David Jones
United States
Oregon
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I'm beginning to wonder if I should start taking notes during my games. It usually isn't until the very end of a game that I realize just how interesting a game until I can see the fallout of certain actions. This might be even more true in Macao because I often wonder what might have happen if I had taken card B instead of Card A on turn X. But anyway...
Tonight was the first four player Macao I've played in a quite awhile. A friend of mine and I play a lot of 2P and the last time it came out in one of groups we had three. I had forgotten how crucial wall position could be.
The opening of the game turned out to be odd in and of itself. I was second on the wall and chose grey for both my one and two cube position. But what became strange was that EVERYBODY took two grey as part of their starting cubes, so you could already see a fight coming. Since I didn't have wall position, my second city quarter was taken from me and I got an early move on the wall and the boat. I had picked up the card that gives 6PP for three of the same office card and a baroness. Kurt had two warehouses. Chris picked up a finance card, the card that allowed him to get an extra GP for using a finance card, and a card that gave 2 PP end game for each office type.
There were plenty of law cards early in the draft which is where I started my strategy from. However, turn six turned out to be brutal for all but one of us. Kurt and I were unable to free a build spot and it was clear that Connie would not be able to do so next turn, so thats one penalty each. Chris was on the verge of taking a penalty also, but got a lucky die roll and was able to build off a card he had not expected to.
At this point, I had spend cubes in the city and fallen so far behind on the wall that there was no point in trying to catch up. I simply had not paid attention to the flop on round seven but lo and behold, a card giving one PP for each law building had been left for me to take, and I could build it! It wouldn't be until turn 10 before I could actually get the law offices off the table, but I wasn't about to turn down nine easy points. Chris had repeated his gold trick by getting a customs office and the card that allowed you to get the extra GP, so he had two different colors where he could score 2GP for one cube each. Despite having lady blue and lady green activated, Connie was up to three penalty markers for building issues and on the following turn purposely burned a second baroness card that would have been worth 5VP to me.
Turn eight turns out to be very interesting for me as I have a critical choice to make. My boat is on the porcelain island. I can buy and immediately deliver the good for 3PP, but the sacrifice is that I can't build a card I had planned on clearing out and may not get the chance to build again. I go ahead and take the good with the thought that, if I don't build the card, the 3PP offsets the penalty, so it all evens out. It was a risky move, but ultimately paid off as I was able to build it the problem card on my last turn. Connie also made a clever move by passing through jade island but not delivering. She had the warehouse on her table and was able to build it later and circle back to deliver for 16 instead of 8.
At this point it is worth explaining that Kurt had been buying city quarters in order to use his warehouses but was also getting jokers just on the principle that they were usful. Connie was buying but with no apparent strategy but also trying to get jokers because she had the jester on her table. Chris was going for specific resources. I was trying targeting a couple of goods, but mostly just buying whatever my extra cubes would allow. As such, nobody had a powerful string combination, so playing that part of the board for points wasn't on anyone's mind... well, almost.
Turn 11 comes around. If the red die rolls a one (and how hard is that?) then I can build the white/red joker. I don't really need a joker, but the spot would unite four other cubes, effectively making it a 6PP action. Connie also needs a one red roll would allow her to build a card that would make her other builds cheaper. Alas, it rolls a two and we both are thwarted. To make matters worse, I had been forced to pick up a card I knew I couldn't build, so thats another -3 at the end of the game. Chris has a clear table, no penalty markers, and a strong gold engine going. Despite never planning to deliver some of the goods I had bought, I turn out to have the extra cubes and end up stealing the 5PP spot on spice from Chris and the 5PP spot on laquerware from Kurt (one of his warehouses).
The last turn comes up and this is the part the really prompted me to make the post... There are only four goods left to buy in the city quarter. Chris buys one and delivers it. Connie buys one and delievers and then also buys a joker. (She has the card allowing this.) Kurt buys and delivers the fourth good. So for the first time that I have personally ever seen, the entire city quarter is bought before game end. Not only that, but every tile has been delivered except for a silk sitting on my boat. Originally, I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do it. I need 5 gold for the prestige table. But wait! The card I picked up this turn is a person card and I get a GP for activating those! So by saving a cube I had intended to use at the office, we also get every ware delivered - another first for our group!
End of game... Chris has clear lead because he had been pounding the prestige table while the rest of us could not. Also, because we had not been paying attention, he had 10PP in end game points from five different office card types while Kurt and Connie have none. However, I'm sitting on three end game scoring cards for a total of 17PP. Despite a six point penalty, I still manage to pull ahead for a 3PP victory with Kurt and Connie about 15 points behind us.
In all honestly, this is not a brag. However, when I look back at a game as close as this and realize how important certain decisions in the game were and how certain die rolls affected the outcome, I am amazed at just how intricate this game is. There are at least three places in the game where a different choice on my part would have erased that three point difference, not to mention choices by others that blocked me out of points. I know that their scores were similarly affected each others and my actions. I am not as enamored with Stefan Fled games as other people I know, but Macao is clearly his masterpiece and I sincerely hope that Trajan is able to deliver a similar experience.
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Carl Garber
Canada
Vauxhall
Alberta
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Sounds like a fun experience David! Thanks for posting this Session Report! I have been planning to do one, but have been intimidated as to how to do one since the flow of everyone's game is quite different! I am surprised Connie didn't do better than she did! I find the Jester card plus having the card that allows you to buy two city quarters can be a crazy good combo! Did she just not get these activated until later in the game?
Congrats on the win! Yes, it is interesting to examine the "what could have beens" of Macao. I liked how you got alot of end game bonus scoring cards. For some reason I see these neglected alot of the time which confuses me.
I haven't played any of Feld's other games but none of their write up's draw me in like Macao did. However, Trajan has me excited as I have a feeling it will play similarly to Macao.
Happy Gaming!
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David Jones
United States
Oregon
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Connie basically lost due to poor cube management. I think she had something like 20 cubes leftover on the last turn and, obviously, this means she had late activations.
The only other Feld games I've played are Notre Dame and Year of the Dragon. I find Dragon to be a bit dry, but it is a complex/tight game and I can see why other people enjoy it. I enjoyed Notre Dame and considered buying it, but better things came up on my radar. I think the card drawing injects a little too much randomness in the game, but again the intricacy is there. Also, I only ever played it the one time - I could change my mind if I had a chance to play it again. If you like Macao, its at least worth looking at.
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Ik ben een klein boefje
Spain
Villanueva de la Cañada
Madrid
2006/2011 (Amsterdam - Maastricht - Apeldoorn - Den Haag -Delft) Vijf jaar dat ik ga nooit vergeten.
Warning: Very handsome user. HOT HOT HOT.
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I had played many Feld games. In my book his very best designs are In the year of the Dragon and The castles of Burgundy. The latter is a wonderful game and while its dice mechanism is not as innovative as Macao one it is indeed an excellent design. It is a crying shame is not going to be published in the States. The year of the Dragon is a very good game in which you feel more stuggling against the system than playing it, but it scales really well between three and five players and is very replayable. Macao and Notre Dame come in third and fourth position, both are excellent games but in my humble opinion a step bellow the other two.
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