Date: 13th January 2012
Game played: Fortuna ( The Games Master ) BGG Id: 80979

The second table of four opted for Fortuna, an Essen release last year from the designers of Pillars of the Earth. The game is both a race to the centre of Rome and a resource manipulation game to better your chances of moving forward and gaining priveliges (which can generate further victory points). The interesting mechanism is in the choice of actions. Players have three actions available to them and, having exercised one of them, they then swap that action with one of their opponents. Once someone reaches the centre of Rome, points are awarded for how close to Rome you are (with anyone stranded outside the gates of Rome being eliminated) together with points from the priveliges you collected.

I went for a strategy of getting married and building a palace, together with acquiring two vestal virgins, which gave me the opportunity of moving quickly without spending resources. However, I missed out on a number of priveliges which was what Mark K was concentrating on. Nige was giving me a run for my money in the race to Rome but I set myself up for potentially reaching Rome quite a bit earlier than anyone else. However, the dice failed me and Nige was able to get to Rome first. On the plus side, I could still reach Rome and pick up a privelige card (which would have won me the game) if I could roll a three or more on either of two dice. Result: a pair of two's. Doh! In the end though, Mark K took full benefit from the priveliges he had collected to top Nige's score for the win. We liked the way Fortuna played quite a bit but the fact that the game could turn quite dramatically on a good or poor dice roll detracted a little bit. It didn't bother me as much as Nige - particularly as a clue is in the title: You need good fortune to win Fortuna.

 
Player
Rating
Score
Position
Winner
Mark K
7
19
1
Nige
6
17
2
Garry
7
16
3
Mark G
7
14
4

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