How to Take Largest Army

Among players who have played at least three knights, whoever has played the most knights earns largest army (+2 victory points).

Even after you take largest army, if another player plays more knights than you, largest army is taken away from you.

Because this strategy relies on drawing many development cards, it works well when your initial setup gives you more wheat and ore than the other players.

First, let's review the composition of the development deck. The 25 development cards break down as 14 knights, 5 victory point cards, and 2 each of road building, year of plenty, and monopoly—knights are roughly half the deck.

On average, drawing about 5–6 development cards gives you a fair shot at playing three knights. Even with bad luck, victory point cards or special cards can open another route to 10 points.

If you're not playing for largest army, it's best not to draw development cards even when you have spare wheat and ore.

Just because you can buy a development card doesn't mean you should—drawing one often slows down your city upgrades.

When you're not aiming for largest army, you often produce less wheat and ore. Knights become dead draws, so your hit rate drops to about 44%, and city upgrades fall further behind—that's the trade-off. So buying development cards when you're not chasing largest army often isn't worth it.

The CPU buys development cards when it has nothing else to do—even without pursuing largest army—to avoid busting on a seven. But if wheat and ore are scarce and your next move is a city, saving them and accepting bust risk is also a valid choice.

When you're not aiming for largest army, spend sheep, wheat, and ore on city upgrades and settlements.

We'll walk through how to use each type of development card.

Play knights as soon as you draw them. Largest army counts knights you've played, not knights in your hand. Hidden development cards also make other players suspect a victory point card and target you with the robber. There's little upside to holding knights—use them early even if your own production isn't being blocked.

Victory point cards must stay hidden. That means a development card you leave face-down for a long time is more likely to be read as a victory point card.

Use road building right away. Building spots are first come, first served, and playing it quickly also helps avoid being mistaken for holding a victory point card, like knights.

Use year of plenty soon too. You can take resources you need for your next build, or stock up on resources you can't produce reliably on your own even if you don't need them immediately.

Hold monopoly until the late game. It's strongest when a resource is flowing heavily—use it on a turn where you swing toward victory or lock in your winning line. Set up a 2:1 or 3:1 port for that resource beforehand so you can spend what you monopolize without waste.

Once another player takes largest army from you, winning it back takes at least two turns—so taking it from someone else is very hard. But if you keep buying development cards from the start just for largest army, your board can fall behind and you may struggle to produce resources in the late game. When you're chasing largest army, you need to draw the right amount of development cards—not too many.

Early on, while no one has played a knight yet, don't force development card purchases—prioritize building. Buying many development cards before anyone else does often just slows your own expansion.

When you're going for largest army, the race begins the moment someone plays a knight. From then on, buy cards with the goal of playing one more knight than whoever has played the most knights besides you.

There are 14 knights in the development deck. So once you are the first to play seven knights, no one can take largest army away from you.

If other players have also played many knights, the count at which your largest army is locked in can be lower. It is locked in when the player with the second-most knights played could use every knight still left in the deck and still could not pass your count.

Games rarely reach that point before the deck runs out, but remember that there is a knight count where largest army is locked in—and once you reach it, you no longer need to draw development cards.

If taking largest army looks out of reach, giving up on it and switching to another strategy usually makes it easier to score points. As a rule of thumb, consider giving up on largest army when the gap between the player who has played the most knights and your knights played plus knights in your hand reaches two or more.

When you give up on largest army, the best alternative depends on the situation—aiming for 10 points from board plus victory point cards, going for longest road, and so on. Whichever route you choose, giving up on largest army often means you need more board points, so prioritize growing your board.

Largest army is an approachable strategy, but that also means many players will contest it. If you cannot take largest army, giving up and switching strategies can open a different path to victory.