Dogs of War: Tips and Tricks I

Dogs of war is a worker placement game with a tug-of-war mechanic.

As mercenary grand-captains, you can send your captains to the house you want to support....or not, and let the house fall.

You can also support other players....or not, and come in the way.

Typically, you'd support the most valuable house, but consistently betting on the weakest house, might tilt the odds in your favor later in the game, as the value of the house could rise.

By then, everyone would have been logical and bet on the profitable houses.

But maybe you will get lucky like Varadha in Salaar, and find a Deva.

For the rest of us....

There are 4 types of units you can buy.

I will explain the 4 units, before getting to the tips I have for one of them.

Footman

Easy to buy, easy to use - don't be surprised if you lose.

Costs 1 gold, and pushes the tug of war in your favor by +1. It's the cheapest, and most basic unit.

To participate in a battle, you need at least one of this, so it's a minimum bet.

Combined with some tactic cards, a +1 power, can become +3, or give you 3 gold.

Once one side reaches 15 points, should the battle end that way, the winning house gains +2 value per share, instead of just +1 for a normal win.

In these cases, putting one footman on the opposite side brings that house down by a peg.

This is like the pawn in chess.

Arquebuser

I believe these were the older musketeers - big and loud.

They cost 2 gold, and provide +3 power on the side you choose to support.

It's a big upgrade from footmen, especially considering the 2 gold, 3 power: it's a 2:3 ratio.

This is like the bishop.

Knight

A knight in time, is welcome, but costs a dime

A Knight costs 3 gold, and provides +5 power.

Combined with the right tactic card, they can pack a lance punch, or equal 2 footmen and an Arquebuser.

You are only given 3 gold per round though, except for the first, where you get 8 gold.

Unless you save well, or earn money in earlier battles, it's difficult to buy these.

This is like the.....knight, in chess.

Warmachine

He brought a knife, Sean Connery brought a gun, and so my mom comes in a tank.

These cost 4 gold, and +7 power .

A 4:7 ratio.

Or, put another way:

1. 7 footmen (7 gold, 7 turns) +7 power
2. 2 arquebuser and 1 footman (5 gold, 3 turns) +7 power
3. 1 knight and 1 arquebuser (5 gold, 2 turns) +8 power.

This is like the.....queen, in chess.

Tip #1 - Warmachine.

2 knights cost 6 gold, and gives you +10 power.

A war machine costs only 4 gold; but gives +7 power.

You have 8 gold, after fighting hard for 3 years, and saving everything you can.

It's the last round.

The million dollar, 8-gold question - Do you buy 2 knights, and 2 footmen?

Or a war machine, and 2 arquebusers?

A player* fielded between 3 to 4 war machines in a game, on the last round, in 1 battle.

That's enough power to win the battle, twice over - almost 28 points.

That is, if you play 2 warmachines and bring a house to 14 points, so close to a glorious victory, and 2 other players come in your way, and bring the war to almost 0, 2 more warmachines can bring everything back to the player's favor again.

Jaw dropping as it is, there's one problem - you don't need to win the battle twice - just once is enough.

The genius in using the warmachine, is not in it's power - it's in the tempo efficiency,

A footman costs 1 Gold, gives +1 power, and takes 1 turn.

2 knights costs 6 gold, gives 5 power - per turn, for 2 turns.

A warmachine does this in one - 4 gold, 1 turn: +7 power.

Based on how the battles are going, generally, here are some ideas on how to use warmachines in Dogs of War, including what that player* did:

1. Bluff - The Art of War: no one can be 100% sure if you have a war machine or not, to begin with.
   1. You might spend that money, on an arquebuser, and a footman. So, keep that in mind when you read these.
   2. Or you can buy a warmachine, and not use it at all.
   3. Sometimes, you can buy cheaper units, and buy a warmachine during the year, if needed*.
   4. If you have opportunism, you can get 2 warmachines for the price of a knight, block a house's progress, and bluff well*, and pick any one of the below tips.
2. Opener - BAM!: Send a strong signal that you're interested in a house, on turn 1.
3. Opener - For the right price: Telegraph (2), and then switch to another battle, and come back, maybe.
4. Mid game - For our house: Rally for mutual support. If you suspect people will come in and steal the glory by fighting next to you, providing a warmachine and leaving spaces open can provide great incentives to others. However, this relies on you not telegraphing this at all.
5. Mid game - No, not anymore: Deter a house from ever coming back. Just like how +7 is awesome, -7 for your opponent is very, very sad.
6. Mid game - WAR!!!: This is what that player* did - a pure, unadulterated slug fest of warmachines against knights, footmen, and warmachines. It's difficult to fight such firepower, and requires a lot of commitment from others. If you think using 3 warmachines is sad, imagine spending 2 and still losing to them*.
7. Support - The war machines are here!: Pitch to a losing battle, that already has at least an arquebuser. The minimum effect is +10, two-thirds the way to a glorious victory at 15 points.
   1. If an ally has a footman there, this house gets +8
   2. If you expect an ally to play a knight, and you already put an arquebuser prior, this house will get +15....If he plays the knight later.
8. Closer - Tides of war: In the last few turns, players tend to be losing, reevaluating their position, and in general, despairing a lot. An unexpected -7 can really hurt, charlie**.
9. Closer - Remember the Name: Save your warmachine for the very last thing you will do, and everyone will remember your name.
   1. Tactics like temporize, which will make you skip a turn initially, will in most cases give you lots of control on which side wins, and which side loses.
   2. Even without tactics, this play can clinch a glorious victory that just needs 4+ points.
   3. But it can also swing a battle you don't care about at all completely in your favor.
   4. You can even contribute to a losing side, and bring the score to 0, making sure no one benefits.
   5. Dogs of War is semi-cooperative, so sometimes you gain more by winning little, and hurting a lot.
   6. Either way, it's very difficult to counter a -7, unless your opponents have 2 turns to act, or they planned ahead of time.

Looking at BAM!, For the right price, Tides of War, and Remember the Name, I see the value of warmachines as being criminally underrated.

These units are tempo killers, that stop your opponent dead in their tracks.

They give a challenge of kings, queens, and generals, by asking a question only silence can answer.

Or, as the novel by Joe Abercrombie quotes well.....

Ultima Ratio Regum.

Further Reading

I really liked this article on dice efficiency in the game Ashes: Reborn.

Combined with this article on click decompression, and the concept of centipawn in chess, my design of board games, and my abilities as a player have improved a lot by reading these concepts.

Thanks for writing those articles!

Footnotes

*Amma

**For the new generation, our memes were more cute than funny.

I design board games, and have a demo ready on tabletopia.

If you are interested in a pitch, send me a message on LinkedIn, or reach out via email.

Thanks!