Fall 1905: To stab is human, to forgive is divine

What could the Frenchman be thinking at this point? Stabbed not once by his former friend, but now twice, he still moves ever southward and eastward, leaving his supply centers wide open for the taking. Whatever deal they have together, it could only be a lopsided one. Perhaps the Brit has photos of the Frenchman he'd rather he not post on the blog.

The Austrian got his clock cleaned this move, catching it from all sides. He better make a friend fast, or it looks like he could go from hero to zero in a hurry. My how far the mighty have fallen.

Adjustments:

Austria: Remove 2 units
England: Build 1 unit
France: Build 1 unit
Turkey: Build 1 unit

Press:
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Ok, I sent some false moves to austria. I will continue to push into italy


>
> As I said I was misled by others and believed that our alliance was over.
> I've examined the map and if you agree, I'd like to take the chance of
> fixing things. I don't think that you can hurt me this turn so there's not
> much downside to taking a chance on our alliance.
>
> Here's what I will do:
> swe -> ska (to continue convoys against Russia)
> eng -> lon
> wal -> yor
> ber -> sil
> kie -> ber
> bel -> den
> nth C bel-> den
>
> How does this sound? I haven't run jdip yet but wll tonight.
>
> What I will ask of you is to continue to push into austria and possition
> your fleets to attack austria rather than me. Fleets move the wrong way and
> the deal will be off the table. I don't think that either of us has much to
> lose by trying this.
>
> Regards,
> the Queen
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Spring 1905: The Crown makes her move

The slogan of the British Navy is "Not by strength, by guile." This British navy is making her move for world conquest using a lot of guile, but it helps that she is also the strongest power on the board by far. And it helps that the French and Russian players have trusted her enough to leave so much territory wide open for the taking. With this move she positions herself well for a French invasion in the Fall and a weakening of her strongest adversary.

Two plays of note: Turkey played smartly to drive Austria back this turn by cutting support with his free army. And Russia capitalizes on Austrian greed and insures he will live through another Fall without losing any more units.

Retreat needed for this phase:

Austria A Bul

Again no press :(

Ready for Spring 1905

Fall 1904: The Fall of the Grumpy Emporer

I'm sure I'm not the only one glad to see the end of the German player. He was cranky from the first move, demanding not only of his fellow players but of his game master as well. Although he had quieted up considerably after his end became inevitable, it is still good to know that he can not rise from the dead.

This turn also sees the end of Italy, a very quiet player this time whose early mistakes put him in a bad position from the start. Again, no surprise there.

This leaves us with five powers, but the game is far from balanced. England has become a superpower with 11 sc's. He has conquered all of the nordic territories and has landed on Russia's soil as was expected. Russia has in turn weakened to a shell of his former self and will likely be looking for new allies to stay alive next fall.

Austria is back in the game after attacking his former friend in Turkey. And France seems to be playing it cool with everybody, including Austria, who he did not contest for Naples.

From here, I'm sure new alliances will form. Will we see an end to English/French alliances? Will The Russian and Austrian team up to break through the German center?

Your adjustments for this turn...

Austria: Build 1 unit (Only 1 home SC open)
England: Build 2 units
Russia: Remove 2 units

Spring 1904 Retreats, Ready for Fall

Thank you to those of you who sent in your moves while we were wating three days for Russia to issue a retreat order.

I still need moves from everyone else who hasn't, and you know who you are. Let's get on the ball, folks.

Spring 1904: Crossing the Mediterranean

Looks like I called it on England heading for Russia's northern shore. As much as he may have hoped the Queen was his ally, sometimes you can't deny what someone is planning to do. Russia has even more trouble to his south side where his other supposed ally has stabbed him yet again.

The Austrian has come back swinging this year, driving the Turk back East. He loses the Ionian to France, however. And as any Diplomacy player worth his salt will tell you, once France breaks that line it is game, set, match. Let's see how well the Frenchman does with his new territory East of the Med.

There are two retreats due before the next move: Austria F Ion and Russia A Rum.

Your press...


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A message to the Sultan-



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Ready for 1904

Fall 1903: The Rise of the British Empire

A new superpower has emerged. With this year's end, England will be the largest power on the board, while former powerhouse Austria shrinks in size. However a country's real power is never truly known, because we never know who they are allied with at any given time. Is England in this alone, or even stronger than he appears? His cooperation with France continues this season, which suggests a formidable alliance. Austria tries to help the ever-weakening German to no avail. Meanwhile the Russian-Turkish alliance seems to be confirmed.

There are adjustments for this turn:

England: Build 2 units
France: Build 1 unit
Germany: Remove 1 unit
Italy: Remove 1 unit
Russia: Build 1 unit
Turkey: Build 1 unit

Let's try to speed the game up so as not to irritate the mighty British Empire any more than we already have.

Your press for this turn:
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What a country! heh heh




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Ready for Fall 1903

Spring 1903: My enemy's enemy is my friend

This game is getting interesting. Austria has decided to let Germany back in the game by giving him Munich, the very SC that he took from Germany in the first year! This newfound charity comes at the expense of France who he let occupy it in 1902. Meanwhile France has invaded Italy and will probably wage war with Austria there since Austria has evacuated the country this Spring.

Also interesting is that Russia has benefited (unwittingly?) from Turkey's support in his own attack on the Dual Monarchy. Perhaps there is a new alliance between these former enemies? Perhaps the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

One thing is for sure, the major superpower from the first two years has made some interesting choices this year that are sure to change the dynamic of the game.

Oh and England, who still has a friend in the Frenchman, has started a push for Russia's northern shores.

There are retreats for this turn:
Italy F Tun
England F Den
The Austrian unit was destroyed because it had nowhere to retreat.

As for deadline craziness, I think I'm going to just propose that we advance the game whenever the moves come in, and I promise to hustle people along the best I can. Ideally we'd have Monday and Thursday as an update day but this has proven to be a difficult group to keep to a regular schedule, and I include myself in that. So please get your moves in as soon as possible.

Your press for this turn follows.
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"People react to Germany's moves in Blind Diplomacy"


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Ready for 1903

Obviously we won't make a Thursday night deadline. I'd like to set a deadline of Monday night, and from there do Thursdays and Mondays as deadlines. I apologize for being so sporadic this time around. I lost my computer charger while on the road and had to buy a new one, and the computer I was using didn't have my diplomacy files on it.

If people can get moves in before Monday, I'll update the blog as soon as I have everyone's moves in. If people can get them in by tomorrow, I'll set Monday as the deadline for the fall turn.

Fall 1902 Retreats

I had these retreats last night at 11pm but only got in front of a computer just now. Today was another travel day and I apologize. But I appreciate that some people sent their builds in anyway. However I still need orders from others.

Austria: Build 1 Unit
England: Build 2 Units
France: Build 1 Unit
Germany: Remove 1 Unit
Italy: Remove 1 Unit
Russia: Remove 1 Unit
Turkey: Build 1 Unit

Those of you who lost units this turn, don't give up! You can save yourself but only through diplomacy!

Press for this phase:

Fall 1902: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

OK Italy, I don't know what you're doing, but I have to say that I'm GLAD you're likely going to be gone this year since you held the game up so long. I'm only joking, Italy. To be fair, I held the game up an extra day because of my travelling this week, and I sincerely apologize. And Italy wasn't the only late one this time around. Turkey and Russia were late, too. So we all have a lot of atoning to do.

This Fall was interesting, Italy's boneheaded moves aside. I tried to predict Austria's moves before I saw them and figured he would self bounce but also thought he'd cover Greece. I guess he trusted Turkey more than he should.

Germany, despite his obnoxious ranting during this turn, outsmarted his rivals. This time it was Russia who came to the Queen's aide with support against Germany, but the Kaiser saw it coming and prevailed.

Austria hangs on to a lead but the northern powers are narrowing the gap.

It appears that there is still room for new alliances to form given what has already happened. I'm anxious to see how 1903 ends up. My prediction: Italy is the first to fall (duh) and Germany turns one or more of his attackers around.

There are retreats due, then the builds. Please send your retreats in ASAP ITALY AND RUSSIA.

We should reconnoiter the deadlines to Mondays and Thursdays but let's see if we can get these retreats and builds in fast enough.

Your press...
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