Thank you, Gerald, for GMing this game. I have to say that of the variants I've played; I like this one. I look forward to the next Imperial Game.
Congradulations to Matthew K, Michael, and Gino in their part of the 4-way draw.
Note, the game was in progress when my PC was knocked out by a virus, and this one floats among the family in case a PC is disabled. Unfortunately, my DC342 document that I use to copy the map and jot down thoughts during the game progression was effectively lost. So, the early stages may not be entirely accurate, and I apologize upfront if there is inconsistencies.
At the beginning of the game and this being my first Imperial Game, I started this game not really sure what the map dynamics were, so I began negotiations really without a preconceived idea for a strategy. I opted to follow initiate following a tactical formula that poses a slight problem that I'd inevitably end up stabbing my first target. Early negotiations were very good with Russia who was led by Jason at the time was initially very good, and I began to grow a strategy towards the middle of the initial year. This initially forced me to seek an early triple alliance because my strategy being formed was dependent on a nation pursuing a dominant naval strategy, and my gut impression led me to believe China's weakest point also enabled a potential to form a naval shield along the coastal seas along China's maritime border. With Russia and I discussing dismantling Britain's hold in India, the default naval choice resided with Holland, which I don't recall initially going well, but I continued to pursue achieving good diplomatic relations with the Dutch. By the time, the spring would be launched; I had formed a very good diplomatic relationship with Britain led at the time by Bruce. The only real trouble spot was that looking at the map; I saw Hue as a gateway into China proper. Hue was the most troublesome diplomatic relation Bruce and I had in the opening. I honestly forget how my initial negotiations with Austria, France, Ottoman, and US went, but the first year seemed to go well.
The following year, it didn't take long to realize that I would have to make a decision. Russo-Dutch-Sino seemed to be working, but Anglo-Sino was also operable. I honestly backed myself into a diplomatic corner here, but I had initially agreed to an alliance with Jason's Russia, which also required an alliance with Holland. If I recall correctly, my 42 movements were partly an agreed upon deception and partly to keep options open. Somewhere between the Spring and Fall of 42, I seem to recall Holland approaching me that initially Holland was going to aid in my downfall, but he was stabbed, and there was an Franco-Dutch alliance. I honestly don't remember if Kag was negotiated or an open stab... Establishing a naval shield was definitely a defensive posture of interest to me. Looking back at the map, I'd say open stab because I recall my line of thinking was that by stabbing Russia; I'd be stabbing Holland and solidify my alliance with Britain, which also coupled with a previous imperial game in which Spain soloed via a Anglo-Spanish alliance. My decision to attack Russia was derived by my impression of an Ottoman-Russo alliance in which case by removing Britain from India would simply seal my doom in the long-term; this also decided my course to attack Holland as Russo-Dutch-Sino would effectively be a non-starter. Britain and I essentially made short work of Holland, which Franco-Dutch somewhere between 42 and 43 effectively imploded. France admittedly pursued a strategic and diplomatic method of appeasement to regroup in Africa, and Holland would simply survive in Nsw from 45-51 meanwhile Anglo-Sino V Ottoman-Russo was a stalemate for quite some time. Also around 44, the dual fears of an Austrian-Ottoman-Russo AOR and Anglo-Spanish-US began to circulate. Britain and I along with Spain pursued a balance of the Pacific policy to prevent unnecessary tenstions, and I had no qualm leaving Phi to be determined between Anglo-Spanish predominantly on the basis that I saw it as largely indefensible.
F45 was perhaps a major turning point for China; it was also despite the builds a major disaster. What had happened here is a major weakness of mine, I was attempting to convince AOR to implode itself to spark off an alliance shift, but this also occurred with a stretch of Anglo-Spanish-Sino silence, which wasn't exactly the first time. As the stalemate continued in the region, negotiations simply slowed down, and it didn't help that concerns were growing the US would knock Bruce's British proper position out of the water in the similar manner the US replaced France in Africa, which had prompted France to shift. I hate to admit it, but the silence tends to make me incredibly paranoid (Michael, I'm curious if you had picked up on my paranoia?). I simply couldn't shake thoughts that Anglo-Spanish was about to shift its allied positioning to prepare an assault. Bruce's response was understandably critical, and I don't recall Thomas's initial response. Essentially, Bruce critiqued my movements and effectively blew my paranoia out of the water. In the end, I was presented with an let bygones be bygones or face war ultimatum, and I was left to determine my course. I decided if Bruce would have any chance of preventing the US from simply replacing him in the west; I should sustain my assault. The biggest difference between F45 and this decision was that I decided the better part of valor was to formally announce a declaration of war. Unsure if my paranoia led me straight into a trap; I had attempted to keep relations with Spain relatively friendly. I even tried to bypass Phi to express this goal despite being at the time offered it. Bruce shortly left after this sequence of events to be replaced by Matthew B. Russia and I slowly phased down our Russo-Sino border guard, which was a good thing as these military assets later proved needed elsewhere. By S47, it became patently obvious Spain would not be neutral, and Britain would not be replaced by the US in Britain proper in Europe. My rather hopeful and optimistic assessment was effectively blown out of the water. Anglo-Spanish-US effectively treated the map dynamics as a defacto Anglo-Spanish-US V Austrian-Franco-Ottoman-Russo-Sino in essential sense Colonial Powers V Compact Powers. The US was the only one technically assessed as a compact power of Anglo-Spanish-US, and the US largely resided out of reach of AOR even with what was left of France and Chinese aid. Spain successfully corraled Chinese forces from Britain, and my northern bottleneck never successfully formed while the southern bottleneck was mostly holding. Without the two prong bottlenecks, I opted to try delay and prevent tactics. By 49, France was not only crippled and incapable of making war. This enabled the Colonial Powers to reallocate resources in much the same way Russia and I dismantled our border guard to sort to speak fill gaps from the inside. It was also when Ottoman made a critical error and NMRed. Russia decided to nullify Ottoman or at least seemed to from there.
By Sum 51, it seemed obvious that Austria, Russia, and I were in big trouble. Scandinavia was essentially the only stalemate on the entire board. In Europe, Austria would make progress on the mainland at the expense of the Med or make progress in the Med at the expense of the mainland. Meanwhile I had lost control of my southern bottleneck and effectively cut off from achieving it. This was essentially a defacto Anglo-Spanish-US 3-way draw; it was only a question of where the breach would be and how total the breach would be. I had decided to switch gears at this point to a Kamikaze Strategy, and the only power I could do the most damage to was Britain. The only thing I could do towards Spain was attempt to prevent a convoy of A Ala into asia particularly Kam. Earlier in the game, there was gossip that the players of Anglo-US (Salim and Matthew B) personally knew each other, and it was made clear to me Spain feared contemplating fighting either Britain or US under the basis that he'd by defacto be facing both. My Kamikaze Strategy consisted of three parts: First, I'd head off the Spanish convoy at the beachhead, which was my best bet. Second, I'd put everything that I could muster against Britain. Third, I tried to entice Thomas into attacking Britain with me by handing over Kag and Edo while he acquired plenty of builds up to about 8-9 builds total in addition to Chinese aid. Shortly after this envoy which went unanswered, Gino replaced Thomas at the helm of Spain, and I proceeded to give him the same offer. In my viewpoint, this was the last move that I would be able to muster any kind of treaty that possessed any kind of leverage of strength in my position to ensnare a survival with the capacity to present a grueling battle into the mainland. If I guessed wrong, China would essentially implode; I was literally on the verge of a miscalculation from a total breach in defenses. Austria, Russia, and I were effectively on the rocks. As compact powers, we were expansively capped, and the only option was tempt fate by imploding each other for growth. Meanwhile the total colonial powers of Anglo-Spanish were capable of making gains in one region and use the builds to reinforce another front, this provides an advantage compact powers simply can't match. Cannabalization would strengthen one region at the expense of another, and Austria and I were already bouncing between progression and erosion in our lines already.
By F51, Spain now led by Gino moved in our agreement landing him quite a few builds in the process. Anglo-Spanish-US was effectively imploded, and there was enough bad blood in Europe that Anglo-US probably should have imploded itself to open an alliance shift floodgates. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the build in a home center owned by you, so I didn't think of pointing it out to Spain until Britain built A Dug. In negotiations, I am not sure if Spain would have adjusted his build differently though. Spain was bent on seizing control of the seas. In hindsight, this situation likely played a dual role. It helped Anglo-US launch a very successful defensive and offensive in the Americas, and Spain seemed forced to seek appeasement with Austria and myself in particular enabling Austria and I to pick up formerly taken Spanish dots like Edo and Kag. I took these back in phases because it would further weaken his American continents's positioning, and Anglo-US were making gains in both North and South America. Apparently, as Anglo-US spokesman Salim tried rallying the board against Spain, which didn't work partly because Spain worked to appease his Austria, Russia, and I and partly because the alliance structure had placed him in a predominant immediate center expansion in North and South America, which was precisely where Anglo-US V Spain was involved in a very bitter conflict to the point I had to agree to dispatch Chinese armies into North America. First, this would strike the balance between these collective and individual colossal force. Second, I thought that convoying armies would help keep Russia at ease. The only real border guard that Russia and I sustained had been limited to India. Spain had sacrificed the center in lieu to the seas in a similar manner that Austria was progressing on one front at the expense of another, and I had delayed and prevented at the expense of my defensive structure. My navy for most of the game was defensive in structure; I required builds to make it successfully offensive. Despite, Anglo-US-Sino negotiations bouncing between implode the collective or reallocating the Indian Ocean to cede it to Russia and Anglo-US to convince me to attack Spain. First, if I had attacked Spain, either Spain would implode to the benefit of Anglo-US, or I ran the risk of renewing Anglo-Spanish-US, which I was in no way willing to chance without successions on the end of the Anglo-US collective. Meanwhile I was given the understanding, Russia was seeking a possible peace treaty with Britain. Several factors came into play from here. Russia unannounced and without negotiation renewed the Russo-Sino border guard via Grg that forced me to also reinstall a border guard, which effectively limited the aid I could send to the North America, and Anglo-Russo had conducted a very disruptive cooperative manuever resulting in suspicions of a possible Anglo-Russo-US alliance being contemplated/in formation. I decided to put the evaluation to the test, and I bundled it. Nei S Ara-Mld was an utter fluke on my part; I was supposed to support Mds-Mld. While I admit to my error here, Mds-Mld according to the map lacking a read mark like Sum and Jav required a convoy in which Russia ordered to support. If Anglo-Russo-US was forming, Russia would be forced to move heavily eastward effectively cutting off Austria from aid. It literally would have left Austria easy pickings effectively isolated from aid. Following this, I was in some rather detailed negotiations with mostly Spain in envoy exchanges, and I probably sent Austria the most envoys that I sent him. With the US's withdrawal from Europe via disbandment, Austria was free to essentially pursue reigning in former centers. Britain held the line, and I built with two strategies in mind border guard and convoyance, and I was heavily leaning on moving strongly on Russia predominantly to deliver an ultimatum. The issue of my fluke made it hard to determine if my evaluation was accurate or not. If I don't move on Russia, Austria is cut off. If I do move on Russia, I run the risk of forming an Anglo-Russo-US, and the ultimatum would only work anyhow under the pretext that my evaluation is wrong. In the end, I moved westward while Russia's northern defensive pivot shifted eastward and Afg northward. I gambled a bit in F56, and it paid off.
It was prior to the Aut56 results that the game ended in an Austrian-Chinese-Russian-Spanish 4-way draw. I mostly used the draw proposal as my ultimatum to Russia, which is predominantly why I voted for it.
Matthew K, we really should have negotiated more. I'm still uncertain if you moved eastward to get a piece of Russia, or you also housed Anglo-Russo-US suspicions prior to my envoys being sent. I mostly didn't point out my own suspicions because I didn't want to give Russia ideas and raise tensions unnecessarily.
Matthew B, you are definitely a very loyal ally. I still think that Anglo-US should have imploded itself to trigger an alliance shift. It truly seemed like the Anglo-US collective assessment was quite apt, and I certainly didn't want to chance an unbreakable alliance regaining its previous strength.
Michael, you're a tough one diplomatically and through strategy and tactics. I was not looking forward to a second Russo-Sino war, but I couldn't afford to risk being flanked. Once the border guard went up, I was forced to follow suit, and the cooperation and rather interesting lack of progression despite my fluke in the Indian Ocean effectively raised too much tension. I'm not sure what happened beyond my assessments, but it'll be interesting to read your perspective
Salim, you are definitely a tough strategist and tactician.
Gino, while I realize, you were playing a different playing style, which I fully understand considering at the Statesman and its subsites the number of active players was limited to the point developing multiple playing styles helped to prevent yourself from becoming overly predictable; I'm still surprised that my position was allowed to be liberated so rapidly. There were times that you broke even/negative enabling Austria and/or I to strengthen our positions. If Anglo-US broke itself apart, this could have easily backfired towards the end of the game. In hindsight, this could have also backfired if Russia successfully was crippled. I am definitely surprised that I was effectively transitioned from survival and kamikaze mode to conducting conquest in relative rapid pace. I've been told that my honesty kills me, and this may prove to be one of those times. But, I did start to develop a glimmer of hope that I may be able to win this one and in hindsight it simply would have taken either Anglo-US to implode or Russia to be unable to challenge me to achieve it. I truly am one of those players who plays to win, then a winning seat, survival, or if I can't survive take someone down with me or at least tip the balance to help entice it.
Holland in particularly I would like to salute through his long single unit persistance rather than bailing. I'm sure that we have all been there before. Look on the bright side, diplomaticcorp isn't likely to be forced replace a power with a player who had already been eliminated and then eliminated again.
Goodgame everyone.
from Sean
