Greyjoy turn 1.

How do you like this plan?
-1 march on port
+0 march on ironman's bay
Consolidate in both pyke and greywater
March one ship into Sunset Sea, do not attack Lannister

This gives:
+3 power tokens to keep the VSS in a Clash and maybe grab a star for mustering
certain control of sunset sea
stronger position vs Lannister / sets up for a move on Stark

Problems:
Lannister musters 2 ships in golden sound
No castles gained

I don't see any reason to go to Sunset instead of taking Golden Sound.  Either make an alliance with Lannister or don't; if Greyjoy is interested in it, Lanni is never going to turn down a chance for a couple rounds of peace.

Not taking any castles is the big concern.  Other houses often don't take any the first round, but that's because they don't have big plump prizes like Riverrun and Seagard right on their doorstep. Seagard is beneficial whether supply, muster and/or GOT cards come up.  Two of them could easily come at the same time.

But mainly, the issue is that this move seems designed to play it safe and avoid committing one way or the other.  I think that is a mistake, as GJ has immediate advantages in the blade and extra ship that you risk losing the benefit of if you don't press them right away. So more so than any other house, you need to decide which way you're going right away.  If you're attacking Stark, you need to take Flint's and ideally Sunset right away.  If it's Lanni, you need Riverrun or Golden Sound (I say the latter is actually more important) on the first turn.  Otherwise you've just given your opponents extra time to prepare before you can exert meaningful pressure on their home territories.

Ser Hodor is correct. GJ must be aggressive out of the blocks and must take Seagard at the very least. The only way not doing so might make sense is if you're playing with the Westeros card option and know what is coming up. But GJ doesn't have any stars before the first clash and must maximize muster cards when they pop up. Plus, both Seagard and Riverrun give barrels and crowns, so even a Supply card or a Game of Thrones card will reward your aggression.

I've also found when fighting Lannister that it's more valuable to have the initiative than to have the blade, especially after an early clash. The same is not true with Stark. The blade is much more important when going north.

Last edited by ChelseaPete on 2018-Aug-06 21:59, edited 1x in total

I don't see any reason to go to Sunset instead of taking Golden Sound.
The reason is that if attacking Sound, Lanni can retreat to Sunset and muster 2 ships into the port.

I don't see any reason to go to Sunset instead of taking Golden Sound.
The reason is that if attacking Sound, Lanni can retreat to Sunset and muster 2 ships into the port.
And this bothers you why?
If you are not placing any units in RR and you still have the sword in round 2, chances are pretty high that you can Balon your way into Lannisport.
No mustering:
Lannister has a ship in Sunset Sea and 2 in port(assuming the cp*). You have a footman in pyke and Greywater Watch and your knight in Seagard.

Raid on Golden Tooth to get rid of Lanni support in port or sea. -1 march on one footman and +0 march on knight==> Giving you a total combat strength of 6. Lannister would need his whole army and the plus 1 support to defend Lannisport. If he does so what? You take RR and wait for the next round in which a mustering is even more likely.
If mustering occurs, simply get an SE and do the same again.

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AFFC PBF - #10
You do not need to know everything, but where to read it.-Albert Einstein-

Reading is overrated.-sarcasm off-

I don't see any reason to go to Sunset instead of taking Golden Sound.
The reason is that if attacking Sound, Lanni can retreat to Sunset and muster 2 ships into the port.
Why is 2 ships in the port and 1 in Sunset worse than 2 in the port and 1 in Golden Sound?