I wonder as well. Knowledgeable commentary and diverse discussion might have influenced play in a positive way. The last couple of years saw us stray from what I think was the original intent of Diplomacy - realigning when necessary, even if that means sublimating passed grievances, to prevent one or more countries from becoming too dominant. Once emotions reached the boiling point the solo could not be prevented.

Only one person prevented us from stopping the solo. In my opinion, the end game negated the entire purpose of this game. France learned nothing. I will never play with that idiot again.

I just looked at the moves, and it looks like you're right. You hade the line set up, and then he just throws it away...

Hi,

I was Aeneas17's advisor/mentor (although I firmly believe I was probably pretty redundant in the role, as he obviously has a firm grasp of the game!)

I felt it was a shame this game deteriorated. I tried to keep up my mentoring/advice as much as I could, but by the end it seemed that France was renegade and it had deteriorated and there wasn't much I could offer. I'm sorry if I let you down.

I'd love an EOG statement from Ernst_Brenner and everyone actually.

I hope this doesn't stop the SoW from hosting future games, as I think it's a worthwhile and fun exercise.

Congrats Tom Bombadil.

Ok. Here's a simple EOG that I hope some will find helpful.

1901: I wasn't actually in the game until builds of 1901. I replaced AgentK who did not exactly leave me in the most enviable position. He had lied to both Russia and Austria regrading Rumania, and it looked as though they were going to pinch down on me. Because of this I worked very hard on trying to get Russia on my side and to get Italy to stab Austria and not go for a Lepanto. Both seemed receptive, so I decided to take a gamble on Italy and build an army in Smyrna rather than a fleet.

1902: In the spring Italy made what looked to be a move against Austria and Russia and I simply bounced in black. Things were looking good until the fall. Then Italy failed to take any Austrian SCs and instead moved to Boh (which I still don't really understand) and Russia tried to take Bul. I believe this was the turning point for me, because Italy still seemed on the fence on who to go with, but at after this year decided to side with me, and Russia repented for his attempt at Bul and when I did not get upset and told him I was still open for an alliance, I think it helped build trust between us dramatically.

1903: This is the year where I was finally able to get out of my corner. Italy and Russia were working with me and I was able to get two builds out of it. It pretty much signaled the end for Austria, and was also the year where I began concerning myself with the west. France was in a battle with England and Germany seemed half committed to attacking England and Russia. This had its good and bad as I could use GER to help me expand into Russia, but I was worried that Italy we come after me since he was getting no pressure put on him by France.

1904: I knew that I was going to have to turn on either Russia or Italy and this was the year to do it. I was quite torn on the matter because logic told me to turn on Russia (he was getting attacked in the north and was a much easier avenue for expansion for me) but my emotions told me to go after Italy. I didn't trust Italy much and had a good relationship with Russia. In the end I chose to go after Russia for a couple of reasons. First he was going to lose centers in the north anyway. GER was coming at him and England actually swiped St. Pet in the fall as well. Secondly, I could get more immediate gains by stabbing Russia instead of Italy. An stab on Italy would have been difficult to say the least. And finally, I was having really good talks with Germany and knew that I could communicate with him very well which was helpful against Russia.

1905: My alliance is still going good with Italy and I continue my attack on Russia to get some more easy SCs. England looks to be in serious trouble and at this point I thought the game might be heading towards a Turkey/Italy versus a France/Germany. The fall year was quite odd though. I had an open shot at keeping Sev and taking Moscow, but Russia made a compelling argument that kept him alive a bit longer. I decided to take Moscow from GER and let him keep Sev so that I could use his fleet up north. I knew it might be essential if I wanted to go after GER. Italy and I had talks of going after GER so he supported me into Gal but at the same time moved to East med and Ionian instead of heading towards France. I think this was another lucky break for me, because he came to me saying that it was just in case I stabbed but the rest of the board did not know that. They thought that we might begin fighting so they began fighting as well with GER heading towards France. This was the best thing that could have happened to me.

1906: Not much to say here. I supported Russia back in St. Pet and Italy and I continue to move against GER. Italy also started pushing those fleets to a pretty wide open France. I really liked how GER communicated throughout the game, but I think this was the big mistake he made. He simply overexpanded and could not fight on both sides which proved difficult, especially when he did not have England on his side.

1907: Italy and I swapped some SCs to make our borders more secure. I sort of used this as an excuse to take Ionian and make up some story about how I planned on losing a unit and disbanding Ionian (which was partially true. Had I needed to disband an unit, it would have been that one. I was not sold on stabbing Italy yet) The west was an absolute mess with Germany and France weakening each other and England flip flopping in an attempt to remain useful (which he did quite well I might add)

1908: I was in an outstanding position to stab Italy and I took it. I was quite surprised that he was so trusting in me, but still didn't see this game ending up in a solo for me. The west was a mess, but I could see them pulling it together and stalemating me, as I did not have St. Pet OR Tunis at this point. I was actually quite upset with myself for stabbing too early.

1909-end: I think everyone pretty much knows what happened next. France went on an insane suicide mission to help me solo. I'd like to think it was my charm and stunning good looks, but more realistically is that he let his anger with the other powers take over. I could not take St. Pet from Germany, and needed Spain to get to 18, but France offered to help me in. I was quite shocked because setting up a stalemate line in Spain is not very hard and I would have been forced to draw.

Anyhow I hope that helps out. I'll post a little blurb about how I thought each player played as well.

Hi

I was Ernst_Brenner's advisor. They never asked me a single question, but I still sent them about 4 unasked for long advice PMs. After not getting a reply any of those 4 times, I gave up.

England: I didn't do much talking to England but we got along pretty well. He never reached out to me, but I suppose I didn't reach out to him much either. Tactically, I thought he played very well. He was in trouble for a long time, but kept being useful to either Germany or France which kept him alive

France: I don't exactly have good things to say about your play. We didn't communicate as much as I would have wanted either, and I still don't understand your rationale at the end. I'd like to hear from you in this thread sometime. From my side, it looks as though you simply threw away a draw because you were pissed at the other players, most notably Italy.

Germany: Probably the player who I was most impressed with, especially early. Had fantastic communication and was level-headed and brought up good points. I saw you as the biggest threat in the game. Your only mistake to me was how you overexpanded a bit near the end which made it hard for you to hold onto your gains.

Italy: Italy was the other TA and I expected great play from him and I mostly got it. Good ally with good ideas and communications. You left yourself more open that I expected but had a sane France been playing, you would have gotten the draw. There was always something about your press that I didn't trust though.

Russia: Another player I was very impressed with. Did not hold a grudge at all, and was really receptive to my ideas and very open-minded. Quite the fun player to play with and I genuinely felt bad when I stabbed him, which means he is doing something right.

Austria: Wasn't the best communicator and wasn't really in the game long enough for me to get a whole lot of vibes from him. To be fair, his new child was the reason for the pauses and I think that might cut into the diplomacy time a bit.

So, here's my EOG:
1901: I joined at the end of this year in the position handed to me after the previous England's North Sea bounce in the spring. I'm not totally sure why I joined but I did and I think it helped. With a suggestion from my advisor, drano019, I attempted to stop France from building a fleet in Brest but I think it really only antagonized him.

1902: Despite my best efforts, fleet Brest was built and I asked my advisor what to do. I received no response and then didn't try again. I did what I could to defend against a French attack and then in the fall went for Norway to get a much-needed build. Diplomatically, I was mostly concerned with talking to Russia, France and Germany. I think that the reason I didn't reach out to Turkey (or to Austria) that much was because all game I was concerned mostly with survival and maybe a draw, not with a large powerful empire and winning. In my discussions with the others, I was busy so I was terse, especially with Russia, who pointed it out. I was trying to get on with Germany and keep France away from me.

1903: Here, one of the results of my terseness and lack of good com was that Germany now moved to North sea, later saying it was a defensive move for both of us but it appeared to me to be an attack, especially since I didn't hear anything until he moved. Also, France landed an army and that was to me a very disappointing move. I thought I would be out within three years.

1904: I was now forced into total defence and with two powers attacking me I had to do some guesswork and unfortunately guessed wrong on which home SC to defend while Norwegian sea protected Norway from attack. In the fall, I took StP, partially as a result of negotiations with Germany. In hindsight, this might not have been the best move for me but I saw it mostly as a way to maintain my four SCs.

1905: Another French army looked like almost certain doom for me. Again I guessed wrong a couple of times and ended up back to three SCs with only London as a home center. However, a more positive note was that Germany was now clearly on my side and thanks to a bounce I kept St.P and 3 SCs. At about this point I was considering making myself Germany's pawn to simply screw France before I died.

1906: I was now able to recapture Edinburgh as a result of talking with France. I had previously asked for him to leave me in exchange for my support against Germany but that didn't work out fully. Another plus was that France disbanded his other army on my island but unfortunately Russia took St.P back. The reason I was now more aggressive than simply becoming a pawn was because I now saw that I could become part of a draw if I stayed around.

1907: I am copying this EOG from Tom Bombadil's and just saw his comment that I did my flip-flopping to remain useful quite well. I'm glad to hear that because I didn't think that it had worked to accomplish anything except for annoying everyone. However, I stayed around for the whole game so I guess it worked. This turn I kept on with my deal with France but left Liverpool so that he wouldn't have to disband.

1908-end: With Turkey's stab of Italy, the rest of us now saw the imminent solo and attempted to rally to force a draw. Germany, Italy and I quickly saw the need for the line but France wanted revenge for Italy's recent attack. I realize that my helping France keep Spain contributed to Turkey's win. However, at the time, I didn't quite see it. The last year we attempted to get France eliminated so that even though Turkey won he would get no satisfaction. Unfortunately Turkey didn't support me to Portugal so that didn't happen.

@uclabb Actually, I did ask you one question near the beginning of the game.

@Everyone else, the problem with everyone playing for the draw all the time is that then Italy's play makes sense. However, I did warn him (and everyone else) that if he continued to occupy Marseilles and Spain that I would not support him against Turkey. He chose to disbelieve me, and brought the result. If you run out of your home centers away from the board leader arguing "at least this way, I'll stay in the draw," you can't be surprised that you piss someone off enough to make sure that's not true.

@Ernst - my argument wasn't at least I would stay in the draw, but that by giving them to you I had to disband too many units, giving the win to Turkey. You have fewer total points than me and a lower GR, so you can keep saying he wouldn't have gotten the win, but I could not have held the line and he would have gotten the win anyway. So your ultimatum was "give him the win by being forced to disband 4 units or I'll give him the win for you." Everyone else in the game, including Tom, has told you I couldn't hold that line if I had to disband 4 units. Choose to believe what you will, but the majority of the people in the game believe you are and were wrong. And your insistence you weren't means you weren't there to learn at all.

Anyone can see the history of the game and know you are lying, you know.

P.S. You might be a better diplomacy player if you learned not to rely on bullying too much.

So, tell me what four I should have disbanded to hold the line and keep him out of the Med. If I kept my fleets, he takes even more SCs. If I keep the armies, he walks past me straight at you and you had all of one fleet. Seriously, you don't know what your talking about.

Why don't you look at your play starting from Spring 1906 and figure out if you made any mistakes?

Here is Austria's end of Game statement:
I spend all of 1901 arranging an Alliance against AgentK as Turkey. I convinced people that he was dangerous based on his record and I thought that I got Russia and Italy on board against him. So when agent K was replaced by a more even player, this totally wreaked my strategy for this.

The move to Rumania in the Fall of 1901, that many questioned, I know that it was going to bounce. It was my insurance plan against Russia who violated my DMZ with him in Galacia in the Spring. He told me he was going in with support so that if he was lieing and using Galacia to go after Vienna he would bounce out of Rumania.

1902 - Italy makes a move by convoying to Albania that I don't understand? (Was that a stab?) Then the next turn agrees to convoy it against Turkey. I mess up that move (Entering orders tired from Baby) and this enrages Italy. So then I have Italy and Turkey against me.

Try to get support from Russia to recover a little, but he chooses against it and I am eliminated.

I did make mistakes. First and foremost, I trusted Turkey a little too much. England made the mistake of supporting you into Spain. Mistakes happen and I forgive those who make them and hope they forgive mine. But you didn't make a mistake, you willfully threw a game and for that I will never play you again.

Ernst, I read through the global chat and watched the game played out. Your play cannot be explained as anything more than a spite move.

Yes Ernst, your play was stupid. But, since this game was set up as an educational program, let me explain how I would have handled the situation.

You allow Draugnar to be part of the stalemate, and you let Tom advance to 17 centers. Then you ask Tom to retreat his fleets from Gol, Wes and Naf, and his army from Pie, after which you quickly take the army in Marseilles out.

Of course, this can be a risky strategy, if Draugnar smells your plan, and threatens to throw to Turkey himself.

Bottom line: If there is a chance you might score points in a certain game, never ever throw it to someone. In this game, you could have easily achieved a draw.

Disclaimer: I do not pretend to be omniscient. I myself am also still learning this game. So if anyone sees a flaw in my plan, be sure to point it out.

EOG from Germany's perspective for SoW Undergrad 2011

Acknowledgments: to Tom Bombadil for his solo win, to Texasdeluxe my mentor and to Peterwiggin for hosting the School of War.

Preface: I'm very new to Diplomacy and this is my first EOG. Rather than follow a purely chronological format I've chosen to concentrate on the diplomatic and strategic highlights that from my standpoint determined the course of the game. I learned a great deal playing this game and while I'm disappointed with the outcome, I did enjoy it. I hope you enjoy reading about it as well.

The Game:
The opening moves in the West were largely influenced by Original England's inadvertent self-bounce in Nth. This gave the budding F/G alliance a chance to eliminate England early and then turn eastward. A complicating factor, however, for Germany, which deserves some treatment here, was the ongoing Scandinavian dispute with Russia. Both parties wanted Sweden. I thought a compromise had been reached in whereby Russia would traverse Sweden to settle in Nwy in the Fall while Germany occupied Swe. Instead of building an army or fleet (nc) in StP, Russia built a fleet (sc). This was troubling for two reasons. In the short term it meant Russia couldn't deny England Nwy and the swap might not work. In later discussions Russia admitted he might not have left Swe as agreed anyway. In the long term it guaranteed years of non-cooperation between Russia and Germany. Western operations were subordinated to eliminating the threat of two fleets at my back. It was not until F1907 that this situation was resolved when Russia was defeated, as a cunning Turkey eschewed taking Sev, which allowed Russia to keep it's second fleet afloat for longer than expected.

In S1903 I endeavored to convince France to occupy Pie. It was a free move with no risk to France. I wasn't suggesting he attack Italy since England was still viable but merely to position himself for a move into the Med. I pointed out that unless we both began cultivating a westward line of advance we'd have nowhere to go after England was defeated except against each other. France demurred saying he didn't want to upset Italy, although at that point there was nothing Italy could have done but fume. I thought at the time France simply lacked a clear strategic vision but when his army wandered from Mar to Spa to Gas and thence to Bur and he entered Pic from Bre it was abundantly clear his vision was centered on Bel and Germany and not on moving east. Expecting a betrayal by France I defended Bel and his stab failed. It's a shame he chose to break the alliance, because with the way things were in the East once England was dispatched we could have both advanced on separate lines and vanquished Italy and Russia.  But who knows, as some other set of circumstances or alliances might have manifested themselves at that juncture. The war with France dragged on until the end of the game.

Early on the riddle in the East was difficult for me to fathom. As Germany I got very little meaningful press except from hapless Austria, who in the end was too trusting and fell victim to a I/R/T onslaught. Having two different Turkish players only added to the perplexity. Right from the start I'd agreed to a DMZ in Tyo with Italy. Shortly thereafter he violated it explaining later he only wanted to get on Austria's flank. Subsequently he moved to Boh equally disconcerting for Germany. Then he ignored my suggestion he attack Vie from Boh as I had every intention of moving to Boh to straighten my line as well as possibly help my Teutonic cousin. I had the impression during most of the game that Italy didn't take me seriously. The tap on Boh saved Vie and greatly impacted Italy's timetable. Later in F1906 Italy was in Tyo and Boh but the wars with Russia and France left me unable to adequately defend Mun. When I accused him of planning to attack he railed against my protestation saying he was a TA not a student and wouldn't be so "stupid" as to start a war with a third country. All bluff and bluster of course as he wasn't at war with Turkey and promptly moved to Mun that turn. In the end it turns out he should have followed his own advice. Things looked bleak for me. Germany was now at war with every  country. My diplomacy was obviously not working. Germany stood alone.

We've all seen the pictures of the crafty lion watching the milling herds on the savanna patiently waiting for his opportunity. So too Turkey patiently waited, grew stronger and lulled the herd to sleep with his gentle purring. After he'd partaken in the slaughter of Austria he dropped Russia to it's knees and in 1905 slapped my over-reaching hand in Mos. I'd asked for a DMZ in Gal and Ukr. Turkey agreed to Ukr but said he needed to move to Gal to outflank Italy. Where had I heard that before? No matter. It was Ukr that was my weak spot and I felt this was my only chance to grab Mos so I was relieved. Foolish boy. Turkey moved right to Ukr. Mos was lost just as Professor drivera said it would be. The fall of War soon followed.

Probably the biggest disappointment came when in S1906 when England suddenly and unexpectedly switched sides and allowed France to slip into Nth, which lead to my loosing Hol, my strategic positioning and tempo. The year before England had been so upset with France he said he didn't care what happened to him as long as France was destroyed. His anger seemed genuine so I proposed some joint operations. As time went on replies from England dried up and so did his anger I guess. He left Nth open for France to occupy even as France attacked England in Lon. Go figure. 

It was at this pointing W1906 that I determined the best strategy was to conduct a fighting withdrawal and establish a Northern Kingdom in Scandinavia/StP. I reasoned that if I could maintain three or four SC on the periphery which included StP, I had a chance to participate in a draw by allying with Italy or Turkey if they had a falling out. Which they did two years later.

It was S1908 and the cat was coming but Italy heard only Turkey's purring about being bored and wanting to get to a quick draw. But the quick draw was from Turkey's twin six-shooters instead. He rolled forward unopposed. Italy was further injured by England supporting France into Spa. He lost three SC in 1908. The West was in dire peril. Germany held StP and Mun. Italy had Mar and Fra was in Spa. A draw was eminently possible. I proposed it to all. Italy was in. England was in. Spewing invective France said he didn't want Italy to be part of any draw. Crossing a line even the Vichy avoided France adopted a suicide revenge strategy. No amount of coaxing could make him change his mind. Because of our relative positions we were forced to deal with France before we could bolster the line against Turkey. France never wavered in his resolve and Turkey got the solo.

Diplomacy is a game of should of, could of, would of and I won't belabor all the what if's of the end game that ended F1910. I did long for S1911 though when Germany would recapture Mos and pressure War, while the wall in the west stood firm against Turkey. Alas, now it's only a dream.

I was Russia in this game, and needless to say it didn't go as well as I had planned.

1901 things started out pretty rocky in my negotiations. Turkey was dead set on a "plan" where I would build his trust by allowing him to take Black Sea and destroy my southern fleet in Rumania in the autumn. Of course I made sure not to let that one see the light of day and recommended that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, we could equally imply war by him allowing *me* to Black, which also didn't happen.
Austria seemed anti-Turkish, which is logical, but my mentor baskineli suggested that if I were to break my DMZ Galicia with him it would paint a big target on him and keep everyone off my back, even if I left in the autumn. Unfortunately Italy didn't bite; he didn't want to attack Austria so early.
But probably the most important move in 1901 was England's blunder. This move permitted Germany to take on an anti-Russian tact that would otherwise have been suicidal and despite my many genuine requests for peace, Germany insisted that I was the enemy. I suppose building in StP/sc didn't help relations, but I was just trying to get my foothold in Scandinavia and try to prevent escalation with Germany. Additionally I thought it would help me to get some help from England, who seemed to be completely ignoring me, basically saying that he didn't really consider Russia to be a northern power.
In autumn 1902 Austria promised me support to Bulgaria, and, hurting for a build, I was happy to take it and try to make some peace with him. He did not offer this support, however, claiming confusion with the controls. I suppose I can understand it as a tit-for-tat thing after I moved into Gal, but seeing as he obviously made the same promise to Italy (unless Italy planned to move Albania - Bulgaria *without* passing through Austrian fleet Aegean), his lie was less than convincing. I quickly made an agreement with Turkey and Italy to take out Austria.
In 1903 I should have taken Budapest, but Italy agreed to support me to both Budapest *and* Vienna, and I got greedy.
1904 was the beginning of the end. It was clearly going to be a very important year. I got into Budapest in the spring. I had made agreements with pretty much everyone such that if they had all been trustworthy, Germany would have been disbanding and I would have been building two. The only one who listened to me was France, and alone it wasn't enough. I honestly don't understand why England didn't take my support to Sweden; I felt that Germany was a more dangerous ally than I was and it seemed to really be the best course of action. But instead he took StP, isolating his fleet and letting Germany get stronger. England, Turkey, Germany, and Italy all attacked me... that was the beginning of the end there.

From this point on I was basically just trying to survive as long as possible. I convinced Turkey to let me keep Sevastopol to harass Germany a little longer. Then he supported me back into StP. By 1907 England finally came around but it was too late; his support hold on Russian StP was cut and that was the end for me.

@Aeneas17, very nice endgame statement. It was interesting and entertaining to read.

Possibly the most entertaining EOG I've read Aeneas haha

How do you get into this SoW thing? It looks very cool.

First of all I want to apologise for not doing the commentary the way it should be done. I get some real life problems to solve and my time for commentary dropped a lot during the game.
In the last years I decide to not comment, because there is little I can say that will not influence the game play. It was clear that Turkey will try for the solo and first Italy did some really bad mistakes, trusting too much on Turkey and not being able to deal quickly with France (sorry to say that Draugnar, but you seem a bit undecided in the middle game, moving back your fleets, attacking Germany and then France and this cost you momentum and give Turkey the upper hand). But in the end France showed that in diplomacy you can never count on just rationality. People will react diferently from what you expect (a rational player will probably have agreed with building a draw, but France decide that his first goal was to kill Italy) and you need to have a plan B.

Also, great play from Turkey, taking a nightmare after 1901 and going to the solo, really amazing performance.

no worries rdrivera. You kept commenting as long as you could and you were doing it solo.