I mentioned in a previous post that I played as Stark for the first time last night. I was met with this very frustrating scenerio:

I had a ship in the Shivering Sea, and a ship (eventually 2) in the port at White Harbor. My Baratheon opponent had a ship in The Narrow Sea. I kept trying to move my ships from the port in the Narrow, but I kept getting it taken away by a raid order. I could have used a march order in both the port and The Shivering Sea, and sacrifice one order so I could move. BUT, Baratheon was being supported by ships in Shipbreaker Bay, and since Land can't support Sea, I really needed support from my Shivering Sea Ship (or the ships in port, if I moved the other ship).

This Stalemate scenerio continued throughout the game since Baratheon was higher than me on the Iron Throne track.

How could I have handled this situation to control the Narrow Sea? If I play Stark, I feel like this scencerio can come up again. Thank you.

I computer locked and this got posted a MILLION times…. I apologize for that. I can't erase thiese extras can I?

I'm not sure about the extra posts… it probably requires mod attention.

The Raid order can be used on Support, Consolidate Power and other Raid orders, whilst the Special Raid order can also be used on Defense orders. However, none of them can be used on March orders. As you noted, it would've been a tough fight as the Baratheon ships in The Narrow Sea could constatnly raid the neighbouring regions and receive support from Shipbreaker Bay.

As Stark, I try to ensure that I never lose The Narrow Sea unless it means phenomenal gains elsewhere. It's just too valuable as a great staging ground for a surpirse victory point grab mid-to-late game and losing it can cause such huge problems, as you encountered.

Arctic,

Thanks man. I guess we weren't playing the Raid orders right. The Narrow Sea is very important, I'll keep that in mind next time I'm Stark. Since no one is answering my Stark Strategy post, let me ask you: How do you like to open as Stark? I feel like I need to grab as much of the north as I can early, so I can get the "Crowns" and Supply Barrells. But of course, I need more units, so am I wasting me first / second round with this strategy?

I will repost here what i posted on the same topic. (I didnt notice this one… )

floworcrash said:

I would choose narrow sea, crown, barrel, crown, barrel… This is somewhat a balanced order…

of course, u can go narrow crown crown barrel barrel or barrel crown crown barrel, its a matter of preference/personal playin style

explanation: narrow sea is too valuable to loose and since u have the edge (previous post), u should be able to hold it with support from shivering sea….

then comes the decision btw barrels and crowns:

since the north is too vast and uncontested early game, ur forces will be spread out to claim theses areas and ur only armies u will have will be based in narrow sea and moat cailin, so no real supply restriction, i would choose crown (karhold or black castle) then barrel in this case

if u feel being rushed by gj or bara, u will need more armies asap hence a barrel before crown

if u go heavy on the barrels u risk laggin in an early cok (not enough pt)

hope this helps!

Joey,

This is great advice. So, since Stark starts the game with a ship in the Shivering Sea, I should be moving that unit IMMEDIATLEY into the Narrow. Then Muster another ship in Whie Harbor?

If I wait to Muster a Ship into the narrow from White Harbor and leave my Ship in Shivering for support purposes I would need to wait a round. This maybe difficult depending on Bara

On land, you think it's wise to march both of my starting units out of Winterfell, and into Castle Black and Stoney Shore? This would allow me to o put a foothold into the Narrow Sea, while also simultainously gaining a Crown and Barrell.

Leaving Winterfell would prevent me from mustering (unless the card was drawn in RD 2's Westeros phase), but since I intend to muster ship units in White Harbor does it matter?

Is the land menuever too aggresive early on?

Yes imho, maneuvering on land early OUTWARDS is very aggressive with Stark, meaning outside the North….

The only land outside that is important is Moat cailin which adds a third castle and secures a bottleneck but also spreads ur forces too thin…

and yes, i think it's better to take narrow sea from shivering and then muster either in narrow or shivering…

but remember, mustering in white harbor gives u only 1 pt whereas winterfell gives 2 so u cannot really say it's the same…

leaving winterfell vacant is a bit of a risk, should the W1 Mustering not be drawn, it may be a huge drawback, although i've been lucky at times…

It's a 30% chance after all…

Your call!