I'm one of the old lags in this game, being in from the start...

The start of the game seems ages ago, but I remember pulling a fast one on Russia at the start to get into the Black Sea. I then managed to NMR in Fall 1901, which I'd like to think was the reason I didn't get very far in the game, but I realise in reality that my stupidity in Fall 1901 has little to do with it!

I had an initial plan with Italy to take out Austria, but Italy disappeared and I never really got any decent dialogue going with my neighbours after that . As Turkey I was able to mount a fairly solid defence as the hordes first took Bulgaria, and then closed in on my home centres. My fleet in the Black Sea was consistently being disrupted by the Russian navy, stopping it taking advantage of it's good position.

After that, it was what I thought would be a slow death, with France advancing in the Med, Austria and Russia continuing to squeeze and my existence in the game threatened...and then the game entered a stasis period, to be resurrected a few short weeks ago with a new GM and a "stop France" proposal. I was a very junior partner in this, ordering as I was told...and I somehow emerged from this as a one centre power being part of a draw, which I'm overjoyed with.

For what it's worth, I don't think France could have soloed...the stop France alliance seemed to be working well (apart from a few initial misorders!) and we seemed pretty tight...France was about to face the English fleets from the North and wouldn't be getting to 18 any time soon.

In closing, thanks for those who played the game, particularly replacement players. And thanks to the GMs for doing their bit!

Michael

--- On Tue, 22/9/09, Benjamin Hester <screwtape777(at)gmail.com> wrote:

From: Benjamin Hester <screwtape777(at)gmail.com>
Subject: Re: dc220 Game end - Draw!
To: "Jeff Cole" <jeffcole854(at)gmail.com>
Cc: "Michael Sims" <mike(at)fuzzylogicllc.net>, "The White Wolf" <cloudhurler77(at)yahoo.com>, "Michael Thompson" <psychosis(at)sky.com>, "Josh Mayo" <zauberlichneo(at)hotmail.com>, "Alexander Kossoff" <akossoff(at)gmail.com>, "dc220" <dc220(at)diplomaticcorp.com>, verticallychallangedcutie(at)yahoo.com, alfred.nicol(at)virgin.net, marindanielgeorge1(at)yahoo.com, jasonmbeck(at)gmail.com, finchleywomble(at)hotmail.com, insky(at)cox.net, mc3358a(at)student.american.edu, MDemagogue(at)gmail.com
Date: Tuesday, 22 September, 2009, 3:59 AM
*Hated* Austrians?  We just
met!  You don't get to hate me until our
*second* game!

Harrumph -
B.



On 9/21/09, Jeff Cole <jeffcole854(at)gmail.com>
wrote:
[quote:d7d7b186ac]French Replacement EGS:

Could I have gotten the solo? Possibly. But it wasn't

mine to take as I too

was a replacement. By the time I took over the

expanding French Empire, it

had already eliminated Italy and Germany was left with

one lonely army.

That
being said, I'm certainly not above taking someone

else's solo. I agreed to

the draw because I wasn't sure that I could get to 18

before the English

navy began to rape and pillage French ports. A quick

look at history

convinced me that once the rest of the world has

turned on you, it's time

to
call it quits. Congrats to the three little countries

that conspired to

deny
me center after center. And congrats to Alex for a

well timed stab. Perhaps

in another year or two, I could have held off the

wretched English long

enough to destroy the hated Austrians and claim my

prize. But alas, it was

not to be. I will be content with the draw and hope to

play you all again

another day.

Oh how I long to see the results of the last turn!

Jeff

On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Benjamin Hester
<screwtape777(at)gmail.com>wrote:

[quote:d7d7b186ac]Austrian Replacement EGS:

I hate myself for saying this but...WOOT - mission

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]accomplished!

[quote:d7d7b186ac]
That outburst of course needs to be chased with

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]the following

[quote:d7d7b186ac]disclaimer, before I irrevocably become branded as

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]a loathsome

[quote:d7d7b186ac]drawmonger:  This position was far beyond

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]hopeless to achieve any

[quote:d7d7b186ac]other outcome when I found it.  I took the

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]spot because I knew Rachael

[quote:d7d7b186ac]and Andy were moving, and thought I would try to

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]help out in whatever

[quote:d7d7b186ac]meager way I could to make that an easier process,

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]since I know

[quote:d7d7b186ac]firsthand how much of a nightmare the military can

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]make such things.

[quote:d7d7b186ac]And then Rachael left.  Such is life - on to

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]the game...

[quote:d7d7b186ac]
So I found myself holding the reins of an Austrian

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]rump state pushed

[quote:d7d7b186ac]hard up against the Black and Aegean, with a

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]French freight train

[quote:d7d7b186ac]headed straight up my rapidly retreating...well,

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]nevermind.  But look

[quote:d7d7b186ac]- what do my grateful eyes behold - *other* rump

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]states!  The Turk and

[quote:d7d7b186ac]Russian were also one short breath away from the

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]grave, yet still

[quote:d7d7b186ac]eager to lash out at those who had dealt us

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]misfortune.  So we formed

[quote:d7d7b186ac]a merry brotherhood.  And invited the

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]monstrous Brit to join in,

[quote:d7d7b186ac]because without Alex, we would have been sad,

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]pathetic, and quickly

[quote:d7d7b186ac]dead.

Fortunately, we all found that we had much in

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]common - love for Elvis,

[quote:d7d7b186ac]Neapolitan ice cream, and of course - stopping

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]near-inevitable French

[quote:d7d7b186ac]solos.  It seemed well enough at first. 

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]Then, just when I was

[quote:d7d7b186ac]reaching around to pat myself on the back for

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]helping to engineer such

[quote:d7d7b186ac]a wonderful coalition - this strange,

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]undecipherable text began

[quote:d7d7b186ac]appearing in my email box.  Ah yes, I see it

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]clearly now - those were

[quote:d7d7b186ac]the good ideas of my allies, the same that I

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]stupidly disregarded last

[quote:d7d7b186ac]season and nearly cost us this draw.  I

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]daresay that the Frenchman

[quote:d7d7b186ac]might have made his solo yet had this game

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]persisted, and I would have

[quote:d7d7b186ac]had owed my allies 1,000 lines of "I will not be a

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]paste-eater on the

[quote:d7d7b186ac]short bus" scribbled across the nearest

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]chalkboard.  But such was not

[quote:d7d7b186ac]to be - whether out of boredom, distaste for the

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]lengthy war of

[quote:d7d7b186ac]attrition with England ahead, or perhaps the need

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]to work and earn

[quote:d7d7b186ac]money rather than play Diplomacy - Jeff chose to

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]accept the draw.

[quote:d7d7b186ac]
So I tip my hat first to Jeff - for building this

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]massive French

[quote:d7d7b186ac]behemoth that caused me to repeatedly soil my

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]diapers.  Then to Alex,

[quote:d7d7b186ac]whose strategic vision led him to join our cause -

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]however sad and

[quote:d7d7b186ac]pathetic and soon to be dead we may have

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]appeared.  Finally to Andy

[quote:d7d7b186ac]and Michael - my fellow rump state regents. 

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]We did it!  Woo-hoo!  Now

[quote:d7d7b186ac]on to the next game...

Your humble Archduke of nowhere that was

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]originally Austria -

[quote:d7d7b186ac]B.

On 9/21/09, Michael Sims <mike(at)fuzzylogicllc.net>

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]wrote:

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]After 10 hard fought years, dc220, "Back from

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]the Dead" is called a

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]5-way DIAS between AEFRT.  I never had

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]the pleasure of meeting Italy or

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]Germany, but the 5 who remained showed a

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]great desire to not only

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]revitalize the game, but play it out to a

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]conclusion.

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]


It's interesting that the 3 small powers

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]managed to carve out a corner

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]for survival, and barring deliberate EF

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]cooperation they were all

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]pretty
sure to see this one to a final placing.



Even more interesting is that earlier powers

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]bailed on those small

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]powers that ended up sharing in the

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]draw!  This game is absolute

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]evidence that it always pays to play out a

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]game - with some good

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]planning and creative diplomacy a game should

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]never be shot.

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]


Congrats to all!  Be sure to post an

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]EGS.

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]


Fall orders are not revealed since we have 5

[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]yes-votes to a DIAS.

[quote:d7d7b186ac][quote:d7d7b186ac]
See you next game!

Enjoy,

-mike

--
Diplomacy in Texas!
www.texasdiplomacy.com

http://nairenvorbeck.angelfire.com/
Realpolitik files available here for the Sengoku,
[/quote:d7d7b186ac][/quote:d7d7b186ac]Balkans1860, South

[quote:d7d7b186ac]American Supremacy, and DarkAges Diplomacy

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]Variants


--
Diplomacy in Texas!
www.texasdiplomacy.com

http://nairenvorbeck.angelfire.com/
Realpolitik files available here for the Sengoku,
Balkans1860, South
American Supremacy, and DarkAges Diplomacy Variants

[/quote:d7d7b186ac]