What would you do with this starting hand?

[Florrible]

I just started a game and for the first time ever I was actually really tempted to keep 4 out of 5 cards but I thought that would set me back by quite a bit and I'd have to use the gain food action twice before I was able to play anything else, so I left the black-billed Magpie thinking "well I can't be sure that my opponent will have any birds with hunting powers anyway" (which they end up having two of, but in the same row so I would only have been able to use the pink power when they gained food)

Would you agree with my choice? I ended up losing the game by two points so I must have made some wrong choices along the way - probably timing wise about which birds I played when or which cards I kept from my "tuck and draw" card in the Wetland maybe.

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=687206402

edit: I can't see where my attachment posted to - I put a screenshot of my starting hand in relation to eor goals, the tray etc, but I can't see where it posted, then again you can view the same by clicking the game replay

[Ceaseless]

I'd keep 4 birds without hesitation, tossing Magpie and keep Rodent for food. The Grassland Bonus is generically the better bonus card, but since you have 2 solid 3 pointers your hand has far better support for the low scoring bird bonus Backyard Birder, so it's the better take with the higher population supporting it. Looking at the situation from the opening hand, here is the initial plan, which may end up with revisions down the line if the opponent's choices mess with your birdfeeder options.

Turn 1 play the Hawk, turn 2 gain a food for Phoebe, turn 3 lay eggs, and turn 4 Phoebe goes into your forest. Your choice of Invertebrate vs Fruit should be based on making sure it's easier to get the Seed + Fruit for House Finch, the follow-up Invertebrate for Sandpiper is a nonissue since you're guaranteed Phoebe's effect if you need to. Turn 5 you gain food with the intent of getting Seed and Fruit, and likely use Phoebe's effect for Sandpiper. Turn 6 play the House Finch in the Grassland and turn 7 play Sandpiper. Turn 8 you can lay eggs with 2 bowl nests between Phoebe and Finch.

The contents of the feeder mean you need the Rodent on hand and Hawk as forest bird #1. Since you can only gain 1 food unless you sacrifice your hand, forest bird #2 needs to be 1 food bird, so that honor goes for Phoebe. That, and House Finch would have an awkward time with its tuck and draw until you draw cards for fodder, so delaying its play is fine. House Finch is the hardest one to place, since it's nice in both the Forest and the Grassland. I'd probably lean towards the Grassland by default, but the fact that the Grassland doesn't need an egg means you don't have to give up your last egg for it to be played in the Forest, so your first action in round 2 can be to draw cards using that egg, knowing that the next time you lay eggs you'll have a House Finch tuck and draw to go with it. The timing of Sandpiper is also a fun question. I'd prefer to play it as early as I can for draws, but since your opponent gets first dibs on the wetland at the start of round 2 your gains in landing it largely amount to how good the tray looks after your opponent has their pick. I like being ready in case you get a lucky flip, but if giving your opponent 1 food looks like more trouble than it's worth it's fine to pass on that, such as if your opponent shows signs of struggling a lot with food and will get more relief than you do.

If your opponent shows any indication that they don't know what a Bowl Nest is yet (or if they only know what bowl nests are and managed 3+ round 1...) and the tray looks desirable, you might be able to get away with not playing House Finch round 1 and using one of those turns for the Wetland after playing Sandpiper. Nothing wrong with throwing away end of round goals if they get in the way, but a hand of 2 solid bowl birds is a strong look for a fight for end of round goal 1.

[Ceaseless]

I just started a game and for the first time ever I was actually really tempted to keep 4 out of 5 cards but I thought that would set me back by quite a bit and I'd have to use the gain food action twice before I was able to play anything else, so I left the black-billed Magpie thinking "well I can't be sure that my opponent will have any birds with hunting powers anyway" (which they end up having two of, but in the same row so I would only have been able to use the pink power when they gained food)

Would you agree with my choice? I ended up losing the game by two points so I must have made some wrong choices along the way - probably timing wise about which birds I played when or which cards I kept from my "tuck and draw" card in the Wetland maybe.

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=687206402

edit: I can't see where my attachment posted to - I put a screenshot of my starting hand in relation to eor goals, the tray etc, but I can't see where it posted, then again you can view the same by clicking the game replay

As an aside, I didn't spot any attachments directly showing the starting hand, just the link to the game page with the replay easily available, which works out fine. I decided to take a look at what you actually did with the hand. I noticed you didn't keep the Hawk, which puts you down a Forest Bird but up a food. I think this hand is still perfectly workable. Turn 1 Phoebe, turn 2 gain a Fruit and use Phoebe's effect for Invertebrate. You're now set to play your remaining 2 birds.

The problem began with playing House Finch in the Wetland. 1 Wetland bird is sufficient, and Spotted Sandpiper already covers that role. While a second can be nice, the problem is that you only have 1 Forest bird since you didn't keep the Hawk, and you need 2 Forest birds. House Finch is a strong Forest Bird, its draw effect giving your Forest flexibility. Since you usually gain food more often than draw cards, you'll activate House Finch far more often in the Forest, letting it score more points and draw more cards. As a Wetland bird, the card is underwhelming, but as a Forest or Grassland bird the card is solid. I have preferences for it to be in the Grassland, but you need Forest Bird #2.

The ideal play is turn 3 lay eggs, turns 4 and 5 to playing Sandpiper in the Wetland and House Finch in the Forest. Turn 6 you can draw cards and decide if Sandpiper is worth using its effect. From what I saw in this game, the answer is no. Your opponent doesn't even know what a Wetland is yet, they're drawing 1 card at a time, so any free cards are terrific for them. Also, since their Forest is better developed and the even get some food from you using the Phoebe, they're in a better position to play cards from hand (with the drawback they didn't really have any at the time), so you're helping fix one of their biggest problems for them. The one thing in your favor over them in this respect is House Finch improving your draw quality by filtering through cards, which is reduced by having it in the Wetland instead of the Forest.

If you had placed Finch in the Forest rather than the Wetland, your plan runs through the Forest and first End of Round set-up even faster than mine did, giving you more leeway round 1, though with 0 Grassland development for the future, which, for round 1, is perfectly acceptable.

[bergerOUS]

In my oppinon you took the right birds but played them wrong... with phoebe and finch in the grassland you could gain food, change cards while putting eggs down....
Well I'm not the best player and I'm a huge grassland fan. Ususally you should get about 90 points, with some lucky draws 100 at the end.

[Ceaseless]

In my oppinon you took the right birds but played them wrong... with phoebe and finch in the grassland you could gain food, change cards while putting eggs down....
Well I'm not the best player and I'm a huge grassland fan. Ususally you should get about 90 points, with some lucky draws 100 at the end.

That's gutsy. Skipping the Forest entirely and leaning on Grassland Wetland shenanigans. Not sure I'd trust Phoebe to take that much of the food supply though. Giving your opponent that much food is terrifying and being limited to Invertebrates you'd have some awkward trades too. You might score solidly, though with that much free food expect your opponent's score to be through the roof. The opponent happened to have a really Forest heavy hand, which reduces the drawback this plan has, but there was no knowing that for a while. So not my first plan, but it's a believable strategy with those cards at least.

[Florrible]

The problem began with playing House Finch in the Wetland. 1 Wetland bird is sufficient, and Spotted Sandpiper already covers that role. While a second can be nice, the problem is that you only have 1 Forest bird since you didn't keep the Hawk, and you need 2 Forest birds. House Finch is a strong Forest Bird, its draw effect giving your Forest flexibility. Since you usually gain food more often than draw cards, you'll activate House Finch far more often in the Forest, letting it score more points and draw more cards. As a Wetland bird, the card is underwhelming, but as a Forest or Grassland bird the card is solid. I have preferences for it to be in the Grassland, but you need Forest Bird #2.

thank you so much for always taking the time to watch the replays and share your feedback. It's a lot to remember but I am learning a lot from participating in these forums. Of course it would make sense to not put a bird that draws cards in a row that already draws cards. It's good to have a bit of mix and match. I enjoy, when I am able, playing egg-laying birds in Forest and food-gathering birds in Grassland, so I'm almost doing two different actions in the same turn. It's not always possible though, for example if you have an EOR goal wanting the most birds in a particular habitat.

My favourite trick, again depending on the hand I have, is to have 2 tuck and draw birds one right after the other and always have a card spare, so every turn, you basically replace that card over and over again and add 2 extra points each time. It does get tricky though if sometimes you get a really good card and actually don't want to tuck it, which interrupts the chain.

[Florrible]

In my oppinon you took the right birds but played them wrong... with phoebe and finch in the grassland you could gain food, change cards while putting eggs down....
Well I'm not the best player and I'm a huge grassland fan. Ususally you should get about 90 points, with some lucky draws 100 at the end.

I don't think I've ever scored more than 100 points on BGA but I have definitely been defeated by players scoring 100+. I don't pay that much attention to the actual final score, as long as it's higher than your opponent. Usually, I seem to finish anywhere between 70-90. I know that is very average, and I very often either win or lose by a 1-2 point differential. But say your opponent scores 85. You don't need a score of 90-100 to win, all you need really, is 86 (or even 85 but with more food tokens so you win on the tie-breaker).

[bergerOUS]

I don't think I've ever scored more than 100 points on BGA but I have definitely been defeated by players scoring 100+. I don't pay that much attention to the actual final score, as long as it's higher than your opponent. Usually, I seem to finish anywhere between 70-90. I know that is very average, and I very often either win or lose by a 1-2 point differential. But say your opponent scores 85. You don't need a score of 90-100 to win, all you need really, is 86 (or even 85 but with more food tokens so you win on the tie-breaker).

You are right sometimes 72 points are enought to win. But in a average game you'll win with 90 for sure. Sometimes you loose with 112. In my few those lost game are more fun than a victory in a game where nothing fits together...