I guess it's time to think back on this game, and put some thoughts on paper. It started out simple enough - EFG were going to run a Western Triple. But that didnt last even a year, as Josh and myself were planning Aiden's downfall during the first year. Normally I'd love to pull off a triple, but the option to take out England early on w a quick strike was tempting. 01 results were good, England opened north, Germany got the strong 6-center start, and I opened to the south coast of Spain, to the dismay of Bruce / Italy. We were able to reassure Italy that it wasnt really a move at him, for in the next year we both demilitarized the Western Med in a very trusting set of moves. Then the battle lines were drawn, FG vs E, AI vs T, and R dipping into both wars.

At this point I think Aiden you played too conservatively. You didnt try to turn me, or more likley, turn Germany on me. I could have been destroyed for a couple years, leaving only a single army to defend the homeland. Josh didnt tho, and kept on w our team, so England went down. Too fast for Italy I'm sure, since we took out England but Turkey (Jeff) was still alive. This meant we got the jump we needed on both Russia (Justin) and Italy. With them still fighting a Turk that wouldnt die, we could put our full force behind the attacks and win out, which is exactly what happened. (in hindsight Bruce, I think had you picked TI vs A instead of AI vs T, you'd have done better. You got latched onto the weaker of the two in the east against Jeff instead of with Jeff against Nathan).

Moving on, England fell quickly. If either England had taken a bit longer than the couple turns it took to invade, or if Turkey went down quicker, then it's a new game - but the early imbalance turned into an avalanche and two more powers I/R fell shortly after.

Next on the list was Austria (Nathan) who didnt stand a chance against the German war machine with nobody left to help him. Invaded in Spring 07, he promptly bailed on the game in the face of unavoidable death.

Now enters Darryl, the new Austrian who brought a breath of fresh air into the game that was kinda boring at this point, just attacking w/o much Diplomacy. Your efforts got me reinterested in it, and your desire to get a decent result out of a tough country was commendable. Unfortunately for you, this turn was the turn I got 3 builds from finishing off Italy, and so those 3 builds allowed me to fill the holes at home, and make a stab less likely from Germany. Had Germany stabbed me in 07, he might have got the win, for he had a clear path to Paris, plus overwhelming forces in the east. It would have been close.

The stab didnt happen, so we carried on. At this point a 2-way draw floated, and I voted yes to it - but (I'm guessing) Germany voted no. Everything was looking like Germany was going to solo. He had 14 dots, with a path to 4 more in the Balkans, so Austria and I started diploming to put up a wall. These activities got me into Greece and Belgium, two important spots. Belgium was a move against Germany. Not a stab, as I made it clear I was doing this to keep him from soloing, and a necessary redistribution. I think this annoyed Josh that I did this (understandable), and we talked a lot less after it. Also at this point I started to see the possibility that not only would Germany only reach 17 after losing Bel, but I could conceivably get 18. Especially w that good turn, I put some more fleets in play which would eventually overpower Scandinavia.

I kept the pressure on Germany with Austria for a few turns, then laid the knife into Darryl (sorry!) for what I thought was the needed positioning for the win, i.e. Constantinople, and a gateway to the Black Sea. Once I got in there, I could lock down Bulgaria and avoid any losses on that front while I got the last few that were needed in the north.

To get any solo, something has to break down, and in this case I think it's that A/G were never able to work together (really not sure why, as both were active diplomats). There were many points at which if they teamed up, they could have booted me from Tyrolia, Greece, or even Trieste, but it didnt happen so here we are.

Good game to all, I hope to meet you all again, save for maybe the first Austria who bailed since I cant stand when ppl give up on positions. This game can always be turned around w some effort. Thanks to Babak for running it - and coming up w the creative theme, and Trout for finishing up the 2nd half, as always the many hats you wear are entertaining, and your GM'ing is the best in the hobby.

Well I guess that's probly more than most of you cared about. Glad to hear any other thoughts on the game!
-mike
France



From: Josh E. [mailto:aramis604(at)yahoo.com]
Sent: Sat 9/12/2009 2:44 AM
Subject: Re: DC230 Lost Kings - Fall 1911 - Grow Your Own F*ing Mustache A**hole!!


Congrats Mike! Another well earned win.

- Josh