There seems to be a bit of confusion here regarding the rules. In a two or three player game, whenever a clan (i.e. a card) is mustered, its special power may be activated if and only if there is no other mustered clan (i.e. any other card, regardless of bloodline affilition, e.g. Bruce or Makgill) with a lower strength. The special variant for the four or five player game of Lords of Scotland allows this rule to be bent, by only looking at other mustered clans of the same exact bloodline as the card being played, when determining whether or not to activate the bloodline's special power.
What this means, to me, is that in the four-to-five player variant, it makes the most sense to play clan Bruce very late in the game. Ideally, you wait until you are the last in player position (e.g. to the right of the Leader's Initiative), do all you can to ensure some huge, high-scoring cards in the Supporter's pile, and then muster clan Bruce as your last card. As a bonus, activate "claim two supporters." :devil: This can take much of the whole game to plot. I managed to pull it off once, and it resulted in a glorious victory. :D
But in the standard (non-variant) two or three player game, clan Bruce is a weak card, because #1 it must be played early if it is to be activated at all, and #2 if played early, there is ample opportunity for it to be stolen by your neighbor, swapped, etc. So it is as good for an opponent (or better) as it is for you.
But it can be countered. If you do not have the clan Bruce, you make darn well sure the supporter pile is full of junk.
What this means, to me, is that in the four-to-five player variant, it makes the most sense to play clan Bruce very late in the game. Ideally, you wait until you are the last in player position (e.g. to the right of the Leader's Initiative), do all you can to ensure some huge, high-scoring cards in the Supporter's pile, and then muster clan Bruce as your last card. As a bonus, activate "claim two supporters." :devil: This can take much of the whole game to plot. I managed to pull it off once, and it resulted in a glorious victory. :D
But in the standard (non-variant) two or three player game, clan Bruce is a weak card, because #1 it must be played early if it is to be activated at all, and #2 if played early, there is ample opportunity for it to be stolen by your neighbor, swapped, etc. So it is as good for an opponent (or better) as it is for you.
Each to their own but I think the clan Bruce cards are too powerful to allow them to be hoarded and played as the last card in the round, without anyone being able to counter this play.
But it can be countered. If you do not have the clan Bruce, you make darn well sure the supporter pile is full of junk.
