Friday, February 5, 2016

Tabletopper Friday - Le Havre (2008)

I've probably played close to a dozen games of Le Havre (2008) over the last couple of years, all but the first with the Le Grand Hameau (2010) expansion and it has proven challenging and exciting to play every time.  It truly is one of my favorite games to play.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
In Le Havre, a player’s turn consists of two parts: First, distribute newly supplied goods onto the offer spaces; then take an action. As an action, players may choose either to take all goods of one type from an offer space or to use one of the available buildings. Building actions allow players to upgrade goods, sell them or use them to build their own buildings and ships. Buildings are both an investment opportunity and a revenue stream, as players must pay an entry fee to use buildings that they do not own. Ships, on the other hand, are primarily used to provide the food that is needed to feed the workers.
After every seven turns, the round ends: players’ cattle and grain may multiply through a Harvest, and players must feed their workers. After a fixed number of rounds, each player may carry out one final action, and then the game ends. Players add the value of their buildings and ships to their cash reserves. The player who has amassed the largest fortune is the winner.

We had a very close three-player game that ended with a mere twenty or so points separating first place from last.  I tried something a bit different this game once I saw how the Special cards were shaking out.  I've never done mush shipping and didn't go that route this time but I secured both wharves and snagged the Wooden Crane as soon as it came up.  I also got hold of both the Marketplace and the Hardware Store.  Most of my buildings saw a lot of action and that was the plan.  I stayed away from Loans most of the game and unloaded them in the final action which was fine since I had cleared most of my goods and built up some nice cash reserves before then.  I was able to take full advantage of the Harvests almost from the start so between that and the building fees probably had more income than in any other game of this I have played.  All in all I felt very good about my strategy throughout.  I can't wait to play again!

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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