Conquer Club

Cartographer: yeti_c

An introduction to Poker Club
The dealer has thrown the cards on the table and it's up to you to come up with the best hand. Use bluff, raise your bets and go all-in with your best pokerface in an ultimate attempt to become the chipleader and win the game.

*In this guide, the capital letters H, D, C and S mean Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades.

Classification
Size: Medium – 52 regions.
Complexity: Low, when the legend is read thoroughly
Maximum amount of players: 8

Features
16 of the 52 territories are starting territories, the other territories start neutral.
A unique bonus system.

Bonuses
The bonuses for added troops can be found in the legend of the map. It is wise to keep an eye on the legend, so you don't miss out on getting a better hand. Because this map is made out of a deck of (52) playing cards, there is an extreme amount of different combinations of cards to create a bonus. Texas hold 'em lovers will know it, for the rest of you, the list:

High card = 3 troops, no combination of cards needed
1 pair = 4 troops, hold 2 cards of same value
2 pair = 5 troops, hold 2 cards of same value + 2 different cards of same value
3 of a kind = 6 troops, hold 3 cards of same value
Straight = 7 troops, hold 5 cards of any suit in sequence
Flush = 8 troops, hold 5 cards of same suit
Full House = 9 troops, hold 3 cards of same value + 2 cards of same value
4 of a kind = 11 troops, hold 4 cards of same value
Straight Flush = 13 troops, hold 5 card sequence in same suit
Royal Flush = 15 troops, hold 10 Jack Queen King Ace in same suit

Basic strategy
It is important to get a good hand for the bonus troops, but Poker Club is a map where patience is needed. Don't hurry and don't worry if it takes a few turns to get the bonus you desire. It will differ from game to game what the best hand you can get with limited effort is. Analyze your starting position and come up with a plan for a future bonus (better hand) and carry out this plan over the course of a few rounds.

There are some hands that are very hard to get, but there are also a few hands that are relatively easy to hold. Whether this 'easy hand' is easy for you, depends entirely on your starting positions, so keep that in mind. Also, the mapmaker has done his best to make the big hands (Four of a kind, Straight Flush, etc) hard to get, because the game would be inbalanced if he didn't. Don't expept to get your Royal Flush in two rounds!

List of relatively easy hands to get
- In the centre, there is a Straight up for grabs, consisting of 3-D, 4-D, 5-C, 6-H, 7-C. This seems too good to be true and it is. Other players have starting positions nearby, so keep that in mind. If you stack a little, maybe your enemy tries it first and you can take over the whole thing. This happens quite often.
- In the left corner there's a three-way Full Fouse possibility of 7's over 10's, 7's over Jacks or 7's over 2's. This depends on your starting position (a bit) and your opponent starting position + assault route/plan (a lot).
* When the above three 7's are controlled, it's tempting to go for the 7 of Clubs for your Four of a kind. As you now know though, this is part of the other easy hand I mentioned, so it's likely there is some fighting going on there. Usually it's better to stay out of this, unless you're sure you can take 'em on. Four of a kind of 7's is not an easy hand to hold, but it does look easy to get.
* The 3-D, 4-H, 5-C, 6-C, 7-H Straight is also in one row, but is also exactly between the earlier described areas, making it very hard to keep. I wouldn't recommend going for it, unless the game asks for it.
- In the top right corner there's also a possibility for a Straight: 10C, J-C, Q-S, K-D, A-C. When you manage to get this straight, you'll notice that the King and Queen Clubs are also close, so that a Royal Flush might be something to consider for the next rounds.

There are other easy hands, but I've given you the most basic strategy. You ought to remember this:

Taking an early bonus might leave it undefended, because you attacked neutrals to get it. There's a risk you'll lose the game in the first two rounds, so patience really is a virtue on this map.
If you aim for a high bonus, like the Royal Flush, be prepared to wait for it longer. This also has a lot to do with patience, but I can't stress it enough. Impulsive decisions will most likely mean your defeat.

Settings
Fog of War
I'd recommend playing this game with Fog of War, because you can surprise your enemy with a hand they didn't see coming. It's possible to deploy 3 troops one round and take only one region to finish your Straight Flush for 13 troops, which will surprise your enemies.
When you play this map with Fog of War, it is very important to know what the starting positions are. Luckily, I have copied these starting positions for you from the Foundry topic of Poker Club.
These are the possible starting positions:
Ace-D, Ace-S, Queen-D, Queen-S, Jack-H, Jack-C, 9-H, 9-C, 7-H, 7-C, 5-H, 5-C, 4-D, 4-S, 2-D and 2-S.
Also, you can see it on this image, where all the blue dots are the starting position.

show: starting positions

This table shows all of the neutral starting territories.

show: neutral starting territories

This gives us the following player - starting territories ratio

show: player - starting territories ratio

1 v 1
Make sure you get a better hand than your opponent as soon as you can. Once you have a solid hand (Full House or better), analyze the starting positions and try to imagine what hand he's going for. If your enemy has a bonus, you can see it in the log. Together with the starting positions you can find in the Foundry Topic, it's a bit of a puzzle where his troops are concentrated. If you can solve this puzzle, you can win the game. The puzzle will be different every single game!

Doubles, triples, quadruples
When playing a teamgame, you have to look which one of the teammembers has the best drop to get to a good hand as soon as possible. The rest of the team deploys only on this teammember, because the chances of being eliminated themselves are rather slim.

No Spoils
A good setting for this map, because it will make the participating players rely on their insight in the map. When creating a good hand for yourself, the bonus troops you recieve will be enough to crush the enemy. You won't need spoils in that case.

Flat Rate
When playing with Flat Rate spoils, the basic strategy should be carried out. The only difference is that bonuses can be broken by the enemy on a much more luck-based and surprising way. If you like a surprise, this can be a good setting.

Escalating
This map doesn't really support escalating gameplay. Nonetheless, escalating spoils can turn a game of Poker Club upside down when the spoils are worth above 20 troops per cash. I'd recommend this only to players that love the escalating spoils deeply.

Nuclear, Zombie Spoils
Nuclear and Zombie Spoils can be used to create the element of surprise. Very big bonuses can be broken at once by this kind of spoils, which can change the game dynamic completely. Nuclear and Zombie spoils will offer you a game full of surprises.

Reinforcements
Chained: Chained fortifications will only be available later in the game, because the starting position are spread over the map.
Adjacent: Adjacent fortification will rarely be used.
Unlimited: Once you have connected 2 or more starting positions, unlimited fortifications can help you to fortify your borders.
Parachute: A useful setting for Poker Club, because the starting positions are spread across the map, separated by neutral territories. Parachute reinforcements can regroup your troops.
None: No reinforcements can very well be used on this map. Use it if you like the setting.

Trench
The interesting part of a trench warfare game, can be: “who gets there first”. This is the case playing a Trench Poker Club. Given your starting positions, you have to come up with the shortest route to the biggest bonus possible. Because of the different starting position, this can be a hard puzzle to solve. But if you solve it, victory will be the award.

Assassin
When playing with Fog of War, it'll be very difficult to determine where your target is. Read the game log very carefully and focus on getting a strong hand yourself.
When playing without Fog of War, focus on getting a strong hand. Once you have a sufficient amount of troops due, go after your target. Take your time, your enemies will have just as much troubles eliminating their target as you do.

Tips for free
- Use Fog of War, it makes this map a lot more fun. It also demands you to think about your strategy even better.
- Read the legend very carefully, it'll help you pick the strongest hand possible, given your starting positions. Also, check the starting positions (written in this guide) regularly, to make solid plans. A game plan without knowledge of the starting positions has a rather low chance of success.
- Stack at least the first two rounds in a standard (multiplayer) game. Of course this is just my opinion, but I've seen it happen very often that players that start assaulting early in the game weaken themselves and get wiped off the board easily. Do with this tip whatever you want.

My 2 cents:

• Put the starting positions in the Strategy Guide itself. Links get broken around here all the time and that's one less thing a reader will have to worry about. If you need to, just make a spoiler at the bottom and reference it where the link is currently.
• The Hearts and Clubs Royal flush sets are by far the easiest to gain, even with bad positioning. Mention that and a few other "quick-n-easy" bonus sets to look out for (because that is the most important thing on this map, get sets quickly and have a goal in mind)

Otherwise, looks good to me

Good point, thanks for the heads up. I'll add it later tonight.

Edit of this post: I edited the original post.

Hmm as far as the assassin games go, what would be a good way to defend yourself if you can't get one of the bonuses on this map but still be able to hunt for your target?

Just curious even though I haven't played a game on this map yet.

You're always able to get a good hand on this map, it just differs per starting position how long it will take you to get it. A lot more importantly, it differs what your opponents do, so my advice would be to wait (at least...) 2 turns and just stack. There are always other people who start to assault and on this map, you want to be the recieving end of that, because your attacker comes through neutral territories. It happens a lot that early attackers lower their troops so much, that they are practically wiped off the board after their first attack.

JBlombier wrote:You're always able to get a good hand on this map, it just differs per starting position how long it will take you to get it. A lot more importantly, it differs what your opponents do, so my advice would be to wait (at least...) 2 turns and just stack. There are always other people who start to assault and on this map, you want to be the recieving end of that, because your attacker comes through neutral territories. It happens a lot that early attackers lower their troops so much, that they are practically wiped off the board after their first attack.

That is a good addition that you might want to add since it because it adds a good tip about the fact that you are surrounded by neutrals and not other players (if I am reading your note right) which changes things a bit.

The starting positions also suggest that you are surrounded by neutrals, but my last post is a tip indeed, so I'll add it on a personal note. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Don't accept to get your Royal Flush in two rounds!

Shouldn't it be :

" Accept you can't get your Royal flush in two rounds! " ? or "Don't hope/try to get your Royal flush in two rounds!" ?

I just find the way you are saying it a bit weird, but I am not native english speaker so you may correct.

I'm not a native speaker as well, mate. So I guess it's funny that you point this out, because that's not right indeed. I meant:
Don't expect to get your Royal Flush in two rounds!
I mix those two words up all the time in my head, but this time it came out and I didn't write the good one. Thanks for mentioning it, because a Brit or an American should've seen this (and knew what I actually meant) right away, but they didn't bother to.

The image with the starting position in blue is very helpful.
I see you also put white circle on the other positions. I think you should remove the white circle because there are not visible on most of them, and therefore not so helpful. That's a minor point but at first I was wondering why only few cards have a white spot.

I didn't make that image, so I can't change the white spots. I found it in the Foundry topic of Poker Club.

Edit: We're both being kinda dumb, Don. The white spots (on J, Q, K, A) are part of the original map, to make sure the troops are visible... Makes sense

Hey, please, read it one more JBlombier. Then if you don't see anything to change or add, I think I'll make this one public next week.
Also if anyone would like to add anything, last chance.

I think this guide is ready to put out in the open. Of course when it's out there, people will comment on it as well. After a month or so I can take these comments and add the useful ones to the guide as it is.

Added to the official list of strategy guides
Moved to GD.

Credits to be issued.


Note : Comments on the strategy are still possible and if relevant might be added to the guide.

Donelladan wrote:Added to the official list of strategy guides
Moved to GD.

Credits to be issued.


Note : Comments on the strategy are still possible and if relevant might be added to the guide.

yeah, i just see it in the GD, which makes no sense... throw this bad boy into the strat guide!!! finally, a new one!!!-Bj

This is the 2nd new guide actually. King's court was released few months ago. And all guides are into the GD only they are very old topics. But you can access them all from the list of strategy guides which is sticked at the top.