by Chuuuuck on Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:33 pm
I hope the above answered it completely but I will try to explain in some more detail.
Spoils is just one type of game play. You will notice that there are 4 total types now regarding spoils. The four types are
1)Flat rate spoils
2)Escalating spoils
3) Nuclear spoils
4) No spoils
If the game is no spoils then it is very simple and straight forward. You play the map as you see it. There are no cards (or spoils) involved.
If the game is any of the other 3 options, then some type of spoils are involved. Every player gets a card (or spoil) at the end of each of their turns in which they conquered or bombarded a territory. If you do not conquer or bombard a territory in a turn then you do not get a card for that turn. Each card can be either red, green, or blue and will have an associated territory name with it. In order to turn in a set of cards (spoils) you must have one of the sets mentioned in posts before
1) 3 red
2) 3 green
3) 3 blue
4) 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue
In a flate rate game, 3 reds are worth 4 armies, 3 greens are worth 6 armies, 3 blues are worth are 8 armies and 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue (more commonly called a mixed set or rainbow) are worth 10 armies.
In an escalating game, which set you turn in does not matter as far as the number of armies you get are concerned. No matter what the set turned in is, the sets are worth armies in increasing order int he order they are turned in. The first set is worth 4 armies, then 6, then 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30 etc... As escalating games go on, spoils get to be worth A LOT of armies and that usually controls how the game is played.
In both flat rate and escalating games if the territory name is Bold and Bracketed, this means that you currently control that territory. If you play a card in a set that you control the territory, then you automatically get +2 armies placed directly on that territory.
Nuclear spoils is completely different than flat rate and escalating. In nuclear spoils you do not get an army bonus for cashing. Instead, when you cash, the territory with the name on the card that you cash is automatically "nuked" no matter who controls it. This means no matter what color it is or how many armies are on it the territory automatically goes to a neutral 1. Obviously, in this format you do not want to cash cards of territories you control because it will kill your own guys. You want to cash cards that your opponent controls so you will kill their guys.
In each of the game types that control cards, the most cards you can have at any given time is 5. If you think about it a little, once you have 5 cards you will have a set every time. The game will make you cash when you have 5 cards.
When a player eliminates another play from the game. That player gets the cards (or spoils) from the player they eliminated. If their spoils puts that player over 5 total cards, then that player will be prompted by the game to cash another set immediately in the middle of the turn until they have less than 5 cards in their hand.
I hope this clarifies everything you needed to know. It is a great site and a great game and I hope you enjoy playing it.
b4dguy
