The Grand Melee - Politics of the Chamber

Hello readers! Welcome to this special instalment of the Grand Melee! To celebrate the official opening of the Small Council here on CardGameDB, we have a special theme running through this week. Appropriately, our first theme is The Small Council itself. Not only is the Small Council at the heart of westerosi politics, it also lies at the heart of every melee game. In game terms, it is represented by the Melee Titles. I have mentioned before that these are very important in Melee, but today I will dig a bit deeper into this subject.

Politics of the Chamber:

The four inner members of the Council (Hand of the King, Master of Coin, Master of Laws and Master of Whipsers) all vie for influence within the council chamber and oppose each others schemes in the Realms politics as much as working with each. This is pictured in game terms by the opposition and support rules. While this concept is a the heart of melee games I find this easy to overlook. I've seen many games where the leader gets away with the win because he chose his support wisely. There are two sides to this coin, choosing who you support and choosing who supports you. The person supporting you will not be able to attack you. Full stop. Want to keep your hand full of cards against the Lannister player? Make sure he supports you, simple. Choosing who you support is trickier and possibly less important. What can you do for the person you support? You can defend an unnoposed challenge for them... That doesn't sounds so great. However it can help as while they have to satify claim you are considered the winner or loser of that challenge. This could be handy for effect such as Red Vengeance (PotS) or Superior Claim (KotStorm).

Opposition is much more straightforward. Win a challenge against the Title you oppose, claim a power counter. Simple. There are however cards in the last cycle of chapter packs that directly key off opposition, such as Arya Stark (TftH) making this choice a bit more important. Who you oppose can also be important in the deals you cut at the table. Opposing the leader will probably go down better than opposing the last.

The last two members of the Small Council (Crown Regent and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) are usually less involved in Council meetings, explaining the lack of support and opposition. They can however have a drastic effect on the challenge phase. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard can redirect towards him a military challenge, something which is highly desirable if you are running the The Siege of Winterfell (LoW) agenda. Especially with the added military strength. Of course this effect is also achievable if you defend your support, but it's harder to plan. The Crown Regent can redirect a single challenge directed at him. Aimed correctly this can force the attacking player unto a single target if one he supports one of the two remaining players. These two tiltes also don't have any supports. While this means everybody can attack you, remember it means you can attack everyone as well, making picking easy challenges easier.

Finally, some Titles provide static strength bonuses. These can be used to defend with 0-STR characters, such as Shadow Parasite (HtS) as well as providing bonuses for effects keying of STR, like Assertion of Might (KotS). Also the more devious of you will use Myrcella Lannister (ODG) to maximum effect with these.

Members of the Chamber:

In G.R.R.Martin's novels, the Small Council is a constantly evolving entity, with members nominated and "removed" at the whim at the monarch. But some members of the Small Council remain in place longer than others and leave a bigger mark on the politics of the Realm. Nobody is really sure what Auranne Waters did, but everybody knows Littlefinger and Lord Varys. Both Lord Baelish and the Eunuch have become masters of politics and have survived many intrigues to stay in power. Both in different ways. I propose here that both Littlefinger and Varys become types of melee players as much as Jaime, Ned and Shagga are Joust players.

Of course, the Ned, Jaime and Shagga attitude is a reflection of deckbuilding which is also present in Melee, so how could Varys and Littlefinger be different. The main difference they present in the novels are they methods of furthering their goals. While Littlefinger uses information to stay ahead of everybody and alters his plans accordingly, Varys uses the same information to play is opponent's against each other. Both these strategies are applicable in a melee game. I am not suggesting you should open a brothel or use children as informants as all the information you need is on display on the table. But table-talk can allow you to reproduce these strategies. Convincing two players you are afraid of to attack each other Varys-style can bring you closer to victory and help defend yourself if you are in a winning situation. You can also acheive this result by careful analysis of support and oppositon like Petyr would do.

I will not go into to much detail about table-talk here as I have debated the issue in a previous article, but I strongly encourage you to use the information you have to you advantage, however you want to do it. Of course, having means to back up your threats or offers will go a long way towards this, such as Bear Island (AE).

Knowledge is Power:

Both Varys and Littlefinger have access to the same information as the other players, as it is freely available. There is one area though that will be hidden to you most of times. Other player's hands. Getting that knowledge can get you ALOT of leverage around the table. There are a few ways to tap that knowledge, such as Confession (KotS) or Ghost of High Heart (WLL). Wheter you reveal that information is up to you and can even be part of a deal.

The rules state that you are not allowed to show you hand to other players, but sometimes it might be desirable to do so. The psychological effect of revealing The Viper's Rage (TftRK) can be devastating as no players will want to be on the receiveing end. You can acheive this by recycling them from the discard pile or with effects such as
House Messenger (PotS) if you are lucky.

Leaving the Chamber:

That's it for today. I warned you it would be something a bit different, but I hope it as stirred ideas for your next Melee game. Who will you be? Will your time at the Council be remembered or will you end up another Mathis Rowan? See you next week when I will continue my round-up of the House of Westeros with House Greyjoy.