Tips, Tricks, and Battle Tactics: Game of Thrones 2nd Edition Board Game

Chris gives you the necessary advice to conquer your enemies and betray your friends in glorious dragon fire.
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[@secondrock83]

"Learn from Theon's mistake and don't start a land war in the north when you can't support yourself by the sea." Great comment!

[@blacktee31]

Make Believe Films Theon was an inexperienced child who lacked the necessary leadship qualities to take advantage of his situation. He was far too immature and prideful put the need to prove his loyalty to his father over his own safety.

[@noxtrin3315]

To take tohrrens square was smart as They can support it via the river and then the lake... But its impressive to take a castle with 30 men

[@sir_serhii]

Kings Landing should be the first castle to take for Baratheons. It's classic move - 1) Put support on the unit in Kingswood 2) move 1 your ship to Blackwater 3) Attack +1 from Dragonstone.

[@The_Byzantine_Ottoman]

This is an old comment but this doesn't work because Baratheon doesn't get special orders to start with. Thus they can only attack King's Landing with 4 and will not take it.

[@phoebus0127]

starshooter7324 for 6 persons game, bara does have 1 star order trocken, check the board

[@danvol3907]

It's much better to gain a coin in Kingswood and muster ships on Dragonstone.

[@axeblood12]

only this little views? this guide was extremely useful and i have watched all of it before seeing the number of views. Keep it going man!

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

+axeblood12 Thank you so much, I'm glad you found it helpful! My brother is working on the editing my tips for for the two expansions as well, I hope you like those as well.

[@Dingo1359]

All around it's an accurate video except the last part where you said that they can hide their house cards from you. All house cards (discarded pile and currently available) are public knowledge at all times except for when the individual is picking the one they want to play. So this means anyone is allowed to ask to see what cards you have before they even decide to attack you.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

thanks, that makes sense

[@Marviczekpusiczek]

Me and my friends decided to omit this rule as it really slows the whole game down and it is also quite annoying. Attentive players are rewarded by knowing which cards were already used and that's it. However, it's fair to allow a newcomer to take advantage of this rule.

[@grosnock]

@@Marviczekpusiczek I think them being open information is very important to game balance and fairness. I made a laminated sheet for each house where all their cards are visible for other players reference. That way a player can keep their house cards to themselves but others are free to check them whenever they want. They are laminated so that you can use an erasable marker to but a cross through the cards that are currently in their discard pile. Luckily most of our players are experienced enough to know what all cards do and their values, and also to keep track of which ones are left. It is a big problem for newer players though so the sheets can be a big help for them.

[@marinuskirkegaardkrage555]

That is correct

[@SteeL_569]

I have a few notes on the review I would like to point out. Note some of the things are just good additions to what you mentioned, some are completely wrong. 1) It's a good one for people who haven't played the game at all. 2) There are many things that are tactically incorrect or can be better explained: - Iron Throne - in the end of the game usually the one that goes first, has the upper hand (siege engines) so as the game goes this gets higher value. The throne allows you to break ties, therefor after obtaining it the Fiefdom and Raven become passively cheaper for you. - Fiefdom track - extremely useful - mainly because it's valid all over the map (unlike the special support orders), to win against the holder of the sword you need to invest at least 3 more combat strength than what he has. [ +1 (because when you are equal he wins) +2 He can pay the sword (equal = you loose) +3 = You are with 1 above him. (Making victories more expensive as calculating the battle strength they can use a worse card knowing this). As many people share your oppinion on the Fiefdom, my experience shows that you can easily get it with a bid of 2-3. - King Court is OP. Lack of stars means less available orders but in this field depending on my house or what my short term goals are I can deal mostly with 1 or 2 stars (Attack+1 for mobility, Consolidate (muster)). Again order swapping is OP in the early stages of the game but as the game progresses you'll have less chances of utilizing it (mostly due to using the good orders) -Catelyn Stark card - AKA Catelyn the useless. The worst of all 0 cards. If you have the Special defense order her strength becomes 2 (you get 2 from the order anyway, so it isn't 4, the total is 4), so the value of this card is 2). For more info check Roose below. -Roose Bolton is one of the best cards in the game (hard counter is Patchface, usually my reason why I prefer to stay away from Baratheon and persuading Martel to attack Bara with my possible support as Tyrell/Martel conflict is not profitable). What I would do as a Stark is constantly try to bait GJ strong cards with Blackish or the 2 towers guy, then Eddard to clean some troops, -1M footman attack on a strength of 2-3 zone (depending on who position on fiefdom) with Roose guaranteeing a loose. - Balon Greyjoy is AKA the AUTOWIN card, it basically guarantees a WIN if calculated correctly. That's the reason why if GJ needs to be checked by an aggressive Stark or he would conquer Lannister by turn 3 (there is even a formula for that which is for dummies but guarantees 1v1 to wipe Lanny) (mainly due to Fiefdom track, Balon and Victarion, Crow's eye is just 4 strenght so he still outwins all Lanny cards due to combat ties), - Damphair is also OP. - Patchface is best used against Doran, Red Viper or Roose. - Arianne Martell is probably the counter for Sir Loras, if at any point you feel Tyrell going for Loras, play it. - Salador is mainly used when defending the sea surrounding Dragonstone as they would likely be pushed back (as you'll be getting support from the sea next to Kings Landing). - I agree Tyrion is somewhat fine card, strength of 1 is bad. But he can be game breaking against GJ as they usually manage to have only 1 card left when you have two (Damphair) Note: if GJ plays Balon and Tyrion returns it to his hand, GJ can play Damphair and use his ability to play Balon again (or any other card) - Cersei is the only card that is happy Catelyn the useless is in the game so she isn't the worst :D Overall it's a good guide for beginners that are just starting to get into this game. I would also recommend to players to play by the T6 rules for the Standard version of the game (or DWD if you have it of course). The reason I do recommend it is because nobody usually wants to play Lannister once they start to understand how the game works due to many underdog cards and the 3to4 guaranteed GJ victories over them) What do the T6 rules make: 1) Swap Cersei with the card from DWD (the 0 one) 2) Swap the 1 card that gives +1 to footmen with it's DWD counterpart that gives +1 to knights 3) Makes Catelyn the usless allow you to muster a footman if you successfully win using her (no longer as useless) 4) GJ starts with 3 footmen, lanny starts with 2 knights 1 footman (ships are unchanged) 5) No other houses are changed. Again - I would recommend the DWD expansion if 6 or AFFC if 4.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

wow thanks, lots of good points. And yes with 6 players I will always play DWD, I didn't before because some stuff was spoilerish, but now the show is past the books.

[@SteeL_569]

I know I still have a few friends that I don't play DWD just because they don't watch the show (waiting on the book to go out) So in those scenarios, I'd advise the T6 rules as they would balance the game out and Lannisters don't count on third parties to help them with GJ but instead have a chance to fend them off. You can check the T6 rules at boardgamegeek.com/filepage/97270/t6-rules-6p-7p-agot

[@datooo23]

21:27 it also gives you the ability to check the "Tides of Battle" card during combat and change it with the subsequent card if desired. Alternatively it can be used to give you +1 combat strength. Still pretty good.

[@Yatsura2]

First I want to thank you for creating probably the *only* strategy guide on youtube for this board game! It helped me quite a bit. :) But please dont move away from your microphone during the recording. I had to turn up the volume pretty high to still understand your words while the background noise got really annoying. Its also very uncomfortable to know that my ears could explode any second if anything comes near the microphone all of a sudden. :( You should also highlight the things you are talking about! Whenever you talked about Siege Engines, you showed literally every available unit of the game! XD When you mentioned specific areas, you often showed half the map so I had to pause the video and search that area to know what you were talking about. Sometimes this area wasnt even there, because it was on the other half of the map that wasnt shown! XD Even if you put a circle in there it was still hard to find.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

thanks for your input and yes we made several mistakes with it. Also my brother did the editing and doesn't play nearly as much as me. I will likely do a followup sometime in the future. And now I have a much better mic

[@mikestrouse]

Sterling Knight Gamers I think I heard cereal being eaten...

[@kuchigyz6231]

As a Baratheon my opener turn 1 is either take King's Landing or go super aggressive by sea towards Stark or Martell if they don't counter me. Greyjoys are monsters early game, you have the sword, strong navi, strong cards, and can go super aggressive on the Lannisters. Basically it doesn't matter which house I'm playing, I always try to expand by sea into the guy that I want to kill. Also, playing with no raven stars is miserable, always try to get at least 1, preferably 2

[@whiteraven1992]

"You roll nothing, Jon Snow."

[@laurenceforward7099]

No die in this game so although comical its wrong.

[@whiteraven1992]

No ruining the joke!

[@mbalazs3544]

thank you it was very useful

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

thankyou

[@rubendimchev1706]

Hey man, awesome vid, but please tell me if you have a ship at bay and you put a march command on an island (Pyke for example), can you move both the troops, and the ship, and if you move the ship out of bay first, can you then use it as transport for the troops to Riverrun for example, if you previously had no ships in that sea.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

To move the ship in the bay you need a separate march older for the ship. You place an order for every territory land or see that has a unit in it.

[@fred9208swe]

Old video and all, just feel like I want to push back on you prioritizing the star orders (King's Court) over the sword (Fiefdoms). If you are trying to be aggressive or know that you will be fighting a lot, having the sword is universally the more versatile option over having the +1 orders. It boils down to you being able to win all combat ties AND using the sword to be able to bring yourself up to a tie if needed, which means that opponents have to factor that in when fighting you (assigning pieces to an attack, choosing cards...). Now they have to beat you with at least 2 strength to secure the battle, and an unused sword is a great deterrence. And sure, there are situations where star orders would have more impact in a single battle than the sword. That is very conditional though, and open to intervention from your opponents (such as raiding your +1 support). The real value of the star orders are 1) the star consolidate enabling you to build up your forces during early to mid game and 2) giving you another march order in the late game. Trying to maneuver your forces and attack to win the game with only 2 marches can be rather painful. And 3) just having more orders in general just lets you do more and makes it a little bit easier to capitalize on opportunities. To be clear, this is nothing but my opinion. I love this game, have played it for a long time and am able to play it semi-regularly and consider myself to be "good". I have a win rate well above 1/6 and have racked up a reputation among friends as a sneaky bastard, and often find myself facing coalitions of revenge. What I wrote above has been corroborated by extensive field tests (😈) and observation. But it's still an opinion.

[@okggify]

There are 0 chances of stealing kings landing from the baratheons in early game unless they dont know how to play. 2 even 3 support ships in the bay from dragonstone make it impossible to breach. If the baratheon expands a lil bit north and west its game over, he is safe and sound hidden in the bay while he pushes his units outwards bringing more from dragonstone and peripheral castles.

[@noxtrin3315]

Make a mother of dragon video

[@Drewbybooby]

At 15:00, is someone eating cereal?! 😂😂😂😂 Also, thanks for the tips. I hope to crush my enemies today.

[@ljuniornone]

That's a nice video, especially for new players. But just a tip: why do you call Highgarden and the Dornishmen instead of Tyrell and Martell?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

sometimes I mix up Tyrell and Martell so sometimes I just say the home castle.

[@iscoortiz283]

Great video, I'm still watching as I write this comment but, is there a reason we can't use Tully or Martell during a 4 player session? Thanks!

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

it's mostly about balance. They want to focus the war up north for 4 player games.

[@HoratioHuffnagel]

@@SterlingKnightGamers They fixed that on the Mother of Dragons expansion. With the vassals mechanics, you can now play any house with any number of players (except for Targaryen for 3 players)

[@jesseh5888]

Question. 1. If you attack with two units in the area and win. Do you move both the units or do you move only one? 2. When Eddard stark is to kill two units, does he kill two anywhere or only from where the troops are defeated? 3. Power Icons. How do you run out of them? Does bidding for influence use them up permanently and same with bidding for wildlings? 4. The amount you bid for wildling attacks, the icons you used for bidding for influnce counts? or Do we get to reuse all the icons? 5. Can ships take a land area? 6. If your units have no 'legal' place to run after they have lost, what happens? 7. If you attack an army that has already lost once already in that same turn, what happens?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

1: You attack with the units that you move in with, so you move 2 you attack with 2. The only ones that don't move are those that are supporting. 2. He kills up to 2 units that were in the battle and only in the area, not even those that were supporting 3. whenever you bid them they are gone, you are calling in favors or spending money. I have never run out of tokens but if you are not returning them to the bank that would be why. 4. yes its all the same influence Are you going to helm the realm and send supplies to the wall or wine and dine people in court 5 ships can not attack or take a land area, but they can support an attacking army. And the land can not attack or support sea battles 6 and 7 if there is no legal place to retreat then they die, same if they route and are attacked a second time (the second time the routed troops don't even fight back hope this helps

[@joshuacartwright290]

Lannisters easy. 2 knights in stoney sept with support token will keep all areas safe on the defensive

[@shapeshifter7676]

You should never use Doran Martell to move Baratheons down the Iron Throne track, Especially if Baratheon played Stannis or still has him in hand.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

good point

[@ryanyuen8245]

41:40 You get your wish - a more interesting Margaery in ADwD (if not completely op haha)

[@marinuskirkegaardkrage555]

Ryan Yuen i know i wondered why it was a different card

[@abubakarsiddiq5497]

I have a question. What if all your March order tokens has been used and you had none left? is there any other way to restore the already used order tokens? Let me know.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

nope you can only do so many orders

[@phoebus0127]

Abubakar Siddiq in the next round you can reuse all 3 of your March orders, if this what you meant

[@deanmarquis4325]

Which faction has the best leaders?

[@blacktee31]

There's an actual board game? Did it come before or after the book and show?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

its based off the book, and it came out in 2003

[@malibelizec2543]

Interesting video. Only issue I found is that this game is no unique as you say. It was made based on Diplomacy game :)

[@kristopherhayes486]

I wonder if these tactics can be transfer to risk: game of thrones.

[@Harout115]

Can a ship pick up a unit and with a march order transport it to another land in another sea area?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

ships act as portals, units march onto them and then come out immediately in an area adjacent to a friendly ship anywhere in the chain.

[@pepsiman4051]

Can you Consolidate Power in a zone more than once? And if you can't, how do you recall to not put an order there again? do you just have to remember it, write it down? either way, that's the only ''plot hole'' in this game for me. Please, someone answer me this, I'd appreciate it a lot. Thank you.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

You can only do one order per territory. You can do one in a port and on the land but that's the only double you can do.

[@gortex8383]

What can u do with the special consolidate power tokens? I know u can recrute armies with it, but ho does that work?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

You can recruit at that one location only, or if you choose you can use it as a regular consolidate power tokens

[@marinuskirkegaardkrage555]

If there is a star on and you put it on a Castle or stronghold you Can recruit troops one worth of troops for the Castle and two for the stronghold

[@thomasfrn4831]

I bought the game but haven't got the occasion to play so far but just by reading the rules there is something that I would like to point out, maybe you guys have the answer : > I don't see the utiliy of siege engins and casttles, because siege engin grant the attacker with +4 bonus against castles and fortresses but are useless if there is no casstles or fortresses but what are the defensive bonus of them ? none ? or I am missing something here ? thanks guys,

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

nope you are right, they are more useful during the end game when you need to quickly take 1-2 castles and you don't care about holding them.

[@lordsad64]

I don't have that much of board gamer friends and it's hard to get together to play for 2hr and so, so my Q is : is there a pc version that I can play with npc (computer) to play with?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

there is a steam tabletop simulator, that has a fan made mod for just about every game

[@paetoou]

there is a page Throne Master . net just look for it ;)

[@arw20]

You can do what I've just done and googled nearest board game club and join them. I've now got the opportunity to play it on Sunday.

[@troyscheffel3854]

This is a very old question but I'll reply just in case you receive a notification: Steam now offers "A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Digital Edition." I grabbed it yesterday for $15.99 + tax and am going through the 3 tutorials. Looks to be a very nice adaptation, though I haven't played the actual board game version.

[@lordsad64]

Troy Scheffel thank you

[@songhirun2987]

I have questions 1. can land troops support ships in adjacent area?

[@TheHoufi]

no

[@marinuskirkegaardkrage555]

No

[@akshaydabhadkarofficial5104]

The video is gold at 1.25x speed

[@iftyhargil8359]

I found your strategy for the individual houses to be kinda low tier tbh. For example, I found that the biggest hurdle for the Barathon is low supply and neither strategy you've suggested isn't tackling this problem. It's not very helpful to have a lot of castles with having to hold at least 1 large fleet and with no ability to recruit due to support limitations. If anything it's a terrible strategy because it would pose you as a threat to everyone with limited options for expansion. Another example is the Greyjoys - although they have a powerful deck they have limited means of defeating someone decisively in a long war. Especially in the cases of the Stark which are built for long wars and the Lennisters which if they play right can accommodate defeat in the short run while completing crushing you with a well timed Sir. Gregor. Furthermore in my experience if the Lennisters and Greyjoys have a war it's unlikely either would win the game. Therefore what I do as Greyjoys is actually aim for the Tyrells, as they have the fewest ways to handle a well timed Greyjoy attack... So your "2 enemies" mantra doesn't really work there. I personally don't think that it's correct for the Tyrells or Lennisters and after the 2nd of 3rd round for the Barathons either.

[@Vossenator]

Did you go for the Blackwater spot as Baratheon? The one that has two barrels of supply? It's dangerously close to Lannister and Tyrell but if you take it and hold with support from King's Landing and the Crackclaw point, it really helps the Baratheon supply problem. Also, the Vale has 3 potential Supply if you are willing to tustle with Stark.

[@racheallaugery4247]

I have a question about 4 player. Has anyone stopped playing 4 player because Baratheon is unstoppable?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

Yes, and there is an expansion that is fun that is four player only. So I would imagine they would just play that.

[@LtRogers5]

I played an epic game yesterday. We where 5 players. It took 9h! How in hell can anyone play in 2-4h?

[@Krste198]

If Harrenhal is the biggest "castle" in the books, why it isn't a stronghold? Or it is because it's in ruins?

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

Its also a ruin, not as much people around it to recruit.

[@Vossenator]

Krste198 It is the largest yes, but it's also a ruin that is too large to effectively man with an army. It also has low economic value and very low mustering army value as well, it's greatest strength and importance is its strategic location and the fact that it's difficult to attack.

[@ilijadivljan6305]

Branko dobro se pripremi. #fis

[@KingslayerSrb]

It's a shame that game isn't balanced enough theme-wise. Lannisters won the War of the Five Kings, and yet here they are the hardest one to play, for sure

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

for 6 players yes, but for 3-4 I think they have an advantage. Also with the Dance with Dragons its more even since they start out with kings landing and so many other castles.

[@KingslayerSrb]

That's good to know, I only played vanilla. My biggest gripe is that their starting position doesn't make sense theme-wise. As far as I could see, you basically have to be hostile to either Greyjoy or Tyrells from the start in order to even stand a chance of winning, you can't be allied to both

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

You could try to move west and take Kings Landing and get the Greyjoys to fight the starks.

[@Yatsura2]

Actually its quite accurate. In the books, the Lannisters lost every battle during the war, were surrounded by 3 sides with only 2 armies and even gave up their homelands. They only won though their brutality & deceitfully raids (by "the riding Mountain", Armory Lorch or the tickler) on one side, which demotivated every foe who was going to attack them and their intrigues on the other side, which made allies of their opponents change sides and betray them in the back (Boltons & Freys at the red wedding, Tyrells at the Blackwater Bay). Both are well implemented in the game with raid orders, bloody 3 swords by the mountain, extra power tokens by Tywin and ally-removal by Tyrion. tl;dr You have to be witty and know how to play the game of thrones or you'll die. Just like Cersei, Tyrion and Tywin said in the books and series! XD

[@KingslayerSrb]

Yatsura2 i thought that the game was set right after King's Robert death? thats what I was referring to :) obviously the situation changed as the war progressed. and yea, you have to play diplomacy and backstabbing a lot more as a lannister, as it should be :D

[@MonsterKing-ux4mp]

Where are the knights of the vales 😂😂😂

[@espardofildon2966]

version for 9 players - boardgamegeek.com/thread/1579591/game-thrones-9-players-epic-variant

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

boy that would be complicated, thanks for letting me know. I suspect after winds of winter Dany is going to replace the Baratheons

[@ns389]

I would like a luck factor to the battles. Two d20s where only a 40 gives you a +1 in Defense or +1 in Offense. 3-39 give you nothing and 2 gives you -1. 95% of battles would have no luck factor.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

you can play with the tides of war cards that do exactly that

[@RationalOrc]

Your navy should almost always be your largest battle group. The navy protects the anus of every single nation. You get enemy ships showing rolling up on your backdoor, you're gonna have a bad time.

[@mikestrouse]

patickery

[@mikestrouse]

lol thanks for the help. first time going to play and I think I might not suck right away now.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

glad to be of service. The most important lesson is pick and neighbor to fight and an neighbor to ally with, they can switch but you need one of each.

[@espardofildon2966]

Epic variant for 10 players. Enjoy :) - boardgamegeek.com/thread/1766678/epic-variant-10-players-monster-map

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

thanks

[@kampfumwesteros8116]

Gute Beschreibung Wenn du Lust hast beschreibe das Spiel mal auf meiner Version kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZDNfKOjZ9mtg5Y

[@gonavygonavy1193]

Add to speedx2 this whole video, you talk too slow

[@jordanneedscoffee]

I changed this video from 666 likes to 667 likes. You're all welcome.

[@user-fe7rz4ll8q]

Disappointing video, I was expecting to hear specific strategies on which areas to go for, which alliances to make etc, but it was mostly simply going over the cards and a summary of the rules.

[@SterlingKnightGamers]

Sorry you feel that way, I am planning on doing something more in-depth in the future.

[@jadshehadeh2740]

Sterling Knight Gamers I found it very helpful 👏

[@Grimlock77]

Don't know what you mean. The first 15 mins specifically told you who your neighbours were and what potential allegiances you could go for. The tactics were also mentioned alongside these ideas. You did watch it the same video, right? My only issue was the wandering voice that was sometimes too far from the mic.

[@ardaugur7110]

YOU ARE TOOO SLOWWWW OMG