I feel this may have been my most well-played game on the 1v1 ladder so far. Perhaps some opinions from more experienced players on what could have been better done?
Your 1/2/3 had decent map spread but both 1 and 3 were vulnerable to Central America so Caucasus/Central America opponent picks would've put you in hot water.
Expansion-wise, you were looking at a 2-turn 10 (and spending two whole turns' worth of armies to get that). But this was a totally FTB-free map, and the only better early expansion pattern I can see would come from pairing Central America or Antarctica with West China+East China (2-turn 12, spending all but 1 army on it).
1/3/5 East US/South America/Central America could've been pretty bad for you if it happened, especially given the wasteland in Canada + your opponent being a problem in Antarctica (and if they were in Africa, that would've created even more issues).
But you got your 1/2/3 and no intel so your picks didn't backfire.
You could've moved your armies in Central Russia on Turn 2 instead of saving the move so you could investigate whether your opponent was in the Caucasus (+ make them think you'd taken Central Russia if they were just coming in to take E. Kazakhstan).
But overall your early expansion pattern made sense. Good job taking E. Kazakhstan before your opponent got there, although your expansion into Africa confuses me (your opponent probably wasn't there- so why throw 11 armies there?).
After that turn, you'd basically won the game since your opponent didn't have anywhere to go.
Like Semice said, this was a pretty weak opponent. Might wanna practice against someone stronger since they actually force you to make good moves.
I was gonna reply when i got home but vitriol said pretty much everything i would have, better :p
starting turn 2, I think you should have taken Central Russia, not South America, primarily to reduce the chance that an opponent's pick in Central America could screw you over. The only dangerous counterpick that could come from a good opponent is in South East Asia, and even then you likely get warning, compared to Central America, Antartica, or West Africa, all of which could easily have been picked. So basically, Central Russia is a safer second bonus than South America. I would still do the attack in South America, but be cautious about expansion there, going to Columbia with a stack if I thought the opponent might have Central America, or Argentina if I suspected Antartica. Yes, you delay taking a bonus for a turn, but if the opponent tries to break your bonus at the last second, you end up having a better chance in the long run imo.
turn 6, taking Cameroon over Chad is a bit of a personal preference thing that I would have done to save armies in the long run. by this time its highly unlikely that your opponent is in south africa so you should be safe. otherwise you were fine to keep your stack a little longer.
I also think it might have been worthwhile to take Quebec one turn, and not making an un-needed attack into West US, so that you scout Greenland, once you saw your opponent in Europe, for the same reasons as you took Eastern Kazakhstan. Preventing your opponent from killing you with a double or triple border.
