DEC 2013 TS forum game archive

[BanzaiCat]

I'm in agreement with Comrade Ubercat.

I like the odds for a coup in Iran. We must play to win and bring Bolshevism to these poor downtrodden Islamic children.

Of course, it will be interesting to see what the running-dogs do. If I were them, I'd go for the ME too.

[undercovergeek]

i jumped to the scoring system of the rule back, when it comes to grabbing point its whos got presence and also dominance in regions - by cutting him down to 3 in each region he doesnt control those regions and it will cost him to get back up there - i think

so i thiiiiiiiink we need to look at putting some feelers out elsewhere with ops points - no coups and alignment battles yet just upping our presence in possibly uncontested areas

[GJK]

Yes, any three of the light purple colored countries (Eastern Europe).

Not a problem Bob, I'm enjoying this as much as you guys (hopefully) are!

[GJK]

i jumped to the scoring system of the rule back, when it comes to grabbing point its whos got presence and also dominance in regions - by cutting him down to 3 in each region he doesnt control those regions and it will cost him to get back up there - i think

so i thiiiiiiiink we need to look at putting some feelers out elsewhere with ops points - no coups and alignment battles yet just upping our presence in possibly uncontested areas

Right.  Double check the rules on placing Influence.  You must place it in countries that you already have presence in, or ones that are adjacent to those countries with presence already.  "Adjacency" in this case are countries connected by the solid lines.  So, your influence "grows" outwardly; it doesn't just pop up where ever you want it to.  Exceptions to that would be Events played that state something to the effect of "play ops in any country in such and such region".

[undercovergeek]

it doesn't just pop up where ever you want it to.

sorry, that happens if im not concentrating!

hmmmmmm..................... chin scratching

[bob48]

OK Geek, but in that case are there any regions where he can pull the same trick on us. Any weak area's that we can improve - I must consult the map again - unfortunately, I still have not had much time to give the rules more than a quick browse, but Gary, your tips are much appreciated, you obviously have a great knowledge of the game.

[GJK]

it doesn't just pop up where ever you want it to.

sorry, that happens if im not concentrating!

hmmmmmm..................... chin scratching

You're either still young or a very fortunate man.  ;)

[undercovergeek]

im sure theres a card out there that says - remove western markers - whether hes got it or not is a different matter - i suppose much like IRL its about watching what the other one does and attempting to counter it - i may be completely wrong but i figure hes got to waste a certain number of ops points putting those back in Eastern Europe and that effectively puts us a few ops points in front - so if we use those somewhere 'good' we already have an advantage - looks to Gary for sage nodding and approval!!

[bob48]

^Yes, but reacting to them gives them the initiative, innit.

[undercovergeek]

heh thats what i mean, they have to react to us now by adding their counters back to Eastern Europe which gives us a chance to go spread ourselves (!) in Central America, Middle East and then they have to react there too

i

think!

[GJK]

OK Geek, but in that case are there any regions where he can pull the same trick on us. Any weak area's that we can improve - I must consult the map again - unfortunately, I still have not had much time to give the rules more than a quick browse, but Gary, your tips are much appreciated, you obviously have a great knowledge of the game.

Actually, I've only played this game once but the rules just "clicked" with me; probably because I have played the game designer's sister game "1960: Making of the President" several times and it uses a very similar system.  That would make a fun forum based game as well I think.

[bob48]

Geek, I can see the underlying logic in that. So the idea is to create multiple threats, and they will not know which one to take seriously.

However, since we do not have a long term strategy, neither do we. I think that because we do not have any experience with the game, we have not really considered what our medium - long term goals are.

Gary - is it normal, in game terms, for experienced players to have some sort of outline game plan, or is this to an extent dictated by the first hand of cards?

I'm thinking here of something like the old 'Lepanto Opening' in Diplomacy, which is the only game I've ever played that's remotely like this.

[GJK]

Study the rules about the "Scoring Cards".  Either you, your opponent(s) or the deck will have them for Europe, Asia and the Middle East.  If a player is dealt a Scoring Card, that card will have to be played at some point during that turn.  If you hold it, your strategy may very well be (better be) to make sure that you are going to rack up the points in that region by having control of countries.  If you suspect that your opponent has a particular scoring card, then you want to do what you can to counter that.  So, keep track of which scoring cards have been played as the turns go by.  Those can be key in driving your "policy".

[undercovergeek]

i think thats in chapter 10 Bob - basically its a card and on that card is a scoring breakdown of what you need to capture the points - that was the presence v dominance thing - i suppose as we dont have one yet its not the biggest of priorities, particularly at this early stage

damn - more reading required

[undercovergeek]

found this -


1) Hold on to your own High Ops Value events -- Most powerful Soviet events are discarded after use in the Early War. You want to hold your high value events like NATO and potentially even MARSHALL PLAN (depending on the disposition of EUROPEAN SCORING), so that on the reshuffle between rounds 2/3 both players are holding a hand full of blue starred cards.

2) Consider Playing High Value Soviet Events -- Remember, you can chose whether the event happens BEFORE or AFTER you take your operations. Frequently, you can minimize/eliminate the damage done by a Soviet event by using the cards operations to cover it up. You won't have this same luxury if the USSR plays the event, as you will frequently be short of the necessary operations points to counter.

3) Minimize Soviet Infiltration -- Two cards are deadly in the Early War for midwar position. DECOLONIZATION and FIDEL. If you can hold or bury these cards do so. If the Soviets play them, counter coup or realign immediately -- particularly FIDEL. South and Central American can be VERY tough for the Soviets to break into without him. You might be able to keep them a US lake without him, and grab domination in both regions during the MidWar. Its harder to keep the Soviets out of Africa, but without DECOLONIZATION, they will need to make a concerted effort to bust in.

4) Use turn 3 to drop valuable Soviet events on Space Race -- If you wait until turn 3 to drop big events into the space race (like Fidel or DECOLONIZATION) they are going to be out until the Midwar reshuffle -- that's all but dead.

5) Keep Note of Event Impacts on Influece -- You want to secure Israel from the ARAB ISRAELI war event, but keep in mind, that's dangerous until NASSER has been played. Stay out of ROMANIA until ROMANIAN ABDICATION. Stay out of Eastern Europe until the disposition of WARSAW PACT (etc. etc.)

6) Watch the Middle East -- The Middle East is like Central and South America for the Soviets, if you get tossed out it can be very hard to get back in. Furthermore, the Middle East has the OPEC event (also applies to Venezuela) which makes it a very lucrative area for VPs. Ananda recommended Israel as a base. That works post-Camp David accords, if Israel is surrounded by friends or if ARAB ISRAELI war is buried. Otherwise, its risky. In my first play in the region, I try to use a 3 OP, and grab Iran (gotta have a battleground), Lebanon -- some protection against ARAB ISRAELI WAR and a cheap non-battleground country and drop 1 in Iraq. Now, control of Iraq alone will cost the Soviets a 3 Op, and the US player can use that one influence to get into places like Saudi Arabia.

7) Play Scoring Cards Early when you are behind -- ALWAYS secure presence in a region if possible. This will greatly mitigate any disaster, but barring that, if you are behind in a region consider playing the scoring card early and concentrating your efforts elsewhere. Ordinarily, if you are playing catch-up, your opponent will notice, and you will probably fall further behind in the region -- or worse, play a lot of ops for the same result you could have gotten without lifting a finger.

8) Play spare ops to set up for MidWar -- Know that a US Early War autovictory is unlikely, so get ready for the mid war. If you can get breathing room of even 1 ops point, use if in Africa, South or Central America. It will definitely reap rewards later.

9) Eschew VP Events Early -- DUCK AND COVER will make you feel better about the score board, but three influence played during the Early War will likely earn you more VPs over the game than the 2/3 VPs from the event. Furthermore, you want to preserve these events for when you are in a position to go for the kill in the Midwar.

10) BOARD POSITION, BOARD POSITION, BOARD POSITION -- the key to victory for either player is forcing your opponent to waste his operations reacting. This is most common with Scoring Cards. If you have laid the ground work in the Early War for a midwar victory by containing the Soviets and spreading a little influence in places you know will be coming up for scoring rounds 4-7, you will be alright.

11) Never Give Up -- I took a US player to -18, only to have him battle me back to a draw in 2 turns. How? Well, I went for cheap points over board position. When I wasn't able to put him away, things swung wildly in his favor in the Late War. Early War was designed to be tough on the US player, you've got to have your eye prize for your mid to late war win.