[map] Nukes! Strategies and bugs

[KungFuDuet]

Do we maybe want to include a link to the wiki page for each map on the BRIEF or INTEL tab for each map? That way it is easier for people to get help and know where to go

Yup - that would be a good idea.

I better start checking up for errors though

 

[BudH]

well, i don't know if it's made on purpose or not, but it undoubtedly gives a slight advantage to US map vs USSR.
By holding bravo 314 (fallout bunker) in US you get 2 new troops every turn, and you can use it to regain pinellas if lost. Pinellas is one of few terits we can attack from USSR spy. In USSR we don't have that option. If we lose one of our ARC we must put new troops there to attack any of ARC's (instead of droping them all to spy region, for instance), and in games with no or one reinforcement allowance only, it is hard to plan. And finally, holding Pinellas gives you 25 more troops to nuke.
In balanced games, this is a nice advantage. I suggest to put silo instead ARC on Pinellas just to equalize chances (if it makes any sense and if possible).

 

[KungFuDuet]

I also realised how badly this map is luck orientated - It seems bad dice can set you back miles.

 

[Shepherd]

well, i don't know if it's made on purpose or not, but it undoubtedly gives a slight advantage to US map vs USSR.

I recently won a prolonged battle as USSR, in part because of the layout of the Soviet side. The bunkers are, collectively, one region closer to the Premier and Target than the bunkers in the US, and as the game was set up to allow only Border reinforcements this one step was huge.

The way I see it, both sides have some tricks and quirks. If the two sides were symmetrical it might make the board more even, but a perfectly symmetrical game just comes down to luck and dice. I like the fact that you need to get to know how to play the map in order to have an advantage over your partner.

 

[miquel]

I also realised how badly this map is luck orientated - It seems bad dice can set you back miles.

I fully agree!

 

[BudH]

The way I see it, both sides have some tricks and quirks. If the two sides were symmetrical it might make the board more even, but a perfectly symmetrical game just comes down to luck and dice. I like the fact that you need to get to know how to play the map in order to have an advantage over your partner.

since i haven't played a game with border option jet and haven't noticed that advantage on USSR side, i must agree with you... it is a challenging and very interesting map anyway... a perfectly symmetrical game wouldn't be so funny to play so I will have to be more creative next time, and use max advantages of my side

 

[Incandenza]

I also realised how badly this map is luck orientated - It seems bad dice can set you back miles.

I'm not so sure that's the case, or any more so than any other similarly-sized map in a 1v1. Sure, if you get crap dice the first two rounds and your opponent gets wizard dice, you're probably screwed, but no more so than if that happened in South America or Europe. I've had a couple of nice comeback wins thanks to decent strat (and a bit of luck, sure, but luck always plays its part).

As far as map layouts, I'm with shep, each side has its own little quirks, and I've won using both sides. If you held a gun to my head, I'd say I have a slight preference for the USSR, but that might just be thanks to the weird thrill of using Soviet ICBMs to nuke America back to the stone age.

On an unrelated note, I'm becoming less and less enamored of using the word "decimated" in the victory window, since the word's colloquial and formal meanings are so very different. Perhaps "annihilated" would work better.

 

[Incandenza]

well, i don't know if it's made on purpose or not, but it undoubtedly gives a slight advantage to US map vs USSR.
By holding bravo 314 (fallout bunker) in US you get 2 new troops every turn, and you can use it to regain pinellas if lost. Pinellas is one of few terits we can attack from USSR spy. In USSR we don't have that option. If we lose one of our ARC we must put new troops there to attack any of ARC's (instead of droping them all to spy region, for instance), and in games with no or one reinforcement allowance only, it is hard to plan. And finally, holding Pinellas gives you 25 more troops to nuke.
In balanced games, this is a nice advantage. I suggest to put silo instead ARC on Pinellas just to equalize chances (if it makes any sense and if possible).

I see your point, tho having 25 extra armies to nuke with is almost always a moot point. But if you balance the placement of pinellas with the slightly better placement of bunkers for the soviets, I think that's a good trade-off.

 

[Shepherd]

Sure, if you get crap dice the first two rounds and your opponent gets wizard dice, you're probably screwed, but no more so than if that happened in South America or Europe.

Actually I'd say that you're less screwed on this map, owing to the wall of neutrals protecting you. I got plastered in the first two rounds of a Nukes game with badorties and couldn't get a reserve, yet came back to win it.

 

[Incandenza]

Actually I'd say that you're less screwed on this map, owing to the wall of neutrals protecting you. I got plastered in the first two rounds of a Nukes game with badorties and couldn't get a reserve, yet came back to win it.

Fair point... and it'd take some pretty wizard dice to be dropping more than 4-5 in round 2 and 6 in round 3. Besides, no matter how big your advantage, there's always an 0-8 lurking around the corner.

 

[Badorties]

play it on fixed force. problem solved.

 

[KungFuDuet]

play it on fixed force. problem solved.

^ Gotta love his humor and subtle advertising! ^

 

[rob6483]

Is there any way to make the Recon tab not list every time someone takes out a Neutral for this map? It's not a big deal, but it adds a lot of clutter when I was looking back through it.

 

[KungFuDuet]

Is there any way to make the Recon tab not list every time someone takes out a Neutral for this map? It's not a big deal, but it adds a lot of clutter when I was looking back through it.

Do you mean the "Record Tab" on the Actually playing Game Page?

 

[rob6483]

No, the Recon tab next to the Active, Awaiting, and Archived tabs on the main page. Every time someone takes out ANY neutral on the nukes map, it lists it like when someone takes out another player. But it looks like it's for every single neutral region, so the list gets pretty long pretty fast.

 

[rob6483]

Here, I think I did this right... this is what I'm talking about.

 

[KungFuDuet]

Here, I think I did this right... this is what I'm talking about.

Now that's something that i don't think should be happening. Good catch.

 

[Incandenza]

Yes, it shouldn't show the neutrals in the recon tab. We'll get that fixed.

 

[Shepherd]

wow, that's slightly annoying but highly amusing! Nice work with all of those eliminations, rob!

 

[kows]

I have one question,
what exactly does owning 2 spy agencies + satellite do? (fog of war thingy)
only thing I haven't reached yet
and talking about bad losers:
http://www.majorcommand.com/Games/Game.php?gameid=36167
though I'm glad it's the first one I've come across with