Reviving an old thread here.
Earlier this week I ended up chatting with another tournament player and gave as a suggestion for getting familiar with maps that playing a few solo games is a fun, fast approach. And having said that, I had a crack at the solo game myself.
The ones that worked out best:
- Base game only, playing Inventrix on Vastitas Borealis: 142VP, played just now. If you're interested, the final game state will still be visible until Monday 6 July in the evening:
https://boardgamearena.com/tableview?table=878479147
Second best solo game earlier this week was also on Vastitas Borealis: Mining Guild with an improbable Jovian sideline. 128VP, base game only.
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=877474423
One thing I've noticed: somehow I enjoy playing on Vastitas best, and it best fits my style of play. I'm fine with Tharsis and Elysium, but somehow I've never come to enjoy Hellas. That map feels like a slog to me. I have the same thing in competitive play: I tend not to enjoy games on Hellas much, even if I get a strong game going and end up winning. In the solo game, I didn't get any particularly high scores on Hellas (also tried with Preludes) - and got to the 80-90 range. So with random maps, I keep my fingers crossed and hope that Vastitas shows up - and will simply grin and bear it when Hellas appears.