In this article we continue our look at the specifics of playing as each house. If you missed any of the previous articles, they can be found below:
Lannister:
Thematically enough, Lannister are
undoubtedly the most controversial house on the board. A lot of
people feel that, due to the strength of Greyjoy, Lannister cannot
resist them, and will quickly be pushed back (and, as in the previous part, once
Lannister lose Riverrun they are on the back foot). Moreover,
Lannister are the most central of the houses, with pressure from
Baratheon and Tyrell on their doorstep. The Lannister player must
therefore predict their opponents' aggression and give them cause to
tackle their other neighbours.
Lannister hold a very flexible house
card deck, and although it can't quite match the Greyjoy deck it is
still a strong basis for combat. A tactical use of Kevan can swing an
unexpected combat, and is ideal to use as a counter against Balon,
since it adds power unrelated to house card strength. Tyrion is also
an exceptionally tactical card. He is best saved until an opponent
has used most of their cards, either to force them to play a strong
card last (and thus lose it for the next cycle of house cards) or
return their last card to their hand, effectively making them lose
any house card bonuses. He is also excellent at countering
situational cards; for example, sending Victarion back to the
Greyjoys during a naval battle.
The other key asset Lannister start
with is the messenger raven. Although only guaranteed for the first
turn, it is reasonably likely you will hold it for at least a few
turns, due to you deciding all “Dark Wings, Dark Words” cards.
The other great use of the raven is the potential for riskier plays.
Examples include putting consolidate power tokens on Riverrun, and
then swapping to a march or defence in reaction to Greyjoy. It also
allows safe pick ups of The Blackwater and even Crackclaw point,
since you can see what Baratheon and Tyrell are doing and tactically
aim for the holes in their defences. This, along with acting second
in turn order, should form the basis of the initial Lannister setup.
Firstly, Lannister need to do what they
can to mitigate Greyjoy, and the key territory here is the Sunset
Sea. Since Greyjoy cannot afford to burn their marches taking it on
turn one, Lannister should seek to move their ship there, and then
muster two ships into the Golden Sound from Lannisport. This sets up
the Golden Sound supporting Riverrun and Lannisport whilst Sunset Sea
continually raids Greyjoy support. Of course, sooner or later Greyjoy
will get sick of this and attack with Victarion, but this draws their
energies away from the land, as well as creating a strong naval
defence for them to fight against.
After setting up in anticipation of
Greyjoy, Lannister need to consider their game plan, as Riverrun and
Harrenhal are the only straightforward castles. The strength of
taking the Sunset Sea means Lannister have a claim on Flint's Finger,
which is a strong claim if the support from Ironman's Bay is raided.
A Stark-Lannister alliance can be used to take down Seaguard, but
even more effective is a march on Stark after taking it, as they
likely move away from their support and won't have an order placed.
As discussed in the Greyjoy strategy; it is likely that a strong
Lannister means a weak Greyjoy, and vice versa, so if you succeed in
the above setup it could spell the beginning of the end for Greyjoy.
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| Greyjoy should also watch out for rickety bridges. |
In terms of the south and the east,
Lannister have a very mixed bag. On the one hand, they are likely to
hit 6 barrels fairly reliably, and can pick up a lot of printed
crowns as well, with Stoney Sept being a key focal point for both
support and consolidate orders, depending on the situation. On the
other hand, the next castles are a long way off. Once Baratheon have
their navy set up Crackclaw Point becomes very hard to take, since
Baratheon can support from both Shipbreaker and Blackwater bays. A
more effective strategy is to set up an army in the Blackwater and
Harrenhal as if moving to take Crackclaw Point, and then taking a
stab at King's Landing, since it gets less naval support and is more
likely to be under pressure.
Moving south does not give Lannister
many more options, short of an out and out offensive against Tyrell.
This is not as unreasonable as it might seem, depending on where
Tyrell puts it's energies. Again, the best hope Lannister has is
catching a Tyrell player off-guard; holding the Searoad Marches with
a solitary footman is seen as a peaceful but secure position for
Lannister, but also opens up a chain march (march into a friendly
area with another march in) of a much larger army from elsewhere into
Highgarden. This also opens up the Reach as an option.
As is probably clear by now,
Lannister's biggest weakness is their board positioning, as they can
end up in combat with almost every other house. As such, it is vital
that Lannister expand slowly but surely; they should focus on
constantly mustering from Lannisport and Riverrun, and taking
advantage of their easy access to barrels. By doing this a careful
Lannister player can secure the centre ground and wait for the right
opening from other players. Whilst their board positioning is a
problem, it can be turned to your advantage, as you have access to
most of the board, meaning you can wait until a player leaves an area
undefended and then march on it. Although certainly a challenge in a
6 player game, a Lannister win is definitely possible.
Suggested openings:
The Golden Sound: March 0 into the
Sunset Sea
Stoney Sept: March +1 into Riverrun
Lannisport: *Consolidate Power (muster
two boats into the Golden Sound)
or
or
The Golden Sound: March 0 into the
Sunset Sea
Lannisport: March +1, knight into
Riverrun, footman into Stoney Sept
Stoney Sept: March -1, one footman into
Harrenhal, one into the Blackwater
Baratheon:
If Lannister have a slight disadvantage
overall it is probably fair to say that Baratheon have a slight
advantage. The biggest aspect of this is the sheer number of options
Baratheon have; they can focus on holding the centre ground and go
against Lannister and Tyrell; they can go south and attack Dorne; or
head north and take the Vale and the Stark lands. Moreover, they have
an excellent naval position, as having a strong navy in Blackwater
Bay not only gives strong unraidable support to King's Landing and
Crackclaw Point but also provides support to ships in Shipbreaker
Bay. This means it is effectively impossible to take due to the
strength of the Salladhor Saan house card.
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| (In Shatner voice) "SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!" |
Another big advantage Baratheon has is
very strong access to power tokens. After taking King's Landing on
turn one they can effectively farm five power tokens each turn, which
helps them get a massive lead. Also, since they will likely hold
King's Landing and The Kingswood at the end of turn one they can
collect four tokens each time there is a “Game of Thrones” card
effect. This easy early access to power tokens feeds into another
advantage Baratheon have; the Iron Throne. Whilst it may be tempting
to deliberately lose it at the first Clash of Kings to power up
Stannis, Baratheon should aim to have it as long as possible, as
being able to break ties combined with lots of power tokens means you
can very easily end up on very strong positions on the influence
tracks.
The Baratheon house cards are
functional but not great. Salador Saan is, as mentioned already, a
superb naval deterrent that means Martell and Stark are basically
incapable of marching into Baratheon waters. Stannis and Renly have
very situational effects which are nice if you can get them but most
of the time they are effectively blank cards. Ser Davos is a strong
card, as there is never a reason not to use him after Stannis and
effectively have a second 3 strength card. Brienne and Melisandre are
both average, but Patchface is probably the best 0 strength in the
game. There is no counter players can make against him, and he is one
of the few cards who is great in both a “definite win” and
“definite loss” situation. He is best used early to remove cards
that are likely to give you issues (The Red Viper, Ser Gregor,
Eddard, Roose Bolton) and take the edge off opponents' house cards.
In terms of overall strategy, Baratheon
have lots of choices, and can attack with relative impunity due to
their strong defensive position. Priority number one should be
setting up 3 ships in Blackwater Bay and 1 in Shipbreaker bay. The
Blackwater ships can continually support as above, making Crackclaw
Point and King's Landing almost impossible to take. The Shipbreaker
ship can be used either as a second supporting unit or to raid
Martell or Stark. Once this is set up Baratheon should look to take
either Storm's End or the Eyrie. Which one should be based on the
situation; if Stark are not focusing on the Vale then a march, either
by sea or land, is definitely a safe bet. Martell should take Storm's
End but may get embroiled with Tyrell, which can make it an easy
castle to take. If not Salador can be used to take out any support
from the Sea of Dorne and push Martell back. If Baratheon manage to
take Storm's End they should focus on building up a supporting army
in the Kingswood, as this can bolster Storm's End and King's Landing
whilst also helping to take the Reach.
Another option is an attack on
Lannister against Harrenhal. Good times to do this are after a failed
attack on Crackclaw Point or when Lannister is focusing on defending
Riverrun. If things go in your favour Baratheon may even be able to
pick up Riverrun, particularly if it has just changed hands between
Greyjoy and Lannister. This should ideally be as a 7th
castle, since Baratheon are unlikely to be able to hold it.
Generally Baratheon don't have any
major weaknesses due to their flexibility. The lack of readily
available barrels can quickly become a problem, which is one reason
why moving into either the Vale or the Blackwater should be a
priority. Hitting a resupply before doing this can be very damaging
to Baratheon, as Tyrell and Lannister are likely to be sitting on 4-6
barrels with little effort. Otherwise Baratheon do not have to take
many big risks to be a forerunner for the win.
Suggested openings:
Shipbreaker Bay: March -1 one ship into
Blackwater Bay
Kingswood: Support +1
Dragonstone: March 0, knight into
Kingswood, footman into King's Landing
or
or
Shipbreaker Bay: March -1 one ship into
Blackwater Bay East Summer Sea
Dragonstone: March 0, knight into
Kingswood, footman into Crackclaw Point
Kingswood: March +1, knight into
Storm's End, footman into The Reach (unless held by Tyrell)
In the next part we move down to the south of Westeros and discuss houses Tyrell and Martell, and have a look at what is probably the most dangerous house card in the game.
