Tips & Strategies (6)
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Glory to Rome - Tips & Strategies

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Tips & Strategies (6)

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6
I play orange
Miniature Painter
Veteran Grader
Intermediate Reviewer
Magno {Power Gamer}
Apr 10th, 2012| Tip
49 of 52 gamers found this helpful
“Build yellow or brown building for new players”

If playing this game for the first time or teaching it to new players, advise them that one of the first things they should really focus on, even if its for the whole game, is to build a yellow or brown building.
They require the least amount of materials, it will teach them the ropes of the roles-to-material-to-building mechanic and once they have that coin of a completed building, they can start opening up their strategy more.

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10
United Kingdom
Professional Reviewer
Crab Clan - Legend of the Five Rings
Book Lover
pookie {Avid Gamer}
Dec 3rd, 2012| Tip
48 of 51 gamers found this helpful
“First Time Play Handicap”

Playing Glory to Rome for the first time can be a daunting prospect, and against others who have played before, new players will be at a disadvantage. To handicap experienced players against those who have never played, give the new players a free Client to get them started.

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4
I'm a Real Player!
Cooperative Game Explorer
ThreeCubed {Avid Gamer}
Jan 20th, 2013| Rule
48 of 52 gamers found this helpful
“A little discarding....”

This is a little house rule we use, which is a basic space saver. Once a building is completed, we tend to ditch the ‘materials’ so that there are not to many cards under our player board. Makes the game a little more manageable (especially if you are using deck protectors). Just be sure not to do this for buildings such as ‘statues’ where you may need to refer to the materials.
Also, sometimes we choose not to say ‘Glory To Rome’, instead choosing to swear at Rome. I’m sure that I do not need to give an example here and that you can use you imagination to come up with your own abusive catchphrase. 😉

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10
Critic - Level 5
Professional Advisor
Expert Reviewer
Marquis / Marchioness
Andy {Avid Gamer}
Feb 10th, 2015| Tip
35 of 38 gamers found this helpful
“Warn New Players This Game Can Be Broken”

Glory to Rome can be a lot of fun, and some of that fun revolves around amassing combinations of cards that can be quite powerful. Experienced players can focus on such combos (see orions tip below). Sometimes, these combos will occur without great planning, especially for new players that are just trying to play cards from their hand.

I highly advise warning new players that Glory to Rome has the ability to be broken, with one (or possibly two) players completely running away with a game. I have one friend who refuses to play this game with me any longer (even though she quite enjoys it) because each game I played with her happened to end this way. Experienced players can play to avoid these situations, but it can really sour a new player’s experience to sit through a game where one player draws through half the deck before doubling the score of everyone else combined.

I don’t believe this should stop people from teaching or learning to play Glory to Rome, nor would I call for imbalances to be corrected. Giving a warning that it could happen helps set expectations, and even excite some new players to try and break the game themselves.

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10
Critic - Level 5
Professional Advisor
Expert Reviewer
Marquis / Marchioness
Andy {Avid Gamer}
Sep 20th, 2011| Tip
49 of 54 gamers found this helpful
“Common Legionary mistakes to watch out for”

When playing the Legionary (red) role, there are a few mistakes I have seen occur regularly. Keep these things in mind when playing, and you’ll hopefully avoid these errors.

Must demand a color that is in your hand

When a player leads (or follows) a Legionary action, they often will forget they must have one of the color cards they demand in their hand. You are not able to state a color card without currently holding one.

When showing the card, the rules are a little ambiguous. You show the entire card (including what type of building it is), not just the bottom portion showing the material.

Cards gained through Legionary go to your stockpile

Another common issue is putting the cards gained through the Legionary action into your hand. Playing Legionary sends cards to your stockpile to be used for building.

This is the basis for the rather odd rule that you place your hand of cards face down on the Legionary mat while showing the card in your hand. The goal is to avoid having the cards you gain from neighbors go into your hand.

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6
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester
Poland
Petroglyph
orions {Avid Gamer}
Feb 11th, 2012| Strategy
49 of 54 gamers found this helpful
“Watch out for combos”

Combos are basically a good thing – unless you focus on them too much. Many people make the mistake of focusing on one card combination which lets them do a specific thing very well, often forgetting that it might not relate directly to their score in the game.

A very good example of this in Glory to Rome are the cards which augment the Patron actions (one card lets you place an additional client from your hand and the other card lets you place an additional client from the deck). You might aim for this combo thinking that the ability to add 3 clients per patron action is very powerful. It is, but note that it does not score you any points directly. It might let you score points faster later on. Now consider your opponent who goes straight for the point racking strategy (Traders for example), gets 15-20 points and ends the game (by building Catacombs for example). You are left with 20 clients (very powerful engine) and… 10 points.

Moral of the story – don’t get enticed with combos which look great if they don’t let you score directly. Consider them, but be careful.

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