Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery | BoardGameGeek

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

ackmondual — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:51:12 +0000

Stone Age
Another worker placement game where the order you execute your moves, as well as where your opponent(s) place their "workers" all comes together

Kingsburg
This'll feel light after playing AoE III: TAoD. Unfortunately, the lightness is moreso from complexity and NOT so much game time. For the former, noticeably less things to worry about. For the latter, with comparable 5p games, if AoE takes 3 hours to 3h15m for one group, it would take 2 to 2.5 hours to complete Kingsburg with the same group.

Puerto Rico?
The role cards are pretty much "worker placement-ish" in many regards. Buildings add special powers to spice things up.

Endeavor
The buildings and "colonists" remind me of Puerto Rico. The placement of your "colonists" reminds me of AoE3 where geopraphy and location play important roles. In fact, many of those in my various groups have commented this is like AoE3, but 'feels like' half the play time. A few others have gone so far to say not only that, but unlike AoE3, Endeavor is actually fun [shrug]:whistle:

Roll Through The Ages
It's a dice game, but it'll be the lightest among all of these. The dice results are "workers", but get placed in a different way, with pencil and paper instead.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

UnknownParkerBrother — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:53:06 +0000

by UnknownParkerBrother

GreyLord wrote:
Fire and Axe and Railroad tycoon are absolutely NOTHING like AoE, I have no idea what that guy is smoking.

Exactly what I said. Those are games that BGG recommends on the AoE3 page to also check out, that are well liked, that have a strong visual appeal like AoE3 has.

I never said they played the same as AoE3. :shake:

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

GreyLord — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:17:19 +0000

by GreyLord

Fire and Axe and Railroad tycoon are absolutely NOTHING like AoE, I have no idea what that guy is smoking.

I would say there's really not any games that are really like AoE, though it IS a great game. The closest one I know of has already been suggested above, though it has a completely different theme and different ways of doing things, and that would be Caylus.

If you go for something entirely different, but also with worker placement, you could also try Agricola.

Personally I don't care that much for Agricola despite it's popularity here on BGG, but I will say AoE is one of the best of it's kind as far as worker placement goes (I'd place AoE FAAAAAR above Agricola...and also above Caylus, but Caylus is FAR closer to AoE as far as worker placement games go on my list than I think any of the others are).

More weak recommendations probably would go for Pillars of Earth which is a sort of different take on Caylus in a odd sort of way, Cuba.

One which I feel actually has a similar style, though comnpletely different feel in the way it works would be Age of Steam or Steam, which doesn't have worker placement, but does have selected roles or special abilities per turn...though these are auctioned off. AoS would be a VERY VERY weak recommendation (meanning it would be right there with railroad tycoon and Fire and Axe which really mean it doesn't have much at all in similarities...I just feel AoS is at least just a wee bit more similar that Fire and Axe and Railroad tycoon [which is actually a variant itself on AoS] to at least inject it)

So overall I suppose the suggestions I'd put in would be

Caylus
Agricola
Pillars of the Earth
Cuba

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

chessduffer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:43:09 +0000

by chessduffer

Rise of Empires has a similar feel.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

mark.gamer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:24:21 +0000

by mark.gamer

Eldard wrote:
If it's the worker placement mechanic that appeals to you, I recommend checking these games out:

Arkadia

Agricola

The Pillars of the Earth

Giants

If it's the worker placement mechanic you like I also recommend Caylus - AOEIII and Caylus have very different themes but have a similar underlying engine and I very much enjoy both. Fair warning - you can't shoot anybody's workers/colonists in Caylus but I think the cut-throat nature of closing off other player's options on a given turn and disrupting their strategy through well-thought worker placement is even more pronounced.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

Eldard — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:14:39 +0000

by Eldard

If it's the worker placement mechanic that appeals to you, I recommend checking these games out:

Arkadia

Agricola

The Pillars of the Earth

Giants

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

jwoodall04 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:54:19 +0000

by jwoodall04

I honestly don't think so. One of my favorites as well and I've played my share of games. It combines a whole lot of things and paths to victory, but still plays clean. There aren't many games that can do that.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: My first play, any other games like this?

UnknownParkerBrother — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:52:43 +0000

by UnknownParkerBrother

This is the recommendation list from the game page

Fire and Axe: A Viking Saga
Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
Imperial
Antike
Railroad Tycoon
Tempus
Leonardo da Vinci
Perikles
Blind Justice
Brass
Cuba
Yspahan
Goa
In the Year of the Dragon
The Pillars of the Earth
Im Schatten des Sonnenkönigs
Shogun
Hamburgum
Notre Dame
Thebes

Fire and Axe and Railroad Tycoon are probably the closest, good games with nice bits and boards.

I guess it really depends on just what it was you like about the game.

Thread: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: My first play, any other games like this?

daengineer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:48:06 +0000

by daengineer

Just like to say I played this game for the first time this weekend. I guess I've played quite a few games and consider myself a good judge of games and a pretty decent player and this game is definately one of the best games I've ever played. At the moment, I think it's my favourite game. Obviously I only played it once so I am somewhat in the "honeymoon" phase but I'm sure it will be in my top 3 even after playing multiple times.

I was wondering if there are other similar games that are just as good or better?

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

soberman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:59:35 +0000

by soberman

soberman wrote:

If I got anything wrong, please correct me. I've only played this great game once, 2 months ago. (Which is why I can't remember any of the nation's each specific play color represent, except the blue, my usual player color, is France, though that should be mentioned too.)

OK, I will. ;)

Thanks, I figured my memory wasn't perfect, and I was correct!

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Responding to the Critics: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Age of Empires

grafpoo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:51:09 +0000

by grafpoo

best review ever. thanks! i especially enjoyed the advice on reading negative reviews to dissuade you from purchasing yet another new game. this has worked well for me.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

JasonRMax — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:54:54 +0000

by JasonRMax

soberman wrote:

2) The way to mark off the available spaces in the dock, after using the formula you described, is to place the extra merchant ship provided at the dock on the spaces next to the last available one. This is thematic, as it is the ship the colonist/specialists are to embark on.

We actually use an extra coin instead of the ship, because the size of the ship makes it hard to see around for people at the far end of the table.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

btizo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:22:46 +0000

by btizo

soberman wrote:

If I got anything wrong, please correct me. I've only played this great game once, 2 months ago. (Which is why I can't remember any of the nation's each specific play color represent, except the blue, my usual player color, is France, though that should be mentioned too.)

OK, I will. ;)

soberman wrote:

1) Putting colonists in the "Warfare" box is essentially pointless. Only soldiers should go there.

Actually, soldiers should never go there because they are wasted here. Soldiers are only good in EXACTLY 2 places on the board: The New World and the Discovery Box.

You place a Colonist on the Warfare Box in order to shoot with a Soldier in the New World. You of course can place any type of worker there to activate the Soldier in the New World, but then you are wasting your Specialists.

It's important to note, too, that in order to use the Warfare box you must have at least 1 Soldier in the New World. But, if you do not have any Soldiers in the New World (or heading there on the boat that same turn) you can still place in the Warfare Box to block your opponents from placing there and slaughtering your colonies.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

soberman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:29:42 +0000

by soberman

You seem like a nice guy, so this isn't to nitpick, but rather further assist those who will doubtless use this as a "video tutorial" to learn how to play the game.

1) Putting colonists in the "Warfare" box is essentially pointless. Only soldiers should go there.

2) The way to mark off the available spaces in the dock, after using the formula you described, is to place the extra merchant ship provided at the dock on the spaces next to the last available one. This is thematic, as it is the ship the colonist/specialists are to embark on.

3) Changing the turn order immediately after resolving the "Initiative" box would result in having to remember the turn order for resolving the other boxes from memory. The "Initiative" box should not result in a rearranged "Turn Order" box until all of the other boxes are resolved, or between rounds.

4) Aside from getting your stock of minis, rearranging the turn order and earning gold from sets of trade goods, the other thing to do in between non-scoring rounds is to apply the "technologies" gained by any relevant capital buildings. You sort of touched on that without making it explicit.

5) I like the description of the "Specialist" box as a "college". That was a good idea. It also helps to think of the rule regarding a Missionary allowing you to port a free colonist to the new world as "converts" and to think of the rules that states the 3 of a nation's colonists are required to be in a single territory in order for it to be scored (and to obtain the trade goods there) as "3 colonists = one settlement/colony". (All of which is why I really don't think one colonist is actually supposed to literally represent one single person as you suggest, but rather a group of people.)

6) I'm pretty sure that the extra soldier plunder earned when resolving a "Discovery" counter is per soldier, and not just a flat bonus.

7) You chose not to explain warfare, but I think people are probably best to read that section of the rules anyhow. Still, it wouldn't have hurt to mention that soldiers remove colonists on a 1:1 ratio strictly as a strategy for changing area majorities for the purposes of scoring.

If I got anything wrong, please correct me. I've only played this great game once, 2 months ago. (Which is why I can't remember any of the nation's each specific play color represent, except the blue, my usual player color, is France, though that should be mentioned too.)

I do think this game may be more of a leap from "Ticket To Ride" than you do, but that depends on the type of person you are attempting to transition, I guess.

It may not seem to be the case, but I appreciated the video.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

Unicorniclops — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:22:10 +0000

by Unicorniclops

good review, thanks for posting! its good to have folks doing video reviews since the amount of guys doing it has gone down in recent months. we seem to have lost Basement Boardgamers and Obsessed with gaming, both of which I enjoyed tremendously. You're doing a good job, a little more mind payed to the camera and your gold!

Well done again.

Tim

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Age of Empires III: Review: From a Teachability Standpoint

Rock Photo Star — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:26:56 +0000

by Rock Photo Star

To me, if a group has to play at least one game to understand it than there is no way it can be higher than a B, not a B+. Having to play it to understand automatically equals that it can not just be taught, it has to be taught and played once. This is especially important when play takes an hour or more vs. 15 minutes before you can replay it "right/smooth."

For a casual gamers who casual game nights may be only 3 to 5 hours in length, spending an hour plus not having fun but just playing to learn is quite an investment.

That doesn't mean the game is bad. Just because a game is not the easiest to learn from being taught does not make it a bad game just as being a good game should not prevent one from recognizing that a game is not the easiest to teach.

To me, B+ should be for a game that it takes a couple of rounds not a whole game to start understanding how to play.

A's to A plus should be for games that can truly be learned be taught by reading/being told the rules or by brief demonstration with the less demonstration needed, the more enthusiastic the A.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

Saan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:08:17 +0000

by Saan

Good review, but i think you explained merchant shipping incorrectly.

I believe you said in the case of ties, no one wins the ship. The rules indicates that ties are broken in turn order. So, if player 1 and player 2 were tied for the win at 3, player 1 would receive the ship. This makes the initiative action MUCH more important, you might come to find out.

Anyways, great review!

Review: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Thirdfloorgamers (video review) - Perfect Game!

matera — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:45:58 +0000

by matera

This is one of my personal favs. I love this game. I did not buy it for the longest time due to the fact it is a computer game as well. I don't know like they make games from other games. I think it turns out bad. Not in this case. While the two are nothing alike this is a solid game.

I hope you enjoy our 5th review. Come check out our others.

Thanks and enjoy.

Vimeo Video

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: News:: Re: Pre-Order Info for the Expansion?

otha62 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:50:05 +0000

by otha62

In a recent thread, some one mentioned getting an e-mail from Eagle Games saying that its release is 'bout 6 to 8 months away, so it'll be a long while...

Thread: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Variants:: Personal Variants.

Mantuanwar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:35:36 +0000

by Mantuanwar

These are variant rules that I play. All are playtested thoroughly except the "Optional Rules". The simple change to exploration makes soldiers, and a military threat generally, more valuable. Likewise the Stable change, which goes from worthless to sometimes worth having.

Changed Rules
• Discovery – you may place a soldier in the newly discovered region instead of a colonist if you had at least one soldier in the Expedition of Discovery.
• Each gold coin represents 5 Spanish Dollars not 10.

Changed Buildings
• Stable – you use this after resolution of Specialists but before Warfare (not in the Capital Building Benefits Phase).

Clarified Buildings
• Migration – you may not move soldiers with this, but you may move other specialists.
• Rum Distillery – merchant ships do not count as sugar trade goods for the purposes of this building.
• Mercantilism – merchant ships do not count as trade goods for the purposes of this building.
• Privateers – you may partially or fully let a player off paying if you wish.

Optional Rules:

• Two players who both have a colonist/specialist in the Merchant Shipping box may exchange Spanish Dollars and Trade Goods during the resolution of Merchant Shipping. Trading of other items is not allowed. Trading may not take place at other times. Do not use this rule if there is a Banking Houses player in the game.

• National Characteristics – Each player country has a special ability as follows:
Spain – Starts the game with Conquistador or Monastery. Gain the benefit before game begins.

Portugal – Starts the game with Navigator or Trading Post. Gain the benefit before game begins.

France – takes Indian Allies at the start of Age II and Power at the start of Age III.

England – takes Privateers at the start of Age II and Population at the start of Age III.

Holland – takes Shipyards at the start of Age II and Mercantilism at the start of Age III.

Sweden – takes Stable and Military Academy at the start of Age II.

Banking Houses – takes Marketplace at the start of Age II. This player may exchange Spanish Dollars and Trade Goods with any other player during the resolution of the Merchant Shipping box. Only this player may deal directly with any other player in this way.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: News:: Re: Pre-Order Info for the Expansion?

Butterfly0038 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:03:31 +0000

by Butterfly0038

anything new on this? I was hoping it might be released at Essen but I haven't heard anything... :(

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: Version 2.0

Arontje — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:29:27 +0000

by Arontje

Thanks all, BGG rock because of you who helps.

Havent bought this one at Essen but still on my want list.

Greets Aron.

File: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Greek Rules

leandros — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:40:21 +0000

by leandros

Greek Rules for Board Game: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery ]]>

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Reviews:: Re: Age of Empires III: Review: From a Teachability Standpoint

aimoned — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:00:40 +0000

by aimoned

Edit: Added link.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: Version 2.0

Nobi — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:20:57 +0000

by Nobi

And then there is also an European version, the scoretrack has been improved as well but isn't as wide as in version 2.0.

I own this version and there's absolutely no need for the track to be wider. I think all Dutch editions (QWG) are like this (I have an English version).

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Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: Version 2.0

UnknownParkerBrother — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:00:12 +0000

by UnknownParkerBrother

Look for the copyright date on the back of the box. 2007 = old version.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: Version 2.0

garry_rice — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:52:26 +0000

by garry_rice

I don't know about a "reprint coming out", but there were 2 printings of this game. The first printing had a very small and difficult to distinguish scoring track around the board (each space was a thin rectangle). The second printing enlarged the scoring track and made it a bit more distinguishable (each space is a square). I believe it also came in a slightly smaller box. The board also had a few other small changes to make it a bit easier to understand (although I don't really have a problem with the 1st edition - although the scoring spots are SMALL!).

1st edition:
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2nd edition:
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Thread: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Version 2.0

Arontje — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:58:04 +0000

by Arontje

Hi all,

I have read the forums and if I read correctly a reprint is coming out. I am going to Essen the coming week, how can I see if the box I am going to buy is a 2nd version?

Hope the text on the box makes it clear... I am asking because in the past people said B while it was A... Its not fun to buy a game and end up with a version that you tried to avoid so you could get a newer version.

Hope you can help me out.

Review: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Age of Empires III: Review: From a Teachability Standpoint

aimoned — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:25:39 +0000

by aimoned

Background: So, I've decided to start writing reviews from a "teachability" perspective (quite simply, how fun it is/how easy it is to teach to a new group of people). I feel many people are probably like me and tend to be the designated "game teacher" in their group. Since I started limiting my purchases based upon whether or not I thought it would be easy/worth it to teach a new game, I figured this type of review could be useful to others. I hope you enjoy.

Overall Gameplay: When I initially purchased Age of Empires (AoE), it instantly became one of my favorites. This is a tremendous game that provides for many different strategies and works strongly for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 (if you have one of the extra sets of pieces floating around). For a full review/explanation of game mechanics, I would suggest consulting one of the many fantastic reviews available.

Teachability: I have introduced and taught this game to, approximately, 8 people in many different sessions. Every single one of them has come back for more playing (which says much more about the game itself, as opposed to my teaching ability!).

Setup Teachability: As I've mentioned in my Stone Age review, and will probably continue to mention in others, I'm not very big on teaching setup (outside of "please put these cards there" and "start with X for yourself"). My thought is that I'll always be there for the setup and if they get the game themselves, they can always just read how to set it up. With that said, this game is easy to teach how to setup, despite the board's best efforts to make it difficult. As many people have indicated in the past, the board can get a little jumbled and similar looking playing pieces (which doesn't technically impact setup, but does impact sorting) can make it confusing. I find that this isn't that big of a deal though.

Gameplay Teachability: One game element that I find extremely helpful is the use of icons to make teaching easy. AoE does this, for the most part, and it definitely helps at times (primarily with the bonuses that certain specialists provide, the cost of buildings or payouts of trade goods). Additionally, I feel that the capital buildings and discovery cards make it very straightforward for a new player to understand their worth.

AoE is setup so you have a number of choices each turn and then resolving the round is pretty easy, since you just go straight down the list of options (right on the board). I think that the turn sequence/resolve order for this game is EXTREMELY easy to teach...the nature of what you can do each turn, provides for a slightly higher learning curve.

The most difficult part about teaching (or learning) AoE is that there are a lot of things to learn (relatively speaking...obviously this isn't a 300 page rulebook). In addition to explaining what each individual spot on the board does, you have to explain each specialist's benefits, how battle and discovery work (often something that gets confused during the first game) and how scoring works. I have found that using the board's graphics and helpful notes really helps to drive the points home and reminding people that everything is on the board helps to make the learning process a smooth one.

I am a huge advocate of playing an initial teaching/helping game where I talk out what I'm doing, how I'm resolving everything and point out any mistakes somebody might be making, to help them learn. AoE is definitely a game that is learned through playing and I feel that after one game, most people feel very comfortable with it, aside from the aforementioned discovery/battle sticky point.

Scoring/Game end Teachability: The game end explanation is very easy since it is set for 8 rounds through 3 "Ages". Scoring is also easy since all of the scoring bonuses are clearly explained and everybody can see the buildings they've purchased, so they know what they are aiming for. Additionally, a quick glance at the colonies gives you a good indication of how you are faring because of color. I'm not sure if there's a game that is more fun to score at the end (I always go last place to first place, to heighten the drama)...everybody really seems to get into it.

Strategy Teachability: This is really up to you. I find providing basic strategy to be helpful because it makes the game competitive and, to me, more interesting. I have seen numerous different strategies work in AoE and I enjoy watching us try different ones. One of the benefits of this game is that one strategy isn't guaranteed to work.

Overall Grades:
My Gameplay Grade: A (one of my favorite games to play with a group)
My Teachability Grade: B+ (the game itself helps out as much as possible, but some of the gameplay requires at least one full playthrough to really get it)
My Overall Grade: A- (the game is a fantastic game and really worth the effort of teaching. It can take some helpful reminders at first, but I find people pick it up fairly quickly)

I hope somebody out there finds this useful. Thanks!

-Dave

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: Mythbusters: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery

Gamer_Dog — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:07:38 +0000

by Gamer_Dog

danntbill wrote:
Indeed I complained myself about the old Inca conquest victory guarantee. I still think it's a bigger advantage in a 2-3 player than 4-5 player game, but it's no guarantee everytime. That's for sure.

The building flop on turn 1 is very important, even if there are combinations that make Incan Gold less valuable. While not a game breaker, it makes enough of a difference that I feel it's imbalanced.

Look at it this way, if you surveyed 10 experienced players with the question, "you need to win this game to save your life...which position in turn order would you prefer?" you wouldn't get a lot of folks taking the extra gold to move down the turn order.

I can think of some relatively easy variants to address this, which we've tried --auctions, having a "pre-turn 1" with only 2 colonists, using a reverse order (1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1) where turn order is one of the places you can select, just like the other boxes, etc. (exclude the merchant ship for the pre-turn, as well as capital buildings)

New Image for Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery

Mr Pink — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:21:02 +0000

by Mr Pink

]]>

Wigan wargames club regulars learning the game.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: When will 6 player pieces be available again?

dshortdesign — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:24:35 +0000

by dshortdesign

kronic24601 wrote:
6-8 months!! What the heck? That's super lame.

This deserves repeating.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: When will 6 player pieces be available again?

ralpher — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:18:20 +0000

by ralpher

"Hi Ralph,

We are working on the AoE III expansion with Glenn Drover (probably 6-8 months out) and that will have a 6th player color. So hopefully that gives you an idea on the timeline and how you should proceed.

Keith"

By the sounds of it, the expansion may include the sixth player pieces!

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: When will 6 player pieces be available again?

kronic24601 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:09:42 +0000

by kronic24601

6-8 months!! What the heck? That's super lame.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: When will 6 player pieces be available again?

ralpher — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:07:07 +0000

by ralpher

Got another message from eagle. 6-8 months expected wait time for the new expansion, at which time 6th player pieces will be available.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

Han_Heinrich — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:22:18 +0000

by Han_Heinrich

gische wrote:
If the last player doesn't place his first guy on the merchant ship space, he won't get the ship. He's not going to get a second chance at being the first player in that space, unless his opponents are undervaluing the ships.

Now that corresponds with what I wrote above - it does depend a great deal on your play group.
The people I play with mostly place on the ship as an "afterthought", when all the "important" actions are done (CBs, Specialists, Trade Goods, even the Dock when you need to secure a trade good in the New World). So in our games you could definitely wait till your second or third placement in the first round and still get the ship.

I do agree that the first round is the only time when you can really guarantee the ship with that strategy. But I do think it is possible to get the ship for only one figure in the later rounds as then you can have Captains and Merchants at your disposal.
So when you really want a ship as the last player in the first round, I would probably prefer to take the Captain first and use it in the next round to heavily contest the ship. This way, if the other players "cooperate", I might even still get the ship in the first round (if no one places on it in the second placement turn of the first round).

One other aspect I found is, that with Inca Gold out in the first round, all the players really have to block the ability of the Inca player (will mostly be the first player) to buy two or three CBs in the first round and so everybody needs to block the CB track [of course this depends on the revealed CBs]. But I have seen more often than not that failing to do that secured the Inca player win as early as first round.

Artie

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

gische — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:39:23 +0000

by gische

Han_Heinrich wrote:
Of course my extreme example was just that - extreme. And no one should spend 4 or 5 colonists in the first turn for the ship.
I still think it is not an especially good move to put a figure on the ship as your FIRST action as last player. I would think that at least one other player has at least one figure to spend to make you pay more for the ship, which means you spend at least 2 actions to get it, which might already be too much. Placing on the ship should definitely be considered, but in my opinion not as the first move.

If the last player doesn't place his first guy on the merchant ship space, he won't get the ship. He's not going to get a second chance at being the first player in that space, unless his opponents are undervaluing the ships.

Yes, he might need to place a second guy there to guarantee the ship, but given that ships will likely never go for 1 man after the first two rounds, this isn't such a bad downside.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

Han_Heinrich — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:53:09 +0000

by Han_Heinrich

Hey Jason,

of course my extreme example was just that - extreme. And no one should spend 4 or 5 colonists in the first turn for the ship.
I still think it is not an especially good move to put a figure on the ship as your FIRST action as last player. I would think that at least one other player has at least one figure to spend to make you pay more for the ship, which means you spend at least 2 actions to get it, which might already be too much. Placing on the ship should definitely be considered, but in my opinion not as the first move.

However, what I find so great about this game, is that you can just try out these strategies and see how they work, and how they work also depends a lot on the people you play with.

So definitely try things out and have fun (this is also directed at the OP),

Artie

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

gische — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:48:28 +0000

by gische

Han_Heinrich wrote:
Hi Jason - this is true. But the question was what to do FIRST as the last player in turn 1. If your first move is to put a colonist on the ship and then you follow through, as you say, to commit to it, then that means (in the most extreme case) to place all your five figures on the ship. I don't think this is a valid move on the first turn.
If you do it with your second-to-last figure then I agree it is a solid strategy, because probably no one will challenge you and if they do you can place an additional figure.

Hi Artie,

Yes, I read the question correctly. And you are correct that in the most extreme case this is a colossally expensive move, and clearly not worth it. However, the key in this game (as in many games) is to get into a position of power and make it unappealing for others to challenge you. In turn one, the first player to go for the merchant ship holds all the cards. They will win it if they commit to it. Everyone should know this, and therefore should just let them have it. The power is not in actually following through, it is in having the ability to do so.

Fruitlessly challenging this player is a suicidal move. Note that in the extreme case you listed above, the challenger would waste 4 actions to do absolutely nothing other than force the last player to spend all his actions on the merchant ship. All that would do is help the other players in the game.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

ddlj81 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:30:24 +0000

by ddlj81

Thanks for the response. I played couple of games playing last to test it out. In one game, I did not buy any CB and made sure I was first the next turn and grabbed a +1 missionary CB. That game came second in a 4 player game scoring abt 6 pts less than the winner. The second game, I took the only useful CB which was a +1 colonist, but that game was a disaster and ended up fourth. Pretty much, had a very bad start with economy since the +5 each turn, and +1 merchant each turn and the merchant specialist slot were taken in the first round before me.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

Han_Heinrich — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:16:25 +0000

by Han_Heinrich

Hi Jason - this is true. But the question was what to do FIRST as the last player in turn 1. If your first move is to put a colonist on the ship and then you follow through, as you say, to commit to it, then that means (in the most extreme case) to place all your five figures on the ship. I don't think this is a valid move on the first turn.
If you do it with your second-to-last figure then I agree it is a solid strategy, because probably no one will challenge you and if they do you can place an additional figure.

Artie

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

gische — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:49:39 +0000

by gische

Han_Heinrich wrote:
- I would not go after the ship as the last player, as you would loose all ties when other players place in the ship box.

Note that if the last player is the first one to place in the ship box, he's pretty much guaranteed to win it if he is willing to commit to it, because he has more men to place there that the rest of the players. It's a very rare game where the turn 1 merchant ship doesn't go to the first player to go for it, typically for just the single placement because challenging that player for it is a purely sacrificial move.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: General:: Re: When will 6 player pieces be available again?

ralpher — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:23:41 +0000

by ralpher

Got a response from eagle games that they will not restock the 6th player pieces. Doesn't really make sense given the expansion planned... I guess this means painting the existing colors.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

btizo — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:59:54 +0000

by btizo

I think your underestimating how great trade goods and specialists are.

What trade goods are available? Is there a Sugar or two? I would place my first Colonist in the Trade Good box as 4th player if there's a Sugar or two. After that it all depends on other players. The Captain, Soldier, and Missionary are all very valuable.

Additionally, if everyone else fights for Specialists and CBs you can take the trade goods, the boat, and maybe get a guy or two on the dock.

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

Han_Heinrich — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:39:38 +0000

by Han_Heinrich

Hi Harish,

here are my thoughts:

- depending on the CBs still available (if someone before you took the Merchant there should be 3 to choose from) I would take one of those. Any additional piece (even if only a lowly colonist) is helpful, especially if you get it from the first turn on.

- after that I like the Captain, then the Missionary and I also think a Trade Good is okay.

- I would not go after the ship as the last player, as you would loose all ties when other players place in the ship box.

Hope that helps,

Artie

PS: I think the 4th player only gets 3 additional coins (as the first player gets none).

Reply: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery:: Strategy:: Re: Playing last first round

Caladore — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:23:29 +0000

by Caladore

Personally I prefer the alternate bidding routine as described in the back of the rulebook. This way if you are 4th you are more likely going to be able to be 2nd choice on CB's if not 1st choice.

Usually when we play this way the 1st player to bid passes to guarantee his chance at a CB and sometimes the 2nd player also passes but never does the 3rd player pass as it would give the 4th player the discovery of the Caribbean for free. When we do the bidding we do not reveal the starting CB's or trade goods. It would give the 1st bidder too much of an advantage.

Random starting has proved to be unpleasant to most of us leaving too much to chance.