Riker would clearly move to the Channel. Take the bull by the horns. Act out his rage at being such a passive country.

And Janeway gets tricked all the time, so Riker'd get there easy. ;)

A few interesting things to point out here before the game goes on:

-Our Western Triangle is post TNG, the East is pre-TNG, and Picard's in the middle.

A few interesting alliance/conflict ideas:

+Picard in Italy matching up ship for ship with Kirk in Turkey... either a VERY good showdown or a KILLER alliance...

+It might make more LOGICAL sense for Spock as Austria to team with Picard, whom he does know and likes, against Kirk's Turkey, as Austria-Turkey can really bite Austria hard... but can Spock REALLY team against Kirk?

+Spock's not very compatible personality-wise with Sisko, who's Germany... could that fabled alliance fall apart? With naive and unpredictable Archer as Russia, the East looks messy...

+None of the three in the Western Triangle really are great friends, and in terms of compatability, none mesh too well... Sisko's very agressive, Janeway'd go out of her way to avoid a fight until the last second if she could, and Riker's really just an improv guy...

+Picard's probably the best diplomat here, and he'd likely play a huge role in deciding the Western Triangle with Riker's England and Janeway's France. Picard's pretty friendly with Number One, and Italy-England could easily take out France (Picard's homeland!) but how far could such an alliance go if it went, and could an angry Sisko come blazing from Germany to get Picard in a duo of oddballs, Sisko and Janeway?


So:

Given all that, and your own ideas, someone suggest the outcome of the year 1901, whilst I... finish my paper I guess (love philosophy, just don't want to type this...)

Spock would get angry for the first time ever since he drew Austria and would leave the game.

Austria's not terrible, and with Picard as Italy, he could be in good position- the two are somewhat similar in their temperment and aproach, and have worked together before...

Spock-Picard vs. Archer's Russia and Sisko's Germany would blow up the board... but there's still Kirk lurking in Turkey... will Kirk and Spock face off? :p

Kirk wont want to attack his friend, but Spock wont be held back by any such emotional weakness. Kirk will see Archer as weak and trick him.

Spock and Picard will form an alliance and Spock will allow (spring)Ven-->Tri; (autumn)Tri-->Ser [it's the logical thing to do]

Riker will try to get inside Janeways knickers using his imagined charm.
Janeway wont be fooled and will ally with Sisko against Riker.
Sisko knows and respects Janeway. He'll go along with the anti-Riker alliance [would you want her mad at you?].
Janeway will let Riker think he's getting somewhere so he'll go balls out [sorry!] and attack Sisko in the west while failing to defend against Janeway in the south.
Janeway will take Eng then Lon and Sisko will laugh.

Archer will dither and let Kirk take the Black Sea, then he'll try for Rum and Swe and get neither ["Oh boy!"]

I can see that ALL happening lol

Fall 1901:

The Spock-Picard Alliance will flourish, with Picard taking Tunis and moving to Piedmont, preparing for a strike on Janeway's France- Picard's coming home! :D

On Spock's side of things he faces an interesting dichotomy of fortune. On the one hand, Archer... well, he's lost Rumania, the Balkans, and the Black Sea, so any threat he may have posed to the south is neutralized, and thus Austria has a safe flank there and a good share of Balkan provinces without Archer's Russia grubbing their share. But Kirk's profitted from this, too, and has his share of the Balkans and Archer's southern forces in a headlock... the two are on a collision course, adn the coming year will decide whether we see Austria and Turkey ally, or Kirk and Spock go at it in a battle for the ages.

Next to Archer, Riker finds himself in the toughest spot. Sisko's as agressive as they come, and Janeway, while more defensive, can be vicious when out to attack- and both are against Riker. The Channel's been lost, and no Sisko's Germany is coming to attack Janeway's France to alleviate the pressure- not while it hurts Riker and there's a wounded Archer to carve up. Norway's been gained, and no centers have been lost... yet. A build for Riker, but his seas have been breached, with no other easy builds in sight. The only silver lining for Riker is... of course... Picard. His old captain's siding with him against France, and that'll draw a bit of Janeway's attention... but if it will be enough to allow Riker to recover England's natural deffenses remains to be seen.

Archer has no friends thus far... he looks all but doomed, needs a miracle...

Spock and Kirk (surprise, surprise) are the biggest threats at the moment.
Sisko and Picard are the darkhorses at the moment, looking good...
Janeway's at an empasse- either she'll take out Riker fast or likely be worn down by him and Picard... a so-so start
Riker's in a jam...
Archer's looking like, barring a miracle or a blunder, the one with the earliest bath...

Spring 1902:

What next for our intrepid captains (besides more Earl Grey for Picard, Brandy for Kirk and Black Coffee for Janeway.)

You forot Riker's love for Romulan ale.

One might say that Spock, ever the logical Vulcan, would decide against an alliance with Kirk based upon their friendship. That completely dismisses his human half (the half that always wins out in any internal conflict he experiences). He would reamin a loyal ally of Kirk's throughout the game. Kirk for his part wouldn't stab Spock either. His optimism is only bolstered by his draw of Turkey and a good friend in Austria. Archer loses Sevastopol to Kirk who brings armies northward toward Moscow with Austrian troops in Rumania and on the march toward Warsaw.

Sisko will probably come down on Janeway's side unless Riker and Picard together can convince him that a weakened France and a crumbling Russia are in his best interests given the rising Austro-Turkish alliance. Sisko might very well abandon France in favor of the tactical superiority of a Picard-Riker partnership (of course if we played it true to the characters none of them would ever stab anyone). Sisko has to know that Spock has him on the menu, so getting tangled up in a war with either Russia or France would mean death by 1904. So Picard swings fleets away from the east (as Spock and Kirk are gobbling up Russia); takes Tunis and posts a fleet in Ionian thereafter. He then moves on Western Med. and GoL with his build. This places Janeway in a vise between Italy, England, and probably Germany. Riker, once again, pulls a fast one courtesy of Picard. He ends up with Belgium (with Sisko's support) as well as Norway. Being aggressive though he builds an army and a fleet with an eye toward Brest and Paris.

Archer and Picard begin talking about how to counter Aus & Turkey, but it's really too late for Russia. It will come down to a strong Italy, Austria, and Turkey. With Riker so far removed and a vindictive Janeway on his flank, it will be hard for Picard to survive even with help from Sisko.

First: Germany would get eliminated. Because everyone hates DS9.

Then, Russia falls (Everyone hates Enterprise more, but Russia is harder to kill quickly)

Then Future Janeway warps back in time and gives Janeway (England) armor, freaking sweet torpedoes and then destroys everyone else. Then they sail home.

If we can have future Janeway we can have alternate Kirk, which means a fistfight. Spock would win because Vulcans are stronger. Game over.

Yeah, Klingons are stronger too. So why was Worf always gettin' beat up every other episode?

Because it's TV.

They're very fluid with the relative strength of species. It says in that baseball episode of Deep Space 9 that Vulcans are twice as strong as humans or something, but Kirk beat Spock up on Vulcan itself in the Original Series.

The fact that that bothers me bothers me more.

When did Kirk actually beat Spock up? Spock kicked his ass in Amok Time, and once he was out from under the spores symbiotic influence in Flip Side of Paradise, Spock nearly kills Kirk before realizing what has happened so they can go on to save the rest of the crew.

The fact that I know the exact episodes you're both talking about bothers me more...

I'm watching Star Trek right now: I think Spock would lose.

"The purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a conflict."

"Diplomats and Bureaucrats may function differently but they achieve the exact same result."

I have that episode- a good one. :)

So I think we can assume, by the early part of the mid-game, that Archer's toast, and Picard and Riker have picked apart Janeway; Kirk get's the lion's share of former-Archer Russia's territories, and Sisko and Spock split the rest.

So:

Kirk's strongest
Spock and Picard are tied and one unit or so behind Kirk
Sisko is stable
Riker's the weakest one left alive.

Kirk-Spock-Picard have a great alliance, but a stab might be inevitable.
Sisko and Riker are in a forced defensive alliance, with Sisko taking the lead.

Archer get's the earliest bath, and beams up to the NX-01 Enterprise after a good amount of booze to drown the pain.

Janeway downs some coffe and beams up to Voyager next, high-strung and bitchier than usual.


And as we enter mid-game after Vulcan meditation, some hot Earl Grey being brewed, Kirk knocking back some brandy, and Sisko and Riker phoning Quark's for pizza.

So- next...?

Riker may yet play a part in this, given that with France and Russia taken down all he has to worry about are Germn fleets for the moment. Sisko can't afford a naval assault on him with Kirk and Spock breathing down his neck and Picard inching up in the west. Sisko and Picard are likely to join forces now as Riker can't be of any real use. He's too far away to render any aid against Turkey and AH, and he isn't a good target for expansion as Sisko would have to invest in fleets to get over there leaving his homeland vulnerable.


and yeah Invictus, I know what you mean about strengths being realtive. THe half-Klingon (I forget her name) probably actually won more fights on an episode by episode basis than Worf ever dreamed of.

There's no way Spock would ever stab Kirk. He doesn't want command, and similarly he, doesn't want to win.

Winning would be illogical - it is, after all, a game.

Yet, if playing, then playing to win would be logical.

Crazy Anglican has a point. (I think that's the first time I've said that...)

Winning's the object, and Spock would see achieving the objective goal as logical...

So Spock WOULD play to win- unless he and Kirk were neck and neck, like 16-17 power nations. THEN he, knowing Kirk's ability to pull it out in tight spots and being his friend anyway, might draw... but how often do Turkey and Austria finish in two-way draws?