SpielByWeb

mrbass · Joined: 05 Apr 06 Posts: 182 Location: Las Vegas

Strategy Tips for Tikal

A huge part of this game is about intimidation on both sides of the fence.

One example is say someone moves to an isolated part and it costs 5 AP (action points) to get there and it's a 4 temple. Ok just because they are there first doesn't mean you can go in and at least nullify there score. So what if you can't send a 2nd guy in to gain majority. At least you'll make them spend more AP trying to get a 2nd guy in there.

Another example is knowing when to quit. If you do get into a big war over an 8 temple make sure it's by one of your base camps. You'll play with some people that throw there entire G.I. Joe Army dudes in there. So be it. Let them have it and move out of there for cheap.

Never let someone cap a huge temple without having 3 guys in there. Why 3? Simple don't let their Expedition Leader escape (he's worth 3) as it's a powerful piece.

Pick a few fights and only a few fights. If you spread yourself out over the board you'll never win many of them. Hopefully the other players will contest others for the big scoring temples.

I used to go for the 8, 9, 10 temples but rarely is it worth it anymore (4 player games I'm talking about). I nice 5 or 6 is pretty nice. A 7 is a bonus if it doesn't cost me too much. Think of it this way. Why spend 10 more AP moving 5 more guys in there to contest a 6 or 7 when you could've spend only half that and capped it many moons ago. That's simple ..greedy.

Treasures....let me do the calculations for you if you don't mind.
1 treasure = 1 VP
2 same treasures = 3 VP
3 same treasures = 6 VP

When you exchange a treasure for 2 of the same you go up 2 VPs not 3 VPs. You lose 1 VP by giving it away and gain 3 VP so 3 VP - 1 VP = 2 VP net gain for 3 AP.

When you exchange a treasure for 3 of the same you go up 2 VPs not 3 VP s. You lose 1 VP by giving it away and gain 3 VP (3VP to 6VP) so 3 VP - 1 VP = 2 VP net gain for 3 AP.

So why is above important.

Because you have to think for those 3 AP you would use to exchange a treasure can you use those 3 AP and gain majority over a 3 temple instead. In other words you'll get 1 more VP than you would by exchanging treasures.

2 player game...never cap a temple and lose more than 1 or 2 guys especially early on the game before the 3rd volcano has erupted.

kevinb9n · Joined: 25 Apr 06 Posts: 8 Location: Mountain View, CA

mrbass · Joined: 05 Apr 06 Posts: 182 Location: Las Vegas

shizzane · Joined: 02 Aug 06 Posts: 61 Location: TS

JonBen · Joined: 29 Jan 06 Posts: 3

It is hard to talk about the worth of treasures in this way because you are only evaluating the local value of VP at a one single instant. However if you dig before any scoring you will get one tresure for 3 AP (plus cost of moving there, which is not the AP cost of the movement since it is usually benifecial to get some workers on the map anyway) but it will score 4 times, so that's 4VP for ~3AP spent, which is good. On average you should expect 1VP for every AP spent.
Another important thing to note is that the minimum you can earn from digging a tresure is 1VP (per scoring) since the number of treasures you have can never decrese and they are worth at least 1VP. Tresures also don't require you to invest any man power, there is no majority only ownership, which is interesting only in that it is very different from the other method of obtaining VP.

Anyhow food for thought...

mrbass · Joined: 05 Apr 06 Posts: 182 Location: Las Vegas

JonBen you are correct and I agree with everything you say. I guess my comment was more geared toward the last third of the game play. In other words getting 2 VPs up by treasure or instead getting 3 VP s if you can gain majority over a 3 Temple.

smlait · Joined: 16 Jul 06 Posts: 392 Location: alberta, canada

And while treasure *is* important, you can have an incredible lead on treasures and still lose if you neglect the temples - particularly if you let your opponent guard a couple of big numbers for only 1-2 workers.

slith · Joined: 28 Nov 06 Posts: 20 Location: Sydney, Australia

mrbass · Joined: 05 Apr 06 Posts: 182 Location: Las Vegas

I agree with you it's usually not worth it but if that player is #1 or #2 and is in contention to win then it is worth it to nullify their 4 points and force them to spend 5 more AP. I see a lot more APs being wasted going for treasures, etc.

slith · Joined: 28 Nov 06 Posts: 20 Location: Sydney, Australia

Bogey · Joined: 18 Sep 06 Posts: 66

I think treasures are important.....more important than bass states.

However, what everyoine fails to mention is that playing on this website, withouth bidding, can severely limit your choices and force you into a temple "only" game.

I enjoy this game alot and appreciate the site. But lets not confuse the issue. The only real Tikal is with bidding and eagerly look forward to an updated version.