We apply the three essential questions to winning a victory point game to the game of Tapestry and develop a strategy to score 250+ victory points every time without respect to civilization or tapestry cards.
Interesting. I've never played Tapestry, but it's neat to see how you're thinking about these games. There are some basic building blocks to understand. When playing with others, you'll need to shift strats, but if you understand where points come from and relative chances of acquiring points and max points, you can pivot in a way where you remain competitive.
I did it! Followed your suggested strategy and got 304 winning the game by 100 pnts. Felt especially good because last week I lost three games in a row to the same group so your advice totally helped
4 players in the group. I actually started a thread on BGG talk about some of your tips and my experience so some more good advice there from other players
Thanks! It's a fun game to break down. I certainly tried some alternatives, but the unpredictable nature of the big payoff at the top of the Military and Exploration tracks (new civilizations and space tiles) make it difficult to plan around. In addition, you just don't have enough leftover resources to do much after finishing those tracks. The main strategy of the game still centers around maxing out your civilization and tapestry cards, but I've also found that it can be quite profitable to play the tracks that others don't. In a 3 player game, for example, if two players gravitate toward the tech and science tracks, then you can get the landmarks and achievements associated with the military and exploration tracks uncontested.
Thanks for the video. I won my first game of Tapestry using this strategy, but the win is probably due more to opponent mistake than my play. I was dealt The Chosen and Craftsmen at the start. I could tell The Chosen was bad from your video but Craftsmen weren't included, so I picked them. They were useless until the very end when I had one extra building that wasn't going to complete a row/column in my capital (I had 8 sectors full). I only scored 175 points total (my highest yet), but it was enough to win.
Thanks for trying out the strategy! That would be a tough draw for civilizations, but the Craftsmen would give you access to resources so I guess they would be the logical choice. Of course I'm with you on putting the buildings into your capital city for the points/resources there rather than on the civ mat. Last time I checked the update for 'The Chosen' says "When starting the game with this civ gain 15 VP per opponent." Maybe it would be worth it just for the extra points! Great job filling 8 sectors.
I did this strategy again, and scores 315. I had the Entertainers and filled my capital completely (left one farm on my board). I'm still a little lost about what to do after I finish the tech and science. I pushed up the military track, but I wasn't sure why other than getting my columns onto the board. I went up exploration enough to get my farms offs, but by using Anasthesia tech, I already had all my Armories off, so I wasn't sure why I was pushing up Military.
This is a great strategy! However, it's not infallible. You might: (1) be 'not first' to go up tech, (2) Forge-sniped by a six-resource-starting civ (Traders, Alchemists), or by Leaders, (3)dealt two bad-for-this-strategy civs (i.e. The Chosen, or worst of all, The Craftsmen), (4) Rubber Factory-sniped by Dystopia, (5) outscored by other players leaning into great Tapestry card combos. Any ideas on either how to counter these potential setbacks, or alternate strategies?
Great analysis! These would certainly decrease the profitability of this strategy but here are some considerations for each situation. (1. Not first to go up tech.) Advance to the first tech space for the tech card. Then, if the opponent continues up tech, switch to science and play the strategy in the reverse order so that you gain the early tier science buildings instead. (2. Forge-sniped by a six resource civ) The forge is not as critical as the rubber factory, but with the head start they may take that as well. You could try the science track as mentioned above or favor the landmark tech cards to fill out your capital city. (3. Bad deal on civs.) [Aside: You're totally right about the Craftsmen being bad for this strategy and I missed that when I sorted them in the video.] With only (now) 12 of the 26 civs being bad (14/31 with the Arts and Architecture expansion) there is a 78.7% chance that one of your two civs is good. If not, then you find a strategy that closely matches your civ (military for militants, etc.) or you work this strategy without the advantage of additional resources/victory points. (4. Rubber factory-sniped by Dystopia) This is a real fear for this strategy, but you'd be surprised at how little of a temptation it is for opponents. Most players strategies favor cards with on-going abilities or immediate resources, so, given the choice, 'Dystopia' isn't as tempting to them as it is detrimental to you. It may also cost them points to move away from their other tapestry cards if they're doing it just for spite. In the end you forge on, favor landmark tech cards, and take a few less points on your capital city. (5. Outscored by other player's tapestry card combos.) This is what elite players do. They can read their civ and the cards they are dealt and adapt. You'll have to become one of them to beat them, or just tip your hat to them. Thanks for the breakdown. Hope that helps! Let me know how it works if you try it.
@@wingames9172 Another problem is when playing against futurists. A decent player (doesn't need to be elite) who understands the value of the tech/science combo will steal all four critical landmarks on both tracks, making it impossible to recover from. Even if you get the other landmarks from tech cards it's too much to upgrade all of them to for your mat. Also, the first upgrades are always points so you miss out on resources or buildings which are critical to this strategy. In general it does work, and I've scored 462 at one point and regularly hit the 300's when I'm playing well, but I can't seem to beat futurists favoring the tech/science track (no matter which order they preference since they can toggle back and forth to always maintain the lead). My only hope is to get dystopia or marriage of state followed by espionage.
@@coreyschumacher4245 True. That might be a good time to take a different track. The irony is that if you go military/exploration you have a better shot at the landmarks (if the futurists have gone tech/science) but you don’t get very many capital city points because you don’t have a good way to get the gray houses off your income mat. Those tracks do offer more points, so hopefully clever play can make up the difference. As much as I don’t like to play against the futurists, I am even less likely to choose them as a civilization. Missing out on all of the low-cost income buildings is too much for me.
I like this strategy video, but I am trying to figure how it integrates with some of the ‘racing down the track’ type things where a veteran player knows a lot of the tricks and just out pushes you
Hey everyone, so i bought this game when it came out... Now If i buy Tapestry: Fantasies & Futures Expansion do I still need to buy the Revised Civ Pack or is there an expansion that will revise it all for me? I just dont want to buy something that I don't need...
Based in the website description the revised civ pack adjusts the civs from the base game and the first two expansions (‘Plans and Ploys’ and ‘Arts and Architecture’). If you buy fantasies and futures (the 3rd and final expansion), you will get new sieves that do not have/need revisions. If you did not want to buy the revised civ pack, you could look up the civ adjustments and pencil them in on your current civs.
Should you always do the tech strategy? Is there really no other strategy that is simillar in order to win? (I dont like the idea of having 1 clear BEST strategy over others). Also, if another player is doing the same thing, and went before me, what should I do? Should I continue with the tech strategy, or should I move to anohter one?
This is just a starting point for strategy, and another player doing it first is certainly it's weakness. As always, the real solution is understanding your starting civilization and tapestry cards, and maxing them out. It's also helpful when you know which direction other players are going to choose a track where they aren't and avoid the competition. The goal of this video was to give intermediate players a civ-independent strategy and a set of steps to get you past the 250 point mark. It's also useful as an 'automated opponent' if your trying to refine your game skills, or only have 2 players and want a 3-player game.
There's a lot I like about this analysis. But I've tried to avoid the tech track strategy so I'm going to stop watching if only to not over-influence me. But other than that this video is great and I want to see more like it.
so far with this strategy I'm stuck at about 180 points. Most games even lower, at about 175. sometimes you're doing stuff in the video I don't understand cause you don't explain what youre doing or where points come from. But I don't own the expansion. Also I couldn't get to rubber with the science die unfortunately... Had to enter the last era way sooner than you. At 19:58 there were some neutral civilisations which I couldnt see cause they were beneath others. question: Which resources do you choose for being first in a new era? I guess only Workers and Money?
Thanks for trying it! Sorry it didn't work out as advertised. You're right about the covered civilizations at 19:58 and I made the video so long ago I don't remember what they are, but the principle of choosing a civilization that works well with tech, capital city coverage, or resources should help in the decision process. Workers and Money would definitely be the priority when gaining resources and what track you're about to advance on would dictate which. I'm sorry the points were hard to follow but I'd be glad to explain (or own my mistakes!) if you can tell which parts were unclear. Thanks again for giving it a try.
@@wingames9172 Yes. The same space can’t be activated more than once during your turn. This has been changed retroactively with arts & architecture if I remember correctly.
It is a trademark poker six deck card shuffler. They should cost around $15. I originally got it for Wingspan as it can shuffle all of the Bird cards plus one expansion at once.
@@SaschaKleiber Not as well. I just gave it a try with a 30 card deck and it draws them in from the sides, but the center column is narrow so the cards have to tilt slightly to stack so they get a little stuck.
I was trying this strategy and a funny thing happened. While moving on the tech track, twice different players played Tapestry cards or rolled the science die, that moved me an extra step. I gained the rubber works but not the Tech cards because of this. I'm not giving up on this strategy yet, but will try again.
Interesting! Did they play tech cards or tapestry cards? One word I always look for is 'may'. If the card says 'opponents may advance on a track,' you have the option to stay where you are.
@@wingames9172 it was the Age of Discovery Tapestry Card twice (the second time using a token on "Heralds" civilization). So I did not gain the tech cards twice (I was at the 3rd and 6th position respectively).
@@wingames9172 one of the players, played Tapestry card "Age of Discovery" and another player had a civilization benefit that allowed him to use any opponent's Tapestry card. I would gain no benefit/bonus on either of these moves.
@@wingames9172 One of the opponents played Age of Discovery Tapestry Card and another used their civilisation bonus to replay this card. I was at Tech/3 and Tech/6 when both these chances were played and it forced me to move ahead without getting benefits and bonus. I still finished the game at 246, which is not bad. Thanks to you!
Followed this strategy, got 280 points, my highest ever. The problem is that another guy doing the same got 290 and a third dude doing military and exploration got 300 and i have absolutely no idea how he did it.
1) Get more workers. 2) Get more workers. 3) GET MORE WORKERS If you are in a 4 player game and you are not one of the first two people to get an extra person, I'd rate your chance of winning at about zero. Worker track isn't out yet? Set up for getting out your houses then.
You are likely correct. It is puzzle-y and definitely leans more towards resource management than heavy player interaction. I would note that the conquering and exploration tiles were definitely downplayed in this video and, if you go that route, they can add a bit more intrigue, but Tapestry has a steep learning curve are requires some time investment so if your instincts say 'steer clear' you should probably listen to them. Thanks for watching!
