END OF GAME STATEMENT - TURKEY

From almost the very start my dilemma was Draw versus Solo, and it continued until the very end.

I quickly formed two very separate alliances - one with Poland, one with Britain - and at the end brought them together for the agreed three-way draw.

At the start I was very fortunate that Poland went after USSR, needing minimal help from me.  This allowed me to push France out of the Middle East, with a great deal of  behind the scenes help from Britain.

I was lucky to suddenly and quickly have no powers to my east or south, and (secret?) allies to the north and west.

Although Poland kept asking if I was still going to honor our alliance, my dedication to it, and to him, was never in doubt.  There were moments, however, as we moved toward the most recent turns, when I began to fear the Poland was getting ready to try for the solo.

My coordination with Britain worked wonderfully.  Together we were able to whittle away at French strength, while hopefully disguising the cooperation with one another.

When the new Italy came on board, I found myself quite angry at his failure to live up to his commitments.  I’m not sure what the outcome would have been had he followed through on his announced plans for attacking France, but once he reneged (which was almost instantly) I decided that, no matter what, I was going to work for his elimination.

Draw versus Solo - It is never my style to stab allies.  Although I got outside encouragement to attack Britain, from those who perhaps were unaware of all the help he was giving me, I just could not see myself doing that.  In addition, especially when I began to think (rightly or wrongly) that Poland was positioning for the solo, I saw Britain as my insurance policy.  And, at the very end it became clear that, whatever Poland’s earlier intentions, Wladimir was willing to help me against Italy, and was happy to take part in a draw.

I must admit that even at the end I was still considering going for the solo.  However my misunderstanding about fleet movement from Egy to ATO lost me time.  When Dirk proposed the three-way I hesitated to agree, thought about it overnight, and finally decided the time had come to accept a draw.  I just did not have the energy (given both other game involvement and some non-game time commitments) to try to grab the solo.  Nor did I believe I could succeed.

Thanks to all for a fun game.  Thanks to those who kibitzed from the sidelines and gave me great suggestions and even better criticism.  And special thanks to Charles for creating it, starting it, managing it and getting it moving again after it bogged down.

Harvey