Advanced Strategy - Ra

The heart and soul of Ra is, of course, the auctions. Make the wooden Ra totem your friend and it will see you to victory.

Calling an auction by invoking Ra is incredibly powerful because it allows the auctioneer to bid last; the batch of tiles can be bought as cheaply as possible or let go if the price is too high. Calling an auction is compelling because there can be no bluffing: even if an opponent would like to "stick you" with the batch and decline to bid, those tiles are lost to the opponent forever. The #1 mistake in Ra is a failure to call auctions often enough. The mistake persists because it is not as blatant as a misprioritization of tiles (too many pairs of monuments!) nor as memorable as pressing your luck with the Ra track--it simply results in your opponents getting more and better tiles than they should. I have chosen the theme of this article to highlight the importance of calling auctions: Calling should be your default assumption, and I will examine here the various reasons why you might not want to.

For strategy and guidance about the value of suns and tiles, check my earlier article here.

First, the easy ones.

The batch is worth too little for anyone to bid on it.
This is the most obvious one and needs no further explanation.

You plan to buy the batch with the largest sun remaining, and want to add value to it.
This is another obvious one. If you are definitely going to drop the biggest sun remaining, no reason not to increase your prize. You still might want to call if a particular disaster (Flood, Unrest) would be particularly devastating or if the Ra track has only one space left.

Now for the interesting ones.

The value of the batch is intermediate, and you would like to purchase it.
Example: Your suns are 2 and 11. The batch is worth about 7 points currently and is particularly attractive to you because it provides your 5th and 6th unique monuments. The 2 won't be enough to buy the batch, but you hope for more from your 11. So you draw. Note that if the batch were not particularly attractive--for instance, if it contained a flood while you already have one, or a duplicate civ--you would call.

Drawing a tile is likely to bring the batch into the "good value" range for one of your suns.
Related to the last point. If the batch currently does not look like a good value for any of your suns--but it might be, if an average tile were added--you may choose to pull. If the batch is currently better for you than for the other players, this becomes a better option; conversely, if you can force another player to take a batch you don't want sooner, calling is advantageous. If you pull, some other player will probably call an auction before you, but you will either win your tiles or force out a bigger sun.

You want a specific opponent to win the batch with a big sun.
Example: Because of the nuances of monuments, civs, and so on, the current batch is worth 8 points to Opponent A and 15 to Opponent B. Opponent A has the highest sun; B has another high sun; I have only a low sun and no particular chance of winning this batch. Furthermore, Opponent A is not doing very well but Opponent B is a major threat. If I call an auction now, Opponent A will probably pass, hoping for more from his supreme sun, and give this auction to Opponent B. Rather than letting this happen, I will draw, hoping to increase the value enough that Opponent A will eventually buy it and deny Opponent B this windfall.

You want to ensure a batch is not bought cheaply by a particular opponent.
Example: The batch contains nothing but a pharaoh and a monument--unremarkable except that it's worth 10 points to Opponent A, who is 1 pharaoh short of tying for the lead and already has 2 of those monuments. If Opponent A would be able to buy this fantastic batch with a low sun, draw to increase the value of the batch to the other players and force the price up.

You cannot win the batch at a reasonable value, and you have a god tile with a good target.
Don't be in a rush to use up your god tiles; they're worth 2 points which can be significant. If you have a good chance at winning the a good batch anyway, you might as well call the auction and get your desired target as well as the 2 points. On the other hand, if you might not win the batch--or won't want to, as the price will be too high--there's no sense in not maximizing the value of the god. Go ahead and use it.

You and your left-hand opponent both hope to win big batches.
Example: I have the 12, the second-highest sun, and my left-hand opponent has the 13, the highest. I won't be able to win a really fantastic batch if it comes around unless I get rid of him, since he bids after me unless I call the auction. If we both draw to an already-decent batch and he wins it with his big sun, that leaves me to take the best of what comes afterwards.

You are hoping to pull a Ra or disaster tile.
This is a desperation move, but sometimes the last few Ra tiles come in a hurry! If the Ra track is one space from full and you have little hope of gaining anything from your remaining suns, it can be valuable to draw, even to an already large batch, in the hopes of pulling Ra (denying the value of those tiles to the other players) or a disaster (reducing it).

And just to drill it in, some common mistakes; times when you definitely should call an auction.

• The batch is already out of your price range.
• Call the auction and get one of those powerful suns out of the way, giving the opponents as little as possible.

• Pulling a tile won't make the batch a good enough value.

Example: Out of ten suns remaining, you have 1 and 13--the worst and the best. The value of the batch is currently in between, but drawing won't bring it up to be a good value for your high sun. In this case, just call. All the intermediate suns are the same to you, so get rid of one of them, again, giving away as little as possible.

• The batch is worthless to you, but valuable to others.

Remember: Sticking you with it means that your opponents miss out too. Someone is going to buy it, so have it auctioned off and hope for further tiles to come that are valuable to you, not so much to everyone else.

Credit: Rob Herman, BGG

Advanced Strategy - Ra

The heart and soul of Ra is, of course, the auctions. Make the wooden Ra totem your friend and it will see you to victory.

Calling an auction by invoking Ra is incredibly powerful because it allows the auctioneer to bid last; the batch of tiles can be bought as cheaply as possible or let go if the price is too high. Calling an auction is compelling because there can be no bluffing: even if an opponent would like to "stick you" with the batch and decline to bid, those tiles are lost to the opponent forever. The #1 mistake in Ra is a failure to call auctions often enough. The mistake persists because it is not as blatant as a misprioritization of tiles (too many pairs of monuments!) nor as memorable as pressing your luck with the Ra track--it simply results in your opponents getting more and better tiles than they should. I have chosen the theme of this article to highlight the importance of calling auctions: Calling should be your default assumption, and I will examine here the various reasons why you might not want to.

For strategy and guidance about the value of suns and tiles, check my earlier article here.

First, the easy ones.

The batch is worth too little for anyone to bid on it.
This is the most obvious one and needs no further explanation.

You plan to buy the batch with the largest sun remaining, and want to add value to it.
This is another obvious one. If you are definitely going to drop the biggest sun remaining, no reason not to increase your prize. You still might want to call if a particular disaster (Flood, Unrest) would be particularly devastating or if the Ra track has only one space left.

Now for the interesting ones.

The value of the batch is intermediate, and you would like to purchase it.
Example: Your suns are 2 and 11. The batch is worth about 7 points currently and is particularly attractive to you because it provides your 5th and 6th unique monuments. The 2 won't be enough to buy the batch, but you hope for more from your 11. So you draw. Note that if the batch were not particularly attractive--for instance, if it contained a flood while you already have one, or a duplicate civ--you would call.

Drawing a tile is likely to bring the batch into the "good value" range for one of your suns.
Related to the last point. If the batch currently does not look like a good value for any of your suns--but it might be, if an average tile were added--you may choose to pull. If the batch is currently better for you than for the other players, this becomes a better option; conversely, if you can force another player to take a batch you don't want sooner, calling is advantageous. If you pull, some other player will probably call an auction before you, but you will either win your tiles or force out a bigger sun.

You want a specific opponent to win the batch with a big sun.
Example: Because of the nuances of monuments, civs, and so on, the current batch is worth 8 points to Opponent A and 15 to Opponent B. Opponent A has the highest sun; B has another high sun; I have only a low sun and no particular chance of winning this batch. Furthermore, Opponent A is not doing very well but Opponent B is a major threat. If I call an auction now, Opponent A will probably pass, hoping for more from his supreme sun, and give this auction to Opponent B. Rather than letting this happen, I will draw, hoping to increase the value enough that Opponent A will eventually buy it and deny Opponent B this windfall.

You want to ensure a batch is not bought cheaply by a particular opponent.
Example: The batch contains nothing but a pharaoh and a monument--unremarkable except that it's worth 10 points to Opponent A, who is 1 pharaoh short of tying for the lead and already has 2 of those monuments. If Opponent A would be able to buy this fantastic batch with a low sun, draw to increase the value of the batch to the other players and force the price up.

You cannot win the batch at a reasonable value, and you have a god tile with a good target.
Don't be in a rush to use up your god tiles; they're worth 2 points which can be significant. If you have a good chance at winning the a good batch anyway, you might as well call the auction and get your desired target as well as the 2 points. On the other hand, if you might not win the batch--or won't want to, as the price will be too high--there's no sense in not maximizing the value of the god. Go ahead and use it.

You and your left-hand opponent both hope to win big batches.
Example: I have the 12, the second-highest sun, and my left-hand opponent has the 13, the highest. I won't be able to win a really fantastic batch if it comes around unless I get rid of him, since he bids after me unless I call the auction. If we both draw to an already-decent batch and he wins it with his big sun, that leaves me to take the best of what comes afterwards.

You are hoping to pull a Ra or disaster tile.
This is a desperation move, but sometimes the last few Ra tiles come in a hurry! If the Ra track is one space from full and you have little hope of gaining anything from your remaining suns, it can be valuable to draw, even to an already large batch, in the hopes of pulling Ra (denying the value of those tiles to the other players) or a disaster (reducing it).

And just to drill it in, some common mistakes; times when you definitely should call an auction.

The batch is already out of your price range.
Call the auction and get one of those powerful suns out of the way, giving the opponents as little as possible.

Pulling a tile won't make the batch a good enough value.
Example: Out of ten suns remaining, you have 1 and 13--the worst and the best. The value of the batch is currently in between, but drawing won't bring it up to be a good value for your high sun. In this case, just call. All the intermediate suns are the same to you, so get rid of one of them, again, giving away as little as possible.

The batch is worthless to you, but valuable to others.
Remember: Sticking you with it means that your opponents miss out too. Someone is going to buy it, so have it auctioned off and hope for further tiles to come that are valuable to you, not so much to everyone else.

Credit: Karl Rainer

Intermediate Strategy in Ra

Perhaps the most fundamental question a Ra player can ask is:

What can I expect for each of my suns?

The answer is simpler than it sounds to calculate. The bag contains 30 Ra tiles, 140 valuable tiles, and 10 disaster tiles. This means that for every Ra tile remaining in the round, you should expect 4 or 5 good tiles to be available. (Some of these tiles will not be usable due to disasters!) Divide the number of expected tiles left by the number of unspent suns and that is the number of good tiles you should expect per sun. Of course, you will hope for more--either in quality or quantity--from a powerful sun, and you will probably settle for less from a smaller sun.

And there are other considerations:

As the game goes on, the mix of tiles in the bag changes. While it is not important to count tiles exactly, you should be noticing if the Ra tiles come fast in the early rounds (a bigger payment-to-Ra ratio remains; plan to hold out for big batches) or if lots of big batches show up early (relatively more Ra tiles remain; plan to settle for less with your suns to make sure they don't go to waste).

You would like to do, not just average, better than average, so you can win rather than getting the "expected" score! This is achieved through accurate judgment of value and relative strength and astute timing of auctions. This principle is the difficult-to-grasp heart of Ra and beyond the scope of this article.

What score should I expect?

My experience is that a score of 40-50 usually takes the game. Winning scores in the 30s or even the 60s are not unheard of but somewhat rare! You start the game with 10 points but also -15 "virtual penalty points"--because you will count a civilization as a 5-point tile even though accounting-wise your score doesn't change for having it. So you will need to come up with 45-55 points over the course of the game.

What tiles are good?

Based on the above, assume that you need to accrue 50 points over the course of the game. Consider a 4-player game. Of the 140 good tiles, probably 15 will stay undrawn in the bag (because the game only goes to 27 Ra tiles) and another 25 or so will probably go to waste--disasters, left on the track, thrown away, or whatever. So your "share" of the tiles is 25 of them.

Since you need 50 points, a 2-point tile is about average and a 3-point tile is good. 5 is great, of course, but you will have few opportunities to get those!

What are specific tiles usually worth?

Gods: I consider these to be the most valuable tiles. Most often they will be traded for a flood or a civilization for 5+ points. Less frequently they will be traded for a monument in a set (also 5 points) and occasionally for a last-ditch pharaoh or upgraded to gold. To make matters even better, they allow you to reduce the value of the batch on your turn, rather than increasing it (occasionally very helpful when timing auctions) and deny the other players that tile. And in the happy case where you can buy all the tiles you want with suns, they're still worth 2 points!

Rivers/Floods: I count rivers for half a point for each round remaining in the game because to score them, you will have to fight for a flood which is only one point on its own. Of course, if you already have a flood in the current round the value rises, and if you already have many rivers, the value of a flood to you rises dramatically.

Pharaohs: In the early rounds, pharaohs are worth a lot of points. Winning pharaohs each round is worth 15 points over the course of the game, and having a big lead dissuades other players from making a concerted effort to catch you. However, the value per pharaoh declines the more pharaohs appear--and you have no way of knowing beforehand how many will show up! In the first round, I would speculatively value each pharaoh at about 2.5 points. In further rounds they are worth less as the points yet-to-be-given drop and the disparities between players become greater. (The specific value to you per pharaoh also becomes much easier to see.)

Civilizations: The first civ is worth 5 points, of course, and you should almost always try to get one. The question is, what is the second different civ worth? On the one hand, it is worth no points. On the other hand, it gives you the opportunity to get a third different civ for another 5 points and opens the potential for even more. I would value the second civ at 2 points if you have two suns left (a 3-player game, or you can get two at once) and definitely 2.5 if you have a god available. Once you have 3, of course, 4 and 5 are gravy if they show up.

A second civ of a kind is not worthless since it may provide some element of Unrest protection, but less valuable than any other non-disaster tile under most circumstances.

Monuments: A single monument is worth 1 point--unimpressive. Two of a kind are worth no more! But three are worth 6 (5 for the depth, 1 for breadth), a respectable 2 each, and five are worth 16, a very nice 3 each! If you add the bonus points for 7 or 8 points of monument breadth each monument can be worth even more.

More so than other game elements, which you can take opportunistically, monuments are most valuable with a commitment to get lots of them, to notice what is available, and to squeeze as many points as possible from depth and breadth. You will probably have to sacrifice something else--often pharaohs--to get a lot of monuments. Otherwise, you will probably pick up 3-6 monuments incidentally over the course of the game, making not much difference to your point total, possibly with an eye to picking up a 3-of-a-kind if the opportunity presents itself.

Gold: Gold is always worth 3 points, no worries, no fuss. Gold is always worth winning.

What about my suns near the end of the game?

My experience is that you should wait to decide a sun strategy until you buy your first batch. After you do, you should decide which of these categories you fall into:

I drew a good sun; I'm going to try to get two more decent ones and pick up the 5-point bonus.

I drew a good sun; I'm going to look for the best tiles I can and ignore the bonus.

I drew an OK sun; as long as I don't pick up total junk I don't need to worry about suns.

I drew a bad sun; I'm going to try to get at least one good one so I don't incur the penalty.

I drew a bad sun; I'm going to get lots of great tiles and suck up the penalty.

If you need lots of specific tiles to maximize your score--matching monuments, a flood--a strategy that doesn't focus on the suns will be necessary. If you have been playing opportunistically, taking points where they come, you might be able to eke out the winning edge by paying attention to the suns.

Credit: Karl Rainer

Ra

Credit goes to Kevin Bourrillion from BGG for this article:

Hi,

There's an appalling lack of strategy advice for this game. I thought I'd throw some tips out there and see if they do anyone any good. Disclaimer: I ain't no world champion. Far from it, in fact. I may try to sound like a know-it-all here, but really, you have to judge for yourself whether each of my tips is any good or not.

So with that out of the way...

WHAT IS IT WORTH?

This may seem painfully obvious, but unfortunately to many players it is not. Before you bid, take a second to think to yourself, "what actually *happens* if I win?" For example -- will it put you out of the round? (Without a civ?) Will it leave you with the lowest suns left on the table? Or with a gigantic gap in your suns, practically guaranteeing future distress? Sure, this meager lot in front of you might be "worth my 3", but if you call Ra and win it, and now your lowest sun is a 9, what future bargain opportunity might you have just lost?

Many times thinking like this won't actually change your mind, but still, it's a better way to evaluate your choice than just a naive assessment of "how much is this lot worth?"

THE VALUE OF THE SUNS

I see many decisions getting made on reasoning like, "this lot isn't great but it's obviously worth a 2", or "I really want this but 12 is just too expensive." Intuitively we think of the suns as being like money -- we think of the 10 sun as being worth about two of the 5 sun. However, this is bunk. Try relabeling your suns 1,000,001, 1,000,002 up through 1,000,016. Now you've all but eliminated this perceived relation between perceived values -- yet you haven't change the game a single bit. This should tell you something.

PACE YOURSELF

Always keep an eye on what proportion of your suns are depleted vs. what proportion of the Ra spaces are filled. If you let the former get too far ahead of the latter, you risk going out of the round early (or passing up great auctions for fear of going out early). Conversely, if the Ra track gets too far ahead, you risk closing the epoch with leftover face-up suns that earned you nothing.

OF NILES AND PHARAOHS

The earlier the epoch, the more valuable they can be. A large pharaoh win in epoch 3 might net you 5 points, but a large pharaoh win in epoch 1 could end up yielding 10 or 15 by game's end.

OF FLOODS AND CIVS

Just at the end of an epoch, before all the tiles go flying back into the box, take a quick look around the table. How many floods and civilizations do you see? In a stastically average epoch, you might expect to see maybe about 3 and 6, respectively. If you can make a quick mental note when you notice *significantly* more or less than this amount, then this knowledge may help you to reason more accurately about your decisions in future epochs. This is not an exact figure, just a very rough rule of thumb.

OF GODS

Naively, any tile worth 3 points or more to you is worth exchanging your god tile for. But this is an oversimplification. Consider two things: how likely is it that you will be able to take this lot in an auction, or a future lot also containing this desired tile? Second, how likely is it that you will get another chance to use your god tile which will be more lucrative still than this one? Check your suns and the open Ra spaces, and if these are many, you might want to hold out for something better.

OF DISASTERS

When a disaster comes up that doesn't apply to any of the tiles you've already won, but would cause damage to any of your opponents, your palms should start sweating. A lot like this can sometimes be a fantastic bargain, since its value to your opponents is lessened.

THAT SUN IN THE MIDDLE

In epochs 1 and 2, that sun in the middle of the board has real value. I wish I had a nickel for every time I won an auction, smugly raked in my tiles and then stopped short saying, "oh. shit. I've got the f--ing ONE sun for next round now!" ... don't forget to always pay attention to what's there; it's as much a part of the auction block as the tiles are.

In epoch 3 things are, of course, different. I think of the 5 point adjustment at the end of the game as being a little "consolation prize" or "penalty" that it's hard to really have much direct control over. I wouldn't guide your bids very strongly by your desire to get the +5 or avoid the -5; it's just too unpredictable.

WHEN TO INVOKE RA

Whenever, on your turn, the current lot is one that you would be happy to win with your lowest-valued sun, you should consider invoking Ra. If you opt to draw instead, you are very likely to be increasing the value of the lot, so you're essentially placing a wager that (a) you will be able to win the eventual auction (so that your draw does not enrich your opponents), and (b) when you do win it, it will be a more advantageous exchange for you than the currently offered one.

You can also invoke Ra offensively; suppose your opponent has eleven rivers, no flood, and a god tile, and a flood is up on the block. Invoking Ra might just keep the flood out of his hands. But that leads me to....

PLAYING OFFENSIVELY

Sometimes you're tempted to make a choice based not on how it helps you but on how it hurts another player. In a three-player game this might be a sound practice, but it's unlikely to be worthwhile with 4 or 5. I suppose if you are really quick on your feet and can determine that player X is in the lead, and that you are in second place, so hurting player X directly increases your own chances of victory -- well, go right ahead. Most times though I just grunt in disgust and let them have their goddamn fifth civ or what-have-you and get over it.

The same could be said of the practice of overbidding for a lot in an attempt to force your opponent to pay top dollar. Ask yourself if it's really worth the risk of backfire. (Of course, if you'd like to bid 4, but also have the 6, and your opponent has the 5 and 13, by all means overbid! Duh!) :-)

WHICH MONUMENT TO KILL?

If you take an Earthquake, it can be agonizing to choose which of your monuments (your babies, your hopes and dreams!) to discard. Clearly you should be looking at your two-of-a-kinds first, since one tile in each two-of-a-kind is currently worthless to you. If you're lucky, you'll have several of these to choose between. But which to choose? Look for the two monument types that your opponents possess the *most* of (or include discarded monuments in this total, if you're *really* paying attention!). You're unlikely to make these into three-of-a-kinds (both because there are fewer remaining and due to increased competition for those that do remain), so your second copy is doing nothing for you. Pitch them.

On the other hand, if you have to discard a monument you have only one of, you probably want to discard the one that your opponents have the *fewest* of. There will be more copies of it left, and possibly less
competition for those copies as well (debatable).