As for the placement:
Personally, I put a lot of troops on territories:
- that have great connections, which means if some player wants to kill another player, he needs to kill me first.
- close to a, in my opinion, weak player, so that I can attack him later on. That might backfire though, if he feels threatened.
As for the card value and turn ins:
That's tricky. I've won 8 or 9p games, starting the raid when values were at 12, but in more 'sophisticated' games, it will be more like around 30/35, or even higher.
The way I try to play it: if I own a black card, and I can turn in at 4 cards(not using my black card): most probably I will, even if card value is very low. Why? because I'm sure I will have another set with 3 cards. If the game goes slow, I don't turn in at 4, and wait to go to 5 cards, hoping I will not need my black card to turn in at 5 cards. If you have a set, with 3 or 4 cards, there is never a 'need' to get a card. You can wait, until it's needed to turn in , or easy to take a card.
If I don't have a black card, most of the time I wait, until the card value is high enough for me to turn in. (in 8-9p games around 20 or higher). If you're vulnerable in the game, you don't have a choice: you'll have to turn in.
If there is no region easy to take: don't. Spread out in the beginning, so that you keep the territories that are important to you. Don't attack 3's, or even 2's in the beginning (doesn't count if you want to take a region). Not taking a card in round 1, and even round 2, is totally OK. Players will wait to turn in, not willing to go first. That gives you time to also get your 4th and 5th card.
When it comes to money time, it's like GoW already said: look at what others can do. When will they (possibly) turn in, who will they attack? Who do I need to block? Who do I need to protect?
Keep in mind, all of this is how I play it. I'm pretty sure there are some much better strategies too.
Good luck!
As for the placement:
Personally, I put a lot of troops on territories:
- that have great connections, which means if some player wants to kill another player, he needs to kill me first.
- close to a, in my opinion, weak player, so that I can attack him later on. That might backfire though, if he feels threatened.
As for the card value and turn ins:
That's tricky. I've won 8 or 9p games, starting the raid when values were at 12, but in more 'sophisticated' games, it will be more like around 30/35, or even higher.
The way I try to play it: if I own a black card, and I can turn in at 4 cards(not using my black card): most probably I will, even if card value is very low. Why? because I'm sure I will have another set with 3 cards. If the game goes slow, I don't turn in at 4, and wait to go to 5 cards, hoping I will not need my black card to turn in at 5 cards. If you have a set, with 3 or 4 cards, there is never a 'need' to get a card. You can wait, until it's needed to turn in , or easy to take a card.
If I don't have a black card, most of the time I wait, until the card value is high enough for me to turn in. (in 8-9p games around 20 or higher). If you're vulnerable in the game, you don't have a choice: you'll have to turn in.
If there is no region easy to take: don't. Spread out in the beginning, so that you keep the territories that are important to you. Don't attack 3's, or even 2's in the beginning (doesn't count if you want to take a region). Not taking a card in round 1, and even round 2, is totally OK. Players will wait to turn in, not willing to go first. That gives you time to also get your 4th and 5th card.
When it comes to money time, it's like GoW already said: look at what others can do. When will they (possibly) turn in, who will they attack? Who do I need to block? Who do I need to protect?
Keep in mind, all of this is how I play it. I'm pretty sure there are some much better strategies too.
Good luck!
