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CHIMES OF FREEDOM END-GAME STATEMENTS
GM:
Brian Frew
Started: July 2005
Finished: January 2006
Result: Win France
| Country | Player | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | Result | | Austria | Ian Gallienne | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Lost 1907 | | England | Geoff Kemp | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | Lost 1907 | | France | Randy Goldring | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 19 | Won 1907 | | Germany | Nick Holsey | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Lost 1907 | | Italy | James Bridgwater | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lost 1905 | | Russia | David Williams | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Lost 1907 | | Turkey | Rob Kemp | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | Lost 1907 |
AUSTRIA (Ian Gallienne) At the start there were a lot of rumours of alliances threatening
Austria
so I was under the impression that I would not last very long in the
game.
As it turned out I managed to hang on by my fingernails.
All negotiations with Italy failed right from the start so, having
already
accepted an alliance with Germany, I assisted Nick into Italy. The
alliance
with Germany was reasonably long lasting but I felt that ultimately
Nick
was not interested in an equal partnership. This fuelled my suspicion
that
Germany and Turkey were working together to squeeze me.
My alliance with Turkey started well but when Rob attacked me in Autumn
1902
I felt that I would not be able to trust or rely on him. I suspect that
Rob
attacked me because I wouldn't support his plans for Turkey's initial
expansion
but I didn't want to allow Rob to control too much of the Balkans while
my
borders were limited. I subsequently decided to move against Turkey
with
the assistance of Russia because I feared a German-Turkish alliance but
without
a second Fleet we could not break the Turkish defence.
A lack of communication thwarted my alliance with Russia. I tried to
work
with David from Autumn 1903 because at this point I was under the
impression
that Germany and Turkey would ultimately attack me. The alliance with
Russia
dwindled in Spring 1905 when David ceased to communicate with me. At
this
point France was threatening my border and Turkey didn't follow through
with
promises of a stand against France resulting in the decline of Austria.
I tried to link up with England but my expansion was delayed early on.
My
change in strategy enabled Russia to continue but prevented any unified
action
between Geoff and myself within the time frame of the game.
Until the German occupation of Italy collapsed my discussions with
Randall
were noncommittal. The German buffer allowed me to look towards Turkey
and
Russia until France came knocking on my door. By Autumn 1906 with
France
advancing across Europe and none of us standing with each other to stop
Randall
the French win was inevitable.
Thank you all for an enjoyable game.
Finally, thank you Brian for adjudicating.Return to Top
ENGLAND (Geoff Kemp) And so Chimes of Freedom finally comes to an end and the final
positions are shown. An End game statement is needed and what can i
say,this has been an enjoyable and yet extremely frustrating game to play
in.
First of all congratulations to Randall, who played well as
France,proving to be an able ally, an extremely good diplomat and all round
nice guy and a tough opponent. Also a big thank you to Brian who has gm'd
the game well and with good humour.
As to my opponents. Austria - Ian. We spoke well and often and on
good terms, again a good player who i will look forward to playing in
another game. Initially we didnt have too much to talk about. England
and Austria rearely do at the start of the game but after exchanging
initial pleasantries were able to work as close as our positions allowed
through the end game.
France - Randall. Initially all for a three way including Nick
which went well and it was a hard descision to join with Randall when the
time came to drop from 3 to 2. A well timed stab, added by my nmr through
illness and yet despite spending half the game at each others throats
still managed to chat and discuss the game and our options through to the
end. A gentleman amongst players!
Germany - Nick. What can i say other than sorry. As a three way
things went well, and i agonised about joining Randall in the stab,
Nick fought well and again showed his maturity by working together to try
and stop Randall from running away with the game. An unfortunate nmr at the
end which meant he didnt survive when he deserved to. Again someone who i
would be glad to see on the list of another game i play in.
Italy - James. It is difficult to talk about a player who i had
so little contact with. His initial response was strange and gave no
indication at all of anything, and then when the going got tough,. he
got going - out of the game.
Russia - David. Initially struggled with David, we didnt agree on
a number of points but kept talking. Unfortunately work commitments
seemed to mean that there was gaps in correspondence, but when the need was there
at the end, he tried to work closer.I hope we meet again.
Turkey - Robert. Plenty of communication here but unfortunately
being the opposite end of the board meant that there was little chance to
co-ordinate anything. We often disagreed about things and idea's but
kept up our lines of communication. I shall be watching his next game with
interest.
The frustration in this game came about because, for me, after
Randall moved into a good position, the logical thing would have been
for all the remaining players to work together to stop the leader. A tactic
which i have always been informed was the correct one. If you cant win,
you stop anyone else from winning. The draw being the next most desirable
ending. Unfortunately, in this game a strange idea that places behind
an outright win were important. Survival yes, places no. Ah well. I
suspect this had its place in the fact that Austria / Russia / Turkey were
unable to put up a solid defence to prevent the French win. Admittedly the tit
for tat stabs at the start probably didnt help matters but i still think
Randall could have been stopped with a little more trust and effort
amongst the Eastern powers. As it was he took advantage of the divisions and
won the game. Anyway, as i said i hope to meet 5 of you again some time in
the future and wish you all the best.Return to Top
FRANCE (Randy Goldring) First off, let me say a huge thank you to Brian for GMing this game. Brian did an excellent job. Were it not for people such as Brian offering to be game masters, the whole idea of email Diplomacy would not exist. This was my first game of Diplomacy in six years, and I am thrilled I found such a large and well run forum. .
Chimes of Freedom began Spring 1901 with Italy breaking his agreement to demilitarize Piedmont. Happily for me, Germany asked England and I to form a western triple and when Germany moved his forces south—they received Austrian help and pounded their way into the Italian peninsula. Since I had gained Belguim in 1901, I sailed my navy towards Italy in 1902.
1903 saw England and France combine to work against Germany. Although Germany had picked up three supply centers in 1901, he built no fleets. Thus when England offered to support France into Holland in exchange for my supporting England into Kiel the following year, I accepted his proposal. Germany had to remove some pieces. When he took off those that were stranded in Italy, I was in great position to pick up some easy dots.
Heading into Fall 1904, France was looking to gain its 10th and possibly 11th supply center. Italy was eliminated and Germany was in dire straights. England, who was at 8 supply centers had a chance to pick up Berlin for his 9th. However, Geoff (England) was persistent in insisting that I support his army in Kiel to gain Munich—rather than allow French army Burgandy to move to Munich. We exchanged numerous emails over this subject.
I was nervous that with my navy off in the Med, that England’s taking Munich would allow him the opportunity to build fleets in London and Liverpool and I would be in a serious bind. (Russia had no fleet and Germany only had one, thus England would have been free to fight a one front war against France)
The result over this battle of wills and rhetoric over who would own Munich led me to fear an English betrayal and I built F Brest in Fall 1904.
1905 was the only year that I did not build. It was around this juncture that two key events happened in the north that directly led to France’s victory. One event was an ill timed NMR by Geoff. This allowed France to gain a slight fighting advantage relative to England. The second event was when France successfully convoyed an army into London in Spring 1906—even though London could have been easily defended. (Geoff wrongly gambled that I wouldn’t order the obvious convoy—much to my delight)
As the game entered into the end portion, I had to decide whether to take on Turkey or Austria. Since Austria had misled me once when his promised support of help into Venice failed due to a “mis-written” Austrian order, I went after the red dots.
France picked up four supply centers in 1906 and the game was pretty much over. The game ended with France gaining four centers again in 1907, including those from places as far away as Norway and Greece.
The players:
Geoff (England) was great to communicate with and was a good ally until I felt his “unreasonable” demand for Munich put me at too much of a disadvantage. Had I played my game just a little differently, Geoff could be the person writing about how he was able to get to 18 centers.
Nick (Germany) employed an unusual southern strategy which saw him grow quickly but he became susceptible to England having huge political and military power due to Germany’s not having built a second fleet. At the game’s end, I offered Nick survival if he became a neutral. However, he failed to answer numerous emails and thus I felt my only recourse was to assume him hostile and take his last supply center.
Ian played a good game as Austria. If there was any fault in his play, it was not deciding to pick and stay with an ally---and not to take a grand chance at some point during the game.
Rob (Turkey) had a shot at expanding to Italy at one point, but right when I feared he was going to become a real challenge, Austria and Russia combined and he (wisely) retreated from Ionion to Aegean so as to protect his homeland. I promised Rob that I’d help him take second place in the game if he helped me versus Austria, and I’m glad to report that both of us kept our agreement—which helped lead to France winning and Turkey taking second place.
David (Russia) was the victim early on of all of his neighbors attacking against him. At one point it looked like Russia would be easily eliminated. A little luck and a couple of good moves led to Russia both surviving and becoming a swing player in the battles between Austria and Turkey and later France and Austria.
James (Italy) probably hadn’t ever played before. Frankly, I doubt he’ll play again. He didn’t seem to understand the consequences of his breaking his DMZ pledge in 1901. Further, his lack of effective communication was probably instrumental in Germany and Austria deciding to take him out.
Winning a game of Diplomacy is usually a combination of good moves and good fortune. I know I had good fortune. I’d like to think I made my share of good moves and that the solo win was deserved. Return to Top
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