@taamvan said in We need an allied playbook.:
this convo is just a digression from that original goal. I dont think there can be an allied playbook without it being an endlessly complex series of if thens. crockett brought it up so maybe he has a different view.
The key problem I see in 95% of all the discussions is that people think the game can be analyzed by making concrete plans on what to do in turn 1, 2, 3. 90% of this is pointless for 2 reasons:
- In contrast to chess, there is luck involved and one can never predict the exact position at any point. Not even at G1 as there is plenty of options on how Allies spend the bid.
- A naked plan is worth quite little in A&A unless the player understands key principles on HOW to operate plans and on WHAT is important as Allies.
If I keep the analogy to chess many plans I read here are like: In order to win with white, play e4, then castle queenside and then make a mating attack on the kingside.
This is useless advice, because it means nothing if the player does not understand fundamental principle of chess.
Back to A&A: 2 players can execute the exact same plan as they are often discussed here in the forum: Round 1 build this and round 2 build that, do this and that etc
The outcome of this (even when assuming average dice for everyone) can be fundamentally different depending on the knowledge of the players on HOW to execute a plan.
The differences in experience, skill and understanding of fundamental principles of A&A are often so big amongst various players, that the outcome of executing a plan can be black and white. Total success or total failure, massively depending on either the skill of the “attacker” or of the “defender” in this situation.
This leads often then to conclusions which are entirely wrong “ABC does not work” --> Just because you failed to execute it, this does not mean it cannot work
ABC is imbalanced (often heard for Dark skies) --> No, it is not necessarily imba, maybe you just lack understanding of key principles in order to player properly against it.
My general advice would be: Think less about plans on what you do in turn 1, 2, 3 but think about key principles and key objectives you want to achieve and then the most important part:
Work on the details on how to execute a plan efficiently, such as:
- How to trade efficiently
- How to avoid blockers
- How to pose as many threats as possible
and many more
This is certainly not easy, and in case I would elaborate on that, I would certainly do a video series about it. Just writing all that stuff down is so dry and cumbersome.
To me, it only makes sense to explain these principles on the board, but the TripleA board using a screencast and now recording an actual board with a camera.