GM : Andy Scott
Starting date : 29th April 2008
End date : 30th October 2008
Result : Enforced four way draw between England/Germany/Italy/Turkey

AUSTRIA	aidan Slattery	Eliminated
ENGLAND	Roger Butler	Drew
FRANCE	Morgan Phillips	Eliminated
GERMANY	Philip Chilvers	Drew
ITALY	Matt Dunlap	Drew
RUSSIA	Reinout Boven	Eliminated
TURKEY	Bruce Ray	Drew

GM : Andy Scott
I always find it interesting how two players can view things so differently from the different side of the fence. In this game it was whether Phil was open to negotiation or not. From his e-mails etc it is obvious he thought he was, for anyone who wasn't England or Austria however the door was never apparently ajar let alone open!!! That in itself forced the game into the two sides, Reinout's mistep with Russia (most unlike him) couldn't have been timed worse. I also think as Morgan mentions Reinout was not communicating as frequently as he normally does and all these things conspired against him. Once he started to fall there was nothing he could and it served only to reinforce the T/G rivalry. I dislike enforceing a draw including all survivors, I can't help but feel the players should end the game not the GM. However this was one of those games where neither side was prepared to budge voluntarilly and couldn't be budged by the opposition so I had little choice. Overall a weird game but enjoyable, I look forward to seeing you all soon. Regards, Andy

ENGLAND : Roger Butler
Although communication was good between myself and France, from the off I had it in for them. I didn't like the idea of having an experienced GM in France on my doorstep, so I went in to the English channel Brest followed in A01, and after that there was no going back. By S03, France had pushed me out of Brest, but I regained it with German help in A03. This was the start of a good alliance with Germany. Indeed, I helped the Germans take Sweden that same turn. By A04, it was clear that Turkey was going to be a long term problem, but I had shorter term worries over Germany. I felt vulnerable, and so in S05 I invaded Sweden, and positioned myself ready for an attack on the coastal areas of Germany. Attack is the best form of defence! The benefit of this, of course, was that I could retreat if it transpired that Germany had not invaded France. They didn't, and so in A05 I let Germany take Paris in return for Sweden. by this stage, France was down to 1 (annoying) fleet, but it was only time before it was destroyed. Turkey had teamed up with Italy, and a draw looked likely. By S07 France had gone. It was around this time that I was offered the apple from Italy, who was supposedly defecting, and proxied me his units whilst he went on holiday. Luckily I didn't take the bait. The alliances held on both sides, and the draw was enforced. Thanks to Andy for being the GM, and answering more than 1 question from myself ! Ray/Matt ... until next time ! Cheers Rog

FRANCE : Morgan Phillips
First, let me say thanks to Andy for running the game. Everything seemed to go fine as far as I could tell in my limited participation with the game. As for the game, it was actually pretty boring. I continued throughout the game to try and talk to England and Germany about doing something besides making it so clear they were working together no matter what the game was going to end up where it did (without me being a part of it). Didn't do much good though as they clearly were not interested in doing anything that could threaten their possible participation in a four-way draw. :-/ One day maybe they will decide to actually play Diplomacy and negotiate. Thanks to Matt in Italy for being as supportive as you could. I am really glad you got some recognition for your part in holding off the unholy twins. Congratulations to Ray for his play that I thought was the best of the group. You did a nice job on AH and Russia to cut down the players while still carrying on negotiations. I wish I had actually been able to work with you on something. I am glad I was able to slow down the Pinks enough for you to be able to secure the Med. Aidan, I can't believe you played the German lapdog for so long. You should have realized that he couldn't be in bed with you and England both for the whole game. When it came time to pick a friend to protect you were left to the Turks. Reinout, you didn't quite seem yourself this game. I usually have lots of mail, etc. from you but you seemed a little preoccupied. I hope all is going well. Better luck next time. Thanks again Andy and I look forward to the next time we meet. Morgan

GERMANY : Philip Chilvers
In the pre-start diplomacy to the game most of the players seemed friendly enough. I tried to establish a good relationship with Austria (successfully) but I was also prepared to work with anyone. Turkey was very keen for me to move against Russia. I agreed to allow Russia into Swe in return for him staying out of Gal. My first moves were relatively straightforward and were not aimed against anyone in particular. By the end of 1901 both England and France were requesting help against the other whilst Italy had attacked my foremost ally, Austria. I made it quite clear to Italy (and to anyone else in the course of the game) that I would do anything to help Austria and advised him to withdraw. In 1902 I consolidated my position and moved to attack Russia in Swe (he having entered Gal). Italy had been forced out of Austria and things looked pretty good. In 1903 my only gain was to take Swe whilst the Turks were making concerning progress against the Russians and, to a lesser degree, the Austrians. 1904 saw me supporting England against France and I managed to gain St. Petersburg. I was also attempting to move to support Austria, whilst in 1905 I managed to take Warsaw and Trieste without being able to materially help Austria. England and I also had a misunderstanding, following my move to Picardy which resulted in England taking Sweden and I taking Paris. By 1906 and 1907 France and Russia had been eliminated and it was clear that the contest would be between myself and England on one side and Italy and Turkey on the other. The remaining turns of the game involved little real movement as both sides attempted to gain some advantageous position. All to no avail, however. Although there were attempts to detach one power from another it was clear that this would not work and a draw was the only solution. All in all in was an interesting game in the first half but in the second half degenerated into a stalemate position. Many apologies for the above which is quite tedious but it is based on looking back at the moves and what I can remember. More importantly I would like to say thanks to everyone who participated in the game but particularly to Aidan as my faithful ally for most of the game, and to Roger (who was pretty faithful, not counting our little misunderstanding). Finally many thanks go to Andy for being the GM, for giving up his time and for running the game so smoothly. I trust I will meet you all again in the future. Philip.

ITALY : Matt Dunlap
Thanks Andy for GM'ing a flawless game. Always a joy to have you as GM. Interesting game and I'm glad to be part of the draw. I look forward to playing against any of you again.

TURKEY : Bruce Ray
England (Roger) and Phillip (Germany) played as one from the start. Neither ever really negotiated with me, neither ever told me the truth and neither even bothered to communicate with me for the last several game years. They simply made their plans themselves and proceeded. France (Morgan) never had a chance. I started the game with a surprisingly hostile Italy (Matt), but with good relations with both Austria (Aiden) and Russia (Reinut). I was trying to decide which of them to go with when it dawned on me that the game was about to be taken over by EG. Board position at that time dictated that I choose Aiden over Reinut so I set about trying to take what ever Russian dots I could before Phillip had them all, but Phillip pretty much beat me to them. Matt realized the EG about the same time I did and was willing to make up and work together from then on. But Aiden didn't get it. He still wanted to attack Matt and was way too deferential to Phillip. So the AIT alliance, which might have pushed back the EG just wasn't going to work. Matt had the superior position over Aiden when it came to stopping the EG, so I had no real choice. Matt and I took Aiden out quickly and formed our stalemate line. Matt and I weren't going to break since doing so would be suicide for him and would get me no better than a draw if I stabbed him (big deal whether it is a three way or a four way), but surprisingly Roger and Phillip didn't even really try to break Matt and me up. Why they didn't accept the inevitable draw long ago escapes me. I look forward to reading their EOGs. This game had very little action, very little negotiating and I rarely had any choice what I had to do. Virtually everything I did was forced by the unbreakable EG alliance Had I formed an RT right from S01 things might have been different, but I played too cautious at the start and the die was cast. Ray