First off, thanks to Brad for a fine job GMing.
This isn't exactly early, and it's certainly long-winded, as my EOGs nearly always are. Oh well.
So, I was happy when Brad randomly assigned me to play England. It's probably my favorite country to play, and certainly the one where I've had the most success. I've often done well in alliance with Germany in the past, but I wasn't sure whether to go with Germany or France this time around. I knew that Sendric in France was a top-flight player, therefore potentially both a valuable ally and a dangerous opponent (of course), while I was unfamiliar with Schlieffen in Germany. I started out being friendly to them both, and in F01 they were both OK with me taking Belgium; quite a coup. Russia and I made friendly noises as well about avoiding conflict, though I don't think either of us was terribly sincere about it. Also, I encouraged Italy's S01 move to Tyrolia, and knew before the fall turn that he was likely to move on into Munich with French support. I had already decided to work with France myself by that point. Still, after the F01 results, I regretted not having tried during that turn to talk Germany into a supported defense of Munich to keep Italy out, and a bounce in Sweden to limit Russia's growth. Had he done both, it would have been good for me, given me more choices moving forward, and might even have allowed me to take Holland in 02 with the excuse of being a German ally to help him against his many enemies. But Germany wasn't a good communicator and France was, so I'd made my choice, and in S02 I explicitly stabbed Germany. Otherwise, my early communication with Austria was minimal, mostly telling him I'd be strongly opposed to an RT. I spoke to both George in Italy and Guy in Turkey, but got the vibe that we were all pumping each other for info about our plans that none of us was really willing to share.
The dreaded RT did materialize, and unfortunately Austria was very ineffective at opposing it. Russia and I drifted into conflict, as was probably inevitable. Germany NMRed in S03, and again in F03, and was put into CD, which had a big impact on the game, also most unfortunate. Schlieffen also dropped out of another game at that same time, so that implies a real-life issue, and not just poor sportsmanship because he was losing. I hope he has now resolved that issue, but ask that he be sure he can keep his commitment before he joins another game.
I was glad I was already working with France, though I was worried because France was also working with Italy as well as me. I would have preferred if there had been some conflict brewing between them, because it would have drawn French power off my flank. Anyway, we had a somewhat strange triple alliance, France, England and Italy, against Russia and Turkey, with Germany in CD and being eliminated, and Austria quickly losing as well. France and England were allied, and so were France and Italy, but the alliance between England and Italy was basically an alliance of convenience. I tried to persuade Sendric to stab George, and I believe George tried to persuade him to stab me. As far as a triple alliance to dominate the game, my first choice was England, France, and Turkey, mostly because I thought Italy would be much easier to eliminate than Turkey. But I was willing to stick with the EFI as long as Sendric wanted to. I had no intention of stabbing France, and no front with Italy even if I did want to stab him. My front against Russia took some time to develop, but I finally got it going.
Then came F05. Sendric stabbed me and Italy in the same turn, and jumped out to a significant lead with 10 centers. I understand the timing of why he stabbed me then, because it was his last good chance for it. I didn't end up losing any units, but I lost 2 builds, and it totally killed the momentum of my Russian campaign. I don't understand at all why he stabbed George at the same time. It's like he was daring the board to unite against him, and that's pretty much what happened, but not without a few wrinkles.
This isn't exactly early, and it's certainly long-winded, as my EOGs nearly always are. Oh well.
So, I was happy when Brad randomly assigned me to play England. It's probably my favorite country to play, and certainly the one where I've had the most success. I've often done well in alliance with Germany in the past, but I wasn't sure whether to go with Germany or France this time around. I knew that Sendric in France was a top-flight player, therefore potentially both a valuable ally and a dangerous opponent (of course), while I was unfamiliar with Schlieffen in Germany. I started out being friendly to them both, and in F01 they were both OK with me taking Belgium; quite a coup. Russia and I made friendly noises as well about avoiding conflict, though I don't think either of us was terribly sincere about it. Also, I encouraged Italy's S01 move to Tyrolia, and knew before the fall turn that he was likely to move on into Munich with French support. I had already decided to work with France myself by that point. Still, after the F01 results, I regretted not having tried during that turn to talk Germany into a supported defense of Munich to keep Italy out, and a bounce in Sweden to limit Russia's growth. Had he done both, it would have been good for me, given me more choices moving forward, and might even have allowed me to take Holland in 02 with the excuse of being a German ally to help him against his many enemies. But Germany wasn't a good communicator and France was, so I'd made my choice, and in S02 I explicitly stabbed Germany. Otherwise, my early communication with Austria was minimal, mostly telling him I'd be strongly opposed to an RT. I spoke to both George in Italy and Guy in Turkey, but got the vibe that we were all pumping each other for info about our plans that none of us was really willing to share.
The dreaded RT did materialize, and unfortunately Austria was very ineffective at opposing it. Russia and I drifted into conflict, as was probably inevitable. Germany NMRed in S03, and again in F03, and was put into CD, which had a big impact on the game, also most unfortunate. Schlieffen also dropped out of another game at that same time, so that implies a real-life issue, and not just poor sportsmanship because he was losing. I hope he has now resolved that issue, but ask that he be sure he can keep his commitment before he joins another game.
I was glad I was already working with France, though I was worried because France was also working with Italy as well as me. I would have preferred if there had been some conflict brewing between them, because it would have drawn French power off my flank. Anyway, we had a somewhat strange triple alliance, France, England and Italy, against Russia and Turkey, with Germany in CD and being eliminated, and Austria quickly losing as well. France and England were allied, and so were France and Italy, but the alliance between England and Italy was basically an alliance of convenience. I tried to persuade Sendric to stab George, and I believe George tried to persuade him to stab me. As far as a triple alliance to dominate the game, my first choice was England, France, and Turkey, mostly because I thought Italy would be much easier to eliminate than Turkey. But I was willing to stick with the EFI as long as Sendric wanted to. I had no intention of stabbing France, and no front with Italy even if I did want to stab him. My front against Russia took some time to develop, but I finally got it going.
Then came F05. Sendric stabbed me and Italy in the same turn, and jumped out to a significant lead with 10 centers. I understand the timing of why he stabbed me then, because it was his last good chance for it. I didn't end up losing any units, but I lost 2 builds, and it totally killed the momentum of my Russian campaign. I don't understand at all why he stabbed George at the same time. It's like he was daring the board to unite against him, and that's pretty much what happened, but not without a few wrinkles.