I'm going to keep my country analysis short since I think you are all smart enough to know what went well and what didn't. So far I have to say I'm extremely happy with how this game is going. I think everyone is learning and improving their play as the game is progressing. Thank you for the replies to my questions. I didn't answer all of the, but they were very helpful in figuring out where everyone was seeing the game going. I'll talk a bit more about long and short term planning in my next post.

England - It's obviously unfortunate for you that you allowed Italy's lapse in the mainland portion of the stalemate line to go unpunished. If you had made a push for it I think you would only be a year or two from winning the game. You are making good progress against France, and your main concern is counting those centers and figuring out if there is any way for you to hit the magical 18.

France - Numbers are your friend right now. Here's what I mean by that.
13-Warsaw, 14-Belgium, 15-Brest, 16-Spain, 17- Paris, 18-Portugal, 19-Marseilles. The other players, Italy included, cannot let you lose all your centers to England, and England will shorty be in a position to take them all. So what you have to do is figure out how to hold some of them, but to hold them in a way that will give you the option to throw the game to England if the other players conspire to eliminate you from the game. Make yourself useful, if you can do that you will end up in the draw.

Italy - Your attack on Turkey was perfectly timed, and excellent job getting armies to the Sil, Gal area. That area is 110% to this game. You diverted away from France alleviating his fears of an attack on you, which allowed him to throw everything at England. But you still managed to keep a unit or two in the region to give yourself negotiating power. I could not have done that better myself, that is the most impressed I've been with a players moves this game. Now take advantage of what you just created. Now all that said, you still are facing the key issue 2ndWhiteLine mentioned, your lack of navel power. So you will have to play your next few turns carefully to make sure that doesn't hurt you.

Turkey - Your attacks on Italy and Russia all game have lacked on common theme, timing. Pulling off a successful attack on another country requires their attention and units be diverted away from you. If they have the units to stop you, and then crush you, figure something else out. Right now you are in a tough position because what you need is to convince Italy that you will be useful to a draw. Or worst case that you won't hurt a draw. But your recent attack of Italy, which gave England an opening to bust through the stalemate lines for several years, has forced him to decide that you probably cannot be trusted to keep from sabotaging a stalemate line.

Russia - You're still in the game, what more can I say here. Just keep playing and talking to people. This is good experience for you, you have nothing to lose so you can say whatever you want to judge what kind of press is received the best way.

Bump

Bump- spring 1910 moves are in.

Questions: Was the move to Ukraine good? How about Burgundy? How about Brest?

bump

Bump.

Spring 1910

With not much changed since last turn, I'll start off with uclabb's question:

"Was the move to Ukraine good? How about Burgundy? How about Brest?"

The French moves this turn look to be an attempt to both protect its home centers and consolidate its defense. Covering Bre prevents an unlucky retreat in the off chance the move to ENG is successful, and supporting to Bur means that its unlikely that any home centers will be lost this turn.

All the professors have stressed that players need to be aware of the path to a solo. For England, he's probably not going to advance any further beyond Moscow, so 18 will need to come in the west. In this case, Portugal, Spain, and Marseilles are the probable targets. This means one of two things:

1. Hold Portugal, Spain, and Marseilles at all costs.

-OR-

2. Take Munich.

At this point in the game, holding Por/Spa/Mar is far from guaranteed, especially with the dearth of Italian fleets on that side of the board. It is inevitable that England will break into the MAO, and when that happens, Brest will fall, as will Paris, and France will be reduced to F Por, F Spa(SC), and A Mar. Mind you, there are worse positions to be in. However, with only the Italian F WMed propping up Spa and the Italian A Pie supporting Mar, something has to give, since that defense relies too heavily on guesswork to hold back the superior English fleet.

The better option here is to take Munich. An experienced French player, in this scenario, would realize that Bre and Par are a lost cause. An experience Italian player would also realize that Turkey is boxed in and can't break out of its corner without getting incredibly lucky. All three moves mentioned by uclabb, then, are bad. Here's how the board should look this turn:

FRANCE:
A Ruh
A Bur
A Mar

ITALY:
A Tyr
A Boh
A Sil (assuming A Boh s A Gal - Sil)

With those units in position, not only falls next turn, but with Italy's units in place in Boh and Sil, it can be supported for the foreseeable future. With Munich gone and disbanded, England is looking at a maximum of two more builds, which isn't enough units to retake Munich. This also forces England's hand, making him take Warsaw for the build, which then destabilizes his eastern front by making that (retreated) A Sil shift away from Munich. He no longer has enough units on that side of the board to effectively hold his centers. Provided that Italy can get another fleet into North Africa, there's the stalemate.

Spring 1910

2WL gave some excellent expert instructions for a potential stalemate line setup. That being the case, I'll keep my comments brief, although I see the board from a slightly different perspective.

1. Italy. I still feel like you're in the top spot. England is keeping Russia alive, which is nice, and I understand it from a diplomatic (rather than from a gunboat) perspective. But in the end, that decision constrains England's supply center count and gives Italy a chance to top the board. England's army on the mainland isn't a great use of a piece, so I would argue that Italy is playing with the same number of pieces as England is. And, furthermore, Italy is accomplishing more. I do agree with 2WL that, while France is in the position to help, Italy should make a solid play for Munich. If he manages that, he'll have no problems at all.

2. England. Youre doing fine, but you have problems. The key is timing. Since, if my calculations are right, England needs to take Spain for his 18th center, he needs to move fast before the defenses and counterattack gets underway. If he plays fast and calculates his opponent's moves accurately, he'll be fine. There is room for diplomacy also. It's not just a game of chess yet.

3. France. Fortunately, youre sitting on very important centers. Unfortunately, England will be forcing a lot of disbands very soon. Fortunately, it doesnt matter if France gets reduced to one center if he makes it into the final draw. Good luck.

4. Russia. Unlike Turkey, you might not have a disband this year, so things could be worse.

5. Turkey. If Sevastopol falls, it's over.

In a position such as turkeys, is it possible to negotiate a survive with a rainfall Italy?

A zero center survival is possible.

Bump

bump

rainfall=rational

bump

Bump. Is anyone still watching this game? :P

Yes, lol. Waiting till the next turn before I comment. Not sure how to phrase anything without heavily influencing events =/

Sorry, I assume the players, TAs, and Profs are still watching. At least I hope so... :D

Fall + Winter Adjustments 1910

As the game continues to plod along, let me point out a great tactical strategy that England attempted. You could argue that it wasn't his best use of a unit, but I think it was a solid idea. England needed to ensure that Munich would be safe from an Italian/French attack. If he would have used Silesia and Berlin to simply support-hold Munich, that would have been good, but he found a better possibility. By using Berlin to support Silesia into Munich, he actually allowed Munich to be used productively in another way, which was to attack Burgundy with support from Gascony. (I know, the description of the tactics is tiresome.) But, that strategy is worth noting. It's a great example of a 'beleaguer'. In diplomacy, the term 'beleaguer' refers to the strategy of bouncing a supported attack on a center you're trying to protect. This can be a better decision than to simply support-hold the center, since it allows the piece occupying that center to move rather than to hold. Keep an eye out for opportunities to use a beleaguer in your own games.

At this point, France, Turkey, and Russia, the minor powers, all have draw votes cast. It's up to England and Italy to decide when the game ends.

1. Italy. England is cruising, but I think you have slight advantages. With the fleet build in Rome, the western waters will be well-protected. The attacks on Turkey would be going amazingly if there had been an army in Syria rather than a fleet. Things being the way they are, it looks like Italy can easily take Constantinople next year, with Ankara and Sevastopol soon to follow. I'm counting to 18.

2. England. If one were to argue that you should be ranked first, I'd certainly understand the argument. My comments in Spring to Turkey suggested that he should encourage England to support-hold Sevastopol to slow the Italian's progress, and that he did. With Sevastopol protected at the moment, England stands to grow faster than his fellow major power. Getting an army convoyed onto the continent and building another in London is perfect form. None of England's centers are threatened. But I just don't see how he will get to 18.

3. France. After the disband, you're down to 5 centers. That's 7 less than the Italian's 12. France is still sitting on the crucial middle centers of Spain, Portugal, and Sevastopol. Losing Brest and Paris is inevitable at this point, which France acknowledged by disbanding the hopeless Brest unit.

4. Russia. And to think I made fun of that useless army in Warsaw for the first four years of this game.

5. Turkey. England is keeping a hold on Sevastopol, but with only 3 centers, there's not much longer you can hang in there.

Onward to 1911.

I'm still watching!

Me too!

Still following.

Still watching

Watching what?

The game. There was a question of how many people not directly involved with it were paying any attention to it.

What game?

I don't think you're being serious right now but I'm not entirely sure.

It's 2WL ... I'm being he's trying to see how long he can keep you going for

When does the new school of war start and how do i join?

Hey Meowdolf,
I've been planning to push for a winter Intermediate SoW after the current game ends. I've added you to the list of interested players. I'll get in touch with you when it's time to start. Until then, keep playing games.