Buddy/Ignore List
07-07-2015, 01:21 AM
A mistake I frequently witness is that players dont have a good plan for how they will approach a game. Once you receive your start-up information you need to asses your kingdom and determine what your goals will be. Your plans and goals may change as the game progresses but if you dont have a plan your kingdom will reach a point where it will stagnate and at that point you have lost.
Most kingdoms will have a small window to start the game when you can focus on your own kingdom development. Can you take your region? Will you join the High Council? How will you survive the poor seasons? Which resources will you develop, political, military, agents, magic? What will you set as your SVC and ESO? You dont need to know all of the answers to these questions on turn one but by turn three you should have a plan.
What will you do if another kingdom interferes with your development period? The DE is notorious for showing up uninvited to cites outside of Arcania, just to slow other kingdoms development. I once played the GN in a game and the TR showed up at my capital with a massive group on turn 3. My goals for the game changed from visions of conquest to visions of driving the TR out of Runnumede. I fell into the "no plan" trap in this game. Once the TR left, I had no plan. Lucky the game ended a few turns later but during those few turns I did not enjoy the game. I knew I could not win but I also had no purpose in the game.
You cant, and wont, win every game but you need a purpose.
By mid game, turns 10 -15, you should have a clear plan for expansion. Have you picked out you expansion area? Have you collected the information you will need about that area, pop centers, capitals, etc? Do you have the resources required to expand? Are those resources in the right location, your emmies can only move 10 squares and most armies far fewer than that.
After turn 15, in SVC games, you are nearing the end. It is likely that someone is aiming to win the game by SVC on or near turn 20. If you are not that player, then you should be the player who is ready to pounce once it is apparent which player or players are making a run at the win. You might enjoy playing the spoiler role snatching away the victory. Remember you cant sit idle you have to actively be pursuing the information needed to play the spoiler. Do you know who is most likely to try for the win. Are your resources in position for the attack? Do you know where the pop centers are located in the region of your attack? Study the SVC conditions and try to guess which "minor" considerations the front runner would have chosen for their SVC. Can you sabotage their fleets, kick them off the high council, or take another action that would prevent them from declaring the win?
You cant, and wont, win every game but you need a purpose.
Winning the game may not always be your goal.
I once played a game as the Troll where I set the goal to have the most political emissaries in the game. At the end I dont know if I had the most but I won the game so it did not matter. My plan changed as the game developed but my initial goal helped me achieve victory.
I know someone who had played and gained status points with almost every kingdom. This player joined a game playing a kingdom he was not fond of, but his goal was to complete the game and gain status points. He met his goal and it kept him active in the game even though his chance at a win was not very good.
Another goal I have seen set, and achieved, the highest pop center defense. In the end the city had three times as much defense as it had population.
I said it twice earlier and I will repeat myself again.
You cant, and wont, win every game but you need a purpose.
If you have a purpose in every game you will enjoy the game, even if you dont win.
Most kingdoms will have a small window to start the game when you can focus on your own kingdom development. Can you take your region? Will you join the High Council? How will you survive the poor seasons? Which resources will you develop, political, military, agents, magic? What will you set as your SVC and ESO? You dont need to know all of the answers to these questions on turn one but by turn three you should have a plan.
What will you do if another kingdom interferes with your development period? The DE is notorious for showing up uninvited to cites outside of Arcania, just to slow other kingdoms development. I once played the GN in a game and the TR showed up at my capital with a massive group on turn 3. My goals for the game changed from visions of conquest to visions of driving the TR out of Runnumede. I fell into the "no plan" trap in this game. Once the TR left, I had no plan. Lucky the game ended a few turns later but during those few turns I did not enjoy the game. I knew I could not win but I also had no purpose in the game.
You cant, and wont, win every game but you need a purpose.
By mid game, turns 10 -15, you should have a clear plan for expansion. Have you picked out you expansion area? Have you collected the information you will need about that area, pop centers, capitals, etc? Do you have the resources required to expand? Are those resources in the right location, your emmies can only move 10 squares and most armies far fewer than that.
After turn 15, in SVC games, you are nearing the end. It is likely that someone is aiming to win the game by SVC on or near turn 20. If you are not that player, then you should be the player who is ready to pounce once it is apparent which player or players are making a run at the win. You might enjoy playing the spoiler role snatching away the victory. Remember you cant sit idle you have to actively be pursuing the information needed to play the spoiler. Do you know who is most likely to try for the win. Are your resources in position for the attack? Do you know where the pop centers are located in the region of your attack? Study the SVC conditions and try to guess which "minor" considerations the front runner would have chosen for their SVC. Can you sabotage their fleets, kick them off the high council, or take another action that would prevent them from declaring the win?
You cant, and wont, win every game but you need a purpose.
Winning the game may not always be your goal.
I once played a game as the Troll where I set the goal to have the most political emissaries in the game. At the end I dont know if I had the most but I won the game so it did not matter. My plan changed as the game developed but my initial goal helped me achieve victory.
I know someone who had played and gained status points with almost every kingdom. This player joined a game playing a kingdom he was not fond of, but his goal was to complete the game and gain status points. He met his goal and it kept him active in the game even though his chance at a win was not very good.
Another goal I have seen set, and achieved, the highest pop center defense. In the end the city had three times as much defense as it had population.
I said it twice earlier and I will repeat myself again.
You cant, and wont, win every game but you need a purpose.
If you have a purpose in every game you will enjoy the game, even if you dont win.
