[phazed]

The first turns of the game are most important. You can almost ensure a win getting the right property(s) at game start (the "right" properties depend on the number of players). The first few turns are when your 20% discount is most important, as players are most likely to bid at game start. You dont want to give away a valuable property like green or pink when the game is young, as your oppenents can use it to gain "momentum" if you will.

With this in mind I have encountered and played 2 different strategies. The first I call:

#1) "The worm". This is when a player lands on valuable property early in the game and makes a set at +250 or even +275. This is the biggest advantage in the game. Having a completed (and upgraded ) set, with the whole game to go, means you will make more money, because players will land there, and you won't be in the process of auctioning and upgrading ( earning less than you should when players land there ).


You cant afford to put off auctioning because the prices are high, youve got a discount anyway. So make sure you know what you want before you even start, and go with it. Waiting late in the game to complete a set can be near impossible. So start auctioinng what you want early. So you can make more moeny. And that's it for this strategy, just make sure nobody buys your 2nd or 3rd property, even if they auction it and you dont get a discount. The early bird gets the worm.

The 2nd strategy I call:

#2) "The corkSCREW' - This strategy may take some practice, and is the complete opposite of strategy 1. First you need to know the "price threshhold" of all the property, and use this knowledge agaisnt your oppenent. If your oppenent has already auctioned property, you knew what they are going for, so when they bid on your auction (on say a white or black ) sell it to them for just barely under what you would pay for it. Thus screwing them over on thier plans, because they didnt get a discount, and they have just payed 1490 on a property that will only earn them 90 a couple of times.

This plan can also be put into motion at the start of the game. Properties that give you low credit points are prime to use as "bait". Auction everything except for WHAT YOU WANT.If you oppenent really thinks that you want a certain property, start bidding quickly as if you really want it. Then when they are jsut about to give up on blocking you, sell it to them for a price that is just under that threshhold of what you would pay. Some people like to auction every property along the way at the start, giving away property for the maximum price they can, and stripping opponents of thier discount everywhere. And your opponents will find they payed way too much for a property that is not very valuable, and that they didnt really even want in the first place.

Use the auction as your tool. YOU MAKE THE DECISIONS FOR WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE BUYING. Iv'e seen players auction 1 of every set on the board except for a couple, which they decide to buy for themselves late in the game.


They key differences in these strategies are: In #1, Make sure to always buy WHAT YOU WANT, NO MATTER HOW HIGH THE PRICE. AND NEVER TRADE

in #2, your auctioning everything with no intention of buying it whatsoever, and your leaving the property that you want, to late in the game (which is risky).


I hope you guys like my thoughts here. I jsut noticed there are 2 main types of players here . THe ones who have no intention of buying the propertyand who try to screw you over, and the ones that actually want the property.

[theunknownamus]

Statregy is irrelevant due to the fact that virtually no game is alike. If the same scenarios happened, then it would be beneficial to use said "strategies" to not make the same mistakes in the 2nd game. But because virtually every factor changes it becomes bombastic to rely on the same strategy from one game to another. Prices, dice rolls, economy collapse speed, times in jail, & espically players are all detriments to both these strategies. It becomes frustratingly impossible to learn & grow from experiences because the experiences you learn from may never happen again. I'm not saying that the game is all luck. But it is the dominating factor with about 70% luck & 30% strategy. Luck can muck up any well planned plan. The more you learn, the less you know. Just my rant...

[phazed]

This is an auctioning strategy, not a strategy about property, you got this all wrong. And I'd say if anything it's the prices that stay more or less the same, depending on the start amount.

...Seems pretty pointless to have an entire strategy topic section, if you say strategy has nothing to do with it...

Maybe we should change the name of this section to "Galactic Magnate Luck", "discuss luck here and share your luck ideas" /pukes

[theunknownamus]

That was just my own opnion; I meant no harm. Your strategies are very well done and relevent as bidding is one thing in the game you can control. Going into a game with some sort of strategy will always improve your chances of winning. I was saying that CHANCE is the key word here. Nothing personal

[phazed]

Hey thanks, I worked hard on this strategy post. I didnt want to see it dismissed as irrelevent right off the bat. THanks for caving just a lil' rofl

[Welsh-Leek]

Hey Phazed nice post, its good to see players sharing their own experiences and thoughts with other players, should new players read tyhis post it will give them some idea of maybe how to play a little.


posts like this are always valued on GM, and just remember all this is a players personal experiences and thoughts from actually playing the game. Maybe you have some experiences yourself and thoughts on GM strategys , why not post and give it a bash .


again good post phazed, well worth the read .


regards

steve aka use-give
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"At all levels of play the secret of success lies not so much in playing well as in not playing badly."

[phazed]

Thanks Welsh, its good to know people or open-minded. 110 views and only 2 votes... I wish the pool had more votes So I could see what kind of game people are playing out there.

[judd]

Nice post and some interesting options

there is never one strat that works because every game is different

i tend to be the worm in most games and try and secure some sort of income early

but, if its a high points game or tournament type scenario, i'll tend to buy with the intention of selling on later for a profit with a bias towards the purple of greens - because the players tend to be more experienced and will trade with you


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[trace567]