Which territories do you select and in what order? Unfortunately mine are already shown, which hurts the purpose of this exercise, but I am too lazy to MSPaint them out.

Mex 1
E china 2
Scan 3
W russia 4
N Africa 5
W China 6

Scan#1
West Africa #2
North Africa #3
East China #4
Central Russia #5
South America#6


Depending on what picks I got and knew he had my first move I put all 5 income on either West or North Africa. I gamble and go for West Africa in one, or play it safe and ensure North Africa on turn 2.

If I played Ruthless I would have gotten all three of my starting spots. We should create a custom game to see who would win :)

1. West Russia
2. Mexico
3. Caucasus
4. Antarctica
5. East China
6. Scandanavia

This setup, if given the first 3 picks and no immediate neighbors (dream on, right?) would give a good chance for 17 income on turn 3 and good expansion. West Russia also serves as a counter to Scandanavia should someone choose it.

Actually I think it depends on who gets first pick, BP. If it was you, Ruthless would get Scandinavia, if it was him, you would. Correct me if I'm wrong of course though...

Actually scratch what I said entirely lol, for some reason my mind switched your Scandinavia pick with your Africa one, so never mind.

I like Troll's first 3 picks a lot. I think I'd make 4/5 be West/North Africa and 6 be East Africa, though.

Sorry, for 6 I mean East China.

Yeah, Troll's first three make a whole lot of sense...I don't know if I can design a counter-plan for it even knowing what he'd pick...assuming I don't go for the same ones he does that is. You'd need to keep him from getting mexico and get Scandinavia yourself.

with my picks against Troll's you could counter Caucasus easily if you knew that he picked it. It would depend on who got mexico but Troll's secondary quick is Antarctica and my secondary is north africa.

The only problem would be intelligence. I wouldn't know where he was starting and I couldn't get the jump on his bonuses.

Before looking at other responses (besides Imp's obviously):

1. W Africa
2. W Russia
3. Caucausus
4. C America
5. S America
6. E Africa

If someone had Scan and East China they would quickly discover that Troll had the Caucasus. So with those two spots and one pick in Africa, left all alone (as Impaller pointed out), I think Troll could be in trouble or at the very least need to make a lot of correct decisions.

I agree though, Trolls picks would likely counter mine nicely as he would get an income advantage. With only one direction in which I could penetrate the Caucuses set, I wouldn't like my chances.

Again, Nice idea Impaller. These are awesome. Funny how we already have multiple different strategies on this, and all highly respected minds to boot.

It would still take you 6 turns to get to Iran from North Africa (7 to Eastern Europe), which is at least 2 turns too late.

Also, looking again I would probably do similar to what Impaller suggested and take West Africa as a fourth pick. I still like Antarctica as a 5 for a presence close to South America and Africa, not to mention potential safe expansion into Australia if necessary. Sixth would be North Africa or East China probably; I'm kind of indifferent in that respect.

It's funny because if Imp was playing me. He wouldn't pick E china at all because if he did, he would lose.

This is true. Somehow, someway, that East China pick would cause me to lose.

Imp why didn't you wait for turn 1 and use the history to get the screen w/o the picks? afaik that would of worked..

So far we have 5 variants proposed. To stir things up a little, here's how I rank these selection orders, from best to worst:

1) TeddyFSB
2) Blue Precision
3) Troll
4) Impaller
5) Ruthless

I ranked them by checking how each selection stacks up against each other, and making a subjective judgment as to who has advantage. As you see, modesty is not my virtue;) But I think that my selection order will have an early advantage against all others in this list. What do you think?

Perrin: If I wait a turn you only see the 3 spots I start with and none of the possible territories one can select.

Here's how I feel about my matchups against everyone's starting spots.

Against BP: He starts with Scandinavia, West Africa, and North Africa. I start with West Russia, East China, and Antartica. If he successfully makes the 3 3x2 attacks he needs to get West Africa on turn 1 (assuming he isn't afraid that I will trap him) then he likely has an advantage when we meet on turn 3 in Scandy/Russia and has a good shot of winning the game. If he fails to get it on turn 1, then I feel good about my chances, as North Africa is one of the worst bonuses in the game and Scandinavia and West Russia should effectively nullify each other. I will get my other 2 bonuses before he does and have 12 income to his 9 (and soon to be 12).

Against you: You start with Caucasus, West Africa and Central America. I start with West Russia, East China, and Antartica. West Russia/Caucasus are going to basically nullify each other. You'll never get Caucasus but you'll keep me off of West Russia. I will get East China and Antartica and you'll get Central America and West Africa. I think the game boils down to whether or not you can stop me from wrecking both of your bonuses from South America. I think it would be close. If you let me break you in Central America and aggressively expand through Africa you might win. If you try too hard to defend both of your bonuses from me there and I can get West China, then I like my chances of winning. I think it's close.

Against Ruthless: He gets Central America, East China, and Scandinavia. I get West Russia, Antartica, and West Africa. West Russia/Scandinavia bounce off each other. This is essentially the reverse of my setup against Teddy, with me playing Teddy's side of things. Either way, I see this being a close game as well and I think Ruthless wins if he can get West China and I win if I can aggressively expand through Africa.

Against Troll: If I get first pick, I get West Russia, Antartica East China. He gets Caucasus, Central America, and Scandinavia. I think I have an enormous advantage in this setup, since my one West Russia spot counters 2 of his starting spots. I think I win this one easily. If he gets first pick, he gets West Russia, Caucasus, and Central America. I get West Africa, Antartica, and East China. If he attacks aggressively early from Central America, I like his chances, but if he opts to expand instead, I like my chances, as I have much superior expansion options and a good shot at breaking into Caucasus from West China.