Fallout:NV – Caravan

Seibei4211 said:

I just get 3 10's, 3 9's, and 2 7's. Lay down the 10's, lay down two 9's on the stacks that your opponent didn't pick, then two 7's and that wins 95% of matches no matter what.

Also, they don't need to have any caps at all to play. Just raise and bet one cap and you can play.

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Oh well  If anyone's still having trouble though

Does everyone know about the 'Caravan Card' glitch? Where the cards you buy/find don't appear in your playable deck??

You have to place all the cards you have in an empty container (metal box/foot locker/etc.) exit out the screen, re-enter the container and collect them again. Then the next time you play Caravan the cards will appear in your deck and be usable. I only found this out after noticing the card i bought weren't in my deck and searching the net…

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The AI is what let's this game down… If i was playing you I'd perhaps try and use kings to make you go bust or a jack to void your cards, might even use the joker if i had an ace to lay down first… Options I guess in the real world you would have different decks for different styles of play??

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Me and a friend are gonna buy a couple packs of cheap cards and build Caravan decks to have real games… The Computer just doesn't have any real tactics, it can't learn your play style to try and beat you.

So…  Caravan is it?

First you need at least 30 cards to play… But you can play with as many as you like.

The game is basically about getting three piles of cards (Caravans) between 21-26 before your opponent as kog says, each taking it turn about to lay a card from your hand on a 'Caravan', remove (discard) a card from your hand for a new one from your deck or remove a complete 'Caravan' from the game thus starting a new 'Caravan'.

Before your finished laying your three base cards, you can discard as many cards as you like from your hand for another from your pack. After you have laid your base cards, every time you discard, you also forfeit your turn at placing a card on any of the 'Caravans'.

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You start by first laying your highest or lowest (10–Ace/1) value cards as a base card for each of your 'Caravans'. Each following card should go in ascending or descending order from your base card. The suit of your base card also has a special property –

• Say you start you get a bad deal and end up with a 'Caravan' of 6,5,4 (that order)… You'd think the next card would have to be a Queen, 3 or lower right? Well no… Depending on the base card suit you can lay any other value card of the same suit at anytime, in any order.**(Say your 'Caravan' was 6(Club), 5(Heart), 4(Spade)… You could lay any Club on this 'Caravan', anything above a 7 in this situation would get you 23+, and push you over the 21 mark without waiting for some more low cards. [or a Queen.])

You need all 3 'Caravans' over 21 but you only need 2 that have a higher value than your opponent –

• I always try and concentrate on getting 2 high value 'Caravans' first, watching what my opponent is doing. **(I then save discarding any face cards that wouldn't be used for building my 3rd 'Caravan' using them to ruin my opponents 'Caravans' if needed instead. Then simply push my last caravan over the 21 mark with the cards left in my deck when ready)

I think the game plays an advantage if all 6 'Caravans' are over 21 as only 4 are important for the winning of the game –

• If the both players have a 'Caravan' of 25, whoever built it first plays the advantage. **(This could be wrong but sometimes i think games go on a couple more moves even though i think i have winning cards. Just keep an eye on your opponents 'Caravans' and it shouldn't be a problem.)

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Face cards are, IMO, the most important cards of your deck and can be placed on any card, from any of the six 'Caravans' in play… I'll explain each in a little more detail.

KING – This doubles the value of any card you place it on. **If you get a king, 10, 6 you have a 'caravan' of 26 in three moves. Or place it on a high scoring 'Caravan' of your opponent to make it bust.[A King can also be placed on another King to quadruple the original cards value – A base card of 6 + two Kings = 24 in three moves with a low starting card]

QUEEN – This reverses the the numerical order your 'Caravan' is being built. **If you have a 'Caravan' value of 17, ending in a low card (), I could lay the Queen on the low card, then the high card on the Queen for a 'Caravan' of 21+. It's not much use as a offensive play card.[The only other way to play a high card in this situation would be if the high card was the same suit as the base card]

JACK – This removes any card you place it on. **I would say this is more an offensive based card, use it to cut down your opponents 'Caravan' by removing high value cards. I sometimes use this to remove a base card if something better comes up straight away, i would use it if my opponent ever tried to bust my 'Caravans' with a king.[A Jack placed on a King will remove both the King, and the card the king was placed on]

JOKER – This card can be played in two different ways… **(It can be handy in the game, out of luck more than tactics, but not very essential. It can also have negative effects on your own 'Caravans' if not used carefully)

1. Placed on an Ace/1 – It will remove all cards of the same suit as the ace from all current 'Caravans' in play.
2. Placed on a regular No. card – It will remove all cards of the same value as the card it is placed on.

***The card the Joker is placed does not get removed!! So if you have one 9 and your opponent has two+, place it on your own to remove their two from the game but keep your own score intact.

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I wouldn't use all the cards you can. I have about 75 cards but only use 37 when i play. In the real world i would build different packs for different styles of play…

1. The 37 card style i use to beat the computer
2. I could build a large deck with a ton of low number cards and face cards. Slowly build up my 'Caravans' whilst constantly keeping my opponent on the back foot. Find out how many cards my opponent had and building a 40%+pack so they might run out of cards.
3. Build 2 colour based decks. If i noticed my opponent using mostly red/black cards I could use a massively offense game with some Jokers and Ace's… Wipe his 'Caravans' without having to check my own first.
4. Etc.

But sadly i only know 1 person from the real world who is learning to play this So tactics this far don't really pass making sure the computer doesn't get 21+. The computer never really uses the face cards against you.

I use about about two each of No. Ace/1-5 and Queen cards, about three each of 7-9, about four of 10/King/Jock and one Joker. I say about because I'm not sure my exact 37 without checking. I think keeping a smaller pack makes it easier to remember what cards i do and don't have instead of guessing my way through 65 cards+ and playing on pure luck alone.  

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I think the computer was using a smaller deck for the big money games? I'm not sure… My biggest ante won is 2000+ caps so far. I'm about 45/11 or something and all the games start at about 1500+ caps now instead of 200-800. I've lost 200 caps in the casinos but I've made at least 15'000 caps off Caravan alone, no sh!t.

This is the method mentioned my Seibei4211 in a little more detail –

**Just keep discarding from the first 8 cards you get before the game has really started, and because you don't skip a go, you can keep discarding till you have three 10's, three 9's and two 7's in your starting hand. Make two 'Caravans' of 26 and you should win 95% of the time**

In real life you could prob. beat this style of play…

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kingofgames73 said:

Just like to give you an uber thanks for the guide on how to play it…

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Thanks man… Once you get to grips with it you can even play about with the rules a little.

I personally got rid of the whole 'you can swap out any of your first 8 cards as much as you like before you've laid your first three base cards without penalty' thing, lol… When i play real games, if a player wants to swap one of his first 8 cards it counts as a 'turn';No freebies with me I'm afraid 

You could make the joker a 'wildcard' – Meaning you could name it as any card from the deck… Also meaning you could use it as it's originally used in the game, lol…

You could play with more than two players… I think? You'd need skill, luck and a lot more cards??

I even though of 'Team Caravan' – As well as using your cards against your opponent, you could use them to aid your 'team mate'. Four players (2+2), playing from one deck for each team as opposed to four decks. The 'team mates' would still play there own hand, and not know what there 'team mate' was holding, but play from the same deck. Theoretically you could mess up your 'team mates' Caravans when you think your helping, lol…

But such things could get complicated  I'm glad you and your mates are playing this game… Would still beat you all… Easy style, lol