True, though I like the idea that for casual games, leave it up to the players whether to kick a player out or not.
2 Likes
I KNEW YOU GUYS WOULDN’T ABANDON ME!!!
I think I might have timed out 2 or 3 times before I got kicked, so I really can’t complain.
So, @hardco is already demonstrating his usual mastery and understanding of the possibilities in this game … whilst I am still operating with beginner’s tunnel vision.
I thought that there was no way that I could exploit the second condition on our end of round one bonus tile … but @hardco showed that it could be done twice over. Sheesh. Also, @hardco and @Chubbs have both managed to do better from adjacency than I have. Somehow. There are five more rounds to go … but I seem to be behind the curve already.
So now I definitely feel like I am playing for a wildcard spot. But I have also learnt something.
Terra Mystica looks to be easy to play, hard to play well. I am enjoying it.
3 Likes
I know just enough to be dangerous… There’s still plenty of time left to turn things around though! As for the round bonus, keep in mind that I started with +2 blue from the mermaids starting bonus. I picked them to try to get 1 free spade, but when the priest was available late in the round I figured I may as well go for two…
Anyone know how to use the factions’ special abilities? I have the witches in my game and can’t for the life of me figure out how to place my free dwelling on a non-adjacent forest spot…
Have you built your stronghold? Most of the powers can’t be used until one is built. It should be one of the powers in the top leftest tab.
Ah, that’s the problem - the stronghold needs to be built first. Thanks for the reminder / kick in the rear…
Here are a couple of resources from BGG I’ve found particularly helpful as a newbie learning this game:
1-page strategy reference guide: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/104541/terra-mystica-strategy-reference-guide
Race strategies thread: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/156617/terra-mystica-race-strategies
I’ve got the reference guide saved to my iPad and still refer to it before 99% of my moves at this point.
Also, a good discussion about choosing races from reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/2hiw93/terra_mystica_tactics_and_faction_choice/
3 Likes
Looked at the Engineer strategy, and discovered I’ve already goofed up.
Yay!!!
I found these links after I’d taken my first couple of turns, too.
Me too… should’ve been building towards the stronghold instead of throwing dwellings everywhere…
The first result is in …
As earlier in this thread, hardco started off by showing me how the game should be played. And, as can be seen above, by the end of the game hardco dominated the cult tracks and had the best board presence. But the sequence of bonus tiles had suited my Dwarves and I earned just enough VP during play to run out the narrow winner. Chubbsy suffered by being in greater direct competition with hardco and thus he did not stunt the initial growth of the Dwarves (as I had feared).
A great game … and a great app (once understood). All credit to @Hardco and @Chubbs
Every decision counts … near the end I could have had 5 Power for 4 VP and then used it to get an area of size 12. I reckoned (correctly as it turned out) that that would result in a net 2 VP gain over Chubbsy but a net loss of 1 VP against hardco so I declined the offer after triple-checking my reasoning. As it turned out I would still have won by one VP if I had taken the offer - but the point is the importance of every decision.
It is now time to sit back and mop my brow …
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Spot on summary! And a well deserved win, congrats @robthomasson and a very well done to @Hardco - so close 2nd!
It was an enjoyable party and personally, I learned a lot from it. We also found a major bug, are we?
Sign me up for the next tourney 
Close game! At the end of round 4 I was wishing I had picked up the 2 points for dwellings favour tile. Without an additional scoring mechanism it was tough to keep up with all that tunnelling… I had hoped the third town would do it, but just short.
And yeah, for all you cheaters out there, you can choose a power from the right bar after making a move (before selecting end turn) and get two turns in a row! Hopefully it will be fixed in the next patch. Good game all!
Into the second round and competition for land is fierce! There is no little cheap settlements on their own, everything is pure competition and race for spots.
2 Likes
Yes, thanks Baelnor for crowding me (Darklings) out with your Nomads. I even used an end of phase bonus to use a spade in the South, but you turned it right to Desert and put a dwelling on it.
It was only one step from yellow! 
But yes, that was a low blow
Same here. When I did all my tunnelling in round 4 I was wishing that I had that favour tile. When I had the favour choice earlier I took an income tile on a sort of default basis of income/resources first, VPs later … but it is not that straightforward in this game. On the other hand, that income was important … so … 
… no hard and fast rules.
I’m sad to report that I’ve timed out of the game this weekend. I was traveling and lost track of it for a day.
I’m rooting for my AI, but of course I won’t advance.
I haven’t yet figured out the timeout rules for this app. I know you only time out in 2p games if your opponent confirms it. I also timed out of my 4p game this weekend but it didn’t auto replace me. I just made my move there and appear to be back in the game just fine.
@athros and @halfvoid I’m curious what you both saw on your end with my time out. Did you happen to hit the trophy that pops up? No hard feelings if you did.
Sorry guys!