(Turkey) well, a quick reaction to that move is that my guy's going to be very happy with the move out of the Black Sea. Austria is isolated - Italy and Russia having made hostile moves - and as his Greece move means he's b!ocking Turkey's westward expansion, Russia can be confident Turkey won't be heading his way. It's therefore critical that Russia doesn't build in Sev this turn.
An interesting question now for Turkey is the Lepanto threat. With a strong opening from France, does Italy really want to risk that though?

(Russia)
Turkey is probably right in that the alliance talks aren't getting very far. Austria has made no concrete proposal for us to consider. Normally I would expect at least some sort of short term plan. For all I know he may be protecting the driver's freedom and integrity by not offering anything concrete but it also means the driver cannot expect any help from us backseat neighbours.
Now for the case of the Black Sea I would recommend it move to Rumania. I do not purport to obligate the driver to vacate the Black Sea -it is obvious he has something else in mind as he disregarded the talk of the juggernaut and moved to the Black Sea anyway- but I would make the recommendation nonetheless.

Never mind with the recommendations. I did not realize the orders went through already.
Comments about Autumn 1901
1. I am pleased to see the moves from Russia and Turkey in the south. It seems we have agreement!
2. I am extremely disappointed by England convoying to Norway. I would highly recommend at least Army in Stp to counter that threat. England also has blocked Germany from Denmark. I am in favour of each of us taking one scandinavian sc so I recommend supporting Germany into Denmark provided he does not build fleet Berlin or move to the Baltic. It is a core interest of Russia that the balance of power in Scandinavia does not tilt heavily to any one side.

(Germany)

@England - that was rather unpleasant, and may turn out to be rather short-sighted on your behalf.

@Russia - given the moves this turn, would you be averse in seeing a fleet in Berlin if it is headed for Denmark?

(France) Well, I would say that by moving his army all the way to Portugal my driver has again made moves quite friendly to Germany. If Germany wants to cooperate with us I would assume they would want to build a fleet and the only place where they can do that is Berlin. That's not necessarily anti-Russian at all, especially since their current Fleet is all the way over in Holland.

Obviously the moves are also quite friendly towards England. It will be interesting to see what my driver builds. I would assume one army and one fleet. Question is where will the fleet go?

(Russia)
To Germany. If you build fleet Berlin then it doesn't look like you have any need of support getting Denmark. I would accept a fleet Berlin build but until it lands in Denmark I would be wary of it. I will obviously not support England so do not worry.
It seems France is doing the insult no one build which is perfectly fine. I await the revelation of his allegiances.

(England) The move to bounce in Denmark was mainly to make sure that Germany didn't grow to the full three builds and become a giant threat early on. As to the convoy to Norway, it's important for England to secure some power in Scandinavia so that Norway isn't lost early on. The second army that was built could now be convoyed onto the mainland, whereas a fleet could have been used to extend a convoy route to the Barents.

(austria)
@russia: i thought it would be obvious that it was against turkey. that is what the point of the alliance be, as we cannot expect a turkey to not attack one of if us.

(Phase change) Game progressed to Diplomacy, Spring, 1902

(England) France building a fleet in Marseilles bodes well for both Germany and England.

(France)

@England
I agree. It seems as though my guy is opting for peaceful relations in the West and joining Turkey in a Mediterranean campaign. If Germany is interested we may be able to play a Western Triple.

@Germany
The French driver doesn't seem to contest the German occupation of Belgium so I would suggest that it is in both our interest to keep a peaceful mutual border. It would be great if Ruhr can stay empty.

(Germany)

@France: I'm happy for Ruhr to stay open as long as Burgundy stays open.

Regarding the Western Triple, since England has induced a fleet build in Berlin, it would be very difficult for me to move effectively Eastwards - it is clear that at this point Denmark has to be the top priority for Germany. However, I wish you the best of luck against the Italians.

(Turkey)
I think a western triple would be overdoing a bit. My guy has a lot of work to do getting through Austria, and it looks like Italy is setting himself up for a Lepanto (which I hope Turkey is going to block).

(Russia)

Russia built army Stp as I had recommended (and was obvious). An alternative choice would have been Fleet Stp (nc) but that would have meant open war with England. At least with the army build peace is still possible.

The western triple is probably no more than an idea. France tried for Belgium even though Germany was going to get it, England blocked Germany from Denmark, and that does suggest the beginnings of a E-F alliance. I would be very wary as Germany. The friendship of Russia is a valuable asset and Germany must seek to gain it.

As for the south, Italy's somehow decided to both do a Lepanto and take a potshot at Vienna. I have no real idea why Italy went to Vienna, but now that he has built fleet Naples, one can only hope Austria doesn't take that move badly and roll him over with his new armies.

Turkey has moved his fleet south through Constantinople. Right now he threatens Greece, though I think it would be more prudent if Turkey attempted to go round Austria for Italy instead. Position is key in Diplomacy, and the Turkish in Ionian is much stronger than the Turkish in Greece even though Ionian is not a supply centre.

France's Marseilles build is going to give Italy some trouble unless it is an elaborate attempt to fool England into lowering his defences. I think France is longing for pizza and pasta though... We will see how Italy will manage with too many enemies and not enough allies.

Germany built the only 2 logical builds, fleet Berlin and army Munich. Fleet Berlin is arguably not ideal from a Russian standpoint but it is very understandable as Kiel got blocked and he still needs Denmark.

England built army Edinburgh, a sign that he wants to convoy that to Norway. There is no other place where the army can go realistically, and it seems England's plan is to dominate Scandinavia. Russia is absolutely against that and will work with Germany or whoever else is willing to stop that.

(Italy) @Austria. Well I believe it is prudent to put our past actions aside. As I need to prepare for France. I would suggest you taking the Aegean (with assistance) as we slowly build a wall against the Juggernaut. Which hopefully England and/or Germany will join to ensure that we are not all destroyed. Also, sorry I have been so silent. It is so difficult to play as Italy, and I'd much rather be brief and informative than lengthy and confusing.

(Germany)

I largely agree with Russia's analysis here.

(France)

@Germany
Russia's analysis does indeed make a few valid points. However it is also clearly biased towards Russian interests. Primarily where it tries to scare you about an English-French alliance to manipulate you into helping them in Scandinavia.

Now if there really where an EF-alliance in the works, as Russia would have you believe, then EF would have cooperated against you. Instead France seems to be moving against Italy and England seems to be moving against Russia. In addition, if there where an EF, then France would have built two armies while England would have built a fleet. What happened is exactly the opposite. Furthermore England and France would have agreed for one or the other to take the Channel in order to kick you out of Belgium. That didn't happen either. So, there's really no basis for Russia's scaremongering about an EF-alliance about to attack Germany.

Also, the Western triple is not just an idea. It's a serious option. Obviously Germany needs to focus on getting Denmark in the short term, but after that, if England Germany and French all agree that Germany can keep Belgium and get Denmark, then what's to stop us from cooperating Eastward further down the line?

(Italy) @Germany. Even though I do not have the reigns. I would like to offer you peace, much like austria. I would like to point out that France actually wins the most games, and has a rather easy path through my developing nation, where he can pick up all four centers, whereas you and england have much less to gain through war with Russia. However, by splitting france you can both go up to 8 centers each instead of you two having 6 or 7 centers each facing a nine center france and plently othe countries, like turkey.

(Austria)
@italy: that is probably currently our best option.

(Germany)

@Italy - I certainly would have no intention of attacking you, and I doubt that my driver feels differently.

@France - I agree that his concerns regarding E/F seem slightly overblown, given the build phase. I don't, however, agree that the channel standing empty means anything in particular.

(Germany)

And now to discuss the next phase.

@Russia - since we now have Denmark, I expect the fleet will be re-routing via Kiel. I would be willing to offer you support in Sweden if you want it, so that you can take on Norway.

@Italy - It seems that we have a common enemy on our borders here. If you are willing to fully commit via Piedmont, we should be able to work together for mutual gain.

(England)

Well, it now seems that the only alliance available for England and France is an EF alliance, given the hostilities with our other neighbours. This seems to be developing into a central powers vs juggernaut vs England/France, except for the proposed cooperation between Germany and Russia in Scandinavia. If England and France don't join together (although there's not much way to do so), we'll both be smothered by the oncoming armies of fleets.

(France)

I agree with England's point and in fact I'd say that Russia should seriously reconsider its cooperation with Germany in Scandinavia and work with England instead. The four corner powers versus the three central powers will have a better outcome for Russia than a fast growing Germany with no serious opposition that would surely be coming after Russia mid game. The German driver has consistently made greedy, opportunistic moves with no regards for what even their own backseat driver says in the negotiations and their attack on Burgundy despite three seasons of German friendly French moves clearly shows that they have no grasp of the concept of reciprocation. This makes them an unreliable partner for anyone to ally with.

That being said, the German driver may have expected to be bounced in Burgundy. If that's the case then I would suggest that it's not too late to retreat from Burgundy and restore at least a neutral relation with France. Until this happens though, I certainly hope that my driver is now finally done making German friendly moves.

(Germany)

@France - what are you talking about when you call Germany fast-growing? Germany is sat on five right now, moving onto 6 in '02. This is entirely normal for Germany, and no evidence that Russia has anything to be worried about German growth.

(France)

@Germany I'm talking about Germany working with Italy to take down France, while Russia keeps England out of position to do anything about it, i.e. the scenario you are yourself suggesting. Also, don't act as though Germany doesn't have the strongest position on the board right now when it most obviously does.

(Germany)

Whilst Germany is in a decent position, it's hyperbole to say that the German position in obviously the strongest. Indeed, if we look Eastwards we see that Russia has a relatively secure north and a friendly Turkey, Austria gained 2 builds in '01 and has Galicia, and Turkey has managed to get a second fleet in the med and is in a wonderful position to pressure Italy, especially since Italy is undoubtedly distracted by the French. Given this, I don't think it's clear that Germany is standing any better than her eastern neighbours.

(Russia)

Spring moves!

Russis has unambiguously moved against England. Provocations have costs and England is now about to lose Norway. If only England had heeded my warnings!
That said the southern campaign has not been as successful. Russia stands to lose Rumania and Turkey is not making headway fast enough. I expect Russia to gain Norway and lose Rumania for an SC neutral 1902.

Russia would be grateful for German support. The French are simply trying to dissuade an unfavourable alliance and such words hold little weight. Germany is attacking France not because he is inconsistent but because England and France contrived to block two of Germany's neutral SCs! The onus is on France for not realizing that Burgundy needed to be defended better or that moving to Belgium was not very friendly.

Meanwhile France had committed south at probably the worst time. The army in Spain is late to the action. Italy will fall to Turkey first if Turkey joins in and will defend well if Turkey focuses on Austria. Now France has the unenviable situation of having roused two neighbours' hatred...

England tried to be cute with the Skagerrak but got bounced in North Sea so now he is in big trouble. His homeland is not threatened by Russia but Germany has to use his fleets somewhere and England doesn't even have more fleets than Germany. If Russia uses his fleet to help Germany I cannot see England holding the mainland.

Italy is half screwed. Austria is indeed doing well but Italy has Ionian and Tyrrhenian under threat and it all depends on Turkey's intentions. Not good.

Austria has remarkably made progress against Russia and Turkey combined and is well set up. The only issue is that his buddy Italy is in danger and that would open up a flank.

Turkey is making boring obvious and utterly normal moves nothing much to say.

(France)

@Russia
Why would you say that France has roused two neighbors' hatred, while in fact France has only moved against Italy? I guess it is because you want to fuel the animosity between Germany and France that is serving you so well. As it often does the Juggernaut is working out better for you than for Turkey and meanwhile all your neighbors are occupied in other battles. Turkey is fighting Austria, England is fighting Germany, Germany is fighting France. Congratulations. Good job.

@Turkey
I would suggest to leave Austria be for a while since they seem to be the only one that are at least trying to slow down Russia. With them moving into Albania it's going to be hard to make any progress there anyway. Instead we could work together to quickly carve up Italy. This season you could take the Ionian Sea while we take the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the longer run I propose that you leave Rome and Tunis to us, while we leave Naples and Venice to you. I would like to hear your thoughts about this.

(Italy)
@Turkey: For the most part, with one obvious caveat, I agree with France. It is important for you to consider Russia. Germany is Entangled with France, and England is Entangled with germany, as such Austria is the only one who is maintaining a defense against Russia. However, Russia has more units in better places and as such has relatively easy growth, whereas you need to claw for every SC, and even then you won't be able to match Russia, much less in the long game. Russia must be stifled, and you need Austria for that. As you need to focus on Russia, it would be a horrendus idea to try and take Italy, specifically the Ionian, as it would allow France to take the Tyrrhenian. Once france takes that sea, you will not be able to cross that stalemate line should you choose a southern route, and France would be able to come even closer to your Territory with "my" fall. Not to mention it will lead to you to spread yourself thin due to the Russian threat.
@Austria: Try to work with Turkey, I will work on defending your rear. Which brings me to
@ France: Please reconsider your plan to attack me. It is very possible the germans will continue to press you, especially if peace is found with England. I don't want to be harmed, but considering your moves, it seems I may have to move your way.
@Germany & England: Bury the Hachet, you are only serving the goals of France and Russia by fighting, if you go west, I can help.

Good Luck to all, but please, heed the advice of the italian backseat driver. He is wise beyond his years.