|
|
Leaf Fish ENDGAME STATEMENTS
GM : Ally Bain
GM : Ally Bain Six EGS being shown is I think the best I've had to show so thank you all bar ... :-) I think winning with England is a hard task & I think even harder when you're known to be top of the Eagle Points. To add to that, I feel it wasn't until the end-game part that it looked obvious that Tim was going to win but in all fairness, I think I figured it before a couple of players had spotted it... :-) Tim, fantastic win & hopefully soon we'll join each other in a game. Normally I get the end game added to the stats I keep but I'm afraid I've ran out of time but soon it'll be added & you can find that by going to my site & once you've read the rest of the site, you can go to the Diplomacy chapters. :-) www.alb-gsb.com Oh, Richard & I are playing against each other in IDIII & that game can be seen on ALB & GSB. See you on the boards. Ally PS one last thing, 'Admiral' Gunboat Competition IV is still unlikely to start until at least the summer.
AUSTRIA : Gary Cash-Harvey My first game with some of the Titans on the site and what do i draw Austria, now that was unlucky for me, especially as Russia was being played by Adam , who to be fair , if he said good morning i would put my on and go to bed. I tried to strike a friendship with Turkey and Germany, the later being achieved. I wanted to take Italy out, stop Russia and divide the Balkans with Richard, who i have to say seemed happy with the idea at first, or so i thought. Richard to be fair did warn me that he would stab, which he duly did, have to admit a little quicker than i had hoped but hey he had his reasons. Adam never disappoints, i keep thinking he may play diplomacy this game, but no attack attack attack, i will be ready next time!!!!!!!!!! I have to thank Tim for some great advice but a sprat like me was never going to upset the natural order, well not this game. Yet again Toby/Italy proved a more loyal ally and i think that was my big mistake, not trusting him and attacking Turkey I didn't really have much comms with Stephen and i still dont know were that french army is going too? Thanks to Mike, sorry we couldn't help each other. As i write this EGS the Titans CONTINUE TO THRASH IT OUT, good luck to you all, yes even you Adam. See you again regards Gary
ENGLAND : Tim Sweeney As for the game itself this was my first 1-week game in about a year, the last time I played was in the World Masters Diplomacy Tournament and you really can’t consider those deadlines as 1-weeks considering the extended seasons for retreats & builds - while I am on the subject one can not consider the tournament *real* diplomacy considering the stupid scoring system eliminates draws as a valid game conclusion. I can’t remember my preferences but I think I was hoping for France or Germany as I have played them the least in my pbem career. However England wasn’t Russia or Turkey (which I have played the most) so I was glad about that. My record with England is actually pretty good, but for me England is a real nail biter to play in the early years for various reasons...however I’ll keep my thoughts private on that matter as I don’t wish to give away too many state secrets (wink). Of the line-up I had a few old friends on the board, both Michael Halpin and Richard Hucknall, both men whom I like and respect both as individuals and for their skills and abilities. Of the rest I had never GMd or played. Pre-Spring: I was sweating quite a bit in pre-spring thanks to both France and Russia. France: Steve was playing hard ball over the English Channel, basically declaring that he was going there whether I liked it or not, but if I "allowed" him into the Channel it would cement our alliance and he would not attack me. Now jaded as I am, even *IF* Steve was telling the truth, I was not inclined to believe him or take that chance. Upon further discussion Steve told me it would be ok to bounce him...well I didn’t want to be bounced out either and waste my fleet, I wanted a DMZ and if I recall correctly I informed him that I was DMZing the Channel and he violated it, I would take that as a declaration of war and we would be at odds. In the big picture I don’t think my own diplomacy was the deciding factor in Steve keeping the DMZ, rather, I think Tobias/Italy and his peculiar anti-German plan was the vital criteria which would help decide Steve’s policy for the DMZ in the Channel Russia: Adam was early on talking about moving Mos-Stp, normally not something I as England would mind as the move is more a threat to Germany IMO, but considering France’s position in the west I really didn’t like the sound of things and began to fret of a budding F/R alliance. I wanted a good relationship with Adam/Russia early, because as he was Turkey’s (Richard) and Germany’s (Michael) neighbors, both of whom are dangerous players. With Richard being so far away I needed a way to counter him diplomatically so good relations with Russia was important for this. Also, with Michael being our joint neighbor and not sure of what would come out of the E/F/G triangle I may have need of a friendly Russia. Adam for his part kept me at arms length, talking a good game, but all the same being vague and non-committal...and torturing me with talks of Mos-Stp. My main goal was to appeal to Adam to be a better ally to him than Richard could be, while trying NOT to push him into attacking Richard or sounding anti-Turkish. Germany: I was a bit worried about Michael and while communication between us was good and he was talking about joint efforts I had the sinking suspicion that he was more fence sitting and that perhaps at the time he may have been leaning slightly more pro-French than pro-English? I don’t know for sure, but he was talking of building armies over fleets and so I figured not pushing too hard would be good, mostly because of what Italy was saying (details to follow below) had me thinking Germany might soon be advocating strong relations with good ol’England. Austria: I don’t recall if Gary and I had much conversation going in pre-Spring, I recall talking occasionally in the early game and offering some tactical/diplomatic advice now and again but in pre-Spring we had only some basic pleasantries, my concern was for a stable Austria, one which didn’t get beyond 5 dots and could keep A/R/T entangled for many years. Turkey: Richard and I exchanged some early emails, mostly feeling each other out about what we would do if both developed strong positions and could we secure a stalemate line and 2-way draw without tipping the scales too heavily to one another. Richard was unfortunately (or would that be fortunately?) far away for much cooperation which left us little room for substantial correspondence. I was worried somewhat with Richard in Turkey, Richard has a strong tactical game - let him out of the box and there would be no putting him back...but I didn’t want Richard out either, with Richard’s skills and Turkish defenses he would always be a thorn in the back of A/I/R if they proved to be strong contenders. Needing Richard to do poorly, but not TOO poorly would be important to my game, though the implementation of how to make that happen posed a problem, especially considering Richard’s skills. Italy: I mention Tobias last because it strikes me that the most influential person of the game and pre-spring should be placed in a more summarizing position. Early on I found Tobias frequent communication and pro-English attitude both very encouraging and appealing. An E/I alliance is a good thing, for both of us and I liked the way things were going. We seemed to be on the same page and a promising alliance was developing, which is what I needed considering Steve’s/France’s hard-line position on the ENG. The peculiar thing was Tobias’ insistence on him attacking Germany and that we try to swing France to help us. Having recently been a Germany victimized by an Italian(and Austrian) attack in 1902 while simultaneously fighting off an E/F attack - I can vouch that it really does do a number to Germany, but in the end it really doesn’t do a heck of a lot for Italy and with me having concerns about France & Russia I was looking more for pressure on France and was worried the collapse of Germany would create a vacuum more easily exploited by F/R than E/I. However Tobias was insistent that Germany was the target and France would only be considered later if he did something out of line. I thought the idea of an E/F/I alliance meritorious for a few reasons: 1) It would hopefully keep France out of the Channel... 2) It would maximize our units and we could sweep the board... 3) It gave me leverage with Germany... 4) It would allow me to deal with the Russian(Adam), whom while later would prove to be a great ally, back here had me concerned was a threat to my interests in Scandinavia…especially with his talk of Mos-Stp and my concerns that Richard would come out on top of the battle for the Czar’s allegiance. So in the end I was very happy to side with Tobias and really thought that E/I had a great future, of course way back here I had no idea just how much of a lying, cheating, underhanded harlot Tobias really is! Anyway as we are all hardened diplomats nobody should get offended, indeed many take such comments as complimentary! (grin) Early Game: Turkey: I am going to start with Richard because I was surprised at how he deftly capitalized off of what I consider a weak opening. Something the esteemed and former Dip2000 stalwart Steve Turner dubbed as the ...bottle neck opening... Richard however in a series of blitzkrieg type (and inspired) attacks was quickly a budding power in the Balkans and I was beginning to fear that he would soon break out of his corner and all hell would be loosed on the board. I remember offering advice to Tobias and Gary to counter some of R/T but the real surprise came I believe when Adam moved against Richard dispelling concerns of an R/T alliance. Richard I think alienated Adam over the Black Sea and possibly some of Richard’s improvised moves based on the board layout, which may have helped his dot count but hurt his credibility. Regardless I am indebted somewhat to Richard because his growing strength helped me with Tobias, who needed my tactical advice and eventually stabbed France because of Tobias need to counter Richard’s growing influence. France: Things were going well with Steven. I give Steven high marks as an ally, though I am not sure if he was my ally back here or Tobias’ (or both). Steve was content to build armies and allow me Belgium, in return I built fleets and kept the pressure on Germany. We would however soon run into trouble as Steve began to ask for Belgium, which had been promised to him, however every time he pushed for it, there was always a good chance that our plans against Germany would fail and as I had a Russian unit or two to contend with as well and in the end I would disband and France would build. Considering my units were all on the front line and France’s were enjoying a safe position with no threat of attack the request for Belgium seemed at best naïve’ or worse yet duplicitous. There was one key season where Steve issued a decree of what is units would be doing and then went on vacation. With no time for discussion and not at all liking his strategy which seemed to me positioning to attack England/Italy I talked with Tobias and decided to order enough units to counter Steve’s moves while at the same time working to help E/F/I just incase the entire thing was just a misunderstanding. It should be noted that during this period Steve had been bccing Tobias and I in on his emails to Germany and I think Austria, no doubt with the intent of putting Tobias and I at ease, but with me had the reverse affect and left me unnerved and worried that Steve was using the bcc to keep several irons hot and may have been bccing Tobias in on my private correspondence. Russia: Adam and I eventually see some friction over Sweden and St Petersburg, helped by my growing relationship with Germany who desperate for an ally against F/I is willing to help me against Russia. It is important for me to secure my western boarder if I am to break with F/I so I can descend upon France with the full strength of England. My plans to secure my flank goes awry when Adam ends up NOT disbanding key northern units when he is faced with disbands and instead disbands in Richard’s favor, I have long wondered if this was carefully calculated or if it was simply the result of sloppy disband orders. I hope Adam answers this question in his EGS. Germany: Michael has his hands full with Italy in Munich and French troops pushing into Ruhr, he helps me repeatedly to secure a good position in Scandinavia. I am able to grow at German expense without incurring any hard feelings because of the need to disband the German fleet and keep his armies as well as to build units which will be of use against F/I. Austria: Gary’s game was a real puzzlement, if I recall correctly he went out of his way to antagonize Italy and Russia while placing far too much trust in Richard who played Gary like a piano. F/I/E would all agree to help Austria with the understanding he would be eliminated when no longer needed. This allowed the oddity of French units marching around the Balkans and the boarders of Warsaw as Tobias and Gary pushed forces through. This was in the heydays of E/F/I and it looked like we may really sweep the board together. Gary would however be put down early though the Balkans and the former lands of AH would remain an ever changing battleground up until the very end-game when Russia would firmly dominate most of them. Italy: Tobias works with E/F for a while helping against Germany, then liberating himself from Austrian occupation and finally moving to confront R/T. However at some point it is clear to me that he is not on my side (why he selected an alliance with France over me I was never really sure about?) but I am tipped off of the impending F/E betrayal by Tobias sudden interest in attempting to discover *exactly* how I will be ordering …I lie (of course) issue some press incase I am mistaken, which I am not, instead I correctly discern how F/I will attack! My own counter attack to their attack will leave me with the advantage, plus a certain build for me at Tobias’ expense…it also brings us into the mid-Game and here we are only ending 1903!!! Mid-Game: Germany: Michael my German ally would NMR at a crucial time and his blunder gets him eliminated and prevents France from disbanding…drat, drat and triple drat! Austria: Like his northern neighbor in Germany is eliminated…I think the same season even. To me the game looks like it is heading for a large draw with two of the three central powers eliminated, but am somewhat worried that Russia or Turkey could run away with the game as I am required to shift forces away from Russia south to smoother F/I aspirations. France: Steve is committed in his resolve to attack me, even when Italy stabs him (more than once) Steve dedicates most of his resources to battling me, soon I have him on the defensive and I eventually eliminate him, which sparks the beginning of the end-game. The funny thing here is that Adam was encouraging me to let Steve survive in exchange for his help in eliminating Tobias. What this really meant was that Adam was trying to stop my growth and keep me in balance…had Steve taken my offer I would have had a more prickly position as attacking Steve would have been in violation of my agreement with Adam, however Steve tried to *help* Tobias and I was able to use that to justify his elimination which cleared the road into the Mediterranean, Italian waters and Tunis. Turkey: Richard asks me to “draw the sting of F/I” which I gladly do (was going to do anyway) I am concerned about the resurging Russia and try to push Richard to patch up his differences with Adam and we three seek a 3-way draw, at this point of the game I don’t see a solo for me as a viable option. However, Richard and Adam continue their quarrel and eventually Richard falls victim to Tobias’ habitual disloyalty as well as Adam’s aggression. R/I have pushed Richard back to his bunker and Richard does his best to warn them of an impending English solo as we head into the end game. Italy: Tobias will take turns stabbing everybody, me, Steve, Richard and Adam…he really cuts a bloody swath and his empire looks impressive but is really just a house of cards. Fortunately he never successfully stabs me – tries loads of times, but I either see it coming or he misreads the moves and does the wrong thing. In the end he tries to make peace with R/T and answers Richard’s call to rally, fortunately I have an ace up my sleeve…Russia! Russia: Adam and I ironed out our difficulties fairly early…1904 or so and there after with each succeeding season we built upon the previous good will. We were writing one another all the time and became friends and in addition allies. I watched as each succeeding season Adam deftly manipulated Richard and Tobias, he was never really convinced I would settle for the two-way draw and routinely said so, I of course did my best to talk down the solo threat and had to weigh whether to take the solo or not – I have had a tough patch in diplomacy lately, getting mugged left and right by head-hunters and hired guns looking to make a reputation for themselves…not that I understand what is so great about beating me and ending up in a 4-way draw, but apparently a 4-way draw is enough of a prize for some (wink). Anyway, despite me stabbing him and winning the game nobody should underestimate Adam, he fooled Tobias and Richard several times and I was always worried that if I didn’t go for the solo and tried for the 2-way the entire thing would back fire on me and Adam would end up soloing and I would be eating my hat. So as the mid-game progressed I began to see the light shine at the end of the tunnel and my ability to solo open up, the key was to keep I/T/R at odds and to keep Russia from building in the north, so I had to give Adam plenty of room and do nothing threatening. With the fall of France the door opened and I made my move. End – Game: I slowly tightened up my position in the north offering the excuse that I wanted to be sure I had the stalemate secure and that Adam couldn’t turn the tables on me, I know Adam wanted to believe me but common sense gave him a healthy dose of skepticism but not enough to see him abandon our alliance. In the end I made my move and attacked him, for entertainment I decided to sail a fleet into Turkish waters and figured I would help Tobias retain his home dots and supported him against Adam. I had fun, this is my first solo in a few years, having wasted too much time playing 7 games in the WM tournaments since 2002. I really enjoyed corresponding with the other players and making some new friends, particularly Adam whom I am still chatting with regularly. Individually I would like to say: Ally: Many thanks for the game, I enjoyed your GMing and our conversations. Michael: It was good to play in a game with you again, stay in touch and let me know when you’ll be in the area visiting your family so we can finally meet in person and maybe play an old fashioned FTF game. Adam: I was amazed more than once as I watched you stab and manipulate Tobias and Richard, you are a very dangerous player. You should have been more forceful with me in negotiating for the two-way draw. It was certainly doable and I would have been willing to play for it if I thought my only alternative was a 3-4 way draw. If ever faced with a similar situation I advise you make more demands of your supposed ally to stay back and away from positions from which they could make a sudden lunge for the solo. We’ll be staying in touch I am sure. Tobias: You are a very smooth player and lie with great talent, I think your mistake was siding with Steve over me and that you wasted too much energy bolstering him when you could have been attacking him. Gary: You weren’t around long enough to get to know or to work with (or test my arm against), perhaps another game…another time? Steve: I enjoyed the brief alliance while it lasted, I was also surprised when you sided with Tobias against me, I thought the better alliance would have been for you to allow me to keep Belgium and together we push east with you attacking Tobias (whom had little qualms about stabbing you!) You are certainly a good alliance player, but in this game I think you backed the wrong horse, had you sided with me, I don’t think I would have been able to solo…which of course would have been bad for me, but good for you. Richard: I think this being a 1-week game gave me an advantage over you…of which I’ll gladly take and exploit every chance I get (grin). I recall our struggle/alliance in the Winner’s Game all those years ago and while I am not disappointed in having won this game it would have been nice if there was greater opportunity/reason for us to conduct more diplomacy and attempt to hoodwink one another like we got to in the Winner’s Game! Next time we’ll have to meet in a 2-weeker or possibly a 3-weeker. Be Well my friends…be well- Tim, Emperor of Europe, Admiral of the Eastern Mediterranean, Tetrarch of Tunis, Guardian of the Basque, Liberator of Ireland, Benevolent Ruler of St. Petersburg
FRANCE : Stephen Custance-baker Well done Tim for a very clever game. From France's point of view the key move in the game was A05 when Italy, for reasons I can't understand, decided to move TYS - GoL in order to stab me in Mar. Until then we had a good alliance and, if he had moved to WMS as agreed, we could have got into MAO and rolled up England from the south with our combined fleets and armies. I don't often use this expression, Tobias, but I told you so :-( Tim demonstrated his great skill in diplomacy and, after that move I never had a chance and nor, in the long term, did Italy. Stephen
ITALY : Tobias Anderson Pre-spring 1901 I had not faced many of the players before this. My nextdoor neighbor Gary and I had played recently. I also think I had faced Steve (France) and Mike (Germany) some years ago. The field of player was however known. The only one that wasn´t in top 100 at the eagle rating was Adam (Russia) so I knew it was going to be a though game. One of the first mails I received was from Tim telling me that he felt that doing well with England required Italy and wondered if I was interested in going after France. I was not since I felt that I couldn´t go after France without exploiting me to Turkey/Austria. And France also looked like a good shield against England so I suggested Germany as a target instead. Otherwise all communications where good and nothing surprising would happen, I thought! Spring 1901 Not noticing the Austrian fleet in Ven first I thought, well that went good. Then I saw it, and is wasn´t all good. Not a disaster however. I was thinking about retaking Ven directly but after some talk with Stephan and Tim we decided to try to talk Gary out of Ven and let me have Mun instead. Stephan was also to move to Pie and leave Spa at the moment. Fall 1901 Nearly everyone gained 2 this season. Well not me since I lost Ven, not Stephan how moved to Pie to “help” me. I was really afraid of this move since it had a lot of stabbing potential. Adam was also bounced in Sweden. I was also afraid of the 2 brand new Turkish fleets and I think Gary saw the threat there to. Otherwise the trippel alliance of E/F/I concentrated on gaining some ground in Germany. Spring 1902 All went really well this turn to. With Richards invasion of Ser we could gain some help from him against Richard and that meant that I would not lose ION. I would also regain Ven so that I could build another fleet to hold it for a long time. At this time the alliance started to shake a bit. I found it hard to coop with Tim, he always seemed to be half a part of the alliance and half not, but on the other hand it was easy to coop with Stephen. Fall 1902 The invasion of Germany continued and everything still went according to plan. The second fleet build meant that I would be safe against Richard for a while and I was promised Kie to. Wondered a bit why since I only used 1 army while both Stephan end Tim used a lot more units there. Didn´t complain however. Spring 1903 Tim´s move the ENG made both me and Stephan a bit upset. He did explain himself good however so we let it slip. The plan was for Stephan to get Ber and I would stab Gary now. Fall 1903 Germany was finaly reduced to 1 unit and I and Stephan decided it was time to turn against Tim. He started to gain a lot of units. My recent invasion of Vie also meant I started to talk to Adam some more to make him an ally both against Tim and Richard. Spring 1904 This was a crucial mistake by me. I missordered the A Ven – Tri and order A Ven – Tyr instead. Tim kicked me out of Kie and that meant true war. Fall 1904 Now I got it right but instead miss ordered my fleet to GoL. I think all mails from Tim trying to make me stab Stephen was destroying me orders. At least I blame Tim for my bad play :P. I lost Kie but gained Tri and both Austria and Germany left the game. I now also had Adams help against Richard secured, or so I thought. Spring 1905 I supported Adam to Ser and followed him to Bud making sure we could get Rum from Richard. To coop went really smooth in the west and all the mails from Tim telling me that it was a good idée to stab Stephen now was affecting my judgment. A plan was taking form in my head how I could go for a solo now. The basics were to help Stephen in the west to hold against Tim and with the help from Adam take out Richard. The rest of the game I have wondered why I didn´t stick to the plan. Fall 1905 I changed side in the west, why o why did I do that? Got in to Bur but Tim also gained a lot of ground. I also hade some strange idée to stab Adam while I was at it, I did that in spring 1906 but moved away from Ser in the fall so Adam never loosed a CS. I guess Adam considered it to be a stab anyway. After this the entire game was going downhill for me. Late game The late game was all about stopping Tim to get away with a solo. The first plan to do this with Adam and get away with a 3 way draw. Since Adam didn´t follow the plan I, Richard and Adam set out to stop Tim to get the solo but again Adam foiled our plans. Why I don´t know so it will be interesting to read his EGS. Again I would like to thank you all for a good game and Ally for GM. Next time we meat I won´t stab that much, I promise :D Tobias
RUSSIA : Adam Dreher The game started out well. As Russia of course I had to make an important decision right off the bat. Whether to dedicate all my units north, south or try to split and hope for the best. Through my diplomizing I determined that the best route for me to go would be to head south. It was a decision that paid off as my relations with Austria crumpled quickly. We had agreed to leave Gal as a DMZ (An agreement that I'm sure most Russia/Austria players make) but then guessed right about having a bounce. My hopes were to help form a stable Germany while building a relationship with Turkey. By sacrificing BLA, I was able to build a stronger presence in the south with the belief that it would bring Turkey and I closer. Unfortunately Richard and I didn't get as close as I would've liked, but it was enough to make Gary's task ahead of him a little more difficult. With him showing cooperation with Italy (By taking Munich) I was under the impression that he was coming after me. Whether this is true or not, you'll have to read his EGS, but that was the feeling that I had in my gut. Adding to that Michael (Germany) decided to bounce me in Swe, giving England a firm hold over the Scandinavian area. At this point, seeing Austria move to Ven, and England coming for StP (He ended up getting it quickly) I was running low on options. I then made deals with both Turkey and Italy that would lead to Gary's fall while allowing me to focus on fighting back in the north. After retaking StP (Germany was eliminated at this point) and France and Italy showing the signs of a long term commitment, I made a decision to focus on splitting the two up. Even though France made no moves toward me, I was still fairly uneasy about him having two armies bordering my centers. My biggest regret at this point was not starting a relationship with him earlier in the game, as this made me very uneasy. I used my required friendship with Tobias to pressure a stab (From what I hear, he was getting a lot of pressure to do so) while attempting to stay friendly in the north with Tim. At this point Richard still had his fleet in BLA, also making me very uneasy. Once Tobias made his stab on Steven, and the threat of his armies removed, I worked hard with Richard to gain control of the Balkans. I had a strange notion that for some reason I deserved them, but looking back on it I probably didn't. From that point on, France was in a downward spiral which allowed England to dominate the west. Only the four of us remained, and with the concessions that I had to make earlier in the game for my survival I felt like I wasn't being taken seriously by Tobias and Richard. Many tries were made to unite the three of us, but I never allowed it to happen. I continued to play Richard and Tobias off of each other to the point to where I lost all my credibility between the two of them. I truly believe that I am at fault for the hopes of any sort of draw being flushed away simply because I felt like I had to prove something. Perhaps experience will teach me otherwise. To each Player: Gary: It was hard for both of us after coming off of such a hard game straight into this one. Austria is hard enough to play, and I'm sure that I didn't make it any easier. With all honesty though, that was my intention after guessing right about the bounce in Gal. Tim: Congratulations on the victory. I've never seen strings pulled so well from afar. And then to have my strings being pulled and not even realize it... truly amazing. I'll leave the personal stuff for our emails, which I hope continue, but on the professional level I still think that you should write that book. You need to allow us college students something to study :-D In the mean time I did study a lot during this game... so watch out the next time we play. I should be able to play off of the "Get Tim" crowd a little better next time. Steven: I do regret not beginning contact with you earlier in the game. Obviously we both had our hands full, but it would've helped I'm sure. Next time I won't allow distance on the map to equal distance in messages. Michael: I don't envy the position that you were put in at the start of this game. Facing F/I with a tricky Austria and a dominating England, you probably had the toughest game anyone ever has. You did play well however, even if you bounced me in Swe :) Tobias: They say that Italy is the wild card and you played that well. Not knowing where your alliances lie did make it difficult to get close, but at the same time it made you strong on the board. I do appreciate the game however, and I apologize that it didn't go our way. I was jaded for most of the game just trying to catch up after such a rough start, and then once I did thought that I would be able to make something good happen. I doubt you remember, but there was a letter that you sent to me that said "Play for the best result"... Obviously the context was that the 4 way draw was going to be our best result. I however took it the other way and ran with it. It was that point on that I thought I would be able to take over your part of the stalemate line. Richard: With all of the talks of an R/T in the beginning of the game, I really thought that it was going to happen. Our relationship did however become fairly strained with the choices that we made and later turned into heated debates. You were a rock however. Some would say stubborn, but I know that wasn't the case. If I was allowed to pick anyone from this game to play again, it would be you. Not for some personal vendetta against you, but because you saw things the way they really were. You forced me to really "grow up" in my game, and for that you will always have my deepest respect. Don't get me wrong, I know I still have a lot of growing to do. That's why I think I'll need a few more lessons from you on the finer points of Diplomacy. :) Everyone: I appreciate the game. I always like to think that at the beginning of a game of diplomacy you start with 6 new friends. Of course, throughout the game you witness your friends eliminate each other one by one and realize that they're not working toward your best interest but their own. My hope is that after the EGSs are posted we all forget the nasty things we've done to each other (I know I'm included on this list... probably more than my fair share :D) and go back to being friends. You guys are truly amazing. Take it easy
TURKEY : Richard Hucknall I didn't really form a strong alliance with anyone in the early part of the game but I believed I had reasonably good working relationships with Austria, Italy, and Russia. In Autumn 1901 my relationship with Russia was put to the test by advising him that I would again be ordering to BLA after our agreed bounce in Spring 1901, and that I would not be offended if he bounced me again. In fact I was confident that he could spare F(Sev) for the bounce while picking up an uncontested Rum, and told him so. Adam was cautious and used F(Sev) to make sure of taking Rum, although there was no need to do so, and so I was in BLA without any deceit whatsoever and after requesting an agreed bounce. However Adam was not a happy bunny and this incident and my F(BLA) were to prove to be a festering sore for Adam for the rest of the game. During the season I had misled Gary's Austria and instead of taking his support to Rum, opted for Gre. Sorry Gary. 1902 saw me working in alliance with Russia against Austria. More subterfuge was used against Austria (sorry again Gary!) but A/R didn't make any inroads against him. In addition the first naval clashes with Italy took place. In the north England was expanding quietly. By the end of 1902 I had been rather careless with the truth with Gary's Austria on two occasions, but in 1903 he was prepared to continue to talk to me, and even trust me enough to still consider working with me. I had lost track of the game somewhat as my PC died and communications were very limited for a time. Anyway, for reasons I cannot recall I decided to agree to support Gary into Rum in Spring 1903 against my former Russian ally. It worked okay, but a spin-off was that a Russian unit entered Bud. It really was a 'dog's dinner' of a situation in and around the Balkans, so much so that I decided to just wait and see what happened in the Autumn. As I was taking this breather, momentous events were happening elsewhere. I was completely unprepared for an Autumn 1903 F/I attack on Austria who lost Vie to Italy while Russia regained Rum and thanks to an Italian attack on Tri also remained in Bud. Gary's Austria was viciously chopped down to just two units. I felt that I was thrashing aimlessly about with my five units, while the real danger in the north, England, had grown to eight units. Tobias's Italy and my Turkey were now squaring up around Gre. Having lost a centre in 1903, Adam disbanded his only southern fleet and wrote to me "I hope that my choice of disbands doesn't come back to haunt supported my A(Bul) into Ser and the plan worked perfectly. Tobias and I talked about peace but the confrontational I/T situation remained throughout 1904. It appeared that Adam would be eligible for a build in the Autumn having fought back against Tim's England in the north, and proposed rebuilding F(Sev). I was horrified, especially as one of his other centres would be open for a build where an army would be of far more use against England. It so happened that there was a brief window of opportunity which would allow me to take both Ser and Rum which I calculated would put me in a strong position for the middle game, so I decided to do the dirty deed. A seven unit Turkey with Russia having no southern navy was just too tempting. It worked admirably but I had to realise that I had probably burnt my bridges with Russia and perhaps driven him into an alliance with Italy. I was gambling with the future! In Spring 1905 I continued to try and get Italy to move away from me and in fact moved my F(EMS) - Smy to show my goodwill. Tobias responded by supporting Russia into Turkish held Ser so it seemed that the feared I/R alliance was a fact. The Autumn saw Russia regaining Rum pushing my fleet once more into BLA. The gains of 1904 had completed evaporated. What was more, England was moving away from Russia and seemed to be positioning himself for an attack on France. The game was not going the way I hoped. Spring 1906 saw both Adam and Tobias promise moves on which they failed to deliver, nevertheless I had little choice but to continue to work with Russia. The year also saw the beginning of the demise of France being caught in an England/Italy pincer movement. With France crumbling quickly it was fairly obvious that the next target for England would be Italy. I wanted Italy to put up a strong defence against him and was prepared to help prop him up. However Tobias continued to fight on two fronts at both ends of the Mediterranean so I had little choice but to continue to work with Russia against him during 1907. That strategy could only have one outcome despite what Tobias and Adam thought. Spring 1908 turned out to be a critical season. I was reasonably confident that an English solo could be prevented by Italy and Russia working together. This left my four Turkish units with little else to do but prop up the I & R units as necessary. There was a huge amount of correspondence between us this season and it seemed that they were on board with my ideas until I read the adjudication. It was clear that they had in fact planned something behind my back as they stabbed me simultaneously. Perhaps they calculated that they could eliminate me first before taking a three-way draw, perhaps an idea emanating from England. Anyway, one thing was for sure - if I was going to go down then I would do all I could to make sure that I & R didn't feature in any result. Adam had moved an army into Arm and as sure as hell I wasn't going to allow him into Ank or Smy, even if it meant losing centres to Tobias. I demanded he withdrew the unit to Sev and I let him know I would not co-operate with him until this was done. Adam, woffled, blamed Tobias, blamed Tim, and claimed it was all a mistake, but I wouldn't change my stance. The Autumn saw me squeezed even more but I still managed to hang on to my four dots. Spring 1909 saw numerous emails from Adam imploring me to attack Italy. This was clearly ludicrous as it would give Tim's England an easy ride against Italy. I refused to talk to him until he vacated Arm, and although Adam led me to believe he would do so, his A(Arm) actually tried to move to Smy. Fortunately Tobias saw sense and began to move his Italian fleets away from me to where they were really needed against England. However, Adam foolishly continued to attack him. Once again in the Autumn Adam failed to move out of Arm and with one of his gains from Italy, built the now pointless F(Sev). Unbelievably Adam was still talking about holding England to a draw in 1910. At this stage England was on 15 dots, was in a position to force his way through the Med. at will, had overwhelming armies in and around what had been Germany, and outnumbered Russia four to one with fleets in the north. Adam had already caused Italy to remove the majority of his naval forces and now continued to exhort me to vacate my home centres in the face of an A(Arm) that had been in situ for some time and a shiny new F(Sev). Nevertheless there was now no alternative if England was to be stopped and so I ordered two fleets westward hoping to help Italy. For the first time since I can remember, Adam was as good as his word and started to move away from me, although his attempts to confront England were only half-hearted. Autumn 1910 saw a last-ditch attempt to try and hold England. It required total commitment by I/R/T and I offered to sacrifice Bul to Adam so that he wouldn't have to disband a unit. As Italy couldn't defend Tun the plan was for Russia to allow Italy to regain Rom and rebuild the scuppered F(Tun) in Nap while I forced a fleet into ION. I was going to be away on holiday for the following (Spring 1911) deadline so proxied my units to Russia as long as he kept to all our Autumn 1910 agreements. In fact he did so, but once again failed to confront England in the centre of the board. I returned from holiday to read the Spring 1911 adjudication and discover that Adam had now used my own proxy in order to stab me! Both Con and Arm were occupied by Russian units. Now all is fair game in love, war, and Diplomacy, but this stab left a nasty taste. I could have understood the stab if there was something concrete that Adam stood to gain, but his actions now absolutely ensured an English solo, although there had been little doubt about such an outcome. I hope to read in Adam's EGS why he considered it necessary to commit such an ungentlemanly act for no reward. It was totally pointless and will do nothing to enhance his reputation as a Diplomacy player. Why? Had he believed English propaganda telling him that he would allow him to feature in a result? Did he hate me so much for occupying BLA for so long? Was it important for him to finish the game with as high a dot count as possible? Whatever the reason, his actions were of the lowest order possible. 1912 saw English units roll over central Europe and (surprise surprise) take Stp from Adam, giving Tim the solo and the other six of us equal shares of defeat. Looking back over the game I believe my initial mistake was not creating a strong alliance with one other southern power and sticking to it. I felt that I was reacting to events rather than trying to influence them, and I had no real plan of action. This error was further compounded by my losing track of the game for a period when my PC suffered problems. The game also underlined my suspicions that one-week deadlines are a little too fast for me and in future I'll stick to more leisurely two and three week games. My attempts to pull others together to try and prevent another Tim solo fell on stony ground, but I maintain that I leant over backwards trying to do so and the fact that the attempt failed was down to others rather than myself. Tim Sweeney was ..... well ..... Tim Sweeney. Throughout most of the game I felt that he was pulling all the strings and others were dancing to his tune. Well played Tim. You deserve the solo. I treated Gary (Austria) badly but to his credit he was always willing to talk. Perhaps he should have been the strong southern ally that I so badly needed. Relations with Stephen (France) and Michael (Germany) were always cordial, but regrettably they fell by the wayside during the middle game. Tobias (Italy) I felt to be a strong player but his communications were not too regular and he proved on more than one occasion that he couldn't be trusted. However I know we would have worked together well in the end-game if Russia had allowed it. As for Adam (Russia), well although I freely admit to wanting to control BLA, and having some vague notions of attacking him in the very early game, he would not forgive these things and lied to me far more often than he told the truth. I know he will claim that he had his reasons, but his attitude towards me for most of the game, and his unforgivable stab when I trusted him with my proxy, clearly brand him as completely untrustworthy. 'Leaf Fish' was an interesting game and a frustrating one, but as usual I've learned something from it. Finally thanks to Ally for running the game without any problems.
|