by Shirtripper
I would not allow either.First the player who's turn it was should not be allowed to put place holders on the board while still recruiting for a number of reasons.
First, allowing a player to do this, pretty much allows them to recruit, place and maneuver all at the same time, which is game breaking in my opinion. This eliminates any chance of error on that players part while others who are playing normally still have a higher possibility of making.
Second, this makes for a much stronger chance of mistakes that will benefit the player. For example he puts a place holder in a territory with a city, but once he actually does his expansion he forgets to lose a troop to that city pop. Things like that would happen much more frequently than if they played properly.
Third if the player is always allowed to play this way they will never learn to play the game the way it was designed. I could see in the first couple of games allowing someone new to Risk to play this way, but after a couple games, they should be trying to do it the way it was intended.
Now the reason I wouldn't allow the objecting player his objection is it sounds like, as a group you have always allowed this player to setup this way. If that is the case then clearly the objecting player was only openly taking issue with this process because it benefited him at this crucial moment in the game to stop it.
At that point I would have said tough! You should have said something sooner like right before the guys turn or even at the beginning of the game or hell maybe even a few games back. But don't suddenly cry about it once it is clear that they will keep you from winning playing that way!