Is there a general rule about having 4 cards? Go for 5th or

[enjoycocacola]

...stay at 4?

On the one hand, the 5th card forces you to turn them in next time, but on the other hand keeping 4 lets you hold off until you see someone you can kill.

In general, which is the correct way to look at it?

(By the way, I'm talking about early on in the game, when the number of spoils is still low.)

[dhallmeyer]

There is not a hard "rule," even among us here.

Here is my thought process:

How is troop parity on the board?
Are there any stragglers or hanging victims?
Has the cash reached replacement level yet?
Are you being targeted?
Would another card make you a target?
Do you have a target?
Does the card sequence favor you, your target, or the person hunting you?
Can someone take you out and recash? What if you take another card? What if you cash in?

Let's say that I'm playing an SoC-type game. In the first round of cashes I always wait for the 5th card to cash, and I always try for it. There is rarely any danger or incentive to cash early here, because we're not up to replacement value yet.
Once the cash value passes 20, the decisions get a little harder. We're still not to replacement value yet, but if someone wanted to do a murder-suicide situation (Terminator vs high ranks happens often) it could be done. Here I almost always cash as soon as I have a set. Better to have the troops on the board and lighten my hand than hold out for a potential home run.

It boils down to evaluating your position and weighing the risk/reward of holding, collecting another card, or cashing.

[Fewnix]

my say- -unless there is a danger in waiting for the 5th or some benefit from cashing at 4, the "default" is: hold on until you get 5. but a lot depends on the spoils you are talking about and the particular risk reward possibilities at the time,.

e.g. With escalating spoils many wait until the fifth, figuring a bigger cash if they wait a round but that does not always happen. And if you finish off your turn with 5 spoils you can be a tempting target to anyone who sees any chance to eliminate you, grab your 5 spoils, cash, and then its off to the races. Compare that to how you would be seen if you cashed, had a strong troop holding after your turn was over, and only one spoil for someone to try to grab.

With flat rate spoils the default may be to hold out for a rainbow set rather than cashing a red, green or blue threesome, but Is the possibility for later gain worth by-passing the immediate gains possible by cashing now, maybe gaining a strategic advantage, say taking or breaking a tert zone boni? .

and so on and so on

[Koganosi]

There is not a hard "rule," even among us here.

Here is my thought process:

How is troop parity on the board?
Are there any stragglers or hanging victims?
Has the cash reached replacement level yet?
Are you being targeted?
Would another card make you a target?
Do you have a target?
Does the card sequence favor you, your target, or the person hunting you?
Can someone take you out and recash? What if you take another card? What if you cash in?

Let's say that I'm playing an SoC-type game. In the first round of cashes I always wait for the 5th card to cash, and I always try for it. There is rarely any danger or incentive to cash early here, because we're not up to replacement value yet.
Once the cash value passes 20, the decisions get a little harder. We're still not to replacement value yet, but if someone wanted to do a murder-suicide situation (Terminator vs high ranks happens often) it could be done. Here I almost always cash as soon as I have a set. Better to have the troops on the board and lighten my hand than hold out for a potential home run.

It boils down to evaluating your position and weighing the risk/reward of holding, collecting another card, or cashing.

The list dhall put op is really good, if you think about it abit answering every question, you will probably already get your answer out of there!

But also the question remains is, 4 cards or 5 cards. If you dont have a set with 4 cards, youll have to grab a card!!!! Just to get a set, holding of on grabbing a card isnt gonna win you the game! I rarely dont grab a card, if for instance questino 4 of dhall: "Are you being targeted?" If you have a set, just cash it, deploy close to someone you might be able to eliminate, grab a card and done. If question: "Are there any stragglers or hanging victims?" If yes, might be good to cash especially if you get another mid cash! So jeah it really really depends, a true escalating master, konws the places where to cash, to grab a card, hold of on the cash and when to eliminate people and how to clear a bord. After 7 years, I think I can almost call myself a master . For any further questions feel free to PM me on the subject.

Urs

Koganosi

[JBlombier]

After 7 years, I think I can almost call myself a master . For any further questions feel free to PM me on the subject.

Urs

Koganosi

Almost mate, almost. You're close...

[Viceroy63]

If I am not mistaken, you want to know if you should hold off going for that fifth card especially if you already have a set early in the game. Going for that fifth card will force you to trade in and raise the number of troops that the next player gets but as far as Troop strength is concerned, it is always better to go for the fifth card (early in the game) and when force to do so, when you have five cards, just trade in and increase your troop count.

Remember that the bigger picture, early in the game, is to keep from being an early target yourself. So then, the higher your troop count, the less of a target for elimination that you will be. So even if it's just 4 troops, that will go a long way in maintaining your over all troop count. So always go for that fifth card and keep up with the Joneses.

Towards the end of the game when the trade in is high, you may then consider staying with 4 cards, especially if you have a set. But then again, on the flip side, your 4 cards may be just what another player needs to win the game. So towards the end of the game it is a judgement call. But early in the game you need to trade in. Go for that fifth card and trade in when your time comes to trade in. Not doing so will cause you to fall behind in troop count and make you an easy target for elimination. Or at least some may try to eliminate you seeing how you have the least troops for not trading in when you had to.

I hope that answered your question correctly. Please feel free to post more questions if you have them. That way everyone Benefits from this forum thread. Thanks.

[enjoycocacola]

Thanks very much everyone, this is an extremely helpful thread not only for me but for the future cooks who will check it out needing this guidance.

[Garbi]

Thanks very much everyone, this is an extremely helpful thread not only for me but for the future cooks who will check it out needing this guidance.

Agree. I was having same question.

[Viceroy63]

Every rule has an exception and I may have forgotten to mention this exception.

Since in the first few rounds the idea is to build up in troop strength then perhaps going for that 5th card may not be the correct thing to do depending on how weak you may be in the game already. Obviously if you are the weakest player of the six and are vulnerable to elimination then you do not want to make yourself any weaker and also make it easier for someone else to eliminate you from the game.

So as a general rule and exception of going for that 5th card, you want to stop your attempts to card if you lose 2 rolls in a row. That's because you simply do not know how many troops you may lose in the attempt to card. It is better to grow by at least 1 troop per turn than to lose 3 or more carding and have all them cards on hand and be ripe for elimination in the early rounds.