Tas, don't think we've forgotten about you...

Silly Tas

Okay, I'm back from vacation! I'll get back to work on this EoG.

*crack*

Don't think we're going to let you forget about it now.

I've had to deal with severe power problems over the past week, which has left little opportunity for more than keeping up with the games I'm in. I'm still working on it, though!

I expect a handwritten, mailed letter at my house before next week. PM for address.

Tas, I don't believe you. I would have heard about it.

Why are you lying to us?

Every time I see this thread rise to the top, I get a glimmer of hope... and then, dashed to pieces again.

This is how Tasnica does well in diplomacy games. He destroys the morale of his opponents after the fact knowing that they'll be less competent when he plays them again.

Ghug: The problem is bad wiring at my place, not in the surrounding area.

I feel the same as THM

@Tas, oh. My power actually did go out once this week, I just felt like giving you crap about it.

@uclabb: bumpy in some places, smooth in others.

This is taking so long I'm almost ready for a rematch...

-1906-

With a hostile Germany and Turkey, Italy has to be stalled at any cost. I throw every reason I can think of at him for him to slow his eastward advance, but I make little progress.

This is definitely a low point in the game for me, as one neighbor (Turkey) won't talk to me while another (Germany) seems determined to be at war with me, even though I continue to believe that it is not in his best interest. The third neighbor (Italy), I continue to have no trust for whatsoever. That leaves the only power not bordering me (England) as my only "friend", and I just screwed him over. Nevertheless, keeping him keeping me alive becomes a major goal for the rest of the game.

Spring moves do not help my mood. Germany and Turkey both stubbornly thwart my moves as best they can, and Italy sends another fleet east. I'm almost waiting for the stab at this point, and only my constant pressure on England to pressure Italy gives me any hope that I won't be crushed by three powers intent on my demise.

Fall negotiations are mostly just Italy giving me more and more reasons to hate him. Despite the fact that at this point I _have_ to work with Italy or die, he continues to act as if I'm a considerable threat to him that must be neutralized. He doesn't same to understand that I hate him _and_ want to work with him, as Germany has a debt to pay before I go looking westward. And I know full well that kicking Germany's ass means encouraging an English solo, which with my crippled and preoccupied fleet can no longer be stopped by me alone.

Italy insists on getting Rome back immediately, despite the fact that I am likely to lose Rumania. Now, I don't mind losing Rome so much as losing Rome _and_ knowing that it is but the first step toward Italy wiping me off the map. For Italy makes it very clear that he has no sympathy for me, blowing off my concerns regarding Rumania and all other things besides. His messages come across and stubborn and arrogant, with an undertone of homicidal mockery. I can almost hear him saying: "I am going to kill you, Austria. Slowly but surely, I am going to take your centers like it is my God-given right. And there is nothing that you can do about it."

How I long to face Italy mano-a-mano and give him a good beatdown. Alas, dealing with my other neighbors leaves nothing left in my arsenal but words, and those bounce off Italy like he's a bloody tank. And he just keeps coming.

He does agree to pull Tyro back to GoL, though ("That has been the plan the whole time," he says. Bullshit!). Of course, he immediately breaks this agreement, and moves to Ionian unannounced. This _would_ have pissed me off, if not for...

Fucking Germany! He reneges on his earlier agreements to withdraw, screwing with me in Tyrolia and supporting the Turks into Rumania. And the worst part is that I simply can't see the motivation behind his moves. At least Italy has good reasons for dicking me around (even if he brought those reasons upon himself). Germany, in contrast, comes across as either _less_ loyal than Italy (for screwing over a player who has made every effort to work with him) or _more_ arrogant (for still going for the solo, which is only reason why casting aside my friendship would make sense).

Needless to say, Turkey is once again starting to look like a rather swell guy in comparison. And England is straight-up my Best Friend Forever.

So, back to Germany! I send him several strongly-worded messages (for me), and immediately reach out to both England and Turkey about arranging his demise. Germany's death becomes my new primary goal in this game (with Italy's demise an acceptable secondary objective).

Italy works hard to get back his title, though, blatantly misinterpreting my words to nullify our agreements and interpret everything I say in the worst possible manner (gee, doesn't this sound familiar?). Fortunately for him, Germany is also busy trying to weasel his way out of everything. I make my demands quite clear regardless, and end up disbanding Tyrolia in exchange for the destruction of War and Ukr. That he actually goes and disbands them brings his demise down a notch on my priority list. My primary objective remains killing him, of course, but I'm now willing to procrastinate a bit in order to ensure that I can do the job thoroughly and without handing England the solo.

-1907-

Diplomacy? What's Diplomacy? I thought that the game we're playing is called "Get Into Long Debates With Italy".

Seriously, though, that pretty much defines Spring 1907. In case it hasn't already been made absurdly clear, Italy and I have vastly different playstyles and don't trust each other. The debate this time is over the timing of him retaking Venice. I desperately want to stall him, as I am certain that he won't stop there if my defenses are found lacking. And I still have plenty to deal with regarding Germany and Turkey.

I am actually fairly upfront with Italy regarding my thoughts, with the notable exception of my ignorance over Germany's disbands (I was aware of them, but did genuinely still consider Germany a threat). The only other inconsistency is my tone, where my words to Italy are far more polite than my thoughts, but I am truly willing to work with him (not that I have much other choice) and see no gain in initiating hostilities until the state of the board has changed significantly.

For moves, I retake Rumania and position myself to take either Sev or Mos. While I want Germany to fall, I want to do it in such a way that won't risk an English solo (as much as I like England). I also neglect to move Vie-Tyro, which might have allowed me to hold Venice. I don't because I still trust Germany less than Italy, and don't want to hold Venice by force (I would rather negotiate with Italy to keep it).

Anyhow, Fall sees more arguing with Italy, and I ultimately decide to leave Moscow be and take Sev (and I inform the other powers of this, except Turkey of course). I would have considered doing otherwise if Turkey had moved to Armenia as he'd said he would, or retreated his fleet to Sev, but with his ultimate position I could see little benefit to working with him this turn.

I ultimately do "agree" to let Italy force himself into Venice (not that I have much choice), but I don't share this agreement with the other powers. In the east, I seize both Rum and Sev, sealing Turkey's fate and committing to my plan to let English pressure counteract my other two neighbors.

Despite the fact that we more or less agreed on moves and retreats, and agreed on builds, Italy and I still manage to slip back into argument at year's end. We start discussing our future plans, and I eventually offer him the entirety of Turkey on the condition that he stays out of the Black Sea, and preferably allows me to sail one of my own fleets into there. He agrees to this, but wants Greece as well.

This, in my opinion, is ludicrous. I inquire into Italy's concerns, and he still seems to believe that I am a threat to him. I point out the near-impossibly of me taking Venice or Ionian, and the ease through which he will conquer Turkey. I know the latter to be the case, as Turkey has made it eminently clear to me (to the surprise of no one), but apparently Italy hasn't figured out that Turkey is on the verge of throwing him all his centers.

I try in vain to convince Italy to send east only what he needs to take Turkey, and throw everything west to thwart any English ambitions, but he adamantly refuses. He insists on "knowing" that he will get Turkey, which I find ridiculous. I have no intention of interfering with him, and have little means to do so, and know that Turkey's defenses will be minimal at best.

Turkey's disbands definitely aren't kind to me, and Italy builds F Naples instead of Rome. Clearly, he plans on moving east in force.

[Continued]

-1908-

England starts getting concerned that I won't be helping him against Germany, but I assure him that I will be. And that's exactly what I do, stabbing Germany in the spring and making immediate progress while Turkey forces his way into Bulgaria.

And then, Italy demands Greece again. I type up a message telling him to go fuck himself.

I then erase said message without sending it, and type up a somewhat more polite version. Politeness doesn't last long, and Italy and I get into a very lengthy argument where he demands Greece again and again and I refute one point after another. He refuses to budge nevertheless, this only reconfirms to me that Italy's goal is my elimination, and that he will proceed with that goal whether I make it easy for him or not.

Contrasted with a relatively pleasant simultaneous conversation with Germany (despite the fact that I'm supposedly at war with the Germans and allied with the Italians), this argument places Italy back at the top of my "Fuck You" list. And I proceed to threaten to do just that, stating that I will not only defend Greece against him, but pull back from Germany and hand centers back to Turkey if he does not back off.

I then, significantly, make a similar threat to England, informing him that Italy has pushed me too far and that I will be immediately withdrawing from Germany unless I secure his word that he will move to MAO and put pressure on the Italians. England reluctantly agrees.

Italy and I argue some more, and I defend Greece while stalling (but not reversing) my German campaign and guessing Turkey's moves as best I can. The argument lasts all the way until the end of the turn, which sees Italy not attack Greece and grab Smy (which is undefended, alongside Con, just as I predicted). I also succeed in predicting Turkey's moves, which is especially fortuitous as Germany makes the unexpected move of hitting Moscow! I was confident that he'd see hitting Norway as more productive instead.

I briefly engage in some lighthearted banter with all the players while discussing builds, but even after agreeing on builds Italy and I somehow manage to get in _another_ argument over how quickly to kill Germany. Italy wants me to throw everything at him immediately, while I see no hurry, especially since England will get most of the gains anyway. I also want to see Turkey dead and Italian units at a safe distance before I commit too many of my units.

And then the year ends. Italy builds A Rome, as agreed, while I build A Bud. I'm all set to get Warsaw, and Italy is all set to get the rest of Turkey. Now I just need to not get myself stabbed.

-1909-

Italy and I kind of seem to be on the same page (what the hell?), and Germany and I negotiate for a bit before he disappears. Said disappearance results in an NMR, which ironically enough doesn't change a huge amount, but with an absent Germany and no arguing with Italy, the spring season seems to pass quite quickly!

I get Warsaw, of course, while Italy advances on Turkey. England positions, and I keep in frequent contact with him.

In the fall, Germany comes back, but that changes little. Italy and I discuss the northern front a bit, and he makes some proposals that I actually agree with. Fall moves see Turkey die and Germany get a triple disband. England and Italy get two builds, and I get one. Italy and I agree with each other on builds (army for me and two fleets for him), and we get through another season without arguing over anything. Strange how that happened after leaving Greece alone and swiftly handing Turkey to Italy, just like I'd suggested!

The rest of the year is spent establishing contingencies with England and Italy against each other, and listening to Germany trying to convince me to go for a solo (lol!). I tell him in private (and the other two in Global chat) how ridiculous that would be. I have no chance at a solo without extensive E/I conflict, which clearly isn't forthcoming.

-1910-

Hey look! More arguing with Italy! He randomly starts freaking out about me moving to Sev, which was originally the plan (with him moving to Armenia and stalemating me), and then he gets worried about me moving to Aegean. I have no plan in taking a risk and moving there, either, but he harasses me anyway. I tell him that, no, I won't be moving to Sev or Aeg. Also, he insists on hitting Tri.

Italy then starts being really damn annoying again, telling me that I should move to Tyrolia even though he'd earlier asked that I not move there, and when pressed informing me that he's not worried about that any more. But he _is_ worried about me building a magical super fleet in Trieste that will somehow slaughter him, and insists on moving there. But our movement plan has me also moving to Trieste, so him moving there causes a bounce and would allow me to build a fleet! But he knows that, he says, and is just telling me that he will attack Trieste so that I will defend it and not build a magical super fleet that somehow slaughters him. Jesus Christ, Italy!

By the way, this argument takes place _after_ I've more or less already agreed to all those moves. I guess that Italy just wants to make _really_ sure I understand that I am a terrible person who will manipulate and betray him horribly if he does not brilliantly defend himself by telling me exactly what to do, even if I already plan on doing it.

I eventually just tell Italy to shut up and make sure he keeps his end of the deal.

Italy shuts up and keeps his end of the deal.

The game doesn't last much longer than that. I convince Germany to just let me take Berlin to end the game. I also don't waste any more effort trying to get England and Italy to fight each other (nor do they make any effort to sway me).

Fall moves see Germany fall, and the game is drawn immediately after that.

-Conclusion-

Writing this EoG has been, like a game itself, a long and frustrating experience. One reasons why my EoGs take so long to write is because I re-read the _entire_ message log from my games. And I write a lot of messages.

Italy and I could barely get along if our lives depended on it. Clashing personalities/playstyles, mutual fear and distrust, external manipulations, and our conflicting ambitions all contributed toward this. Ironically enough, there is evidence that for several stretches of the game we both really wanted to work with each other, but most of the time we clashed even then.

England was a distant but solid ally. The two of us could always talk, and we exchanged favors at several key moments. We certainly benefited from each other's help, at the very least.

I really wanted to work with Germany, and things went great while our alliance lasted, but his stab really crippled my game. I made sure that my crippling was compensated for by his [slow] death, however, so it all worked out in the end. Next time don't stab a reliable and non-threatening ally just because you can!

Turkey never became much more than a puppet state, though he exchanged hands several times throughout the game. Any lasting alliance between the two of us never worked out in the face of him ignoring his agreements with me, so I repeatedly manipulated and betrayed him in return. And we still got along better than me and Italy.

Russia was like the Beta version of Italy. We could never quite get along, and I repaid his slights by playing him and Turkey against each other while arranging for his downfall. Unlike with Italy, I actually had the opportunity to finish him off.

France didn't last long, but managed to indirectly screw me over several times nevertheless, despite us seeming to get along decently well.

And that's all there is to say. Enjoy your EoG!

Ah. Wonderful EoG. Better late than never. ; )

Yay, finally. Yeah, in S06 I was still arrogant enough to think I might be able to pull off the solo, or at least try without risking my spot in the final board. I just consistently misread E at that stage in the game. If I could have made it one more turn without Nth-Ska, I think I would have been okay and from my press with E it seemed reasonable. I really didn't think E would shift NWG-Nth as well and leave himself wide open. To me, that was the turning point of the game. Had I guessed correctly there, I might have pulled it off.

Ha. I feel, from reading the EOGs, that everything happened in spite of me and not because of me. I just quietly sat in the corner while the 3 central powers competed in a dick measuring competition. Just imagine was destruction you could have wrought on the board if you'd only have worked together ; ).

Sadly, mine got chopped off.

It made no sense to me whatsoever that they didn't/couldn't. I think each of Italy, Austria and germany would have beens ignificantly better off in this game if they were to try and cooperate. Wouldn't have given any of them a worse result, and it would have set up one or more of them to make a compelling move to a solo-victory. This game played in a fashion where it appeared nobody cared to win/everyone just wanted to come out alive.

@THM: You're welcome. ;)

@Lando: Well, when you _do_ want to work with the other two and are greeted with demands and distrust from one (Italy), and undermining and betrayal from the other (Germany), after a while you get cynical and devote yourself toward vengeance and survival.

Actually, I very much wanted to win/solo, to the point where I went for it in a suboptimal situation stabbing A instead of E. If I had just wanted to come out alive I would have just sat back and settled for the easy EGA three way.