Pani's Diplomacy Diary: 2013

Thursday, March 7, 2013

What up wit dat Spring 1915

I'm still moving slow but strong against him:

Italy is just about mine now but to push him further is going to be easier said than done. Any new units I make are so far away from the front lines it's difficult to back myself up with the strength at the front. Being in the corner so far away from everyone is Turkey's advantage and disadvantage.

I finally replied to the new Italy saying I might go for the solo. It might've been a mistake though. He could just copy and paste it to England to get him to stab me and keep the game going. Saying that though, England has NMRd again.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Biblical proportions Contents

Biblical proportions Fall 1918

And that's it!

Well this game certainly had it's ups and downs - a lot of downs in this one.

In the end, I told England to just go ahead and take the win. We were all worn out and I need a break! Too bad I'm playing another game at the moment otherwise I'd go get a real life for a while!

The final roster:

Italy: pani
Turkey: BigBeuty
Austria: Nobody44
England: riskybiscuits / Bataan (WINNER)
Russia: ViscountSlim / tdrury88
France: thegaff21
Germany: Victor+Khan

Final thoughts

France: Very disappointed in you. Made poor moves and too many NMRs - you were gobbled up quickly.
Austria: Sorry I messed you around at the beginning. Now that you've had a chance to read my blog, I hope you can understand my early predicament. If things had turned out differently and I hadn't let you get gobbled up accidentally, the game would've been extremely different.
Germany: You did well at the beginning but I rallied the troops around and was able to take you out without too many problems. That was the main reason I overextended myself and had to relinquish most of my control to England.
Russia: I had no qualms with you until you were rude at the end. I'm sorry for expressing my lack of interest halfway through the game but consider that after I bashed heads with Turkey for 10 years. If you remember, I predicted a win for England at the time - it was really the only outcome. You played reasonably well but probably should've mixed it up instead of going for the hopeless Juggernaut.
Turkey: You were trapped all game. You helped Russia take Austria out and came away from that fight with very little to show for it. You were behind his walls so the sea was your only option. That left you extremely limited in what you could do. Yes you broke through once or twice but I pushed you back out. You have got to see that the Juggernaut just wasn't going to work for you in that position and you should've striked at Russia when you had the chance. That's why we bashed heads for 10 years. If I'd given up and let go of my line, you and Russia would've bulldozed me and England. You were the reason I had to relinquish most of my supply centers to England, so I could keep you out of Italy.
England: Congratulations! As described above, Turkey forced me to give up most of my northern territory - all the places I'd taken from Germany and in order to get your help, I had to let you in my place. I'm sure you weren't going to say no to free supply centers! You might've taken first place, but I'm taking unofficial second place! :) I suppose some might view my mid/late game as playing kingmaker, but I was sort of forced into it because I had to protect the line and my home bases. If Turkey had gotten through, he'd be coming for you next!

Oh and I finally got a pm back from Russia - he seemed most upset with the fact I had expressed my displeasure at the turn of events halfway through the game (when I'd said I was bored and I saw the England win outcome). I'm going to try to keep it civil - I'm just disappointed that it degraded to the state it got to.

Biblical proportions Spring 1918

As far as I'm concerned, the game is just about over.

England asked what our plans with the new improved Russia would be and asked to include him in the draw. Russia messaged me and we talked a bit about what we'd do together.

Really though, I told England he can take his final 2 supply centers. In order to have a draw that everyone would accept, it'd mean wiping Turkey off the map. It could be done certainly but that'd be a crap game for England. He'd just have to sit there for another 10 turns whilst Russia and I cleaned up.

I told England that he could even take them from me if he'd like, as long as he made me governor of the southern states in his new reign as King of Europe! :)

Biblical proportions 1914

I'm finally pushing out the Turks from my homeland.

A couple of turns ago he was all up in my grill but I should be able to kick him out soon.

How about that, he's retreating for the first time in ages. It'll reduce Russia by one and will let me build for the first time in a long time.

England has said he's going to start to be more aggressive now so the attack is on. If they all want to play until the end, then so be it. If it's a win for England, then so be it.

He also told me that he received a message from Russia which he very kindly sent me:

This could drag on endlessly. Italy is by far the weakest and most vulnerable at this time. If you attack him I assure you of a three-way win. Brest and Paris are yours for the taking with no negative consequences for you in terms of vulnerability to me, and you KNOW if he were in your position he'd stab you without hesitation. If you're not interested that's fine, but please, no moral indignation for asking, he's buzzing Turkey every round to do the same.

Russia keeps surprising me. After the first couple of games with him, I thought I knew his play style. Pretty solid, not really one for backstabbing. But with this message (all dirty lies) and another game I'm playing (which I'll post after completion) where he's completely back stabbed me, I'm starting to reevalute him.

Personally, I don't think it'll drag on endlessly. I made a prediction a few years ago that it'd be an England win and unless he lets me hang on to his bootstraps (which I can't imagine he will), I'm sticking by it.

I haven't messaged Russia or Turkey once since about the time we first went to loggerheads so that was a blatant lie. But that's the name of the game. Would I stab Italy if I were England? Nope. With the way my troops are positioned, I'm a key strategic block and besides, I've been very happy to let England take what he wanted from me.

I still can't understand Turkey and Russia's position. I gave them both really good idea's for the mid to late game and neither one of them bit. The game would've turned out very differently if they'd have cooperated instead of wanting to stick out the stubborn Juggernaut.

Biblical proportions Fall 1917

Fall 1917 - when the sh*t hit the fan.

Lots of draws had been requested around this time; especially from Russia for everyone excluding himself (he just wanted to get the game over I suppose) and I even suggested just me and England which was instantly rejected.

My draw was suggested because Russia was in decline and in my opinion, Turkey had made no progress all game so I didn't feel like he deserved the win/draw. Well I publicly stated as much and got blasted in the shout box (public message system) by both Russia and Turkey. Turkey's messages were about supposed moves earlier on in the game that I'd made and Russia went so far as to call me names! I'd heard Russia getting into arguments with other players before but this was the first time he aimed his bad mouthing at me!

As an aside, I did mention that he'd missed a turn and so was another reason not to include him in the draw. In retrospect, that wasn't fair of me - everyone has a real life outside the game and circumstances sometimes prevent moves being submitted.

Nevertheless, I still stand by my opinion - that Turkey hadn't done anything all game and so shouldn't be included in the draw.

Well anyway, Russia "threw his dummy out of the pram" as we Brits say and surrendered. I sent him a private message explaining my actions and hoping for a response but so far, I've not received one.

His moves were still processed in such a way that he gave a couple of supply centers to Turkey and then we got a new player to take his place.

Biblical proportions Spring 1917

A turn of events in the spring...

Turkey missed his turn for the first time all game. Not that it made much difference. I managed to break through into Tyrolia this turn. It would've been 3 to 3 but England is making slow but important progress in the north border. He could've easily helped me into Tyrolia, even if Turkey hadn't have missed his moves.

England did get into the Ionian sea as a result of the NMR though.

Biblical proportions 1916

No progress made in the spring.

And about the same thing happened in the Fall.

I'm really just waiting for England to get a little closer before I can do anything in the south.

Biblical proportions 1915

Spent a whole year keeping what I had and not making any ground.

And another draw proposal made which didn't get accepted.

England is just getting into position this turn to take some supply centers next turn.

Biblical proportions 1913

I proposed a draw.

Turkey and Russia accepted, England didn't. Then England proposed a different draw, Russia rejected it. Russia proposed another draw, England rejected it. Can you see where this is going?

Some heated words were thrown about and I just stayed out of it. I suppose we're fighting until the bitter end. Oh dear.

England pointed something funny out to me. In the past 7 years (14 turns), Turkey has managed to take a single SP. Talk about a stagnant game. I did try to tell him years ago to attack Russia but he wasn't having any of it. Same with Russia; if he'd attacked a weak Turkey, he might've been able to stand up against England. If that scenario had've played out, I might've attacked England!

On the plus side though, England is getting into position a little better and in a few turns should be able to start pushing back.

Biblical proportions 1912

Still trying to wrestle control of Italy back - I need my home supply centers clear so I can build!

I'm in the process of playing 5 games at the moment and you'd think I'd completely understand all the rules by now. Well I don't. And here's a prime example (which screwed me over again).

When retreating from Warsaw, I tried to retreat to the place that I was attacked from. That's a no no. I knew that but unless you're keeping track of the history carefully, there's no way of knowing. It doesn't tell you anything.
When retreating from Trieste, I tried to retreat to Budapest but I've since found out that you cannot retreat to somewhere that you bounced from earlier. Yet another thing to keep your eye out for in the history when retreating.

Because of these 2 issues, I've had 2 units destroyed rather than being able to retreat them, and because my home supply centers are full of units, I cannot bring back reinforcements.

So whereas we were trying to whittle down Russia, now I'm the one being whittled down due to stupid UI. My plan at this point is to let England takes what he wants from me so we can keep the attack going. He can make new units, I cannot.

Biblical proportions 1911

This is the beginning of the end for me.

I'm actually writing these few years in 1914 for a few reasons.

I'm sick of the game and have no motivation to finish
Writing a DAR (during action report) when you're unmotivated is hard work!

It's about now when I'm ready to throw the towel in. But it's frowned upon to do that and I don't think I'd want my opponents to do it to me either. So I'm just going to try to keep alive long enough to stop the smelly Juggernaut. If I can keep Turkey at bay, England will descend on Russia and if he'll let me take the draw then great, if not, he'll win.

Biblical proportions 1910

It's official, Italy & England VS Russia and Turkey.

Turkey finally managed to break through and take Italian soil with the help of Russia. We took Munich back but not for long.

I just couldn't hold it. But I did get to retreat further into his territory.

England and I have been messaging each other like crazy making sure our plans are in sync with each other. He's entitled his messages as "Slimming down Slim" which I like.

I'm still pretty weak against both of them and England has a way to go to get on the front lines. I just need to hold them off long enough for England to help me.

Biblical proportions Fall 1909

Here's the new plan:

Have no fear and go all out against both Turkey and Russia.

I've bounced against Russia twice this turn, but I forewarned Russia about it. I figure that I try to keep up the ruse for as long as possible. I moved my army back to Burgundy so that I can take back Munich next turn. England will be stuck behind my lines but at least I'll be able to make another fleet for my campaign against the Turks. Speaking of which, the smelly blue fleet is gone from Africa now, he's rebuilt it in Smyrna. That gives me an extra turn before he gets it into position.

If we're really lucky, on the same turn that I attack Russia for real, he will also attack Turkey. If you notice, he's moved into the Black sea for the first time all game. I've been prodding him to do it all game and it might finally look like he's going to do it.

He's also built an army in Sevastopal. Man, I hope he moves it south.
If he does, Turkey will be really panicking. I'd be on the phone to Turkey faster than you can say "stab from your bestest bud", stirring the pot, hopefully forging a ceasefire. I'm just hoping that the Adriatic fleet doesnt get help from Tyrolia and Tunisa to take Venice. That'd be a blow.

Biblical proportions Spring 1909

Got my Western Med fleet into position now so we can take care of the annoyance in North Africa.

Next turn it'll be out of my hair for good and I'll be able to concentrate on pushing back for the first time in ages.

Here's what I was originally thinking: He pushed me out of Albania which I thought worked out nicely for me. He used his Adriatic fleet to do so and as a result has left a vacuum in there. Providing Russia doesn't walk in, I was going to vacate Venice and build a fleet there now that he destroyed the Albanian fleet.

Here's the kicker: Russia walked into Munich which I originally thought was fine. What it means is that I won't get the fleet back to build in Venice.

As far as the actually diplomacy goes, here's the current setup from my point of view.

Turkey: Said that he needs to think about stabbing Russia - but he's been very unresponsive. Doubt I can sway him.
Russia: Keeps saying he's going to go for the stab but have yet to see it. I've relinquished some control to him and have not been aggressive towards him. I'm sure he and Turkey are talking constantly.
England: We're pals but ..... wait a sec .....

He just sent me a message along the lines of: "What are you playing at, Italy?". I was composing a response when it occurred to me that he's made leaps and bounds. He might actually have a force to be reckoned with now. After reviewing the game history, he's been consistently been chipping away at the north of Russia. I've let him keep Portugal and let him take Tunisia. He made 3 armies last turn and has just shipped them all over to the mainland. I'd not been paying any attention before now, been too preoccupied.

Now I'm thinking that me and him can push directly into Russia. It's time for a serious reevaluation.

Biblical proportions Fall 1908

If I can't have Tunisia, Turkey certainly can't!

I helped England into Tunisa, just to get rid of Turkey and prevent him getting more supplies. He'll retreat to North Africa but that's OK, I'll be able to flush him out using my Mid Atlantic fleet.

I jumped into Albania to mess with his head a little bit. It's not going to do much, especially since he's still in the Adriatic and back in the Ionian but I knew I couldn't keep the Ionian this turn.

Not heard much back from Russia recently, and absolutely zero from Turkey after the slight jibe he sent me after I told him all my plans. England is fully cooperating though. He's doing exactly what I want him to with his Tunis fleet so that's one less thing to worry about.

Biblical proportions Spring 1908

I'm good at making mistakes this game.

I sent the following message to Turkey:

Can you help me convoy the Rome army to North Africa please? I've placed all my orders for it. Just need your help. If we're lucky, we'll be able to destroy it when we try to run him out of there in the Fall.

Notice the error: it should've gone to England, not Turkey! Nothing like telling your enemy exactly what you're planning on doing. He replied and said thanks! I sent it to England anyway, hoping that Turkey would think it's a double bluff or something. Really, I was just demoralized and couldn't be bothered.

But at least we bounced down there, that buys me one more turn to let England take Tunis and it'll allow me to get my Brest fleet down to the Mid Atlantic to help next turn.

I'm pretty stagnant otherwise, I still have my temporary standstill with Russia while he bashed heads with England and I'm making a slow retreat to get my troops south to help the Turkish push.

Biblical proportions Fall 1907

Another mistake to add to the books:

I managed to push out the Turkish fleet from the Ionion sea but which had the following effect:

He retreated to Tunisia! Bugger. I was trying to keep him out of the three seas between Italy and Spain and he's snuck in past me into my SP.

All isnt lost, I've got England's fleet helping me now. I've just about finished as far as I want to go in the conquest of Germany so I'm going to start moving my fleet back now to help support the southern battles.

I'm still waiting for Russia to start his stab but while I'm waiting, I thought I'd drop an email to Turkey to see if I can sway his mind. After all, we're doing nothing but butting heads and I really think it'd be beneficial to both of us if we worked against Russia. Not sure he'll bite, but it's worth a small email.

Biblical proportions Spring 1907

It's time for me to mess up a little.

I decided to use my new fleets to sail round the coast of Italy so as to make better coordinated attacks later on. But in the mean time, he's attacked me and pushed me out of the Ionian sea - a really nice strategic location. I'm retreating back to the Tyrhenian sea but I'm still buggered. Now he can either get into Tunisia or if I save Tunisia, he'll sail right past me and my soft underbelly will be exposed. To make things worse, England's fleet sailed away. I need that to help get him out of Tunis if he get's in.

And I received my response from Russia:

Well, I had hoped to push your army in Tyrolia back before the start of this turn, but we can negotiate stalemate lines once your Turkish offensive is underway and I've driven the English off of the continent.
I'm agreeable to everything you requested, and am grateful you have not asked me to personally embed the dagger of betrayal in the back of my old ally. However, maybe it's the mushrooms that have expanded (or degraded) my consciousness, but I'm growing less squeamish about such things all the time. In fact, do you see how vulnerable Ankara looks down there? Well, if a strike like that would be beneficial I am now prepared to deliver.
I do wish you would try to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Germany and tell the Prime Minister he's on his own, but all I ask is that your efforts in that theater be halfhearted and not particularly successful. Now, as we approach the end, are we talking two-way draw or is that just "crazy talk"?

As I'd hoped, he's more amenable to the stab now than when I first heard from him. I need Russia to act FAST. Turkey is all up in my space now and I'm having trouble making any progress.

Biblical proportions Fall 1906

So long, and thanks for all the fish, Austria.

I feel partially responsible. If I hadn't have messed around so much at the beginning of the game, we might've been able to pull of the Lapanto and the game would've gone in a very different direction. As it was, my mistakes and his final one were enough to seal his fate and maybe mine too. Not sure how I'm going to pull this one out.

I've neglected to write about the Germany battle - its enough to keep my units tied up and is gaining me at least an SP each year so that's nice. But it's doing nothing to make me feel better about rising eastern tensions.

After the build phase I decided to send Russia a message that'll either make me or break me:
My friend Slimballovitch,

I throw my self at your mercy and am willing to give you whatever you want in exchange for peace.
As a sign of goodwill, I hope you'll notice that I have built nothing but fleets in order to mount my attack on Turkey. It'll take me a turn or so to get into position but it will happen.
I'd like to argue my case for our alliance in the form of several key points:1) Turkey came out very weak after the demolition of Austria. He only has 6 units to your 8. I'd also like to add my congratulations on your puppetry in this matter. 2) Germany is ripe for the picking. As you're aware, between myself and England, we've made massive strides to remove the German menace from Europe. He would easily crumble with an extra push from you. 3) I know you've had several skirmishes with the blasted English. They've helped me somewhat but are actually more of a nuisance now. They've helped me very little and are really only serving to be an annoyance to you. If you were to move in a more northerly direction, you could have Scandinavia back (which was always rightfully yours in my opionin) as well as the German territory.4) I'll gladly do what I can to help you take Berlin, Kiel and Denmark. I'm sure you understand I have to appear as though I'm still working with the English so I'm going to have to split the remaining with him. 5) To sweeten the deal even more, when the time is right, I'll even let you take my own territory! Munich is your ticket into the mainland proper and it's all yours if you want it. I'll happily vacate without a fight. 6) You don't even need to stab Turkey. I know it's not in your gracious nature to do such things - you merely need to not come to his rescue when he begs for his life. 7) I have been most trustworthy in the past. My lost Galician unit could've reeked havoc running from SP to SP but I chose to remove him from your territory. Please also note that the commanders of that expedition have been tried and executed for incompetence and for marring the proud Italian name.
This turn, I'll be holding all my ground units on your border in place as a sign of goodwill and my fleets will be moving rapidly southwards.
I hope you will see the good reasoning behind my words.

I know from experience that he's not much of a stabber - he's said so himself but for right now, I just need an ally. If I can convince him of my reasoning, maybe at a later date, I can convince him to stab. After all, Turkey will be butting heads with me and should leave his flanks open for Russia. If I can make it too good to resist, maybe I'll have a life line.

Biblical proportions Spring 1906

OK time to rethink.

My fight against Germany is going very nicely. I'm slowly but surely moving around the coast, taking a SP at a time. But what it does mean is that I can't turn my troops away from the fight to face the might of Russia and Turkey. Nor can I grab the remainder of Austria without completely incurring the wrath of Russia. There's still a slim chance I can convince Russia to help me out here.

That's my best course of action I think. He's doing much better than Turkey and is taking more of the spoils of war from Austria. Saying that, Turkey is in a really nice defensible position where he is right now: behind Russia on the mainland and is moving his fleets southwards.

Russia did message me saying that he wasn't happy I'd gotten so far into his territory (Galacia) and to remove it immediately. Of course I obliged - I want to keep all doors open at this stage.

I've sent feeler mails to them both at this time looking for potential weaknesses in their alliance.

Biblical proportions Fall 1905

Austria messed up big time!

We had such good detailed plans for this turn and he miss ordered. Here's what he did:

Trieste HOLD -> resolvedBudapest SUPPORT Rumania to hold -> Destroyed by A Galicia - BudapestAlbania MOVE Ionian Sea -> resolvedRumania SUPPORT Black Sea to Sevastopol -> Destroyed by A Ukraine - RumaniaSerbia SUPPORT Rumania to hold -> Supported unit has failed

And here's the message we (England and I) got from him:

Wow, I am really sorry guys. I was entering orders on my phone and I meant to order Trieste to move to Vienna, not to hold. Again, I am sorry.

I haven't sat down and calculated what it would've been had the orders gone in perfectly but his one miss-click had a ripple effect. That combined with the stab from Turkey just made it destructive. He'd hoped to get Turkey's help to take on Russia whilst holding his own in place. I was helping support him (which failed due to the miss-click) and was going to cut off support - hence the reason my unit flew off into Galacia.

This is the definitely the end of Austria now - and I think my head is on the chopping block.

Biblical proportions Spring 1905

Well that was quick! Munich is back in German hands.

I figured it'd slow him down a little against his fast moving. And I'm in a better position to take Brest and at least have a region with no-one (except England, my ally) against my back. I can also retreat my Munich unit to an equally good position.

And now I'm getting frenzied messages from Austria and England about the eastern powers:

Italy,Will you be assisting Austria. He won't be able to withstand both Turkey and Russia. Without Austria there, you might have nothing to defend against Turkey.England

And from Austria:

Italy, if you support Vienna to Trieste and move Silesia to Galicia to cut his support, then we might have a chance against Russia and Turkey.

I'm starting to think they're right. I hate to have wars on all sides, splitting up my troops but I think I'm going to have to in order to stop the east from running over Austria right into me.

England, Italy and Austria - a new alliance?

I'll agree to their plans for now. I just worry that Germany and Russia have been talking. If it's us 3 against Russia, Germany and Turkey, then I think we're in trouble. If it's us 3 against Russia and Turkey, against Germany, we have a chance. I seem to be the only one of the alliance to be trying to attack all 3. Austria is almost alone against 2 and England is flailing.

Biblical proportions Fall 1904

Still England is just sitting there like a lemon!

I hedged my bets and moved into the Mid Atlantic and it paid off, he stayed up - again not trusting me. I'm in a better position whilst he's holding in place, wasting his fleet.

Also, he's still trying to rid Scotland of the German fleet so he's working on his own national security. And Russia took Norway from him too.

And I finally made my move on Germany and took Munich without any problems. Germany is bound to be pissed off and he's got plenty of troops to get back and take it away from me. We'll see.

Biblical proportions Spring 1904

Starting to make a little progress now.

I've gotten an extra supply center as well as attempting to set myself up for the future against Germany.

I've basically given up on Turkey at this point - it was a bit of a fools errand, he's so far away from me. Maybe if we'd have pulled of the Lapanto in a timely manner things would've turned out differently but as it was, I messed around for too long at the beginning of the game.

I sent England a message telling him he needed to trust me a little bit and move his fleet out of Portugal. Well he didn't and now he's going to be stuck when I try to get past him to help him with Germany.

Biblical proportions 1903

I'm still smacking heads with Turkey and am getting a bit disillusioned.

I have to get back to Spain to grab a SP before they're all gone.

Turkey approached me right after I'd put in all my moves basically calling a Truce to our head butting. It was holding us both back so I said OK but it was too late.

I'll move out of there next turn and concentrate my efforts elsewhere. I did manage to get Spain so that's another unit at least and am sort of guaranteed Marseilles next turn. I'd originally asked Germany to help me take it and he said he would be of course he's more concerned with England to the North.

To that note, he's already attacked English controlled Brest so I might have an ally there. I sent England a message:

Hey, sorry it's taken so long to get back to you, never considered moving west until france bowed out.
OK, I think Germany is getting a bit too big for it's boots. I'll let you keep Portugal (read. not attack it) if you move into the mid atlantic, you'll be able to take Brest in the fall.
In the mean time, I'll be taking Marseilles and moving towards Germany before you know it.

Biblical proportions 1902

Austria and I were hoping we could pull off a delayed Lepanto:

But now I'm bouncing. I've asked him to help me get into the East Med but he's out of position to help me (in Greece and not in the Aegean).

And I've got a brick wall (Marseilles) to my west whilst England and Germany help themselves to French pie.

Biblical proportions Fall 1901

I'm receiving the important messages just a little too late.

It was also after the first move that I got a message from Austria saying that he wanted to work with me for the Lepanto - 2 Italian fleets to help me get to Turkey fast. And my army in Tunis to convoy to the Turkish mainland. The message came just a bit too late and I was already out of position.

My thinking was that I could help Austria with his plans as well as try something crazy with France: I was going to go through Marseilles (without taking it in the Fall) to get up to Burgundy and be ready in Tyrolia to attack Munich. France would help me and we could take Germany together.

But as you can see from the map, France NMRd. Really disappointed now.

I'm completely out of position for the Lepanto and can't possibly work with France. It's time to cut my losses and have a rethink.

Biblical proportions Spring 1901

Another new game! Here's the lineup:

Italy: me
Russia: ViscountSlim (Italy in Closing Curtains)
France: thegaff21 (Martin, a RL friend who's never played before)
BigBeuty: Turkey
Germany: Victor Khan
Austria: Nobody44
England (1900): Bataan
England (1903): riskybiscuits

The game has barely started and already I'm in a quandary: France is my neighbor who is a RL friend but has never played before. I was thinking of originally going that direction (to try something new) but I don't want to demolish him on his first game.

So I move south to the Ionian sea with my fleet to capture Tunisia - the natural Italian expansion.

I sent out my feelers and waited to see what response I got back from my fellow Europeans.

Meanwhile, France is doing things that are not legal moves and not taking his natural supply centers. I even told him to look at the new player guide for the normal France openings so he wouldn't be confused and to message everyone with plans and ideas.

I'd read that with new players, you've basically got 2 options: Either demolish them or bring them along for the win (or at least your win with their help). I thought option 2 sounded better so as not to dash his hopes and dreams but with moves like he's been making, I'm not so sure.

Friday, February 15, 2013

What up wit dat Contents

What up wit dat Spring 1916

The game is over.

Happened quickly right?

We had someone take over England and I was so disappointed and disgusted that I proposed a draw. I had excluded Germany from the draw but that was blocked so we included him and I accepted.

I'd worked my ass off to get to this point, England and I were going to go all the way, either together or I was going to snatch the solo off him before he knew it. I was playing on the fact that he was miles behind and I knew his play style.

From this point on there was really only one scenario: Italy, England and Germany would've worked together against me for years and years. It would've dragged on and I would've gotten frustrated after having the win snatched away from me because some jack*ss decided not to play a game we'd all invested a bunch of time into. I don't mind the stab - it's expected, I do mind this.

Final thoughts:

I was pleased about how well I did up to the last few years. I'd come back from nothing and could've taken the solo or at least a 2 way draw. It was a really interesting game and one I was really enjoying. Just ruined by one player. I won't be playing with him again (apminton).

Here's all the players:

England: apminton / sukas4
France: hessekid / KMAC
Italy: GrumpyGet / becahiguy13
Germany: degoldschmidt / despot
Austria: doctia / Mal
Turkey: Heythere12 / pani
Russia: DocEwok

Austria: You were the first hurdle. You should've seen the first stab coming but there was no need to be a douche about it when I offered you a lifeline. I saw that you were dying and even though I'd previously stabbed you, I wanted your help and thought it was mutually beneficial..
Russia: Thanks for the initial help. I needed it. You were my key to success. If I could convince you to help, I was golden. Sorry I had to stab you right after.
Italy #1: You played well and you could've taken the solo if England #1 and I hadn't acted in time. You said you found a sub because you had RL issues, but I'll always wonder if you just saw your demise.
Italy #2: You should've never taken the role on and I think you know it. You did what you could when you were on the back foot but you just weren't going to sway us at that stage.
Germany: Congrats on the win. If it have been for me I would've excluded you in the tie at the end but I was do pissed off and disheartened by that stage that I just accepted.
England #1: You did fine and acted just about fast enough. I would've shared the victory with you if you'd just made a bit more progress but decided to go for the solo after you just couldn't break the Italian line. Then when you gave up, well I have no words.
England #2: For me you were just wrong place wrong time. I have no opinion of you.
France: Who knows?
Turkey #1: Who knows?

What up wit dat 1915

I've just realised that England has been inactive for a couple of turns.

We hadn't been communicating much over the past few years, partly because we had no need to, partly because I was going for the solo now.

Now I find he's gone NMR. That's really crap. I can just hope that he starts to play again so we can get this game finished in it's current state.

What up wit dat Fall 1914

We've just had England NMR.

Italy has pushed him out of the Mid Atlantic and I've moved onto Italy's soil in full force. Now he's got no room to create new units from (not that he's got the chance to capture supply centers.

He's also been urging us to draw and/or me to take the solo.

What up wit dat Spring 1914

Well I retreated into North Africa, only to be completely destroyed!

Again, I'm not too worried, I continue to make ground. My Sevastopal army wasn't needed in the end. He didn't make a move on it. Even so, I'll leave it there for a while just to cover my borders from the stab.

I retook Tunisa but still cannot take Venice - he's got help from the lone German ranger who's still hanging about! Scheisse! I'll get it soon. I've got a fleet in Tuscany now to dislodge the Germans.

I'm seriously thinking about the solo, but because my progress is so slow and steady, England might've caught up with me enough and I'll have to accept the draw. We'll see.

What up wit dat Fall 1913

Tiny twist - he pushed me out of Tunisia and Bohemia!

Last turn he was telling me what he was going to do, if he'd have done it all, I would've been at 17 supply centers. As it turned out, he's still got a few tricks up his sleaves and I only got 1 instead of 3 or 4.

I don't mind too much, like I said before, slow and steady wins the race.

I'm going to retreat to North Africa and help do some hitting from behind his lines and continue to get into position for my big push.

England moved an army down to Moscow this turn which is slightly worrying (when he had the option of moving it to Livonia instead). It means he's got an open run on Sevastapol. Whether he'll take it or not I don't know, but I'll move a spare army back there just in case.

What up wit dat Spring 1913

I replied to Italy finally.

He actually sent me a message along the lines of "congratulations" but don't go for the shared win.
I think that's for a few reasons; He's a purist and feels like only solo's are a true victory, he feels like the game is rightfully mine and maybe he's just sowing seeds of doubt and wants me to stab England to let himself get back in the race.

Either way, I'm tempted.

I'm just going to hold the Italian mainland this turn and keep what I've got.

What up wit dat Fall 1912

It's now a case of "slow and steady wins the race".

I'm consistently taking one SP after another. He's holding his line quite nicely in the north of Europe but I'm all over him. Here's after the retreat and build phases:

It seems strange that he's elected to remove some of his defenses from my side rather than against England. I'm going to be taking his home supply centers any minute now, you'd think he'd want to keep them. Maybe he'd rather I win than England?

England's been asking me for end game conditions. I think this is a game where I'd be almost happy with the shared win. But the solo is so tempting. I came from (almost) nothing to being the strongest player on the board now. I'll see how far away England is when I get closer to 18 before I make my decision.

What up wit dat Spring 1912

A twist in the plot: Italy found a sub.

He said he had some RL issues and so found a sub to take his orders. I was just thinking to myself, "I wonder what the new sub will say/do" when I received the following message from him:

With the amount of forces I have to now move back to defend my homeland from your brilliant stab, England is going to make sweeping gains in the north. I would probably say that BRE, BEL, HOL and one of KIE and BER are going to fall in the next 2 years. This is going to put England in range for a solo as the builds will fuel a naval ramapge into the south that will win the game for her.
I was hoping you and I could reach some sort of agreement to preclude a possible English solo. I'd ask for no territory back and would make concessions to you as the victor in what could be a very small conflict.
The only thing I ask is you allow me to dislodge F TYS and instead of retreating it, delete it.

Flattery and lies - what this game is all about!

Bless him! I think in his position I'd have done the same thing. I'm almost 100% certain that he's sent something very similar to England. I just hope England doesn't fall for it. To head things off before he gets any ideas, I sent him a message, basically saying the same thing I just described: "Message from Italy, full of flattery, England's going for the solo, blah blah blah". I think I'll send Italy a message in a few turns after it's 100% that I'm still attacking him.

Meanwhile, on the actual board, I've taken Trieste and pushed into the Tyrhenian sea. He can't afford to lose Tunisia so he's holding him in place - essentially wasting the unit.

I'm going to take Tunisia this turn and not try too hard for Venice - it's not going to happen this turn. Then, next year, I'll sail my Tyr fleet and capture either Spain or Marseilles.

What up wit dat Fall 1911

England is making absolutely ZERO progress still.

I decided to play a little safer this turn. I held Vienna and thought I might be able to grab Trieste. He supported it with enough and kept me out.

Meanwhile, I snuck into Apulia. I knew he wouldn't be defending it, nor expect it. It seems like a wasted move on the outset when I could've used it to dislodge his Adriatic fleet and taken Trieste but for the future it's going to set me up. That fleet alone would be enough to piss me off if roles were reversed. It's ocean going so I can disrupt the Adriatic fleet as well as support the Ionian sea. I can also sail up and down the coast where there are two juice supply centers.