Game: Amun-Re

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

slyde — 2008-10-20T20:30:02+00:00

everlong205 wrote:
Thanks all. I guess we were playing that wrong all this time.

yay! we played it right saturday after all, john..

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

ackmondual — 2008-10-20T20:27:10+00:00

Carmilla wrote:
ackmondual wrote:
Theme-wise, it has something to do with when there was a drought in those days, the people would sell their camels to help make ends meet or something of that nature.

I could be wrong, but I think the camels represent caravans bringing in food from elsewhere due to the shortage. Or something like that.I wouldn't dismiss this. My response was the response of another poster which I never got around to researching

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

Carmilla — 2008-10-20T20:22:59+00:00

ackmondual wrote:
Theme-wise, it has something to do with when there was a drought in those days, the people would sell their camels to help make ends meet or something of that nature.

I could be wrong, but I think the camels represent caravans bringing in food from elsewhere due to the shortage. Or something like that.

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

everlong205 — 2008-10-19T20:16:55+00:00

Thanks all. I guess we were playing that wrong all this time.

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

ackmondual — 2008-10-19T19:14:26+00:00

Theme-wise, it has something to do with when there was a drought in those days, the people would sell their camels to help make ends meet or something of that nature.

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

cannoneer — 2008-10-19T14:52:53+00:00

If you have a province with both farmers and camels, and the sacrifice is at level 3 or 4, you would only get money for your farmer(s), not the camel. If the sacrifice level is 1 or 2, you would get money for both.

Thread: Re: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

mdp4828 — 2008-10-19T08:16:43+00:00

Yes, the farmers pay out no matter what. The camels only pay out at level 1 or 2.

Thread: Amun Re Provinces with Camels

everlong205 — 2008-10-19T07:34:04+00:00

We just played Amun Re again at our gaming group and had a question regarding the provinces with camels on them. We have usually played that when the sacrifice is at a 3 or a 4 that the provinces don't pay out any money (either in gold or from any farmers on the provinces). However, as someone pointed out today the camel appears to be tied to the gold on the province and not the farmers, so no matter what you would still get some income from any provinces that have camels on them so long as they were populated with one or more farmers.

Is this correct?

Thread: Re: 2-player variant attempt

Stormparkiet — 2008-10-07T16:57:07+00:00

So... did it work out?

Thread: Re: Session Report

HuckmanT — 2008-09-28T16:27:07+00:00

I thought I should come back here and post that we have just named our dog "Mighty Joeleephus" after this session report.

Thread: Re: Session Report

HiveGodsOtherThumb — 2008-09-28T16:22:30+00:00

Thread: Re: Session Report

Carmilla — 2008-09-28T04:06:15+00:00

Y'know, something I've wondered since reading this the first time ... wonder how many people tried to return their copy to their FLGS, complaining that "it's missing the weaving hut!"

Every time I read this, it just gets funnier.

Image

zackdale — 2008-09-21T17:02:10+00:00

building with pyramids

Thread: Re: In which Randy reaches a new record score... (5 players)

Raharanor — 2008-09-17T15:12:54+00:00

Congrats to Randy on his achievement...what is it about Josh and getting the most money at the end of all our games? :P Spend more Josh!

Thread: Re: In which Randy reaches a new record score... (5 players)

muntmeister — 2008-09-16T08:58:52+00:00

it's good to be Randy.

Thread: Re: In which Randy reaches a new record score... (5 players)

wmshub — 2008-09-16T07:10:49+00:00

Funny, just yesterday Marshall was saying you must never let a player get both a set of 3 bonus and a "most pyramids" bonus during the first epoch.

Here Randy walked off with a set of 3, and *TWO* "most pyramids" bonuses!

Still a pretty amazing score.

Thread: Re: In which Randy reaches a new record score... (5 players)

MerricB — 2008-09-16T02:47:22+00:00

You'll appreciate this, Jim:

In the 3-player game of RA that Josh, Russell and Randy played just before I arrived, Randy won with a score of somewhere over 100.

As I only saw the dying stages, I'm not qualified to write a report on it. However, is the only way I can describe that particular score.

Cheers,
Merric

Thread: Re: In which Randy reaches a new record score... (5 players)

ekted — 2008-09-16T02:02:49+00:00

MerricB wrote:
Randy 50

Thread: In which Randy reaches a new record score... (5 players)

MerricB — 2008-09-16T01:26:03+00:00

Russell and Mark had joined us in Ballarat for an afternoon (and evening) of boardgames, which we had begun with a 2-1/2 hour game of Agricola, which Randy had won narrowly.

Unfortunately, Mark had to leave at 6pm, which gave us not much more time for a 5-player game. Randy suggested Amun-Re, to which we all agreed. In fact, the game would take longer that Mark had, but he was able to determine his final play in advance so the full scoring could be determined properly.

Josh hasn't played much (if any) Amun-Re before and so was definitely the newbie of the group. I'm probably the second-most inexperienced member of the group, but by the end of the game, Randy had made all of us (except Russell) look like amateurs. We weren't paying attention in the first round - that must be our explanation for what happened.

You see, a large part of the points in Amun-Re come from the pyramids you build. There are two ways of building pyramids: put them all in the same province and strive for the "Most Pyramids" bonus - a hefty 5 VPs, or to place them evenly through your three provinces and go for the "Set" bonus - a safe 3 points.

In my early games of Amun-Re, we'd basically be going for the safe "Set" options, with one player breaking out on each side of the river for the "Most". This game, Randy cleverly arranged himself so that at the end of the Old Kingdom, he had the undisputed "Most" on one side... and tied for "Most" with Russell on the other, giving him a massive first-turn score, especially as we were also foolish enough to allow him to take 2 temples with the Nile at "3"! And he'd also got a set of pyramids...

Eek!

As Josh had only built one pyramid, and Mark 2, they were a little unevenly spread around the board when it came to the second round. Both Mark and Russell were used to games where the Nile hardly rises (amongst their friends, stealing from the sacrifice was very popular), so they were somewhat flat-footed by our more "generous" sacrifices. They were quickly able to adapt, however.

Mind you, you'd need a tremendous amount of adapting to catch up to Randy... and possibly a very heavy stone to drop on him! Turn order became very important, and, with Mark as High Priest, that meant that Randy was going last, and thus could see the best place to add more pyramids.

Josh got better, Randy and I contended for most pyramids on one side of the river and Russell built a lot of sets of pyramids.

Upon the end of the game, it was no surprise that Randy was declared the winner, but Russell had come a very respectable second; a far more respectable score than those achieved by Mark, Josh and myself!

Old Kingdom
Josh: 1 = 1 pyramid
Merric: 6 = 3 pyramids, 3 set
Mark: 8 = 2 pyramids, 3 temples, 3 "north"
Russell: 17 = 3 pyramids, 3 set, 5 most, 3 temples, 3 "farms"
Randy: 23 = 4 pyramids, 3 set, 10 most, 6 temples

New Kingdom
Josh: 10 = 4 pyramids, 3 sets, 3 "farmers"
Mark: 13 = 7 pyramids, 6 sets
Russell: 21 = 9 pyramids, 6 sets, 3 temples, 3 "south"
Merric: 25 = 8 pyramids, 3 sets, 5 most, 6 temples, 3 "farms"
Randy: 27 = 7 pyramids, 6 sets, 5 most, 3 temples, 6 "north", "on river"

Money Bonus
Josh 6, Russell 4, Mark 2

Final Scores:
Randy 50, Russell 42, Merric 31, Mark 23, Josh 17

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-15T14:23:38+00:00

mdp4828 wrote:
Ok, I created a game on spielbyweb for anyone who reads this article.

Name: Pyramid Strategy
Password: Bonus

*BUMP* for one more player.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

kwojtasz — 2008-09-14T02:01:19+00:00

Having two 3 pyramids provinces going into the 2nd kingdom is a huge bonus for those with the $ lead. So you probably should not be going for the most bonus if you don't also plan on being close to tops in $, or you will be building all that for someone else and you will get stuck with one of those non-pyramid provinces...

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-13T03:05:23+00:00

Ok, I created a game on spielbyweb for anyone who reads this article.

Name: Pyramid Strategy
Password: Bonus

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-13T03:03:21+00:00

Spleen wrote:
If I win the first sacrifice, I'll put an extra pyramid down with that and still get the set bonus.

Hmmm, I've never actually seen this happen. The way I look at it is if you're sacrificing enough to win the whole sacrifice you've probably got a big farmer province (i.e. more than 3 farm slots). In that case it's too expensive to build all your farmers in the action phase. When I know I'm sacrificing I generally leave a farmer slot open, thus I'd never really have all three rewards to devote to stone unless I was desperate to hang onto the most pyramids.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

Spleen — 2008-09-13T02:46:38+00:00

If I win the first sacrifice, I'll put an extra pyramid down with that and still get the set bonus.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-13T02:42:36+00:00

billsaints wrote:
What about the strategy of one bonus and a set of 3? Thats fairly common too, especially if you can get the bonus for just 2 pyramids.

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean the most pyramids bonus and a set of three? I don't think it's that common to see that in experienced games.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-13T02:39:40+00:00

Gelatinous Goo wrote:
All good points. I think that Memphis (and to some degree Abydos) throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the plans. With the "free" building stones that come with these provinces (esp. Memphis) it is effective to "declare" during the building phase (you only need to purchase 2 stones to have a pyramid + 1 stone). Likewise, it is tough to "declare" on the west side of the board if Memphis is not out yet. In the second round, someone could buy Memphis and with only 3 stones (or 2+master builder) be seriously challenging your effort for most in the west.

Also, getting Memphis in the 1st round and getting it up to 2 pyramids before round 2 starts both "declares" your intention to get most and might even free you up to go for both. I agree, you normally should not be able to get away with going for both (esp. in a 5-player), but getting Memphis 1st makes it a tempting option.

I think purchasing Memphis in the 1st or even the 2nd round is enough of a declare. And going for most in the west without Memphis is a risky endeavor.

Absolutely, if I get Memphis in the first round then I'm declaring no matter what by buying two stones and using the Master Builder card. Likeways, I try to stay out of it if someone else snags Memphis early, but they still need to be kept honest. You can't ever let someone have both bonuses for less than four pyramids, and a significant crimp in thier economy. Even with Memphis it's not trivial to get both bonuses.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-13T02:37:02+00:00

wmshub wrote:
In some cases, wouldn't "declaring" with a single stone be too weak?

Imagine this: Two players, A and B, both get farming provinces on the same side of the river. Both build a single pyramid. A sacrifices the most, and puts a single stone in their province, using the other two rewards for farmers. B comes in 2nd place, getting 2 rewards.

Now...what if B uses both rewards for stones? If B bought enough farmers to have decent income, A is in a tight spot. If A fights for most pyramids, then both will be in big trouble. But if A gives up and goes for a set of 3 instead, then A has lost only a single reward; bad, but not game-losing as a pyramid arms race could be. Clearly, A's best move is to give up and let B get the 5 point bonus, which makes B's over-declaration a good move and A's initial declaration a bad one.

So, while I think avoiding unnecessary fights by noticing clear plans to get the most pyramids is a good strategy, I think you need to also make sure your declaration is strong enough to prevent other players from easily topping it. If nobody else on your side of the river gets big rewards, then sure, 1 stone will do it, but in the case above, I'd put down 2.

Note that this assumes that declaring is done during sacrifice rewards. I think that it wouldn't make much sense to declare during the normal build phase - you'd be spending $3 ($4 if you don't use your initial master builder) to declare, and you would probably be a lot better off putting that $3 or $4 in the sacrifice jar and getting a bigger reward and a bigger income.

I guess I should say that I think a "normal declare" would be during the second round when one plops down a full pyramid in a province to make two pyramids there. After that it's pretty clear he's going for most pyramids. So, in your example, I would consider an extra stone after the first sacrifice to be an "early declare". In all practicallity I think 1 stone is about as much as you want to do from the first sacrifice. I can't see someone else coming over the top. Usually if I know I'm sacrificing I leave myself 1 farmer short or something. I rarely sacrifice just to get stones (unless I'm specifically trying to defend the most pyramids). If I end up with more rewards then I was expecting great, I might throw one at a stone as an early declare, but I wouldn't chase somebody by using two rewards on stone.

The thing to watch out for is if the single stone guy gets greedy and tries to get both bonuses cheap. If, in the second round, he uses his actions to put stones in another province, then I would hope someone would keep him honest by going for most pyramids. One stone is pretty easy to overcome, so it's not much of a lead.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

ekted — 2008-09-13T01:57:27+00:00

In my last game, the player in last place the entire game won by 2 points because be got both pyramid bonuses: 38-36-36...

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

billsaints — 2008-09-12T22:07:06+00:00

What about the strategy of one bonus and a set of 3? Thats fairly common too, especially if you can get the bonus for just 2 pyramids.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

QBert80 — 2008-09-12T21:59:18+00:00

David, I think it's possible to declare a non-Memphis province on the west side, provided no one else has purchased Memphis. With 4 building stones in your declared province, you are still 2 ahead of the Memphis player even if it does come up in round 2.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

QBert80 — 2008-09-12T21:57:02+00:00

William, in the example you posted I would say that you are right, A is best to back off and give up the one stone they placed. But B is giving up two rewards to make this over-declaration which could have been better spent on power cards (particularly valuable early in the game when the scoring cards are in the deck), with no certainty that A won't fight back. Also, if A takes 2 farmers as rewards, he will likely be in a better position to fight for the most pyramids bonus as his income should be higher.

Sacrificing 2 rewards to declare early in the game is dicey because of its cost (2 farmers or 2 power cards on turn 1 could be worth much more than 2 points extra for most pyramids). In fact, I usually declare in the building phase since I want to spend those rewards on farmers and power cards much more than on building blocks on turn 1.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

Gelatinous Goo — 2008-09-12T21:52:46+00:00

All good points. I think that Memphis (and to some degree Abydos) throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the plans. With the "free" building stones that come with these provinces (esp. Memphis) it is effective to "declare" during the building phase (you only need to purchase 2 stones to have a pyramid + 1 stone). Likewise, it is tough to "declare" on the west side of the board if Memphis is not out yet. In the second round, someone could buy Memphis and with only 3 stones (or 2+master builder) be seriously challenging your effort for most in the west.

Also, getting Memphis in the 1st round and getting it up to 2 pyramids before round 2 starts both "declares" your intention to get most and might even free you up to go for both. I agree, you normally should not be able to get away with going for both (esp. in a 5-player), but getting Memphis 1st makes it a tempting option.

I think purchasing Memphis in the 1st or even the 2nd round is enough of a declare. And going for most in the west without Memphis is a risky endeavor.

Thread: Re: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

wmshub — 2008-09-12T21:15:58+00:00

In some cases, wouldn't "declaring" with a single stone be too weak?

Imagine this: Two players, A and B, both get farming provinces on the same side of the river. Both build a single pyramid. A sacrifices the most, and puts a single stone in their province, using the other two rewards for farmers. B comes in 2nd place, getting 2 rewards.

Now...what if B uses both rewards for stones? If B bought enough farmers to have decent income, A is in a tight spot. If A fights for most pyramids, then both will be in big trouble. But if A gives up and goes for a set of 3 instead, then A has lost only a single reward; bad, but not game-losing as a pyramid arms race could be. Clearly, A's best move is to give up and let B get the 5 point bonus, which makes B's over-declaration a good move and A's initial declaration a bad one.

So, while I think avoiding unnecessary fights by noticing clear plans to get the most pyramids is a good strategy, I think you need to also make sure your declaration is strong enough to prevent other players from easily topping it. If nobody else on your side of the river gets big rewards, then sure, 1 stone will do it, but in the case above, I'd put down 2.

Note that this assumes that declaring is done during sacrifice rewards. I think that it wouldn't make much sense to declare during the normal build phase - you'd be spending $3 ($4 if you don't use your initial master builder) to declare, and you would probably be a lot better off putting that $3 or $4 in the sacrifice jar and getting a bigger reward and a bigger income.

Thread: Pyramid Building Strategies for the First Kingdom

mdp4828 — 2008-09-12T20:22:22+00:00

One of the things that makes Amun-Re a great game is the difficult choice players face in the first kingdom - whether to go for a set of pyramids, or the most pyramids. This article is intended to explore the strategy of that choice and help players decide how to approach it.

First a brief rules refresher. During the first kingdom players will acquire three provinces, and they will have the opportunity to build as many pyramids as they want and can afford, distributed across those provinces however they want. Two potential bonuses apply for particular arrangements of pyramids. First, a player can get a 3-point bonus for having a "set" of pyramids, where a set is one pyramid in each province. Second, players can earn a 5-point bonus for having the most (or tied for most) pyramids on one side of the Nile. As there are two sides to the Nile, two of these 5-point bonuses are handed out.

The economic reality of the first Kingdom is that players can really only comfortably afford to build three pyramids. Thus, players are faced with several strategic options. They can build three pyramids, one in each province, and get the guaranteed 3 points for a set. There is nothing the other players can do to stop this. They can put three pyramids in one province and go for the 5-point most pyramids bonus on one side of the Nile. This bonus is worth an extra 2 points, but it is not guaranteed like a set is. Other players can prevent you from getting the bonus, which is devastating to your position (getting neither of the bonuses is quite possibly game losing). Third, players can "stretch" and try to get both the set and the most bonus by building an extra pyramid.

I will talk about the third strategy first (going for both bonuses) if only to discourage it. Among experienced players you should rarely be allowed to get both bonuses. Nor should you allow someone else to get both unless it is clear they will wreck their chances for the rest of the game to do it. I only see players get both bonuses in games with several rookie players. If you find yourself in such a newbie game you may try to snipe both bonuses for cheap, but please don't make this your strategy. Especially against experienced players, they'll simply prevent you from doing it.

So now the question becomes, which of the bonuses to go for?

I contend (after several dozen games of Amun-Re) that all experienced players should share a form of "groupthink" with regard to this question. It should be understood that only one person is going to get the bonus, and that nobody is going to try for both bonuses. The first person to "declare" that they are going for the most pyramids bonus should be allowed to get it, and that person should only go for the most pyramid bonus. What do I mean by "declare"? To "declare" that you are going for the most pyramid bonus simply means to be the first to put an extra stone in a province with an already completed pyramid. In so doing you are committing yourself, and considerable of your resources, to putting a second pyramid in that province. Once you've got two pyramids in a province it's nearly impossible without wrecking your game (because you won't have the time or the resources) to also put pyramids in your other two provinces while preventing somebody from "stealing" the most pyramids from you.

Who should "declare" that they are going for the most pyramid bonus? There are 2730 possible 3-province combinations that a player can own. That's too many to analyze individually, but in general each 3 province set falls into one of two categories - stealer or sacrificer. Each player is able to count the farmers, and potential farmers, and camel gold of the provinces of every other player. From this they can decide if they want the sacrifice to be higher or lower. Perhaps a lower sacrifice means they will earn more money relative to the other players than a higher one. Conversely, it could be that a higher sacrifice will put the player among the top earners. It's generally accepted (I won't explain why here) that the major goal of the first kingdom is to earn as much money as possible. Consequently, during the first kingdom especially, players tend to sacrifice or steal according to where they rank their earning potential with respect to the other players.

The benefit of being a sacrificer, is the couple extra goodies that you get. These goodies can be turned into stone for pyramids which means that a sacrificer can more easily defend their position if they are going after most pyramids. The conclusion is that if you think you're going to be a sacrificer during the first kingdom, and if nobody has declared their intention to go for most pyramids on your side of the Nile, you should do it. If it looks like you're a stealer (because you got a camel province or Dahkla) then should be very careful about declaring.

A quick anecdote to back up this conclusion from a recent game. In this game I got a farming province first round and decided to "declare" that I was going for most pyramids by converting one of the sacrifice rewards I earned into a stone in that province (giving me one province and one stone). At this point, in my mind, I was committed to putting my three pyramids in that province, and opponents on that side of the Nile should have let me do it. But in the second round a player who owned a camel province and Dahkla build a second pyramid plus one stone in his province, thus directly challenging me for most pyramids. The cash situation at this point was very lopsided in his favor as the first sacrifice had been "1", and he'd gotten the 12 gold for Dahkla. Still, I stuck to my guns, sacrificed as much as I could afford, and converted my rewards into stone. The second sacrifice also landed on "1" so the cash situation was unchanged going into the third round, and my opponent came out of the third round action phase one stone ahead of me on the pyramid race (3 pyramids + 1 stone vs 3 pyramids). I sacrificed everything I had, got the largest sacrifice, and put a fourth pyramid in my province. My opponent, realizing he could be out sacrificed also sacrificed instead of stealing as his provinces would have indicated (and the other players sacrificed big for reasons of temples) but he got only 1 reward, and so couldn't catch me.

The upshot is that I still got the most pyramid bonus, even though I had been drastically more cash poor than my competitor just because I could get stones from the sacrifice and he couldn't without risking his income. His game got wrecked because he "chased me" when he shouldn't have.

Finally, let's once again revisit the option of going after both bonuses. If you are a sacrificer you might be tempted to go after both, especially if it looks like you can get the most for just two pyramids. If you are going late in the turn order in the second round, and nobody has declared yet, you might be tempted to try for both bonuses. Yes, sometimes it will be possible to steal both bonuses for the cost of four pyramids if you are a sacrificer. But against experienced opponents someone should already have declared. If you do show signs of trying for both, one of your opponents should shift their strategy to prevent you from getting the most. If you do end up getting both, your economy should be wrecked because you should be left with less desirable provinces, fewer power cards, and less money. Debilitating handicaps going into the second kingdom. In my anecdote above, I was forced to build four pyramids, which cost me considerable money (had to forgo building two farmers) and power cards (I chucked three power cards into the sacrifice to get the most). Building four pyramids is pretty hard, and shouldn't be your goal during the first kingdom, and you should never get both bonuses for less than four pyramids. Going for both bonuses is simply too difficult and the consequences of failure are too high to make this a reasonable strategy except maybe in some extreme cases.

So, to sum up. Look at the first province that you get. Is it a sacrificer or a stealer? If a sacrificer, and if you're early in turn order, consider putting an extra stone in your province to "declare" that you're going for the most, either during the action phase, or with one of your sacrifice rewards. Once you declare, stick with your plan. Put three pyramids in one province. Don't get greedy for both bonuses as experienced players will make you pay, even if you end up getting both. If you see someone else "declare" then respect their strategy, don't chase them. Happily take your guaranteed set, and try to be as efficient as possible. The two points that player will gain on you aren't terribly significant. If you see the "declared" player try to get both bonuses, make them pay. Consider switching your strategy if you can steal most from them, otherwise make sure that they have to build four pyramids, and that they get the worst provinces.

It’s kind of a paradox that completing players should agree to the terms of a “declare”. In reality, it’s in nobody’s interest to get into a most pyramids war. The expense and risk of failure is just too great. Consequently, everybody’s best play is to respect a “declaration” by not chasing that player, and follow through on a “declaration” by not getting greedy for both bonuses.

Thread: Re: A newbie brashly tries to evaluate the provinces

zollom04 — 2008-09-12T15:50:31+00:00

I think it all depends on the number of players in the game. If you are playing with 3 the camel provinces become huge. If you are playing with 5 the sacrifice will no doubt go above 13 and I would say more than half the time above 22. It also depends when and if the camel proviences pop. That is the genious of the game. You never know if you should go for the farmer strategy or the steal money strategy or if your strategy should change half way through the game.

QBert80 wrote:
I notice in your evaluation of the provinces you have left out the camel provinces (Avaris, Sawu and Kharga). Is this because you have had bad experiences with the sacrifice level reaching 3? In my games, it rarely does (maybe about once in 3 games). And if you get the camel gold, Avaris is better than Berenike.

Thread: Five players in the old (or new) Kingdom

MerricB — 2008-09-09T01:42:51+00:00

Well, there we were: Rich, Randy, Will, me, and our new friend, Laurie. Randy had pulled out Amun-Re, which Will and Laurie had never played before. So, quick overview of the rules, and then we jumped in.

My, what a lot of farms were on our initial draw! As High Priest, I blessed everyone (except Randy) and the game properly began.

Randy was the one player who took the camel route for his draw. Everyone else had 3-5 farms. I think this was the first time that I fully understood the timing and restrictions on bonus cards, and so may have been the first game we've played of Amun-Re where we didn't get any of the rules wrong. Farms were planted, pyramids were built, Randy stole from the offering to the Nile (heathen!), and the water rose up and blessed our crops. I was somewhat astonished to find that I was no longer the high priest, and surrendered the sacred headdress to Will.

Will was High Priest, and he'd allow no-one to stand in his way (especially Randy). Randy thumbed his nose at him and kept on pilfering from the collection plate. The rest of us went about our daily chores: farming, stone-laying, and the occasional bid on a particularly choice bit of land. Randy got more camels. He smelt. Will cursed him, and Randy pilfered again. Rich hired a lot of stonemasons, but we were watching camel-man.

And then, with much lamentation, the Old Kingdom ended. We looked at our scores, and sighed. Randy and Will had spent the duration of the Old Kingdom feuding, and so scored badly. Laurie had built all of his pyramids in one province, and actually scored well. Oh, and he owned most of the Temples and had rented them to Will. That explains a lot!

Old Kingdom Scoring
Merric: 3 pyramids, 3 sets, 3 temples, 3 bonus for 9 farms: 12 points
Randy: 3 pyramids, 3 sets: 6 points
Will: 3 pyramids, 3 sets: 6 points
Rich: 4 pyramids, 3 sets, 5 most pyramids, 3 for all provinces on one side: 15 points
Laurie: 2 pyramids, 0 sets, 5 most pyramids, 9 temples: 16 points.

Everyone died (as one does when the centuries pass), and only the pyramids were left. They were unbalanced; Laurie had only built two pyramids, but both in the same province so that there were two provinces with no pyramids at all! We'd all been gaining a lot of money as well - our standard take was about 30! Bidding was getting expensive...

I had delusions of becoming a master pyramid builder, but both Laurie and Randy (camel-guy) had actual experience at that and won the bids. Me? I was left with the camels, and Will spent the rest of the game pointing at me and laughing. The gift for being High Priest remained with Will - for the entire game. I'd like to add that he wasn't actually sacrificing that much (5-8), it's just that we always sacrificed less.

Rich complained that he wasn't getting the good bonus cards. We had to point out that we'd all had worse cards than him. Then we (well, mainly me) decided to sacrifice him as someone so beloved of the gods should join them quicker, but Will vetoed us down. Stupid High Priests and their prejudice against camels. I was playing cards to replace my lack of camel income with card-income. I did have some farms, but not that many. Laurie built pyramids, all in the same province. His dynasty was nothing if not consistent. Oh, and he had a sideline in Temples, which he still leased to Will.

I overspent on the second round of bidding, and on the third turn, I hoped to be able to have all of my provinces on the one side of the river: but Randy, showing no pity for the new camel-guy, overbid me massively. I settled for a cheaper province, and the abandonment of points.

However, I still had money... which would lead to 6 points at the end of the game for lots of money.

The New Kingdom ended, and Will said the dying rites as befits a High Priest: "What's the score?"

I took out my pad, and recounted the ages:

New Kingdom Scoring
Merric: 8 pyramids, 6 sets, 6 money: 20 points
Randy: 9 pyramids, 6 sets, 5 most, 3 temples, 2 money: 25 points.
Will: 9 pyramids, 6 sets, 3 temples, 3 bonus, 4 money: 25 points
Rich: 7 pyramids, 6 sets, 3 bonus: 16 points
Laurie: 5 pyramids, 0 sets, 5 most, 6 temples, 3 for all provinces off-river: 19 points.

"That's all very nice, Merric", they said. "What's the final score?"

Well, Randy, Will and Rich were tied for last with 31 points apiece. I was second, with 32 points.

And the winner, with 35 points, was Laurie in his very first game. No points for pyramid sets, just a lot of points for having the most on one side of the river. Oh, and for Temples.

Wow. Well done, Laurie!

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Ceryon — 2008-08-13T23:26:41+00:00

Near view

Thread: Re: Getting the hang of it

Gola — 2008-07-23T23:29:35+00:00

Glad to see you're enjoying this one.

Thread: Re: Getting the hang of it

jayjonbeach — 2008-07-23T01:17:00+00:00

QBert80 wrote:
Jay: I too think luck will decide the game between two players of approximately equal skill. But that is true for any game that has a luck component.

Yes your right, an awful lot of games can be pegged this way. I think the difference here is just that the game is so tight and scores at the top are typically so close, that 1 extra 3 point card can really do it.

In a game where scores have a little bigger gaps, it may still be true but the effect is not as emphasized.

J

Thread: Re: Getting the hang of it

photocurio — 2008-07-22T05:07:40+00:00

Chuckles wrote:
The essence of my view is that provinces rise and fall in value from situation to situation, that there are no consistently "good" or "bad" provinces.
Bingo. There are no absolute, or even consistent values in Amun-Re. Everything must be evaluated in comparison to everything else. Plus, one must always take into account in which phase the game is in and what the other players hold.

Thread: Re: Getting the hang of it

QBert80 — 2008-07-22T03:39:12+00:00

Great session report. I just love Amun Re. I want to say that Avaris for 0 in Round 1 is a great result. Getting this deal set you off on a great start, and I wouldn't pin your win so squarely on the scoring cards, as a good province buy can be worth more than a lucky scoring card sometimes.

And someone bought 6 farmers in Round 6? I hope he was satisfying a farmer scoring card. Even then it is suspect...(he might be giving up a place or two for most gold).

Jay: I too think luck will decide the game between two players of approximately equal skill. But that is true for any game that has a luck component.

Thread: Re: Getting the hang of it

jayjonbeach — 2008-07-22T03:03:38+00:00

Nice report

I love the game and it grows a bit more on me with each play but do find the cards can decide a game between roughly equal players.

Oh one other thing, due to the number of provinces and the sacrifice, I really only want to play with 5. 5 will ensure the sacrifice goes higher (not always though) in the second epoch and also no provinces are randomly removed with 5, the word random speaks volumes there.

Cheers

Jay

Thread: Getting the hang of it

Chuckles — 2008-07-22T01:16:21+00:00

This was the third time the "Five Guys" had tried Amun-Re. Although this time, we were only four: Ben, Rick, Ed and myself.

After just two plays, I'd tried my hand at a little province evaluation (see my post in the Amun-Re forum on strategy) and I was eager to see if I'd really gotten the hang of it. The essence of my view is that provinces rise and fall in value from situation to situation, that there are no consistently "good" or "bad" provinces. And I'd come into this game trying to remember as much as I could about which I thought were the best provinces in each round.

In round 1, the four provinces were: Abu, Abydos, Avaris and Memphis. I was last to bid, and was surprised to find no one had yet bid on Abu. My calculations told me to bid more, but I thought I might get away with getting it for 3, given that we were very close to concluding the auction by the time I made my first bid. Alas, I miscalculated -- Ed promptly went 6 for Abu, forcing me over to Avaris, though I did get the latter for zero. Rick also spent 6, on Memphis, and Ben picked up Abydos for 3.

I spent a bit more daintily than the others in the first round actions, so I perceived a cash advantage coming into the second, especially after I got some cash from a camel trip. This time it was Amarna, Edfu, Kharga and Sawu. I had a heck of a time remembering whether I thought Sawu or Kharga was worth more. I bid on Kharga first, was outbid by Ed again (3), then wound up getting Sawu for 1. Rick spent 3 on Amarna, Ben got Edfu (known to us as: "Ed! F-You!") for zip.

Once again the camels treated me well, and I headed into round 3 very cash rich.

In the third round, I got Berenike for nothing. Ed spent 3 on Baharya, Ben 1 on Buto, Rick 0 for Mendes. And I was sitting pretty, until I made a huge blunder. In the sacrifice round, I senselessly put up a 1 to win an object. That idiotic move proved the difference in sending the temple to slot 3, meaning I was giving up a cool 15 gold from no camel treks, plus the 1 that I'd spent. All in all, a swing of negative 19 gold (relative to bidding -3) to pick up one lousy card. Despite feeling great about my auction and gold situation generally, I had a sour taste coming into the turn.

Still, my cash advantage enabled me to spend freely on building stones and to get "most pyramids in a province" on my side.

Scores at the halfway point:

Ben 13 (4 pyramids, 3 set, 3 temple, 3 bonus)
Rick 13 (2 pyramids, 5 most on a side, 3 temple, 3 bonus)
Chuck 12 (4 pyramids, 3 set, 5 most on a side)
Ed 9 (3 pyramids, 3 set, 3 bonus)

I came out of the first age holding a 9 farmer bonus card. I was a bit unenthusiastic about that, as it meant I'd have to go more for the farming provinces in the second round than was my taste.

Round 4: Once again I faced the Kharga-Sawu confusion, and this time I got Kharga for 0. Ben picked up Sawu for the same, while Ed spent 6 on Berenike, Rick 0 on Avaris. Berenike held a double pyramid on it already.

In round 4, I picked up two bonus cards that would decide the game: an "all provinces on one side" bonus, and a "seven power card provinces" bonus. It was possible, I noted, to fulfill all three of my bonus cards simultaneously -- if I got a singular combination of provinces. Moreover, those happened to be the provinces with the most impressive pyramids. Thus, there would be no stopping me if I got the provinces I needed, which I seemed to have the gold to do.

In round 5, I spent 15 for Memphis, compared to Ed's 1 for Amarna, Ben's 0 for Ed-F-you, and Rick's 0 for Buto. In retrospect, I would have paid more for it. I felt fairly secure in the bid at the time, though, as no one had big even 10 at any point in the game yet. I'm quite lucky no one forced the issue, as I would have been in serious trouble without Memphis. And, had I bid higher, the last round would not have gone as I needed. Memphis, by the way, had two pyramids on it already.

I felt in grand shape. I had no need to buy more power cards, and barely needed to spend on building stones. I bought the farmers I needed and stored up for a big bid in round 6.

In round 6, I bid 15 for Abydos, as it was the most I could afford to, while still buying my farmers. It was actually worth more to me, but I didn't have more gold, and no one challenged it. By getting Abydos I was able to fulfill every bonus card. Ed spent 3 on Mendes (and strangely bought all 6 farmers), Rick 3 on Baharya, and Ben 0 on Abu.

I felt in good shape, seeing as I had all the bonuses, plus the most valuable pyramid real estate.

The final round had a really bountiful harvest. I ended with 44 gold, and yet that had me with the least. Ed had the most with 57. Everyone was getting 4 gold per farmer, and some with special cards were getting 5 per in one province.

Still, it was a foregone conclusion once I'd filled my bonuses. The totals:

Chuck 41 (29 this round from 9 pyramids, 6 set, 5 most, 9 bonus)
Ben 36 (23 this round, 7 pyramids, 3 set, 5 most, 4 temple, 4 gold)
Ed 32 (23 this round, 7 pyramids, 3 set, 4 temple, 3 bonus, 6 gold)
Rick 31 (18 this round, 7 pyramids, 6 set, 3 bonus, 2 gold)

I'd like to say I won because my province evaluation is so good, but the reality is that I lucked into a great bonus card combination. We'll see how well it goes next time.

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

QBert80 — 2008-07-14T23:39:35+00:00

Ouch. Would it kill him to take 10 minutes and actually read the rulebook?

Thread: Re: New game on SpielByWeb

QBert80 — 2008-07-14T23:33:25+00:00

Enjoyable game, thanks for starting it!

Thread: Dramatic Comeback

NickAnner — 2008-07-14T19:25:27+00:00

This month at our monthly meetup with BACSIM (Buffalo Area Conflict SIMulators) we got some eurogames in for WBC preparation. Kevin (white), Chris(green), Grant(blue) and Frank(red) joined me(black) in a 5 player of Amun-Re.

First round, I got kharga for 1, memphis and abu went for 6, mendes for 0 and bahyra for 3. Everyone built a pyramid and used their master builder except black, who figured he'd try for most pyramids later in the round if it seemed likely. Two additional blocks were built in memphis, enough to hold the lead. The sacrifice remained at the 1 level much to the mendes player's chagrin.

Second round, I won Dahmanur for 0, and at that point determined to hang on for round 2. I bid 3 to try to pick up a couple cards, but only succeeded in getting one and helping the sacrifice to move up to 3 level. This helped white and green's incomes a lot and the rest of us fell behind a bit. I still hadn't found a single power card in 5 card draws.

Third round, I followed through with the no pyramid first epoch strategy. I picked up edfu, setting up my only scoring: 3 temples. Very little excitement went on here and i was mostly interested in income this time around. I was suspicious because white pushed his 10 bid on amarna, adding it to abu and thebes. The sacrifice ended up at 1, not unexpected, so i only got 3 points for the round. My suspcions were well founded though, as white scored 4 power cards (bank, side, wedges, farmers), in addition to most and a temple for 20 total points.

Figuring the 17 point deficit was a little high, I had only a 45 dollar bankroll to figure out how to win this. It seemed pretty impossible, but my only hope was how agressive white had been to secure his 19 points and had maybe squandered too much of his money.

Round 4, red jumps to 10 on mendes (the only farmer rich provence) causing me to curse a bit (i had 3 +1 farmer cards and wouldn't have many farmers it seemed to use them on). I just sucked it up and took avaris and spent one of my 2 master builder cards to push it up to 2 pyramids and 1 block. I sacrificed the most at 6 (with a -3 bid card) keeping the income at 1 and building another pyramid. 3+1 looked like a good start to maintain most and I would need most on both sides to have a chance.

Round 5, memphis comes up, along with abydos and 3 block-vacant provinces. Red bids 10 on memphis, too little, and i bid 15 plus the bid blocker. White, desparate to maintain his lead, overbids me at 28, and i settled with abydos for 15 with one starting pyramid. Winning the sacrifice again, and spending 10 on blocks and another master builder, i push abydos up to 4 pyramids. White could only get up to 3 in memphis after his big spending to acquire the provence.

Final round, i'm hoping to pick up abu for 10 with 2 pyramids, but i'm outbid. I settled for bahayra with 1 pyramid (virtually knocking out any possibility of making my farmer card good). I buy a pyramid there, hoping to win the bid and get 3 sets with 3+1 good on one bank for 1st, and 4 for the other bank. White gets a second set only. I'm ready and bid 8 for hopefully 3 gifts. Green needed at least 2 and had no use for money (too low income to worry about money points) plus had 2 temples, so he outbid for 11. Still with all the negatives we were at level 2. Not able to complete a 3rd set, i take 2 blocks in avaris to complete a pyramid.

Blue saved money and came in first with 62 money. I had 34 money to 31 for red, so took 3rd. White was able to secure no temples or power card points, so only scored 13. With my 10 pyramids, 2 sets, 2 mosts, and 2nd in money, i made 30 points. Enough to make up the 17 point deficit, and win on tiebreakers.

Hopefully Kevin who will be attending the WBC can use what he learned in that game! A rip roaring wild swing fun game of amun re was had by all.

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

PunchBall — 2008-07-10T08:38:19+00:00

Thanks people. Yeah, I realize it's crazy, but I guess I just needed to hear it from more people to see just how crazy it is.

The guy, who apparantly had hosted Amun-Re tournaments at his house, had already gotten a couple things wrong (he had been playing that the pharao went clockwise around the table), and when he realized that I didn't "know about" this rule, he burst out that there was finally something that I had gotten wrong. So it was a little hard convincing him otherwise without feeling like a bastard.

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

asmiles — 2008-07-02T17:12:11+00:00

Cards of that size are printed in sheets of 60.

Amun Re comes with 120 cards. 66 Money cards, 39 Power Cards, 15 Province Cards.

So 6 money cards are printed on the same sheet as the power cards and province cards.

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

logopolys — 2008-07-02T16:47:16+00:00

Yeh, that's a terrible variant. He's wronger than someone who is very wrong.

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

Gelatinous Goo — 2008-07-02T15:07:02+00:00

But that would undermine the "Outbid in Same Province" as the worst possible draw of any game ever.

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

Octavian — 2008-07-02T06:01:05+00:00

dcorban wrote:
Some of my pyramids are a slightly different color than the others. Maybe I will declare these to be worth double points.

I'm pretty sure they're just supposed to be shuffled in with the power cards.

-MMM

Thread: Re: 1 Gold cards in Power card deck

QBert80 — 2008-07-02T05:38:49+00:00

Maybe he got them confused with the "outbid in same province" cards. Those are worth about 1 gold.

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Cornbread46 — 2008-06-25T20:27:03+00:00

"and I sayeth unto you, buildeth me a temple! I haveth the bricks!"

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Duane Abrames — 2008-06-07T01:21:00+00:00

End Game Scoring cards - These will score you bonuses at the end of the game.

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Duane Abrames — 2008-06-07T01:18:46+00:00

These action cards are used in various phases (indicated by color) during the game.

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Duane Abrames — 2008-06-07T01:16:07+00:00

Some of the bing locations, and their back.

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Duane Abrames — 2008-06-07T01:13:45+00:00

Unpunched tile sheet

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Duane Abrames — 2008-06-07T01:12:21+00:00

End of Box, showing the vital statistics.

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Duane Abrames — 2008-06-07T01:08:49+00:00

Back of Box, Rio Grande Edition

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Rokkr — 2008-04-24T04:41:41+00:00

parts inventory