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Twilight Struggle - ACTS Ladder Launch 19

Headline Phase

US: 0 / Europe Scoring (Both) - SCORING
SU:  0 / Asia Scoring (Both) - SCORING

So we both break out the scoring cards.  I have to say in hindsight I’m a little surprised given how the turn went.  I am +5 points for Europe and he is -6 points for Asia, equalling a net of -1 VP for the USSR.

6 Game Turns

SU: 2 / Defectors (US) - OPS + EVENT
US: 4 / Red Scare/Purge (Both) - OPS

The USSR attempts to coup Saudi Arabia away from me; he rolls a 3 which is not enough to meet the 2x Influence of Saudi Arabia: 3 (roll) + 2 (card) = 5 - 6 (Stability x 2) = -1 and so nothing happens, but DEFCON goes down 1 because Saudi Arabia is a Battleground.  I was going to place influence in Saudi Arabia and Jordan but at the las minute decide to try and coup Iran.  Luck was on my side this time as I rolled a 6:  6 (roll) + 4 (card) = 10 - 7 (Stability x 2) + 3 (Influence) = 3.  So Iran becomes (*3/0) and DEFCON is now at 2 so the coups are over for the turn.  We have also both met our Military Operations requirements for the turn.

SU: 2 / Fidel* (USSR) - OPS
US: 2 / Olympic Games (Both) - OPS

Now that I’m on Asia’s footsteps the focus shifts there.  He adds +2 to India to make is (0/2), and I add +2 to Pakistan to make it (*2/0).  The next time Aisa Scoring comes out he’s going to kick my butt, however due to his error in the Headline phase of this turn it won’t be catastrophic. Russia can still win the game early despite the 3IP the US gets extra if all the cards fall right. 

SU: 4 / NATO* (US) - OPS + EVENT
US: 3 / Five-Year Plan (US) - EVENT (1 / Nasser* (USSR))

Pressing in Asia again he adds +2 India (0/3*) and +2 Afganistan (0/2*).  This effectively blocks me, but with the cards I have there’s little I could have done.  I decide against my better judgement to play the Five-Year Plan as an Event, so he must discard a card.  He randomly discards Nasser, and because it is his event, nothing happens.  He will now either have to play all his cards or use the CHINA card.  I suspect the later as he’s pushing hard in Asia.

SU: 4 / The China Card - OPS
US: 1 / Romanian Abdication* (USSR) - OPS + EVENT

A big surprise to me, he puts all +4 in to Saudi Arabia for control (1/4*).  I know Middle East Scoring is still out there, and I guess this makes sense since his lock on Asia is good.  I have little choice, I add +1 to Jordan (*2/0) so at least we’re even in Scoring, and he takes Romania (0/3*).  The US should never put influence in to Romania until after the Romanian Abdication, and not even then.  Eastern Europe is best avoided except E.Germany or Poland.

SU: 0 / Mideast Scoring (Both) - SCORING
US: 3 / Socialist Governments (USSR) - SPACE

As previously mentioned the Middle East Scoring is a Wash (0 Points) as we both have 1 Battleground and 1 Non-Battleground.  I space Socialist Governments because if the US gets this card that’s what they should always do if able: Why?  Socialist Governments removes 3 Influence and is a 3 OPS card, so he takes the 3 away and I put them right back, resulting in effectively a PASS.  If I send this card to SPACE I can at least have a chance at some benefit.  I am successful and receive 1 VP for my trouble.  The current score 0 VP.

SU: 1 / CIA Created* (US) - OPS + EVENT
US: 3 / Suez Crisis* (USSR) - EVENT + OPS

The USSR adds +1 to Iraq for (0/3*), and then has to show me his hand, which contains only 3 / Duck and Cover (US).  Wow I’m not certain but I think the game almost ended when I played Five-Year Plan back there.  Anyway I have to play the Suez Crisis, because I wan’t it out of the game: -1 Great Britain (4/0), -2 France (2/1) and -1 Israel (0/0) followed by my OPS to fix the holes: +2 France (*4/1) and +1 Israel (1/0).

Commentary

Not much to say really: I played the turn pretty well, better than the first turn.  I now have the Asia card and so can use that to mitigate a bad hand if I get one.

Headline Phase

SU: 1 / Captured Nazi Scientist* (Both) - EVENT
US: 3 / East European Unrest (US) - EVENT

The Captured Nazi Scientist moves your marker 1 ahead on the Space Race.  In this case the USSR received 2 VP for moving in to the second space on the Track, a fair way to open the game.  I could also have had Defectors, which cancels out the Soviet Headline Phase card, so if it had failed it would be no big deal.  I remove influence: -1 E.Germ (0/3*) -1 Poland (0/3*) -1 Finland (0/0).  (US Influence / USSR Influence) Asterix indicates enough influence for Control of a region.  Control means it counts for scoring, and it is more difficult for the opponent to add influence in to that region.

6 Game Turns

SU: 3 / COMECON* (USSR) - OPS
US: 3 / DeGaulle Leads France* (USSR) - EVENT + OPS

The USSR always goes first every round.  This time he plays COMECON for it’s OPS value of 3 and attempts to Coup Iran.  This is a standard move:  Iran is easy prey with it’s measly stability of [2], which means it A) only takes 2 influence to control and B) is worth 4 during a coup.  He rolls a 6 and so the math works out: 6 (roll) + 3 (card) = 9 - 4 (Stability x 2) = 5 So first you subtract my 2 influence and the remainder ( 5 - 2 = 3 ) is added as USSR influence for a result of Iran (0/3*).  On my round I have the event happen first so that I lose no influence and then he gets 1 (0/1), the I use the OPS value of the card to add 3 back making France (3/1).

SU: Terrorism - EVENT
US: Missile Envy - OPS

The US tosses Solidarity (Yay!) and now will have to play every card this turn.  I’m hoping this means some cards beneficial to me come out.  In a show of just how bad things are for me, the US plays Missile Envy for OPS (To be fair, Missile Envy can backfire at DEFCON 2), and takes Paraguay.  This gives the US Domination in South America.

SU: 2 / Formosan Resolution* (US) - OPS
US: 1 / Blockade* (USSR) - EVENT + OPS

He uses the 2 OPS ( I may use OPS and Influence interchangeably when OPS are being used for Influence placing ) to place 2 influence in South Korea.  Would I prefer to maintain control over S.Korea?  Yes, but given my cards the game wants me to go in another direction.  S.Korea is now (1/2).  I’m happy to get Blockade out of the game, and right now I only need the 1 OPS to take France (*4/1).  I discard 3 / De-Stalinization* (USSR) to satisfy the requirement of the Blockade.

SU: 2 / Korean War* (USSR)  -OPS
US: 3 / Warsaw Pact Formed* (USSR) - OPS + EVENT

He tosses the Korean War ( which would have given S. Korea to him 50% of the time) and uses the OPS to take it anyway (1/4*).  I decide Europe is OK and I need to at least have some influence in the region.  I put my 3 Influence in Japan to take control (*4/0).  There is a card that will give me Japan but I suspect he doesn’t have it and I don’t want to be out of it in case of Asia Scoring.  The downside is Warsaw Pact gives him back waht I’ve taken in Europe: +1 E.Germany (0/4*) +2 Poland (0/5*) +1 Finland (0/1) +1 Austria (0/2).  The reason for the extra in Poland is if we get to Late War there are cards that reduce influence in Poland by a fair margin.

SU: 2 / Indo-Pakistani War (Both) - OPS
US: 1 / Truman Doctrine* (US) - OPS

And now we move to the Middle East:  He adds +1 Lebanon (0/1*) and +1 Iraq (0/2).  I counter-offer with +1 Jordan (0/1).  I’ve never tried this with the U.S. before but my plan is to go for Saudi Arabia and it’s higher stability of [3].

SU: 2 / Decolonization (USSR) - EVENT
US: 4 / Marshall Plan* (US) - OPS

Back to Asia for the usual red sweep of SE Asia +1 Indonesia (0/1*) +1 Thailand (0/1) +1 Burma (0/1) +1 Laos (0/1*).  I decide to take the opportunity and Coup Thailand.  If successful this would give me some great placement in central Asia, plus I get some Military Operations and won’t lose the VP. Unfortunately the roll does not go my way and the results is: 1 (roll) + 4 (card) = 5 - 4 (Stability x 2) = 1 Just enough to make Thailand (0/0).

SU: 3 / Containment* (US)
US: 1 / UN Intervention (Both)

Containment gives me +1 OPS to my next card, which is great because all I have is UN Intervention.  Not great because I could have used that myself for an entire turn of +1, but you take what you can get.  The USSR places +2 Thailand (0/2*) and +1 Taiwan (0/1).  I decide I don’t like that very much and so I add +1 Saudi Arabia (1/0) and +1 Taiwan (1/1).

Commentary

A solid first turn, and very fast.  I’m actually slowing the game down a bit so I can write this post.  I’m relatively happy the score is still only -2 VP (or 2VP for the USSR).  For the US it’s a waiting game largely in the Early War.  I have to make sure I have enough of a foothold in Asia and the Middle East so I don’t give up Control, but I can expect to be Dominated in both regions at some point.  Domination means he has more countries and has more battlegrounds (Countries with Blue Headers) and it is the real path to victory.

As it stands, considering my cards everything is looking alright.  Here’s hoping for some better cards in Turn 2.

Twilight Struggle - ACTS Ladder Launch 20

The way the ladder optimally works, each player plays the opposing side on the following ladder round.  So this time I find myself playing the Americans.

The USSR places 6 influence anywhere in Eastern Europe before the start of the game.  Mitchell has chosen the tried and true.

USSR Initial 6 Influence:
East Germany (0/4*)  * indicates control
Poland (0/4*)
Austria (0/1)

You may remember this was the exact opening I made last game.

I, the U.S.A. decided to spread mine out a little bit more.  I get an initial 7 influence to place anywhere in Western Europe, and an additional 3 to place anywhere.  Those extra 3 can be used to take control, but not overcontrol (I can’t place more than the exact number to have control).

My initial 7 Influence:
West Germany (*2/0)
Italy (*4/0)
Greece (1/0)

My additional 3 Influence:
West Germany (*4/0)
Iran (*2/0)

Commentary

This is a pretty standard Euro-centric start to the game.  Sending the point to Greece gives him an obvious target for a coup attempt, but also easily gives me the edge in non-battleground countries if he does nothing. Iran is often a target and putting the 1 in there makes it slightly tougher for him to take: A coup would require one extra pip on the die, and he would require 2 Influence to add a single point to Iran otherwise.  I know if I’m the Russian I always start by driving in to the western edge of Asia if I can.

I will again be using the Vassal Engine to render out the screenshots and generally keep track of the game progress.  Maintaining both Vassal and the Excel file si too much work.  If things look close though I may break the Excel file out to run the numbers.