there's a reasonable chance of this ending taking place.

Seems like key players have to include Trader, Tunnel, probably Hoard, maybe Counting House/Coppersmith or something, perhaps Talisman...

I won't be too shocked if it's not really feasible at all, but hopefully this will make for some interesting discussion anyway.

33

Game Reports / Thrown away

« on: August 08, 2011, 01:10:05 am »

When you have a big fun King's Court/City engine, and you're going for the kill, poised to empty the 2nd and 3rd piles and grab some points for the win, it's important to make sure you actually have enough buys to do so, not just coins.

In my final turn in this game, I had $49, enough to polish off the last King's Court, the last 4 Cities, and buy 2 Colonies to come from behind for the win. Unfortunately, I only had 4 buys. Even more unfortunately, I figured I'd empty the piles first then buy the green with what was left instead of buying the right amount of VP first.

I bought the last King's Court and 3 of the last 4 Cities, then watched my opponent grab the last City and claim the win.

On top of that, I got the Witching advantage, giving my opponent 7 of the 10 Curses, and this was one of the few games where I've ever really used Coppersmith ($28 of the $49 on my final turn was from my 7 Coppers).

I did get lucky with KC/Witches, twice pairing them when I had only 1 KC and 2 Witches in my deck, but regardless of any luck I had or mistakes my opponent or I made, it sure is frustrating to have the game in that state at the end and throw it away

34

Puzzles and Challenges / Rules Challenge

« on: July 30, 2011, 05:16:10 pm »

You have just played an Action card from your hand, but have yet to carry out the action described on the card. You decide for whatever reason you don't feel like doing it, so you don't. Your opponent suspects you may be cheating and demands to see your hand. You argue that you are not required to show your hand.

As a matter of fact, both you and your opponent are correct; you are in fact cheating, yet you are not technically required to show your hand. Which cards could you have just played?

Solved for one example: Throne Room.

35

Puzzles and Challenges / Grand Market

« on: July 17, 2011, 02:13:43 pm »

2-parter:

1) In a solitaire game, buy a Grand Market on Turn 3, without using Vault.
I've spent a good amount of time thinking about this, and I can only think of one solution so far.

2) In a 3p (or more) game, buy a Grand Market on Turn 3, without using Vault or Masquerade.
The solitaire solution works here, but the solution I have in mind does not work for 1 or 2 players.

36

Puzzles and Challenges / Tournament-shy

« on: July 17, 2011, 01:16:08 pm »

Your opponent plays a Tournament and a reveals a Province. You have a Province in hand, but you choose not to reveal it. (This is either a 2-player game, or all other opponents are also not revealing Provinces.)

Why would you make this choice?

37

Game Reports / Fast Gardens Game

« on: June 13, 2011, 05:50:38 pm »

When I first began playing Dominion, I thought the goal of playing Gardens was to bloat your deck as much as possible for the massive points. I came to learn that the true strength of Gardens was emptying 3 piles before Province engines revved up. I've found the best Gardens kingdoms involve Ironworks and a village-type card. In the following game, I opened Ironworks/Hamlet (I didn't use the +Buy right away, so Village or Silver probably would have been better) and sped to a 12 turn win.

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110610-215629-420cfac8.html

In theory's article on <a href="http://dominionstrategy.com/2010/12/16/dominion-gardens/">Gardens</a>, he said that Ironworks in practice are too difficult for the Gardens player to gain and empty, but I've found that focusing on Ironworks before switching to Gardens works pretty well.