First 8-Player Classic Game and I Made One Costly Mistake

[Marcel Granoller]

I finished my first game yesterday and thought I'd share one thing I learned. It was an 8-player Standard game on the Classic map with Sequential turns, Chained attacks, Unlimited reinforcements, and No Fog. Before the game started, I had read a few beginner guides, so I decided I wasn't going to attack recklessly. My starting territories were scattered, but I had four countries in Australia. I spent the first couple of rounds connecting them while another player was doing the same thing. We both reached Australia at almost the same time, but they had one more army than I did and claimed the continent first. Instead of leaving it alone, I kept trying to break into Australia every turn because I didn't want them collecting the bonus. Looking back, that was the worst decision I made. Every attack cost me armies, and another player quietly secured South America without anyone challenging them. By the time I realized they were getting a continent bonus every round, they had built a stack large enough that nobody wanted to attack them. I wasn't the first player eliminated, but I spent most of the game with too few troops because I had wasted so many trying to fight over Australia. It finally clicked that sometimes it's better to let another player have a continent temporarily and focus on building your own position. I wonder would you have ignored Australia and gone after another continent, or is it usually worth contesting early?

[TeeGee]

The only costly mistake you really made was posting this.

I need a coffee, where did it go.