Session - Agricola

18th of February 2012 (Saturday)

Game(s) Played:
Agricola



Session – Agricola

Player(s):
Da Panda (Neutral)
Milo (Purple)
Nitsuj (Blue)

Milo & Da Panda dropped by yesterday for a session of gaming and Agricola was suggested since Da Panda has not had the opportunity to try out this legend-wait for it-dary game yet. We picked our colours, whilst I made a quick look-up in the rulebook on how to incorporate occupations & minor improvements (don't play with these very often yet) then we yanked up our hoes to begin the first Best Farmer Of The Year competition in the Subang Jaya county.

This session of Agricola is commemorated as the first time I got the ploughing strategy correct although I must say that it is more because Milo & Da Panda are less familiar with the game than I am and kinda allowed me a bit more free reign than I should have had.

Doing farming the traditional way involves a fair bit of planning: Ploughing the fields, getting the grain / vegetables to sow, going mass production (at least 3 fields), waiting for harvests, having cooking / baking equipment, baking the surplus grain / cooking the surplus vegetables you don't need and making sure you have animals to sustain you until you reach the point of economies of scale. All it takes is a smart aleck to take the action you need just before the harvest which can reduce you to begging on the roadside to feed your hungry family. This game is b-r-u-t-a-l.

All ready for that third new member of the family

We call this the noob board since its one of the boards that has spaces for you to put your resources, as you can see Da Panda loves lamb

This is Milo just before she pulls off a two room extension to her Wooden Hut, she was particularly confused about the distinction between room & hut, future Agricola lawyers beware

I notice that people tend to pay a little too much attention to the occupations / minor improvements cards when they're available. Whilst it is a nice touch to add variety to games, it is more of a distraction strategy wise which I'm afraid Da Panda & Milo fell into. I managed to make sure I had 2 Fields and extra room to take advantage of an additional family member once the Family Growth action was available and had the Potter occupation (turn 1 Clay into 2 Food each harvest) to help things until I was able to achieve... this:

4 Fields and 1 harvest later... ...

The biggest sardine sandwich in Agricola with only 10% sardine content

I think you have to take advantage of the additional family members once its available which Milo & Da Panda didn't really do because the harvest just comes too fast towards end game and you're scrabbling to find food to feed your family if you're caught unprepared.

Time Taken: 100 minutes

Results Of Game
Winna – Nitsuj (43 Points)
2nd – Milo (20 Points)
3rd – Da Panda (17 Points)

My best result yet, in fact ever. Mo's highest score was 41 points (he's gonna be itching for another fight)

Milo did well except I think she focused more on renovating her home which doesn't give a whole lot of points really

Da Panda's damage control efforts were pretty decent, at least she sure got a lot of lamb for food

Comments:
Da Panda & Milo
"This is better than Le Havre as it is not as complicated."

Nitsuj
"I'm glad to have been able to pull off the long term strategy this once but I suspect it will not be as easy the next time once people wise up to it. I was a little disappointed that they thought it better than Le Havre. I personally feel that Agricola is just more screwy... oh, so that's why they prefer Agricola."

Rating: 8/10

Oh yes... and as usual Da Panda's parting comment is:
"Now I know how to play the game already. Next time we should play this because I'm sure to win it."

Challenge accepted.