HIS - Ottomans - The First Turn

The Ottomans have a very specific action for their first turn: Attack Belgrade.  No other option makes sense.

Why take Belgrade?

At the start of the turn, the Ottomans gain 3 cards (plus Home Card).  To gain a 4th card they only need one key.  From their territory there are only two keys to attack: Belgrade and Buda.

Buda: Not an Option

Deciding to attack Buda first is suicidal for the Ottoman player.  First, Buda requires 4 CP  minimum to initiate the combat:

• 2 cp to cross the pass to Sezgedin, 
• 1 cp to convert Sezgedin to Ottoman control,
• 1 cp to move and siege Buda

Unlike most spaces, there will be a field battle to control Buda before there is an assault.  The Ottomans should have no trouble taking Buda if they bring all their armies (reinforced with their Home Card).  This is, however, an expensive option compared to Belgrade.  Furthermore, Buda cannot be reinforced during the Spring Deployment phase as it is across a Pass.

The other reason is the fall of Buda will cause a war with the Hapsburgs on Turn 1, who will gain all the Hungarian spaces as friendly allies: including Belgrade.

This puts the Ottomans at a war with the militarily strongest power in Europe.  Furthermore, troops left in Buda are isolated with expensive reinforcement costs.  Lastly, with control of Belgrade, the Hapsburgs not only have the Ottomans contained, but are able to begin launching attacks directly into Ottoman territory.

On Turn 1, with the worst cards played against them, the Ottomans have an 80% chance of Success at taking Buda.  Long term, however, attacking Buda before Belgrade is unsound.

Belgrade

Belgrade on the other hand is only 1 cp away.  It will take another card to initiate the siege, but with a full assault of Ottoman troops, Belgrade will almost certainly fall.  Lastly, the fall of Belgrade will not cause the Hungarians to ally with the Hapsburgs.

Optimum First Turn

The optimum first turn for Ottomans is as follows:

• Spring Deploy all troops from Istanbul to Nezh (or Nicopolis)
• Round 1- Play Home card to add 4 regulars to troops to Nezh/Nicopolis (bringing total army size to 12 Regular and 1 Cavalry).
• Round 2 - Play any card to place Belgrade under siege (If 3cp or higher, can build more units)
• Round 3 - Play a card to Assault Belgrade.

Optimum Attack Path

If the above method is used, the assault will have at least strength 8 during the assault to Belgrade's 2.  Facing only one enemy, this assault will succeed 96% of the time.  If it fails, a second assault needs to be made which, even with maximum casualties, will succeed 91% of the time.  Thus, the odds of success in this methodology is greater than 99%.

With these odds, Belgrade will fall!  The Ottomans now draw an additional card each turn.  The problem now becomes, what to do on the following turns now that the door to Europe is open.

Obstacles

This opening move is so standard no other player should feel threatened by it.  However, there are three possible cards which might disrupt the Ottoman plans:

• Knights of St John
• War in Persia
• Revolt in Egypt

War In Persia and Revolt in Egypt

 War In Persia and Revolt in Egypt both remove armies from Ottoman forces, but the Ottoman player may choose the armies.  In this case, the first three armies can come from Athens, Salonika and Edirne.  If the Ottoman Home Card is not played for armies (like it should be), the Ottomans will find themselves attacking Belgrade with 4 troops.  This still leads to a 80% chance Belgrade ill fall on the first assault if both are present.

Knights of St John

The other card is Knights of St. John, which causes a loss of 1 card from the Ottoman hand.  This simply reduces the number of turns the Ottomans have to capture Belgrade from two to one.  Still, the odds are 96% of taking Belgrade if the Home Card is played for armies.  If not played for armies, the Home Card provides odds of taking Belgrade to 92%.

With the above, Ottomans should always take Belgrade on the first turn.

Through the Ages - Card - Frederic Barbarossa

This is a series of blogs written about each card in Through The Ages.  To find more, simply click on "Cards" label.
Frederic Barbarossa

History

It is the mid-1100's AD, and Germany is in disarray.  The "country", such as it is, consists of 100's of small fiefdoms.  Some of these are little larger than a town or hillside.  Just 300 years earlier Germany had been a unified nation under Charlemagne.  Now it was sinking in a quagmire of every increasing personal disputes and disunion.

In 1147, Frederic Barbarossa rose to the title of King of Germany, confirmed by the Princes Electorate.  Little is known of Barbarossa's early life, except for the fact he came from two of the strongest families of Germany, who were often at each other's throats.  And his flaming red beard.

But shortly after his ascension he began immediate reforms and reunification.  Unable to muster an large military force through his home province, he managed uniting the Germans through diplomacy and reasoning.  His judgments were fair and disputes settled fairly, if not equitably.

Once united, Germany became a force.  Frederic quickly raised armies and began a campaign into Italy.  His goal was the Papal state of Milan, a strongly fortified and virtually impregnable town.  Rather than assault Milan directly, Frederic struck all of its neighboring allies.  The towns fell one by one before his forces.  The final city in this campaign, Tortona, was not only burned to ashes, but he then had the ground leveled so it was as if the city didn't exist.  Milan capitulated, and Frederick was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

Frederick's history is very long and intertwined with deceit and treachery, with Frederick being the victim.  He successfully navigated an unending number of military campaigns to extend its influence.  Despite betrayal after betrayal, with the world seemingly against him, Barbarossa rebuilt the Germanic tribes into a united and strong country.  His impact on European history is evident as the unified German nation he sought to restore would become a force to be reckoned with throughout history.  This stronger Germany would become the focus of religious change during the Protestant Reformation.  His territorial gains would become the focus for the Third Reich's claims to land in Poland, the Ukraine, and portions of France.  Barbarossa's impact on Germanic history, and the World's, would be profound, despite the fact he was not particularly inspired in military tactics.

Game Stats

Popularity wise, Barbarossa is liked just slightly more than Genghis Khan.  He sits near the bottom of the heap.  Unlike Genghis, Barbarossa at least has some statistically relevant effects on the game.  From the statistics, it can be said Barbarossa requires expert play as he either greatly benefits the player, or drags the player down.
Opinion
I believe Frederick is somewhat underrated.  His ability to quickly build military units can be very useful, particularly if a player attempts to gain territories.  When playing Frederick and seeding the Event deck with Territories, I've found myself controlling the three territories.  Frederick allows me to quickly rebuild lost units.

Frederick Barbarossa: territory
capturing machine

The above strategy has an interesting effect on the game.  If a player can gain a resource territory and a farming territory, I can quickly build a giant military force of inexpensive warriors without unhappiness.  Not only does this place me in a strong military face, there is a pressure on the other players to not allow me to take additional territories.  At this point, it becomes more important to deftly let other player's win territory bids at the cost of reducing their military.  They are then exposed to military attacks from Frederick, and therefore spend resources on military units rather than infrastructure.

Frederick's drawback, in my opinion, is he comes one Age too late.  Like all Age I leaders, it is rarely worth it to replace an Age A leader until he dies.  Furthermore, the Age II leaders are ultimately more useful.  In some way, this resembles the 'time frame' of the Dark Ages which was occurring in Age I, the Age I leaders are individually nice with fairly impressive abilities, but they are overshadowed by their Age I and Age II counterparts.  Despite the fun of going for a "territorial victory", I can't recommend Barbarossa for many games.  If Age A leaders were removed for one reason or another, (an variant I recommend trying), I believe Barbarossa would not only see more game play, but would be much more useful.

Through The Ages - Card - Genghis Khan

This is a series of blogs written about each card in Through The Ages.  To find more, simply click on "Cards" label.

The Great Khan: a lousy card

Genghis Khan

History

Temujin was born in Mongolia around 1155 AD.  At the age of 9 his father was murdered and Temujin returned home to claim his place as tribal leader.  The tribe rejected him and his family was relegated to refugees.  During a hunting expedition he regained his leadership after killing his half brother

His marriage to Borte at 16 provided him alliances with other tribes.  Borte was kidnapped by a the Konkirat tribe, but Temujin rescued her.  Around the age of 20 Temujin himself was captured by former allies and enslaved.  He escaped and began raising an army for revenge.

With 20,000 men he began his revenge by defeating the Tartars, the tribe which had killed his father.  Every male over 3 foot tall was slain.  He then fought his former captors, boiling all the chiefs alive after his victory.  The military conquests of Temujin had begun.  His territory spread West and would eventually consist  of almost all of Asia.  His empire would be the second largest the world has yet seen, with only the British Empire being larger.  Temujin would become known as Genghis Khan.

Genghis Khan revolutionized warfare.  Besides his military genius, he created signal corps to give commands over large distances.  Like Alexander the Great, he truly understood the importance of Supply and Logistics, creating a oxcarts which kept the army moving.  He identified the motivations of his enemies, and skillfully used spies to gather more information.

Genghis Khan was more than a military leader, he was a masterful diplomat.  He formed alliances and new concepts of government.  He formalized laws throughout the Mongol Empire.  He promoted people based on merit instead of lineage, a novel concept at the time.  He promoted religious tolerance, believing faith was a matter of personal conviction not subject to governmental authority.

Genghis Khan is best known for his military conquests, particularly with large cavalry engagements.  However, the Great Khan was a strong statesmen, powerful politician, and promoter of social reforms.

Game Stats

In real life Genghis Khan was a man who demanded respect and fear.  In Through The Ages, he receives very little respect.  He is the least popular leader of them all, and by a fairly wide margin.

Militarily, Genghis is the equivalent
of Light Cavalry

At first, Genghis may seem a great leader.  Increasing the value of every cavalry unit by 1.  However, he ignores the tactics cards.  In short, for every 2 cavalry units, the player's military strength is increased by 2.  This makes him equivalent to the Light Cavalry card.  His ability overrides the Light Cavalry card, so in effect, there is a net military gain of zero!

His secondary ability is to give one culture for each cavalry unit the player has in play.  Unfortunately, cavalry units have a more expensive base military cost than infantry, which makes this ability inferior to a similar leader: Homer.  The statistics for Genghis Khan are skewed since he was only played 11% of the time, with the only significant factor being he is a game losing leader:
Opinion

With Genghis: +1 strength
Without Genghis: +2 Strength
Why play Genghis?!

Genghis Khan is the weakest leader in the game in my opinion.  First, to use his ability requires the Cavalry technology.  This puts him at the whim of card draws.  Second, he is no better than Light Cavalry tactics, and is inferior to every other tactic!  This makes his only true benefit being the culture gain, which is hardly worth mentioning.

Perhaps a 'fix' to try would be to make Genghis Khan's ability stack with the Tactics cards.  Suddenly, the players could command the "Mongolian Cavalry Horde" which the name of Genghis Khan inspires. This would certainly create a potential surge of age I and Age II military tactics.  As he is now, the Genghis Khan card inspires pity rather than fear.  Avoid this card at all costs.

HIS - The Ottomans - Strength and Weakness

Suleiman - Leader of the Ottomans

The Ottomans

The Ottomans are the Dark Green forces in Here I Stand.  Like all factions in the game, they have particular strengths and weaknesses.  Of the factions, the Ottomans have the most straight forward of goals: Military Domination.  Furthermore, the Ottomans have an "optimal route" in their first turn, something the other factions do not exhibit.  In some ways this makes them rote in their play style for the first turn or two.  After that, the strategy really begins to open up for them.

In my opinion, this makes the Ottomans the easiest faction to play for new players.

Strengths

Ottoman Home Card

The greatest strength of the Ottomans is their ability to amass a great army and raise troops quickly.  Sulieman, by himself, can move up to 12 armies, and with Ibrahim Pasha this brings the total to 18.  The Hapsburgs could achieve a maximum of 16, while France and England could bring a maximum of 14 armies, Protestants 12, and Papacy 4.

The other powers are less likely to achieve their maximum number than the Ottomans.  The Ottomans Home Card allows them to raise 4 troops per turn (at a cost of 5 cp), and should be used almost exclusively for this purpose every turn.  Adding to their strength is the fact the Ottomans are immune to all the "Mercenary" cards.

Weaknesses

The Ottomans have two major shortcomings: Their starting position and their "External Concerns": the War cards.  The War cards are an annoyance.  At the most inopportune times they can result in troops being sent "off board" to fight some battle.  A total of 9 armies can be lost to the War cards in this way. It is up to the player to determine if they need the troops or not.  In some ways, it is better to not resolve the War cards so that they cannot be played again, but if both cards are played it can result in a loss of 9 troops, which can take a full turn to regain.

Perhaps the major issue of the Ottomans is their positioning and the terrain surrounding them.  The only effective land route the Ottomans have is through Belgrade.  This creates a natural choke point which limits their movement.  The Ottomans must defeat Belgrade to advance on the Hapsburgs or into Italy.  Furthermore, any offensive they launch can quickly grind to a halt if Belgrade falls, so it must be defended.

Choke Point Belgrade

Piracy 

Once Barbary Pirates comes into play the Ottomans have the option of Piracy.  Although Piracy is effective, it is not a guaranteed Victory point gain.  However, Piracy can, and should, generate a few victory points for the Ottomans.  We will discuss Piracy, and other options, in more depth later.

Through The Ages - Card - Moses

This is a series of blogs written about each card in Through The Ages.  To find more, simply click on "Cards" label.
Moses

History

According to the book of Exodus, the pharaoh of Egypt ordered all male Hebrew children killed as the Hebrew numbers grew to be a threat to Egypt.  He was hid among the reeds and adopted by the royal family.  After killing an Egyptian Slave Master, he fled across the Red Sea where he encountered God. He returned to lead the Israelite people from Egyptian rule after the Egyptians suffered 10 plagues.  After fleeing from the Egyptians, they settled at the foot of Mt Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God.  He died within sight of the promised land after wandering the desert for 40 years.

The true historical facts of Moses are not exactly known.  What is known is Moses is steeped in the bases of most Abrahamic religions.  In Judaism, Moses is an important figure with many stories about him, including teaching the Phoenicians their language.  In Christianity, Moses provides the vessel for the "10 Commandments" from God, and his life story provides the framework upon which the teachings of Jesus build.  Islam considers Moses life to parallel Muhammad, and Moses is referenced more times than any other character in the Quran.

Although his actual life, trial, and tribulations are not known, the impact of Moses upon religious thought is, perhaps even more profound than that of any other figure.  Like Homer, it is possible Moses was not a single individual, but a potential conglomeration of many people.  In any case, Moses remains an important figure in many modern religions.  

Game Stats

Moses game ability is short an simple: Increasing populations costs 1 grain less.  This is surprisingly useful as the player can quickly build new buildings.  This ability is neither good nor bad, as evidenced by the chart below which shows taking Moses has little effect on the end position.
Opinions
Moses, in the end, is of average effectiveness.  Although very popular as a leader, his impact on the game seems to be marginal.   This makes him neither a good nor bad leader.  Perhaps the largest advantage of Moses is to delay building Food structures and concentrate on other structures.  Unfortunately, this can quickly lead to unhappiness, so it is likely to lead towards building a happiness structure.

In an oddity compared to the real life counterpart, I believe Moses is best among the Age A leaders best situated towards using Drama instead of Temples.  The Drama provides both happiness and culture, and can set up the Library/Drama combo needed for Shakespeare.  This is because Moses permits the player to concentrate on buildings other than Farms.  The savings in building a Farm can be balanced by purchasing a Library and Drama building.  If the cards fall the right way, this can lead to a focused Culture Strategy.

Let me know your thoughts on Moses in the comments.