by Thunkd
askimbey wrote:
Is anyone else frustrated with the loan rule?
The loan jijitsu is one of the things that makes the game challenging.
askimbey wrote:
Here is the perfect example: In a game last night, Green had 2 gold and no food and a 4 food phase was coming up right after my action. I visited his Abbatoir which meant I had to give him 2 gold entrance fee. He actually made me check the rules to see if he could waive the 2 gold entrance fee, a totally ridiculous request except that taking the gold would make it so on his next turn he just couldn't visit a building because he would have no gold (instead of 2 gold and a loan if I hadn't visited his abbatoir).
This is one of the things you have to keep in mind when playing Le Havre. This was fairly predictable because he should have been able to see that you needed food and had cattle. The more interesting situation would be where you did something unexpected to give him the gold so that he couldn't build next turn, especially if that allowed you to swoop in and build it instead. It's these types of calculations that make Le Havre a fascinating multiplayer game.
I guess you could house rule it... but I think it would be neutering the game a little and making it too easy. I mean you could house rule it where you don't need food either, right? But what would be the point of the game then? If you want to make an easy version, you're free to... but other people play the real game and have mastered the loan mechanics, it's doable. So if you enjoy the "lite" version and you're never going to play this outside your game group, then go for it. But you're losing something by doing it.