slight or SLIGHT? xD

Preview April 22nd to April 28th






Elitist Africa
Somewhat lopsided week as Andre of VIW fights Grievous of Acme in this week's key match up. Dutch Desire enters his match vs. AlexB as a heavy favorite, and in a game that has already finished only a day after it's creation, Dr. Killa has beaten Colonel Gavilan.


1v1 French Brawl
Let's Fight faces off this week vs. Dark Ninja for the key game. John John Johnson looks to push for third victory vs. Hasdrubal. zaky looks to end USSR's string of losses but faces a heavy favorite in lineal2012.

I love you JJJ, pls keep carrying us to victory
<3 Red

I love you JJJ, pls keep carrying us to victory

Not many games, completed over the past couple days so I'll go over the tourneys in depth.



In a template that most often hinges on predicts, French Brawl is probably the best tourney to see as a spectator due to the light fog. Games also go by really quickly.

CORP vs. Avengers
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376014

A very cluttered board overall, but Hasdrubal didn't help himself much by putting his top 5 in close succession. Oddly enough he got his 1-5, and 12, something I don't think I've ever seen before on this template. Garlikid spaced out his picks more evenly and got ftbs that would ultimately win him this game fast. Hasdrubal fought as well as he could and had it even on the second turn, but it didn't take long for Garlikid to use superior expansion and position to end it.

VIW vs. HAWKS
https://www.warzone.com/multiplayer?GameID=15376015

In a game between two heavy weights in this tourney, the board couldn't have looked more bland with most the focus having to be centered around the +1s. The Auvergne bonus is the only ftb that was not +1, thatwould offer a superior advantage, but it would be nearly impossible to get. They both maintained the strategy that this was the most important spot and used it as a their first two
This is where they differ, how do they handle the Lorraine ftb. 51-Marne was the critical spot and is where LF made his first mistake. Lineal also made the smart decision that he was much more likely to get the Picardie ftb, and then followed with the Lorraine ftb. LF made the mistake of ordering this ftb wrong and it cost him dearly. From there the advantage lineal got on picks became clear.
lineal and LF went for a large income gap early by taking a +3 in the first two turns, but in one mistake that probably should've been avoided, he allowed himself to be flanked while lineal did not. LF was able to take an income lead but also had some trouble with army management when taking Lorraine. LF followed with a pretty good turn but lineal had a better one taking two +1 bonuses while eliminating him in the north, and gaining a different double border on LF's +3. Similarly the next turn, it was a good turn for LF as lineal favored expansion, and even though lineal could've played it better and made the gap larger by focusing more on LF's +3, the gap started to become clear. LF gets a good turn in and breaks lineal's +3 but sacrifices a double border by a stack on his +3 and +2 in the process. On turn 7 lineal breaks all of LF's bonuses and wins the game.
Very good game overall!

VIW vs. Acme
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15439140

Brawly board, both players knew they wouldn't get much income and it shows. Unfortunately for Dark Ninja lineal had the only safe bonus and had two dead picks. By the time they both countered each others +1 on turn 3, it was obvious Lineal would win.

TSK vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15439142

Onto the god of TSK, JJJ represented his subjects well. The North in this board was very cluttered, JJJ tried to lock down the Picardie area as using it a his top 4, his #5 was on the only safe bonus on the board. zaky unfortunately picked too heavily in the north first making JJJ have immediate counters on all his income. zaky played decently given his situation, but the income gap became insurmountable in a short time.

TSK vs. Acme
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376016

Maybe one of the worst first turns I've ever seen by a player, Dark Ninja essentially won on picks, he had a major brainfart of a turn that I can't even explain. Luckily Dark Ninja was still able to counter JJJ from taking the +4 bonus on turn 2, but then has an equally as bad turn as turn 1 on turn 3 and gives up the +4. Again Dark Ninja has a decent turn, putting him in a position where he could win, then has a bad turn 6. By turn 7 JJJ takes advantage of the income advantage he had gained and routed Dark Ninja.

Overview

The clear favorites are coming out between TSK, CORP, and VIW, and it should be very interesting how their games go. The Avengers USSR, and HAWKS will try to avoid slipping any further as they can still win the tourney, but have to overcome the momentum they have lost. Acme will likely finish in the bottom of this tourney, but can still fight to overcome it.



Guiroma at this point has become a CL staple and almost every clan has a player that loves it. Overall the speed of this tourney has been helped by one player, who you will see mentioned later

HAWKS vs. Avengers
https://www.warzone.com/multiplayer?GameID=15389962

DanWL, who pulled a similar stunt for Turtles last CL, doesn't join this game. No big surprise here. (Why hasn't he been subbed yet?)

VIW vs. Avengers
https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=15458795

DanWL got a little farther this time. He joined, made picks and then booted. Good improvement Dan, maybe you'll complete the last game at this pace.

HAWKS vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15458794

While Prophet might be heavily viewed as an underdog, his picks were decent and spread out, he unfortunately had a slower time at getting income as Thor tripled Ponticia which acted as an ftb, giving him an income advantage early. Prophet put up a pretty good fight but couldn't stop from being driven over by Thor's army and income gap. If Prophet thinks outside the box when picking, I'm sure he can pick up a win or two.

Acme vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15389961

This game shouldn't come as a suprise, as ACL is the likely favorite in this tourney, but again that's not to say prophet played terribly. ftbs continued to elude him though as ACL was able to pick up two of them. Similarly to the last game this gap overwhelmed Prophet early, tbf though he was able to overcome that gap and put up a fight around turn 4, but giving up Asia sealed the fate of the game as it opened him up to be able to take Illyricum. By then it was too late.

CORP vs. TSK
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15389960

In a game of East vs. West, Nemo had a pretty good start while Jayden had a fairly poor one, his paranoia cost him a third +2 ftb that would've given him an early lead. Proper troop movement could've also made his movement in Northern Italy much easier. From here Nemo starts to outexpand him and gain an army advantage, Jayden then continued to misuse troops, this time in taking Panonia, costing him from having 2 spare troops. Over the last couple turns, Nemo uses his income advantage to beat Jayden and picks up his first win.

Overview
A good start by HAWKS is bolstered by a nonjoin win vs. HAWKS, the tournament is too early to tell, but I believe Avengers will likely get last if they do not sub out DanWL.

Continued in the next post

Edited 4/30/2018 08:07:04

Continued from the previous post



A template with an odd bonus system. It's one of the newcomers on the block, but it's clear you have to know what you are doing or you will lose very quick.

CORP vs. Acme
https://www.warzone.com/multiplayer?GameID=15409914

A big gamble taken by Grievous cost him dearly. The Nigerian lowlands ftb was not only an important pick, but likely cost him the game. DD chose it as his 1/2 while Grievous did it as his 2/8 instead deciding that clustering around the Kalahari Desert was better. DD was able to take advantage of three ftbs and won the game essentially at picks. This is an obvious case of a lack of understanding of the template biting someone in the ass. He has plenty of time to learn from his mistakes though.

HAWKS vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15409915

Game was over at picks and it wasn't even close. Gavilan ignored key areas and made one major mistake, picked in the desert, which offers little to no income while taking a ton. AlexB on the other hand picked more standard and as a result easily routed him.

VIW vs. Avengers
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15409916

An annoying board for sure; it featured two bonuses with 3 warlords both viable as good picks. Obviously the 3 in Magreb had to be picked early, but I definitely agree with Andre here who did it as 2/3/4 and instead chose to take a safe red bonus in the south (Cape of good hope). Both picksets ended up pretty decent, but I think a big mistake by randomperson was that he chose to chose Comoros over the West Sudanian Savanah. As a result Andre started with a 6-4 advantage that hurt him. He also ignored the Lower Nile Valley which cost him an income advantage he could've had. With better bonuses and greater income, it would take poor play throughout the game to lose it.

VIW vs. Acme
https://www.warzone.com/multiplayer?GameID=15409914

A very clustered board. Grievous took the opportunity to cluster pick 12 out of the 14 picks n the same area, while downplaying really good ftbs. His 4 also cost him 3 income on turn 1. Andre on the other hand spread out him picks more and focused on the ftbs while downplaying the main cluster a bit. I do think he put the Lower Nile Valley too low though, luckily for him, he'd likely have still won even if he ignore it. The game was over at picks as Andre's ftbs gave him a huge income advantage early, eventually overruning Grievous' main income.

TSK vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15478693

This wasn't even close as Gavilan mainly picked territories that give negative income. As a result he started with 0 income. Killa's picks were decent, but it's hard to make such a comment when a nonjoin by Dan is more competitive. (Sorry Gavilan <3)

Overview
It's too early to say what the top 5 will be, but USSR and Acme will need to step up their game if they do not want to finish last.



An old template that people either love is back or wish it had stayed in the grave, Szeurope is very different template than it's 3v3 counterpart. It should offer some interesting games to overlook.

Avengers vs. USSR
https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376022

Wesley and Bman put all their picks in one spot. Pretty solid picks guaranteed victory at picks for Avengers. It only take a couple turns for them to get countered

TSK vs. HAWKS
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376023

Very odd game that featured all picks clustered around Hungary and Russia, with exception to Portugual. JJJ and Redonis made use of an interesting strategy - Triple picking West Central Russia, while Redonis doubled on Bulg andalso picked Port as his third. Turbo's strategy was also quite similar to JJJ, but he instead doubled Western Balkans and then WCR. AlexB's picks were hard to comprehend as to a potential strategy, and seemed more randomly placed. The remaining picks JJJ and Redonis got were around Slovakia. JJJ got the ftb, and helped Redonis pick up Slovakia. AlexB should've either helped Turbo take WB through transferring or blind counter slov. Redonis was also able to pick up Port thanks to the transferred he received in Slovakia. AlexB also hurt his chances by not pressuring JJJ via Southwest Russia, which could've severely damaged JJJ's abilities. Ultimately HAWKS got outplayed, and outplayed hard.

Acme vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376019

USSR had an interesting strat in this game. Wesley took the West and Bman took the east. For Acme it was a bit more traditional both focusing on comboing a +2 bonus. JT had a bit of a hard time due to relying on +1s, but thanks to biggreen that disadvantage was overcome fast. Bman was overrun rather quickly biggreen and Wesley quickly followed.

Overview
Only one thing is clear, USSR needs to adjust their plans if they want to compete in this tourney



The old classic that never seems to die. This is the must know template if you plan to win in CL.

TSK vs. USSR
https://www.warzone.com/multiplayer?GameID=-44135

USSR had a player too low level, the game couldn't be created.

VIW vs. Acme
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376029

JT and ACL did much more standard picks, but Grievous decided to take somce liberties in his, clustering his first 6 picks around Czech. They risked losing Iceland and Ireland, as ACL preferred Denmark. A lack of cohesion seems to have put them at a disadvantage from the start. On the other hand VIW all mirrored and made sure to shift focus rather normally. JT ended up with all his picks in the north and and rather dead pick in the baltics. Grievous' income could be countered immediately and ACL could only obtain Switzerland safely. VIW had safer income. ilpeggiore had Bulgaria, Andre, Portugal, and Count, Denmark. ACL was eliminated in Russia, which opened up ilpeggiore to counter Finland. Andre countered Czech Republic and ACL failed to gain anymore income.

CORP vs. Avengers
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15376025

Close game, but position won the day for them. They were able to eliminate them in Ireland and threaten Parish's income in WB.
CORP also able to get the Iceland ftb which gave them an advantage early.




Edited 4/30/2018 10:05:59

Thanks for the review Cowboy, I enjoyed reading it.

Overall Update and Quotes
Compiled by John John Johnson

May or may not be fully accurate

USSR:
After what has truly been a dreadful month for the USSR, things most surely have to turn around. The official statements from the USSR Ministry of Strat reads as this:

"Мы сделали это немного хуже, чем ожидалось, но ожидаем подкреплений с Крымского полуострова" - Coronel Gavilan, USSR Minister of Strat

However, not all is well in the USSR camp after the first rounds. Losing 8 of 8 matches has taken its toll on most some of the players, with one of them in tears stating:

"Для этого Сталин пошлет нас к гулагу" - Anonymous USSR Player

Due to safety reasons we have chosen to keep the identity of the player to ourselves, as its rumoured that he and a couple of others are planning to flee the USSR camp to escape punishments.
Regardless of it all, USSR now remains the favorite to reaching Division E, and might already be out of the race for Div C, even if they win all their remaining games.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Avengers:
With a 19%PC, things doesnt look well for the Marvel Superhero Squad either. Their performance has been far from Fantastic, 4 points is all they got so far. However, many people in the CL10 Prediction Competition might be smiling, as the clan has been tipped 5th or 6th by many players.

"Our superpowers are not working, we suspect illegal usage of Cryptonite" - Mega Knight

Their poor point output was explained by Mega Knight as cheating, however he seemingly forgot that Cryptonite only affects DC Comics, and not Marvel Superheroes. Will there be a lightning strike from the clear sky, as Thor comes down to save them? Oh well, they dont have Thor in their line-up, but they got the best Warzone Player in the World, Dan"NoJoin"WL, who booted in one game and forgot to join in another.

"Im just making it a bit more open, all know the Avengers will avenge this!" - DanWL

We asked a randomperson in the street about his opinion of DanWL's performances so far:

"He is definitely overrated, he should have been subbed out already" - randomperson

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ACME Co:
The first MAJOR upset this season has been the ACME gang, with ACL rumored to be in Tears after their Europe 3v3 loss. A 29.2%PC doesn't get you very far, and losing 5 games so early will surely be considered a bad performance, they are tipped 2nd by most of the participants of the CL10 Prediction Competition.

"The fact we have done so poorly is due to many (Dr.) Stupid decisions, honestly!" - JT

There might be a blame game going on in the corridors of ACMEs headquarters, with Dark Ninja furious that he was put on French Brawl.

"How am I supposed to use my Ninja stealth on light fog" - Dark Ninja

In fact, their only victories so far have come against USSR, something that cant be considered a testament to their quality. However, they have some big guns in their line-up, surely they must start to perform soon. NWO-Leader LeQuébécois_Benoit seems to have full confidence in ACME, however, when he earlier stated both:

"ACL Tears is the best player in the Qualifiers (not counting myself)" - LeQuébécois_Benoit

"ACL Tears, can I have your babies?" - LeQuébécois_Benoit

Has Benoit misplaced his faith?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HAWKS:
Still hovering above the 100MP mark, HAWKS have the possibility to turn things around, despite some early losses. 56.2%PC is not all too good, but not quite as dreadfull as the 3 bottom clans. They will look to push for another promotion for Div C, hoping to recreate the amazing results from last year. However, their team games have let them down, along with HAWKS superstar Let's Fight:

"My loss against lineal was poor luck." - Let's Fight

Someone needs to tell HAWKS that in 0% SR its no luck, but whatever floats your boat. What has been keeping them afloat is the almighty Thor, who has racked up 2 consecutive wins on Guiroma, who is now looking to flex his muscles against one of the big guns in the next game, against Nemo.

"Emo-Nemo got nothing on me" - Thor

When asked to comment on how they would up their game and catch up with the front-runners, Cicero told us:

"We have to assemble the Eagles!" - Cicero XXII

Or hawks, nothing is really decided for HAWKS, as they reside in the place most of the participants in the CL10 Prediction Competition tipped for them: 4th.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TSK:
The positive upset of the season has been The Seven Kingdoms. With the third best %PC, 85.7, and currently with 2nd most points, they are flying high, considering they are tipped 6th by most participants in th CL10 Prediction Competition. Whichever 3 players tipped them for 2nd and 3rd must be pleased. Their clan leader, Dr. Killa, was asked about how he thought of their performances so far, especially JJJs, who have racked up 3 wins in a row.

"He is overrated, currently the 5th best player in our clan. We spare our big guns to Leg 2" - Dr. Killa

However, not all seems to agree with his sentiments, as clanmembers Rikolis and Redonis both recently confessed their love to him in public:

"I love you JJJ, pls keep carrying us to victory" - Rikolis and Redonis

JJJ, not the most humble player, stated that he was going for a 12-0. When asked whether he still feels it is possible after seeing the performances by the other participants he said:

"Well, I am through the worst: Zaky was my favorite for the FB tournament, and CORP are beaten on sz as soon as Garlikid stops stalling all the time" - JJJ

Bear in mind that this was JJJ quoting himself, so perhaps there is reason to doubt his sanity. Regardless, TSK has been a fresh breath of wind this CL, and if they keep going from strength to strength this might be an eventful CL indeed!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CORP:
Hotly tipped 1st, or at the very worst 2nd, CORP have all reasons to be confident in their abilities. Despite being behind on points, they are one of the two remaining clans to have MP intact. 14 points and a 100% winrate is a strong start to CL10, and when asking Nemo about their performances this far he stated:

"They are as excepted, we will surely win this qualifier" - Nemo

They might be considered cocky, but they have reasons to be so, especially after replacing Onoma94 as clan leader. He even recently confirmed himself that he is no fit for the job, after he commented on KUWTKs latest issue:

"Any clan with Onoma as a leader is a joke. - Can confirm." - Onoma94

Dutch Desire have been trying to help follow EA players to better understand the map, by telling them to pick all the red ones, but perhaps helping the other players isnt the best way to win their Qualifier? Hopefully CORP keeps up their good run of form, and dont fall short due to the boots they are so famed for!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

VIW:
The front-runners, with MP intact and an astonishing 20 points from their first 6 games, nothing seems to be able to stop them from progressing to Div C. Tipped 3rd by most in the CL10 competition, some might argue that they are overperforming, having currently no games finished againts the other top 3 clans. When we asked their leader Sound_of_Silence about whether or not they could keep up they current form he answered with silence:

" " - Sound_of_silence

A bit weird, but then again it only lives up to their names. Both Lineal2012 and Andre Laufmöller are in the contention to gain the much coveted title "MVP of Q2" with a strong 2-0 and 3-0 record respectively.
ilpeggiore was a bit more talkative than his peer, Sound-of_silence, and stated that:

"We are very happy, though this is nothing less than expected" - [V.I.W]ilpeggiore

Whether or not you root for the Weirdos, this seems to be an interesting season for them indeed, as they will likely remain in the mix for promotion until the very end, and might even run clear from the rest before that!

Edited 4/30/2018 23:46:41

Dutch Desire have been trying to help follow EA players to better understand the map, by telling them to pick all the red ones, but perhaps helping the other players isnt the best way to win their Qualifier?

That is a great idea.

Edited 4/30/2018 12:49:10

Thanks for an awesome update. Truly entertaining.

Thanks for the updates. We've got work to do.

Thanks for great update Cowboy and JJJ !

April 30th to May 5th Preview



As the second set of team games approach, not much has happened in the scope of EU yet, so it's hard to give any detailed preview into these games. CORP vs. Acme still looks like it should be a good game though. Even though Acme is 0-1 they still stack up well against CORP (1-0). It'll take a bit more cohesion in the team work of Acme though. Avengers vs VIW is similar in it's scope. VIW having a previous win vs Acme, while Avengers lost to CORP. Both played rather well, so I think this will be one of the better games. HAWKS vs. Acme is hard to predict as the HAWKS has yet to complete a game. Acme still is hard to overlook here in this matchup. But I am unsure of who to favor. Avengers vs. TSK is a battle of clans looking to rebound. Avengers looks like the clan with the biggest advantage but it's still too early. USSR looks to redeem themselves after the game deletion at the beginning of the season, this time in VIW vs. USSR and HAWKS vs. USSR. They still enter in as underdogs though, so we shall see.



The Szeurope Games of the Week features Avengers (0-1) playing their part in both of them. CORP vs. Avengers should be a good game, but it's hard to tell since CORP seems to be the slowest in the group. Avengers vs. VIW seems to be much the same as VIW also has yet to finish a game. Acme vs. TSK ought to be a good game as both won their first game. TSK remains as the favorite though. Acme vs. CORP is the other best of the rest pick. USSR vs. HAWKS features opponents trying to reverse a poor start, and HAWKS gets another chance as well in HAWKS vs. VIW



TSK vs. Avengers has Killa (1-0) taking on Hasdrubal (0-1) in this game of the week. In HAWKS vs. Acme, AlexB (1-0) enters in as a heavy favorite vs Grievous (0-2), but not as much in VIW vs. USSR as Andre (2-0) takes on Gavilan (0-2).

Edited 5/6/2018 00:07:41

Great stuff Cowboy! Keep up the good work!, Love you <3 (Not as much as I love JJJ though, gosh he is the best, I love him so much, Notice me pls JJJ-sempai <3 <3 <3)

Edited 5/1/2018 08:34:49

REDONIS YOU UNFAITHFUL HARLOT!

OH SHIT! I'M SO SORRY SEMPAI PLS DONT HATE ME AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

But I thought you loved your anime tiddies more than anything else Redonis... how could you betray the anime tiddies?

SHUT THE UP, YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY LIFE

Great scorekeeping Cowboy, I really feel kinda ashamed for my game vs Dr Killa. USSR is learning a lot from this CL, our first one ever. I'm still confident in the USSR team for the following games.

It's been a good week for games, but overall much hasn't changed from the previous week. Still the road has become clear for who is here to compete, and those trying to salvage what they can.



[V.I.W.] Very Important Weirdos vs. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
lineal2012 vs. zaky https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15506246

Interesting board with a few good locations to start, with more indirect counters than direct ones. Franche Comte is the first ftb that pops out to you as it is fairly secluded from the rest of the board, while it can be countered by 89-Yonne, it's still the most enticing choice on the board. Limousin is a good ftb that controls the region and can be comboed with some of the larger bonuses in the area, such as Poitou Charentes or Aquitaine. Bretagne works very well as a late income bonus or even a two turn bonus with help from 44-Loire-Atlantique. Haute Normandie is a decent ftb, but the likelihood of getting it without being countered is slim. It does pair well with Basse Normandie though, and shouldn't be overlooked.
Lineal takes an interesting strategy and focuses his first three picks around Limousin. Assuming he doesn't lose 36-Indre which he put at #3 it should work out well. He then tried to get a lock in both other ftbs, by picking 88-Vosges, 76-Seine Maritime, and 14-Calvados as his 4,5,6 respectively. He then goes after the combo in Poitou Charantes, which pairs well with 36-Indre. The rest work out well as coverage picks, and if he's lucky he may be able to sneak the Franche Comte ftb, although it's very unlikely.
zaky goes for a very similar strategy picking the same 1 to 3 in a different order via swapping 23-Creuse for 43-Haute-Loire. This is probably not the best idea though, as if he gets first pick, lineal gets the ftb. He proceeds to pick Poitou Charentes as 4, taking a huge risk, relying on him to get his 2 and 3, while also being very susceptible to a late pick in Aquataine. His 5 and 6 remain the same as lineal. His 7 in 89-Yonne, while having great range is definitely a bit early, but it's not a terrible pick, unlike his 8 in 08-Ardennes, which unless he gets super lucky, will be a dead pick. He does 9-11 around the Franche Comte ftb, and sets his 12 to counter the Haute Normandie (probably his best counter pick).
lineal got second pick, guaranteeing he got the ftb. Considering the rest of the board is a hot mess, and the chances of him getting income is about as high as any of us getting laid. lineal has a great first turn, as he takes the ftb and combines his forces while depleting zaky's. zaky did about as good as he could do, set up the double border, and try to get the upper hand in one of the two regions he is double teamed. Turn 2 is where lineal pretty much gets the win, while zaky is forced to go for the break of Limousin , lineal knows he has exceeded base income so can instead exchange the lost income from the bonus from gained income from the gained territories, while also eliminating zaky somewhere.
zaky actually has a good turn with all things considered, he gained the +1 bonus, while also taking enough territory to reduce lineal's income. Unfortunately this came at the cost of losing Haute Normandie. Lineal has a fairly good turn, but overdeployed in Haute Normandie, making the game closer than it should be, that being said, the advantage is still in his favor, as he will have plenty of income options after this turn, while still maintaining a double border on Limousin.
The next couple turns are almost stalemates, as lineal fails to break zaky's bonus, can't really complain about it on lineal's side though. zaky on the other hand made a minor but costly mistake. In these turns he moved 89-Yonne to 21-Cote-d'Or, and 08-Ardennes to 51-Marne, which only pressures lineal around Franche Comte. If he would've moved to 77-Seine-et-Marne and 55-Meuse, he could've pressured both areas, making lineal think twice.
In the next move lineal picks a door and chooses the right one this time, finally breaking zaky. zaky meanwhile goes after a bonus he's never gonna complete...until he does next turn. lineal takes it too cautiously, when even a tap of 1 would've kept zaky from completing the bonus. zaky could now win this with good predicts, but naturally that doesn't happen and he plays it too safe. It's fairly obvious what lineal has planned here and any decent player could punish him in some form or another, instead lineal gets the +2 and a triple border on zaky's main income. It's pretty much gg here. Next two turns are lineal finishing zaky off. The game ends at USSR's closest chance at victory.

The Seven Kingdoms vs. The Avengers
John John Johnson vs. Hasdrubal https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15506245

Looking at this board gives me a headache. Clusters of territories make it nearly impossible to have a good set of picks. One decent area is around Alsace, which while it may not be perfect, getting these three territories will guarantee a +1 ftb, or possible more. Limousin is kinda normal here and can be picked fairly high. There's no real good combo with it though, albeit you can go for some late game income with it and Poitou Charentes. Bourgogne is also an ftb and has decent position, but one of the bonuses it shares has a wasteland in it. Luckily it does have great postion as well, so it is a viable pick. Picardie and Haut Normandie are clustered, but easy and cheap ftbs, so they shouldn't be overlooked. Basse Normandie is a fairly nice pickand can be comboed with 53-Mayenne to get early income. Pays de la Loire can be clustered if ballsy enough, but you better know what you're doing. Languedoc Roussillon paird with 09-Ariege isn't terrible, though it isn't very good. and you can do a similar pairing with Aquitaine and 17-Charente-Maritime. Oh, did I mention Centre is an ftb. You'd have to be insane to take it though.
JJJ goes with some good positional early income by going for the Bourgogne ftb first. his 4 and attempt to include at least one +1 bonus with that. Then choosing 61-Orne, and 08-Ardennes as 7 and 8. If I was him though I would've swapped the order I did those ftbs in since 80-Somme can smash into Huate Normandie, while Le Harve can only go after a double border. that being said, it's very nitpicky and isn't likely to matter. He choses his 8 as Limousin and then his 9, 10 as the Alsace ftb. His 11 and 12 follow as general coverage picks, though his 11 in 17-Charente-Maritime can be used to take Poitou Charentes if he also gets 23-Creuse.
Hasdrubal does something I guess picking up his only choice as an ftb to be Haute Normandie...if he lucks into it. His 1 and 2 center around him getting Franche Comte or Lorraine, which totally depends on him getting first pick. His third pick is a random pick in Basse Normandie, which is ideally only takeable if no counters exists. He apparently also wants a double pick on Poitou Charentes, but fails to see how good 03-Allier is actually good. He also hopes to get Nord Pas de Calais as a combo with 80-Somme, but it's not that good of a combo. The rest of his picks are a scattered mess I can't explain.
For Hasdrubal to have been outpicked so badly it's surprising how even the board starts out, in which if he plays it right can deny JJJ income until maybe he can snatch Poitou Charentes in the latter part of the game. Unfortunately for him, he plays that first turn horribly, moving to pointless places in Basse Normandie and Ile de France, while not applying any pressure to JJJ. Now he is guaranteed some amount of income on turn 2, which JJ does, taking +3 worth of income while only giving up single borders (Hasdrubal could've gotten double borders on both bonuses as well as income via the +1 with JJJ's moves.)
After this JJJ routes Hasdrubal as he continues to make confusing moves, while giving up crucial areas.



No finished games this week, instead here's the first time I beat AG : https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=11751362

Continued in the next post