Normally I don't even log my online plays, much less report on them, but I had a memorable game of Carc today and I want to record it for my own amusement. Be warned that I make no claim that what amuses me may prove amusing to others.

I was playing on AsoBrain, a most excellent if unlicensed implementation of this game. It should be noted that my opponent was no slouch, coming into the game with a rating of 80 for the month of August - this translates to a 90th percentile player. We were playing, as one always should, with Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders in play.

I like to play an agressive style, actively looking to trap enemy meeples whenver possible. My opponent responded in kind, putting my builder in jeopardy very early in the game. He further esteemed himself in my estimation by threatening a large city of mine with his bully, then knocking the bully out himself a few plays later when it started looking like I would successfully kill the city. Meanwhile he finished off my builder by requiring me to find an "anti-Q" tile, and I put his builder in jeopardy on a road.

But then my large city started to come around to looking like it could be completed and my opponent went hard after the steal. As is my modus operandi, I switched into kill mode rather than fight-over-it mode. And at this point my opponent got greedy, agressively trying to finish the city and investing more meeples in it, to the point of not freeing his builder when he had a chance. I made sure that chance was not extended, putting the finishing touches on making his builder-road impossible to complete. Meanwhile, he started up a second substantial city not far away and worked 2 meeples into it.

Through persistence and opportune tile draws, I was able to connect his 2 cities and make them an all-or-nothing proposition with a cathedral tile. He was not about to give it up, however, and did come quite close to finishing it before I was able to create an impossible tile situation. The city died at a size of 33 tiles, containing 5 of his meeples and 1 of mine. Most of the trade goods also died with it.

For the final 30 tiles I had a few meeples while my opponent had none. He did have a nice mid-size city with a cathedral that required a specific but not rare tile to complete (R-R-C-C), but it didn't come up for him. I was able to place a 4-city farmer, but beyond that every available field offered only 1 city to be supplied. Opponent did a commendable job of reducing my opportunities for easy points.

Final score: 118 - 21. Definitely a record for me in terms of opponents score, and I suspect also a record for lowest total score. And also the first T & B game I've seen where no trade goods were scored.