The game is: http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=113784
I get Germany in the draw, which I love playing.

I start out non-committal, aiming to keep Russia out of Swe and grab Hol and Bel. France opens Bur, threatening Mun and forcing me to move back. But he also grabs the Channel, enabling me to choose my ally in the West. A good position. When France decides to build an extra army Mar (why not F Mar jimgov?), my choice is made. I'm looking to get Scandinavia slowly while moving on France.

The next few turns go according to plan. I grab Swe from R and Bel from F. England shows trust by moving to NAO, giving us both a lot of breathing room to deal. However, strangely enough Russia does not roll back forcing me to stay in Swe. R even advances to Livonia. Slightly alarmed, I move Ber-Sil to prevent an all-out attack, while keeping focus on F. But Russia turns out to be genuinely attacking (one Balkan front not exciting enough VitrualBob?), so I have to change tack. Blitzkrieg.

Which turns out surprisingly well. I land an army into Livona and wreak havoc in the motherland, while Austria keeps Russia equally occupied. In the west, the attack of England on France is going great, and once Russia is subdued I finally move hard into Burgundy. Which is exactly when England decided to slowly and methodically retreat. And move towards me. Puzzled - and quite sure I cant crack F on my own - I try some moves to signal England of my intentions (my favorite failed move being A Bel S London-Picardy), it becomes clear that England has abandoned his attack on F and is coming for me.

Trooth: I'm curious to hear your perspective on this.

I change tack once again and focus on England. I have too many armies, but then again, holding a stalemateline never hurt anyone. I move successively against England who is doing his best but simply outgunned. I dabble in the east, supporting Turkey one move, Italy the next. I start to think a three-way with *possible* solo for me or Italy is likely. But when four draws are up, I think this is a good moment to end a nice game.

Good game all. I particularly enjoyed the two demilitarized borders I briefly had with England and Turkey. They don't come up all too much during gunboat, and they make all the difference in freedom of movement. GG!

@bo_sox: wasnt my choice either. But four draw votes were up and I preferred to not get all the table hate for not drawing.

You should never draw until you want to draw or until you are stalemated (for 10 years if you are josunice. j/k)

You could have easily taken England out, and it looks like Turkey was about to fall, too. Don't settle like that. But nicely played up until then.

Yeah, agreed, but what can I say. Sometimes I have the knife on the table, sometimes I just want to have fun. And there seem to be enough knives on tables of late.

No, you do not need to draw so don't. They couldn't have taken you out and would be dumb to try.

@TMOW -- I am not sure how "keeping Russia out of SWE is non-committal, but you did play a good game. I really tried to signal friendship and lack of threat by opening to FIN instead of BAL and only moved against you when you continued to bounce me in the north. And for that brief moment, I thought things were under control in the south. Then when things became more obvious in the south I simply fell asleep with a week tap on SWE instead of keeping you out of LVN.

I actually hate to play Russia, though, and this is not the first time that KIE->LVN (or BER->LVN) has caught me napping. I wish I could be sure it was the last.

FIN instead of GOB threatening BAL. Sorry.

Well, yeah, I bounced you ot of SWE. But that is expected isnt it? Just like somebody bouncing me out of Belgium or the obligatory Turkish attack on Greece in F01. As Russia, you shouldnt be expecting SWE - you're lucky if you have it. In fact, your continuing moves to Swe left you open to Nwy-StP which could have wiped you off the map in 02 imho.

I opened non-commital in that I had no designs on your centers (at that point, not even a solid design on Sweden, just keeping it neutral).

Having said that, I'm convinced a northern oriented Russia is by definition a threat to Germany, even with good intentions properly signaled. Once you have Swe, you need backup to defend. Once the backup arrives, another center falls. And another. I'm of the philosophy that Russia should in principle not get one finger in the North, as to not take the entire hand. Especially if the southern front is strong.

1901: trying out a new opening. Could have gotten three builds, but it was probably a better idea not to piss off both neighbors with such craziness. I guess I'll never know.
1902: Lepanto. Germany is growing fast.
1903: some failed attempts to break the Turkish defense. Austria looks strong...
1904: ...too strong. I stab him.
1905: The invasion goes well and Greece is taken. Germany is the one to worry about now...
1906: ...but that won't stop me from keeping progress while France deals with it... oops! They've become Kraut's buddies! Poor England!
1907: Austria is finished, but Turkey is being pesky. Russia hanging on a thread.
1908: Turkey misorders and gifts me a build. I keep Russia alive as a zombie, which is very cool. But France is set to take Tunis from me.
1909: France indeed takes Tunis - I took a gamble and it didn't pay. I take Budapest from the armyless Russia to counterbalance this, though.
1910: despite the recovery of Tunis, not a very good year in terms of positioning. I read Germany's intentions all wrong and end up vulnerable to a Turkish revenge. Plus: France disbands in a dangerously favorable way to Germany! England deserves praise for his excellent defending after being down to 3 SCs.
1911: I vote Draw and England follows. In a very weird way, I manage to keep my SC count, exchanging Bulgaria for Constantinople. France ran off to defend against a dangerous Germany, who has finally managed to land an army into the British isles. Maybe I'll have time to finish Turkey while G finishes England?
1912: No time for anything, as everyone else follows the draw vote, Germany being the last one. The draw could have been reduced, but I guess everyone who was left played well enough.

If you'd taken Trieste, I assure you that Turkey would have had a solo in that game through a massive juggernaut that grew uncontrollably after I threw mercilessly ;)