The Oz perspective here is that I was a tough nut to crack here and after being in deadlock with F-A for most of the game, Kenya consumes him and joins the India/W-C invasion, only to have the 6-way draw go through 3 years prior to my inevitable demise.

Quick response from India - I just wanted to wrap up as many of these games as I can. I didn't have the fleets to be able to take you out in a timely fashion.

WC perspective: I started very quickly, gained continental control, and started pushing south. Arg was supporting Brazil and I couldn't crack that. Also, Pacific Russia, whom I had left alone despite a bunch of open centers, decided to commit suicide against me for some reason. I was pretty baffled by that. So I had to redirect my units a bit. But then Arg decided to be a dick and move north, unwilling to ally. So at that point my game became getting back my continent and being as annoying as possible to Arg. Once I got the continent back, I drew.

I think my early play was good in this game but once midgame came around and I had a several center lead, I really didn't know where to go next and probably tried to go too many places and never really grew after that. At one point, Ghana missed a move so I convoyed over there with no real strategy in mind. I kept trying to signal peace to Europe and he kept attacking me, so my game was just little non-center battles in the ocean after a while. I thought India and I worked well together toward the end to finally get rid of Pacific Russia and make Europe pay a bit for NMR'ing.

Anyway, a good game, but not as good as I should have done.

I definitely echo that, Mapu. That coordination those last few moves was really awesome, particularly for gunboat.

EoG: Ghana

I spent the early game securing my surroundings and making Libya regret attacking me early. In retrospect, I definitely should have tried to attack Kenya before he got big enough to push me back, because I ended up with no growth options and enemies on all sides.

Good game all.

EoG: Near East
or, "How to attack your allies and trust your enemies"

Pregame -- I usually see Africa as a bloodbath until two countries have been eliminated, and so I wanted to stay out of it. My plan was to move north and then east, and maybe come back and play in Africa later on if there was a good opportunity.

...so of course, my first year ended with Libya eating Saudi Arabia (and ruining my 3-build start). Thinking that he might have just needed the build, I decided that if I could get Libya to back off that I wouldn't hold the grudge. Thanks to some helpful intervention from Europe, I managed to get it back in Fall '01. Also saw some peaceful signs from India, which only reinforced my desire to move up and and work on Europe. Here (Fall '01) we also see the first example of my problem with playing as Near East: there are just too many borders to defend. As a relatively cautious player, I ended up playing the entire game with eyes everywhere, and it seems in hindsight that Near East is a country that really requires a more recklessly aggressive playstyle. Though I'd gotten a friendly overture from India, I was worried about his growth and the likelihood that we'd bump into each other soon, so I built a fleet with my 01 build, declaring my intentions to claim the Arabian for my own. Looking back it was the stupidest decision of the game. I had committed to a northern assault, and had India as a tentative friend already, so an army would have made much more sense.

Regardless, with my second fleet constructed, 2002 proceeded relatively well. I set about bouncing India from the Arabian, moved my first fleet over to Turkey (en route to the Black Sea), and got myself poised to move up and around Armenia and threaten the rest of Russia's holdings. By the end of 2003 I've grabbed Moscow, Russia's nearly out, and I have a build with which to start my assault on my next victim. And again, in hindsight, I make a stupid decision and build a fleet against India. My reasoning here isn't sound, but I'll try to walk through it -- Europe and I had been fighting against a mutual enemy, while India was already embattled with several other nations (Ignoring that he's already *beaten* those nations, and that Pacific Russia's position is poor at best). Thus, clearly, taking the Arabian back is paramount, Europe will help me finish off the Russians, and together we shall pain the world Blue!

...yeah, about that. India immediately backs out of the Arabian and makes nice, while Europe begins doing everything he can to keep me from getting Siberia, finishing off with a Fall 2004 "stab" of Syria (if such a thing can be called a stab, when the assumed friendship is purely one-sided). Mollified, I disband Afghanistan and send the strongest signals I can to India that I finally am willing to be the friend he's asked me to be all game. In 2005, then, I'm able to trade Siberia for Moscow, and (in a delicious piece of revenge) deliver the finishing blow to Libya, taking Egypt for my own. Unfortunately, India's decided that he deserves Afghanistan for all the crap I've put him through, and so I don't get any builds.

2006, and the end is clearly in sight -- India's begun a paltry offensive that I can't fend off while I'm fighting Europe, and though I finally get a fleet into the Mediterranean, it's far too little, far too late. I stick around as a thorn in Europe's paw for another year or two, finally being fully eliminated in 2010.

In the end, this was a game full of mistakes for me. Charging straight at Russia is an unconventional Near East open anyway, but to follow that up by repeatedly being suspicious of India and complacent towards Europe meant I was doomed. Had I spent less time worrying about India, and more time aggressively hitting Russia, I would have been in a position to dictate my next opponent, rather than fighting defensively. Props to both India and Europe, who ended up surviving, and slops go to Libya (WTF dude, get outta my desert!) and myself for the crappy play. Good game all.

This EOG must begin with a big congratulations to y2k. You did not deserve that position in the draw, but had the game continued to a point that you were eliminated, I fear I would be in the position you are now. Anyway, a big congrats on sneaking into the draw. Onto my EOG.

Argentina Game 11 gameID=104128

Any Brazil who complains about Argentina being too powerful is right. I am too powerful. I fucking hate the SA in this game as he tried to steal a home center from me. I could have finished Brazil sooner if not for that. My 2003/4 was slow going, with 2005 finally seeing the near-completion of my war with Brazil and the start of my war with WC.

2006 saw me propping up the last of Brazil against WC and also defending against the last of the bastard SA. I fortunately controlled NWA, which was a lifesaver against WC and his onslaught.

2007 ended with (thank the gods!) the end of SA. Damn you! I kept trying to signal friendliness to WC, but he kept putting pressure on Brazil, which just wasn't going to happen. Sorry, WC, but I can't let you get a foothold in my continent.

2008/9, WC backs off thanks to Pac Russia, giving me a chance to finish off Brazil! (Sorry, Brazil.) (Thanks, Pac Russia!!)

2010, WC misinterprets my desire to shore up the line between up. Okay, yes, admittedly I did try for Mexico, but besides that, I wanted to be friends!

And finally, 2011-3, I was holding my position against WC and eventually Kenya. I pissed my pants in 2012 with WC pushing me out of NWA after all of my support hold orders! God damn it man! Then Kenya was coming after me, and that really, /really/ pissed me off. Here I was, fighting one of the other board leaders, and all Kenya could think was "how can I profit from this?" It's a dangerous game to play, eating the guy whose fighting against your (near) biggest rival. Had the game continued past 2013, I would have thrown myself into Kenya or WC, whichever I sat down to the board and was more pissed at in that moment.

WC, you really ticked me off with your push into NWA. I wanted to be friends. we could have done that with the stalemate line we had constructed wherein I couldn't progress against you and you couldn't progress against me. You just had to go and ruin that, and for that, I hate you. (Well, not really, but I /may/ have hated you enough to suicide into you. Maybe. ;)

Kenya, you're a dick. Straight up. Period. End of story. We were friends, man! We popped down to the Antarctic Pub for brewskies every builds phase! We were like bros, man! Why'd you go and stab me like that? I was seriously considering a suicide into you instead.

Europe, you're dead to me. You put enough pressure on WC to annoy him but not enough to distract him from me to force him to maintain the line we had constructed.

Anyway, good game all. Enjoyed it. To my enemies in WC, Europe, and Kenya, a good game to you chaps especially.

Around the World Gunboat Tournament EoG
Game 11

Player: Tasnica
Nation: USA
Result: Defeat, 2004 (16th Place)

PPSC Points: 0
Townshend Points: 0
Continent Points: 0

-2000-

The United States! Definitely an oddball nation in Diplomacy, in my opinion. None of its home centers are adjacent, and it starts with two fleets, which makes defending it early on a massive pain. Well, defending _all_ of it, at least.

I concluded very on that there was no way I was defending the entirety of my nation in the case that both my neighbors decided to attack me. Given how natural an alliance between the Canadian powers is, I wasn't holding out hope for either being particularly friendly.

So, which part of my nation to defend, then? I decided to concentrate on the Atlantic side, since two of my home centers bordered it. My thought process that Western Canada would either see my obvious friendliness, and leave me alone, or swiftly conquer the west coast and then realize that it would be easier to move on against Quebec than to try and reach my Atlantic centers. Either way, I would live long enough to take advantage of my nation's relative versatility in the midgame.

I debate between opening my fleet to Union or NWA, and ultimately choose the latter out of the expectation that Quebec (or maybe even Brazil) will open there as well.

Of course, I guess wrong, and Quebec sends his fleets north, while Brazil sends his to Guyana of all places. Feeling pressure from both Canadian powers, and already being somewhat committed, I follow through with my original plan as best I can. Unable to support myself into Union (which would allow Quebec to retreat into Florida!), I aim for an unsupported move there. I also hit Newfoundland, figuring it is the least likely for Quebec to defend.

I figure that WC will take the guaranteed Alaska, and I hope that Quebec will hold in Union or, better yet, pull back and cover Quebec.

My predictions are mostly wrong. I get Newfoundland and Union, but lose Florida, and WC decides to be an ass and take California. Fortunately for me, Quebec is insane enough to attack Northwest Territory at the same time that he attacks Florida. This ensures, in my mind, that WC will leave the rest of my territory alone so he can retaliate.

Meanwhile, Brazil is freaking out about Argentina's move to WAO, and covers both his coastal centers. Ironically enough, Argentina actually pulls back, and even leaves Columbia be.

In short, 2000 is so much of a mess that it is almost hilarious. I build an army in my _one_ remaining home center, and hope for the best.

-2001-

Certain that I will lose Union to Florida (so that Quebec can better defend his besieged homeland), I support Union up into Quebec (which also helps me defend Newfoundland). Meanwhile, I work to get my Pacific fleet into the Atlantic.

This is yet another misread of Quebec, and he leaves his home centers completely open while supporting Ontario south! This ensures that I won't be getting Florida back, true, but leaves his centers absurdly vulnerable. And seeing as his centers, unlike mine, are adjacent, this turns his strength into a weakness.

Of course, I am far less able to exploit this weakness, courtesy of the shockingly aggressive Western Canada. Seriously, did all three North American powers decide to go berserker rage on each other, or something? I at least have the excuse of starting in the worst position, while WC seems to throwing away what is an extremely obvious ally against Quebec by moving to Nevada. What, my entire west coast wasn't good enough for you?

I conclude that WC may have been trying to defend against an all-in against California, though, and decide to give him one last chance. After all, Quebec is obviously going all-in against me, leaving his homeland vulnerable to both me and WC, so I figure that my best hope of survival is to go all-in back and hope that WC sides with an obvious ally against a closer foe.

Shock and awe, I guess wrong again, and WC takes Texas. And Manitoba, too, just to keep the screwing over fair. Jesus, I _really_ picked the wrong Canadian power to fight! And now it is far too late to change my course of action, seeing as I'm sitting in Quebec's home centers and Quebec has shown no interest in giving up mine.

Nevertheless, I disband Quebec in the hope of at least giving it a try. Quebec doesn't return the favor, keeping an army sitting in Florida, and giving up his best shot at taking the still vacant Godthab.

Meanwhile, nothing much changes in South America.

-2002-

The attack on Texas was the last straw, and I do my best to reverse my all-in against Quebec and strike back at WC. I completely vacate the Quebec home centers, and my Pacific fleet finally makes it somewhere useful.

Amazingly enough, Quebec moves his own armies back north. Are we finally going to be able to work together? Meanwhile, WC _finally_ decides that he wants to be my friend. Yeah... give me back Texas first, asshole.

Oh, and South Africa decides to stab Argentina. Not that I'm likely to live long enough for that to become relevant.

In the fall, WC decides that he doesn't want to be friends anymore, and closes in on Mexico. Meanwhile, I hit Union, hoping that Quebec will attack Ontario with it, which would deny WC a build, give Quebec one, and ensure that I don't have to disband.

Instead, following Murphy's Law, Quebec uses Union for support while WC attacks Ontario. The result is that I lose Ontario through my own moves, while Quebec's fate is sealed. I don't feel too bad about the latter, seeing as he is still sitting on my east coast, but the former definitely prompts some facepalming.

Meanwhile, SA backs off Argentina, and South America returns to stalemate.

I disband Texas, knowing that I am pretty much screwed and can only forestall my demise.

-2003-

Seeing as throwing everything at WC would hardly even inconvenience him, I decide to grab Florida and either hold out there or, if an opportunity presents itself, sail my fleet off into exile.

This plan immediately fails, as Quebec decides to move into NWA for some reason. Perhaps he's given up on holding off WC as well?

In the fall, I try to get into NWA, hoping that Quebec had something clever planned with it, but instead he uses it for a weaker version of the defense he could have pulled off just by staying in Newfoundland. So, naturally, my move cuts another one of his supports and WC grows even more quickly.

Seriously, between WC's aggressiveness and how laughably bad Quebec and I are at reading each other, we couldn't be helping him out more if we tried.

-2004-

I finally get into NWA, but it is too late to do anything with it beyond try and hide in Brazil. Said attempt fails, and my spectacular failure as the United States comes to a close.

-Afterward-

Quebec's demise almost immediately follows my own, and Brazil dwindles as well. Canada, having a continent of his own, starts going off on adventures in Asia and Europe, but in stark contrast to his conquest of North America fails to accomplish much of anything, and in fact finds himself half-heartedly invading Africa while getting himself invaded by the much smaller Pacific Russia.

Brazil is eventually defeated, leaving Argentina and Canada to duke it out while the latter finally get a foothold in Siberia. The western hemisphere is effectively stalemated for the rest of the game.

The rest of the world then apparently gets tired of fighting, as the game reaches a draw in 2013. This decision makes sense for Argentina, Western Canada, and Europe, who have continents and little hope of acquiring more, and Oz, who is heavily besieged. Kenya, however, has the potential to take Antarctica, and India quite curiously votes for the draw with no continents, even though he can certainly contest Australia and even Asia.

Thus, the game ends in a six-way draw, which includes no nations I have much reason to root for, with the possible exception of Argentina, who gave Western Canada a good fight and made a decent showing at the end.

Oh well, at least my EoG will be longer than any of theirs, despite getting killed in 2004.

-Closing Thoughts-

Western Canada: I love nothing more than an obvious ally in gunboat. Clearly, you don't! Despite my glaringly obvious overtures, you didn't even try to make peace until you had two of my home centers, and even that was a brief pause. You're lucky that Quebec and I could never get on the same page about anything, or attacking both of us so aggressively wouldn't have paid off for you nearly as well as it did.

Quebec: I misread your intentions time and time again, and even when I was trying to work with you I managed to fail spectacularly. I was very surprised when you attacked both my and WC's home centers in the first year, and if it weren't for the taking of Florida I might have turned around earlier. Instead, going all-in against you became the most appealing option until WC took Texas.

Brazil: We didn't interact much while I was still alive, and your own actions during that time were a very straightforward war with Argentina. After that, you essentially got to sit around until Argentina decided it was safe to kill you. Better luck next time!

Argentina: I don't envy you, as you had to spend nearly the entire game under the shadow of a huge Western Canada that had to be defended against at any given moment. Unlike his neighbors, you managed to not get steamrolled by him, so props for that. Additional props for maintaining solid defenses for the rest of the game even while under heavy siege. Kenya probably could have broken through with time, but you made it a sufficiently unappealing prospect.

USA's Starting Units:

-Fleet California-

This fleet conquered Mexico, sailed into the Atlantic, made a valiant effort to defend America against the Canadian invasion, and eventually sunk in the Northwest Atlantic after an effort to seek exile in Venezuela.

-Army Texas-

This army led the invasion of Quebec, conquering two of its home territories before returning to defend its homeland. The army was ultimately forced to surrender during the Siege of Florida.

-Fleet Florida-

This fleet led the charge against Quebec, but was lost behind enemy lines in late 2001, following a retreat from Newfoundland.

Tasnica, I love reading your EoG's. Thanks for posting them. My strategy for world games lot of times involves gaining a better position as early as possible rather than backtracking for an open center than would be there next year. (in this case, Alaska). That way, I can continue forward and guarantee another build the following year.

I honestly don't remember interpreting your moves as alliance building. I figured you'd bounce North Pacific like USA and WC nearly always do, and then we'd work from there. I don't think it was in your best interest to assume I'd read your moving away as a call for an alliance. I am pretty sure I was thinking instead "cool -- this guy doesn't know what he's doing". No offense.

I love how I made it to the draw without building a single army. No need when you're Oz and can't get above 6 units...

Mapu: Well, to be fair, I am quite bad at gunboat games in general, so it is possible that I didn't know what I was doing. ;)

In this particular game, though, I came in with the understanding that Quebec and Canada frequently gang up on USA, which is extremely hard to defend against early on. To counter this, I essentially abandoned the west coast and went all-in against Quebec, hoping that you would see this and think "Oh, he has no interest in fighting me, and is devoting all his resources against my neighbor, so I could probably get away with leaving him alone and focusing on other threats". Had you then focused on Quebec, we would then have common interests for an extended period, and you still could have taken California at any time had I become a threat to you. Instead, you took California, which would have prompted me to turn around and fight you instead had Quebec not taken Florida. It was only when you went out of your way to go after my eastern centers that I turned around and threw everything at you.

In short, you created a conflict where none would have imminently occurred otherwise, which in my opinion is always a risky move in gunboat. You got away with it because both your neighbors happened to be highly aggressive against each other in the first year (Quebec was also initially aggressive toward you, but ended up all-inning against me). Had Quebec not taken Florida and/or I not taken Newfoundland, we wouldn't have self-destructed and you would have met far more resistance in North America.

Thanks for the reply. If I remember correctly, I was basing each move on what was happening between you and Quebec, so as he kept attacking you and couldn't do anything to me, I believe I was thinking that it was okay to keep up the offensive.

But you are absolutely correct. Although these first games to finish happen to be ones I made it through, there are many to come where I made poor decisions that led to a loss. I think in World Gunboat there is a bit of luck involved as to whether or not things break your way in the early to mid game.

bump for EOGs