New opening strategies for both sides + Norad as event or not?

[Gonzodiac]

Right, me and my friends always use the same opening strategies:
- USSR: +1 to East Germany, + 4 to Poland, +1 to Yugoslavia
- USA: +4 to West Germany, +3 to Italy

There might be few exceptions though:
- If the USA player has Marshall Plan in his opening hand
- Wonder if my friend might rarely put +1 optional Influence to Canada if he has Norad in his opening hand?

...but I wonder if there are any other valid opening strategies especially for USSR? Like, putting full Influence to East Germany and Austria -> Realignment rolls to West Germany as opening move?

I'd also like to know you Norad strategy when playing USA's Early War. When you play USA and you gain Norad in your opening hand, do you put +2 to Canada and play Norad as event during Early War?

Many thanks!

[Benkyo]

USSR I prefer 1 to Austria most of the time.

US it's often better to put 3 or 4 in W Germany, 3 or 2 in France, 2 in Italy, +1 in Iran. That's assuming you play with bidding or the standard +2 to US influence.

NORAD is never worth playing for event as US, so setting up for it is a bad idea, as the only way it will happen is if your opponent plays it for OPs. If you get Marshall Plan and maybe Special Relationship to fill Canada "for free", that can be good, otherwise you can just fill it if/when NORAD happens or a Dominance contest makes filling non-bgs worthwhile.

[Gonzodiac]

Originally posted by Benkyo:

USSR I prefer 1 to Austria most of the time.

US it's often better to put 3 or 4 in W Germany, 3 or 2 in France, 2 in Italy, +1 in Iran. That's assuming you play with bidding or the standard +2 to US influence.

NORAD is never worth playing for event as US, so setting up for it is a bad idea, as the only way it will happen is if your opponent plays it for OPs. If you get Marshall Plan and maybe Special Relationship to fill Canada "for free", that can be good, otherwise you can just fill it if/when NORAD happens or a Dominance contest makes filling non-bgs worthwhile.

I prefer Yugoslavia since I have access to Greece as well. I agree that Independent Reds has a target now, but I like the idea that I can easily move to Greece if need be. On the other hand I admit that I rarely use this option, and there are two USSR cards anyway that allows USSR gain influence to Eastern Europe if played by USA. Maybe I have to concider my opinion again.

2 Influence in Italy only? That might actually work since if USSR coups Italy and rolls poorly, Defcon is 4 now and you can safely put more USA Influence to Italy. That might be enough that USSR won't coup Italy.

Wonder if you put set up Influence to France if you have Suez or de Gaul in your starting hand?

Thanks for comments what it comes to Norad. I have met few people who seem to invest on USA Norad tactics almost every time they get Norad early on. It's pretty powerful in the long run if the game is long and Quaqmire is avoided. But that tactics might cripple USA's Early War game too much.

[Benkyo]

The argument goes that overcontrol is a waste of influence if your opponent doesn't go for the country. Also, having adjacency to Italy does give it equivalent protection -either way, 1-3 roll on a 4 OP is insufficient. The big difference is how close you are to Europe dominance.

Suez and/or De Gaulle are cards you want to space anyway, so unless your opening hand forces you to play them, having them in hand actually makes a France opening better, because it's one less bad headline possibility.

[Threeist]

Here's what I've found works for me (I use the Rule Zero DLC):

USA: You may want to leave West Germany empty and start with Italy 4, Spain, Turkey and Canada 1 - you should avoid being dominated fairly easily by having more nations, Do this if you have Blockade in hand and want to disarm it at no cost.

If the US starts with Marshall Plan, you can consider 3 West Germany 2 France 1 Italy 1 Canada and then headline Marshall Plan. This gives US domination out of the gate, although Suez and De Gaulle are larger problems.

Finally, you may have to do a 5 West Germany / 2 Italy split if WW2 ends with Soviets pushing deep into Germany. This is most likely what you'd have to do if you have a low ops hand at the start of the game and are trying to avoid being rolled over.

Soviet Union: I like East Germany to 4, Poland to 4, Austria 1 because of Independent Reds.

However, some of the variant logic:

If the Soviets get additional influence in Europe per Year Zero, going 4 into Austria enables a well-known option called the Comecon Trap: You have a +1 bonus to realign West Germany, and can potentially rip a big whole in Europe (you probably have even odds in Italy too). This probably won't win outright against a player but the AI seems unable to give European Control enough value.

You can use this build without extra influence by headlining Comecon or Warsaw Pact.

If the Soviets find themselves with something like Allied Berlin, they just need to hold onto East Germany and Poland and hope that card draws even the score. A 5 East Germany 3 Poland is basically forced and all you can do to avoid immediately running into Domination.

In general, the most important thing for the start of the game is gaining access to regions. Decol into SE asia for the Soviets, not getting Suezed and Couped out of Iran for the US. One of the brilliancies of this game is that all of the opening decisions have their own costs and tradeoffs, and luck plays a part as well.