I've never played public press before either, but it's something I've been interested in trying. I found the public diplomacy to be interesting and satisfying--there are a lot of strategies I usually use that didn't work (like proposing the same moves to multiple players with different justifications), but there were also new opportunities--like highlighting the discussion happening on the other side of the board to try to convince my neighbors to do what I wanted them to do.

...I've never played public press, so I don't have a strong opinion on it yet (more samples required). As a general, I didn't have to write anything, but I still had to try to decipher all the communications between the diplomats. It was definitely different.

I like public press games too.

One thing I wanted to add is that I personally played a lot of public-press games, where the only chat area is in global chat, and everyone can see what everyone is saying. Am I the only one who likes to play games like that usually?

Theodoric wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 20, 2024 10:51 pm

I think the fact that I had different expectations for how tactically involved I should be than my general did made this especially frustrating--from my perspective, we played a bit too conservatively and didn't try to cooperate enough with Russia (while playing blind). From my general's perspective, I think this came from waiting for instructions from me that didn't come.

As your general, that was exactly it. This game was effectively a gunboat for me, aside from the general instruction from you to "be allied with Russia". I tried to do that but there was not really much co-ordination from Russia, and I found the lack of more specific instructions very frustrating.

Theodoric wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 20, 2024 10:51 pm

My only suggestion for how to make this work better next time would be to allow one strategy conversation between generals and diplomats before the game starts. I understand that one of the problems with doing this is that, if we know who the other person is, we can cheat by talking in some other forum. The only way I can see around this is a "prison guard" role--basically have someone volunteer to be the go-between for each of the messages.

I think this is a good idea. You could have someone act as a neutral go-between, to pass messages without breaking anonymity.

Perhaps also allowing the Diplomat to send one 10-word message, per year, or every second year, via the neutral person, would be an idea?

Theodoric wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 20, 2024 10:51 pm

Turkish Diplomat with a bit longer description from my perspective:

My #1 early goal was to avoid a lepanto, ideally by convincing Italy to open West. My #2 goal was to get an alliance on reasonably favorable terms with either Austria or Russia.

My general feeling with Turkey is that I only like to ally with Russia if Russia is willing to help me take Serbia--otherwise it often just means throwing two Turkish fleets against two Italian and one Austrian fleet until France swoops in and attacks Italy or Russia betrays you. And attacking Russia only works if Russia doesn't see it coming.

I was fortunate that Austria's press immediately excluded Italy from the Balkans, which I seized on to ask that Italy open West. Italy agreed pretty readily, and even requested that their general open to the Tyrrhenian. I then had relatively vague alliance offers from Austria and Russia. I pushed both (especially Russia) to be more concrete, and particularly tried to get Russia to agree to either let me have the Black Sea or to promise to let me into Serbia in the following turn.

I was only half-successful here. Italy did decide to go West, and I did end up with an alliance with Russia. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hammer out specifics and I wasn't able to get any promises on Serbia, or control of the Black Sea. I also ended up in a position where Italy had okayed a Mediterranean fleet build, which was great for a juggernaut. I hoped that my general would recognize that that was the right decision without me having to say so and freak out Italy, and he did.

That put me in a position where we were playing a classic juggernaut with Russia against an isolated Austria. We had a long-term advantage, but (other than asking Russia to prioritize a Turkish build), we couldn't effectively communicate plans and has to out-guess Austria. I felt like the diplomatic situation was pretty much ideal until we could make tactical gains. At some point we would want to stab Russia or Italy, but I hoped my general would take initiative there.

Unfortunately, Austria did a great job stymying our progress for several turns. I gave tactical suggestions where I could, but largely tried to avoid doing so (while negotiating for things like the right to move into the Ionian). We were left way too exposed to Russia, Russia stabbed us, and we were put in a very bad position.

From there, I did my best to try to offer to use my units to help several different powers, but was largely ignored. The game ended for us with a series of hold orders and a whimper.

**********************************************************************

Overall, I found this to be an interesting challenge. I'm proud of a few things: I think that I did a good job negotiating for an advantageous early alliance system, and I'm proud that I kept trying to talk even as things went poorly. On the other hand, I wish I'd found a better way to use diplomacy to get through the tactical logjam against Austria. I think the fact that I had different expectations for how tactically involved I should be than my general did made this especially frustrating--from my perspective, we played a bit too conservatively and didn't try to cooperate enough with Russia (while playing blind). From my general's perspective, I think this came from waiting for instructions from me that didn't come.

My only suggestion for how to make this work better next time would be to allow one strategy conversation between generals and diplomats before the game starts. I understand that one of the problems with doing this is that, if we know who the other person is, we can cheat by talking in some other forum. The only way I can see around this is a "prison guard" role--basically have someone volunteer to be the go-between for each of the messages.

I appreciate the more detailed commentary about strategic difficulties. I thought about making a greater effort to give Turkey Serbia as the main focus, but ultimately I was approaching this from a gunboat perspective and when I'm playing Russia in a gunboat RT, I tend to be much more cautious with center parity; Turkey gets very stab-happy when they're no longer reliant on Russia for their next build, much more so than in press. I wanted to stabilize the northern situation before Turkey was truly set free from his famous cardboard box, letting me maintain a two center advantage (7-5 assuming Serbia as the Turkish fifth) but that English rat got in the way of things quite a bit.

Turkish Diplomat with a bit longer description from my perspective:

My #1 early goal was to avoid a lepanto, ideally by convincing Italy to open West. My #2 goal was to get an alliance on reasonably favorable terms with either Austria or Russia.

My general feeling with Turkey is that I only like to ally with Russia if Russia is willing to help me take Serbia--otherwise it often just means throwing two Turkish fleets against two Italian and one Austrian fleet until France swoops in and attacks Italy or Russia betrays you. And attacking Russia only works if Russia doesn't see it coming.

I was fortunate that Austria's press immediately excluded Italy from the Balkans, which I seized on to ask that Italy open West. Italy agreed pretty readily, and even requested that their general open to the Tyrrhenian. I then had relatively vague alliance offers from Austria and Russia. I pushed both (especially Russia) to be more concrete, and particularly tried to get Russia to agree to either let me have the Black Sea or to promise to let me into Serbia in the following turn.

I was only half-successful here. Italy did decide to go West, and I did end up with an alliance with Russia. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hammer out specifics and I wasn't able to get any promises on Serbia, or control of the Black Sea. I also ended up in a position where Italy had okayed a Mediterranean fleet build, which was great for a juggernaut. I hoped that my general would recognize that that was the right decision without me having to say so and freak out Italy, and he did.

That put me in a position where we were playing a classic juggernaut with Russia against an isolated Austria. We had a long-term advantage, but (other than asking Russia to prioritize a Turkish build), we couldn't effectively communicate plans and has to out-guess Austria. I felt like the diplomatic situation was pretty much ideal until we could make tactical gains. At some point we would want to stab Russia or Italy, but I hoped my general would take initiative there.

Unfortunately, Austria did a great job stymying our progress for several turns. I gave tactical suggestions where I could, but largely tried to avoid doing so (while negotiating for things like the right to move into the Ionian). We were left way too exposed to Russia, Russia stabbed us, and we were put in a very bad position.

From there, I did my best to try to offer to use my units to help several different powers, but was largely ignored. The game ended for us with a series of hold orders and a whimper.

**********************************************************************

Overall, I found this to be an interesting challenge. I'm proud of a few things: I think that I did a good job negotiating for an advantageous early alliance system, and I'm proud that I kept trying to talk even as things went poorly. On the other hand, I wish I'd found a better way to use diplomacy to get through the tactical logjam against Austria. I think the fact that I had different expectations for how tactically involved I should be than my general did made this especially frustrating--from my perspective, we played a bit too conservatively and didn't try to cooperate enough with Russia (while playing blind). From my general's perspective, I think this came from waiting for instructions from me that didn't come.

My only suggestion for how to make this work better next time would be to allow one strategy conversation between generals and diplomats before the game starts. I understand that one of the problems with doing this is that, if we know who the other person is, we can cheat by talking in some other forum. The only way I can see around this is a "prison guard" role--basically have someone volunteer to be the go-between for each of the messages.

DougJoe wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 20, 2024 2:16 am

...not getting in for the A02 turn really hurt because there would have been no way I would have left Burgundy undefended.

Yeah, that was very unfortunate. For what it's worth if I had not gotten into Burgundy I think as the diplomat I would have tried to continue to pursue the France-Germany alliance in the short term.

German diplomat here! I unfortunately kind of checked out of the game in the latter half, though it appeared most of the other diplomats did as well. Nevertheless I really enjoyed this format for all its foibles.

As for strategy - early on, my only goal was to make sure England and France didn't ally. At some point, England tried to convince us to form a Western triple and turn east. In the first year, everyone had been very conservative with offering alliances, so I saw this as a chance to side with France instead of going along with a plan that would leave me vulnerable. However, as I ended up in both North Sea and Burgundy very quickly, and Russia and Italy were both friendly, I figured I could just attack them both.

I mostly meant what I said to my general - I think the only point where I was trying to imply something else was around fall 1904/spring 1905, where Russia had left only one unit in Scandinavia. I had said something vague about England being willing to work together despite the past, and was hoping maybe my general would take the opportunity to snag Sweden.

As for the late game, it went about how I had expected. I wish I had continued to give press - there may have been a way to manipulate the G/I/A alliance in such a way that we could have soloed.

Turkish diplomat here:

I'll try to write more later on my reasoning through this game, but I wanted to make a quick note about why I (and presumably the Russian diplomat) didn't provide more specific tactical guidance during the Juggernaut period. I looked at the tactical options each period and tried to find strong moves, but we were in a continual guessing game with Austria. I felt that announcing an objective or asking for specific supports from Russia would simplify Austria's "offense as defence" strategy more than it would coordinate our offense. I haven't played public press before, so perhaps there are better ways around this, but I think what we ran into was the inherent weakness of two players coordinating against one defender when they can't talk privately. I also think that the Austrian general did a phenomenal job throughout the game and simply played that period very well.

I enjoyed the format. There were many serious frustrations, but they were in many ways the point. One thing that was particularly challenging was that it was harder to lie/bullshit than it would be even in a normal public press game. For example, I was repeatedly reassuring Italy that we would not push into the Ionian in the intention of sucking Italy further west. My secret hope was that my general would defy my instructions and move on Italy, but I had no way of communicating that without announcing a stab ahead of time.

Since we didn't know who we were talking *for*, and couldn't send our generals any messages, we

I think, there is a misunderstooding in so.e other's players head. I have (I has) never tried to stab back Austria, and if Austria was in danger, I would have helped him. But Austria was enought smart to defend hi.self against a Russian-Turkish alliance alone, and after Russia stabbed back his only ally in a bad position, Turkey and Russia did not have chance at all.

StraightFlush wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 20, 2024 5:16 pm

Hello comrades, I am the Russian general. As the entirety of my homeland has turned red, I assume the game ends in a somewhat historically accurate fashion (insert Soviet anthem here). I was fascinated by this game format from day one, so much so that I actually got another game for it running on a different forum! If you want to check out what happens when the diplomats actually try to make an impact (albeit clumsily), I invite you to spectate here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/blind-date-diplomacy-game-thread-spring-1904.3754338/

As for this game in particular, I had fun but felt like my agency was limited by a diplomat who didn't care enough to remain involved at critical moments. It's common knowledge that Russia is the weakest country in gunboat play, and even in a press environment its positions are unsustainable without good diplomacy. That is why I felt like I struggled more as the game progressed into more of a pure gunboat game, and it's unfortunate because I think the relationship with Austria in particular would've been smoothed over had the diplomats actually talked to each other more. This is to say nothing of the missed opportunities with Italy: imagine what could've been if there was a way to reassure them I was on their side after Spring 1907, when they immediately gave up after a clumsy stab attempt. I felt that I had a good relationship with the Austrian general, but that can only go so far on its own.

When the game began I played fairly standard opening moves due to the two arranged bounces from my diplomat; he technically gave me the choice about what to do with A Mos, but I am of the opinion that the northern opening is unviable without a DMZ in Galicia, so I was really hemmed into one specific moveset for the 1901 turns. The spring moves were all as I'd expect, but the fall brought a major challenge from the north with England charging headlong into Scandinavia with a convoy and move to Barents Sea. I was not immediately threatened by this since Germany had let me into Sweden, but it was an unwelcome distraction from southern affairs.

Speaking of the south, let's go down there for a bit. As Italy was going west, I agreed with my diplomat's assessment that an alliance with Turkey was a wise choice, so I played towards that outcome for the next couple of years. However, I was too conservative with my tactics due partly to my own habits in gunboat and partly to the total lack of direction from either the Russian or Turkish diplomats. They didn't need to spell out movesets for us, but perhaps give us specific tactical objectives for the turn/year to guide our thought processes? I sympathize with the Turkish general's situation, he was dealt a poor hand in this part of the game.

I intended to stick with RT for as long as necessary since I knew that Italian help wouldn't be forthcoming for Austria for some time, which made his downfall inevitable if we pushed through. However, we still didn't get on the same page tactically and this left Rumania in Austrian hands momentarily. When the Austrian general vacated the center in the fall, I knew that I had found the ally I actually wanted in this game and prepared for a stab. I'm surprised that retaking Rumania with a fleet didn't ruffle any Turkish feathers at the time, but it was an effective stab nonetheless. I felt fairly proud of myself for managing to secure all of Anatolia, and I don't regret going for that despite the diplomatic tension it created with Austria.

Let's go back to the north now. I hated how this north played out. There was never really an alliance structure on that side of the board; the French general swap, the west-facing Italian, and English incompetence all added up to an environment where Germany got crazy powerful in a fairly short time. You'd think it's impossible for Germany to fight both England and France and win, but they really weren't doing that; he was fighting France with help while taking English dots that were left undefended because England decided that tickling me was more important than living. In fact, it's arguable that losing the guess on St. Petersburg in 1903 snowballed into the ruin of my entire position, although not directly. The fact that England continued to attack me after it was clear that German help would not be forthcoming was a suicidal decision, and their retreat into Livonia in spring '04 followed by keeping that army on the board until death was insultingly poor play that I hope is not repeated by anyone seeking lessons from this game.

Back to the south for the sake of my mental health. From 1905 onwards I wanted to play towards a pure AR alliance, which I thought would be the right strategic decision for Austria as well; I signaled this strongly with a second southern fleet in W04. Once it became clear that EFT would be eliminated, I saw two potential courses for the game: an AR vs. IG war (which AR would inevitably win with proper tactics), or a Central Triple that would swallow me up without mercy. I felt that Austria would be amenable to an AR because Italy had done, to put it charitably, f**k-all for them up to that point, and Germany was becoming a major issue on the other side of the board that we were well-positioned to counterbalance. Ultimately, though, I was proven wrong. The Austrian general is not as much of an alliance player as I try to be in gunboat, but I think that makes me an anomaly rather than him.

My decision to attack Germany in 1906, which left the course of the game entirely in Austria's hands, was not made lightly. I had hoped to arrange some kind of GR cooperation when it became clear that England was a common enemy, but due to England's questionable strategic priorities, I was unable to project power in the north outside of Scandinavia, which killed any hope of a proper GR since such an arrangement requires Russia to have access to the British isles. As such, here was a threat that had run out of western centers to eat, and would be looking for another foe. Where else would they go next? Into the Med against Italy? Don't make me laugh. I simply had to land the first strike, which would hopefully spur Austria to action as well. Unfortunately, the turn I landed this strike is also the turn where Austria decided he was done with me. I think the diplomatic situation with Austria was salvageable after 1906, even with the sneak into Warsaw complicating matters, and I think it was entirely reasonable for Austria to want Rumania in that scenario; however, nobody made an attempt to salvage it, ensuring the CT would form as Germany and Austria now had cause to directly cooperate.

After 1907 made it clear that the homeland was indefensible, I turned to other options. I tried to maintain my Turkish government-in-exile, which would've had a chance of working if my diplomat was around to negotiate some kind of detente with Germany that would let me keep one northern center (thus letting me keep AEG, EAS, Con and Arm on the board). I think Germany might've found this attractive if proposed, since it would secure them the board top and make them the only potential solo threat, but nobody ever proposed it because my diplomat was not only inactive by this point but also lacking in imagination. I tried throwing St. Petersburg to Austria to sneak into the draw from Scandinavia in the face of a solo threat, but Austria never became that threat because they remained unwilling to attack Germany or even Italy. It's genuinely crazy how Italy got all the security benefits of an AI alliance while never helping Austria in any significant way and attempting to stab them once.

You may come away from reading this with the idea that I had a mostly negative view of the game, but I did have a lot of fun and saw the potential in this game format. Thanks to UH for putting it on and making the southern game interesting.

Great job working with what you had. As your diplomat I'm sorry for being distant and not being more helpful, life got busy and I was only briefly checking dip for a few weeks and this game, never popping up on my needing moves bar, fell off my radar. Despite that, I should've tried to stick with it. You moves were well done, I would've done the same thing in your position on most moves, although I am curious as to the thought behind the Turkey stab. I actually was hoping for a Juggernaut to run the board. If we had been able to hold Anatolia, I think we could've won out, but alas it wasn't to be. As for my lack of direction, I understand now what you're saying. I did quite frequently just say "figure it out" - the board seemed to favor these kinds of actions, and I was reluctant to explicitly give you orders because I didn't want others to mess up your plans. I should've been a little more helpful. Anyway, game well played, keep your head high, you played well.

Hello comrades, I am the Russian general. As the entirety of my homeland has turned red, I assume the game ends in a somewhat historically accurate fashion (insert Soviet anthem here). I was fascinated by this game format from day one, so much so that I actually got another game for it running on a different forum! If you want to check out what happens when the diplomats actually try to make an impact (albeit clumsily), I invite you to spectate here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/blind-date-diplomacy-game-thread-spring-1904.3754338/

As for this game in particular, I had fun but felt like my agency was limited by a diplomat who didn't care enough to remain involved at critical moments. It's common knowledge that Russia is the weakest country in gunboat play, and even in a press environment its positions are unsustainable without good diplomacy. That is why I felt like I struggled more as the game progressed into more of a pure gunboat game, and it's unfortunate because I think the relationship with Austria in particular would've been smoothed over had the diplomats actually talked to each other more. This is to say nothing of the missed opportunities with Italy: imagine what could've been if there was a way to reassure them I was on their side after Spring 1907, when they immediately gave up after a clumsy stab attempt. I felt that I had a good relationship with the Austrian general, but that can only go so far on its own.

When the game began I played fairly standard opening moves due to the two arranged bounces from my diplomat; he technically gave me the choice about what to do with A Mos, but I am of the opinion that the northern opening is unviable without a DMZ in Galicia, so I was really hemmed into one specific moveset for the 1901 turns. The spring moves were all as I'd expect, but the fall brought a major challenge from the north with England charging headlong into Scandinavia with a convoy and move to Barents Sea. I was not immediately threatened by this since Germany had let me into Sweden, but it was an unwelcome distraction from southern affairs.

Speaking of the south, let's go down there for a bit. As Italy was going west, I agreed with my diplomat's assessment that an alliance with Turkey was a wise choice, so I played towards that outcome for the next couple of years. However, I was too conservative with my tactics due partly to my own habits in gunboat and partly to the total lack of direction from either the Russian or Turkish diplomats. They didn't need to spell out movesets for us, but perhaps give us specific tactical objectives for the turn/year to guide our thought processes? I sympathize with the Turkish general's situation, he was dealt a poor hand in this part of the game.

I intended to stick with RT for as long as necessary since I knew that Italian help wouldn't be forthcoming for Austria for some time, which made his downfall inevitable if we pushed through. However, we still didn't get on the same page tactically and this left Rumania in Austrian hands momentarily. When the Austrian general vacated the center in the fall, I knew that I had found the ally I actually wanted in this game and prepared for a stab. I'm surprised that retaking Rumania with a fleet didn't ruffle any Turkish feathers at the time, but it was an effective stab nonetheless. I felt fairly proud of myself for managing to secure all of Anatolia, and I don't regret going for that despite the diplomatic tension it created with Austria.

Let's go back to the north now. I hated how this north played out. There was never really an alliance structure on that side of the board; the French general swap, the west-facing Italian, and English incompetence all added up to an environment where Germany got crazy powerful in a fairly short time. You'd think it's impossible for Germany to fight both England and France and win, but they really weren't doing that; he was fighting France with help while taking English dots that were left undefended because England decided that tickling me was more important than living. In fact, it's arguable that losing the guess on St. Petersburg in 1903 snowballed into the ruin of my entire position, although not directly. The fact that England continued to attack me after it was clear that German help would not be forthcoming was a suicidal decision, and their retreat into Livonia in spring '04 followed by keeping that army on the board until death was insultingly poor play that I hope is not repeated by anyone seeking lessons from this game.

Back to the south for the sake of my mental health. From 1905 onwards I wanted to play towards a pure AR alliance, which I thought would be the right strategic decision for Austria as well; I signaled this strongly with a second southern fleet in W04. Once it became clear that EFT would be eliminated, I saw two potential courses for the game: an AR vs. IG war (which AR would inevitably win with proper tactics), or a Central Triple that would swallow me up without mercy. I felt that Austria would be amenable to an AR because Italy had done, to put it charitably, f**k-all for them up to that point, and Germany was becoming a major issue on the other side of the board that we were well-positioned to counterbalance. Ultimately, though, I was proven wrong. The Austrian general is not as much of an alliance player as I try to be in gunboat, but I think that makes me an anomaly rather than him.

My decision to attack Germany in 1906, which left the course of the game entirely in Austria's hands, was not made lightly. I had hoped to arrange some kind of GR cooperation when it became clear that England was a common enemy, but due to England's questionable strategic priorities, I was unable to project power in the north outside of Scandinavia, which killed any hope of a proper GR since such an arrangement requires Russia to have access to the British isles. As such, here was a threat that had run out of western centers to eat, and would be looking for another foe. Where else would they go next? Into the Med against Italy? Don't make me laugh. I simply had to land the first strike, which would hopefully spur Austria to action as well. Unfortunately, the turn I landed this strike is also the turn where Austria decided he was done with me. I think the diplomatic situation with Austria was salvageable after 1906, even with the sneak into Warsaw complicating matters, and I think it was entirely reasonable for Austria to want Rumania in that scenario; however, nobody made an attempt to salvage it, ensuring the CT would form as Germany and Austria now had cause to directly cooperate.

After 1907 made it clear that the homeland was indefensible, I turned to other options. I tried to maintain my Turkish government-in-exile, which would've had a chance of working if my diplomat was around to negotiate some kind of detente with Germany that would let me keep one northern center (thus letting me keep AEG, EAS, Con and Arm on the board). I think Germany might've found this attractive if proposed, since it would secure them the board top and make them the only potential solo threat, but nobody ever proposed it because my diplomat was not only inactive by this point but also lacking in imagination. I tried throwing St. Petersburg to Austria to sneak into the draw from Scandinavia in the face of a solo threat, but Austria never became that threat because they remained unwilling to attack Germany or even Italy. It's genuinely crazy how Italy got all the security benefits of an AI alliance while never helping Austria in any significant way and attempting to stab them once.

You may come away from reading this with the idea that I had a mostly negative view of the game, but I did have a lot of fun and saw the potential in this game format. Thanks to UH for putting it on and making the southern game interesting.

sin(2x) = 2sin(x)cos(x) wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 20, 2024 4:19 pm

Wow, I wish I had taken notes throughout the game as well.

I was happy to play as Italy and survive the final draw. And I couldn't have done it without my general. I'm glad we didn't have any issues with each other, which some of the different countries did. For the most part, we agreed on orders, and my general opinion was correct when we did.

I wished we could've gotten more of the Turkish centers, but a draw is a draw.

As for the game style, I enjoyed it! Of course, I'm probably a bit biased because I didn't have any communication/disorder issues, but I think this game mode has potential.

- Italy

There was a turn where your General moved to ION and you wondered in the global press why he did that... were you truly unsure of what he was doing?

I'm writing a post in the game thread, but I think there was a turn where you and your general could have made a run for the solo.

Wow, I wish I had taken notes throughout the game as well.

I was happy to play as Italy and survive the final draw. And I couldn't have done it without my general. I'm glad we didn't have any issues with each other, which some of the different countries did. For the most part, we agreed on orders, and my general opinion was correct when we did.

I wished we could've gotten more of the Turkish centers, but a draw is a draw.

As for the game style, I enjoyed it! Of course, I'm probably a bit biased because I didn't have any communication/disorder issues, but I think this game mode has potential.

- Italy

Thanks for participating in my little experiment everyone! Congratulations to all involved in the final draw, though it should be acknowledged that the result was impacted by the French NMR earlier on. My bad for not acting quick enough when DougJoe stepped up as a replacement.

First my thoughts on the results of the Pairs aspect of the game: I don't think the diplomacy impacted the game as much as I expected, though it certainly had some effect so that the game was not a true gunboat. I agree that perhaps the medium of the forum for diplomacy contributed to this. Particularly in my case in playing Austria, I didn't get the consistent diplomatic interactions I was hoping for so I mostly played the game like a gunboat. The coordinated German support into Warsaw in 1907 was the main notable exception, as I never would have counted on that in gunboat.

Some commentary on the progress of the game, based on my best recollection:

1901

The early diplomacy just resulted in direction for me to open with standard moves, not antagonizing anyone. Nothing too notable here. I was watching the diplomacy between Russia and Turkey carefully and was hopeful that the communication between them didn't seem to click immediately.

1902

This year didn't go as well for me. Russia and Turkey managed to establish an alliance, and while Italy remained friendly, they chose to head east, leaving me to stand alone against a Juggernaut. Not a promising situation.

1903

Press from my diplomat had dried up and I wasn't getting backup from Italy. Time to face the juggernaut alone gunboat style. In such a situation I sometimes employ an offensive defensive style, especially as Austria against a united foe. I need to stay unpredictable. I decided to make a move on Rumania, though choosing to leave Greece vulnerable to do so. The Spring results in me taking Rumania from Russia but losing Greece to Turkey.

Fall: I got a new diplomat. I didn't have a concrete direction to go based on their diplomacy, however. The Russian and Turkish diplomats seemed to be still allied against me, despite offers of peace being tossed around. I decided my only hope of survival was to break the Juggernaut alliance. Turkey's units were situated in a way such that peace with them seemed infeasible. I decided to place hope in Russia. I made a gamble to vacate Rumania and take Bulgaria instead, hoping to placate Russia and make a stab on Turkey tempting. I also ordered a bounce on Galicia rather than trying to take it as an offering of peace.

1904

My gambit on Bulgaria worked! And with an English army in St.P, Russia now faced a distraction. I began to feel a little more optimistic in this year. My diplomat wasn't really working towards an alliance with Russia, but I felt like I could speak directly to the Russian general through my moves and I began to worry less about my diplomat at this point, to be honest.

I took the offensive defense approach against Turkey again and targeted Greece. I ordered a bounce in Galicia and prayed that Russia would be nice. Having a Russian fleet in Rumania rather than an army eased my nerves a fair bit.

Fall: It worked! Russia stabbed Turkey! The game suddenly looked a lot different to this Austrian. Russia still looked big and scary but at least they weren't going after me.

1905

Russia attacked Turkey. I attacked Turkey. I finally got a build. Yay! But the source of my next build looked less clear. Russia didn't look likely to give me Constantinople.

1906

Russia built a northern fleet, so a German Russian conflict seemed imminent. With no where else to go, I decided to try and get the jump on Russia and count on Germany to attack Russia too.

This stab worked out quite well, though I lost Greece to Turkey. I didn't have room for another build anyway.

1907

In the spring I serendipitously blocked an Italian convoy to Alb, which I treated as a stab. Even if it were going to be meant for Greece, I'd rather not have an Italian army in the Balkans. In the fall, I got German support into Warsaw, took Sev, and Italy looked to be interested in peace. Strong year.

1908

I got Moscow this year, bringing me to 9 centers. By this point it was clear that the end game had arrived. I considered my solo options to be slim, as the diplomacy between Italy and Germany had been strong, and stabbing either would invite retribution from both, not to mention the fact that I didnt have the fleets to take on Italy and the Turkish centers held by Russia on my own. Without the ability to do my own diplomacy, I didn't feel there was much I could do to make a solo run possible. Germany was ahead on that race too, so I decided my best bet was to prepare to hold the stalemate line in case Germany got the jump on Iberia or something. Perhaps with diplomacy I could have tried something more interesting like working with the Russian or something.

1909 to end

The rest of these moves were just the wrapping up of the three way draw.

...not getting in for the A02 turn really hurt because there would have been no way I would have left Burgundy undefended.

Ok, this one is a little unusual because I joined this game as a sub in the Winter of 1902.

Winter 1902:

Reading the diplomats’ thread in the forum, I thought I saw at one point that there was a mention of a central triple. Looking at the board, it’s not looking great for France. I wouldn’t mind so much if there was an E/G going on, but G/I is more annoying to be because of the possibility of getting pinched by fleets. (E/I has the same issues IMHO.)

I know that my Diplomat wants me to try to make friends with Germany but after reading the press I don't trust Germany one iota. I think that England has absolutely no attack on us because he definitely has to worry about Germany. Germany has told his general that building F Kie or A Mun is okay. I really do want to build F Bre to go after Italy but that army in Burgundy is too threatening. My gut is screaming alarm bells, the spider sense is going nuts. I feel like Germany is holding out hope of an alliance but has no intention of one and even though my general won’t like it, it’s going to be…

Moves: Build A Par

Spring 1903: The Germany diplomat responds with something along the lines of “we both built armies, guess I have to attack you now.” I don’t think he’s actually disappointed about this, I suspect that G/I versus France was the plan all along. My diplomat is trying to get Italy to back off, but I think he needs to try more to put the fear of Turkey into Italy as it sure looks like there’s an R/T going on and if Austria dies, Italy dies. I’d also be diploming with Germany that Burgundy is rightfully French soil and that I’d be far more useful in an attack on England. But that’s hard to do in public.

In any case Germany and Italy arrange an attack on Mar that they both believe is unstoppable: Pie S Bur-Mar, GOL - Spa. I’m surprised they don’t realize the defense: Par S Mar-Bur. The only question for me here is “do I want to use Picardy to force the move” which I’m guessing would work. The trick is that if I do that, then Mar is open and I can’t force my way back in… and if I try to get back in and Italy bounces me and Germany dislodges Bur, then I can’t retreat back there. [Editor’s note: just realized as I’m writing that if that had happened in the autumn I could have rebuilt in Mar. Doh!]
So I decided to not go to Burgundy. Also, as much as I don’t want to leave MAO, I decided to use the fleet to plug a surprise move to Gascony.

Moves: Pic-Bel (couldn’t think of anything better to do with it), Par S Mar-Bur, Spa-GOL, MAO-Gas.

Spring 1903 Results/Autumn 1903:

My moves work exactly as expected. Mar is safe. Turkey gets into Greece, Austria gets into Rum. England moves Nor-Fin and at least can make Russia guess on defending Stp or Norway.

The German and Italian diplomats are surprised that they were stopped, give me some props, and have not yet made any formal plans other than suggesting that they reposition units. England wants an alliance. This one’s going to be tricky, more time left in the turn…

Germany is presenting several options to his General, one of them being “pull out of France”.

…so this is a difficult turn to figure. I’d like to do something aggressive, but it’s hard to do anything aggressive against Italy because I had to build that army. I feel like I need to move back to MAO because I think Italy is going to play TYS-WMS… which then means I need to have a unit in Gascony to protect Mar (MAO protects SPA). Then that means Pic has to go to Paris… yuck. I can’t fight them both. I hope the French Diplomat keeps trying to get Germany to back off (since it’s clear Italy won’t - although I know that all that’s going to get him is a Turkish knife in his back, I can *feel* it.)

So anyway, right now I’m thinking of the following: Gas-MAO, Spa S Mar, Mar H, Par-Gas, Pic-Par. I don’t like it, but I’m really having a hard time thinking of anything better.

Moves: Gas-MAO, Spa S Mar, Mar S Par-Gas, Pic-Par

Autumn 1903 Results/Winter 1903:

Well, I was wrong about TYS, Italy used it to try a convoy of Tun-Mar. Germany advanced on Picardy, which I could have blocked. *sigh*. Could have stuffed everything this turn… At least he didn’t try to advance into Gascony. Around the rest of the world, England sneaks into Stp, Germany tries to help Russia, Russia gets back into Rum and Austria takes Bul. So it’s Russia +1 for the year, and he builds Army Sev.

Spring 1904:

The French Diplomat is doing his best to get help. I appreciate the effort.

It sounds like in the thread that Italy’s going to try to move to WMS. Is he going to move using only one fleet or both? And there’s no word, of course, on how Germany is going to attack - he can take a shot at Brest, use two units to try to take Paris - or even still support something to Piedmont. The problem is that I can’t both bounce Brest and WMS. I also have no way to cut support of Picardy, which means if I wanted to hedge my bets with Par-Bur that leaves Paris very vulnerable.

One option looks something like MAO-WMS, Spa-GOL, Gas-Bre, Par-Bre. Defend Brest, defend WMS. Keeps GOL S Pie-Mar from working, doesn’t help if Bur supports it. Leaves Paris hanging. Another option is to move Par-Bur instead to cut support, since if Pic-Bre what else is there to do with Bur but maybe support Pie-Mar? It’s really what are Bur and GOL going to do. Will GOL try to force WMS? Will Bur try to for Par or something else? I have no idea.

I’m going to guess that Germany is going to be tricky and try to sneak into Brest. So I’m going to go with:

Moves: Spa-GOL, MAO-WMS, Gas-Bre, Par-Bur, Mar S Par-Bur.

Spring 1904 Results/Autumn 1904:

Oh, [expletive]. I guessed completely wrong. Germany went for Paris (via Pic S Bur-Par) and Italy went for Mar with Pie S GOL-Mar. That’s twice now where I should have played the “simple” moves, something like Gas S Par, Spa S Mar. Grumble.

Around the rest of the board, Turkey and Austria have swapped Bul and Con again, Russia’s retaken Stp and appears to have moved on Turkey.

Turkey is suing for peace with Austria in light of the Russian stab/attack. The French diplomat has given me his condolences and tells me to fight on, which I will. TBH, if I had been able to join the game in A02 instead of W02, I might have been able to fight them off or at least been able to slow them down much more - I would have defended Burgundy and been able to bounce the move to GOL. But, as Mr. Tuld says, that’s “spilt milk under the bridge”.

Paris retreats to Gascony, Mar to Spain. It’s really tough for me that I can’t talk on the thread at all - I at least want to tell my diplomat that I appreciate his note (and maybe post a youtube link).

England retreats Stp to Livonia, Austria retreats Bulgaria to Serbia.

Okay, it looks like my diplomat is a little on tilt right now, which is too bad - but I can sympathize because I’m not sure what I’d do here either. Maybe remind Italy that while he gets Mar/Spa/Por, Germany gets Par/Bre and all of England? Doesn’t exactly feel like a good split to me.

In any case, I wish there was something clever to do here but I’m not sure there is. Germany is telling his general to be conservative this turn - no reason not to be. I can’t take Paris back. There is an outside shot I could get Mar back with Gas & Spa S GOL - Mar. Germany would have to not either have Burgundy hit Gas or not support Mar. Fairly unlikely, Germany probably simply plays Pic S Par, Bur S Mar. I don’t know why one would do anything differently.

I’m wondering if I should try for the convoy to Tuscany (from Spain). I don’t think ION is going to go for Nap… but with the A/T that might be forming, who knows? Maybe Turkey’s content to keep to fighting Russia and expanding north? Not sure. There’s still lots of time left in the turn, we’ll have to see if Italy’s diplomat says anything in the game forum thread.
Italy’s asking Germany to hold Mar. Boo. Guessing the German general will do that… so I have to really think of something special here.

There’s a lot of talk going on in the forum - are the alliances going to shift? Turkey is trying to get Germany and England to fight Russia. Do I want that to happen? I’m not sure.

In any case, it’ll be a stand in Spain and Portugal for as long as possible. I’ll try to bounce WMS again and use Gascony to tap Mar so that the convoy should go through. Not that the army in Tuscany is going to be able to do anything useful because Italy will get a build, but who knows? I can always get rid of it during the build phase (and then keep MAO/GOL/Gas). The German general has been told to play defensively, so if Bur S Mar, then Pic S Par (rather than Par S Pic-Bre or Pic S Par-Bre?) I wonder. Based on the press, I don’t think this general will get greedy and try for Bre at the risk of Par (Pic S Par-Bre). We’ll have Brest follow into Gas because why not. Looks like the German diplomat has told his General to defend Mar.

The moves:
Bre-Gas, Gas-Mar, GOL C Spa-Tus, MAO-WMS

Autumn 1904 Results/Winter 1904:

Well, I got into Tuscany… and I also got into the Western Med because Italy protected Naples. Not sure I really wanted that, but oh well. Germany did not attack Brest. Germany did, however, convoy an army to Yorkshire. Russia took Ankara. Austria supported Russia in Rumania. I’m not sure that I like the fact that Russia stabbed Turkey. I’d love for Russia to go after Germany, but I don’t have high hopes.

So Russia is +2, Germany is +1, Italy is +1, Austria stays even, England is -1, Turkey is -2, and I’m -2.

There’s talk by the Italian diplomat of wanting his general to build an army in Venice. I think that is actually the best build for me because I don’t want him to build a fleet. He’s also talked about using Naples to defend Rome.

The first option I’m considering is keeping GOL/WMS/Tus. If I do that, I think that I could force Tunis by the end of the year, WMS S GOL-TYS, Tus-Rom… then WMS S TYS-Tun. Guessing that he would play Nap-Rom in the spring, not sure what Venice does, maybe bounce? With that setup, there also ends up being potential guesses in the fall - do I put two on Rome, do I try to sneak into Naples? Interesting possibilities. I could also convoy Tus to Naf in the spring in the hope that he doesn’t move to TYS, which unless Nap-ION (why?) and that means I get Tunis using Naf and WMS… but all those options sacrifice Spa/Por and I’d be at one in Tunis which doesn’t feel like it’s going to be important for a stalemate in this game.

Another option is to keep GOL/WMS/Gas. In that case, I think I would have to play GOL S Gas-Spa, WMS-MAO. That might keep me alive for a little bit. Por and Spa, while being stuck between Germany and Italy, seems like the better place to be.

Keeping Gas/GOL/Tus or Gas/WMS/Tus doesn’t seem to be useful - and I don’t see any point in keeping Brest.

French Diplomat, please point out to Italy that he’s only getting 3 centers while Germany is getting 5 (all of England and Bre/Par)... and that Italy is not likely to get anything beyond Iberia if he keeps this up.

Moves: Remove A Tus, A Bre

Spring 1905:

I'm really curious as to why England got rid of London and kept Livonia (since Russia was able to build an army in Mos) but I guess I can’t criticize since I also removed a unit from a home center. Russia also built F Sev (a clear nod to Austria) and Turkey removed F AEG.

In any case, the diplomats have been very quiet this turn. There’s only a few hours left to go and Italy seems to think that I might want to go for Tunis. I can certainly force TYS (WMS S GOL-TYS) but he can move Ven-Rom, Nap-ION and then ION S Tun and it’s a guessing game as to Rome or Naples. I don’t really like that at all, so I think I’m going to stick with the plan of trying to hole up in Iberia. Once Germany gets to the channel I’ll have issues, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I probably won’t survive this game (although I’m doing my best not to die).

In any case, Germany has a couple of interesting options this turn. Italy can defend Mar on his own, so if I was Germany I’d play Pic-Bre, Par S Bur-Gas… but Germany also has the option of Par s Pic-Bre, Bur-Gas. I think I would rather have a fleet in Spain than an army, but the safest course of action for me looks like GOL S Gas-Spa, WMS-MAO. Since Italy has said he wants to slow play things, though, Gas S GOL-Spa, WMS-MAO might be okay? Hard to say. There’s also the option of Gas-Spa, GOL-TYS, keeping the fleet away for longer if I think he’s going to move to TYS. If he doesn’t move to TYS, then he probably self-bounces in Naples. Which, again ain’t all bad, because it keeps the 2nd fleet away from me for longer. I can always move TYS-WMS in the autumn (or I could support Rom-Nap, wouldn’t that be funny). Gotta do my best to keep Germany and Italy off balance and hope that pressure comes from the east on one of them!

Moves:
Gas-Spa, GOL-TYS, WMS-MAO.
[Note: with about 20 minutes left in the phase I decide that it’s likely that GOL-TYS will succeed and that he’ll move Nap-ION, Ven-Rom and I actually don’t want to move… so I switch it to support Gas-Spa.

Spring 1905 Results/Autumn 1905:

Germany moves back to Munich! (Why?) I know I didn’t consider it, but if I had played Gas-Bur or Holds, WMS-Spa… I could have gotten Marsellies back in the Autumn! I know hindsight is 20/20, but that hurts. I didn’t even consider that moveset last turn… but should I have? In any case, Italy does move to Rom and ION to defend Tunis as expected. Turkey gets savaged by Austria and Russia and may be eliminated this year. England moves Livonia to Prussia (huh?).

Waiting to see if there’s more diplomacy in this turn than the *one* message last turn. My initial thoughts are to play MAO S Spa-Gas, GOL-Spa? Based on the one message from Russia and one message from Germany, I think that’s all there is to do… I could also move MAO-ENC to slow down Germany? He gets Gas though if I do that (and it sounds like he’s going to go for it…) and I can’t have him in a position to help F Mar.

I’m still annoyed that I could have gotten Mar back this turn and missed it. *grumble*

…it looks like the phase has been extended due to a DoS attack on the website. Guess that’s more time to noodle and watch for messages.

Italy’s trying to arrange post-France terms with Germany. Get in there French Diplomat and get them arguing! Italy also mentions how he doesn’t understand why his General moved Nap-ION… which I completely called last turn. I’d love to explain it to him but, you know, I can’t because I’m not allowed to talk!

They are talking about a DMZ in MAO… but one of them is going to have to go into it (it would make sense to be Italy, but…) to get Portugal. Doesn’t really affect my moves, but I think it’s interesting. The east (A/R/T) is going to be very interesting to watch. Will Austria stab for Rumania? Will Turkey be eliminated? If Turkey is eliminated, what do A/R do next? Dang it, I need *somebody* to put some pressure on Italy!

[Side note: One of the reasons I play through bot games - rather than canceling them - where my tactical position goes south is specifically for games like this]

Moves: MAO S Spa-Gas, GOL-Spa

Autumn 1905 Results/Winter 1905:

Well, again, wrong guess. I should have bounced TYS instead of moving back to Spain… and Germany didn’t try to advance on Gascony. Geez, my guesses have been all wrong in this game.

In other news around the board. England supports Germany in Yorkshire and Germany walks into London (because why not?) Turkey loses Smy but defends Con and is down to one.

I don’t see any other option than to pull A Gas here? I think I want to keep the two fleets.

Moves: Remove A Gas

Spring 1906:

I was on vacation in PDT instead of EDT during this turn so my focus isn’t exactly 100%.

England gets rid of NWS and keeps that army in Silesia? Turkey removes Arm which makes sense.

Germany and Italy are arranging how to get Spain. Italy asked his general to play Mar-GoL, Pie-Mar, TYS,WMS. Germany is going to move on Gascony. Turkey is trying to vassal himself to Russia. I don’t know where my diplomat is.

I can’t block everything, but it seems to me that I don’t have any other choice but to try to block the two fleet moves. If they’re both blocked, and Germany doesn’t move to ENC, then that leaves only Gas/Mar adjacent to Spain and I can hold it for another year.

Moves: MAO-WMS, SPA-GOL

Spring 1906 Results/Autumn 1906:

So the Italian general does not follow his diplomat’s request and instead uses TYS to force the move to GOL. It’s the better move set and can’t be blocked - this is the first turn that I defended the “simple” move and he did the better one. So I guessed wrong again. MAO-Spa, Spa-Mar would have kept Spain safe for the Autumn because Spa-Mar would have bounced and there’d only be Gas and GOL on Spa (Germany did not move to ENC - he instead moved Lon-Wales to polish off England).

In any case, Germany and Italy are coordinating in the chat and I’m going to lose Spain… I’ll play Spa S WMS-GOL in case for some reason the generals don’t actually get it right.

Moves: Spa S WMS-GOL.

Autumn 1906 Results/Winter 1906:

Yup, I lost Spain. Will retreat to Portugal. Russia takes Den and Con, loses Rum and for some reason doesn’t defend Warsaw, so he’s even. England tries to snipe Vienna but is blocked and is eliminated. Turkey moves to Greece and survives. The good news is that both Germany and Italy are two moves away from MAO, so I get another year (I think?) Germany and Austria each build a unit.

I don’t know where my diplomat is. Turkeys’ is trying to stay in the game, which is admirable. Not being able to talk to anyone is hard and somewhat frustrating.

Moves: Spain retreats to Portugal, then I’ll remove WMS.

Spring 1907:

I figure here there’s probably no reason for Italy not to play Spa-Por, so it’s either Por-Spa or Por H. I suppose I could try to make a run for Brest but I think the German general is smart enough to cover it. Forum thread is very quiet.

Moves: Por-Spa

Spring 1907 Results/Autumn 1907:

Austria gets booted out of Warsaw and retreats to Livonia and Italy tries for a convoy to Albania that is blocked. Italy seems to be willing to continue the attack on Austria and Germany offers to help Austria against Russia and asks his general to send his other units to go east (which is nice, actually, I don’t want him to be able to support WMS-MAO.) Otherwise, he still wants peace with Italy.

…and so I have yet another guess this turn: do I play Por-MAO to try to block WMS-MAO? A clever Italy would know that I’m almost pretty much forced to do that and simply play Spa-Por and WMS H… but I’ve overestimated this general before? So I’m actually leaning towards the block attempt. I haven’t gotten a guess right in forever, though, so I don’t have much hope it will work but I have to try. I get another day and a half to ruminate over it. Even if I get it right it only means more guessing… but we’ll see.

Autumn 1907 Results/Winter 1907:

Well, I guessed wrong. *sigh*.

Moves: Remove F MAO.

Spring 1908:

I’ve decided I’m going to keep writing here just to comment on the game. Italy builds another fleet, Austria another army. There’s been a few posts in the forums. Russia is trying to make peace with everyone. Austria wants Turkey dead, seems to be willing to work with everyone else, asks Russia to only build fleets. Turkey is trying to keep Italy and Germany on side to rally them against Austria but is also trying to get Austria to stop attacking. Turkey is also suggesting it’s time to draw.

From a board/tactics perspective, it’s a pretty interesting situation. Russia may lose both Denmark and Moscow this year and then he’ll have the agony of deciding to protect the north or south going forward. I don’t see why Germany won’t attack in the north, nor Austria in Moscow. I think the interesting situation is the west, actually. Italy could very well play WMS-MAO, TYS-WMS, Por-Spa, Nap-TYS, Apu-Rom/Nap and then the Autumn would bring some interesting possibilities. I definitely think Italy’s potential to stab Germany is greater than the other way around (at least at the moment while Germany’s fleets are seemingly going east.) Not sure who has the advantage between Austria and Germany… I do suspect, however, that the game will end in a A/G/I three way draw, but that’s just a guess. We’ll see, there’s a lot of game left.

Spring 1908 Results/Autumn 1908:

Germany takes Denmark, Italy heads east. Austria doesn’t take Moscow (which Russia moves out of). Turkey is still around, looks like Russia tried to support Austria into Greece and Austria tried to support Italy into Greece but no one took advantage of the support. No forum posts yet.

Autumn 1908 Results/Winter 1908:

No messages yet. Italy builds another fleet, Germany and Austria only have land locked centers open so they each build an army.

Spring 1909:

Italy is proposing Russia be eliminated and then the game be drawn (and of course Italy gets all the Turkish home centers).

Spring 1909 Results/Autumn 1909:

Russia defends AEG very well but can’t protect Sweden. Italy moves to WMS but nothing that looks like an obvious stab anywhere.

Autumn 1909 Results/Winter 1909:

Norway falls, Stp falls. Italy tries to support Bul-AEG (to prevent Con-Bul from working as it did last turn) but Austria still tries to support Italy into AEG. So AEG stays. Again, nothing looking stabby. Russia pulls Con, Arm, Fin. NWS going to make a run to NAO and try to go somewhere from there? In any case, the loss of Arm means Austria can now slide around behind the Russian fleets.

Still no messages in the forum thread.

Germany builds two armies, Austria one. Is there any chance of a stab here at all? Germany can certainly take StP, but past that, not sure. Italy’s fleets into MAO and to the north?
Spring 1910:

...that's as far as I got.

Grzy- I fully understood why you moved to the Ionian in 1905 even though your diplomat seemed like he didn't.

Firstly thanks for my Marvellous Italian Diplomat for the hard work to make the agreements with our neighbours. Honestly, I did not agreed some moves I had to do, but looking at the map, he was right in many things. :)

As a general, I don't agree with the most of the comments here.

I think this pairing with the diplomats and the generals was perfect. The Diplomats made the strategic decisions, and the Genereals the tactics. Sometimes of course the Diplomats should have clean up the mess what the general made. I think that was what the French diplomat did not well when he just "kicked up" his general. In the real life, the diplomat, for example as an ambassador or anything else, must not know the top secret tactical moves, especially behind the enemy lines.

It was not a gunboat game at all, as I see, most of the generals took into consideration the agreements in the global press. Who did not, mostly has been defeated.

I wish Russia had not stabbed back Turkey, It would have been interesting, how to stop a Juggernaut on that map. In the First years, I really believed, We all will die.

My notes in the game: (unfinished)

Spring, 1904: Gondolataim a játék során:

1901 - Basszameg, Olaszországot kaptam, de sebaj, majdcsak lesz valahogy.
Látom, megszületett a 3-as megállapodás, és akkor ugyan Franciaország ellen kellene vonulnom, de ha Törökország lepaktál Oroszországgal, akkor Ausztriának elkél majd a segítség, be kell majd avatkozni. HA pedig Franciaország ellen megyek, akkor egyből meg kellene szegni egy megállapodást, azt pedig nem szívesen. Szó sem volt egyébként arról hogy nem menjek a Ión tengerre, vagy tévedek?

1902 - Ok, akkor támadjuk meg Franciaországot, bár nem tudom honnan jött az ötlet, pedig minden üzenetet elolvastam ,de sebaj. MEg ugye késön jött, igazából a Balkánon is be kellene avatkozni mert akkor bajok lesznek, Törökország úgyis hátbatámad, hozzuk vissza a hadsereget, nincs az jó helyen ott Tunéziában mert Kurva meleg van.

Ősz - Bizony, hiba volt visszahozni a hadsereget, vigyük vissza, mert úgy tényleg jobban tudunk mozogni a hajóval, és bízzunk benne hogy Törökország nem vág át.

5 Oct 2024 Spring, 1904: 1903 - Tavasz - Ok, segítsünk Németországnak. ÉS bizony, nem kellett volna visszavinni a hadsereget Tunéziába, mert így vesztettem egy teljes kört a Ión tengeri flottával. Mindegy, talán így nem halunk meg az első 5 évben ha szerzün kegy erős szövetségest. Ausztria egyébként eléggé jól tolja Diplomáciai kapcsolatok nélkül is. csináljunk egy cselt, még ne menjünk a Nyugat mediterrán tengerre, próbálkozzunk be Tunéziával. Eleve mi a francot keres ott bárki?

1903 Ösz - Bakker Törökország hátba fog baszni, hiába mondja hogy nem, én meg itt ülök Tunéziában a kibaszott melegben és megyek fel-alá mint valami elmeháborodott.

5 Oct 2024 Spring, 1904: 1904 Tavasz - Azt akarják hogy menjek még nyugatabbra, és Törökország itt van a nyakamon. Nem baj, egy életem egy halálom, megyek nyugatra, úgyis visszapattanok, és bepróbálkozok Marseillessel, mert Franciaországnak egyetlen esélye ha MArseilles megy Burguniábam Spanyolország meg a Lyoni öbölbe, szóval talán sikerül megszerezni Marseillest.

1904 - Ösz, bakker, megvan Marseilles meglesz ha Németország lesz elég okos és Burguniával támogatja Marseillest, és Picardívan Párizst. Oroszország meg úgy tűnik hogy lefoglalja Törökországot egy időre szóval azt hiszem most rendben leszünk.

Na most, kezdek el naplót írni. Persze magyarul, hogy ne tartson ezer évig, makd kigúglizza aki akarja. :)

15 Oct 2024 Autumn, 1905: 1905 Ősz - A Ionian tengerre költözésemnek egyetlen oka volt, amennyiben Franciaország támogatással megy a Tyrrenian tengerre, a Ionian tengerről tudom támogatni.

Mon 02 PM Autumn, 1910: Voted for Draw