Uploaded November 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Finally, we get a couple Baden games on here! Almost nobody plays this map because it has a bunch of unusual rules and, frankly, it's ugly as shit on BSW. Love it myself, though, and am always down to play on it.
Unfortunately it's usually people new to BSW who will play this map, since it's the default map there. That's the case here, though this turned out to be a more interesting game than i expected at first...
Baden has 1 less region compared to other maps (5 vs. 6), so on 5-6 player games you'll use the entire map. Baden also has a special city in each region that only has Step 2 & 3 spots available, which means you need 1 less city to trigger Step 2 compared to other maps. The biggest change is the turn order, which is set after the auction phase each turn (as opposed to after firing plants) - creates more tension for building decisions! Finally, when nobody buys a plant in a given turn, the *TWO* lowest-numbered plants on the market will be removed (rather than 1 in other maps); this creates a much faster pace and further favors early-game efficiency.
Was very happy with how i played this game, but put myself in danger of losing by bidding on the 25 when 26 was next in the market. Oil was absurdly cheap at that point, so atsikas became the clear favorite at that point. 25 deserved a couple clicks because a number of low plants were still in the deck, but perhaps i should've given it up since i had such a massive lead at that point.
Fear not, though - i figure out a complex route to get back in the game! It involved using the 16 as an endgame plant to attack oil, and just the right plant at the right time to punish a mistake...
If you'd like to learn more about Power Grid, please check my blog for strategy articles on each power plant as well as a guide to 2-player games:
maninmotiongoingnowhere.wordpress.com/power-grid-strategy-individual-plant-articles
Finally, we get a couple Baden games on here! Almost nobody plays this map because it has a bunch of unusual rules and, frankly, it's ugly as shit on BSW. Love it myself, though, and am always down to play on it.
Unfortunately it's usually people new to BSW who will play this map, since it's the default map there. That's the case here, though this turned out to be a more interesting game than i expected at first...
Baden has 1 less region compared to other maps (5 vs. 6), so on 5-6 player games you'll use the entire map. Baden also has a special city in each region that only has Step 2 & 3 spots available, which means you need 1 less city to trigger Step 2 compared to other maps. The biggest change is the turn order, which is set after the auction phase each turn (as opposed to after firing plants) - creates more tension for building decisions! Finally, when nobody buys a plant in a given turn, the *TWO* lowest-numbered plants on the market will be removed (rather than 1 in other maps); this creates a much faster pace and further favors early-game efficiency.
Was very happy with how i played this game, but put myself in danger of losing by bidding on the 25 when 26 was next in the market. Oil was absurdly cheap at that point, so atsikas became the clear favorite at that point. 25 deserved a couple clicks because a number of low plants were still in the deck, but perhaps i should've given it up since i had such a massive lead at that point.
Fear not, though - i figure out a complex route to get back in the game! It involved using the 16 as an endgame plant to attack oil, and just the right plant at the right time to punish a mistake...
If you'd like to learn more about Power Grid, please check my blog for strategy articles on each power plant as well as a guide to 2-player games:
maninmotiongoingnowhere.wordpress.com/power-grid-strategy-individual-plant-articles
