by Shirtripper
Ok, so the last time my gaming group played about two weeks ago, I gain my fourth victory signature. It was our 10th game and everyone else has two wins. We are only playing a 4 player game. They have all openly talked about how they have to gang up on me now, since we only have 5 games left and I am the closet to naming the world. This both excites me because of the challenge and also worries me because I really want to be the one with the world sporting my glorious name
So I've come on here to discuss with you guys some the ways in which I could approach the next couple of games to ensure my over all victory.
Before I go any further in case you didn't see it in the title *UNHIDDEN SPOILER WARNINGS FOR EVERY EXCEPT WORLD CAP AND DO NOT OPEN EVER BELOW*
Ok, still here.. great! Now I know I am going to have to give a lot details about the game in order to get good feedback from you guys so here is everything I remember, don't have the board it is at the Trekkie's house:
4 players: Trekkie 2 wins, Snowman 2 wins, number cruncher 2 wins, me 4 wins.
Our World - All nine minor cites are in play - 1 Venezuela, 1 Peru, 1 Argentina, 1 Egypt, 1 Japan, 1 Indonesia, 1 Great Britain, 1 Northwest Territories, 1 Ontario
All Major Cities are in play - 1 Brazil(mine), 1 Eastern United States (number cruncher), 1 Western Australasia (Snowman), 1 Eastern Australasia (Trekkie), 1 South Africa (number cruncher)
Scars - Venezuela ammo shortage, Central America ammo shortage, Kamchatka bunker, Alaska Bunker, Egypt Bunker, Greenland Bio-hazard, India Bio-Hazard, New Guinea Bio-hazard, Western Australasia Mercenary, Japan Mercenary, Western United States Mercenary
I cannot remember where the other ammo shortage is but I believe it is in North America some place.
Geographical changes - North Africa is the Fallout Zone, Alien island connects Madagascar to Western Australasia
Factions and powers:
Enclave of the Bear - Starting - Three of a Kind power/Come back power - get a territory or coin card every turn you take a city/ Missile power - Rally, at the start of the turn spend a missile for 2 troops/ weakness - lose an extra two troops when ever taking a city but add plus 1 to your population total/ This faction is both the Bringer of Fire and the Alien collaborators
Imperial Balkania - Starting - gain a resource card as long as you expand into 4+ territories that turn/ Come back Power - move your HQ to one adjacent territory you control/ Missile power - Interference, stop one players at the start of their turn from gaining one Continental bonus
Die Mechaniker - Starting - Fortified HQ/ Come Back power - Well-Supplied
Saharan Republic - Starting - Move between two unconnected territories you control/ come back power - Stealthy
Khan Industries - Starting place a free army in any HQ you control at the beginning of your turn
Mutants - they have all their starting powers and only one scratch off which I can't remember what was chosen right now.
Aliens - same as they startout since they really can't be changed.
Notable resource cards - Japan is worth 4, Northwest United States is worth 4, and Western Australasia is worth 3, Alien Island is worth 3, I believe everything else is worth 1 or 2
Continents named so far - Africa(me), South America (me), Asia (me again), North America (Trekkie), Australasia(snowman)
Ok, I think that about covers it, man that is a lot, a lot can happen in 10 games. So now Strat time.....
For the next game I was considering two very different approaches depending on how the draft goes of course.
1. Trying to win strats: I know everyone is gunning for me, the only place I can start that nobody else can is in South America, but my Major City has an Ammo shortage scar making it hard to defend, plus with North Africa being the fallout zone, I only really have one way to expand,and if someone else is playing the Mutants they can come right at me without worry about the fallout zone. Considering all this plus the fact that I could be double teamed by someone coming from North America and Africa I have a couple of choices.
A; Try to start with the mutants. If I have the mutants have two ways to expand and only really have to concern myself with defending from someone starting in North America advancing South.
B: If I can't get the mutants get then get the Aliens. Now I still have to worry about a Mutant player building up and/or running through fallout zone to get me while whoever is in North America marches down to put pressure on me from the north, but I can take over all of South America in one turn with the Aliens since they don't lose an army to city pops and since I named it I would be getting 6 guys on turn two as long as I can hold it.
C; Start some place else: This would probably be best if I got to place last and even better if I could go first. Again if I have the Aliens Australasia would work if snowman or the Trekkie don't start there since I'd take all of it without losing any armies. I could just setup on Alien island or even Southeast Asian. If I don't have the Aliens there are a couple of other options. One that I think would be a nice shocker for the group is to grab Enclave of the bear and try to take Asia. For one their new weakness really makes going anywhere near a city a bad idea, but Asia only has 1 minor city in it. Plus I named Asia so I'd get 8 guys instead of 7 if I could keep all of it. The reason for doing this with the bear is because of the fact that, they are the bringer of fire so they get 2 extra missile if someone plays the mutants, they have rally so I could trade in missiles for 2 troops, and finally I'd start with 4 missile since I've won 4 games. That means I could trade in on my first turn 6 missile and get an additional 12 armies! I could possibly take and hold Asia for a whole turn, maybe.
2. Setting up to win the next game: One of the reason I have won the last three games is because I've really learned how my friends think and how to manipulate them into doing the things that benefit me the most in the game. Unfortunately I know for at least the next game and maybe the one after that this will be mostly impossible since they have all agreed to gang up on me. As the Trekkie says, I've become the Dominion. So what if I don't try to win but instead seek to influence the game to help me win in the future. Plus if I lose the next one whoever wins will only be 1 win behind me, making the game after that less likely to be a triple team.
A: play a faction I don't care about and let them waste a faction weakness on it. Next game will be the first with the faction weakness and I was considering playing Khan industries. For whatever reason they only have the starting power even though they have been played quiet a few times. If I play them and start in South America I will probably get knocked out of the game or eliminated, which is cool because I'd then get to give the a come back power. If I stay in long enough I could also get them to blow a faction weakness on them which is fine with me since I don't normally play them.
B; Don't worry about the faction weakness and try to get one of the factions a missile power. Now there are three factions without missile powers, Khan, Republic, and Die. I really like Die Mech, and while I would worry about one of the other players slapping a weakness card on them, it might be worth it to get them a cool missile power, like EMP. Saharan Republic is my second least favorite faction but they do have a nice combo of starting and comeback powers. Again playing them I wouldn't really feel bad if they got a weakness scar either so there is that, and maybe if I got them a decent missile power I would be more incline to try them out. Khan again my least favorite would probably still be the best to play. I could possibly get them two powers(comeback/missile) and a weakness scar all in one game!
So yeah I know it is a lot to read but and thank you to those that read it all, but what do you guys think I should try?
Should I try 1 or 2, or some version of them? Thanks in advance for any help!