I think you have to first realise that although this game is a LIGHT work placement game it is still that.  Games like this very much favor experience over just blind luck and randomness.  Get a few more games in and plan out your strategy for the late game earlier than the last moment. 

i love the balance in kingsburg between choosing military buildings early on or building ur way to the town hall. then later on going 4 a wizard's guild over religious buildings worth more v.p.  this also makes seeign the enemy card during the yr a nice bonus 2 get hold of. i dont see how u can be annoyed at the game being decided on a single roll when the entire game has been played with rolls and so there was a reason those 2 players were in a position 2 win

My group recently played this, and my dice rolls were so bad that I think I only rolled double digits about four times the entire game.  We had four players and I still only finished about five points behind the leaders.  I write leaders because, oddly enough, the other three tied for the win.  Even though my rolls were mostly unlucky, I don't feel like the game is too dependent on luck.  Most of the time you can overcome by smart decisions.

Our game group has played this game a ton with expansion.  Although die rolls do play apart in the out come of the game, this one of our most competitive games we play.  Luck has nothing to do with it.  This is a planning and skill game.  The people who do well at this game seem to do well every time. The people who struggle can get lucky once in awhile, but don't win very often. 

If you equal skilled players then a die roll at the end of the game can make the difference, but putting yourself in position to win was the key.

The expansion takes some die rolls out of the game and would be advised if you want less die rolling.

Hope that helps.

sounds like a great game , i'm tempted .
 

Hi everyone. :)

This is a great game I recently discovered thanks to a good friend....

I played it in 2, 3 and 4 players games and luck it's not that dominant as it seems...Ok, well...With good dice you can get some good stuff, but that's not always true, especially if you play with funny players that don't play just for themselves but a bit AGAINST... 

I won a game where I got horrible results...as well as a game where I started well but lost a powerful building...And so did a friend of mine...Another one lost 1 point behind me after playin' with a low number of buildings and bad rolls...Lost for a bad choice in the final...

So, luck is important, but that's a game and I prefer a bit of "hey, WTF?" than classic german game where the most emotional thing you can do is uncover the pieces. :) (with all due respect...I like some "placement" games, but I like the luck-factor of rollin' some dice. :)).