Join In On The Action "Register Here" To View The Forums

Already a Member Login Here

Board index Forum Index
User avatar
Ambassador
 
Posts: 885
Joined: 24 Apr 2003, 6:31 am

Post 16 Jan 2014, 7:39 am

Greetings, gentlemen.

I am glad I had the opportunity to GM this game. I really enjoyed watching it play out. There is one thing I would like to bring up though. There was a season (going back, it was Fall 1905) in which I thought England and France could have broken through had they been more aggressive.

Here's a look at the area I'm talking about:

osotl-fa05moves-trim.png


As you can see, they were cautious in their approach, and made a token attempt for Warsaw. These orders kept their centers safe, but gave them little chance at gaining anything unless Russia lost his mind. My opinion at the time, and even now, is that they should have gotten their army into Prussia, thusly:

osotl-fa05moves-alt.png


Yes, these orders do leave Kiel slightly vulnerable, but given that Russia had little choice but to cover Moscow and Warsaw, the likelihood that he would move aggressively was remote. That meant any attack from Russia would be to Munich, and that was easily dealt with. I have Livonia ordering support into Prussia, but to minimize the risk, that unit could also have attacked Warsaw or even Moscow. I felt the risk was low here, but the reward would have been great. Russia could only have built an army in Sev, and that army could do little but support Moscow, which would have left Warsaw vulnerable to attack in the spring. Even if Russia took a chance and protected Warsaw, you'd still have had a second chance in the fall to take either Warsaw or Moscow since the unit in Smyrna was two moves away at best. Russia also would have had to decide whether to stay in Silesia or pull that army back into a defensive shell. A lot of options here. I'm not saying it would have guaranteed anything, but if you guessed correctly in either the fall or spring, I think Russia would have ultimately fallen, leaving Italy with no way to defend himself.

Just some thoughts on the game I've had bottled up for a while and wanted to share. It was a great game to be a part of. Thanks to all who participated.
User avatar
Adjutant
 
Posts: 9
Joined: 07 Dec 2011, 4:14 am

Post 21 Jan 2014, 3:12 am

You have no idea how scared I was of those moves. And yes, I was shocked to death at how non-aggressive England was at this stage of the game.

As Italy mentioned, I wanted to blast at Kiel, but Italy convinced me that England could rebuff it. In that turn though, England didn't try for prussia.

It was a big "whew" there but I'm shocked England wasn't more aggressive.