The purpose of a strategy discussion is to share information offering a few tips to increase your chances of being successful based on the map's features or instructions with an analysis offered to help you orient quicker so you can conquer your opponents.
The Europe 1914 Map key to victory is obtaining and holding the "Central Powers" which are made up of four (4) territories (Berlin, Vienna, Constantinople, and Sofia). Your chances of winning increase significantly if you put all your focus on conquering and holding the "Central Powers" under any game type variation. This is the equivalent to a knock-out punch in boxing if your opponents are not reading the instructions to the map or focusing on this offered strategy. By simply holding these four (4) territories for one (1) round without losing one (1) of the four (4) territories - you win the game automatically! It is highly recommended that you choose to focus on holding the "Central Powers" over the "Entente Powers" because statistically speaking, there are less territories geographically between the "Central Powers" when compared to the "Entente Powers" (St. Petersburg, Paris, London and Rome) when you consider the amount of ground to cover in order to obtain these locations. Also, this recommended strategy affords a plan B in the event you are pushed out of the central regions of Europe you can discreetly adjust the strategy to then re-focus on the "Entente Powers" which are on the outskirts of the map while everyone else is fighting in the center of the board. This is the quickest way to victory!
Should the battle drag on into a never-ending bout, you are encouraged to consider obtaining and holding the "France" (dark blue) bonus region as it has among the highest payoff of troops (5) with among the lowest amount of risk to defend with quick access to many ways of adjusting your strategy should you encounter bad rolls, an irrational opponent or the need to be flexible for any reason by allowing passages into the center of the map or to the outskirts of the map. The "Balkan States" (orange) is the least recommended bonus region to attempt to obtain or hold as there are too many territories in this region to defend borders against (among the highest) with only three (3) troops of payoff for all your laboring. If you cannot obtain the "France" regional bonus, then "Germany Empire" and "Austro-Hungarian Empire" are the next best values to seek out in that order followed by the "Russian Empire", "United Kingdom", "Italian Kingdom", "Ottoman Empire" in that specific order when considering overall value of risk to reward opportunities. Based on your initial placement, adjust your strategy accordingly.
The "Cyprus British Base" territory is a dead-end location which only connects to "Greece" in the "Balkan States". If you own this territory after initial placement, it is advisable to go after the "United Kingdom" bonus region (light blue) instead of the "Russian Empire" as the fourth best value overall in the pecking order described above. It is not recommended to spend significant time or troops trying to obtain this "British Base" territory should you already have the "United Kingdom" as it may be riskier and inefficient for your game to travel across the map expending valuable resources that should be used trying to secure one of the two (2) "Powers" instead. If the "British Base" is nearby and you have the "United Kingdom" securing it with your bonus increases your value by 10%. Conversely, if your opponent has the "United Kingdom" bonus, it is worth checking to ensure they don't have the "Cyprus British Base" as it decreases their chances of winning by 10% if you can take it out with nearby troops. Lastly, there are five (5) territories that are connection points or "Seas" (Baltic, North, Bay of Biscayne, Mediterannean, and Black) which don't count towards any bonuses, but could be utilized strategically to defend bonuses or control the flow of the war so use them accordingly. We hope you found this strategy discussion helpful and good-luck in conquering all!
