Here is the kingdom I was playing:
Travelling Fair, Lighthouse, Squire, Urchin, Farming Village, Marauder, Explorer, Ghost Ship, Mountebank, Rabble, Peddler
Traveling Fair isn't showing, but it was there.
This turned out to be a really fascinating game, in which I was getting crushed, but came back to win. The game log is here:
http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?http://dominion-game-logs.s3.amazonaws.com/game_logs/20161125/log.0.1480046458175.txtThis game led me to several questions. Even though I wound up winning in a stunning comeback, I don't really know why (was it luck, or was his deck bound to stall so starkly?). I also know I didn't play the game well, and would like tips.
Question 1: The opening
Heavy on attacks, I thought I'd need double lighthouse, with the hope of building a FV/Rabble engine with a Mountebank kicker that draws the deck and plays Lighthouse every turn. I opened LH/FV.
My opponent, by contrast, went for double Urchin to start, presumably thinking he would want the strong trashing of the Mercenary.
What is the best 4/3 opening with this kingdom? I'm inclined to think that getting a mercenary quickly should be a high priorirty, but I don't know that double urchin is the way to do that.
Question 2: Peddler Piling
As the game moved forward, my opponent had a few stronger hands (led by his mercenary clearing out some junk), and used TF/Peddler to clear out the Peddler pile. I didn't contest this because I didn't notice it right away. My children (who play more than I do, but are 13, 11, and 9), think the Peddler turned my opponent's FVs into plain villages, whereas my FMs were really FMs.
My biggest question (hence the title of the post) is,
"Is it possible that it was good for me not to contest the Peddler piling?" Question 3: The Fall of Rome
After my opponent bought the first 3 provinces, and I was finally picking up a Mercenary to clean up my deck, I was prepared to resign. For some reason I decided to finish it out the game. Remarkably, my engine finally came together, and I consistently played Mercenary, Rabble, Mountebank every turn (what a devastating trio, if undefended). He only managed one more province and a dutchy while I gained 4 prvinces and gave him some curses, and I eeked out a win.
What made my opponent's engine stall so dramatically? Was this just bad luck, or is this unsurprising to the more experienced players in the community.
Any other advice about this game would be welcomed.
Squirezucco