Session - Belfort

2nd of January 2012 (Monday)

Game(s) Played:
Belfort



Player(s):
Da Panda
Milo
Nitsuj

Session – Belfort

"Hey kor you can come over now!" - SMS by Milo

My tyres screeched on the asphalt and I arrived at the place where the showdown was going to take place within mere minutes of my departure, package in hand. It was meant to be a four-way deal but Mo backs out, saying someone made him an earlier offer and snubs us, the two-timing sonnofagun... Da Panda shows him the door after which the three of us who are left stare each other down. "Are you both still in?" I ask both of them. Milo seems too enthusiastic whilst Da Panda seems nonchalant either way, both reactions setting off alarm bells in my head, but the rewards are too great, the temptation too strong to overcome, and so we begin... a game of Belfort.

And CUT!

Actually that sort of intro would go better with a game like Cargo Noir but I haven't fooled around like that in a while so I thought I'd give it a try. By fooling around I mean, actually taking the time to indulge my writing hobby as opposed to hurriedly churning out reviews / session reports before I forget to do them. Sometimes I seem to forget that this is supposed to be a labour of love for me. Therefore I present to you, in all its humorous grandeur, Session - Belfort.

As this was Da Panda's first play, I had to perform the traditional boardgaming ritual of rules explanation. (This is why I prefer for all four of us to sit down to a new game together once, just to get this out of the way. As it is, I'll have to do it again when Mo decides to join us.) Now, it is either that I am a terribly poor teacher or my siblings process all forms of elderly teachings as droning sounds (it could be both) because Da Panda made the exact same error as Milo in the previous session, which is to not understand exactly how the scoring round works! The unfortunate thing about this that I notice is that it is extremely punishing not to understand how it works in Belfort because you're not only halfway through the game when scoring starts, but scoring starts to happen every other round, and you're supposed to have set up your ... for the lack of a better word, "economy" such that you are pushing for scoring right up to the end, which if you're trying to do halfway through the game, pretty much leaves you eating the dust of your more enlightened opponents.

So note to self, "Demonstrate how scoring works and emphasize it very loudly for all to hear. Include disclaimer of no takesie-backsies if Players still refuse to listen."

Turn order began with me (Blue), Da Panda (Red) followed by Milo (Yellow). My simple strategy was to hoard the Hire Worker space as much as I can with the theory that more Workers = more Resources and an easier time handling my economy which was very similar to my previous attempt at Belfort, only this time I was also going to focus on getting buildings for their income first and their abilities second, instead of the other way around. Being first certainly helped and this time the available Guilds were actually more helpful. We had the Bandits' Guild (Steals Resources), Miners' Guild (+2 Metal), Masons' Guild (+4 Stone), Bankers' Guild (+3 Coins) & the Architects' Guild (Building Discount).

I was doing pretty well in the beginning, building a lead over Milo and Da Panda in terms of Workers but we matched each other building for building but since I spent most of my first turns hogging the Hire Workers space, I ended up missing out on most of the good Guild spaces which were quickly snapped up, especially the Resource Guilds. Da Panda as usual prefers to cause hurt and was no stranger to hiring "Professional Repossessors" to relieve us of our pointy-eared and long-bearded friends' hard earned Resources. Ultimately though the allure of repeated hold-ups at the Bank was too strong for even Da Panda to resist, which prompted me to initiate a hostile takeover of the Bank and cutting a deal with Da Panda to pay me 1 Coin to give her the codes to loot my Bank, insurance would cover the rest.

Argh! We’ve been exposed!

Da Panda’s ill-gotten treasures

In terms of district monopolies, it appeared things were quite even. Each of us had majority ownership of at least one district and shared leadership of one other district with another Player. Thinking that my edge in majority Workers would lead me to the finishing line seemed like a good plan at the time, but boy was I wrong. You see, I discounted the fact that even though Milo had only majority share of only one district, whether inadvertently or not, she had second majority for other districts, which also scores points in districts most Players (i.e. me) would choose to ignore because you can never beat the Chinese in Chinatown. Milo subverts this adage, by being the Vietnamese who set up Little Saigon Street right in the heart of Chinatown. And once Milo had her economy under control, she swaps for turn order and goes right on reducing my Worker advantage to nothing and steamrolls over me in the age of "1 Dwarf for 2".

Things started tamely enough

Then the great property boom of ’98 took place

An artistic angle

Once again, taxes catch up on me after the second Scoring Round so much so I actually take a loss of 1 Point for not being able to pay my tax. I quickly get it under control but Milo, with all her resources just goes right on building and building, shoring up her economy as inflation continues to rise in the double digits on a monthly basis. Da Panda who has her inflation more under control (due to her l-a-s-t position on the Score Track) also goes right on building and between the both of them, the Gnomes for hire are quickly snapped up resulting in a supply shock to the town of Belfort.

That’s my game ending Player Board, the three Property Cards facing away from me are actually the draw pool, we only got half the table to play on

This is Milo with her 8 building game end

This is Da Panda’s also 8 building game end, although I suspect she would’ve done better if she had placed her buildings more strategically on the main board

As you can guess, this doesn't end well for me... again. Despite being in the lead after the second Scoring Round, there is little I can do with bankrupt property developers and high inflation whilst my neighbours with their ample resources and turn advantage, buy up the remaining properties in my districts to hand me my bum bum on a platter.

Results Of Game
Winna – Milo (49 Points)
2nd – Nitsuj (45 Points)
3rd – Da Panda (34 Points)

The new owner of the key to Belfort!

Comments:
Da Panda
"Belfort is a little more easier to understand and cope with compared to Le Havre or Troyes. I felt there are more limited actions to be done each round and wish the game had designed more ways to earn resources / gold / build properties. Might get a bit boring after playing a lot of times as I felt there's not much ways to go about your strategies to win. A rather more straightforward game with cute stone / wood / iron thingys."
Rating: 6/10

Milo
Rating: 9/10

Nitsuj
"I have to concede to Da Panda that in comparison with games like Le Havre & Troyes, Belfort is more streamlined and restricted, it would be like comparing say Diablo against Elder Scrolls. I don’t think I will like Belfort more than those two games I mentioned but Belfort is a very good game in its own right. I honestly think of it as an upgrade from Monopoly. The buildings are all the same except for the introduction of Guilds, with a merging of Euro elements involving two types of Workers and four types of Resources. Like Citadels, the scalability of “cut-throatness” changes with the types of Players playing, providing a challenge to both hardcore and non-hardcore gamers alike."
Rating: 8/10