by Commander62890 on Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:05 pm
I wrote this for my buddies, but I figured I'd post it here as well:
I love this map... there's so many different strategies!
The unique thing about this map is the fact that everyone starts with 9 armies on their Palace(s), but that it's not a conquest map. There are really only a few neutrals. The 9-stack is behind your own lines, so you need to fort out of it to get those armies in play (unless your enemy makes a bad move and exposes your Palace without being able to do any damage to it).
However, unless you fort directly to your own territory that is blocking your Palace (the Square), you expose your Palace to attack. If you lose all your Palaces, you are immediately eliminated from the game and all your troops go neutral.
In trips and quads, you need to be very careful about that... everyone only starts with 1 Palace. Killing enemy Palaces and protecting your own will probably be the main goal of your team. On the one hand, you need to protect your team's Palaces. On the other hand, you should really try to play it aggressive - clear the area around your own Palace, thereby protecting it, and fort your Palace to a teammate... who then tries to take out an enemy Palace for an elimination! If you can't accomplish this, then just fort your Palace to your Square, so that it's at the very least in play, and you can use it next turn. By doing this, the enemy still needs to go through 11,1 to kill you, so it's a very good defensive play, with some offensive opportunities for the next round. The only problem with that plan is that you probably won't be able to reach an enemy Palace, so it's not going to help you get an elimination in the near future.
Now, in doubles, it's very different. You start with 2 Palaces rather than 1, so you can afford to fort one wherever you like with no fear. You can fort one to a teammate in round 1, giving him a quick 11 stack, even if that exposes your Palace... because you have another Palace with 9 armies on it. The Palaces are not a bonus, and are therefore less important in doubles. You still need to be a little bit careful, though, especially if you lose 1 Palace or when cards come out.
In doubles, it's much more about bonuses and territory count (and later, cards) than trying to kill a Palace and protecting your own. There are a few pretty good bonuses, and you must decide which ones are the best choices for your drop. It's very important to fort out of your Palaces in rounds 1+2, to get them in play and help increase your territory count.
It's important to get the 9 Palace armies in play in trips and quads as well, but sometimes you'll want to leave it where it is for defense (if they're targeting you), or only fort it to your Square (which borders the Palace) for defense. Also, I haven't fully mastered trips and quads - there may definitely be situations where you'll want to go for bonuses, some of which are fairly easy to obtain (especially in trips). However, from what I've seen, the fight for Palaces usually takes precedence. I had a game where they stacked a player with 22 armies in an attempt to take one of our Palaces, but we took out that player's Palace right before his turn, turning his 22-stack into neutral.
All in all, it's an incredible map, partly because the strategy in doubles is so very different from the strategy in trips and quads. I'm still figuring out all the complexities of trips and quads, but I think I've got doubles pretty much down pat.
My only concern right now is "first turn advantage," which is probably pretty big.
Nothing you can really do about that, and I'm not even sure yet if it's an issue.