I think you're correct. I was hoping for something a little more specific.

Don't get eliminated as Germany

You weren't being eliminated, and then you built a fleet, and then you were eliminated.

Lesson: Don't ever build fleets as Germany.

Don't get eliminated as Germany in a Diplomacy game

Wow guys. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was being mocked.

Don't get eliminated on purpose to have a reason to start a forum thread.

First thing I saw, why would you not bounce Russia from Sweden? There was a void in power in year 1 and it could have been a two man race (G/F) but you made it a 3 man race (R/G/F). From there, poor awareness of the juggernaut and its threat to your survival - responded too late. Finally, not much worth learning about a CD game that should have been cancelled.

I think your first mistake was panicking once you saw Russia move to Bohemia in S04. Doing so basically invited France in. It wasn't necessary to move everything in A04. It may have been better to wait until S05 after your build.
I also think covering Edi with NwgS in S04 was a wasted move, as no one could take it anyways, although that's quite minor.

There wasn't a whole lot you could do. France and you had a lot of units on your border, so it makes sense why you couldn't move earlier to deal with how massive Russia was becoming. The Jugg also lasted a long time, which meant Russia could come at you with a lot of force. It was a hard position to be in.

you shouldn't have been so greedy for those english SC's

@gen.Lee Thanks. Do you think it is always correct for Germany to bounce Russia out of Sweden in 1901(gunboat naturally), or was there something about this game in particular that makes you think it was the correct play?

Some actual advice...

In general I very much like not bouncing Russia in Sweden, but by not doing so here you were creating an absolute powerhouse in the east. Turkey sending the fleet to Con, England NMRing, and A/I fighting all gave Russia a very easy path to a lot of centers, and a strong Russia will always go after Germany eventually.

What you could have done about it - Going after England just helped strengthen Russia more, because you were taking out the only person who could help you. Allying France was all well and good but even if he was willing to help you against Russia, his units would have to go through England first, and so would take a very long time to get there. With a clear Juggernaught there was not much incentive for him to side with you once England had been eliminated, either - much easier to work with the R/T to mop up the west of the board.

Although I don't usually like Western Triples either, this is one of the few situations that actually warrants one in my opinion. You could've worked well with England to beat back the Russian while France hit Italy - which would have the effect of letting the Austrian have a better chance at fending off the jugg.

Obviously there was also an option of trying to convince Turkey to turn on Russia, but I imagine you did that during the game and it didn't work.

@captainmeme this was a gunboat, so sadly I was unable to do any convincing. Thank you for the advice!

Oh, haha, I didn't notice that. That changes a hell of a lot - it's very hard to get the Western Triple working in a Gunboat.

Bouncing Russia in Sweden or not depends on the state of the board. I would say that it is generally a good idea if Russia is looking strong and better to let Russia in if you need to prop him up. In this case, Russia was clearly in the stronger position. A jugg in the south and an English NMR gave him no real challenges to slow his growth. He was going to come for you eventually, unless by some miracle he crashed and burned.

@Falcon, What moves do you think I should have made in 1904? I saw every single one of Russia's units move West, including into Bohemia. I thought if I didn't move all of my units West, and hope France decides to move to the South, rather than kill me. I thought it was unlikely, but I didn't see how I would have a chance of stopping Russia if I didn't commit everything.

My advice was serious. :(

Bouncing Russia in Sweden pretty much locks you into an alliance with England - losing options is not a good thing. It's more than likely that any build Russia gains by picking up Swe will not be used against you in Germany (it's more annoying for England) and if you want to take Sweden, you can take it just as easily with F Kie build, Kie-Bal, then a support in.

Bouncing Sweden creates an annoyed Russia, a necessary alliance with an immediately empowered England, and screws you over signficantly if England decides not to take that alliance. I would almost never recommend doing so.

I should say, this is coming from the perspective of a Full Press player more than a Gunboat one.

I will agree that the fourth fleet was an incorrect build. You were probably also too slow in attacking Russia. France may have decided to attack Italy instead of you, if you hadn't waited until both France and Russia had positions against you. As it was though, France had a pretty easy go of it. It's not hard, as France, to wedge yourself in as the third power with a Juggernaut.
At that point there probably wasn't much you could do.

My advice was also serious. Getting eliminated seriously hampers your chance to win, make it into the draw, or even survive. It really should be your last choice.

@flood: what would the advantages have been of an army in Kiel over a fleet? I thought the fleet would have been more useful because of the attack it offered me on Scandinavia.

As for what I think you should have done, Ezio, it's though to say. I can definitely see why you did what you did. Russia was a threat that needed to be dealt with.

However, by abandoning Belgium, you pretty much gave it to France. It's no-press. You were pretty much just expecting him to leave it alone, out of the goodness of his heart. He he had 4 units on that front. He wouldn't just leave them sitting around while there are free centres to be taken.
Had I been in your position, I would have held Bel and Ruhr, while moving Mun-Sil. You knew you had a build coming, so that could have easily reinforced you against Russia without moving everything else as well.
I would have hope that France move into the Med and leaves you alone. By keeping units on his front, you give him less incentive to attack you.

Though this is a different season, I really don't thing moving NwgS-Edi in S04 was the right move, and I think it contributed to your problems in A04. Edi didn't need covering, since no one could attack it. Edi is also a really useless province to keep fleets in. If it wasn't a SC, I'd say it's almost as bad as Clyde.
Anyways, by sticking the fleet in Edi, you had less options around the North Sea in the Fall. In the alternate universes where you didn't move to Edi, you could have been a turn ahead in taking the North Sea, by not bouncing with Russia in A04. Who knows where your chances could have gone from there.

Good point about EDN. I wanted to give Russia space, because I was hoping he would stab Turkey. I thought by giving him as much space as possible, I could hopefully induce the stab, as he had nothing to worry about on my front. Looking back on it, it was almost certainly a poor move.

That last one was fun. Here is a new one: gameID=188677

Re: Sweden

No, it is not always correct. I prefer to try and keep balance on the board everywhere except my country. So if you see Austria gets jumped by Italy and an RT will be able to have their way I'm bouncing Sweden to slow him down. If Turkey opens to Armenia I'm letting Russia have it. It depends on the state of everyone's opening. But in this case where the board is unbalanced in your favor you want to capitalize on that not let Russia absorb some of that unbalance. Again, bad example bc I will cancel everytime there is an NMR. But say England made moves he just screwed up and self bounced in Nth.

^Been there, done that...

gameID=187098

When trying to Yorkshire Pudding, don't send both fleets to North Sea and your army to Edinburgh.

After Russia built the northern fleet in 1901, you had to have a timer in your head waiting to attack him. He's too committed north at that point not to eventually attack you. The mistake was not attacking him in Spring 1904