But seems to be very strategic. Any tips for a new beginner?
Thanks!
Thanks!
This game is so hard to learn
Forum rules
Please DO NOT POST BUGS on this forum. Please report (and vote) bugs on : https://boardgamearena.com/#!bugs
Please DO NOT POST BUGS on this forum. Please report (and vote) bugs on : https://boardgamearena.com/#!bugs
-
georgeabitbol
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 01 June 2011, 09:42
Re: This game is so hard to learn
Hi bloodies, and welcome to the TTA forum and to TTA, best boargame ever 
There are so many tips for this game... but if I had to give you just ONE, that will be the following : science is the key (even if it may give you critical advantage late in the game !)
Enjoy your games !
There are so many tips for this game... but if I had to give you just ONE, that will be the following : science is the key (even if it may give you critical advantage late in the game !)
Enjoy your games !
Re: This game is so hard to learn
BALANCE between population, happiness, production capacities, science and culture IS the key. You can't do anything with your discovered technologies if you dont have population to occupy buildings or be soldiers, and you cant build these buildings if you dont have production. ... and culture, well, they are the victory points.
Re: This game is so hard to learn
Hi all!
TTA is not as complicated as you imagine, not with the "New Story" edition. Since there seems to be nothing for beginners on this forum, I would like to share my experience which, I hope, would help take you to ELO=100 (even though I am not a great player!
)
(the following content is targeted for players who have finished the rulebook, only having a little difficulty putting it all together)
A. General tips
[1] Learn the cards. (see https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... 09&t=15744)
It is strongly advised to learn the cards before you play. Not only does that let you focus on decision-making in games, it also helps you to identify key cards and some patterns. For example,
[2] One step at a time
New player may be tempted to "keep up", or to "imitate". Your opponent build a Swordsmen and you build two Warriors; your opponent is leading 12 CP (culture points) and you force an Eiffel Tower into place. To keep up means to make efficient moves and keep yourself capable of playing future cards, whereas the previous examples are playing inefficiently while expending you future possibilities. The card row is there to make the game different for everyone. Even if you mimic, you are doing it on the wrong grounds.
Very often new players find themselves keeping up in most aspects but CP. I think that is completely OK. Many age-III cards are big scorers. More importantly, if you manage to play through the ages this time, then you may try to squeeze in a few CP moves next time and still a few more the next next time. Eventually you will get there. Sacrificing a reasonable start in age-III for age-II will not teach you as much. There are more parameters than how much X-points you are producing per turn.
B. Civil
[1] Balance
Achieving somewhat balanced development between happiness, population, production, tech, and culture is a reasonable playstyle for starters since actions in TTA often involve more than two kind of 'resources'. Spending 1-2 civil actions (CA) to get a card you need is usually acceptable.
Spending 3 CA would be too expensive at the beginning when you have only 4 unless that card is critical to both you and your opponents. If you miss a card, do not panic. Most buildings and armies have 2 copies as well as alternatives such as wonders and special technologies (blue cards). Opening up your mind to alternatives is decisive in TTA.
[2] Happy Faces
Happiness should be your top priority as all efforts are lost in an uprising plus it does get better over time. Often 5-6 happy faces from your urban buildings will be all a balanced civilization ever need, which means Theology and Bread and Circuses can potentially carry you to the end (you might have to advance government). Later happiness buildings nonetheless help freeing up workers. With theaters you will want supplementary sources of happy faces like leaders, wonders (esp. St. Peter's Basilica), or other happiness buildings. Alternatively one may consider theaters as sources of CP , with a bonus happy face.
[3] Population and Food
It sucks when you have to build up your defence but run out of workers, or when you face imminent uprising at an age's end and cannot procure a happy face. Destroying things wastes CA and stones. On safety side try to keep one free worker or the food for that. Do not assign workers simply because you have extra CA or stones.
As for food productions, normally you should advance at least once during the game (unless you have the Ocean Liner), and anything beyond that is rarely necessary except like having an Impact of Agriculture event. In fact, winning with only 2 Irrigation is completely possible (+4 food can sustain up to 6 happy faces). If you decide to churn out food, make sure you have enough CA / MA and stones to assign them to do something productive. Or else it will only become an extra chore to prevent corruption.
Conversely, when you see a food shortage coming, be liberal about getting a Reserves, or Frugality if it is going to last. Massing onto Agriculture reduces your worker supply in the short term and is ineffective in the long.
[4] Resource and corruption
You need the stones to do almost everything. It is a common practice to build a Bronze on your first turn, and not much less so to advance your mine exactly once. Again, Iron can take you to the end albeit rising your demand on action cards or workers. Avoiding corruption should be your second priority in early game. As production grows, however, do not be finicky about losing 2 stones. Take an Urban Growth later if you must, and it covers your loss.
[5] Technology
Bulbs are important but that does not mean you have to jump straight ahead to fetch an Alchemy as soon as it appears. If cards do not come right for you, you may stick with three or even two Alchemy til the end (do not forget building labs consumes stones, CAs, and bulbs) and win. The trick is to generate bulbs elsewhere (wonders, action cards, and political actions) and to seek bulb-cheap solutions. For example, with Organized Religion and Kremlin you can solve the happiness problem and the government problem simultaneously at an age-A bulb price with bonus CP to celebrate about. It is unwise to construct a lab only to leave the bulb unused because, say, you should have gotten Frugality to generate a worker for the tech card you want played or you are having too many bulbs. Long-term development is important but short term development / satisfying immediate needs may be a prerequisite to it.
I advice new players to think twice before taking special technologies. They are optional, expensive, and do not stack. Consider saving up bulbs for when you really need them, like to research Knight to play a tactics card instead of to research Warfare for defence.
[6] Civil actions and card management
The way I play is to complete crucial actions first and then use the remainders to increase (idle) population or gather action cards instead of planning everything at the beginning. It is not optimal but it is easy and helpful in preventing serious mistakes.
I recommend at least 5 CA by late age-II. Beyond 7 the marginal gain dwindles as there might not be stones to match or good cards to take.
AC is translatable to other resources at roughly one building (stone or bulb) of the current age with action cards, which are unreliable but flexible. Reserves take two actions to play but it can 'add' onto discount cards. All cards alike, take not because you have extra CAs. Useless cards block your hand for two ages.
[7] Buildings and wonders
Except for age-I, there is generally no need to advance any building whose previous version you already have. Also, you may want to plan ahead which type of urban buildings to go for, lest you have to destroy later (Bach is interesting).
Wonders should not become dumps for surplus stones. Unfinished wonders cause corruption, and finished ones provide benefits worth ~1.5 respective age buildings and sometimes special powers. You should try to finish them as quickly as possible. For age-III wonders, the reverse is true: You should maximize their earnings before completion.
In 2 or 3 player games, you are likely to build 2-3 wonders. Even with both Michelangelo and construction special technologies, 5 will be difficult.
C. Military
[1] Military actions and card management
Military cards are a dicey affair in TTA. Useful tactics, assault, and colony cards are not guaranteed to come. The only thing one can do is to increase their MAs in hope of drawing them. It is one of the things I dislike about TTA.
What cards to keep and discard should be straightforward. Some players, however, are not aware of how to maintain maximum amount of military cards. You should avoid spending military actions when you are low on military cards, especially if you are the weaker player. Building a Warrior is not much better than drawing and keeping a military card. On the other hand, you should consider reorganizing your army (e.g. disbanding Warriors) when you cannot hold any more military cards and can do so in relative safety. Having a Patriotism in hand can shake your aggressors' determination to militarize.
[2] Tactics card
Do not play tactics cards you cannot use but your enemies likely can. They may copy it against you. I usually keep them secret on hand. Play it when you are about to apply it or need free military cards to defend.
[3] Events
When in doubt, do not play. Their impacts outmatches the points from playing. Inexperienced players are also at an disadvantage when it comes to dealing with unforeseen situations.
Know that each event has only one copy. Beware when the military card deck reshuffles and you may keep your worst nightmare out of history.
Colonies are tricky. Players will not play colonies for you so you will have to draw and play yourself. That means you will need 3-4 MAs and some troops. Unless you have drawn a handful of colonies, do not go out of your way for too many ships. Two is reasonably good. It hurts when your opponents develop a military that neglects your fleet. Colonizing is a subtle way to get rid of obsolete units too; it works well with Frugality and Ocean Liner. Who is secretly stacking colonies cards and who is pretending to be are a real mind game.
[4] Attacking
Having a decent tactics card in play is vital to aggressive strategies. Compare the difference in strength and the number of military cards your target may play. Quite often you find them insurmountable. Still you may analyze your opponents' ability to muscle up in their next turn (e.g. free workers, bulbs, whether they are trying to start a revolution, civil and military cards etc.) to decide whether attacking in consecutive turns and expanding your army are good moves.Exhausting your opponents with an armament race is an advanced technique.
Card management rules apply to aggression as well, for example if you are discarding 3 or you have 5 MA to spare, trying to wrest defence cards (+2, +4, +6) or tactics cards from your opponents may not be such a bad idea.
Turns of age is an occasion for particular attention. On one hand your opponents may become preoccupied with their lost population, but on the other your strength difference might be shrunk by new defence cards. Besides, getting your hand on the latest tactics or assault cards early is worthwhile.
[5] Defending
What is true in attacking is also true in defending. Maximize your number of military cards. Pay attention to how much enemy strength may grow and keep up with that, particularly when war cards become abundant (late age-II).
Getting raided once is not end of the world but over-expending to thwart one aggression and therefore failing to keep up might well be. If you expect future aggression, Reserves and Revolutionary Ideas may help you to recover.
D. Beyond
There are a few steps to further your skill (which I rarely bother with!):
TTA is not as complicated as you imagine, not with the "New Story" edition. Since there seems to be nothing for beginners on this forum, I would like to share my experience which, I hope, would help take you to ELO=100 (even though I am not a great player!
)(the following content is targeted for players who have finished the rulebook, only having a little difficulty putting it all together)
A. General tips
[1] Learn the cards. (see https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... 09&t=15744)
It is strongly advised to learn the cards before you play. Not only does that let you focus on decision-making in games, it also helps you to identify key cards and some patterns. For example,
- Caesar allows you to deplete your enemies of defence cards with first aggression and follow up with second (so you may like to always keep 2 agression cards).
- If you have Shakespeare and no one builds theaters, chances are you securing Hollywood and score lucrative points (Do not take Fast Food Chains, for example).
- Age-II events like Ravage of Time and Politics of Strength can be devastating.
- Temples are tech-wise cheap (and has no age-III building), arenas are stone-wise cheap, and theaters are the most expensive (so if you need happy faces you may not want Opera)
- Infantries tech cost goes up fastest, artillery slowest (4|6|10, 5|6|9, 6|8, 12 for inf, cav, art, and air).
- Engineering Genius always offers 1 extra stone discount in comparison to similar cards.
- Tactics that comprise of newer and more unit types are stronger (Heavy Cavalry vs Legion, Modern Army vs Shock Troops)
[2] One step at a time
New player may be tempted to "keep up", or to "imitate". Your opponent build a Swordsmen and you build two Warriors; your opponent is leading 12 CP (culture points) and you force an Eiffel Tower into place. To keep up means to make efficient moves and keep yourself capable of playing future cards, whereas the previous examples are playing inefficiently while expending you future possibilities. The card row is there to make the game different for everyone. Even if you mimic, you are doing it on the wrong grounds.
Very often new players find themselves keeping up in most aspects but CP. I think that is completely OK. Many age-III cards are big scorers. More importantly, if you manage to play through the ages this time, then you may try to squeeze in a few CP moves next time and still a few more the next next time. Eventually you will get there. Sacrificing a reasonable start in age-III for age-II will not teach you as much. There are more parameters than how much X-points you are producing per turn.
B. Civil
[1] Balance
Achieving somewhat balanced development between happiness, population, production, tech, and culture is a reasonable playstyle for starters since actions in TTA often involve more than two kind of 'resources'. Spending 1-2 civil actions (CA) to get a card you need is usually acceptable.
Spending 3 CA would be too expensive at the beginning when you have only 4 unless that card is critical to both you and your opponents. If you miss a card, do not panic. Most buildings and armies have 2 copies as well as alternatives such as wonders and special technologies (blue cards). Opening up your mind to alternatives is decisive in TTA.
[2] Happy Faces
Happiness should be your top priority as all efforts are lost in an uprising plus it does get better over time. Often 5-6 happy faces from your urban buildings will be all a balanced civilization ever need, which means Theology and Bread and Circuses can potentially carry you to the end (you might have to advance government). Later happiness buildings nonetheless help freeing up workers. With theaters you will want supplementary sources of happy faces like leaders, wonders (esp. St. Peter's Basilica), or other happiness buildings. Alternatively one may consider theaters as sources of CP , with a bonus happy face.
[3] Population and Food
It sucks when you have to build up your defence but run out of workers, or when you face imminent uprising at an age's end and cannot procure a happy face. Destroying things wastes CA and stones. On safety side try to keep one free worker or the food for that. Do not assign workers simply because you have extra CA or stones.
As for food productions, normally you should advance at least once during the game (unless you have the Ocean Liner), and anything beyond that is rarely necessary except like having an Impact of Agriculture event. In fact, winning with only 2 Irrigation is completely possible (+4 food can sustain up to 6 happy faces). If you decide to churn out food, make sure you have enough CA / MA and stones to assign them to do something productive. Or else it will only become an extra chore to prevent corruption.
Conversely, when you see a food shortage coming, be liberal about getting a Reserves, or Frugality if it is going to last. Massing onto Agriculture reduces your worker supply in the short term and is ineffective in the long.
[4] Resource and corruption
You need the stones to do almost everything. It is a common practice to build a Bronze on your first turn, and not much less so to advance your mine exactly once. Again, Iron can take you to the end albeit rising your demand on action cards or workers. Avoiding corruption should be your second priority in early game. As production grows, however, do not be finicky about losing 2 stones. Take an Urban Growth later if you must, and it covers your loss.
[5] Technology
Bulbs are important but that does not mean you have to jump straight ahead to fetch an Alchemy as soon as it appears. If cards do not come right for you, you may stick with three or even two Alchemy til the end (do not forget building labs consumes stones, CAs, and bulbs) and win. The trick is to generate bulbs elsewhere (wonders, action cards, and political actions) and to seek bulb-cheap solutions. For example, with Organized Religion and Kremlin you can solve the happiness problem and the government problem simultaneously at an age-A bulb price with bonus CP to celebrate about. It is unwise to construct a lab only to leave the bulb unused because, say, you should have gotten Frugality to generate a worker for the tech card you want played or you are having too many bulbs. Long-term development is important but short term development / satisfying immediate needs may be a prerequisite to it.
I advice new players to think twice before taking special technologies. They are optional, expensive, and do not stack. Consider saving up bulbs for when you really need them, like to research Knight to play a tactics card instead of to research Warfare for defence.
[6] Civil actions and card management
The way I play is to complete crucial actions first and then use the remainders to increase (idle) population or gather action cards instead of planning everything at the beginning. It is not optimal but it is easy and helpful in preventing serious mistakes.
I recommend at least 5 CA by late age-II. Beyond 7 the marginal gain dwindles as there might not be stones to match or good cards to take.
AC is translatable to other resources at roughly one building (stone or bulb) of the current age with action cards, which are unreliable but flexible. Reserves take two actions to play but it can 'add' onto discount cards. All cards alike, take not because you have extra CAs. Useless cards block your hand for two ages.
[7] Buildings and wonders
Except for age-I, there is generally no need to advance any building whose previous version you already have. Also, you may want to plan ahead which type of urban buildings to go for, lest you have to destroy later (Bach is interesting).
Wonders should not become dumps for surplus stones. Unfinished wonders cause corruption, and finished ones provide benefits worth ~1.5 respective age buildings and sometimes special powers. You should try to finish them as quickly as possible. For age-III wonders, the reverse is true: You should maximize their earnings before completion.
In 2 or 3 player games, you are likely to build 2-3 wonders. Even with both Michelangelo and construction special technologies, 5 will be difficult.
C. Military
[1] Military actions and card management
Military cards are a dicey affair in TTA. Useful tactics, assault, and colony cards are not guaranteed to come. The only thing one can do is to increase their MAs in hope of drawing them. It is one of the things I dislike about TTA.
What cards to keep and discard should be straightforward. Some players, however, are not aware of how to maintain maximum amount of military cards. You should avoid spending military actions when you are low on military cards, especially if you are the weaker player. Building a Warrior is not much better than drawing and keeping a military card. On the other hand, you should consider reorganizing your army (e.g. disbanding Warriors) when you cannot hold any more military cards and can do so in relative safety. Having a Patriotism in hand can shake your aggressors' determination to militarize.
[2] Tactics card
Do not play tactics cards you cannot use but your enemies likely can. They may copy it against you. I usually keep them secret on hand. Play it when you are about to apply it or need free military cards to defend.
[3] Events
When in doubt, do not play. Their impacts outmatches the points from playing. Inexperienced players are also at an disadvantage when it comes to dealing with unforeseen situations.
Know that each event has only one copy. Beware when the military card deck reshuffles and you may keep your worst nightmare out of history.
Colonies are tricky. Players will not play colonies for you so you will have to draw and play yourself. That means you will need 3-4 MAs and some troops. Unless you have drawn a handful of colonies, do not go out of your way for too many ships. Two is reasonably good. It hurts when your opponents develop a military that neglects your fleet. Colonizing is a subtle way to get rid of obsolete units too; it works well with Frugality and Ocean Liner. Who is secretly stacking colonies cards and who is pretending to be are a real mind game.
[4] Attacking
Having a decent tactics card in play is vital to aggressive strategies. Compare the difference in strength and the number of military cards your target may play. Quite often you find them insurmountable. Still you may analyze your opponents' ability to muscle up in their next turn (e.g. free workers, bulbs, whether they are trying to start a revolution, civil and military cards etc.) to decide whether attacking in consecutive turns and expanding your army are good moves.Exhausting your opponents with an armament race is an advanced technique.
Card management rules apply to aggression as well, for example if you are discarding 3 or you have 5 MA to spare, trying to wrest defence cards (+2, +4, +6) or tactics cards from your opponents may not be such a bad idea.
Turns of age is an occasion for particular attention. On one hand your opponents may become preoccupied with their lost population, but on the other your strength difference might be shrunk by new defence cards. Besides, getting your hand on the latest tactics or assault cards early is worthwhile.
[5] Defending
What is true in attacking is also true in defending. Maximize your number of military cards. Pay attention to how much enemy strength may grow and keep up with that, particularly when war cards become abundant (late age-II).
Getting raided once is not end of the world but over-expending to thwart one aggression and therefore failing to keep up might well be. If you expect future aggression, Reserves and Revolutionary Ideas may help you to recover.
D. Beyond
There are a few steps to further your skill (which I rarely bother with!):
- Memorize number of copies of each cards in a deck and how much have been played.
- Keep track of events you played and when they are coming.
- Try out different strategies (though you may naturally do so while playing), or imagine new ones!
- Read your opponents' moves. Predict and intecept.
- ...
-
CanuckEddie
- Posts: 48
- Joined: 02 August 2013, 21:27
Re: This game is so hard to learn
There is a 2 video series on YouTube that explains it perfectly, in about 1h20m total.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfotOEHxFTk
I *HATE* watching board game videos and even I would say that this was instrumental to learning the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfotOEHxFTk
I *HATE* watching board game videos and even I would say that this was instrumental to learning the game.
-
Meeplelowda
- Posts: 3833
- Joined: 14 March 2020, 10:31
Re: This game is so hard to learn
It seems this is the better place to ask this rather than a new thread: how much does hate drafting factor in?
For example, if your opponent already has a +9 culture/turn engine going before Age II cards have even come out, does it mean you were asleep at the switch?
For example, if your opponent already has a +9 culture/turn engine going before Age II cards have even come out, does it mean you were asleep at the switch?
Play Now lobby 4ever! https://boardgamearena.com/lobby
Re: This game is so hard to learn
BUT THIS IS FUN I PLAY OVER 2000 AND PLAY NOT VERY GOOD 