I will address the 6-player (6p) game in this guide. Although I have played some games with fewer players and do find the 3p game reasonably well-balanced when played by experienced gamers, the 6p game is the most balanced and enjoyable to me.

My experience is over 100 games on www.thronemaster.net as well as a handful of real life games. I have been ranked in the top 10 players on Thronemaster (by avg. points) since I started playing. Many of my games are played with other top 20 players and I don’t play ranked games with friends, so this ranking is not artificial.

My strategy has been influenced by a few other top players on the site, and I will give them credit here. I acknowledge Poncho and Cyanistes for their excellent diplomacy, BranisStannis for house card management, The Stranger and Strongest_Gallic for order placement, and Earthshaker for troop movement. I’m sure there are other excellent players whom I have yet to play against or have forgotten, so this list is certainly not exhaustive.

The intended audience for this guide is, really, anyone who can finish reading it! As a guideline, I’m thinking of a player who has played enough games to have memorized the board, and have played each house at least 3 times as my target audience. I will use standard acronyms without explanation, and assume that an experienced reader will not confuse a suggested march to SS as Salt Shore when it should have been Stoney Sept.

Also known as politics, this is the decision to enter into a state of war or peace with another entity. Typically made by heads of state, considerations are made to the consequences of this largely binary decision. In World War II, the US declared neutrality in the European conflict, but eventually reversed this stance (officially, despite months of preparation; see Logistics) after several incidents, most notably the attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent declaration of war by Germany. The decision to make Germany the main theatre of war was made based on the potential disastrous (from a western perspective) consequences of a complete European occupation by Axis forces, compared to the relatively benign consequences of Japan holding the Pacific islands.

One could suggest that US foreign policy in general aims to keep other countries from achieving superpower status, and in fact their actions over the past century are consistent with this idea. Hence why they stayed neutral for so many months while the Commonwealth and Russia depleted their resources fighting the Nazis. Or, you might believe that they were “just getting ready to join the war.” Regardless, your actions playing AGoT should probably follow the former course of action, even if you justify them with the latter. Deciding whom to engage and when is arguably the most fun part of the game, and relies on many meta-game factors as well, particularly if you’ve played with these players before, or expect to in the future. It is also hugely dependent on starting house and I shall say much about this.

Chess and bridge don’t have an ounce of Grand Strategy. Nobody really asks why White is fighting Black, they just accept it and worry about how to win. Many online RTS games eschew this level as well, mainly due to potential collusion between real life friends, and in the name of balance. The Civilization series does a good job of allowing the player to exercise this level of decision, and may explain the series’ immense popularity among strategy gamers. On the other hand, it would be difficult to imagine a game where this was the only level of strategy afforded to the player! So you’re at war … now what?

Typically decided by generals, this level of control does not ask why we are at war, but decides what the objectives are, and when and how to engage the enemy to achieve them. When the US decided to engage Germany, a strategic decision was made to make a beach-front landing in Europe rather than assault a fortified coastal town or pick off Germany’s perimeter holdings. As there were only two potential sites within logistical range of the UK, the allies choose to send a fake force to the more obvious site and the real force to the other.
Strategy in AGoT plays out in the movement of your troops. Which orders are placed on which areas, and what objectives (territories) are sought after. Certainly, fake attacks are essential to gain a tactical advantage in the important battles, and when you’re not actually trying to win the battle, house card selection becomes very simple. When you are trying to win, we enter the domain of tactics.

A perfect strategist would never actually fight on the battlefield, having manipulated the opponent into retreating from every battle. Practically, some battles will be fought in a war, because one side does not see the strategic advantage the other has; the advantage is considered negligible; or because the objective is very important and the general will risk the troops to achieve it. Tactical issues concern the formation and movement of troops once the location has been decided. The Total War computer game series is an excellent example of tactical combat, although the games have other levels as well.

We can classify the strategic advantage into five scenarios, motivating the tactical considerations.

1. You cannot possibly lose. Any card you play will beat any card your opponent plays.
2. You can guarantee the win with a subset of your cards, but some of your cards will lose to some of your opponents cards.
3. Some of your cards will beat some of the opponents cards, but some of his will beat some of yours. Neither player can guarantee the win with a single card. The battle of wits has begun!
4. Your opponent can guarantee the win with a subset of his cards, but some of your cards will beat some of your opponents cards.
5. You cannot possibly win. Any card you play will lose to any card your opponent plays.

Note that 1. and 5. are symmetric, as are 2. and 4.

In AGoT, your tactics are your house card selection(s). If you’ve achieved such a strategic advantage that any card you choose will beat (or lose to) any card your opponent chooses (situations 1. and 5.), there isn’t much consideration here. Though your worst card away and move on. Cersei, Patchface and Doran can be devastating when someone tries to cycle their house cards on you in situation 1. Or, they can be harmless, depending on the board layout.

An interesting choice comes when some of your cards will beat some of your opponents cards, and vice versa (situation 3.). An early game example of this is when GJ sends one boat north into BoI, defended by a single boat with Def+2. Balon beats anyone but Catelyn, who loses to Victarion and Euron. So it becomes a glorified game of rocks, paper scissors, at least for that turn. Add in the swords and forts, and you have several things to consider in this tactical decision.

The other interesting situations are 2. and 4. In the first case you can guarantee a win with a good (maybe higher strength, maybe not) card, or try to sneak out a win with a lower card to be better positioned in the next fight. When you are attacked in this situation you are facing a card bait tactic. Do you play high to guarantee the win? That may be what your opponent wants you to do, to weaken your hand for next turn. Or, they may call your bluff and attack high themselves, taking a critical territory early. Baratheon is especially vulnerable to this as he has no high swords (early on) and no double swords at all, and Stark can retrieve his cards easily. With a low card players can attack such that Patchface loses and his winning cards don’t do any damage. Tyrell is also vulnerable, albeit less so.

The true value of the Valyrian Blade is NOT to play it until the last turn of a round. Suppose there is a sequence of battles (attack or defense) that you can win for certain with a sequence of cards. Those cards are typically your highest cards. The blade adds one combat strength to each battle, unless your opponent calls your bluff early in the sequence. This effectively makes all of your cards +1 strength, shifting your whole hand up. To call your bluff and draw the blade, your opponent must throw away a high card for nothing. They might do this if the sequence of battles involved just them. If it involves many other players, they are less likely to sacrifice their card and you can realize the true value of the blade. This is the tactical part of the game.

The saying goes “Amateurs study strategy; professionals study logistics.” Logistics deals with paying for all of your strategic ambitions, and ensuring that everything is where is needs to be, when it needs to be there. As Napoleon said “An army marches on its stomach.”

The allies took two years to prepare for the Normandy invasion, which involved over one million troops from 13 different countries. All of these troops had to be supplied with provisions and ammunition, and transported to the landing site simultaneously. In the end, it was the landing craft that proved a logistical limitation and delayed the assault.

In AGoT this is your supply track, but it’s also your Kings Court ranking. The higher it is, the more you can move your troops, literally. In fact, the influence tracks are a game within a game, except your ranking in the sub-game only serves to improve your ranking in the game (and occasionally as a tiebreaker). Your provisions are your supplies, your power tokens, and your naval supply lines. All three can be ‘cut off’ by your opponents, and all three need to be in place to achieve your strategic objectives.

Chess is the ultimate tactical game. There’s no grand strategy, and certainly no logistics. Other than White’s starting advantage, the strategic situation is balanced. At the absolute highest levels where several games are played in a series, there are strategic considerations. Which opening or defense to use may change game to game, and may influence subsequent games or moves. A player may even lose a game on purpose in order to throw his opponent off the expected play style and disrupt their series overall, but for the vast majority of players, it’s purely tactical.

Many people say that squash is just a game of fitness, or attrition. That’s true, but only at the absolute highest levels where the players can make every shot from anywhere on the court. Unless you’re at that level, squash is a game of making your shots. Once you can make every shot with near 100% success, it’s a game of shot selection and angles, where you try to hit shots your opponent can’t get to. Once both players can hit every shot and are never out of position, it becomes a game of fitness, but working on your fitness when you can’t get balls out of the back corner won’t improve your ranking much.

In AGoT, at the highest levels the game is about diplomacy, with a bit of luck in the Westeros cards. But it’s really about order placement, moving troops, bidding, and house card management before it gets to that point. With very experienced players, mistakes in these aspects of the game are quite rare, although they still happen. That’s not to imply that for a given situation there is only one set of ‘correct’ orders, and one may elect to gamble on another player’s orders or Westeros cards. But there are sets of orders that dominate (ie. they are better in every possible situation) than other sets of orders, and in this case one should not play the inferior set of orders (like CP* in port and CP in a castle, for example, even if the intent is not to muster – unless you don’t want to alarm your neighbour). Another example is if GJ opens with two land marches. The march0 order should be on GW, not Pyke. One might think “Oh, but I don’t want to alarm Stark”, but you can ‘not alarm’ him by not taking Moat Cailin regardless. There are also order placements that are not sound, meaning they can be beaten without risk by your opponent. Good players often point out when a player has played unsound orders, since they assume no one would ever do that (occasionally accompanied by accusations of kingmaking).

Your opening moves are crucial to your strategy, and since your situation is coupled with the situations of other houses, I cannot discuss opening strategy in isolation. You must understand the position of all houses on the map to understand your own position. After discussing openings, we’ll move on to the Early Game (rounds 2-3), and End Game (achieving victory).

If the board stays balanced and everyone secures their “home” territory and no more, Stark wins the stalemate. He will have four castles and the supply tiebreaker over Martell, the only other player with four. Even if another player grabs a fourth on the last turn, no other player will have 6 supply assuming Baratheon has taken BW, so Stark still wins. Even if Lannister has BW, Stark likely has more power tokens. This advantage is more precarious with the 2nd edition tiebreak rules (Strongholds before supply) since now any player taking a 4th castle beats Stark. But, the stalemate advantage is still present, and on Thronemaster those tiebreak rules are not (currently) the default setting.

The relevance of this is that Stark does not have to be aggressive, and can play a patient, defensive game. He does not even need the Bay of Ice to win; examples here, here and here (the latter without Winterfell and the former without the Narrow Sea!)

In other words, he can find success by turtling. The other players all need to break out of their home territories to have a chance of winning. Let’s look at their possible openings in turn, naming them for cross-reference. Once we understand the openings, early and end-game strategy can be discussed. I will use female pronouns for houses Lannister and Tyrell, in honour of their prominent female leaders.

The player under the least pressure in round one, Baratheon has two ‘standard’ openings and a few unorthodox ones. The naming scheme may be derived from the orders if unambiguous, and from the optimal Westeros cards otherwise. The latter is more natural when thinking at the strategic level, even though it seems backwards at first.

  B:Muster – March0 boats | March+1 Dragonstone | Support KW

  B:Clash – March0 boats | CP* Dragonstone | CP KW
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  B:March3 – March+1 boats | March-1 Dragonstone | March0 KW

  B:Hybrid – March boats | March Dragonstone | CP KW

Note that the same objective for B:Muster can be achieved by swapping the * orders (Support +1 in KW) and playing march-1 on boats, but this is inferior because it does not allow the Stark/Martell gambit as an option (see below).
B:Muster pays off when a muster card shows up (which is likely, given that you hold the IT, and hence the name), and also pays well with a GoT card netting you five tokens, more than any other player will typically get (Stark can also get five with an unusual sequence). But, it benefits GJ, Martell and Tyrell more, if they gamble with a muster opening too. This was the bog standard opening with 1st edition cards, but with the 2nd edition improvements to the GJ deck, if he opens G:Muster the game quickly gets out of control.

B:Clash is seen most often now. Although it delays conquest of BW for another round, it protects against naval invasion in the case of Web of Lies, which was not an issue with the 1st edition cards. As the name would imply, this opening pays off when no muster comes up (likely you will not choose supply either, given the choice) and when Clash of Kings hits. Due to the Web of Lies card, usually just one boat is marched into BWB to keep strength in Shipbreaker and to allow future naval conquests, at the expense of your land territory defense.
If one of your neighbours does not play March+1 on their boat, you can elect to take their sea from either standard opening, turning it into the Stark/Martell gambit. You can keep the sea with Stannis, or gamble with Renly, possibly losing both boats which would be a disaster without muster, and a serious blow to your development even with.

If you open B:March3, you can take their sea even if they play March+1, so long as they don’t play 3 marches in total. Regardless, you can often capture both CcP and the Reach with your inland marches, so a muster draw pays off. Both likely WesterosII cards are bad for you, so you will hope for Lannister to choose ‘no event’, which is reasonably common with most of her openings. B:March3 is a high-risk, high-reward opening. Since it precludes a CP* order, your own sea is vulnerable if muster doesn’t land. If both neighbours open March3, you have slowed your own development somewhat but not irreparably. You are also likely giving up BW to Lannister in this case, but if you can hold your new sea you have access to other supply.

If Martell opens M:Clash, taking Storm’s End and hoping to muster into the Sea of Dorne first can pay off. This option is available from B:Muster (at the expense of KL) and B:March (at the expense of the Reach or CcP) even if Martell opens M:Hybrid. B:Hybrid responds well to this option, but not in general to standard play from your neighbours as it achieves neither KL nor a strong naval presence. It does secure the same amount of muster points, however, and can pay off if Martell gambles on M:Clash. Of course, he can simply muster into Sea of Dorne from Sunspear, but then you have foiled his Tyrell gambit.

Some very tricky openings can be made with Martell. Baratheon can move one boat into ESS from B:March3 on 2nd march, and Martell can retreat into WSS via Melisandre/Nymeria. Ariane prevents Tyrell from taking WSS, and Starfall occupation allows Martell to muster into WSS first with 55% chance. Tyrell can, and should, take steps to prevent this (march the boat 1st every time).

Martell has the most defensive position on the board, but can find it difficult to break out of that corner. His strengths are his punishing house cards, particularly Doran, whose value typically increases drastically after the first clash when Tyrell and Baratheon improve their positions. Thus, if your neighbours are coming, they are coming early when they have very little to lose from Doran.

  M:Muster – March+1 boat | March0 SS | March-1 Sunspear

  M:Clash – March+1 boat | CP SS | CP* Sunspear

  M:Hybrid – March+1 boat | March0 SS | CP* Sunspear

M:Muster can finish the round with four castles, provided Baratheon and Tyrell don’t interfere. A footman to Yronwood is optimal, since a muster promotes to KN without counting against supply (or another boat) and this will form your main defensive support base to hold PP, Boneway and Starfall. The KN to Starfall prevents Tyrell from killing it with Mace, but does set up tactical situation 4. if Tyrell marches her KN to Starfall. Will she commit Loras this early? The march0 in SS gives you the option of occupying Starfall first if you want, although I prefer to hold out until the last march to see what Tyrell does. Unless you plan to go to Boneway, SS provides all the same options as Sunspear and is better poised to attack Starfall than a march0 in Sunspear, if Baratheon gets frisky in the seas and you have to delay the Sea of Dorne march. The last footman can also stay in Sunspear to CP* if muster doesn’t hit. Whether to leave a token in SS or not is a gamble, but since Martell will be token poor most of the game and Baratheon never chooses supply, I prefer not to when Starfall or PP is certain. This opening guards against B:March3 but leaves a poor position if clash, and also does not allow the Tyrell gambit.

The Tyrell gambit simply involves mustering two boats in ESS and attacking WSS round 2. If there is no muster or clash, it is 4 vs 2 (4 vs 1 with Storm of Swords card) and Areo guarantees the win, although Viper is typically played (with 2 boats marched) to kill the boat. Even the Rains of Autumn card (no march+1) can be overcome, although then all boats need to be moved. A clash can give Tyrell star orders, but even still it is 4 vs 3. If she gains initiative in the clash, the march can be prevented with QoT at the cost of a footman, or support from sunset sea can be obtained if someone has taken it and sees the threat. At worst, Tyrell gains and you lose star orders in the clash. You still have a strong card bait against Tyrell, whose top two cards don’t kill any boats. Baratheon is usually happy to let this play out, since it ties down top cards from both houses and prevents land development and the subsequent power generation that comes from a southern alliance.

M:Clash yields a slightly better position in a clash, but the main value is to enable the Tyrell gambit as an option should muster not show up. M:Hybrid is a stronger opening for the Tyrell gambit without clash (since it allows a march from Starfall as well), whereas M:Clash pays better with no muster and a clash. A peaceful option from M:Hybrid is to march to Starfall and have Tyrell bounce you to PP with a footman (Margaery vs Nymeria). This secures PP in round 1, allowing power generation earlier in the game. It is supply neutral at worst, and the benefit to Tyrell is an additional muster point and supply barrel for round 2, even if the agreement is to vacate Starfall shortly after. Both players also improve their hand for future battles by ditching poor cards. This is my recommended opening for a trusted southern alliance, although both players can renege early (Loras or Viper) so it requires trust. The downside to these two openings is their vulnerability to the unorthodox B:March3 opening. Ariane still prevents ESS conquest, but stops the Tyrell gambit and possibly loses the boat as well, not to mention a strong house card.

With the ‘smallest’ core territories and early vulnerability to Martell, Tyrell’s strength is in the late game with two of the very best house cards (QoT and Loras). Most wins I’ve seen her pull off involved judicious use of these two cards in the later rounds, coupled with high rankings on the influence tracks.

  T:Hybrid – March-1 boat | March0 HG | CP Dornish Marches

  T:Clash – March0 boat | CP HG | CP Dornish Marches

Tyrell’s order placement options are extremely limited in round one. If she doesn’t march the boat, then Starfall cannot be contested and Martell will almost surely march a footman there, and can muster into WSS first. Even without a muster, Martell likely marches first in round two and can occupy WSS, defending with Ariane to give another shot at first muster. Additionally, the boat must be marched on the first turn, otherwise WSS can be occupied round one by either Baratheon or Martell.

That leaves only one other march for the land troops, if desired. It’s hard to make a case for not marching, since HG is not under threat. You could support to guarantee the Reach, but that gives up tokens and Oldtown, concedes PP to Martell, and delays the Arbor. Baratheon rarely takes the Reach first round anyway. T:Clash yields one more token initially, but concedes 2-3 muster points and potential tokens from the Arbor (including GoT card tokens, from which you don’t get many). I recommend this opening only if playing with Westeros cards, and you can see there will be a clash and no muster. Even in that case, I would consider T:Hybrid instead for the extra orders next round.

Marching from Dornish Marches makes sense only to PP, but falls short one token and 2-3 muster points, and will likely be raided from Starfall on the next round anyway. Since Lannister rarely marches to Searoad, preferring to muster and CP herself, HG will not be under threat in round two either, so March0 on HG makes the most sense.

Essentially, if neither muster nor clash hit and Martell opted for the gambit, you are going to lose WSS and be in an uphill battle for the early game. Thus, most Tyrell players hope for one of the two cards and open accordingly. This means CP on DM and marching to Oldtown. If you’re playing peacefully with Martell, footman to Arbor and KN to Oldtown gives him a sense of trust as you don’t contest Starfall. If muster doesn’t hit you can leave a token in Oldtown and move the KN several places. You can also forgo the Arbor for one round and (peacefully) attack Martell in Starfall, bumping him to PP and giving you 5 muster points, with 7 tokens. This is ideal for muster/clash, but leaves you in a slightly worse position for the next clash.

If you’re allying with Baratheon and waring early with Martell, KN to Starfall sets up tactical situation 4 if he doesn’t open M:Muster. If you play Mace you win but Martell gains PP and can raid you in DM. Loras loses to Viper and Ariane but otherwise wins and can follow the routed KN. Sir Garlan beats Nymeria and Ariane, but loses to Areo and Viper. Have fun guessing!

With a very secure position, GJ has many options to expand in round one. Typically those targets are Stark and Lannister, but sailing into WSS also opens up a few castles and I have seen that option succeed lately (though not in the first round!) In round one, you need to decide if Lannister is friend or foe, and whether to challenge RR. Seagard seems a top priority in the most varied of potential sound openings.

  G:Muster – March-1 Pyke | March0 GW | CP/Supp port | Def/Supp/Raid IMB

  G:Naval – March-1 port | March0 IMB | CP GW | CP Pyke

  G:Hybrid – March-1 Pyke | CP port | March0 IMB | CP GW

G:Muster can guarantee 4 castles at the end of the first turn with a raid on IMB and potential loss of Balon fighting for RR. Prior to the 2nd edition cards (specifically Web of Lies) Baratheon typically took KL in the first round, and would consequently choose a muster under Throne of Blades. This led GJ to open G:Muster with good probability of cashing in, which is one reason why B:Clash is seen more often now. The opening can also threaten MC in the north (instead of RR), which is not always occupied by Stark, and at any rate sometimes only contains a footman. A savvy Lannister might attack with the boat to bait Balon or Euron, and if a clash hits the position is weak with only 4 or 5 tokens in stock. If there’s no muster the opening is weak, and will be met with counter-attacks from either side, with the other usually helping to raid Seagard. No muster and a clash is a disaster for this opening, so if Lannister opens L:Clash you may opt to stay in the Bay area or experience Cersei in round 2. See the discussion in L:Muster for a more complete understanding of your risks.

Another variant of G:Muster is to ignore FF (or GW) and place a footman back in Pyke. If muster hits you still have lots of troops, and if not you can generate power during the early game and have an order on Pyke should the worst happen. A treaty with Stark means he’ll probably choose to muster a boat in Shivering Sea and a footman in WF, leaving you options to CP in FF or GW for a round or two.

G:Naval sets up well for clash with 8 tokens, but forgoes Seagard and Flint’s. Taking GS is super risky as Lannister can muster into IMB from RR, which she will undoubtedly take after seeing your orders. However, if she didn’t put def+2 on her boat then she either swaps and can’t take RR, or concedes the GS to a single boat, which precludes the IMB muster.

Make no mistake about it, there is no room for error in the opening rounds as Lannister. You either play perfectly or you become Kraken poop. An appeal to the GJ player for an alliance is most beneficial to you in round one, and to GJ in the early/mid game. It also contains a sleeper Stark turtle victory, which you can’t do much about and allows you to pressure Baratheon, another strong contender for victory. Nonetheless, you need to prepare for a GJ onslaught and adjust with the raven if it doesn’t come.

  L:Muster – Def+2 GS | March0 LP | Supp+1 SS

  L:Clash – Def+2 GS | CP* LP | CP SS

  L: Peace – Def+2 GS | March0 LP | March+1 SS

  L:Counter – March-1 GS | March0 LP | March+1 SS

You need to decide if you’ll contest RR or not. Sometimes GJ will give it to you for peace, which is almost always a good idea if offered. Otherwise, GJ will likely have 2 marches played so you’re defending unless you lay down all three. Since you can defend better and occupy more territory with support orders, L:Counter doesn’t make sense unless GJ doesn’t support in IMB and doesn’t move all three troops (or if you’re playing with equal mustering). In that case, Kevan beats Balon but loses to Euron. Tywin beats Euron (but not Balon) so we have tactical situation 3. If he moves only two footmen or fewer, Kevan wins guaranteed but GJ development has not been hurt whereas you no longer have troops in SS, you don’t have HH and you are down tokens. The bottom line is that it’s probably best to cede RR unless GJ offers it, or proceed to the L:Muster strategy.

If GJ does offer RR, L: Peace is a strong opening.  You can spread out inland and take BW, RR and HH. Either WesterosI card is good for you in this situation, and BW can typically CP in peace on the next round. Here I recommend sending the KN to HH, then to Stoney Sept the next round for support. A footman in RR can CP* to gain troops if no muster, and CP otherwise. Do not leave a token when leaving SS on round 1. At best it’s token-neutral to do so, and still counts against your cap.

Note that L: Peace and L:Counter only differ by one order, so you can easily switch between the two. The March+1 in SS keeps GJ to his word, even though he can muscle into RR regardless.

The most common opening I see now is L:Clash, opting for the muster in LP and retreating the boat to Sunset Sea if attacked, or marching there if no marches are laid on the GJ navy. Assuming GJ takes RR and Seagard (and sometimes Flint’s, although leaving a man on GW or in Pyke is also common) you will control two seas and can also muster a siege engine in LP. Without a clash or muster, March+1 on LP, raid* on GS (for RR raid or def), raid on Sunset (for IMB support) and Supp+1 on SS gives 9 attack against RR. This is a guaranteed Cersei victory even if Stark doesn’t raid Seagard for you and somebody raids Sunset before you can raid IMB. If RR has defense swap GS to support for an even better outcome as the Sunset raid is certain. If a clash hits, you likely have one more token than GJ and he’ll probably give up the blade to gain star orders, although you still want initiative to use Cersei before he can march his boats (LP is safe with supp+1 in SS and a garrison). A muster card is bad luck though; hopefully Baratheon doesn’t enable it!

The idea behind L:Muster is to occupy RR with the footman (sending the KN to SS) and retreat to HH when attacked by GJ, drawing out Balon or Euron. You will probably swap the boat to March+1 if GJ does not march on boats, and either occupy Sunset or draw out another high card attacking IMB. You can also support to require Balon to take RR (against the Hound, or Gregor if support on IMB) unless he commits two troops. Muster a boat in GS if you vacated it and a footman in LP. HH gets a siege engine and supports; LP supp+1 with the footman and GS raids RR while Sunset raids IMB. Now a March+1 from SS with Kevan is worth 12 against Balon, 13 otherwise. If Stark doesn’t raid from MC you’ll need Kevan to win this battle assuming a defensive muster from GJ (unless you drew out Balon), and if he does you can use Cersei. Of course there is always the Gregor option too, if you’re feeling vengeful.

If you didn’t vacate GS, muster a SE in LP to guarantee the win with Cersei, or take a chance with a KN hoping Stark raids Seagard. I don’t see this opening often enough. Even in the worst case where muster doesn’t hit, GJ has probably lost Balon taking RR and LP is safe regardless with supp+1 on SS. You also have a strong counter-attack opportunity from HH, although you might need Stark to raid.

Stark’s starting position is precarious, and he is vulnerable early to both neighbours. His early token generation and supply are both very poor, and he needs a naval presence on both sides of the map which no other player has to maintain. Make no mistake about it – you are in survival mode for the first two rounds!

  S:Muster – March +1 SS | March-1 WF | March0 WH

  S:Clash – March +1 SS | CP* WF | CP WH

  S:Troops – March +1 SS | CP* WF | March0 WH

  S:Hybrid – March+1 SS | March0 WF | CP* WH

Notice that all openings have March+1 into the Narrow Sea. If you don’t do this, Baratheon can march there himself, or muster there from Crackclaw. You don’t want to lose the Narrow Sea ever as Stark!

S:Muster is banking on a muster, which is the only reason you should leave WF on the first round. If it doesn’t pan out, you probably don’t have enough troops to fight off your neighbours, since Baratheon likely mustered boats and GJ is, well, GJ. If it does pan out (or if it’s known from open Westeros phase, a relatively rare setting but one that I like) then you can take MC with the KN and occupy the two crown lands up north for some serious power generation all game. In this case you might muster a boat from MC, a boat from WH (into SS) and a west coast boat and footman in WF, the latter to CP* that round. Although you are still vulnerable for a few rounds, this course of events sets up an excellent mid-game. Just pray for no Feast for Crows!

You can also grab supply from this opening, but unless the card is visible I wouldn’t bother. Baratheon never chooses it as he can’t get supply in the first round, and GJ is much stronger with a muster than supply so it makes sense to hedge against that event. Plus, you don’t need supply to win as Stark.

One very important note is that if Baratheon opens B:March3 he can take the narrow sea unless you open S:Muster. Whether or not that’s a good idea for him is another story, and depends a lot on what Martell has done.

S:Clash gives some guaranteed troops (probably boats, but you might chance another footman instead) and sets up better for a clash with 6 tokens, compared to 4 as most players leave a token in WH. S:Hybrid elects to muster from WH instead, saving a token at the expense of a troop. You might consider this opening given an expressed alliance with GJ.

S:Troops has the best chance for maximum troops in round 2, but an early clash can set you back.

What if GJ attacks MC? If he does, it’s probably with a KN at most, and you probably have your KN there. This is tricky, because you really can’t lose your KN to Euron so the obvious choice is Ser Rodrik in this battle. He may even play Aeron expecting this, swapping to Euron if you play high and using the blade otherwise to defeat Rodrik. I don’t think it’s worth getting angry over, just improve your hand and withdraw somewhere useful. MC is really not that great a territory and if muster hits you have lots of counter-attack opportunities. If not, WF is still safe unless you opened S:Muster and moved everyone out. In that case you’ll need to retreat there or march there first thing next round.

What if he moves the KN and footman? Now you need 7 defense in WF next round without cards to hold it. A footman left in WF with the garrison and def+2 plus supp+1 in SS is enough – enter Catelyn! It’s your moment girl.

I break the game down into three phases: SURVIVAL, CONTROL, and WINNING. The Survival phase is simply not dying, and eventually holding your home territories. I’ve noticed that most non-beginners have a pretty good handle on this, although failure here happens to the best of us! With sound opening orders you should be in a good position to ensure your survival. The good players have also figured out a way to achieve victory, but very few take control of the board. This is how you lose, because someone else wins. Before you take a path to victory you must first control other players from achieving victory.

Control can be direct by taking a player’s castles or placing them low on the tracks, or as wildling losers. In this way, having the Throne gives you more control over the game, and is underrated mid-game, in my opinion (end game, it’s often better to move last to counter-attack). Control can be indirect by taking their supply, raiding their tokens or offering support to their enemies. Control can also be subtle, by manipulating other players to control them, directly or indirectly. Sometimes Gunboat Diplomacy works well here .

Lannister is in full Survival phase round 1. The other houses have their considerations too, but are mainly setting up for the Survival phase. When the Control phase starts to take shape varies from round 2-5 depending on the board. Some natural alliances form and become clear in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. It is EXTREMELY important to take stock of the entire board, as every alliance affects your geopolitical position and you should react accordingly to wrest control over the situation. While there are 6C2 possible two-party alliances in the game, few are as powerful as GJ/Lannister (The West) and Tyrell/Martell (The South). This is because neither has to watch their back when advancing - just their side . You must watch for these alliances and react accordingly. Strong players will also try to disguise their alliance if they believe the other players are strong enough to react early. Hint: Fighting with 1-strength cards is not a real fight.

Taking control of the game involves two objectives:
  1) Don’t let anyone else run away with the game
  2) Set up your own Logistics for a chance at winning
You’ll have to achieve both in the early to mid-game.

Stark is weak on supply, early token generation and muster potential. He also faces invasion by both neighbours and cannot effectively invade either neighbour early. His mid-game supply and power generation are both good and in the late game they are the best of all houses, so time is on your side. The name of the game is stalling for the first two rounds.

It’s a good idea to get a footman in Karhold on round 1 or 2 to start consolidating. If a muster card hits you can grow a siege engine in WF and take the Eyrie in the 2nd round. You can also do this with your CP* order, in which case you might want to chain the march with your footman so that a footman/siege arrives in the Eyrie. This alleviates all three of your problems at once, but can’t consolidate until round 4 and precludes Karhold unless Bara lets you keep support in the Narrow Sea. You can put a boat in Bay of Ice, but the only function is to delay GJ by one round so he can’t muster there. You can’t stop his navy without compromising the east coast so one boat there, one in port is the most you should have on the west. If you’re trusting you can do five boats on the east as well.

You should have the Eyrie taken by round 4, and grab some source of supply in each of rounds 2 through 4 or you’ll run into the muster cap pretty soon. If you take both Karhold and Castle Black early you will probably alarm your neighbours and provoke them. If you spread out a little slower you may fly under the radar for longer. It’s not uncommon for Stark to have all his troops on the board in the end game, in which case he’s pretty unstoppable save for a runaway southern house.

The one problem with Stark is that it’s hard to control three of the houses, at least directly. The southern alliance is good for you, because Bara and GJ will be weakened and you can poach their castles. If GJ comes for you then Lannister is probably going East, in which case Bara is in a fight for BW as well as KW and Shipbreaker and his position is really bad, so he’s probably not interested in the Narrow Sea and may appreciate the support in Crackclaw and Shipbreaker. Due to the small and enclosed border an alliance with Bara is almost useless for both of you, save for keeping this support. Since you alone gain from this, you’ll probably have to give him something in return; I suggest the Mountains of the Moon so that he has some chance of fighting off Lannister. You get it back once he has BW secure. The footman there can even make his way over to GJ through the Twins and disuade GJ from crossing the river. It’s in neither of your interest to have the other conquered and there are few opportunities to help each other that you should be active and make them happen. Or you can be a prick like this guy and lose the game.

If the west is fighting while the south is allied then GJ is in big trouble and will likely lose his territories to Tyrell mid-game unless he backs off. Tyrell may also go after Bara in which case you may need to support him. Yes, he’s your neighbour and he might invade you but you can’t have the southern houses in his lands. Otherwise this is the best scenario for you; just footman-spam the north and wait until the right time to grab your 7.

If the south and west are both fighting then Bara is free to go wherever he pleases. You should make it clear that the Narrow Sea is not an option, possibly even mustering five boats on the east. If one southern house conquers the other the game is slipping out of your control, and you’ll have to motivate another house to do something about it. If Bara goes south then you follow him .  Ditto if he goes west. He is the main threat to win in this scenario.

If the west is allied while the south is fighting then Lanni might curtail Baratheon expansion a bit, which means he’s more likely to go north with Martell otherwise engaged. In this case you’re really in trouble. Try sending GJ a few example games where Bara took all the castles in this scenario and he might back off, or appeal to the other houses for help. Bara can also neuter you with Patchface and then back off, the worst scenario for him because he gets nothing (and maybe a killed boat), his other neighbours don’t mind attacking to bait cards, and you have lost Roose. Nonetheless I see Baratheon players doing this often.

A GJ invasion in general is pointless if Stark is experienced. You should rarely lose your troops as you have so many forts, and Roose means you can get Eddard back every round. Try cycling on Bara instead if he is friendly, although it might cost you a footman. GJ is also good to cycle on (attacking non-Castle territories) because he has few swords when supported, and doesn’t like to ditch Euron. A siege engine is key for counter-attacks, and support in WH means that GJ can’t hold WF or MC for long, and you never expose your siege.

Baratheon is weak on supply early, decent in mid-game if he gets BW, and generally weak late-game unless you’ve already won. Early token generation is very good with KW often available for two rounds, and GoT cards very lucrative. In the mid and late-game you can usually only depend on Dragonstone and sometimes your port, but in general Baratheon has tokens unless he gets invaded.

BW is your priority in almost every scenario. Not only do you gain two supply, but Lannister (or Tyrell) loses two. With the 1st edition cards it made sense to put a few boats in BWB, but now with Web of Lies that’s probably not ideal. Leave the stack in Shipbreaker, ready to move out should the opportunity arise. Your home territory is quite small, but you have many border territories you can dispute without much trouble: The Reach, HH, Mountains, and Storm’s End. Of these, the Reach is easiest to get but I prefer to offer this to Tyrell to fight Martell. You can rarely muster another footman here anyway and Baratheon promotes his footmen very quickly even without the Reach.

Baratheon will be involved diplomatically with everyone, including GJ. Coupled with the Throne, this affords you a large degree of control over the game. The worst scenario for you is when the west and south are both allied, since a Stark alliance gains you at most a supply and Shipbreaker defense. You’ll be facing attacks from the west and south, possibly Tyrell as well. You may survive but your chances to win rely on one of the alliances breaking down in spectacular fashion before your home territories are compromised.

When the south is allied but the west is not, Tyrell may choose to go north instead of northeast. You can probably manage a stalemate with Martell, grabbing some of Lannister’s land or making a play into the Narrow Sea. Using Patchface early to neuter Martell of the Viper gives you a bit of breathing room while he tries to get his cards back.

The game is easy to control when the south is fighting, even if the west is allied. If one side starts winning, you can immediately move on either side, or both. Lannister is pretty easy to beat out of BW while you maintain initiative and fiefdoms advantage, and you just need some patience. If the west is fighting too then quickly grab the interior, setting up support around BW. This is the best possible scenario for you and your only worry is Stark building up to 7, but GJ would have to be losing pretty badly to cede both of his castles to Stark, and you can support CcP from both KL and BWB. If Stark is sloppy and Lannister is defending well then feel free to sail north, but if Lannister starts losing you need to get in there and get BW surrounded to contain GJ.

Your supply is decent in the early game, and good mid-game assuming you’ve taken PP, which you should get by the end of round 2 at the latest. If Tyrell contests this territory you will find it very difficult to break out. Late game supply is weak if you’re still stuck in your home territories. Early power generation is poor, but gets better mid-game under a southern alliance. Doran can sometimes make up for poor track positions, so consider him worth a few tokens. Don’t be afraid to CP in Salt Shore too; it’s still a token.

Due to Web of Lies and Salladhor, it’s usually better to put the bulk of your fleet in ESS, not in Sea of Dorne. It’s also easier to attack this way. A ship in port is useful to CP, and doesn’t count against supply. A ship in SE port won’t gain tokens, but can help to raid* defense orders or support an attack under Sea of Storms. Yronwood and Sea of Dorne will form your early support centres, but a savvy Tyrell can still get through, particularly with help from Patchface.

Like Stark, you cannot touch three other houses directly, so you can lose control of the game if you’re not careful. Since you’ll probably see the western alliance form before you have to decide what to do about Tyrell, you can react at the end of round 1 regardless of your opening. If the west is clearly fighting and you elect the Tyrell gambit, Baratheon has an easy go of it and Stark can get out of hand as well. Messing with Tyrell also stops her from containing GJ should he start to win the Bay, and she usually wants an answer in round 1 or you risk her allying with Baratheon instead.

A western alliance is much better for you, because then Stark and GJ usually fight to a stalemate and Baratheon is contained over land. Here you can go after Tyrell or team up with her to go north, but she usually advances faster than you unless you get lucky with Westeros cards. If both neighbours are asking for an alliance then delay as long as you can to see what’s happening in the west. If neither are asking, well, maybe you’re in survival phase for a bit!

Tyrell’s early token generation is good, with DM typically reliable for two rounds unless you want to contest PP. The Arbor can keep things going but she gets very little from the GoT card; an early boat in Oldtown port can contribute a bit and CP as well, if Martell is not friendly. Early supply is good, but Tyrell’s home territories do not provide enough supply (or crowns) to be a factor late game. You’ll need BW or Starfall/PP to get to 4 troops. Searoad is a Cersei trap, so stay away from there unless Lannister is really tied down with GJ or you can get it during Web of Lies and have initiative.

Some Tyrell players stock up for the first clash and make a play for the blade or raven early. This is a good strategy, but you need the muster cards to land too or you won’t have the troops to do anything with them.

Tyrell is the only house who can legitimately occupy everyone else’s capital (well, KL at least). Your strengths are mobility, flank attacks, and flying ‘under the radar’ early. If your neighbours want to destroy you then say a prayer. The best you can do is try to ensure Martell doesn’t win, but even that is not easy. Luckily, you have a nice diplomatic tool to offer both neighbours in the QoT card. You’d be wise to hang onto that old lady for a few rounds. Each house has a lot to gain if you use her to help them, and they need to know that you know that and are ‘considering’ it.

The western alliance is initially bad for you. Lannister will take Searoad and possibly BW, and your attack cards don’t work as well against Tyrion. She’ll tend to support the GJ navy too, unless you can be very convincing. If the alliance breaks down it’s a massive opportunity for Loras on the water. He can also make a career for himself if GJ sends the bulk of his navy into Bay of Ice and Stark can still raid him there. If Lannister heads east you might consider going east yourself once you’ve ensured your survival, since the other four houses are under control. Martell’s lands are much easier to consolidate than anywhere else, where your support lines are stretched thin. Wherever you go, the move needs to be decisive and quick, which probably means Loras (or the rarely-duplicated DOUBLE Loras), a lower throne position, and enough patience to see Ariane, Tyrion or Patchface discarded first.

If the west is fighting then you may lose control of the game to Stark, as happened to me here. The problem in this game was that the western fight did not stalemate, and GJ lands were open. Since you can’t stop Stark directly and GJ was in no position to do it, then Baratheon is your only help. I did everything right conquering Martell to leave no pressure on Baratheon, yet somehow he got himself invaded as well! Perhaps the early war with Martell set back his development, but the lesson here is that the Martell advance is doomed when the west is fighting, Lannister is winning and there is a strong player up north.

The southern alliance is seen quite often now. You have some great opportunities to ditch low house cards with Martell, improving both of your hands for turnaround during conquest. With Martell’s help you can set up Loras as your second last card, using him twice in a round for a potential five marches! If you’re lower on the throne track than your target and they only laid two marches, this is four unanswered marches. Do you see any paths that go uniquely through castles? The only problem is that if the west is fighting, you stand to lose control of the game to Baratheon if he takes the Narrow Sea, and Stark otherwise. Your only balancing act is to fight Martell until Baratheon goes north, then make peace and both move on him, but this tends to benefit Martell more so it might be one of those “You go first, and I’ll follow you” plans.

It goes without saying that GJ’s cards are top-notch, so if he gets some star orders in the first clash the position is great, and outstanding if he keeps the blade as well! Another option is to go for the throne, since many players choose to bid zero here. Early token generation is OK if GW is used for CP, but after round 1 tokens are hard to come by unless a man is left in Pyke. Early supply is good, but mid and late-game supply will have to come from a neighbour.

If Stark and Tyrell are patient houses, GJ is a rush house. Since your supply and power are weak long term, sitting in the Bay waiting for an opportunity means you won’t have the logistical support to carry out your objectives. Coupled with the fact that you probably only have the blade for a limited number of rounds, you need to expand early.

You have very little direct control over the southern houses and Baratheon, but you can react to what they’re doing even though they often take their cue from how you engage Lannister. If you choose to fight her, the south may choose to ally and that keeps Bara engaged and off Stark’s back, who then proceeds to set up his end game. Most of those late castles come from you so this situation is poor unless you mop Lannister up quickly and set up big support in IMB. Then, taking BoI circa round 8 keeps Stark out of FF, a common place to nab a last-minute castle. More importantly, it forces him to defend WF seriously, limiting his attacks even more. Your winning castle is often MC once HH is taken, but this is a topic for another section.

In a nutshell, I battle Lannister if two conditions are met: I think I’m a much better player AND there is no large imbalance elsewhere on the board. In this game I stomp Lannister quite easily but still lose control of the game to Martell, since he was much stronger than the Baratheon player. Leaving Lannister alive only would have put more pressure on Baratheon, and invading Tyrell would just have left additional opportunities for Martell, and exposed me to Doran. The point here is that even though Martell is so distant and not a threat to you directly, he’s the only player you can lose control of the game to so you should not do him any favours (track positions, wildlings, counter-raids).

In this game I stomp Lanni as well but lose control of the game to Baratheon. There was some poor token management by Stark, but once Bara had the blade and lower throne position and Stark had no stars (so we all knew what was coming) I should have made peace with Lanni to contain Baratheon. The point here is that if you focus on winning before you have control, you may end up with a shiny silver medal.

This game showcases the classic Stark capitalization on a Lannister conquer. Although poor play from Baratheon hurt me here, I should have pivoted north far earlier, even at the expense of leaving Lannister alive inland. The lesson here is that Stark needs to be under control before you push to the victory. The Stark/Bara imbalance was too great in this situation.

So you’ve decided to ally with Lannister and go north after watching another sleeper Stark victory in your last game. You need to keep Baratheon under control, or this will happen. Admittedly, that Baratheon player joined the game mid-way through and had a vendetta against me from a recent game, and just happened to be much better than the player he replaced . Still, the point is that there needs to be strong pressure on Bara from somewhere, and ideally from two directions if the player is really strong. The best situation for you is from Lannister, since she will feel pressure from Tyrell and likely get only four castles. It’s easy enough to thwart her runaway victory, with access to RR and a virtually unstoppable navy. This fact alone keeps the western alliance very fragile, as the only way to secure the GS for Lannister is to take another sea when GJ isn’t paying attention. Tyrell in the capital area is also OK, since she is most exposed when in Baratheon lands, and it keeps her out of Sunset (and clashing with Lannister). Martell you can’t stop so when he goes north successfully that is the worst scenario. At that point it’s a race to 7.

Under the western alliance, Lannister knows that your last castle has to come from her if you go north. There’s just no way that you’re making it to the Eyrie. She can be trusting in RR for awhile but soon enough a march will appear on the boats or in RR. This fragility will likely lead to one of the parties breaking the alliance in a GoT prisoner’s dilemma. Whoever breaks first wins out, but if you both break too early then you both gain nothing from the agreement.