Diplomats,




What a fascinating season and year! Persia orders what seems to be a tactical collapse and is not punished for it. Greece gets cute with advanced tactics and arguably does not meaningfully improve their position while not getting to build. On the other hand Rome explodes into the psychic lead with three juicy builds and no enemies beyond a lightly-flailing Carthaginian fleet. And the fore-mentioned Carthaginians and the quiet Egyptians appear to have found some peace between them, yet neither seems to be improving their position significantly.




Now, one of our players is going on vacation later this month. Thus the game will take a one-week hiatus, with no orders due the week of March 28th. That schedule shift is reflected on the game's dates below. Thanks in advance for providing plenty of notice and making it an easy decision to suspend the game.




There are no retreats. However we do have a vote called for a Roman Solo Victory. Make sure to vote FOR or AGAINST this outcome by our Thursday deadline. Failure to vote is considered a NO vote. Please also get me your builds by our usual deadline, 22:00 GST Thursday!





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PLAYERS
 Carthage - alhabashi / Jim Tapp / namaanbathing(at)yahoo.com 
 Egypt - ConradW / Charles Welsh / welsh_stroud(at)msn.com
 Greece - fencertim / Tim Crosby / tim_crosby(at)hotmail.com
 Persia - pedros / Pete Dale / pete(at)atlantichouse.org.uk

 Rome - DrSwordopolis / Nick Powell / nick.s.powell(at)gmail.com

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HEADLINES
 Carthaginian generals and admirals called home to answer to Hannibal

 Conquest of Cypress keeps natives optimistic about overall war effort

 Educational focus on philosophy in Athens may have led generals to deploy impractical tactics

 Persians defy critics and enjoy growth this year

 The world begins to quake as Roman might confidently asserted




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Orders:










Rome: 

A Gaul - Lusitania

F Ligurian Sea - Baleares

A Rhaetia - Massilia

F Sardinia - Tyrrhenean Sea (*Bounce*)

F Sicilia - Tyrrhenean Sea (*Bounce*)

A Venetia - Dalmatia




Carthage: 

F Carthage - Punic Sea (*Fails*)

F Gulf of Tacape Supports F Punic Sea (*Ordered to Move*)

A Leptis, no move received

A Mauretania Hold

A Phazania - Cirta

F Punic Sea - Sardinia (*Fails*)




Persia: 

A Arabia - Damascus

A Cappadocia - Armenia

A Chersonesus Hold

A Jerusalem - Arabia

F Sidon - Cilician Strait

F Tyre - Sidon




Greece: 

F Aegean Sea - Minoan Sea

A Bithynia Supports A Cappadocia - Sinope (*Void*)

A Dacia - Chersonesus (*Fails*)

A Galatia - Cappadocia

F Libyan Sea - Crete

F Messenian Sea - Libyan Sea




Egypt: 

A Cyrene - Alexandria (*Bounce*)

F Egyptian Sea - Alexandria (*Bounce*)

A Petra Hold

A Sinai - Thebes

F Syrian Sea - Cyprus













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Ownership of supply centers

Carthage: Carthage, Cirta, Leptis, Numidia, Saguntum, Thapsus

Egypt: Alexandria, Cyprus, Cyrene, Memphis, Petra, Thebes

Greece: Athens, Byzantium, Crete, Macedonia, Miletus, Sparta

Persia: Antioch, Chersonesus, Damascus, Jerusalem, Sidon, Sinope, Tyre

Rome: Baleares, Dalmatia, Massilia, Neapolis, Ravenna, Roma, Sardinia, Sicilia, Vindonona



Carthage:    6 Supply centers,  6 Units:  Build   0.
Egypt:     6 Supply centers,  5 Units:  Build   1.
Greece:    6 Supply centers,  6 Units:  Build   0.
Persia:      7 Supply centers,  6 Units:  Build   1.
Rome:     9 Supply centers,  6 Units:  Build   3.




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Upcoming Deadlines (all orders are due at 5 PM EST, GMT -5)



 Winter 02 Retreats and Adjustments, Thursday March 17


 Spring 03 Prelims, Friday March 18

 Spring 03 Orders, Tuesday March 22



 Summer 03 Retreats, Thursday March 24

 Fall 03 Prelims, Friday March 25



 Fall 03 Orders, Tuesday April 5




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