Uploaded January 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Say hello to JVis, the most enthusiastic new player i've seen in a while! He's used to playing 2ers and thus has a habit of overbuying resources when it's not needed...
So here's another 5er on the exact same map config as the last one, and hoo boy was this maybe the weirdest 5er i've ever played. Here i get to explain why i prefer 09 over 10 as a starting plant when all the other coal plants were bought, and it pays off big when i get the 20 on turn 2. Usually in order to make that work, you want to stay at 1 city and run your first plant; hopefully you'll make enough money to build to 3 cities on turn 3. All went as planned until turn 4...
The market went completely apeshit, flooding us with monstrous plants at a time when nobody had money yet. Mastaba paid a lot of money for the 26 on turn 3 then had to watch others get 32, 34, and then *36* for cheap on turn 4! This is only the second time i've ever played in a game where 36 became available before Step 3, and it worked out a lot better than the first time. i ended up with the 34 for just a couple bucks above list price, and 36 made me very happy about that.
Funny enough, though, uranium was expensive enough that i actually ran the 20 for a couple more turns before switching! Left me with exactly enough money for a valuable build in Santa Fe while reaching 5. Mastaba was definitely my top target since he had the most money and a lot of territory out west, so i wanted to threaten that.
The game stalled after that until 25 showed up and caused a stir. Mastaba paid a lot of money for that as well, then JVis bought the (arguably unnecessary) 19 and put 30 up there for us to bid on. Ended up going to me for a hair under $50, which is a heck of a value with trash sitting at $1 for me! Let me protect the 20 for the rest of the game too.
The game was academic from there, with a pretty long market stall that i knew was coming. However, things got a hell of a lot more interesting after i miscounted the number of plants left in the deck - we actually got to see a Step 3 auction, unusual for 5ers!
This left me in a rough spot since mastaba was clearly richer than me and could now catch up in capacity, but well...just watch the final turn, this game loves playing jokes sometimes!
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
Say hello to JVis, the most enthusiastic new player i've seen in a while! He's used to playing 2ers and thus has a habit of overbuying resources when it's not needed...
So here's another 5er on the exact same map config as the last one, and hoo boy was this maybe the weirdest 5er i've ever played. Here i get to explain why i prefer 09 over 10 as a starting plant when all the other coal plants were bought, and it pays off big when i get the 20 on turn 2. Usually in order to make that work, you want to stay at 1 city and run your first plant; hopefully you'll make enough money to build to 3 cities on turn 3. All went as planned until turn 4...
The market went completely apeshit, flooding us with monstrous plants at a time when nobody had money yet. Mastaba paid a lot of money for the 26 on turn 3 then had to watch others get 32, 34, and then *36* for cheap on turn 4! This is only the second time i've ever played in a game where 36 became available before Step 3, and it worked out a lot better than the first time. i ended up with the 34 for just a couple bucks above list price, and 36 made me very happy about that.
Funny enough, though, uranium was expensive enough that i actually ran the 20 for a couple more turns before switching! Left me with exactly enough money for a valuable build in Santa Fe while reaching 5. Mastaba was definitely my top target since he had the most money and a lot of territory out west, so i wanted to threaten that.
The game stalled after that until 25 showed up and caused a stir. Mastaba paid a lot of money for that as well, then JVis bought the (arguably unnecessary) 19 and put 30 up there for us to bid on. Ended up going to me for a hair under $50, which is a heck of a value with trash sitting at $1 for me! Let me protect the 20 for the rest of the game too.
The game was academic from there, with a pretty long market stall that i knew was coming. However, things got a hell of a lot more interesting after i miscounted the number of plants left in the deck - we actually got to see a Step 3 auction, unusual for 5ers!
This left me in a rough spot since mastaba was clearly richer than me and could now catch up in capacity, but well...just watch the final turn, this game loves playing jokes sometimes!
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
