I would like to hear everyone's opinions and strategies on this brilliant board game!
So let's start of with some question to get this going;
Best house?
Best way to make allies?
Best top of the influence track marker: Raven, Valyrian steel blade, Iron throne?
Best house deck?
In my humble Opinion:
Best House: 3-5 Man: Baratheon
6 Man: Stark or Martell
Best Deck: 3 Man: Stark
4-6 Man: Greyjoy
Best Track: I like to be the top on the Throne track, but a lot of people I play with prefer the Kings Court
Best Way to make alliances: Don't make friends with those next to you, it seems like it should be obvious to ally so you wont get attacked, but they will backstab you sooner or later because they have to. Find someone close enough to support your battles with the houses you target for castles, but aren't a direct threat to. Primary example, Tyrell and Baratheon.
Best house:
early game -> Greyjoy
later game -> Stark
Best cards:
Greyjoy (i have a cardset evaluation on the forums regarding this) for attacking
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=252&efcid=1&efidt=630678&efpag=0#631874 www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp
Stark (all around)
Allies:
In close to 100 games no allies yet. There is no need for diplomatic relations between houses, if you can take the region do so, if another house supports against you, throw everything you have at them and put them out of the game, the other houses will smell blood and hit them as well. Works (almost) everytime.
however, non-aggression pacts? yes, and lots please
you can establish neutral regions as a "no-fly" zone (or dmz) so if someone moves there… IT'S GO TIME!
Best track:
Thankfully i don't play with you all so here is the tip i will share so you will all win more games:
the IRON THRONE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT track. here is why:
in an average game when the biddiing starts, you will have between 5-10 power tokens. if the wildling track is low, people will bid higher on all the tracks.
people will often bid 0-3 on the iron throne. many people will subscribe to the fact that going after people march, will allow them to react better.
this is true in most war games, and is true to an extent in AGoT.
However, I will bid 3-5 on the iron throne, and if i had the throne before and i tie the bid with another player, i still win. (and keep the throne)
then i bid 0-1 on the fifedoms (a few bid heavy here)
and most (if not all)know having stars is importantant, so the heaviest bidding is here…if people have 1-3 tokens left for the raven (they usually do if the went heavy on the sword), they will bid 0, submitting to the fact that they will have no (*) tokens and will lose to a tie with myself.
so i may bid 0 and still beat them (and still get my stars). or i can bid 2-4 and get 1 or 2 stars(depending on what amount of tokens are left)
so my output is 5-10 tokens (at best) but usually i end up with 5 left, have great position on all the tracks while holding LOTS of power tokens.
breaking all ties is important when it comes to the wildlings(especially on fails) and the bids… the number of wildling victories i have logged is staggering because of this. and half of those cards are game winning/changing events. especially if the attack comes early, when tokens are limited.
Your Iron throne tactic has given me a lot to think about. Here are my opinions.
Best house- Martell, stomping enemies with the Viper and Doran Martell makes everyone afraid of you big time.
Best deck- Greyjoy, Balon, Victarion and Aeron make fighting a Greyjoy deck (plus the sword most of the time) very hard.
Allies- As a Lannister man myself I like to make allies early in the game and in good fashion betray them.
My way to make them is to make them an offer that will seemingly benefit them while it actually holds off any pressure till I strike (usually later game rounds).
Now the influence track token is a bit of a toss up between the Raven and the Valyrian steel blade. The blade kicks a whole load of arse that is almost too much to bear if facing an opponent with it. The raven is a sure fire way not to get backstabbed (which is always a threat as Lannister being sandwiched in the middle and such) it also gives me an option to lie about the wildlings ( which I always do) and that makes me invaluable to allies that want to save power tokens and are unsure about the wildlings.
Jhagen, would you have any other strategies up your sleeve? I have probably played around 50 games myself and I am feeling the need for new material.
You make some solid points about Lannister. If there were a house that needed the raven more than any of the others I would see Lannister being that house. You have a daunting task of keeping Greyjoy at bay early in the game, and if Tyrell is smart he will know this and put pressure on Lannister from the start. Fortunately for Lannister, without a muster card coming up, it is painfully slow to build an early game arsenal with Tyrell. I probably know Tyrell better than most as I previously thought they were the weakest house and I was determined to master them. When it was all said and done I now think they are a top 3 house in 5 and 6 man games if played correctly. And if Tyrell can convince Baratheon that he can take out Martell in a 6 man game, I think the only house better than Tyrell in a big game is Stark. But now I am getting off forum topic.
Jhagen is so right about the throne. I didn't want to give reasons for why I chase the throne in case the psycho's I play with troll these forums, but since Jhagen laid it out on the table its fairly obvious to see. Having the power to determine ties is huge in the game. Bidding 5 on the Throne track will almost positively get it for you. Bidding 1 of Fiefdom will get you 3 or 4 for sure, then 3 on the raven gets you at least 1 star, possible two because everyone you tie with goes below you. And in all honesty you only need 1 star, 2 is nice, but you aren't overly crippled with 1. So in a 6 player game you are more than likely sitting at 1,3,3 on the tracks and that will be better than almost anyone else. The OTHER benefit that has been overlooked that I absolutely love is the fact that when the westeros card comes up, you have the power to decide when EVERYONE supplies or musters. That gives you a massive advantage over the board in getting to cripple your closest foe. There is nothing sweeter than taking 3 barrels from an enemy, having that card come out, then nailing him with a resupply. That is a 6 barrel swing in your favor against that guy. Same goes for taking castles and mustering.
KING IN THE NORTH
Tyrell do have a solid deck I have to say. Their 1's aren't all that good but all the characters with "Tyrell" (except for Maegery) or the queen of thorns are brilliant when it comes to destroying your enemies.
The Lannister deck however is definately my favourite. You get Tywin, who will win you even more power if you're already using three consolidate power tokens in the same turn. Gregor is a mad beast and with the tides of battle he is able to have four swords and four strength! Tyrion can be great if you use him against an opponent that has only one card left so as to not let them play a card at all! Kevan is one of the best cards if you have a footmen army, he turns them all into knights for the battle and can potentially grant you 20+ combat strength in a fight. The hound is useful when you have no chance of winning and Jaime is a handy 2 card to have. The only problem is Cersei who is the worst card in the whole game but apart from her you have quite a versatile deck!
Keeping Greyjoy at bay is just a task of convincing them to destroy the Starks. Greyjoy can potentially claim Winterfell in three turns if played right. All you have to do is on your first turn send all of your available soldiers at moat Cailin (this does depend on trusting Lannister to leave your lands alone). Stark moves before Greyjoy so they would naturally take moat Cailin, Greyjoy can then move after them and take it from under their nose with the card Euron Crows eye. There is no way the Starks can win unless the tides of battle go completely in their favour.
You have made the iron throne seem very appealing I must say. Although I do depend on having three stars at all times I can see the uses the throne has!
the IRON THRONE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT track. here is why:
in an average game when the biddiing starts, you will have between 5-10 power tokens. if the wildling track is low, people will bid higher on all the tracks.
people will often bid 0-3 on the iron throne. many people will subscribe to the fact that going after people march, will allow them to react better.
this is true in most war games, and is true to an extent in AGoT.
However, I will bid 3-5 on the iron throne, and if i had the throne before and i tie the bid with another player, i still win. (and keep the throne)
then i bid 0-1 on the fifedoms (a few bid heavy here)
and most (if not all)know having stars is importantant, so the heaviest bidding is here…if people have 1-3 tokens left for the raven (they usually do if the went heavy on the sword), they will bid 0, submitting to the fact that they will have no (*) tokens and will lose to a tie with myself.
so i may bid 0 and still beat them (and still get my stars). or i can bid 2-4 and get 1 or 2 stars(depending on what amount of tokens are left)
so my output is 5-10 tokens (at best) but usually i end up with 5 left, have great position on all the tracks while holding LOTS of power tokens.
breaking all ties is important when it comes to the wildlings(especially on fails) and the bids… the number of wildling victories i have logged is staggering because of this. and half of those cards are game winning/changing events. especially if the attack comes early, when tokens are limited.
I agree that holding the Iron Throne counts for a lot. If it truly is advantageous to have a later turn order, the tie-breaking and control aspect of the Iron Throne more than offsets any disadvantage involved with going first. You can always favor yourself in ties including the next time you bid for the Iron Throne. Holding the Iron Throne makes your power tokens worth more. Just make sure you collect enough of them to keep it.