I can't top Shakespeare, whether it be in Adam's wonderful analogy or Dan's quoting him, so I may as well bite the bullet and write the first EGS.  I was happy enough with Norway's starting prospects.  My opening thoughts were that Lowlands and Balkans were obviously vulnerable, and that Russia was also dealt a particularly bad hand.  I knew all of my neighbors except Joe, and intended to keep a wary eye on Dan, who very effectively stabbed his way to the prior DCI championship.

The first year I agreed to let Lowlands stab Germany while we moved against England, then turned around in the fall and stabbed Lowlands with France and my German ally.  That pretty much eliminated Lowlands and marginalized England.  I offered to work with England, but he stabbed me expecting support that never came.  (Russia moved toward me, but had bigger fish to fry elsewhere.)  That left England on the ropes until he finally succumbed years later.  At this point I was growing steadily and had no enemies, since I was allied with Germany and France, and both needed (and received) my support.

Elsewhere on the board Austria drove the agenda, actually exceeding my expectations as to his treachery.  I give Dan a lot of credit for becoming my main rival, despite my correctly warning most of his victims that they were about to be victimized.  He's a pleasure to play with, especially at a distance.

Because I was playing in as many as seven games during this one, I decided against applying the degree of focus necessary to try for a solo.  Instead I took the easier route (given my position)to a draw.  From my perspective this was my game's key decision, because I (correctly) figured that I would always be part of any draw.  This led me to quit trying to drive the game, which in turn led to my eventually losing control of it.

All of this was a slow process, and I wasn't even aware of it at the start.  France and Germany kept trying to talk me into stabbing the other.  Finally Germany convinced France to stab me, then told me about it, and I hit France just as he changed his mind.  We patched things up only to have France stab me for real.  England tipped me off and I again headed off Joe.  This coincided with Germany getting into enough trouble that partnering with him quit making sense.  France and I stabbed Germany, and agreed to ally for a two-way draw in which I would cede Joe a center or two, but win the DCI.

Because there was nothing that Austria could do in the face of our onslaught, I played on auto-pilot.  Joe kept changing the terms of our deal in the name of increased security, and it should have been obvious that he was considering stabbing me, since I had already passed up my optimal chance to beat him.  I chose to ignore the possibility other than expressing my annoyance, which in turn annoyed Joe.  As a result, when Joe did stab me, I deserved to be in the dire straits in which I suddenly found myself. 

I plunged back into diplomacy, pointing out to Nigs, Dan and Adam that the only way to stop the French solo bid was for us all to ally and play for a DIAS.  That was the simple part.  Dan, who had been made irrelevant during the F/N advance, suddenly had a key role.  It didn't take long for him to insist that Russia be eliminated as the price for his cooperation. Nigs had done an admirable job of persevering with one center, but I was on the verge of agreeing - we couldn't stop Joe without a united front.

Then Adam told me he had a brilliant alternative solution.  Even before I read his next sentence, I knew what it was.  Adam, Nigs and I would stab Dan even as we all moved against Joe.  It was a spectacular success - a check for France and a mortal blow to Austria - and one of my most satisfying turns ever.

Diplomacy now gave way to tactics.  Our handicap was that France outnumbered us on the front lines - too many of the Russian and Turkish units were out of position.  But we then steadily drove France back until I had enough centers to achieve our goal of a DIAS with me on top.  This phase of the game was probably my favorite.

Adam then said that he feared Joe might throw me the game - something that made no sense under the circumstances - and proceeded to move some of his units away from the front lines.  Nigs and I agreed that we had achieved our goal and didn't see the point in playing on.  We were going to hold all our units and let Joe win the DCI.  Adam then talked us out of it and we resumed our alliance.

Despite a couple of setbacks due to Nigs NMRing and Adam once not ordering a key unit, we pushed France back all over again.  This was a complicated process because Joe was throwing everything he had at me, and not worrying about Turkish inroads into his position.  This looks suspiciously collaborative in hindsight, but Adam played a key role in this stage, offering a great deal of strong tactical analysis not just on his front, but mine as well.  As a result, I managed to pull even with Joe, while Adam made steady gains.  Sooner than expected we found ourselves at a point where I would win the DCI.  This time Joe was allegedly willing to vote Yes.

And at this point Adam took the bait that Joe had been dangling and stabbed me.  This had been an ever-increasing possibility as Joe surrendered more and more centers to Adam, and there was never anything that Nigs or I could have done about it.  It was within Joe's power to hand the DCI championship to Adam whenever he wanted.  From my perspective, Adam taking it didn't deprive me of anything that I deserved.  I had allowed my game to be dependent on an alliance where I was at the mercy of my partners.

Nevertheless, I felt very good about having thrived throughout despite three stabs, and wound up accomplishing the goal that (for better or worse) I set for myself: having a meaningful role in a draw.  Along the way I enjoyed my alliances with Max (who was inventively active throughout), Joe, and especially Nigs and Adam.  Those moments made the entire, ultimately deflating process meaningful for me.  Which I guess means that in the end I opt for Sartre over Shakespeare.

Jorge
PS: I've already thanked Mike privately for doing a great job GMing, but it can't hurt to do it again.  Thanks, Mike.