by Pum_
CarlG wrote:
I am all for efficency and using the buildings to get other tiles. But there is just too many points to be had in the pastures to avoid animals.
Yes, but Animals only provide VP, and the same amount of VP whether you place them early or late in the game - they give you virtually no advantage during the game, so why use early moves to place them? If you're playing on a board with many small pastures, then the bonus for completing in an early phase perhaps make it worth doing - I don't think I've been in this position to test this idea. With a large pasture, I try to complete it as late in the game as possible. Obviously, I have to take the occasional Animal from the early/middle game, but the very minimum I can.
By contrast, Castles and Buildings help you during the game, and often it is the case that the earlier that help is gained, the more powerful it is. For example, placing a Castle to take another Castle from the board, puts me a move closer to filling my Castle region for the first bonus than my opponent who has not used a bonus action. Earlier in the game is more likely to secure me the bonus before anyone else - later in the game I've probably already missed out.
Of course, the other side of the coin is that I suspect placing Castles and Buildings can be very useful during the last phase, when you can't roll the numbers you need. So again, I think there are a variety of tactical approaches.