Congratulations to the winning alliance of France, Germany, and Italy.
Post game statements:
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RUSSIA
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"Dr. DIplomacy-Love" Or "How I learned to stop worrying and love the stab."
Russia
This game was a blast for me despite being the only power who could be considered the ultimate loser as I got so close to winning twice, yet each time I let victory slip through my fingers like sand. Winning the previous game with Italy did make me a little confident, but ( as you can read from my previous end of game statement, my miraculous victory last game was not based on anything I really did but what other people did NOT do ) I was ready for everyone to come to this game with a little less naiveté ( i.e. knowing where to find opening moves, etc. )
1901 to the Fall of Sevastopol
As Russia, I needed to see the intentions of England, Austria, and Turkey as to guarantee at least ONE build in the first year ( hoping for anything more with Russia means mistakes were made by other players ). Rob, of course, tried to get an alliance with me from the beginning, but being new to the game, he did not realize Germany and Russia really do not have anything to do with each other at the beginning unless England & Germany form an alliance. Of course, stringing Rob along while I tried to see what Dave T. and Wayne were doing was an extra bonus. I had no communications with Wayne whatsoever in Spring 1901 and Dave T. had a residual admiration for my gameplay last game. Thus, my first alliance was with Austria for the elimination of Turkey. At the same time, Dave H. contacted me with a Master "Blood Oath" Plan to push toward the center and mop up any and all powers in our way ( i.e. Italy and Germany ). This became MUCH easier as Rob ( thinking he had both Dave and I as allies ) antagonized England to the point that Matt gave us pretty much a blank check to go after Rob. Dave and I were counting our German and Italy supply centers. Dave was especially ready to get into Rob's business as Rob had made the asinine move of moving INTO an ally's territory in the hopes of making Dave more malleable. (Tip #1: Holding your "allies" hostage is a sure way to piss them off ). However, Matt's moves never correlated with what we wanted him to do after the initial stab into Rob. This would become increasingly more frustrating. With my help in Spring 1902 to get England into Denmark, I opened up a whole campaign of whining from Rob that continued for most of the game. I believe Dave and I had three separate conversations where we tried to convince Rob not to throw in the towel right then and there. Things were looking good, but Wayne had continued to stagnate both me and Dave T. in and around the Black Sea. With Jay and Dave T. not having good relations, a naval assault ( which was what was really needed ) against Wayne was out of the question. Thus, we continued to bounce with Wayne in multiple provinces while trying to wrest control of the Balkans. Once again, Dave T. put an ARMY in Greece which was bad news but with Jay threatening Trieste, our hands were tied. Spring 1903 brought the fall of Berlin but with Matt somehow losing the North sea. Rob had acquired a webcam and now I was enduring daily webcam sessions with Rob repeatedly saying "Are you going to fuck me? Are you going to fuck me?" as his face took up the entire webcam. Throw in some lipstick and it would have been the scene out of "Silence of Lambs" where Buffalo Bill is looking in the mirror. (Tip #2: Psychological bullying is another good way to piss off your allies ). Rob turned out to be a fast learner and somehow had managed to convince Wayne to do a nice move on the Black Sea to dislodge me in Sevastopol. What's worse, Dave T., in the middle of moving to NH, had sent in an invalid order. Given Dave T's on-and-off communication status, I decided to bury the hatchet with Rob in exchange for getting Wayne out of my ass. This is my first betrayal AND on a player who had done nothing but tried to help me. I felt like an asshole, but I figured if I wanted to win, I better cut him loose given I had no idea when he would become a more consistent ally again. Thus started the resurgence of my Catholic guilt. To Dave T's credit and given our mutual Sicilian heritage, he did not bitch at all but understood this was nothing personal, it was strictly business. For that, Dave T. always played like a gentleman in my book.
The Fall of Sevastopol to the Stab of Dave H.
From the outset, I knew having Rob and Wayne as allies was going to be difficult. During this stage of the game, Rob was basically impossible to negotiate with it. He gives you his terms. If you disagree, he throws his arms up in the air in a bluster and says "Fine, you make up a plan." only to criticize your plan(s) until you give up and agree to his original deal. His passive/aggressive negotiation style basically incensed any other player in the game to the point where we were counting the days until Rob was gone.
Wayne on the other hand was happy to actually play some and started out very useful as he was happy to give Sevastopol back in exchange for the Balkans, a deal I was happy to make at the moment. To follow through with Rob, I had convoyed out of Berlin into Sweden but now Rob wanted all my Scandinavian units to make incredibly dumb moves just to make himself feel safer ( Tip # 3: When your ally happily agrees to your IDIOTIC moves, WATCH OUT ). With Wayne in my corner, I no longer needed Rob. Thus, with Sevastopol in my hands again, I was ready to follow through with the Master Plan of Dave H. and I and crush towards the middle with Rob being number # 1 on my most wanted list. In Spring 1906, Dave H. and I were ready to close the trap. I moved into the Black Sea and we doubled teamed Rob's remaining land armies. The game was ours. This should have been the end of it.
But honestly, for a man who can win with Italy, what is the point of another allied victory? I looked at Dave's position and realized it was horrible if someone could mount a land assault through Germany and if there was a way to contest Italy. Dave's major flaw in this game had been to take on Italy ( or any power ) mano y mano which is always a bad idea. It took forever.............Position and time are really the most valuable things in Diplomacy, and Dave looked like he was low on both. As I looked at the map, I got a phone call which, in retrospect, I wished I missed. It was Wayne begging to be allowed to live just to throw some hurt on Dave H. Dave H. and Wayne had developed a personal grudge match throughout the game which is funny since France and Turkey never came into direct contact until this point in the game. Wayne vowed to me a single win if I would allow him to get Dave H. JUST a little. My Catholic guilt came over me again. Wayne did not really seem too interested in this game up till now. He was so happy to expand just a little, and now it was all being taken away from him in an instant. Dave H. had gotten control of Dave T.'s final unit which only made Dave H. and I that more clever in our fucking of the rest of the board with me giving Dave Munich and Budapest in order to make some nice plays ( like destroying some of Rob's Units ). Wayne was desperate and gave me his sob story . I already had ONE allied victory under my belt. I thought it would only seal my Diplomacy dominance to get a single against the only other player who really cared about this game. Thus, I made the fateful decision to turn on Dave. However, I was, in reality, really sealing my doom.
To the end of the game
Things started well with Wayne. A little deception went a long way and suddenly I was in Mun ( thanks to a genuinely exasperated Rob ) and Dave H. was being exorcised from Italy slowly. Everything was on the up and up. Dave H. was growing pessimistic and giving me bipolar reactions to my stab which he thought was "funny" but then also expressing large dismay with me allying with Wayne, his now arch-nemesis in the game ( and in life it seems now ). I could only suspect that this is what caused Dave H. to get lazy and send in massively invalid orders in Spring 1907.
I had feared I had induced a deep melancholy in Dave from which our friendship would never recover from. My Catholic guilt was bubbling up again. Despite having Dave T.'s previous invalid order being non-contested in any way shape or form, Dave and Rob immediately pressed me to ask Jim to change the moves. With the moves as is, the game was mine, lock, stock, and barrel. However, such a pathetic victory would forever be hung over my head as winning on a technicality. I convinced Wayne to make the call to change the moves unanimous. Wayne, happy to be sticking it to Dave, reluctantly agreed. Then came Fall 1907, I had planned to end the game quickly and stab Wayne ( though not technically a stab since he had agreed from the beginning to die at my hands when I wished ) and take the Balkans Wayne had asked me to make the move of F Aeg->Ion which was the STUPIDEST MOVE IN THIS GAME THUS FAR. Wayne's horrible habit of telegraphing his moves and/or stabs ( either by direct conversation or by his painfully awkward attempts to re-assure or incite players) had now made him an easy mark. Thus, I knew he had been bought out by Rob and Dave which only made me more pressed to end him now. Rob ( who I have now learned was the Master Commander in all of this ) should have known better and told Wayne to shut the fuck up about the grand alliance plan but Wayne, being Wayne, had to make sure his quasi-stab of getting 3 builds meant having 3 open home supply centers, thus necessitating, in his mind, F Aeg->Ion. I was ready to end this thing. However, a series of unfortunate events happened that made me reconsider my moves. That Sunday morning, I got a call from Dave who chided me yet again over my betrayal. He then wanted to play some Carcassone with him online which was fun. After that, he told me he was going to work on some press for the game, the press to end all press. It soon became obvious that Dave's photoshopping skills, finetuned over the years, were being used to make a horrible compromising picture of Wayne. Almost on cue, Rob appears and hence started the most hilarious rendition of a good cop/bad cop scene that I had ever had the privilege to be part of. Dave repeatedly issued his determination to post the picture while Rob messaged me on the comp to convince Dave to not send it at all costs. I realized then and there would be no scenario where I would win with Wayne as my partner in crime without that picture being posted. Rob and Dave had figured out my Achilles's heel, my guilt. I could never finish off anybody in the game to save my life, and now they had made the proverbial all-in move. I had started it, and now Dave was finishing it. I figured there was a 50/50 chance Dave would follow through. However, I wasn't willing to take that chance. Nice guys do finish last, but sometimes winning is not worth it. I changed my moves and e-mailed them to Jim and Rob just to put the icing on the cake. I waited and waited and tried to act surprised when Wayne called me later that day ( though if you hear that conversation, I don't sound surprised ). My phone call with Wayne was something else as he tried to re-affirm his loyalty to me all the while starting his re-negotiations with me. For someone who had just taken a big hit to help out this guy, I was in no mood to hear this stuff. I reluctantly agreed to share a victory with him which was now even worth less to me. I had planned to ally victory with Dave, now I was being forced to ally victory with Wayne. I was beaten and now in the passenger's seat. Wayne knew it, and everybody else knew it too. All that remained was to end the game as quickly as possible which was easy since the only thing I could do was stab Wayne and make him pissed off to the point of no return.
Thus ends my tale. I made a lot of mistakes, but I had a lot of fun. However, the one mistake that kept coming back to haunt me was that I was always feeling sorry for people. Rest assured. This won't happen again! I have come to learn to love the stab! The most fun events in the game always occurred after a big stab. I am the GM this next game, but be forewarned! I have learned my lesson well, and I will put to good use my newfound knowledge of the ways of deceit and chicanery.
To my other players, I remain not a bad person just a bad player.
Peter "The Terrible"
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FRANCE
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This game was a lot of fun and very interesting for me. I can honestly say I’ve never played a game of Diplomacy anything like it. Most of my dip games have been with strangers and this one seemed to have a whole other quality to it since the players knew each other well and could rely more on their powers of persuasion than one could in an anonymous game.
In the beginning of this game I spoke with everyone but Wayne. It seemed like everyone wanted to work together. My intentions in 1901 were to work with Peter since he was in no position to attack me but in great position to help me I also decided to attack Italy. As France, I have to go high or low in my advancement. I chose low because it seemed that Italy was planning an attack on me already. I was wrong about that but that was the feeling I got. I also had resolved that this game I would try to become a naval power and get across Ion as soon as possible in case I needed a stalemate so that meant going through Italy.
I avoided going for my natural neutral SCs in the Iberian right away. Past experience playing France taught me that those SCs are there for the taking in later years when they are much more important, and when you have a better idea of who is attacking you. I still luckily got two builds in year one, but I would have been fine with one or none in order to get position.
In fact, I tried to play this entire game like that, valuing position over growth as much as I could. I tried to position myself so that I could defend myself if need be, but if the coast was clear I could still grab some SCs. I also like I said before wanted to build fleets primarily.
The other interesting thing about the first two years was that I tried to engineer a stab on Germany from the beginning. I knew I was getting his support into two SC’s in the first year. If I could convince Matt to move to Denmark and prevent Rob from getting two builds, he would be an easy target for us to destroy first. Matt refused to help. It is clear now that he thought he would need to attack ME in order to have any hope of winning, so he was trying to keep up good relations with Germany. I think he was right about needing to attack me to win, but he didn’t need to attack me that early. England has to move through France but he could have worked with me against Germany, negotiated some number of units from the deal, then positioned himself for an attack later, maybe with help from Italy or Turkey. Matt was short sighted here and cost himself. It was easy for Peter and I to play Matt and Rob against each other.
Since my stealth attack on Rob didn’t pan out, Peter and I came up with a new plan. Peter would stab Rob in 1902 and I would help him. Then Rob would see me as his only dependable ally and would “come running into my arms” as Peter would say. Meanwhile I would transmit his plans to Peter and we’d easily destroy him. It was a beautiful plan with one wrinkle: the same year Peter stabbed Rob, Rob stabbed me.
What was so interesting about the Spring 1902 move was that Rob truly wanted to move on me when he went to Burgundy. He even told me afterwards that he preferred to have the upper hand when negotiating with me (a line I’d later hear from Wayne in a similar situation). He also said that now we had the “appearance of a stab” which would allow us to “gain intel” from our enemies. All of this was bullshit of course. If Peter had not stabbed Rob, Rob would have driven deeper into France. But he needed me, so he tried to bullshit his way out. This was amusing to me considering Peter and I’s plan. I decided to milk it. I told Rob I wouldn’t talk to him again until his unit left Bur. It was a perfect opportunity to gain his trust and further hide Peter and I’s alliance. It all worked out perfectly.
Meanwhile England was coming after me pretty hard, and I had Italy to deal with. At this point in the game I was spread pretty thin. I had to settle for helping Peter with intel but leaving him to Germany all to himself while I played defense with Matt and focused on trying to finish off the wiley Jay in Italy. Jay got majorly lucky.
Matt was a tough person to negotiate with for both Peter and I. He would agree to something, then do something completely different for unexplained reasons. I think too often he feared that if he did exactly what we had proposed he’d play too much into our hands so he had to change it up a little. But every time he changed it up a little he put himself way out of position. The honest to goodness truth is that while Peter and I had every intention to attack England, we figured we’d do it later on after Germany was done. Everything we ever pitched him was sincere. If he had followed our suggestions, Rob would have been out of the game early. Since Matt was so unpredictable, Peter and I huddled and decided to let Rob live and go after Matt instead.
Matt made it difficult on me by floating around in the Mid Atlantic and landing on my shores. That made it easier for Rob and Peter to fuck him up, but it meant I got no part of the booty, which disappointed me. As a naval power, I wanted England badly, but for now had to settle for Rob getting it. At least it would isolate Rob from his homeland when we attacked him.
Somewhere around 1904 Peter decided to let Rob live. I don’t know why he gave him back Berlin. He assured me he had a plan but I protested loudly. In the end we got Rob back on the ropes again in 1906 but at the time I didn’t understand what Peter gained from it. And having my hands full, I was anxious to see Rob gone. He was quite a bossy ally, too. That didn’t endear him to many of us.
While all of this crap was going on I was prevailing in my battles with Italy and Turkey somehow. I was particularly proud of myself for pushing Wayne back in Fall of 1905 with Austria’s support. Wayne had rubbed it in my face when he took Ionian from me, using the same bullshit Rob had used on me before. I felt he played poorly by lying to me about what he was going to do beforehand since it gave him no strategic advantage to do so. I was proud of myself for getting Trieste from him. It set Peter and I up very nicely.
By 1906 we were one move away from basically winning. Rob and Wayne would have had 2 SC’s apiece and Jay would have 1. But as everyone knows, Peter stabbed me and went for the single.
I immediately appealed to the group for a Grand Alliance to stop him. Jay and Rob signed on. Wayne said “Fuck You.” I figured with Wayne attacking me for no good reason Peter would easily single. He could take up to 3 SCs from Wayne and then Rob and I would have no buffer, we’d have to defend every single SC to keep Peter from winning. We couldn’t do that. Then Rob came up with a brilliant idea.
He proposed that he offer Wayne 3 of my SCs to convince him to work with us against Peter. He figured if Wayne was stronger and could build back home he’d have more fight in him. What happened in fact was that Wayne got the 3 builds and saw an opportunity to draw with Peter by turning on the rest of us. The only hitch was that in order to get the 3 Wayne also stabbed Peter.
Hilarity ensued. Wayne begged Peter to ally with him, all the while threatening to take the Black Sea from Peter. Wayne believed he was in the catbird seat. He was anything but.
Peter realized he couldn’t single and decided to help us against Wayne. We managed to take a SC from Peter the same year Wayne stabbed him so he figured he’d help us smash Wayne rather than go down to the Alliance over a long protracted battle. He chose well. After dealing with Wayne for a short time at the end of the game, I realized that he was incorrigible enough to make Rob seem a charming negotiator. But the most important reason I wanted to see Wayne go down at the end even worse than Peter or Rob: he refused the grand alliance when he had no good reason to. At the time he refused, before we gave him the 3 builds, he had no shot at winning or working with Peter and had everything to gain from the Grand Alliance and nothing to lose. He refused it out of spite and assholishness and in the end he paid the price for it.
I was happy to see Jay share in the victory. He only survived to the end through good luck, but when the time came for him to step up and help with the alliance, he said yes and kept his word and deserved a spot at the end.
And Rob really deserves a lot of credit for the win. His work in the last two years, both in coming up with the “Reward Wayne” plan and with convincing Peter to reveal his moves kept us alive when we had no reason to be. We would have lost to a Russia single without Rob’s clever strategy and superior negotiations at the end. My respect for his play went up bigtime at the end of the game and I give him all the credit.
I am not disappointed in my own play at all. If Peter hadn’t gone for the single, a draw with him would have been a satisfying end to the game for me, and one I would have been plenty proud of, despite Rob’s disdain for the draw. Once confronted with the stab and the prospect of the single, I am glad that I cast aside past feelings for my fellow players and allowed myself to ally with them for our common good. I believe it was the right move and in the end it worked out well. Both Peter and Wayne paid the ultimate price for their ultimate greed. I may have stabbed during the game, but I never tried to take more than I deserved and I never got greedy. I believe I played patiently and smart.
Oh and it is true about the Wayne photo. It was really, really, really bad. He has no idea how close I came to posting it, and he has Rob to thank for it not being posted. Rob believed that posting it would rule out any potential to ally with Wayne in the future. As it turns out, that wasn’t a possibility anyway, so I probably should have posted it. But beating him is so much more satisfying than embarrassing him, so for now it remains in a folder on my desktop. And trust me Wayne, you would have been fired. I make good on my threats.
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AUSTRIA
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Austria end of Game Statement:
This game was not as much fun as UWS DIP I. Partially because i died fast, and partially because austria is a hard nation to play, Or maybe I just played it badly. I need to rething some of my strategies in this game. I think that I am a bit too transparent/trusting in some aspects of the game, which makes it hard for me to be effective. I tried to make a strong alliance with Peter, since it seemed that a russian friend on my rear was the only way to not die instantly. Of course, that basically forced me to leave my back undefended, and await the inevitable stab from Peter. Maybe that was a bad idea, but i think that it was my only way to survive the first year.
I will never ally with rob. Sorry rob. We're friends and all, but you are too impossible to work with. I'm pretty convinced that wasting a move on you in 1901 was really my downfall.
Wayne. It is hard to believe anything that you say, partly because you didn't start negotiating with me untill the midgame. I also figured that i could only befriend turkey or Russia, and since i had dug my grave with russia, well, i was hard pressed to listen to any of your offers.
Dave H. I hope that we can work together in the next game. I still have no idea if we would have been friends or enemies in this past game, since i died too soon to find out.
Matt. I'm not sure that there even was a matt playing.
Jay - you are the champion of this game in my book. In truth, it is easy to be diplomatic when you have 12 SCs. It takes a genius to live till the end with 1 SC, and I imagine that nobody has ever been Italy, with One SC, and managed to take a Win. Bravo, I say to you, Bravo.
Of course, the highlight of this game was the Press. First there was lots of secret code goodness, and then the Arms Race which began halfway through. I am so excited to write press for the next game, I can hardly think of anything else. Lives will be changed forever. Oh god yes. Sheath your jew claws. And be sure to shred all your receipts from the cathouses.
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GERMANY
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Germany - End of Game Manifesto: (probably more interesting if you actually look through the maps while reading).
s1901: RBDT and I teamed up to take TYR. This would be the almost the last time RBDT did ANYTHING useful in the game. You can see he made the tactical error of not taking Rum or covering his back in Gal (both would have saved him later). Jay made a nice opening here.
f1901: I helped Dave H. on this move and shouldn't have. He was in Burgundy and I wanted him out so I supported him to Belgium. Knowing what I know now, I should have never helped him. In fact, I helped him gain Venice and Belgium in this single move...which later served as the builds that helped him do so well. He would NEVER repay me for these favors. Favors, I now know, are not currency in Diplomacy, only position. I took Denmark this move, but should have made a more concerted effort to expand in only one direction at this point. Kiel to Silesia would have been better. Peter, Dave H., and I were in a supposed alliance by this point, but I doubt I knew much of what the ultimate plans were. A better opening for me would have been to attack Warsaw via Prussia and Silesia.
s1902: By Spring 1902, Peter and Matt had allied against me and my back was against the wall...only I didn't know it yet. My position in TYR was unsupported but RBDT was expanding south and so I felt too comfortable. Supporting myself into Bohemia would have been good here, but instead I tried to get Dave H. by the balls by moving into Burgundy...making an idle, unsupported threat. I didn't take a single SC from Dave H., but I've never seen him act like such a little bitch. He cried for a solid day when I was in Burgundy. Ulimately, my taking of Belgium later (from Burgundy with Holland's support) was my WORST move of the game. I should have taken Belgium from my position in Holland and kept the pressure on Dave. Dave H. said he wouldn't "talk" to me or be my ally until I'd gotten out of Burgundy and I caved. This was good strategy on his part. I was new to the game and had thought that keeping a choke-hold on your allies would prove more successful than staying at arms length. I SHOULD have realized that stabbing Dave H. at this point may have worked. Unfortunately, with the pressure I was feeling from Matt and Peter in the north (Peter had supported Matt into Denmark), I felt I needed an ally in Dave H. even though I was in better position to take him on. I think at this point, my semi-alliance with RBDT broke down because he did not support me into Venice. Dave H. and I had thought RBDT would help me into Venice and then Dave H. and I would walk down Italy taking out Jay. RBDT's lack of support is what halted this plan in its tracks. Still, I'm surprised that RBDT didn't coordinate something better like Vienna to Trieste and Trieste to Adriatic to make his own attack on Italy. He missed a good thing there I think. Meanwhile, Wayne and Peter were gridlocked on the Black Sea. I started trying to gain intel from Peter on his Sevastapol moves so that I could clue in Wayne in order to weaken Peter on the Black Sea and cause him to divert builds and forces that way. Still, I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't moved on Dave H. ON THE SAME move that Peter and Matt had so carefully aligned against me? I also wonder what would have happened if I'd moved Kiel to the Baltic Sea (I did realize that Kiel bordered the Baltic Sea at the time either!! Ugh!) As for my retreat in s1902...Another thing I didn't realize was that disbanding and rebuilding was an option. Had I known, I would have disbanded Den and rebuilt in Munich at this point. That would have been much stronger. Maybe next time? Live and learn.
f1902: This is the move where I tried to get back on better terms with Dave H. (who wasn't really talking to me). I moved Burgundy to Belgium with Holland's support. It was the weaker of the two moves for taking Belgium (positionally), but I did it to (hopefully) gain Dave H. as an ally. I did not know, at the time, that Dave was still far more allied with Peter (and Matt) than me at this point. I also found myself bouncing with RBDT (greedy bastard) in Munich and with Peter (bastard) in Berlin. This would be a theme for much of the next few years...me being attacked on ALL SIDES. By the end of this move, I thought I was on better terms with Dave H (even though I'd dislodged him) because I'd done it in a non-positional, non-strategic/offensive way. Matt's build in London should have assured him the North Sea for the rest of the game, and Peter was beating down my back door. With RBDT's build of an Army in Vienna, I had no doubt that 1903 would bring more attacks from my neighbors.
s1903: This was the year of Matt's most tragic tactical error. He had a great alliance with Peter, the North Sea, and a guarantee of SC's in Spain and position in the English Channel. Looking at this board, I'm surprised at the outcome. So, I supported myself into the North Sea (Denmark held!!!) and protected Munich and Berlin (but lost it to Peter's supported move). Also, on this move, I sent word to Wayne to take Sevastapol with Armenia's support. He did it and successfully took Sevastapol, crippling Peter. Even though I'd lost Berlin (a home SC) to Peter, two things helped me out here: 1) the North Sea gained me tactical advantage and 2) I informed Peter that I was the brains behind Wayne's taking of Sevastapol. Wayne trusted me at this point (completely) and Peter had no choice but to bargain with me because of my pull with Wayne. And so I worked out a plan to regain Denmark, stab Matt, stab RBDT, and hold Munich (with Peter's support). For this, I promised Peter a way back into Sevastapol. He agreed and this led to a brief (albeit painful) alliance with Peter. Dave H. was a total non-factor in all of this and had I been smarter, I would have still been in Burgundy and had taken Mar or Paris by this point.
f1903: This move defined the game for me. Had Peter, RBDT, and Matt aligned against me, they could have taken all 3 of my home SC's this move. Bohemia and Tyrolla to MUNICH (with Berlin cutting support) and Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Kiel! There's not much I could have done about it either (I could have maybe saved one). But they didn't. Either they didn't see it or they didn't want to work together, I don't know. But this move could have easily been my early exit from the game. Instead, Peter stabbed RBDT in Budapest (like I'd asked him to), Wayne exchanged the fleet for an army in Sevastapol (part of the bargain I'd arranged between Wayne and Peter which would ultimately put Peter back into Sevastapol), Peter supported me into Denmark (JUST THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HE'D DONE THE MOVE PRIOR!), and his army in Berlin (my HOME SC!) supported a hold in Munich for me (in my other Home SC). RBDT couldn't have seen that one coming. I was dead to right and somehow Peter (for once) kept his end of the bargain. My move to Edi was a sneak attack that worked out well. And, as you can see, when I have the North Sea...I SUPPORT IT! As far as the retreats...why in the world Matt didn't retreat to Sweden (maybe he couldn't) suprises me. A retreat to the Helgoland Bight would have been interesting too. But what do I know :) ? As for builds: When I saw Peter build an army in Warsaw (he said it was so he wouldn't "scare Wayne" out of our deal), I should have second guessed my alliance with him. I was too focused on regaining Berlin. And still, my back was against the wall in protecting Munich from an angry RBDT who was gasping his last breaths. As far as Peter's build of a fleet in STP, I didn't know how strategic Scandanavia was for me to expand and again, I should have nixed that too.
s1904: My spring 1904 moves were uncoordinated and where much of the confusion began for me. RBDT backed off. If I'd had seen that coming, I would have advanced east with my armies. I felt threatened in Kiel and held tight (dumb). And I assumed I would be dislodged from the North Sea (Matt could do 3 vs. 2), so I tried to make a strategic move with it. Again, this would have been a great time to start attacking Dave H., but I didn't. I think I was comforted by the fact that there was at least ONE BORDER I wasn't being attacked from and I wanted to keep it that way. Also, on this move, I negotiated Wayne's leaving Sevastapol (Peter would have no use for me much after this move) via Convoy to Bulgaria. And Wayne continued to push west. Peter was happy and I thought that a happy ally, one who I'd made good on a promise to, was one that could be trusted for a while. Naive on my part again.
f1904: Reviewing this game, I'm stunned by how often I "held" in Munich. I'd be curious if anyone would have done something different. It's hard to risk giving up such a strong position on the board, but I wish I'd risked it a few more times this game. Hindsight is 20/20 though. Peter's attack on Norway cinched the stab he planned for me. And I fell right into his trap by arranging him to convoy me from Denmark to Berlin (I was too focused on Berlin). It did get my army out of Denmark (a shitty place for an army). Much of this move, however, I spent negotiating the terms between Peter and Wayne's bidding for RBDT's home SC's. This was fun because I kept hoping that as RBDT was run down from behind he'd drop his units closest to my border and allow me a chance to grab Vienna or Trieste. It never happened though. The worst part about this move was Dave H.'s secret alliance with Matt. Matt gained Belgium on this move and I never saw it coming. Why Matt (who had the English Channel and North Sea!!) would do this and give up BOTH POSITIONS in one move is beyond me. I would argue it was his worst move of the game. Dave capitalized on it and played it off to me like he was "getting me back" for what I'd done to him in Burgundy and furthermore that it would "gain intel" on our enemies so we could fend them off better. It's true, it did gain intel. Peter and Wayne were knocking at my door within minutes of the move being posted. And when I saw that I could retreat to the NORTH SEA, Dave H. tried to pass that off as his plan all along. It, of course, was not. On the builds, Matt destroyed Lon and Bel (as Dave H. had asked) and that made me think Dave H. may have some pull with Matt and that he'd be willing to use that to our mutual advantage. I built a fleet in Kiel...thinking that the next move Peter was going to start paying me back for all I'd done for him with Sevastapol. He was supposed to move his Scandanavian forces towards England and southeast towards Vienna.
s1905: In spring 1905, Jim sent me an email right after he posted the move. It read, "Are you mad?". Dave H. refused to talk to me "until I cooled down" and Peter was silent for hours and then broke the silence with some bullshit comment like "Rob! You had to have seen it coming! Your enemies' enemy is your friend!", or something. This was Peter's second (no THIRD!) stab on me in the game. I did see it coming. I just didn't want to believe it. I knew Peter had great position on me and I'd let him have it in bargaining my way out of the Peter/Matt situation. But that's why I'd done him the favor with Wayne in Sevastapol...so he'd owe me. But, like the total bitch that Peter is (Dave thinks I underestimate Peter as a player), he sacked our deal and stabbed me. The only consolation is that I probably would have done the same thing. Maybe, I'd like to think, I would have tried to twist Germany's arm to be my bitch for a while too. So, Peter, you can kiss my ass. Also, on this move, Dave H. tried to get me out of position by supporting my move from Mun to Tyrolla. Thanks Dave. I was eager to leave Munich, though, because I hadn't build there in year and wanted the opportunity. Peter taking Denmark wasn't crippling, but with Dave H. moving to Burgundy (a supported move no less...screw you for not trusting me) it was clear that both of them had an alliance (why wouldn't they...they're just interested in playing for the tie) and were planning to cut me up over the next few years.
What's sad about this move is this: I'd arranged a MULTI-stab on Wayne where Dave, Peter, and I got one or more SC's and effectively wiped Wayne off the board. It was a beautiful move too. Wayne trusted me and so our (me and Wayne's) plan was for him to move; Trieste to Tyrolia, Serbia to Trieste, and Ionian to Adriatic. I was to support him getting to Tyrolia. The "stab" was that I'd actually planned to BOUNCE with him in Tyrolia, leaving his back open to Peter. Peter was supposed to move in behind him with this: Dave's Venice supports Peter's Budapest to Trieste. Dave was to gain my intel from Jay (via Wayne) about his move so that he could take Rome. And, in return, I asked for Belgium. Wayne would have been crippled by this move. Matt would've too. And with RBDT not even putting in moves at this point, I thought Peter and Dave could gang up on Wayne a little while I finished off England and made a try for English Channel/Brest or Scandanavia. Unfortunately, Dave and Peter didn't go for it and I lost my chance for a win (or so I thought....).
f1905: My Fall 1905 move, I promised to Peter. I sent out an email to Dave and Peter saying that I would donate 4 of my SC's to Peter. I made like I wanted Dave's head on a platter. Peter bought it for the most part. Then, I talked to Dave on the day of the move to gain a little intel on how Peter and he were going to cut me up. It sounded like they were taking Munich (something I couldn't defend against), and so I tried to vacate to Silesia. My Silesia -> Warsaw move was an attempt to catch Peter being greedy by abandoning a home SC on a pre-building Fall move. He didn't and so it didn't work out. However, from talking to Dave, I could tell that he hadn't really talked to Matt. I don't know why either, but it allowed me to steal London....thereby finishing off Matt altogether. It may be a small victory, but having read those retarded emails Matt sent to Dave about wanting to destroy me at all cost (even to himself...and he wasn't even using that as a "survival" strategy...he was REALLY trying to go Kamikaze on me!), it felt good to have toppled him in the midst of being attacked from all sides. Matt, you died first and I killed you.
s1906: In Winter 1905-1906, I built in Berlin to begin to wage war against Peter. Dave, I believe, encouraged me to do this as well. Despite this single build and my newfound home in England (or should I say the annexed territories of Germany), my end seemed imminent. I tried to bargain with Dave, but Peter and Dave had pre-arranged an alliance that would cut me up and end the game in a draw. Dave took Munich in the wake of Peter leaving it. I could not defend both Berlin and Kiel (so I lost Berlin) and Dave positioned himself in the North Sea (with my help). Strangely, Dave made a mini-stab on Peter in Budapest. Wayne pushed even further into the Balkans and Mediterranean, leaving himself open to a stab by Peter. I ended up having to destroy a unit (IN THE SPRING!) and my army in Silesia was stranded.
f1906: In fall 1906, the unexpected happened. On a move where Dave and Peter could have fully dislodged me from the mainland (taking 3 SCs) and overcome me in London, Peter did the unexpected. In an effort to check Dave's growth while still growing his own forces in the north and south battlefields, Peter stabbed Dave twice (cutting his support to take London from me and supporting me back into Munich!). It seems this was in conjunction with Wayne because Peter's southern forces continued on "through" Constantinople and his other fleet remained in the Black Sea. As a result, Peter took NOTHING from Wayne, affirming their alliance and dissolving Peter's ties with Dave.
This was my opening back into the game.
As Peter would say, "When Wayne says he wants to kill Dave at all costs and hands you a blank check...You Take The Check!". Well Peter...you had little trouble cashing that check didn't you? Maybe the lesson here is: Greed always loses. Still, the best part about this move was that RBDT lost his final SC. To quote the movie "Rad": It was the second dramatic exit of the day.
w1906: Readjustments and builds in winter 1906 were anti-Germany in every way. Peter built in Warsaw and STP. Wayne's building of an army in CON meant Peter and Wayne were planning on remaining an alliance.
s1907: Spring 1907 was more of the same...the Wayne/Peter Juggernaut. Russia was dominant in this alliance and Wayne was fully exposed to Peter in ANK, CON, and the Black Sea. I believe Wayne had Peter believing he was okay with this and that he was "going Kamikaze" on Dave for the anti-semitic remarks Dave had made in our emails. I also believe Wayne would have accepted his loss to Peter in the endgame if he'd first been given the satisfaction of taking out Dave. The convoy from CON to APU made it clear that Wayne would remain Kamikaze and that Peter had granted him this final wish. Dave and I, however, were firmly on board with the beginnings of a Grand Alliance against Peter and Co. We pushed our fleets north to double up on Norway's coast and Dave took Holland from me in order to secure a build for the Fall.
f1907: By Fall 1907, Dave and I had Jay on board for the Grand Alliance. Via a seven move supported convoy, Dave and I promised Jay Norway (this, I'm told never happens). Also, much of this turn I played the RBDT-esk opossum card to Peter saying "I just want this game to end. I'm ready to start UWS Dip 3", and so on. To support this facade, I promised Peter I'd support him into Holland and turn my army in Munich toward Burgundy. I CC'd my moves to Peter but what Peter didn't know was that beforehand I'd sent Jim an email entitled: Ignore these moves I'm about to send to both you and Peter. Jim ignored the fake moves, but Peter bought it and CC'd me his moves as he sent them to Jim. With Peter's moves in hand, Dave and I planned a counterattack.
I contacted Wayne with the following proposition (see below). Dave initially disagreed about allying with Wayne and thus far, Dave's plea for The Grand Alliance had fallen on Wayne's deaf ears. Wayne and Dave could not communicate. I used this to my advantage in the email below and fooled Wayne into thinking that "I" was alone in wanting to ally with him, and that this was behind Dave's back. Wayne could tolerate this. And since Dave had already granted me the rights to make that year's move (for France's forces), he was willing to go along with whatever happened. As the email begins, it was, most certainly, a last ditch effort....
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EMAIL TO WAYNE:
wayne.
i have one, final, last ditch suggestion. it is, i admit, a longshot. but it is better than any offer i will have sent your way in the past.
i want to beat peter at all costs. and to do so, i will give up anything. also, during this turn, b/c dave had MY moves last time, i get to make HIS moves this time. he's already sent jim an email giving me irrevocable rights to his moves for the turn of Fall 1907.
i know that dave and i cannot beat you and peter. but the only person in this game to stab you thus far has been peter, so i'm sure you still harbor a grudge, however small. my suggestions for Fall 1907 are simple. i'm sacking dave for you in order to get you on my side. i will do the following:
1. leave naples completely open.
2. vacate tunis
3. jay, however, will keep rome.
this gives you TWO SC's guaranteed. in return, i'm asking you to consider the following:
1. arrange with peter for YOU to take Bul. Say it's personal and that he can have all your SC's by 1908's end.
2. stab peter by taking budapest (or whatever SC you know will be open).
also, i think you should suggest that peter move the AEG to ION as a means for YOU helping him take southern italy. his greed will likely get the best of him and he just may go for it.
the end result of this plan is hopefully as follows:
1. peter loses a SC
2. you gain 3 BUILDS and 4 new territories (one build you will have to wait to make)
3. you'll gain commanding position on the black sea.
4. i can focus my efforts on defending Mun and Hol.
5. peter's builds for 1907 are minimized.
my recent emails to peter, since the typos dave made, have been inflammatory. he certainly thinks i'm willing to side with him and has agreed to allow me to keep England and possibly Munich while he moves through Holland towards dave. using this info, i'll defend against that at all costs. meanwhile, peter will think that he is making MY moves FOR ME for this year...but he's not. and i'll inform Jim of this in advance. Jim, consider yourself informed.
wayne, if you have ANY suspicion AT ALL that peter is going to move into your home SC's this time, then i'd prefer that you defend SMY with EAS or that you sell peter on moving from AEG to BUL and taking from dave. even if peter takes that from dave, you'll still be able to get 3 BUILDS from the SC's i've already mentioned (TUN, NAP, and BUD...minimum).
at the end of 1907, if we go with this plan, Jay =1, You = 10, Dave = 6, Me = 3-4. That's 21 and overwhelmingly strong against peter's anticipated 14-15. dave will no doubt have an issue that i've sold him out to you and i'm halfway debating telling him this beforehand, despite the fact that i doubt he'll go for it. the good thing is that dave is now well positioned to fight peter (in the north) and will be OUT OF Position against you in the south. should dave be man enough to see that we could all three (four counting Jay) still be a strong alliance, i think we should keep him in for a final split, assuming we can pull this off against peter.
think about it wayne. the win could still be ours.
rob.
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This move depended on Wayne's jewish greed (sorry Wayne, I'm allowed to say that: I'm no anti-dentite!). I suppose he figured he could renegotiate the terms of his alliance with Peter after getting 3 builds. Dave, Jay, and I figured that this would irrevocably sever the Juggernaut and leave us the opportunity to take out Wayne and Peter separately. We realized, however, there was a small chance that Wayne would stay with the Grand Alliance and play for the 4 way split victory. Had things gone this way, I wonder if Dave would have started a mutiny in the Grand Alliance to squeeze Wayne out of the final settlement. I guess we'll never know.
Anyway, the Fall 1907 move worked perfectly. Peter didn't stab Wayne, leaving all 3 of Wayne's Home SCs available for the intended builds and the Juggernaut was dissolved! Peter, however, claims he saw the stab coming and DECIDED NOT to stab Wayne. Why? Here are the reasons...
1) If Wayne had not decided to stab Peter in Fall 1907, Peter's waiting would have assured him the win by stabbing Wayne in 1908. Given the assumption, this would have made for the easiest guaranteed victory for Russia.
2) Supposedly, Dave made an extremely graphic and embarrassing picture of Wayne, depicting him in a gay porno. Dave said he was going to post the picture on the blog. Peter was certain that this would totally devastate Wayne. So, in order to spare Wayne the agony of losing diplomacy AND being publicly embarrassed, he waited to stab Wayne....even though supposedly he saw our stab coming. Say what you will about the Jews, that Catholic guilt is something else!
3) Peter felt like Dave was "mad at him" for allying with Wayne for a split victory when he could have split with Dave. In typical Peter fashion, Peter used the excuse that diplomacy was "just a game" and that if Dave was going to take it personally, then Peter would lay off.
Whatever Peter's "reasons", I have NO DOUBT that Peter had NO IDEA that we were planning on giving Wayne 3 builds (and 4 new SCs!). Had Peter known the depth of our stab, I think even his sympathies would have been trumped by desire to win. You're weak Peter. And I have my doubts that Dave's gay-wayne press ever existed.
Still, Wayne did not COMPLETELY go along with the ultimate stab on Peter. He gained the 3 SCs that we'd handed to him, but he DIDN'T TAKE BUDAPEST. This was Wayne's fatal error. Just a few hours after the moves were posted, Peter conferenced Dave and me in on his phone call with Wayne. We knew this was coming...Wayne was trying to convince Peter he hadn't intended to stab him and that he still wanted to remain in the Juggernaut alliance. As predicted, Wayne was trying to renegotiate the terms, retake the Black Sea, and play for a split with Peter. The thing is, if Peter had wanted to split, he could have split with Dave a year and a half ago. Peter was infuriated by the stab, tired of dealing with Wayne, in disbelief at HOW BADLY he'd been stabbed by the Grand Alliance, AND SO, much like everyone else had at one point or another, he decided to go KAMIKAZE....on Wayne.
w1907: Wayne's builds in the winter of 1907 were equivocal - 2 fleets and an army. Peter kept Wayne believing that the renegotiated Juggernaut was a "go" and Wayne plotted to further invade Dave, Jay, and me.
s1908: In Spring 1908, Dave, Jay, and I assumed control of Peter's forces. (Because of our suggestions,) Peter encouraged Wayne to convoy from Trieste to APU (leaving Trieste unprotected). Dave's (our) two fleets in TYS and WES retook Tunis. Peter supported himself into Bulgaria and with Dave's help, Jay retook Venice. My army in EDI convoyed to the mainland. Every move on the board was a unified attack on Wayne. Wayne saw this and pleaded with Peter to reconsider (also recorded), but the damage was done. Peter knew that a draw with Wayne was a De Facto loss for him -- like I've mentioned, Peter'd had the draw with Dave a year an a half ago and given it up. Any non-single win for Russia was unacceptable. And so Peter couldn't work with Wayne and Wayne had abandoned the Grand Alliance. Both Russia and Turkey didn't have an ally on the board and could not resolve their differences to work together.
We issued the terms for an unconditional surrender leaving them to choose between 1) a slow and painful dismantling by the allied forces of Germany, France, and Italy while they tried to protect themselves and attack each other OR 2) a quick and painless surrender, with no further bloodshed. They both chose the latter and the game was over.
In the end, I think there are few lessons to be learned from this game:
1) You can only stab someone so many times before they will never ally with you again.
2) Finishing off a country is of paramount importance. It simplifies future negotiations and should be the top priority for all countries involved in the stab. Note: Italy (1 SC for most of the game) and Germany (essentially no builds for the last 1/2 of the game) were involved in the 3 way victory.
3) The THREAT of making things personal is an inherent part of this game; actually doing so (either in letting it alter your moves or taking things too far with press or in conversation) is beyond its scope.
4) Anyone can go kamikaze at anytime.
Congratulations Germany, France, and Italy.
Sincerely,
I.M. Fletcher.
P.s. Have a nice day.
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