How do you play when your troops are spread out?

[captainpanda]

As the title says, how do you play when you've had bad luck and you start with your all troops spread out across the whole map. For example, blue/white striped in this game:



Do you slowly take a command starting from one area? Do you try to connect troops (reinforce path setting)? I have no clue how to tackle this game.

 

[Shepherd]

for me my strategy in this case it would depend entirely on the game settings.

If you're playing Escalating, you're actually in a decent position - just pick two or three regions that are distant from each other, build them up enough that others don't want to waste troops hitting them. Don't try to hold regions that your opponents want for their bonuses - you've already got one river and the other is easy pickings - the nation builders will probably let you have them. I've won plenty of games this way - let everybody else wail on each other, and get the hell out of their way. By round three you'll have the most troops on the board.

If it's Flat rate it's more important to 1) get a card every turn and 2) increase your turn by turn troop yield. Grabbing cards has been made easy for you - your neighbors are leaving tons of ones. You can increase your troop yield by either taking a command (obviously) or by collecting regions nobody else wants - having 15 regions is as good as holding Chile. But since there are 6 players it may take some doing to get up to 12/15 regions. If you want to go after a command, I would suggest letting somebody else do the work for you. It looks like Black has already cleared out one player from Chile, and his next attack will be to clear out another shared opponent - by the time he comes after you, you could have 6 troops sitting there. If this is Flat, I think i'd place a troop in position to take the southern river, and drop the other two troops in the southern region of Chile. Use your reinforcement to move out of Southern Brazil, which you're going to lose anyway, and stack up that river in such a way that you can use it to poach the easy cards lining it.

Finally, use the chatter to keep your opponents on your toes as to who the power house on the board is. I've pissed off a few opponents by encouraging them to attack common enemies when I'm unable to do so myself, but sometimes it's either than or sit back and watch the game end.

edit: just checked, and it's Flat rate. Damn.

 

[captainpanda]

Thanks for the advice! Scoring cards on 1-regions (all of a sudden I see the importance of those river territories) and letting black clear out Chile, sounds like a plan

 

[Shepherd]

My money is on going after Chile, but it may not work depending on how aggressive black is. A game like that you can stay ahead in the troop count for a while simply by not wasting troops, but once your opponents hold bonuses you'll find yourself slipping fast. What you need is a little luck.

 

[Incandenza]

A little luck and a little persistence. In a situation like you're in, spread out in a flat rate game, patience is the key. It's still very very early in the game, but I do like shep's idea of trying to build a power base in chile (just don't weaken yourself too much in the attempt, or else someone else could swoop in and reap the benefits of your hard work). But don't fret if it's a few rounds from now and you still don't have a bonus. As long as you remain spread out, you'll be difficult to kill, especially given the flat rate.

Oh, and watch out for miquel, that guy knows his business.

Good luck!