Yet More Wildcatters

This time Simon was green, Jeff red, Richard yellow and myself blue.

Jeff and Richard scored well due to their accumulated Wildcatters.

An AAR from Richard:

Another excellent session of Wildcatters. An

extremely close game, you probably couldn't get much closer than an 8

point spread between first and third (Simon was still in Island mode for

this game I feel 😂). The scores were very high which is further

evidence of everyone playing strategically. There was always lots of

helpful advice being shared amongst at least 3 participants each game

which is always nice to see......

With the benefit of hindsight, the cosy Wildcatter deal early in the

game might not have been the best option. Had Mark won one additional

Wildcatter he would have won the game by 2 points. (Jeff drops 8 to 102,

and Mark gains 4 to 104, which would have made the scores 104,102 and

100). All speculative though as every different action creates a

distinct set of new possibilities. The thing which I've noticed is that

Mark is more averse to bidding too much on Wildcatters, whilst Jeff and

I tend to be more cavalier with bidding. This is also reflected in the

fact that Mark rarely gets into a position of having to take out a share

loan.

So this is yet another area where everyone kind of needs to keep their

eye on players accumulating Wildcatters and at least forcing them to pay

as much as possible if they seem determined to get them. Strategic 

choices to perhaps deny other players the ability to bid unopposed need

to be considered, especially late game.

I think everyone is well attuned to the need to pick up consolidation

chips and I think Mark is best at doing that finishing with the highest

totals in this category across most games he has played in. Mark is also

best at managing his own shares and rarely has take out a loan.

Whilst taking a loan, in and of itself, isn't too much of a big deal,

the fact that a reserve of your own shares must be accumulated and oil

deliveries held back means that, avoiding a loan is probably the best

strategy. This has hampered my game for the last couple of outings. I'm

going to try and improve in this area in the future. Perhaps I could get

some tips on how to do that....

Everyone has also worked out the late turns refinery build and deliver

strategy, although I think this one is yet to prove itself a winning

strategy as it does allow the other players to potentially piggy back

and pick up valuable delivery points. It really does need a careful

scrutiny of what oil other players have available to execute this to

maximum advantage.

There hasn't yet been a game breaking strategy emerge, which is good as

it keeps the game engaging and re-playable. You don't really find out

how well you've done until the final count.

Wildcatters is definitely a star in my game po