Pandemic (Victory!)

[Farren]

/in.

[Farren]

I've only played Pandemic once before, so I'd prefer no harder than 5 (and would not object to 4 if Nancy's never played before).

[Farren]

Same here.

[Farren]

Where can we see what Event cards (like Resilient Population) do?

[Farren]

Looking over our powers:

You can move us around as well as yourself, as well as teleport anyone to a city if someone else is already there.
I can remove all cubes from a city instead of just one, as well as auto-clean cured diseases wherever I am.
Nancy can discover cures more efficiently.
Charles can stop infections from spreading.

So looks like my priority should be getting to cities with three cubes and cleaning them up. Milan and Madrid are both three cubes and next-door neighbors, so that's what I'm going to look to do - get there as fast as possible and get them out of the danger zone.

the worst, since you said you were open to suggestions, I can think of a couple of ideas.

1) Cleaning up locally in North America (New York / Washington / Miami).
2) Using your dispatch powers to move me closer to Milan.

Or assisting Charles and/or Nancy with their priorities, once they have a chance to chime in - since your power is uniquely suited to helping others out.

As far as disease priority goes, Black is looking like a good candidate to me for first cure - we have three black cards between us, and Nancy has two of them, so we're well on our way to having the card power to deal with it.

[Farren]

Yup, I'm cool with that. If I find myself in Madrid, then I'll clean up Paris and Milan on my next turn, then Istanbul on the following.

[Farren]

Tentative plan for this turn:

1) Move to Paris
2) Treat Disease (Paris)
3) Move to Milan
4) Treat Disease (Milan)

I'll wait about 24 hours before officially submitting to give everyone a chance to weigh in, but that's what I'm thinking right now.

[Farren]

So I need two more grey cards?

With two more grey (black?) cards, you can cure the grey (black?) disease.

[Farren]

Official Move

1. Move to Paris
   
2. Treat Disease (Paris)
   
3. Move to Milan
   
4. Treat Disease (Milan)

[Farren]

Is that more of a "I'm not sure what to do overall" or "I'm not sure what to do right now?"

Are you looking for advice or options?

[Farren]

Overall, we're trying to eradicate four diseases - Blue, Red, Yellow, Black - before they spread out of control and kill us all.

To eradicate a disease, we have to do two things to it.

First, we have to cure it. To do that, one of us has to get five cards matching the disease's color and spend an action on curing it (discarding the cards). If you're the one doing the curing, you only need four matching cards instead of five.
Second, we have to remove all of that color's cubes from the board. Any of us can spend an action to remove one cube from a city if we're in a city with one or more cubes. If I'm the one doing the removing, OR if the disease in question has been cured first, that action removes all cubes of one color from the city.

Every turn, more cubes hit the board - and if a city tries to go over three cubes, it causes a chain reaction that results in a crapton of extra cubes hitting the board and brings us one step closer to failure. So we can't ignore the cubes while we work on cures.

[Farren]

What to do right now:

Your special power gives you an edge when curing diseases, so it makes sense for you to spend most of your time and energy on that. You've got two black cards already; having four lets you cure the black disease.

I'd recommend talking with Charles and the worst about coordinating to get their black cards before doing anything (I have one too, but I'm a ways away from you; everyone else is closer).

[Farren]

Taking a better look at the rules; apparently I had a few misconceptions about them.

On your turn, you take four actions from this list. You can take the same action multiple times.

1. Move ...
   • ... to an adjacent city (free)
     
   • ... to a city you have a card of (discard the card)
     
   • ... to any city with a Research Center (if you're in a city with a Research Center)
     
   • ... to any city, no limits (discard a card matching the city you're in right now)
2. Treat Disease in your current city (remove a cube of your choice from the city you're in)
   
3. Take a city card from another player (both you and the other player must be in the card's city)
   
4. Give a city card to another player (both you and the other player must be in the card's city)
   
5. Cure a Disease (discard
   five
   four cards of the same color to cure the disease of that color)
   
6. Build a Research Center in your current city (discard a card matching the city you're in right now)

[Farren]

So that coordination is going to take a lot more work than I thought; I didn't realize you had to be in the listed city to trade a card with someone. Riyadh and Moscow are both a good distance from Atlanta.

Both Miami and Washington DC are close by with two cubes. One option would be to move to one of those two cities and clear out both cubes. That'd cover three of your four actions (Move / Treat / Treat).

If you picked Miami, you could start heading south with an eye towards Africa (big hotspot that needs a lot of work, but it'll take time to get there).
If you picked DC, you could head towards Toronto (not a high priority, and the worst could probably do it - but he specializes in moving people around, so if Toronto's out of danger, it frees him up to work his movement magic).

[Farren]

@mod

: just to clarify on Government Grant: could I use that right now to drop a Research Center in Riyadh? (not saying I want to right now, but at least considering it)

[Farren]

the worst, how willing are you to give away that Riyadh card to Nancy?

If I use Government Grant to drop a Research Center in Riyadh this turn, she could get over there with her action this turn. She could do something like this:

1) Move to DC
2) Treat Disease (DC)
3) Move to Atlanta
4) Move to Riyadh

(mostly so that she ends her turn in Riyadh)

... then you could dispatch your way over there at some point during your turn and give her the Riyadh card. Thoughts? (from both you and Nancy)

[Farren]

Nancy, which would you rather prioritize right now? Trying to cure diseases (necessary for winning; requires cooperation and coordination with other players) or trying to treat diseases (necessary to avoid losing; can be done without cooperation / coordination).

(If there's a "right" answer, I don't know what it is - this is more about trying to figure out how you want to play the game.)

[Farren]

Play Government Grant

- place a Research Center in Riyadh.

[Farren]

So what I just did there was create a route between Atlanta and Riyadh - anyone can now move between those two cities with a single Move action.

Nancy, if you end your turn this round in Riyadh, the worst can arrange to give you his Riyadh card. Alternately, you may be able to get away with ending your turn elsewhere and having the worst move you to Riyadh, but you'd have to work that out with him.

You could do something like this:

1) Move to (your choice of Washington DC or Miami; don't think it matters which?)
2) Treat Disease
3) Move to Atlanta
4) Move to Riyadh

It would take the worst two of his four actions to move to Riyadh on his next turn and give you the Riyadh card this way. Alternately, you could do this:

1) Move to (your choice of Washington DC or Miami; don't think it matters which?)
2) Treat Disease
3) Treat Disease
4) Move to Atlanta

It would take the worst to three of his four actions to move you to Riyadh, meet up with you, and give you the card.

[Farren]

(note: you'll need to pick either DC or Miami for #1.)

[Farren]

As good an answer as any, unless anyone wants to chime in with an argument that it does matter - and no one has, so I assume no one's going to by now.

[Farren]

I’m still in the hospital, moving to a rehabilitation facility tomorrow. Lots of pain. I think it’s best if I replace out. Sorry guys

Swift recovery!

[Farren]

Greetings, GeorgeBailey!

[Farren]

Note that we have a Research Center set up in Riyadh, so moving to there from Atlanta (and vice versa) only takes one move. If you're trying to get over this way in a hurry, that's probably the fastest method that doesn't involve spending a card.

Also, I plan to clean up Istanbul on my next turn - although your nearby presence would help make sure that it doesn't have a chance to spiral out of control before I get there!

[Farren]

Your action #3 would have to be "Give Nancy the Riyadh card" in your initial plan; giving a card costs an action. I'd be okay with getting the move to Istanbul as your first move; that lets me clear out both Istanbul and Khartoum on my next turn instead of just Istanbul.

Getting the blue cards into your hand also sounds like a good idea. Yeah, Nancy can cure it more efficiently from a card perspective, but given that you've already got three out of five cards, it'll take far fewer actions to have you do it. Plus there's a hand limit, so she can't get all the cards anyway.

I'd oppose switching places right now.

[Farren]

Proposed plan of action for this round:

1) Treat Disease (Istanbul)
2) Move to Cairo
3) Move to Khartoum
4) Treat Disease (Khartoum)

Khartoum's now at three thanks to the outbreak in Kinshasa, so me treating it is even more important. Then next round I can clear out Kinshasa.
Also, looking for general thoughts on if I should use Resilient Population or not (and if so, on which card).

Will wait at least 24 hours for feedback, or until everyone's chimed in.

[Farren]

Official Actions

1. Treat Disease (Istanbul)
   
2. Move to Cairo
   
3. Move to Khartoum
   
4. Treat Disease (Khartoum)

[Farren]

Infections: Milan and

Khartoum

*phew*

That was close ...

[Farren]

As your first action, you definitely want to take the Moscow card from George.

After that, I guess you could take the Essen card, move to St. Petersberg, then move to Essen (to set yourself up to build a research centre there next turn, then research a cure to the black virus).

Less sure about the second part. I woke up a few minutes ago and haven't switched my brain on yet.

There's a simpler way. Nancy, you've got a Miami card. You could cure the black disease this turn like this:

1) Share Knowledge - take Moscow card from GeorgeBailey.
2) Move to Miami (via Miami card).
3) Move to Atlanta.
4) Cure Black Disease.

Is this worth spending the Miami card on? (in my opinion, yes.)
Is there anything else you can accomplish this round that's worth putting off a disease cure? (in my opinion, no.)

[Farren]

If you decide to go with Essen -> Washington (setting up the worst to grab your Washington card), I could end 3.2 in San Francisco with the SF card intact (while still cleaning up Khartoum!). the worst could theoretically cure blue as soon as 4.1 if we set things up correctly.

(3.1: he teleports to Washington and grabs Washington from you. 4.1: if one of us is at a research center, he could a) teleport to SF; b) take my SF card; c) teleport to whichever of us is at a center; d) cure blue.)

Alternately, if you decide to go the Kinshasa route (ensuring that Kinshasa doesn't boil over before I get there), might I recommend stopping at Khartoum and treating it instead? You'd have more cities in range that way (including Kinshasa and everything next to it), and take out a cube to boot.

[Farren]

Moving me is only going to be helpful if I'm not giving you the SF card, or if you end your turn in SF.

My plan for 3.2 was this:

1) Move to Kinshasa
2) Treat Disease (Kinshasa)
3) Move to Tokyo (via Tokyo card)
4) Move to San Francisco.

If I'm ending my turn in SF, I don't really have anything productive I can do with an extra move - unless a cube pops up in Tokyo or San Francisco. (Khartoum has a cube, but if I'm moved out of Khartoum I wouldn't be able to treat it.)

[Farren]

@TW what if instead of teleporting Farren, you teleport me to Kinshasa? That way I can hold the front in case of an outbreak. After you get the Washington card of course.

He can't teleport you to Kinshasa - nobody's there - but he could teleport you to Khartoum (where I currently am), which would be just as effective.

[Farren]

May your recovery go swiftly! Please keep us posted when you can.

[Farren]

So it looks like things have changed significantly since my last planning period - the worst now has five blue cards, and thus doesn't need mine anymore. So that means I'm freed up to do whatever, I think.

Obviously treating Kinshasa is still a thing I should do.

1) Move to Kinshasa.
2) Treat Kinshasa.

3 and 4, though ... maybe next item on the agenda should be assembling either yellow or red cards? I could play S.F and move to Tokyo, available to hand off to anyone else who gets here?

[Farren]

So, I think it’s my turn now, Any advice is much appreciated.

Right now it's my turn; your turn is next. I had my turn planned out - to give the worst a blue card, but he drew a blue card and no longer needs one. So I'm trying to figure out what our next priority is and if there's anything I can do about it - or if I should just keep heading towards hotspots. (Besides Kinshasa; that one I'm cleaning up for sure.)

[Farren]

Nancy has one red card fewer, but needs one red card fewer, so it's a wash; George's abilities might be more useful in North America given that it's more of a hot zone.

I'm not really needed in the red zone right now, so apart from handing off Tokyo, I'd probably aim to head to North America after that, depending on how things develop.

[Farren]

Forgot: once Blue is cured, cleaning it up would be easier. I think that once it's cured, everyone else basically gets my level of treatment skill, while I no longer need to spend actions at all to treat. So maybe I wouldn't be needed there at all ... ?

[Farren]

Between the three black hotspots right now, I've got cards next to two of them, and the third one's on a research station. Given that black's already cured, we should be able to keep it under control, I think.

As an added bonus, Chennai is also next to Bangkok, if that starts looking like a problem.

Hm. So let's see.

1) Move to Kinshasa
2) Treat Kinshasa
3) Card to SF
4) Move to Tokyo (in preparation for giving Nancy the Tokyo card)

That's not official yet, but that's my current plan. Will give everyone else a little more time to weigh in, then submit later tonight unless there's new ideas.

[Farren]

Official Move

1) Move to Kinshasa
2) Treat Disease - Kinshasa
3) Move to San Francisco (playing the San Francisco card)
4) Move to Tokyo

[Farren]

That map shows me still being in Kinshasa; I should be in Tokyo.

[Farren]

Okay everyone, I need your help please and thank you.

Short-term, there are some cubes nearby that you could clear out. Khartoum, Lagos, Cairo, Riyadh, and Algiers all have cubes and are nearby. The black disease has been cured, so it would only take you one action to clear a city with two cubes - but those cities are further away.

Long-term, you should be thinking about trying to cure either the Red or Yellow disease. Right now, I don't think you can make any immediate progress towards that, but it's something to keep in mind for future turns. I'm currently on standby in Tokyo (or will be, as soon as the map's properly updated) with a Tokyo card to assist with Red. That'll require the worst's assistance on his next turn.

[Farren]

For the long-term decision: I think Red would be a better bet for you to work on. You've already got one red card, and you've got me on standby waiting to give you another. That will put you 50% of the way to curing Red. You are in the Yellow region now, though, and if you start drawing Yellow cards that could start looking like a better idea. (Or you could draw Red cards, making Red an even better option. No way of knowing which will happen!)

For the short-term decision: If you decide on Red for the long-term decision, clearing out nearby cubes is the best short-term decision. I'd consider these two options:

1) Treat Disease (Khartoum)
2) Move to Cairo
3a) Move to Algiers
4a) Treat Algiers

OR

3b) Move to Riyadh
4b) Treat Riyadh

Lagos and Cairo can't grow while George is nearby, so I think they're less of a priority. (Neither can Khartoum, but you're already there, so it's easy to treat efficiently.)

Riyadh has a research center, which makes getting there for people a little bit easier in general. Based on that I'd lean Algiers over Riyadh.

If you decide on Yellow for the long term decision, you'll probably want to stay in the Yellow area to make it easier to move cards around there. I think that'll require more coordination to work out, given where all the yellow cards are right now.

[Farren]

/co-sign.

And yes, seconding what the worst said. I don't want you to feel like we're robbing you of your agency.

[Farren]

@mod

That map shows me still being in Kinshasa; I should be in Tokyo.

Also shows that I still have the San Francisco card when I shouldn't.
Want to make sure this is fixed before processing Nancy's turn,

since it sounds like she's ready to submit

.

(PEdit> strikethrough)

[Farren]

You only get four moves, not five.

The Mexico City card could get you to Toronto in 3, if you're willing to spend it; would leave you an extra move to Treat in either Chicago or Toronto itself. (Probably Chicago, since the worst will be curing Blue next round?)

Without the card, I think you could get to just about any of Toronto's neighbors, but not Toronto itself?

[Farren]

Is there a point in treating if it'll be cured soon?

Curing it doesn't make the cubes go away; it just makes them easier to remove for all of us. Removing a single cube from a city with two cubes would be kinda silly for a disease that's about to be cured, but removing a single cube from a city with no cubes - eh, it's something to do that isn't pointless?

I don't think it's worth spending the Mexico City card on, but if you're going to spend it anyway to get to Toronto, then it's probably the most productive thing you could do with the extra action.

I think your Chicago plan sounds like a good one.

[Farren]

Hm. Think I can actually clean up Madrid.

Assuming we go with our original plan of teleporting Nancy to meet me so I can give her the Tokyo card, my next move would look like this:
1) Give Tokyo card to Nancy
2) Travel to Sao Paolo (via card)
3) Move&Treat Madrid
4) Move&Treat New York (or Paris ... but Paris just got hit again, so New York's probably the smarter play here?)

Using Resilient Population on Kolkata may not be a bad idea either at this point ...

Downside is that it would involve spending a card for an uncured disease. We've already got six yellows between us, but Sao Paolo is a hub location unlike, say, Santiago.

[Farren]

If you intend to cure Madrid, might George be better placed exactly where he is?

Not sure if there's tonnes of value in treating New York quite yet, since we have the cure and both George and I where we are, does it make more sense for you to focus on Europe while we clean up the blue virus next turn?

If this is so, maybe I'll do;

1. Move to Atlanta.
2. Research blue.
3. Move to Washington (getting ready for cleanup duty ).
4. Nancy to Tokyo (Farren).

Sorry, didn't realize this was aimed at me. Please poke me if it looks like I'm ignoring something important and/or relevant.

After Madrid, I can either steamroll west or east, depending on which looks more problematic. But yeah, if there's coverage to the west, might make more sense for me to head east if all else is equal.

[Farren]

Well then. Maybe my plans need to change up a bit.

Still want to give Tokyo card to Nancy. Now should probably treat in Tokyo, since it went from zero to plague zone in the blink of an eye. Question is, where to after that? Chennai -> Kolkata (treating both as I move), move to Osaka and treat it, or warp to Sao Paulo and move&treat Madrid?

Also, is this a good time to use Resilient Population? Looking for opinions.

[Farren]

(not my official submission)

1. Treat Disease - Tokyo
2. Give Tokyo card to Nancy Drew 39
3. Move to Chennai & Treat (play Chennai card)
4. Move to Kolkata & Treat

Other advantage to not burning Sao Paolo is keeping it available for curing Yellow later. Yeah, I think I like this. Will wait longer to see if GeorgeBailey and/or Nancy have any opinions.

[Farren]

I need to re-read the rules about how Epidemics work. There's some funny business about how that discard pile works, and I'm not 100% sure about it off the top of my head.

[Farren]

Okay. Whenever Epidemic cards are drawn, everything in the Infection Discard pile gets shuffled and placed back on the top of the Infection Deck. So that's why Kolkata and Paris showed up again so soon - the Epidemic put them back into play and guaranteed that they'd show up again.

Here's a problem: Resilient Population can be used during an Epidemic, between the Infect and Intensify steps. But I wasn't given an opportunity to use it.

At that time, if processing had paused between Infect and Intensify, we would know with 100% certainty that Kolkata and Paris would be hit - those were the only two cards in the discard pile at the time, and they'd get moved to the top of the deck.

@mod

:

does this justify a rewind back to the Epidemic processing, between Infect and Intensify, so we can decide whether to use Resilient Population on Kolkata, preventing one of the outbreaks?

(Something else will get hit instead, so I don't think it's a 100% no-brainer ... ?)

[Farren]

This was a mistake on my part, so I’ll allow the use of Resilient Population as if it was during an Epidemic. If you want to do so, please submit the action on its own.

Use Resilient Population on Kolkata, during the Epidemic.

[Farren]

All right. So now that that's done, Kolkata still has three cubes left - but now there's one less Kolkata card out there. Plus I'm looking at hands and seeing that the worst is 3/5 of the way to curing Yellow. GeorgeBailey also has Bogota and Mexico City both, which are both pretty close to both of them and pretty close to Atlanta. So I'm thinking I'll save Sao Paulo for rapid transit to Europe.

Me hitting up Kolkata now also looks a little less interesting (as Chennai no longer has that single cube) - so I'm thinking about shifting my focus to Europe / North America via Sao Paulo to free up the worst / GeorgeBailey to concentrate on curing Yellow?

[Farren]

No matter what, I am definitely going to clean up Tokyo this turn. Theoretically I could also stop by Osaka if need be, but that would take up all the rest of my turn.

[Farren]

The only concern there is Madrid. Both Madrid and Paris are at three cubes; if either one shows up again, it'll trigger outbreaks in both. We're drawing three cards a round now, so that'd mean six cards will show up before GeorgeBailey could theoretically get over there and at least stop the spread.

Of course, GeorgeBailey also has the two yellow cards for Yellow and the two red cards for Red, and he can't be in three places at once.

George, what are you planning to prioritize next? Giving yellow cards to the worst, giving red cards to Nancy, or keeping Blue under control?

[Farren]

No answer. Don't want to delay things too much. And I think two adjacent areas with three cubes each has to be my biggest priority.

Official submission

1. Treat Disease - Tokyo
   
   
2. Give Tokyo card to Nancy Drew 39
   
   
3. Teleport to Sao Paulo (play Sao Paulo card)
   
   
4. Move-to-and-treat Madrid

[Farren]

Nancy: your best move is probably to stay in Asia and work on the red cities. That way we can try to meet up with you to hand off more red cards to you.

George has a Manila and Beijing card; I just drew a Hong Kong card, so trying to stay close to those cities while getting rid of red cubes is probably your best bet.

I'd consider one of these two:

1) Move to Seoul
2) Treat Seoul
3) Move to Shanghai
4) Treat Shanghai

OR

1) Move to Osaka
2) Treat Osaka
3) Treat Osaka
4) Move to Taipei

The first slate leaves you between Beijing and Hong Kong; the second slate leaves you between Manila and Hong Kong. Both clear out two red cubes.

Osaka's more likely to be an issue from regular card draws; Seoul/Shanghai are more likely to be an issue from epidemic draws. I don't know which is the better idea as far as treatment goes.
Ending in Taipei gives you a *little* more flexibility in terms of getting cards later, as Hong Kong and Manila are both next to Taipei and to each other.

[Farren]

My current plans for my next turn, assuming no major changes (hah!), look something like:
1) Move&Treat Paris
2) Teleport to Chennai
3) Move&Treat Kolkata
4) Move to Hong Kong

The card pass can be a card grab too, so that'll set Nancy up to grab Hong Kong from me on her following turn.

[Farren]

Madrid (blocked by Medic)

We would have been so hosed if I hadn't gone to Madrid.

[Farren]

1. Move to Toronto
2. Treat Toronto
3. Move to New York
4. Treat New York

Everyone good with that?

This looks good. The fewer three-cube cities on the board, the better - especially adjacent ones.

[Farren]

On my end - my prime goal is to end my next turn at Hong Kong so that Nancy can get the Hong Kong card from me.

I can do that without being moved around, but there would be a couple of advantages to moving me to Paris:
1) One less turn where drawing Paris triggers an outbreak;
2) I have the option of treating Bangkok instead of Kolkata.

Moving Nancy to Hong Kong might also be a good idea; it'd save her a move on her next turn.

[Farren]

If I'm not moved at all, this is my next plan.
1) Move&Treat Paris
2) Move to Chennai (via card)
3) Move&Treat Kolkata
4) Move to Hong Kong (so Nancy can grab the card from me on her next turn).

If I'm moved to Paris, then I hit up Bangkok instead of Kolkata with the extra move. Still wouldn't be able to do both.

Just moving me to Shanghai wouldn't accomplish much - I'd still have to choose between Bangkok and Kolkata, and I'd miss out on Paris.

There's a way I could hit all three, but it'd take most of your turn to do it; dunno if it's worth it.

1) Move me to Paris (which should auto-treat it - maybe confirm with lendunistus?)
2) Move me to Shanghai
3) Move me to Hong Kong
4) ... ?

Then I could follow up with
1) Move&Treat Kolkata
2) Move to Bangkok
3) Treat Bangkok
4) Move to Hong Kong.

[Farren]

1) Move me to Paris (which should auto-treat it - maybe confirm with lendunistus?)
2) Move me to Shanghai
3) Move me to Hong Kong
4)

Treat Washington

how would this be? any objections George/Nancy?

Looks good to me. Might delay Yellow some, but Yellow doesn't seem to be a major threat right now.

[Farren]

@mod

: the card draws got put into my hand instead of the worst's.

[Farren]

While waiting for that to be cleared up - don't see any reason not to go with my original plan.

Not official yet; will give everyone at least some time to check in.

1. Move&Treat Kolkata
2. Move to Bangkok
3. Treat Bangkok
4. Move to Hong Kong.

[Farren]

1. Move&Treat Kolkata
2. Move to Bangkok
3. Treat Bangkok
4. Move to Hong Kong.

[Farren]

That looks like a good plan to me. Chartering to Chicago and treating it would be an option as well, but I think Cairo's the better choice - Riyadh is in danger, so picking Cairo will reduce the damage from an outbreak if Riyadh boils over before anyone can get to it.

The first two moves (Move to Hong Kong, taking my Hong Kong card) give you the cards you need to cure Red; moving to Cairo puts you close to a Research Center, where you can research the cure. You can't quite cure it this turn, so treating Cairo helps mitigate some risk from the Black disease.

[Farren]

So, does everyone agree that this is the best plan? If so, I’ll probably choose it.

I agree.

[Farren]

Wait, terminology clarification ...

I don't think "Charter" is the right term. Specifically, you want to play the Cairo card to move to Cairo. "Charter" could be misinterpreted as "use your Hong Kong card to move anywhere" instead of "use your Cairo card to move to Cairo specifically."

[Farren]

I double-checked the rules.

Either "Direct Flight" to Cairo, or just "Play Cairo card to move to Cairo" will work.
"Charter" is the term that specifically means "Play a card matching the city you're in to move anywhere." Doing that here would be bad.

[Farren]

Looks good.

[Farren]

Don't discard anything red.

I think London's probably the safest card to discard, but as long as you don't discard a red card I don't think it matters too much at this point.

[Farren]

Looks good to me!

[Farren]

It looks like we have just enough time to cure yellow and red before the deck runs out. We just have to make sure that the outbreaks don't totally go out of control before then.

I believe all the epidemic cards are gone, so we only need to worry about regular infections from here on out.

I can take out one of the two red cities myself on my turn. If I'm moved to Beijing, I can take out both with my Taipei card - but putting George next to one reduces the danger faster than I can, so maybe that's a better idea? Since you pretty much *have* to get the Bogotá card this turn ...

Riyadh's also a problem, but Nancy should have time to clear that out herself on her turn (after curing red).

[Farren]

Agree that the former's better. George being there means it's protected now; me cleaning it out means it's protected next turn.

I don't think the choice of location is important, but admittedly could be wrong.

[Farren]

When an Epidemic is drawn, the infection discard pile is reshuffled - including the card that the Epidemic hit - and placed on top of the corresponding deck. So things that have been drawn in the past are more likely to show up again sooner rather than later. The question is, how many Beijing cards got reshuffled versus how many Osaka cards.

[Farren]

Here's my proposed move:
1) Move to Shanghai
2) Move to Beijing
3) Treat Beijing
4) Move&Treat Istanbul (via playing a card).

Any thoughts?

[Farren]

1) Move to Shanghai
2) Move to Beijing
3) Treat Beijing
4) Move&Treat Istanbul (via playing a card).

[Farren]

I don't think it'll matter by that point. Either we get all the cures live and win, or we don't and lose. I think we've got enough time, but just barely.

[Farren]

It's your turn, Nancy.

[Farren]

Those first two are 100% critical; I'm pretty sure this will be your last turn and if we don't cure Red now, we'll never get another opportunity.

Treating Riyadh is also important since it's at three cubes, but since Black's cured it'll only take one Treat Disease action there to remove all three cubes.

I can't think of anything else productive to do with your last action, though. If you can skip it, I'd do so. If you can't, I'd just move to Atlanta. That way you're still at a research station, so the worst can teleport to where you are to save time if needed.

- Move to Riyadh
- Cure Red Disease
- Treat Riyadh
- ???

[Farren]

I don't think Kinshasa can threaten us anymore. For that matter, neither can Tokyo, Sydney, Osaka, or Algiers.

The infection deck has 48 cards; there are 48 different cities. One of each would be a logical breakdown. Normally repeats show up courtesy of the EPIDEMIC cards, which put the discard pile back on top of the infection deck - but we're out of EPIDEMIC cards. So anything in the infection discard deck can't hurt us.

Either way, the game ends on the worst's next turn. He can cure Yellow - he has the cards and can get to a research station easily - and that means all four diseases will be cured and we win. If that weren't true, we'd lose because he wouldn't be able to draw two cards.

So I don't think it matters what you do this turn. the worst's suggested turn - combined with your idea of having Nancy Airlift me to Algiers - would provide maximum protection against existing three-cube threats. Your suggested turn would provide maximum protection against a chain-EPIDEMIC draw in yellow. Go with whatever sounds aesthetically pleasing to you.

[Farren]

@Nancy

if you see this before Lend does the turn, use your airdrop to move Farren to Algiers.

I am okay with this move.

[Farren]

Or could have a party in Riyadh!

[Farren]

Nancy's already in Riyadh.

[Farren]

Well done, everyone! Fun game

As far as the length goes - eh, the game finished despite the delays.

Any sort of fully-cooperative game with open communication is either going to take a while, or it's going to be a less pleasant experience due to people not cooperating. I'd rather see the former over the latter.