http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=3630845
is it just me or should i have not won this? then again the others werent great players but still.

Dear NewWorldOrder,

I would love to help, but I am afraid you have given me the wrong link. That is a link to the F bombs and Platypus' game. It was probably the very irritating cut and paste bug.

Thanks for your question anyway,
Piggy

Or.... He is a multi account!
*Shifty eyes*

Ok, I admit it. New World Order is my alternate account.

Bollocks. No way NWO is you, Platypus.

Dear Piggy,

Thanks for the reply. What you said makes sense. I never really have considered what the other player is thinking when he plays me other than to set traps occasionally and what they might pick. But when I actually think of what they are thinking during the game and how much income they think I have, what you says makes a lot of sense. Tagg would have assumed I had 13 income and so probably wouldn't have tried an attack on Australia, thinking it was futile. If I have any more questions, I'll let you know, although hopefully they won't be quite as obvious as that one was once I stop and think about it.

Sincerely,

JSA

Dear JSA,

You're very welcome and I look forward to your next question. It was actually not that obvious. I spent about an hour writing and rewriting, I spend more time on these answers than my own games, because they are more interesting.

Love,
Piggy

I lose quite frequently in strategic 1v1, but usually not after having a massive income lead early on.

That however was exactly what happened here:

http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=3647737

I'm curious where exactly I likely initially goofed up and whether I just made poor picks, or just expanded in a manner which left me with poor positioning once the fighting portion of the game began.

I thought I made decent picks here, but he effectively counterpicked me and easily beat me. What was my issue here?

http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=3648496 Thanks in advance.

Dear Nauzhror,

We had a discussion in game, but I will answer again here. I think you should have made antarctica/australia your first and second picks. The first turn bonus is safe and gives you good access to the bottom half of the map. You triple picked =/. If your opponent had picked west russia 3rd, central russia 4th and caucasus 5th as many would, you would be screwed.

I think you should play as if he isnt in caucasus because if he is you cant win. Your plan is to get to East China as soon as possible and hope your higher income wins out. So you should take caucasus and greenland. You don't have enough time to complete europe, greenland, caucasus and middle east, you dont want to be expanding when you could be fighting the enemy. Also check out a reply I made about 20 posts ago listing my ten commandments ; ) specifically 6 and 7.

Thanks for your question,
Piggy

Dear schusteralex2,

What did you like about your picks, and what was your thought process when you made them? I can't see what you were trying to achieve. You actually counter picked him, but all three of your picks were so close together that it didn't help you. I would recommend you spread your picks out. Typically I will divide the map into 2 arenas in my mind. Either North Vs South or East Vs West. I will then make my first 2 picks in one area and the rest in the other area. That way there is nowhere my enemy can be safe, and I can reach the bonuses I want to expand into later.

It is very important to complete a bonus by the end of turn 2. Do not take risks, use 4v2s and first complete your safest bonus. In your game Grey does this, and it is the reason he is able to push you around in africa.

Lastly do not expand outside your starting bonuses when you are in contact with the enemy. Your armies are best used killing enemy armies, not neutrals.

Thanks for your question,
Piggy

Dear Piggy,

Out of your games, which is the best in terms of skill on both sides? Can you analyze this game in front of all of us?

Sincerely,

Drunkowut.

http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=3645988

Dear Piggy:
I always seem to fail when it comes to 50/50.
For example, on turn 8 at the game posted above, I had two territories in my westt russia bonus to defend. If i fortified the right area, then the game would have been won, sadly i decided to deploy troops on the wrong area, and he b roke my bonus, leading to my defeat.

Is it justluck? or is there some kind of strategy as to predicting which territory to fortify best?

Thanks,
Pulsey

Dear Pulsey,

Some players believe it is possible to predict what the other person is going to do in such a situation with better than a 50/50 success rate. I do not consider myself one of them, as Szeweningen said to me yesterday after he predicted and countered me on the decisive turn of a game "If I always get lucky, do I really get lucky?". My first answer would be yes but maybe I have something to learn here...

I don't believe that any 2 territories are equal and maybe this is the key to your problem. In the case of your last game Ufa is far better because it is 1 turn closer to scand, and controls 5 territories in central and west russia, whereas vorkuta controls 3. Ufa is the high ground in a sense so I would err on the side of holding it. Does this make me predictable? Yes, but don't tell Sze!

Also I think I should point out that you surrendered a turn too early.

Thanks for your question,
Piggy

Dear drunkowut,

I am going to refuse to answer your first question on the technicality that it is not about one of your own 1v1s =P. To be honest I have no idea. I think my [20] game with Szeweningen is probably it, but that hasn't finished and may not be that interesting. I will have a little think and look through some old games and get back to you.

Thanks for your question,
Piggy

Please look over this game if you have time, i thought i played quite well but i still got beaten easily (i think)
http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=3656700

Dear Warflovet,

Were you trying to trap him with your picks? He double picks SA and you get an excellent fighting pick in W africa? If so EChina and SEA are your best bet for 1 and 2. Infact CA, SA is good but SEA, EChina is better. It has a tonne of safety, and expansion into WChina.

Early turns were good. You shouldn't have attacked S Africa, if you thought he was in Ant attack Argentina with more than 4 and do it first move. If you just fancied taking it, it should have waited until you were sure he wasnt in ant. Once you had completed your starting bonuses you asked yourself "where is he?" You go and hunt him down, this is all excellent.

Turn 10: The big decision. You need to know which front to deploy on, West US or SA? What happens if you let SA go and break into hawaii? your stack in SA will take more than a turn to be broken down and you will hit each others bonuses at the same time, and you will break his more effectively than he will break yours because theyre all in a line. What happens if you let CA go and break into aus? He will blockade ant and you will blockade CA and your leftovers will be much bigger, but much less useful than his. There are 2 lesson to be taken from this "it is better to deploy on the front where the stacks are stacked lowest" and "do not mutually blockade if your opponents leftovers will be more useful than yours".

In reality, if you had decided to deploy in West US and he had done the same you would have reached a stalemate. This is an easy win for you because a) you can use some of your stack in West US to complete West US. b) Scand is a fantastic counter to asia and you have all the time in the world to make your way across the map and force him to defend the indefensible.

Turn 11 onwards you are losing and there isnt much you can do about it. Getting to Asia as soon as possible would have been good. It was a mistake to try and stop him completing West US. It is best to neutralise a large stack of leftovers by staying away from it. It is hard to offer good alternative because if white plays okay he will win.

I agree, that's someones alt, they obviously use that account a lot: 700 games in less than 3 months.

Thanks for your question,
Piggy

Dear everyone who reads this thread,

How do you feel about the jargon and abbreviations I am using? Is there anything I could do to make these answers clearer?

Thanks,
Piggy

Piggy: in last game you commented on I think not attacking in turn 8 was the first big mistake.

Oh shit, that didn't occur to me, thank you for pointing it out. He should have won the game on that turn =0