Well, where to start? Thank you everyone for the game I very
much enjoyed the time. This is the first tournament style game for me and it
played quite differently than my typical approach to the game. Still, it had
all the drama and anxiety that comes with the more tense moments we encounter.
 
It has been a long time since I have drawn Turkey so I really
was not sure where to start. I poked through the leader boards and saw this
game, if I remember correctly had 5 players sitting in the top 10 of the
standings for the second round. I poked around the profiles and saw it was also
packed with quality players. I found I was in over my head. I decided the best
approach for me was to cause chaos. I think I accomplished that. Going into
1901 I had agreements with Austria, Russia and Italy to be non aggressive toward
one another. I was hell bent on forming the Juggernaut and John seemed
agreeable until he moved into the Black Sea and tried to explain that it was a
mistake. I didn’t buy it for one second so as a side note John, you set
the tone for everything right there. (I don’t hate you either.)
 
I don’t know what really happened with Italy and
Austria but I attempted to pit them against one another because both of them had
excellent chances to win the tournament. I approached everyone in the game and
addressed my concern that they would team up to protect their stake in the overall
event so  should we see cooperation between them it would be best for the rest
of us to take care of that situation early.
 
I have to admit that the abandonment of France had a great
impact on my strategy, this gave Italy a natural path to gain resources. I told
Italy that I would pressure Austria so he could move on the French centers. At
that point, I just tried to cause chaos with Russia and Austria, sniping
centers when I could then jumping ship when the opportunity presented itself. I
thought that would keep them from attacking me and it worked out pretty well. I
aligned with Italy because I needed to make sure that the units he built from
the French centers would move West.
 
Once Italy and I were making good gains we discussed making
this a two way draw, this should have given him the tournament win and me a
good standing at the end and right then I thought that would be enough for me.
I think this made him comfortable and allowed me to slide units slowly to the
west. When Russia was well into Germany and I had a solid line all around I
felt comfortable moving onto taking him on as a target. Once he was whittled
down I started to see that I might actually have a chance to take the game in a
solo.
 
Russia started discussions about an Italian solo and England
was kinda in agreement if we were not careful but I can assure you that Italy
was never gonna get a solo. If he even flinched to make a move that might lead
to that possibility I was in a position end that immediately. However, with the
alarm raised I used the opportunity to have England and Russia give Italy some
pressure in the north and I could easily come to ‘assist’ and ‘help’
Italy with the war. All this allowed me to slide more units to the West.
 
Now, the incursion into the Ionian Sea and the illusion of
the stab. It was weak and Joao figured out that it was a bad show, but I needed
to test the waters with Italy, I made the move and he let me off the hook so I withdrew.
I moved in again and again Italy let me off the hook  and I withdrew. At that
point I was VERY confident that I would win the game. I only needed to find the
right time to make the real stab.
 
So, where did it all go wrong? When I made the final stab I second
guessed myself and ordered a double support for Tyrolia to Munich when a single
support was enough…that support from Silesia was originally ordered to go
to Prussia – Berlin. Had I not changed that order, Venice and Tunis were not
defendable and I would have made 18. Jeff, the letter you sent right after the
stab made me change that order, I finally felt that you would not let me get
away with my bad behavior and I thought getting Munich was too important. I
really feel that this was the only mistake I made in the game. I knew after
this it would be everyone against me and I think I had maybe one more shot at a
solo, perhaps taking Tunis in the next turn and bouncing units from N Africa
might have bought me some more time but I was already disgusted that I blew
such an opportunity.
 
It was a strange game, two abandons really changed the game.
Some deadline issues and such really put the game in a funk but looking back at
everything that happened and how well we all battled this is a fine ending. I
would gladly share a board with each of you again.
 
To Sam; thank you for the work you put into the game, we had
a misunderstanding early on but I hope you just see it as that.
 
France/Germany…thanks for the couple of moves you got
in there. I did enjoy practicing some French with Laurence.
 
England, we didn’t have a lot of interaction until the
end but your observations and insights were very good and I learned a lot from
you and your approach to the game. I really look forward to seeing you in a
game again.
 
Austria, I know I promised to not take you out of the game
but I had to go for the solo so I hope you understand. I would hope that you’d
have done the same were the roles reversed.
 
Russia, I really thought you hated me. A lot of my moves
were he complete opposite of what we discussed. Again, I wanted to keep you
uneasy and kinda frozen in position. I really would have done the Juggernaut
but opening to Black Sea took that off the table. I felt you were too experienced
to make that ‘mistake.’
 
Italy; we had a great run there for a while. I would have
surely gone to the end had I not been convinced that I would not win outright.
You just gave me too much room to move and like I said, you never ‘punished’
me for taking advantage of you. We certainly proved that I/T is a viable
alliance that can do very well.
 
Sorry this is so long, hopefully it was not boring I am sure
I missed something important but a lot did happen and I don’t remember it
all. Again, thank you all for the game and good luck to you in future games.
 
Tim