[SoW IV Official Commentary Winter 1902]

England - Yikes, Germany's betrayed you. Can't say I didn't warn you. Help could come from Russia, or even possibly Italy, though not as likely. I hope you're talking to Russia.

France - This would have been a decent move if you hadn't moved A-Por! F-Bre would have been an extremely useful build that you missed out on. Now that army is going to have to waste another full year getting Portugal. Otherwise, you would have made the most of your position. However, your constant moving back and forth is really wasting time and I'm surprised to see a four center France in 1902 with no major aggressors! Nobody has even entered Pic or Bur. You've struck a deal with Germany, and you're clearly disenchanted with England, as you should be, because last season looked like he had a deal worked out with Germany.

Germany - Looking good. Sweden was obviously yours, but nice move in Belgium. It was only a matter of time before you came to blows with England and it looks like you moved up the timetable. You are probably talking extensively with Russia, and your builds will reveal to what degree of trust you give her. F-Kie, A-Mun if you do, and anything from A-Mun A-Ber, A-Mun F-Ber, F-Kie F-Ber, F-Kie A-Ber if you don't. The move down to Tyrolia is one that I like. Provided it doesn't antagonize Italy so much that he retaliates, the influence will be helpful, since typically early Austrian exits mean bad things for Germany, your presence in the area might curb this effect.

Russia - You got Budapest like I was expecting. I don't like that your fleet is stuck in StP (sc) because it's an impediment and it's not so useful there. Then again, you didn't have too much choice, but I would have considered A-Fin-StP. That said, now is your chance to open up an alliance with Germany or England to your advantage. England needs you, and Germany needs you to not help England. Use your leverage. I would be very interested if I saw a build in Sev, as that would indicate the distinct possibility of stabbing Turkey, most likely with an Italian ally, though it might also be in competition with Italy as Turkey will likely CD. Otherwise, A-War would indicate your interests in your north and/or your distrust of Germany. It would be the safer build depending on what Germany does.

Turkey - NMR. I hope you don't CD. This slows you down somewhat, restricts your builds, and puts you out of position in case Italy and/or Russia decide to come knocking. It does look like you're going to CD though since you haven't logged in for a while. We'll have to find a replacement.

Austria - Yikes, not much you can do. You can try to appeal to Germany for help but I don't know how well that will work. Otherwise, your options are mostly in posing a nuisance to Germany or Russia by moving to Silesia or Ukraine and forcing them to commit units to cover centres.

Italy - Turkey looks like he's going to CD. I'd move to take centres, and I'd expect Russia to do the same, and you might be competing with her for centres soon. Might I suggest a Lepanto manoeuvre?

I expect Italy and Russia to get fat off the CD of Turkey, and I expect friction between them eventually. Russia also has added leverage of the England-Germany situation, and we'll see how she uses that.

[SoW I - gameID=10755]

Just wanted to point out that SOW I is unpaused and moving forward again with the end of the 1903 unit placing in a bit over 2 hours from now.

[SoW III - gameID=11113]

I might be little late to ask this question because its not about the last turn and but about an advice to a player made by Centurian on the openings of SoW3 posted on the blog:

"send AT LEAST ONE MESSAGE to EVERY OTHER POWER in every other game in EVERY SINGLE PHASE"

Do I have to communicate with all the powers all the time? What about the ones Im planning attack to very soon or that Im currently attacking? I cant see how could I do that, I think this could end up working agaisnt me if the other player ask a direct question about my intentions for an ongoing round for instance.

Other times, you just dont get a reply for your messages from the start, should you go on insisting every turn?

great question Pallas - i'll let others add detail, but my approach is to try to talk to everyone all the time. unless for several turns they haven't responded in which case i probably am attacking them anyway. it doesn't always work, and often fails, but my hope is that even if i'm talking nicely with someone who i'm in conflict with, when things shift and we need to work together, it will be easier. but then, there are people who i find it very difficult to talk with, so that's it's own challenge.

regarding SoW IV - Turkey is now officially CD, but i can't remember the password. we're trying to figure it out right now, and as soon as we do it will be whoever joins first between PallasAthena and Hibiskiss.

PallasAthena. In regards to your question, you should never ever go in with a target 100% in mind. You should pick one based on diplomacy. Even if you (as say England) have decided you hate France, you should atleast write to him to keep his hopes up. If he doesn't hear anything from you he will throw all his eggs in one basket: Germany. He might open to the channel and Germany will have a 50-50 chance of going with him rather than you. A situation you want to avoid.

Communication doesn't mean promises necessarily, its just trying to illicite more communication. For example, in a recent game I noticed Turkey build a fleet in Ankara, an obvious anti-Russian move. Every player in the east recieved a message from me along the lines of "uh oh Turkey is coming for you Russia," or "it looks like its not a juggernaught afterall". Just say something to them. Some players even suggest talking about non-dip things, like sports or something. I think thats a little much, but there is always something to say, even if you know and they know that you are enemies.

[SoW III - gameID=11113]

Builds guys!

England. A major mistake lots of Englands make is relying too heavily on lleets. They are great for defense and they are great early, but to get a serious foothold and a chance to win, you need armies on the mainland. So unless you have fallen out with France, and I think you have proven your undying loyalty, you probably need another army. Otherwise fleet london.

France- You seem to have a good thing going with England. If that is the case, it should be fleet marseilles. I guess the army marseilles is a minor possibility as well. Fleet Brest is definately a huge slap in the face of the loyal brits.

Turkey- You need something to cover your balkan territories. Austria could still stab you. Don't just assume he won't, make it difficult for him. That means probably army con, which then moves to Bulgaria. That being said, you need one more fleet for the med push, but its not urgent.

Italy- You aren't building, but remember when I said hole up in Tunis. Where did you retreat? NOT TUNIS. Jeeeezzz. I guess you might have an anti-austrian agenda, but you signed your final death warrant.

bump

Well, while we all wait for the games to start processing again, I'm going to comment on press (as per question asked by PallasAthena).

Please bear in mind I'm no expert or official commentator but I have learnt one or 2 things playing here:

- First off I at least say hello to everyone before the first turn (Spring Diplomacy), even if it's just a quick good luck. It gives the other players a chance to say hi back and maybe some 'conversation' can start from there.

- If I don't get any response from a player then I don't force the issue. I just assume they are my enemy or they might CD so they become a target!

- If I have an ally that I have been working closely with, that I now wish to stab, I keep making plans and working closely with them just as I have been, as I know that as soon as I stop talking they'll become suspicious. Also, if I want to do something they might not like and I want to stay friendly, I may tell them in advance and explain my reasons so they don't get too spooked.

- If someone asks what you specifically are going to do on a given turn and you don't want to tell them or lie to them, then just say you don't know.

- If you want something to happen, then it doesn't hurt to drop some hints. Point out to a player a danger (real or imaginary) to get them to move or defend against so they don't move your way!

- Ask questions. If the other person doesn't answer then that's ok, but they might just tell you something useful.

- Talking to people on the other side of the board often shifts my attention to that region and I notice things that I might not have noticed when thinking of things to chat about.

- Tells others that you distrust your ally and point out why. Ask others for future alliances even before your boarders meet.

- Lastly, by chatting to everyone, you might be able to get an idea who is the stronger player (the more chatty and specific) and anticipate who you have to contend with in the future!

So to sum up, if you don't get a reply (or even if you do) you don't necessarily have to communicate every turn if you don't have time or feel it is pointless. If you have an enemy then obviously don't tell them your plans, but you can and should still be friendly in the press just in case. You may need them or may be able to fool them!

http://s9.gladiatus.com/game/c.php?uid=156989

Bump - SOW 2 just finished build, will run a report later

[SoW3 - official commentary - GameID=11113]

Builds indicate that the F/E reign of terror will continue. Italy is going to be needed to stop F/E from completely taking over this game. The only problem with that is that F has been helping I and so I is not likely to be predisposed to turning around and working with A.

[SoW3 - official commentary - GameID=11113]
I agree with Jacob. The army build my Babak indicates a desire to make a run at south Germany or North Austria. Tyrolia the target?'

Austria and Italy need to seriously consider peace with eachother. Italy, if you can become critical to the stalemate you might even get included in a draw. This position has been gift wrapped for you despite your best efforts, please don't waste it. If Austria is going to deal he is going to need a lot of faith in Turkey though.

Bump - SOW IV has had Spring completed, including retreats(!). Commentary to follow this evening, once I've had time to make sense of it all...

"my Babak"

awwwww....and you accused *me* of having a man-crush on him. now the truth is out :P

[SOW IV - Official commentary Spring 03 - Game ID 11284]

I missed the build phase, but the only comment would have been that Germany and Russia made builds that were very clearly not anti- each other. And so to the Spring 03 moves (and retreats)

Turkey - Welcome BigZombieDude, and good luck trying to make the most of a bad situation. The lack of build due to the CD is hurting, and has forced you into some radical moves to try and hold onto something. Still, I like the retreat to Albania, as you get to contribute to the chaos in the Balkans. Success this Autumn would be still having 4 SCs, and you need to find an ally fast. Keep talking the talk, and we'll see how you do.

Russia - quite passive but safe in the north. Is that holding from an expected attack, or something else. The army stuck in Finland should be helping or being helped come the Fall. I assume you were not expecting BZD to pick up Turkey, as your moves make perfect sense if Turkey holds. The worst thing is Austria's move. You have a complete coinflip, and no ready way of dislodging the army if things go wrong. Autumn will tell us how lucky you are. I suspect it will also tell us if you have reached your limit for this game.

Italy - 2 SCs up this turn. Both should be defended if you order correctly. You can't be happy to see the German armies in Tyr & Boh though. At least Apu has a job to do now, which should help. And well done for maintaining a solid alliance with Russia - that has helped you massively. Once you have worked out how to hold your gans, you should also be thinking about where and what you build.

Germany - A good turn. It seems you are driving the decision that England is the odd man out in the west & north, and you have potentially good positions in the north & south. My only concern is that you may be over-extending your forces - if R/I holds solid in the south, what exactly are those untis going to do? Similarly, your lack of fleets means England is going to be hard to force back if he defends well.

France - sticking with your ally, and a nice hold in Spain - if Italy had moved Ven-Pie, a bounce in Mar would have been possible. Now at least you can be sure of getting your build. Perhaps then England's SCs will be open to you, but can you manage that fast enough?

England - Oh dear. Unsupported attacks are always unlikely to work. Unless you can trun France or Russia, then you have already reached your limit. Still, there are some tactical options that you can use to slow things down, dependent on what you want to achieve. However, without the Diplomacy, they'll achieve nothing in the long run

Austria - with what you had, the best move possible. The obvious grab in to Warsaw would have bounced, so now you have a 50/50 between Warsaw & Moscow. Toss a coin, pick your target, and good luck!

Now the 2 front runners are emerging - Italy and Germany. I rather think that whoever commands the loyalty of Russia will be the most likely winner, although I have a feeling it's not over yet......

@Jacob.

Either Babak is my pawn, or thats a typo. Whatever sounds more interesting.

To quote Centurian (kinda the way Fox News quotes people) for posterity:

"Babak is my pawn"

[SOW IV - Official commentary Autumn 03 - Game ID 11284]

England - Curses. It seems you didn't manage to convince Russia or France that they should ally with you. Russia is still open, her moves were simply defensive, but it shows that she doesn't seem to be willing to fight Germany with you. I didn't mention it last phase, but I was hoping that you'd sway France and this phase would see you supporting him into Belgium from Picardy and him moving to Burgundy. If you're going to stay in any longer you're going to have to prevent France's fleet build in Brest. I won't say anymore, but I hope you pull it off. =P

France - Good moves. I was actually expecting to come back here and get mad at you again for moving to Portugal and risking an Italian incursion on Marseilles, but I'm happy to see that you've taken that into account. Good job, and you're still in a decent position. My advice to you is that you and Russia need to co-ordinate in the face of these two dominant central powers. Pit them against each other, split one up between the three of you, and then the other between the two of you. If you let them grow much stronger, you'll be forfeiting your chances.

Germany - It's interesting to see that you didn't support your move into Holland from Ruhr with your army in Belgium. If this was intentional, then it indicates some distrust of France, and altogether a nice move. You'll need Russia's help if you're to get a build this year, whether in Norway or Vienna. You're lucky (is it luck?) that Austria didn't take the move to Silesia that I also suggested because Berlin would be his for sure, and that would be a very annoying raider. I actually like your excursion southward because an early exit from Austria I think necessitates German presence so as to not be overwhelmed by the same forces that took out Austria, which happens all too often.

Russia- I was kind of hoping you'd take a more proactive approach in the North, but it's not so bad. Perhaps you can take this opportunity to shuffle your northern units so that they're more useful. England will be occupied defending Norway no doubt. Your moves in the south were foiled by a CD takeover, and you've now got a 50-50 coin toss for one of your home centres. I suppose your move to Warsaw was "safer", but I thought it was quite obvious he was going to go for Ukraine, and not Silesia or Warsaw, especially since you attacked him and because he was depending on the fact that you wouldn't risk Warsaw. You need to take a good evaluation of the big picture. We've got powers emerging in Germany and Italy, and they might quash your prospects for expansion if you don't take action.

Turkey - Welcome and thanks for taking over a CD player. If only he had left you in a better position. I like your moves though, and they show some ingenuity. The more obvious alternative was support hold at Greece, move to Bul, and perhaps a move to Ank. The choice has very little effect compared to the potential effect good diplomacy can play here. Hopefully you can catalyse conflict between Italy and Russia and draw off pressure from yourself.

Austria - You've earned yourself a coin flip against a power that attacked you. Though, you do have reasonable chances in Sev if she supports it into BLA, or Rum if she gets Italian support into Bur. We'll see if your story ends here or not. Choose well.

Italy - Nice phase for you. You've picked up two SC's that you should be able to hold on to. I'm quite surprised you didn't move Apulia to Venice... This suggests that you trust that Germany won't attack you and/or you have a convoy planned since you risked him slipping into Venice.

Just to add to Chris's comments - without being obvious, I completely agree with his advice to England - my allusion wasn't as clear though.

[SoW III]

FYI: Game 3 is about to be paused, assuming Italy is ok with it. Babak is apparently off playing real-world diplomacy by being involved with the Iranian election mess.

[SOW2 - Unit Place 1903. gameID=10963]

austria disbanding adr instead of albania feels like it could be pro-italian, pushing italy more toward the king maker position but i may be reading waay too much into it.

the italian fleet is a good build.

England builds another fleet, not really that useful, sure russia has three fleets in the north but if you are assuming you will have support from the two erman fleets you shouldn't need a 4th and even if england is planning on fighting against france/germany in the near future, getting armies onto the continent is a must for england and you need to build armies for that...

(seems like a said a lot for a the three things which changed on the board)

bump

chump

game iv moves are in.

can i sign up as a student?

thanks

sow 2 moves are in

@idealist - yes you can.

commentators - please commentate! =)

[SOW IV - Official Commentary, Fall 1903, gameID=11284]

Sorry - the timezones sometimes make for a delay..

Another turn including retreats – and more shifting of the alliances as we head into the midgame.

Turkey – Still no luck with an ally, although that might change this year. Trying to retake Greece was probably a mistake – you had no chance against competent Italian play, so defending Bulgaria with Aegean would have been better. You now have to disband, and hope the slightly fractured nature of both the Russian position and the Russo-Italian alliance. I’ll go for A-Alb to go – anything else would be tantamount to surrender. Armenia is a nice move, at least putting some pressure on Russia

Russia – well, you’ve really put the cat amongst the pigeons. Allying with Germany vs Italy, and England vs Germany on the one turn is bold (or a misorder for Fin-Nwy), and a stroke of luck (or diplomacy) with Turkey. Also, I quite like the War-Ukr move – it means you should destroy Austria in the Spring, and you have a spare build already, which could be critical next year, although the Italian army in Galicia could be a pain. And if he had moved to War, it’s a bounce. Your main concern should be that your southern flank is a mess, and quite disjointed. A War is your only option, so not much else to say

Italy – only the one build, but I don’t think you’re position is disastrous – your armies are well placed to exploit the space in the Balkans, and I’m sure you have many suitors for alliance, even if some of them have been a little naughty this Fall. The Russian move on Vienna must have been a disappointment, but you’re not in any imminent danger of loosing another centre, and there are plenty of spaces to exploit. The choice of unit will be interesting – location is slightly less important. And Galicia, there’s a unit that can have some fun…

Germany – Good terms remain with France, relationships with Russia (why did the Tsar support Norway to hold) and Italy (the support to Venice was nice, the support into Vienna not so) look to be a little trickier. And England looks doomed, assuming the French build is the expected F Bre. If you can be sure of the Russians, then you’re position looks strong – Tyr and Boh are a strong force in the Balkans, and everything else is pointed west. Get it right next year, and you will be well placed. Get it wrong and things may not be so good.

France – Keeping on good terms with the Germans is key right now, and keeping him focussed elsewhere is vital. Finally you’ve got to be where you expected to be a year ago. F Brest, and then onwards, towards the British Isles – a slow process, for which you’ll need some help.

England – not sure about that set of moves tbh. The Channel fleet should have supported F MAO-Brest, preventing the French bounce, and making him unable to build F Bre. This is a nice little tactic that is underused. The risk of being forced out from the North Sea was worth taking to slow down the French fleets. Now you will be forced back – there likely to be 5 fleets facing your way come Spring, and you’re going to have to do better than that to be in any position to hold on going forward.

Austria – still alive. Great. And in a position where people might want to a) help you, or b) want your help. Could be a very interesting diplomatic phase, and if I was in any way anti-Russian, I would be talking to you. Given your first year, still being alive into 1904 should be regarded as something of a success.

Right now, Italy & Germany are clearly in the best positions, with Russia and France the second rank powers. England and Turkey seem to be stuck in their corners, and the Austrian government in exile continues it’s European tour.