But what's in that for Germany? Also, how did Russia have the fleets to overpower England? The fourth fleet made it even.

Bo, please look closer. Fall 1904, have Germany support Swe-Norway. That puts three units on North, with 3 english fleets to defend. But Germany also has two on Brest. And England has a destroy. So England would have to choose between losing Brest to Germany, North Sea to Germany, or Portugal to France. Or have Russia support St.P there and set up for 4 fleets on North with a Russian fleet build.

Bump.

Not sure what to say about builds, they are all fairly basic. Austria might have been better off building a fleet. Russia's disbands make a lot of sense, allows him to defend.

*bump*

SoW Spring 1907

I'm getting antsy. This map has so much potential and so little of it is being used. There are so many fun ideas you all could try. I really don't want to see a 4-way draw by 1909; that's so typical and simply not what the School of War is about. Take a chance, break some rules, piss some people off - that's the point. It's not like every user on the entire site has an open invitation to critique you for it or anything.

England - What better way to redeem your missed opportunity at a solo run earlier than to create another one for yourself? I see an interesting opportunity arising for you that, while definitely a little bit improbable, might actually get you somewhere. So, assuming that you end up taking (and holding) Moscow and holding Tunis, you sit at 10 centers, a reasonable amount for a drawing power. What you need to reach 18 is everything German except for Munich. Impossible? Absolutely not. Difficult? Yeah, but that's the fun in my job. I get to encourage you to do what's difficult and interesting as opposed to what's easy and boring, which is exactly the route this game has gone.

You have a build coming this fall. Like your last couple, that build ought to be an army. Unlike your last couple, that army shouldn't go to Scandinavia - try Belgium instead. An army in Belgium not only cuts Germany down a center, but it also gives you an opportunity to push into both France or his home centers, whichever appeals to you more. When he disbands, he'll end up disbanding an army, which only puts you closer to overpowering him on land. You'll keep building, he'll keep disbanding, and in two or three years, you might have opened something up for yourself.

Better yet, look at Austria. You and Turkey could tear his navy apart. Drop a fleet in Marseilles in exchange for Brest and force Austria to pick someone to defend against between you and Turkey and I bet he'll choose Turkey. It won't be long before you have a chance to get Italian centers and maybe even push further. Turkey is your only real competition in the Med, but for now, you both need each other, so I recommend taking advantage of that.

Now, as opposed to asking why, I'd rather ask the opposite - why not? You have absolutely nothing to lose. Austria quit his solo bid before he even started, electing instead to get things over with a little quicker. Germany hasn't had much of a solo bid since he wasn't able to attack you. Your spot in the draw is secure - St. Petersburg and Tunis are basically unbreakable stalemates and your weird North Sea arrangement could easily be fortified in a single move by drawing the MAO back and leaving the Barents. You'll also have the opportunity to scramble for Scandinavia, which means that Germany's three fleets will probably be so busy defending against you incursion that he can't use them against you anyway. So, again - why not?

France - RIP.

Germany - I just made the case for England to try for a solo. I don't know if I did it successfully or not, but this game is painstakingly boring when no one even tries, so I'm gonna make the case for you to try to solo too. Ready or not, here I come.

You are sitting pretty at 9 centers. There's nothing wrong with sitting around at 9 centers. I can't tell you how many times I've drawn at 9 centers. Having said that three times, you made a very intriguing move to Piedmont this past phase that opens up a stupidly convenient opportunity to take Tyrolia and encroach on Austria's homeland *before* he gets any builds off of Russia. (But wait - isn't Austria build here? Yes, but maybe not. Get creative and you'll outsmart him.) Within Austria's homeland is this unusual, largely unknown stalemate line at Vienna, one where you can get bombarded all you want from the south and still never lose it as long as you have the capacity to maintain it - which, as of now, you don't. But could you?

Well, that's where things get even more fun. England is a sitting fucking duck right now. Not only has he entrusted you not to take Brest with that useless army in Paris for the last 32 centuries (cough cough - take Brest), but he has become so carelessly arrogant that he's not even defending the North Sea. Seriously, look at it - he would rather support a convoy into Norway that he knows is going to succeed than actually pull the Barents Sea back. He would rather SH the Western Mediterranean against a combined France-Austria naval attack than pull it back. It's like a worm dangling on a line in front of a fish, only it's an expensive steak or something.

So, here's the deal - you can get the North Sea from England whenever you want because he's too cocky to defend it. You can take Brest whenever you want because he's not aggressive enough with you to convince you to DMZ the territory around it. You can take Tyrolia whenever you want because Austria overlooked your attack (which I can't blame him for; I did too). And, of course, you can take Norway whenever you want - in fact, I might try it this phase, knowing that he's going to push that army into St. Petersburg, possibly leaving it open just like the rest of his territory, and that, in the worst case scenario, you block him from moving the Barents Sea back into reasonable defensive position.

If you're quick on your feet, you can make this work. You don't have a bunch of time for hesitation, though. All three of you have hesitated when the opportunity came and now all three of you are gloriously basking in your four-way draw that Austria somehow let Turkey become a part in. Change that. Take a chance. You have nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

Austria - You know that meme with the Asian guy doing a "wtf" face? Well, that's basically where I'm at with your strategy here.

(For reference - http://memesvault.com/wp-content/uploads/Asian-Meme-Face-05.jpg - yes, I did actually google "Asian face meme" and yes, that's actually what it's apparently called)

I've been a little nicer than my half-drunk self wants to be, so I'm gonna lay it out there. You had a solo shot and simply missed it. You had a chance to string Russia along just one more time - you'd already done it the whole game! - and support you into Munich, along with, obviously, the lie of the century that you would support him into Berlin in return. Instead, you worked with the guy whose centers you need to solo to do what, make it quicker? Make it end faster? I guess I get that if you're tired of playing, but I only subbed you in what, like two years ago? Come on. And if you wanted to make it faster, why did you leave Turkey so alone? He's getting ready to eat you up.

Speaking of Turkey, I don't get why you moved your fleets toward Tunis if you weren't planning on soloing anyway. You aren't creating a stalemate - hell, all it took was one German army to stealthily cross into Piedmont to prove that - so what's the point? Had you moved those fleets toward Turkey, you would be able to support yourself into the Aegean Sea, tell England that if he and Germany want this over quickly they better stay out of your business, and while you're at it, take care of your business. Instead, you're worried about creating a stalemate line and yet you don't even have the resources to do it. In effect, you're wasting your units, and now Turkey's back, and he's hungry.

Aside from Turkey, what's the strategy in Russia? Germany has a bunch of armies doing fuck-all while you try to support the wrong unit into Warsaw. What good does putting Ukraine into Warsaw do you? (Hint: none.) All that does is give Germany more incentive to boot your unit out of Silesia and England more room to maneuver around Moscow. Consequently, it also allowed Russia to bounce you, and while he's disbanding that unit, he may very well be rebuilding that unit if England and Germany decide that one of them is better off in Warsaw than you.

If the strategy is to throw more units at Russia than Russia has and just wait until it works out, you're golden. I'm not against that strategy - it works wonders. I am against that strategy here, though, because Turkey and now because Germany. That army in Piedmont is going to be the most annoying thing in the world for you because your overkill strategy in Russia either now gets dismantled or, if you continue it, leaves you vulnerable. You also have to worry about the very realistic possibility that Germany and England swap Brest for Marseilles, giving England a fleet in Marseilles, the WMed, and Spain to go along with his army in Tunis - consequently, enough to make it so that you can't defend yourself against Turkey if England doesn't let you. These possibilities only exist because you dedicated too many resources to Russia, figuring he'll die if you just throw everything you have at him, instead of worrying about potential threats that might arise down the road.

So here we are. Your solo bid failed - if it ever even happened - and you have potential trouble from just about every direction. Moreover, if Germany and England decide to have it out for you, which is in their interest, not only does that put in question whether or not you build this year, but it puts in question whether *you survive or not*. Turkey is an angry beast when he gets going and it's a lot easier for those three to start working on taking you out than for those two to simply sit idly for years upon years upon years while you deal with the Turkish problem you let happen in the first place. I'm worried for you.

Turkey - Austria's fuck ups are your gains if you can convince England and Germany that you're a more viable draw partner than Austria is at this point. Frankly, I don't think that should be hard to do. England and Germany are going to have to sit around drinking tea and yelling at foreigners (is that an English joke or a German joke? I don't even know anymore…) for the next 2-3 years for Austria to take you out. Of course, they could also very well just draw with you in the game, but I don't see why you need to do that. Look at this game: gameID=120638. (Yes, CDs, I know, but that's not my point.)

Turkey is never dead. This much you have made clear all game long. The thing that this game represents is that Turkey is like Frankenstein or Jesus or white bread or something - it rises out of absolutely nothing. When given even the littlest bit of breathing space, look how dramatically Turkey can grow. Your best selling point on why England and Germany should join you against Austria in order to get down to three at the end is that you can grow all you want and it won't hurt them. Obviously, you need a build to accomplish any of this. I don't see how you could wind up getting a build this year, but if you can get into the Ionian or even get England into the Ionian if absolutely necessary, you shouldn't have any problem getting Bulgaria and securing the territory that you need to lock up Armenia and push west.

The fact of the matter for you is that this is your first chance all game since Russia attacked you initially to grow. You should be willing to take it, even if for no other reason than to experiment and get a chance to get some real analysis of your play. Your TA is one of the best players I've played with, so get some pointers from him as to how to approach the subject with England and Germany and hopefully you can break out of the corner.

Russia - I feel kind of bad implying that you still have hope when, realistically, you're likely done, but there is a glimmer. Austria did himself no favors by failing to take one of your centers in the spring. Germany is now forcing his way in and Turkey is now threatening. England probably won't be far behind. For you, that means that neither of them should want Austria taking any of your centers, so even if it means keeping you alive and not claiming it for themselves, they should be willing to do just about anything to keep Warsaw from being red. It's a tough sell, but it's worth a try. If this map gets chaotic, which I sincerely hope it does because it's just been begging to the last few years, having two or three centers is enough to have a shot and have some influence over the board as a whole.

Upon waking up mostly sober, I realize I swapped out Austria in the other game, not here. Oops o_O

France: why did you move? Austria supported Tunis to hold - but that's invalid if you move. Poor choice, and now you're dead. Oh well.

I like drunk bo commentary BTW, that was amusing and accurate. :-)

And yes to E/G/T - the usual result of a Western Triple is Turkey doing very well and someone getting cut out of EFG in mid-game... It's not at all implausible to see that essentially happen during mid-game.

The pause should be lifted on Monday provided a replacement for Austria is ready to go by that point. If anyone is interested in that position and having Pete remain your TA or a position in the Study Group game, send me a PM.

Bump. Any interested replacements?

Stiiiiiilllllll need a replacement player. Would love a volunteer.

Bump. Was really enjoying TAing this game.

I don't know why no one wants to be a replacement, you get in a great position with a great TA if you want/need it and an asshole professor to keep you company.

I'm kinda, ya know, already dead :P

Yeah, dead people are out, sorry o_O

I'm currently playing in the Study Group game, but if a replacement is sorely needed, I would be happy to step in.

If study group people are okay, I'm kind of already out of the study group game, if you don't want somebody concurrently playing in both.

I might have one for the SoW, but if not, I'll let you both know and you can fight over it. Looking to have both games unpaused ASAP though.

I would say that Zybodia should have a go at it, since I'm still playing the other active game. All yours, dude.

I think I have a sub, I sent him all the info so he should enter soon enough. The players still in the game can probably unpause on their own but if they haven't within 24-ish hours of the sub entering, I'll unpause it.

Yon substitute hath entered.

Excellent news

Bump.

Yay, something happened!

School of War Autumn 1907

England - I don't know that this was the best way or best time to stab Germany, but it works and I'm glad you made your move. This move puts you in position to potentially solo and you should keep that in mind even while you're fighting Germany. You have to defend Tunis, which Austria is now threatening, along with Marseilles and ultimately score a number of German centers in a fairly short period of time in order to make this happen. It's doable, though.

In terms of your short-term strategy in the Med, I hope that you and Turkey are communicating. You two can mutually benefit from cooperative play right now, but especially you. You don't need to take Italian centers in order to solo - in fact, you should be encouraging him to bypass Balkan centers in favor of Italian centers because that hampers Austria's naval capabilities and gives you the time you need to perfect your stalemate while Turkey and Austria duke it out. If Austria begins to lose ground to Turkey, which he may soon, then you will have very little competition in the western part of the Med, which is extremely important for you.

As far as short-term strategy against Germany, you have accomplished the most important thing by putting an army in reach of his home centers. You need to do this again with one of your three builds, and, given that he still for some reason failed to contest the North Sea, you might have an easy opportunity to plant another unit depending on his disbands. As such, you should keep communicating with him. Even if you have to lie through your teeth, this game isn't gunboat. You don't stop communicating just because you're the biggest power.

If the opportunity to drop another army on German land isn't available, you need to refortify around Russia if you ever want a shot at taking Moscow and Warsaw. You can easily do that next year with a simple convoy to Norway. That would also allow your fleet in Norway to drop down to Skagerrak, putting you in position to threaten a Scandinavian center (or two) in the fall.

Last but not least, you need to be cautious. This is a time to be aggressive but also a time where being overly aggressive can put you in jeopardy. You're not going to get cut from a draw if you screw something up, but a more difficult solo run is still better than no solo shot at all. Be patient, take what's given to you, and create opportunities where you can. Keep forcing Germany to disband and you might end up a winner.

P.S. - Get that army out of Tunis, please.

Germany - Uggghghghghghghghghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm not a victim blamer in general, but honestly, this one's on you. If you already know that, feel free to breeze over this next two paragraphs, but if you disagree with that statement, read this:

Your three fleets are in Heligoland, Sweden, and the Baltic. I understand the fleet in Heligoland. I understand the fleet in Sweden. I do not and cannot understand the fleet in the Baltic. Were that fleet in Denmark, not only would you have had an opportunity to do to England what he just did to you, but you would have been able to deter him from attacking in the first place. At the very, very least, you force him to build two fleets on his east coast rather than an army and use it to defend the North Sea, leaving him far, far less mobile than he is when he convoys another army onto the mainland.

As for your armies, they're less important but they still matter. Their placement left you open to this attack, primarily because you have left your armies in an aggressive position against England - but you haven't used them that way! Your army in Prussia did fuck-all this phase, supporting the exact same move both Austria and England supported - and who cares if Austria takes Warsaw? It gets him out of your backyard, doesn't it? That unit could have been put in Livonia or even Sweden, moving Sweden to Skagerrak and preparing to attack England. It could have helped you take Scandinavia from the south, an opportunity that hardly ever arises on this map but was available here. Instead, it sat still. Your army in Paris could have been used in conjunction with your Burgundy army to take Brest, but instead, it has simply been a placeholder, defending one of your least important SCs against a threat that doesn't even exist anymore since England convoyed out of Brest. Your army in Burgundy could have been in Ruhr, Picardy, or even better Gascony. Instead, it supported Munich when you could have simply cut both of Austria's offensive units. Your army in Piedmont bounced Venice, which you should have known Austria was going to defend, instead of moving to Tyrolia, giving you an opportunity to either shore up your defense or make a move into Austrian territory. All in all, the only two units of yours that you did the right thing with this year were Munich and Berlin, which combined to retake Silesia, but that doesn't look like a territorial gain worth bragging over at this point.

Obviously, what's done is done and none of that can be taken back, so you have to work with the cards in your hand. Right now, those cards are basically like 2-7 offsuit going into the turn and the flop was all face cards. You have two disbands and a lot of options here, so you have to establish your priorities going forward - are you defending against England? Would you like to make peace with Austria? Do you want to aggressively defend against England or just retreat and try and contain him? If you want to do the former, then you keep Piedmont and Burgundy so that you can reclaim Marseilles even though you likely won't keep it forever. It might help you in the short term, though. At that point, do you disband Prussia? Silesia? Paris? I don't think you disband a fleet right now, but if you keep losing centers, you might have no choice later. If you want to retreat instead, disbanding Paris and Piedmont seems perfectly rational, though you leave yourself ready to lose both Belgium and Paris down the line and would have to retake Holland and probably fight for Scandinavia in order to keep yourself alive.

These are extremely tough questions and neither you or I will know the best answer for another few phases, which makes them all the more difficult to answer because you have to answer them right now. All I can say to you is this - once you make a plan, stick with the plan. Hopefully Austria can hold the fort in the Mediterranean and you can prevent England from taking your territory en route to a solo.

Austria - You're the new kid in town so part of me feels like I should go easy on you but part of me just wants to let loose. I'm gonna do the latter because this is a critical point in this game and you are taking over the most important defensive country right now. So here goes:

Your moves in Russia make absolutely no sense. Hell, they make negative sense. You basically NMRed your units in Silesia, Galicia, Ukraine, and Rumania. Honestly, I would be more accepting of an NMR than these moves. Silesia moved to Prussia, which has no point at all - what's in Prussia? Why do you want to go to Prussia? You didn't cut a meaningful support. You didn't try to advance your position. Galicia supported Moscow to Warsaw, which is cool, I guess, if you thought that England and Germany were going to try to take Warsaw, but they didn't, so instead of being okay with that move I wonder why Galicia didn't end up either attacking Warsaw or moving toward Munich. Ukraine supported Sevastopol to Moscow …????!!! Why? Why not support yourself to Sevastopol with Rumania? That puts you in position to take Moscow and Warsaw for yourself down the road *and* get to Armenia. Now Russia is building there, which makes it harder for you to get there, which means you don't get any of Moscow, Warsaw, and Sevastopol, which makes it harder for you to contain…

the evil Turkey. Oh dear gods, Turkey. He's already taken the Ionian. If he wants to this spring, you can't stop him from taking Greece, after which you likely can't stop him from taking Bulgaria. You also can't stop him and England from working mutually against you. They're in position to carve you up. Were England able to put a fleet in Tunis instead of an army, you'd be in serious trouble. Were Turkey to have a fourth center somewhere and be able to convoy to Italy, you'd be in serious trouble. You're fortunate not to have to deal with either of those things, so, before they become major issues, please shore up your defenses against Turkey.

There are two things you did here worth complimenting, the first being that you snagged the GoL. Essentially, this means that, if you can reclaim the Ionian before E/T rip you to pieces, Tunis is yours. In theory, that opens up solo potential again for you, but more importantly, it puts a huge dent in England's solo potential. The second move worth complimenting is not a move but a disband - when Silesia got booted, you destroyed that unit, giving you a chance to build a very, very important fleet in Trieste. That fleet will play big this coming year. (You should have gotten that build via Sevastopol, though.)

Turkey - For some reason, Austria is leaving Russia alive. This is a monumental help to you. You now have at least a year before you have to cover yourself in Armenia, which is incredibly fortunate, because you're not going to get the build you need to do that for at least a year. Austria missed an opportunity here. You also managed to take the Ionian, which means that you can take Greece this spring.

I'd rather see more creativity than that, though. As I said to England, you two have mutual benefits in cooperating with one another. Besides, you need more than one build. You won't have any way to defend your fourth center once you get it unless you keep growing, so I say that you and England hatch a plan here where you grow and he retakes control of the western part of the Med. I would love to see him in the Tyrrhenian and then supporting you throughout Italy, but he probably doesn't have the fleet capacity to do that right this very second. I hope you two can come up with something.

Russia - I have no idea why you have a build, but hey, you have a build. Sometimes things work out like that. Assuming that you build in army, you have quite a few options beyond simply defending your home centers. You seem to have all three of the powers surrounding Warsaw on your side, so I bet that you can come up with something where you can negotiate them out of your homeland. For example, England wants to attack Germany - maybe you can help him put Livonia in Prussia. Not only does that get England out of Livonia but it also takes Germany out of contention for Warsaw, leaving you free to try focus on Austria, hopefully retake Ukraine, and establish some semblance of a perimeter again. I'm glad to see you're still fighting. Keep it up.

Brief grades and rankings:

England - A - I like the stab. There are definitely holes and things he is going to have to deal with and it may not work, but the setup for the stab in the spring was crucial - especially because it didn't look like he was setting up for a stab - and it is the only way he can solo this game. Great moves.
Austria - B- - It might have been completely unplanned, but he got a build, which means he has another fleet that he can use against Turkey. This puts him in position to push back. Hopefully he can push back and help to contain England simultaneously.
Germany - C- - Giving England a path into his homeland finally came back to bite him and now he is like a fish out of water. Hopefully all the flopping and flipping around we are going to see from him this coming year will befuddle England just enough to give him time to rearrange his defenses.
Turkey - A - He made the only moves that made sense. Hopefully his diplomacy is up to standard as well and he may have a shot at surviving this one.
Russia - A - Still ranked #5 of the remaining 5 powers but it's hard to complain about getting a build and having three major powers helping him out. Good moves, probably good diplomacy, and a great result.

School of War Builds 1907

England - Three builds. You have done a pretty good job of balancing out fleet and army usage so far, and though I would have preferred two armies and one fleet here, I can definitely see the draw in having a fleet to drop in the English Channel. That said, Germany appears ready to give up all of France, which isn't all that unexpected. Having a second army would allow both of those armies to travel further inland a little bit faster than you will be able to with just the one, so hopefully builds coming will compensate for that bit of lost time. Remember where you're headed and what it's going to take to get there.

Germany - Two disbands. You made a good play by prioritizing a large-scale retreat, particularly because you'll be able to keep all three of your fleets for now. With a little bit of reorganization, you should at least put up a fight against England. The real question, though, is whether or not the powers in the Mediterranean will be able to cut him down to such a size where he can't solo through your centers and wants to draw. That part is largely out of your hands, but preoccupying his fleets up north will certainly help them.

Austria - One retreat (disbanded), one build. Retreating and disbanding to build another fleet was a wise play that signals a willingness to cooperate with Germany, which I don't see as a bad play. His disbands suggest mutual cooperation. That said, it's important for you to remember that, if you can manage to take Tunis, you become a solo threat once again. Discounting that possibility would be a poor decision at this juncture, though for now, you have to fend off England's solo bid.

Russia - One build. I would have preferred to see an army but, if you trust Austria that much, I can see the draw of a fleet. It allows you more growth potential, particularly because you can get to Turkey, but as before, you are putting your faith in Austria to support you where you need to go. That said, an army in Sevastopol accomplishes the same thing for you in the short-term - Armenia gives you access to both Ankara and Smyrna if unblocked. Still, if you think you can survive long enough to make that fleet useful in the Med, the build isn't a bad move, and maybe there's more at play with it than I realize.

Bosux I think you overly dismissed the Austrian moves that helped Russia. If the premise is that he wants Russia on his side so he can push England back and deal with Turkey, those moves are broadly correct. You can disagree about the strategy but those aren't terrible moves.

I would sacrifice friendship and a pretty good chunk of my soul for the opportunity to get rid of Turkey and likely take all of Russia in the process. Not doing so was a waste.

I think also, Austrla clearly didn't expect England to go for the stab. Supposing the E-G alliance remained intact, then your line of play most likely cedes Warsaw for Sevastapol, giving E-G the edge. Yes, Austria would get a build but it would have to be sent north anyway. With the current plan Austria gets Russia the fleet build that is enormously helpful against Turkey, and Russia's two armies are already in position to hold the line.

Of course, now that it transpires that England stabbed Germany, so the point about having a buffer state is moot, but you didn't expect the stab this turn, so I fail to see your point about the plan being absolutely awful.