AAR - Running out of Time

[DougJoe]

https://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=607812

Technically the game is still going, but I have 18 and there's no retreat of Italy's that going to matter (and processing is stuck), so I'm posting anyway... hope that's ok.

Running out of Time: A Post-mortem constructed from memories and the message archive

Well, it's been a *long* time since I've played with humans on WebDip and one night I was looking at the game list to see if there just happened to be anything available to join. I saw a game with 36/24 hour phases and 36 for turns seemed like a not-too-fast pace, so I figured I'd give it a shot and join, since gunboat doesn't generally require all that typing for press and such... then the game started, I saw I was Russia. Then I saw the press dialog and realized that somehow I'd mixed things up and this was actually a press game!

Well, once more unto the breach, I guess - here we go!

Spring 1901:
Messages out to everyone of course. Turkey seems to want to work together but gives no specific terms at the start. Italy proposes an R/I as well. Austria and I arrange a bounce in Galicia, but nothing more than that. England seems to want to keep things friendly. Turkey and I arrange a bounce in the Black Sea. There are hints of a Italy/Russia/Turkey alliance since we all appear to be the most communicative. The turn ticks over with someone not entering orders. It happens again. I then hear from France and Germany, but nothing of substance yet. Austria wants to know if Moscow is going north or south, I tell him south and that I don’t trust Turkey yet (even though I have a pretty good feeling about Turkey). My moves are the standard GoB, Gal, Ukr, BLA. At this point I’m leaning towards working with Turkey or Italy but have not truly decided yet.

Post Spring 1901:
Austria: Didn’t move Tri-Alb, can’t force Greece, I think I like that.
England: I’m hoping he doesn’t convoy to Norway, I’ll have to diplome that one.
France: Nothing crazy
Germany: Kie-Hol, not Kie-Den! That’s nice. Sweden!
Italy: Also nothing crazy
Russa: All good!
Turkey: Again, nothing crazy. No move to Arm.

Autumn 1901:
I thank Germany for Sweden. Offer a bounce in Galicia again and Austria agrees. Austria has not made any requests to me otherwise. I let Turkey know that Italy wanted an I/R and that I didn’t commit to that. Turkey agrees to let me have Rum but wants the build to go north. England has asked for support into Denmark for the next turn. Germany says England is going for Denmark this turn, which means no army in Norway. I tell Turkey that I have no interest in attacking him and that I’m looking at Rum/Bud/Vie in the south and that I will probably have to send a unit north to protect St.P. Turkey says he needs more in the south than Serbia for I/R/T. I thought that I asked England to take Norway with a fleet and he agreed, but I don’t see that in the chat anywhere, so maybe I’m remembering wrong.
My moves: Gob-Swe, Sev-BLA, War-Gal, Ukr-Rum.

Post Autumn 1901:
Austria: Doesn’t get Greece, as expected
England: Does bounce Den, takes Norway with fleet
France: Gets Por/Spa, moves to Mar
Germany: Hol/Bel.
Italy: Failed convoy to Greece. Turkey talked about supporting him at one point but didn’t. Doesn’t get a build!
Russia: Swe and Rum. Yay!
Turkey: Also bounced in Greece.

I get two builds, and I build two armies in Mos/Stp as to be non-threatening to the north (no fleet in StP). Which way are they going to go - not sure.

Spring 1902:
Things are getting interesting, now.
England wants me to support him into Denmark from Sweden. Germany tells me not to worry about his build of F Bal and that he’s going for England - he wants to move Ber-BAL and has offered to help me get Norway. England’s argument against Germany is that he’s greedy. I basically tell both of them I have a good relationship with the other. England says he’s the better ally, I ask him what he can offer me that’s better than one center (Norway). He tells me he’ll give me Norway now and that it will take three turns for Germany to help me get Norway (not sure that’s true). I don’t really want to anger Germany and I end up not responding to England. I could try for Norway, but don’t because I don’t know what the heck France is up to and I’m thinking I want to try to balance something if I need to, but I’m not sure what.
In the south, Italy is still looking for an I/R. He doesn’t want to attack Austria if an R/T shows up, perfectly logical. Austria and I talk about Galicia more. I tell him I’m not helping Turkey this turn… he doesn’t want to DMZ, I propose a two unit bounce. He doesn’t like that idea and says that if I send Moscow north we can DMZ Gal.
So, in a supreme show of indifference, I go for the following:
Swe S Ber-BAL
StP S Nwy
War H
Mos-Ukr
Sev S Rum
Rum H
I realize this leaves Sweden vulnerable, but for some reason I’m not worried about it. I decide to support hold Nwy as well to sort of show my neutrality. Not sure it read that way. I don’t like that I can’t bounce in BLA, but oh well. Have to fix it later.

Post Spring 1902:
Austria: Vie-Gal is the one that annoys me. I realize he said we could DMZ *if* I move north, but at the time I was a little annoyed about it.
England: Doesn’t try for Denmark, instead moves to the Channel and HEL.
France: Going north. He could still pivot either way, has not said what he’s planning.
Germany: Nothing unexpected.
Italy: Now he gets help into Greece. Austria really lost out by not moving Tri-Alb in S01.
Russia: Everything works just fine
Turkey: Gets BLA, of course, and moves to AEG.

Autumn 1902:
Germany says he won’t go for Sweden and says I should take Norway. I realize this is a possibility. France says that E/G are both trying to work with him against the other. Turkey proposes a moveset for all of I/R/T - the alliance is still sort of a thing, but I seem to be the sticker with Bud/Vie which boxes Turkey in. Neither of them really likes that. Can’t blame them. I really haven’t fully committed to the 3-way, but I say that in any two way, Bud/Vie make sense for me… but discussions are had about Italy->France, Turkey->Germany, Russia->England. Italy also notes that Norway is ripe for the plucking.

I decide to continue to trust Turkey and go with his proposed moves: War S Ukr-Gal, Rum-Bud, Sev-Rum. He’s going to play BLA S Sev-Rum to keep Austria at bay. I can’t resist the lure of Norway and play Swe S Stp-Nwy.

Post Autumn 1902:
Austria: Loses Gal but keeps Serbia, good defense Turkey seemingly hadn’t considered.
England: Covers Wales and gets back into NTH. Loses Nwy.
France: All support holds.
Germany: Uses BAL to cover Kie as hoped. Nothing else of note.
Italy: Tries for Tri, doesn’t get it. Still doesn’t have Tunis!
Russia: Gets Norway and Galicia. A build!
Turkey: His plan to get Greece into Serbia and himself into Greece fail.

So England -1, Germany +1, Russia +1. I decide to build F StP (nc).

Spring 1903:
Germany suggests moves to me - something I was already thinking. France doesn’t seem to want to do anything. England wants to know if I’ll attack Germany, I tell him I’ll think about it. I don’t intend to, but start trying to figure out if Germany’s going to attack France or not, because I’m not sure I want to deal with an F/G. I ask Germany what he sees our partnership looking like going forward, I get vague hints of Lvp/Edi. I tell England that I’m not going to really help Germany and that I do see the potential of War-Pru, Gal-Sil, Swe-BAL but I don’t like giving up Gal. I tell England my planned moves (Swe S Stp-Nwy, Nwy-Fin) and that he can bounce me if he likes so NTH is safer. In the south, still talking with Turkey, letting him know I’m planning on wrapping around Austria rather than going for a dot as I imagine Austria will be playing defense. So for my moves in the south, it is Gal-Boh, Rum S War-Gal, Sev S Rum.

Post Spring 1903:
Austria: Defense, nothing else of note.
England: Doesn’t bounce in Nwy, moves to Bar.
France: Moves his fleets north.
Germany: Advances to HEL, not much.
Italy: Moves towards Trieste
Russia: Everything works.
Turkey: All supports.

Autumn 1903:
I try to get a read on what France is up to - I fail to read between the lines and see he’s probably going for England. England sends me a “gg” and tells me I can take NTH. With his unit in BAR, though, I don’t feel like that’s a possibility and tell him so, mentioning a quote from a favorite children’s book of mine. (_Bedtime for Frances_, by Russel Hoban). There’s a lot of talk amongst Turkey and Italy and I. I tell them both I’m going for Vienna and that my priority is to make sure Austria gets eliminated. I find that there’s potential for a land attack follow up on Germany, and I say that I’m willing to give up Vienna at some point if I need to to make the I/R/T work. Turkey agrees to support Sev-Rum again so I can use Rum to poke.
Moves:
Boh S Gal-Vie
Sev-Rum
Rum-Bud
Fin-StP
Swe S Nwy
Nwy S Bar-NWS

Post Autumn 1903:
Austria: Tries for Rum, doesn’t get it. Loses Vie, Tri, and Ser. He’s pretty much dead.
England: Heads back from Bar. He’s in trouble, too.
France: Convoys to Wales. He should get at least one English dot next year.
Germany: Takes NTH.
Italy: Gets Tri, takes Ser in exchange for Gre… still doesn’t have Tunis.
Russia: Vienna!
Turkey: Gets Greece.

So I get a build and decide to build A War, since it’s somewhat ambiguous. Italy builds A Ven and Turkey builds A Con. Nothing shocking.

Spring 1904:
Turkey and I have a long conversation about I/R/T. I present a plan to him and he’s okay with it but really wants to see Italy go west (which Italy is very nervous about doing). Turkey is getting impatient (can’t blame him).I tell England about my potential attack on Germany… which I really am thinking about going through since I don’t see myself getting any of the English centers with France already about to take Lvp and Germany in NTH. I can put three units on Berlin if I want to, and even if he moves Kie-Ber, it’s still 3 on 2. I should be able to make that work, right? Italy also talks about moving to Tyo and I’m not sure about that. I don’t say no but I don’t say yes. Worried about a follow up to Vienna, I think.
Moves:
StP-Nwy
Nwy-Swe
Swe-BAL
Boh-Sil
War-Pru
Vie-Bud (I had three choices here, hold, Bud or Gal. I don’t remember why I picked Bud.)

Post Spring 1904
Austria: Moves Bud-Gal.
England: Loses London and Liverpool.
France: Gets Lvp and looks to have a pretty solid position
Germany: Moved to Berlin and convoyed to London
Italy: Swaps Ser/Gre again. Finally takes Tunis!
Russia: I guessed wrong with Vienna.
Turkey: Swaps Ser/Gre

Autumn 1904:
So now I have to deal with that annoying unit in Gal, which means that my plan to go for Berlin is probably kaput. However, I notice that I also have decent leverage on Denmark which is only protected by NTH. So I ask England to tap NTH with Yorkshire and he agrees. I’ll use Sil/Pru to bounce in Warsaw. I’ll get Denmark, but Germany won’t lose a unit, so the follow up isn’t going to be easy. In the south, I tell both Turkey and Italy that my priority is to eliminate Austria. After a couple of tactical discussions, we work out some moves that force me back into Vienna and Turkey into Bud.

Post Autumn 1904:
Nothing much happened that was unexpected. I got Denmark, but it’s not exactly the safest unit ever. Austria moved to Ukr, so I didn’t need to defend Warsaw, but oh well. I was actually wondering if Germany would disband Den and rebuild as a fleet, but he didn’t, he just retreated to Kie.

I think I need a fleet in St. P, but I can’t remember why I chose the north coast rather than the south coast - maybe I was thinking that I had enough in the middle and needed some power over the top. France builds an army in Mar - this surprises me, I expected to see another fleet, which is what I think he needs. Turkey builds A Smy, which doesn’t concern me too much, although Rumania is very nervous (and, it turns out, will be for quite a while). Italy builds a fleet which I think is the correct build for him. England pops Yorkshire… I had thought about asking him to keep it to help against Germany but don’t because it felt like asking him for too much… turns out he would have done it. Oh well. The German puts a funny message in the global chat regarding my attack, which I respond to with a quote from an obscure Magic the Gathering card. Turkey is amused and that leads us to a nice chat about MtG.

Spring 1905:
Now it’s time to figure out how to attack Germany. I expect I will lose Denmark this turn. I still have plenty of firepower aimed at Berlin, so let’s go for that, Denmark can at worst be used to cut support. I might get into Kiel, too, who knows. I ask Italy for Tyo-Mun, he agrees. I tell Turkey that he can take Vienna, since that keeps him moving forward. Relations between Italy and Turkey still feel strained. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, keeping either Turkey or Italy from getting too powerful gives me more time to work the north. Also, now Turkey can deal with Italy himself, so if Turkey attacks Italy I’ll get less of the ire. The moves are:
BAL S Den-Kie
Sil S Pru-Bur
Vie-Boh
Nwy-Swe (covers Swe in case I lose Denmark)
Stp-Nwy

Post Spring 1905:
As expected, I lose Denmark but do get into both Kiel and Berlin with eyes on Munich, now. France and Germany move towards Edi, but France also moves a couple of units south. Is an attack on Italy in the works?

Autumn 1905:
I send a big long message to Italy and Turkey (oh, but for group chat on WebDip!) and basically tell them that I will stick to the I/R/T by continuing to “plow the road” for Turkey to move into Germany. (I don’t think I was the one who initially suggested the alliance, but I’m supporting it for now). Turkey asks me if I’m looking to solo, I tell him yes but I think it’s probably a long way off. He tells me he’ll try to stop me if necessary. I don’t remember if this conversation happened before or after the turn resolved - WebDip doesn’t have a “Winter” phase for builds so it’s hard to tell from the chat history. Looking at the German side of things, I want to get Munich, but I don’t remember what I was thinking about Kiel and Denmark. I think, since Munich was probably going to be lost, I thought Germany would move it, so I prioritized getting back into Denmark over trying to hold Kiel. Plus, being in Den keeps Sweden safe. I ask Italy to support Boh-Mun, he agrees. At worst, I’ll be even, but I should be +1 (and maybe +2, but that’s asking a lot)
My moves are fairly simple:
Nwy-NTH
Kie & BAL S Swe-Den
Ber S Kie
Sil (& Tyo) S Boh-Mun

Post Autumn 1905:
I get Munich and Berlin, keep Denmark, and lose Vienna (as expected), so I am +1. I do have to retreat from Kie, but HEL seems like a nice place to be, quite honestly.
France supports Germany into Edi, so England is out and Germany stays even and doesn’t have to remove a unit, which is annoying. France also moves Cly-NWS, which puts him next to Norway and NTH, which is also annoying. I think those were good moves by France there… but he uses Gas, Mar, and MAO to go after Italy, which I’m not sure is the right move for him. It’s good for me, of course, because the fleet counts in the north are now even (3 to 3). I wonder what would have happened had France decided to take Edi for himself and use it to build another fleet…
Turkey savages Italy (I was hoping he’d wait a *little* longer, but oh well) and gets 3 builds! Probably the right play for him at this point. He and I have more discussion about position, solos, and draws and DMZing our border. I’m a little nervous (okay, a lot nervous, especially with 3 builds coming!) about the prospect of what he proposes, which really leaves Rumania hanging but I throw caution to the wind and go with it. The build, then, is F StP north coast, and my fleets in the north now outnumber F/Gs 4 to 3.

Spring 1906:
I give my condolences to Italy and, to his credit, he keeps up discussions with Turkey, basically going the vassal route from here on in. I’m impressed with Italy and wondering what things would have been like had we gone I/R from the get go… but I do like working with Turkey as well!
Not a ton of messages this turn otherwise. Again, how to deal with F/G? I don’t remember what I was exactly thinking as far as tactics go for this turn, but Stp S Nwy seems to make sense. I’m going to use Munich as the attacker and try to force my way into Kiel using Ber and Sil to try to keep Munich empty.

Post Spring 1906:
France continues his advance on Italy. He helps Germany protect NTH which didn’t need protecting. I do get into Kie - the German fleet in Kie is destroyed, though, and that’s good, one less fleet to deal with. France gets into Munich, but Turkey is in Tyrolia and that may help. Turkey and I bounce in BLA and we both actually head west (whew!)

Autumn 1906:
I talk with Turkey about Tyo/Mun, he will give support again. He also agrees to support Gal-Boh (which of couse is good for him as it gets a unit away from our border). I tell Italy my thoughts on France that I mentioned here already in Post A05. Otherwise not much discussion. With Turkey’s support, I should be able to get Munich without losing anything…
HEL taps Hol.
Den S BAL-Kie
Ber (& Tyo) S Boh-Mun
Stp S Nwy
Technically, NTH could tap Den and Ruh S Hol-Kie would work, but I think NTH has other plans this turn…

Post Autumn 1906:
…and I’m right, NTH convoys Edi-Bel (which, I think is a good move). Turkey tries to move to TYS, but gets blocked by Italy (who says he meant to move TYS but didn’t). I get Munich and hold everything. France does see reason and moves his fleet back from WMS to MAO. I’m the only one who gets a build. I decide to build Army Moscow to use to protect Stp while I try to push StP-Bar next turn. Turkey and I talk about the upcoming turn, I pretty much have my moves figured out. I tell him about my A Mos build and what I’m going to do with it.

Spring 1907:
I have some discussion with Germany about echidnas, which is very amusing and I learn some very weird facts about the reproductive organs of the male. I know that I can’t break through on land - Bur S Ruh, Bel S Hol stops all my armies - so I try to make progress on sea - rotate a fleet into Denmark and push into BAR. Theoretically, F/G could play NWS S NTH-Nwy, but I get into NTH, retreat to SKA, and I can destroy Germany’s Fleet in the autumn. So no risk.

Post Spring 1907:
Everything is fine, Turkey goes around Italy. France has a unit destroyed in Pie, wonder how he will rebuild that?

Autumn 1907:
Turkey and I have more discussions. He thinks I should give up Rum, I agree, but I’m not ready yet as it pretty much puts Sev on the chopping block. He’s okay with that. France has never really told me what he’s doing in the west, I ask him if he’s figured it out yet. It’s a little bit of a troll, but hopefully nothing too bad, as it’s clear now he’s going to support Germany. I do try to convince him to stop supporting Germany (and maybe head for Por/Spa to get into a draw) but nothing doing. I do some research on stalemate lines to make sure there’s one that fits where I think R/T is headed with T getting Rum and find what I’m looking for on Brother Bored’s website and use that as an example. Turkey things that the position I propose makes sense.
My moves are simple - defend the land centers and take the north sea…

Post Autumn 1907:
… which I do. I should be able to force Holland next year. Turkey and Italy advance west and not much else happens. Germany retreats to London (Turkey and I guessed Edi) and France rebuilds his missing unit as a fleet in Brest. *sigh* But the right play for him. Now it’s 4 vs 4 fleets in the north.

Spring 1908:
Ask Turkey how long he’s going to let Italy live - he says he’s not sure. All I’m really worried about is a one-turn crush of Italy which then gives Turkey the units he needs to move on me. I tell him I want to hang on to Rum a little longer due to the fact that he and Italy are going to blast through France in the south while I’ll be slower in the north. He also asks about a DMZ of Ukr/Gal, I say I’m okay with that. He agrees to wait to take Rum. I plan on sacrificing NTH to tap Bel to use Kie/HEL to take Holland as well as move BAR-NWS.

Post Spring 1908:
…I put in my orders with 10 or so minutes left to go in the phase and somehow miss the fact that I didn’t put in an order for HEL! It was supposed to support Kie-Hol, so I don’t get Holland and lose the North Sea. (I was very mad at myself when I saw the turn results.) France takes Edi, though, which, if he keeps it, means that Germany will lose a unit (probably London). France also moves Bre-Pic instead of Bre-ENC (which is what I was expecting) which means that I will be able to take NTH back. Turkey gets into Spain and Italy gets into MAO!

Autumn 1908:
In the midst of my swearing, I propose to Turkey that Italy takes Por. For me, it’s another unit that France loses *now* plus it might make a good place for Italy to hide out if he needs to. Turkey and Italy agree so Turkey can continue into the Atlantic (which I don’t like, but oh well). I notice Turkey’s repeated self-bouncing in Boh and note that I could support Tri-Boh and then Italy could move Ven-Tri. I mention it to Italy but say that I want to wait on it because I think Turkey’s armies then blast us both. The longer Italy stays alive, the more time I have to work the north. My moves for the turn basically just involve taking NTH back.

Post Autumn 1908:
…which I do. Germany does lose Edi and pulls London (yay, another fleet gone). France loses Por, Spa, and Mar (and doesn’t retreat from Mar) and so is -1 and pulls Brest (of course). Turkey is +3 (Tunis, Spa, Mar) and builds F Smy, A Con, which I’m glad it wasn’t the other way around. He can’t even build all 3 because F Ank. He’s now ahead of me, 12 to 11. I honestly wonder if this is the point where he could really go after me, but I’m locked in Germany so I’m just going to keep walking the knife edge for now…

Spring 1909:
I note to Turkey that no one has made any attempt for a long time (although Germany sort of did a long while back) to get me to turn around and deal with Turkey… and I wonder if anyone’s asked Turkey to go after me, but I don’t ask that. If I was Turkey, I really would have had a hard time not stabbing here, I think his position is better than mine. We talk about Italy more, I reiterate that I’m fine with either a 2 or 3 way draw, the points don’t really matter to me at that point. I think France will defend Edi, so I decide to convoy Nwy-Cly to setup for the fall. I also tap Bel again and Turkey agrees to support Boh-Mun so I can use Mun to tap Ruh.

Post Spring 1909:
I get Holland. France takes London. My convoy works. Italy moves out of Por and there’s another self-bounce in Vienna. Turkey’s in NAO.

Autumn 1909:
I send Italy and Turkey a set of moves that has Italy taking Bre (which is guaranteed) and Turkey trying for Liverpool. I’m going to take Edi and try to get into Ruhr. If it all works, France has 2, Germany 1, and we should be able to finish them off easily. Italy asks me about the malicious support for the self bounce in Vie, I tell him I want to wait one more turn. Turkey says Mar will tap Bur.

Post Autumn 1909:
Brest falls. Edi falls. Ruhr falls and is destroyed. France does block the move to Liverpool. I’m glad I didn’t try the Vienna thing because Turkey takes Venice instead of self-bouncing. Turkey builds two fleets (the Con one worries me a little) and I build two armies in War/Mos, and tell him for defense. At the time, that was true - I was just playing for a draw at this point.

Spring 1910:
I agree to support NAO-Lvp, but tell Turkey that I should get to keep Rum because originally Lvp was to be mine. He’s fine with that (whew!). He does want to move to ENC, though, which I really don’t like because that allows him to swallow Italy’s unit in Brest if he want to try to solo. He agrees to let me in, I ask Italy for support of that move (NTH-ENC) and he also agrees. So I’ll take Belgium now and set up to take London in the fall. Turkey also agrees to support me into Burgundy, which is also good.

Post Spring 1910:
It’s all good - I get into Bel and Bur. Germany retreats to Pic and France to Par. Turkey’s fleets move away, but his MAO one stays, which I find interesting. Boh and War move west as well, Moscow stays put. I should get two builds this turn to Turkey’s one.

Autumn 1910:
Most of the discussion revolves around Par/Pic and what to do. I was originally just going to defend. Turkey suggests Bel S Bur-Pic. I told him I didn’t think it would work because I thought they would just have Par support Pic. He then said I should ask Italy in Brest for support, and I was like, duh, of course… but when I asked Italy for help, I asked for support of Bel-Pic, not Bur-Pic. I think I just got them mixed up, and Bel-Pic was riskier because I think Pic-Bel could bounce the follow up of Hol-Bel, but I went with it. (Oh, and tap Yor to get London, easy.)

Post Autumn 1910:
This is where it gets interesting. Paris supports Pic-Bre. Turkey has not moved any units up to defend Liverpool. I’m at 15. I need three more. Paris is one. Liverpool, which I think I could force, is two. Brest, the tricky one, makes three. All I have to do is keep Rumania safe. Oh, oh, my. It’s there. It’s possible.

I’m gonna go for it.

I ask Italy if he’d be upset if the game wasn’t a draw, I think he says no, I tell him I’m going to go for the solo, and that I’d like to see a retreat from Bre to Gas and him to leave the unit in Gas and pull something else. F Gas can’t touch Paris. I’ll support Turkey into Brest (keeps him from defending Lvp) and I’ll take Paris. Then I’ll have three units on Brest with support from Paris that can’t be cut.

I build armies is Moscow and StP, Turkey builds A Con. Italy does pull F Gas… that makes it harder, but not impossible.

Spring 1911:
I tell Turkey (and all I tell Turkey) is that ENC will support MAO-Bre. He’s good with that. Otherwise, I’m going to bounce in BLA again, and move Edi-Cly, Lon-Wal, convoy Nwy-Yor, take Paris from Pic, backfill Pic from Bel, have Sil S War-Gal, Mos-Ukr, StP-Mos. I was a little worried about Gre-Ser, but I still could have defended Rum for one turn if needed.

Post Spring 1911:
Everything goes just fine, no move to Greece. I try to convince F/G to either both disband or both retreat to Gas (so it’s empty) but they don’t - France retreats and Germany disbands. I apologize to Turkey - it wasn’t an easy decision, it never is!

Autumn 1911:
Now I have to sweat it out. I originally thought that it would be a guess between Par/ENC S Pic-Bre, Bur-Gas or ENC/Pic S Par-Bre, Bur-Par. But then I realize that Gas-Par stops both - in one case, cuts support, in the other, bounces so I don’t get Paris. I go with the simple option, ENC & Par S Pic-Bre. Take Lvp which is guaranteed. Defend Rum in the east which is guaranteed. Now we wait for the clock…

Post Autumn 1911:
Victory! France moved to Mar and Turkey went ahead and moved out of Brest because he thought the position was indefensible. I was surprised, but there it is! My first solo (with humans) on WebDip! I feel bad about ganking Turkey but I’m glad I went for it.

Final thoughts:

First off, I enjoyed playing with you all, and would again. There were a couple of turns in the middle of the game fighting F/G where I did the complicated thing instead of the simple thing and the simple thing would have worked better. Did give Turkey time to catch up.

Austria(s): Turkey and Italy were both more vocal, so it was really easy to jump in with them. I would have needed a better offer (although, to be fair, I didn’t really try to make an offer here, either) to work with you. The DMZ issues that happened in the Spring of 1902 really ended any chance of us working together, even if there was one.

England: As stated above, I was worried about getting Norway pinched, although you did offer it at one point and I was tempted to take that offer. I think you made the right offer but for some reason, and I told others it was a gut feel, I decided against it. I do wonder what would have happened had I chosen the other way.

France: I couldn’t get a read on you for most of the game, your answers were all vague for most of the game… I got help from Turkey and that let me break through the France/Germany wall. I don’t know if your attack on Italy was the best thing but I think it did help me, so I can’t argue too much. :) For a while I thought we might have a F/R/T type ending on our hands but you defended Germany so that wasn’t going to be.

Germany: If I thought I would have gotten more than Edinburgh from working together, I would have considered working with you for longer. France got into Lvp so fast I knew going over the top wasn’t going anywhere as you seemed not interested in attacking France.

Italy and Turkey: I don’t know who initially conceived of the I/R/T, but I decided to roll with it since it meant I didn’t have to necessarily commit to either of you against the other for a while (and I tried really hard to put off that commitment as long as I could). Once Turkey was in Vie and Bud and between Italy and I, I thought of myself as the “swing” vote, able to respond to whatever might happen, maybe balancing things out. I really thought we might make the 3-way work, but then the attack on Tri and Gre happened and the R/T was full go. From then it was hoping that Turkey didn’t stab - I really thought he had a couple of good opportunities. I truly was thinking draw for most of the game until after the moves went in F1910.

Good game everyone!