Agricola

[caldariprime]

we've played a few games of this so far, noticed that although it's the game of farming, the best (seemingly) strategy for a win revolves around the stone house route, you can pretty much ignore all of the other things, maybe picking up a grain or veggie here and there, once one player starts on this route, it's almost always a runaway victory with points in the 40s or 50s.
Building enables you to get extra actions (building rooms to house more family members), which then allow you to gather even more materials to build with, and house even more family members.
fences appear to be strong as a way to get around having empty farmyard spaces (generally as an action in the last couple of turns after stockpiling wood)
If you haven't done so yet, take a look at the "x" deck, it's hilarious.
occupations are really important at the start of the game, especially the interactive ones, or any that give free food or ways to get free goods (a good food engine is important, even if involves leeching from other playes via occupations, the sycophant is great at this, as is the slaughterman)
minor improvements appear to be unimportant, the only time it seems viable to play them is on some of the spaces that allow you to do other things as well.

 

[Cadfan]

You can't do just a stone house strategy. You have to eat. Anyone who is winning with the points from a stone house is also running some other strategy.

 

[Simplicity]

You can't do just a stone house strategy. You have to eat. Anyone who is winning with the points from a stone house is also running some other strategy.

I've won with just a large stone house and pretty much nothing else.
Although I had occupations that helped. Sometimes I try to get a clay/stone oven so that the food is taken care of and THEN go for the stone house...

 

[Wycen]

Played my first game with the english version this week. We had originally set up a two player game with the Euro version, then a 3rd person showed up and we dealed him in.

Then the owners of the english version showed up and we decided to check it out.

So we had 6 players, 2 being on one team, the owners. They've played who knows how many times so I expected I wouldn't be winning.

With 5 players it was much more competitive. I couldn't get wood, or at least not big stacks until I took the 1st players mark. I never got beyond wood rooms and small fenced pastures.

I also learned something "new" or something that I hadn't learned from previous plays. Of course, I don't usually read the rules to the games we play, so I'm at the mercy of those who did, so I still have no idea if this is correct or not. Apparently, when 2 animals are in a space they make a baby and continue until the end of the game. All my previous plays held that they would reproduce once. And/or 1 animal multiplies in a space by itself? But maybe I'm mixing up Zooloreto or something.

I think I came in last, maybe 2nd to last.

 

[MerricB]

I also learned something "new" or something that I hadn't learned from previous plays. Of course, I don't usually read the rules to the games we play, so I'm at the mercy of those who did, so I still have no idea if this is correct or not. Apparently, when 2 animals are in a space they make a baby and continue until the end of the game. All my previous plays held that they would reproduce once. And/or 1 animal multiplies in a space by itself? But maybe I'm mixing up Zooloreto or something.

The harvest phase works like this:

1) Field Phase: you take the top grain or vegie off every stack planted in your fields and add that to your supply.

2) Feeding Phase: you feed your families. Each family member needs 2 food, 1 if newborn. Each food you don't have means taking a begging card (-3 points) which is bad.

3) Breeding phase: If you have 2 or more of any type of animal, for each of those types you get another of that type providing you have the room to hold it. So, if you have 2 or more sheep, you get another sheep, but not if you have 0-1 sheep. If you have 4 sheep, you still only get one new sheep. The animals don't have to be together in the same pasture to make a new animal.

Cheers!

 

[Wycen]

Thanks Merric.

Of course now I'm remembering something else.

How many animals can stay in a square which: has no fence around it, hasn't been plowed/sown and has that little building on it, (barn or stable)? I had 2 pigs in 1 field with the stable. Someone then moved one of them into my other field with stable at the end of the game scoring phase.

 

[MerricB]

Thanks Merric.

Of course now I'm remembering something else.

How many animals can stay in a square which: has no fence around it, hasn't been plowed/sown and has that little building on it, (barn or stable)? I had 2 pigs in 1 field with the stable. Someone then moved one of them into my other field with stable at the end of the game scoring phase.

Entire house: 1 animal
Stable with no fence: 1 animal
Fenced square with no stable: 2 animals
Fenced square with 1 stable: 4 animals
Fenced pasture with 2 stables: 8 animals

The last is possible if the stables are in two separate squares, and the fences enclose both squares in the same pasture.

Cheers!

 

[Wycen]

Hmm. Thanks.

 

[Crothian]

Played for the first time today with one other person. Neither of us had played so we muddled our way through.

One question we didn't have an answer for is when fencing an area is there a limit to the amount of area? For instance I had just stacks of wood and it was late in the game so I was looking at scoring and saw that empty spaces are bad. I then used 12 pieces of wood to fence in a 3 by 3 square. I don't know if it was legal, the rules don't say anything about it but all the pictures we've seen at most have only 2 squares fenced together.

We played the simple rules, so no occupation cards of minor improvements. It was a good game and once we were most of the way through it we understood what we needed to do. We both were able to feed everyone all the time but little else was being done till the late game. I won by points because I got a third family member and a stone house. He was trying the animal route but seemed to always have to slaughter some for enough food. Our strategies were non existant as we were really clueless.

 

[MerricB]

Played for the first time today with one other person. Neither of us had played so we muddled our way through.

One question we didn't have an answer for is when fencing an area is there a limit to the amount of area? For instance I had just stacks of wood and it was late in the game so I was looking at scoring and saw that empty spaces are bad. I then used 12 pieces of wood to fence in a 3 by 3 square. I don't know if it was legal, the rules don't say anything about it but all the pictures we've seen at most have only 2 squares fenced together.

A 3x3 square is quite legal. In fact, one of the cards in the full game gives you bonus points for fencing a really, really big paddock!

Our strategies were non existant as we were really clueless.

Clueless were our early games as well. In fact, I'd say we're clueless (occasionally) in some of our most recent games, too!

Cheers!