School of War Summer 2019
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Balki Bartokomous
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jmo1121109
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Review of the Spring and Fall 03 Moves
I intentionally did not post last turn because there was not a good way for me to do so without impacting the game significantly. So this will be a longer post to compensate and I have a few different topics that I want to cover in the process.
You are the reason I couldn't post in the spring, because the move set I would have had to talk about and was hoping to see organically, was North Sea move to Holland, Norway move to Sweden, and London move to North. Now this would have required some very subtle diplomacy, telling Germany that since you would be leaving Norway open to take StP you would like him to take Baltic with Sweden to ensure you knew he wouldn't try and take Baltic from Denmark. This would have given you 2 builds, and then allowed Russia the option of retreating into either Berlin or Kiel, absolutely crippling Germany in a turn. Opportunities like that do not come around often and require a really good understanding of the board. Now that said, I liked the moves you did. You ensured Germany was not able to retake the critical Baltic Sea, which was a great move because he was in such a dominate position center wise. So keeping 4 of his units tied up with that move evened the playing field in the west drastically.
Now this turn you were able to secure another build in Sweden while weakening the 7 center board leader in Belgium. On the surface that's awesome, but at the same time Russia is now in a strong position that your refusal to take StP may have worked to prevent. This is the point in the game where deciding which centers to take and when can have a massive impact on the endgame result.
That said, I think you and your mentor realized this, hence the move to the English Channel, which gives you a ton of flexibility in choosing your directing this coming year and ensures that everyone in the west will need to court you due to your unit positioning. With Russia and Turkey rolling along in the east nobody has time to go kill you off in an alliance, which makes your position extremely safe for the time being. Figuring out how to take advantage of that is critical.
France:
All things considered, this year went decently for you. Your main goal was to avoid dropping in centers and you walked out of it with a gain of 1 center, even if holding it is entirely dependent on England's good graces. Now the reason I said decently instead of well is because despite picking up a center you will not be picking up a build. There were several self bounce strategies you could have employed to ensure an open home center. Gas to Mar, with the resulting bounce for the sacrifice of Bur would have been worth it to get another unit in place. Especially since a fleet to help Italy survive a little longer could have been extremely useful. Right now the western alliances could shift very easily so take the time retreats offers and solidify your alliances.
Germany:
So the important lesson for you this past turn is that growing in supply center count is not always a good thing. It can go badly if a couple things happen. First is if growing requires opening yourself up tactically to a really compromising position. This is exactly what happened with Russia in the Baltic Sea. With a single unit Russia tied up over half your units. Which completely removed your center count power. The second is if your gains are extremely concerning to the rest of the board. Which in this case they were because nobody had arisen as a serious threat in the east, so hitting 7 made you the "Fear" target that Balki spoke about earlier. What's good for you now is that R/T is a clear threat and you should be using that fully in your press with England and France. You should also be pointing out that your unit in Tyrolia might be able to help slow down R/T and it's actually one of the only pieces on the board with that power. But only if you have the security to use it that way. The west should be in serious negotiations about what the R/T alliance means for them so work to take full advantage of that.
Your choice of disbands will be critical in how the western powers move in the coming turns. You have to keep value in how you can respond to the Russian threat while at the same time not inviting a quick stab that could demolish you before R/T is threatening England and France.
Russia: and Turkey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEYViV8p-Ow
In all seriousness, your alliance so far has been masterful. Taking Ionian for Turkey, taking Budapest for Russia, and using a brilliant anti-stab measure of having Turkey move to Sev to ensure Russia couldn't move to build a 2nd southern fleet while ensuring Russia stabbing into Bulg wouldn't be successful overall was a great move. Trust but allow verification in a strong alliance. You two are in a great position to continue right along.
It's important though to keep in mind that alliances require stability and right now Turkey is clearly in the dominate position in this alliance due to Italy's odd choice to abandon Tunis and control of the Med. The coming Italian fleet may be able to slow down Turkey, but it would still be shocking to see Turkey's gains be slower then Russia's regardless of moveset. There are strategies in an alliance to keep things balanced despite this type of hurdle so make sure you're talking to your mentors about them.
Austria:
Unfortunately your discussions with Germany failed and you weren't able to secure his support with Tyrolia last year. That failure could easily mean the defeat of both of you. After getting entangled in a full out slugging match with another country it can be extremely difficult to find common ground to work together to beat back a strong enemy. You and Italy really needed to work together to defend against the R/T alliance, and that just didn't happen. Again that will probably result in the defeat of both you and Italy. You had some outright brilliant plays this game, but it's an important part of the game to realize that those tactically brilliant move sets have to be consistently brilliant, and they have to be paired with convincing press to secure allies and turn enemies away from attacking you.
Now in all likelihood, you'll be defeated next year, but I have on more then 1 occasion seen 1 center countries come back and solo games, so keep sending press, and use that press to help screw over whoever particularly got on your nerves in the game.
I personally play the game with the following goals:
1. Win
2. Draw
3. Cause as much chaos for my own amusement until I'm destroyed as possible
Of course, everyone plays the game differently and finds different things fun. So decide what your goals in the game are and how you want to be recolonized when you're faced with defeat. Some people stop entering orders, some people stop replying to press, but some handle it gracefully and continue sending press. The way you handle loss in many ways, will define your reputation on the site just as much as how you're know for your victories and press style.
Italy:
In the spring you were the other reason I could not comment. It was growing very apparent that Turkey and Russia were teaming up against Austria. But Turkey's 2nd fleet build also told you they were already planning on attacking you after Austria. This was the key moment where you and Austria desperately needed to set aside your differences, and work together to survive. Germany's move to Piedmont instead of helping either of you ensured neither of you were going to get an edge on the other. So working together was the only option. Instead you made a locally tactical great move that secured you a build, but a globally bad tactical move that I suspect will result in your elimination in the game. By moving out of the Ionion Sea you sacrificed Tunis. You might be able to secure Trieste before Turkey and Russia, but it seems likely that you will be unable to hold onto Vienna next year. Right now that German army in Tyrolia can again be your best friend, but Germany has a lot to worry about right now with 2 disbands so he may not be able to even consider helping you.
I intentionally did not post last turn because there was not a good way for me to do so without impacting the game significantly. So this will be a longer post to compensate and I have a few different topics that I want to cover in the process.
- The Spring 03 "coin flip" in Budapest.
This again goes into the coin flip post I made recently, when you get into the 2nd phase of a guessing game you need to be using press to either get clues or drop fake clues to your intentions. As a defending country it can be difficult to believe that someone is going to repeat the same attack that failed again, but it's a pretty common and generally safe way to go about those situations as the attacker because it is so hard make that bet. It's absolutely possible to hold off people for years in coin flip scenarios but you have to engage in the press hints and mind games I alluded to previously. The best record I have with coin flips is holding someone off for 6 turns in a row. So it's possible, as you find yourself in those situations, plat around with different mind games and see what works and what doesn't and get better at it. - Readying retreats and builds
Don't do it. Use all the press time you have unless you only have 1 center left and your only option is a disband. Otherwise take the time, secure alliances, make sure you are on the same page as everyone else. - Overcoming severe differences
This is something that can be difficult because it goes to the trust scenario that Balki spoke about earlier. Let's use Austria and Italy as an example. The best scenario for either one of them was to fully trust the other and start defending against Turkey and Russia. If only one of them acted trustworthy and the other stabbed then 1 would make out well and the other wouldn't. But if both continued fighting, they'd both end up demolished. Sometimes you will get stabbed in these situations if you attempt an abrupt "We have to stop fighting right now or we'll both die" press agreement. Because sometimes players will be so entranced by the idea of picking up 1 extra center that they don't realize that that 1 center doesn't matter if they get crushed 2 years later. But if you can get even a 50% success rate in getting someone you're outright fighting and arguing with to stop and face a common threat then your defeated percentage will significantly drop. This game requires flexibility like I mentioned in one of my earlier lectures, and if you insist on continuing wars with someone where neither of you can win, then you'll both end up crushed eventually. - Press with people you are currently fighting or being demolished by
In a scenario where you are getting crushed by someone else or where you are crushing someone else in a stab or outright fight you should still be sending press. As the attacker you should be realizing that if you are attacking someone it means you're vulnerable to someone else, and if that person ends up attacking you, it might be necessary to make up with whoever you were attacking to survive.
If you're the person being attacked then you should be calmly and logically pointing out all the vulnerabilities and problems with your attackers plan. For example, right now Germany should be pointing out to England and France how Russia and Turkey could easily sweep the board and how they are in a position to quickly eliminate Italy. It might not work now, but if you plant the seed in an attackers mind that you are a reasonable person who understands alliances have to shift in the game, then if the board dynamics shift negatively for your attackers they'll be a lot more willing to consider working with you then if you're shouting things like "You're an idiot for attacking me, I fucking hate you, I'll never work with you again ever!" <-- sadly I've seen this, and these people tend to have single digit win/draw percentages.
It's important to remember this game is called Diplomacy. Mirrored after the actual diplomacy of countries. In actual diplomatic relations things go wrong all the time and diplomatic backstabbing happens on a world stage, but countries typically do not engage in never ending wars over these slights, because it doesn't help anyone in the long run. You need the same mentality when attacking or being attacked. It's a setback, it sucks, the press can be uncomfortable, but it needs to continue in a civilized way.
You are the reason I couldn't post in the spring, because the move set I would have had to talk about and was hoping to see organically, was North Sea move to Holland, Norway move to Sweden, and London move to North. Now this would have required some very subtle diplomacy, telling Germany that since you would be leaving Norway open to take StP you would like him to take Baltic with Sweden to ensure you knew he wouldn't try and take Baltic from Denmark. This would have given you 2 builds, and then allowed Russia the option of retreating into either Berlin or Kiel, absolutely crippling Germany in a turn. Opportunities like that do not come around often and require a really good understanding of the board. Now that said, I liked the moves you did. You ensured Germany was not able to retake the critical Baltic Sea, which was a great move because he was in such a dominate position center wise. So keeping 4 of his units tied up with that move evened the playing field in the west drastically.
Now this turn you were able to secure another build in Sweden while weakening the 7 center board leader in Belgium. On the surface that's awesome, but at the same time Russia is now in a strong position that your refusal to take StP may have worked to prevent. This is the point in the game where deciding which centers to take and when can have a massive impact on the endgame result.
That said, I think you and your mentor realized this, hence the move to the English Channel, which gives you a ton of flexibility in choosing your directing this coming year and ensures that everyone in the west will need to court you due to your unit positioning. With Russia and Turkey rolling along in the east nobody has time to go kill you off in an alliance, which makes your position extremely safe for the time being. Figuring out how to take advantage of that is critical.
France:
All things considered, this year went decently for you. Your main goal was to avoid dropping in centers and you walked out of it with a gain of 1 center, even if holding it is entirely dependent on England's good graces. Now the reason I said decently instead of well is because despite picking up a center you will not be picking up a build. There were several self bounce strategies you could have employed to ensure an open home center. Gas to Mar, with the resulting bounce for the sacrifice of Bur would have been worth it to get another unit in place. Especially since a fleet to help Italy survive a little longer could have been extremely useful. Right now the western alliances could shift very easily so take the time retreats offers and solidify your alliances.
Germany:
So the important lesson for you this past turn is that growing in supply center count is not always a good thing. It can go badly if a couple things happen. First is if growing requires opening yourself up tactically to a really compromising position. This is exactly what happened with Russia in the Baltic Sea. With a single unit Russia tied up over half your units. Which completely removed your center count power. The second is if your gains are extremely concerning to the rest of the board. Which in this case they were because nobody had arisen as a serious threat in the east, so hitting 7 made you the "Fear" target that Balki spoke about earlier. What's good for you now is that R/T is a clear threat and you should be using that fully in your press with England and France. You should also be pointing out that your unit in Tyrolia might be able to help slow down R/T and it's actually one of the only pieces on the board with that power. But only if you have the security to use it that way. The west should be in serious negotiations about what the R/T alliance means for them so work to take full advantage of that.
Your choice of disbands will be critical in how the western powers move in the coming turns. You have to keep value in how you can respond to the Russian threat while at the same time not inviting a quick stab that could demolish you before R/T is threatening England and France.
Russia: and Turkey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEYViV8p-Ow
In all seriousness, your alliance so far has been masterful. Taking Ionian for Turkey, taking Budapest for Russia, and using a brilliant anti-stab measure of having Turkey move to Sev to ensure Russia couldn't move to build a 2nd southern fleet while ensuring Russia stabbing into Bulg wouldn't be successful overall was a great move. Trust but allow verification in a strong alliance. You two are in a great position to continue right along.
It's important though to keep in mind that alliances require stability and right now Turkey is clearly in the dominate position in this alliance due to Italy's odd choice to abandon Tunis and control of the Med. The coming Italian fleet may be able to slow down Turkey, but it would still be shocking to see Turkey's gains be slower then Russia's regardless of moveset. There are strategies in an alliance to keep things balanced despite this type of hurdle so make sure you're talking to your mentors about them.
Austria:
Unfortunately your discussions with Germany failed and you weren't able to secure his support with Tyrolia last year. That failure could easily mean the defeat of both of you. After getting entangled in a full out slugging match with another country it can be extremely difficult to find common ground to work together to beat back a strong enemy. You and Italy really needed to work together to defend against the R/T alliance, and that just didn't happen. Again that will probably result in the defeat of both you and Italy. You had some outright brilliant plays this game, but it's an important part of the game to realize that those tactically brilliant move sets have to be consistently brilliant, and they have to be paired with convincing press to secure allies and turn enemies away from attacking you.
Now in all likelihood, you'll be defeated next year, but I have on more then 1 occasion seen 1 center countries come back and solo games, so keep sending press, and use that press to help screw over whoever particularly got on your nerves in the game.
I personally play the game with the following goals:
1. Win
2. Draw
3. Cause as much chaos for my own amusement until I'm destroyed as possible
Of course, everyone plays the game differently and finds different things fun. So decide what your goals in the game are and how you want to be recolonized when you're faced with defeat. Some people stop entering orders, some people stop replying to press, but some handle it gracefully and continue sending press. The way you handle loss in many ways, will define your reputation on the site just as much as how you're know for your victories and press style.
Italy:
In the spring you were the other reason I could not comment. It was growing very apparent that Turkey and Russia were teaming up against Austria. But Turkey's 2nd fleet build also told you they were already planning on attacking you after Austria. This was the key moment where you and Austria desperately needed to set aside your differences, and work together to survive. Germany's move to Piedmont instead of helping either of you ensured neither of you were going to get an edge on the other. So working together was the only option. Instead you made a locally tactical great move that secured you a build, but a globally bad tactical move that I suspect will result in your elimination in the game. By moving out of the Ionion Sea you sacrificed Tunis. You might be able to secure Trieste before Turkey and Russia, but it seems likely that you will be unable to hold onto Vienna next year. Right now that German army in Tyrolia can again be your best friend, but Germany has a lot to worry about right now with 2 disbands so he may not be able to even consider helping you.
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dargorygel
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Sorry, school, been in chaos-land... But now looking forward to the next set of lectures!
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jmo1121109
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
I'm not sure what happened to the other professors. I've paused the game for 24 hours to give myself time to get a post out and see if we can get some guest lectures going.
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jmo1121109
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Due to a player request we're going to leave the game paused till Friday. I was able to get a guest lecturer lined up so that'll be coming shortly along with my lecture.
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VillageIdiot
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Village Idiot: JMO, come on. There’s got to be someone else you can use. What about MadMarx?
JMO: Off world.
Village Idiot: Okay, um, Ghug?
dargorygel: Unavailable.
Village Idiot: Durga.
JMO: Don’t invoke her name.
Village Idiot: JMO, look, I really want to help, I do. But if my wife finds out I’m back on the dip, she’s going to kill me.
JMO: Okay. I understand.
Village Idiot: I’m sorry, what?
JMO: Why don’t you get back before your family misses you and become suspicious.
Village Idiot: Thank you, Mr. JMO. And, uh, good luck.
VI, What’s going on???
Village Idiot: I think JMO just hijacked my summer vacation!
An idiot review of 1904 coming soon....
JMO: Off world.
Village Idiot: Okay, um, Ghug?
dargorygel: Unavailable.
Village Idiot: Durga.
JMO: Don’t invoke her name.
Village Idiot: JMO, look, I really want to help, I do. But if my wife finds out I’m back on the dip, she’s going to kill me.
JMO: Okay. I understand.
Village Idiot: I’m sorry, what?
JMO: Why don’t you get back before your family misses you and become suspicious.
Village Idiot: Thank you, Mr. JMO. And, uh, good luck.
VI, What’s going on???
Village Idiot: I think JMO just hijacked my summer vacation!
An idiot review of 1904 coming soon....
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jmo1121109
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Just some background on your guest lecturer. VillageIdiot is one of the more renowned players on the site. Respected for his press and tactical play, he's done well in a number of tournaments, and has a Win/Draw percentage of 29/59 respectively, for an astonishing 88% positive outcome in classic press games. You really couldn't ask for a better person to learn some of the subtitles of the game from.
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VillageIdiot
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Some subtitles that have been used are "The Game of International Intrigue" and "The Award Winning game of Political Intrigue and Military Power in Imperial Europe", as you can see here:jmo1121109 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:14 amYou really couldn't ask for a better person to learn some of the subtitles of the game from.
https://www.amazon.com/Avalon-Hill-HAS4 ... B00005EBA0
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gibsons-Games- ... B00009W9JK
Additional questions?
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Octavious
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Frequently bought together:
Diplomacy, Axis and Allies, and Risk for £71.80
Frequently bought together?!? I find it a bit of a stretch to imagine Diplomacy alone being bought frequently, let alone with the other two. Methinks Amazon may not be being entirely honest with us. If more than one person had ever bought the three at once I'll be amazed.
Diplomacy, Axis and Allies, and Risk for £71.80
Frequently bought together?!? I find it a bit of a stretch to imagine Diplomacy alone being bought frequently, let alone with the other two. Methinks Amazon may not be being entirely honest with us. If more than one person had ever bought the three at once I'll be amazed.
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Octavious
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Before getting side tracked what I was intending to say was well done to VI for stepping up and providing commentary :p.
Seriously, though... frequently bought together? Who are they trying to kid?
Seriously, though... frequently bought together? Who are they trying to kid?
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VillageIdiot
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Congratulations for those of you still alive, you've made it to the MIDGAME!! You're likable and/or savvy enough to not be the first person out. If you've done things right you should have built yourself some solid relationships all around the board which by now that is helping you to keep one step ahead of everything that is going on and planting seeds for future alliance pivot options. You should have decent growth path options and have sustained low-risk threats to stabs from neighbours and allies. You should have at least one solid primary ally that you feel comfortable with pushing through into this next stage and you should have managed your reputation so that you are either flying under the radar as a game threat or strong enough relationships to make stabbing you not the 'funnest' thing to do.
If this isn't you, fear not, as this is about the time for the tide to change and opportunity awaits you to alter your fate. The local triangle battles are wrapping up, this is usually the time alliances begin to re-evaluate their future and if they wish to carry on as-is or not. It's very common for alliances to break down at this stage due to stronger advancement at each other's expense, or personality conflicts to begin to out-weigh the earlier benefit of the alliance, or simply better offers getting shopped around as your world expands beyond your immediate triangle. If you're the little guy this is your chance to sell your value. Your two or three armies could make the difference in tipping the scale in an impending war between two 'allies' of similar strength eyeing each other up for a battle. Sell yourself well as a non-threat, grateful-just-to-be-alive, just want revenge on so-and-so's earlier actions who just want to "see you win so he loses", and suddenly you have a chance to turn this around. I've seen more my share of early struggling countries go on to win games.
And if you're fortunate enough to be one of the players in more of a driver's seat, the midgame is where you start lining things up for yourself. The most important mind-shift you need to do is to really start treating your game as board-wide, not just your immediate borders. If you're good you were doing this from the very start, but it gets all the more important at this stage.
Look at each and every player on the board and see where their most practical growth paths are, and especially make note of the counties who have the best opportunity at your expense. These need your attention. If you're the practical growth path simply because the other way would go through his ally, that's worth a conversation. Comfortable relationships can be overcome with proper reassurance of an alternative equally comfortable relationship. Why spend the next two years sailing to my borders for your next build when attacking your ally would both improve your count immediately and drastically improve your geographical advantage? We're friendly too, right? I can very happily be your guy!
Likewise, you need to really put yourself in the shoes of those you've been friendly with so far and manage the risks. Would you stab you if you were them? That's the most important question. You'll get all the right lip service that you're brothers to the end, but if they're cut off and you're the only reasonable way forward then assume the worst. That doesn't necessarily mean a pre-emptive strike however. See the problem and solve it, classic "happy wife/happy life". If your ally is a couple centers behind and has no path, don't be shy about ceding over a center to open up a growth path for him if it doesn't add too much risk for you or discuss some swapping to make your next steps logistically smoother. By doing this you earn serious brownie points with your ally. Throwing in a little feigned aggression during these swaps is a great tactic in disorienting the rest of the board and may help in my previous suggestion of encouragement other alliances following suit and 'stabbing' their ally for opportunity now that their concern over other 'power alliances' appears to be dissolving.
The thing about me is, I'm very much a solo minded player. That sounds like an obvious statement about any player, but unfortuantely it really isn't. There are many players out there who just want to 'win' and feeling being left standing in some form of draw at the end qualifies for that feeling of accomplishment. Not my cup of tea. Conservative players will lock arms with their allies and start screaming for the rest of the board to start forming a stalemate against whoever the current board leader is. Solo minded players will divert attention away from such things, keep the board as unstable as possible, throw fuel on every irrational opening that they uncover (hard feelings between players, carebear connections to leverage, game exhaustion/frustration/apathy, naive players, encouragement of aggressive-yet-bad players, pot-stirring, etc) to ensure these conservative ambitions don't get their chance to take root. Getting a solo is hard, stopping a solo actually quite easy. Identifying and undermining these efforts is crucial and demands a great deal of your attention from this stage on if you want to succeed.
If this isn't you, fear not, as this is about the time for the tide to change and opportunity awaits you to alter your fate. The local triangle battles are wrapping up, this is usually the time alliances begin to re-evaluate their future and if they wish to carry on as-is or not. It's very common for alliances to break down at this stage due to stronger advancement at each other's expense, or personality conflicts to begin to out-weigh the earlier benefit of the alliance, or simply better offers getting shopped around as your world expands beyond your immediate triangle. If you're the little guy this is your chance to sell your value. Your two or three armies could make the difference in tipping the scale in an impending war between two 'allies' of similar strength eyeing each other up for a battle. Sell yourself well as a non-threat, grateful-just-to-be-alive, just want revenge on so-and-so's earlier actions who just want to "see you win so he loses", and suddenly you have a chance to turn this around. I've seen more my share of early struggling countries go on to win games.
And if you're fortunate enough to be one of the players in more of a driver's seat, the midgame is where you start lining things up for yourself. The most important mind-shift you need to do is to really start treating your game as board-wide, not just your immediate borders. If you're good you were doing this from the very start, but it gets all the more important at this stage.
Look at each and every player on the board and see where their most practical growth paths are, and especially make note of the counties who have the best opportunity at your expense. These need your attention. If you're the practical growth path simply because the other way would go through his ally, that's worth a conversation. Comfortable relationships can be overcome with proper reassurance of an alternative equally comfortable relationship. Why spend the next two years sailing to my borders for your next build when attacking your ally would both improve your count immediately and drastically improve your geographical advantage? We're friendly too, right? I can very happily be your guy!
Likewise, you need to really put yourself in the shoes of those you've been friendly with so far and manage the risks. Would you stab you if you were them? That's the most important question. You'll get all the right lip service that you're brothers to the end, but if they're cut off and you're the only reasonable way forward then assume the worst. That doesn't necessarily mean a pre-emptive strike however. See the problem and solve it, classic "happy wife/happy life". If your ally is a couple centers behind and has no path, don't be shy about ceding over a center to open up a growth path for him if it doesn't add too much risk for you or discuss some swapping to make your next steps logistically smoother. By doing this you earn serious brownie points with your ally. Throwing in a little feigned aggression during these swaps is a great tactic in disorienting the rest of the board and may help in my previous suggestion of encouragement other alliances following suit and 'stabbing' their ally for opportunity now that their concern over other 'power alliances' appears to be dissolving.
The thing about me is, I'm very much a solo minded player. That sounds like an obvious statement about any player, but unfortuantely it really isn't. There are many players out there who just want to 'win' and feeling being left standing in some form of draw at the end qualifies for that feeling of accomplishment. Not my cup of tea. Conservative players will lock arms with their allies and start screaming for the rest of the board to start forming a stalemate against whoever the current board leader is. Solo minded players will divert attention away from such things, keep the board as unstable as possible, throw fuel on every irrational opening that they uncover (hard feelings between players, carebear connections to leverage, game exhaustion/frustration/apathy, naive players, encouragement of aggressive-yet-bad players, pot-stirring, etc) to ensure these conservative ambitions don't get their chance to take root. Getting a solo is hard, stopping a solo actually quite easy. Identifying and undermining these efforts is crucial and demands a great deal of your attention from this stage on if you want to succeed.
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VillageIdiot
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
The ramble went long so i didn't get to an actual review this time. A+'s for everybody who's still alive.
Perks of having a substitute teacher. This afternoon we're just going to watch Saving Private Ryan while i nap at my desk.
Perks of having a substitute teacher. This afternoon we're just going to watch Saving Private Ryan while i nap at my desk.
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jmo1121109
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Review of the Spring and Fall 04 Moves
Alright everyone, unfortunately it appears that professors capt and balki have taken use of their tenure and taken a research trip to the middle of nowhere. In the meantime VillageIdiot has graciously offered to fill in with me. Unfortunately he will not be talking about his muscles as much as professor balki, but he will also not be subjecting you to surprise participation in fear tactics either.
Very sadly for myself, he does share in the other professor's propensity to use me as a target.
England:
I am really curious what went on between you and your mentor this past year. There'd been a pretty good strategy the past few years with some really strong and bold tactical moves. And then this past year was a mess. Accepting France's offer to attack Holland and then turning around and attacking France in Por. Scandinavia is such a mess during the past year that I can't actually offer commentary on it because I have 0 insight into the possible agreements and broken agreements between you, Russia, and Germany there. And me not being able to untangle the intent is rare. Now it looks like after the Spring you and Germany came to an accord to block Russia and you're now set to take StP this coming year. So having negotiated a successful way to block half the R/T from advancing is good progress, but you *have* to get with your mentor and make your play less chaotic in terms of alliances and bouncing between them. Your neighbors are going to be having nightmares of you sliding a dagger into their back. Talk with your mentor about what you need to accomplish in the coming year, talk about how you can fix things with France, continue improving things with Germany, and ensure your place in the end of the game. Then go with alliances and a strategy that will give you that and try to stick to it.
France:
This past year has highlighted the problems that come with having more centers than units. You weren't able to defend yourself and effectively attack a single opponent at the same time. After the spring moves I was excited thinking that you and England were preemptively and aggressively working to get into the Med to ensure Turkey and Russia's entire board progress would be amazingly limited, which would have been encouraging them to reconsider if the alliance they had was viable, reopening the board for more diplomatic opportunities in the west. Quite apparently, my read was way off base. I am not amazingly disappointed or against your attack on Germany in theory. But in execution it appears that the press from you or England concerned him enough to guard Holland, and in what is the most baffling move of the game to me, something encouraged England to take Por. Your move to MAO does not make sense to me unless you were concerned that England was going to move on Brest. I think you and England are going to need a serious reckoning about your press. You both messed up, you both need to take a deep breath, go "wow that was an awful turn, but if we keep this up we're both gonna be screwed" and go from there. You're both extremely luck that Turkey did not go with a fleet build and convince Italy to attack you with him as a puppet ally which is not an uncommon sight in some higher class games. The double fleets pushing past Italy towards your centers could have been a devastating surprise move by the Juggernaut and the failed communication with England and the attack on Germany would have ensured it's success.
Your job this turn, reset communication with everyone you border. Put aside hard feelings and consider how to deal with England's fleet in Por. Do you crush it like you're 100% able to, or do you allow it passage through and into the med? One option is safe short term but riskier in holding off R/T, the other is riskier short term in trusting England but would be an effective way of getting aid to Italy in time to give yourselves another shot at Germany.
If you and England cannot come to terms then continuing your attack on Germany might cost you the game. You're in a very delicate spot diplomatically, and I do expect my commentary this turn might impact the game. But, as this is a teaching game, I feel it's amazingly important for everyone on the board to understand that sometimes you have to look at the board and go "Shit, I have to get along with this person NOW or I'm dead long term".
Germany:
Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility. You've done a really good job adapting to England's alliance swings while fending off Russia and France. You have to carefully weigh whether you retake Berlin or defend against France this coming year. Consider what France is likely to do with England's stab in por, and keep a careful eye on whether they appear to be patching things over between themselves. The answer to that will impact whether you can safely retake Berlin. And whether you are able to retake it might end up being linchpin of the R/T alliance, so no pressure around your handling of that situation
. Kiel support hold Holland in the Spring ended up being the save of the game. Whether you got tipped off by some shady press, or just decided it was the smart defensive move, amazingly done. Without that move you would have been eliminated from this game. That single move took an elimination and turned it into a fairly decent chance of being critical for an eventual stalemate line.
The best advice I have for you this turn is keep on top of the press, make your neighbors realize the value you have as the keeper of Munich and Berlin, and work to manipulate your neighbors reparation efforts in the way that will best benefit you.
Russia:
To start off, let's take a look at the build from last year. Fleet south coast StP. I understand why you made this choice given the alliances you had in place at the time. But the problem you had was that with your extremely successful alliance with Turkey, you had made a board state that was going to force the western powers to rally against you because Italy had proven he was not going to be able to slow you and Turkey down at all. So keeping that in mind, the southern build could have been more useful as a northern coast built to require England to sacrifice positioning in stopping your advancement (which has happened) to defending against you slipping a northern fleet past his units.
Now despite the success of your alliance with Turkey, the last two turns have presented some serious problems for you. While you were able to take Berlin, you did not follow up with an army into Silesia which would have given you excellent odds of keeping it. Earlier in the game I spoke about how later in the game I would talk more about how it is sometimes better to risk losing units to gain critical positioning. That is the option you faced last year. Vienna had a low chance of being retaken by Austria or Italy due to their clearly hostile nature and Turkey could have aided you in keeping it secure to free up a unit or even 2 to move on the Germany border. Right now you and Turkey are in something of a race against the western powers. Munich and Berlin are the key centers. And you went with builds over positioning. I can't say for sure if it was the right choice or not, but I would have pushed an army ahead in your shoes. It's something I would encourage all of you to keep in mind in your future games. Risking or even giving up builds to have a good shot at breaking through the stalemate lines on the board early on can often be worth it, and is sometimes the key to solo opportunities. This coming year you are likely to lose Berlin and StP, so you and Turkey will need to be in discussions about how you continue to advance despite these setbacks and if you can take one of Turkey's gains to prevent multiple disbands. Germany is having a tough time right now, and may be open to some revenge based tactics. Work that angle and see what you're able to do diplomatically. He isn't happy with you, but he's also going to be equally upset at England.
The final point I want to end with here is a possible moveset for the last turn.
StP is unlikely to be attacked here since it seems amazingly unlikely that you would leave it open...so for that very reason it's safe to leave open. You know you're likely to get two builds and you and your mentor should be realizing that the rest of the board will be considering moving against you because of the success of the R/T. So StP moves to Liv, and then you build a fleet either North or South coast StP, and army moscow. Suddenly StP is no longer a temping target to anyone, and your power to break through that pesky stalemate line just increased massively. I didn't expect that moveset, but I would have been elated to see it. Again for everyone on the board, it's these "out of the box" move sets that can often open up solo opportunities. Successfully pull off 2 or 3 of these unexpected moves in a game, and you'll likely see yourself to 18.
Turkey:
We'll start with your builds too. I do not like the army build because of the fact that Italy left Tunis open. So you knew that you were going to have to move to take it, Italy knew it, everyone knew it. Which meant that everyone was paying careful attention to the moves in that region and therefore would have realized that with an army build you were not going to be able to take Tunis with a fleet because it would have meant Italy bouncing you in Ion and then you being unable to retake it. This meant that everyone knew if you wanted to take Tunis safely you'd be doing it with an army which meant that Austria and Italy both could have tried capitalizing by moving forces to Albania and putting you at risk of losing an awkward center to have to retake. A fleet would have been a better choice there. Getting lucky doesn't mean the army was the best option. The past year you were able to make smart moves with Russia to take Austrian centers and position yourself nicely to crush Italy in the upcoming year. And even nicer to your benefit was England's random attack on France, which will most likely prevent them from working together to slow down your progress. Your biggest concern right now is figuring out how to help your purple ally who's gains will be sliding heavily this coming turn. I also highly encourage you to work with your mentor to consider...creative ways of moving against Italy. You're in a situation against them where you have a world of options and thinking outside the box could be amazingly effective.
Austria:
While you've been eliminated I hope you continue watching the game and listening to the lectures and possibly engaging in some of the entertaining banter in the public press which you seem to have refrained from for whatever reason.
Italy:
Right now your options are pretty limited. Your main focus should be on screaming at England and France to get their act together to help you out against Turkey. They have a very specific set of moves that would let that happen in time to help you, but that set of moves will need some serious diplomatic relations to become reality due to their poor diplomatic standing.
I do need to take a moment to call out the really bad diplomatic failure that occurred this past spring which drastically worsened your situation. Which was wasting the valuable Germany support hold you were given in the spring in Vienna by moving to Budapest, a move that was doomed to fail. In the end France's attack ensured you would have lost that support in the fall anyway, but you did not know that at the time. So I'm not sure if Germany didn't tell you he would be supporting your hold, or what happened there, but this is an example of where careful planning is critical for every move.
You need to be talking to your mentor about the best way to defend yourself. Considering risks verses potential to delay Turkey's gains. There's actually a lot of options despite the limited number of centers you're trying to defend. It's a good chance to practice your tactically skills without a whole lot on the line. Even though the game isn't going well for you make sure you stay engaged, look for openings diplomatically and see how you're able to impact the game from a weakened position.
Alright everyone, unfortunately it appears that professors capt and balki have taken use of their tenure and taken a research trip to the middle of nowhere. In the meantime VillageIdiot has graciously offered to fill in with me. Unfortunately he will not be talking about his muscles as much as professor balki, but he will also not be subjecting you to surprise participation in fear tactics either.
Very sadly for myself, he does share in the other professor's propensity to use me as a target.
Final note of business before we get started, apologies for the delay to your game. I've been wearing a developer hat the last week to try and get a fancy new dark mode all ready for the site and it impacted this game. I'll try my best not to have delays like this to my commentary again. You and your mentors are dedicating a ton of time to this game and I value and appreciate this and will try to value that time in return. I'm also sorry the other two professors have vanished. I don't know what happened there, hopefully they'll be back but if not myself and the mod team will ensure you get quality lectures. So again, a massive thank you to VillageIdiot for helping out.VillageIdiot wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:10 pmSome subtitles that have been used are "The Game of International Intrigue" and "The Award Winning game of Political Intrigue and Military Power in Imperial Europe", as you can see here:jmo1121109 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:14 amYou really couldn't ask for a better person to learn some of the subtitles of the game from.
https://www.amazon.com/Avalon-Hill-HAS4 ... B00005EBA0
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gibsons-Games- ... B00009W9JK
Additional questions?
England:
I am really curious what went on between you and your mentor this past year. There'd been a pretty good strategy the past few years with some really strong and bold tactical moves. And then this past year was a mess. Accepting France's offer to attack Holland and then turning around and attacking France in Por. Scandinavia is such a mess during the past year that I can't actually offer commentary on it because I have 0 insight into the possible agreements and broken agreements between you, Russia, and Germany there. And me not being able to untangle the intent is rare. Now it looks like after the Spring you and Germany came to an accord to block Russia and you're now set to take StP this coming year. So having negotiated a successful way to block half the R/T from advancing is good progress, but you *have* to get with your mentor and make your play less chaotic in terms of alliances and bouncing between them. Your neighbors are going to be having nightmares of you sliding a dagger into their back. Talk with your mentor about what you need to accomplish in the coming year, talk about how you can fix things with France, continue improving things with Germany, and ensure your place in the end of the game. Then go with alliances and a strategy that will give you that and try to stick to it.
France:
This past year has highlighted the problems that come with having more centers than units. You weren't able to defend yourself and effectively attack a single opponent at the same time. After the spring moves I was excited thinking that you and England were preemptively and aggressively working to get into the Med to ensure Turkey and Russia's entire board progress would be amazingly limited, which would have been encouraging them to reconsider if the alliance they had was viable, reopening the board for more diplomatic opportunities in the west. Quite apparently, my read was way off base. I am not amazingly disappointed or against your attack on Germany in theory. But in execution it appears that the press from you or England concerned him enough to guard Holland, and in what is the most baffling move of the game to me, something encouraged England to take Por. Your move to MAO does not make sense to me unless you were concerned that England was going to move on Brest. I think you and England are going to need a serious reckoning about your press. You both messed up, you both need to take a deep breath, go "wow that was an awful turn, but if we keep this up we're both gonna be screwed" and go from there. You're both extremely luck that Turkey did not go with a fleet build and convince Italy to attack you with him as a puppet ally which is not an uncommon sight in some higher class games. The double fleets pushing past Italy towards your centers could have been a devastating surprise move by the Juggernaut and the failed communication with England and the attack on Germany would have ensured it's success.
Your job this turn, reset communication with everyone you border. Put aside hard feelings and consider how to deal with England's fleet in Por. Do you crush it like you're 100% able to, or do you allow it passage through and into the med? One option is safe short term but riskier in holding off R/T, the other is riskier short term in trusting England but would be an effective way of getting aid to Italy in time to give yourselves another shot at Germany.
If you and England cannot come to terms then continuing your attack on Germany might cost you the game. You're in a very delicate spot diplomatically, and I do expect my commentary this turn might impact the game. But, as this is a teaching game, I feel it's amazingly important for everyone on the board to understand that sometimes you have to look at the board and go "Shit, I have to get along with this person NOW or I'm dead long term".
Germany:
Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility. You've done a really good job adapting to England's alliance swings while fending off Russia and France. You have to carefully weigh whether you retake Berlin or defend against France this coming year. Consider what France is likely to do with England's stab in por, and keep a careful eye on whether they appear to be patching things over between themselves. The answer to that will impact whether you can safely retake Berlin. And whether you are able to retake it might end up being linchpin of the R/T alliance, so no pressure around your handling of that situation
. Kiel support hold Holland in the Spring ended up being the save of the game. Whether you got tipped off by some shady press, or just decided it was the smart defensive move, amazingly done. Without that move you would have been eliminated from this game. That single move took an elimination and turned it into a fairly decent chance of being critical for an eventual stalemate line.The best advice I have for you this turn is keep on top of the press, make your neighbors realize the value you have as the keeper of Munich and Berlin, and work to manipulate your neighbors reparation efforts in the way that will best benefit you.
Russia:
To start off, let's take a look at the build from last year. Fleet south coast StP. I understand why you made this choice given the alliances you had in place at the time. But the problem you had was that with your extremely successful alliance with Turkey, you had made a board state that was going to force the western powers to rally against you because Italy had proven he was not going to be able to slow you and Turkey down at all. So keeping that in mind, the southern build could have been more useful as a northern coast built to require England to sacrifice positioning in stopping your advancement (which has happened) to defending against you slipping a northern fleet past his units.
Now despite the success of your alliance with Turkey, the last two turns have presented some serious problems for you. While you were able to take Berlin, you did not follow up with an army into Silesia which would have given you excellent odds of keeping it. Earlier in the game I spoke about how later in the game I would talk more about how it is sometimes better to risk losing units to gain critical positioning. That is the option you faced last year. Vienna had a low chance of being retaken by Austria or Italy due to their clearly hostile nature and Turkey could have aided you in keeping it secure to free up a unit or even 2 to move on the Germany border. Right now you and Turkey are in something of a race against the western powers. Munich and Berlin are the key centers. And you went with builds over positioning. I can't say for sure if it was the right choice or not, but I would have pushed an army ahead in your shoes. It's something I would encourage all of you to keep in mind in your future games. Risking or even giving up builds to have a good shot at breaking through the stalemate lines on the board early on can often be worth it, and is sometimes the key to solo opportunities. This coming year you are likely to lose Berlin and StP, so you and Turkey will need to be in discussions about how you continue to advance despite these setbacks and if you can take one of Turkey's gains to prevent multiple disbands. Germany is having a tough time right now, and may be open to some revenge based tactics. Work that angle and see what you're able to do diplomatically. He isn't happy with you, but he's also going to be equally upset at England.
The final point I want to end with here is a possible moveset for the last turn.
StP is unlikely to be attacked here since it seems amazingly unlikely that you would leave it open...so for that very reason it's safe to leave open. You know you're likely to get two builds and you and your mentor should be realizing that the rest of the board will be considering moving against you because of the success of the R/T. So StP moves to Liv, and then you build a fleet either North or South coast StP, and army moscow. Suddenly StP is no longer a temping target to anyone, and your power to break through that pesky stalemate line just increased massively. I didn't expect that moveset, but I would have been elated to see it. Again for everyone on the board, it's these "out of the box" move sets that can often open up solo opportunities. Successfully pull off 2 or 3 of these unexpected moves in a game, and you'll likely see yourself to 18.
Turkey:
We'll start with your builds too. I do not like the army build because of the fact that Italy left Tunis open. So you knew that you were going to have to move to take it, Italy knew it, everyone knew it. Which meant that everyone was paying careful attention to the moves in that region and therefore would have realized that with an army build you were not going to be able to take Tunis with a fleet because it would have meant Italy bouncing you in Ion and then you being unable to retake it. This meant that everyone knew if you wanted to take Tunis safely you'd be doing it with an army which meant that Austria and Italy both could have tried capitalizing by moving forces to Albania and putting you at risk of losing an awkward center to have to retake. A fleet would have been a better choice there. Getting lucky doesn't mean the army was the best option. The past year you were able to make smart moves with Russia to take Austrian centers and position yourself nicely to crush Italy in the upcoming year. And even nicer to your benefit was England's random attack on France, which will most likely prevent them from working together to slow down your progress. Your biggest concern right now is figuring out how to help your purple ally who's gains will be sliding heavily this coming turn. I also highly encourage you to work with your mentor to consider...creative ways of moving against Italy. You're in a situation against them where you have a world of options and thinking outside the box could be amazingly effective.
Austria:
While you've been eliminated I hope you continue watching the game and listening to the lectures and possibly engaging in some of the entertaining banter in the public press which you seem to have refrained from for whatever reason.
Italy:
Right now your options are pretty limited. Your main focus should be on screaming at England and France to get their act together to help you out against Turkey. They have a very specific set of moves that would let that happen in time to help you, but that set of moves will need some serious diplomatic relations to become reality due to their poor diplomatic standing.
I do need to take a moment to call out the really bad diplomatic failure that occurred this past spring which drastically worsened your situation. Which was wasting the valuable Germany support hold you were given in the spring in Vienna by moving to Budapest, a move that was doomed to fail. In the end France's attack ensured you would have lost that support in the fall anyway, but you did not know that at the time. So I'm not sure if Germany didn't tell you he would be supporting your hold, or what happened there, but this is an example of where careful planning is critical for every move.
You need to be talking to your mentor about the best way to defend yourself. Considering risks verses potential to delay Turkey's gains. There's actually a lot of options despite the limited number of centers you're trying to defend. It's a good chance to practice your tactically skills without a whole lot on the line. Even though the game isn't going well for you make sure you stay engaged, look for openings diplomatically and see how you're able to impact the game from a weakened position.
11
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VillageIdiot
- Posts: 714
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
An Idiots Review of Spring 1905
Now that we've had an opportunity to reflect on who we are in the mid-game and where we'd like to go, let's see how it's going.
England
England i've really got some mixed feelings on. You are probably the boldest person on the board. From my experience this can yield a lot of success for the right player, however, it tends to lead to a lot of highs and lows. You had a very slow start when you opened to EC and then seemed to pick fights with everybody which was not a wise way to go. But then your unpredictability and diplomacy skills served you well when you were able to pivot your slow start into ping-ponging alliances to your benefit to find yourself as the third highest player on the board.
This is where things get tricky for you. You've exhausted a lot of diplomatic credibility to get this stage to the extent where it would be very difficult for anybody to truly trust you. Geographically you're doing quite well as you lock down your corner and are on the very of a second and we start to see fleets thinning out in the north, especially if you make your correct guesses to land yourself two builds this round. For the time being you've got a respectable minority ally in Germany which could make for a nice shield and you're fairly insulated in any betrayal from him in the short term although there are some arguments to be made for deals to be made at your expense.
The challenge however is that you're not the majority alliance on the board. If you can cause cracks your good, but this has potential to steamroll over you if nothing changes. Your current geography won't mean much long term if things remain status quo so you've some work to do to shake things up. That said, i have seen many a game won by the odd man out in a final three when the alliance reaches point of breakdown and late game betrayals lead to serious hard feelings. There's good potential here.
France
I was very fond of your early game, from the sidelines I had been cheering for you. You had some good plays in there and had some good pivot moments there as the West continued to fluctuate.
It would appear your achilles heel would be managing your relationships. The situation you currently find yourself in with England was the result of some failures of diplomacy and not properly covering your vulnerabilities to such risks. Given the game history with England I would have been more cautious and reconsidered everything the moment he headed back into EC and around. The London fleet build should have been the first red flag and four rounds later he strolls into Portugal. There was a lot of time in there to try to change your fate whether it be finding new alliances or drawing hard lines in the sand or circling the wagons.
Germany
It's been hard for you ever since 1903 where it seemed the entire board was against you. You've got some challenges with an apparent strong alliance with RT and an opportunistic England flanking you. The middle of the map has been chaotic from the start, to the detriment of all three of you. This is one of those situations where you needed to be dialled in with what was going on everywhere and attempt to exert influence as best you can to ensure things go in your direction. May have been wise to moderate between A/I, crying wolf against the Jugg threat, and better considering on what that rouge southern army could have been doing besides the unsuccessful move to Pied that left you over-extended and vulnerable. You're doing as good as can be expected at this stage, but something needs to change fast if you're going to stand a chance. I hope you're in active negotiations as you're not going to survive this on tactics alone. Pick your friends and sell your value wisely.
Russia
You're in the majority alliance and you seem to be managing your vulnerabilities wisely, that should make for a very comfortable mid-game for you. You've got some potential losses this year which could expose your neck following destroys so you're really going to want to keep your ally happy and appreciative of the value of keeping this alliance going through a potentially uncomfortable year for you. You're in one of the better spots on the board, but storms are on the horizon that you'd best prep for.
Turkey
Life is pretty good for you at the moment. You're tied for first and possibly may take the lead after this year. You've got your two across the stalemate line, the west is very destabilized, and you'll probably be in the drivers seat with your alliance soon. Getting from 8 to 18 is still a long ways to go however so don't start popping and champaign yet. There's different ways to skin this cat and probably a good time to start really looking at what an 18 centre Turkey could potentially look like. That should start to guide some decisions (in as subtle a way as possible). You've got some choices to make about your alliance as an increased off-balance could lead to tension (remember, happy wife/happy life) so there's judgement calls to be made in regards to how this would best serve your game. Being a game leader in 1905 has its challenges as you're still way to far to make a credible solo sprint but you're threatening enough to attract attention. You can probably expect some wolf crying coming your way soon if things carry on the way they do so wise to keep kissing babies and deflecting the impending damnations. You're not the 'devil storming the earth' you're a 'loyal ally' who isn't suffering the karma others are experiencing for their 'less honourable gameplay'.
Italy
Normally this is where you would tout the benefits of keeping you alive for pushing others across stalemate lines or keeping alliances honest or the value of ports so much closer to the enemies lines. This has become a tough sell now that England and France are at war and Turkey has flanked you with obvious benefits to feeding off you. Things are dire but not over, always keep fighting. It's all down to creative arguments for you at this point. If you can convince Turkey he'd benefit more from blindsiding others or sell support towards a stab maybe you can ride this out. I've seen players go from 1 to solo before so never stop fighting.
Austria
Going perfect, don't change a thing.
Now that we've had an opportunity to reflect on who we are in the mid-game and where we'd like to go, let's see how it's going.
England
England i've really got some mixed feelings on. You are probably the boldest person on the board. From my experience this can yield a lot of success for the right player, however, it tends to lead to a lot of highs and lows. You had a very slow start when you opened to EC and then seemed to pick fights with everybody which was not a wise way to go. But then your unpredictability and diplomacy skills served you well when you were able to pivot your slow start into ping-ponging alliances to your benefit to find yourself as the third highest player on the board.
This is where things get tricky for you. You've exhausted a lot of diplomatic credibility to get this stage to the extent where it would be very difficult for anybody to truly trust you. Geographically you're doing quite well as you lock down your corner and are on the very of a second and we start to see fleets thinning out in the north, especially if you make your correct guesses to land yourself two builds this round. For the time being you've got a respectable minority ally in Germany which could make for a nice shield and you're fairly insulated in any betrayal from him in the short term although there are some arguments to be made for deals to be made at your expense.
The challenge however is that you're not the majority alliance on the board. If you can cause cracks your good, but this has potential to steamroll over you if nothing changes. Your current geography won't mean much long term if things remain status quo so you've some work to do to shake things up. That said, i have seen many a game won by the odd man out in a final three when the alliance reaches point of breakdown and late game betrayals lead to serious hard feelings. There's good potential here.
France
I was very fond of your early game, from the sidelines I had been cheering for you. You had some good plays in there and had some good pivot moments there as the West continued to fluctuate.
It would appear your achilles heel would be managing your relationships. The situation you currently find yourself in with England was the result of some failures of diplomacy and not properly covering your vulnerabilities to such risks. Given the game history with England I would have been more cautious and reconsidered everything the moment he headed back into EC and around. The London fleet build should have been the first red flag and four rounds later he strolls into Portugal. There was a lot of time in there to try to change your fate whether it be finding new alliances or drawing hard lines in the sand or circling the wagons.
Germany
It's been hard for you ever since 1903 where it seemed the entire board was against you. You've got some challenges with an apparent strong alliance with RT and an opportunistic England flanking you. The middle of the map has been chaotic from the start, to the detriment of all three of you. This is one of those situations where you needed to be dialled in with what was going on everywhere and attempt to exert influence as best you can to ensure things go in your direction. May have been wise to moderate between A/I, crying wolf against the Jugg threat, and better considering on what that rouge southern army could have been doing besides the unsuccessful move to Pied that left you over-extended and vulnerable. You're doing as good as can be expected at this stage, but something needs to change fast if you're going to stand a chance. I hope you're in active negotiations as you're not going to survive this on tactics alone. Pick your friends and sell your value wisely.
Russia
You're in the majority alliance and you seem to be managing your vulnerabilities wisely, that should make for a very comfortable mid-game for you. You've got some potential losses this year which could expose your neck following destroys so you're really going to want to keep your ally happy and appreciative of the value of keeping this alliance going through a potentially uncomfortable year for you. You're in one of the better spots on the board, but storms are on the horizon that you'd best prep for.
Turkey
Life is pretty good for you at the moment. You're tied for first and possibly may take the lead after this year. You've got your two across the stalemate line, the west is very destabilized, and you'll probably be in the drivers seat with your alliance soon. Getting from 8 to 18 is still a long ways to go however so don't start popping and champaign yet. There's different ways to skin this cat and probably a good time to start really looking at what an 18 centre Turkey could potentially look like. That should start to guide some decisions (in as subtle a way as possible). You've got some choices to make about your alliance as an increased off-balance could lead to tension (remember, happy wife/happy life) so there's judgement calls to be made in regards to how this would best serve your game. Being a game leader in 1905 has its challenges as you're still way to far to make a credible solo sprint but you're threatening enough to attract attention. You can probably expect some wolf crying coming your way soon if things carry on the way they do so wise to keep kissing babies and deflecting the impending damnations. You're not the 'devil storming the earth' you're a 'loyal ally' who isn't suffering the karma others are experiencing for their 'less honourable gameplay'.
Italy
Normally this is where you would tout the benefits of keeping you alive for pushing others across stalemate lines or keeping alliances honest or the value of ports so much closer to the enemies lines. This has become a tough sell now that England and France are at war and Turkey has flanked you with obvious benefits to feeding off you. Things are dire but not over, always keep fighting. It's all down to creative arguments for you at this point. If you can convince Turkey he'd benefit more from blindsiding others or sell support towards a stab maybe you can ride this out. I've seen players go from 1 to solo before so never stop fighting.
Austria
Going perfect, don't change a thing.
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dargorygel
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Thanks to Professors JMO and VI for the ongoing lectures. The game has continued (with one pause) and the SoW has been interesting and hopefully helpful.
The Captain and the Balki send their regrets, and the School Administration will continue to attempt to recruit valuable guest lecturers. Meanwhile, talk to your mentors, and mentors: talk to your mentees.
We'll have mentos (and Pepsi) at the end of the game.
The Captain and the Balki send their regrets, and the School Administration will continue to attempt to recruit valuable guest lecturers. Meanwhile, talk to your mentors, and mentors: talk to your mentees.
We'll have mentos (and Pepsi) at the end of the game.
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dargorygel
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
From the discord:
'Looking forward to the SOW lectures after that sweaty turn.'
'Looking forward to the SOW lectures after that sweaty turn.'
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VillageIdiot
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Some fun stuff enjoy about this round, so let’s dive in!
England
The Portugal to MAO move was super clever and probably what I would have done in that situation. Shame it didn’t work out but getting MAO is still a solid consolation prize. St.Petersburg is also a terrific feather in your cap and relationships are going well with Germany.
Next steps however may be rough for you. France has managed to get back on his feet, your ally of Germany has his back against the wall, and the Juggernaut is potentially tightening their commitment to each other and gaining steam (or maybe not?). You’re well insulated with your two corners but your growth is going to stagnate if things don’t change. There’s potential for your enemies to team up which is going to cause a lot of problems for you and potentially cut you off from looking towards anybody else for future alliance. You’ve got fences to mend and a challenging reputation to overcome.
France
I enjoyed this very much! There were some fantastic tactical moves this round including the right guess with Portugal and smart bounce with Brest to defend and leave it open for the build. In hindsight the cut to EC would have been a more fruitful move, but you’re still in very good shape here with options open to either make friends with Russia or revisit a relationship with England if the Juggernaut appears too daunting.
You’ll want to keep an eye on what’s going on around the Italian peninsula and figure out what the future implications will be. While i’m certain it was tempting to retreat your fleet to Irish Sea, i would tend to agree the Spain retreat probably was the better move in this case just for the sake of balancing out your attention where it's needed.
Germany
You’re surviving as best you can but things can’t last the way they’re going so it’s time to start negotiating and seeing what clever ways to turn things around for yourself. There’s no future for you in the current fight.
Russia
I can only speculate on which of these moves were planned and which were betrayals. If it’s not obvious to me then it’s not obvious to the rest of the board either which is to your benefit. I've got my assumptions but i'll keep them to myself.
If you’re still with Turkey then that’s great, you’ve got an alliance that’s proven to look out for each others interests and you should be able to go a long ways with this. If it’s a falling out then you’ve probably some short term headache coming your way, but at least you’ve some other countries you can go to in order to entertain new alliances with which might even be able to work out better. Your game should still be in decent shape whichever this is.
Turkey
Much of the same as stated to Russia applies to you. If this alliance is going strong then you’ve got some nice growth available to you moving forward and you hold a fair amount of control along your alliance border should things change later on. If things are dissolving then you’ve at least got a nice bump in growth coming for the next year although beyond that will be determined by how well you negotiate yourself of keep others apart. You could still flourish through an alliance shake-up if you work your diplomacy muscle right.
Italy
Same as last round. You’re in trouble and if the Jugg carries on then you’re not going to be around for much longer. Keep looking for friends in every possible direction, offer what you can, and if really desperate you may want to look hard for new homes where you may be able to hold out a little longer.
England
The Portugal to MAO move was super clever and probably what I would have done in that situation. Shame it didn’t work out but getting MAO is still a solid consolation prize. St.Petersburg is also a terrific feather in your cap and relationships are going well with Germany.
Next steps however may be rough for you. France has managed to get back on his feet, your ally of Germany has his back against the wall, and the Juggernaut is potentially tightening their commitment to each other and gaining steam (or maybe not?). You’re well insulated with your two corners but your growth is going to stagnate if things don’t change. There’s potential for your enemies to team up which is going to cause a lot of problems for you and potentially cut you off from looking towards anybody else for future alliance. You’ve got fences to mend and a challenging reputation to overcome.
France
I enjoyed this very much! There were some fantastic tactical moves this round including the right guess with Portugal and smart bounce with Brest to defend and leave it open for the build. In hindsight the cut to EC would have been a more fruitful move, but you’re still in very good shape here with options open to either make friends with Russia or revisit a relationship with England if the Juggernaut appears too daunting.
You’ll want to keep an eye on what’s going on around the Italian peninsula and figure out what the future implications will be. While i’m certain it was tempting to retreat your fleet to Irish Sea, i would tend to agree the Spain retreat probably was the better move in this case just for the sake of balancing out your attention where it's needed.
Germany
You’re surviving as best you can but things can’t last the way they’re going so it’s time to start negotiating and seeing what clever ways to turn things around for yourself. There’s no future for you in the current fight.
Russia
I can only speculate on which of these moves were planned and which were betrayals. If it’s not obvious to me then it’s not obvious to the rest of the board either which is to your benefit. I've got my assumptions but i'll keep them to myself.
If you’re still with Turkey then that’s great, you’ve got an alliance that’s proven to look out for each others interests and you should be able to go a long ways with this. If it’s a falling out then you’ve probably some short term headache coming your way, but at least you’ve some other countries you can go to in order to entertain new alliances with which might even be able to work out better. Your game should still be in decent shape whichever this is.
Turkey
Much of the same as stated to Russia applies to you. If this alliance is going strong then you’ve got some nice growth available to you moving forward and you hold a fair amount of control along your alliance border should things change later on. If things are dissolving then you’ve at least got a nice bump in growth coming for the next year although beyond that will be determined by how well you negotiate yourself of keep others apart. You could still flourish through an alliance shake-up if you work your diplomacy muscle right.
Italy
Same as last round. You’re in trouble and if the Jugg carries on then you’re not going to be around for much longer. Keep looking for friends in every possible direction, offer what you can, and if really desperate you may want to look hard for new homes where you may be able to hold out a little longer.
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Do you think we can learn anything from Trieste retreating to Serbia rather than Albania? Can this still be a smokescreen?VillageIdiot wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 8:02 amRussia
I can only speculate on which of these moves were planned and which were betrayals.
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Perhaps the professors are avoiding addressing this directly, but I am very curious to hear which factors they believe "the rest" of the players should consider when determining whether a coalition is necessary against a "big alliance," or even just one big player.
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VillageIdiot
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Re: School of War Summer 2019
Serbia is a fairly understandable move.foodcoats wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:56 amDo you think we can learn anything from Trieste retreating to Serbia rather than Albania? Can this still be a smokescreen?VillageIdiot wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 8:02 amRussia
I can only speculate on which of these moves were planned and which were betrayals.
Albania is unnecessary if it's an ongoing Juggernaut because Italy is well in hand without a need to convoy in, it's better for appearances, and it would probably make Turkey feel more in control which he'd like. It also makes sense if they are at war so he can defend himself and attack Russia. The only scenario where it would make sense for him to go to Albania would be if they were in a cautious alliance and Russia insisted on relaxed borders.
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