Route 66 Map by
oaktown Guide by
Master Fenrir Click image to enlarge. Introduction Route 66, for quite some time known as "The Main Street of America," was established in 1926. The original route ran from Chicago, Illinois southerly to to St. Louis, Missouri, and then westerly to Los Angeles, California. For quite some time, Route 66 was the most effective route from the Midwest to the West Coast. Practical purposes aside, Route 66 became something to do. College students and families would plan their road trips and family vacations on Route 66. Though portions of the original route still exist, Route 66 was slowly replaced by interstates until it was finally decertified as an American Highway in 1985.
Upon first play, it is common to despise Route 66; however, it is an acquired taste. It will take several games to learn the strategies and peculiarities of Route 66, but it becomes very enjoyable once you have acquired the experience. Success on this map is determined by two things: 1) proper settings, and 2) understanding that Route 66 is an objective-based map best played by actually working towards the objective, even though games can be won by the standard method of eliminating your opponents.
The Route 66 map has 48 total regions, though many will be starting neutral regions regardless of what game type you're playing. This map can be played in almost every way; however, how to play it
all depends on the settings you choose , which will explained in depth throughout the guide and summarized in the Additional Notes section.
show: Classification
Size: MediumFeatures Collections: Unlike continents these only require a specific amount of the designated territories to gain a bonus.Any cities collections : One additional troop will be given for every addition two cities held, starting with 8 cities, which will earn you 4 troops at the start of each turn. The terms "city" or "cities" in this guide corresponds to regions. This differs from most maps, which have you hold 12 regions to earn 4 troops at the start of each turn.Route cities collections : Holding 3 consecutive cities along Route 66 (also referred to as "the Route") will earn you an additional 1 troop to deploy at the start of each turn. Every additional adjacent city after that will earn you an additional troop, as well.Starting Neutrals : This map contains specific territories that always start with neutral armies.Route 66 : Every city along the Route will begin as a neutral region with 3 neutral troops.Other neutrals : The starting troop drop will occur so that no two players will begin adjacent to each other. There will always be at least one neutral region with 3 neutral troops between any two player-occupied cities.Victory Conditions : Players can win by holding a set of specified territories instead of eliminating the other players.
How to play Route 66 show: Two Player
Recommended settings: manual deployment, any fortifications, any spoils, fog of war on .The first strategy is to build your stack at either end of the Route and slowly work your way to the other end. Using this strategy, should you own Fresno, for example, your first turn you would assault Los Angeles to get onto the route. Eventually, you would also assault Barstow and Kingman to give yourself the additional 1 bonus troop to deploy. This strategy can also be done from the other side of the Route, say, from Pocahontas or Des Moines. Also, as you work your way along the route, should you own any adjacent regions, those troops should be reinforced to your stack as it passes by. Continuing to use the previous example, if you assault Los Angeles, Barstow, and Kingman, and you also occupy Las Vegas, you should reinforce the troops from Las Vegas to Kingman.The second strategy is to start your path along the Route in the middle. For example, if you own Lubbock, assaulting Amarillo and starting to build your troop stack there, working to either side. The reason for using this strategy is to discover the location of your opponents stack quicker. If you use the first strategy and both start at either end, it will be some time before you collide. Your opponent may have several rounds of earning bonus troops for holding cities along the Route. The third strategy is a bit more risky and usually only used by players that are more familiar not only with this map, but with playing with the fog of war setting. Using this strategy, you build your stack somewhere near the middle of the route, but two cities away. For example, using this strategy, you might build your on Pueblo, and doing absolutely nothing but deploying on yourself for several turns, not assaulting any regions whatsoever.The fourth and final strategy has you ignoring Route 66 for the most part. instead, you use a stack and focus on finding your opponent's regions to reduce his region count and ability to assault you in an area. This is what's known as concentrating on "zones." As you do this, your region count will hopefully reach and surpass 8 (this should not be difficult as you start with 7 regions), which will begin to earn you additional troops as you take advantage of the collections bonus system. It is likely that this strategy will enable you to grab some of the Route 66 cities if your opponent has assaulted onto the Route, possibly even enough to collect on that bonus. However, that is a result, not the aim of this strategy.
show: Standard, Terminator, Assassin
Recommended settings: automatic deployment, 6 or more players, any fortifications, escalating spoils, no fog of war .There are no dead end regions or bottleneck regions in this map . The one aspect of the Route 66 map that is similar to a more classic-style map is that there are a few regions with more reach than others. The cities of Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Joplin, Roswell, and Topeka are each adjacent to 4 other cities. These regions are all good places to build your stack(s).This is very important. You assault one region each turn in order to earn yourself a spoil. You then wait for the escalating spoil rate to reach a large value of about 20 or so, or whenever you believe you will have enough troops to eliminate an opponent. If you are playing an assassin game, you only need to eliminate your target and the game is yours.
show: Team Games
Recommended settings: manual deployment, any fortifications, no spoils, fog of war on .
show: Manual Deployment
The Route 66 map is also unique in that it is one of the few maps where manual deployment is a logical setting choice for the majority of games.
show: Additional Notes
Settings Summary 2 players : manual deployment, any reinforcements, any spoils, fog of war on3 player standard, terminator, assassin : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war4 player standard, terminator, assassin : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war5 player standard, terminator, assassin : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war6 player standard, terminator, assassin : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war7 player standard, terminator, assassin : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war8 player standard, terminator, assassin : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war2-team doubles : manual deployment, any reinforcements, any spoils, fog of war on3-team doubles : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of war4-team doubles : automatic deployment, any reinforcements, escalating spoils, no fog of wartriples : manual deployment, any reinforcements, no spoils, fog of war onquadruples : manual deployment, any reinforcements, no spoils, fog of war on Starting regions by player : Geographically similar maps : Fractured America , Rail USA , USA , USA map pack, USApocalypse Gameplay-similar maps : Imperium Romanum , Das Schloß , Monsters , Treasures Of Galapagos
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