His Cavalry unit; once again having met no resistance, prepared to make camp for the night and Agent Fresh (finding himself in Silesia for the second time since war broke out) sauntered casually off, under the pretext of taking a shit in the woods, to file his report to Zurich.
****URGENT MEMO****
AGENT D. E. FRESH TO LoS HQ ZURICH
MILITARY MANOUVRES SPRING 1904.
YUGOSLAVIA
A war - pru SUCCEEDS
A mos supports F stp[s] ORDER FAILS (F StP ORDERED TO MOVE)
A gal - sil SUCCEEDS
A boh supports A gal - sil SUCCEEDS
A tyr - mun FAILS *1 v 3*
A bud - gal SUCCEEDS
A bul - con FAILS *BOUNCE*
F tri - adr SUCCEEDS
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN & SCANDINAVIA
A Edi - Lpl SUCCEEDS
F NTH - Lon SUCCEEDS
F Nwy - NTH SUCCEEDS
F BAL - Den SUCCEEDS
F StP sc - GoB SUCCEEDS
A Fin - St.P SUCCEEDS
FRANKISH & VISIGOTHIC REALM
A Gas - Wal SUCCEEDS
A Hol - Ruh SUCCEEDS
A MUN supports German A BER *SUPPORT CUT*
F Lyo S F WES-TYS*SUPPORT CUT - UNIT DISLODGED*
F Mar S Lyo *SUPPORT CUT*
F NAf - Tun SUCCEEDS
F Wes -TYS FAILS *1 v 1*
GREATER HANNOVER
A Ber S Mun SUCCEEDS
F Eng C Gas - Wal SUCCEEDS
A Kie S Mun SUCCEEDS
F MAO C Gas - Wal SUCCEEDS
MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES CONFEDERATION
A Piedmont to Marseilles FAILS *1 v 1*
F Tuscany Supp F Tyr Sea to Lyo SUCCEEDS
F Rome to Tyr Sea FAILS *1 v 1*
TURKEY
F Tys - Lyo SUCCEEDS
F Sev - Bla SUCCEEDS
A Ank - Con FAILS *BOUNCE*
A Ukr - Sev SUCCEEDS
*************
Dear Players,
Thanks to all of you for submitting orders. It is really appreciated considering my GMing gaffs of recent turns.
The Frankish Fleet in the Gulf of Lyon has been dislodged by combined Italian and Turkish Naval power and must retreat to the South Coast of Spain or OTB. Default is Spa (sc) and will be posted in 24 hours unless I hear otherwise 
Fall 1904 Orders shall be due next next Tuesday 11th May at 12noon GMT. Please send prelims as I cannot guarantee reminders will be sent.
If any of you are still interested, there now follows a synopsised version of recent events concerning the missed MPC builds. This is attached more for Mike Sims info than anything else
Best
D
1)
After receiving various notes concerning Italys NBR, I send out apology for failing to include Italys builds on the map or the email.
I've double-checked and had received no build orders from Italy.
Annoyingly, I had failed to include the adjustments on the email - and also even more annoyingly, I did not include Italy's adjusments on the map. Nor did I send a reminder
2)
Michael sends opinion against awarding builds. My judgment: Apparently partisan but legit. argument.
I vote no on the builds. It will benefit me but it was his responsibility to question your lack of a build. In fact I wrote him an email trying to negotiate a non build in TUN, so he knew he had a build (I can provide that email if you want to see it). I know this serves me but he knew and didn't get it done. Enough said
3)
Dirk says yes to builds!!!
4)
Dirk then says no to builds and accuses Italy and Austria of RL alliance
My judgment: completely contradictory opinion = Discounted
5)
Michael continues partisan but legitimate argument
6)
Mike (Numpty) votes in favour of Italys builds.
Apparently partisan. No argument offered.
7)
Vaguely Off-topic discussion between Me, Michael and Dirk for several mails concerning Italy and Austria.
David votes for builds - cites same reasons as I offered for allowing builds. ie. 'Spirit of Game'
9)
I receive mail from Mike Sims from DipCorps wondering why I am considering allowing the Italy builds
10)
I decide - despite my map errors possibly playing a part in Italys confusion and despite the affect on the game - that MPC will NOT receive the builds: Ultimate & Defining reason: He STILL has not sent any!
In conclusion - there are various reasons already discussed why it could be decided that Italy should or should not have been allowed the builds (Fleets? ;D). I have had to chalk this one up to experience and have duly sacrificed my next game to the Curse of the Flying Dutchman. One thing is for sure. I have decided that:
A) I shall not GM more than one game at a time in the future, if more than one of them is a hand-adjudicated map:- The room for human error is too great and time for corrections is greatly reduced.
B) I shall never again bother asking the players opinions on an in-game issue.
The reason that Mike Sims apparently got involved was due to the complaint about Italy / Austria's real-life alliance.
As far as I am aware:
Austria, England & Russia were all drafted into the game from Redscape, whether or not they also already play on DipCorps. Turkey is a personal friend of mine. Germany and Italy both signed up through DipCorps with no apparent redscape connection.
I think this suggests that there is no obvious evidence of RL collusion between Italy and Austria. If anyone knows any different, as both Dirk and Michael seem to assert - I suggest you talk directly to Mike Sims at DipCorps about it. I want no further discussion about it in this game.
Best
