Hey all,
Fredrik your GMing was some of the best! You may not think so but it
was. Always timely, I was really anticipating results when they were
due out cuz I knew they came out so close to the deadlines.

I really enjoyed the game. From the onset I suspected Dirk was going to
be the player to beat (and he alleges likewise about me) and we talked
early on about a possible 2-way. Then that turned into a 3-way with us
and Germany, and that was my focus for much of the game.

It broke down tho when Dirk started (was there ever a start or was it
just always?) diploming behind our backs, and trying to ensure that
myself and Germany didn't do too well in the alliance. In particular,
Dirk was so worried about an AI (which never was) that I think it drove
him to not work w me at all. (we'll never know if this was legit
paranoia or a convincing ploy)

Really all the early talks of an AI had me somewhat annoyed cuz I knew
there wasn't such (I covered my own centers from Italian attack multiple
times, and failed to support Tony one move in which I could have), and
Dirk was insisting on it so much, that it became a self-fulfilling
prophecy. By making everyone go south, it more or less forced me into
cooperation w Italy, which was never planned. I should have picked up
on this sooner, and Jeff (Germany) had some early suspicions about
England that we didn't act on. Goes to show, you should always follow
your instincts in this game, for a turn later, England invaded Germany
and our alliance was done.

So from then on, I was thinking it was a grim world - for even tho I had
a pretty good empire, I knew Dirk was rallying Russia and France against
me, and my worry was that he would get them to overextend enough my way
that he could stab them and get the solo. That didn't happen... I think
Dirk made a move too soon on Russia, which turned Jeff to my side. I
believe you could have had Russia and France eating out of your hands
for a while longer there Dirk.

Once the stab of Russia happened, he was pretty much out. I was on the
verge of working w Jeff again, to boot England out of StP, but I
chickened out at the last minute, thinking Dirk would be more persuasive
than myself. In hindsight I should have gone w Jeff on this, and Russia
could have held on to Saint Petes and Moscow, and maybe England wouldn't
have had such an easy time.

At a couple points I considered stabbing Italy, but I didn't do that
either, again because of the intense FE pressure about an AI. They were
working so closely together, and France leaving his entire empire open
for England, that I worried they would continue on against me even when
Italy was dead. John, if at any point you'd have made a move to reclaim
Brest, I'd have been more open to working w you, for then you'd have a
northern port. Without that, I figured you were going strictly south
and east, which your units did.

(If we had not drawn here, your build of A Par in this last turn had me
intrigued, for this suggested maybe you were going to take back Bre?)

Dirk, it was truly masterful, that you invaded France, took his most
valuable city, and still managed to convince him you were his best ally
- all while sitting in Bre, ready to invade Paris at will. I don't know
how you did this. Shutting down the French ability to turn on you while
still keeping him onside was a diplomatic feat. You can no longer refer
to yourself as a newbie after that.

I'm happy w the result... If anything I thought the game more likely to
go 3-way if France lodged himself into Tunis, so I took the 2-way
happily as the best result I thought I could get in this one.

Good game, and I hope to see you all again,
-mike




-----Original Message-----
From: Dirk Knemeyer [mailto:dirk(at)knemeyer.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 3:16 PM
To: Fredrik Blom
Subject: Re: dc278 - Spring 1906 Results

Thanks for GM'ing the game Fredrik I thought you did a good job by any
measure, but an excellent job for a first-timer!

This was a fun game: Jeff Cole, I'm really sorry for the stab, I think
Austria had broken you and I didn't want him to solo with your last
centers, I liked working with you quite a bit and didn't want it to
end; Jeff Clay, you just didn't communicate enough and I wasn't sure
where you stood, especially since I was so afraid of an Austrian-
Italian alliance. Dan, I hardly knew you.

John, you were a great ally up until the final turn when we had a
little static, of course I can't complain too loudly because I had my
moment of weakness in grabbing Brest! Tony, I will take your limited
diplomacy as a product of our never sharing a sphere of influence as
opposed to anything personal. Mike, I expected to see you standing
over us at the end and feel lucky I was able to have a share of it.

Unfortunately I felt this game really came down to the unfortunate NMR
situation with Turkey. If that confusion hadn't happened, or there had
not been the opposition to letting his late orders play, I suspect at
least six if not seven of us would still be playing and anybody could
be leading. Well, no, Mike probably would still be leading but
needless to say it would be a dramatically different game.

I hope to play with all of you again...

Dirk


On Jan 14, 2010, at 3:59 PM, Fredrik Blom wrote:

Diplomats,

And so the diplomatic efforts succeed and peace is agreed upon
across Europe. England and Austria share the victory, with France
and Italy being the two survivors.

End game statements can be sent to the forum for those who wish to
do so.

This was my first game GM:ing, and I made some mistakes (some bigger
than others). However, I hope you all have had fun playing. I know
that I've learned some things, and hope to be a better GM in future
games.

I thank you all for participating, and hope to see you soon in
another game on Diplomaticcorp.

Final map and Realpolitik file is included.

/Fredrik

<dc278.dpy><dc278 Spring 1906.gif>