This is a really simple thread. I'm curious as to the low/middle/high bids are when people play and in what areas.

A large bid for me is 10 points and means I want to go first. Anything less means I can't fit everything into my fleet and that's the left over.

I'm in Durham, NC

I average 7-17 depending how important it is I go first

Akron area, Ohio USA

Apparently, to go by 8 of my last 9 tournament games...

... If I want to go first, I just build to 400 points and my opponent makes me.

My last bid was 21. In the future I will bid more. Region: VASSAL!

I build all of my lists to 399 or 400 and try to make them work either way, personally. We don't see a ton of bidding wars here (Omaha, NE), but I believe the biggest I saw in the last tournament was 11 points. It's pretty common to see lists with 4-6 point bids.

I build that way because I don't want to go too deep down the rabbit hole. The first time I take a 10 point bid and lose, I'm just going to kick myself for not having another TIE Bomber...

My bid usually oscilate between 383-385. For few tournaments I run on 376 but that one was too low

Try zero, that is what I aim for in one off casual games.

My meta is only three or four players (the larger community is bigger but that's how many people play the same night as me) here in Minneapolis. I always plan my builds around a 15 point bid, save a copy of it, then create a 'fluff' version with an extra 15 points thrown in for fun. If I have fun with the 15 points, I can usually win without it.

Madison, WI

Typical fleets here are 0-4 points bid. "Aggressive" bidding normally hits 6-8. The occasional 11-14 shows up once in a blue moon

Last regionals season I went to three and had 3/5/6 point bids. I went first 6 times IIRC

Typically 2-9 points. 7 and above will typically guarantee a pick of 1st or 2nd player

South Central KS

I went to Euros with a 23 point bid, one of my games I won the bid by a point.

I don't really see anything more than 10 here in San Antonio TX

Pacific northwest (Seattle, Olympia, Portland). I've run an 18-20 point bid when I really wanted first. It's frequently not enough.

I've played in enough different environments and watched the tournament reports enough that for me it isn't really about the local environment but how I'd match-up against particular fleet archetypes that tend to focus on specific bid ranges.

Fleets that absolutely want to go first all of the time generally have to hit the 380s. Below 380 is exceptional because you're now below the cost for just taking an additional activation.

390 means you'll go first almost all of the time, but you're willing to concede first against fleets that are absolutely bidding for it.

From there, most of the builds tend to be 395-400, with a higher percentage as you get closer to 400.

Bidding is dependent on strategy. A bid is a smart investment in competitive environments, but how much of a bid you need is dependent on how your fleet performs in a variety of roles.

• No bid: 0-2 points. You couldn't fit something onto your ships or upgrade your squadrons any more, so you left it as is. Typically, this indicates that you have no major advantage as first or second player, but no disadvantage as second player.
• Low bid: 3-6 points. You have a minor advantage that can be exploited by going first or second, and want to exploit that when facing off against certain players. However, your fleet is well-rounded enough to take either first or second player against most.
• Medium bid: 7-11 points. You have a strong preference to take first or second against all-comers lists of all types to exploit a particular feature of your list or objective set.
• High Bid: 12-15 points: Your list is dependent on initiative order to use a specific strategy.
• Ultra-bid: 16+ points: Your list exploits loopholes and shortcomings in the game system to achieve victory, including activation advantage and other issues. Failing to take the correct initiative results in the complete destruction of your fleet. This type of list is seen almost exclusively in competition environments.

Don't think about bids as first player grabs. The bid is not just an effort to go first, it's an investment in your existing strategies. This is why you occasionally see bids that can fit entire flotillas into a list, the strategic advantage of first player or objective selection outweighs the value of an additional ship or squadron.

I always knew there was a wide range of bids, but it is interesting to see entire player bases that bid more or less with varying reasons.

The coolest part is how this is reflected in Vassal tournaments. I thought 10 points was going to be enough, but I was outbid twice by 15+ lists.

53 minutes ago, Undeadguy said:

I always knew there was a wide range of bids, but it is interesting to see entire player bases that bid more or less with varying reasons.

The coolest part is how this is reflected in Vassal tournaments. I thought 10 points was going to be enough, but I was outbid twice by 15+ lists.

Once you get on the bandwagon of securing the bid, it is a race to the bottom.

It should also be noted that certain ultra-deep cuts aren't about forcing the choice of first player, but about taking it away from someone else. If you steal a bid out from under a 385 point fleet, you're likely making a selection that is calculated to completely disrupt the other player's initiative-based strategy.

For example, you can't do a Demolisher triple-tap alpha strike to kill a major ship if you aren't first player.

6 hours ago, thecactusman17 said:

• Ultra-bid: 16+ points: Your list exploits loopholes and shortcomings in the game system to achieve victory, including activation advantage and other issues. Failing to take the correct initiative results in the complete destruction of your fleet. This type of list is seen almost exclusively in competition environments.

I don't think this is necessarily true. I've found that activation advantage means I really don't care about going first as much, as you can delay and go "safely" as 2nd player. If I have a very high activation fleet I tend to bid less than 5 points.

3 minutes ago, Caldias said:

I don't think this is necessarily true. I've found that activation advantage means I really don't care about going first as much, as you can delay and go "safely" as 2nd player. If I have a very high activation fleet I tend to bid less than 5 points.

Again, this kind of super-sized bid is maximizing every drop of advantage it can get out of weaknesses in the activation rules and other elements of the game. You can totally out-activate another player without this kind of bid and it might even be easier to do so, but it's also more likely to involve being very defensive and taking more early game losses that have to be compensated for.

If you're already planning to go second against those super-bids, then you don't need to worry as much because mostly these are planning to go first. But those bids aren't there to go first against your fleet, they're trying to out-bid each other. And when that happens, the results are often catastrophic for the losing bid.

Just now, thecactusman17 said:

Again, this kind of super-sized bid is maximizing every drop of advantage it can get out of weaknesses in the activation rules and other elements of the game. You can totally out-activate another player without this kind of bid and it might even be easier to do so, but it's also more likely to involve being very defensive and taking more early game losses that have to be compensated for.

If you're already planning to go second against those super-bids, then you don't need to worry as much because mostly these are planning to go first. But those bids aren't there to go first against your fleet, they're trying to out-bid each other. And when that happens, the results are often catastrophic for the losing bid.

Fair enough, but the recent crazy-high bids for first have been low activation, like 3-4, at least in my personal experience.

1 minute ago, Caldias said:

Fair enough, but the recent crazy-high bids for first have been low activation, like 3-4, at least in my personal experience.

A part of that is the fact that, as you mentioned, you can fit an entire flotilla in there in some cases.

But also it's because a lot of players lately are putting more and more squadrons into these super-bid lists, which doesn't have as much of a precedent.

2 minutes ago, Caldias said:

Fair enough, but the recent crazy-high bids for first have been low activation, like 3-4, at least in my personal experience.

Few times I played 26 bid with 6 activation. Reason was to always be second. With mobile fleet and lambdas I was focused on scenarios. That give me on 10 game played 7 wins. All depend of your personal play style so whole topic is for at least a month of conversation

6 hours ago, NairoD said:

Few times I played 26 bid with 6 activation. Reason was to always be second. With mobile fleet and lambdas I was focused on scenarios. That give me on 10 game played 7 wins. All depend of your personal play style so whole topic is for at least a month of conversation

Must be a neat meta, I've found a 5 point bid more than sufficient to get 2nd, as the first player lists all bid higher, and second player lists typically 0-3 so you can steal it from them easily.

I typically run a 5-10pt bid. Any more than 10pts and I feel like I give up too much to get 1st or 2nd player.