I need tedium

At WBC this year a couple gamer buddies of mine taught me Through The Ages.  I didn't actually play a game though, just learned the rules.  They sold me on getting the app, and when I got home I played through it a couple of times.

That game is THICK.  It took me hours to play through even against only a couple of AIs who never hesitate or think.

I learned that I can beat the Training AI on my first run through, and the level 1 AI on my second game.  I also learned that playing online for my first games has some real issues.

When you play in person you actually have to move all the bits around.  That is annoying for sure, especially with all the bits that TTA has, but moving those bits gets you accustomed to how all the bits are supposed to move.  You actually know the rules!  When you play online for your first game all kinds of rules are handled by the machine and you never end up learning them.

For example, in my second game I was in a spot where I seemed sure to lose.  I just didn't have enough points to beat one of the AIs.  I durdled through my last turn, playing as many things as possible for fun, and then noticed that I was ahead instead of behind.  Juh?

It turns out I got a bunch of points for just playing out my cards.  I didn't know that was a rule, and had to try to figure out what the rule was by replaying my cards slowly and watching my point total shift.  I still don't know the rule properly... I got 3 points for some cards, but I don't know if that is 3 points for an Age 3 card, or 3 points for any cards, or what else it might be.  If I was playing in person I would have actually watched players moving tokens around and been able to ask what was up.  Against the AI though, it managed to happen in the background without me noticing.

I need to sit down with some experienced players and actually shove all those stupid tokens around a time or two so I can actually figure out what the heck is going on in that game.  Tedious counting and positioning, here I come!

Also, I need to play a bazillion times.  Every turn I was up against some problem of my own creation - not enough workers, and 1 food short of being able to make another one.  Too many rocks, and not enough places to spend them.  Not enough rocks, and a wonder that is going to blow up when the age changes.  I kept on making errors that cost me small amounts of stuff, and it is clear that I am going to need to play one hundred times to be competent at the game.

I can *feel* how bad I am.  I can see all the ways a good player would crush me, but I can't see them until I have already screwed everything up.  There are some games where I can see further, plan better, and my instincts work, and this one is going to take a long time to get there.

There is a league where I can play TTA but I haven't signed up.  I would just end up being the bank, the player with a bad army who everyone beats up to steal resources and points.  No point in playing there until I can be vaguely competent, I think.  Once I can beat the hardest AIs consistently I will be ready to face actual human opposition.