In a
previous post, I mentioned I was inspired by
this article to try Duke/Duchy and did so with Trade Route in
this game.
I had another game featuring Trade Route and Duke/Duchy, so I gave it another go.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110822-045420-cbe36310.htmlThis time, I also used Bureaucrat to give me some extra Silvers and despite opening Trade Route/Bureaucrat, I had 5 Silvers after Turn 6 and Turn 7 allowed me to get a Grand Market.
Note my opponent's Turns 4 & 5 each got him a Gold and Turn 6 got him a Grand Market - he's totally beating me in card quality. Didn't I read
Beyond Silver - what was I thinking? It looks like I have lost this game already.
So I dip into the Hunting Party on Turn 8 and and he follows me there. I realize with Trade Route, Bureaucrat, etc., that Hunting Party might not be extremely effective, so I plan to trash Bureaucrat at my 1st opportunity. I'm also thinking that Gold may mess me up, and between the Silvers, Grand Markets, and Trade Routes, I should be able to make an effective Duke/Duchy go, so I plan to avoid Gold.
On Turn 14 my opponent buys the 1st Province and starts the VP race. His deck has a ridiculous amount of buying power comparatively and I'm still staring down a losing scenario. But I get a fantastic draw on Turn 14 where I can trash my Bureaucrat with Trade Route, and buy 2 Duchies.
Now I realize I just sent a signal that I'm going for Duke/Duchy, and I decide to split my two buys and 11 coin on Province/Trade Route on Turn 15 to Jedi mind-trick my opponent that I've given up on Duke/Duchy.
Then on Turn 16 I buy another 2 Duchies.
In my opinion, my opponent has been playing well up to this point, but then has a questionable Turn 17 buying Gold + Village. I believe my opponent didn't see the Dukes value and was keeping his buying power strong. He picks up Turn 18: Province, Turn 19: Gold & Grand Market, Turn 20: Hunting Party and I'm still not comfortable. At Turn 20, I have bought multiple Dukes and Duchies but I feel like he still has me outclassed in card quality and
reach - he can just counter buying out the Dukes/Duchies better than I can...
The fact that he doesn't counter doesn't draw a definite conclusion to whether Trade Route is effective at targetting Duke/Duchy. The point of this game report is that people undervalue Duke and you can use this to your advantage, catch them off guard, throw in a Jedi mind-trick, and
maybe Trade Route can get you there.
[edit to fix misspellings]