Excellent game, all. I'll try to write up a proper EOG statement later.

Not to hijack this thread in any way, but just to say, if you guys are looking for another big game after that one, the following needs more players: gameID=50534

sorry Troo - you are absolutely correct... an attack on AH is never useful in a gunboat game (as italy)... what it came down to is that I saw a random set of Russian moves (stp/sil) and expected France to move north to England... I did not make the right choice from the early going... so I paid the price.

i'm certainly not a good gunboat player haha

Yeah my moves were maybe a little random. Mostly I wanted to show a desire to operate in the scnadinvia/german areas. Unfortunately G and E decided tow ork together as opposed to with me.

I really hate Russia in gunboats.

Am I the only one on this site that has success against Austria as Italy in a gunboat? Maybe I just need to find more competent Austrians... *shrug*

Anyway, Western Triple? In my gunboat? It's more likely than you think. (c)

The most noteworthy thing about this game for me is I tried an opening I had been thinking about for Turkey, namely supporting Russia to Black Sea in Spring then supporting Russia to Rumania in the fall. It went very well this time, as Lando cooperated and Babak didn't lepanto. But what do y'all think of it as an idea in general? (/is it fairly standard? I don't play gunboat much)

I have wanted to try that opening but have always ended up shying away.

There are too many variables around Russia and supporting them to BLS in S01 could just be suicide if Russia was already planning to jump on you. For me, I didn't want to figth Turkey anyway so I obviously was very happy to know you wanted to work together.

I have often done the opposite, as Russia supported T to BLS in 01.

^and then Turkey opens to Armenia and...

At least Turkey can spare it to an extent, because Russia would be far less likely to bank on being let into the Black Sea and move Mos -> Sev than Turkey would just to go for Armenia with an army and hope to grab Black Sea by S02.

i have to admit, for a while I was SURE that there was something less than fair in the EGF triple... I even asked the mods to check it out.

just seemed like it was an even more effective western triple than if it was a full press game... but then again, maybe that is exactly why it worked so well haha

I was just waiting and waiting for it to disintegrate. I am impressed they made it work so well.

I was disappointed that it didn't disintegrate a bit at the end with Germany going away, but I guess it happens.

So... yeah. Kind of a weird one.
At the beginning of the game I didn't have any set plan. However, the first move of the game revealed enough for me to follow up on:
- Italy moved west towards me
- England opened east towards Scandinavia
- Russia's one army moved into Silesia, and would probably force Germany to move east as well

It is with these three things in mind that I decided to go full on into the Med, even after Italy's moves towards me revealed themselves to be a feint to deceive A-H. At that point Italy had fully committed to attacking A-H, so his back was turned. I reckoned a small force could throw him off balance enough that he'd collapse.

I won't bore you with a move-by-move, but I will say that I was obviously very pleased to see both England and Germany working together against Russia (though I did wonder what England would do once Russia was defeated). I was also very, very surprised that I was able to walk into Rome with no supports. Perhaps it was possible simply because it seemed so very unlikely.

Perhaps one of the more unlikely things to have happened, and crucial for building trust among the Western Triple: Spring 1903, I moved A Burgundy-Gascony on the same turn that Germany moved Munich-Tyrolia. This was pure coincidence. I simply gambled that I might need my army to defend Spain and that I could risk it leaving Burgundy for a turn. When I saw Germany had also moved away from our shared border on the same turn, I saw the alliance firmly taking shape; We both needed each other. Eventually the game got to the point where I saw -- and England and Germany clearly also saw -- that if we fought amongst each other Turkey would easily solo.

i disagree that I was a solo threat. Germany could have easily been taken out. France would have worked as well.

It's true that by the end you had been boxed in, I suppose. It's very possible we could all have ganged up on Germany without anyone soloing... but it seemed like too much of a risk to me, especially with England moving towards me in Spring 1909 -- basically seeming to say "vote for the Draw already, asshole, or I'll knife you". It confirmed my suspicion that he would come down on Germany's side if I attacked, and I really would not have been able to defend myself.

i was afraid that France would take that feint as a personal insult - but did not realize he would take it THAT seriously.

well, you live and learn. ;)

My moves were actually pretty random fro the first year or so not knowing where to go really except to defend Berlin. After giving it some thought and seeing that England was moving toward Russia I decided to move eastwards as well. I was prepared to switch westwards just in case France tried something but the threat never materialized and Italy was soon doomed to a French invasion (a sigh of relief for me).

this was a rough game for me.... for sure.

I played two other live gunboats last night- drew England in BOTH games... and was almost eliminated in BOTH games... I was lucky enough to survive both and have a part in the draw... but its obvious I'm doing something wrong in 1901/2

to you more experienced gunboat players... two questions:

1) is it beneficial NOT to attack anyone in 1901?
2) is it beneficial to 'waste' one of your moves to provide a useless (or useful) support to a neighbor in 1901? just to show them you're willing to commit to them?

1) It depends. If you mean as England, one build is enough as long as your fleets form a good defensive position, so yes, not attacking anyone is fine in 1901.
2) Yes, especially if it doesn't work but your neighbor notices it. :-)

Like any diplomacy variant, developing relationships with other players is critical. There is a balance between tactical moves and communicative moves. Sometimes a move is both.

To answer your first question, I agree with JP. You don't need two builds in 01. However, in 1901 you need to make sure you do not seem like an easy target, also.

thank you guys for your comments... i'm most definitely going to have to try more gunboat games to get better.