Meg and I have played 7WD duel now, pretty much exclusively or the last 2 months. In that time we have established a few things;
Meg wins most of the military victories
I win all the science victories
The Gods have balanced things out and opened up new opportunities
On points, Meg is the most consistent and wins just over half the games
I play more experimentally, for better or worse, but I will possibly have an edge long term*
By experimenting and (over) analysing, I have discovered a few tricks*
Catan is dead to us except as a party game
Last night Meg had as she put it, a “coming of age” moment. Our first game came down to a 1 point win to me 68-67. Meg had the distinction of, we think, the highest losing score outside of a science or military win (often accomplished by relinquishing points and resources to your opponent).
The second game had a twist, one Meg and I will remember for a while.
Late in the Second Age, I managed to get the Strategy token (+1 shield every war card). Starting from +1 I think, I quickly pushed up to the last space before victory, in part thanks to a re-draw of a 3 shield (thanks Hades).
I also had The Divine Theatre wonder, that I had used, but now my clever gambit was to un-build it using Anubis and re-build it to get Mars, known to be in the unused deck. There were other war cards in the deck, but no guarantee I would get them.
I broke it to Meg that the writing was on the wall. To abandon all hope. Treat it as a teachable moment.
Oh the arrogance!
Loaded as usual, she played an even cannier gambit, grabbing The Gate, then Ra and taking (stealing!!!) my un-built wonder out from under me! I eventually won the game on points, but it was a hollow and uncertain victory.
The illustrious cast of characters.
From here I can only see Meg getting more adventurous, so 7WD will be clicking up a notch.
She has also started taking progress tokens :I.
Possibly my best tactic now will be to introduce new games. You know, muddy the waters a bit.
*I also have more time, a greater tactical interest and less on my mind.