You left out the 3rd and perhaps best way not to get targeted. Make it look like you are taking a larger region like North America or Europe but don't actually take it.
The key to an increasing cards game on a small map is to lose as few armies as possible. Most people get this backwards and they try to gain as many bonuses as possible.
If a region is costly to get, then you'll lose more armies than you gain. Everytime I try to take Australia someone tries to fight me for it or foolishly takes it from me once they get a big turn in even though there are only 2-3 rounds left in the game. They lose 16 troops to gain 4-6.
So what you want to do is keep most of your troops in one larger region and try and push out everyone else. Do it slowly because, remember, the number one goal is to not lose armies. Try not to attack 3's. Only attack once per turn to get a card. Try to bully the other players into retreating from the region; make threats.
But don't take the region because you risk getting attacked and losing more troops than you would gain. Unless of course you take the region and leave a 1 on a border. You may get lucky and get a card trading partner. They have to break your region and hopefully they leave a 1 as well because they don't want to lose their troops either. Then you're golden until the end game. Just before it's killing time combine your troops together facing the opponent you're most likely going to be able to kill. Obviously this strategy works best with unlimited fortification.
You might say, but isn't it dangerous to have most of your troops in one place, you're an easy target. Well if you have done a proper job of losing as few armies as possible then you won't be the weakest player. But you do have to be careful after the turn in reaches 15. Don't hold 5 cards after that if you can help it. You'll be very tempted to hold your cards if it means 15 more armies but you most likely will be the second one killed and the reason the winner is able to win. If you turn in you will survive and you might have fewer armies but you'll actually be alive to clean up after someone else went for the win and failed.
You left out the 3rd and perhaps best way not to get targeted. Make it look like you are taking a larger region like North America or Europe but don't actually take it.
The key to an increasing cards game on a small map is to lose as few armies as possible. Most people get this backwards and they try to gain as many bonuses as possible.
If a region is costly to get, then you'll lose more armies than you gain. Everytime I try to take Australia someone tries to fight me for it or foolishly takes it from me once they get a big turn in even though there are only 2-3 rounds left in the game. They lose 16 troops to gain 4-6.
So what you want to do is keep most of your troops in one larger region and try and push out everyone else. Do it slowly because, remember, the number one goal is to not lose armies. Try not to attack 3's. Only attack once per turn to get a card. Try to bully the other players into retreating from the region; make threats.
But don't take the region because you risk getting attacked and losing more troops than you would gain. Unless of course you take the region and leave a 1 on a border. You may get lucky and get a card trading partner. They have to break your region and hopefully they leave a 1 as well because they don't want to lose their troops either. Then you're golden until the end game. Just before it's killing time combine your troops together facing the opponent you're most likely going to be able to kill. Obviously this strategy works best with unlimited fortification.
You might say, but isn't it dangerous to have most of your troops in one place, you're an easy target. Well if you have done a proper job of losing as few armies as possible then you won't be the weakest player. But you do have to be careful after the turn in reaches 15. Don't hold 5 cards after that if you can help it. You'll be very tempted to hold your cards if it means 15 more armies but you most likely will be the second one killed and the reason the winner is able to win. If you turn in you will survive and you might have fewer armies but you'll actually be alive to clean up after someone else went for the win and failed.
