"Hey, Rocky!  Watch me pull a rabbit out a hat!"
"Again?  That trick never works."
"Nothing up my sleeve... Presto!"
"ROAR!"
"Guess I don't know my own strength."

Tonight's episode:  "Last Supper for a Sultan?" or "The Scottish Surprise!"

Brought to you by:  "Corrino Crunch.  Just one bowl gives you all the energy and support
you need to invade Rumania, convoy to Tunis, and bounce the Brits in Belgium.  That's Corrino Crunch!  Part of this duplicitous breakfast!"

Let us rejoin our multi-threaded story, already in progress...

. Green grows the grass in Constantinople and Smyrna, as the moisture-rich conquerors from the west push back the Ottoman sands.  With a third fleet now on the scene, the long-standing naval void in the Black Sea may soon be coming to an end.

. Ring around the red roses for the Archduke.  Isn't that a pretty circle?  Well, come to think of it, the loop is broken.  How about retreating to Trieste and Adriatic in the Fall?  Aesthetics demand it!

. Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.  At least, not if you're Italian.  "Au revoir," say the Frenchies.  "Don't let la porte smack you in the derriere on the way out!"

. "For Pete's sake, who left this dot
lying around unattended?" asks the Tsar.  It would appear that the time-honored concept of Finder's Keepers applies even in the realm of Realpolitik.

. And our final scene, in which the plucky underdog picks himself up off the ground and bloodies the nose of the neighborhood bully.  In a feat of prescience which I have to say ranks WAY up there in my experience of gunboat diplomacy, the English King chose to have both of his units support the Italian attack on Clyde, thus creating a 3-on-2 battle in favor of Italy, and DESTROYING the invading German fleet!

I admit I shook my head when I first saw the English orders.  Wouldn't the smart (safe!) thing be to support Edi?  A tip of this GM's cap to you, Your Highness.  Well done!


RETREATS:  Italian fleet Marseilles has been auto-retreated to Gulf of Lyon, its only legal move.  The Italian leader has 24 hours to notify me if he wishes to disband the
unit rather than retreat it.

DEADLINE:  Fall 1914 orders are due next Wednesday, November 17, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern US time.  Don't delay!  Order today!

Cheers,
Chris


Orders as resolved:
============================================
Austria:
F Adriatic Sea - Venice
A Galicia Supports A Ukraine - Rumania (*Cut*)
A Trieste - Serbia
A Tyrolia Hold
A Ukraine - Rumania
A Vienna Supports A Galicia

England:
A Edinburgh Supports F North Atlantic Ocean - Clyde
A Liverpool Supports F North Atlantic Ocean - Clyde

France:
F Brest - English Channel
A Gascony Supports A Piedmont - Marseilles
A Piedmont - Marseilles
F Portugal Supports F Spain(sc)
F Spain(sc) Supports A Piedmont - Marseilles

Germany:
A Belgium Hold
A Berlin Supports A Silesia
A Bohemia - Galicia (*Fails*)
F Clyde - North Atlantic Ocean (*Disbanded*)
F Irish Sea Supports F Brest
- Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Void*)
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Western Mediterranean (*Fails*)
A Munich - Tyrolia (*Fails*)
F Norwegian Sea Supports F Clyde - North Atlantic Ocean
A Silesia Supports A Bohemia - Galicia

Italy:
F Bulgaria(sc) - Constantinople
A Greece - Bulgaria
F Ionian Sea - Aegean Sea
F Marseilles - Spain(sc) (*Dislodged*)
F North Atlantic Ocean - Clyde
F North Africa - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*)
F Smyrna Supports F Bulgaria(sc) - Constantinople
F Western Mediterranean Supports F Marseilles - Spain(sc) (*Cut*)

Russia:
A Moscow - St Petersburg
A Sevastopol - Ukraine
A Warsaw Hold

Turkey:
A Ankara - Constantinople (*Fails*)
=============================================