Power Grid: Auction in following rounds

Question

This question is a followup of this question.

Let's say, we have A, B C and D again:

First round: If A chooses Power plant, but D wins, then A will initiate another auction. Again when A chooses Power plant, but C wins, then A will initiate yet another auction. Looks like A has a slight adavantage here - it can potentially force others to bid higher for a power plant, or trick them into buying plants which it does not intend.

If A passes during an auction which it started, does it still get the option to initiate the next auction?

Subsequent rounds: If A chooses Power plant, D wins, who initiates the auction again? A or B? If A initiates, then how is a subsequent round is any different from the first round? If B initiates, does this mean A never gets the chance to initiate an auction again in this round?

Answer 1

It sounds like you are mixing different uses of the word "round". When the rules say "Exception: In the first round of the game, each player must buy a power plant" it means round as in a full round of the game, where there's auction, resource buying, etc. But you seem to be using round to mean a round of the action phase, where 1 plant is auctioned off.

So in the very first round of the game, the player whose turn it is to pick a plant is not allowed to pass. He must pick a plant to bid on. In later rounds, if it is your turn to pick a plant for auction, you can pass instead, in which case you do not get to buy a plant at all until the next game round.

If you pass in the middle of a specific auction for a specific plant, that just means you can no longer bid on that plant. You can still bid on the next plant to be auctioned, or pick a plant yourself when your turn comes up.

Answer 2

In all of your cases A chooses the next power plant. The rules are quite clear:

When a player other than the player who started the auction wins the auction, the auctioning player may choose a new plant to auction from the actual market or pass

A will keep putting power plants up for bid until either

• A wins a power plant auction
• A passes (and is out for the entire phase, they will not get a power plant this turn)

Remember, that when choosing a power plant A must make the first bid for at least the minimum printed on the power plant card.