How to kill everyone as the US?

[PsychicKid]

I've been working out a list of strategies for each continent and how to own everyone with each one. The problem is, I've hit a bit of a snag as the US. So far my current plan is:

As North America:
Place silos and airfields out of range of South America.
Use radar to spy on Mexico. Place one in Alaska to spot incoming ships.

TARGETS:
Airforce: Mexico City (16.5m)

(Each sub group is a group of 3)
Sub group 1: Santiago (7.6m)
Sub group 2: Lima (9.3m)
Sub group 3: Kinshasa (11.4m)
Sub group 4: Sao Paolo (19.0m)

(Each carrier group is a group of 12)
Carrier group 1: London, Paris (17.4m, 5.0m)
Carrier group 2: Tokyo, Seoul (From Arctic) (15.6m, 8.2m)
If C2 survives, send to Moscow and Leningrad

Silos: Whatever is left.

Total kills (ex. Moscow/Lenin): 110m

NOTE: ~2:03:00 for subs to go from Bering Strait to Leningrad/Moscow

The problem is, this just is not enough kills. I have no easy way to hit Cairo, Leningrad, and Moscow. It takes a little over 2 hours for a group of subs to cross the Bering and get within striking distance of Leningrad and Moscow, and if Europe and Russia are not allied, more than likely those two will be hit before I can make it. Sneaking subs through Europe is far too risky, even if I am allied with him. I'm thinking I can just my airforce to strike every city in Central America, and maybe even Lima, allowing me to divert a sub group to Hongkong. I plan on saving my silos and unleashing them all on the largest cities remaining.

I dunno, the US is difficult to play as... Anyone got any suggestions?

[Masaq]

Yeah, I'd split your sub groups.

Send 1 and 2 to South America, then 3 to the west coast of Africa (under the Nigeria/Ivory Coast bulge) and 4 to the South Africa/Madagascar area. There's not massive kills to be had there, but a group of 3 subs has 15 nukes on board and if you hit 10 cities of 2m people one each, that's still 10m deaths and additional 20 points. Whereas after the first 5 nukes on Sao Paolo (19.9m -> 9.95m -> 4.97m -> 2.487m -> 1.24m -> 0.62m population remaining) you aren't going to get any more points for your remaining 10 nukes.

If you use 5 nukes on Sao Paolo and 10 on various other minor cities, you net 29.9 megadeaths as opposed to 19.9.

By using the subs more effectively (and obviously to hit all those minor cities with a smaller strike force either your bombers need to have taken out Silos, or another player needs to flatten them, or your opponent needs to be mid-Silo launch), it means you can then use your Silos to flatten another continent entirely, such as Asia, in one massive co-ordinated strike.

[THEFALCON]

Don't lock yourself into one strategy for each continent, be flexible! Assess the situation on a case-by-case basis. Different allies and navy placements will cause your strategies not to work a lot of the time. Try something new every time based on what you think your opponents will do.

[countersmurf]

^what THEFALCON said^

It's good to have a rough game plan, but don't get to carried away. You have to exploit any weakness you see. Destroy easy/undefended targets, try to avoid battles that destroy most of your ships unless you get a substantial gain from it.

Also commiting all your subs to SA, is a mistake. You lose flexibility and cannot take advantage of anyone else but SA. 3 subs is more than enough to take out both Santiago and Lima, while hitting Sao Paolo with subs is risky at best, if the subs actually make it there they will often be to late.

edit: you also seem to be focused on the big cities. While they are usually your first target, DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SMALLER CITIES, they are very, very important!

[caranthir.pkk]

Half of your targets will be pulverized by the time you get your nukes there (see tournament games). I would concentrate on the major targets you can reach first (london, mexico, santiago, tokyo) and hold my forces back to pick up the rest once everyone spammed their nukes. People underestimate the value of smaller cities.

my $0.02

[Erasmus J Homeowner]

^^ Milk SA for all you can, Tokyo is always possible as NA, just be quick about it. Nodnol is harder to nail, but can be got early by some concerted sub action (as long as you've bombed and Icelandic installations). It will have gone to Africa or USSR soon after defcon 1 however.

As for Moscow/Lenningrad. It is possible to sneak subs between Iceland and Greenland. Not sure about timings, but should be significantly faster than Bering Straight

[Ace Rimmer]

As for Moscow/Lenningrad. It is possible to sneak subs between Iceland and Greenland. Not sure about timings, but should be significantly faster than Bering Straight

Only problem there is once you get past that area...

"Admiral, we've cleared Greenland and en route to to the Barents Se...." <static>

"Mr. President, our Tridents can no longer target Moscow."

[PsychicKid]

The problem with getting subs to the Moscow area would be sneaking them past European carriers and possibly their subs. Sure sneaking between Iceland and Greenland would work, but Europe will probably beat me to Russia.

In that case I can only hope for an alliance between them, and that Russia is enemies with Asia.