I could tell early on England was a noob and I was happy to look weak at the beginning so not to worry Germany or Italy, I diid make a big mistake of not going to Belgium from Burgundy Autumn 01 which only left me with 1 build and delayed my progress.. England made a big mistake letting me retreat into London and that was the beginning of the end for him, unfortunately Germany benefitted more than me from that. I think I saw Russia support Denmark into Sweden Autumn 01 which may look clever short term but obviously wasn't and Russia paid the penalty of a strong Germany and a ocer-excited England.
Italy and Turkey entertained themselves with Austria and each other, a stronger Turkey would have given me a shot at moving South but Italy fought off his advances so Italy looked West until Germany got 12, then did the smart thing of backing off France and moving North into Germany. I was struggling to hold Germany in the lowlands and he threatened to mount an all-out against me but he left his back door open as a result, he over-committed and lost his balance. Whatever he did I think he would have struggled to solo, if he had carried on attacking me Italy would have benefitted and with Turkey going North and grabbing Warsaw the game was up and the timing of the draw was good, one more campaign and F/I/T could have been working on a 3-way with all out attack on Germany who had his units out of position around England.
I remember when I first started I played like England but I've learnt to grow in a more steady and sustainable manner.
Anyway good game as no CDs, many thanks
Nigee