First orb jump proof

[lukelm]

I was playing Trench Foot and my first orb was a jump proof. Rather than setting up a front line, I took the piece into his territory and began tearing up his torii. While doing this, he gained alot of ground. I did win but there was a minute where I questioned my strategy. My question is, once you get a jump proofed piece early in the game should you go whole hog and take as many or your opponents torii and you can or continue the way you normally would?

[Mammalman]

good question, here's my opinion: it generally only takes 30 moves or so to set the front lines so I'll usually just set up the standoff first before charging in with the jump proof. not only do you avoid giving up ground needlessly, but you also cut off escape squares for torii fleeing from the JP. depending how you set it up with other torii or walls, non-JP pieces may do some/most of the immediate capturing, especially if the opponent is sacrificing his pieces on orbs. but i would definitely charge in earlier if i was giving ground to prevent the opponent from getting an orb. also, if it's early game, i would definitely call every potential bluff of my opponents as far as charging the powered pieces or crossing their rows/columns...the risk/reward ratio of getting hit with a power vs. gaining space/orbs/pieces seems well worth it.

on the other hand, later in the game the rate at which a JP can take away opponent's space and pieces is lower and a JP might be more useful guarding a position or territorial feature of the board (blockades, hotspots, tiles-between-bankrupted-tiles, whatever), so charging in isn't as effective. also, the opponent is more likely to be able to easily dispatch with your JP in the later game.

to anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, and i'm sorry if i insult the 'advanced' aspect of this forum, jump proof is, like, pretty good...but not GREAT. it's too slow in most mid-games, which is most of most games. it is sometimes great in the early game (sometimes not) and occasionally great in the endgame, but those times are relatively few and far between.

[OncoByte]

Mammal is right on. JP early is 60-40 bet. I usually take it, but some times a well placed Swap Row and the tables turn quick.

I definitely don't lose hope if I see an early JP charging my way. Remember, you can bluff as well. And while sacrificing a few tori, you should be scooping up orbs ASAP.

[driven2sin]

that's why allowing jp to be safe from bombs is an idea that sticks in my mind. have the bomb shatter the jp shell.. that should balance it

Let snake still kill it on first try

in addition to onco's power thread, i guess i should make one on balncing tweaks to current powers

[TWill]

Although it's costly, I usually try to sacrifice pieces when a jp comes at me early...the whole you stomp me and then I stomp you thing. I do this especially when I have no powers and I atleast need an orb to bluff with. Kills the rampage and also keeps your lines in decent order

[Rhox]

I agree with Mammalman, and here's why:

I just played a game against Veee, and his very first orb just so happened to be a Jump Proof. Instead of setting up his position on the front line, he advanced his Jump Proof into my territory and started jumping my vulnerable pieces. While he did this, I moved most of my front line up to the middle. This opened up a lot of space for orbs. Well, I'll let the picture explain what happened...



That acid hole on the bottom of the screen was his Jump Proof. Veee is right though... you're taking a risk when focusing all your attention on your Jump Proof. Sometimes the risk pays off, but as you can see in this game, sometimes it doesn't.