I won a game against all experienced (although probably less skilled than I) players with 3 Aristocrats (all that were available to me) and won by a fair bit (at least 4 in a very low scoring game) but didn't note scores. All 3 other players had 5 Aristocrats. I took an extra Green in the last round at a slight negative cost to make sure the game ended and allow less opportunity for others to get more Aristos and Aristo Upgrades. In this game I got the lucky Mistress on turn 1 while another player got the Observatory turn 1. I only had moderate blues with 2 Firehouses? (the 11 get 3 building) bought on turn 3 I think. I also had two Pubs used fully on the final turn (but I had enough of a lead that the 2nd pub was unnecessary - could have easily gotten enough with another Blue). I think this was a 5 turn game. One other player could have gained 6 for another Aristo if he had drawn an Aristocrat upgrade with the Observatory in the last turn or 3 for 3 Aristocrat upgrades came up in the final upgrade phase. I don't know if that would have been enough to have him pass me but I don't think so. I certainly agree that lots of Aristocrats is generally the best strategy. Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 10 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by George Phillies. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com