Recap: New Experiences from Dungeon Lords and Troyes
The conquered tiles are my secret shame
This week featured the recent Game of the Year winner along with some old favorites. And, for Dungeon Lords and Troyes, at least, I had completely different experiences with them. For Dungeon Lords, I broke some bad habits. For Troyes, I learned that the neutral citizens are serious business.
Dungeon Lords. I played with a completely new group – including two players who were brand new to the game. So, I decided its as good a time as ever to change things up. Generally, I get so caught up in trying to save my dungeon that I don’t get many points from titles. Sure I save points from having less conquered, and I’ve reliably locked up the Battle Lord title each time. But that about sums it up. And that just isn’t enough points to secure a win.
So, this time I decided to branch out a bit. I was going for a big Dungeon. Maybe snap up Lord of Halls and Tunnel Lord. I also tried to accumulate gold and monsters for shots at Monster Lord and Lord of Riches. Unfortunately, my poor dungeon suffered mightily. Five conquers and only five defeated adventurers. That’s right, one adventurer just got bored with conquering me and decided to leave. That was, frankly, a huge blow to my ego. But, in the end, I came out on top. Even though I lost a ton of points from conquers, I also got Lord of Halls, Monster Lord, and tied for Lord of Riches. Those titles were enough to cover my losses and deliver the victory.
Still, I didn’t play a particularly awesome game. I was helped toward victory by the Year 2 tax event. I planned and had just enough gold to avoid penalty. Other players, whether through targeted sacrifice or neglect, ended up taking four cubes of debt. That’s a big -12 points. As the only player unscathed by debt, that dramatically enhanced my odds of winning. Still, it was great to see that a non-battle strategy was successful. I plan to put less emphasis on battle in future games.
Stock footage of Troyes. It gets the idea across.
Troyes. When the special scoring cards were dealt out, I got the one that gives points for money. I decided to mix it up a bit and try a strong money strategy. I put two workers in the Yellow City Hall and prepared for a game where I simply made money and then bought the best dice. That could work, right?
It simply wasn’t to be. The very first event was one that places a neutral guy in the City Hall. A roll of the die determined that my guy got bumped out. I was busy doing other things and thought, “I could have one less die next turn. I should be fine.” The very next turn that event activated again and, boom, my other guy gets knocked out. What? My heavy money strategy now had zero yellow dice. That was … not good.
I played catch up most of the rest of the game. And I did a good job of it, ultimately coming just four points shy of the leading player. But that was a heart breaker. Troyes has a lot of random elements, but very few points where the roll of the die or a single drawn card can really harm you. This was just one of those few times. I’ll be coming back for Troyes, though. The game is amazing. And hopefully, next time my opponent will bear the brunt of the event cards.
Also played. Sentinels of the Multiverse, Quarriors (x2), and Root of Corruption.
