[Le Trône de Fer]
Salut,
Il ne s’agit pas ici d’un “guide” mais plutôt de réflexions provenant de joueurs américains (et européens) mordus du jeu…elles sont intéressantes pour les débutants et les joueurs expérimentés.
J’ai récupéré toutes ces précieuses infos sur le forum officiel, que je suis assez régulièrement. Malheureusement, suite à un crash (dont a aussi été victime le forum de TI3), tous les posts les concernant ont disparu corps et bien (!)
Les poster ici permet de les sauver de l’oubli total.
C’est en VO mais ça reste compréhensible (désolé, je n’ai pas eu le temps de tout traduire).
Je préfère les poster tout de go plutôt que de passer par Mp, dans la mesure où ça permettra à chacun de pouvoir les lire en direct et surtout, de pouvoir en discuter directement sur ce post.
Maintenant, le forum de TT étant français je suis conscient que cela puisse gêner les modos de voir des posts germer ainsi en anglais…qu’ils me le fassent savoir et je retirerais toutes ces lignes.
Certaines Maisons bénéficient de plusieurs analyses, provenant de différents auteurs.
Par “Opening” il faut comprendre “Ouverture” comme aux échecs. En effet, comme l’a très bien rappelé Sollipsiste, AGoT est un jeu aux règles simples, mais dont la connaissance seule n’est pas suffisante pour savoir jouer.
Les auteurs “internationaux” de ces réflexions tactiques ont exactement la même approche.
Baratheon
Aim: Improve your supply to improve the number of armies you can field (that’s what you’re interested in). This will in turn lead to obtaining the 7 cities/ strongholds
Strategy: This is highly group dependent, in my group I find that getting supply in the area’s bordering the Narrow Sea favours Greyjoy too much because it weakens Stark too much and Baratheon is in a less good position to take the spoils than Greyjoy. So usually in our group Baratheon turns South. Also in the long run this is the stronger option in my view as it seriously limits Tyrells ability to harm Baratheon.
Opening orders:
+1 on Dragon Stone
-1 on Shipbreaker
0 on Kingswood
1st Move from Kingswood to Dragonstone
2nd Move one ship from Shipbreaker to Sea of Dorne
3rd Assault Sunspear
Consider putting a token in Kingswood.
This is a minimalist opening but should yield you your much needed supply. It also pockets the vital Sea of Dorne.
A slightly different aproach is the following
Opening orders:
0 on Dragon Stone
-1 on Shipbreaker
+1 on Kingswood
1st Move All units from Dragonstone to Kingswood
2nd Move one ship from Shipbreaker to Sea of Dorne, other ship to Sunset sea
3rd Assault Kings Landing
Consider putting a token in Kingswood.
I consider this too risky as competent Tyrell play will destroy the units in Kingswood, if you feel you can get away with this then by all means do so. I am actually an advocate of keeping KL neutral for a slong as possible as Baratheon is the house in the best position to knock it over early in the game keeping it however is a different story. And as noted taking KL isn’t hard from the neutrals it’s equally easy to take it from a bold Tyrell of Lannister player
Baratheon (2ème analyse)
I would advise against moving north against Stark immediately. If you put a ship in the Narrow Sea, Stark has no choice but to fight you for it. If you put two ships in, you cripple your mobility back home, and you will probably still lose. You can win against a Stark who doesn’t know what he’s doing, but if Stark is that bad, you can beat him later in the game anyway.
There’s too much good territory to grab to stay on your island. Dragonstone Marches.
The ships in Shipbreaker Bay are not in a position to Raid anyone. They cannot come under attack. There is a small chance that Tyrell may attack you in the Kingswood or Storm’s End, or that an overambitious Stark will attack you in Crackclaw point. The odds of Support being helpful (noting that Tyrell may just wipe you out with the Knight of Flowers in many concievable battles) are low. I would March, so as to put a ship in one of Blackwater Bay, the Summer Sea or the Sea of Dorne.
If Tyrell is serious about a fight in the Kingswood, you don’t want to be there. My thought is to either retreat straight back to Dragonstone (and march from there with the rest of the land forces), or Support an attack into King’s Landing if you think Tyrell will let you. Frankly, that second option is a very big gamble.
So opening :
Dragonstone: March+1
Kingswood: March-1
Shipbreaker Bay: March+0
First, retreat back to Dragonstone. It’s as good a place to attack from as any. Then, play reactively. If Tyrell scares you, go to the Summer Sea or the Sea of Dorne with one ship. You have the option of taking Sunspear, but remember that is all you will take. I think it’d be better to take Crackclaw Point, Storm’s End and whichever of the Dornish Marches, Kingswood or Yronwood you think you can take and hold.
If Tyrell doesn’t freak you out that badly, you can go to Shipbreaker Bay. This can give you King’s Landing, which is good but which makes you a target, and you can’t use those crowns straight away. Your major army will be in King’s Landing, and even a three-power Consolidation isn’t going to be worth keeping them all there. The other option is to take Storm’s End, Crackpoint Point and maybe return to Kingswood, and be ready to take King’s Landing next turn, if the others give you half a chance.
Another idea is to simply take Crackclaw Point and Storm’s End and leave a footman on Dragonstone. That footman can then generate power in safety forever. Let’s face it, if Shipbreaker Bay is lost, Baratheon is out of the game.
Eventually you will need supply. However, don’t panic about it. It’s not worth committing yourself to fights you can’t win over supply you can’t yet use. Turn 2 is for capturing supply, if you can
Lannister
Here you are right in the middle of things and usually that means little good. In my experience house Lannister stands a more than averagechance to win and that has to do with their very strong diplomatic position. Usually Lannister should argue they need some lebensraum because otehrwise [insert local bully] will win the game by consuming Lannister. This works 90% of the times and will allow Lannister to persist long enought to exploit a weakness in one of his neighbours.
Opening then:
March -1 Lannisport
March +1 Stoney Sept
March 0 Golden Sound
Raven the march order If you couldn’t persuade Greyjoy to leave you alone, to a defense +2 and you should be OK.
Otherwise remove March 0 from Golden Sound
Move Units from Lannisport to Stoney Sept
If you feel cocky take Riverrun, Blackwater and Harrenhal and control Stoney Sept. Otherwise as Above but with the Knight staying behind on the Sept to Support from the next turn onwards and not taking Blackwater.
This set up should allow Lannister to play Turtle for a while while being able to gain strength. Once strength is gained get into a deal with either Greyjoy or Baratheon to have a go at Tyrell and prepare to backstab your ally at a convenient moment to take the win. You will find that 9 out of 10 games a Greyjoy Lannister alliance is in the best interest of these houses.
Greyjoy
You rule the Seas. The only allowable fleet is the Lannister fleet in Golden Sound and then only when one ship big. Any other size is a threat and should be dealt with. Period. Once you lose sea supremacy your game is over.
Aim: get Lannister into a deal and be able to focus on Stark, if you can get Baratheon in on the game so much teh better as You are in a much better position to consume Stark territory than Baratheon. Baratheon may grab some but will not be able to hold on to it when you want it. As assaulting Stark is sufficient to get your 7 cities expect a Lannister trick, so turn the table on them asap.
Opening orders:
Consolidate on Greywater watch
Move -1 on Pyke
Move 0 on Ironmansbay
Move the Knight to Seaguard and the footman to Widowswatch
Move a ship to Sunset sea
Collect Power.
When Clash of Kings shows up get high on the Fiefdoms and ensure that you’re not last on King’s Court. The Iron Throne might be a way to this but in itself is not important enough to you
Greyjoy (2ème analyse)
Playing Greyjoy, I think there are a couple of decisions to make, and those decisions completely determine your opening orders.
Firstly, do you wish to move the footman in Greywater Watch? With only two March orders available, you cannot move both this footman and your ships. (Let’s ignore the possibility of leaving the bulk of your forces on Pyke. That’s just foolish.) So, if you think it is vital to capture territory around Ironman’s Bay, this footman gets a March+0. The ships then cannot march. The Lannister ship is not a serious threat, so Defend isn’t useful. The only thing they could Raid would be the Golden Sound, and if the Golden Sound has a Support, you can support at least as strongly yourself. So, Ironman’s Bay gets a Support+0. And Pyke gets March-1.
Why not Pyke March+0, Greywater Watch March-1, Ironman’s Bay Support+0? Because any attack you can make from Pyke, you can make just as well from Greywater Watch, so you might as well move your entire force from Pyke to Greywater Watch as your first move, and have move options for battles.
If you would rather move your ships, there’s nothing left for Greywater Watch but Consolidate Power. If you think you are going to attack Riverrun or Lannisport (that is, if you think Lannister is going to screw up his opening) you might put the March+0 on Pyke to keep the attacking knight stronger. However, I’d say a March+0 on Ironman’s Bay would be safer. This is probably the most common Greyjoy opening.
Greyjoy should take Seagard on turn 1. Flint’s Finger is also a good target. I favour playing Consolidate Power on Greywater Watch due to the fact that you are really only likely to need the footman in a fight for Riverrun, and even then you can’t take it against the strongest Lannister openings. Thus, taking control of the sea becomes an objective too.
You might want to initiate a battle in the Golden Sound. If Lannister has a Defend+2 there, you need both ships. This is very risky, because even if you win and kill the Lannister ship, a muster will give Lannister the option of building a fleet in Ironman’s Bay, a big problem for Greyjoy. Greyjoy is often better off just taking the Sunset Sea, and then closing the noose around the Lannister ship next turn, or maybe going north to the Bay of Ice to hassle Stark. But if Lannister does not have a Defend+2 in the Golden Sound, you can do battle there with much less risk.
Tyrell
By the Seven Wraith you summed most of it up already, but I have a few things to add.
First: In my opinion Tyrell cannot hope to score an instant win, as they are in no position for it. So they can go for 6 cities and establish a supply advantage and hope to stall the game into a turn 10 end, and then winning the game.
The great oponent in the South is Baratheon. In all the games Baratheon and Tyrell come to blows. In all games where Baratheon is able to create a naval superiority, Tyrell comes in second. You need a second Sea area, you need to be able to retreat you ships to safety (assuming no ports are in effect). The second you lose your last fleet your game is over, as you have much less landlocked area’s to retreat in than Lannister.
The analysis of Wraith is correct in observing the necessity of plotting three marches, however I put more value on the Sea battle, so my +1 march would go to Redwyne Straits. There is a big danger to blocking Greyjoy: it might take Lannister completely off the Greyjoy leash and in that case you’re in trouble. It also definately takes a lot of pressure of the Stark backdoor. If you go this way seriously consider taking Flint’s Finger of Greyjoy as well, together with Lannister You can Easily cap the abilities of the Squid. If you choose to go the other way with the fleet you should be agressive in my book right from the beginning. Competent Baratheon play will deny you Sea of Dorne in that case kill the footman and move your fleet to Summer Sea, Old Town and The Reach are next. All tactics vs Baratheon involve overwhelming numbers as you have to compensate for the fleets He’ll have a plenty
Tyrell (2ème analyse)
Opening… Well, let’s see… The ship in the Redwyne Straits is adjacent to no enemy units at all, so Raid and Defend are both useless there. Highgarden could conceivably come under attack from Greyjoy, but it seems very unlikely. Thus, a March order would seem wise.
The units in Highgarden are adjacent to no enemies, so Raid is useless. Battles adjacent to Highgarden are highly unlikely, and most likely of little consequence if they occur, so no support. Holding back two units for a single power token is foolish, so no Consolidate Power. And again, attack by Greyjoy is unlikely, so no Defend. Highgarden marches.
The footman in the Dornish Marches could concievably raid the Kingswood. Why? To disrupt an attack on King’s Landing? No, if stopping an attack on King’s Landing matters, just kill the footman instead. Even without a Defend order on the Dornish Marches, an attack by Baratheon would be foolish. What battle could you support? The Dornish Marches marches.
So, which units are going into battle? I’d probably put the March+1 on the Dornish Marches, as that unit seems the most likely to get into a fight. You might not need it, but this gives the option of attacking the Kingswood, counter-attacking Storm’s End, or even defending Highgarden through counterattack (after being joined by the main force) if Greyjoy is foolish enough to attack.
The other possibility of battle is if Greyjoy or Baratheon encroach upon your sea areas. Highgarden is not expected to enter battle immediately (instead going to the Dornish Marches first). So the March+0 goes on the Redwyne Straits.
So, mainline opening:
Highgarden: March-1
Dornish Marches: March+1
Redwyne Straits: March+0
If you think sea battle is more likely than land battle:
Highgarden: March-1
Dornish Marches: March+0
Redwyne Straits: March+1
And one other possibility:
Highgarden: March+0 (or March-1)
Dornish Marches: March+1 (or March+0)
Redwyne Straits: Support+0 (or Support+1)
This last opening is for the case when you think Lannister might flee to the Sunset Sea, and you want to support him against Greyjoy. This keeps Lannister between you and Greyjoy.
And what should you do with those orders? Well, pick a front for your ship. You want the Summer Sea, but you want to keep Greyjoy out of the Sunset Sea. You can’t do both. Pick one - probably depending on which opponent, Greyjoy or Baratheon, seems most likely to be your enemy.
The land units should spread out and grab territory. The Reach and Oldtown are yours for the taking, but don’t move straight there. Move to the Dornish Marches and out from there, keeping your options (and the possibility of counter-attack) open. Depending on what Baratheon does, Storm’s End may be vulnerable to you, but the position is such that you will not hold it for long. If you’ve got three March orders on the board, you can move into Storm’s End after Baratheon and Greyjoy are all finished, and you know you are safe, and then pray for a muster. A muster would then put a very useful ship in the Sea of Dorne, if Baratheon hasn’t already put a ship there.
If you don’t take Storm’s End, a footman on the Arbor will safely generate power in following turns, while a footman in Yronwood can generate power (just not so safely) or be brought back into the battle. Power is Tyrell’s weakness, so a couple of good Consolidate Powers in the next few turns would be wise
Stark
Opening :
Winterfell: March-1
White Harbour: March+0
Shivering Sea: March+1
As Stark, you must hold the Narrow Sea. If you don’t, you can’t get to the western mountains, you don’t have the strength to fight in the Neck, and your home territory will be vulnerable to direct attack on two fronts. Face it, lose the Narrow Sea on turn 1, and you’ve lost the game. So, the opening must be geared to take the Narrow Sea.
So, what’s Stark’s worst case scenario? Baratheon moving north with two fleets and a March+1. Even being higher on Fiefdoms, Stark can’t stand up to that. What he can do, though, is counter-attack. Even if Baratheon takes two ships north, Stark will be attacking with March+1 for a total strength of 2, against Baratheon’s two. With his Fiefdoms advantage, Stark can ensure the win.
Baratheon is highly unlikely to do that - the ships so badly out of position has the potential to cripple Barathean - but he might send one ship north. Then, Stark can ensure the win while saving Eddard.
But if Stark has to move before Baratheon, he can get kicked back out of the Narrow Sea, so to ensure this does not happen, Stark must play out all three Marches.
And what to do with the other two Marches? Well, they won’t be going into battle, not unless you really want to fight with Baratheon over Crackclaw point. There’s no other possible battle to be had. So, spread out and claim stuff. I like to send one footman to Castle Black or Karhold to start generating power - Castle Black first if you want to control both areas, Karhold if you want to start gaining power more quickly (because an enemy fleet raiding from the Bay of Ice gets really annoying if your battery is in Castle Black). Then you take up position in the mountains and the Neck, depending on exactly what resources you want.
And over the next few turns, claim the Eyrie and anything else that you can while getting into position to finally get into the real battle. You’ll be entering the fight late, so make sure you’ve got plenty of resources behind you when you finally get there.
Stark (2ème analyse)
To finish of here I should add my thoughts on Stark.
Stark easily takes three and potentially four cities in the first three turns: Winterfell, White Harbour, Moat Cailin and The Eyrie. After that Stark becomes bogged down into what can be described as trenchwarfare only. I think Stark is the only House able to hide effectively and to keep others out, when allowed to position itself early.
As I have stated in earlier posts, this is to the advantage of the Southern Houses (Baratheon and Tyrell) as it effectively denies Greyjoy an easy win. The drawback for all parties involved is that Stark when allowed to hide will gain control of the Courts. This is more a matter of when than of how. The reason is that Stark is the only great House has the oportunity from early in the game on to plot consolidate orders without fear of raids hitting them, thus they can quickly from turn two onwards accumulate massive amounts of power.
Also because of the nature of the nothern part of the map, having little supply is of little consequence to Stark. They can still maximize their defense by cunningly plotting support orders to bolster the defense of their holdings.
When I play with Stark I will always offer a deal to Baratheon in the order of: “I give you access to Mountains of Moon and you let me sit on Narrow Sea and will stay out of your hair for three turns.” This is a good deal for Baratheon as it nets him what he really wants: Supply, and it strikes a potential enemy from the list for the comming three turns. I will then plot for Stark the following:
Winterfell [March -1]
White Harbour [March 0]
Shivering Sea [March +1] Just to keep Baratheon honest.
Baratheon will prove his worth by moving his ship asap after which you can move you ship no later than in the second move into Narrow Sea. If Baratheon betrays you make this move Last as you will win any engagement with Baratheon if he has sent some or (foolishly) all ships. In the latter case go into an alliance with Tyrell and waste Baratheon.
Now back to the moves:
1 Move you Knight from Winterfell to White Harbour, move you Footman to Karhold
2 Move you ship to Narrow Sea (see all musings above)
3 Move your Footman to Moat Cailin and your Knight to The Twins
I find this positioning to be far preferable over the other options I have seen, because it allows for offensive action into Seagard on Turn 2. Also the footman in Karhold should start consolidating asap (unless no mustering comes up then you should probably plot a march to Castle Black if only to have another march).
Well this sort of sums it up for Stark. As a side note to the other posters on this thread: this has come out much better than I could have hoped for as I have encountered the sort of arguments I was looking for to things differently. It goes a long way to prove in what sort of patterns a gaming group can get itself when playing the game often with the same set of people.
Martell
House Martell is the real addition that requires some attention. Very little of what is to follow has been has been tried in practice as I rarely get to play this game with 6 players anyway. Too bad, mind over matter than.
Right House Martell has a neat board position as well as a great deck of house cards. And they need them. Baratheon and Tyrell are your main advesaries and in my opinion Tyrell is the neighbour you should trust least. Policy towards Baratheon: denial of the seas. You should always establish local control of Sea of Dorne and East Summer Sea. Sea of Dorne is to be supported from the Sunspear port. The policy towards Tyrell should be: stay out of Dorne or else! Back this statement up, you really shouldn’t have a hard time with that. The goal is 6 cities and they are called: Sunspear, Yronwood, Starfall, Storm’s End, The Reach and Oldtown. In the end you will have your troubles with both your neighbours, but try to take them on one at the time (hey that is pretty generic, this comment applies to all Houses). In regard to area’s getting control of Princess’ Pass is essential. Tyrell controlling it at any point in the game is unacceptable. The reasons being: it’s the Key to dominating Dorne, it’s got a barrel and a crown. In this respect that region works very much like Stoney Sept except that it is to be used offensively.
Orders:
You’ve got one star so use it wisely.
Sea of Dorne - Defend +1
Sunspear - March +1
Saltshore - March 0
Moves:
Move a footman from Saltshore to Starfall and take control of Saltshore.
Move the footman from Sunspear to Way of Bone and the Knight to Yronwood.
Optionally move the ship to East Summer Sea, but lets face it You really don’t want a Baratheon ship in Sea of Dorne.
From that perspective if you really don’t trust the Baratheon player put the Defense +2 on Sea of Dorne and stick to the moves by replacing with the lesser power marches.
Try to get into a battle with Baratheon in such a way that you can play Doran Martell to steal the Iron Throne; that should get you ahead during the bidding later on (if only for Wildlings…).
Well, I’ve just gotten around to (starting to) take a proper look at the southern end of a six-player opening, and figured I’d make some observations.
Initially, concerning Martell.
First up, I believe it was mistakenly stated earlier that Martell has only a single star at the start of the game. Martell has wto stars, not one, I think - but I’ll check again when I’ve got my game available, and correct myself if I am mistaken here.
Martell is involved in a two-front, three-way war with Tyrell and Baratheon. The house needs to establish strong borders early. Moreover, Martell needs to appear strong. Martell has a lot of swords on his house cards, which means that his opponents do not want to come up against him unless they are sure they can win. In the long run, the house that goes up against Martell is either going to crush him, or at least be weakened enough that the third party in the war is likely to come to dominance in the south. So, Martell needs to let his opponents know that it is not in their interests to fight him - especially since the reality is that Martell can’t afford to be damaged fighting only one opponent either.
So, where can the opening conflicts occur? Neither Tyrell nor Baratheon has immediate access to any of Martell’s home areas. Baratheon, however, can theoretically attack either Sunspear or the Salt Shore after moving to the East Summer Sea. Even after moving his own ship to the East Summer Sea, Martell cannot attack either enemy’s starting territories. Martell has to be concerned with attacks by Baratheon - but probably not overly concerned, as Baratheon would risk a lot in such an attack. If it wasn’t a flawless victory, Baratheon could find himself in a lot of trouble.
However, there are a few locations which are mutually accessible by two or more of the three southern houses. Prince’s Pass and Starfall are accessible by Tyrell. Storm’s End is accessible by Baratheon. The Boneway is accessible by all three houses.
Since muster points are so important in the early game, it is Starfall and Storm’s End which are the immediate concerns. If Tyrell moves to Prince’s Pass and is allowed to remain, Martell will be at a strategic disadvantage, but this is not a great concern in turn 1. Tyrell simply is not in a position to make a strong play into Prince’s Pass immediately, as doing so would not allow him to capture vital muster points. (If Tyrell does make this mistake, repelling him within a turn or two should not be difficult.) Any move to the Boneway this early is simply asking for trouble, as this is the one point on the board that Tyrell, Baratheon and Martell can all reach.
So, Starfall and Storm’s End. Tyrell would surely like to take Starfall, but the greatest force he can commit to the endeavour is a single knight. (More would require giving up Oldtown.) Martell can thus take Starfall with an attack of strength 3 (but watch out for Ser Loras). Baratheon can take Storm’s End with a much greater force - 3 strength in support from Shipbreaker Bay plus whatever he moves in, if he cares to do this. However, Baratheon must either commit to fighting for Storm’s End and Crackclaw Point, or give himself the possibility of taking King’s Landing. He can’t do both.
Martell (2ème analyse)
So, considering all of the above, how can Martell open? Raids are useless. Consolidate Power could be done, but I doubt the power thus accumulated would make up for the territory Martell would fail to take. A particularly paranoid Martell could play Defense on Sunspear or even the Salt Shore, but the truth is that any such attack can be far more easily prevented by Marching the ship to the East Summer Sea. Overuse of Support orders is similarly poor play. If the ship is going to March, you don’t want to do it weakly, because you risk getting trapped by an aggressive Baratheon. So, from the remaining orders, we get the following possible plays:
Sunspear: March+0
Salt Shore: March-1
Sea of Dorne: March+1
Sunspear: March+1
Salt Shore: March-1
Sea of Dorne: March+0
Sunspear: March+1
Salt Shore: March+0
Sea of Dorne: Support+1
Sea of Dorne Marches is designed to take control of the East Summer Sea. In doing this, we have to remember that Baratheon resolves the first March. Martell cannot afford to risk playing March-1 on the Sea of Dorne, because an aggressive Baratheon could immediately move to the East Summer Sea and hold it with only a single ship. A better March will allow Martell to overcome a Baratheon foolish enough to move a single ship there. The March+0 is still a slight risk, as Barathean could choose to leverage his naval strength to the full and pen Martell in, but a smart Baratheon should not give up control of Shipbreaker Bay like that. However you do it, though, you want to ensure that you have the option of moving after Baratheon, just in case Baratheon plays a March+1 on Shipbreaker Bay (or is foolish enough to attack with both ships). Also, Martell should not be foolish enough to play the remaining orders the wrong way around. Why? Because you want to be attacking out of Sunspear, not the other way around. If you have moved your ship out to the East Summer Sea, Sunspear is equally as good as the Salt Shore for an attack on Starfall. On the other hand, if you are forced to delay the move to the East Summer Sea, you will be moving to Starfall before Tyrell, so the stronger March order does not help. Therefore, it is better to have the option of a strong attack on Storm’s End - which cannot be achieved from the Salt Shore.
A similar logic applies when playing Sea of Dorne Supports. If you March into battle, it will be to Storm’s End. Otherwise, you will get to the battleground first, and your order does not help.
In either case, Martell then has to play reactively. Sea of Dorne Supports declares an obvious intent to take Storm’s End, but with either opening you are spoiling for a fight in both Storm’s End and Starfall. You want to the the late arrival, in either case, if you can arrange it. Yronwood is a freebie, if you can spare the unit. A knight and a footman in Starfall should discourage Tyrell, but anything less is just a temptation for him, unless you can move last with a March+1.
All up, I think I would favour a Sea of Dorne Marches. Sea of Dorne Supports really commits Martell to taking Storm’s End, which might get Baratheon’s back up enough that he puts up a fight, and leaves Martell unable to grab Starfall if Tyrell gets aggressive there. I like flexibility, and would prefer to be able to take the easy cities than get locked down fighting for less.
Another ship should be mustered when the opportunity arises (especially if the first is in the East Summer Sea). Control of the two sea areas should keep Martell’s home secure, and should eventually lead to control of Storm’s End. Starfall is likely to be a point of contention with Tyrell, but even if you hold it Tyrell will still have better mustering than you, so don’t back down from Starfall. In the long term, Martell should take everything bordering the Sea of Dorne and the East Summer Sea, plus Prince’s Pass. Use the port of Sunspear to consolidate your hold on the East Summer Sea, and the port of Storm’s End to force your way north into Shipbreaker Bay (with Stark’s help) if you can. Generate power in Sunspear, and look for ways to break out.
Bouleversements sur les autres Maisons à 6 joueurs
And now a look at Tyrell, because that’s pretty simple.
In six-player, Tyrell is back to having no starred orders available. This makes life hard for Tyrell, but also makes analysis easy.
Tyrell can come into conflict with other southern houses in the Reach, the Boneway, Prince’s Pass and Starfall. The Boneway isn’t worth the trouble - a single crown that brings Tyrell into conflict with two other houses. Prince’s Pass is more valuable and only creates conflict with Martell, but Tyrell cannot move to both this and Starfall. That means you can expect Martell to take both Starfall and Yronwood, and then repel Tyrell quite quickly. It simply isn’t worth it. If you want to fight Tyrell, start with Starfall instead. Either Starfall or the Reach might be worth fighting over, but neither is worth as much as Oldtown - two points of secure muster, right beside your home stronghold - and you can’t take all three.
Oh, and there’s the Searoad Marches too, but if Lannister or Greyjoy is sparing the forces to go there, you don’t want to be fighting them, because that means there is an alliance between them and you have got better things to do than lose battles to such an alliance.
So, what to play… Raids are useless. Defends are useless. No starred orders. So…
Highgarden: March+0
Dornish Marches: Support+0
Redwyne Straits: March-1
Highgarden: March+0
Dornish Marches: Consolidate Power
Redwyne Straits: March-1
Highgarden: March+0
Dornish Marches: March-1
Redwyne Straits: Support+0
Highgarden: March-1
Dornish Marches: March+0
Redwyne Straits: Support+0
I would favour moving the ship out of the Redwyne Straits, because it is pretty useless there. That doesn’t leave a March for the Dornish Marches, so you can either Support (if you intend to go to the Reach and want to do so strongly) or Consolidate Power (if you don’t think you need extra strength in the Reach). The alternative is to give up on Starfall, fight for the Reach, and possibly start a battery on the Arbor. I think this is risky, because what do you do if Tyrell takes Starfall and then uses it to build a ship in the West Summer Sea?
Whatever else happens, you move a footman to Oldtown. It is the most valuable region you can take in the first turn, and does not require anything more than that single footman.
In the longer term, Tyrell wants to set up a battery on the Arbor, the only really safe place to Consolidate Power in the region, and set up a power based defined by Highgarden, the Reach, the Dornish Marches and the West Summer Sea.
The only port in Tyrell territory, Oldtown, is useless for holding the seas. If you are defending the Redwyne Straits, you have already lost. The best thing you can do with the Oldtown port is play Consolidate Power in it, because Tyrell is short of places to do this. As for opposing ports, the only one of serious concern is Sunspear, and that just affirms the difficulty of breaking out that way (because the East Summer Sea is also supported by the Sea of Dorne). Tyrell is probably better off focussing inland - so watch out for Lannister, who has to do this too.
The other house with big changes in the six-player game is Baratheon.
Baratheon no longer has Tyrell adjacent to his lone footman in Kingswood. This gives more opening options, because now that lone footman can be allowed to sit there, safely tucked away from your opponents.
On the other hand, Baratheon now has Martell in close proximity, which means you won’t be going south to Sunspear (and the important southern barrels).
No Baratheon starting area can be attacked immediately, but other houses can reach any of the East Summer Sea, Storm’s End, the Boneway, the Reach, Crackclaw Point and the Narrow Sea, and everything that lies beyond that last.
As in the standard game, going to the Narrow Sea against a half-competent Stark just isn’t worth it. Stark must hold the Narrow Sea to have any chance of victory, so trying to take it will get you locked in perpetual battle at best. Forget that. Similarly, Martell cannot afford to let you have the East Summer Sea. There is a chance that he will allow you to move there in the first turn, but if it happens it will be because he is supporting with the ship in the Sea of Dorne, which means he will hold Sunspear and Storm’s End against you. Going either way is probably a good way to let the other opponent into Baratheon’s front yard.
So, what openings can Baratheon employ? Raids are useless. Defends are useless. You’ve got one starred order.
Dragonstone: March+0
Kingswood: Support+1
Shipbreaker Bay: March-1
Dragonstone: March+1
Kingswood: Support+0
Shipbreaker Bay: March+0
Either of these will allow Baratheon to take King’s Landing on turn 1, and keep the land forces a little spread. It also puts a ship into Blackwater Bay, which is good for the defense of Shipbreaker Bay. I would probably favour the former, as it allows Baratheon to take Storm’s End strongly if for some reason this is found to be desirable. The +1 from the Support+1 will apply to defense, while the +1 from the March+1 will not. Neither +1 will help in Crackclaw Point, as Stark cannot reach it until after you have resolved your second march. However, the March+0 in Shipbreaker Bay means you have a mild threat against Martell (with 2 ships to the East Summer Sea) - probably only good enough to annoy him, which is much like poking a real scorpion with your finger.
There are several triple-march variations. As long as either Kingswood or Dragonstone gets the March+1, Baratheon still has the option of taking King’s Landing. However, because this concentrates all the land units in one area, reducing the number of orders which can be placed, there does not seem to be an advantage to this. These openings will allow Baratheon to muscle into the Narrow Sea or the East Summer Sea, but remember my advice against this.
Or, there are:
Dragonstone: March+0
Kingswood: March-1
Shipbreaker Bay: Support+1
Dragonstone: March-1
Kingswood: March+0
Shipbreaker Bay: Support+1
This allows aggressive defense of Crackclaw Point and Storm’s End. This could be good if you fear an early attack by Stark and Martell, and want to establish strong borders early. Depending on what Tyrell does, there may still be time to take King’s Landing later, as that stronghold is hard for others to reach. The downside is, you can’t move your ships.
Dragonstone: March+0
Kingswood: Support+0
Shipbreaker Bay: Support+1
These is the ultimate “I’m scared of Martell” openings. Arranging the Support orders that way is strictly better than the alternative, as you can use the Support+1 in Crackclaw Point if need be. This has the advantage of keeping the forces well spread, if the Dragonstone units split up to Crackclaw Point and Storm’s End.
And finally, something optimistic:
Dragonstone: March+0
Kingswood: Consolidate Power
Shipbreaker Bay: Support+1
This will let you take Crackclaw Point and Storm’s End with a fair amount of force, spread the land units well and even generate some power.
And even more optimistic:
Dragonstone: March+1
Kingswood: Consolidate Power
Shipbreaker Bay: March+0
Only to be used if you are absolutely sure of your diplomatic status, this will let Baratheon take Storm’s End and Crackclaw Point, spread the forces as much as possible, set Baratheon up to take King’s Landing, and generate power. The only problem is, Martell is probably going to kill whatever unit you send to Storm’s End. Tactically, I wouldn’t advise it.
So Baratheon has a lot of options, but I am not sure that any of them is extremely strong. I think I would favour one that gives me the option of taking King’s Landing, but on the other hand there is a good chance that Storm’s End and Crackclaw Point will do just as well.
In the longer term, Baratheon’s poor positions on Fiefdoms and the King’s Court mean that he probably has to wait until after the first Clash of Kings to force his way beyond his natural borders. Luckily, there are good resources in that natural territory - two strongholds, two cities, plenty of crowns (which should be used to generate lots of power). Supply is going to be even more of a problem than in the five-player game, though.
Ravitaillement
The supply situation for Baratheon has been improved in the six player game, because Kingswood is now also home to a barrel. This gives Baratheon the much needed seccond barrel. Getting a third is nice but due to the nature of the House not essential. Having fleets around that provide ample support is all that is required from a Baratheon perspective, as that will allow him to hold long enough to prepare for D-Day, or for a better name something like Market Garden, without the paratrooper thingy that is.
There is also building evidence that 6-player games do not last the full 10 turns. Discussion has been going into the direction of suggesting that this is caused by lowering the city requirement to win the game to 6. Thus supply in a 6 player game now really is only good for increasing the number of armies you get to move around and to increase the number of units in those armies. Again I remain somewhat wary of the necessity of large amount of supply in a six player game, as it is unlikely to be a game tie-breaker and the shorter games last the less players are constrained by the supply limits.
Simple statistics indicate the likelyhood of Supply to occur in the first four turns to be close to 1. The same applies to Muster. Either of them may occur more often but is likely to occur at least once. Thus a ssuming a 7 turn game, it is likely that at least two musters and two supplies have occured. Please note that statistics change once Winter is Comming rears its head as that changes everything. Having said all that having barrels requires the Supply event to be usefull. Having a high supply position requires a Muster event to use it. In that order. And lets face it: having one kick ass army trample the enemy on one spot doesn’t prevent him from taking three other area’s you are not defending due to the units being in the kick ass army, which sort of defeats the purpose of having said army.
Baratheon’s initial supply pressure is much lessened in a six-player game, I agree. However, 2 supply allows only three armies (not including single units, as per the usage in the rules). 1 supply allows only two armies.
Baratheon really needs to occupy both Shipbreaker Bay and Blackwater Bay, for proper control of his natural theatre. That will only extend naval support to three cities/strongholds (plus Dragonstone, which cannot be attacked). With enemies in the Narrow Sea and the East Summer Sea, support in Shipbreaker Bay will most likely be raided. That means that Storm’s End must be protected from attacks across the Sea of Dorne by land armies.
And with games not going the full ten turns, Baratheon is almost required to break out of that territory.
I think if Baratheon were to lose the supply from the Kingswood, expanding beyond (or even holding) his basic natural theatre would be very difficult. With the second supply, the break-out will still be tricky. A third barrel, while not essentially to victory, is going to make that much easier.
So yes, I agree that Baratheon’s early supply pressure is lessened, but his potential to expand beyond two supply is also lessened, and despite the shorter game that is still likely to be a problem.
Ludovic.
J’adorre, on dirais les études d’ouverture et de stratégie pour DIplomacy 
Décidement, ce jeu est un must.
ce jeu est un bijou.
Très long à lire, mais intéressant pour ceux qui jouent beaucoup.
Avec des débutants, le premier tour peut devenir n’importe quoi.
Maintenant, il y a les ordres uniques à prendre en compte.
Un “recrutement” posé au premier tour peut s’avérer très utile.
Surtout pour sortir des navires.
Vous les jouez quand les ordres uniques ?
tour 2-3 généralement (pour les recrutement)
le supply quand il commence a y avoir un pb
l’ordre de maison ca dépend