2024 Gunboat GR Challenge

[UnknownHero]

Hey all,

I'd like to start a 2024 edition of the Gunboat GR Challenge to celebrate the new year!

Add your name to this list in order of Gunboat GR rank, and we will see how many games we can end up filling. Hopefully more than one this time.

I plan to close sign-ups near the end of next week (Jan 20). Here are some proposed settings, which can be changed if enough people feel that way:

36h phases
Draw size scoring
Hidden draw votes
1 excused missed turn
80% RR
And of course, anon gunboat.

My express goal this time around is to avoid a disruption to the game due to civil disorder. To accomplish that, in the case that a replacement player is needed, the password to the game will be immediately revealed publicly to maximize the chances of a replacement joining in time. If you wish to be placed on a list to receive a PM in the case a replacement is needed, let me know.


To sign up, add your Gunboat GR Rank (Position) and username to the list.

The top 7 players will be assigned to Game 1, the next 7 to Game 2, etc., to create equally matched games if possible.



Gunboat GR Rank / Username

216. UnknownHero





While my rating in full press is much more dismal, stay tuned for a full press GR Challenge to be starting in the near future as well.

[DarthPorg36]

Although my ranking in full press is much better, I'll enter anyway, sounds fun.

Gunboat GR Rank / Username
216. UnknownHero
15,976 - DarthPorg36

[FleetYeet]

I'm interested.

Gunboat GR Rank / Username
216. UnknownHero
528. FleetYeet
15,976 - DarthPorg36

[UnknownHero]

Bump

[rick258]

Sounds fun, I'm interested.

Gunboat GR Rank / Username
216. UnknownHero
528. FleetYeet
15,976 - DarthPorg36
16,264 - rick258

[UnknownHero]

Seems like forum organized games don't get much interest anymore. I'll give this a few more days but if it doesn't fill up I'll just start a public game and post the link here.

[DougJoe]

216. UnknownHero
528. FleetYeet
4302. DougJoe
15,976 - DarthPorg36
16,264 - rick258

[Wusti]

216. UnknownHero
528. FleetYeet
4302. DougJoe
15,843 - Wusti
15,976 - DarthPorg36
16,264 - rick258

[V+]

I’m game.

24. V+
216. UnknownHero
528. FleetYeet
4302. DougJoe
15,843 - Wusti
15,976 - DarthPorg36
16,264 - rick258

[UnknownHero]

With 7 players signed up, I'll start the game. I'll send out invites to this list shortly. If anyone wants to sign up to get notified of any potential replacement openings, let me know.

[UnknownHero]

The game has been created and invites sent out, here is the game link for any interested:

https://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=869196

[UnknownHero]

The game has started! Note that the game link has changed, this is the correct one:

https://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=869772

[DougJoe]

It's finally over, a 4 way draw between E/G/I/T.

[DougJoe]

Here's my notes from the game, sorry for wall o' text. I actually started this somewhere in 1904, I think, and the first few years are backfill, but after that, it's all live. Some high-level thoughts:

Italy did a nice job getting into Por/Spa/Mar for the stalemate line and the draw. I was hoping E/G wouldn't get it together, but they did, well done by them as well.
I'm surprised I survived and came out on the better side of the Austrian attack on Russia that started in 1905.
I probably made the wrong choice going after Russia in S1912 - I should have stayed a little south and tried to help him with Berlin so I could maybe get Munich (since it was clear that Por/Mar/Spa/Stp weren't options). Probably wouldn't have happened, but oh well. I'm too used to the bots that aren't as good at holding the lines (although the power I've been stuffed at 16/17 against them the most with is Turkey).

The Recap:

Spring 1901:
So I’ve drawn Turkey. I have mixed feelings about this, mostly because I just finished a gunboat game where I had drawn Turkey and it didn’t go super great (I did get into the draw, so it didn’t go horribly either - but I didn’t get past 5 centers). Turkey is superb on defense, though, and even with its limited opening options I appreciate that defense.

The players in this game have a super-wide range of gunboat Ghost Ratings. I’m right in the middle of the pack, 3 above me (one as high as 24th!) and three below.

24. V+ (173)
216. UnknownHero (138)
528. FleetYeet (205)
4302. DougJoe (100)
15,843 - Wusti (91)
15,976 - DarthPorg36 (92)
16,264 - rick258 (100)

I wish I would have looked at everyone’s actual ranking before this game started, but I didn’t. At the time of this writing, it looks like FleetYeet has moved up quite a bit and UH has gone down a tick. Having drawn Turkey, though, I think that being in the middle isn’t a bad place to be.

Ok, so what to do at the start of the game? Do I want to go hard towards Russia right off the cuff? Nah, that doesn’t sound appealing for some reason. Can’t say why. Do I want to play the standard boring Bul, Con, BLA? Maybe? Or do I want to do what I did last game and go Pro-Russia and do Con-Bul, Ank-Con, Smy-Ank? I’m feeling more worried about an A/I than an I/R or an A/R (or even an A/I/R) so the thought of getting the fleet out ASAP makes me go with the latter.

Post Spring 1901/Autumn 1901:
It definitely looks like there are A/I options here. Venice and Trieste are both open. Austria got into Galicia because Russia played Mos-St.P… Russia did get BLA but I’m guessing that he’s not hostile. England went north with Lvp-Edi, Germany put his fleet in Denmark. France played something I don’t think I’ve seen before with a bounce in Burgundy - he can take Por/Spa easily enough but now has no leverage on Belgium.

For the autumn, I’m wondering what Russia is going to do. My guess is that he’s going to try to take Rum with F BLA but I’m not sure if he’s going to use Ukr to support that or move back to cover Warsaw… I could do Bul-Rum, Con-BLA, Ank-Arm and switch directions and go after him but the A/I situation makes me not want to do that. So it’s Con-AEG, Smy-Con, …and what to do with Bulgaria? I think I’m just going to have it hold rather than support anyone else.

Post Autumn 1901:
Russia gets bounced in Sweden (not sure if I like that or not?) and does take Rum with the fleet. BLA is empty, yay! Gal didn’t go for Warsaw… hmm. I don’t remember if I looked at the big map to see Gal’s support of Ukr to Rum or not. England definitely wants to tussle in Scandinavia and he and Germany bounce Belgium. I am a little worried about A/R but I’m not convinced they will be able to coordinate effectively so I still go forward with the build of F Smy.

Post Winter 1901:
Austria’s builds of Tri/Vie are very interesting. He definitely seems to want an alliance with Russia… does that mean he’s going to attack Italy then? Russia puts an army down in Warsaw, though, so I’m not sure he’s on board? Germany’s builds make sense. England’s fleet build makes sense (although it’s not another army to go north). I don’t want Russia to get thrashed but I don’t want him to do too much thrashing, either. So I’m not sure what I think about this. France’s fleet build in Mar is interesting, too. Is he going to go towards Italy or go around the corner to England?

Spring 1902:
Ok, so what now? It looks for all the world like Austria is going to use Tri/Vie to go for Venice, but Serbia is probably going to protect Greece - and because there’s a fleet in Rum, I can’t get any help with Serbia. So my armies aren’t doing much… I’m also going to take the risk that ION and Gre aren’t going to work together against AEG and just use it to support Smy out to EMS. I also decide to use Bul to support Rum just to show Russia I’m still okay with him.

Post Spring 1902/Autumn 1902:
England goes hard south and tries to help Germany into Sweden, but Germany forces BAL instead of Den-Swe, Ber-BAL which means Russia is now in Sweden. Germany, like England, also appears to be going for France. Both Germany and France support England into Belgium but England doesn’t take it. France looks like he wants to go for Italy but that plan is probably going to change in a hurry. Italy convoyed back to defend against Austria which seemed successful and Russia kicked Austria out of Galicia. Austria is moving on Italy and also tried to support a Russian army into Rum.

So what to do now? I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere but I can’t think of anything better to do other than take a shot at ION to maybe get in position to take Greece? I’m not sure who my enemy really is here. I still don’t think that A/R are going to coordinate an attack Bulgaria so I guess it will just be Con S Bul, AEG S EMS-ION.

Post Autumn 1902:
As expected, I don’t make any progress - but the rest of the board is interesting. Italy defends Venice against Austria, but Austria and Russia both move towards Germany! France moves back north. England and Germany are coordinating well against France, England takes Belgium and gives Germany an extra support into Sweden. Russia defends St.P and loses Sweden. No building for me, but again, I’m not being attacked by anyone so I don’t feel too bad.

Post Winter 1902:
Germany builds defense in Munich and England builds offense in Liverpool.
Spring 1903:
Ok, all told, again I don’t think there’s going to be much I will potentially be able to do this turn because I think Italy is going to defend ION again and Austria is going to defend Serbia again. So it’s all just support holds. I suppose I should take a poke at something, just in case, but that seems silly. So AEG & Con S Bul, EMS S AEG.

Post Spring 1903/Autumn 1903:
Ok, so Austria threw a support hold on me, ok, that’s fine. I was right that no attack that I could make would have worked, so hurray. England and Germany are still going after France and Germany defended against Russia. Italy defended against Austria who pushed his way into Tyrolia.

So what to do now? Again, I don’t think I’m going to be able to attack anything successfully still. I’m not sure I want to ally with Austria, but even if I did, I’m not sure I could really *help* him in any way since Italy will probably just play TYS S ION again. So I guess it’s just going to be the same moves as last turn, AEG & Con S Bul, EMS S AEG.

Post Autumn 1903:
Again, as expected, TYS S ION and Ser S Gre so again there wasn’t any progress that could have been made against either Italy or Austria. France gets a unit blown up that he can’t rebuild and England is in MAO… E/G looks really strong, but Austria and Russia now have armies in no-man’s land and that looks fairly threatening to Germany although it’s not clear if Austria would go for Germany. Italy correctly predicts Austria’s attempt to sneak into Piedmont so there’s no progress for either of them. Austria threw another support hold on AEG… but I remember to check the big map (old UI) and I see that Italy has used ION to support a move - I check the orders page and am surprised to find that Italy supported AEG-Gre (and not the other way around like I kind of was expecting).

No builds for anyone this year.

Spring 1904:
So this is where it starts to get interesting. There are basically two alliances that seem to exist on the board at this point: E/G and A/R… and it looks like there might be some conflict between the two of them this turn. The interesting thing will be Germany and how he balances the two needs (attacking France and defending against Russia and maybe Austria). I think about Italy’s support from Autumn of 1903. Will he do it again? Austria really hasn’t been using that fleet much so if he goes down a unit, maybe he’ll remove it (especially if I have a fleet in Greece as opposed to an army). Now, maybe Austria gets super angry at me but oh well if he does, I’ve got to attack someone - and I don’t see Austria and Italy settling their differences anytime soon, so I think I’ll go for it: Con S Bul, Bul S AEG-Gre. EMS will hold rather than backfill - I think I was worried about Italy trying to sneak in, but in retrospect even if I had moved EMS-AEG and Italy tried ION-EMS, it would have all bounced anyway because AEG wouldn’t have moved as well.

Post Spring 1904/Autumn 1905:
Italy does indeed order ION S AEG-Gre and my move succeeds! Finally some progress. Germany uses Burgundy to take Paris as opposed to defending Munich, and, because I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting Austria to attack, he loses Munich (for now). Germany can take Munich back in the autumn but he has to expose himself to Russia to do so. Russia tries for Berlin and doesn’t get it. England gets Brest and is in WMS!

Austria decides to destroy the fleet (as opposed to retreating to Albania) which is great for me. I have a feeling that he won’t mind rebuilding it as an army if he gets that opportunity.

So what to do now? I don’t think I’m in any danger of losing anything but I also am not sure what I want to do going forward. What do I want to build this year? What do I want to attack next? I can’t take anything more of Austria’s anytime soon and I’m not sure I want to because of E/G. Nor am I sure that I want to do anything aggressive towards Italy with England being where they are. But it feels like having another fleet to plug the gap in AEG would be nice. So this turn I decide to block a possible move to AEG: Gre-AEG, EMS-AEG, Bul-Gre, Con-Bul.

Post Autumn 1904:
Austria keeps Munich, so he’ll get to rebuild the fleet he lost in Greece. Germany keeps Paris and defends Berlin. England keeps Brest. Italy protects Tunis and Austria and Italy are still fighting. F Rum is just hanging out. England is +1, Austria is +1, Turkey is +1. I still hem and haw over fleet versus army and I still go with fleet, although I suspect that A Smy would have been just fine as well.

Post Winter 1904:
Nothing unexpected around the board. Hopefully Italy’s not spooked by my build.

Spring 1905:
As soon as this turn starts I feel like I should have built an army. Oh well, it is what it is. Again, I look at the E/G and A/R conflict and am not sure which side of that conflict I want to come down on. The idea of getting an army in Greece seems interesting but with Ser-Gre it will take support to do it. So I think I’m just going to slow play this turn and support Smy-AEG and support everything else and see what happens. That will give me options to either move the armies around or potentially push into ION.

Post Spring 1905/Autumn 1905
Oh, wow! Austria moves out of Munich and goes full bore back towards the east! I don’t know if this is a stab on Russia or a reaction towards me… in any case, it totally changes the calculus of what’s going on. Russia gets into Berlin because Germany forces Munich. England moves to GoL and gets pushed out of MAO but retreats into WMS. I’m not sure what Italy is up to with the move out of TYS and support of England to TYS. Italy and Austria are still fighting.

Ok, so what do I do now? I think Austria’s target is Rumania and there’s nothing I can do to help Russia defend it. I really do want armies in Greece and Bulgaria now, I think, but how to do it? Greece is sort of in the way. I realize it might be nice to have that unit in Albania. I also feel like I need to pull back a fleet towards the homeland as I’m not sure what Russia is going to do with F Rum when it has to retreat. So I decide to play Gre-Alb, AEG S Bul-Gre, Con-Bul, EMS-Smy. I’m a little worried that Austria will take Rum by moving Ser-Bul to cut my potential support and I’ll be bounced out, but I’m going to go for it anyway.

Post Autumn 1905:
Again, interesting developments all around. Austria plays Ser S Bud-Rum, so alll my moves succeed. Austria takes Rum but tries to move back to Munich which allows Russia to keep Berlin… kind of confused by that. Italy defends Venice and moves back west. Russia gets Berlin and Sweden but loses Rum and St. P to an English army… that’s kind of scary since Moscow is wide open. Germany retreats into Norway from Sweden so England doesn’t get to build. In fact, no one gets to build.

Spring 1906:
Ok, what do I want to do this turn? I think, with the English fleets still in the Med (even though he appears to be focused on France) that I still want to leave Italy alone. So what else is there to do? With Austria coming back East, I feel okay trying to take a swing at Serbia. It probably won’t work, but it’s going to be a simple Alb-Tri to cut support, Bul S Gre-Ser, with Smy-Con to both protect against a Russian desperation move (although Ank is wide open). I don’t think I was thinking far enough ahead at this point to thinking about get into BLA.

Post Spring 1906/Autumn 1906:
I’m surprised that I actually get into Serbia! Rum does tap Bul, but Ser moves to Alb (supported by Tri) so Greece just walks into Serbia. Albania has to retreat and Greece is open so that’s fine. France is in bad shape. England goes back to the North Sea but does not move StP to Mos. BLA moves to Sev but Austria’s probably going to get it in the Autumn.

So what do I do this turn? Can I defend Serbia? I can’t by myself, I don’t think (again, I kind of wish I had built my last unit as an army because I’d be fine if I had A Gre) and I find myself wondering if Italy will move Ven-Tri. If he does, I think I can hold Serbia… he seems to be a decent player but I’m not sure he’ll want to make that move (although there’s no risk to him to do so). In the end, I decide to not take the risk and decide on an alternative: moving Serbia to try to take Rumania. So my moves become the following: Gre-Alb, Bul S Ser-Rum, AEG holds, Con-BLA. If I do get a build, it’s going to be an army, probably A Ank.

Post Autumn 1906/Winter 1906:
Dang, Italy did play Ven-Tri. Thanks Italy, sorry I didn’t believe in you. Rum, though, was used to force Sev, so I could have just played Bul S Ser, Ser S Gre-Alb. In any case, I do get a build. Austria does not get a build. Lots of other interesting stuff around the board. Italy supports Germany in Marseilles which supports France into Spain. Germany takes Sweden and defends the lowlands against the English fleet in the North Sea but in doing so loses Kiel to Russia. Russia covers Warsaw and retreats to Arm and BAL. Germany doesn’t move to Berlin but moves to Silesia.

Austria has four units around Rumania so it feels pretty vulnerable. I think I’m going to stick with my plan to build A Ank. I hope Russia keeps F Arm but I don’t expect him to and I feel like I’m going to need to try to block Sev-Arm.

Spring 1907:
So, Ank-Arm is a given. AEG will cover Greece. The rest of it, I’m not sure. I’m feeling a little bit remorseful about not having more faith in Italy last turn, so I’m going to have Alb S Ven-Tri. Assuming that Italy taps Tri, I’m going to use BLA to tap Sev and move Rum back to Serbia supported by Bul.

Post Spring 1907/Autumn 1907:
Well, not the result that I had hoped for. Italy did not move Ven-Tri but instead used Ven to support Pie-Tyo (he also bounced in ION but I’m sure he’s happy I didn’t try to move there.) I did get into Armenia, so that’s good… and even though I got pushed out of Galicia, Ukraine is open for retreat. Around the rest of the board, France gets pushed out of Spain and is on the verge of being eliminated. Germany retakes Kie and Ber but loses Norway and Sweden. Are we seeing the collapse of the E/G?

My initial thought about this turn is to play BLA & Arm S Ukr-Sev, but that’s counterable by Rum & Gal S Sev-Ukr. That gets me thinking about Bul-Rum to cut support… but I kind of don’t like that because it makes Bul vulnerable. I then realize that BLA S Arm-Sev, Ukr-Rum is guaranteed to succeed. Greece is going to support Bulgaria, then I realize that there’s no reason to not have Bul support Ukr-Rum. I think I want Italy to take an Austrian dot as well, so Alb will again support Ven-Tri. I don’t know what Serbia and Galicia are going to do, but I’m hoping that Austria defends against Italy more than he defends against me, but we’ll see…

Post Autumn 1907/Winter 1907
I’m really not sure what Austria is thinking, but he didn’t defend Rum or Sev (Sev-Mos, Rum-Sev) and so all my moves worked! Russia bounced him out of Moscow, which is great and Italy took Trieste as well (thanks to my help) so Austria is now down to 3! He does retreat to Bud/Gal/Ukr, my guess is that he’ll keep Bud. England supports France into Mar to hit the German unit there, so France lives. England looks like he’s trying to work something out with Russia in the north. Italy also pushes a fleet west.

England gets two builds. Italy and Turkey each get a build. Germany went down one center but he doesn’t have to remove one because he already did in the spring. Austria must remove two. I’m fairly certain that Italy will build F Nap. I’m going to build A Con because I think the army helps me more now than the fleet does.

Post Winter 1907:
Austria removes Gal and Ukr, which I think is great for me. England builds F Lon and A Edi. Italy builds F Nap, as expected, and my build is A Con.

Spring 1908:
My position feels solid here. Based on my experience in previous games, I feel like I should still have some sort of tactical advantage against Italy as long as he doesn’t start helping Austria. I’m still a ways away from the stalemate line (and I don’t see StP as an option) so I’m not thinking solo quite yet but I feel pretty secure. I feel like I have a lot of options this turn. I don’t think I’m going to try to mess with Moscow at all. That seems kind of silly - I think Russia will either bounce me out if I go for it this turn or Russia and England will block me out if I set up with Ukr this turn to hit it in the Autumn. My original inclination is to push an army to Greece to set up to take Serbia in the autumn and shift Alb-Gre and Gre-AEG, but I decide near the deadline that I want to tap Serbia anyway. So I decide to use Alb to support hold Tri, Bul S Rum-Ser, Sev S Con-Rum. I’m not really sure what Austria is going to do with Serbia.

Post Spring 1908/Autumn 1908
Well, that worked out, I guess. I kind of wonder now if I should have not defended Tri (Austria would have gotten it back had I not) but I’m not sure. The Austrian army in Ser is destroyed. Italy moved Nap-ION (which is why I had originally wanted to move Alb-Gre, Gre-AEG) but I should get a build this turn so I think that it’ll be okay, even if Italy does something weird like try to move to EAS or AEG. It’s not like he can set up for a convoy in one turn.
Germany moved into position to take Brest (he can force it in the Autumn with Pic & Par S Gas-Bre) but lost the North Sea. I’m not sure what the move to BAL was about. He tried to help Russia into Norway, but Russia tried to help *him* into Norway! England supported Russia back to Moscow but Russia tapped StP. It looks like Russia can now force StP back if he wants to do so. So what looked like a decent E/R last turn looks now like it’s not? Also, England threw a support hold on WMS and I don’t know what Italy will think of that. Germany retreats to NWS, an interesting choice.

So now what? I can take a shot at Budapest which probably ensures that Italy gets Vienna, but I’m okay with that. I think that even if he gets Vienna that I still have a tactical advantage against him should I need it - I’m not sure what my next target will be… I really do need to move towards the stalemate line. If I get both builds, probably A Con, F Smy, then we bring BLA out. A lot will depend on what happens with England. If he loses a unit, it might be time to attack Italy. I’m going to pull my fleets back, though, just because I think he’ll be happy to see that I’m not being agressive… and if he does something aggressive towards me, then, well… so it’s Alb-Gre, Gre-AEG, Ser S Rum-Bud, Sev S Bul-Rum, BLA S Sev. Nice and solid… and if for some reason A/I work together to push me out of Serbia, so be it.

Post Autumn 1908/Winter 1908:
Well, I got Bud… but I should have realized that Italy’s moves would be Tri S Tyo-Vie and that Austria would counter with Vie S Bud-Tri. Austria lives… I also pulled back from Albania although I’m not sure I should have, though. England lost StP to Russia and Brest to Germany - G and R each get to build one, which of course Russia’s will be A War (unless for some reason he waives the build, but I don’t expect that.) I have a feeling his armies will be coming for me, though, probably to get Sev back, although I didn’t make any aggressive moves towards Sev so maybe he’ll turn on Germany? In any case, I’m guessing Germany will build F Kie. Italy came back east a little with LYO-TYS. England loses two and I’m guessing it will be Por and Lvn.
For me, it will be A Con and F Smy. I was thinking about A Smy, but the third fleet in the south feels right for reasons I’m not sure I can explain. If Italy is any good he’ll be awfully twitchy about the fleet build. Austria will probably remove Gal?

Spring 1909:
Well, Austria did remove Gal and Russia built A War, but England removed Lvn and *Edi*, while Germany built *army* Kie. That one surprises me, quite honestly, and I’m not sure of its purpose. I could see F Kie or A Mun or A Ber… but where is A Kie going to go?
In any case, I have some tough choices to make this turn.

With England weakened now and the Ger/Eng situation as it looks I think that the time has come to press my case against Italy (sorry Italy, I kinda don’t want to but I don’t see the growth through Russia/England). I’m going to defend Budapest and Vienna to prevent Italy from getting it, then make the attack on ION while also moving to EMS. We’ll try to convoy Con to Rum to backfill Rum-Gal and throw a support hold on Mos to see if Russia still wants peace (but if he attacks I’ll understand):

Rum-Gal
Ser S Bud
Bud S Vie
BLA C Con-Rum
Gre S AEG-ION
Smy-EMS
Sev S Mos

Post Spring 1909/Autumn 1909:

I did not get into ION, as expected, and otherwise everything else worked. Both Italy and Turkey supported Vie to hold and Austria tried to move to Trieste. My move to Gal worked (and the convoy behind to Rum). Russia moved to Silesia, so it looks like he wants to tangle with Germany (although does he really have anything there?) Germany can snipe Liverpool this turn, which is good because it probably means the death of Portugal.

I think it’s time to move back out of BLA and back to Albania. I think Italy will use Tun & TYS to defend ION as I’ve made a move on it and I think I can leave something open (AEG or EMS) without risking too much. I’ll need all four fleets to force ION but it won’t happen until Autumn 1910. I’ll take the stab at Vienna (I don’t see any reason not to).

Gre-Alb
AEG-Gre
BLA-CON
Ser-Tri
Gal S Bud-Vie
Rum-Bud
EMS H

Technically, Tyo S Vie S Tri-Bud would lose Bud but gain Tri. Tri S Vie also blocks me out but if the fleet gets into Alb then my position should be pretty good for 1910.

Thinking about a solo: I’m at 9. Vie is 10. Tri is 11. Ven/Rom/Nap/Tun is 15. Where are the other three coming from? Mos and War would make 17, which means I would then need one of Por/Spa/Mar/Mun. Germany’s armies probably make Munich unlikely, but depending on how things shake out Iberia might be an option. Depends on what happens while I’m squishing Italy and how long that takes.

Post Autumn 1909/Winter 1909

Well, I got into Vienna and Austria is out. Good game, Austria. Germany is now at 9. England will lose another unit (gotta be Portugal this time, right?) and France is still hanging around. None of Italy’s units moved.

But Russia. Oh, Russia. If the move to Sil in the spring was a fake out, it looks like it fooled both Germany and myself. Russia can force Sev next turn if he wants it - and my move to Con keeps me from building an army there.

I do get a build, though. Neither A Smy or A Ank really feels like it’s doing much, since I can’t move it to Arm (want to leave that open for a retreat) and I can’t convoy it anywhere of substance. I think the build has to be F Smy - maybe that will make Russia a little less twitchy than F Ank but I’m not counting on it. Con can still go back to BLA while Smy goes to AEG. Even if I lose Sev I should be able to take Tri to make up for it.

Spring 1910:
Fleet Smy on the board. England did remove Portugal and Germany built F Kie. Right now, the thing that’s most disconcerting is Russia, so I’m going to move to Gal and BLA. The question is what to do about Italy? I’d really like to try for Trieste with an army, but Vie is vulnerable and I’m probably going to play Bud S Vie… and Alb can be tapped, and Vie S Ser-Tri isn’t enough. So I’m going to use F Alb to ensure Trieste (to hopefully make up for the loss of Sev). We’ll play Smy-AEG. I debate over EMS S Gre-ION and Gre S EMS-ION. Fleets belong in the water, as the saying goes, but I don’t want to leave Greece open if ION-Alb. So I choose Gre S EMS-ION.

Post Spring 1910/Autumn 1910:
Holy Q*Bert-Speak! Russia didn’t go for Sev but instead defended against Germany, who moved his armies east. I suppose that was the obvious thing that was going to happen, but I guess I was so fixated on Sev that I didn’t think it was really going to happen… and Italy, woah, Italy just *walks* out of Trieste and sends everything westward! Wow. Just, wow. Germany moves out of Lvp and gets pushed out of Denmark (and Russia helps England do so, I’m not sure I like that?) I’m really curious about what Italy is thinking here. He had to have seen my attack coming, right? Did he think I was going to pivot to Russia? Is he trying to run for Iberia? I’m really not sure.

So what to do this turn?
BLA S Sev. We’re going to keep BLA there for at least a turn - I want to keep convoy options open to the north, I think, and I’m not sure I’ll need a fifth fleet in the north right now.
Rum-Gal. BLA can protect Sev just in case Russia does something weird, and Gal feels like the right place for this army - heading towards the stalemate line without being threatening?
Tri-ADR, Vie S Bud-Tri, Ser-Alb. All of these moves are guaranteed. This is potentially a good setup for Venice next year.
ION-Apu, AEG S Gre-ION. ION-Apu can be blocked but I’ll be incredibly surprised if Italy blocks it. If he doesn’t, Gre-ION goes as well. I’m guaranteed a build and then there’s some tasty convoy options from Constantinople (not Istanbul). Italy might get Mar or Spa and not have to disband, but we’ll see. In any case, I think I can crush his position? Curious on what the rest of the board thinks about what he did this turn.

Keep fighting, England and Germany, keep fighting.

Post Autumn 1910/Winter 1910:
Ok, so all my stuff went as expected. Italy got Spain, so he doesn’t have to lose a unit, but he appears to be surrendering the Italian homeland? Is he trying to turtle in Tunis and or Portugal in the hopes of a draw? I’m not sure. Russia moved on Germany. England only gets to build one because of Italy. Germany loses two (probably Clyde and maybe Gascony or Belgium?) England retreats from Spain to MAO (going for Brest?) instead of Portugal.

In any case, I don’t see any build other than A Con. I’ll have a veritable plethora of options in 1911. Let’s see what Germany and England do first.

Spring 1911:
England builds F London (no surprise) and Germany removes Burgundy and Holland (I was totally wrong about that.) I kind of like the Burgundy removal since it weakens Munich but I’m not quite ready to try for Munich yet? I know if I hit it in the fall then Russia will probably get Berlin and I kind of don’t want Russia to build as that makes War/Mos harder to get… but if I don’t help him get Berlin he might also decide to pull away from Germany. I’m honestly not sure… but getting across the stalemate line is crucial now and Munich is one way to do it…

Otherwise, it’s the continued crush of Italy. Apu-Nap. The question is what to do with the rest of it? There are so many convoy options and there’s the notion of trying to get into TYS and ION to flank Tunis.

As much as I’d like to stab Russia this turn, I think I’m going to hold off… but I’m also not going to help him get Berlin. As far as Italy goes, I’m going to try to move the fleets forward (if it doesn’t work, no big deal) and I’m going to try to position my units to take all the Italian home centers if possible in the fall. Trieste will support Ven-Tyo and ADR will convoy Alb-Apu. Italy can block either the move to Tyo or the move to Apu, but not both. If he blocks the move to Apulia, I have three units adjacent to Venice (Tyo, Tri, ADR). If he blocks the move to Tyo, I still have three units adjacent to Venice (Tri, ADR, Apu). If he doesn’t block either (for some reason) then I have options to take both (assuming TYS is mine or open). BLA will convoy Con-Rum and Sev S Mos.

Galicia moves to Vienna to move away from Russia but it also can’t help him. I should probably be a little less wishy-washy with this unit, but… sigh. I could probably play something like Sev-Ukr, Con-Sev, Gal-War and get Mos in the fall, but I’m not sure I’m ready to do that.

Post Spring 1911/Autumn 1911
Well, I can’t say that went too badly. Russia came back to cover Warsaw. Germany lost Clyde and England got pushed out of Denmark. England is trying to hide in Portugal. It’s unclear if Italy will try to take Por, and if he does, how will he do it? If he plays Spa-Por, France might actually get another build! I think I did the right things here, but I’m not sure. I did get bounced out of TYS, but that’s OK because I am indeed set up to take Ven and Rom and Nap all this turn.

My orders won’t change based on either England or Germany’s retreats so I can start thinking about it now. The big question is do I want to use Tyo or Tri to take Venice? If I use Tri, Germany could theoretically tap Tyo to stop it (since Pie S Ven). As nice as it would be if I could push the fleet from ION-TYS, I think reducing Italy’s number of units is more important than getting TYS right now, but maybe I’m wrong.

Nap S Apu-Rom
Vie-Tyo
ADR & Tri S Tyo-Ven
ION-TYS
AEG-ION
BLA S Sev S Mos
Rum-Gal? Yeah, I think that makes sense… but I should really look at those stalemate lines.

I ended up moving Rum-Bud to keep Gal clear as not to spook Russia any further right now.

Post Autumn 1911/Winter 1911
All my moves go off without a hitch except Tunis blocks
AEG-ION, which is annoying but not the worst thing. I think I really like what I see here, except for maybe the German move to Gascony. I definitely like the German move to Barents that puts pressure on St.P. What did England support with Edi… Cly-NWS, but Cly moved to NAO. Sounds like an oops, not that it mattered. Italy gets to retreat from Venice, but where’s he gonna go that matters? I suppose he could go to Apulia, but he’s also then got to remove two units, which I’m guessing are that unit and MAO. But I could be wrong. England has to pull a unit as well, I’m guessing Edi. Not sure what ENC and NAO are up to.

The only question for the Winter is do I build 3 armies or 2 armies and a fleet? I have 6 armies and five fleets now, but I’m not sure how having another fleet helps me… although my gut is leaning towards building one… I should be able to take Tunis at will but right now Mar/Spa/Por is probably more important. I guess I’ll wait to see what Italy does.

Italy retreated to Piedmont and I decided to go ahead with 2 armies and a fleet. A Con, A Ank, F Smy.

Spring 1912:
Italy pulled Tunis, which means he’s definitely trying to hole up in Mar/Iberia. He’ll probably force Spain this turn, Por & Mar S MAO-Spa sc. That means Spain is going to retreat, which has to be to LYO or WMS. So I think I need to move TYS-LYO to block that. Not much I can do about the retreat to WMS, but maybe France will tap Spain in the fall which helps me get Mar? He might be annoyed at Italy enough to do so. So my fleets can all move forward… TYS-LYO, Nap-TYS, AEG-ION, Smy-AEG. ADR-Apu, just to bring it west.

The big question right now is Russia. Do I attack Russia this turn, year, or do I see what happens in the west and wait until 1913? My initial idea was to wait, but I’m leaning more and more towards attacking now.

Changed my orders to go for it. We’ll see what happens.

Post Spring 1912/Autumn 1912
Well, my moves all worked. The rest of the board was pretty static, except Germany brought his armies back from the low countries to Bur and Ruh. Italy did pop Spain, as expected - curious to see what France does. Germany’s fleet in Bar supported England into Norway (not sure what’s up with that - do they want Russia gone or are they going to help him defend StP? England and Germany now look like they are not fighting, so I’m guessing I’m going to get blocked from this solo… but stranger things have happened. Germany needs an army in Kiel or else Burgundy is going to have to do double duty protecting Munich and Marsellies.

Most of my units are going to do the same thing no matter what France does:
Sev S Ukr-Mos
Gal-War
Tyo S Ven-Boh
Ven-Pie
Apu-Nap
ION-Tun
AEG-ION
LYO S Pie-Mar

If France retreats to WMS, I play TYS S ION-Tun. If France disbands, I play TYS-WMS.

France retreated to WMS, so it’s TYS S ION-Tun. I’m wondering now if I should flip LYO and Pie - a clever Italy might play Por-Spa, Spa-Lyo instead of Por S Spa S Lyo not taking the chance that France might tap Spa. I guess my read on Italy, though, is that he’s not that kind of player? I’ll probably be wrong and I’ll just stick to what I have. Also curious to see if Russia plays War-Ukr.

Post Autumn 1912/Winter 1912:
Well, snapped up Mos and Tun, as expected. France did move to Spain but Germany supported Italy so I did not get into Marsellies. This game looks like it’s going to be a draw, I doubt I’m going to get across the stalemate line. Germany’s army in Gas keeps Mar safe and he can using Bur to support Mun. Really, at this point, it’s just a matter of seeing if E/G/I want to draw-whittle Russia. (I don’t think E/G eliminating Italy is an option, but not sure). I don’t need more fleets, so I’m building A Ank, A Con. What else is there?

Spring 1913:
Good game, France. I’ve never seen your opening before (with Mar/Par bouncing in Bur). Would like to hear more about it sometime. Russia pulls F Swe.

Again, the question is are we going to go ahead an eliminate Russia? I can’t break through into Mar, Spa, or Por, so there’s sort of no point there. I wonder if there’s a position I can setup that would allow E/G to take a shot at Italy? As far as the north goes, I think I just use Sev to support Mos and try to push up into Ukr? If England and Germany don’t make any aggressive moves to Swe/StP I’ll just go ahead and vote to draw.

Post Spring 1913/Autumn 1913:
Well, it’s a mixed bag. All of my moves worked. Germany and England, however, weren’t on the same page as far as St.P goes. Germany supported England into St.P and England support held StP.

For this turn, Sev S Mos, Mos & Ukr S Gal-War, Boh-Sil, Rum-Gal. That should force Warsaw. I’m also going to use Tyo to support Munich and the Mediterranean mass to support Italy and England to try to show them all that I understand that I’m not soloing here. I don’t think I’m clever enough to pull back to try to get them to fight or anything like that (and I’m guessing they don’t want to).

The game is paused now, someone asked the mod to pause it. Whichever player it is, hope they are okay… and plus two weeks later, the game is unpaused. Russia never actually voted unpause, he was the only one. So sometime tonight we’ll see what happens…

Post Autumn 1913/Winter 1913:

Nothing unusual for my moves, but Germany supported Nwy-Stp again and England ordered Nwy S Stp. I voted for a draw and the game did not draw. Not sure who hasn’t voted for one, maybe Germany? Russia has to retreat the Warsaw army but it’s somewhat irrelevant. He still has to pull a unit, and it won’t be St.P (right?) So it’ll be either Sil or (Pru or Liv). I bet he’ll retreat to Liv and dump Sil.

Update: He disbanded. I built army Con. It’s not needed.

Spring 1914:
Cover Prussia to cut off a retreat and whack Sil. Try to get into Liv to cover possible retreat from Stp. Not much else to say.

Post Spring 1914/Autumn 1914:
All works as expected, still no move on StP by E, but he does move BAL-GOB.

Not much to do, cover WMS and Sil. Force my way back into Mos.

Post Autumn 1914/Winter 1914:
England takes Stp and Swe. I get into Mos. Russia is eliminated. I vote draw, waiting on England’s builds.

Spring 1915: It’s officially a draw. My gunboat ghost rating goes up by exactly 1 point. Hurray!

[DarthPorg36]

Wow. Well put DougJoe. Really cool to hear your insights to the game. I won't write quite as much but will review the game from my point of view as well.

Opening: I drew England. I wasn't exactly happy with this, I find it really really difficult to win with England, with my games often ending in a weird draw. However, it doesn't hurt to try. Here we go. I like a northern opening in general. It's safer, doesn't overcommit, and lets me review my options. Options is what I need, to figure out what France Germany and Russia are thinking.

Seeing France not go towards Belgium, I will. I can spare the unit and worst comes to worst Germany gets -1 build.

Spring 02: Game progressing normally. I didn't get Belgium, so that was fine. France's builds spooked me. I know that they often can go for Italy, but I wasn't willing to risk the coin flip, and began to move towards France. Funnily enough, F and G both supported me to Belgium but I didn't take it lol. Try again in fall.

End 02: Seems like Germany is my ally at this point, that's fine by me. Russia is weakened out, that's great. Feeling good.

Throughout the next few years I just kinda worked steadily closer to France. Iberia was my main target, as it's more accessible with fleets. I worked for a few years getting down there. My med fleets were very fun! Glad Italy didn't freak out though, sometimes that happens. DougJoe you may be wondering why I didn't take Mos... I felt strategically I didn't want to weaken Russia further. I didn't have the units to commit to real fighting in the north, Russia was better positioned, and I wanted to keep ATR fighting as long as possible. England invasion usually results in Turkey getting big, and Turkey is my most feared nation.

Post 06: Germany stabbed me. That was not what I was hoping for. I wanted a Mediterranean campaign but now I'm forced back north.

After this point, I began my campaign of survival and harassment. Where I try to do those two things. I quickly made peace with Russia, eliminating one front to fight on, (glad he also wanted the same thing) and kept France alive to annoy Germany in the south.

End 08: This was my low point. I thought I was done for. Lost two units, continental Europe holdings all but gone, trapped on various corners of the map, and lost two units. I had essentially gave up. However, as my profile quote says, I'm not going to quit. Maybe the situation is hopeless, but in no way would I just stop fighting.

End 09: Things began to recover here. I got back into Liverpool, and got Denmark. By this point, give or take a year, I had realized Turkey was making a run for the solo. I figured that I either a) lose to a solo or b) lose to Germany fighting said solo, and then losing to a solo. So, operation "Save the Draw" began.

End 11: Cleaned up the Germany threat for the most part, lost Iberia, (I was very angry at Italy for just leaving Turkey to conquer! and then hurting me!)

End 12: Clear Italy is at peace with me now. Full operation of the "Save the Draw" plan is complete. I think the stalemate has been reached.

Until End: I had a vacation in the middle, and I really like to go camping, but there's spotty coverage and frankly I enjoy not worrying about diplomacy on vacation. Sorry if that was annoying that I got a pause. Either way, it seems to have turned out alright. The pause was longer than I wanted. Russia didn't realize they were the one unpause vote left. A few days of this and I contacted the mods (thanks Darg).

I didn't realize Germany wanted me to take out Russia for a while. I thought it was too risky and was prepared for the 5-way, but then realized Germany had been trying to take out Russia, and I could do it, so I did. Sorry Russia. Then, I presume Germany drew.

GG all.

[DougJoe]

Wow. Well put DougJoe. Really cool to hear your insights to the game. I won't write quite as much but will review the game from my point of view as well.

Thanks. It's not my best work but sometimes I find that keeping the journal helps the thought process during the game. Not 100% sure it did here, but it has in the past.

DougJoe you may be wondering why I didn't take Mos... I felt strategically I didn't want to weaken Russia further. I didn't have the units to commit to real fighting in the north, Russia was better positioned, and I wanted to keep ATR fighting as long as possible. England invasion usually results in Turkey getting big, and Turkey is my most feared nation.

I did wonder about Moscow but it looks like I didn't note it. I think at the time I figured that if you went for it Fin would follow behind you and Mos would get trapped.

End 08: This was my low point. I thought I was done for. Lost two units, continental Europe holdings all but gone, trapped on various corners of the map, and lost two units. I had essentially gave up. However, as my profile quote says, I'm not going to quit. Maybe the situation is hopeless, but in no way would I just stop fighting.

I'm with you, never give up. I should have been eliminated in the Press GR challenge game last fall but survived because I found ways to be useful and got that spot on the stalemate line. I think that W08 was the turn where I expected you to remove Por but you didn't.

End 09: Things began to recover here. I got back into Liverpool, and got Denmark. By this point, give or take a year, I had realized Turkey was making a run for the solo. I figured that I either a) lose to a solo or b) lose to Germany fighting said solo, and then losing to a solo. So, operation "Save the Draw" began.

End 11: Cleaned up the Germany threat for the most part, lost Iberia, (I was very angry at Italy for just leaving Turkey to conquer! and then hurting me!)

End 12: Clear Italy is at peace with me now. Full operation of the "Save the Draw" plan is complete. I think the stalemate has been reached.

As I said earlier, Italy did a really nice job of getting to the line (even if it was at your expense.) I was wondering when people noticed how well I was doing.

Until End: I had a vacation in the middle, and I really like to go camping, but there's spotty coverage and frankly I enjoy not worrying about diplomacy on vacation. Sorry if that was annoying that I got a pause. Either way, it seems to have turned out alright. The pause was longer than I wanted. Russia didn't realize they were the one unpause vote left. A few days of this and I contacted the mods (thanks Darg).

No worries on the pause, glad it wasn't anything worse! Where did you go camping?

I didn't realize Germany wanted me to take out Russia for a while. I thought it was too risky and was prepared for the 5-way, but then realized Germany had been trying to take out Russia, and I could do it, so I did. Sorry Russia. Then, I presume Germany drew.

I wondered about that... playing on the old UI it's easy to miss supports that don't work - I try to remember to check the big map or the orders page each turn (and still sometimes forget).

Thanks for the recap!

[Wusti]

This game was so frustrating - I couldn't have made it plainer that I was supporting England and he turned on me anyway. With an E/G, and then an Italy who nailed me while giving Turkey free reign, I just couldn't wait to GTFO.

Darth - France without fleets can't do anything except stall and defend. I honestly don't know why you spooked.