Uploaded January 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Hey, it's the exact same config as our last Germany 4er on here! This was a more interesting and well-played game though...
Was pleased with my start after the first two players made the exact optimal builds imo. Building in the southernmost part of the cheap red-blue area would allow me to go south and encourage Stein to build closer to daroj, which was exactly what happened.
Got 13 for a solid price followed by 27 for a similarly reasonable price. Huge fan of landing those two plants together on Germany, as it becomes more important to play for turn order and you can make tons of money while stalling at 4 cities.
Plans changed a bit, though. Having 2 coal still sitting on 05 made me want to target an endgame plant that could use it, which led me to grab 21 during the Step 1 stall. That led a lot of bigger plants to go to other players, so i decided to build to 8 ASAP in order to move the market. A lot of players would stall at the bottom of the turn order there, but i knew that would only favor daroj after he got the 30 at cost!
After that turn i faced a decision of whether to buy a plant. Had i bought 29 i could've powered 11 cities that turn, but i'd much rather stay at the bottom of the turn order for Step 3. As jbode says, you never want to be up top for the first turns of both Step 2 & 3! And 31 was not going to be great for me at the top then, hence i passed on plants altogether. Even given how much the game stalled afterward, that was the right decision; i wouldn't have been able to end the game with 31 + 36.
One interesting play i made here was to buy the 22 very late. This was because i desperately needed Step 3 to arrive before daroj ended the game, and buying 22 would allow 14 & 15 to be built off the market by somebody else. That was exactly what happened, and it was the exact number of plants needed to get us to Step 3. 22 was a net loss of $14 for me since i only powered 1 extra city for one turn with it, but the stall would've been too much had i not done that.
My patience rewarded me with a decently-priced 36 in Step 3, along with the rest of the cheap red/blue cities. That left me set to stay bottom in the turn order for the final turn, really liking my chances...until daroj decided to end early. He had to buy a plant that didn't improve his base capacity at all, so he felt like this was his only chance. He only had $7 left, leaving Mastaba with the win by the skin of his teeth! They were the only two players who could power 16 cities, hence this decision. One more turn would've been fascinating since everyone besides Mastaba needed a 7-cap plant to reach 18. Felt like money + turn order could've won it for me, but daroj still would've been a contender as well. With only $7 left i think not ending would've been better; i typically like to have at least $15-20 if i'm going to do that. Do understand why it happened that way, though!
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
Hey, it's the exact same config as our last Germany 4er on here! This was a more interesting and well-played game though...
Was pleased with my start after the first two players made the exact optimal builds imo. Building in the southernmost part of the cheap red-blue area would allow me to go south and encourage Stein to build closer to daroj, which was exactly what happened.
Got 13 for a solid price followed by 27 for a similarly reasonable price. Huge fan of landing those two plants together on Germany, as it becomes more important to play for turn order and you can make tons of money while stalling at 4 cities.
Plans changed a bit, though. Having 2 coal still sitting on 05 made me want to target an endgame plant that could use it, which led me to grab 21 during the Step 1 stall. That led a lot of bigger plants to go to other players, so i decided to build to 8 ASAP in order to move the market. A lot of players would stall at the bottom of the turn order there, but i knew that would only favor daroj after he got the 30 at cost!
After that turn i faced a decision of whether to buy a plant. Had i bought 29 i could've powered 11 cities that turn, but i'd much rather stay at the bottom of the turn order for Step 3. As jbode says, you never want to be up top for the first turns of both Step 2 & 3! And 31 was not going to be great for me at the top then, hence i passed on plants altogether. Even given how much the game stalled afterward, that was the right decision; i wouldn't have been able to end the game with 31 + 36.
One interesting play i made here was to buy the 22 very late. This was because i desperately needed Step 3 to arrive before daroj ended the game, and buying 22 would allow 14 & 15 to be built off the market by somebody else. That was exactly what happened, and it was the exact number of plants needed to get us to Step 3. 22 was a net loss of $14 for me since i only powered 1 extra city for one turn with it, but the stall would've been too much had i not done that.
My patience rewarded me with a decently-priced 36 in Step 3, along with the rest of the cheap red/blue cities. That left me set to stay bottom in the turn order for the final turn, really liking my chances...until daroj decided to end early. He had to buy a plant that didn't improve his base capacity at all, so he felt like this was his only chance. He only had $7 left, leaving Mastaba with the win by the skin of his teeth! They were the only two players who could power 16 cities, hence this decision. One more turn would've been fascinating since everyone besides Mastaba needed a 7-cap plant to reach 18. Felt like money + turn order could've won it for me, but daroj still would've been a contender as well. With only $7 left i think not ending would've been better; i typically like to have at least $15-20 if i'm going to do that. Do understand why it happened that way, though!
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
