...what the losing parties could have done differently to win?
In the "Crossfire" game that took place 9 days ago, the Scarlet Sirens managed to secure a victory against the Shamans, Subver (innocent faction), Terror Bite (third-party role), and Aldrich Hanssen (another third-party role). The dynamics in this setup were complex due to the number of factions involved, especially with both scum and third-party factions competing for victory. Here's an analysis of what the losing parties could have done differently to potentially secure a win, without the game context:
1. Subver (10 players) - Innocent Faction
The Subver faction lost despite having numerical superiority. For this faction, survival and deduction are key, but their defeat indicates a failure in either coordination, role usage, or factional management. Here are strategies the Subver faction could have employed:
Strategies:
Focus on Investigation and Coordination: With 4 Scarlet Sirens and 4 Shamans, the Subver should have focused early on identifying scum threats through investigative roles. Subver players needed to coordinate more effectively, sharing credible information and building consensus to vote out scum.
- Missed Opportunities: If the Subvers failed to eliminate Scarlet Sirens early, this likely gave the Sirens too much room to grow. Early, effective elimination of one or two Sirens could have severely weakened their chances.
Targeting Key Sirens: Since each Scarlet Siren had a special power enhancing the factional kill (such as optional kills or decimating targets), Subvers needed to prioritize high-value Sirens like Bombey (who enabled decimation) or Inex (who made kills undetectable). By eliminating these critical Sirens early, they could have weakened the Siren faction’s kill efficiency.
Utilizing Power Roles Effectively: Subver’s success is often tied to the effective use of power roles, such as investigators, protectors, and vigilantes. The Subver may not have coordinated well, resulting in inefficient targeting. They should have worked together to protect high-value town roles while targeting scum.
- Improvements: Ensuring that investigators focused on potential threats, while protective roles guarded key players (such as detectives or power roles), would have increased the chances of uncovering the Sirens.
Dealing with the Third Parties: The Terror Bite and Aldrich Hanssen could both be manipulated to work in Subver's favor.
- Terror Bite: The Subver needed to be cautious and not eliminate Terror Bite too late, as that could result in penalties for their faction. Detecting and day-eliminating Terror Bite before their penalties could activate would have helped.
- Aldrich Hanssen: Subver needed to identify Aldrich Hanssen’s objective and manipulate him into targeting the other scum factions (Sirens or Shamans). By keeping him aligned with Subver's interests, they could have neutralized one scum faction, then dealt with Hanssen afterward.
2. Shamans (4 players) - Scum Faction
The Shamans had a unique advantage with their reanimation and night kill abilities, but they lost to the Scarlet Sirens, possibly due to a lack of coordination or mismanagement of resources.
Strategies:
Use Reanimation Tactically: The Shamans could have utilized their reanimation ability to bring back powerful Subver players or high-value third-party roles like Aldrich Hanssen to act as decoys or perform actions beneficial to the Shaman faction.
- Missed Opportunities: If they reanimated a player too early or reanimated a player with no strategic benefit, they wasted a valuable resource. They should have reanimated players with investigative or protective abilities, turning them into valuable assets for the Shamans.
Better Night Kill Coordination: The Shamans’ night kill was unblockable by most cards, giving them a strong offensive advantage. However, they may have misused their kill by targeting low-value players or failing to coordinate with other scum factions. They should have targeted the Scarlet Sirens aggressively, knowing that the Sirens' powers made their kill deadly.
- Improvement: By focusing on high-value Siren members (especially Bombey and Isis), the Shamans could have prevented the Scarlet Sirens from gaining too much control and eliminated critical Siren powers.
Redirection to Counter Scarlet Sirens: The Shamans' factional redirection ability could have been used to confuse the Scarlet Sirens’ kill. By redirecting actions toward their reanimated body, the Shamans could have deflected investigative and killing actions, reducing the Sirens' offensive capability.
- Strategic Use: They should have delayed redirection until a Siren was performing their factional kill, ensuring it failed or backfired.
Exploit Sirens’ Vulnerabilities: Since the Scarlet Sirens relied on stacking powers, the Shamans needed to eliminate the Siren with the most dangerous ability as soon as possible. They could have coordinated with Subver or even manipulated third parties like Terror Bite into taking down the Sirens, thus weakening their power.
3. Terror Bite (1 player) - Third-Party Role
The Terror Bite is a third-party role that thrives on getting killed during the day and inflicting penalties on the faction assigned to them. In this case, the Terror Bite’s loss could be due to not getting eliminated early enough to impose penalties.
Strategies:
Manipulate the Subver and Shamans: The Terror Bite should have worked harder to manipulate the Subver or Shamans into eliminating them during the day. By drawing attention to themselves and playing as a chaotic element, the Terror Bite could have forced an early day elimination and imposed penalties on the faction they were assigned to.
Avoid Getting Killed at Night: Since Terror Bite loses if killed at night, they should have bluffed their alignment and appeared to be a low-value target. If the Shamans or Scarlet Sirens eliminated them at night, it nullified their win condition. Terror Bite needed to create confusion during the day to push for their own elimination in a controlled manner.
Exploit Ties Between Factions: The Terror Bite thrives on being seen as a threat. They could have manipulated both the Shamans and Scarlet Sirens to keep them alive, playing both sides against each other and delaying their elimination until penalties could affect one of the factions.
4. Aldrich Hanssen (1 player) - Third-Party Role
Aldrich Hanssen is a role that thrives on shifting loyalties between scum factions. Their goal is to eliminate one evil faction and then join the other. Hanssen's loss suggests a failure to align with the winning faction (Scarlet Sirens) at the right time.
Strategies:
Identify the Weaker Scum Faction Early: Aldrich Hanssen's win condition requires the elimination of one scum faction (either the Shamans or Scarlet Sirens) before joining the remaining faction. Hanssen should have quickly identified which scum faction was weaker (likely the Shamans) and manipulated the Subver or Scarlet Sirens into eliminating them.
Play Both Sides: Aldrich Hanssen should have worked behind the scenes to foster conflict between the Shamans and Scarlet Sirens. By encouraging the factions to attack each other, Hanssen could have created an opportunity to eliminate one faction, securing their place with the other.
Survival Tactics: Once a scum faction was eliminated, Hanssen should have integrated with the Scarlet Sirens and assisted them in taking down the remaining opposition. Claiming innocence while secretly working with the winning faction would have allowed Hanssen to secure a late-game win.
- Missed Opportunity: If Hanssen sided with the Shamans too early, this could have led to their downfall, as the Scarlet Sirens proved to be the stronger faction. Aldrich should have waited until the Shamans were clearly at a disadvantage before shifting loyalties.
Conclusion:
In this "Crossfire" game, the Scarlet Sirens likely capitalized on the confusion and division among the other factions, using their enhanced factional kills to dominate the game. The Subver could have won through better coordination and targeting key Sirens, the Shamans needed more strategic use of their reanimation and redirection abilities, and both Terror Bite and Aldrich Hanssen could have manipulated the factions to achieve their own third-party goals. By fostering cooperation, leveraging investigative power, and exploiting vulnerabilities in the scum factions, any of the losing factions could have turned the game in their favor.