I'm paying attention!

I have a couple questions:

1. I think it is fairly rare for a player to have a true 50/50 situation because success and failure in each of the cases have different utility. Do you think that Italy's convoy choice was a true 50/50? If not, what differentiates his two choices?

2. You both predicted army builds from Germany (which I agree with), and he instead chose to build a fleet. How important it that choice, and what does it imply about Germany's future goals?

1) I agree that its not 50/50 since choices depend on how you typically believe a player reacts to a situation, intel you've received, or things you've set up ahead of time. If I talked to Russia and hes moving to Arm, Im moving to Syr to force one to happen. Its a 50/50 choice if you have no idea on things and you gotta go with yiur gut and nothing else.

Deuce armies was called by me because if I was in his situation I would make greatest use of my English alliance I can and I would have pressed those armies into taking Mos or pressing mysepf into sla situation for the highest chance for a solo which could also be getting armies into Bur to ensure an English ally or Tyr to swing around Switzerland. The fleet build is simply sending the wrong message. Ill get to more in my Winter Adjustments commentary that will follow shortly.

WINTER ADJUSTMENTS 1902
There are only 3 powers that had any adjusting to do and I will only touch on the two that I didn't call accurately. I'll start with England since it's shorter and then touch on the German builds. I whole-heartedly agree with the Russian destruction and hope his reasoning for it is the same as mine.

England--I called an army and KingRashad called a fleet. You went with a fleet. I will take the time to highlight why I would have chosen the army. Liverpool was the correct choice for the build but let's begin with what we know (or rather what I'm deducing we know). First, you've got a French enemy that has a fleet in the ENG ad IRI. He can't convoy 2 units at the same time so his options are limited to a convoy and a support, a convoy and a move, or two moves, ultimately, for the spring. Second, we know that we have a very large German power. They might be our ally, maybe not going into this next season. Third, we have a Russian destruction in tje face of a German assault. Each of these has a bearing on what I'm going to build. The least important is the Russian. The destruction is going to be at the most useless unit (not to imply that any are useless, but given the present situation, some are more necessary than others. It's likely going to be a northern unit because he can't afford to cut losses in the south where he will expect to make the most gains. If I'm going to get a build, it's probably Swe or StP. This means that I need another unit over there to take it because it would be foolish to think I can hold 2 centers with 1 unit for long. The fleet in Lvp isn't going to do that and I need an army on the Island. This means a fleet has to take it but I need to cover Lon and F Lvp can't do that. Now it might be that I won't get a build and if not, then the Russian situation doesn't matter to me.
The large German might come my way. If he does, then I have to think about how to cover 3 centers and the NTH with 4 units. Two fleets need to be used to cover the NTH in case there is a move + support or a move and I need to either move and support or self-standoff or something else like that. Now Germany might not be my enemy, but combat with him is possibly more likely than me getting a build in 03.
The French is what I have to focus on. If France convoys and supports, then F Lvp can handle that. If F IRI moves to Cly, F Lvp can cover that. If F IRI moves NAO, F Lvp can cover that. The problem comes if I guess wrong and now have to cover Edi. A Lvp can cover that, F Lvp cannot. Now, I should also say that the fleet build isn't the straw that broke the camel's back, because it's not. It's just not as maneuverable and can't support hold places on the other side of the Island.

Germany--Ouch, F Kie...I really disagree with that. To start, builds are one of the most telling pieces of information I have about a player and I pay *very* close attention to them. Players build based on need and direction. If a player needs more defense from a certain player, a build would likely occur closer to that player. If someone is going to be a target, builds might be closer or further away, but not too far. If Turkey builds in Ank, and I'm Italy, I can be sure I'm not his target regardless of what unit it is.second, builds indicate direction. Players always build based on where they believe their next centers will come from (if they're gaining) and where they need to defend from. I called 2 armies because I want to secure my position across that stalemate line early, and in such a way that I can't lose that footing, and one center isn't enough. Sure, if I take all 17 on the west plus War, I win, but if I take War in 1904 and the game goes to 1912, my odds of keeping just War for the next 8 years while I take the rest of the wast is close to zero because the remaining eastern powers are going to form an alliance to try to stop my solo once I hit 10-12 centers, give or take, and it's much easier for them to take one center from me and stalemate me out of that solo than it is for them to take four before I can seal the west, or at least reach 18. By crossing that stalemate line earlier, nad grabbing all I can, if no one cares at the time I do it other than the guy I'm taking them from, then I'm in really great shape going into the next stage of the game. The second army could have been deployed into Russia with the blessing of Turkey, into Italy, possibly woth the blessing of Austria, or even around Switzerland to move on the empty back side of France whivh allows me to move on Italy quicker and with less advanced warning, possibly at a time when he is a threat to another country that would like my help.
While armies are a little telling as to their destination, the fleet is more so. It cannot be brought to bear on any of the previous areas I mentioned. Instead, it can go to StP, Nor or the NTH. Each of these locations are areas that England has interest, and England alone, and that's the message I'm sending to the board whether I want to or not. I might have the best intentions for England and really value his alliance, but as soon as that extra fleet hits the board, it gives English players a pause, and possibly second thoughts. After all, there's no WAY it's going to France...at least not anytime soon. If it did, it would have to move to Hol, then to Bel and then on to Pic or the ENG currently under French control, and A Mun simply does it quicker.
Now, you may be planning on attacking the English. I don't know. In that case, the fleet is obviously the better build. I wouldn't go that route because you're allying with a 5-center power over a 4-center power and generally if that gap exists, I want it to be as large as possible so that England eventually becomes my jannissary, not my enemy. A 4-center power will have less to say about my eventual solo than a 5-center power. You've already got France and England duking it out and don't care what you're doing, so why interfere? If you can spend the next 3 years getting bigger while neither of them gets anywhere, then do it, but it means more armies and less fleets. Plus, the east is a mess right now. You should have taken advantage of that--with an army. If you later come back and play mop-up with the west, then do it. If you make large gains and the game looks like it will be a draw, more armies mean that you haven't pissed off whoever wins in the E-F war. That's the long and the short of why I would have picked 2 armies--it makes the right people less-worried and gets you what you should be after.

I'm paying attention!

I have a couple questions:

1. I think it is fairly rare for a player to have a true 50/50 situation because success and failure in each of the cases have different utility. Do you think that Italy's convoy choice was a true 50/50? If not, what differentiates his two choices?

2. You both predicted army builds from Germany (which I agree with), and he instead chose to build a fleet. How important it that choice, and what does it imply about Germany's future goals?

Sorry for the double post!

I thought that was a great analysis of Germany's build! As far as the convoy, in my opinion, Italy wants to go for Syria 4 times out of 5 or maybe even 9 times out of 10, because he doesn't want Turkey to be able to set up the pseudo-stalemate of having units in Syria, Smyrna, and Constantinople, with Russian help from Black Sea. To me, this goes back to what you said earlier, which I really liked, about Turkey's strategy (and any defender's strategy): that he should make it very clear to some power that none of the Turkish centers will be theirs if the attack continues. With Italy's choice, he risked becoming that power, which is why I don't think it was a 50/50. What do you think? (See how I made it a question at the end?)

I think that the best way to proceed in any situation is first to find a way to get your opponent to reduce his centers by any amount. If Italy's guess was correct and Turkey goes down one and locks Italy out, that doesn't matter because he got the build. Losing a center is a very demoralizing thing and the sharks feed on blood. Now if you're not pretty sure that the center will be open, then you go where you'll be more sure--which in this case is Syr.

Now, the fact that Turkey pulled a "all -holds" season either means he guessed Italy would try for the center (which means he thought through his situation and had some idea about how his opponent moves) or it means he simply reacted to the situation and pulled all holds to simply defend, which is almost never the best option.

I had the change because I believe the Rumania bounce wasn't agreed upon and that Austria actually tried to attack Russia, which is in Turkey's favor, as the 3-on-1 will go away. While Turkey did get very luck, it was at Russia's expense. I also expect another loss for Russia in the North next fall, so Russia could be down to 2 before we know it.

Sorry that I haven't got to get to this thread as much as I would like, my life and my games have prevented that for sure. I will maintain my commentary and try to catch up all things tonight.

Spring 1903
This season saw a great deal more good moves than in the years past. There were still a few blunders and poor judgements, but over all, I was pretty impressed. There will be a lot for me to say about each country. Some of you who were on my "bad commentary" list have moved off but there are others who will continue to be there.

The West
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Germany--Ah, the shifting of alliances has come. This is generally why I avoid moving on a country in the opposite sphere early on--it simply leaves unfinished business at home. I have the general feeling that the commentary had some influence on the shift, but in a veteran game, I believe you would have seen it anyhow. Part of it, I believe, was the fleet build. A bigger part of it was simply necessity. When you have a nation as large as yours go unchallenged, you can often expect a solo because the other powers are so small that alone they can't stop the beast, and because there are also often so many that they either have difficulty coordinating with one another or that there are too many possibel bridges that one of them had to have been burned. When 5 or 6 smaller nations move to stop the one large one, it's usually a mess and the best solos come about not when there are only 3 people on the board but rather 5 or 6. With England and France at war, neither could have expected to go anywhere against the other, but with the shift, someone is bound to get a build. Now, at this point, you'll be able to offset that with a Russian center, but you'll have to begin to really plan your next moves carefully because every unit on the east is one less in the west and every one in the wast is one less in the east. One positive thing you have going for you is that there is still old tension between E and F and sometimes tension can play on a mind if someone has the ability to play it correct. Very very few players can set up and play on a tense situation to their advantage because it's a subtle art--much like sculpting nearing the finish when fine blades are used to chisel out minute detail. Each subtle mark and cut, alone has little effect, but after a while, fine details give way to a true piece of art. Anyhow, I'm sure you'll have StP and lose Bel, but if you move your pieces right, fighting a two front war shouldn't be impossible.

France--I really applaud you on this spring's moves. You've turned a rocky start into something positive. I had been alluding to working with England instead of against him and wasn't sure if it could be done or not. Your efforts this season will be rewarded with a build, but after that, I'm sure you'll be locked out and it will be up to your partner to come through. The east is still a mess and usually someone is out the door or really close by now. At this point there's no real way to predict what will happen in the west but at least you've established yourself as a clear power. I like the support to Bur instead of simply a move there but with England not in the NTH, your group lost out on some ways of moving forward and so the moves this season will be rather limited. Let's see what the next few seasons yield because this shift can either be beautiful or an ugly mess.

England--Ehh, while not a terrible season, I wouldn't characterize it as a great one. You will begin to find the downfall of the fleet build as your units pile up in sea zones with no where to go for a while. As a general rule (and I can't think of an exception right off the top of my head) England's fourth unit should be an army. As England, one of the first things you should do is convoy the army. Then, you need to figure out where you want to make inland gains. Without progress being made deeper onto the mainland, you'll inevitably suffer from a reduced ability to get anywhere. I like that you and France have decided to call a peace treaty but it was slowed by your order botch. This is the second one this game and you're really going to have to spend more time going througj your orders more closely. If you have to, after putting in your orders here, put them into some adjudicator like RealPolitik. I'm certain that you originally called for Lvp to move to Wal and then, after talking with France, changed the Lvp unit to move toward the NRG (and picked the slow way to do it) but forgot to adjust your other units to allow you to get into the NTH. That's another thing going to slow you down by a season.
Now, I don't want to only focus on the negative. The pinnacle of this season for you weren't your mistakes, but rather the fact that You and France worked out your differences--no matter how temporary--and that you moved in such a way as to believe him. After all, he could have stabbed you for Lvp and it would have been brutL, so congrats on reading him correctly and not doing as some are prone to do and distrust someone and move to attack them instead. I don't forsee a build this year but it's very possible you'll see them next year.


The East
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Austria--really I have a hard time picking a first place out of this conglomeration going on in the east. What started off really well has delved into nothing more than a 2v2 slog. I have seen nastier things and President Eden has posted some of them to the forum, but not much. I don't know where the 3-on-1 broke down but it has. Now I stipl believe you have the upper hand and might get a build this season. The turn of events in the west bought you all more time but depending on how those events shape next season or two, it might burn more time than it brings. Hopefully progress will begin to start soon for someone.

Italy--While not a close second, it's not a distant one either. The alliance shifting in the east means you're not getting a build this year but you do have options outside the vanilla ones that are probably on the forefront of minds right now. I'm glad you got into Syr, although ot was by Turkish poor play. I've found that most people think very similarly and will try one avenue and if stopped at that route, they'll move to the next instead of trying the same play again and so against younger (game experience, not age) if I bounce them once, I can usually bounce them all day. Now that you have landed Syr, you should begin to see some progress and will maintain the second spot instead of losing it.

Russia--Hmm. Not sure what's going on here. Once again, you're allied with one country and unable to make progress against another. I don't know what you expect to gain by pulling the stunt with the Turkish hold, but it's likely going to be your end of the road. You had to have really distrusted Austria to move as you did. I think it wasn't your best choice. I would have rather seen a move to Arm and you supporting yourself into Ank whild Austria cuts support at Bul and Italy invades Smy. Instead you're trapped in a slow battle that can't end well for you.I will say, though, that had Austria's TA been playing this game instead, I can understand the Turkish support because I know Lando and his play style enough to be able to predict what would have liekly happened (love the play style Lando :). I should also say that you may not necessarily lose anything this year if the events of the board play out in your favor, but you could very well lose ground in preparation for a very ugly 1904. On the flip side, I do like what you did in the north. Your correct read on Germany combined with the fortuitous alliance shift in the west have given you your biggest glimmer of hope. At this stage, I would be pressing a lot of people really heavily to try and see some positive change. This could be your ticket out of the woods.

Turkey--I like what you did the least this season out of all the players this spring. The second set of all holds lends me to believe you have thrown in the towel which is not the mark of the best players on the site. Even a little hypothesizing on your part could have been done and come up with the idea to use A Ank-Smy to bounce an incoming Italian. The support holds are only going to support you to the grave. When anyone faces a guy that only holds and supports, it gives them a morale boost because they have an opponent reduced to nothing. If you're holding, then you're not doing anything and if you're not doing anything, then you're not doing anything to get yourself out of the rut you're in. I picture it like some of these guys in Kentucky that take thier trucks out into the mud to play. If a truck isn't well suited for a large enough mud puddle, the vehicle begins to spin tires and not go anywhere. The only way to get out of the mud isn't to cut off the engine and wait for the mud to dry. Ya gotta put something behind the tires to give it traction. The analogy goes back to being active in your desire to get out of your mess. You joined the SoW to learn something. This is rule #1--when you find yourself losing, don't stop talking and don't stop fighting. If you're gonna go down, do something that will hurt one of them in the long run. Hopefully next season will be a bit different.

I'm not sure KingRashard is going to post. I'd welcome Uclabb to take over if he's not going to prof...

Spring 1903
Again, I must apologize for my lateness in posts. When I offered to do this, there was little on my plate, but now many things are there. Since I took the role, I will see it through, unless some else would rather do it and the swap would cause no detriment to those involved in the game. I know that I keep my posts much shorter than Tru does, but that is because I like many of the things he says and wish not to repeat them. The more we disagree, the longer they probably will be. Now, to my rankings.

1. Germany - While still in the lead, you building that fleet really cause a number on you by England and France making up. I see you losing a center this season, or possibly staying at eight, depending on how the press is going. You can't allow your lead to fall out of your grasp. Many Germanys like to watch Europe burn all around them, and you can't enjoy that if you are stuck in Germany. Keep up the good work.

2. France - I've moved France above Austria this time, due to the simple fact that I honestly don't understand what is going on in the East. It's quite a mess. I would like to congratulate you on your peace treaty that you've signed with England, as you can now both focus on a much larger rival, which the rest of the board should welcome gladly. You'll for sure have a build coming, which will likely be used in holding the line. There is a reason WWI had such deep trench warfare. This shift has also caused you to grow much quicker than working against England would have, but keep looking out for where the next center will come from, may it be Germany or another nation.

3. Austria - I know you must be feeling weird after seeing Russia's moves come in. You worked together to get him back into Rumania, but he worked against you by support holding Bulgaria, thereby preventing you from growing and preventing Turkey from collapsing faster. I'm not sure what it's about, but I encourage you to work on your press. Read into the details of how people say what they do, not just what they say. It's clear you and Italy are on board together, so you need to just straighten out Russia. Either get him on board to take down Turkey, or take him down too with Germany and perhaps England. Don't be wishy-washy about who you want your loyalties to be with.

4. Italy - Well, you've finally gotten your army into Syria, but now that you've gone through all this effort to get it over there, what will you do with it? You most likely won't be getting a build this turn, but I could see one coming next turn. Remember, if you feel things are going to slow for you, there are other avenues to success and other nations looking for allies, you must just look in the right spot.

5. England - While the peace treaty is also beneficial to you, you didn't get all the right moves into take advantage of it as much as France is. Still, getting a nation off your back is something to celebrate. I disagree with Tru's general rule about building an army over a fleet as the fourth unit. I consider England as one of my best countries, and looking back at my games, the last game I completed, I had an English solo where I go 0 builds in 01, and then built two fleets in 02. I actually didn't build an army until Winter 04, where it was my 8th total unit. I do agree with convoying the army you start the game with as quickly as possible, however, so to each their own on that idea. Anyways, keep up the new peace you have, and work on putting in the orders you want to be adjudicated, and you could be on the move up. Also keep in mind, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you can keep Germany from gaining builds, that's a plus.

6. Turkey - You letting Italy into Syria is going to hurt you in the long run, but getting Russia to support you in Bulgaria was a great help to you. This may be signs that he really wants to work with you, and if so, you have a much better shot than the 3-on-1 we saw earlier this game. I don't like the continuing of support holding. The best defense is a good offence, so be active with protecting your centers, not stagnant. Don't give up just because things look bleak.

7. Russia - Depending on who you are talking to and what they are saying back, you could either be staying at 4 or going down to 3. The North is all but lost at this moment, and you could cut your losses, unless you have some allies waiting in the wings to save you. You also need to figure out what your doing in the South and who you are going to work with. As I said to Austria, don't be wishy-washy. It causes distrust, and those who don't have trust are usually eliminated. Good luck to you.

FALL 1903
There wese some pretty big changes this year which alter the placing pretty significantly. Players that saw regular progress will see a decline, many who saw nothing fo a long time will finally see some gains and players that had been holding on will finally be headed out the door.

The West
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France--The biggest change was Germany dropping to second in the west with France in the driving position. I'll expound on that more in Germany's commentary. I liked the short convoy, kinda funny. It dodn't matter how you took Bel as long as you had double support. You also have the upper hand on Germany since the line requires 3 armies to hold it on either side and he simply doesn't have it. My guess is that Germany will see additional losses divided among England and France. For builds, I could honestly see a deferrment. There's only one build I could see as useful if there is one coming. If a build pops into play, I'll comment on this more.

Germany--You took a big fall to the number 2 spot. Even though you have more centers, I pick placing based on the idea that if everyone quit and 7 new players took over, first place goes to the country I would want to get. The biggest reasons for the fall were that your western front was abandoned while you strengtherend a front on a war that won't much help you. It might slow your decline but won't allow you to fight the EF. I would have preferred for two units to try to take StP, War stay put and Lvn slide back to Ber since you needed 3 units to prevent France from advancing. Now you're a year out of position and it's going to be a huge guessing game to keep France out. I expect to see more losses soon. In order to prevent the EF from forming, I would have offered to support England into StP. The build would have likely placated him and if he climbed to 5 this year and you dipped to 7 with a defensible position against France, I'm sure you could have kept England as an ally. For your destruction, I believe we'll see the GoB fleet picked off the board.

England--A much better position. From here, I expect that you should see a build next year. You've reclaimed the NTH and have a fleet in the NRG which can advance as needed. The support hold on StP is what I love the most. It prevented Germany from maintaining 8 units. The move to Wal is what I don't like. Not sure if this was a third misorder or just a bad call. The army should have been in Yor to convoy. Wal does nothing for you, I'm not sure what you were planning to do with it. You already had a French ally established. Other than that, it was a decent season for you.


The East
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Austria--Still out front, you finally broke the dead lock. I am interested in seeing where you go from here since the positioning doesn't allow for you to take more Turkish soil. I won't comment too much on my thoughts as they allude to where I think you'll go and that would step into the TA's shoes. I will say that it seems you've still got this feeling like everyone is going to attack you at every moment and you need to loosen up a bit and trust someone a bit. It's ok to give someone a little leeway to possibly stab you but so much that the stab won't gain much of anything. You've had a unit in Tri all game doing nothing and if Italy stabbed you for one center, you having units in Alb, Bud and Vie could easily force him out. If you don't trust someone, advancing will be slow at best. Talk to your TA on this more and he can help you learn to take some calculated risks. Obviously an army in Vie is going to be your build.

Russia--Back up and into the second place spot, and not only did you not lose anything, youre even gaining a build as well! The English support was great but your single greatest move was working with Austria to take a Turkish center. I don't know why it took as long as it did, but kudos for it. I believe next season will see even better things and for builds, I'm predicting an army.

Italy--Not sure why you moved the fleet on land. I don't think it will gain you much that your army couldn't already do except put all your units in Turkish soil. I think you'll see some common ground with Germany but on a smaller scale. No builds for the second straight year will cause you to be the possible second person out the door. I would be surprised if someone gave you a build, but then again, I don't know about the alliance structure going on within the press being sent. As I said earlier, a good goal for Italy to have is to double his units by 1904, 1905 if he has to. Other countries see that type of growth and you need to stay on pace.

Turkey--Really, I'm done commenting. The third straight set of all holds tells me you gave up on this game and if you don't have someone feeding you centers, then you won't try. Sure it's frustrating to be in the position you're in, but part of the challenge is getting out of your mess. If you only try when you're winning, then you won't get far in this game. You got 1 unit to destroy after retreats and I already know it will be the fleet. I will stop posting you in my commentary.

In turkey's defense, the fleet in con moved to the Aegean.

You're right. i was probably a little harsh. He did also support a hold on a unit not his own as well showing that he was trying to get something going. For that, I apologize. I do think the AEG move was hiz best option and it does appear Russia screwed him which shows more of the flip-flopping on his part. I think he could have back-filled Con, though, because that's a stalemate point for armies.

Back to the front

Bump, bump it up

No KingRashard again, eh?

Ok, I have a question. How does Italy (or Austria or Russia) want the east to look if and when Turkey is gone, and what should they do (in particular with center splits/ builds) to make it happen?

Also, I'm pretty sure professors only have to post once per game year (or at least that's how it was when I proffed) and I think that KingRashard has been great!

Fall 1903

Just for once, can you spell my name right, Tru? It's KingRishard with an i not KingRashard with an a. Sorry, it's just something that has been bothering me since we started, hopefully for understandable reasons.

To the game, things are certainly shaking up a bit, aren't they? Let's see how shaken up the standings are.

1. Austria - The East finally reaches the top of the charts! Nicely done. Now that you have some momentum, you need keep moving with it. If Turkey is your only enemy, with him almost done, you need to get moving on your next target. Stagnate nations are like stagnate water: Not good. Find who you can trust most and attack the one you can't. You'll build an army in Vienna. Keep up the good work.

2. France - I am a sucker for convoys, and I applaud that move. Now you've reached the trenches and you'll need England to break through via the sea for you to make any progress. Things will be slow for you for awhile, but you do have one build to play around with. I know where I would put it if I was you, but I feel any comments I may make will sway your decisions, so I'll just leave it where it is for now.

3. Germany - Ouch. Again the fleet build has come back to haunt you. You'll have to disband a unit and your Western front isn't really an option for that at the moment. I agree with Tru's guess, as you have to focus on defending the homeland. As seen in both world wars, Germany fighting on two fronts is a big no-no. You need to make nice with someone if you are going to be able to hold on to what you have.

4. Russia - Congratulations on the build! I'm glad you and Austria stopped being so wishy-washy, but with Turkey going down soon, you need to figure out where to go next. Germany should be backing off, but England may be poised to come after St. Petersburg later, even though he gave you a support hold. I also expect an army, as you have enough fleets in the south for now in my opinion.

5. England - Now you've got some progress going. I loved the support hold of Russia in St. Petersburg. I'm guessing the move to Wales was to stop a convoy you thought France would do, but it didn't come. You need to convoy that army somewhere, and fast. Right now it has nothing to do but roam around the English countryside, while nice, there are greener pastures it could visit. France is pretty much going to have Germany stuck in a deadlock and it will be up to you to reduce his numbers before France gets tired of waiting on you.

6. Italy - What is with bringing the fleet to shore? Where you aware that Austria was going to get dislodged and wanted him to retreat to the Eastern Med instead of Greece? Not sure what you are playing at with all that. You should be able to get a piece of the Turkey to finally get a reward for your Lepanto.

7. Turkey - The Russian stab is what finally did it in for you. While you may have had them on the fence for awhile now, it seems things didn't go in your favor. Remember, you have a center, so you are still alive. Don't forget, you can always offer to be a Janissary for another nation, which can sometimes be a lot of fun, just being a rogue pirate wandering the seas. Your destroy will be bad, regardless of what you pick. Good luck.

Thank you for the complement uclabb. As for your question, I will try to answer without going to much into recommend alliance structures and the such.

Italy will have to get one of the Turkish centers, if not both if they want to stay in this game. With France at a stalemate with Germany and with Austria up 2 and Russia up 1, Italy really needs these, as it hasn't seen a build since 01.

Austria can't really get into either of the Turkish centers, so may want to offer Smyrna to Italy. Being on top, they want to stay there, and the best way to do that is to help the smaller guys, not the guys closest to catching up to you.

Russia needs to reclaim Warsaw to have access to all of his home centers again, and with England possibly being a threat to St. Petersburg and having taken Const, I think Russia will be better off working with whoever is the highest bidder, so to speak, according to the press.

I apologize for the misspelling. KingRishard it is. My spelling is really good but I have the habit of missing the obvious. My apologies.

Also, I'm not bashing you either. It's been really great having a second prof. I love the commentary because it's something I can look forward to.

I'd like to start by posting a general comment: I hope that the players are paying close attention to the thread, especially the areas where KingRishard and I are in agreement. The key points, to me, are that builds are among the most important focal points to a game and what the builds say about you is as important as the purpose behinfld them. I make a point to not finalize orders and I don't often submit orders within the first 24-hours of a 2-day phase game because there are a good many people that see this as having an open-mind. Early finalizing and submission of orders, while it may have a practical application, can sometimes send the wrong message, especially in 1901. The same goes for builds. Building one unit can send a different message than building another and it can send two different messages to two different people. One example is when I was playing Russia and I built in Moscow instead of StP because I wanted to send a message to the west that I was not going to be aggressive. Instead, it was received as a sign of weakness of sorts and there was an opportunity to move in on me from the north. Think about the message you're trying to send along with where you are headed with your units.

The next area we clagree on is that England has to regularly convoy armies when in attack-mode. If he's not pumping armies onto the mainland, he will find that he won't make much progress.

One final point is to have a clear goal and stick to it if at all possible. Bouncing back and forth can lead to lack of progress. I should also point out that while he and I disagree about the effectiveness of the Lepanto, we both agree that it has been rather ineffective.

Now on to Uclabb's questions:

Italy: I whole-heartedly agree with the King on this one. Italy needs the builds, and badly. To me, when the Lepanto is most effective is when Italy can talk Austria into giving up Gre. Also, in most 3-on-1 situations, Italy frequently gets the shaft in builds (only 1 instead of 2 like his allies) which is why I frequently favor Italy finding a way to slow the west and form a 2 on 2 and move quickly (start it right out of the gate and possibly forego Tun as a build in lieu of something more beneficial). Here, it's been too long and Italy hasn't had builds. While he might get one next year, I also wouldn't put money on that. His success hinges on an extended eastern war where his participation plays either an integral part or allows him to focus on other things.

Austria needs direction. In the past, his units have been in areas that were totally useless doing things that didn't need to be done, The first is having units stationed in Tri doing nothing--theres been an army stationed there doing nothing since 1901 except to prevent Italy from stabbing him for one center. If I'm Italy and in F02 he doesn't have more than a lone army in Ven and I keep seeing a build in Nap, he's not coming for me and I can put that army to use. Then there's the bounces in Gal and Rum (which I still think could have been security bounces) and last, the army in Alb. All these point to a lack of direction. Find a target, at this point it doesn't matter who because you're not beautifully set up to move on anyone, and list goals.

Russia needs to simply pick a front. I think he's focusing on maintaining StP way too much. He has several units in the north meant to keep one center--and its one that has no guarantee that he will continue to control it. Of he has control of StP two years from now, I'll be shocked. I agree that he needs War. I know where I'd love to see him and he has two possible allies to pick from--if he picks one, he needs to go one way and if he picks the otjer, he should go a different way, but there are a few people he shouldn't spend a lot of time working directly worth at this stage. I will wait until the next year is well under way amd use my commentary to fill this in more because more detail here would be too telling.

Of the builds this turn, only France's did I disagree with, although I would like to hear Tru's stance on these things before I go into more detail.

I totally agree with KingRishard, the army Paris build is a botch. When I initially called for a possible build postpone it was under some pretty specific understandings. I essentially went through the following thoughts : If the French build a fleet, it could go on either coast. Bre would indicate an English attack, but given that he already made peace with E and took a German center, I don't see the point in returning to an attack on England because that would only create a EG, so F Bre is out. A Par and A Bre is also out because the army build could only be convoyed since the German retreat stalemates French advances. That means that an army in the two northern centers is useless for at least another year, probably longer. This leaves Marseilles. If a build took place, it would have to be Mar. With an army build there, he could get Italian permission to circumvent Switzerland and tap Mun to help him get through next year, which isn't a bad idea, or he could build a fleet and move on italy. Given that Italy has two units really far from home, there's a possibility that he could take Rome or use the army build in Mar to pressure either Rom or Ven, but if Italy gets a build this year then he will invite a second war, so he would have to make sure Italy gained nothing this year. That's why I called for a build postpone with the exception on something specific and I was alluding to a Mar build. I think your build, along with the moves you've been prone to making that you're having a hard time thinking beyond one season.

This isn't to say that you can't use the army somehow, I simply think that it would require English assistance to get anywhere useful with it, and I don't think that will happen because England will be looking for a build for himself.

Very well put. I was hoping to see a build in Mar as well. Remember what I've said before, if things are going slow in one area (your stalemate with Germany), look to other avenues of expansion.

bump

bumpity - page 2???

Ill have my commentary up late tonight. I have it typed up on my home computer in a .txt file except for one country. Ill copy-paste it tonight when I get home.

OK the game to which I referred has finished, so I am not involved in any game with a player in this game (to the best of my knowledge, although I have started 2 world dip games & they have a cast of...17 )

I refuse to recant on my Russia & Germany comments and the way Russia is going
would seem to vindicate my strategy for Russia ( turn Germany into a wounded crittur, and make it the "Balkans of the North"
The English German alliance makes perfect sense for England & Germany, given France's anti English opening, and this leaves Russia "out in the cold" in the alliance dance