What are your board game strategies?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Crunch the numbers? Gladly.

Total investment to develop the Reds completely (hotels on all three properties) is $2930 (purchasing each property + 4 houses each + one hotel each). The rent for a hotel on the red is either $1050 (Kentucky & Indiana), which is 35.83618% of your investment, or $1100 (Illinois), which is 37.54266%.

On the Oranges however, a rent of $950 (hotel on St. James or Tennessee) nets you 46.1165% of your $2060 total investment, while the $1000 you’d get from your hotel on New York gets you 48.5437%.

These figures are assuming you have hotels on each property, which you need not do. If you, for instance, built up to four houses on each, and then only put a hotel on the most expensive property in each group (thus lowering your total investment while keeping the profit from that one property the same), you’d make only 41.8251% from the Illinois Avenue hotel, while the New York building would make you 53.7634% of your investment.

“Now wait a minute,” you might say. “That’s all well and good, but if I always land on the reds and never on the oranges it doesn’t matter one lick.”

Correct! But statistically you’re wrong there too. This page, which I believe to be accurate and informative contains a chart of probabilities of landing on a particular space with all the rules taken into account (including chance and community chest cards).

I’ve averaged the probabilites for landing on each square in either group, and the reds come in at an average of 2.9191% with a short jail stay (paying before your first roll), and 2.7248% with a long jail stay. The oranges come in at a slightly higher average of 2.9377% for a short stay and 2.771% for a long one.

Feel free to check my math, but I believe this is accurate. Monopoly is a hobby of mine.

22

my mom is a Jersey shore gal…Boardwalk went to her, even if we landed on it first…that’s just how it was.

23

In monopoly I deal. Anuything and everything can be sold. I once gave my sister a property, hundreds of dollars and fifty dollars each time I pass go for the remainder of the game for one of the yellow properties to complete a set. Did the same with her friend, then ended up making it all back and more with my hotels. I even offered them 50% property rights, so they get half the rent when anybody lands on them, but after my phenomenal success in the previous game there were no takers for my many deals.

The trick is to make it seem like you’re desperate, and like you’re giving them a lot more than you actually are. $50 every time I pass go seems like a good deal, but the game was over in a dozzen passes or so anyway, and $600 just isn’t as exciting.

24

I am not alone :slight_smile: Hi Garfield!

Anyone who argues with your math need only play a few games and it becomes readily apparent that the Oranges are much more profitable than they first appear.

25

When i play scrabble i hide a very tiny, tile firing kiln under my seat and create new lettered tiles. It usually works really well, but i got caught out when i put down
super-cali-fraga-lis-tic-expe-ali-doctious
and then they destroyed it.

26

A friend introduced me to a good technique: Start in South America, because no one ever starts there. It’s a fairly good defensive spot (only two ways in) and it has few territories. From there slowly work your way out into Africa or North America.

Sometimes I like to start out in China/Afghanistan/Ural part of Asia. No one ever tries it because they think Asia’s hard to hold on to. So screw 'em, the strategy goes.

27

Escape From Colditz: Rope, rope and more rope. Count up the number of spaces you need to move through to escape from various rooms and keep those ‘Move Quickly’ cards which are in the most favorable positions. Use tunnels immediately (particularly the Chapel tunnel, which requires no further equipment), rather than trying to keep them open for all your men. The best cards to keep are the ‘Return to Barracks’ cards and the ‘Staff Car’ card, if you are in a position to reach it within the next turn or two (i.e. have enough rope).

Monopoly: Consider replacing the two ‘Utilities’ with your own ‘Game Changer’ cards (similar to ‘Chance’ but with more - umm - pronounced effects, like ‘Give half your available cash to the player on your left’ and ‘Erect a free hotel on your cheapest property’. It makes for a more appropriate atmosphere when you’re a group of drunken students, anyway. Of course, we added: ‘If you chose the car as a token, you lose all titles, property and cash immediately’ because Gareth always chose the car. :slight_smile:

28

Monopoly: I try for the yellow/green corner. The people I play with generally either try for Red/brown or the slums. The yellow/green’s aren’t properties that people tend to want for some reason or another so I can usually trade them off of people without losing much. Having an entire corner almost ensures that people land on it once every round or two.

Oh, two smaller things I do are try to own one of each grouping so people have to buy them off of me and I keep railroads at all costs. Also when I trade properties to people, instead of getting money in return, sometimes I’ll negotiate a few free lands.

Risk: South America. People I play with seem to want either North America or Austrailia. I let people kill each other taking those, while I build up South America. Then I just move north slowly to North America and East to Africa. I always move slowly though, shoring myself up after every turn. I’ve won more than I’ve lost with this one, it’s not perfect though. On preview, it appears this strategy is identical to Blackeyes’ first strategy. I’ve never started with Asia, too big.

Clue: I suck at this game so I cheat like a mofo. I just read other people’s cards using whatever means possible.

29

Risk:From memory, depending on how much gabbing and deception your used, it was almost possible to take and hold Europe. The secret is to try and invade from the three access points (America, Asia and Africa) and try to make it that your’s stopping others or helping ‘allies’. Once you’ve got it surrounded, then your can go for it. I try to avoid Australia, since you’re easily stuck there is someone wants to make your life difficult.

Of course, the best strategy is to position the board so that the person in the lead accidently tips the board over :slight_smile:

30

Risk - Tactic: annoy other players.

We used to play in a small group as students and one of our members was a particularly sore loser with a somewhat volatile temperament. It thus became an established practice that in the event that a player considered his mission unobtainable that he would switch to plan B. Plan B consisted of diverting all avaialble resources to attacking, hampering and generally irritating the afore-mentioned individual. The results were often predictable, always entertaining, our games rarely reached completion and sometimes necessitated the purchase of a new Risk board (one board was folded up with the pieces and launched out of a third-story window, another was doused in whisky and set alight). Those were the days…

31

Puerto Rico - the best strategy is to go in with no strategy. If building opportunities are infrequent, focus on shipping, and vice versa. Never go for a high dollar crop that the player before you goes for (coffee, tobacco, sugar) as getting it to the trader post is difficult.

Amun Re - despite appearances, cash really is king. I find opting for provinces with farmers far outweighs lands that provide income, but no farmer spots. Buy as many bonus cards as you can early in the game to help focus on which lands to purchase in later rounds.

Too Many Cooks - take the ‘No Soup for You’ option as soon as safely possible. Since you can never go below 0 points, one bad hand in this category can be insurmountable in the late game.

Monopoly - don’t play. There are far better games out there. If you insist on a roll-and-move, pick Dragonland. If you insist on a financial cuthroat game, Union Pacific (or even Acquire or Modern Zeiten) are far superior.

32

Risk - shut my mouth and take S. America and Africa. 4 territories for 2 continents and easy access to any region of the world (save Australia). Offer non-aggression pacts and reneg on them at the most crucial moments. But the absolute most important aspect of the game is to be quiet. Let everyone else get mad, get fired up, start piddly little skirmishes. Draw attention to yourself, and all you end up with is a bunch of tanks pointing at your territory. Shut your mouth, and you’re the “peacekeeper” who offers great non-aggression deals.

33

Hey, no fair. That’s a card game, not a board game! :slight_smile: [Shameless bragging]I have a copy autographed by Reiner Knizia.[/sb] I’ve noticed that people have a tendency to avoid taking tricks that don’t give them any points, even if they don’t have any “poison” cards in them. Take tricks that are harmless to you out of circulation whenever possible, and dump your high, off-suit cards while doing it.

34

Monopoly: My main trick is to get two monopolies close together - I don’t care which ones. (Though I try to avoid Boardwalk and Park Place - highly overrated.)

I agree that the oranges are better than the reds - the second set of properties on a side is always better - same house price for greater return. Having them both is a real winner.

Risk I’m a North America fan. The point is not how many countries in the continent you have to defend, but how many can attack. NA has only three bordering countries, while Europe has 6. Once you get NA you can occupy Iceland, Kamchatka and Venezuela, giving yourself a buffer while blocking three other continents. You can often get South America, giving you two more armies per turn while not increasing your defense requirements any.

I like Australia also, but mostly as a way of keeping anyone from getting Asia.

35

  1. Fortunately my coworkers are pretty sharp to take 0-point tricks if it means denying points to others. I got them hooked on Sticheln as well and they will take a 3 in their misery color along with three ‘good’ cards (scoring a net of zero) to stop another player from scoring four.

  2. I hate you! Did you get it when he came to the US as guest of the Motley Fools? I had read a journal of the event and it sounded fantastic, but being here in Atlanta, there was no way I’d have been able to make it.

36

In Monopoly I’ve usually had excellent results if I"ve been able to grab not only Park Place and Boardwalk, but also the cheap properties on the other side of “Go”. When the you have latter fully developed, you basically get everyone else’s $200, every time around the board. Of course if you have BW and PP developed, you basically destroy anyone unfortunate enough to land on it.

37

I like getting the Orange and Red properties in Monopoly.
But really just forget cathcing Dr. Lucky in the armory with the civil war cannon. Just make as many attempts as you can and try to have at least 3 luck cards at all time. Plus it is more fun to kill the bastard with the ‘too tight hat’.

Of course I speaking of the great board game Kill Dr. Lucky.

38

In Monopoly secure the green, orange and/or red properties, forget about everything else and make hotels on them as soon as possible. Securing utilites and railroads also help gain funds.

In Risk, start with powerhouses in South America, North America and North Africa. First take South America and then sweep troops through North America, removing troops from internal countries to defend borders. Then take as much of Africa and Europe as possible and sweep from the north and south inward. Once you get a nice foot-hold move east from Africa and west from Alaska to take Asia. Then lastly take Austrailia.

I’ve never lost at either game. Well, except Junior Monopoly. Its harder then it looks.

39

I hope this hasn’t been posted before…

I Monopoly, I buy EVERYTHING I land on for many turns (as long as my money lasts…) then I offer unbelievable deals to secure any and all three property blocks (Boardwalk and Park Place are a pipe dream…) For instance I’ll offer Boardwalk and a railroad and a utility for Marvin Gardens (when I already have the other two yellows.) Get as many of the blocks as you can lock up. Then collect rents for a while, build houses when I can, and pretty soon you have blocks of hotels that people can’t get thru without paying you BIG $$$.

BTW, I’m always banker, but just cuz I’m anal that way, I never cheat.

40

Axis and Allies:

RUSSIA - Build infantry. Pray Germany doesn’t get a lucky roll. Transfer your navy to the British sea zone immediately, and keep it with the RN at all times. If the German player is stupid and gives you a breather, build a few tanks and wait until the right moment to put him on the canvas with an attack. No matter how bad things get, persist.

GERMANY: Forget Africa. Use your air force and navy in Turn 1 to attack British naval units, then throw everything you possibly can at Russia.

UK: Hope your navy doesn’t die in Turn 1, then reinforce Africa and take the German posessions there. Build an army in Britain and either reinforce Russia if necessary to keep them alive, or prepare to attack Germany, which helps Russia too.

JAPAN: Withdraw the entire navy to Japan. Knock out China as fast as you can and attack Russia. If there’s a no-attacking-Russia house rule, plow into British Asia.

USA: Withdraw your navy away from Japan’s. Build build build. Whichever Axis nation has a bad roll first, attack them.