Thanks, everyone, for an enjoyable and interesting set of games.

I'll post more thoughts later.

Congrats to yebellz, Split and Gen. Good luck to Trooth and thank you for playing to Chaqa, Brian and Stressed

Game 1: gameID=110149
Turkey
Result: 3 way draw
See my EOG in the main tournament thread and the ruckus it created afterwards.

Game 2: gameID=110151
Germany
Result: defeat

Standard German opening for me, in the fall England bounces holland, Italy stupidly bounces with me at munich and tries for trieste, and after that I was done. France built 3 armies and it was clear there would be nowhere else for him to go. Russia builds at warsaw instead of St. Pete and retreats out of the northern battlegrounds. 2v1 beat down. This was the first game I saw of the most trusting player ever, yelbellz. More on this later.

Game 3: gameID=110152
Germany
Result: defeat

Standard German opening here as well, bounce with France at Belgium and yay another France with only army builds. This time England is going north at Russia though so I move my armies into the bottleneck that is the G/F border and swear to myself that hes not getting anything from me. With France a declared clear enemy I'm only left with one choice support Russia in the north, otherwise England gets big and is over top my head. Its going good as I hold France to where he can do nothing and am helping Russia hold his position. Then I take a risk and cut North sea allowing Russia to take norway as well. I'm hoping to get myself to the North sea so that Russia and I can eliminate england and I'lll have the over the top position on France and all his armies stuck there doing nothing. This is where things fall apart as Russia backs off his position in the north and allows England to take from him, while his position in the south crumbles. England takes another center from Russia and I'm screwed. France didnt take the opportunity of a 3 center England to move north and now he's a 5 center England and I'm facing a 2v1 again. I hold my position against France for as long as I can and then try to live in venice for awhile. France only gains munich from me and then is promptly crushed and eliminated from the game which makes me smile at least.

Game 4: gameID=110153
France
Result: defeat

I open with a standard French opening. I really dislike playing France. Im left belgium and have the 3 build decision. England moved to Ska in 1901 so I go double fleet. But then Germany goes all armies, despite the English presence over his head. G immediately heads to take belgium and enter burgundy and leaves sweden for England. I decide to make nice with England and try and hold off G while England rapes him. I was in great position to take on italy and england was in great position to crush G, but he wasn't turning around. One unfortunate guess later and Germany has taken paris. What i thought was a brilliant move turned out to be overthinking. From here I was slowly dismantled but I also smiled as I watched Germany be crushed by England.

Game 5: gameID=110155
Russia
Result: 4-way draw

Standard Russian opening...what luck, Turkey has moved ankara to cons signaling a juggernaut and Germany has moved kiel to holland giving me Sweden. The next year I take norway and find myself in boh, gal, rum with armies. 1904 sees me take budapest and turkey has both serbia and greece. Hes got 4 fleets and is flooding the med. 1905 I move on Germany to ska and sweden, but he has a brilliant response and we are stuck at a stalemate for several years. Turkey gets Trieste in 1905 and builds another fleet. I was worried about his growth with my issues in the north but as I said earlier...yelbellz is a trusting player. 1906 I finally break through to get Vienna and decide that Turkey will soon have nowhere to go but north so I better stab now. I take Bulgaria and Trieste that fall and get myself a 3 build. Turkey has so many fleets it is inevitable that he will die. I try to establish a northern stalemate of scandanavia but I am at least a unit short and G/F are quick to hit the draw and stop fighting each other. They hit me at my weakest spot, losing ska and I know the solo is not possible. I would still like a 3-way over a 4 way and I try to signal that and move to remove italy, but nobody is cooperating so I finally hit the draw.

Game 6: gameID=110164
Turkey
Result: 4-way draw

A terrible Austrian opening leaves me serbia and bulgaria after year one. To make things even better I have built 2 fleets and italy does not build a second fleet. I can take ionian at will. R and I easily roll over Austria and I have trieste/serbia/greece and ionian. Rolling over Italy is a foregone conclusion since he only has one fleet and an army stuck at tunis, im just trying to figure out the best time to stab Russia and shoot for a solo. I need Russia to beat up on Germany a bit first so I wait longer than I usually would to stab Russia, he was also very cautious and kept our border fairly stacked. Perfect, England and Russia now seem to be teaming up on Germany giving him a handful. I snag venice and rome and then stab Russia while sprinting for the MAO. Germany brilliantly gets a hold to MAO just in time and there is no way I get berlin/munich so I back off in the med way back to the italian peninsula and keep moving to take Russias centers at warsaw/moscow. I don't want another solo stopped turned into a 4 way. England appears to be on board moving over to ska/northsea ready to take norway and sweden at once...but he just self bounces there a few times inexplicably...? I count that its been 2 years since a center has changed hands and draw the game since E/G won't play ball. The stalemate line was perfectly divided I was almost hoping that Germany would 2-way with me but they never moved that way.

Game 7: gameID=110166
Turkey
Result: 3-way draw

Another kind austria allows me to take Greece. Russia bounces me from black sea in the fall 1901 instead of securing Rumania, hes in trouble. I did have a lepanto coming my direction...I decide to block aegean and deal with Italy later if he goes to east med since im basically guaranteed a build at bulgaria. I also move ankara to cons thinking Russia will surely secure Rumania this time and Ill have another fleet available to potentially dislodge an italian convoy....But Russia goes to black sea...then he takes Ankara at the same time that italy lands a convoy at syria...I am in dire straights here. Luckily I guess correctly, or italy plays a poor spring move more like it and save symrna and at the same time France moves south to take tunis. I'm saved from Italy, but now i have to clean up this Russian fleet. I take my time since it was no threat and his home centers were bein raped as I kept moving on Austria. From here I basically cleaned up Russia and Austria and France finishes up all of italy and there is no solo threat so a 3 way concludes it.

Game 6 was a disappointment to me. We got a 4 draw, but it could have been so much better. I kept the border stacked without being aggressive towards you(Gen Lee). I wanted us both to keep moving west. I wanted to get rid of Germany and get a 3 way draw with Turkey and England, but I knew I opened myself to a stab by you. At this point in the game I was confident of being in the draw, so I went for it and it almost back fired. Then in 1911, I missorder a support and lost Galicia to you pushing our nearly established stalemate line further back. Sorry SplitD!

I don't know if its time yet to discuss it, but I didn't like the random draw either. Austria is my 7th favorite power and I got it 3 out of 7. I guess I do need Austria practice tho...Italy is prolly 6th, so I only liked my draw in 3 games. I did at least draw with Italy. Eliminated as A all 3 times. :(

Apparently, they *can* handle the Trooth.

I see, you had the potential to make a really nice gain on Germany the turn I stabbed you, I felt if I didn't go then you would likely clear sevestapol and get a fleet build to take black sea. Plus I was thinking solo and if you got 2/3 builds it was going to be much harder to push back and secure warsaw/moscow along with Spain/marseilles like I had hoped...still want to hear why stressedlines didnt want that extra point it was an easy elimination. :P

I did much worse than I normally do throughout that tournament. I didn't get to play my best country (Turkey) either, which hurt me... playing Russia is something I suck at and I had two. At the time I had little experience with either Germany or Austria, but I did okay as Germany...

It was fun though.

I liked random getting my favorite Turkey 3 times, but I fear I doomed to Germanys and Italys next round.

bump anyone else?

yebellz EOGs for Round 1, Group A games
Played as: G, R, A, T, T, I, I
Results: 1/3, 1/4, 1/4, 1/3, 0, 0, 0

Here are my EOGs for the first three games. I'll add the rest later.

+General Remarks+
The random country assignments were interesting and challenging. In gunboats, I generally prefer playing as one of the Western powers (E,F,G), but I wound up only getting one (Germany) in the seven games. I got Italy twice, which is my least favorite to play (in gunboats or otherwise), and lost both of those games. I really need to work on improving my Italian play.

Game 1: (Germany, DRAW in EGT 3-way) gameID=110149
France started a war with both England and Germany simultaneously, which ultimately led to him being stretched too thin and collapsing. England and France both managed to get fleets behind each other's lines, however, the position for France proved to be disastrous, while England more than safely handled that threat. Another significant factor in the resolution of the Western theater was France's overcommitment into a land war against Germany. I was able to stubbornly defend long enough, but only managed to see England take virtually all of the spoils and positional benefits from the eventual fall of France.
Going into the end game, I was much more worried about the potential English solo rather than the slim Turkish possibility. Turkey was more than safely contained by the natural stalemate line, which England and I were far beyond and could easily fall back upon. England on the other hand had established an advanced position in the Med and would have been in prime position to make a solo run should I have overextended recklessly across the stalemate line. Recognizing this, my end game strategy was to let Turkey grow into a reasonable counter-threat, while pulling back from the East to just defend my position on the Western side of the line, in order to prevent a stab from England. In the end, we arrived at a stable end-game position where there was no Turkish solo threat (due to the stalemate line), and the English stab was prevented by my position to potentially throw the game to Turkey.

Game 2: (Russia, DRAW in EFRT 4-way) gameID=110151
I went into this game wanting to work the juggernaut, and, fortunately, the early attack on Austria by Italy helped induce that alliance and really made it work quite well. If anything, we were perhaps too efficient, reaching the stalemate line well before the West had been resolved, which left the game in a position that ultimately boiled down to 4-way rather than a more desirable 3-way.
I was still hoping to work the game down to a 3-way between FRT, by basically assisting France in taking out England and Germany. Unfortunately, by the end of 1906, Turkey had run out of avenues to expand except to stab to me (assuming that France and England would have prioritized keeping Turkey out of the Atlantic over fighting each other). Turkey had no real solo threat, since the stalemate lines ensured that at best the game would have ended in a draw following his stab. Entering 1907, I was fully aware that a Turkish stab was very likely, but I figured that if he pulled the trigger at that point, the most likely outcome would have just been a 4-way draw (specifically, the EFRT that the game eventually boiled down to), and I was hoping that he would have realized this and preferred the likely 3-way (FRT) that the game seemed to be headed toward had he not stabbed me. However, I can also understand why he chose to stab me despite this fact, since playing down that path toward the FRT might have made me a potential solo threat, which he may have wanted to prevent with that preemptive stab.
The hypothetical paths that this game might have headed toward are interesting, but let's get back to the reality, where the stab did happen and I was forced to shift back into a defensive position to ensure the draw. The stab greatly hurt my southern position and I was a bit worried about the possibility that I might be worked out of the draw (leaving the EFT 3-way) in the long run, so I held onto my fleets in Scandinavia and focused on just holding a minimal stalemate position against Turkey (letting him have everything south of and including Sev). This provided insurance against the possibility of being removed from the draw, and the game settled at a rather stable 4-way draw.

Game 3: (Austria, DRAW in AEIT 4-way) gameID=110152
This was perhaps the most fluid and interesting game in our group. Throughout the early game, friends and enemies frequently shifted and everyone played very well toward both optimizing their own position as well as ensuring that no one else grew too strong. The facts that no one grew beyond 6 until the end of 1908, and that no one was eliminated until the end of 1914, really speaks to the quality of the game. A beautiful 7-way balance of power was maintained for many years until it eventually collapsed in favor of England. Ultimately, I think several factors contributed toward upsetting the balance: 1) Russia being spread thin by war on two fronts, leading to his inability to keep Scandinavia from England, 2) Germany's suboptimal play in 1907, where he stepped across the stalemate to futilely challenge for Vienna while opening himself up even further against the pressure of England and France, and 3) France failing to moderate the growing English threat in the face of a collapsing Germany, by missing several opportunities to stab England before being stabbed himself. The outcome of the fall of Germany was England gaining most of the spoils and becoming the first power growing beyond 6, which further allowed him maintain and strengthen that lead up until the end of the game. England's dominant position also precipitated the marginalization and eventual falls of Russia and France. An interesting sideshow in this game was Germany grabbing an SC off Italy, by playing Turkey's pawn in an attempt to marginalize Italy, and managing to survive for quite a while until being first out in 1914, just shortly before Russia was eliminated in 1915.
With England having grown to become the imminent solo threat, peace between Austria, Italy, and Turkey (despite years of tension) was necessary in order to prevent the solo. The eastern half of the stalemate line was easily established, while IT began working together toward setting up the western half. France's play in the final years was quite peculiar and nearly threw a wrench in the possibility of a draw. Keeping the Tyrolian army and then eventually sliding that army into Tuscany to challenge Rome, while also making no efforts to save Paris and Marseilles, would seem to indicate that he had completely given up on the draw and was simply trying to throw the solo. Perhaps he thought that throwing a solo to one player rather than allowing 4 others to draw would have given him a better shot at advancing in the tournament? It would be interesting to hear his thoughts on this game and explanation of his play. Hypothetically, France could have even pulled that Tyrolian army back into Marseilles, allowing AFIT to establish a stalemate holding England to 16 and keeping France in the draw. This would have required Italy to push fleets into WMS, GoL and Tun (with rear support in TyS and Ion from Turkey), but that would have certainly been feasible had France not been threatening Rome. Perhaps in this hypothetical path, the draw may have anyways been reduced to an AEIT 4-way (if England had refused to settle for the 5-way and simply allowed for France to be safely eliminated), but at least that would have given France a better shot than just trying to throw the solo.
Fortunately, despite France's attempts to throw the solo, we narrowly managed to get into a stalemate position to hold England to the draw. Great play by Italy and Turkey to pull that off. In my opinion, the fluidity of this game, the long-maintained balance of power and its dramatic collapse, and the razor thin margins in the ultimate path toward the stalemate makes this game the best of our group's 7-game set.

Game 4: (Turkey, DRAW in EIT 3-way) gameID=110153
I'll fill this one in later

Game 5: (Turkey, LOST to FGIR 4-way) gameID=110155
I'll fill this one in later

Game 6: (Italy, LOST to EGRT 4-way) gameID=110164
I'll fill this one in later

Game 7: (Italy, LOST to EFT 3-way) gameID=110166
I'll fill this one in later

@yebelz
The move to Boh/attempt on vienna was in 1907. At this point France had given up several opportunities to stab England while I held him completely locked out of any gains. I had already resolved myself to give him nothing. England had was in Ska, sweden and north sea and there was no way to hold denmark without giving risking giving up belgium and potentially losing both. At this point Russia had fallen out of the north and england and France were going to pummel me. My hope in moving to Boh was a feeble attempt to give Turkey an advantage to blow through Austria in hopes that he could become a solo threat quickly and I might be needed at the munich/berlin line.

"Perhaps he thought that throwing a solo to one player rather than allowing 4 others to draw would have given him a better shot at advancing in the tournament?" -
In fact it WOULD HAVE given him the result by which he would have advanced to the next round.He knew what he was doing.

Also Marseilles was unecessary territory to hold on to a stalemate at 16 centers with only 1 unit, ya'll would have given up marseilles to the dogs as soon as you felt comfortable it was stopped in the east. lol.

Before I start, I realized too late, that 1) my time early on woudl be limited, and 2) that I was not playing 7 individual games, more than 1 big game, and that was my mistake, but it was fun.

Game 1 gameID=110149 Italy Defeat. As per usual with me and Italy, I got stuck being indecisive. I have been researching GB games that Italy has won in big pot games, so I think I will start playing them differently.

I opened as usual, convoying to Tunis, and Austria and I seem okay for now.
Austria did not play for Greece though in 1901, which put a wrench in any plans I had in getting into Turkey, so my already natural inability to press home with Italy, now is even worse.

Austria still wont move out of Trieste in 1902, even though I am supporting him, and I try to move to greece, but without much luck, as T/R ally up to fight Austria, and without the Austrian fleet in Greece, I am left alone to fight that one.

The French/English war has me somewhat concerned, as fleets are breakign thru to each others rea areas, and that can be a problem.

Also in fall 1902, france moves to Piedmont, which I assumed was a move towards Tyrolia, but it seemed like a very odd move, considering his war with England and Germany both.

I try to get to the Adriatic to help Austria, and I know he thought it was a move against him, but I am left with few options by his lack of movement with that fleet in Trieste. I need to get that army out of tunis, and want it in Albania to attack greece.

In the Fall of 1903 Austria moves to albania, I to the adriatic. Army still stuck in Tunis...lol My thoughts on France is correct, as he moves to Tyrolia.

1904 is when I screw the pooch badly. Turkey strikes at Russia Austria still thinks I am coming at him, and moves back, and looking at my moves, his thoughts were not without merit, but my intentions were always on Turkey up to this point.

England has gained Iberia now, no french fleet around to help me if he moves on me.

Austria and I bounce in albania...this was a disaster for us, as my army moving to there would have helped a lot, and now England moves against me in tunisor so i thought...lol

1906 sees the end of France, and Engalnd moves in force on me, and Russia and Austria bothin full retreat. \

I try to get into Piedmont and stop the English advance, but I am not needed to stop a solo threat at this point, sooooo
This game jsut grinds down until Turkey and England split me up, and it becomes a 3 way.

game 2 gameID=110151 (turkey 4wd)

I think yebellz said ti exact, Italys hiton Austria early set the tone for our early alliance. I went fleet heavy early, but at no point did I ever see a FRT 3 way there.

In the end, I figured I would hit Russia and see what happened.

game 3 gameID=110152 France...loss.

Okay, this game here was the last one, and it effected the way I played the 2nd to last one, and why I would not hit ready on one without seeing the results of the other...lol

First, to address the play at the end, yes, I was trying to throw the solo to England. I knew there was only 2 games left, and I knew my result in the other one would be a 3WD probably, so I took a chance, and figured one person getting a solo in this game was better than 4 guys splitting it 9which is what happened) for me.

It was half way thru this game, after the English stab on me I understood to play all 7 games as one big game.

For this reason, I cant way to play in another Tourney.

As far as the game, it started as a typical F/E alliance, but I made a very fatal mistake here, which woudl have left me in the draw probably had I not done this...
in 1910 I had an army IN gascony and a fleet in marseilles.

I shoudl ahve left that army in gascony, or moved it to paris. I moved it towards Tyrolia, and still right now, I have no idea why.

that army was probalby enough to keep England off me, and the 2nd fleet was enough to help me set up a stalemate vs whomever won the east.

I screwed THAT up.

Game 4 gameID=110153 England, 3 wd Yellbellz and I discussed this game a bit afterwards, and yes, it could have been a 2 way, but neither of us was going to give the other the chance to solo, so it ended as it ended.

I generally do not open with my Army to EDI in GB games, but I figured that the level of players in this game was better than some others, so I assumed France would not open to the channel, which they did not.

Russia opened to the south, which of course I loved

I got clumsy a bit here though, and took norths ea fleet to ska, and army to norway

In the build section though, France built fleet in Brest, so I though I was in some trouble tthere,

With my fleet in Ska, I took sweden, and france and I bounced in EC, and germany and I bounced in North sea. I knew I was playing a VERy dangerous game here, and france moved a fleet to MAO also, but I had a build coming out of sweden, so I wanted to see where this went and also Italy moved to Tyr Sea, which ended up forcing france back to the south.

Germany got the North sea from me, but I had fleets in EDI, London and Clyde (to protect vs the earlier French attemption from MAO)

Russia had left STP open, and I never made a play on it from norway, which I think helped both of us a lot.

1903 I force the German from the north sea., and he is forced to retreat to holland because it was open. This was probably my biggest single vicotry up to this point, as usually and England that gives up the north sea is dead.

France is tiedup with Italy bad now.

I move army in norway to sweden in 1903 fall, and fleet in sweden to ska, and north sea to hel to get an angle on Denamrk. STP is occupied by a Russian Southern fleet, so all looks good there, and Germany and I bounce in the North sea.

1904 sees France go bye bye for the most part. Italy grabs marseilles, Germany gets pairs, Germany and I swap sweden for denmakr, but I am now in better position to attack him.

1906 and I still have only ONE army in play, Russia and I enjoying a very good border control. Not until 1908 do I have more armies in play, after I have taken belgium, netherlands from Germany, am I starting to get rolling, and Turkey is now moving thru Austria.

france is still fighting also at this poing, and Italy is being hit by Turkey also.

Germany and I are still fighting a lot though, and he finally is forced to disband that pesky baltic sea fleet in 1908 Ialy is 100 % consumed by turkey also, but italy (SD) plays its smart here and sets himself up on the stalemate line

in 1909 a rogue french fleet takes Liverpool. This was a big problem for me, as I was forced to drag an army back from Europe to deal with it.

1911 Russia and turkey are going at it, its obvious Turkey is going to win, and italy is playing aggressive defense vs turkey, hoping I can get fleets in play tohelp him. I will say SDs play here saved the solo by Turkey 100%, and Germanys play also almost gave it to him

1912 the stalemate line is about set now, italy has given up the MAO for me to take, which was his plan all along, and Germany dies finally, but now things get interesting.
I am scoreboard watching at this point. I know where I sit, and what results I need.

Normally at this point, since I cant solo, I would have taken a 4 way, but our group was very middle heavy.

I am putting myselfinto position to take out what is left of Russia. Russia sees it, tries to adjust here.

I make a mistake here though, in that when we finally do clear out russia, i take warsaw and dont give it to Turkey. It woudl have given him 17 and me 14 I was not sure I was comfortable with him having 17, so i took, and HELD warsaw. In hindsite, yes, I should have given it to him, but as yellbells and I discussed afterwards, had he backed off in the med as we were mopping up russia, I would have been more inclined to give him warsaw.

In the end, it was a 3 way, and I was hoping for a English solo in the last game to give me a chance, but it didnt

I learend a few things about playing in a tourney though, so lessons learned,.

Game 5 ustria (defeat) This game started off okay, but Italy opened vs France, not against Turkey, and Russia opened heavy south, and built in warsaw to start.

I stood up for ab it vs R/T, but without Italy threatening Turkeys southern flank, I was overpowered and grinded down, and italy played with me til the end, so credit to BrianofBoru, who ended up in the draw there, for not stabbing me.

game 6 gameID=110164 england, 4wd...

Someone earlier asked about my play there at the end.

I was basically holding a gun to everyones head (especially Germany) saying "if you hit me, I will take 3 russian centers, and force the collapse of the Russian line, and give turkey the solo"

Germany refused to move out of the EC, and also supported me to portugal, only to then kick me out of it, which made no snese to me, as I didnt see any solo threat for him.

I snuck into this draw myself, as I saw Turkey put the 'pause' button as the signal, when everyone else had draw up, which basically meant "take out England so we can 3way this"

i will do game 7 later...

yes, Split is exactly right. A solo by General Lee or SPlit would have put me to the next round, so I figured "why stop the solo,its my best chance to move on" lol

So, you assumed correctly in thinking I was trying to hand it to England, even though I didnt knwo who it was, I knew that all the points going to ONE player was better than them being split up amongst 4, in a middle heavy group.

One person not getting ANY points in our group made it a tough group to advance thru.

you know, on that play with France and my last Army in Tuscany, I actually thought for a minute, hat England knew what I was doing, and would leave paris open so I could cause havoc with that one army behind the lines.

I was a bit disappointed that he took paris (he had to take marseilles for obvious reasons) when he did. I was hoping a lot he would leave it open, so I could make life miserable for Italy...lol

I wasn't able to take Tunis Stress.with or without your Tuscany army.I needed Tyrhenian Sea and the army of your's couldn't have done anything to help me about it. I knew what you were doing but it just couldn't have helped me.

lol, its ok SD, I made my play in that game, and obviously left an impression on someone...lol

I cant wait to play in another one of these, as I know now I need to play somewhat differently when its set like this.

I've allready forgotten about the games to do EOG-s,most of it finished long time ago,I've played a bunch of live games during the tournament and after it. But I remember key moments such it was that sneak into the Mid Atlantic letting you into the channel which caused the start of the end of your empire Stress.Do you recall it? I didn't want to double attack you there because you would have retreated to Por/Spa,only way to break you was like this. I remember you failed to stab me several times before I stabed you. And you realy needed to attack England,I don't understand why you haven't done it.

I remember exactly that one, when you shifted EC to Irish Sea, and Irish sea to MAO. I dont even have to look at the maps to rememberit, because I was thinking about that move before I put my orders in.

I play an okay france, but I fail at stabbing England more often than not, and again, something I am working on.

Im curious stressed, how would you play a tournament differently next time?

I also was thinking about cutting out participants in a draw in this tournament format when considering the tourney as a whole rather than that one match on its own... I guess it also can cause a mad rush for a solo... not sure how you limit that to get individual maximizing games, though... maybe more than one round where results carry over... though I guess you can still be stuck needing to shoot for a solo if you are falling behind...

Well G.Lee, for one, I would have played Italy differently I think. I may have struck directly at Austria instead of holding back, ESPECIALLY after he did not take Greece.

I tried to be patient about that, but it ended up dooming us both.

Playing ONE game, I am playing one game for one result.

As in the final 2 games of our group. Normally I wold not have disbanded my units when I was france the way I had, except I was looking for a specific result in THAT game, to help my overall position. Normally I would have fought England tooth and nail to the end, hoping for help.

As England in one game, I was a 3 center England, I would have NEVER done whata I did in that game (holding Germanyhostage in a way) and threatening to throw the solo to Turkey.

When I 3way at the end there as England, I was almost willing to give a solo a shot, if I had even a remote chance, as it was my only 100% chance of moving on, when normally I would have taken a 4wd in that situation if it were a normal game.

I was only involved in 3 draws there, and thatis not my normal draw/win %, but the competetion level was higher, but I have won games where all the players (or most of them ) were ranked higher than me, and lost games where everyone was worse.

I play a poor Italy at best, and I need Austria to be on top of his game to give me a chance.

I play a better Austria that I did in this game, but I contribute that to the players in Russia and Turkey being better players than the norm.

Germany...meh, I do okay with them, I tend to flonder a bit in the mid game with them, and reading England correctly.

Sometimes I think England is coming over the top, and i try to give russia sweden, and he stabs me, so I dont know. Germany is a tough one for me in GBs, althoughin 5 min games, I do much better with Germany,.

This being a tourament effected my play in 3 games for sure, and they were our last 3 games or 3 of 4, after I figured it out a bit more. I did things I woudl not normally do, but its okay, because the format forced me to.

I normally dont pull back to thin the draw very often but i did try it unsuccessfully twice.

Otherwise not much difference inmy play, Its tough to really plan/consider anything early on, but there is a definite advantage to extending a game longer and using the entire phase. I was eliminated in the last 2 games that took forever and everyone else knew what their score was and a decent idea of what they needed and how much risk to take. Of course the disadvantage is if someone is perceptive they know who you are in each game and if you get ahead may target you.

Gen. - I don't remember now which games are in question but I remember when you mentioned a game that had to be a "thiner draw" - it wasn't possible because if I'm right you were talking about the game in which you were Turkey and you wanted England or Russia out.I would have given the solo to you if I had attacked England.Or England if he had attacked Russia.The game in which you played Russia it was the same thing.I do remember though you haven't soloed both games because of your own mistakes - because you have stabed your allies one or two turns earlier then you should have in both games Correct me if I'm wrong,please.

you are definitely right about the game 5 where I was Russia, to have you (france) help thin the draw one of us could have potentially solo'd so that was a 4 way I agree. But game 6 I believe I was hoping that Russia would be eliminated. I was at 15 and would only have been able to pick up warsaw and moscow, which would have made a clear 17 stalemate 3 way in my mind.

I would love to hear which moves you felt were too early and killed a solo shot?

Split is excellent at effectively pulling back from a target he is engaged with when a stalemate line needs to be formed. Group A had no solos - a big part of that was SD alive in every draw. But all around for Group A there was sound play when it came to stalemate time.

@Split and Stressed: in game 3, France still could have thrown the solo (even with Par and Mar being taken from him). If he had ordered Tus S Tys - Rom (as his last move in the game), England would have been in position to take Tun and hold it for the win.

General Lee, Group A was a VERy solid group. It was like some brutal Region in the NCAA basketball tourney...lol The Region of Death. Poor Chaqa got into that group, and I dont think I have ever played against him before, and I have not looked at any of his past games, but I am sure it was a great learning experience for him, as it was for me.

You dont ever get better unless you play against better players, so better to lose vs Good Competition, than win vs bad.

Gen. - game 7 you did great as Turkey but both other Turks games of your's you have stabed Russia too early,one game way too early and the other one in which I was Germany you stabed him one or two turns earlier then needed. You had an open road to Marseille,Iberia,even Mid Atlantic and you would need only Sevastopol in that case to win the game. That game had a stalemate line when I took Tunis only but you have voted for the draw at that point.If not I MAYBE would have kicked England out of the draw.

SD, is that the game I was playing as England and had my fleets over near Russia?

Any move at me, I would have taken 2 or 3 centers off the Russian, and his only disbands would have been on the turkish line, as he had nothing in the north.

I figured it was my only way to keep myself in the draw, and if I recall, Turkey had 16 (you took tunis, because he had backed off), and I am sure the loss of 2 or 3 Russian armies would have sealed the deal

I am not sure that is the exact game, but I think it was, but then again, maybe not.

Yes,the game.And I said MAYBE,I'm aware it was close though. He had 15 with Tunis.And if I stab you I stab you before you are aware I stabed you,you wouldn't take anything because you would have to disband before.Or I don't stab you. It would have been a two-way maybe or German solo because he wouldn't be able to hold St.Peterburg.

Yebellz - no,Italy has fleets in Gulf and West Med at that point. W.Med - Tun, Gulf -Tus , if W.Med is dislodged W.Med - Tys and it's the same picture. If not Ionian defends Tunis and Rom supp Tus - Tys till the end.

oh right, I overlooked the dislodge

Yebellz, I was terrified he would support Tys into Rome and prevent my bounce. I took a huge risk doing that 2 turns in a row and I almost guessed wrong and didn't do it, which would have given him Rome as it turns out. I would have been screwed had he supported Venice to Rome possibly as well.

Stressed: I was Russia while you were England. You had me sweating that out real bad with your hovering fleets, but I had no choice but to hope for the best. If I lost even one more unit, I was going to try throwing the solo by defending St Pete until Turkey could grab it for 18th...

Stressed: When you were Italy and I was Austria, you mentioned I didnt move out of trieste despite the fact that you were supporting me. I would say that it swings both ways. If you wanted to trust austria in a GB, why not move out of Venice? I guess I prolly should have just hoped for the best and trusted you not to rape me, but I have seen a lot of weird Italian play lately and I don't like to hand anyone anything too often. This all being said, I am not good with Austria and the turney shows this (0/3).

Didn't feel like I played my best here but I am proud of the fact I was in the draw in all of my non-Austrian games tho!

My experience with the tournament overall was good, even though I died in all of them.

Game 1 (France) - I was doing good, but once England got into MAO everything fell apart. I have very little experience dealing with France, and it showed. I had considered, rather than moving MAO to Irish Sea, to support Brest to the English Channel. I thought that there was no chance England would move to MAO, and that mistake cost me the game. If he doesn't do that I might be sitting in 1904 with Munich and possibly London or Liverpool.

Game 2 (Italy) - I got off to a decent start but it just never got going for me. Austria took Tunis and then I got rolled over by the Jug. I don't know what I could have done to stop it, it's tough.

Game 3 (Russia) - I got off to a great start, but England and Turkey just outplayed me. I lost territory and even though I held on for awhile I got killed.

Game 4 (Germany) - I fought hard... I was able to kill France, but rather than making me strong it made me weak - England now only had one enemy, and he hit hard at my home centers.

Game 5 (England) - Like Game 2 I just never got going. I took Norway, lost it, and slowly got taken down.

Game 6 (Austria) - Another country I had little experience with at the time. My opening was very unorthodox and it didn't work great. I rebounded a bit, but another Jug and another loss.

Game 7 (Russia) - I never got going. Germany kept me out of Sweden and I was denied Rumania. Just didn't happen for me.

I had to play against some VERY good players. I knew I was a low seed going in and this is about what I expected. I'm interested in another one eventually, though.

My best country, Turkey, and I never got a chance at it. Russia (my worst, IMO) I had twice. That's how it goes I guess. I had a fairly even draw though.

bump

Okay, here we go....

Game 1 (Russia - loss) gameID=110149 :

Yuck. Thought I'd try to make nice in the south in case England came at me...which he did. Did not contest Galicia in order to get into Austrian good graces and let Turkey have the Black Sea. Sadly Germany joined with England in '02 and also came straight at me so he had Sweden and England had taken St. Pete before the game really got going (and I was forced to defend Warsaw from the German land assault). Was hoping for some pressure from France and got it as he was taking on both England and Germany thereby giving me a little breathing room...but by this time Turkey was going strong so I thought I might go in for the Juggernaut. Well, that thought was gone in about two seconds as Turkey turned north on me the very next season. As the French pressure had eased the Anglo-Germanic attack, I was able to concentrate on keeping the Turk at bay for a few seasons. But it was always going to be a delaying tactic and he eventually overwhelmed me. Now I'm just praying that England support holds me in Moscow while folks figure out the Turk is starting to roll through central Europe...but it didn't last long and I was toast by Fall of '09. Must say that the eventual winners (EGT) were all masterful. I was outclassed.

Game 2 (Austria - loss) gameID=110151 : Aaaaaarrrrrggghhh. I get a certain teeth-grinding feeling when Italy opens anti-Austrian in gunboat. Always feel like it is basically saying "go ahead RT and enjoy the Juggernaut"...which is fairly well what happened. As I got squished on all sides I kept reminding myself this is supposed to be fun. Nonetheless out of spite I was able to squeeze through the Italian lines and park my remaining fleet in Tunis, which gave me a great vantage point while I watched Italy get steamrolled too (schadenfreude anyone?) I kept hoping France would come into the Med to help support me in Tunis before Turkey got there - sadly he was too late. I'm starting to sense a pattern in my early poor play -> reliance on some power being the white knight to save me. I'm waiting for the chorus of "how's that working out for you?"

Game 3 (Turkey - Draw AEIT) gameID=110152 : What a wacky game. Finally got a chance to do some damage as Turkey and once again tried to make nice with both my neighbors (maybe that's just not good policy - time to grow and pair and just go after someone from the start). In any case I did not contest Austria taking Greece or Russia taking Rumania (could have bounced him if I was so interested)...only for Russia to build another fleet in Sevastopol (!) Really? Not exactly the "thank you" note I was looking for so I'm hoping Austria is on board to keep the Tsar in check (And since Russia also attacked Austria, I think that was a safe bet). In any case Italy is keeping Austria busy so I take on Russia on my own. Russia seems intent on taking everyone on (Germany, England) so my job is made easier and an Austrian support into Rumania starts me in the right direction. After that it was just a question of getting rid of his pesky fleets and I could finally move west and bail out my friend Austria. And then disaster struck: a misorder! Instead of hitting Italy in Greece I had Bulgaria attack Serbia by mistake. BIG MISTAKE. Austria basically came at me full force and instead of it being AT versus I, it became AI versus T. Russia decides to move back south so now I am totally screwed. I am convinced that without that misorder, Austria and I could have done some damage together. In any case Russia eventually crumbles (you need to have some allies) and Austria, Italy, I continue to butt heads until we finally figure out that England is thisclose to a solo. We make nice and set up the stalemate line just in time...

Game 4 (Russia - loss) gameID=110153 : clearly everyone got the memo to all go after Russia from the start as both Turkey, and England opened in a less than friendly manner. My good friend Austria spied it right away, supported me into Rumania and Turkey quickly spied that such a foray was doomed. As Turkey moved west, I had a decision to make - join him or work against him. In retrospect I blew it and should have kept the pressure on him to repay Austria for his early help. Assume Trooth is fairly cheesed off at me and for good reason. In any case my decision to go with Turkey doomed me besides the fact that I knew the stab was coming. He steamrolled both of us and I once again retreated to Mos-StP-War hoping I could be the no-man's land between the stalemate. Looked like I had a shot too, but once England got it in his head that he could take me out and not help the Turkish solo, I was screwed. Well played both of you and kudos to Austria - he deserved a better fate.

Game 5 (Italy - draw FGIR) gameID=110155 : Weird game. I'm a terrible Italy especially in GB so I thought I'd try a western move early. Opened with the Alpine Chicken (Piedmont and Venice) but France was more than ready for it. I prayed for some German help but he decided to move north and east instead. Crap - now I needed to extricate from that Mediterranean mess but how? Thankfully France was the one who offered the olive branch and now I was in business to move east only to face a RT that was already rolling. I could offer no help to Austria and I was on the verge of being sliced and diced myself when Russia (thankfully) decided the time was ripe to stab Turkey. Now I was back in business (slightly), retaking Venice and building some fleets to combat the coming Russian armada...which never really materialized as Russia never built another southern fleet - lucky for me. Doubly lucky was France coming to the rescue (I guess there were no hard feelings from my earlier foray). We (with Germany) set the stalemate line and that was that.

Game 6 (France - loss) gameID=110164 : France is typically my money power in GB so I was thrilled to get it at least once...only to play it like a sick nun. Had an easy time getting my 3 builds in '01 only to decide "hey, why don't I make a play for England? I'll build a couple fleets and Germany will be thrilled." He was thrilled all right - enough to come right at me when he realized I didn't have the land support to fight him off. When he was done doing his Blitzkrieg imitation, I was left with a lone fleet in Portugal and huge headache from banging my head against the wall. England finally ended my misery. Can we pretend this one didn't happen?

Game 7 (England - draw EFT) gameID=110166 : Hallelujah - a game I didn't screw up. Started strong against Russia and was pleased that he was pushing south. Germany decided he would rather fight me than get a piece of the Russian spoils so it took a few years, but eventually I got Scandinavia and most of northern russia. Ah but it had to happen - I made one paranoid move to the Channel and France (rightfully) had had enough of my silliness and decided to help Germany against me. ouch. Well, in the midst of it all, Germany got destroyed, Turkey had mopped up in the Balkans and France had taken Italy so I suppose the 3W was valid - in retrospect I probably could have done better but I'll take it (and it was my first points in the tourney so that was a relief too).

Overall my thanks to everyone in this group. While it was overall a very humbling experience (you are all very skilled players), I learned a ton and (hopefully) won't make the same mistakes again. Let's do this again sometime.

Game 4: I was extremely disappointed and surprised when you attacked after my help. Its the name of the game tho. After this I had nothing to do except try and make sure only Turkey gained from the whole affair. I didn't slow you as much as I hoped to. My ultimate goal was to get you eliminated also and for a while I thought my hopes were in vain. I must admit I celebrated when they cut you our of the draw. Sorry! Defly no hard feelings tho.