Escalating: why leave 1 troop?

[Herbas]

Hi,

I just started playing escalating games and there is one thing I'm not sure why skilled players do in the beginning of games: once they conquer some land, they leave just 1 troop there. Why do so? It makes getting spoils easier for others. Why not leave 2 troops in order to have much bigger chance to inflict some damage to others wanting to get a spoil?

[danes]

Often times when you leave 2 troops, the territory will be attacked anyways and you will lose an additional army.

Additionally, if you surround your stack with territories you own, you will limit your attack options.

Basically, best case scenario is that you kill a couple extra troops from a random opponent or cause them to take a different location, worst case scenario, you lose an additional army.

In an 8 player game, the cost of inflicting additional casualties on one opponent is generally outweighed by the benefit of having more armies on your stack and more directions to attack to.

Think about it this way, If you were to kill 2 additional troops from one opponent at the cost of one of yours, the other 6 opponents would have an advantage vs both of you.

[Herbas]

I see, good points.

Maybe it does not matter much in escalating, but don't 2 troops instead of 1 slightly force other players to put their troops elsewhere (where it would be easier to get spoils)? In theory it should mean that other players are stacking their troops elsewhere, not in neighborhood of yours. But as I said, maybe it does not matter in escalating.

[the.killing.44]

These 1's are called card spots and it's generally accepted that players will spread these around the map because it allows for all the players to have a spot to get cards easily every round. Think about it: If you put a 2, why would someone bother taking it? This either leaves you without a card spot or forces the game to stagnate without any carding.

Obviously, escalating games rely virtually solely on cards. For this reason, veteran players recognize there's no reason not to allow the game to progress.

tl;dr - you won't be able to get a card, or the game will stalemate

[natty dread]

Also consider: If you deny a player card spots, he's more likely to attack your stacks instead...

[Joodoo]

It makes it easier for other people to get cards because people who actually know how to play escalating will be building big stacks and attacking ones whenever they can.
If you don't, they run out of options and might target your stack instead.