In the beginning, I was shocked at how unpopular Turkey was in the
bidding process. The Kemalist Republic seemed to be the best positioned
for defense in the corner as well as for growth via the Balkans. The
Middle East could easily be claimed and then attention could be sent
north and west. Seemed easy enough to me. When the bids came out and I
saw that it was the lowest ranked in the bids, my one goal was then to
show everyone how wrong they were.


Poland seemed like a logical ally and the PT alliance was huge for
me in the last playtest of this variant (except I was Poland). We both
have common enemies but different levels of conflict. If my dominance of
the Middle East was to be complete, I would have to keep the Soviets
out of Iran, annex Beirut from France and lock down the Suez from
outsiders. While Poland and I began working together against the USSR, I
felt comfortable being aggressive in the south. Nick was actually
really fun to communicate with and I felt bad having to move against the
Lebanon but it had to be done. The Soviets made a strong push into my
hinterlands while Poland advanced in the north.


Year 2 saw serious changes. The Soviets invaded Anatolia declaring
war while my ally in Poland left the Ukraine wide open. Instead he
strengthened his position in the Balkans while taking Romania. I could
no longer view my Polish ally as being on my side completely so I made a
plan with Papa Joe. Meanwhile I was communicating well with Britain and
France and trying to work something out with the two of them that would
ensure that France retreat his forces out of my hair. I think that was a
win-win-win (albeit a short-lived one for France). I was able to keep
good relations on my south as my northern front was beginning to take
shape.


Year 3 saw Poland finally move against our common enemy in Moscow
but it was after I had grown too concerned about my successful ally. He
was in a very dominant position since Germany was virtually
non-existent. I also took my favorite spot of the map, the Black Sea.
From here I would begin to aid the Soviets in their war against Poland
that occupied way too much time and resources for all powers involved.
The USSR gladly offered us Iran as a peace treaty which I found to be
fair. In my eyes. a mediocre corner Soviet was better for me than a
strong Poland possessing a corner position. I should also mention here
that Italy and I had excellent relations throughout this game which
enabled us both to build huge armies instead of clashing in the seas
like Italy and Turkey typically encounter. This coincided with slip-up
of Britain of leaving Suez without support. This is a good time to share
another of my interests in playing Turkey. It acts like a poor man's
Britain in that it can project power from the Atlantic to the Black.
There was one point in this game when I had a unit in Moscow and Morocco
at the same time. Crazy!


Alas, that was the apex of Turkish power. I made a pathetic attempt
at a stab of my Italian ally in the Med. On the one hand, I wanted to
take control of the Med while not completely stabbing him in the Balkans
where I still needed his help against a dug-in and well-defended
Poland. Shockingly, Italy did not like my attempt and built up quite an
arsenal aimed at thwarting any more Turkish attempts. He also supported
Poland against me leaving me at a real loss.


The last few years were tough on me in that I had to be pinned in by
the two other strong powers in my corner while knowing that I could
nothing against anyone any longer. It was like being an old bulldog. You
still want to be aggressive but you just don't have the energy or
ability to do so anymore.


In a game with 8 players, you hope for a better resolution than a
5-way draw. When the IPT draw didn't pass, I tried to get Poland and
Italy to work with me towards convincing Spain and Britain to accept the
more satisfying 3-way but that would have enabled one of us to become
quite a bit stronger than the others. When I thought more about it,
Turkey would probably not have received any of the spoils in a war
against Britain and Spain anyway so I went along with it. Sun and
Karsten should be happy to know that our dialogues helped in my
accepting a draw with you. 13 SC powers do not usually draw with 5 SC
powers but you both played strong the entire game. Even when things
looked dire for Karsten, he survived and eventually drew with the rest
of us. Sun was cagey the entire time as well and deserved to share in
this.


The game was designed well and I do believe the powers are fairly
equal. I still don't like the PU hostility that seems forced as well as
the French weakness but they can be overcome.

Thanks everybody for playing and I hope to come across you all again.


Wladimir