gg all.
I will begin with the saddest story ever: I kind of wish I hadn't hit "Draw". Probably still could have snagged Venice and either Bulgaria or Constantinople...
Oh well.
All in all this game had quite a few tense moments. Denied Sweden by a pre-banned German Sarg, I had no traction in the north. 2ndWhiteLine's Turkey almost completely crippled me in the south in 1904. I turned lemons into lemonade and used Zmaj's tattered Austrian quasi-corpse as a slingshot to smash into the Balkans with, taking Budapest and then reclaiming Rumania so I could hold a solid line against Turkish aggression.

If you're looking, though, for the KEY to Russia's powerful rise in this game, look no further than Spring 1910.
In the previous turn of Autumn 1909, our fair second capitol of St. Petersburg was beset by British barbarians, led by a Maniac, that had taken root in Scandinavia. I gleaned, based on German builds, that England would be forced to move a unit back to defend Sweden and -- at the risk of losing St. Pete -- I surged forward unsupported into Finland. This territory was simultaneously abandoned by England and I now had the opportunity to take Norway; The tables had turned very quickly.

Then the delicate dance of eliminating Germany and conquering Scandinavia...

All the while, Frank's French kept England from really committing all forces towards stopping me, and also kept Turkey quite occupied in the south... So much so that I didn't really have to worry about getting stabbed.

Basically in the end game it was obvious that Turkey and I had to work together to stop France... We all clearly were thinking about a three-way draw, which meant England had to yet be eliminated, and I used that fact to keep a "Draw" vote up until the point where England was ABOUT to be eliminated and Turkey's back was turned... And I dove into Serbia and Vienna (and the Black Sea) unopposed.

Suddenly I was in the lead and France was trying to stop ME from winning. I had a foolproof line in the north set up and Turkey's soft underbelly awaiting, but I couldn't turn it into a rout quickly enough. In the end I decided to just vote Draw... though, as I indicated above, I kind of wish I had played it out a bit further. So sad.

Anyhow, there's my way-too-long analysis of the game.

Yeah, I was also surprised/ impressed by your line in the North. To be honest, I always think I can always eventually take Scandi as a western power. I didn't even know that line really existed.

Frank, you are quite right about how I used the Draw vote. I purposely kept it up to keep Turkey on my side until England was about to go and then dropped it as soon as I stabbed Turkey.

And yeah, like I said... it wasn't really stalemated at the end. Heck, even on the last turn, if I had done:

A Tyr-Ven
A Tri S A Tyr-Ven
A Arm-Ank
A Ank-Con
F Bla S A Rum-Bul

That would have been the game. I really should have stuck it out longer... but I was half asleep and had a migraine last night and obviously wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment. Poops.

I should add the only reason I DIDN'T try to take Venice was because I was afraid of failing and getting dislodged from Tyrolia, which could have caused my whole northern line to collapse, as France could have then taken Munich. A domino effect would have followed, and I really didn't want to end up in a position where suddenly France was about to solo because Turkey's guard was down to defend against me AND my line in the north collapsed.

Yeah you are right. I shouldve taken Venice myself to ensure that it would always be safe. However, I didn't want to risk having that be misinterpreted by Turkey.

I also think you couldve won, btw. In a press game, I think Turkey and I could've stopped you but in gunboat we would've had to guess each other's moves and cooperate very clsoely to make sure everything was covered. And I think we eventually would have guessed wrong and you would've broken through.

Definitely an interesting ending...usually in those kind of close gunboats games, the 18th center is one of the German centres or Tunis or St Petes. Its pretty rare that the game turns on centres like Cons, greece and bulgaria.

Re: Tyrolia. Yes, I thought about taking Venice myself because then I knew I could get Tyrolia from you. But again, didn't want to risk alienate Turkey who I needed badly to help me.

I was very, very surprised this drew. TWA stabbed at exactly the right time, and I knew he would as well, but I couldn't do a damn thing about it. In the end, I think a game of this caliber deserved a draw though, considering how well most of us played. I remember having one game where the last center came down to either Bulgaria or Serbia, but they're rare. Russia could have won if he had stuck it out, but hey, I'm not complaining. Your position in the Balkans was fairly tenuous, but Bulgaria would have been yours this next turn, although I don't know if you would have gotten anything beyond that. France was in a good position to take over Venice, which would have been my disband had Bulgaria fallen.