I'll get the ball rolling with my EOG. 

First, I'd like to extend a thank you to Alan for running an excellent game. I'll be looking for that modern variant to pop up on the website, or any other game that you feel like running. 

In my initial communication with France and Germany, a western triple was proposed which didn't get off the ground due to mistrust between France and Germany, coupled by Germany opting to not order F Kie to Den to attempt to deny Sweden to Russia.  Instead, in fall of 1901, Germany offered me a free hand in the north against Russia by ceding Denmark to me, in exchange for cooperation against France.  There wasn't really much out there that could have beat that offer so I accepted, and that dictated my strategy in the first half of the game. 

In general, there wasn't a lot of communication between the triangles on the board in the first half of the game, at least on my end.  That was partly my fault, as I was concerned with hashing things out in my own triangle, and there was a lot of problems early with the aborted western triple and my attempts to figure out where I should end up allying myself.  I never received anything from Russia, and only an introductory email from Turkey.

I think this lack of communication enabled France to stay in the game by enlisting some assistance from the first two Italian leaders to defend against my fleets, which enabled him to stick around for quite awhile.  Mr. Stroz, on the other hand, saw a quick gain from allying with Jyri and myself against France and that ensured his demise. 

Around 1906 I figured that I would have to be lucky to get a solo, and I think this was proven correct by the moves subsequent to that year.  In 1906 (or was it 1905) Santiago had a fleet in the adriatic and an army in trieste.  Had he moved on his Italian ally at that point, I daresay I would have soloed because I would have broken into the med.  After that year, Michael was in a good position to ally with Sultan Michael and they took Austria down.  They were ably assisted by the decision to retreat three armies otb during a spring retreat phase. .. I still don't know what the decision calculus was there.

Anyhoo, the only mistake I made I made on account of an email stating that the adjudication was in 8 minutes, when it was actually due tomorrow.  I submitted orders on the spur of the moment and Alan adjudicated on the spur of having all the orders in.  It wouldn't have affected things because I still had 4 fleets to blockade the mid atlantic and sufficient units to defend the home island. 

That's pretty much all that I have, and it's been a pleasure playing with you all.

On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 6:44 PM, Alan Farrington <alley_cat_1990(at)hotmail.com ([email]alley_cat_1990(at)hotmail.com[/email])> wrote:

Its been 11 years since the continent of Europe was plunged into war, but finally the seven sinners of Europe have become the four sinners and decided to put away their guns and agreed to end the war.

A Four way Draw between Sultan Michael Holm [8 centers], Michael Stroz  in Italy [9 centers], Kaiser Jyri Syrja in Germany [3 centers], and Her Majesty the Queen Mark Utterback [14 centers].

I'm sure everyoen would enjoy reading end of game statements from all the different players (past and present).  Feel free to group email them to everyone or send them to me and I will forward them along.  As for the GM I have just a few words that I would like to relay about the makeup of this game.

First of all I would like to thank Michael Stroz for stepping up and leading italy.  He was the third leader to command those pesky Green units and did a magnificent job.  I'd also like to thank Rachael Jameson, Santiago Villamayor, and Anthony Stevens for keeping with their declining positions even though the outcome was bleak.  Its people like you that I can count on.  Thanks!

I have two points to make about the game: First I think Italy did a great job getting a leg up on Mark in what is usually a complete stalemate line.  I'm unsure how it would have worked out if the game had continued.  Also, I've been waiting for the Turk to stab Italy since Fall 1909!  If a stab wasn't coming why was that army parked in Serbia for so long?  Turkey did the "right" thing, if he had stabbed I believe Mark would have won the solo and Holm would have lost his share in the draw, but the temptation to improve your position must have been immense.

Lastly I would  like to make a shout out to Andy [The White Wolf] who was there to answer my question and coach me through my fist GM experience whenever I needed him.

If any of you are still reading I hope to see you in either the next game I play [South American Supremacy] , or the next game I GM [hopefully a Modern Variant]

Thank you all,
Alan Farrington

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