10 Mar 2014, 2:27 am
First, a big thank you to George J. for your fine job as GM. I especially liked the little history lessons you gave us along with the reminder emails before each major deadline.
Second, congratulations to Monte and Dave L. for their shared board top, and to Dave S. and Paul for their survival to the DIAS.
Third, this game came at an incredibly bad time in my real life. There were a couple of moments when I probably should have resigned from the game, but I wanted to stick it out, partly because it served as a diversion from the real problems I was facing.
Fourth, and last, about the way I actually played this game. What can I say about it? From one point of view, I made mistake after mistake, and generally turned in a pretty bad performance. From another point of view, I was the victim of a major assault way back in Fall 1901 (!), yet somehow I managed to stay in the game until 1910, and that’s got to be *some* sort of an accomplishment worth noting. I mean, at the end of the first year, I saw myself as possibly the very first player to be eliminated from the entire tournament, facing sure relegation, and yet I hung on and on after that point, almost all the way to the DIAS.
1901: The roster for the game was pretty scary from the get-go. Not to slight the other guys, but I knew that Jaundiced Jaffe, Lingfish, and SuperAnt all had reputations as some of Redscape’s most formidable players. It doesn’t surprise me at all that two of those three ended up sharing the board top, and the third managed to be one of the other two survivors. My early dipping seemed to be going OK, but then got a big boost when Austria and Russia proposed a triple alliance to take out Italy. It turned out to all be a ruse, of course, but I do think it could have worked. Turkey would take both Bulgaria and Greece, and build 2 new fleets. Together with the Austrian fleet, we could sail west in 1902 and devastate Italy right away. Meanwhile, Russia and Austria could use their armies to attack Germany. When the time came for fall orders, I was planning to issue orders that would have secured Bulgaria, even if Austria was fibbing about Greece. But in negotiations, SuperAnt played me like a fiddle, and talked me into changing my orders, which led to Austria taking Bulgaria, destroying a unit in F01, and denying me any growth. As I told them at the time, I was sure a time would come when they would regret not taking out Lingfish, one of their most formidable rivals, when they had the chance, and targeting me instead. I stand by that claim.
1902: Luckily for me, David L. didn’t jump on me too, which would have sealed my fate. According to his EOG, Austria and Russia weren’t willing to cut him in for a fair share of the spoils, and that’s certainly believable. I managed to hold my ground in the spring. David S. made some blunders, too, especially leaving St Pete undefended, while the Austro-Russian assault on Germany proved to be something of a fizzle. Monte jumped on St. Pete, and in the fall, David S. was already pulling units away from the Turkish front in order to respond to England. Also in the fall, David L. made his devastating stab on Austria. I had dodged a bullet. In the winter, all the Austrian and Russian disbands were on my front, and I had a new lease on life.
1903: Italy and I were working together well, and Austria was quickly on the ropes. We approached Russia, trying to get him to abandon Corruptone as doomed, and work with us to make sure Monte didn’t have too easy a chance at running away with the game. For the second time, I was in a “might-have-been” alliance which could have been very effective. But David didn’t reply to the offer, and then just before the deadline came up with his big objections. He played me once again, persuading me to tell him details of my plans, and some of David L.’s, because I thought that since the deadline had passed, I was in the ‘explaining my actions’ phase, rather than the ‘negotiating’ phase. Then, he and Corruptone changed their orders based on what I said, and George J. accepted the new orders, because he had not yet processed the turn. In the controversy, I hold that the GM ultimately made the right call, but it was a bit of a mess, and David L. was very upset. Not least with me. However, I did get two builds, and was back in the swing of things. I probably should have built a fleet then, to defend myself against any possible future stab. But I knew it would antagonize Italy, and probably cause him to attack me immediately, so I went with two armies instead. David S. threw in his lot with Monte at this time, and disbanded his northern fleet, which had been the cornerstone of the possible IRT.
1904: Italy and I had some differences of opinion about how to fight Austria and Russia. I noticed that Italy was rejecting every plan that might result in me getting any centers west of Bul and Rum, while favoring plans that dropped all of them into his hands. I still think that in a sincere partnership, I should have ended up with at least one of Greece, Serbia, Budapest, or (eventually) Vienna, and if we were to be truly equal partners, I should have gotten two of them. Also, in the spring, I recognized that Rum was vulnerable, and I wanted to abandon it in favor of taking Sevastopol, which I could have done. David L. insisted that I should try to hold Rum. Also, George A.’s Germany was playing an ambiguous role at that time. We weren’t at all sure who he might side with. I think Austria and Russia took both me and Italy by surprise, though, as Corruptone abandoned Ser to take Rum. I had an army destroyed in Rum, and Sev was by then better defended, so I couldn’t take it for quite a while. But Austria’s position was very bad, and in the fall, became hopeless as George A. turned actively against him. George A., David L. and I wiped out Austria in one turn. I retook Rum, and Italy got both Ser and Bud, and Germany got nothing more than some short-lived gratitude. At the same time, England invaded France, and set Germany up neatly for a stab.
1905: This was the high-water mark for my alliance with Italy, my third “might-have-been” alliance of the game. Italy helped me against Russia, and finally began moving units away from our border. Our alliance was a bit soured by Italy’s reluctance to help me get more centers in exchange for my help against Austria. Italy probably could have made it clear to me that he expected me to put up with that imbalance as the price of keeping me alive earlier, and I probably would have agreed, in exchange for a big DMZ on our border. But instead, we were both resenting each other a bit, while keeping our feelings to ourselves. Whatever opportunity there might have been was missed. England made his extremely devastating stab of Germany in the fall, and I finally took Sev.
Second, congratulations to Monte and Dave L. for their shared board top, and to Dave S. and Paul for their survival to the DIAS.
Third, this game came at an incredibly bad time in my real life. There were a couple of moments when I probably should have resigned from the game, but I wanted to stick it out, partly because it served as a diversion from the real problems I was facing.
Fourth, and last, about the way I actually played this game. What can I say about it? From one point of view, I made mistake after mistake, and generally turned in a pretty bad performance. From another point of view, I was the victim of a major assault way back in Fall 1901 (!), yet somehow I managed to stay in the game until 1910, and that’s got to be *some* sort of an accomplishment worth noting. I mean, at the end of the first year, I saw myself as possibly the very first player to be eliminated from the entire tournament, facing sure relegation, and yet I hung on and on after that point, almost all the way to the DIAS.
1901: The roster for the game was pretty scary from the get-go. Not to slight the other guys, but I knew that Jaundiced Jaffe, Lingfish, and SuperAnt all had reputations as some of Redscape’s most formidable players. It doesn’t surprise me at all that two of those three ended up sharing the board top, and the third managed to be one of the other two survivors. My early dipping seemed to be going OK, but then got a big boost when Austria and Russia proposed a triple alliance to take out Italy. It turned out to all be a ruse, of course, but I do think it could have worked. Turkey would take both Bulgaria and Greece, and build 2 new fleets. Together with the Austrian fleet, we could sail west in 1902 and devastate Italy right away. Meanwhile, Russia and Austria could use their armies to attack Germany. When the time came for fall orders, I was planning to issue orders that would have secured Bulgaria, even if Austria was fibbing about Greece. But in negotiations, SuperAnt played me like a fiddle, and talked me into changing my orders, which led to Austria taking Bulgaria, destroying a unit in F01, and denying me any growth. As I told them at the time, I was sure a time would come when they would regret not taking out Lingfish, one of their most formidable rivals, when they had the chance, and targeting me instead. I stand by that claim.
1902: Luckily for me, David L. didn’t jump on me too, which would have sealed my fate. According to his EOG, Austria and Russia weren’t willing to cut him in for a fair share of the spoils, and that’s certainly believable. I managed to hold my ground in the spring. David S. made some blunders, too, especially leaving St Pete undefended, while the Austro-Russian assault on Germany proved to be something of a fizzle. Monte jumped on St. Pete, and in the fall, David S. was already pulling units away from the Turkish front in order to respond to England. Also in the fall, David L. made his devastating stab on Austria. I had dodged a bullet. In the winter, all the Austrian and Russian disbands were on my front, and I had a new lease on life.
1903: Italy and I were working together well, and Austria was quickly on the ropes. We approached Russia, trying to get him to abandon Corruptone as doomed, and work with us to make sure Monte didn’t have too easy a chance at running away with the game. For the second time, I was in a “might-have-been” alliance which could have been very effective. But David didn’t reply to the offer, and then just before the deadline came up with his big objections. He played me once again, persuading me to tell him details of my plans, and some of David L.’s, because I thought that since the deadline had passed, I was in the ‘explaining my actions’ phase, rather than the ‘negotiating’ phase. Then, he and Corruptone changed their orders based on what I said, and George J. accepted the new orders, because he had not yet processed the turn. In the controversy, I hold that the GM ultimately made the right call, but it was a bit of a mess, and David L. was very upset. Not least with me. However, I did get two builds, and was back in the swing of things. I probably should have built a fleet then, to defend myself against any possible future stab. But I knew it would antagonize Italy, and probably cause him to attack me immediately, so I went with two armies instead. David S. threw in his lot with Monte at this time, and disbanded his northern fleet, which had been the cornerstone of the possible IRT.
1904: Italy and I had some differences of opinion about how to fight Austria and Russia. I noticed that Italy was rejecting every plan that might result in me getting any centers west of Bul and Rum, while favoring plans that dropped all of them into his hands. I still think that in a sincere partnership, I should have ended up with at least one of Greece, Serbia, Budapest, or (eventually) Vienna, and if we were to be truly equal partners, I should have gotten two of them. Also, in the spring, I recognized that Rum was vulnerable, and I wanted to abandon it in favor of taking Sevastopol, which I could have done. David L. insisted that I should try to hold Rum. Also, George A.’s Germany was playing an ambiguous role at that time. We weren’t at all sure who he might side with. I think Austria and Russia took both me and Italy by surprise, though, as Corruptone abandoned Ser to take Rum. I had an army destroyed in Rum, and Sev was by then better defended, so I couldn’t take it for quite a while. But Austria’s position was very bad, and in the fall, became hopeless as George A. turned actively against him. George A., David L. and I wiped out Austria in one turn. I retook Rum, and Italy got both Ser and Bud, and Germany got nothing more than some short-lived gratitude. At the same time, England invaded France, and set Germany up neatly for a stab.
1905: This was the high-water mark for my alliance with Italy, my third “might-have-been” alliance of the game. Italy helped me against Russia, and finally began moving units away from our border. Our alliance was a bit soured by Italy’s reluctance to help me get more centers in exchange for my help against Austria. Italy probably could have made it clear to me that he expected me to put up with that imbalance as the price of keeping me alive earlier, and I probably would have agreed, in exchange for a big DMZ on our border. But instead, we were both resenting each other a bit, while keeping our feelings to ourselves. Whatever opportunity there might have been was missed. England made his extremely devastating stab of Germany in the fall, and I finally took Sev.
