I Want To Get Better At This Game But I Don't Know How

[Andrei3009]

The hand I'm keeping is Woodpecker and Brewer's Wren with Invertebrate, Seed, and Fish. Turn 1 Woodpecker using Seed and hope they don't take Invertebrate turn 1 (they didn't). Turn 2 gain the Invertebrate and use Woodpecker to take Seed. Your turn 3 can now play Brewer's Wren and you have 2 forest and a wetland bird, and one of your forest birds can even sometimes get food/points. Not a half bad start. Yes, Brewer's Wren is a terrible card, but I think its role in this hand is indispensable to guarantee a developed Forest and Wetland, and thanks to Woodpecker you can get over the food cost quickly enough to make do. Instead of playing Wren turn 3 you can also draw Common Loon instead if you really want it. (Edit: I'd like to point out you can just get it with a standard draw 2 later though). Given they started the game with 2 food and neither of them fish, I'm not expecting them to draw it unless they think you have no wetland capacity at all and really want to counter pick (I did not realize they had no wetland birds at all in a 3 card hand, or I should more specifically say that they didn't use any, lol). I find it unlikely and hardly fatal if they try it since you do have a wetland pick. Since Brewer's Wren is a Migratory bird it lets you have 2 wetland birds, yet Common Loon will only count itself for its effect if you move Wren away (this normally matters more than it would have in this game, but your opponent forgetting what a wetland was for so long really kills this trick.) Wren even adds some fight for your second end of round goal.

On move 37, between the Fruit, Fish, and Seed you'd get from Woodpecker's effect you have enough food to play Flycatcher next turn with a 2 for one food trade. Considering Woodpecker's Seed synergy, you had a believable chance of making Canada Goose work as a card, so I'd have chosen to hang onto it for a bit longer. Besides, you were looking for Grassland birds anyways.

I do think you did more random draw 2 wetland drawing than needed. It would have been better to just develop what you had, gaining food in the forest and playing the birds you had. You can wait for next round to see if anything good pops up. I'd have considered Vireo is the Grassland, you already have 2 forest birds with potential food effects, you seem to be ok there, I don't think you had to make a big push to get 2 more for 1 extra food. If you had to go for draws, if you really needed birds in areas, there were a couple of Migratory birds you could have gotten. Double Invertebrate, but Flycatcher helps with that. You could have done that and had more birds in all areas, including the Grassland you were trying to fill, rather than a bunch of dead blind draws.

Thank you for the reply.

Interestingly, of the three responses received, all the starting lines are different and all make sense. After you described your line, it started to look good, but for some reason I'm afraid of migratory birds, especially three food ones, and I definitely need to fix this in the future.

Similarly, I forget about the option to change two food to one, but I don't think the goose would have helped much, by the time of the draw I didn't have any seed and it's worth two [if you don't change food 2 to 1] it wouldn't be better than 11 points for 6 food. At that moment, I was still hoping to find more reliable birds.

Regarding use of the wetland, I agree, in many cases it is reasonable to wait for the next round, here the psychological factor works for me - I lost, so I need to try again as soon as possible.

[Ceaseless]

The hand I'm keeping is Woodpecker and Brewer's Wren with Invertebrate, Seed, and Fish. Turn 1 Woodpecker using Seed and hope they don't take Invertebrate turn 1 (they didn't). Turn 2 gain the Invertebrate and use Woodpecker to take Seed. Your turn 3 can now play Brewer's Wren and you have 2 forest and a wetland bird, and one of your forest birds can even sometimes get food/points. Not a half bad start. Yes, Brewer's Wren is a terrible card, but I think its role in this hand is indispensable to guarantee a developed Forest and Wetland, and thanks to Woodpecker you can get over the food cost quickly enough to make do. Instead of playing Wren turn 3 you can also draw Common Loon instead if you really want it. (Edit: I'd like to point out you can just get it with a standard draw 2 later though). Given they started the game with 2 food and neither of them fish, I'm not expecting them to draw it unless they think you have no wetland capacity at all and really want to counter pick (I did not realize they had no wetland birds at all in a 3 card hand, or I should more specifically say that they didn't use any, lol). I find it unlikely and hardly fatal if they try it since you do have a wetland pick. Since Brewer's Wren is a Migratory bird it lets you have 2 wetland birds, yet Common Loon will only count itself for its effect if you move Wren away (this normally matters more than it would have in this game, but your opponent forgetting what a wetland was for so long really kills this trick.) Wren even adds some fight for your second end of round goal.

On move 37, between the Fruit, Fish, and Seed you'd get from Woodpecker's effect you have enough food to play Flycatcher next turn with a 2 for one food trade. Considering Woodpecker's Seed synergy, you had a believable chance of making Canada Goose work as a card, so I'd have chosen to hang onto it for a bit longer. Besides, you were looking for Grassland birds anyways.

I do think you did more random draw 2 wetland drawing than needed. It would have been better to just develop what you had, gaining food in the forest and playing the birds you had. You can wait for next round to see if anything good pops up. I'd have considered Vireo is the Grassland, you already have 2 forest birds with potential food effects, you seem to be ok there, I don't think you had to make a big push to get 2 more for 1 extra food. If you had to go for draws, if you really needed birds in areas, there were a couple of Migratory birds you could have gotten. Double Invertebrate, but Flycatcher helps with that. You could have done that and had more birds in all areas, including the Grassland you were trying to fill, rather than a bunch of dead blind draws.

Thank you for the reply.

Interestingly, of the three responses received, all the starting lines are different and all make sense. After you described your line, it started to look good, but for some reason I'm afraid of migratory birds, especially three food ones, and I definitely need to fix this in the future.

Similarly, I forget about the option to change two food to one, but I don't think the goose would have helped much, by the time of the draw I didn't have any seed and it's worth two [if you don't change food 2 to 1] it wouldn't be better than 11 points for 6 food. At that moment, I was still hoping to find more reliable birds.

Regarding use of the wetland, I agree, in many cases it is reasonable to wait for the next round, here the psychological factor works for me - I lost, so I need to try again as soon as possible.

A lot of people underestimate the migratory birds. Though 3 food ones are pretty bad, the only reason I thought about it was because all of your other options were even worse. You had no other way to guarantee the basic 2 forest 1 wetland bird opening to make basic plays. That your other forest bird gave you food early really helped shield the blow such a card normally brings.

Canada Goose is a bird that can outscore nearly any other. In exchange for one of the higher ceilings out there, it requires a steep overall food cost. In light of you having access to two forest birds with birdfeeder abilities, one of which is the very seed Goose desires, I'd say it was still up in the air whether or not you'd want it, so I'd have kept it to see how things played out. Also, you don't just get points for playing it and using its effect, simply existing in the Grassland can help with getting eggs, so you have to account for that as well. Not having a Grassland was something you said you were reluctant about that game.

[FrankJones]

I love the Canada Goose. When we play Oceania, we're often all just sitting around praying the Manned Duck comes up on our turn and not someone else's.

[Meeplelowda]

Otherwise, you should have already played your wetland bird(s) and have an egg available to pay to draw another card by the time you finally use the draw card option, meaning that when you finally do use the wetland to draw you're drawing 2 or more cards.

The priorities mentioned above say the highest priority is to have the first two forest birds you need, even if you don't play them immediately. How do you get the first two forest birds you need without drawing cards unless you're lucky enough to have what you need dealt? If it is also a goal not to draw until you're able to draw two at a time, shouldn't the priorities be flipped to having at least one wetland bird in play first, then worry about getting two forest?

[Ceaseless]

Otherwise, you should have already played your wetland bird(s) and have an egg available to pay to draw another card by the time you finally use the draw card option, meaning that when you finally do use the wetland to draw you're drawing 2 or more cards.

The priorities mentioned above say the highest priority is to have the first two forest birds you need, even if you don't play them immediately. How do you get the first two forest birds you need without drawing cards unless you're lucky enough to have what you need dealt? If it is also a goal not to draw until you're able to draw two at a time, shouldn't the priorities be flipped to having at least one wetland bird in play first, then worry about getting two forest?

Let's pull up the priority quote so we're not doing multiple quoted searches.

I would say the order of priority goes something like this.
1. Have wetland bird #1
2. Have forest birds #1 and #2
3. Play forest birds #1 and #2
4. Play wetland bird #1 (move to 2. if you don't have the forest birds for 2. and 3.)

The priorities mentioned above say the highest priority is to have the first two forest birds you need, even if you don't play them immediately.

The priorities list having the wetland bird as #1, not the first 2 forest birds.

How do you get the first two forest birds you need without drawing cards unless you're lucky enough to have what you need dealt? If it is also a goal not to draw until you're able to draw two at a time, shouldn't the priorities be flipped to having at least one wetland bird in play first, then worry about getting two forest?

As stated in the priorities, if you do not have forest birds 1 and 2 for priorities 2 and 3, you move playing the wetland bird from 4 to 2. This means having then playing the wetland bird are priorities 1 and 2, with the forest bird priorities shifted down to 3 and 4. The increased drawing from the wetland are how you achieve the next priority of having the forest birds.

[Meeplelowda]

As stated in the priorities, if you do not have forest birds 1 and 2 for priorities 2 and 3, you move playing the wetland bird from 4 to 2. This means having then playing the wetland bird are priorities 1 and 2, with the forest bird priorities shifted down to 3 and 4. The increased drawing from the wetland are how you achieve the next priority of having the forest birds.

Thanks. I must have been really sleepy when I worte that because I don't know how I got it backwards.

This thread has been good for beginning to think about Wingspan strategically and learning to consider things like off-row powers, etc., when evaluating birds.

[Oakmoss]

I like to do one turn per day mode, that way you can really think about all the different moves you can make & not have the pressure of someone waiting. I feel this is a great way to get better (and it ends up, at least in the games I play that we actually do 3-4 moves per day). I have a few games going all the time.

[Wiele79]

Here's my most recent game. What could I have done in the game to have improved my odds?

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=678490594

Rather giving late advice. But keep9ng the brant would h1ve saved you a lot. You could have played it to draw all the cards in the tray so you would have had the wetland bird down AND drawn the crow at the same time. Then plqy the crow and lay eggs and start drawing. So only the brant would have been enough to keep from your starting hand and you would have h1d enough food.

[Andrei3009]

I just finished game where i made outrageous blunder that almost lost me the game. I think i played good overall but this one move was so bad it outdone all my previous good plays.

I posted it to showcase why some players (not me) winning in bad positions and others lose in good ones and that even expert player make mistakes.

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=848223316

I am ready to any feedback both on my mistake and on the game as a whole.

[kostinen]

I just finished game where i made outrageous blunder that almost lost me the game. I think i played good overall but this one move was so bad it outdone all my previous good plays.

I posted it to showcase why some players (not me) winning in bad positions and others lose in good ones and that even expert player make mistakes.

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=848223316

I am ready to any feedback both on my mistake and on the game as a whole.

I just watched the whole game, waiting for that bad move to happen. It never happened, haha
Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, I don't know

My biggest surprise is that you didn’t take the Red-Winged Blackbird. For me, it’s a card I’d take without a second thought in this situation.
It’s cheap to play (in grasslands). No need for a prior turn in the forest. I can then draw at least 6–9 cards blindly to fine-tune the rest of my game.