HOUSE CARDS

The Best.  Nymeria is shit, and Areo and the 2s are nothing special.  But the Viper is the best 4 card in the game, Arianne is the best defensive card in the game, and Doran is an absolute gamechanger that you don’t even have to win with to see the results. Martell sucks at protecting units in defeat, but it’s as good as any at killing units on offense  This makes them not the greatest candidates for baiting opponents’ high cards - it helps that neither neighbor’s 3-4 cards are especially threatening to lose to when you are picking the battle, but Doran makes people more inclined to expect trickery.  On the other hand, they are an extremely dangerous one to bait against.
  
KEY CARDS:  The Viper down through Nymeria don’t require any special instructions for use, but Doran and Arianne are very special cards.  Doran can be deployed to devastating effect at essentially any time, and the more frequently you can use him, the more impossible it becomes for your opponent to gain any advantage. The flip side to this is that because Martell has essentially 1 useful fort, you have to sacrifice units to keep cycling your cards.  And that can be a problem, for reasons we will elaborate on when we talk about board position. The main issue with Doran is that you want to use him often but not early; the worst thing that can happen is that you take away all your enemy’s precious star orders and then have a clash immediately afterward, rendering it pointless. The next worse thing is to have a clash without Doran in your, or at least close at, hand.  One of Doran’s greatest assets is that he has a deflationary effect on the Clash bidding.  You can take some chances on mid-range bids on fiefdoms especially, knowing that a) your opponents will be reluctant to go all-in to buy a blade that you can immediately take away from them, and b) if you come in second place to Tyrell or Baratheon, that is essentially as good as winning – just cheaper.   And when it comes to the King’s Court, you can gamble on lower bids, knowing that as long as you don’t come in dead last, you can secure yourself one more star order – at your opponent’s expense, no less.

What I’m getting at here is that Doran can have just as much value in your hand as he does when played.  You never want to play him as your first card, or really even 2nd, and if he gets the Patchface treatment, you need to make a plan to cycle your cards and get him back quickly.  As long as you have him, any opponent plotting an invasion is pretty much required to have at least the blade and a couple stars (and likely a staunch ally to boot), so that they aren’t left holding their pecker as soon as they gain a single foothold.  

Arianne also has uses and implications that go way beyond the obvious – not that her obvious use isn’t enough to make her a premium card.  The first thing that jumps out is that she is a counter to Loras, which is certainly important.  But also, she can save Sunspear – along with any ships in the port – from invasion unless the opponent has a follow up march ready to move in again afterward.  Oftentimes Baratheon and Tyrell will not even bother to try to launch their final offensives in turn 10 against the Dornish, since doing so would require wasting a precious march order that doesn’t gain them a castle even when they win.

And she also has offensive implications. Martell can have a devil of a time overtaking an opponent’s sea area, but once they do, they can weather a counterattack just by playing her and having a -1 march ready to move back into the empty area, or CP* ready to muster into it.  This can be an enormous headache for Baratheon or Tyrell.

BOARD POSITION

Terrible.  Dorne is like a miniature version of the North, without most of the benefits.  Like the North, it has only 1 stronghold (if still an equal number of available muster points), and 7 total land areas where Baratheon/Greyjoy/Tyrell only have 4. They also have 4 barrels, which is better than some but, crucially, not enough to field a 4 unit army.  They have 3 crowns, but the Boneway borders core lands of both your potential enemies, and since you can’t be trusting both of them at once, it’s really only good for raiding them.  If you can't trust Tyrell, Prince’s Path is also essentially off limits for CP orders. And due to Martell’s trouble keeping units alive, you will want to be mustering in Sunspear CPs as often as possible.  

The result is that Martell struggles the most with power production, even relative to houses that can only “claim” 2 crowns; Tyrell has a protected, easily accessible crown in the Arbor, and Greyjoy’s ready access to strongholds means he doesn’t need to rely on Pyke CP* for mustering.

Like the North, Dorne’s size can make difficult to invade, particularly overland. As long as you can keep East Summer Sea, you can retreat quite a ways and keep counterattacking, as Doran chips away at the invader’s weapons.  The trouble is, this works both ways. Martell has very secure position from which to secure 4 castles and 4 barrels.  But 4 castles is not enough to win. Whereas the North can access 7 castles directly, filling all of Dorne only puts you in direct striking distance of The Reach. And The Reach is unique in that it can’t be supported or contested by 4 houses from their “standard” territories.  It generally goes to Tyrell by default because they can get there the fastest and support it slightly more comfortably, and with all that uncertainty it’s usually too risky for anyone else to try to take and hold it long term.  And while none of the Stark “home” castles are accessible from another house’s sea areas, 2 out of the 4 Martell fortresses can be reached directly via Tyrell/Baratheon waters.  On the flipside, those 2 castles can also muster directly into enemy waters, if for example a retreating Arianne leaves it unoccupied. But on balance, this accessibility is more of a weakness than a strength.

The result of this is that while it can make a lot of sense for Martell to play conservatively, biding its time to deploy a killer strike, it is easy to wait too long.  Many times and more have I seen a Martell going into the final round tied for most castles, with great track positions…and no chance of winning.  If they haven’t taken a sea area by that point, there is probably little chance of doing so now, on top of which it requires using a march that is not going to directly contest a castle.  And if they can’t take a sea, they have to play defense on Starfall and Storm’s End while only having a single shot at the Reach (which a savvy Tyrell player will nix with QOT anyway).

So you have to plan your shot carefully with Martell, but also you have to actually take your shot when the opportunity presents itself.  Most frequently, this is right out of the gate.  Somewhere between 35-50% of the time there will be no Muster or Clash in the first Westeros Phase, and when that happens you can muster 3 ships and wipe out Tyrell’s entire sea force in one march (or gamble freely on a 2 card, knowing that a loss will cost you no units, and him a larger card).  This is a pretty big disaster for Tyrell, who starts weak and will now spend at least the first half of the game struggling to assert control of their core territories.  But there is a similar dynamic to a Lanni/GJ war; the defensive house can be crippled very quickly by this immediate aggression. But that doesn’t necessarily make it a slam dunk for the aggressor, if a savvy defender can force them to keep fighting and fighting for the same territory every turn.  In Martell’s case, pressing this early advantage generally requires falling behind in the power generation race, to the extent that even Doran cannot make up all the difference when a clash comes (particularly since no one holding the Iron Throne is likely to cut any breaks to a Martell that took Highgarden on turn 3).

If this early window doesn’t materialize, or you elect to pass on it, you’re basically waiting for Web Of Lies, when Sallador Sahn can’t play watchdog over Shipbreaker Bay, or you can take ESS with Arianne blunting Loras’s counter attack, setting you up to muster into or retake it next round. Prior to that, Stark or Greyjoy have very little incentive to support you in attacking the neighbors they have no real interest in fighting, so you really have to catch someone slipping to be able to break through their unraidable sea supports and blocker cards (not just Salla, but QOT and Patchface can preempt you if they spot an attack coming).

But Web Of Lies comes but once a game (if that) so maybe that’s not enough to rely on.  If it doesn’t look like you can take and hold a sea area, you may need to begin massing and marching a land army around turn 8. If you can take Kingswood going into turn 10, not only do you have at least a nominal chance at marching on King’s Landing, you also increase your chances of being able to actually hold the Reach.  If you can move a couple knights into Dornish Marches, even better. You’ve increased the number of castles you can plausibly challenge from 1 to 3.  But if you sit back and wait for a perfect opportunity all game…you’re going to have a lot of respectable 2nd and 3rd place finishes, and not many wins.

KEY TERRITORIES:

Sea Of Dorne.  The sea support it provides is crucial to your defense, and once you do succeed in taking an enemy sea territory, the added mobility of marching directly from your inner territories into the enemy heartland is vital.

Prince’s Path.  A vital buffer zone whose supply and crown are useful in many Westeros Phases regardless of whether you are forced to play orders defensively there.

The Boneway is one of the lowest priorities to take early on, since it is as close as the board gets to a completely barren piece of territory.  But its importance grows considerably as the game goes on, as it provides a direct route into either Tyrell or Baratheon territory, without being in reach of opposing sea support/transport.

TRACK POSITONS

Great. You start out ahead of Tyrell on the Iron Throne track (which is a rather indefensible set up from both a lore and game balance perspective, but anyway), but behind on fiefdoms. Which doesn’t matter too much because a) while ahead, they don’t have the blade to really drive the advantage home, b) their lack of star orders works to even out combat strengths anyway, and c) they start at such a remove from you that if there are going to be any early battles, they’re likely to be at your instigation.  You also start ahead of Baratheon, which blunts the effectiveness of his early ship advantage. Finally, most crucially, you have 2 star orders, allowing for immediate mustering of troops to press your advantage over the slow-starting Tyrell. Or Baratheon, on the off chance they opt for a King’s Landing opening, and there is some combination of no muster and Storm Of Swords/Web Of Lies/Stark declining to support them.

SPECIAL/UNIQUE STRENGTHS

Killing units.  Up to 5 swords, 2 of them on your strongest card?  That’s more than anyone else can muster on their best day, to say nothing of how GJ and Baratheon have some in fairly difficult to use positions.

Doran.  Without the 2nd edition Wildling deck implemented, he makes Martell the only house capable of improving their positions (and eroding others) on the influence tracks outside of a clash.  That’s a pretty enormous edge to have.  He helps enormously with your typically cash-strapped status, allowing you to lowball bids knowing that you really only need to secure 2nd place on the fiefdom, or 5th on the King’s Court, to avoid the worst case scenarios (and if everyone else cheaps out and you do better, that’s just gravy).

Arianne.  Her ability is uniquely frustrating, and along with Doran makes invading Dorne not worth the headache more often than not.


SPECIAL/UNIQUE WEAKNESSES

Defending units.  The 3 card is not the best place for a lone fortification icon.  Yes, Nymeria has one on defense, but honestly her power would be better if it were reversed, since as is she has no protection when she is used for bait, and no deterrent effect when an opponent just wants to cycle a card or use their 0 ability on a hopeless march.

Cornered!  The hardest thing to do with Martell is actually win the game.  Which sounds self-evident, but can be confounding.  Martell has the best cards, great starting positions, and is difficult to conquer, so they are one of the easiest houses to “get the hang of” initially, but they also have a tendency to stall out in a battle for a respectable 2nd place.  And that is due primarily to how hard it is not just to break into their corner, but out of it.  If you see an opportunity early, even if it is a risky one, you need to be ready to take it.  There is no guarantee that a better one is going to show up, ever.

And then there’s the worst type of Martell game, where you have opportunities to strike, but the wars in the north are so immediately imbalanced that Baratheon/Tyrell are needed to balance things out and weakening them would just hand the game to Stark/Greyjoy.  Part of the reason that I am so down on Martell’s board location is not just that it means they don’t win as many games as they might otherwise, but because it is susceptible to the most frustrating kind of losses, where you can see the game being decided on the other end of the board where you cannot do anything to intervene.  For all the frustrations that can come with playing Lannister or Baratheon’s middle positions, as long as they are alive, they can exert some effect on the outcome.

EARLY STRATEGIC QUESTIONS

Alliances?  Given what a hassle Martell cards are, and the enormous hole Tyrell’s starting tracks put them in on the one side, plus Baratheon having 3 other houses they would probably rather pick as an enemy, it’s not uncommon to get alliance requests from both sides.  The smartest thing to do is agree, and immediately betray Tyrell if you don’t see Muster or Clash Of Kings in the first Westeros Phase (Rains Of Autumn is more frequent, but more of an inconvenience than a deal-breaker). However, some people take this type of betrayal as the height of dishonor, and are loathe to do it.  But you aren’t going to be winning games with Martell consistently without embracing an opportunistic streak.

If you are going to agree to one alliance immediately, Baratheon is usually the one to agree to.  He is more likely to rush into another war than Tyrell if he feels secure, and you don’t have to put up with the whining if you get favorable Westeros cards and decide to rush to the west.  Generally, I am just honest and say that I’ll see what the Lanni/GJ situation looks like before I decide.  Some people get offended when you acknowledge that alliances are fungible in this way, and decide to attack you on principle.

Personally, I am more inclined to trust someone that is up front about keeping their options open, than the one that does the opposite, clearly agreeing to peace with both sides and trying to ride the fence as long as possible.  When that happens, and it is very obvious when it does (the giveaway being that all parties are CPing peacefully) Baratheon and Tyrell have to be very foolish indeed to fully commit to another war until there is some sign that Martell is definitively going the other way.  So I don’t like that option, because I don’t think it’s nearly as sneaky as it thinks it is, and can have the effect of getting both your potential enemies commiserating with each other about what to do when the coiled viper does decide to strike.

As far as opening orders go, march +1 in Sea Of Dorne is a must, to prevent Baratheon from immediately taking East Summer Sea.  CP* in Sunspear is also required, and you should be making ships before footmen. You need to fill Sea Of Dorne first, and then it’s a toss up whether putting it in the port for the odd extra token, or directly into ESS to get a jump start on Tyrell is better.  Salt Shore is the only real question as to orders, as some will espouse a CP there while most will march directly to Starfall.  As with the Stark/White Harbor question, I tend to prefer getting my units mobile early, putting them in better position to take key territories or accept more efficient CP orders, rather than slow my growth in favor of a single extra token.  And it is just a single, as while I will leave a marker behind in White Harbor, I am never securing Salt Shore in that manner this early on.  The difference between 2 supply and 3 is just not very definitive in the early rounds, and a clash where you have 5 tokens forces other players to bid more cautiously than if 2 houses have 4.  Even if a clash goes poorly, you have Doran to provide you with some self-help on the tracks, and Arianne (and the size of Dorne) to slow down any premature adventurism on Tyrell or Baratheons part.

Last edited by Ser Hodor on 2018-Aug-27 16:05, edited 1x in total

Gold. Now Tyrell

While it's true that areo might be the worst 3 card of the game, that makes him also the best last card of your deck, among all decks, since nobody will cry over loosing it and it is great to cycle, both in defense, since you are adding a whole three points to the power of your army, and in offense, since your attacking unit will survive against anything but sir garlan, and it will maybe force your enemy to play a higher card.

From my personal experience, allying with tyrell is more beneficial than allying with lannister. I rarely see a martell's win by attacking west summer sea, while taking shipbreaker bay give access to a castle which is dragonstone which, once taken, it's difficult to drive martell out of it. If he manages to takeblackwater bay, then that's it, he has access to seven castles and a great position to conquer all of them.

Re: Areo.  I don't think I'd put him below Renly, who is actually a better candidate for leaving as your last card since Davos effectively gives Baratheon another 3 card. They also have Salla to bolster their defense.  Whereas if Martell drops Areo and the Viper early, they are much more vulnerable.  Yes, Doran and Arianne will still irritate the invaders, but you are still looking at losing several battles in a row, and probably units along with them.

Areo is not the strongest 3 card relative to other houses, but he is the best of Martell's non-extraordinary cards, so I definitely want him back over Nymeria/Darkstar/Obara every time.

Re: Alliances

I bring up allying with Lannister more because it is a move that most people seem to ignore entirely than because it is a slam dunk stratagem.

Allying with Tyrell is a very iffy prospect, the results of which hinge greatly on the first round of West cards.  IF there is no muster/clash and you don't take WSS, you may have missed one of your very few opportunities to break out of your corner and access a 6th castle. IF there is one and Tyrell can fight off an immediate incursion, then yes, Baratheon is generally a more appealing target. IF Greyjoy is running riot in the North with an allied Lannister then you probably want to leave Tyrell free to harass him, whereas IF Stark is getting a free pass you want to encourage Bara to press him.

I agree that I would rather take Shipbreaker Bay than WSS, since Loras and Garlan are more threatening counterattackers and the port of Storm's End makes keeping it easier.  But it is a harder road to taking it, with Sallador providing stout defense and a savvy use of Patchface can leave you without the means to hold it for long.

Even though Martell's position is more binary (in that there are really only 2 directions to go), everything is still far too situational to make a blanket statement that you should always do X and never Y.

While this requires a lot of cooperation on both Martell and choosen ally i think the alternative is to make a "fake war" with one of your neighbour (with mutual agreement and whispering) to make another neighbour feel safe about his wars somewhere else. If u can manage to make your neigbour believe in a "fake war" u can easily find him loosing his defense. Crucial part in this strat is to generate powertokens ( that's pretty hard) to get ur crucial positions on the tracks. Once u see the oportunity, end fake war and start your real one.
That's obviously very hard to play out, but worth mentioning as being Martell more often than not u have plenty of time to plot ur intrigue, while waiting for the right time to strike.

It can be a worthwhile endeavor, but savvy players will not trust Martell just because they see a bloodless Obara/Margaery battle.

Sometimes, though, I will suggest a phony war for Searoad Marches when I am Tyrell/Lanni, to set up Greyjoy for a coordinated strike as he extends himself north.

Sometimes, though, I will suggest a phony war for Searoad Marches when I am Tyrell/Lanni, to set up Greyjoy for a coordinated strike as he extends himself north.
I was not about to mess with other houses politics and strategy as it is Martel House analysis.
In general though some houses (Tyrell or Baratheon mostly) can spend their resources ( cards, powertokens, support, diplomacy, position on the throne to resolve ties - anything u find usefull tbh) to create chaos on the map - I like the term "restore balance" a lot Its best if you do this early game, when nothing actualy matter that much and u cant win this fast anyway.
Think longterm. What are the castles you want to get? What are neccesary tools u need to achieve this? ( alliance with your early game enemy? betrayal of an early game ally? having good position on a tracks in a future clash?) Imagine what u need, prepare for it in a tunrs to come.

There are games where I tend to help my future enemy a lot - I create ilusion of safety - that's because these players see my efforts toward someone else, they also see my helping hand in a minor issues that will not decide the winner of the game, but are important at the time for them). Meanwhile I prepare myself for a deadly blow right through my neighbour heart.
Sometimes there are games (caused by events/ alliances / misplays of other players) that you can do nothing about directly. Helpfull whispers on how to solve situation, couple powertokens, couple rounds and hours might be neccesary to prepare yourself for this one-in-a-game run for the win. If your lucky or smart enough you can create yourself a thin light in the tunel.
Thats hard, frustrating, most of the times will not work out. ALthou if you win such  game - satisfaction is truly pure. I wish everyone such victories.

Last edited by Furtum Vitae on 2018-Sep-06 05:47, edited 1x in total

I'd like to add one more thing to the consideration of whether to invade Tyrell in the 2nd round (if no muster/clash) which I discussed in my guide as well:

As a Tyrell player, I typically open lines to Martell and offer peace, since you are at their mercy in this case. If Martell chooses to come after me (or opportunistically breaks a peace early in the game) then it is relatively easy for me to invade overland and turn Dorne into ashes. There's no need for details here, the methods are pretty clear (QoT, Mace, Loras, 2-sword guy). Coupled with the fact that you'll probably have an advantage on tracks after the first clash since you CP'd and Martell didn't, plus the rest of the board is cheering you on, breaking ties in your favour for everything, supporting you and cycling your deck.

Ultimately Martell would come out on top, but Bara and Lannister will rush in and take the spoils long before that ever happens. Sure, you won't win, but I can't recall a single time a Martell player has won the game in this case, and many times where I've even finished with more castles. And that's all that matters - you send a message "Take advantage of me, and I'm coming full Leeroy Jenkins on your ass" and immediately you have 5 players who leave you alone at the start of games.

Here's a recent game where Martell tried to take advantage of me and will finish in last with one castle, if you want some ideas:

https://game.thronemaster.net/?game=168412&review=1

Here's another one where Martell took advantage, and I reclaimed my seas and wiped him out! Sadly, GJ played spoiler and I didn't win, but more importantly, Martell finished with zero castles.

https://game.thronemaster.net/?review=1&game=101510

Lannister, for the record, has far fewer options to ruin GJ's game if the Westeros cards don't land her way. Stark too, with a coordinated invasion from both sides. But Tyrell can do it. It takes some experience to ruin someone else's game though, and I've seen many shitty Tyrell players fold like Superman on laundry day. So, it's still a viable option for Martell, I'd just think twice about doing it to an experienced player.

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Zizzeus Guide to AGoT

Here are some examples of games I ever played:
https://game.thronemaster.net/?review=1&game=153779
My first game on this site.I got backstabbed by bara and as a result Lanni won with HG,reach,KL and ccp with bara and martell fighting.All players were not professional.

https://game.thronemaster.net/?review=1&game=161840
https://game.thronemaster.net/?review=1&game=161667
Bara won both games(the same bara player!I didn't ever notice it)
In both games bara just developed his strength faster than me..And I do think attacking Tyrell early is a good option for Martell though it gives bara too much advantage.

Here's what I would say about attacking Tyrell early. Don't focus on castles. It draws negative attention, and Tyrell can get up to a lot of mischief with the few weapons they have. Focus on killing units, particularly ships. Highgarden and Oldtown aren't going anywhere, if you can lock down Redwyne Straits.  If you can get to the point where Starfall and Prince's Path are free from the threat of raid/attack, you're in great shape.