Conquer Club

Hey, I know there are several threads but didn't really want those ones, as they don't specifically answer.

But presumably you've all been beginners/played them. What are the most common mistakes made on this game by beginners? What mistakes did you make near the beginning?

I know how to play risk (I know its a different game, but obviously there are similarities), so I'm not useless. But never played online like this, so thought might ask what beginners do wrong so maybe I could avoid them.

Attacking on the first turn

Attacking with less than 4 men

joining game on hard maps with good players and weird settings

playing Circus Maximus against Klobber

not knowing some rules like how to change spoils and playing games with spoils (at least this was my biggest mistake) but as you play the board game won't be a problem,in my cae i have been many years and small so didn't remeber

now that i remember it was joining fog of war games i joined like 10 and lost all of them biggest thing would be staying with the standard settings

I`d recommand any new player to join The Society of Cooks and learn basics.

trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

attacking with every 3' they have on the board

greenoaks wrote:playing Circus Maximus against Klobber

I made this mistake.

wacicha wrote:Attacking on the first turn

Attacking with less than 4 men

Know the second one, but what is wrong with attacking on the first turn??

jrh_cardinal wrote:trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

What do you mean by taking bonuses? (the spoils that correspond to territories you have?)

Doomonyouall wrote:

wacicha wrote:Attacking on the first turn

Attacking with less than 4 men

Know the second one, but what is wrong with attacking on the first turn??

We in the Society teach to wait a round (sometimes 2) for a couple of reasons. #1, you increase the likelihood of success when you wait for everyone to see the board and fort around; hitting a 1 usually works better than hitting a 3. Second, if you go first and take a card, you'll be the first one to 5 cards and be stuck with a trade-in of 4, but if you wait that number will only go up. there's more to it, to be certain, but that's the general idea.

Doomonyouall wrote:

jrh_cardinal wrote:trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

What do you mean by taking bonuses? (the spoils that correspond to territories you have?)

Holding a bonus zone is rarely worth the cost in escalating. Unless you already have 3/4 of it, you'll spend too much and tie yourself down when the keys to escalating are get what you can for cheap and stay mobile. It takes a long time for the +2 to pay off, and the spoils will pass it up after the first round of cashing.

dhallmeyer wrote:

Doomonyouall wrote:

jrh_cardinal wrote:trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

What do you mean by taking bonuses? (the spoils that correspond to territories you have?)

Holding a bonus zone is rarely worth the cost in escalating. Unless you already have 3/4 of it, you'll spend too much and tie yourself down when the keys to escalating are get what you can for cheap and stay mobile. It takes a long time for the +2 to pay off, and the spoils will pass it up after the first round of cashing.

ya, I mean taking a continent, what dhallmeyer said

jrh_cardinal wrote:trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

...no matter how weak and vulnerable an opponent will be. This is the challenge with bonus monkeys in escalating games. They don`t use their eyes and we have to block and make up and some random win - or even sometimes the bonus monkey him self and without realizing all work and sweat from everyone else they think they did a great game.

- You can`t play like that!
- Why? I won.

I'd like to consider myself as an experienced player in the game of Risk. Playing over hundreds of games with actual people irl. Of course not being the same people. As well as playing on another website which is no so popular and also much less addictive. I became pretty good playing on the other website where more are playing. I learned important skills but the truth is CC has a much bigger player base which means it has more range of players and more competition. It is simply because of this that I'm learning quit simply how to play a lot better and what they are teaching in SoC is very correct.

My advice to you is join up Society of Cooks, which is for free and you can learn much more about how to play better on CC. Or you can purposely not join SoC and just listen to our advice and play games and learn though trail and error.

In my personal experience I have learned more or less what SoC teaches they consider are the basics but I wouldn't call them the basics as I seem to be learning through experience they are the building of the foundation of how to play Risk the best.

Playing team games with mpjh. (I kid, I kid.)

Assuming that what works well on the board game works well here on CC. Players follow different strategies, so what always worked for me when I played my little brother didn't work here.

Also, another mistake is not asking for help. The Society is a good place to find it, but you can also latch onto a mentor who can show you the ropes.

In escalation games:

Going for bonuses
Attacking first turn
Attacking piles rather than 1's for cards
Neglecting troops spread across the board and only focusing on a group of territories (easier to wipe if someone is all in one place)
Killing off rather than blocking in a specific player's troop just for a +3 bonus or something similar
Turning in spoils before the troop bonus reaches 10
Not counting the territories before committing an attack to wipe, ie: Think they know all of a player's territories and doesn't count them, only to find when he's wiped the ones he saw, that he missed one stuck in the corner.

Not really a beginner mistake but a mistake I see captains and lts make (and some majors)
Lets say a player is spread out in 3 regions (lets just say 3 different spread out territories)
This spread is helpful because only a few players has access and ability to wipe someone spread out. The less spread out someone is, the easier to wipe. In a lot of escalation games, spread, not troop count, is the best defense.

Most players tend to commit and wipe one pile/region after another. The problem with this is if one region fails to wipe, the aggressor has reduced the spread and made it easier for this player to be wiped.

A better way is to reduce each pile evenly, only until each pile is at 1 or 2 before taking the territory. So if an enemy pile eats too many troops and requires divine intervention to beat, just stop attacking. This preserves the target's troop spread and your own troops for another go.

lt. Futt wrote:

jrh_cardinal wrote:trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

...no matter how weak and vulnerable an opponent will be. This is the challenge with bonus monkeys in escalating games. They don`t use their eyes and we have to block and make up and some random win - or even sometimes the bonus monkey him self and without realizing all work and sweat from everyone else they think they did a great game.

- You can`t play like that!
- Why? I won.

Playing around bonus monkeys or people willing to go to any length to win I would say is not the best way to play the game. I couldn't agree more on Lt. Futt's statements in this thread. BMers and people willing to do cheap tactics just to win I would not consider good risk players, nor good CC players. Finding a happy balance between good playing and not making mistakes is the best way to be on top and present yourself infront of others. Or you could just not care and play with cheap tactics be presented as someone that plays like that feel good about yourself with a most likely higher rank then suits you and if you continue like this for a long time and learn well enough you may improve enough were you no longer need to use such cheap tactics. Although I'd pick the first just because you have access to Society of Cooks teachers willing to help you all you gotta do is ask.

lt. Futt wrote:

jrh_cardinal wrote:trying to take bonuses (in escalating games)

...no matter how weak and vulnerable an opponent will be. This is the challenge with bonus monkeys in escalating games. They don`t use their eyes and we have to block and make up and some random win - or even sometimes the bonus monkey him self and without realizing all work and sweat from everyone else they think they did a great game.

- You can`t play like that!
- Why? I won.

Hello, I am somewhat new to Risk (though played non-online versions). Can you explain what do you mean by Bonus monkeys... I mean, what's wrong with trying to take bonus...

I don't ask for free lesson, just in a few words, if it's not hard for you.

#1. If you haven't already done so, make a new post in this forum asking to join our Society. We'll teach you the basics of playing escalating well.

#2. A bonus monkey is somewhat of an inside joke among Society folks. We teach that in escalating spoils, the spoils are what make or break the game, so we discourage people from sending resources on bonuses that are ultimately inconsequential to the outcome of the game. When we see someone trying way too hard to take, hold, or break a bonus we simply refer to them as bonus monkeys.

That's the short answer. Join the Society of the Cooks to get the rest of the story.

Kristeen, taking and holding a bonus works great in offline play, and that used to be my strategy when I first joined up. It's not the only strategy, however, and the Society will show you other things to focus on in play as well.

We're not the end-all of strategy gurus on CClub, by any stretch, but our training is effective if students stick with it. =)

dhallmeyer wrote:#1. If you haven't already done so, make a new post in this forum asking to join our Society. We'll teach you the basics of playing escalating well.

#2. A bonus monkey is somewhat of an inside joke among Society folks. We teach that in escalating spoils, the spoils are what make or break the game, so we discourage people from sending resources on bonuses that are ultimately inconsequential to the outcome of the game. When we see someone trying way too hard to take, hold, or break a bonus we simply refer to them as bonus monkeys.

That's the short answer. Join the Society of the Cooks to get the rest of the story.

Thanx -)
I'll join society... will try to learn more

macbone wrote:Kristeen, taking and holding a bonus works great in offline play, and that used to be my strategy when I first joined up. It's not the only strategy, however, and the Society will show you other things to focus on in play as well.

We're not the end-all of strategy gurus on CClub, by any stretch, but our training is effective if students stick with it. =)

Thanx for the answer -)