blocks?

[dominationnation]

Ill be the first to admit. Im only an average player. After reading through the strategy thread for a little though I hear a lot of people talking about how all the people in the 2000+ games play with blocks. Can someone please explain what that is to me. Thanks in advance.

[jiminski]

Hello mate, i just re-quoted this from another thread which is specifically about escalator games for beginners (it may be worth a read if you have the patience to get through all the 'debate'):

A block is a mass army on a strategic area which makes it tough for opponents to make a kill on another. (most effective use is in High rank escalator standard games.)

the most simple block is as follows:
Blue owns Oceania, by placing a large force on Siam you make it so an opponent has to go through you to kill blue and claim the cards.

This may sound counter-intuitive but this should dissuade your opponent from making the attack in the fist place. If you have 15 troops on Siam and blue has 20 in Oceania and the card cash is only 30 then it is rarely worth expending troops for the kill.


This may also sound like an act of kindness to Blue, it is not! By making it awkward for your opponents to kill another in this way, you also make it easier for you to kill Blue later on.

You could also form a part of a block with another player; say you had a large force on Middle East and another player had a large force on Ukraine, between you you make it tough for every other player to journey through you to make a kill on either side.. this may mean that a player has to split their forces or simply make it impossible for a kill.


The problem with even talking about 'Blocks', in what is supposed to be a beginners thread, is that if you try this method Blue in Oceania will likely see you as a threat to his bonus and not a barrier. You are likely to find that Blue will attack you in Siam.

[dominationnation]

ah. Thank you very much.

[stringybeany]

...
The problem with even talking about 'Blocks', in what is supposed to be a beginners thread, is that if you try this method Blue in Oceania will likely see you as a threat to his bonus and not a barrier. You are likely to find that Blue will attack you in Siam.
[/i]

Exactly why blocking is left out of the beginners escalating strategy!

I've experienced attacks from my "blockee" a couple times in beginner games, with their elimination immediately following. (and sometimes mine)

[joecoolfrog]

The reason blocks are used as opposed to attacking another opponent is
A) You dont weaken yourself
B) As importantly you dont weaken another player which would make him an easier target for your other opponents.

[chessplaya]

blocks arent as simple as described there ... its not that u block blue in aussi and then u and him are safe... probably instead of blue then they will go after u ... u will have to be somewhat protected ... due to lack of cards .. or bigger armies .. or a block given by another player so if some player wants to step in to aussi .. he doesnt eliminate u 1st then the player in aussi

Blocks are as important as any strategy in escalating .. actually its the beauty of escalating ...

U can not just block some1 ... and sometimes u have to move out of ur block and let some1 else block for ur own protection and the protection of the player u were blocking ...

Obviously blocks arent for beginners not at all ... u will understand the blocks once u gain more experience from playing escalating cards...each game gives u more experience although u won't notice it at 1st ... but afterwards .. u will understand blocks as u play .. no1 can teach u or tell u whats a block unless u have a game going ... the map , the countries the players and their armies tells u when to block and when not to block

Hope this helps!

Cheers

[jiminski]

hehe, the simplest form of block is that simple Chess... which is why i used the phrase 'the most simple block...' to start with.

the example was simply the simplest form possible. to make it simple for the beginner who simply did not know what it meant... simple!;)

[joecoolfrog]

Chess your a big blockhead