Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Hey, i said we have a bunch of Germany in this batch of games! Always glad to have more of Stein on here too. =)
Once again JVis goes for the cheap early cities instead of the build that yields way more Step 1 cities (still fairly cheap, too) and keeps Stein in check. He learned his lesson after this one, though!
Another important lesson learned for JVis came in plant bidding. Stein & i bid for the 21 with 25 on deck, and i got it for just over $25. 25 came next with cheap coal, and JVis shockingly gave it up to Stein for just $27! J tends to focus really hard on the green plants, particularly in Germany, but 25 & 26 are still much better plants overall and need to be bid more around $40-45. If J's build wasn't enough to give the game to Stein, that sure as hell was.
Ended up doing all i could to attack Stein, such as buying up coal and building Erfurt, and we entered a long Step 1 stall. Once i had close to $300 in reserve i made a tough play: buying the 19 with 26 on deck. This was so that i could match Stein's base capacity while staying below him in the turn order, possibly enabling me to buy a plant as Step 3 triggers and win on the following turn. This play assumed that JVis would buy a plant after me just to move the market, but 26 didn't come for him and he passed. Think my play was defensible since J was in the weakest position of us, so i thought i could afford to drop him 26. We needed to move the market to prevent Stein from winning the stall, though.
Stein triggered Step 2 immediately after my 19 purchase, and that led us to draw the Step 3 card in time for the auction! Stein should've been dead to rights since he was forced to buy 26, but i was also forced to buy one after 34 came next. That was one of only two sub-6 capacity plants left in the whole deck, so i was quite unlucky. 38 dropped at cost for JVis right afterward just to rub salt in the wound.
That left me as the only player who couldn't possibly reach 17 capacity on the final turn, and that turn was a replica of the previous one. Passed on an unspectacular plant, got rewarded with the only 5-cap drop left in the deck, and a 7-cap dropped at cost for the last player. Stein got that 7 for the decisive win, even though both of us were richer than him. Rare to see the money lead not win on Germany, but that's what long Step 1 stalls do to the game!
Had i gotten a 6-cap on that first turn of Step 3 i might have won. JVis & i ended up virtually even on money, but it took him 38 at cost to get there. Doubt Stein wins without that 7-cap drop at the end, either...would've made it a much closer game.
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
If you want to step up your game even further and set up BSW or Tabletop Simulator games with us, come join our Power Grid Discord server:
discordapp.com/invite/pSq9qp9
Hey, i said we have a bunch of Germany in this batch of games! Always glad to have more of Stein on here too. =)
Once again JVis goes for the cheap early cities instead of the build that yields way more Step 1 cities (still fairly cheap, too) and keeps Stein in check. He learned his lesson after this one, though!
Another important lesson learned for JVis came in plant bidding. Stein & i bid for the 21 with 25 on deck, and i got it for just over $25. 25 came next with cheap coal, and JVis shockingly gave it up to Stein for just $27! J tends to focus really hard on the green plants, particularly in Germany, but 25 & 26 are still much better plants overall and need to be bid more around $40-45. If J's build wasn't enough to give the game to Stein, that sure as hell was.
Ended up doing all i could to attack Stein, such as buying up coal and building Erfurt, and we entered a long Step 1 stall. Once i had close to $300 in reserve i made a tough play: buying the 19 with 26 on deck. This was so that i could match Stein's base capacity while staying below him in the turn order, possibly enabling me to buy a plant as Step 3 triggers and win on the following turn. This play assumed that JVis would buy a plant after me just to move the market, but 26 didn't come for him and he passed. Think my play was defensible since J was in the weakest position of us, so i thought i could afford to drop him 26. We needed to move the market to prevent Stein from winning the stall, though.
Stein triggered Step 2 immediately after my 19 purchase, and that led us to draw the Step 3 card in time for the auction! Stein should've been dead to rights since he was forced to buy 26, but i was also forced to buy one after 34 came next. That was one of only two sub-6 capacity plants left in the whole deck, so i was quite unlucky. 38 dropped at cost for JVis right afterward just to rub salt in the wound.
That left me as the only player who couldn't possibly reach 17 capacity on the final turn, and that turn was a replica of the previous one. Passed on an unspectacular plant, got rewarded with the only 5-cap drop left in the deck, and a 7-cap dropped at cost for the last player. Stein got that 7 for the decisive win, even though both of us were richer than him. Rare to see the money lead not win on Germany, but that's what long Step 1 stalls do to the game!
Had i gotten a 6-cap on that first turn of Step 3 i might have won. JVis & i ended up virtually even on money, but it took him 38 at cost to get there. Doubt Stein wins without that 7-cap drop at the end, either...would've made it a much closer game.
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
If you want to step up your game even further and set up BSW or Tabletop Simulator games with us, come join our Power Grid Discord server:
discordapp.com/invite/pSq9qp9
