Welcome to Turn 15 of The Impaller versus The World, a game that everyone gets to participate in! For more information about the game, view this blog post.

Here's how the game started, for reference:

The winning item from last time was number 3. Heavy push back from West Russia, move into Caucasus, setup West US, take Congo. (Use Delay Card)

Deploy 3 to Chad, 23 to Ufa. Attack Congo with 5 from Chad, use Order Delay Card, transfer 16 from Argentina to Brazil, transfer 1 from Bolivia to Brazil, transfer 6 from Colombia to Brazil, transfer 1 from Ontario to Alberta, transfer 1 from Yukon to British Columbia, transfer 1 from Alberta to British Columbia, attack Southwest with 4 from Mexico, attack Eastern Kazakhstan with 5 from Ufa, attack Western Kazakhstan with 3 from Ufa, attack Georgia with 15 from Ufa.

Here's what we did:

Here's the outcome:

• The World: Deploy 3 to Chad

• The World: Deploy 23 to Ufa

• The Impaller: Deploy 3 to Sudan

• The Impaller: Deploy 6 to Western Kazakhstan

• The Impaller: 9 armies captured Congo from Angola. 1 attacking armies killed, 2 defending armies killed.

• The World: 5 armies failed to take Congo from Chad. 5 attacking armies killed, 2 defending armies killed.

• The Impaller: 1 army transferred to Congo from Botswana

• The World plays an order delay card

• The World: 16 armies transferred to Brazil from Argentina

• The World: 1 army transferred to Brazil from Bolivia

• The World: 6 armies transferred to Brazil from Colombia

• The World: 1 army transferred to Alberta from Ontario

• The World: 1 army transferred to British Columbia from Yukon

• The World: 1 army transferred to British Columbia from Alberta

• The World: 4 armies captured Southwest from Mexico. 1 attacking armies killed, 2 defending armies killed.

• The World: 5 armies captured Eastern Kazakhstan from Ufa. 1 attacking armies killed, 2 defending armies killed.

• The World: 3 armies failed to take Western Kazakhstan from Ufa. 3 attacking armies killed, 2 defending armies killed.

• The World: 15 armies captured Georgia from Ufa. 2 attacking armies killed, 2 defending armies killed.

• The Impaller: 11 armies captured Ufa from Western Kazakhstan. 1 attacking armies killed, 1 defending armies killed.

• The Impaller: 3 armies captured Chad from Sudan. 1 attacking armies killed, 1 defending armies killed.

• The World received an order delay card and has no other cards. 15/19 blockade, 3/6 order priority, 3/4 reinforcement.

Here are our options:

1. Hammer back into West Russia, send support into Africa, advance in West US.

   Deploy 22 to Georgia. Attack Ufa with 34 from Georgia, attack/transfer Nigeria with 23 from Brazil, attack Great Plains with 4 from British Columbia, transfer 1 to Great Plains from Alberta, attack Western Kazakhstan with 3 from Eastern Kazakhstan.

2. Lightly defend Moscow, send support into Africa, take West US.

   Deploy 3 to Alberta, 17 to Southwest, 1 to Arkhangelsk, 1 to Moscow. Attack/transfer Moscow with 12 from Georgia, attack/transfer Nigeria with 23 from Brazil, attack Pacific Northwest with 4 from British Columbia, attack Great Plains with 4 from Alberta, attack Rocky Mountains with 4 from Southwest, attack Great Basin with 4 from Southwest, attack California with 4 from Southwest, attack Texas with 7 from Southwest, attack Turkmenistan with 3 from Eastern Kazakhstan.

3. Advance in West US, send support into Africa, attempt to take Caucasus while bordering India. (Use Order Delay Card)

   Deploy 13 to Eastern Kazakhstan, 9 to Georgia. Attack/transfer Nigeria with 23 from Brazil, use Order Delay Card, attack Great Plains with 4 from British Columbia, transfer 1 to Great Plains from Alberta, attack Tadschikistan with 7 from Eastern Kazakhstan, attack Kyrgyzstan with 4 from Eastern Kazakhstan, attack Turkmenistan with 5 from Eastern Kazakhstan, attack Western Kazakhstan with 10 from Georgia, attack Ufa with 10 from Georgia.

4. Defend West Russia, send support into Africa, advance in West US, take Tadschikistan. (Use Order Delay Card)

   Deploy 1 to Vorkuta, 1 to Arkhangelsk, 5 to Eastern Kazakhstan, 15 to Moscow. Transfer only 12 from Georgia to Moscow, attack/transfer Nigeria with 23 from Brazil, use Order Delay Card, attack Great Plains with 4 from British Columbia, transfer 1 to Great Plains from Alberta, attack Tadschikistan with 8 from Eastern Kazakhstan, attack Ufa with 10 from Moscow.

5. Lightly defend West Russia, take Turkmenistan, advance in West US, push hard back into Africa.

   Deploy 1 to Vorkuta, 1 to Arkhangelsk, 2 to Eastern Kazakhstan, 18 to Nigeria. Attack/transfer Moscow with 12 from Georgia, attack/transfer Nigeria with 23 from Brazil, attack Turkmenistan with 5 from Eastern Kazakhstan, attack Great Plains with 4 from British Columbia, transfer 1 to Great Plains from Alberta, attack Chad with 18 from Nigeria.

Click here to vote

You should interpret the stars as follows:

• 0 Stars means "I don't care" or "I'm indifferent to this item."

• 1 Star means "I'm positive we should not do this."

• 2 Stars means "I don't think we should do this."

• 3 Stars means "Maybe we should do this."

• 4 Stars means "I think we should do this."

• 5 Stars means "I'm positive this is what we should do."

Use this thread to discuss strategy. Feel free to suggest new options and if there's enough demand, I'll add them for voting. Have votes in before the end of the day Saturday (August 13th) and check back Sunday (August 14th) for the next turn!

Damn, he either used 2 Order Delay cards or out-delayed the crap out of us otherwise that could've gone a lot better. I still like where we're at tho, the main question we need to answer is where to go from here. I really like that we have that stack that we can send up into Africa from Brazil which should tilt that battle decently in our favor and we always have West US we can fall back on. Caucasus is also now a viable option as is trying to get West Russia back. I'd like to think we still might hold a slight income lead on Imp but after last turn I think that window is rapidly shrinking.

And my apologies, it's Saturday August 20th and Sunday August 21st

I must say I'm a little surprised at the lack of chatter on this turn...

Me too! It's a tough turn, and I noticed Bostonfred is on vacation who's usually the first to chime in.

Perhaps people are disappointed in the turn? :)

Sometimes when I have an "I just got my butt-whooped" turn I walk away for a little while. And that was an "I just got my butt-whooped" turn. We are still in good shape, but that one stung.

Sorry for my lack of advice. I would argue strongly against anything that uses a lot of resources to try to fight back in West Russia. Too many territories with too many borders to have any chance of defending it and very easy to prevent him from getting it. But I would recommend semi-randomly placing a few troops there so he doesn't get all but one spot.

I like 3 because it's a bold move and it would put us in a great position if it was successful but Imp isn't just going to let us have Caucasus. We can get West US much easier and it would also put us into position to go back door on Imp (e china, indo, australia). We can also almost expect him to show in Hawaii this or next turn.

I think our move should have a combo of taking West US, moving the brazil stack to nigeria for an africa fight, and then moving our troops in Georgia back up to Moscow for defense so we can protect Scan from being taken next turn.

I think we can sacrifice W Russia as it is hard to recover from and Imp will fight for it like he did with South America.

Looking at the choices...Eitz laid out Number 2 as this option and I actually really like it. It also gives us a shot at Xingjiang.

My vote will be for Number 2

**Update**: Based on some of our key participants either being on vacation or just getting back from vacation, paired along with the fact that we have a lot to think about this turn, we've decided to extend this turn by an extra week and will finalize the votes at the end of the day Saturday August 27th, and should have the next turn up by Sunday the 28th.

Still need some more votes here guys. I know the last turn wasn't exactly inspiring but these next turns are the ones that define winners and losers.

I wish i could repeat my response because I still like that option. I feel really strong about Number 2 still. Eitz, BP, Randy, anyone else...what do you guys think?

If no one cares, the vote for 2! :)

I haven't posted on any of these yet but since there is a distinct lack of replies, I agree that 2 is definitely the best option. He would see an attempt to take caucuses coming and wont allow us to do that so it's better to go for west US.

just bouncing one minor change off you guys, can we attack california right after the brazil transfer in case he's also going to be coming in with an attack on california with 3 or 4, id rather be defending.

Other than that I can see why we'd put one in arkhangelsk but think it might be put to better use in moscow? Or maybe put both in arkhangelsk and do a late attack on ufa in case he goes all out against moscow? I think those two armies are being put somewhat to waste here since he will see the defense of two coming and it will just be a lost army.

I like 2 as well for the most part, it's bold, but I don't like it as much as Ruthless.

One concern is that somehow Imp has made it to Hawaii and takes California from us; we'll have expended most of our deployment and not achieved the goal.

bostonfred - random thoughts: (turn 14)

- He has India, East Africa, and Australia. He may also have Indonesia, China, South Africa, and less likely, East Russia.

We know from this turn he has South Africa which seems to decrease the chance that he has Indonesia and moved into Hawaii.

Not sure if we should attack Turkmenistan over Kyrgyzstan, doing that would require deploying 1 there if we want to ensure taking it (less any counter attack).

Ruthless Looking at the choices...Eitz laid out Number 2 as this option and I actually really like it. It also gives us a shot at Xingjiang.

Wouldn't that mean going for Turkmenistan over Kyrgyzstan?

Would it be worth it to do a light attack on Ufa?

I could see Imp trying to set up for taking Caucasus, attacking back from Ufa & counting on us trying to defend Moscow w/ the attack transfer.

I can also see him loading up in Ufa for eventual attack against Scan..

Correction: Wouldn't that mean going for Kyrgyzstan over Turkmenistan? e.g. give us a shot at Xinjiang

Ah, I got my Turk and Kyrg mixed up. I did want us to actually go for Kyrg instead of Turk because if we go Turk, we'll be going up against his army in Afghan and he won't let us slip by then. I think we have a better shot, not to mention could get to Xingjiang before him.

As for the West Russia, Caucasus argument, I'd rather protect and make sure he doesn't get W Russia over him trying for Caucasus. Him trying for Caucasus would mean a lot more armies and also he would be vulnerable for a break. Defending W Russia is easy and we can also protect our Scan bonus.

I don't think he'll be in California this turn, although it is very well possible. The reason I say that is he won't is because he doesn't think we have Canada as of yet and getting West US would take longer if we just had Mexico (the blockade would have made it harder too). This jump in income while getting ourselves in position will make things look better next turn. Because with our Africa troops...we'll have another bonus to break soon.

Ruthless, it sort of sounds like we need a 2 w/ slight modification, attack Kyrg over Turk.

Worth it to deploy 1 (or 2) to East Kaz. for the 4 (or 5) v. 2 attack over the deploy 1 to Arkhangelsk, 1 to Moscow?

I would agree with you then. We can leave the one at Ark. But take that extra army and put it in East Kazak to attack Kyrg.

Eitz are you able to modify 2 like that? or should it be a new one. I would think we are just improving the strategy rather than changing it up entirely.

Ruthless: Can you please type up in orders exactly what you'd like me to change it to so I can review it and determine whether to change or implement a new idea? I noticed you guys were bouncing a couple of different ideas around and I'd just prefer a final draft before making that decision.

As for my thoughts on this turn, I'm really at a loss and was hoping to get a spark from the general public on here before forming a decision one way or the other. I think based on everything you've said and the possible moves I think Imp's capable of making, I think it's likely our best bet to take W US this turn and guarantee a + income for next turn. I definitely think we should still attempt to protect W Russia but I'll hafta do a double check to see how weak that leaves us in Caucasus. The rest of the orders is where I'd like to see what you guys are suggesting as an alternative to my original thoughts.

(Keep in mind I can only put so much thought into each branch of ideas and I fully anticipate people diving deeper into the moves to tweak them when necessary)

Lightly defend Moscow, send support into Africa, take West US.

Deploy 3 to Alberta, 17 to Southwest, 1 to Arkhangelsk, 1 to Eastern Kazakhstan. Attack/transfer Moscow with 12 from Georgia, attack/transfer Nigeria with 23 from Brazil, attack Pacific Northwest with 4 from British Columbia, attack Great Plains with 4 from Alberta, attack Rocky Mountains with 4 from Southwest, attack Great Basin with 4 from Southwest, attack California with 4 from Southwest, attack Texas with 7 from Southwest, attack Kyrgyzstan with 4 from Eastern Kazakhstan.

Jeez - I miss one turn and everything goes to haywire. It was looking so beautiful at the start of last turn too.

In hindsight last turn looks really boneheaded :(