RISK Domination IV: Finished!

[The Mikado]

Sensei can actually do some good if puts his forces in Tennessee and attacks Missouri-Oklahoma-New Mexico.

I've decided I'm rooting for the neutral army in Arkansas.  Any force that can stay in the game three turns while only holding one state with a fairly weak garrison has my applause.

And as far as Sensei's move, your proposal would totally leave him open to attack from Lewis from the north  (Lewis is almost inevitably going to try to seize the Mid-Atlantic this coming turn).

[Joe Republic]

Guys,

There's a very vague boundary between spectators providing general commentary on the state of play, and openly criticizing certain players for perceived mistakes or trying to influence them one way or another.  As you can imagine, the latter type of comments do not make things particularly fun for the players.

As vague as that definition is, nevertheless, I think that comments like these...

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... are of that latter type, and I'd really prefer it if they were left out of this game.

[Sensei]

All reinforcements in VA

Attack VA-KY-WV

[Joe Republic]

All reinforcements in VA

Attack VA-KY-WV

Reinforcements

All 6 reinforcements have been deployed in Virginia, where there are now 7 in total.


Attacks

Virginia invades Kentucky (Josh22) with 6 battalions available to attack, while 2 battalions will defend Kentucky.

Sensei [6] rolls 3 dice: 5 3 3
Josh22 [2] rolls 2 dice: 3 1
Josh22 loses 2 battalions

Sensei conquers Kentucky and places 6 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in Virginia.

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Kentucky invades West Virginia (Josh22) with 5 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend West Virginia.

Sensei [5] rolls 3 dice: 6 5 4
Josh22 [1] rolls 1 die: 4
Josh22 loses 1 battalion

Sensei conquers West Virginia and places 5 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in Kentucky.

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Awaiting further instructions

[Sensei]

Attack WV-OH

[Joe Republic]

Attack WV-OH

Attacks (cont.)

West Virginia invades Ohio (Josh22) with 4 battalions available to attack, while 2 battalions will defend Ohio.

Sensei [4] rolls 3 dice: 6 5 3
Josh22 [2] rolls 2 dice: 4 2
Josh22 loses 2 battalions

Sensei conquers Ohio and places 4 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in West Virginia.

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Awaiting further instructions

Temporary map

[Sensei]

Attack OH-MI-IN

[Josh/Devilman88]

This game really hates me!

[Speed of Sound]

I must say, when I first saw your decisions Sensei, I was a bit wary, but the dice gods have surely shown in your favor, and you have set yourself up in a very positive situation. Well played.

[Gustaf]

Guys,

There's a very vague boundary between spectators providing general commentary on the state of play, and openly criticizing certain players for perceived mistakes or trying to influence them one way or another.  As you can imagine, the latter type of comments do not make things particularly fun for the players.

As vague as that definition is, nevertheless, I think that comments like these...

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You must be logged in to read this quote.

... are of that latter type, and I'd really prefer it if they were left out of this game.

I think "guys", must have been a typo as every quote was from me. I'm sorry, I guess having been part of the game I felt more emotionally invested in it or something. Also, I thought, given previous discussions, that comments were very much allowed. I will refrain from influencing in the future (though I would like to note that no one has ever followed any recommendation I've given, so it hasn't affected anything so far).

Finally, congratulations to Fezzy. I'm sorry if I made you sweat with my comments, but I that's a reasonable price to pay for the win.

[Јas]

Guys,

There's a very vague boundary between spectators providing general commentary on the state of play, and openly criticizing certain players for perceived mistakes or trying to influence them one way or another.  As you can imagine, the latter type of comments do not make things particularly fun for the players.

As vague as that definition is, nevertheless, I think that comments like these...

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

... are of that latter type, and I'd really prefer it if they were left out of this game.

I think "guys", must have been a typo as every quote was from me. I'm sorry, I guess having been part of the game I felt more emotionally invested in it or something.

Yeah, the notice for "guys" had me worried for a while because I thought their was really just the 2 of us who were really commenting on things.

(though I would like to note that no one has ever followed any recommendation I've given, so it hasn't affected anything so far).

Obviously, it wasn't very good advice.

[HappyWarrior]

Btw, the reason I've done so badly is probably that this is my first time playing;)

[Gustaf]

I must say, when I first saw your decisions Sensei, I was a bit wary, but the dice gods have surely shown in your favor, and you have set yourself up in a very positive situation. Well played.

I disagree though. Josh was pretty damaged already - weakening him further serves little purpose. The imperative should have been putting up some kind of defence against Fezzy, instead of moving the majority of his forces away from that frontier. But we'll see. Fezzy has so many options right now that predicting his next move is hard.

[Joe Republic]

Attack OH-MI-IN

Attacks (cont.)

Ohio invades Michigan (Josh22) with 3 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend Michigan.

Sensei [3] rolls 3 dice: 6 5 2
Josh22 [1] rolls 1 die: 5
Josh22 loses 1 battalion

Sensei conquers Michigan and places 3 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in Ohio.

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Michigan invades Indiana (Josh22) with 2 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend Indiana.

Sensei [2] rolls 2 dice: 5 1
Josh22 [1] rolls 1 die: 6
Sensei loses 1 battalion

Sensei [1] rolls 1 die: 5
Josh22 [1] rolls 1 die: 3
Josh22 loses 1 battalion

Sensei conquers Indiana and places 1 battalion there, leaving 1 behind in Michigan.

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Awaiting further instructions

[Sensei]

end turn

[Joe Republic]

 
New map:







General Lewis Trondheim, it is your turn.  You have 5 reinforcements.


+ [10 states ÷ 3 = 3 reinforcements]
+ [New England region = 2 reinforcements]
= 5 reinforcements

[minionofmidas]

All in DE, attack MD-WV-VA. There's litle point to any tactical moves I might make, so whatever way this turns out, I end my turn right afterwards.

It's not my fault I'm attacking you, Sensei! You leave me no choice!

[Joe Republic]

All in DE, attack MD-WV-VA. There's litle point to any tactical moves I might make, so whatever way this turns out, I end my turn right afterwards.

Reinforcements

All 5 reinforcements have been deployed in Delaware, where there are now 6 in total.


Attacks

Delaware invades Maryland (Sensei) with 5 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend Maryland.

Lewis Trondheim [5] rolls 3 dice: 6 5 2
Sensei [1] rolls 1 die: 3
Sensei loses 1 battalion

Lewis Trondheim conquers Maryland and places 5 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in Delaware.

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Maryland invades West Virginia (Sensei) with 4 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend West Virginia.

Lewis Trondheim [4] rolls 3 dice: 6 5 2
Sensei [1] rolls 1 die: 5
Sensei loses 1 battalion

Lewis Trondheim conquers West Virginia and places 4 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in Maryland.

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West Virginia invades Virginia (Sensei) with 3 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend Virginia.

Lewis Trondheim [3] rolls 3 dice: 4 4 3
Sensei [1] rolls 1 die: 2
Sensei loses 1 battalion

Lewis Trondheim conquers Virginia and places 3 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in West Virginia.

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* General Lewis Trondheim has taken control of the Mid-Atlantic region *

[Joe Republic]

 
New map:







General HappyWarrior, it is your turn.  You have 3 reinforcements.


+ [3 states ÷ 3 = Minimum 3 reinforcements]
+ [No regions controlled]
= 3 reinforcements

[HappyWarrior]

Put all three reinforcements in Texas, then go all or nothing for OK.

[Joe Republic]

Put all three reinforcements in Texas, then go all or nothing for OK.

Reinforcements

All 3 reinforcements have been deployed in Texas, where there are now 4 in total.


Attacks

Texas invades Oklahoma (Fezzyfestoon) with 3 battalions available to attack, while 1 battalion will defend Oklahoma.

HappyWarrior [3] rolls 3 dice: 4 3 1
Fezzyfestoon [1] rolls 1 die: 3
Fezzyfestoon loses 1 battalion

HappyWarrior conquers Oklahoma and places 3 battalions there, leaving 1 behind in Texas.

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Awaiting further instructions.

[Јas]

Commentary on Round 3

HappyWarrior
On the positive side, HW took a state and so gained a Risk card. The negative side would test my patience to type out. In short, HW's inexperience continues to be revealed. No effort has been made, in 3 rounds to make a coherent attempt to capture a region; nor to even manoeuvre himself into a position of relative strength; nor to form a relatively stable defensive position. Circumstance has so far kept him from being a target; and may well be kind enough to allow him to meander through another round or two. His accumulation of cards though make him a target sooner rather than later. Ask not for whom the bell tolls...

Josh22
After two rounds of simple tactical play executed competently, the wheels finally came off the wagon in Round 3 for Josh. With 11 reinforcements the potential for inflicting a serious wound on fezzy was readily apparent, but the opportunity was woefully scorned. From his initial  attack orders, it seems Josh was attempting a general westward expansion - however his reinforcement placement for such a plan was poor. (The Oklahoma assault, for example, in particular was highly questionable from a cost/benefit perspective.) Hope was not lost though as the force that took Nebraska was capable of ripping a massive hole in fezzy's front line.

After a brief assault on Wyoming, Josh sent his troops north to cocoon them in North Dakota, not inflicting any damage on fezzy and leaving his region defenceless. No matter what way I examine this it eludes me how this could be seen as the best option, or even a positive option. Josh paid the price for this error and is now dependent on his Risk cards to get back into the game.

fezzyfestoon
Patched up the hole and took a Midwestern state crippling Josh's reinforcement potential. Sensible play while the world around him crumbles in on itself.

Crucially though left his southern border defenceless. Fortunately for him his red neighbour has shown no inclination to take on the sprawling giant.

Sensei
Adventurous, aggressive and lucky play - qualities oft needed to win in Risk - were displayed by Sensei in this round. However, there can be little doubt that the assaults were also both too many and misguided. Taking Midwestern states off Josh was a relatively pointless exercise serving only to make an enemy where none existed before. The yellow forces are now spread perilously thin. Ultimately though the biggest failing is that there is no recognition that the ultimate threat lies in the west and that only an alliance with those he's attacking is the solution, will carry a cost to be paid later.

Lewis Trondheim
Lewis finds himself cornered and far away from where he needs to be. This round's attacks were simple and soundly executed. The one issue I would raise would be the need to move (at least some of) his New York battalions closer to the front line (though given Sensei's last move, the retention is understandable).

[The Mikado]

Should Happy Warrior try for New Mexico?  It seems logical, but it strikes me that it just might provoke Fezzy enough to try to wipe the Red Army out next turn.  After all, with 4 Risk Cards, HW will be both a tempting target and a potential threat if he turns them in next turn and does a kamikaze strike.

If I were HW, I'd go for depriving Fezzy of the regional bonus, but it is (of course) up to him how much risk he wants to take.  After all, it's the name of the game.

Oh, and if Josh has cards and is in a vindictive mood, Sensei might've made a very bad mistake, though I'd hope Josh would pay more attention to the Green Armies slowly moving eastward than the Yellow ones at his tail.

Sensei...doesn't really have a lot of good options unless he has cards and Josh/Fezzy don't take away his Southeastern regional bonus.  If so, his smartest short term tactic might be a crippling blow against Lewis, who has access to a great many reinforcements right now and has to come through Sensei to succeed.  However, that would leave him vulnerable to Fezzy and...you know the rest.

If nothing else, Fezzy's position is desirable because there's no one at his rear he has to watch.

[HappyWarrior]

All out Kansas to NE and OK to Missouri

[Јas]

Should Happy Warrior try for New Mexico?  It seems logical, but it strikes me that it just might provoke Fezzy enough to try to wipe the Red Army out next turn.  After all, with 4 Risk Cards, HW will be both a tempting target and a potential threat if he turns them in next turn and does a kamikaze strike.

If I were HW, I'd go for depriving Fezzy of the regional bonus, but it is (of course) up to him how much risk he wants to take.  After all, it's the name of the game.

HW is in an untenable position. He's now at about 50-50 to survice until the next round. He can only realistically impact the game in two ways, hurt fezzy or hurt Sensei. The 'correct' play was certainly to take NM.

Oh, and if Josh has cards and is in a vindictive mood, Sensei might've made a very bad mistake, though I'd hope Josh would pay more attention to the Green Armies slowly moving eastward than the Yellow ones at his tail.

The last round was the beginning of the end for Josh. He can't hope to regain and hold the Mideast (unless he forms a pact with Lewis). With his only significant force on his western frontier, he really should try and take on fezzy head on.

Sensei...doesn't really have a lot of good options unless he has cards and Josh/Fezzy don't take away his Southeastern regional bonus.  If so, his smartest short term tactic might be a crippling blow against Lewis, who has access to a great many reinforcements right now and has to come through Sensei to succeed.  However, that would leave him vulnerable to Fezzy and...you know the rest.

I disagree on the virtues of going after Lewis, even with cards. To do so and have a chance of success he'd need to commit everything to the venture and he could guarantee that Lewis would have to strike back as he'd have no other targets. Sensei's southern border would remain defenseless while fezzy continues his crawl east.

If nothing else, Fezzy's position is desirable because there's no one at his rear he has to watch.

There's an argument to be made that he has little to woory about at his front either.