As someone who just finished the Alpe d’Huez-stage, please never call that one ‘fun’ again. It has haunted my dreams for the last couple of days…
Small edit: the riders that get into the break away not only get 2 exhaustion-cards (in stead of the cards they played to get into the BA), but also 2 combativety. Just like that!
Sure, when the stage goes on, your legs get heavier and heavier and you’re wondering if you’ll ever see the faces of your children again or if you’ll die from exhaustion in a rainy French ditch, this might not seem like much, but then again, were you really going to sit in the peloton all day? No, of course not.
At that moment you find that little bit of energy left in your aching body and go on, still just barely in front of the raging peloton, and think “Yes, I AM going to win! I’ll finally get the attention I deserve!”. The attention you didn’t receive from your father, because he was a drunk and never wanted any kids in the first place.
Then you’ll see the Flamme Rouge, indicating that you’re entering the final kilometer, you know they can’t catch you now, and start to feel the pressure lifted from your legs. “This is what winning feels! Oh, what a joyful feeling.”
In reality, that lightness is you drawing 4 exhaustion cards. You end up one space short of the finish. The next turn, four riders pass you, and you end in fifth place.
Three days later, you receive a letter. It’s from your father: “Don’t bother coming home for Christmas. Dad”
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I assume I go first? White privilege? 
J/K
I know we are simultaneous. I just couldn’t help it.
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Well, there is a placement order, but it’s random. @GabrielH to start.
| GabrielH |
green |
| Captbnut |
pink |
| COMaestro |
white |
| Minato |
red |
| Lordof1 |
blue |
| Chewy77 |
black |
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Maybe I missed it, but what is a combativity point?
EDIT: found it, sorry ;^^
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Also for rookies is there a general idea of good strategy?
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Hm. Well, I’m no expert, but…
Your rouleur starts with the same cards as every other rouleur, and your sprinteur similarly. So you won’t win by playing higher cards than your opponent; you’ll play by playing cards at the right time, to take advantage of downhills and supply zones and slipstreaming (off your other rider or off other players), to avoid blowing good cards on uphills or being stopped short.
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In my experience, the sprinters tend to peter out before the finish line, and the roulers take the glory. Like Roger said, play the right cards at the right time. It is not always an advantage to be in front, as you will get exhaustion. However, if you manage to never get exhaustion, you will likely run out of cards before you cross the finish line (depending on how effectively you slipstream and use the downhills). So balance is necessary to ensure you have some good cards for the last stretch of the race.
Other basic tips would be: crest uphills as quickly as you can without overpaying if possible; sometimes you should play a high card even if you are on a downhill space; and early lead can be hard to maintain.
The broad strategy I use is to put your rouleur out in front to take the exhaustion and let the sprinteur draft behind and then near the end let the sprinteur race ahead for the win
Edit: it never, ever works. I’m in dead last place in the other PBP tour that Roger is running.
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I guess I’ll start on A ® and D(s)? That seems logical…
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@Captbnut to place next.
By the way, it makes my life easier if you tell me your colour when you play - all my files are indexed by colour rather than player name.
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https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1655786/strategy-tips-basic-and-advanced-please-discuss
This is what the designer has published. Otherwise, looking up a pbf on BGG and just going through some stages to see what kind of tactical choices others make at certain points, can be very helpful.
And as Roger asked me to weigh in on this one (full disclosure: as a reaction on me complaining about my own tactical mistakes after turn 2. Yeah, I know), I’ll give you some of the basic ones that
First of all: being up front for the whole race and winning it eventually is basically impossible or at best very hard. You’ll get so much exhaustion cards that the others will catch up and overtake you, leaving you with nothing but a mountain of exhaustion cards at the start of the next stage.
Second: being at the back presents it’s own problems (for reference: team pink on the current stage on this forum and the last stage on the su&sd forum. That Qwertysoldier guy really doesn’t know what he’s doing). Because everybody who ends a turn with 1 or more open spaces before him receives exhaustion, this will hurt double. A, you get an exhaustion, and B, you also need to play a high card to catch up next turn.
So the best place for the majority of the race is second. No exhaustion, no risk of being left behind, but also less risk of being blocked (a big risk if you’re in the middle of the pack). The problem is, everybody knows that and will want to be there. It’s not uncommon for the leader to suddenly place a low card to avoid getting another exhaustion. You really only want to be leading the race in the last third, as everybody is playing their best cards then anyway.
Third: look closely at the stage. Before the race, look at what parts of the stage are prone to a good attack. I.e. mountains limit movement to a max of 5 (even if you go over it in one turn, which will likely happen on this stage!), so you can be pretty sure people won’t be playing their 7’s and 9’s when they approach them.
And vice versa, a long straight part is sprinteur heaven, so expect an attack there. Also, supply zones and descents are your friend, as it’s primary use is to burn some low/exhaustion cards, without much risk of falling behind.
Some tricks people use:
- Trying to get you stuck on a mountain. For that they’ll end up on the first descent space, instead of the 2nd or 3rd, hoping that you wanted to just get over the mountain, but get stuck on the last mountain space instead. Result: they still get to benefit from the descent-bonus, while you don’t and if you want to catch up, have to play a high card that will be limited to a maximum of 5 anyway (cuz mountain).
- A similar tactic is very popular on rain and/or cobbles sections.
- “Why not go fast instead?” If you’re already in front and know it’s not likely to change, try to go fast! The hope is your opponent isn’t expecting it, and ends up at least 2 spaces behind you. It still means you get an exhaustion, but they do too if executed well, which is far less painful than having them resting their legs while your rider does all the hard work. Bonus: the next turn they pretty much have to go fast, if they want to catch you again. Personally I like to do this if I’m in front of some riders on a descentsection, because I know I can’t play a low card to fall back in second (because of the descent bonus). But because of that bonus, people rarely play a higher card and if I play a 7 or 9, they’ll get an exhaustion just like me. Don’t do this too often though, burning a low card on a descent section is often the better choice.
Last: You’ve got two riders, use them! A well executed team play can often win you the race. Slipstreaming off on each other, blocking the rest so that the other can get ahead alone, it all helps to win you races. Vice versa, bad teamplay can hurt you, as you basically have two seperate riders that don’t have the advantage of teamwork.
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Thanks for the great rundown! I think it will be a little difficult to see the strategy at the beginning, but hopefully it will become clear once we start playing.
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Don’t worry if it all goes pear-shaped. Other people are sure to get in the way with their pesky bikes and ruin your beautifully crafted plan 
Pink Rouleur on B please
Pink Sprinter on E
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I’m playing a 4 player tour via Zoom at the moment. 4 of the top 5 are rouleurs. They are much better at going uphill
@COMaestro to place next, then Minato, Lordof1, Chewy77.
(If you want to send me a description of how you’d like your riders to be placed, I’ll implement that when it gets to your turn.)
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White sprinter on G, rouler on H.
@Minato, Lordof1*, Chewy77 to place.
C for Rouleur, F for Sprinteur 
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