DEC 2013 TS forum game archive

[GJK]

Ok, and I think that Bob voted Jordan as well (well, Egypt and Jordan) so I think that he'd be in agreement.  I'm going to run with that.  Round update posting coming up in just a bit.

[GJK]

Breaking news...

[GJK]

Turn 1, Round 1 - Team USA

Team USA has chosen to play "Vietnam Revolts" for the OPs points (2).  They have placed both of those points in JORDAN.  The US now has PRESENCE in the Middle East because they now control JORDAN.

Team USSR were allowed to play the Event on the "Vietnam Revolts" card since it is an event card solely for their side.  Two Influence Points were added to Vietnam and they also will receive +1 OPs points for any card that they use ALL of the OPs points in Southeast Asia for.  This card will be removed at the end of the Turn permanently.  It remains on the board for now as a reminder of the bonus OPs that Team USSR gets from it.

This concludes Round 1 of Turn 1.  Team USSR will be up next with Turn 1, Round 2.

The updated game map can be seen here:  http://www.garykrockover.com/TS/T1_R1_USA_Map.jpg

[BanzaiCat]

Comrades: the play of decadent imperialists, Vietnam Revolts, is quite interesting.

I think this may be the start of turning Asia red!

[Barthheart]

Yeah, interesting play.... Maybe they have the Mid East score card......???

[BanzaiCat]

Possible. I hate to play in reaction to their moves. Until they make a more overt move in the Middle East, I think we should focus on Asia. Other ideas are welcome of course. Our hand kind of sucks, though, with a lot of Western events; their play of that card for OPS indicates their hand may suck, too.

[Ubercat]

They must have ME scoring. That's the only way that taking Jordan makes any sense. They've now grabbed presence in the ME which minimizes the damage of scoring it. We currently have squat in the ME which means that if they play their scoring card next they'll grab 5 VP. NOT acceptable, Comrades! I say that we play Destalinization for 3 Ops as our next play and grab Iraq and Syria. That means that when they play it, instead of grabbing 5 VP, they'll give us 3 VP.

I hate to say it, but we may need to play the China card later in the  turn. It sucks, but we're in a good position to make points in both the ME and Asia. If they have the Europe scoring card, they're currently in a position to get 4 VP. Europe scoring is a possibility this turn, but the ME and Asia are both certainties as far as I'm concerned. I think we need to worry about Europe next turn and stick with what we know is coming out for now. The China card will maximize our gain in Asia, as dogging their heels in ME will maximize our gains there!

[Barthheart]

Well.... I have to agree with Comrade Ubercat again. Also by making a play at the Mid-East we mask for another round that we are making for Asia scoring.
We will have to play the China card. We get +1 for that and another +1 for the US action this last round. That's 6 Ops!

We also have Blockade to screw up any Europe scoring card... if we play it right.... maybe next round?

[BanzaiCat]

Hmm. Valid points, comrades.

To play American advocate (see what I did there? Instead of Devil's advocate? A-hahaha!), I am not completely convinced they have the ME card. Would they not think the same of us for getting a coup in Iran? Perhaps they are countering our move with one of their own, in an easy country to gain control of.

I could be completely wrong, but it's a thought.

I think, but am not strongly wedded to, playing OPS in SE Asia to get the +1 OPS from Vietnam Revolts. I really hate to waste an AR not getting that +1 OPS point. Since they've played Vietnam Revolts now, taking advantage (and throwing around MUCH misdirection in the public game forum) of their card play by OPSing like mad in Asia actually is a logical step and not a bolt out of the blue. If we play to the Middle East, we're reacting to them. Also, Asia is worth more points than the ME...but then again, not by much.

Comrades Ubercat and Bartheartovich...if you are both absolutely convinced that moving further into the Middle East is the best move this AR, then I will defer to your beliefs.

I believe I heard a rumor that KGB is 'warming up' Siberian gulag with all our names on it, so let us be sure, da?

[Barthheart]

Still... my knee jerk reaction was that they must have the ME scoring card, so by playing against it we would APPEAR to be reacting to them.
If we make a play for Asia too early they will get the idea we are trying to score there and move to block. If we make our move later in the turn they will be able to react less effectively.

I think we need to plan our card play, from here to the end of this turn, now and really not deviate unless the US pulls some really unusual shit.....
 

[BanzaiCat]

So be it.

So we shall agree to play De-Stalinization for 3 OPS and place 2 Influence in Syria and 1 in Iraq...is that correct?

Feel free to discuss further card play strategy. I'd rather wait and see what the evil Americans do in reaction. :)

[Barthheart]

I think it's 2 in Iraq and 1 in Syria... the blue header is for battle ground countries.

[BanzaiCat]

Ah, is not dyslexia, is not getting up to see map room down the hall. Kremlin very fine place to live, but not if one is lazy.

Thought I'd remember that one right.

Comrade Ubercat...you're good with this?

[Ubercat]

That would be 1 IP in Syria and 2 in Iraq.

The single Op from Vietnam revolts can be used on any card plays for the rest of the turn that put all their points in Southeast Asia. We don't have to do it as our NEXT card play. Also, there's only one BG country in SE Asia, Thailand, which we are fortunately in a position to grab when we go into Asia again.

think..plot...think...plot

OK, I think I have a cunning plan. We'll have the biggest radish ever grown! Seriously, here's what I'm envisioning:

Round 2: De-Stalinization as planned. If their next card play is in the ME, well good for them. They might catch up, but won't have passed us yet.

Round 3: Blockade for 1 Op. We'll use it in SE Asia and grab Thailand with our 2 Ops (1 extra). That will increase our domination in Asia by an extra VP. If they keep playing in the ME at this point, we'll let them go. At least they won't have control and we'll be maximizing our points in the more valuable Asia. There are three more events we haven't seen yet that help us in the ME. If they have any then they may want to score the ME before playing them. That's OK. We'll get the benefit the second time the ME gets scored. Also, we aren't playing for the blockade event so it will eventually get shuffled back into the deck. The more events we have in there, the better.

Round 4: The China card. 5 Ops in Asia. We grab Pakistan, Malaysia, and Laos/Cambodia. That will increase our scoring by another VP, and also grab us 2 more SE Asian countries. They won't help us in this scoring, but when SE Asia scoring card comes out later, we'll be looking good.

Round 5: Asia scoring. Mop up some nice VP!

Round 6: Five Year Plan for 3 Ops. We can figure out later what to do with these points. The important thing is, the event will make us discard one of THEIR cards. All we'll have left are CIA created and Containment. The event will fire but who cares? They'll either get 1 extra Op for their final card (assuming they play it for Ops) or they'll get to see our (almost empty) hand and use 1 Op. Their (wimpy) event will fire so the card will leave the game and we won't have to worry about it coming back when it may do more damage to us.

Edit: My vote is De-Staliization for 1 IP in Syria and 2 in Iraq to give us control of both.

[Barthheart]

Da! Da! That's the idea.

Red Asia Rising!

8)