Congrats to Frank on his solo. My apologies to all for the minimal communication. Very busy on my end. Thanks to both Turkey/Robert and Nathan/Russia, even after grabbing Kiev, for sticking with me through this game. With only two armies and five potential enemies Poland’s strategy is dependent solely on diplomacy, which I didn’t do much of frankly. In the beginning I got an agreement with Russia not move into Lithuania. Got a vague offer from England for an alliance down the road. Got an offer from Denmark to take out Prussia. Finally, I got a promise of non-aggression from Austria and heard nothing from Prussia. So I decided to go after Prussia.
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The results were England’s offer never materialized and Denmark obfuscated (Intentional?) and in the end I made the mistake of taking Konigsberg. Austria just marched into Dresden. This last move was a bit surprising in that Austria had a number of centers to go after and obviously was not working with anyone else to take me out. I have to ask Jorge whether this move was more related to our previous game encounter.
Konigsberg is Poland’s “Roach Motel.†Its allure is its close by and gives Poland access to the Baltic. The trap is taking, and holding it, is depended on outside help, as, frankly, is the case for Poland due to the position of its armies. And even worse it is to easily cut off. Unfortunately, I came to the realization after the fact but bolted in time and settled for Kiev, sorry Nathan, to keep myself in the game.
So after the first year my choice was a slow death on the defensive or “fix bayonets†and charge, or in this case side step Austria. Enter Robert/Turkey who took me under his wing (excuse the pun) and I was able to take up residency in Chicago (formerly known as Budapest). From that point on I took on the job of holding the center of the line for Turkey and kept pinging away at Vienna to at least tie down Austrian armies in its defense.
In Diplomacy when things are not going well to go on the defensive is to lose. To attack provides more opportunities, usually comes as a big surprise to your opponent, and gets him/her to starting making his/her plans based on where he/she thinks you are going to attack.
-Matt Kelly-
Fredericksburg, VA
