First of all, congrats to Adam for winning this!

I think I played this game nothing short of horribly, pssibly the worst performance ever on my part. This was due to irl issues; I had just landed a new job that I worked 120% on, I had to travel quite a bit each day leaving a bit before 6 each morning and coming back a bit after 19-20 every day. This also stressed the relatinship I'm in, to the point where I really had to choose what to put my time into. I resigned across all boards, since there was no way I could do a good job in any game as well as all other things.

Also, this was a long time ago, and the two really memorable things I have is Dirk's sweet words of working with me against Burgundy, and Burgundys inital stubborness and general arrogance. That shaped my game more than anything to the point where me or Burgundy had to get eliminated. Dirk didn't provide support, and I was eventually gutted.

If I get into another DCI, I'll redeem myself of this horrible performance.

/ Mikael


Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:38:47 -0500
Subject: Re: dc340 DCI 2010 - F15 An End
From: kodiplomacy(at)gmail.com
To: kielmarch(at)hotmail.com
CC: mike(at)fuzzylogicllc.com; smegdwarf(at)yahoo.com; camorse22(at)yahoo.com; dirk(at)knemeyer.com; jhack16(at)gmail.com; m_don_j(at)hotmail.com; untitled36(at)hotmail.com; michael.alan.walters(at)gmail.com; dci(at)diplomaticcorp.com


My story might be the easiest.  I had a rough first 3 years and then didn't have many problems afterwards.  To start...


 


First, as always, thanks to the GM.  Garry, it's hard enough to GM any game of Dip, but it is even more difficult to GM a game when you have so many competitive players.  Your commentary is always lively, as I know players like to share the juicy details with you, but it is always fair and balanced.  Games drag and this one surely lasted, but the games don't ever last without a GM.  Thanks for taking the time for this one.


 


* I was leary about John in Ukraine.  His spot on the map was good and I just didn't get a good vibe from him in many if any of our conversations. 


* I've played against Mikael a few times, including a few memorable games.  His first comment to me was, "I remember your brutal stab of me in dc85." So, I didn't figure I would get too much help from him.  He was very unresponsive in my emails and requests to him and when he did communicate, it was always near deadlines and not helpful. 


* I sent a greeting email to Mike in Burgundy in Spring 1901.  I got a response back from him in Fall of 1906 or 1907.  Not sure why he thought I was useless.  But it might explain his tone in future emails and comments towards me.


* Chris and I didn't get to talk much.  He was pretty cordial in the beginning.  Then I got hammered and didn't need to talk to him.  Then I recovered and he got hammered and had better uses of his time too.  We finally started chatting again later on and even though he chose to help Dirk, he still tried to make peace along the way.


* Dirk, Dirk, Dirk... wow do I wish you wouldn't have grown so quickly.  I mean, you did what you had to do and that's probably all you could do, but it never gave anyone in HIZ a chance to even think of a solo.  We were all afraid that as soon one of us stabbed another, then you'd just start to roll on us.


* Of course, I've had many battles with Mike in Sicily.  The first two DCIs, many other "friendly" games.  FTF games.  We had a plan, but it didn't work out.  I owe him one because he is largely responsible for my survival.


 


* Israel frightened me with the corner position and I had never faced Joe on a board before, but the brotherhood of the Irish led to some good conversations. 


* Adam at first glance was prodding and prodding for info, rumors, style of play... anything he could get his hands on to try and identify my style.  We never could agree on any which way to go.  I wasn't sure if he didn't know which way to go in the beginning, or if he wanted to go at me from the beginning.


 


Now with that rundown of the players, I worked mostly on my sphere before the first deadline.  As I said above, John tried to talk-up a good alliance.  Not sure when he turned on me or if it was all a ploy from the beginning.  Seeing Dirk's email, now I figure I never had a chance with John, but wasn't sure how that went down.  I decided to play slow in the beginning, and I remembered the difference between FTF and email.  With all the of time between deadlines in email, everyone wants to plan for 6 years down the road.  In FTF, the quick deadlines don't give a reason to commit to anything past the current turn or possible the succeeding turn.  I think that ticked off my neighbors... that I wouldn't commit to anything.  Being surrounded by 3 good players, I wanted to see how they would approach the game.  Well, they all approached me starting in Winter 1901.


 


I would love to know the thinking of the three fleets built by John?  Did Joe like that?  I'm sure Adam liked that.  Dirk liked that since they could only go south.  And with the strike in Spring 1902 by Joe, Adam and John... I thought I was gone.  So I begged MSims to help.  I said that there would be no resistance against Israel, as I would be destroyed after 1902 and John's fleets would be locked up for at least two years (since my defense was good enough in Spring 1902 to only allow for 3 of my 5 centers to be taken. Funny, right?). I knew I could lock off CON for at least another year against John because I was most pissed at him for the three fleet builds.  I knew that Mike didn't want Joe's fleets moving west, so I asked him to work on John for me.  Now knowing that the alliance was already there, it was easy to see how John worked with Mike to help me in Fall 1902.  Mike is the master diplomat and it worked.


 


Joe and Adam were stunned.  Joe even lost a center while I stayed at 5.  That turn went from Joe gaining one and me losing three (+4 for him) to me staying and him losing 1 (-1).  A five center swing and a lashing of an email to him and Adam... I'm not sure if that helped or hurt my cause.  But I took my chances.  Joe responded apologeticly and wanted to work things out.  I never closed that door because even after the great help from John, I still didn't trust him 100%.  Adam on the other hand was still upset/shocked at the last turn and really didn't commit to working with me until Fall 1903 when I think Joe may have said, "Hey, c'mon, he could probably help and we can get him out later."


 


The other thing I wonder aloud from the game was why did John go back to attacking me in Spring 1903?  I tried to talk with him and I ordered as I said I would (quite defensively and open to working with H/I/U in Fall 1903).  John changed courses again and Adam and Joe were good to their word.  From that point on (with a small hiccup going into Winter 1906 or '07), H/I/Z were locked from my perspective as working together did a lot more than every stabbing.


 


Some of the other EOG statements so far have asked why we didn't stab each other.  As I mentioned above, until we really beat Dirk back, there was still the fear that if there was a stab in the southeast, that among the fighting, even if two of the three banded together, Dirk would still have more centers at the end.  I specifically couldn't stab until I had John out of the game and had Joe and Adam pushed west.  By that turn, I think Joe was able to plop a unit back home for defense.  That one unit alone didn't stop me but when counting the board, even with good luck, I could only get to 21 without a struggle for the last centers for a solo.  Not knowing stalemate lines also prevented a stab.  Even at 21, I wanted to make sure I was in the draw.  Getting a draw after almost being eliminted in 1902/03, that was a moral victory for me.  And if there was a way to get a real victory out of the draw, it was worth it.  Plus, if I stabbed, who do I stab first?  In order to get to 27, I'd have to attach both Joe and Adam.  They seemed tight throughout the whole game, and if I stabbed either, I imagined that they would rally to beat me down, even at the expense of giving the DCI to Dirk.  It wasn't ever worth my risk not knowing my stab would be worthwhile.  (And I imagine it would have been the same way if Joe or Adam would have tried for a stab... it's not that we only valued the alliance, we all wanted to win.  If Joe would have stabbed, Adam would have rushed to my defense, otherwise he would have had no shot of winning.)  Adam is (and Joe would have been) a worthy champion and no stab would have done any of us justice.


 


I appreciate being invited to this DCI and enjoyed playing.  To all, I hope to see you on a board again soon.


-kevin
















From: Garry Bledsoe [mailto:kielmarch(at)hotmail.com]
Sent: Tue 7/26/2011 5:50 AM
To: Adam WB2K9 235; camorse22(at)yahoo.com; Dirk Knemeyer; jhack16(at)gmail.com; kodiplomacy(at)gmail.com; m_don_j(at)hotmail.com; Michael Sims; untitled36(at)hotmail.com; michael.alan.walters(at)gmail.com

Subject: dc340 DCI 2010 - F15 An End
















Well, it is final. Adam has managed to win back to back DCI's. Has that actually ever been done Mike?





Wow. Congrats. We have our ending and I am sure there will be some exciting EGP's to come. I will, at a later moment, give some comments. 






For official purposes, the game ended in a 3-way draw - HIZ with Spain and Eire surviving. HIZ is also the official 123 order of finish.






More to come later. Apologies for the slight delay - I had to clarify one thing that I missed previously (in a vote - the affected party can clarify in their EGS if desired) AND I was traveling (driving) and could not get the turn done on time. I actually forgot about that when I set the deadline. Sorry.






Again - congrats to Adam (and to Joe and Kevin). Thanks for your patience throughout the game.






Witty comments to come.






Garry