a very good point as well, maybe we can agree on that. You'll still need to type notes as to which of your pieces you know or think as exposed to the other side among other things, so it won't eliminate the notes, just the quantity.

well i think having the list is fine but only for pieces you have already identified. otherwise it eliminates the purpose of the spy. Which is used to identify pieces. i hate typing the stuff out as well.

I like that idea a lot. Room for everybody. The guys who like the added challenge of having to keep track can do so in Espionage and we can have our captured pieces list in Small or Fast (or whatever combo works). :-D

i know what you mean, nothingness, and I tried that..for about 5 moves. It just became too much like work and not enough fun. I appreciate your ability to do that and that's why you are one of the best players on this site. How about a compromise, Fencer. Could you show captured pieces for fast and/or small espionage, because people play those games usually to expedite the monotony of regular espionage games. Most of my games have taken close to 100 moves and haven't been fulfilling!

I agree with Thad - who wants to make notes?

But I don't want to track pieces and take notes and all that. Let the computer do it. I want to play games!! ;-)

ths is quite easy once you get the hang of it without having a piece captured section. If you use your spies, properly you can see the pieces otherwise this will never happen. you cant blindly throw pieces into the ? pieces or it really dont matter what your trying to track. your going to lose.you need to use them spys properly. they are your "EYES"! you have to learn how to use your notes. than you can put your captureed pieces there. so i track as follows: 1,2,5,3,2,sap,SPy, sap,4,4,1,1, etc etc. if i dont know what i captured i put a +3 or a ?....

LOL @ Thad begging, but I agree. I spent 3/4 of my first several games trying to figure out what pieces I lost. By the time I played my next move, I had forgotten the boards.

Fencer,

We NEED a captured pieces section. Giving us that information does not change the game. All it does is let the computer collect data for us that it already known. There is one for Chess & Pente, why not one for Espionage? Please, I am begging!!! ;-)

it takes 100s of games to get an accurate rating...

Brainking has a real rating system?
When you win/ lose games by going on holiday or your opponent disappears without trace after 3 moves?

Here a link: http://brainking.com/game/Tournaments?trg=6562&tri=24020&trnst=0

Fast Start - First 5 to sign - Fast Espionage #5 tournament

Brainking.. much better with no restrictions and they have a real ratings system! will be getting a membership in march.

IYT sucks in more ways than I can count.

I like itsyourturn.com better, too.

I joined both sites the same time and after playing on them for a month chose Its Your Turn. Personally I think they are both good sites with different strengths and weaknesses. I like the fact you can see who is on line at BrainKing and I find the grading systems an interesting gimmick. I however prefer the way the tournaments work on Its Your Turn and, for me at least, is a more robust site with less crashes.

I don’t like the rule on Brainking’s Espionage that allows backward then forward but not the other way around. This seems to penalise positive play. I prefer Its Your Turn’s approach that you cant go back where you came from at all.

Little Golem is a great little site as well but limited games.

I'm in. Here's a link.

the tourney is goign to be starting fairly soon. it for small espionage! sign up if you like.

LOL @ Bumble!

...and you shake it all about....

You can move back, then forward, just not forward then back.

i was playing the small version and i made what i thought was a good move. forcing a 5 back with my sapper whilr attacking another piece on the other side of the board. the only way that his 5 would escape was to move two pieces backwards, but he was able to mvoe the 5 forward again to the same position it had jsut moved from the last turn. you cannot do this move in the fast verion... only in the small verison??!?!?

lol, you'de better end up with a good rating now! :)

to find the better players go to the ratings link in the left menu ... in there click on the game type .. and pick the top players to challenge them

I endorse Thad's remarks about Its Your Turn - the site has become a joke - very disappointing in all respects - long live BRAINKING!!!!

Yeah but we've got weapons of mass destruction in our game.
No-one's found them yet though.

ItsYourTurn.com sucks. Their customer service is non-existant, their 'upgrades' are usually downgrades, etc. I have nothing nice to say about them or the guy, Patrick Chu, who owns the site. I hope they go out of business.

Hello, I am very new to this site and I am looking for players who are very good or better at Espionage since I was told that it is very similar to Stratego/Sabotage/Sabotage Rush. I consider myself to be very good at the game. I wish to play anyone who knows what one is doing in the game and will be a real challenge for me. :) I do not want to play those who are below very good since I can win easily against them. I hope to have some very good games in Espionage with very good or better opponents. :) If there are masters at the game, I would like to play them some games. :) You have to know your strategy and tactics if you play me. :) I am also on itsyourturn.com and playing Sabotage and Sabotage Rush. Sorry to say this, but if you are not very good, please do not challenge me.

I have 2 small espionage games and 2 fast espionage games waiting in the lobby... Please accept if you want a good challenge! :)

yup agreed.. volcanos change the game considerably . it would be a nice option...along with the unlimited side to side motion it will be interesting to see it on this site as well. as for 4 vs 5 i prefer to ahve the 4 but really it all depends upon the situation. and your playing style.

Some very good points here and Grenv's especially.

I would like to see a bigger board and without volcanoes. They are just too restricting.

4 vs. 5
Only time and experience will give you the indication of which are probably better; I certainly know which I prefer!

I think perhaps you are thinking about 5's incorrectly. They are strong, but they must be used defensively more than offensively. 4's are better offensively as you mentioned. Any 4 can attack literally any non-bomb piece if it is backed up by a sapper. Why? if the enemy 5 recaptures it, the sapper is there to take it off the board. teams of sapper + 4 and spy + 5 work well together, as the spy identifies the potential sappers lying in wait.

this is why so many people value their 4s to their 5s.. i prefer to trade off my 5s for my opponents 4s so that i dnt have to worry about sappers. to me 4s are = value to 5s... this also frees up my sappers that i dont have to waste on killing 5s...in a trade off. you cant beat an opp taht has his base surrounded with bombs if you have no sappers and its an even game.

*writing note to self* Self, keep a sapper for last! lol

Thad, if a mine would explode after anyone landed on it, then all you have to do is throw some poor 1's at them. The sapper gains value by being the only anti-mine piece. If you lose your sappers you must win every other piece and make the last move in order to win, so keep your sappers!

they have this feature on another site that i play a similar version of this game. There are good and bad things about this. it eliminates a BIG factor of the game and it woulde totally change the game. in the other game you play totally blind 100% no REoncs or SPys.. ande the gmae would become totally random, if anyone is interested in knowing that site.. www.deepmachines.com/bigbattle

I know that mines stay on the board unless removed by a sapper. But wouldn't the game be better if they were removed when any piece encounters one? In other words, if a piece (other than a sapper) steps on a mine, the piece is removed AND the mine is also removed. This would make the game more challenging. Also, the way it is now, if you lose all your sappers and your opponent has his HQ surrounded, you can't win.

I would like to see a SuperEspionage version. Combine a spy + sapper, which each player has one of. Combine a spy + 5, which each players one of.

Throw away two of the one's in exchange.

I like grenv's idea!

First with so few games completed, you will see the ratings do many funny things.

Second - When you win against lower ranked players, you rating may not change. Actually, with so few games complete, you could actually LOSE points when you win a game against a lower ranked player (But Fencer made it so you actually never lose points, even if the ratings formula says it should)

Third: You rating is also rounded/trunkated. So even though you think your rating has stayed at 1700, it may have actually been 1700.0, then 1700.2, then 1700.4

why is it that now that i am at 1700 rating points i cna go no higher even though i have won 2 games since i have been 1700...? what has to ahppen to get over 1700?

they are sorta symetrical as in shape...

Well, looks like we were wrong about our assumptions on volcano placement. I had thought that they were always placed symetrically with respect to your opponent. In other words, if you looked at the board upside down, the volcanos were in the same places. But that's not the case. Take a look at this board. The volcanos are not symetrically placed.

Fencer, perhaps you can enlighten us on what volcano positions are possible, please? ;-)

Thad

there are tricks to getting in in that situation. it all depends on where your base is and what pieces you ahve left.. if you ahve less pieces than you have moves..e.g. you have only two 5s and your playing the fast version that means that you have to move both of those pieces. than i can work my way around you b/c your forced to move. so ill sacrifice one piece to get to your base...one will get through. but getting the sappers is another challenge. no experienced player will let them go that easily so taht situation will almost never happen!

Yes but if you have both 5's to your opponent's none, you no longer have to worry about an attack on your castle. Retreat your 5's to either side of it and whatever comes at it you can win by attacking first. Just remove all sappers in swaps ahead of time and the game is yours.

a tip for beginners dont assume that b/c a rank is worth more you shouldnt protect it vs a sacrifice.. e.g. if you have a 4 and its protected by a sapper and you assume that your opponent wont trade his 5 for your 4 you are sadly mistaken. with all that said i dont want you to fall into the trap of you thinking your opponent wont attack b/c he thinks your 4 is protected by a sapper.. and it really isnt. b/c if he attacks your 4 with his 5 and it was a bluff on your part your down a 4 and in very big trouble.. many feel that the 4 is the most valuable piece on the board.. but it really isnt its all in the sitation.. ive seen 3s used very well.. so dont assume that b/.c you have both your opp 5s adn he has only 4s left that you got the game in hand! b/c you dont!

be careful while taking notes. especially if you copy paste your notes each move.. i copied and pasted moves from a game but it was from teh wrong game somehow it copied and pasted moves from a different game!

Thanks Summertop. That helps.

When you move forward, your next turn may not be backwards. You must wait another turn. Then you can.