EOG Every Time I see Bablyon, My Blood Runs Cold

1901: I opened very conventionally, and my main focus was to get on good enough terms with France and Germany to have both of them be happy with my army in Belgium. My original plan was to ally with Germany since he was the more talkative of the two, but France and Russia convinced me to attack Germany and I took their advice because I knew I had the upper hand on a one-fleet Germany.

1902 - 1904: I attacked Germany with the help of Russia and I managed to make some good gains. I had a good relationship with France through this period but I was wary of his two fleets in the northwest so I asked Italy to attack him. I'm not sure if I convinced him or if he planned to attack anyway, but Italy attacked and that removed any possible threat from France. At the end of 1904, I was supposed to repay Russia and help him into Munich and Berlin but I decided to stab him instead because I thought Austria would be a more valuable ally and that I could take Germany by myself. And that a popping Russia wouldnt be a threat to me, so I figured my lies wouldn't come back and bite me.

1905 - 1907: Austria, Turkey and I started to talk about a three way draw. That seemed like my best option at this point, especially after Austria took Munich and propped Germany up in Berlin. Around this time, I thought Austria was angling for a solo since she was in a position to get 18 by stabbing Turkey. She denied this and in a show of good faith lagreed to let me into Berlin and even offered me Munich. She and Turkey convinced me to stab France. He defended well but I had too many units and the stab began to pay off at the end of 1907.

1908 - 1910: Stuff really began to break my way here. Both France and Italy saw the writing on the wall and offered to help me solo rather than have a three way draw without them. I'm not sure why they offered this assistance: they both mentioned wanting to survive rather than have a defeat. I'm not sure if this was honestly their belief or if they thought that this tactic would allow them to wedge themselves in for a draw. I would love to hear from France, especially, on why he decided to help me. It definitely helped me solo!

At the same time, I noticed that Turkey and Austria had become a bit complacent; they never finished building a legitimate stalemate line. If either of them had ever moved to Prussia, I would have been unable to ever take Munich. But this never happened. Further, even after I moved to North Africa, they still trusted that I was going for a draw and so didn't bother support holding Italy in Tunis (or even to ask me to withdraw from the med)

In 1910, I had to make some 50 50 guesses. My thinking here was that if necessary, I could retake st petes at my leisure but if I ever lost West Med or Prussia, my solo bid was over. The one major risk was leaving Tunis unsupported but it paid off. I think the game was decided after Spring 1910 but I'm not positive (i think i could have retaken Marseilles even had I lost it in fall)

I'd love to hear from the others; I think this was my first high stakes game and the competition was really outstanding. I'm sure others have things to add. I had a lot of fun and I'd love to play with all of you again. Good game, Trip/President Eden, Lando, The Wizard, djbent, rdrivera2005, and Troodonte.