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BLUE GULARIS END-GAME STATEMENTS
GM:
Ally Bain [EGS]
Started: 2nd February 2006
Finished: 14th August 2006
Result: Turkey Won
| Country | Player | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | Result | | Austria | James Barrington-Brown | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated | | England | Nick Phin | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Survived | | France | Jan Willem Omlo | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Survived | | Germany | Garry Bledsoe | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | Survived | | Italy | Neil Rogerson | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated | | Russia | Dennis Clarke | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated | | Turkey | Jacob Hansen | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Won |
AUSTRIA (James Barrington-Brown) Well I guess my elimination was my own fault for trying something new - the reason strange moves haven't been done in the past isn't because they haven't been thought of - they just don't work! I had just finished a Gunboat game as Austria and been well beaten, so I was not looking forward to this game and thought I would try and liven it up for myself.
I did a full assault on Italy, which should have guaranteed Venice, but I was bounced. The move may work in a fully diplomed game, but in Gunboat this approach was just suicidal - apologies to Italy as it wrecked his/her game too. So my autumn move tried to repair some damage by at least taking Serbia, but Turkey already had Greece and that was the start of their impressive victory (I am writing this in A09, but I am assuming Turkey has solo'd to finish the game).
Most of the rest of the game was a bit of a blur (I was concentrating on my Tournament game), but I remember trying to defend against Italy and Turkey simultaneously. Eventually Italy saw the real danger and started trying to help me out against the Sultan, but the Turks were unstoppable by now. I am surprised I lasted as long as A09 (and outlasted Italy and Russia), but hopefully that reflects some reasonable defensive moves.
My real problem in this game is England. What on Earth was he/she up to? With a rapidly growing Turk, with no serious opposition in sight, France correctly moved into the Med to set up the blockade. Germany seemed to be having a few issues, but at least didn't march into an empty France. England did! And he also harassed the German shores. To what aim? A solo is a solo and it doesn't matter if you have 4 units or 14, you still lose. The English should have spotted the danger and moved into Northern Russia with all forces. A stalemate line could have been set up and a 4 way draw (or better) achieved. I achieved an English solo from 5 or 6 units when Austria had 14 (and looked like soloing) by playing the stalemate and stabbing at the right time (Raven Skies).
Looking forward to my next Gunboat - I just hope I don't draw Austria again! Thanks for GMing Ally - smooth as ever and very fast - especially when the players submitted final orders before the deadlines.
--
JBB 7/6/06Return to Top
FRANCE (Jan Willem Omlo) I am not necessarily a fan of custard, but I must say this custard did profit very competently from some mishap between the blackberries and the pink grapefruit.
Well, I started this game with openings to Bur, Gas & MAO, expecting a bounce in Bur and an empty ENG. Naturally I was wrong on both counts, which meant that I angered the one who wanted me as an ally and started off friendly towards the one who wanted to attack me. Just my luck.
I gambled on Germany remaining friendly however, and managed to achieve that in 1902, but in S1903 I saw a grand opening at Munich, which I could defend easily, except for Italy moving to Piedmont. This move from Italy had great impact, as I wasn't able to drive my knife home into Germany, was subsequently kicked out of Munich and England noted a good thing when he saw it and joined in on an attack on France.
So from 1903 onwards to 1906 I battled England and Germany. I tried to get England onside, as the weaker partner, but to no avail. And even though Italy had a strong Turk pushing, he kept trying to nab Marseilles from me, effectively tying up a unit from me.
In 1907 England and Germany finally get off my back, but I see the danger of the approaching Sultan (I told Ally about this in 1905 already) and set myself up to stalemate him in the Med (having two armies on Africa), hoping EG stay back and stop the yellow approach up north. I decide not to go too far to the east, so leave Austria and Italy to their own devices.
Well, my hope slowly flew out of the window, since England and Germany couldn't seem to get their act together. In 1909 England nabbed Brest off me, but since there was a slim possibility that they would finally see sense, I did not disband a valid unit, but instead maintained the stalemate line in the Med. Alas, in 1910 it was too late, and Turkey won the game by good tactical play.
I see England, with his greediness, as the main culprit of the missed draw, I believe Germany did try to stop Turkey, but naturally not short of elimination. It seems England thinks second place counts. Ah well, each his/her own I think.
Congratulations to Turkey who played a solid game and thanks to all other players, NMRs were few and that's always a good thing. And thank you Ally for yet another competently lead game.
Cheers,
JW, FranceReturn to Top
RUSSIA (Dennis Clarke) Well played by the Turk, congratulations to you, unnamed Sultan. And much thanks to Ally for flawless and conscientious GMing. "Blue Goo" was my second Gunboat game on Dip2k. I chose to play Russia again, after having played Russia rather poorly, I felt, in Raven Skies. From the get-go I intended to attack England and Turkey, opening with A(Mos)-StP in the north, and F(Sev)-Rum and A(War)-Ukr in the south. Almost immediately my plan went down the crapper. Check out how T ingeniously out-witted me in A01. Not only did he prevent me from getting Rum, he spoiled any chances I might have had of building and Sev. Meanwhile, G bumped me out of Swe, and in S02 made an aggressive move east, putting War in jeopardy. By A04 I was down to three and had lost three of my four home centers. I and A were making things easy for T by scrapping with each other. And when T started to roll across A, Italy decided to make a feint against F, thereby denying himself a chance to vulture an Austrian center or two. Meanwhile, E and F were scrapping (and in E's case, occasionally NMRing), giving my other nemesis, Germany, free rein to make war on me.
Bottom line is that poor Russia could not catch a break. I found myself with two enemies - Turkey and Germany - and no allies. Throughout the game, Turkey out-thought me and Germany out-punched me. I never got above four centers, and by Autumn 1906 I was reduced to one, and out of the game two turns later.
Despite my wretched performance I had fun with Blue Goo, especially 1903 to 1906, when I took it upon myself to make life miserable for G to punish him for his aggressions against me. I'm not the most experienced Diplomacy player, but I've always viewed an early move east by Germany against Russia as a suicidal German strategy. So when Germany attacked me, and I was already under pressure from Turkey, I decided to push back hard against Germany to try to convince him to give it up and try to look for gains against, say, a not-too-well-positioned England. That way I could shift forces south to at least try to put up a fight against Turkey. But it didn't work - Germany stayed on me like white on rice and never let up. I traded blows with G while my home centers slowly turned yellow. That was okay with me, I was on my way out anyway. A Turkish solo was pretty much in the books even before I got knocked out of the game.
Lessons learned in Blue Goo: (1) I suck at Gunboat; (2) I suck at Russia; (3) Early in the game, Turkey seemed to alternate between attacking me and Austria. I think that's a very clever strategy in Gunboat, since it's so hard for neighbors to ally against a common enemy. I'm going to try that next time; (4) While playing this game I was in a regular game (Born to Run), also playing Russia. I had a hard time keeping the two games separate in my head ("Wait, is England my ally or my enemy in this game?") I'm going to avoid that in the future; (5) It's a lot easier to solo in Gunboat than in regular Diplomacy; (6) Does that tactic of giving support to a neighbor in the hopes of establishing a tacit alliance ever work? Sure doesn't seem so. I keep trying it and it keeps falling flat; (7) Gunboat is fun and not nearly the time commitment of regular Diplomacy. I'm planning on signing up for another game.
Dennis ClarkeReturn to Top
TURKEY (Jacob Hansen) Thanks for the game to everyone, especially for the few NMR's. I had a a good start with everyone else attacking someone different than me, and then Germany's pressure on Russia made it possible to expand fairly rapidly for me. Strange play by France in the end though if you ask me - I would recommend at least trying an attack, I'm pretty sure I could have been shaken around 08 (and the army in NoA??? Why? Your Tunis adventure sure wasn't worth it).
Anyway, better luck next time to all of you :-)
-JacobReturn to Top
GM (Ally Bain) Under normal circumstances I don't make comments about the way in which players' play & in a way I'm not in this other than saying the comments said by both James & JW, regarding E/G, are quite accurate. That being said, I've played in a few games & have more or less allowed a solo. The reason being that when seeing a very possible solo, I've done my best to show that to countries around me. If those idiots don't see the solo & continue to attack me, I think, 'sod the twerps' & stopped my defence against a solo by attacking the twit/s. I suppose in short, all players MUST view the entire map & if things show themselves, act in a sensible way & in this game, France showed it.
As you know I'm in training for the Dublin Marathon & hopefully you did get my e-mail about it. If not, please have a look at the charity I'm collecting money for & PLEASE donate. The Web link is:
http://mysite.orange.co.uk/alb_gsb/marathon/charity.htm
Moving back to Gunboat's, 'Admiral Gunboat Competition III will have it's Waiting List open at either just before Xmas or in the early New Year. You'll get an invite.
Final part, I keep stats & your Openings & Endings are shown. The Web link, shown below, puts you on the Stats Contents & that has links on it which will take you to what you want to read.
http://mysite.orange.co.uk/alb_gsb/diplomacy/stats/stats.htm
See you on the boards
AllyReturn to Top
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