???Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma or a hideous dream;
The genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in council, and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.???
- The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

To me, Spring 1902 is always a tense, fraught moment. Oftentimes, it is the first season when players take overt action (though some remain covert). I spend days in negotiations and cross-negotiations??? with the upshot that, ultimately, I am lying to somebody ??? and not just to myself. Then, when my orders are in, I sit on my hands (so as not to chew my fingernails) and nervously await the adjudication.

Well, this is the adjudication.

I should note now that I have seen many players get shafted in 1902, only to see them rise like a Phoenix later. (Indeed, in the last game I GM???d, the Russian was attacked by the Austrian ??? there was even an Austrian army in Ukraine after 1902 ??? but in the end, the Austrian was eliminated, and the Russian soloed. Then again, the Brit got tricked by a German-Russian plot, and he never recovered, eking out a mere survival at the end).

Two units get dislodged. But I don???t need any retreat orders. The German army dislodged from Denmark has but one retreat option and thus auto-retreats to Kiel (per my house rules). Matt, if you would prefer to disband, let me know within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Turkish army in Bulgaria has nowhere to run. For that matter, it has nowhere to hide. It disbands.

Fall 1902 orders will be due next Thursday, April 7, at 10:00 a.m. CST (15:00 GMT).

S1902 Adjudication

Austria:
a vie-gal
a bud s a rum
a tri h
a ser-bul
f gre-s a ser-bul

England:
F NWY S F NTH
A YOR holds
F NTH S A SWE -> DEN
F EDI S F NTH

France:
Fleet Portugal Move To Mid Atlantic Ocean
Fleet Brest Move To Le Manche (The English Channel)
Army Spain Move To Gascony
Army Burgundy Move To Belgium (*Bounce*)
Army Marseilles Move To Burgundy (*Fails*)

Germany:
F Berlin - Baltic Sea (*Bounce*)
A Denmark holds (*Dislodged*)
F Kiel - Helgoland Bight
F Holland S F Kiel - Helgoland Bight
A Ruhr ??? Belgium (*Bounce*)

Italy:
F ION-EMD
F NAP-ION
All armies hold

Russia:
Sev hold
Mos Sup Sev hold
War to Ukr
Rum Sup Ser to Bul
Bot to Bal (*Bounce*)
Swe to Den

Turkey:
Army from Armenia to Sevastopol (*Fails*)
Fleet from Black Sea support Army from Armenia to Sevastopol
Army from Bulgaria to Romania (*Disbanded*)
Army from Constantinople to Bulgaria (*Fails*)