Are you good enough at Twilight Struggle to enter a tournament?

If you look up thread you will see that I proposed the game settings more than a week before it was finalized. And no one raised a concern about the +1 US handicap suggestion. In individual games, luck in die rolls and card selection will have far more importance than the initial +1 or +2 handicap.

Thanks, @tylertoo, that’s exactly what you should have done.

I DM’ed him asking about game conditions, but I think I’m just going to invite him to a game with the defaults.

dstone112 (USSR) defeats TheRockSal (US)

Ended via held scoring card on turn 4. But the Soviet position was strong (+17 VP and control of Europe with Europe Scoring still in the deck). Game went downhill early for the US with some fortunate Soviet realignment rolls in Europe leaving both W Germany and Italy in Soviet hands.

@Brooski (USSR) defeats @Left_Empty (US) on Turn 4 with 21 VP

I honestly don’t recall how this happened. We were playing two games simultaneously and both ended with a VP victory at the same time (one ended, I hit the Next Game button, and the second ended). Both were Soviet victories, but the other was on Game Turn 7. Still, I can’t remember what happened in which game. I noticed on review that only three scoring cards were played the entire game: Middle East on Turn 1 and Europe/Asia on Turn 3. And the ME card was a Headline that got the US 4 VP due to Presence in Iran vs zero. I need to look carefully at the log. I will say, the last turn was a tough one: USSR got +2 at the end of Turn 3 for unfulfilled US MilOps, then +3 for We Will Bury You headline, +4 for OPEC and +1 for a successful Brush War to make the VP count +19, and facing a guaranteed -2 VP for MilOps again, the US made the very reasonable decision to take a die roll shot at Summit, but lost. Good game, @Left_Empty - maybe you can fill in some details.

I won’t comment much, as I was caught in the same blur as well!
For the whole game, I felt like I was trying to patch various holes in the world’s fabric with my little hands, while @Brooski was leisurely strolling around the map, scoring VP now and then. Although definitively one-sided, it was a very stimulating game, from my side.

I remember vividly only a few things:

  • Brooski’s opening move on turn 1 with Socialist Governments, which was the equivalent of a strategical impalement. I was to spend a lot of my time and resource trying to prevent Red European domination, which I failed to do on time of course. I then proceeded to aim for my own domination, thinking I was making a fair menace while in fact, much of the world scene was on fire and a menace to me by then.

  • The worst streak of wars. I triggered the Korean War* event when it was 4 for the USSR/2 for me. I needed the influence, but still, how could I think that gamble was worth it - of course, I lost the war. What did I do next? How about triggering the Israel-Arab one - but this time, I am the Stratemaster and I will take Lebanon using the card’s ressources for an advantage to turn the… nope.

  • I’ll rationalize the following by claiming now it was because of the shock of the Korean fall, but I failed to see the Asian theater for the opportunity it may have held for me.

Overall, I feel the hands didn’t screw either of us - if anything, I think I had the better cards - and we both had a lot of bad luck on our rolls, which is always fun!
It is a joy to play the game in such conditions. A lot of Brooski’s moves where just multilayered pieces of hurt, and trying to think of what to do next was always very exciting. This is also because this game is sooo good (I bet none of the people in this thread knew that) : being able to set short, little goals to make the game exciting even when it is nearly lost for yourself is just tremendous design.

Anyway, a short, but good game!

@Syzygy I know you said @tcgamer was a friend of yours and would be out a few days. I went ahead and sent an invite today. Any idea when he’ll be available to start?

I’ll check in today.

@Grunden (USSR) defeats @Chappers (US) by victory points on turn 4.

The classic Decolonization + Destalinization combination allowed a surprise domination scoring of South America.

Well played and I wish I understood what you just wrote

Back to back playing of those two cards allowed the USSR to suddenly get large positions in both of those scoring areas just before the scoring cards were due to come out.

Yup, what @Gruden said. They’re considered the two most powerful Early War cards for USSR. Having both early on is good fortune for the Russkies.

Ok game with @tcgamer started, he as USSR.

Cmon everyone…I"m itching to get demoralized again!

I’d like to report that at the start of Turn 6, the leader of the free world (tgb123) defeated the Godless Commie Empire led by Borges.

Actually it was a good game, with Borges taking a commanding lead (+10) early on, and while I was starting to make some headway in whittling it down thanks to heavy influence in Europe and the Americas, I had my doubts that I’d be able to take the lead by the end of the game.

Fortunately Borges slipped up and played Summit for the event while we were at Defcon 2, and I won the die roll, allowing me to fire off the first nukes and win.

Sounds like a great game. Thanks for the reports everyone. Keep them coming!

It was, and taking advantage of an obvious mistake felt like a cheap victory. But I’ll take it. :)

GAAAH! Pro tip: don’t play Your Twilight Struggle turn after a night of drinking. Good game tgb, and good luck!

Thanks. FWIW, if we’d been playing head-to-head I would have offered to let you take it back.

No worries, I’ve won my share of these games that way. Besides, the
Russians will get their revenge in Twilight Struggle: The 2016 Election
Edition.

Turn 1 AR1 and I fear I already made a big mistake. As US I headlined Red Scare because, duh. Took 3 influence in Italy, 4 Germany. Pretty normal.

Round 1 I play DeGaulle. I choose to do event first, then attempt to coup France. I roll a 3, 1 shy of what I needed. I had risked a 50/50 chance to kick Defcon to 4, and remove the influence. However it failed and now USSR has France. I should have gone for realignment.

Live and learn.