GM : Andy Scott
Starting date : 26th February 2008
End date : 27th October 2008
Result : Four way draw between Austria/England/Frace/Germany

AUSTRIA	Ben Drake	Drew
ENGLAND	Stephen Custance-baker	Drew
FRANCE	Dmitriy Rumynin	Drew
GERMANY	Andrew Cochrane	Drew
ITALY	Matt Dunlap	Eliminated
RUSSIA	Doug Stewart	Eliminated
TURKEY	Meru Bhanot	Eliminated

GM : Andy Scott
I must say Pacific was a joy to GM, no anarchy's and only two NMR's and one of those was just as Italy got eliminated and had no bearing on the game. Admittedly the Turkish one really messed him up but well done for fighting it out to the bitter end despite that. As such there is precious little for me to add to what the players have written so I will keep this short and let you get on with reading theirs :-) Thanks to everyone and congratulations to the four members of the draw.

Andy

AUSTRIA : Ben Drake
And there we are. Thanks to whoever was vetoing for finally seeing the light! Four-way draw seems fair to me.. frustrating, obviously, at 15 SCs, but fact is E/F/G were in harmony (geddit?) so I reckon the stalemate line could've held forever really. Despite missing out on the Solo I'm pretty pleased given how inauspiciously it all started out. 1901 I try for an immediate attack on Italy - no dice as they're one step ahead with a robust defence.. and meanwhile here come the Russians swarming all over our eastern provinces! Budapest falls and I'm prepared for (another) early bath. Thankfully a major Turkish drive north pulls the Russians away sharpish, and come Aut 02 the Italians make with the friendly. And to my surprise and relief we've got the home SCs back with Serbia and Greece into the bargain. Hmm, and doesn't southern Turkey look a bit vulnerable? Maybe things are looking up. Even more so in 1903 as Turkey has the misfortune to NMR in what turns out to be the crucial Autumn turn. Hard on them but great for me as I not only take Bulgaria but the diversionary attack on Smyrna turns into an occupation, leaving the Turks effectively scuppered. (All credit to the Turks for not throwing in the fez but battling on, takes me three more years to grind them down and the diversion of units arguably costs me the Solo?) My next major adversary is Russia - and another stroke of luck as right on cue Germany swings east and pours an invasion force into the Baltic. The Russians are stretched taking us both on and 1904 sees an opportunistic annexation of Rumania. 1905 was interesting as I toyed with stabbing Italy, home SCs temptingly vulnerable as they scrambled to join in the dismemberment of France. Even went as far as getting in position in Spring and drafting the attack orders for Autumn.. but then caution prevailed and moved round to finish off the Turks instead. But what do you know, the Italians not unreasonably take this as a sign of continued alliance and abandon Venice altogether to hold off a rogue French fleet. Oh, well, then, manifest destiny innit? Spring 1906 the hammer falls, Tri-Ven and Alb-Apu should get the job done. Apologies to a great middle-game ally, but hey, I did announce my (eventual) intent back in Spring 1901! Autumn brings a triple whammy as southern command finish off Turkey and eastern command crack Sevastopol. Up to 12 SCs and it's all looking pretty good. As a veteran of early Austrian exits I'm pinching myself, could this be the dream Solo? But as it turns out, no. The battle lines are all but drawn, and as I shuffle forces in 1907 to get in position for the next push, England and Germany are settling scores in order to form up the stalemate lines against me. 1908 sees us grab the last couple of SCs within easy reach, but E/G are lined up and now France has got on board, so moving beyond 14 is going to be tough. I do some quick sums and vote for the draw. Yet weirdly the war goes on for another five years! Someone out there is vetoing. Creative manouvres on the eastern front grab me an on-off 15th SC and at one point hubris strikes and I veto the draw and propose a Solo. But Germany's counterstrike trapping our army in Livonia brings me back to my senses, and I revert to defence and re-proposing the draw.. which finally gets the nod in 1913. Phew! Many thanks to everyone for a fun game. Well done to England and Germany for getting lined up just in time, and to France for joining in to secure the southern stalemate. Hard luck to Russia, Turkey esp. for that badly-timed NMR, and particularly to Italy who I stabbed in the most reprehensible fashion after years of peace. It's a rough old game. And of course biggest thanks to Andy for fair and efficient GMing and for a great game. Hope to have the chance to play you all again soon! Emporer Ben Greater Vienna

ENGLAND : Stephen Custance-baker
Thanks Andy for sticking it out to the end; sorry I made it drag on but I felt that A/E/G was a more realistic result than A/E/F/G. From about 1907 it became clear that this was a pushing contest between Germany and Austria, with England and France on the sidelines. We couldn't afford to attack either of them without giving victory to the other. I was pleased with my early start, getting Bel, Nwy and Swe by A02, but that was spoiled by the French fleet in Lpl in S03. I managed to push him out, (at a cost of losing Scandinavia to Russia) but it was really the Italian attack in the south that made France retreat. From A04 I went for an all-out Atlantic attack, leaving Russia and Germany to scrap over Scandinavia and that worked fairly well, getting me up to 7 where I stuck for the remainder of the game. Italy was forced to pull back from the western Med by the Austrian attack. The only move that threatened the draw after that was Germany's attempt to move into Edi, but I persuaded him otherwise and he soon saw that there was no purpose in persisting. My thanks to France for our implicit alliance in the West. Without it Austria would have broken through in the Med and gained a solo win. To summarise: England was never in the running for a win in this game but I was able to survive because each country that attacked me (France, Italy, Germany) had to retreat to defend its rear. All the best, Stephen

FRANCE : Dmitriy Rumynin
First, I would like to thank Andy for clockwork adjudication. Thanks! Overall, the game was very interesting and much more challenging than non-regular games I played before. I am quite happy with the result that I dont think I fully deserve. I was very disappointed in the first season to find English in the channel and Italian in the Piemont. I knew I was up for a long night. I took a decision to attack Italy because the move to Piemont was really unwarranted and annoying. Then in Spring of 1902 England moves again into the channel. I snap and attack England like a mad dog. Hence, I find myself in a tight situation, making several mistakes defensively as well. I had to make a decision whom to give away Iberia. As England suffered from my aggression and Italy was an aggressor. I went all out after Italy. Austria got the hint and delivered the final backstab to the Italian and became a leader. The finale was really strange as my participation in the stalemate line was really superficial but England could not really spare forces to annihilate me...

GERMANY : Andrew Cochrane
Firstly, once again I would like to thank Andy Scott for his work in GM'ing this game. NO GM=NO GAME for me ( and the rest of the players). The fact that the games run so smoothly as this one did once again is in no small measure due to the diligence of people like Andy. Thanks. Well this was one of the better games I've played in and so thanks to the other players for making it so. I did feel that for most of the game this was a two horse race between Austria and Germany with Austria as the front runner of course. However I did think I had a chance of winning this about halfway through until one season in particular dashed those hopes. I started reasonably well but I made my first error in A01 (don't I always) by retreating Ruh-Mun when I should have decided France would more than likely retreat. Hindsight is a marvellous thing. I still gained 2 SC's but more importantly so did my main antagonist at this stage England by taking Bel unopposed. By next autumn I had taken Bel, however, and given and received support from France. All good. France next attacks England who unfortunately defends too well for France whilst France at the same time is now being attacked by Italy. This leaves England still intact. Next we have an NMR from Turkey who had made some errors already i.e. not retreating or building. This can only be of help to Austria who has recovered from an aggressive infiltration of his homeland by Russia. I decided about S4 to move against Russia myself as I felt that France,England and Italy were already going to get bogged down in the west and there would be not much room for me. I think maybe I was too cautious here and should have pressed further towards Mar and Par (the supply centres, not my posh parents ) Now at A05 and S06 we have what I think we all will agree had to be the tipping point in the game. I had full control of Scandinavia and was looking good against Russia. I was pretty well neck and neck with Austria and I thought between the two of us I may, by playing well, get a victory. Two things happened to spoil this dream. The main one was of course Italy had left itself vulnerable to an Austrian stab which is exactly what happened. Italy was ruined and Austria took a major leap forward of me which I could not catch up to. The other lesser one was the ousted Russian fleet in NTH which took Bel off me. I said to Andy at the time, if only he had attacked England and not taken an SC off me I coulda been a contender. England then proceeded to support Russia in Bel thus ensuring a thorn in my side. From then on it was obvious to me and I'm sure England and France too that Austria was going to likely solo unless we played together to stop him. I did try one last ditch attempt at attacking England in S08 by moving to NTH and trying for Edi. This failed and I then let it be known to England that I wanted a pact by supporting and then withdrawing from NTH along with leaving Hol unoccupied for the rest of the game. There was a bit of toing and froing with Austria over War and Mos but the stalemate was pretty well sewn up from A07 onwards. I am assuming it was Austria who was denying the draw proposals as the rest of us had nothing further to gain by continuing on. Austria was probably hoping for one little mistake or misorder to try for his solo but thankfully France and England held firm. Austria. A very good game considering the early attack from Russia and a very well executed stab against Italy. Italy. I always find it a difficult country to play as you have to risk leaving yourself open from one side or the other. This time the other attacked. France. By A05 you were out, down to your capital and a north African outpost. To stay in the game to the end and with Tun particularly playing a role in the stalemate you did very well. England. Probably the best player at the table in my opinion. Repulsed an early French invasion and by aiding the Russian F into Bel helped to stall my advancing. From then on did everything right to stop Austria. Germany. Disappointed not to push on by taking more chances, but at least I survived. Thanks once again to Andy for the game and good luck to the other players in your next games. Hope you enjoyed this one as much as me. Andy C