Are we going to vote on or otherwise select awards as someone suggested in the game press?

Sure. Craziest opening, most successful, etc..?

Yes. As far as "Most Successful" goes, a simple SC count yields the following "bests" by country:
Austria -- 8 by VirtualBob (Game IV)
England -- 10 by Vallk (VI)
France -- 6 (tie) by TheReinvented (I), Vallk (VII), VB (VI)
Germany -- 8 by TR (II)
Italy -- 8 by VB (III)
Russia -- 7 by TR (III)
Turkey -- 9 by VB (II)

Worsts would be:
Austria -- 0 by bosox (III)
England -- 2 by VB (IV)
France -- 1 by kasimax (II)
Germany -- 0 by boson (VI)
Italy -- 1 by Vallk (IV)
Russia -- 2 by sanctacaris (VI)
Turkey -- 4 by Vallk (III)

boson ==> bosox ... auto-corrupt strikes again.

I also think it is interesting that Turkey (in general) did so well ... perhaps because the natural position does not lend itself to very many crazy options?

And on the other end of the spectrum, France was not wildly successful ... perhaps because extreme non-standard options for France eliminate its natural advantages?

Oops ... Correction to the above list of "bests" ... sanctacaris scored 9 for Turkey in game VII too.

Turkey did well because the natural tendency for Austrian players in this game seemed to be "attack Italy because that's something I'll never actually do!" Turkey also tended to attack Russia, which is often a good strategy, and Russia tended to get bombarded by Germany, etc etc. The fact that Turkey had no need to leave any defense for a three year game, unlike Germany or Austria for example, suggests why they were much more successful - they had greater resources from the outset and that disparity only grew.

England was also surprisingly successful in attacking France. I've never preferred that route, but I had a hell of a time leaving Scandinavia to Russia and Germany and simply going all-out on France. I don't know that it's something I would pull often because it requires a ton of armies and a peaceful Russian counterpart, but I'm considering it with more merit than I had before.

By the way, that link is also on my profile, so whenever this thread dies, this is all still archived without having to search the forum.

Press type?

full press that was not used very much.

i now regret that i didn't try openings that usually don't work because complete trust can't be established, bluewater being an example, or the slingshot juggernaut. would've been interesting to see where this goes.

if we do craziest, i vote for the anglo-german opening against france in game3 which i was part of. i literally laughed out loud when i saw it succeeded.

I came up with an interesting Lepanto take on France. In 1903. :/

Also, I appear to not show up on either list. Too moderate, perhaps?

you can borrow one of my worst country medals if you want, Death

also, i thin the reason that turkey did so well is that nobody tried a really unusual opening, like moving to syria.

Yeah, the unusual openings really favored the normally defensive countries. I also find it funny that even the "Best Frances" had incredibly compromised positions and may not have lasted long after had the games continued.

I'm surprised to see the German hard-right opening as an "experimental" opening.

I've used that a lot. It relies on a lot of trust from France, but it CRIPPLES Russia if you convince him to open north. It makes Turkey run wild, which keeps Italy and Austria tied up, and usually leads to an England/France fight too.

SPRING: F Bre - MAO, A Par - Gas, A Mar - Bur (bounce)
FALL: F MAO C Gas - Por, A Mar - Spa
BUILDS: F Bre, A Par
SPRING 02: F MAO - NAO, F Bre - MAO, Par/Spa do defensive things (Par - Bre, Spa - Gas or Mar)
FALL 02: F NAO, MAO convoy Portugal to Clyde

(obviously involves intense diplomacy)

Thoughts?

Thanks for organizing, bo. That was a lot of fun. I didn't really get out of it what I was hoping to--to test out openings for Germany and Italy--but I enjoyed the wackiness of it, in particular the convoy-happy Anglo-German opening with kasimax. I don't know that we can really learn that much from this, given the odd dynamics introduced by some people playing gunboat and others press, and the fact that we were all doing unusual things simultaneously, but I enjoyed it and would definitely do it again sometime. Especially if I could be neighbors with kasi again.

i think part of the weirdness stemmed from what is considered an unusual opening. when i saw some openings i thought, well, that might not be the most common opening, but it is certainly one used more often.

That's a sea lion, DeathLlama. Overrated in my book.

That German/English opening was insane but it didn't work all that well, did it?

Getting an error on the Google doc. :(

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IFh0SnZJTTT7HHLLIZ5RRtukMDKOifcCvVgleBvGCNo/edit?usp=sharing

anyone want to discuss this any further?

Has anyone tried another opening in another game?

Sealion is when you take the channel and convoy to wales, isn't it?

Typically in a Sealion, France moves to the Channel and then supports Germany into North Sea in Fall 1901. In spring 1902, France and Germany both try to convoy armies into England, the idea being that England cannot stop all of the convoys.

That's an immediate attack though. Often times it takes the form of MAO/Irish and then a convoy around Liverpool. That is a traditional sea lion.