Thurn and Taxis basic strategy

Introduction

• Don't waste actions!
• This is a game of efficiency as well as being a spatially-oriented game.  Yes, you have to understand what moves you can do, but you also have to do it more efficiently than your opponents with a limited, pool of resources.  Your opponents want these same resources.
• While you are playing cards on one route, you should be collecting the 3 cards you will keep in your hand to start your next route.
• Sometimes those 3 cards you keep in your hand for you next route should be geographically split to improve your chances of picking up cards for your next route.  For example, if you keep 3 cards for cities on one side of the map and the available cards to choose from are all on the other side of the map you may find building a long route difficult.

Overall structure of Thurn and Taxis

• There are 3 cards for every city on the map (22 cities) for a total of 66 cards (3x22=66 cards).  The discard pile is facedown on BGA and you cannot see how many cards are in your opponents' hands on BGA either.
• The discard pile is shuffled to become the new draw deck when the deck runs out and a new card is required.
• 3 actions per turn.
•  1 pickup (mandatory),
•  1 play (mandatory),
•  1 bonus (you choose 1 of 4 bonus actions each turn).
• Plan your bonus action before you take any part of your turn.
• Stop and think after each part of your turn.  If the scenario changes after you pick up your first card, you need to reassess your best move for the rest of your turn.  Often this means re-aligning your whole strategy, so don't rush blindly into the move you first thought of.  Many times there will be a better move available.
• There are 2 ways to trigger the end of the game.  Either by completing your 7 carriage or by running out of all your houses.  Note that you only have 20 houses, but there are 22 cities on the map.

Initial objectives

• To start with you have no cards.  You have to build your hand of cards from scratch.  The cards you pick up initially should be cards that  give you the most chance of being able to add to them on following turns.  So don't waste your first turn.
• How fast can you get to your next carriage?
• You could, for example on turn 1,draw 2 cards, play 1, then on turn 2, draw 1, play 2, and place 3 houses.
• However, this leaves you in the same precarious position as the start of the game with no cards at all.  This is too risky.
• A better opening is to on turn 1, draw 2, play 1; on turn 2, draw 2, play 1; on turn 3, draw 2 play 1, and place houses on 3 cities, earning carriage 3.  This should leave you with a nest egg of 3 cards which, if you have chosen them contiguously, can be used to get your second route (carriage 4) in 2 more turns.  On turn 4, draw 1, play 2; on turn 5, draw 1, play 1, place 3 houses with the cartwright, earning carriage 4.  There are similar patterns for the remaining carriages.  Carriage 5 could be play 2, play 1 with cartwright.  Carriage 6 could be played as 1, 2, 1 (or 2, 1, 1) cards plus the cartwright.  Carriage 7 could be played 2, 2, 1 plus cartwright.  If you are not playing these efficient turns, know that your opponents are and will beat you.

Planning for efficiency

You have 3 actions each turn.  One of these is a bonus action.

• Normally you will pick up 2 cards (postmaster) and play one, like on the first turn, or pick up 1 card and play 2 cards (postal carrier).  If you choose one of the other bonuses (administrator or cartwright), while useful at times, you waste an action which could have been used to pickup or play an extra card.

Other inefficiencies, or ways you throw away actions:

• when you have to discard any cards.  After you place houses on a route, you have to discard down to 3 cards in your hand.
• when you have to discard a route.  If you play a card that does not go on the end of your route, you must discard the other cards in the route.  You cannot add a card to the middle of a route.  It must go on one end or the other.
• when you build a route through a city where you already have a house.  You can't put a second house in a city.
• when you have to build fewer houses than the number of cards you play.  Some card combinations are less efficient.  Remember, you can only place houses on cities of the same one colour or one house on each different colour.
• when you pick up a card you don't need.  Perhaps you pick up a random card off the deck, perhaps you are trying to get in the way of your opponents, or perhaps you just weren't paying attention and choose a card you don't actually need.  Picking up random cards is less likely to earn you a card you need later in the game when you are trying to finish off your final routes.

Become aware of the most useful route combinations.  Some work well and some don't.

Think about which cards you will keep to start your next route.  Forward planning is important.  Factor in the likelihood of getting the cards you need to complete that route.  This will help you decide how to break up the cards you have into "this route" and "next route" cards.  For example, if 2 Lodz cards have already gone and you still have a long way before the end of the deck, planning to build there in the near future will likely cost you a lot of administrator actions as you search for this card.  Remember, every time you use the administrator, you lose an opportunity to pick up or play an additional card.

Keep track of vital cards

• What cards are most important?  This changes as the game progresses.  However, if you look at the map you will see that some cities have a lot of connections going into them and some have very few.  For example, you can only get to Lodz via Pilsen.  Also, some colours are only present on one city (Lodz, Sigmaringen, and Innsbruck).  If all of the cards for one colour that you need are exhausted, it may be quite some time before you see them again (when the deck gets reshuffled).  So it is often useful to pick up a vital card for later on, even if you don't need it now.  Conversely, and playing aggressively, if the last vital card for an opponent appears, it may slow them down to get rid of it before they can make use of it, either by using your bonus administrator action to flush the 6 visible cards or by picking up the card yourself.

End game concerns

• Know how the game is scored - are you in front now or do you need to milk the game for points?

Two main styles of play - quiet builder vs in-their-face aggressive - which are you?

• Some players will attack by aggressively targeting one or more vital cards to deny you access to them.  Whether you intend to be that player or not you need to have a strategy when playing against someone who does that to you.  While this is a cruel strategy, it is also legal and a very effective way to cripple your opponents' games.  Many times, however, the card you are waiting for is simply just not coming to you, so you need to have alternative strategies in mind.  Most of the time the cards you need do not fall  neatly into your possession at the time you need them -- you have to work for them or adjust your strategy.  This is not just because someone is playing aggressively against you and it happens all the time.

Traps to avoid on BGA

• If your platform (such as a tablet or phone) does not show you on one screen all the information you need (the whole map, cards available to pick up, cards in your hand, cards played by each player, and stats) then seriously consider playing turn-based games only.  If you play in realtime, you will spend too much time scrolling up and down to be confident of playing your best move.  Players who can see the whole map and all the information without scrolling have a huge advantage.  At least in turn-based mode you have time to make your best move on BGA.
• Know what colour you are!  Even the best move you can make won't help you if you thought you were a different colour.
• Know which carriage number you are building towards and the most efficient pattern to achieve it.
• Are your opponents in front of you or behind you on game tempo?  If you are behind, you may need to take more risks or slow down your opponents.
• Particularly early on, but all the way through really, be aware of what your opponent is trying to achieve.  What cards do they need most?  Perhaps some of those could be better in your hand than theirs!
• If you have a clear path to winning the game, don't hesitate. Don't try to do something pretty or maximise points or interrupt opponents.  Just drive straight to the finish line!  Do not pass Go!  Do not collect $200!  Just do it!
• Don't play cruel just because you can.  That's nasty.  Do it for a reason.  Improve your position because you need a particular card and they threaten to take it first.  Perhaps, you can make it less likely that your opponent will be able to find a card they can add to their route and have to discard a route.  This is important if you are already behind, helpful if you are in front, and unnecessarily nasty if it doesn't really affect the game otherwise.  Don't be unnecessarily cruel.  Play nice.
• Don't feel you have to get the one-of-every-colour bonus.  Especially if the other player hasn't got it either.  Assess whether you really need it.  If you have enough points, you win, regardless of whether you get that bonus or not.
• Don't push hard for the Baiern (grey/brown cities) bonus.  If it comes to you anyway, sure, take it.  But it is a distraction, diverting you from a lot of other bonuses which you won't get because you put too much effort into this bonus.
• Don't start in the corner of the map (for example, Freiberg+Basel).  The odds of picking a third card are too unlikely and you could easily lose because you have to throw out this route.  When you discard a route, you waste 2 actions per card in that route - 1 when you picked the card up and 1 when you played it into your route.  Given that each turn has 3 actions, discarding a 2-card route costs 4 actions.  That's more than a whole turn!  Unless there are a lot of surrounding cards showing, it is better to pick a random card off the deck then matching it with another, hopefully central, card.  For example, Ingolstadt has a lot of connections into it.
• Be aware of what cards have already gone and as many of your opponents' cards as possible.  The more information you have, the better decisions you will make.  If an opponent is likely to pick up a particular card, consider getting it yourself both so you don't miss out on it, they do, at least temporarily since there are 3 of each card.
• A 2-player game rarely goes much longer than once through the deck so make sure you get those crucial cards you need.  Games with more players go 2 or more times through the deck, so you have many more opportunities to find a card you really need.
• If you find yourself often using the administrator to flush the deck, you may be too focussed on completing a route which is just not available.  Better to make routes from the cards that are available rather than hoping for a lucky draw.
• A very effective time to use the administrator is when there are very few cards left in the deck and you need a card which is still in the deck.  For example, with only 6 cards left in the deck, if only 2 Lodz cards have come out and no one has picked any cards off the deck, so you can be sure of this, using the administrator will deliver you that 3rd Lodz card.  Remember to be aware of what cards have gone.
• Don't wait until you are desperate for your next card. Use the administrator a turn or two earlier so you don't get caught out having to discard a route.
• Use good etiquette.  Always greet opponents cordially at the start and finish of each game.
• Beware of collecting cards for a really long route early in the game.  Prefer to split them in half.  You miss the route length points, but you can get them later.
• Keep up with the opponents' carriages.  This is for both points and game control.  The person closest to finishing their 7 carriage has control of the endgame and can force the opponents to complete a route before they have really finished what they were trying to do.
• Assume you need the one-of-every-colour bonus.  Be wary when an opponent takes any of the crucial cards you still need to complete your set, especially if they pick up a card you know they already have.  They may be trying to deny you access to this card.  Be very wary when they take a 2nd or 3rd of the same card.  This person is attacking your ability to score points.  Better to preempt such an attack and grab the vital cards you need before they have an opportunity to deny you access to them.  By the way, often you eventually need nearly all the cards!  However, remember that if they are picking up your cards, they are using precious actions which may not contribute to improving their own position.
• A strategy to prevent cards you need from being taken is to pick your second card from the deck, just in case a vital card was about to drop.  If your first draw was from the visible cards, you get a free look at the next card from the deck.  However, if you draw your second card from the visible cards, the next card on the deck is first available to your opponents.  You would be surprised how often your vital cards drop on the second draw of a turn.  Picking your second card off the deck ensures you have first dibs on it and not your opponents.  Obviously if your vital cards are already showing, you need to vacuum them up as soon as possible.
• Beware of filling up your hand though.  If you overfill your hand with cards, the excess above 3 must be discarded when you finally place houses on your route.  Remember, don't waste actions.
• Beware of playing all the cards from your hand.  When you have no cards in your hand, on your next turn you must use the Postmaster to pick up 2 cards.  This is a problem when you really want to flush the deck to search for a particular card or remove an opponent's vital card from the visible cards available.
• Beware of picking up every attractive card.  Yes, you need them all.  Yes, your opponent may take one of your vital cards.  However, it is important that you keep your game moving forward.  Overfilling you hand and wasting actions will slow your progress.  It is more important to keep your game progressing than to slow your opponent, unless you are significantly behind.  Any opponent following the advice above will still find a way to move their own game forward and you will have only wasted some of your own actions.
• When you are placing houses, if you have a choice between placing a house on one city or another, consider how many links there are to each city and place your house on the one which is harder to get to.  Later on in the game you may find it easier to get to the other city.  For example, place a house on Budweis rather than Linz, and  Carlsruhe rather than Freiberg.  This is only a general rule though.  For example if early in the deck all three Freiberg cards have gone, including the one in your current route, perhaps you might place a house on Freiberg first so that you may draw Carlsruhe later on.  These decisions depend on the current state of the game and are very subjective.  You can still miss out on drawing even the most likely card.  For example, say there are eight cards left in the deck and you need a specific one of them.  Even playing an administrator followed by a random deck draw does not guarantee you picking up the card you needed as it could be the last card in the deck.  Only a one in eight chance, but it happens a lot that searching heavily for a specific card can yield no result.
• Anyone wanting to play aggressively should consider picking up multiple Sigmaringen or Pilsen cards.  These can be used in several different route combinations and it really obstructs your opponents' ability to acquire the one-of-every-colour bonus.  To defend: Anyone playing against a player who plays aggressively like this should either deny access to some other vital card or totally ignore that bonus.  It is very satisfying to beat someone who plays aggressively against you!  And yes, it can be done.  Focus on what is possible, not on what is not.

Summary of the main ideas in this article

• Remember, the main strategy is to be efficient. Do not waste actions!
• There are other strategies that work and unusual scenarios that can't be covered in general advice. So be flexible. However, these ideas should help you be aware of many facets of Thurn and Taxis that you may or may not have mastered yet. I know I haven't mastered them either!

Best wishes for your continued improvement.

Geoff Macknish, Australia, 25th February, 2024.

(Former Thurn and Taxis Arena Champion)

good luck! xoxo