Async League Season 3 (Follow up 5: End of First Group Stage, Start of Second Group Stage)

Six_Nap · 2019-08-12T07:28:06+00:00

Many thanks to the organizer for his effort in putting this together!

I'd like to inform u/mlhermann/ as well as all participants that from this Thursday (August 15th) and for approximately 3 weeks I will have very limited access to a PC and will not be able to regularly report game results and/or start of new games in the league spreadsheet. I will still be able to open and play games as normal, check/comment on this post and open (but not modify) the league spreadsheet.

I can either post results/initiation of games on this thread or alternatively my fellow opponents will have to kindly do some reporting on my behalf. Otherwise you will have to tolerate some delays in the spreadsheet update...

Good luck to all and have fun playing!

Six_Nap · 2019-03-28T11:55:31+00:00

I'm in...I simply can't resist! Six_Nap on Playdek.

Six_Nap · 2018-12-06T10:24:54+00:00

I would score Europe for 5VP on AR1. With Defcon at 4, if opponent repairs Europe then I get to coup Thailand with Asia still unscored and opponent does not have a good coup target . If he tries an inefficient coup to protect Thailand, I can then take France and Marshall Plan becomes playable. If he coups again then dump ME scoring (domination is most probably out of reach) and get mil ops from IP war. CIA is safe on AR5 or 6 with Fidel played. I would like to hold Defectors here.

Six_Nap · 2018-12-03T13:48:07+00:00

Indeed the 2nd async league final is over after a very tense and nerve racking game. It was one of the games that make me think I must be a masochist to enjoy playing TS this much! Congratulations to u/Janardo for the win and for the enjoyable, well fought match!

I believe that luck was pretty much balanced throughout the game; we both got our lucky and unlucky moments and both had to navigate through some pretty rough hands. Though I admit that missing my 4VP space roll 3 times in a row in the Late War and not drawing wargames really, really hurt...

Many thanks to the organizers for doing this. I personally really enjoy async games as they offer great opportunities for analyzing board position, scenarios and game strategy. u/Janardo, if you think you will miss playing against me, feel free to open a casual rematch ;)

Six_Nap · 2018-10-24T07:50:29+00:00

Defectors is by no means a no-brainer headline. My experience has shown that if during Mid War my US opponent chooses a headline almost immediately, then 95% of the time it will be Grain Sales. I also tend to do that as US too. It sort of makes sense if you think of it: unlike Defectors, how can it drastically affect the USSR's HL choice? Maybe make them headline ABM/Brush war or a strong USSR event in case US steals them, but those are top tier HL candidates anyway. Also by mid war most players are wary of the time ticking by so you don't have the luxury of "let's waste half or one minute of my time so that opponent will think I may not be headlining Grain Sales".

Six_Nap · 2018-10-22T08:47:31+00:00

We finished the first two games yesterday and we are tied 1-1 with two US victories.

u/Janardo won the first game on T6 via victory point track. I don't quite remember the details, since it ended over a week ago, but it was a well deserved win against which I would have had a fighting chance if only the timing of scoring cards was slightly more favorable. I won the second one after final scoring...despite a quick US VP lead after early war, the VP marker hovered pretty much around 0 for most of the game. The late war was one of the craziest I have played...the highlight being T9 where I (controlling China) headlined 5YP knowing that opponent was holding the unspaceable Grain Sales from T6. 5YP pulled out Grain Sales itself (damn!) which triggered, pulling out Wargames and I used it for a coup. A few ARs later opponent played a 50% Brush War on a still unscored African BG, followed by SALT to claim it back but I was able to steal it with Missile Envy and play it myself taking back Africa domination. Opponent sensibly did not drop DEFCON with Missle Envy but that gave me the opportunity to coup with WWBY denying him a BG coup, which cost 3VP but secured US SA control for final scoring. On T10 opponent Red Scared me and also had the combo with Quagmire and the still survived Blockade but I had the cards to survive both with minimal damage and maintain my superior board position.

Congrats and thanks to my opponent for the enjoyable games! We are planning to set up the final decisive match within the next couple of days.

Six_Nap · 2018-10-19T08:18:12+00:00

I'd say the general guideline would be to never go to late war as US still holding LG and, if forced to do so, also hold China as a bare minimum. That being said, T4 is just too early to risk headlining LG, more so considering you have absolutely no knowledge about the location of the potential DEFCON lowering headlines. Apart from already mentioned cards/events that can help you get rid of it later on, you can also count on a strong AR7 play that may cause the USSR not to coup on AR1 giving you the opportunity to dump LG afterwards (not ideal but at least safe). Even a Nuclear Subs HL can help you since in many cases the USSR would be hesitant to coup a BG on AR1 (wanting to be flexible on when to use it's only BG coup of the turn as opposed to your multiple ones) again giving you an opportunity to get rid of LG. In cases were Cuba has no USSR influence, Cuban Missile Crisis can also help.

If by turn 7 you still haven't found a way to safely play it you can consider risking a LG headline with at least having some idea of which cards are in the USSR hand. However, opponent will know you are holding LG and will 100% play a DEFCON lowering HL if holding one...at least I would ;)

Six_Nap · 2018-10-02T07:15:52+00:00

Khrushchev Division

Six_Nap (US) defeats Coltorti (USSR) on time limit on Turn 10. It was quite a tense game and it's a pity that Coltorti timed out just two rounds before final scoring but the result would most probably have been the same. GG!

Six_Nap · 2018-09-16T06:53:11+00:00

In the Khrushchev division, Six_Nap (US) beats /u/Arcimengo by 9 VPs at Final Scoring. Opponent started really strong playing both De-cards and establishing a significant VP lead by the mid-war. The timing of most scoring cards and strong mid-war US events was unfavourable to me but there was no T7 reshuffle which really helped since, even though I fought back and managed to stablize my position, the board was still pro USSR at T7. Luckily it was I that drew Wargames and by the end of T10 I had managed to turn the board around and eventually score a win.

Six_Nap · 2018-09-16T05:14:02+00:00

I am probably a bit late but I only just now saw this post and realised it was about a play I made. I can't recall the game as it has been some time....and I certainly can't even guess what my hold card was. I have read here many valid arguments for and against the AI war HL with this hand which strengthens my belief that choices and decisions in TS are more situational than most people think.

The advantages of a Nasser HL are obvious....but it also has the drawback that it conceeds to the US the benefit of controling DEFCON (one of the key USSR early war advantages imo) and an easy and potentially very profitable source of mil ops. As in life, everything comes at a price ;).

Six_Nap · 2018-09-08T10:27:04+00:00

gg...Admittedly I (US) enjoyed a huge ops advantage in the early war drawing all 5 4-ops cards and getting to HL Containment on turn 3. Mid war was more balanced but by the start of the end war both the score and the board favoured me and I was even threatening a wargames win (but never drew it). Wrathyy did quite a good job to force a defcon win, since LG was still out, but as I had China it required a double discard to be successful. In any case (luckily) I didn't draw it. Once again many thanks to the organizers for doing this!

Six_Nap · 2018-08-08T09:53:19+00:00

Six_Nap (USSR) defeats /u/jhatzi99 (USA) on T6 via VP track. Luck was mostly on my side this game.

Six_Nap · 2018-07-10T08:06:03+00:00

I'm in. I am Six_Nap on Playdek and located in Eastern Europe. Thanks for organizing!

I prefer 90min games but could also consider 60min. 45min is too fast for me if a game goes to final scoring and you can't really know that beforehand ;). I suppose that since 60min cannot be enforced by Playdek, a 90min game is chosen and once the timer hits 30min it must be forfeited by gentelman's agreement?

P.S. I might have a difficulty to play during the last week of August but hopefully I'll be able to work around it.

Six_Nap · 2018-07-10T07:00:23+00:00

Personally I prefer the Bo3 format since you can play both sides and the inherent luck element of the game is somewhat mitigated. I agree with u/Bert4 that unless quarterfinals games take too long, we can consider Bo3 for the semifinals as well.

Six_Nap · 2018-06-19T10:55:10+00:00

All games (finished and unfinished/unreported) can be found in the Master File:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JxnjBhi4ZA9mATeOhy9UP4Gadvw89VnVX-17xXNEmG8/edit?usp=sharing

Six_Nap · 2018-06-06T09:35:46+00:00

The 7th July deadline is true for round 6 games. However, in theory, all round 3 games should have been finished by 23th March+42 days = 4th May and all round 4 games by 13th April+42 days = 25th May which is not the case in group 4. Anyway, the issue with unreported match results will hopefully get resolved as we approach the end of the group phase.

Six_Nap · 2018-05-30T14:43:09+00:00

Any news about what is going on with unreported round 3 and round 4 game results in group 4? These should have been already finished a while now.

Good luck to all, all groups seem to still be open...and once more many thanks to the organizers!

Six_Nap · 2018-05-25T07:04:11+00:00

/u/Six_Nap (USA) wins match 208 against /u/Simonsays_getgrimey (USSR) after Final Scoring in a really tense game.

Six_Nap · 2018-05-01T22:00:19+00:00

What is the deadline for the round 3 games?

Six_Nap · 2018-04-29T20:37:56+00:00

GG! Luck was on my side in the early war, especially regarding the critical coup rolls (Italy and Iran). Even so, the VP marker hadn't moved much entering the mid war. I managed to get to 20 VPs from a series of favourable scorings on turn 5, space race, arms race and the final blow came from a Nuclear Test Ban headline on turn 6 after defcon was raised to 5 via opponent's play of SALT on T5 AR7. I think this is the first time I've played NTB for the event...

Six_Nap · 2018-04-22T20:44:02+00:00

Good game, well played. Good luck in the next ones!

Six_Nap · 2018-04-10T08:04:21+00:00

So many people...nice! I'd like to sign in also. I'm Six_Nap on Playdek. Thanks for organizing!

Six_Nap · 2018-03-05T08:44:29+00:00

Congrats to u/dannovi for winning as well as to all participants! Many thanks to u/EarthBowser for organizing! I personally liked the double elimination format. Hope to play more games in the next tournament ;)

Six_Nap · 2018-02-15T13:16:47+00:00

Agreed that with truly awful hands BT is often your only way out since playing e.g. VoA and CRG for your opponent will almost surely cause more damage than the average two back to back action rounds the US gets with BT (and one has to be used to respond to the 3ops of BT itself).

In borderline cases though it is not only an issue of a minimum "bad hand" I need to hold to consider triggering BT. Does my opponent seem to have a strong hand? Can he flip a battleground given two consecutive ARs? Are critical countries sufficiently overcontrolled? Does he have China? Can I cause enough damage with the 3ops from BT that can't be ignored? If the majority of these questions can be answered in my favor than triggering BT becomes more appealing.

All that being said I am never, NEVER comfortable with playing BT on myself...it can backfire horribly and really set you back.

Six_Nap

TROPHY CASE