| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1908 - Corrino (Jun 23, 2010, 7:13 pm) |
Hi Players,
Little change this year. Turkey is up one and Italy down one.
Please double-check your individual country reports to confirm SC owned and adjustments due.
Complete SC Counts:
COUNTRY SC
Austria 0 ... eliminated 1903
England 12
France 5
Germany 0 ... eliminated 1906
Italy 2
Russia 1
Turkey 14
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1908/Spring 1909 are due EITHER Thursday, June 24 or Tuesday, June 29. As per my message yesterday, I expect to be traveling over the week-end. If all orders are in and marked Final within 24 hours I will adjudicate tomorrow (Thursday). If not, I will automatically extend the deadline till Tuesday.
Cheers,
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1908 Results - Corrino (Jun 22, 2010, 7:51 pm) |
Hi Players,
I guess I should thank you for making things easy on me. Only three conflicts to report this Fall season. Spain (of course), Ionian Sea (of course) and Venice, where Turkey seizes that minimally-defended center from Italy.
RETREATS DUE: Army Venice must seek another home. Please send me your decision within 24 hours, Monsignor.
Autumn reports will be sent out tomorrow night, including SC ownerships and Adjustments due.
Cheers,
Chris
Orders as resolved. Please notify me of any errors promptly.
==================================================
England:
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc) (*Fails*)
F Tunis - Ionian Sea (*Fails*)
F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports F Tunis - Ionian Sea
France:
F
Marseilles - Spain(sc)
F Portugal Supports F Marseilles - Spain(sc)
Italy:
A Venice Supports * (*Dislodged*)
Russia:
Turkey:
F Adriatic Sea Supports A Apulia - Venice
F Aegean Sea Supports F Ionian Sea
A Apulia - Venice
F Ionian Sea Supports * (*Cut*)
==============================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Spring 1908 Results.... - Corrino (Jun 18, 2010, 9:04 pm) |
Hi Stabbers!
An interesting round for what was revealed (a mystery convoy) and what was not (damn near everything else).
In the first case, we faced a situation that is not covered by the rules and which I cannot remember seeing in either of the Stab! games I played in. The Turkish fleet in Ionian was attacked but not dislodged while in the act of convoying. Since the rules are silent on this manner it was left to me to make a decision. My thoughts:
The convoy was successful. According to the rules, successful moves are not reported... EXCEPT where they cause another player's moves to fail. England's attempt to move to Ionian Sea failed. One argument in favor of reporting.
If the fleet had held, I would report
that. If the fleet had supported another move, I would report that. It seems consistent to report that the fleet was in the act of convoying when attacked.A successful support is reported, unless the move supported was successful and the support was unnecessary. An insufficient support (i.e. move failed) is always reported, while an unsuccessful (*cut*) support is not reported. The success or failure of the convoy depends on (a) whether the convoy held its position and (b) whether the convoyed army reached its destination.
The army being convoyed, however, did not come in contact with any units. It's move was successful and did NOT impact any other moves. Therefore, the army's movement remains hidden.
Ergo: In my opinion, the fourth bullet point trumps the third. In order to preserve the hidden army move, the fleet's order shall be reported as: F Ionian Sea Convoys
*
Any or all of you are welcome to comment on the wisdom of my decision. You can't change it for this turn, but you can influence the addendum I intend to add to the DipWiki at the end of our game.
All of which distracts us a little bit from the fact that in all of Europe, there were only two spaces contested over in Spring of 1908. One was the aforementioned Ionian Sea, and the other is Spain. I think this makes 37 consecutive turns that E and F have butted heads over the Catalan Coast. Will they ever learn?
When one gets right down to it, there is a little bit of a tricky situation in the Spain bounce, too. France only needed one unit to bounce with England's F MAO, so why did I report both? Again, the rules are fuzzy on that one, but this way just feels right to me. A self-bounce that impacts no one else is a secret. If you're going to send two units to a single space to bounce each
other and a foreign unit moves there, too, I think that unit would notice that you sent two and not one. I believe I already set a precedent for this decision earlier in the game. Once again, feel free to chip in with your opinion.
A final note on sneaky tactics to take advantage of the rules: It might occur to you clever types that instead of ordering
a unit to hold you could issue bogus support orders or bogus convoy
orders in the hopes of misleading your fellow players. While I confess
that if I was playing this is EXACTLY the sort of ploy I would come up
with, my instinct as a GM is not to allow it. But I'm waffling on that
one. Let's say I'm not going to allow it in this game, but I'm happy to add this as another good point of discussion. Think about it.
RETREATS REQUIRED: None. We can head happily into our week-end with no pending business.
NEXT DEADLINE: Fall 1908 is due Tuesday, June 22, at 8 pm Eastern US time. Send me finals early and I'll get back to you on Monday.
Cheers,
Chris
Orders as resolved. Please review and report any errors ASAP.
=====================================
England:
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*)
F Tunis - Ionian Sea (*Fails*)
F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports F Tunis - Ionian Sea
France:
A Gascony - Spain (*Bounce*)
F Marseilles - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*)
F Portugal - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*)
Italy:
Russia:
Turkey:
F Aegean Sea Supports F Ionian Sea
F Ionian Sea Convoys *
================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1907 Results - Corrino (Jun 16, 2010, 8:05 pm) |
Hi Players,
Well, folks, I hate to say it but this looking more and more like a two man race. England and Turkey each grow by 2 SC this year while the remaining three powers dwindle.
Nevertheless, there are still good reasons for everyone to keep fighting to the best of their ability; reasons such as ride, honor, and the chance to influence the final outcome. What's more, with the two witches so evenly matched, there may indeed be opportunities for clever players to take advantage of the great powers need to stop each other from reaching that critical majority.
As always, your individual reports have retreat and
adjustment info that you need. Here are the current SC counts for all
countries at the end of 1907.
COUNTRY SC
Austria 0 ... eliminated 1903
England 12
France 5
Germany 0 ... eliminated 1906
Italy 3
Russia 1
Turkey 13
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1907/Spring 1908 are due Friday, June 18, at 8 pm Eastern
time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate 24 hours earlier.
Cheers,
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1907 Results - Corrino (Jun 15, 2010, 6:41 pm) |
Hi Players,
Party on The Boot! Bring your armies, bring your fleets! Don't need no invitation just show up as you are. Four of our five nations are involved in the scrum for Rome, but it is Britain acting as the White Knight who helps Italy to regain her capital from the invading Froggies.
And lest you think this was an isolated case of altruism, we see in the north another attempt to restore an underdog army to its home SC. Unfortunately for the Tsar's forces, they needed more help than Britain had to offer in order to oust the Turks from Warsaw.
RETREAT REQUIRED: The French army in Rome needs to vacate the premises. Please send me your retreat order ASAP Monsieur le President, so that I may inform the Anglo-Italian leadership
along with their Autumn reports.
Regards,
Chris
Orders as resolved and revealed in the case of conflict. Please review.
====================================================
England:
F Belgium Hold
A Livonia Supports A Prussia - Warsaw
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*)
F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports A Apulia - Rome
France:
A Burgundy - Belgium (*Fails*)
F Marseilles - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*)
A Rome Supports * (*Dislodged*)
Italy:
A Apulia - Rome
F Naples Supports * (*Cut*)
A Venice Hold
Russia:
A Prussia - Warsaw (*Fails*)
Turkey:
F Ionian Sea - Naples (*Fails*)
A Moscow Supports A Warsaw
F Trieste - Venice (*Fails*)
A Warsaw Supports * (*Cut*)
====================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Spring 1907 Results - Corrino (Jun 11, 2010, 7:48 pm) |
Stabbers,
Our question for this beautiful Spring season is "Where the heck did everyone go?" Only nine units are revealed this time, way below our average. Is it because everyone turtled up? Or were you swinging wildly in the dark, and it just happens that your target ducked? I guess each of you will have to answer that question for yourself. Meanwhile, you can look at the dark, dark map and wonder, "Where the heck did everyone go?"
RETREAT REQUIRED: Italian army Greece. Please submit ASAP and I'll notify the concerned parties.
NEXT DEADLINE: Fall 1907 is due Tuesday, June 15, at 8 pm Eastern US time. I'll adjudicate Monday night if I have all five sets of final orders by then.
Cheers,
Chris
Orders
as resolved. As always, please review for errors.
====================================================
England:
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Portugal (*Bounce*)
France:
A Rome Supports * (*Cut*)
F Spain(sc) - Portugal (*Bounce*)
Italy:
A Apulia - Rome (*Fails*)
A Greece - Serbia (*Dislodged*)
Russia:
A Prussia - Warsaw (*Fails*)
Turkey:
A Bulgaria - Greece
A Serbia Supports A Bulgaria - Greece
A Warsaw Supports * (*Cut*)
==================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1906 Results - Corrino (Jun 09, 2010, 9:10 pm) |
Hi Players,
This year we say "Good-bye" to our second player. Germany has been eliminated, as most of you probably surmised from yesterday's results. Good luck to our Kaiser in his new career in scrap metal!
As always, your individual reports have retreat and adjustment info that you need. Here are the current SC counts for all countries at the end of 1906.
COUNTRY SC
Austria 0 ... eliminated 1903
England 10
France 7
Germany 0 ... eliminated 1906
Italy 4
Russia 2
Turkey 11
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1906/Spring 1907 are due Friday, June 11, at 8 pm Eastern
time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate 24 hours earlier.
HOWEVER... If I do not receive orders from Italy I will not NMR him again but will instead seek a replacement. One NMR can have a significant effect on the game. Two in a row would damage it severely, in my opinion.
Cheers,
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1906 Results - Corrino (Jun 08, 2010, 11:02 pm) |
Hello Stabbers,
Sorry for the late posting, but unfortunately we have our first NMR of the game as Italy has failed to submit orders for this season. Hate to do it, but as I said when we started, I can be flexible if you let me know there's a problem, but if I don't hear anything you get a couple of hours grace and then I'm going to go ahead and adjudicate.
What is the price of the NMR? Well, the loss of Tyrrhenian Sea is the only visible consequence. We'll have to wait until the Autumn report to find out whether it cost him in the SC department.
The rest of the map shows surprising little activity compared to Fall seasons past. We have Russia and England bouncing in what used to be Germany, and what could be called a token bounce in Portugal
between France and England.
RETREAT REQUIRED: Italian fleet Tyrrhenian Sea. Due by 8:00 pm Eastern time tomorrow, June 9.
The Autumn report will be out tomorrow with SC totals.
Chris
Orders as resolved:
=====================================
England:
F Baltic Sea - Berlin (*Bounce*)
F Gulf of Lyon - Tyrrhenian Sea
F Holland Supports * (*Cut*)
F Kiel Supports * (*Cut*)
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Portugal (*Bounce*)
F Western Mediterranean Supports F Gulf of Lyon - Tyrrhenian Sea
France:
F Spain(sc) - Portugal (*Bounce*)
Germany:
F Helgoland Bight - Holland (*Fails*)
Italy:
A Trieste Hold
F Tyrrhenian Sea Hold (*Dislodged*)
Russia:
A Prussia - Berlin (*Bounce*)
A Ruhr - Kiel (*Fails*)
Turkey:
F Albania - Trieste (*Fails*)
==================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Spring 1906 Results - Corrino (Jun 04, 2010, 5:21 pm) |
Players,
The year 1906 opens with a bang. Many bangs in fact, and pretty much all of the activity was centered on three well-separated peninsulas.
The English and the Germans butt heads in Jutland. No one can claim the Danish province, but unfortunately Kiel is no longer a safe haven for the German fleet. It must find a new place to go.
The English and the French resume their perpetual fighting in Iberia. This time it is the French fleet, with double support, dislodging the English from the Catalan Coast.
Finally, we come to the Balkan peninsula, specifically Greece and the Peloponnesian Islands. Here the Italians mount a surprise (?) attack from the north and send the Turkish fleet scattering to... elsewhere.
RETREATS
NEEDED from England, Germany and Turkey. Submit 'em ASAP and I'll notify all the parties involved. If I don't get a retreat by 8 pm tomorrow it's OTB for you and it won't be a secret.
NEXT DEADLINE: Fall 1906 is due Tuesday, June 8, at 8 pm Eastern US time. As always, if I have all the orders marked Final by Monday I'll try to adjudicate early.
Cheers,
Chris
Orders as resolved and revealed:
===========================================
England:
F Baltic Sea Supports F Holland - Kiel
F Holland - Kiel
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports F Spain(sc) - Portugal
F North Sea - Denmark (*Bounce*)
F Spain(sc) - Portugal (*Dislodged*)
F Western Mediterranean - Tunis (*Fails*)
France:
A Gascony Supports F Portugal - Spain(sc)
F Marseilles Supports F Portugal - Spain(sc)
F Portugal - Spain(sc)
A Venice - Trieste (*Bounce*)
Germany:
F Kiel - Denmark
(*Dislodged*)
Italy:
F Aegean Sea Supports A Serbia - Greece
F Ionian Sea Supports * (*Cut*)
A Serbia - Greece
A Trieste Hold
Russia:
Turkey:
F Albania - Trieste (*Bounce*)
F Greece Supports * (*Dislodged*)
F Tunis - Ionian Sea (*Fails*)
========================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1905 Results - Corrino (Jun 02, 2010, 6:14 am) |
Good morning, Players.
Due to the vagaries of the real world, I'm stuck at home for a while this morning. However, my misfortune is your good fortune, as it allows me to put out the Autumn results a good 13 hours earlier than normal.
Remember yesterday when you learned that the English witch had not one, not two. but three units dislodged from foreign SC? Well, guess who gets to BUILD this winter. That's right, England. He's up from 9 to 10 SC this year, tying Turkey for the board top. Our other movers are Italy (+1 from last year) and Germany (-2).
Here is the complete chart:
COUNTRY SC
Austria 0 ... eliminated 1903
England 10
France 5
Germany 1
Italy 6
Russia 2
Turkey 10
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1905/Spring 1906 are due Friday, June 4, at 8 pm Eastern
time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate 24 hours earlier.
Cheers,
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1905 Results - Corrino (Jun 01, 2010, 7:19 pm) |
Greetings All,
Nice to see everyone is over the recent bout of shyness. While last turn it seemed we had a roomful of wallflowers, with only 12 units appearing on the dance floor, this season shows 22 units getting down under the strobe lights and the shiny diplo ball. I'm not going to actually look up this next fact, but by blatant assertion I'm going to claim that this is the first time that at least 50% of the units for every single nation have been revealed.
Prominent among our stories: The Witches Meet! Turkey wins the Battle of Moscow, ejecting the English army formerly ensconced therein.
And this is only the first bad news for England. The Russians (remember them?) have apparently decided they prefer beer to vodka. They
don't care if the witches are fighting over Moscow. They're happily setting up shop in Munich and Berlin, the latter newly achieved by dislodging... an English fleet. That's two strikes against King George's boys.
How about the Atlantic war? Surely the proud sons of MOE (merry old England) are winning against their old enemies the French? Well, we can't speak for the whole war, but the Battle for Brest (Round 4) sees that port returning to French hands once more.
Blimey, mate! That's three losses on three fronts! Surely a season of infamy for the mighty British empire. Could this be the beginning of the end of the middle part of the end's beginning for England? Wise "Stabbers" will temper their excitement until tomorrow night when the SC counts for all nations are reported.
RETREATS NEEDED: 3 from England
DEADLINE: ASAP, within 24 hours at the latest. Winter
1905/Spring 1906 will be due on Friday, June 4.
As always, please check these posted results and your country reports for errors. It has been awhile since I had a perfect season. No major blunders to this point (knock wood) but do let me know if you see (or even suspect) a mistake.
Cheers,
Chris
======================================================
England:
F Berlin - Kiel (*Dislodged*)
F Brest - Gascony (*Dislodged*)
F Holland Supports F Berlin - Kiel
A Moscow - Sevastopol (*Dislodged*)
F North Sea - Denmark (*Bounce*)
F Spain(sc) Supports * (*Cut*)
France:
A Gascony Supports A Paris - Brest
F Marseilles - Spain(sc) (*Fails*)
A Paris - Brest
Germany:
F Helgoland Bight - Kiel (*Bounce*)
F Kiel - Denmark (*Bounce*)
A Ruhr Supports F Helgoland Bight - Kiel
Italy:
F Aegean Sea - Greece (*Fails*)
F Ionian Sea Supports F Aegean Sea - Greece
A
Trieste - Albania (*Fails*)
Russia:
A Munich Supports A Silesia - Berlin
A Silesia - Berlin
Turkey:
F Albania - Trieste (*Fails*)
A Bulgaria Supports F Greece
F Greece Hold
A Sevastopol Supports A Warsaw - Moscow
A Warsaw - Moscow
=============================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Spring 1905 Results - Corrino (May 28, 2010, 8:24 pm) |
Hello, Players.
Spring is sprung, and young men's thoughts turn to ... love? War? Cleaning out the basement? I think there must have been a lot of the last one happening in Europe this turn. It's the blackest map we've had for a long time, probably since 1901.
Not that we don't have some activity to report. Our western witch, England, seems quite comfortable to be taking on both France and Germany simultaneously. I'll have one dot from each of you, thank you veddy much!
Our eastern witch, on the other hand, apparently decided to take the turn off from his bullying. In fact, the only action we seen at all east of Holland is the Turkish fleet in Aegean being rudely dislodged while in the act of transporting some soldiers.
Where did they come from? Where were they going? Don't know. All we can say is that fortunately they were able to drag their soggy selves back up to shore before their transport ships were forced to flee.
I need retreats from England, France and Turkey. Please submit ASAP. Deadline is Saturday at 8 pm, but if I don't see them by early afternoon you'll be waiting until Sunday because I'm going to see the Sox play at Fenway tomorrow night.
Hard to believe we're only in 1905 isn't it? I don't know about you, but this one month has felt like three to me. Hope you're all having fun, even those of you not named England or Turkey.
Cheers,
Chris
Orders as Resolved:
=================================================
England:
F Brest - Gascony (*Fails*)
F Kiel - Holland
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc)
F North Sea Supports F Kiel - Holland
F Western Mediterranean
Supports F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc)
France:
A Marseilles - Gascony
A Paris Supports A Marseilles - Gascony
F Spain(sc) Supports * (*Dislodged*)
Germany:
F Holland Supports * (*Dislodged*)
Italy:
F Eastern Mediterranean - Aegean Sea
F Ionian Sea Supports F Eastern Mediterranean - Aegean Sea
Russia:
Turkey:
F Aegean Sea Convoys * (*Dislodged*)
=========================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1904 Results - Corrino (May 26, 2010, 8:52 pm) |
Players,
I'm giving my wit, and hence your stomachs, a break this time. Am I lazy or merely uninspired? There was a lot of mixing it up in 1904, but when we look at the numbers at the end of the year only two countries totals have changed, with Turkey up 2 SC and Russia down by the same number.
Here are the SC counts at the conclusion of 1904.
COUNTRY SC
Austria 0 ... eliminated 1903
England 9
France 5
Germany 3
Italy 5
Russia 2
Turkey 10
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1904/Spring 1905 are due Friday, May 28, at 8 pm Eastern
time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate 24 hours earlier.
Cheers,
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1904 Results - Corrino (May 25, 2010, 7:35 pm) |
Stabbers,
Which wicked witch is the witch which is wickedest? Tough to say, tough to judge. They're both pretty nasty, eh? I'd hate to be locked up in a dark room with either of them myself. Oh, sorry. I guess you blokes in the middle are in just that position.
News of the turn:
. Turkey dislodges Russia from two Balkan SC. Uh-oh.
. Brest changes hands for the third time (that we know about).
. French army is rebuffed from Naples... from Naples?
. Germany saves the tulips from English hegemony, but what's going on everywhere else north of Switzerland?
I had a bad round last time for mistakes. I'm a little less stressed tonight, so I hope I did better, but please keep checking my work and
don't hesitate to ask me to confirm something if you suspect I goofed. Just be nice about it, okay? 
There are 3 retreats due. Please submit ASAP. Once received, I'll distribute Autumn reports to all of you showing SC owned and adjustments required.
Cheers,
Chris
==============================================
England:
F English Channel Supports F Picardy - Brest
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports * (*Cut*)
F North Sea - Holland (*Fails*)
F Picardy - Brest
France:
A Brest Hold (*Dislodged*)
F Portugal - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*)
A Rome - Naples (*Fails*)
Germany:
F Holland Supports * (*Cut*)
Italy:
A Budapest Supports * (*Cut*)
F Naples Supports * (*Cut*)
A Trieste - Serbia (*Fails*)
Russia:
A Bulgaria - Rumania (*Dislodged*)
A Rumania - Budapest (*Dislodged*)
A Serbia Supports * (*Cut*)
Turkey:
F Black Sea Supports A
Sevastopol - Rumania
A Constantinople - Bulgaria
F Greece Supports A Constantinople - Bulgaria
A Sevastopol - Rumania
===================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Spring 1904 Results - Corrino (May 20, 2010, 8:59 pm) |
Players,
That's more like it! It's about time we had a nice stealth round. In all the continent we have conflict in only 3 spaces this turn: Spain, Bulgaria and the Ionian Sea. A cloak of darkness covers most of the land north of the Med. Now that's what blind games are all about.
What's more, this turn sees two retreats, one for each of our wicked witches. Are we seeing the beginning of an organized resistance, or are the Munchkins about to experience a brutal retaliation? Find out next time, on (cue theme music) "A Stab in the Dark."
RETREATS DUE: England and Turkey to please submit retreats ASAP. Deadline is Friday, May 21, at 8 pm Eastern US time. Failure to submit retreat orders will result in the unit
being disbanded.
Once I have the retreats I will notify the involved parties.
FALL 1904 DEADLINE: Monday, May 24, at 8 pm Eastern US time.
Cheers,
Chris
=======================================================
England:
F Spain(sc) Supports * (*Dislodged*)
France:
A Gascony Supports F Marseilles - Spain(sc)
F Marseilles - Spain(sc)
F Portugal Supports F Marseilles - Spain(sc)
Germany:
Italy:
F Adriatic Sea Supports F Eastern Mediterranean - Ionian Sea
F Eastern Mediterranean - Ionian Sea (*Bounce*)
Russia:
A Rumania - Bulgaria
A Serbia Supports A Rumania - Bulgaria
Turkey:
A Bulgaria - Serbia (*Dislodged*)
F Greece - Ionian Sea (*Bounce*)
F Tunis Supports F Greece - Ionian Sea
==========================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1903 Results - Corrino (May 18, 2010, 6:10 pm) |
Hi Players,
Thanks to all players for getting their retreats in promptly. Parties involved will find retreat outcomes in their Autumn reports.
First order of business is to wish "Auf Wiedersehen!" to our unfortunate Archduke. You have suffered the fate of many an Austro-Hungarian leader before you. Gunboat is rarely kind to the Dual Monarchy. That's the main reason I decided to try the Fleet Rome variant in 324, just to see if maybe it would give Austria a bit more room to grow at the beginning.
As for the survivors, I have to say it's starting to look like the Land of Oz B.D. (Before Dorothy). The Wicked Witches are on the ascendant, owning
half of all the available SC after just three years of play. Can our remaining powers put together a defense? Yes, it's pretty difficult to coordinate when you're blindfolded and gagged. Better come up with something, though....
Below are the SC counts at the conclusion of 1903.
COUNTRY SC
Austria 0
England 9
France 5
Germany 3
Italy 5
Russia 4
Turkey 8
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Hey Dudes! This is the third time we're doing this now, so try to remember: WINTER & SPRING orders are submitted together.
Winter 1903/Spring 1904 are due Friday, May 21, at 8 pm Eastern
time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate 24 hours earlier.
Cheers,
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1903 Results - Corrino (May 17, 2010, 10:47 pm) |
Players,
Goodness, gracious! There's a whole lotta shakin' going on this season in Stab Land. Forget the sneaky stuff. Let's rummmble!
21 units are involved in conflicts raging across Europe. Germany appears to be the new epicenter of the war but there's plenty to go around. Not to say we don't have quiet pockets, too. Things are strangely through the Med this season, and then there is the black hole of Britain. Will the sun ever rise on this British Empire?
We have two retreats due, one for the Russian fleet in Denmark and the other for the English fleet in Brest.
RETREAT DEADLINE is 8 pm Eastern US time on Tues, 5/18. The sooner the better.
Once I have the retreats I'll send out the SC counts and the
Autumn reports with adjustments due.
Cheers,
Chris
Rule Clarification: If a foreign power occupies one of your owned SC, whether it was an original SC or a captured SC, that information will be given to you in your country report. However, you only get that information for as long as you own the SC. Once the next Fall turn has passed and the SC no longer belongs to you, the SC vanishes from your sight. Don't assume that the other player left just because you're not seeing him in your report any more. Once you lose an SC you're not entitled to know what's going on there until you can recapture it and hold it through a Fall turn.
===========================================================
Austria:
A Bohemia - Vienna (*Fails*)
England:
F Baltic Sea - Denmark
F Brest - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Dislodged*)
F Sweden Supports F Baltic Sea - Denmark
France:
A Gascony
Supports A Paris - Brest
A Paris - Brest
F Portugal - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*)
Germany:
F Berlin Supports F Helgoland Bight - Kiel
A Burgundy - Munich (*Fails*)
F Helgoland Bight - Kiel
A Ruhr Supports A Burgundy - Munich
Italy:
A Vienna Supports A Trieste - Budapest (*Cut*)
F Eastern Mediterranean Supports * (*Cut*)
Russia:
F Denmark - Kiel (*Dislodged*)
A Munich Supports * (*Cut*)
A Rumania holds
A Silesia Supports A Munich
A Ukraine - Sevastopol (*Bounce*)
Turkey:
F Black Sea - Sevastopol (*Bounce*)
A Bulgaria - Rumania (*Fails*)
F Smyrna - Eastern Mediterranean (*Fails*)
======================================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) Spring 1903 Results ** CORRECTED ** - Corrino (May 14, 2010, 8:32 pm) |
Players,
THIS JUST IN: Russian stealth armies seize Munich! White Russians in the Black Forest! Mein Gott!
Sorry for the earlier erroneous report. I failed to pick up a set of revised orders which certainly had a significant impact on the results. Fortunately, most of the difference is in new units revealed. Only one unit was revealed originally that should not have been. Perhaps you will all do me the courtesy of simply deleting the original message and map and forgetting what you saw?
Thanks.
Your abashed GM,
Chris
RETREAT NEEDED: German A Munich. Please submit ASAP, within 24 hours at the most.
NEXT DEADLINE: Fall 1903 is due Tuesday, May 18, at 8 pm Eastern US time. I
will adjudicate 24 hours early if I have seven sets of orders all marked final.
==============================================
Austria:
England:
F Brest Hold
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Portugal (*Fails*)
France:
A Paris - Brest (*Fails*)
F Portugal - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*)
Germany:
F Berlin - Kiel (*Bounce*)
A Munich - Berlin (*Dislodged*)
Italy:
F Adriatic Sea - Ionian Sea (*Fails*)
F Eastern Mediterranean - Smyrna (*Fails*)
F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea (*Bounce*)
Russia:
A Bohemia - Munich
F Denmark - Kiel (*Bounce*)
A Rumania - Sevastopol (*Fails*)
A Silesia Supports A Bohemia - Munich
A Ukraine Supports A Rumania - Sevastopol
Turkey:
F Black Sea Supports A Sevastopol
F Greece - Aegean Sea (*Bounce*)
F Ionian Sea - Tyrrhenian Sea (*Bounce*)
A Sevastopol Supports * (*Cut*)
F Smyrna - Aegean Sea
(*Bounce*)
================================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - GM oversight - Corrino (May 13, 2010, 6:52 pm) |
Players,
I goofed. I neglected to inform each player of their SC owned and adjustments due. If you'll look back to your Autumn 01 report you'll see that information listed. I should have done that this year, too. I
just forgot. Rookie GM error.
I expect that for most of you this made no difference but in a least one case there was almost a big mistake made. I would feel awful if my negligence caused anyone harm, so I'm going to immediately send out the updates to each of you.
At this point in time, I have 6 sets of final orders and 1 set of prelims. The deadline is still officially tomorrow night. Anyone may change their orders in the next 24 hours. If you would like to reaffirm your previous orders as final, that would be good, too. I will adjudicate tonight if I get 7 "finals" back within a couple hours from now, but that seems rather unlikely. I'd rather err on the side of caution.
Again, my apologies. Thanks very much to the vigilant player who pointed out my oversight.
Chris[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1902 Results - Corrino (May 10, 2010, 7:43 pm) |
Hi Players,
Many thanks to the Russian player for getting his retreat in so quickly. I'm not even in my pajamas yet!
Here are the SC counts at the conclusion of 1902. As you can see, we have a new board leader. Or should that be, as you CAN'T see. Where the heck did he get 7 SC? At the risk of being trite, that's for him to know and you to figure out.
COUNTRY SC
Austria 1
England 7
France 5
Germany 4
Italy 5
Russia 6
Turkey 6
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1902/Spring 1903 are due Friday, May 14, at 8 pm Eastern
time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate 24 hours earlier.
AGAIN... Winter and Spring are due TOGETHER. One mail message, please.[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Fall 1902 Results - Corrino (May 10, 2010, 6:22 pm) |
Players -
I think you'll our map this time. I'm going to call it "The Hungarian Hurricane" for reasons which I think will be obvious to all.
You'll notice that our trend of MANY revealed moves in the East and only a few in the West has been even more exaggerated this season. Only two units stand revealed amongst our EFG trio, while in the east, there are not many more than that left secret. Is this the way it always goes in Stab! you may be wondering. No, not in my experience, I must answer.
I'd love to comment on who's up and who's down, but alas, the Tsar owes us a retreat order for A Vienna. Can't say anything like that until afterwards.
If I can have that retreat ASAP, please. Once I have the retreat in hand, I will publish the SC counts and you can start planning your builds and moves for
1903.
Cheers,
Chris
====================================
FALL 1902
Austria:
A Galicia - Warsaw (*Bounce*)
A Serbia - Rumania (*Bounce*)
England:
F Brest Supports * (*Cut*)
France:
A Paris - Brest (*Fails*)
Germany:
Italy:
F Naples - Ionian Sea (*Fails*)
A Trieste Supports A Tyrolia - Vienna
A Tyrolia - Vienna
Russia:
A Rumania Supports * (*Cut*)
A Silesia - Warsaw (*Bounce*)
A Ukraine - Sevastopol (*Fails*)
A Vienna Supports * (*Dislodged*)
Turkey:
F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea
A Armenia - Sevastopol
F Black Sea Supports A Armenia - Sevastopol
A Bulgaria - Rumania (*Bounce*)
F Greece Supports F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea
===================================[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Results tonight - Corrino (May 10, 2010, 6:37 am) |
Players -
I have seven sets of orders marked Final, so once again I will be adjudicating a day early. Changes will be accepted up until I start working on the results -- about 11 hours from now.
Chris
[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Spring 1902 Results - Corrino (May 06, 2010, 8:07 pm) |
Hi Players,
Once again we have all orders in early and marked final. Keep it up and we're going to set some kind of record.
Plenty of conflict this time, especially in the Balkans where very little remains hidden. Germany ejects a Russian army from Kiel (?!) and England finally makes an appearance on our map with a fleet which will apparently be getting an extra six months shore leave in beautiful Brest. Meanwhile, down in the Ionian, Italy scores our first victory at sea.
All told we see 12 units this season which leaves exactly ... ah, you didn't think I was going to tell you that, did you? You'll have to deduce the answer for yourself.
Cheers,
Chris
=====================================
Austria:
A Serbia - Budapest
(*Fails*)
England:
F Brest - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*)
France:
F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*)
Germany:
F Berlin Supports A Munich - Kiel
A Munich - Kiel
Italy:
F Naples Supports F Tunis - Ionian Sea
F Tunis - Ionian Sea
Russia:
A Kiel - Berlin (*Dislodged*)
A Rumania - Budapest
A Vienna Supports A Rumania - Budapest
Turkey:
A Bulgaria - Serbia (*Fails*)
F Greece - Ionian Sea (*Fails*)
=======================================
Russian A Kiel must retreat. Please submit ASAP.
Next Deadline: Tuesday, May 11, 8 pm Eastern US. Will adjudicate 24 hours early if all orders in and marked as Final.[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Winter 1901/Fall 190... - Corrino (May 06, 2010, 7:15 am) |
Players -
Reminder that the deadline is in 36 hours. If I have seven sets of final orders by 8 pm tonight (12 hours from now) I will adjudicate early.
Please don't consider this pressure to submit early; I'm just informing you.
Currently received:
5 sets final
1 set prelims
1 set unsubmitted
Regards,
Chris
[Reply] |
| (DC 324) A Stab in the Dark - Autumn 1901 Results - Corrino (May 04, 2010, 7:32 am) |
Hi Players,
It's a fine morning here in The Hub. Hope it's nice where you are, too. Austria has expedited his retreat orders so we can proceed to the next phase. Those of you who are privileged to see those retreats will see that info in your country reports to be sent out immediately following this message.
Now it is time to post the Supply Center counts for 1901. This is like publishing the salaries and tax returns of your local public officials. Who knew he made that much? He's not doing so well. Maybe a bad investment?
Enough of my tortured analogy. The chart:
COUNTRY SC
Austria 2
England 5
France 3
Germany 4
Italy 5
Russia 7
Turkey 5
==================================================
NEXT DEADLINE:
Winter 1901/Spring 1902 are due Friday, May 7, at 8 pm Eastern time. If all orders are in and marked Final I may adjudicate earlier.
Reminder that you can only build on your home SC. It was only the starting turn where you could position your units in other spaces.
NOTES on Retreats:
I received a couple of good questions about retreats that I thought I would share with everyone.
Q: What happens if austria retreats to a space with a unit already in it? Disband? My guess then would be disband the fleet and retreat to bul (disbanding) and build 2 armies. If that happened, would russia see that the retreat fails? Would the rest of the game?
If Austria does not submit a legal retreat, Austria's unit will be disbanded. That would include all of these scenarios:
1. retreating to an occupied space
2. retreating to a space where units bounced the previous season
3. colliding with another retreating unit (his own or another player's)
4. an invalid retreat based on the map. e.g. Retreat A Rumania - Warsaw.
5. NRR - no retreat received
The opposing player(s) who caused the retreat would also learn of the disband, but not where the unit was ordered to or why the disband happened. In other words, whether the retreat succeeds or fails, the opponent is told the RESULTS of the retreat only. Austria, himself, would be given the exact reason in the case where the retreat failed.
For example, England dislodging a German army from Kiel might be told "The German army has retreated to Denmark" or "The German army has disbanded." In the latter case, he wouldn't know whether the disband was ordered by the German or was the result of one of the situations noted above.
[Reply] |
