Thank You, Pickleofdoom for commenting! You have a very good grasp of the notes. I would like to add that in the first part of, "The Bonus Monkey..." where I discuss the only correct way to be a BM in the game...
That you are not then helping to simplify the game for all the other players if you already dropped on most of the bZ. I believe that I alluded to that but did not actually say that in so may words. It is obvious that if you dropped in three of the S. America regions, for example, and are only taking out a one other player for that fourth region that you are not greatly upsetting the balance of player/regions because you are already in the BZ where as a BM is removing more then just one other player from S. A. or the BZ.
Another thing that I would like to add is that If you have no stack in N. America then your primary mission in the game should be to place or move a stack into N. A. even at the cost of the S. A. BZ. In other words, if you have a stack in Reykjavic or Magadan that can more easily break into N. A. Than From Bogota, then immediate and future deployments of troops should go to that region that has a better chance of breaking into N. A. and not to the S. A. BZ.
And If you already have a stack in N. A. at the beginning of the game then you should place a lot of your focus on maintaining that N. A. stack even if it means never developing the S. A. BZ at all. The thing about the S. A. BZ is that other players in Mexico or Dakar will quickly try to hamper you in there by creating powerful stack right there at Mexico City. At least in most of the games they will. With the intention of eventually over running you. So it just would not be worth it then to develop the S. A. BZ then. Simply forming the three region into a single stack will often relieve other players of their worries and not stack so greatly against you in S. A.
pickofdoom wrote:This brings up another point, which you mentioned above. Holding a bonus with a satellite elsewhere can give you good position.
This is true. I can't recall if I actually stated that in that way, but the point is that this is a good idea, not because you have a BZ but simply because the strategy that the SoC teaches from the manual involves the development of various stacks through out the game in the first place. Obviously if you drop into three of Oceanas' regions for example then you have to play with the other four drop and go with the best ones.
If you can combine them, if they are next to each other, then that is great. But if you can not combine two regions of troops to form a stack elsewhere, then you need to tend to those other regions with more importance then the Oceana BZ. One thing about forming a BZ right away is that your other stacks are targeted for eviction from the premises by the other players. At least that is the most likely scenario. And that is never a good trade. It is better to tend to your best stack locations first and just form a stack in Oceana rather than taking the risk of placing your other stacks in danger.
On that note about forming the troops in Oceana into a stack, it should be as close to Jakarta or on Jakarta if possible. That's because Jakarta is a choke point and it may discourage any one in the future from hooking their troops together and going there and secondly because you will be closer to the Asian action this way should an opportunity for an attack from Oceana be necessary. It would just be simpler to attack from Jakarta into Asia than from Sydney.
I think that's all that I will add on to this for now. Again you have a good grasp of this because if as you said, having a satellite on Johannes burg, you would build up that stack, then you are no BM. A BM thinks about protecting his Bonuses from possible future invasions and so always drops to protect his BZ rather then on other stacks for potential striking scenarios.
