mrmonkeyball wrote:
We just played our first (2-player) game of VdG. It felt like a really balanced game, but one thing felt odd when it came to the last scoring round (after phase 5):
Is it really that ships that are not in a completed harbour in the end of the game are worth 0 points? There was one player who managed to complete a harbour and therefore get a lot of points in phase 3 while the other one (me :) ) had most his ships in a harbour where there was one spot left empty in the end.
Did we really play that right? I looked through the rules and didn't find a rule that would say that there is a special scoring round in the end so I guess that's how to do it. But it felt not right as these ships in the end were the only ones that didn't score the bonus points until the end of the game.
Is it really that ships that are not in a completed harbour in the end of the game are worth 0 points? There was one player who managed to complete a harbour and therefore get a lot of points in phase 3 while the other one (me :) ) had most his ships in a harbour where there was one spot left empty in the end.
Did we really play that right? I looked through the rules and didn't find a rule that would say that there is a special scoring round in the end so I guess that's how to do it. But it felt not right as these ships in the end were the only ones that didn't score the bonus points until the end of the game.
I think you probably have it right, but it's not really fair to say "worth 0 points" or "didn't score bonus points".
First of all, all ships get the square value they're placed on when you first put them in that harbour. So those 4 ships earned those points, probably 32 or so (assuming 9,9,7,7). They also gave you the immediate bonus of 1 money, 2 money, a captain each when placing them, so that's 4 Reals and a captain, etc.
Then, each round those 4 ships gave you whatever their bonus on the ship tile itself said, 2 points, 2 money, etc. This happens even when the harbour is not full, so make sure you didn't miss that.
Finally, yes, full harbours earn even more points after that. That's a big part of the strategy of the game, make sure your ships get the bonuses, by launching the right ships at the right times, taking Sernigi the Merchant to get an extra ship to fill in the row for you (note that's what your opponent did, he had the neutral ship is his row, you didn't).
Strategy wise, I think it's extremely dangerous to let one player get most of a harbour to themselves, for just this reason. In all our games, ship counts are very close such as 2-2, 3-2. You get your ships in there with his, so that you leech points off his actions.