A&E 090205 / DC240: It was a weird ending to a game that reached peaks with Diplomacy being played at the highest level, and then other moments that were decidedly less lofty. By the way, the ambiguous order could have prevented victory, and so I wanted to make sure to get that right. I am not entirely comfortable with the nature of the solo, with Austria assisting Britain over the finish line. Still, Frank's victory was wholly deserved, and seemed to be the likely outcome regardless of Austria's help. Congratulations to Frank on playing an outstanding game. I also would like to give special thanks to Jorge Saralegui and David Gould, both of whom I had extended conversations with regarding their strategy in the game (without crossing any lines of propriety for a GM).

From a historical perspective for this variant, this is quite significant, as Britain had the worst record of any power in the game (including Poland-Saxony, Denmark, and Sweden!), with only one 5-way draw to their credit in 16 games. I could never understand this, as I view Britain as probably the strongest power to start the game. Frank has done his part to rectify this situation, and it is a major accomplishment. Personally, I was interested to see that Denmark-Norway and Turkey both performed well, following the publication of my two strategy articles Please be sure to check out the new strategy article that was just published this week, with strategy for Poland-Saxony. This article was written by Chris Dziedzic and variant co-creator Jeffrey Kase, and it's a great read. Here is the link:

http://www.diplom.org/Zine/S2009R/Dziedzic/ps.htm


Also, I will be writing an article on Austrian strategy that will likely be published later this summer. I will have more to say about this game later, but I figure I'll wait a bit until after the explosions from the promised fireworks in the EoG statements and the smoke has cleared a bit.

I plan to start another A&E game in the near future, although I will give preference to players that were not in this game, in order to get some new blood. Still, if you are interested, please let me know. I also will start up the first gametest for my World War II variant, which is finally ready for primetime, after years of development. Recruitment will start in the next couple weeks. If you are interested, please let me know. The website is still under construction, but you can see it here:

http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/

Before the adjudication, we have some press. I think you can guess which player is sure to have press this week...

Press #1: British
AP London: Yahtzee! (I hope)

Press #2: Danish
Three diplomacy points for papal states to support anyone who is working
to stop Frank ....

Press #3: Anonymous
So, Frank wins. Those damn danes. Novograd, Novograd, Novograd. Always
Novograd. Sigh.


Fall Adjudications
Austrian A Bav S A Vie
Austrian A Boh S A Lus - Brl
Austrian A Dre - Lus
Austrian A Sav - Tus
Austrian A Tyr S A Vie
Austrian A Ven S A Pap *Cut*
Austrian A Vie S A Boh
British A Ane - Hew
British A Bur - Mar *Bounce*
British A Han H
British A Hew - Baw
British A Lus - Brl
British A Par H
British F And - Brc
British F Eng - Bre
British F Hel S A Han
British F Mid - Gib
British F Mor S F Wes - Alg
British F Nth - Ska *Bounce*
Danish A Ber S A Mec
Danish A Brl - Pos
Danish A Kon - Lit *Bounce*
Danish A Liv - Mos *Bounce*
Danish A Mec S A Ber
Danish A Mos - Lit *Bounce*
Danish A Nov S A Liv - Mos
Danish F Bal S A Ber
Danish F Sca - Ska *Bounce*
French A Gas - Brc *Bounce*
French A Lan - Mar *Bounce*
Neutral A Pap H *Dislodged* *Disbanded*
Polish A Bud S A Pos - Gal
Polish A Pos - Gal
Russian A Kie - Mos *Bounce*
Spanish F Gly S F And - Brc
Spanish F Wes - Alg
Turkish A Cro S A Bud
Turkish A Lit S A Kie - Mos *Cut*
Turkish F Adr - Ven *Bounce*
Turkish F Tun - Alg *Bounce*
Turkish F Tws S F Tys - Pap (wc)
Turkish F Tys - Pap (wc)

Retreat Possibilities
Neutral A Pap is destroyed (neutral)

Position Power Abb 1769 1770 Change SCs changing possession
1 Britain B 12 15 +3 +Baw, -Ber, +Brc, +Brl, +Mor
2 Denmark D 10 10 0 +Ber, -Brl
3 Austria A 8 7 -1 -Baw, +Tus, -Tws
4 Turkey T 6 6 0 -Alg, -Mor, +Pap, +Tws
5 Poland X 2 2 0

6 Spain S 2 2 0 +Alg, -Tus
7 France F 2 1 -1 -Brc
8 Russia R 1 1 0

9 Prussia P 0 0 0

10 Sweden W 0 0 0


Power Abb 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770
TOTAL
44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44
Austria A 4 7 8 7 8 7 8 8 7
Britain B 4 6 6 7 8 8 11 12 15
Denmark D 2 2 2 3 5 7 8 10 10
France F 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 1
Poland X 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Prussia P 3 4 3 3 3 3 1 0 0
Russia R 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1
Spain S 2 3 4 4 3 3 2 2 2
Sweden W 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Turkey T 2 3 4 5 5 8 6 6 6
Neutral C,M,V 17 10 7 5 4 2 2 1 0



---------------------------------------
Nick Higgins
Congress of Vienna variant website:
http://1814congressofvienna.tripod.com