Esc. for Beginners pg4---Esc. Intermediate pg8

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 5:13 am

SECOND DRAFT DISCUSSION STARTS AT THE TOP OF PAGE FOUR, THIS THREAD.

INTERMEDIATE STARTS AT TOP OF PAGE EIGHT.

NOTE:
Second draft. I'm still shooting for "lock-step" approach but as you all know the decision tree gets pretty complex and charting a single effective path through those waters is difficult.

The goals again:

A: Avoid erratic play commonly found in beginner games.
B: Cope with deadbeat play also common in beginner games.
C: Build higher quality into beginner games by introducing sound concepts.

Beginner's Escalating

The following strategy is designed for beginners level risk and is intended to help new players through their first 50 or so Conquer Club games

Game parameters:

Classic, 4-6 player, sequential, escalating, unlimited

Round One:

A: Pick one country in a large continent that is close to other countries you own and deploy there. Roll dice once against opponent of your choice, but try and attack towards your other countries. Only deploy in South America or Australia if you already own three or four countries on the continent.

After first roll if you are 6 vs 1 or 5 vs. 2, roll again. If you are 4 vs 3 then STOP and end turn.

After the second roll you will own the country, be 3 vs 2, or 4 vs 1. Only roll a third time of you are 4 vs 1. otherwise STOP and end turn.

If you lose the third roll, and are 3 vs 1, STOP and end turn.

Fortifications: DO NOT GATHER YOUR TROOPS INTO PILES.
*exception: you may move troops out of countries that you have completely surrounded*

DO NOT ATTACK WITH LESS THAN THREE DICE FOR THE FIRST FOUR ROUNDS. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Round Two:

Step one: check the board strength. Everyone should still have about the same number of armies on the board.

A: If the board is "balanced" then:

If you are scattered, deploy and attack 1's only. Other players will have likely pulled their troops into piles. Hopefully there will be a "1" available to you that will allow you to concentrate your troops into one area. If not, look for 2's next. Only attack 3's when you have no other easy choices. If you have a card from round one, then only attack with 5 or 6, stop at 4. If you don't have a card from round one, then roll 4 vs 3 if necessary as a last resort. If you fail to get a card this round also, you are in trouble BUT you still must NOT roll less than 3 dice.

B: If the board is "unbalanced",meaning either one player has taken big losses or big advances then you want to attack whoever has the most "armies due" for the next turn. This means breaking weakly held continents if necessary. Look for the easiest victories that will take the most "armies due" from the board leader. If you can't reduce the leader's strength without becoming weak in the process, then look for easy victories as outlined above.

Rounds Three through Five:

A. Attack to keep the board in balance. Always attack the leader first, if possible.

B. NEVER roll less than three dice.

C. DO NOT lose more than your deployment in each turn.

D. DO NOT cash your card set

Round five:

Attack with same priorities, but now you will fortify with a new goal: elimination.

Here's a simple formula that will give you some success :

Count your opponents total armies.
Add your opponents total territories divided by 3.
Add three for each "front" you must attack from.

example: my opponent has 32 armies on the board and 11 countries. he has one group in NA and another in Asia. I'll need (32 + 11/3 + 3*2)=42.

42 is the absolute minimum army count you need to eliminate this opponent.

In round five you examine all your opponents looking for elimination targets. A viable target will be accessible to your troops and will have at least three cards, preferably more.

Fortify against this opponent(s). Make large piles now, if you can.
If there are no viable elimination targets, make no big moves.

Round six through Eight:

Cash your set. Eliminate your target or if no target, take the easiest card you can get and wait for next round. From here forward cash immediately if you have a target, wait until forced to cash if you don't.

Most beginner escalating games will end before round nine.

Recap:

Always get a card if you can (without violating dice or deployment rules)
Never attack with less than three dice.
Attack the weakest point of the strongest player.
Don't lose more than your deployment in any round.
Don't try eliminations unless you have the necessary count.
Don't attack deadbeats.

Deadbeat play:

You will experience quite a few "deadbeats" in your first fifty games.

IF:

You have unranked players at your table that have NO completed games and have missed one turn, nearly 100% of the time that player will never return to the game. Do not attack that player any more.

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:23 am

ok guys. tear it down and build it back up.

If all you want to do is tear down without building back up: then STFU

chessplaya · Post by **chessplaya** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:30 am

i only approve u with 1 point : which is the fortifications ... never pile up on 1 country ... if u do ... all u need is 1 bad dice streak and ur out of the game

the rest its up to ur strategy !!

I mean attacking the leader always ( lol) that was funny...

deploying all troops on 1 country in the 1st round because u don't have connected countries..... HELL THATS HILARIOUS!!!

Listen dude i don't mean no disrespect ... but if u keep playing like this in the big league (the 2000+ games ) u will be back to stripes in no time

Work on ur strategy ... u will need that ...

Good luck to u , and to all that follow that strategy .... which is depend on luck 70% of the time :wink:

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:34 am

chessplaya wrote:i only approve u with 1 point : which is the fortifications ... never pile up on 1 country ... if u do ... all u need is 1 bad dice streak and ur out of the game

the rest its up to ur strategy !!

I mean attacking the leader always ( lol) that was funny...

deploying all troops on 1 country in the 1st round because u don't have connected countries..... HELL THATS HILARIOUS!!!

Listen dude i don't mean no disrespect ... but if u keep playing like this in the big league (the 2000+ games ) u will be back to stripes in no time

Work on ur strategy ... u will need that ...

Good luck to u , and to all that follow that strategy .... which is depend on luck 70% of the time

you apparently don't have the cognitive ability to understand plain english....STFU

Go troll someone else's thread; asshole.

chessplaya · Post by **chessplaya** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:39 am

stringybeany wrote:
chessplaya wrote:i only approve u with 1 point : which is the fortifications ... never pile up on 1 country ... if u do ... all u need is 1 bad dice streak and ur out of the game

the rest its up to ur strategy !!

I mean attacking the leader always ( lol) that was funny...

deploying all troops on 1 country in the 1st round because u don't have connected countries..... HELL THATS HILARIOUS!!!

Listen dude i don't mean no disrespect ... but if u keep playing like this in the big league (the 2000+ games ) u will be back to stripes in no time

Work on ur strategy ... u will need that ...

Good luck to u , and to all that follow that strategy .... which is depend on luck 70% of the time

you apparently don't have the cognitive ability to understand plain english....STFU

Go troll someone else's thread; asshole.

U obviously have no clue about the game .... and actually think that ur strategy does miracle job ... Go whine somewhere else u moron...

Wild_Tiger · Post by **Wild_Tiger** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:43 am

ok ok guys break it up, shake hands with eachother and be nice!

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:43 am

great...try to help some beginners and all I get is a moronic flame troll.

ok, how about some moderation here? If not then I will abandon this thread.

I'm not going to screw with it otherwise.

chessplaya · Post by **chessplaya** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:46 am

dude i am not flaming u ....

I SAID I WAS AGAINST UR STRATEGY AND U STARTED CALLING ME NAMES .... DONT BE AN ASSCLOWN!!!

U r 1 of the big guys now...if u dont use blocks in ur games u will get raped in the 2000+ games.... u dont believe me .. u go ahead and join those games .. and use this strategy and tell me whats ur score in a couple days!

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:47 am

Wild_Tiger wrote:ok ok guys break it up, shake hands with eachother and be nice!

That's not going to happen unless this idiot edits his pots into something constructive.

I'm not screwing with it anymore until the mods look at it.

I don't care either way. Either the thread gets moderated or I bail. I don't have time for trolls.

BaldAdonis · Post by **BaldAdonis** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:59 am

chessplaya wrote:U r 1 of the big guys now...if u dont use blocks in ur games u will get raped in the 2000+ games

Why don't you explain blocking? This thread is intended to help people with escalating games, not whatever it is you were doing.

CrabNebula · Post by **CrabNebula** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:01 am

Chessplaya, he said this was for beginnners, not for 2000+ people. You will rarely find blocks in those games.

You might want to mention that in Chained/Adjacent fort games, you won't be able to pile up your armies. A different strategy is required if you are going for a continent/elimination.

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:04 am

ok then...let's try and teach beginners blocking, board control, and five round game plans.

yeah, that will work...

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:05 am

CrabNebula wrote:... You will rarely find blocks in those games.

Someone that reads before he opens his mouth. Thank you!

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:07 am

chessplaya wrote:dude i am not flaming u ....

I SAID I WAS AGAINST UR STRATEGY AND U STARTED CALLING ME NAMES .... DONT BE AN ASSCLOWN!!!

U r 1 of the big guys now...if u dont use blocks in ur games u will get raped in the 2000+ games.... u dont believe me .. u go ahead and join those games .. and use this strategy and tell me whats ur score in a couple days!

You are a troll. I'll let the mods handle you, or not. If you don't disappear from this thread, then I will. If that's a victory for you, enjoy your reward; TROLL.

joecoolfrog · Post by **joecoolfrog** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:11 am

I have to agree with Chessplayer that these strategies will not work well against competent players, against poorer players it is difficult to be precise because of the generally erratic play but from the start these are the basic escalating rules. I am assuming 5/6 player games as with 4 players or less it is always going to be a dice lottery from the start.

1) Do try not to lose armies early on, in the early rounds your aim is to have a balance of countries across the board with a roughly equal spread of armies on each - try to only attack singles and skip a card rather than attacking a 3 or 4.

2) Unless you literaly have a continent sewn up from the start than never try to take one - avoid major battles until you are ready to take a player out. NEVER use your cash to take a continent as the return will be negligable in a short game and it will make you a target- once you get to a certain level it is almost always suicide.

3) As a general rule of thumb games are won by a chain reaction which involves taking out the majority or all your opponents in one turn so always aim to get enough cards from a kill to enable a mid turn recash. Losing half your armies just in order to end up sitting on 5 cards is again usually suicide, the aim is always to stay strong enough not to be the next victim.
4) Lastly I would always caution patience when going for kills as far more games are lost than won by players striking too early with a 12 or 15 cash,chances are you will simply weaken another opponent badly and make him an easy kill for the next guy in line.

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:18 am

joecoolfrog wrote:...these strategies will not work well against competent players...

No kidding.

I noticed very few competent players as I worked my way through the privates.

BEGINNERS ESCALATING:

BEGINNERS

DEADBEATS

SUICIDES

I may have seen one or two effective blocks in my first 75 games. Maybe.

So let's please stay on topic and focus on a "simple strategy that will help the beginner through their first 50 games."

If you have alternatives that will be effective IN THAT CONTEXT, then speak up.

Thanks

stringybeany · Post by **stringybeany** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:30 am

CrabNebula wrote:...
You might want to mention that in Chained/Adjacent fort games, you won't be able to pile up your armies. A different strategy is required if you are going for a continent/elimination.

good point

chessplaya · Post by **chessplaya** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:50 am

joecoolfrog wrote:I have to agree with Chessplayer that these strategies will not work well against competent players, against poorer players it is difficult to be precise because of the generally erratic play but from the start these are the basic escalating rules. I am assuming 5/6 player games as with 4 players or less it is always going to be a dice lottery from the start.

1) Do try not to lose armies early on, in the early rounds your aim is to have a balance of countries across the board with a roughly equal spread of armies on each - try to only attack singles and skip a card rather than attacking a 3 or 4.

2) Unless you literaly have a continent sewn up from the start than never try to take one - avoid major battles until you are ready to take a player out. NEVER use your cash to take a continent as the return will be negligable in a short game and it will make you a target- once you get to a certain level it is almost always suicide.

3) As a general rule of thumb games are won by a chain reaction which involves taking out the majority or all your opponents in one turn so always aim to get enough cards from a kill to enable a mid turn recash. Losing half your armies just in order to end up sitting on 5 cards is again usually suicide, the aim is always to stay strong enough not to be the next victim.
4) Lastly I would always caution patience when going for kills as far more games are lost than won by players striking too early with a 12 or 15 cash,chances are you will simply weaken another opponent badly and make him an easy kill for the next guy in line.

thanks for explaining it to them ... i actually didnt have the time so i made it short and a bit rude....

Stringybeany : u could have been less aggressive out there... i never intended to flame u .... as for babies , u show a good example of them... now be happy ur the newest kid.. not on the block but on my ignore list... i repeat ... i havent had the intention to make u cry or to make u mad .. all i wanted to point out is that ur STUPID strategy needs enhancement .. but anyway u already made a fool out of urself and probably 80% of high ranked players will avoid u in their games because they have read how ur little mind works....

BUZZ OFF NOW

and BTW plz do tell the mods .... about this ... i bet when they read this thread they will send u a warning for giving out stupid strategies...

u can forget about me ...i am just a cook... but if u ever end up in 1 of my games i am gonna show u ... how the game is played ! :wink:

chessplaya · Post by **chessplaya** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:52 am

stringybeany wrote:
joecoolfrog wrote:...these strategies will not work well against competent players...

No kidding.

I noticed very few competent players as I worked my way through the privates.

BEGINNERS ESCALATING:

BEGINNERS

DEADBEATS

SUICIDES

I may have seen one or two effective blocks in my first 75 games. Maybe.

So let's please stay on topic and focus on a "simple strategy that will help the beginner through their first 50 games."

If you have alternatives that will be effective IN THAT CONTEXT, then speak up.

Thanks

oops

I now read this ... and i understand that this is meant to be simple for the beginners ... its not actually ur strategy ?

plz explain to me .. if thats the case then i am sorry ... and what u mentioned in ur 1st post is more then enough for noobies!

wicked · Post by **wicked** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:14 am

Hey chessy, instead of publicly bashing this guy's strategy, why don't you offer your own instead? I'm sure everyone would listen to a strategy coming from such a high rank as yours. It's OK to offer constructive criticism and point out the pitfalls of what someone else posted, but your comments were bordering on flaming. So let's hear Escalating 101 by Chessy?

scottie · Post by **scottie** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:21 am

What are blocks? I know the dictionary definition, I mean in CC.

Hatchman · Post by **Hatchman** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:46 am

joe and chess know what they're talking about- it's best to heed intently.

joecoolfrog · Post by **joecoolfrog** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:48 am

scottie wrote:What are blocks? I know the dictionary definition, I mean in CC.

In escalating you are normally planning at least one move ahead and it is as important to plan for your opponents next attack as it is your own. Consequently if it becomes apparent that a certain player is ripe for killing ( and you cant get him yourself) then you deploy in an area to protect the weak player - this is known as blocking. It is far better than simply attacking a strong player because you dont weaken yourself, there is the likliehood of yourself getting attacked of course but its a question of judgement - there is no point just sitting back and staying out of trouble just to hand somebody else an easy win.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:49 am

i think the most important rule for beginners in an escalating game is:

DO NOT BOTHER TAKING OR BREAKING CONTINENTS.

sorry for the caps but i've seen this happen too many times.

i get a continent a +2 or+3 one (a small continent) and i have 10 on the border.
the cash-ins are in the 30-40 range and i have 30 troops + 5 cards waiting for my next turn to cash in eliminate cash-in eliminate, etc. and somebody comes and thinks: "hey this guy has a bonus i must break him" so he takes all his armies and kills my 10 troop pile. he's now down to 10-15 troops and has 5 cards also. another guy comes along kills him cashes in kills me cashes in and so on. i've seen this thing happen so many times i'm fed up with it. people that think a +2 continent is actually worth something when the card cash-in brings 30 troops.

and i guess the second rule is derived from the first one:

NEVER EVER PUT YOURSELF OR ANOTHER PLAYER IN A POSITION WHERE YOU/HE MIGHT GET ELIMINATED.

joecoolfrog · Post by **joecoolfrog** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:05 am

stringybeany wrote:
joecoolfrog wrote:...these strategies will not work well against competent players...

No kidding.

I noticed very few competent players as I worked my way through the privates.

BEGINNERS ESCALATING:

BEGINNERS

DEADBEATS

SUICIDES

I may have seen one or two effective blocks in my first 75 games. Maybe.

So let's please stay on topic and focus on a "simple strategy that will help the beginner through their first 50 games."

If you have alternatives that will be effective IN THAT CONTEXT, then speak up.

Thanks

I consider your premise to be completely wrong, if you get into bad habits in your first 50 games then you will struggle to change when you play better opponents. Thats why so many players hit a block when they get to 2100 points, escalating is not flat rate with bigger armies it is a completely different game. The best escalating players on this site learnt the basics well and honed their strategies as they moved through the ranks,they did not suddenly get to a certain point and then change their method. What was good enough for the great escalating players like maniacmath,genghis khan and comic boy is good enough for me.