It was a 3-player game, so that might explain my expectation that ships are so
important. with 6 food required in 5-player games, i see your point. anyone
tried it solo yet?

--- In LansingBoardGamers@yahoogroups.com, DSHStratRat2@... wrote:
>
> True, Le Havre is one of those games you really don't plan on winning your
> first time out. Your first game is just spent learning the buildings and
> all the different things they do. None of them is complicated, but there
> are a LOT of them (up to 30 building cards)--much like all the card options
> in Agricola. The difference is that in Agricola, you only have to figure
> out what your own hand of cards does; you can't use or do much about anyone
> else's cards. In Le Havre, every card played is a building that's
> available for anyone to use, so you're constantly scanning the table for your
best
> option. Lots of fun, but it involves at least a 1-game learning curve.
>
> It's also a very different game when you change the number of players. In
> a 5-player game, getting a good combination of buildings scores most of
> your points--you don't worry too much about chasing food for your population
> because you never have to come up with more than 6 food in any one round of
> play. With fewer players, you get more turns per round, so the food costs
> go up fast. With 2 or 3 players, it's a real scramble to build ships that
> help with your food supply. In a 5-player game, some players don't even
> bother building ships because the food costs are so much lower. That stuff
> changes your tactics quite a bit in a 2-player game from what they'd be
> with 4 or 5 players.
>
> Dick
>