Let’s get something straight right away – there is no rule in Shadowfist that says you have to attack left, and anyone adamantly insisting you should attack left is either an idiot or playing you for a sucker. There is a well-meant piece of play advice that says: “Everything else being equal, attack to the left.” This article deals with finding out if everything is equal, or “reading the board”, and how to make the most of your attack.
Ideally, you should know at all times who is closest to winning or furthest ahead. If you attack the leader, other players are more likely to assist you or at least will not interfere with your attack. There are several visible indicators that are used to identify who is currently winning: number of Feng Shui sites (FSS), power generated per turn (from sites, edges or characters), power in pool, and fighting on the board. Finally, the card pool of the faction that the opponents are playing has to be considered, specifically how easy it is for the specific faction to generate power from events and how easily the faction can turn power into fighting.
The only reason you count the number of Feng Shui sites a player controls or has burned for victory is to determine if that player can win on his turn. If he can’t, then the number of FSS is usually irrelevant for his board position. Commonly, people with 3 FSS should be assumed to be capable of winning on their turn, unless they have no characters, no power, or either. Players with fewer than 3 FSS should only be assumed to go for the win if they have gobs of power, tons of fighting, or there are multiple undefended FSS with low body on the board.
Power generation is more relevant than FSS, especially in the early game. A player who produces 4 power per turn from a Drug Lab, a Secret HQ and an FSS is obviously in a better position than a player who merely controls 2 FSS, and should appropriately be considered the bigger threat. A player who controls a lot of sites is often not an immediate threat, but can accumulate power over time if left alone for too long, at which point he may become hard to stop.
Power in an opponent’s pool is probably the second most important indicator of position, since it is only one step away from translating into fighting. Fighting is the strongest indicator. Fighting is what takes sites, which either brings you closer to victory, generates power for you, or both.
While I assign different weight to each indicator, there is no straightforward way of combining all indicators to figure out who the leader is, especially in close ties. Often, the leader is clear: the guy who has 10 fighting on the board, 3 FSS in play and just burned for power on his turn is likely the threat. But is the guy with 3 FSS in play and no characters and power the bigger threat, or the guy with one FSS and an 8 fight hitter? This is where the intangibles come into play, the things you know about the opponents’ factions and habits. If your opponent is playing a Dragon deck and has a big stick in his smoked pile, he can win if he starts his turn with 3 FSS in play and nothing else: he Golden Comebacks the hitter, takes the first site, unturns with Back For Seconds, and plays the second site. If the opponent is a playing a Lotus deck or an Architect deck and starts in the same position, it will be much harder to win for him. Similarly, a seasoned player usually is a bigger threat than a new player in the same position. The veteran manages his resources better and assesses the probability of succeeding with his attack better.
It is impossible to write down a simple set of rules to determine who is in the best position, especially since a lot depends on the play style of your opponents. It requires experience to read the board properly, but observing the indicators above during the game and reviewing them after the game is over will let you gain experience faster. Players can be influenced by “Jedi mind tricks” because they are uncertain of the board position. A player who is confident in reading the board is much harder to influence.
So now that we know who is winning, how do we use that knowledge to plan attacks? Your attack should always have a goal. Hopefully, the goal is to win. More often, it will be to advance your board position. Sometimes, you will actually intend to advance someone else’s board position to set them up as a target, and in some cases you will just want to disrupt board balance to get the game back into motion when it’s stalling. Also, you should be aware of what the board will look like if you fail to achieve your goal; especially when you’re going for the win you may force someone’s hand and give the win to the next player. Attacking is almost always better than sitting and defending. Shadowfist is designed as an attacking game; many abilities only work on the offense, and the attacker usually has more options than the defender (fr example, he can play states).
Let’s go over the decision-making process for an attack:
1. Can you win? If you are at win condition or close to it, you should always consider making that winning attack. Things to think about: is there a revealed FSS that you can take, or can you reveal one? Attacking the unknown is much more risky than attacking a better-defended revealed site. Do you have enough fighting to take it, assuming all eligible interceptors block with perfect efficiency? Do you have tricks that can knock out these interceptors? Do the opponents have cards/power/unrevealed FSS that might interfere with your attack, and will that remove enough fighting to stop you? A good player often wins with an excess of only 1-2 fighting. What happens if you fail? Will someone else win on his turn, or will the defensive action leave you in a crippled state from which you can’t recover next turn? Trying to win the game should always be your first consideration. After all, that’s what you’re here for. If you cannot win, look for other attack options.
2. Can the person going after you win? Can you make it harder for him by taking away one of his sites? If not, is there an easy target for him to attack that you could take off the board? Remember to ask the owner of the target if this is okay with him. You don’t want the two of you blowing your resources to make the win easier for the next guy. If you can’t take a site, is there some other target you can attack to stop the next player from winning, such as wounded characters that might heal, or utility characters such as a Chinese Doctor or Colonel Reiger? If the player two seats to your left could also go for the win, make sure the player to your left can recover enough to hamper the next guy.
3. If the person left of you can’t win, is anyone else ready to win? Can you take the guy down a notch? The same thoughts as above apply. In this case, softening up the target so that the next player can deal the finishing blow. Sometimes it may help to hold back characters and join the next player’s attack with them, to create an attack that is more difficult to stop.
4. If no-one is close to winning, who is strongest? Can you take a site from that player, or take him down a notch at little expense to yourself? Will the result of your attack weaken you both enough to put one of the other players in the lead? Even if you’re in the lead yourself, you typically want to attack your strongest rival to fortify your position. Sure, you can always take a site from the guy who can’t draw characters, but who likes to be called a bottom-feeder?
5. If none of the above applies (because you’re early in the game, or everyone has suffered a setback), attack left if you don’t want to risk giving a site to an opponent. If you attack left, the victim will have a chance to play new defenders and draw new denial after the attack and make himself a generally unattractive target even if he has a damaged site now. If you are confident that the board can stop a run-away player, attack right. This will give at least one more player a shot at taking the site you left wounded, and will generally encourage aggressive play. This way, you’re setting up a leader for everyone else to beat on. Just be careful not to hand a win to someone else in this fashion.
Sometimes, a game will stall. Characters are building up on all sides of the board, denial is choking everybody’s hand. In this case, you know that you cannot win. But attacking probably still is a good idea, if done right. You need to make an attack with just enough fighting or backup to encourage at least one or two players to use resources to stop you. As under 5., it is probably best not to attack to the left, but to the middle or right instead. This is a play that requires experience. If you use too little force, only one player will have to bother, and maybe the attack will be failed with little or no resources spent. If you use too much force, someone else may win before the turn comes back to you.
After everything is said and done, there will still be situations in which attacking is just simply a bad idea. You may need interceptors, or you might worry that you'll give the game to someone else if you attack. Don't sweat it. Attack again next turn!
I hope you have enjoyed this little excursion into attacking, and I’ll see you again next week.