A seriously dumb question

[pleflar]

I am pretty new to CC, haven't finished 10 games yet, so I am still dealing with some of the subtleties. My other gaming experiences seem to have prepared me for the flow of the "no spoils" and "flat rate" games but escalating is blowing my mind. I've gotten to the last three, and even last two, in a couple of escalating games but I totally lose the plot at that point. It may be a trade secret, and that is understandable given this is a Risk site, but I could use just the barest of outlines regarding how the endgame of an escalating game should be conducted.

Is there any point in defending bonuses when the spoils are over a hundred?
(I realize this would probably vary by map)

Should one charge about and take all the poorly defended territories and then expect that the same be done to him?
(I realize this would vary with reinforcing rules)

Any other pointers?

pafl

[hwhrhett]

I am pretty new to CC, haven't finished 10 games yet, so I am still dealing with some of the subtleties. My other gaming experiences seem to have prepared me for the flow of the "no spoils" and "flat rate" games but escalating is blowing my mind. I've gotten to the last three, and even last two, in a couple of escalating games but I totally lose the plot at that point. It may be a trade secret, and that is understandable given this is a Risk site, but I could use just the barest of outlines regarding how the endgame of an escalating game should be conducted.

Is there any point in defending bonuses when the spoils are over a hundred?
(I realize this would probably vary by map)

Should one charge about and take all the poorly defended territories and then expect that the same be done to him?
(I realize this would vary with reinforcing rules)

Any other pointers?

pafl

bonuses mean shit in escalating, dont waste armies attacking.

[pleflar]

Thanks, that seems simple enough.

[tvar]

Things to do in escalating games:

1) Take one country every turn. Preferably one with 1 army in it.
2) Position yourself so that it is hard to eliminate you. I usually like to have 2 strongholds in different parts of the map.
3) Position yourself so that you are in a good spot to eliminate people. Cornering a country of someone's so that they can't be eliminated without going through you is good.
4) Try to plan ahead so that when you get your first or second set you'll be able to eliminate someone with a few cards. Usually if you set it up right you can set up a chain reaction of elimination/sets and take out at least half the map, if not everyone.
5) When you have eliminated someone it might not always be in your best interested to turn in 2 sets even if you can. You might want to make sure that on the next elimination it'll put you over 5 cards again so you can do even more turnins.

I might be missing some things, but that strategy has served me pretty well.