End Of Game Report:War and Peace-5

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DougJoe
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End Of Game Report:War and Peace-5

#1 Post by DougJoe » Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:33 am

http://www.webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=257705

So this was a private game I was invited to play in. My younger brother (FrontDeskMatt) was in an American Empire game that I had spectated and a few players of that game wanted to play a regular game and invited me to play in this one.

I drew Italy, which didn't bother me at all, but my younger brother drew Turkey... and if I'm playing Italy, I'd rather he be assigned any other power... but it is what it is, I suppose.

So England and Germany are co-workers. Russia and Austria are brothers and France is their friend. Everyone's aware of the relationships. This ought to be interesting. Turkey and I had a lot of phone conversations about the game (and at one point, we were using the game chat for mostly non-game stuff and texting/talking for game stuff, it was kind of funny).

I didn't take super detailed notes this game but I'll try to reconstruct my thoughts from maps and messages... since the game started months ago it's hard to remember.

So what am I going to do here? We'll see what all the neighbors have to say...

Spring 1901:
France asks for a DMZ in Piedmont and offers to not build fleets in Piedmont and that he won't move to GoL or WMS. I pretty much immediately agree and note that the agreement doesn't restrict my ability to move to GoL or WMS... that might be useful later.
Germany suggests a G/A/I alliance and is curious if I'm moving to Tyrolia. I'm not, so I tell him so.
Austria and I seem on good terms. I convey my lack of enthusiasm about a blitz on Austria and I relay G's central triple idea and he seems to like it.
Russia says that there might be R/A vs. T going on and asks if I want in. I'm hesitant to agree to that right now.
Turkey and I don't say much, I'm sure he asked me about a Lepanto.
I tell A, R, and T that I'm going to grab Tunis and see how things look and that I'm open to further discussion.
England and I exchange greetings. He says he's heard I'm not after France and wants to know about A and R. I pass along what I've heard.

The moves: Rom->Ven, Ven->Apu, Nap->ION.

Autumn 1901: Nothing super unusual, although I note that A/R both did not move to Gal. France's opening is not one I normally play, I'm not sure what he's up to, whether it's Wal, Lon, oe Bel. Russia is trying to go both north and south.

England: I ask him about Norway and the Channel. He had been told R would go to StP and assumed F would go to ENC. He asks about an attack on France which I'm not ready to commit to so I ask how/if G would be involved. More discussions occur in which the proposal would be that I get Mar and Spa, G get Par and Bre, and E get Por. This seemed like a pretty standard split which G seemed on board with... some of this may have been after the Autumn moves (based on the way the message history works).
France: Seems to think he's on board with Germany
Germany: Lots of discussions and worry about potential A/R.
Russia: Seems to validate an A/R. I say I'm still concerned about R/T forming, he asks if it has, which I really didn't process the way it was meant with the info he provided about Gal. I ask about what A/I/R vs. T looks like and we each get one center (A, Bul, R, Ank, and Smy for me). That sounds doable enough but not very profitable.
Turkey: I think the only thing I mentioned to him was my difficulty in figuring out what to do at this point. We talked about a possible A/R forming, he encourages me to go towards France.
Austria: Basically I tell him I'm leaning towards attacking Turkey instead of France but have not committed to either.

...and that's the gist of it. It's either ION->Tun to try to attak France or Nap->Tun to either sit and/or go after Turkey. I don't like either alliance that seems to be forming right now. Based on the players and their relationships, I fear that I'm the odd man out if I get involved with E/G (E/G will just take away Mar/Spa) and the odd man out if I get involved with A/R. What to do? I decide to not go after France, but to convoy to Tunis and see what's going on.

The moves: Ven H, ION C Nap->Tun

Post Autumn 01: Well one build for me. France tries for London and fails and only gets one (I was wondering if he was trying to force Belgium or if he and G had any discussions over who would get it). G gets 3, A get 2, R gets 1, T gets 1, E gets 1.

England and France build their respective fleets (Lon and Bre) and I start to get the feeling that these two are going to be clawing at each other for a while.

Austria builds two armies, nothing fancy there. Russia's A War, although F StP(nc) would have been interesting. Germany's builds are fascinating - A Mun, F Kie, F Ber. Scandinavia - and then England? I wonder what both E and F thought of that. Should have asked.

Turkey builds a fleet, looks like he's going to force BLA.

Spring 02: Now what? There aren't a lot of messages from this turn other than me letting E/G/A know I was still leaning towards an attack on Turkey. T found out (he claimed through G) that that's what was going on. Not much else really going on here - I was having trouble staying engaged in the game.

The moves: Ven H and Tun H, Nap->ION->EMS

Autumn 02: Well, into EMS we go. France sets up to set Spain, R retreats in the north but blocks a German push through the center, Austria takes Bul. England takes back the Channel. The real meat of the conversations occurred with Turkey, who tried to persuade me to go after France as well instead of trying a convoy... he noted that G was growing and would probably grow faster that I would (I don't think he was wrong) and made me an offer to support me into Greece. I said I'd think about it - and I did, but still decided to try a convoy into Turkey. I flipped a coin and it came up Syria...

The moves: Ven H, Tun->Syr C by ION & EMS.

Post-Autumn 02: Well, the convoy failed, which isn't great. Austria held Bulgaria, Germany took Sweden, France gets Spain. Austria sends a message asking if he can build in a fleet in Trieste, to which I want to answer no - but I can't figure out how to say what I want to say... and then since I can't control when the build phase ends it ticks over early before I can respond, and there it is, the fleet I don't want.

Spring 03: Turkey trolls me a little bit (it was funny and I liked it) about not taking Syria. This is where the negotiations with Austria sort of take a turn for the worse. He immediately asks for support into AEG, where I respond to my failure to respond. He accepts that and then asks again for support into AEG. I tell him I'm writing something significant and to just give me a little time. The basic crux of the proposal is that I get all of Turkey and he gets Rum and Sev and we DMZ Tyo and ADR. He says he's fine with it but needs Con for now and wants A Ven moved away. (That means he's not fine with it). I reply that I need Smy before he gets Con, I need something in exchange for Con, and that army in Venice would like to stay where it is because stabbing for one center that I'd almost immediately lose would be stupid... in the overall scheme, I did want to keep the idea of an attack on Austria alive and I wanted it just as much for defense because I was concered that once Austria was in Con, he'd roll up anything I got in Turkey. I say that long term after Turkey I'll head towards France (maybe true) and that I wasn't sure if it would be to attack France or help defend him against E/G. He wants Con to attack Russia and offers "an unwavering alliance" in exchange... which is not at all what I'm looking for. (Italy, you'll get nothing and you'll like it!)...

...in the end I agree to the support. For some reason, this all sours me a little bit on this alliance, which I think I mention to others around the board.

Germany is still talking about a Bur/Pie attack. I don't know why, but that makes me all sorts of nervous. A gut feeling, if you will.

The moves:Ven H, Tun H, EMS S ION, ION S Gre->AEG.

Autumn 03: Austria takes Rum, gets into AEG, Russia's on the ropes, and I'm sitting over here wondering what the heck I'm doing. G and E appear to swap Norway and Belgium, presumably for Germany to get an army into StP. Turkey tells me to stab Austria now. England wants help against France. I remember thinking about options of a stab on Austria, Austria says he's thinking about supporting me into Smy, which like an idiot I don't get confirmation for... I start of with a set of order that are a stab on Austria (pretty sure a move to Tri and a convoy to Alb) but then switch back near the end of the turn phase to...

The moves:Ven H, Tun->Smy C by ION, EMS.

Winter 03: Of course, Austria hits Con and doesn't support into Smy, but doesn't get Con either because T defends it. Austria gets a build and is now 3 dots ahead of me. Germany gets StP and another build. This is the point where I should have started telling E/F to knock it off and deal with him, but I didn't. G and A each build one (I was half-expecting another Austrian fleet here).

Spring 04: G builds another army and so does A. With Russia fading, I actually feel extremely vulnerable to an attack from Austria - he probably could have stabbed here and gotten away with it. Germany talk to me about helping Turkey against Austria, which is an obvious ask but that's what good players do in this game... and he's not wrong, but if I weaken Austria he gets stronger... Germany suggests some moves that comprise an attack on Austria, but for some reason I don't like it. Again, just a weird gut reaction, so I decide to try...

The moves: Ven H, Tun->Syr C by ION, EMS.

Autumn 04: The convoy works this time (and I forgot to look at the moves/big map and miss the support of AEG into Smy, which actually wouldn't have worked, anyway... I correctly guess that T leaves Con open and uses Ank to defend Smy...

...then I get a message from Germany about how disappointed he was in my moves, which was brilliant and to which I thought to myself, "of course he was, that makes War/Mos harder now!". Thus begins the dilemma this game of big Austria (who is going to waltz into Sev) and big Germany. Both Russia and Germany were warning me about Austria (of course they were) and I can't say I wasn't worried... but is the time right yet? I send T a very short proposal: defend Con with Ank, let me have Smy, and I'll help kick Austria out. I don't remember for sure if he agreed or not.

The moves:Ven->Apu, ION S EMS, Syr->Smy S by EMS.

Winter 04: Well, T did use Ank to defend Con... and since Austria hit Con, I got Smy. Austria did take Sev, E/F didn't do much, although France moved back to Mar from Bur (I think I heard Germany wanted that move (probably so he could go Mun->Ruh... a French Bre->Pic->Bur->Mun would have been exciting!) Hooray, I finally get another build (although, so does Austria so he's 3 ahead of me still). Austria's at the Russian gates, so to speak.

Spring 05: I build A Ven, Austria builds A Vie (I was glad Tri was occupied and not open for a build). Not a lot of message from this turn, so it's hard to remember. I'm pretty sure T and I talked on the phone and agreed that I would help him into AEG and I think it was my idea to use Smy to support Ank into Con.

The moves:Apu S Ven, EMS & ION S Turkish Con->AEG, Smy S Turkish Ank->Con

Autumn 05: The moves with T all work out (and now Austria only has one fleet, yay!) but France does something unexpected by moving into Piedmont (violating our DMZ). I ask him about it and France tells me that Germany is basically threatening him with consequences if France doesn't do what Germany wants... I don't know if I believe it all or not, and now that I just helped attack Austria, I'm wondering about F/A collaboration... T and I talk about what's next and I agree to try a move to Ank to block an Austrian move there and to hit Gre so that T can take Bul since A can't defend it... and if Austria tries to cross things up and move to Smy, I'll use EMS to block that and get Ank. I believe I considered several options on what to do about Pie, but in the end believed France because I wanted to keep A Apu for convoy options, and so...

The moves:Apu S Ven, ION->Gre, EMS->Smy, Smy->Ank.

Winter 05: That all works, and I don't remember if it's here or just before here where A sends me a short question about me helping Turkey... I don't answer, unsure what to say. No builds for me, but oh well, I'm used to it. France at least moved back to Mar.

Spring 06: Not many comms here with anyone except Turkey - he proposes support of a convoy to Greece and my support of Ank to Arm. I agree and decide to move Ven->Tri to make sure that Austria can't be in both Tyo and Tri, at least this turn.

The moves:Ven->Tri, Apu->Gre C ION, EMS S Smy, Smy S Ank->Arm.

Autumn 06: That all works just fine. Again, not a lot of comms. It's hard to remember what I was thinking here. I'm sure I thought about moving to Tri or stabbing Turkey but in the end I'm pretty sure I just wanted to keep everything and see what happened between Austria and Germany.

The moves: Ven H, ION S Gre, EMS S Smy

Winter 06: Nothing unexpected here in the east. Everything is safe, Austria gets Moscow and moves to Tyo and Ven. Luckily I get to build. I believe that Turkey and I start having conversations about Germany here, especially since he's across the stalemate line. It's difficult because he needs someone to keep him in check, and F/E seem to prefer beating on each other instead of G. I probably should have talked to them both about it but didn't. The only other person who can directly impact Germany is Austria and well, I don't really want him to get stronger either.

The moves: Build A Rom.

Spring 07: This is where things get interesting. Germany is at 10 an certainly looks very strong. Austria is at 7. France 6, England 2, and Russia is out. I have 6. Turkey and I decide that we really need Austria to go after Germany and both talk to him... we both agree to leave him alone while he moves on Germany (and this is where I explained my issues from 04 as well). I ask him to move out of Piedmont and he agrees and decides to go after Germany, which means there may indeed be the opportunity to follow in behind, we'll see how things go - but for now, we'll just hang out and see what happens. I also offer to help France defend if he needs it... it's both a genuine offer of help and an excuse to move units closer to him at some point.

The moves: Rom S Ven, Ven S Austrian Pie->Tyo, ION S Gre, EMS S Smy

Autumn 07: Austria does indeed go hard towards Germany - I really didn't expect it to be that much. He did move out of Pie which was nice. Some good communication with Germany about the state of the game, subtle hints from him that I need to keep on Austria (which I truly was concerned about). I think T and myself decide to still play it cool, but since it looks like A might get at least one and I still want to keep things even, so I'm thinking about taking a chance and and moving to Serbia. Also want to shift down to Apulia for more convoy potential. I'm waiting to see if there will be a good time to stab Turkey - I think we both know there's a possibility. I'm nervous enough about the move to Serbia that I miss the move deadline while trying to decide what to do. In the end, I decide to move to Serbia, but it was a hard decision to make.

The moves: Ven->Apu, Rom->Ven, ION S EMS, EMS S Smy.

Winter 07: Interesting happenings all around the board. France loses Lvp to E/G and kicks E out of ENC. ENC retreats to Belgium, taking it away from G, who also loses Mun and War but gains Mos and Edi. So Germany has to, for once, destory a unit and now we're at... A-7, E-3, F-5, G-9, I-7, T-3... so now I have the same number of centers as Austria, which honestly gets me a little motivated. If I remember correctly I debated here between F Rom and A Rom, and decided I still wanted to be able to convoy an army out and still have two in the homeland because I didn't know how Austria would react to Serbia. I belive Germany here was again attempting to push me towards France. I said that I was worried that letting up the reins on Turkey would be bad, but I was also concerned that attacking France would help G too much (and take too long). Maybe I was wrong.

The moves: Build A Rom

Spring 08: Still discussing with Turkey about the Balkans and such, not a lot of messages here to the other players. Serbia and Greece are both vulnerable. An enterprising Turk here might have used this as an opportunity to turn on me here. Austria can't really help. I tell T I'm going to convoy to Alb and hit AEG for defensive purposes. The home units will rotate around again for more potential convoys out of Apulia (Smy? Gre?)

The moves: Rom->Ven, Ven->Apu, Apu->Alb C ION, EMS->AEG, Smy H

Autumn 08: Ok, that all goes off without issue. The result of the A/G conflict, however, is not what I was hoping to see. Austria could not hold Warsaw, that was obvious. I was hoping he would move Vienna to Galicia, but instead he moved it to Budapest (I'm sure he was fearing Ser->Bud) and lost Warsaw without getting Moscow. I would probably have played War->Mos S Ukr and Sev, but even with what he did if he'd moved to Galicia he'd have better options that what he had. Again, probably my fault for moving to Serbia to make him twitchy.

So now what to do? Turkey and I have discussions about attacking Austria - I mention that Tri is on the block, he talks about trying for Rum. If I recall correctly, neither of us is sure if it is a good idea, but I think we're both getting restless. Turkey and I talk on the phone near the end of the turn where I ask him, if he's going for Rum and he says yes. He does not ask me what I'm going to do, of which I had two ideas - convoy to Gre or to Smy - with Smy moving to Ank. Had he asked, I would have chickened out and said I was convoying to Greece. Also, since he's attacking Rum, that army will be badly placed for potential retaliation. I also have to decide whether or not to attack Austria in Tri and try to use the strike on Rum to get Austria back "on side" but I don't think it would work and decide to take Tri.

(Side note: The only note I wrote to myself in-game: Autumn, 1908: Really, really, *really* tempted to take Ankara this turn.)

The moves: Smy->Ank, Apu->Smy C ION & EMS, Ven->Tri S Alb & Ser.

Winter 08: Stabity-stab, and there's two more centers for me. Austria got Moscow back, Germany took Belgium back, Turkey took Rumania. Now I get two builds and Austria loses two (which, unfortunately, probably dooms his offensive on Germany) and Turkey gets none. I really was worried about letting T get to strong, but timewise in the game it probably didn't matter. T is now in revenge mode, which, honestly was expected. E is still hanging on, F is battling, G gets a build. Austria still has one fleet left but cannot build more and that's good. I don't know what two units he's going to get rid of but I'm hoping one of them is F ADR. I debated building two fleets (Rom, Nap) and sail one of them west but was not sure enough and so went with...

The moves: Build A Ven, F Nap

Spring 09: So now I have no idea what A/T are going to do and whether or not they'll try to get back at me... T makes it sound like he's not going to try to mend fences with A but offers nothing else of use. So I guess I'll have to go conservative this turn and setup for next turn... punch T out of AEG, protect Ank.

The moves: Ven S Tri S Ser S Alb->Gre, Nap->ION, ION->AEG S EMS, Smy S Ank S Smy

Autumn 09: E retreated to MAO, which I don't like, and G didn't take Lvp (which surprised me). My moves all went fine. A and T swapped Rum/Sev (not quite what I expected) and G took Moscow and Munich back (not surprised). I ask France if he's talked to Germany, but I can't remember why, and the answer was no. Now I'm in position, barring interference from Austria, to take both Bul and Con... and now I think I can spare a fleet to head west...

The moves: ION->Tun, Ven S Tri S Ser S Gre->Bul, AEG->Con S Smy & Ank.

Winter 09: Boy, am I glad I moved to Tunis! England had to retreat and moved to WMS...

I was not happy about this. I wanted a clear path to Iberia and now... yuk. I sent a "welcoming" message to England in the global chat which was really meant as a subtle "ok, I'm going to have to come and kill you now"... as they said in _Impossible Mission_ for the C64, "Ahh... another visitor... stay awhile! Stay FOREVER!" The good thing is that I got Bul and Con, so two builds, although in hindsight I really wish I had been more agressive and move Ven->Tyo. I think at the time I was just being extra careful with Austria because I had no idea what he was going to do...

(Side note: it's the end of 1909 and I haven't broken my DMZs of Pie, Tyo, or ADR, and my neighbors have been in all 3)

Two fleets this turn it is!

The moves: F Nap, F Rom

Spring 10: England says he's moving to GoL and would help me take Spain in the autumn, I told him I'd think about it, although I was leaning against it (again, didn't want to weaken France). France is trying to get me on his side, too. My plan for this turn on the west side was to move to Tuscany and TYS supported supported by Tunis because I wasn't sure if England was being truthful about his plans (and we hadn't really worked together enough for me to get a read on him)... in hindsight, Tun->WMS would have been better, what I did was too slow. On the east side, I was thinking about Rum next, and the plan was simply to try to bottle up Turkey and prep for the attack on Rum, get the army in Smy somewhere useful... again, I wish I would have moved into Tyo - I should have realized that Austria wasn't going to really resist at this stage (one skill that I've found that is nice to have is to be able to tell when someone's "done"). I also could have just moved to Con instead of the convoy (and gotten a fleet west faster) but oh well... I think I moved to Gre so it could backfill the move from Ser->Rum the next turn, but I can't be sure. Mabye I thought T would try Sev->BLA just to annoy me. Based on what ended up happening this turn and in the Autumn it would have worked either way. I also forgot, I thought about moving to Rum now, which would have worked.

The moves: Nap->TYS S Tun, Rom->Tus, Ven S Tri S Ser S Bul, Smy->Gre C AEG, Ank->BLA, Con->BLA, Ank->Arm

Autumn 10: Everything was fine, although Germany is in the MAO, Burgundy, and finally Liverppol now and has a nice wall of units in the east... where, in the east, it's time to try for Rum. In the west, I ask France what he wants me to do, which is to move to WMS and to try to dislodge GoL. I agree. I also realize it's probably time to move to Tyo to try to block out Germany and unfortunately I need Trieste to hit Budapest to cut support to Rum so Tri can't support Ven into Tyo. I also need to support Sev just in case G tries for it. This is the turn where Turkey could have supported Rum and I wouldn't have gotten it, but apparently Turkey didn't do it because he wasn't asked to...

...as Dad always said, it never hurts to ask - the worst that can happen is someone will say no.

The moves: Tun->WMS, TYS->GOL S Tus, Ven->Tyo, Tri->Bud, Gre->Ser, Ser->Rum S Bul & BLA, Arm S Sev.

Winter 10: Well, I do get Rum, but the rest of the board isn't as great. I bounce with G in Tyo, but he moves to Boh and Gal which is going to make things difficult. I do get into GOL but France vacates Mar and E moves right in... and France leaves Por, and I wish he would have stayed. I get to build one, G gets to build two. Nothing for it but to build Army Rom.

The moves: Build A Rom.

Spring 11: Again I ask France for his thoughts, he says he'll move Spa to Por and for me to move into Spain with support (along with Tus to Pie). Okay, sure, if that's what you want. In the east, I suspect G is going to support Budapest, so I can't get it and block him out of Tyo at the same time. So I decide to go safe and just Support move into Tyo and support hold everything else... and keep moving fleets west.

The moves: Arm S Sev, BLA & Bul S Rum, Ser S Tri, Ven->Tyo S Tri, Rom->Ven, Tus->Pie, ION->Tun, WMS->Spa S GOL

Autumn 11: Well, France's move to Por got bounced, G and I bounced in Tyo again, I got into Spain, and G set up to take London. Rom->Ven didn't work, either, and again in hindsight Rom->Tus might have been better. I ask England about potentially using Mar to support Spain, and he says he'll think about it. I tell him if he does so I'll leave him alone... whether I end up honoring that will remain to be seen but I want better positions for my fleets. I think I had one set of moves in mind, but realized later that I had to try for Portugal and risk Spain in the process, so even if E supports me it doesn't matter... I just don't want him doing anything that hurts me... and I have to continue putting force on Tyo.

The moves: Same from Venice to Armenia as last turn. Rom->Tus, Pie->GOL, GOL->WMS, Spa->Por, Tun->Naf

Winter 11: Everything goes as best as I can hope for - I don't get into Por (the bounce was expected - neither G or I can let the other in) but don't lose Spa and so get a build... and the move to Tyo works (G only uses one unit for defense this turn). So I can build army Venice and that's a nice little defensive front... and at this point, I believe that I can shut G down as long as neither E nor T does anything weird.

The moves: Build A Venice

Spring 12: I decide that I'm going to risk it and try for Budapest, even though that may weaken the position enough that G can get two of Por/Spa/Mar to win. France offers to tap other units to try to get me into MAO (which would be a nice place to be) but I'm planning on Por->Spa again... France wants me to move Spa there and assures me that Germany won't move there - which I"m pretty sure G will, and I note to France that even if I do kick G out of MAO, he could still retreat to Por and that would be *bad*. At this point, I believe that Por and Tyo are the two important spaces on the board. G in either could be a serious problem as Tyo could tap Pie to cut support to Mar (and GOL is probably going to have to be used elsewhere). I'm hoping that since I've played pretty passively with regards to Austria, G won't be expecting Tyo to move and won't try to move in.

(Another side note - a build of army Berlin by Germany in Winter 11 and I probably would not have tried for Bud but just defended everything instead.

The moves: Spa->Por, GoL->Spa S WMS, Naf->MAO, Tus->Pie, Tyo->Vie, Ven->Tri, Tri->Bud S Ser & Rum, Bul & BLA S Rum, Ank S Sev

Autumn 12: Well, I was wrong. I did get Bud but lost Tyo, but since I vacated Ven I can retreat there, which I do. G and T took an unexpected shot at Rum, but it didn't work. G is in Paris - I wonder how it would have worked out if he'd stayed in Bur and tried to hit Mar in the fall... I don't know if F would have moved to stop that or not. Well, now what? The west is the same again. Now, I can guarantee I get back into Tyrolia with my 3 to Germany's 2.. but that leaves Vie vulnerable. I start out with the safe route, protecting Vie. I also decide to take a shot at Gal, which is also important positionally - I can either use it towards Vie or towards Sev (and I can backfil Rum easy enough). With about an hour left in the turn I decide that getting into Tyo is more important and I hope that G doesn't try for Vie... although I believe at the time that a draw can still be held even if he gets in.

The moves: Same in the west, Ven->Tyo S Pie & Tri, Rum->Gal S Bud, Bul->Rum S Ser and BLA, Arm S Sev

Winter 12: Well, I guessed wrong again and G is in Vie. I do get into Gal, though which feels like a big deal. G gets 3 builds, though, and I would have gotten into Tyo using only 2 units, which would have felt nice, although it probably didn't matter. Again, army Venice, what else is there to do?

The moves: Build Army Ven

Spring 13: France asks me to support Bur->Mar, which I wasn't surprised about. Not that I don't want to do it, but I think A Pie has one turn left to do something else other than support Mar, and I want to try to make something out of it. I'm originally thinking about moving to Vie from Tyo or Gal, but then I realize that G can counter either of those by moving Vie to Tyo or Gal with support (and, in fact, Vie->Gal can get enough supports to overwhelm Gal->Vie. So I keep looking at the position, trying to find a better way... and I think I do, although I need French help. I don't expect him to say yes, but I give my reasons and then ask for a move from Bur->Mun to cut any support for anything that Mun might provide... to my surprise, France agrees. With that, I plan a moveset that guarantees that I stay in Tyo and get into Vie at the cost of possibly losing Gal. It was going to be Spa->Por, NaF->MAO, GoL-> Spa S WMS, Pie S Ven -> Tyo, Tyo -> Vie S Tri, Gal -> Boh, Bud -> Gal S Rum, Ser -> Bud. I'm pretty certain that works the way I think it would - any German support to Tyo or Vie is cut. I briefly consider telling Turkey that I'm coming for Sev using Gal to cut support for Ukr just in case he passes it along to G, but it doesn't matter because G is the last player to agree to the draw. Which, even if I got into Vie and managed to not lose Gal, I probably couldn't have won, but darn did it look nice when I put it in the sandbox in Backstabbr.

Final Thoughts:

I think that I would have had a chance with more agressive play near the end but maybe not, it's hard to tell. Getting westward faster instead of supporting those could of turns might have gotten me into Mar/Por/Spa, which would have been enough without War/Mos. That's the 2nd game in a row a German incursion into Russia made things difficult. I did have a hard time focusing on this game in January, I was serious about that, and it wasn't just because things didn't seem to be going well. I don't play often and I probably started this game too soon after the last one.

Austria: I would have played it much, much differently if not for the disagreement over Con. I would still have had an eventual stab in mind, of course, but maybe I wouldn't have done it. Hard to say. Being allied to some degree to both Italy and Russia at least at the beginning was a nice touch. Was that a stab on Russia in Rumania near the beginning?

England: With me not coming west until the end we didn't have much to do - I think somebody told me you tried to make peace with France at some point, was that true? I appreciated your attempts to pull me west, but I was very hesitant to do so, especially when I thought G was pulling your strings.

France: Well, since you thought you and Germany had a thing I can see why you went hard after England right away. I was a bit surprised by your spring 01 moves - I've never tried that opening before. Otherwise, you did as best as could be expected in defending against E/G.

Germany: Damn good show. I didn't think Turkey and I would be able to convince Austria to go your way and slow you down, but it was enough. Your messages were exceptional (lots of suggestions but I can't think of many true "asks") and, as I told Turkey at one point, my gut reaction to almost everything you said was to do the opposite (even when your analysis was probably correct) because I was that worried about what you might be up to... I think that if I had attacked France too soon you probably would have soloed.

Russia: Well, somedays you get the bear and some days the bear gets you. The sort-of G/A alliance that showed up was too much for you to handle (as you yourself stated at one point) especially since G/E were allied as well. I probably could have moved on Austria but I felt that by the time it mattered my attack on Austria would take too long.

Turkey: I owe you a taco. When this COVID-19 crap gets done with we'll have to meet up for a tasty beverage. You ran into the same issue that I did in the live game at your house - a Russia who got overrun by Austria.

Great game, everyone!
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Wintogreen
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Re: End Of Game Report:War and Peace-5

#2 Post by Wintogreen » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:26 pm

It was a really fun game, and we should all really make another one (I was France). I was very fooled by G, and thought I had a great shot at England. I had never tried my opening either, but had always wanted to give it a go, and then once I realized G wouldn't help me with E, I had to stay there so that G / E had to focus on protecting E rather than killing me. Great play by Italy -- I really thought mid way through this game the G / A was unstoppable, but you really played well under the radar coming back for *basically* the two way draw. GG people!
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