Comments on game structure and EOG observations below. Spoiler alert?
My main comment regarding this game (and the other game) is the draw rule. I really think it had an impact on the game, especially the endgame. This is fairly obvious and, frankly, more of a platitude than a genuine observation, but I really think that limiting draw votes had an impact on the ability of the board to organize. Usually, in a game like this, I would have been stopped long before I got close to a solo, but the lack of the draw as a diplomatic tool may have unwittingly created chaos amongst everyone else on the board.
Please, correct me if I'm wrong, and I don't mean to insult anybody's ability in this game since I've played with all of you before and you're all excellent gunboaters, but there were so many counterproductive and curious moves towards the end of the game that I can only conclude that players were either A) oblivious to my progress towards an inevitable solo, or B) that players were simply trying to cut the draw before the draw was assured, sort of counting your chickens before they hatch.
One turn in particular stands out. Spring 1908, I take Spain and advance into Tyrolia. Meanwhile, Austria attacks Turkey by taking Greece and Italy decides to concentrate on the French fleet in the Tyrrhenian, which FTRs to Rome. From my perspective, Russia was the only player attempting to stop me, but he could only do so much with three units. By the time an organized resistance was thrown together, I was already threatening Warsaw and had ample time to get fleets into the Med and an extra army into Livonia and St. Pete.
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europa universalis
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