This game rules played in anger, so far. Our VASSAL game is barely started but has created these delicious tensions---specifically, Mohan Lal is on the table and there haven't been a lot of spy cards out yet on the tableau. So Mohan Lal is like this incredibly dangerous spymaster that could kill any card at any time, but it would require a whole turn and some money to do which is a *huge sacrifice*. So good.
I just played him out and had to bribe Gary to get him in play. If Gary hadn't had the citadel in play, protecting his rule of Kabul (so thematic!!!), I would have been able to force the issue by threatening to kill his tribe to avoid the bribe. Terrific stuff.
Some big swings going on. My strategy of "don't be broke" has kept me in it, even with some powerful cards (like Mohan Lal) that got snapped up before I even moved.
5-3-3 with 2/4 checks down, and a now totally empty board.
Yeah, it's a catch-up/rebalancing mechanism for sure. Otherwise the faction ahead will just beat down the blocks of the factions behind, and the game becomes "everyone get in on this".
That's now underway unfortunately Matt, but I'm sure there'll be a another game or two out of these games in the not too distant future, if you are happy to wait. i'll definitely be keen. Maybe someone else will jump in with a game before then though!
So the "no double dominance check in the market" is a pretty big rule, isn't it, especially on top of the fact that the last one goes for double VP. It meant for quite the finish in our game as each market cleanup could spell the end. I wonder how often that's going to happen in this game.
(Matt - check your PMs).
The following user(s) said Thank You: Matt Thrower
I didn't know the rule so it was a surprise. It's especially powerful because normally it takes one of your actions (and money!) to grab. You can feasibly set up your faction's dominance w/2 actions and hope for a deal out.
It's pretty effective at preventing the market standoff that happens in some other Pax games.
I knew it was a thing, and it bit me this time. I probably could have played around it (or just bought the check), but I was trying to manipulate the scores so I could stand being beaten up down the stretch.
"Double points on the last check" is one I'm going to have to wait and see on, since it's already basically "double points" on a successful check. It probably adds some drama, but possibly at the expense of how important the early game is overall.