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DERFEL END-GAME STATEMENTS
GM:
Andy Scott [EGS]
Started: 13 September, 2005
Finished: 31 July, 2006 (Spring 1912)
Result: Five way draw between England, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey
| Country | Player | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | Result | | Austria | Jonathan Langman | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated (A08) | | England | Steve Howe | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | Drew | | France | Lars Topholm | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Drew | | Germany | Graham Foster | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated (A05) | | Italy | Steve Day | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | /Drew | | Russia | Jim O'neil | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Drew | | Turkey | Tuomas Raappana | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Drew |
AUSTRIA (Jonathan Langman) Austria.
No complaints, but obviously not a very enjoyable game for me. It was clear from early on that Russia and Turkey would form a juggernaut and that both were game-long alliance players. Italy attacked me initially and was more or less hostile for most of the game. This would usually be fairly foolhardy for Italy as the juggernaut tends to roll on west after Austria goes out, but RT took an unusually long time to get through Austria and the Balkans (an NMR didn't help and at times their coordination could have been better) and Turkey was forced to ally with Italy as France came east.
I thought I'd done enough to earn a place in the draw by agreeing to help England and France out when their position looked less than secure in 1905. I attacked Pie from Tyr to allow France to retake Mar and pulled back to Munich where I had been promised sanctuary and a place in the draw. However England, France and Russia combined two years later to dislodge my last army and ensure that I was eliminated - presumably to increase the Eagle Points tally and avoid the embarrassment of a six-way draw. That's the way it goes, but it was still a bit disappointing, and I'd be wary of trusting Lars if a similar situation arose again.
Apart from that, all I'd say is thanks to all for the game and especially to Andy who was once again an excellent GM.
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ENGLAND (Steve Howe) England.
I said this game would end in a five-way draw over my dead body. As it happened, the draw was agreed over my hospitalised body, so my prediction was pretty close. Don't worry, by the way - I intend to trouble the world for a few decades yet.
However, this is going to be briefer than it might otherwise have been. I hooked up with France (Lars - my favourite viking since Harald Hardrada) fairly early. We'd been part of the same team in the World Masters (as indeed was Austria and our esteemed GM), so poor old Germany may have been at something of a disadvantage there.
But the main feature of the early game was the rather obvious forming of the dreaded R/T Juggernaut, leading to screams from Austria along the lines of "Do something for Chrissakes...". And I did; by working with Germany I shut off Russia's northen expansion route; but then, just when it seemed that the northern triple was a reality, I stabed Germany with French assistance, allowing me the whole of Scandinavia and first place in the SC table, which I held for the rest of the game. My hope was that Turkey, seeing his ally under pressure (and having pretty much seen off Austria) would abandon the Juggernaut and turn the game into an old-fashioned race between the two wicked witches; but it was not to be - and Turkey stayed loyal to Russia throughout.
Meanwhile, in the Med, France and Italy were busily double-crossing each other whilst Turkey build up a formidable navy. I remember sending an e-mail to both of them urging them to get their acts together before Turkey over-ran them both - but they never did. Then, at a crucial moment Turkey NMRed, and France's position improved dramatically. This in turn drove Italy into Turkey's arms, who welcomed him into a triple alliance.
And that's pretty much how the game stayed thereafter. There were numerous attempts by me to persuade Russia to attack Turkey (vulnerable due to his lack of armies) if in return I attacked France - but none of this came to fruition; mainly, I suspect because each of us was waiting for the other to make the first decisive move.
I really did have plans to stab Lars, by the way - but at the end of the game he thwarted them by going on holiday and giving me his proxy. Now, I can be a hard-hearted bastard when I need to be, but I simply can't stab someone whose units I control. I did do a bit of rearranging so that a later stab might be easier, but by this time the game was clearly at an end.
Thanks to Andy for his faultless GMing and to all the other players for an interesting game which promised much (to me at least) but in the end....
But that's Diplomacy.
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FRANCE (Lars Topholm) Steve, of course you had any right to use my proxy against me. I hoped you would not, which was one reason for proxying to you, but there would have been no bad feelings had you stabbed me with my own proxy. In my view, giving a proxy to a player who stabs you is good diplomacy on the side of the player who received the proxy. And I used the proxy very deliberately - sure, you did get control of my units, but I saw it as my slim chance of survival, feeling you'd never voluntarily settle for a 5-way draw which would eventually have made you stab me. I think.
Anyway, sorry for the lack of an EGS, I thought I submitted one after Andy complained to me about not submitting one for a gunboat game - I do think it's good manners to submit EGS, and reading them is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game.
For now, thanks to all for playing and to Andy for GM'ing.
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ITALY (Steve Day) Italy.
After an adventurous start, in which I double-crossed most people, I think I was lucky to survive until the end. Initially I was going to trust Lars, but I didn't like the way he was moving into the Med. so I changed sides to support Russia and Turkey. With only four pieces and situated between two juggernauts, I thought I was going out the way of Germany and each turn I was waiting for the double-cross from Turkey/Russia, but thankfully it never came. Thanks for a good, if drawn-out game, and thanks to Andy for the GMing.
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RUSSIA (Jim O'neil) Russia.
First a thank you to Andy, our GM, who faced a few unique problems which I think he handled well. I particularly agreed with the last decision to share the 5way draw with Steve H, who was in hospital - which was a fair result (not being in hospital, being in the draw !!)..
Overall, this was a battle between the Eastern RT juggernaut and the Western EF juggernaut (I still wonder why EF does not have such a strong reputation since it seems as powerful) with a stalemated position.
The game commenced with two Premier rated players as England and France. From the start these guys played in harmony. I wanted to try the Slingshot Juggernaut with Turkey and he was willing to go ahead. I had hoped to have covert relationship with Lars/France so I told him about the slingshot from the outset. He seemed to have a great fear of the Juggernaut and spread the word around the board.
Because of this, I vowed not to give Lars/France any more real information but as the game developed, the Steve/England+Lars/France threat was stronger than the slingshot Juggernaut. The central powers were in danger of getting squashed. Graham/Germany tried to play a waiting game and eventually came in with RT. But it was too late and he was eliminated in A04 by overwhelming Steve/England+Lars/France odds.
Steve/Italy initially was moving from one alliance to another but eventually settled with RT and stayed loyal for the rest of the game and played a very nice double fake on Lars/France to take Mar. There was a price to pay on Lars/France for this, he lost Mar and control of the Med. It was to take several season of manipulation to try to recover. I was struggling to hold the North and Tuomas/Turkey NMR’d at a crucial point which removed our advantage in the south. Jonathan/Austria had a tough time, through no fault of his own. With Graham/Germany being undecided and Steve/Italy switching sides, he faced the Juggernaut on his own. He had moral support from Lars/France but it was never to be enough. The RT alliance was solid as was the Steve/England+Lars/France alliance, or so I thought.
The first glimmer of a split was when Steve/England told me one of Lars/France moves and it was true. At first I thought that this was an agreed ploy to win his trust. The next season both Lars/France and Steve/England were emailing me at the same time to try to persuade me to stab Tuomas/Turkey. Tuomas/Turkey had been a dependable and trustworthy ally up till that point, although the Tuomas/Turkey NMR and some of his tactical choices had seeded some doubts.
What happened next was truly amazing. I was emailing Lars/France about the options to stab Tuomas/Turkey, long detailed emails 4 or 5 each way, while discussing with Steve/England in the same time frame about how we could stabilize the North with a view to freeing up our forces. I thought I was looking at a EFR result – but when I asked Steve/England if he had seen the dialogue from Lars/France, he was surprised since he had been discussing a stab on Lars/France while I was to attack Tuomas/Turkey i.e. he was suggesting ER without France. At the same time Jonathan/Austria was on his way out with no SCs in S05. His only chance was to try for Mun, held by his friend Lars/France. He could help Lars/France regain Mar but this would ensure his exit. This is what ended up happening and Jonathan left the game.
With the two sides well established, the stalemate lines were formed and a solid EF stood against a sold RIT. I tried to go south but I soon realised that it would take too long to eliminate Turkey and Italy and I would only be opening up lines for both England and France. I moved back to my stalemate position. EF tried to create the illusion of having a split but it was not convincing at all – although I do believe England could have taken France without endangering his own position. I wanted to engineer it so that I could then help France attack England.
It was not to be and the balance stayed in place with a fair 5 way draw.
Thanks to all who took part and I hope to see you guys again sometime.
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TURKEY (Tuomas Raappana) Turkey
This game can be split for two parts, pre-NMR & post-NMR for me. Pre-NMR I even dreamed for solo or atleast 2-way, but after that I was just trying to survive. At beginning I decided to start carefully to avoid unnecessary promises to possible mid-game allies so I only contacted seriously only Austria & Russia. Initial plan was formed and it was to ally with Russia and try to storm Med as soon as possible. Italys early messages indicated that he propably was not very experienced player, and I hoped that experienced player on Austria would notice this same without me pointing it out, there would be confortation on I-AH border benefiting me greatly. Lars (France) was nice and promised to arrange that confortation and I was relieved as that would mean I can play nice with both of them. Then Jim (Russia) proposed Sling-shot version of Juggernaut claiming that it is safe for both R&T. I could not see how it can be safe for Russia when Russias southern fleet is destroyed, Turkey is in Bla & Arm so originally I thought he is trying to fool me. Anyhow I decided that if he is offering me Rum & Sev I will feel stupid later if I don’t at least try to take them. And if Austria would have problems with Italy he would be perfect ally for me. Russia did what he promised and I was in good shape after 1901. Lars realized what was happening, but I decided to stay silent with my plans and just grab centers offered and show rather that tell good news for Austria who was struggling with Italy. Anyhow when stab time came England was in BAR and I understood that Russias downfall would benefit western powers more than me so I did what I promised to Jim and moved against Austria instead. Austria was fast on ropes and I could see Mun 1904 as realistic possibility. Italy was extreamely lucky defending against France and even managed to grab Mar as a surprise, but then came my NRM and critically my forward army was destroyed. The rest of the game was just keeping stalemate up and even when Jim was in position to stab me I had very little what I could do for it. When Jim moved to stab I was rather frustrated and asked only him to wait until England would take even single center from France -> propably England was promising to stab France if Russia would move on me. Jim then realized that there was prime-league 2-way agreement propably made already 2005 and decided tom pull his dagger back. Later there were even nice fake stabs delivered by England, but Lars was not playing his part and stayed silent instead of crying for help so I assume that he did not expect me or Jim to believe Englands stab. Anyhow plan-B for taking Italy out was build with speed for case that England would try for solo. Propably there was a much more on this game than my short EGS tells, but I just cant remember it. I destroyed most of mails (I saved Lars mails as they very exceptionally good to be used on later games as templates, I loved that olive branch line after he had lied to me like 3 seasons in row) so I cant check for details. Thanks for well ran game to Andy and to other players, hopefully I soon can play game without NRM in critical season.
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GM (Andy Scott) GM.
This game was both a saint and a sinner in my eyes as a GM.
With the line up of gifted players it promised a lot but seemed to run out of steam! There were some hiccups on my part with speed of adjudicating which were mainly around the birth of my daughter and it has taken ages for me to get these EGS up for which I can only apologise.
Whilst there weren't many NMR's when they did happen they were critical and that's always frustrating in a game. In the endgame I got pressure from players who wanted me to overule England's veto, To those people I will just say I know it was frustrating for you but only the test of time will tell whether alliances stay solid and I had to give England that time.
At the end things went a bit pear shaped for lars and he proxied to Steve who had a sudden attack of conscience and refused to therefore stab Lars,(Most unbecoming in a diplomat I might add!!)
Then I got an e-mail from Steve's wife via the admin team telling me he was in hospital and unable to play. At that point i decided to exercise the GM's perogative and finished the game as a five way draw which thankfully everyone seemed happy with.
All in all an enjoyable game but the lasting image for me will be one of a schoolboy england stamping his foot and having a tantrum over there being too many players at the end! :-))))
See you all again no doubt
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