RISK Domination III: Finished!

[Gustaf]

It's funny how some of you seem to be playing without paying any notice to what anyone else is doing. MAS, for instance, could easily have deprived Ernest of the Pacific bonus and still have taken the Plains. And regardless, he doesn't have a chance of holding the Plais anyway, since he has no defence. AND, now that Ernest is gonna get the bonus he will never be able to... *shakes head*

[Gustaf]

I'll be gone until the 6th at the least; possibly as late as the 10th. If someone (not in the game yet) wants to sub for me, I have no prob with that. If there's several candidates I'd prefer ones named "Ilikeverin".

Noted.  If anybody wants to fill in for Lewis, please say so.  (If Verin says so, he gets it.)

Have a good trip, btw.

If Verin doesn't want it I'd be willing.

[Gustaf]

Ernest stood a very good chance of winning already. What is inexplicable is why Daniel won't continue either into the Plains or into the Southwest to try and weaken one of the two people with a good reason to attack him. What you're doing also sends out the message "wipe me out because if you do I will do all I can to ensure that you win" instead of "don't wipe me out because then I'll do everything I can to ensure that you don't win".

[Gustaf]

Black's position isn't hopeless.  Black does need to engage in some diplomacy, but no one is an absolutly terrible position yet.

Lol, exactly what the person in an excellent position would say in such circumstances...

Joe, can I take over Daniel's forces then? I'd be willing too, it's fun to play without the pressure of haveing a chance to win.

To Daniel: I'm sorry if I upset you, that wasn't really my intent. It is only a game, messing it up isn't a big deal and we all make mistakes. I just thought the others, like Jas, should have a fair chance at remaining in the game.

[Gustaf]

Joe, can I take over Daniel's forces then? I'd be willing too, it's fun to play without the pressure of haveing a chance to win.

Sure.   The turn isn't complete yet, so please issue any remaining orders.

Excellent.

I will, but first I have a little shady back-room dealing to do, if you please... I'll post as soon as things become more clear.

[Gustaf]

Ok, Joe, good to be back...

Here are my orders. Continue attack, do or die from Oklahoma into New Mexico. Then await further orders.

[Gustaf]

Oh, and Daniel I never meant to imply that you were in anyone's pay. I just thought it made bad sense, even if your position was bad. But no hard feelings from my side!

[Gustaf]

When Gustaf chose to attack New Mexico instead of Colorado, my hopes of successfully defending the Southwest were raised, but it proved for naught, despite having weakened him to two attacking battalions with three defending.

Oh, lol. I mixed up Colorado and New Mexico. My bad...but as it went I guess I shouldn't feel too bad about it...

Although, this mistake probably sealed my fate even worse. Tactical move my entire Louisiana force to Texas and then end turn.

[Gustaf]

So, Lewis said he'd be back between Monday and Friday next week.  Aside from Gustaf, I had no response to the invitation for somebody to sub for him, including the PM I sent to ilikeverin.  I guess we could just wait...

Ahem...




No, I guess running two dead in the water campaigns would be a little too much.

[Gustaf]

Place 1 each in CA and OR, and 2 each in AZ and CO.

Attack, do or die CO->OK, then tactical move OK->CO leaving 1 battalion in OK.

This is sort of what I suspected you'd do.

[Gustaf]

I considered the alternative of only reinforcing and thus leaving your Texas battalions bottled up this round.  You really should thank TN for taking out Maryland last turn, without that, you wouldn't have been attacked at all by me this round.

Yeah, I thought that would have been your other option. Didn't think of the possibility of redirecting towards Maryland though. Personally, I think I might have opted for a slightly riskier strategy, deploying 1 each in Nevada and Utah, 3 in Arizona and only 1 in Colorado. But to each his own.

[Gustaf]

It seems that TN right now has the best shot at winning. Once he makes his move on the Mideast he'll be hard to stop.

[Gustaf]

Okedoke. Here the me v Ernest battle will be decided. All reinforcements in Texas and then attack do or die moving maximum number of batallions Texas-->Oklahoma-->Colorado-->Utah-->Nevada-->California. I could write up complicated orders for the following stuff but I'll refrain from that since it would be a headache for both me and Joe. Just await further orders.

[Gustaf]

Ok, now attack Arizona from California as long as I have 3 attacking armies. If I take it, invade only with 3 and repeat action against Oregon. Then await further orders.

[Gustaf]

Exactly right. Tactical move one batalion from Arizona to Nevada and end turn.

[Gustaf]

LOL, after he attacks in in the SE you won't have any decent forces to fight back with during this turn and will lose your bonus for the following ones as well.

You are overlooking an important source of reinforcements.

You don't know what kind of cards he has as well. Your set of cards won't help you in the long run defeat TN, with his 15 bats in NY.

I'm pretty sure his extra cards will allow him to win, but I had to make the move now or never, the allies thing is very annoying and pointless, sort of ruins the game.

The alliance thing is of course pointless from the point of view of someone in your geographical position, since it decreases your chances of winning but it's a standard part of any risk game. It's like complaining over tackles in footballs. Attacking Jas makes little sense since you could have denied MAS a much larger regional bonus but will now have to face Jas cards instead. Incomprehensible to me. If it hadn't been for all that luck with the dice this could have doomed you completely.

[Gustaf]

Damn you Joe for getting my hopes up...put everything in California and attack do or die moving all units CA-HI-AK-WA-OR-ID and then await further orders.

[Gustaf]

Ok, attack Wyoming from Idaho, stop if I drop below 3 attacking units and put minimum number of units there. If there is only 1 army left in Idaho tactical move from Wyoming to Idaho so there is an equal number in both. If unequal put the extra army in Idaho. If the tactical move is not needed to achieve this, tactical move from Arizona to California. End turn. Bleh.

[Gustaf]

Does MAS actually have a strategy here?

Am I allowed to say things about strategy or am I not allowed to do that?  I just had some observations is all.  If people think my comments will unduly affect the outcome or unduly help one player I'd be happy to keep my mouth shut.

Commenting on players' strategies (or possible lack thereof) is fine with me. 

Not with us non-MAS-players. Shouldn't it be Jas's turn now?

[Gustaf]

Does MAS actually have a strategy here?

Taking into account his previous efforts at Risk, there can only be one answer to that question.

If people think my comments will unduly affect the outcome or unduly help one player I'd be happy to keep my mouth shut.

I think the outcome of this game is pretty clear now. It will either take wierd dice rolls or an eccentric sense of strategy for the strongest player to lose this now. So, no, I have no problem with you making any comments you wish.

No! We can still stop him!

Seriously, a determined attack should be able to seriously damage TN.

[Gustaf]

Anyway, I think Gustaf has done a fantastic job fighting his way out of a very rough starting position.  When he took over for DanielX, he was in pretty bad shape and he's turned it completely around.

TN was not in as good a position as people seem to think.  He had a lot of troops, but they weren't arrayed very well.  Why did he have 3 guys in Connecticut?  I don't know.  Now, of course, Jas has left him even worse off.

This game looks like a three way dogfight between Jas, Gustaf, and TN.

As for MAS, watching him is really entertaining.  He's managed to leave himself in a position where 12 of his 13 territories are bordered by an opponent and 12 of his 13 territories have only one BAT! in them.  It is as if he was intentionally trying to line up in the longest, thinnest, least defensible position he could imagine.

What I especially liked is how he did not even spread his troops out in the South to keep that region. He also refrained from taking away my regional bonuses for the Southwest and Pacific. But I won't complain.
As for Tn's 3 armies in Connecticut, he had to place 2 of his extra reinforcements there (check the Risk card rules!) And thanks, though it should be noted that I overall had the dice on my side against Ernest.

Tn was in a very good position but if Jas can do some damage to him things will obviously even out quite a bit.

[Gustaf]

I usually don't do the attention-whoring "I'll be away"-stuff but since we're in the middle of the game and all I'm gonna be gone from Saturday morning to Sunday night, just so you guys know. Shouldn't affect the game too much though.

And I'll predict Jas's next order: attack Vermont from New York.

[Gustaf]

I'd like to trade in the following cards. Of the units I can place freely, I want 2 in Colorado and the rest in New Mexico. Then attack New Mexico-->Texas as long as I have at least 10 armies in New Mexico and then await further orders (NOTE: I have ´NOT yet decided how many armies to put into Texas if I take it!)

[Gustaf]

Excellent. Leave 2 in New Mexico and then continue with the rest into Louisiana, do or die. Leave 1 in Texas and then await further orders.

[Gustaf]

Attack Mississippi, if I take it leave 4 armies in Louisiana. THen attack Arkansas from Mississippi do or die and move everything into it. THen await further orders.