We'll begin with basics. As a Terrorist, one may be inclined to buy armor and rush with a Glock. Tip: do not buy ammo for your Glock. You have 40 shots in reserve and with 20 loaded you have a grand total of 60.

With the Glock's added strength in CS 1.6, I say that you should almost never use burst fire. I think that burst fire is a waste of bullets and a waste of accuracy, but if you are good with burst then have a ball. If you must use the Glock on your pistol round, just do not buy extra ammo. It may seem like small change now, but a few rounds later you may need that extra money to buy clips for your AK.

One of the most important things for the Terrorists to do the first round (or any other round) is to get the bomb down. Plant that sucker! Even if your team loses, it will receive $800 per player simply for planting the bomb.

As for the CT side of things, it's all going to come down to how your team wants to play the round. My team will often split up its buying. Two people buying kits (each kit carrier is at a different site) and others purchasing armor. Again, this all rides on how you feel your team can perform in the pistol round—does the other side have good accuracy? Do you think you'll need the armor to protect yourself from nades and/or Glock spam?

The main thing to remember is to communicate at all times. The pistol round is one of the most important rounds to win in a max rounds 12 format. By having a kit carrier at each site, you can be assured that you'll have the tools needed to defuse the bomb if the enemy penetrates your team's defenses.

early gun rounds
Let's assume you won your pistol round. Call out (but preferably type) your money to each other—the man with the least money DOES NOT BUY ANYTHING except armor/helmet. The best way to facilitate this exchange is by having your in-game leader make the decisions. If you're a Terrorist, buy a Galil and armor/helmet. Counter-Terrorists should buy an MP5 and armor/helmet.

As a Terrorist do NOT buy MP5—the Galil's benefits far outweigh the MP5 now. The Galil has the ability to pierce walls and, as such, the Galil can be a lasting force throughout the half. Buying an MP5 is only a temporary solution, as most players end up throwing it down a few rounds later in favor of a better weapon.

As I said, the player with the least money should save this round. In all likelihood, the other team will save with pistols after losing the pistol round. Thus, it shouldn't be too difficult for an armored team with rifles to overpower an unarmored team with pistols. By having one man not buy but still having your team win the round, there is no negative effect—rather, he just saves more money to be used in future rounds.

If your Terrorist team loses, we'll have to mix things up a bit. As a standard, Terrorists can save either one round or two. With the new Galil as a buying option, a one-round save means your team will be able to purchase the Galil and armor, and possibly win the third round. Not all teams opt for this, however. Many will save two rounds and finally buy AK-47's plus armor on the forth round of the half.

Because of the price of Counter-Terrorist weapons and the inclination to use AWP's and M4A1's, Counter-Terrorists will almost always save two rounds after losing a pistol. This is recommended if you are a Counter-Terrorist. For my purposes, I recommend only saving once as a Terrorist, but make sure not to underestimate your opponent.

gun rounds

So you're past the first three rounds and the other team is buying up—what now? The leader should be able to say "buy at will," unless they have a specific focus for that round. As a rule of thumb, any time a teammate dies, each team members should type their money at the beginning of the following round.

It's a useless prospect to type it while dead, as any number of factors (bomb explosion, bomb defused, etc) could occur that could change the amount of money received for the next round. By typing the amount of money, the team leader can figure out what kind of firepower he has under his control and form an appropriate plan of action.

Obviously, certain routes and attacks are best performed with certain weaponry. If you have won the previous round, but a man has under $3600 as a Terrorist, it's generally a good idea to have him purchase a Desert Eagle and armor/helmet. The reasoning behind this is that your team of 4 with weapons and armor will, in all likelihood, kill some enemies. The Desert Eagle user has a powerful pistol and full armor. He should, then, stand a chance to pick up the weapon of a dead enemy or teammate.

For the CT side of things, players should go with the Desert Eagle combination if they are under $4400. The reason behind these numbers is simply for the fact that without armor it might very well be a waste of money to get a real gun. Usually, however, the richest player will buy a gun for the poorest. It all depends on the amount of money the team has or whether the poor player feels comfortable with a Desert Eagle. The choice, of course, is yours.

So the inevitable happens and you lose a round. Perform the standard operation, but adhere to the money restrictions I set—any man under $3600 should go with a Desert Eagle and armor, if possible, or the rich should buy for the poor. Eventually though, you may lose several rounds in a row and realize you're all short on money. But what about the man who has used a Desert Eagle and picked up weapons and managed to kill all the while? Or the man with a low amount of deaths and a lot of frags? The obvious answer is to look to that man for purchasing power.

Even if you haven't won the past 3 rounds, if he has been careful about his weapon choices he should be able to buy a gun for every member of the team. Each team member should then be able to buy his own armor and/or grenade, flashbang or smoke. I know from personal experience that there have been times when my team wanted to save but I've quickly thrown down 4 AK's and, instead of wasting the round rushing with a pistol, we triumphed. It's an extreme scenario as not all players are as careful with managing their money as I am, but the point is that it can be done.

The rest, as they say, is up to you. I'm sincerely against save rounds if they can be avoided at all. The obvious reason why is that it's a pure waste of a round to just rush a team of armored men with guns when the only firepower you possess is glocks or usps. It occasionally works, but more often than not the other team gets frags, blows up the site, and wins a round, all which could have been avoided with some careful financial planning.

If you absolutely have to save there are some things to keep in mind, especially now with the recent changes to Counter-Strike 1.6. Since this article is about the economics of the game, and not the strategy behind it, I won't go into detail about how to carry out a save round. The strategy your team uses is up to you.

Keep in mind, however, that Terrorists who lose the round simply by letting the time expire will yield no money for their team with the latest CS changes. If you're the last T alive or your team has no chance of winning, your best bet—aside from relying on some elaborate strategy—is to simply to run in, plant the bomb and get $800 after the CT's eliminate your team and defuse. If your team is CT then of course your only option is to defend and attempt to defuse, or try to pick off the Ts and pick up their guns as they evacuate the bombsite.

Sure, you could just play it by ear. You could have your entire team be slaughtered for no reason other than having guns for the next round. In some cases, this is appropriate and necessary. But if you follow this guide, you should be able to minimize this scenario and have a better chance at winning rounds you probably would have lost otherwise.