Border Reivers Strategy Guide
Here's an introduction to strategies that can help you win a game of Border Reivers, which you decide to use depends a lot on circumstance, and the way you like to play.
Placement of Forests, Mountains and Mines (Advanced set-up rules)
If you play the advanced set-up rules (which is really recommended after your first couple of games) then it is important to remember during the placement that which starting position is yours is not decided yet, so don't place the forests, mountains and mines to strongly favour one starting position, as you don't want to give that advantage to your opponent. Generally it's a good idea to place the mine somwhere central to avoid a big advantage to one player. You can place the forests and mountains defensively or out of the way if you prefer a more open game.
Cultivation
Ideally you want to cultivate the route between your first city and your fortifications, other settlements and the mine. If you intend to attack an opponent later then cultivating the no-mans land between you can mean the difference between reaching them and not. If you've got an inconveniently placed forest in your territory remember that you can cultivate it all the way down to a cultivated plains tiles, which will make movement much faster through it.
Movement
In the early stages of the game it is important to move into position to claim the part of the board you want to defend. Your goals at the beginning are to race to your borders to build fortifications to defend your territory, and to get to the mine if you want to gain the monetary advantage, or fight for it. Leaving people behind to defend your cities is important, especially if your opponent has a card in their hand (it could be a Reiving Party or Insurrection), and leaving an army or two to cultivate also is advantageous.
Mining
Whether or not to contest the mine is an important decision. It can require far more armies to defend than you initially expect, as the income advantage it gives often tempts people into attacking it. If you do decide to try to claim it, defend it with two or more armies to reduce the risk of Ambush attacks.
Fortification
Fortifying your borders with towers and castles is an important part of the early game, as you want to stake a claim to an area of the map (possibly including the mine), and to put a buffer zone between your cities an your opponents. Towers are good, but for the cost of moving an additional army into the tile, a castle is much better. A castle defended by two armies is a very strong defence, with four attacking armies needed to just get even odds in a fight.
Building Cities
Each city you control provides you with three income every turn, but it requires three armies to create - possibly leaving you weak in defence. You can gain the same income by building three towns (which also requires three armies), but the big difference is that a city gets you two extra reinforcements rolls, each with a 10% chance of getting a reinforcement. Guildhouses and Training Camp cards provide an alternative route to the extra rolls - without sacrificing armies.
Reinforcements Spending
Generally I spend all my money for the first half of the game trying to build up a strong defence before saving up for an economic victory. In a 2-player game a military victory is more likely, so ensuring you have enough armies to defend yourself is important. I favour cards slightly over armies in general, but if my opponent has more armies than me, or I need to get the mine off them, I will spend on armies instead.
Combat
Combat in Border Reivers is particularly bloody - in a straight fight the most likely outcome is that both players suffer heavy losses. Each round of combat has the potential of killing 1 or 2 armies from one side, 1 from each or none, so attacking or defending with two armies or less can make for a very short fight. To improve you chances of winning your best bet is to defend castles or attack with significant weight of numbers (outnumbering your opponent by two to one or more). When defending bear in mind that you can retreat to any empty territory adjacent to the one in which your were attacked - a sneaky move behind enemy lines can be a nasty shock!
Cards
The cards in Border Reivers are often underrated, but can be exceptionally powerful used in the right way.
Ambush
This card only affects armies in a tile where there is no town, city, tower or castle -
i.e. an empty tile. This makes it most effective at the beginning of the game when people
are cultivating tiles, and as a surprise attack on a defended mine, to give you an
unexpected advantage. Ambush is one of the cards that if you succeed you get to keep the
card, which can make it very powerful with a little luck. To counteract it your best bet
is always keep your armies in pairs, but that will slow you down a lot at the beginning
of the game.
Guildhouses
Guildhouses allows you get an extra reinforcements roll for a city. This allows you an
extra 10% chance of getting a card every turn, and in addition gives you the possibility
of getting two cards in a single turn. If you're playing a cards based strategy this is
a good card to have, and the earlier you get it the more benefit you get. To counteract
it you'll need a Saboteurs.
Insurrection
Possibly the most powerful card, this card can win a game in the early stages or
seriously hamper a player later on. It allows you to attack a city or town with a
temporary army from out of nowhere. Since a successful attack on a city allows you to
steal 6 gold from an opponent and will limit their ability to get reinforcements (if you
don't have any cities you don't get to roll for reinforcements), this can be very
dangerous. Can also be used before attacking, to give you an extra army when attacking a
city. The best defence is to keep an army in your cities and towns or get a Militia card
for defence.
Market
A simple card and a good one. It's one extra gold a turn, the equivalent of a new town,
without the loss of an army. This money can be used for card or army reinforcements, and
also towards winning the game by getting 40 gold - very versatile. To counteract it
you'll need a Saboteurs.
Militia
Another very useful card. Allows you to get a temporary army to defend your cities or
towns - since it can be used anywhere, and if you succeed you get to keep it, it's a
very powerful card. When defending a city that's unprotected against an Insurrection it
gives you a +2 bonus, significantly reducing the chance that you'll lose 6 gold and your
city, and it gives towns a chance to fight back.
Reiving Party
This is another card that you can keep if it survives the turn. It allows you to steal
3 (or 4 with a market) from an opponent for a net gain of 6 (or 8) gold, a significant
reverse in the early stages of a game, and it can delay (or even prevent) a player
winning by cash. Since it can only be defended by real armies, the Militia and the city
itself are useless against this, which means it can also be used to draw an opponent's
armies back from the front, or to force them to spend heavily to buy an army to defend.
The best defence against this is to keep armies in your cities.
Saboteurs
Used to destroy an opponent's building.
Siege Engines
Used to reduce an opponent's bonus when attacking a fortified position, or to defend
against an opponent playing Siege Engines on you.
Spies
Used to determine what an opponent is intending to do to you, and prevent them playing
that card. It needs to be bought in advance, as it cannot be used the turn it is
collected. Can also be used to defend against an opponent's Spies.
Training Camp
Training Camp allows you get an extra reinforcements roll for a city. This allows you an
extra 10% chance of getting an army every turn, and in addition gives you the possibility
of getting two armies in a single turn. Since armies are used for defence and building
cities this is a good card to have, and the earlier you get it the more benefit you get.
To counteract it you'll need a Saboteurs.