gameID=100718

I started as a one-build Germany, with both Russia and France breathing at my neck. I considered myself a dead man, but adopted the samurai attitude: since you're dead, you might as well fight.

It turned out that both of my arch-enemies had arch-enemies of their own. France was attacked by England and Italy, while Russia suffered at the hands of Austria. In all the commotion, everybody somehow forgot about little Germany. In 1905, I still had only 5 SCs, but the weather was turning.

By 1909, I had 9 SCs and a good position. When Italy made an ill-advised stab against the ruling Austria, I knew I had a draw in my pocket. All in all, an interesting game.

The fight was bloody but enjoyable

Looks like an entertaining game. I feel bad for everyone...

What can I say...having such a wonderful Italy at my back was a real pleasure for a big part of the game. Although I didn´t understand why he was repeatedly ordering ION-AEG and never tried ION-EAS, it was a long and lasting partnership. With my hands free I could deal with Russia and Turkey. Sadly this took a little longer than needed so that it was Italy who stabbed me first. After that it was really hard to avoid a three way draw which was more and more inevitable with every turn.

Oh and one more thing. It would be of course very unjust to throw Russia and Turkey in one basket. While Turkey played a normal, sometimes a little bit weaker game, the key turns on the Russian front were always tight and thrilling. All in all I guess this was a very entertaining game. Certainly one of the best I have played in the last couple of weeks. Thank you everybody!

Even in the later stages, it was a very precarious game for me. In my duel with Italy, French and English SCs could have gone both ways. Also, I was afraid Italy would make a more successful stab against Austria and go for the solo. As it was, he was not very successful and I knew he had to rely on me. After he signaled he wanted my help, our cooperation was impeccable. I particularly loved the StPetersburg setup, not that I planned it that way, lol. At the end, I was one turn late moving my fleet towards the Baltic, which means Austria could have pushed for Berlin, but I'm glad Dudlajz had enough sense not to force us to play for another hour.

I only went for the stab in 1909, because Turkey CDed. (Meant 3 builds for Austria, 1 could have been a fleet). Otherwise I would have continued that alliance.