by davypi
Macrawn wrote:
Owning the colliery also gives a good leg up because everyone needs to use that building and it costs 2 food. It makes the game feel narrow and solved.
With respect, I think its claims like this that demonstrate why Le Havre is not a solved game. I have played games where players were able to acquire more energy by picking up the neglected wood offer and converting to charcoal than they would going the coal/coke route. Similarly, with four or five players, it is possible to win the game through buildings instead of shipping. Admittedly, it does require that the other players are continually cutting each other out of the key locations needed for big shipping. You need some experience with the game to recognize when these opportunities are open, but coal/coke/steel is not the only game in town. I have to agree though that it is unfortunate that these other avenues are too often the exception rather than the norm.
I personally would like to see a second edition of the game open up some more avenues for victory.
At one point there was discussion of releasing another expansion for Le Havre that would replace the standard buildings. The idea would be that you have two ways to play, much like the France/Ireland choice you have when playing Ora. Unfortunately this never came to light and, given how old the game is, I'm skeptical that it ever will.