Hey all,
So I have to say I really enjoyed this game because of the twists and
turns it took. I remember that at the beginning of the game England
proposed a full-on alliance from the start. I was not ready to give him
the commitment he wanted because I feel alliances and trust need to be
built up on the parties' actions, and thus I worried that he would
interpret my hesitance as an intention to attack him. While this was
not at all the case, I still tried to reach out to France.
Unfortunately, as you all saw, I became the odd man out in the western
three and faced an attack from France and England. I did the only thing
I could and bunkered down in a defensive shell and begged Russia for
help. Luckily Russia saw the threat of a strong EF alliance, especially
because of Italy's slow start, and distracted England in Scandinavia.
The turning point of the game came when England and France became
frustrated that they weren't making fast enough progress against the
wall Russia and I put up and began to become worried about each other.
France eventually switched sides and, after a couple seasons of pulling
away from me to prove his intent, our triple alliance was formed.
There isn't really much more to say after that, as England had no chance
1 on 3 and all of us were able to divert some units east. Austria was
trying to convince me that France would go for the solo but thankfully
he kept his word and prevented me from having to make a tough decision.
I hate having to turn on allies with whom you have worked well just to
prevent them from soloing.
So congrats to Simon and Darryl and thanks to everyone else, especially
Tim, for a great game. Hope to see you all in another one soon.
Matt