(Austria)
@france: by help do you mean put out of their misery? If you can't go against italy who will you go against? You have indicated that you liked the fact that they attacked you, and even if they can't defeat you, they can at least hold you off considering that you might only be attacking with fleets.

I'm sorry, i will concede that i was wrong. I was not paying attention to spain and thought that it would be 2 fleets against 2. It might be possible with austrian support though, which they might be willing to provide.

(France)

@Austria
Any Austrian help for Italy will likely arrive too late. Besides, you can't both help Italy and defeat Turkey and you've already made it quite clear what your priority is in that respect.

And since you asked... if Italy attacks Austria then Austria will be forced to stop protecting Germany in order to defend the Austrian home centers. That would allow France to take Munich and help Italy by a) agreeing to a cease fire in the Med and b) helping them to take Trieste and Vienna by providing or cutting supports. I admit it is a long shot but frankly, if Italy wishes to survive this game they will have to take some risks because as things are going now they will certainly not make the draw.

(Germany)

I disagree with France. I see no reason why Italy can't make the draw. With two fleets and an army in Tunis the only weaknesses they have are in the North. With Austria committed against Turkey, there will clearly be no incursions into Northern Italy from the east, and it will take a long time for France to make progress against an army in Piedmont. By that time, the Eastern triangle will have resolved and the whole board position will be very different, with options opening up.

@france: it is extremely unlikely that there will be a draw. there are 2 clear powers here, one of which will probably win. Austria is the most likely winner as you are stopped in germany, and it will take a long time for you to take italy if you do. Austria is currently in a better position than you. however, italy cannot afford to try stopping austria, and has basically no reason to. there is basically no chance that they will win, and they should now just be aiming for a survive. The fact of the matter is that the French driver will keep pursuing them. trying to go after england would take way to long, and would probably not work. The french driver will keep pursuing them because of this. right now their best chance of survival lies in going after France. Right now the main hope for a draw lies in an english stab against france.

(Austria)

Sorry forgot to post that i was austria again.

(Italy)
Sorry that I have been so quiet for so long. I have been busy with other games and have been quite unsure as what to do for a long time. i do agree with Germany that Italy can make the draw, but to do so requires either help from Austria against France or France to withdraw from fighting Italy. This game has been quite difficult as Italy as it has been hard to maintain a fight against France and help Austria with only four units.
@Austria: Okay, Turkey should be able to fall soon. Since you will take warsaw, Russia will be severly weaken, hopefully he will disband sevastopol so you may take it and gain advatage on the backdoor of armenia. Otherwise, Italy can support you into the Aegean and you can support italy into the Eastern Mediterranean, and soon after you will gain Con. I hope in exchange you would be willing to give poor old Italy Smyrna so I can be able to defend against the French menace. I suggest propping up Germany against France as well.
@Germany: Hang in there
@France: England is currently entangled in a battle with Russia, if you want his SCs, now would be the time to strike.
I apologize for being so quiet. As I have said before, it has been difficult to actual come up with a strategy, especially one I am not sure will be implemented. If anyone out there watching would like to take my place, I would be perfectly fine with stepping down. If not, I will try to be more frequent in my posting.

(Austria)

@Italy: I would definitely be interested in the idea of giving you smyrna. (and hope my driver would also.) If needed i could also try giving you something else. It may be better if you try going to tyrrhenian with ionian though. It may also be a good idea if you support to ionian and just leave tyrr as a place to retreat to.

(France)

@Italy
I'm guessing that Austria is likely more interested in promising you Smyrna than in actually giving it to you. They have no credible incentive to do the latter when they can just as well take it for themselves.

(England)

Austria's moves have been very friendly towards Italy- last year they moved away from Trieste so if Italy had wanted to take it they could have, no fleet (or army, for that matter), in Trieste this last winter, and completely devoting their attention elsewhere. Austria wants Italy as an ally to keep the buffer between France, and giving up one SC could be beneficial by creating a 3 on 3 fleets situation with France and Italy. However, it's all up to the driver.

(England)

Fall moves,

Germany 's NMR is probably the final blow that will kill them, and has let France take the lead by one SC. England's steady progress against Russia will continue with the extra unit and Russian disbandment, however, Austria looks like they're taking an interest in St.Petersburg with the move to Prussia

Italy's guessing game has payed off for this year, although not moving to the tyrrhenian will set them back. Turkey's support hold of both Bulgaria and Sevastopolis interesting, seeming to signal they want to be non-confontational and find any ally they can.

(Austria)

For once, i agree with France. Though i think that the move to prussia is mainly so that they can get an advantageoud position iin the future.

(Germany)

Sigh.

(Austria)

@austrian Driver: the nmr of germany will be very bad for you. Try to delay france as long as you can.

(France)

Even though the result is rather advantageous for us, I still don't like NMR's. German driver, please don't let it happen again.

@French driver
You have a few options now and I won't tell you which is best. Italy guessed right again last season but you will get them eventually. Meanwhile you could try for Berlin. Austria might support it from Prussia, but if I were the Austrian driver I would rather send Prussia to Livonia to assist in the attack on Moscow. Alternatively you might want to cover Tyrolia. It's likely that it will bounce with Bohemia or Piedmont but at least it would prevent Austria from supporting Piedmont next season as they have done Munich before. And if it does get in... well then Italy is basically dead.

(France)

@Austria
Overall it looks like we're heading towards a three-way draw with Austria, England and France as the survivors. The three of us might as well start to cooperate in that direction. What do you say?

(Austria)

@france: I agree that it is very likely. I also agree that unless France or Austria wins, that's the most likely possibility. I would gladly accept, unless austria can pull ahead.

@austrian driver: if you cannot pull ahead or make very much progress against russia or turkey i would reccomend aiming for the draw.

@england: If france tries to pull away would you be willing to ally against them?

(England)

@Austria and France I would be in support of a three-way draw, and for France to get a solo they would have to stab either Austria or I.

I think we may need a replacement German driver.

(France)

It looks like our German driver has returned. It will be interesting to see which unit they disband. They likely won't survive in either case but their best shot at survival is probably to keep Tyrolia and try to steel Venice, Trieste or Vienna.

(Turkey)
From a backseat driver point of view it feels like all the excitement has gone out of this game. But I guess that is definitely not the view of the backseat drivers who are still engaged with this - those busily plotting a three-way draw.

The truth is, though, that France must surely have the solo in mind. And the best way to achieve that solo is to keep England and Austria pushing against the others - Germany, plus the miserable shell of the failed juggernaut (note: Russia's fault). The more Austria and England push against Russia and Turkey, the greater the chances of a French solo.

I'd be suspicious of an eventual French stab even if this were a normal press game. But in this odd gunboat hybrid, the French player absolutely cannot be relied on from Austria and England's point of view.

(France)

What would really happen if France stabs in an attempt to go for a solo though...

England and Austria would combine their forces against France. Turkey would continue its current strategy of non-confrontation (which is the real reason that the game has lost some of its excitement for them). England and Austria would easily succeed in stopping the solo but Austria would be forced to keep Turkey alive, i.e. we'd end up with a four way draw including Turkey instead of a three way draw.

So, I guess its pretty obvious what really motivated the Turkish backseat driver to write that scare mongering inflammatory post.

(France)

Also, I would like to point out that my driver built an army in Paris while if they had the intention to stab England they would surely have built another fleet. So it seems that France is quite happy to let our ally England deal with Russia, which by the way chose to disband in Sevastopol rather than say in the Norwegian Sea.

In contrast the Austrian driver attempted to move into the Ionian Sea, a move which if I were Italy I would have a hard time seeing as a friendly gesture. So it seems that if anyone is trying to stab their ally it would be Austria.

@Turkey
You should request that Austria support you to Sevastopol so you can build a second fleet and share in the spoils of Italy. If they don't then I think it's clear that they don't intend to include you in the draw.

(Italy)
Well, this is a tricky situation. From what I can tell most of the power and SCs are concentrated in the area of France and Austria. So this message goes out to the other countries.
@England and Russia: Stop this idiotic fighting in the North. This is a winenr-take all game and you are only allowing the growth of France. He already has Munich, which is a very powerful territory when it comes to the stalemate line. England should take the EC and Russia should take the north, this way France can be pushed back.
@Turkey: Oh boy, this will be bad. You me and Russia have to work together to weaken Austria, what we really need is a Russian unit in Sev, or him giving you that territory to you for another fleet. We need to hope it is not too late to crush these two powerhouses before we are dead.
@France: Yeah, maybe you should stop attacking me, that way I could do damage on Austria.
@Austria: Is there any territory you could give me so I either better fight France before he breaks through. Also, not cool attack the Ionian.

(Italy)
Also if anyone would like to take up my post, that would be much appreciated. I have actually been quite busy as of late, and between the upcoming mafia game, AP tests,current diplomacy games, ect. I do not believe I can represent Italy very well due to these other things, so if someone is willing to take up the mantle, do so, there is plenty of time left on this game.

(France)

Interesting developments in the East. Austria attacks Italy (again). Italy tries to support Austria against Turkey. Turkey tries to support Italy. Meanwhile Turkey takes Sevastopol despite Austria trying to support Russia back to Sevastopol. Looks like no one down there knows who their allies are.

Anyway, England is quickly making progress in the North. This should reduce any fears there may have been about France going for a solo. In fact, France should keep an eye out for a possible stab by England, once they have conquered Scandinavia, although I certainly hope they will stay loyal to our alliance and aim for Moscow after that rather than for the North of Germany. England's builds this year should provide a hint towards that.

(France)

Oh, and by the way, from Austria's army movements it seems as though they have much worse in store for Italy than just tapping the Ionian Sea.

(Russia)

RIP Russia. Bad movements in the north and in the south have cost you the game. Enjoy your defeat. There is no hope in trying to get into a stalemate line, because there isn't one where you are required.

(Turkey)
Excellent moves from Austria in Germany that last turn. France will take that as a declaration of war - and rightly so, as without it - despite France's protestations - the Austrian driver can see the danger of Paris running away with this one.

@Austria - The big dilemma now for Austria and Turkey is whether they are going to help prop up Italy or not. If they are, it's essential they don't break the Ionian support of Italy's fleet in Tyrr. Clearly this is something where the backseat drivers for Austria and Turkey should have a dialogue. So Austria, what do you think?

(Turkey)
@France "from Austria's army movements it seems as though they have much worse in store for Italy than just tapping the Ionian Sea." - what, you mean like Serbia attempting to move to Greece, rather than the far more obvious anti-Italian move of Serbia>Trieste?