I confess. I have never seen a block of tiles that I thought was worth the 13. I also have never won a game of Ra.

Ah, but if I've got the 13 that also means I've got the 2, 5 and 8 ... which (if you think of the tiles as coming in groups of 3) are lower than the comperable tiles my opponents have and give me the feeling that I'm free to invoke Ra more liberally ... if my opponents let me have the lots then fine, I can hold back and still trump with my 13 if there's something I really need. If they jump in and take the lower valued lots, then THEY'RE the ones who are going to get trigger shy and I can build up a nice fat lot for my boss tile.
Or at least in theory that's how it works ...

The first game I thought of when I saw the list. When you see the first decently good set of tiles on the board, and you're bidding early, use it. No one's gonna let the tiles stack up while you have it, anyway. Put the "burden" on the 12-holder.

Most times I will bid with the 13 then Ra again after 2 or 3 tiles just to force the other players to bid on the 13 rather than the tiles in the auction.

I'm the only one? Seriously I didn't even use my fortification tile for the first few full games because I kept searching for the perfect moment, tell me I'm not alone

I hate throwing the first catastrophe tile. A lot of times that means I've missed a golden opportunity ...

It's my second catastrophe tile that I have a hard time playing. I usually throw out my first one early, both to get momentum and to show that I'm a loose cannon. The second one is an essential threat to hold over my opponents and I'll only play it in dire emergencies; and in the end, it probably could have been played to better effect earlier in the game. (Note that I don't pretend to be a E&T strategy czar.)

Another reason to be reluctant in playing disaster tiles is that of retaliation.

I think it's best to use them when an opportunity arises, otheriwse you'll wait too long and not use them or miss you rbest chances.

My group doesn't have much experience with T&E, so in the few games I've played, the disasters aren't used very often because people forget about them. This makes me reluctant to use one because it'll remind people they're there.

Perhaps I should look at using it sooner ...

I think I've only ever played this when I have no other move, and then I use it to move into teh best area I can find.
Perhaps I should look at using it sooner ...

Nooooooo! I always wait until the last possible moment to use that tile. There's almost always other areas for expansion that you could consider. At least there is if you start building correctly from the beginning.

And never EVER use it if one of the other players could screw you over and it would go to waste. If you can't be sure it will be useful, its not worth playing.

Take it for what its worth, but I'm pretty good at the game. I almost always win and I tend to get rid of all of my peices, occasionally leaving one 4 or 5-block piece out.

Isn't there a bonus for playing the 1 piece tile last? Or am I totally imagining that rule?

Wait to play it....

Waaaaaaait....

Waaait for iiiiitt...

Almoooost theeere.....

DOH! Should have played it - I lost.

There is a bonus, but it usually doesn't matter because so few people play the game the way the rulebook suggests - most just play to see who can get the fewest pieces left and that's the winner.

An abstract in sheep's clothing

I prefer to play the 13 card earlier in the game - best at the end of round 3 or 6, which means playing the low card on round 2 or 5.

By playing it earlier, I can get a jump on the scoring as I usually take the king and secure whatever regions I can by moving the king to or away from them. Plus there is always that chance the action card comes up to get back into your hand one of your previously played Power Cards....Saaaaaweeeet!