As in the topic, what would you pick on this map and why?

yellow and red for me.you have a natural barrier from 1-western europe/greenland + 2-eastern russia[blue].also kwik bonuses.please advice if good/bad choices,and why.

A lot of strategies are viable, however if it is no-luck cycle, I'd likely make my picks very fast and choose strategies with 1st pick in east china. If it's normal distribution:
a) 1/2/3 africa
b) 1/2 sa/ant 3/4/5 china/sea/middle east 6 west russia
c) 1/2 sa/ant 3 central russia 4/5/6 east china/sea/middle east
d) 1/2 east china/indo 3/4/5 sa/and/east africa 6 west russia
e) 1/2 east china/sea (you don't take ftb if you get 1/2) 3/4/5 ant/west africa/east africa 6 west russia

and a few others. Ideally you use each of them a certain % of the time. Against good players I like 1/2 east china/indo, especially if it is no-luck cycle.

@zl5 early russia picks do not seem viable, because they are always a long-term strategic liability to any china/sea picks.

Edited 6/28/2015 11:52:51

Zl5, I see no issue with him going for yellow and red. In fact, it seems like the only logical choice on this map. There are some that will say "Pick blue!", but they just have no idea what they're talking about.

Because my earlier response was deleted, I'll say something more general: South Asia, Africa, Western / Central Russia and Oceania.

Edited 6/28/2015 13:49:40

I personally like the looks of

1 East China

2, 3 West Af SA

4, 5, 6 CR, WR, SEA

but never mind me, I'm just a noob ^_^

1. East China
2. South East Asia
3. West Africa
4. East Africa
5. North Africa
6. West China

DISCLAIMER: these are not an example of "good picks," just something I'm sharing b/c I'd also appreciate feedback on it. Also, I probably messed up the analysis. Feel free to point that out.

1. East China
2. Indonesia
3. Southeast Asia
4. West Africa
5. Australia
6. East Africa

1-2 would be my preferred two-turn bonus (going to avoid the FTB in Southeast Asia as East China can counter it, and going to avoid the East Africa FTB because there's a high chance I won't get it).

SEA for 3 so I can get intel on whether they got the FTB. If not, I get it for myself.

West Africa for 4 so I can take Africa if they didn't go for the East Africa FTB. They likely wouldn't be in North Africa (West Africa's main weakness) if I got West Africa on pick 4.

Australia for 5- for the Indonesia two-turn bonus right after I get East China (likely will end up with East China as it's my first pick and someone going for an SE Asia FTB will not go for East China 1st pick)

East Africa for 6- so I can take West Africa quickly.

1/4/5 and 2/3/6 on this pick set are about evenly matched in case I end up with an opponent with the same picks.

I'd suspect that most people would see if they can get one of the two FTBs (probably have picks in both)- I should be able to block the SEA FTB with East China and get intel on whether the are in Africa, or get the SEA FTB for myself and have a strong suspicion about where my opponent is (and probably an advantage during initial encounter).

If they went for East China as first pick, I get to block it with Indonesia and have superiority in the region (with Indonesia and SEA).

Trying to see how it would work against other picks on this thread:

zl5: he gets his top picks, I get an FTB (regardless of order) and my top picks, unless there's a conflict with SE Asia, in which case I block SE Asia

sze a): accounted for

sze b) and c): I get the SE Asia/India FTB but he has intel and knows where to find me

sze d): I either get East China + SEA (but have to face Indonesia) or Indonesia to block East China while I have SEA

sze e): I either have to block SEA or end up with Indonesia + SEA

Dan: I block SE Asia with East China (knowing he's there) and get East China + Indonesia + Australia

FK: I either get East China + Indonesia + SEA or Indonesia + SEA + Australia (go after Indonesia bonus and block East China)

Peixoto: I either get East China + Indonesia (block SEA) + Australia (take Indonesia) or Indonesia (block East China) + SEA + Australia (take Indonesia)

So probably not as good as most of the picks here, but I at least think I've gotten a little better since that last time where I clusterpicked with the Middle East and got called out by Timinator.

Edited 6/29/2015 08:25:53

Game link (still on picking stage): https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=8986305

I don't like FTB West Africa strategy. Works well only if you get all 3, you don't lose 3vs2's first turn, and opponent is in SA. Otherwise you are in not so great position.
I think even East China FTB is better than africa, but again only if you get all 3, and manage to capture it 1st turn. But the chance to get all 3 is lower than for Africa.
SEA FTB is good, but also most likely to be countered.
So I wouldn't try to get any of FTB, I assume my opponent won't either.
I think in most scenarios you want something in Asia, EC being the best here.
Same for Africa area, but since no pick is dominant here it have lower priority.
Russia is highly underrated area (look how many people picked it so far), so pick there might give relatively safe bonus - I suspect fight will start quite early, distance to other picks is large enough to prevent the attacks. So, ideally, I would like to start with EC, WR, and something in Africa.
So the idea I'm thinking about now is

1.EC	or	1.EC
2.WR		2.Indo
3.EAf		3.WR
4.WAf		4.EAf
5.NAf		5.WAf
6.SEA		6.NAf

With 1 scenario I would try to capture WR first, unless I don't get it, or I get SEA FTB. If I don't have SEA nor WR, I go for something in Africa.
Similarly with 2 scenario, but here I may go for EC first if I get 1 and 2, if I don't have EC I use Indo as late counter.

knyte:

East Africa for 6- so I can take West Africa quickly.

If you got East Africa(6) you don't have West Africa(4).

so many possible combos, i think i would possibly try to go alternative and triple pick in africa, making sure to get to central asia asap, a bit risky but main income source would be very safe and i reckon it's better then relying on pick lottery. might be able to find a safer pick strategy if i spent a few more minutes thinking about the possible scenarios.

edit - reading other people's comments, east china seems so pickable i could go for indonesia antartica and australia, and do indonesia in 2 turns with big stack threatening SEA, either break it and blockade or finish a safe australia. might still not be the best, but it would probably surprise some folks.

Edited 6/29/2015 13:32:16

Uhm if I were in your position, I would pick West Africa, South America as 1/2. My 3 and 4 would be East China and Southeast Asia, my 5 th would be in Middle Easg and 6 is in Malaysia. And my 1/2 allows me to take a bonus safely depending which pick i get, if i get South America i will be left me a ftb also if my opponent is all in africa then u can counter it...if i lose my 3/4 i can counter with my 5th and prevent them from getting the ftb.

Edited 6/29/2015 21:37:57

My first thought on this map, and I said it in the game of which you all have the link to is that I see a lot of A beats B which beats C which beats D which beats A. Meaning I see about 3-4 viable picking strategies that effectively defeat each other, but I don't see a viable picking strategy that outright gives you a superior advantage. I think I like options b and c the most from what Szeweningen pointed out, because I feel those 2 options defeat most of the other options on the board. I was not surprised that Widzisz wanted to discuss that board instead of play it.

"and someone going for an SE Asia FTB will not go for East China 1st pick)"

Why not? I know I would, and I can tell you why: If I don't get it, I still have the possibility of taking EC, while controlling the enemy's bonus. Furthermore there's the point about not leaking unnecessary information.

I missed when Knyte said that but I agree, EC is higher value than SEA even if you go for the FTB, so EC will always be picked over SEA.

Hongkong > Southeast Asia

Personally?

1. Antarctica.

2. Red Russia.

3. Pick an African bonus without a wasteland.