Dear all,
Package intercepted...... Point of Departure: Stockholm, Sweden......
Packing label in German....... Language deemed barbaric...........
Translating to English
.......
.......
......

Hullo? Hello, anyone out there? Ahem, well, since we have taken
Rumania, we can now mix the sexy appeal of Sweden with the vampire
atmosphere of Transylvania and the industrious strength of the
Germans. Tell Chancellor Maslow that all is well, and we will soon
launch our surprise attack against the English, claiming Edinburgh and
declaring Scottish independence from the Empire. We will dominate
(that area)!
*End*

Drat! Our master plan has been foiled!
Before anything else, thanks of course to Adam, for GMing so
wonderfully - spot on!
Dirk mentioned I am an "imaginative and creative" player. I thank him
for the kind words, and this game has certainly re-sparked my interest
in taking the Light Cavalry's mission seriously, and taking up truly
desperate positions, partially to ensure the games go on, but also as
a fun place to experiment with crazy ideas. Germany had Munich and
Sweden. Seems like a fertile board for some experimentation.
I always aim high. When I took over this position I decided my goal
was to retake all of Germany. Read that again. I decided to take my
two units and throw myself against the English forces. It seemed like
a good idea, actually! Dirk was deficient on armies in Germany, and I
generally thought he had overbuilt on fleets. The trick was to stab
him in such a way that he couldn't take Sweden in the appropriate
fall, essentially giving me an extra unit and some room to manuever.
But Jack and I never quite hit it off, and my plan to "convince" Dirk
I was his ally turned into.......... an alliance. Jack just stopped
responding (so I stopped bothering) and soon it became clear that
fighting Dirk, while great and heroic, was foolish and he would simply
eliminate me. Maybe it was always so.
Mark never really talked to me and I was convinced Dirk and I were the
only players talking. But Dirk kept saying he heard from France about
this or that - I just assumed he was lying.
Then I got an e-mail from Mark to me and Dirk about some tactics.
During the previous turn or so, I had suggested to Dirk he could solo,
and he said he wasn't interested. That very turn Dirk took Warsaw
without helping me into Rumania (which he very well could have done),
so I lost a unit. I threw a bit of a fit (I was upset Dirk had lied
to me about his solo ambitions - I thought I had made it clear that if
that's what he wanted I'd help him out) and considered obstructing
Dirk with my one unit (I mean........ it was something!) but then Dirk
said I had shown myself to be untrustworthy. Turns out he thought I
complained to Mark I was being left out, and that's what led to the
3-way e-mail. I had thought Dirk had encouraged Mark to e-mail me, so
I'd stop bugging him about it. Well, once we settled that I realized
Jack still wasn't talking to me and Dirk could just as easily take me
out, so I offered my services again and suggested it might be fun if I
end the game with 1 unit and two supply depots, neither in Germany.
He agreed, but clearly that didn't happen. Oh well. Sweden is just
as well!
Also, I think I accidentally vetoed a few draws by not submitting
votes. Whoops!
A fun game and a fun position to take over. I hope to see you all in
a game soon!
-Maslow


On 12/20/11, Adam Martin-Schwarze wrote:
Well, so much for all the talk about building consensus. The endgame
proposals fail anyway.

There is great confusion, thrusting, and counter-thrusting in the Balkans.
A tactical gem here, a defensive brainstorm there - but in the end, the
Austrian and French foes cancel each... er... excuse me... hold on a
second... I have received a short missive marked "Priority" from the
English centurion on the field of combat. Give me a second while I put on
my glasses here to read what it says...

"Veni, vidi, vici."

"Galia est pacata."

My, oh my! It seems that, while the diplomats were unable to negotiate a
peace, the generals went and claimed it on the field of battle. England
wins. Let me repeat that: England wins. With the additions of Rumania and
Sevastopol to his portfolio, he tallies the magical 18. Dirk Knemeyer, vir
triumphalis. Crown him with laurels. Parade him in triumph through the
streets of London. Let there be displays of captured riches including
elephants, Austrian double-headed eagles, German techno music, and Russian
hats with furry ear-flaps. (Let a slave stand in his chariot and whisper,
"All glory is fleeting."

"Danger knows full well
That Caesar is more dangerous than he:
We are two lions littered in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible."

I take this moment to recollect that Dirk was not an original member of this
game. He stepped in as a replacement in Fall 1904 for Stephan who
regretfully had to resign. Stephan left Dirk a fluid position which could
have gone one of many ways. Dirk, deftly steered it through the ambiguous
years to come and clearly emerged as the beast on the board.
Congratulations, Dirk.

The English centurion has also left words of wisdom for the other players.

"Experience is the teacher of all things."

I don't know how much you have enjoyed this game (usually, by the end of a
game, many players have lost their zest for it), but defeat/failure is
indeed the best teacher, and I think DC 373 would be an exemplary teaching
game, featuring many common Diplomacy themes. There were disabused newbies,
blood-curdling stabs, carebear alliances, puppets, attrition, victory, and
above all, personalities. I invite you to share your reflections in
end-of-game statements (often one of the best parts of the game, I think).


Of the surviving losers (the eliminated players have each already received
their own send-offs), I offer the following observation from Julius Caesar
himself:

"Hoc voluerunt".

Roughly translated: they wanted it so. Or, as Shakespeare put it (which I
did quote earlier in the game):

"Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

As with any Diplomacy solo, the victory would not have been possible without
the deeds of the vanquished.


Jack, Mark, and Maslow, I hope you will forgive me for tagging each of you
with a quote from Shakespeare:

Maslow: Thank you for taking over the abandoned German position; I am always
grateful to replacement players. [Note: Matt O'Donnell did eventually
contact me following his abandonment, but I decided that five days late for
a deadline was too late, even though he was otherwise a reliable player - I
was sorry to lose him]. Your decision to play for survival by playing loyal
Janissary was well-executed and merits you the following:
You are my true and honourable wife,
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.

Mark: Somewhere during this game, you let go of the reins, and by the time
you looked around for them, they were firmly in Dirk's grasp. I appreciated
the many times you shared with me your perspective on the board and your
plans - they made my experience infinitely more enjoyable. It also enabled
me to better witness your transition from 'playing the board' to 'being
played' (which may or may not be a fair characterization).
Forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius!
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile;
If not, why then this parting was well made

Jack: A reliable, bulldog performance through all the years, and yet you
ended isolated and friendless after your allies were picked off one by one.
Still, you dutifully submitted orders and soldiered on long after hope had
left the building, and I appreciate that a lot. "It is easier to find men
who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain
with patience."
This was the noblest Roman of them all;
All the conspirators save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He, only, in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, 'This was a man!'

Again - end-of-game statements are welcomed, nay, encouraged. Caesar
narrated his wars, do thou no less!


Fall 1917 Adjudication

Austria:
f aeg-gre (*Fails*)
f adr-tri (*Bounce*)
a tyr s f adr-tri
a alb-ser (*Fails*)
a rum s a alb-ser (*Dislodged*)
a bul s a alb-ser (*Cut*)
Army Trieste unordered

England:
F Bal H
A Bel H
F Den - NTH
F Eng - MAO
A Gal - Rum
F Hel H
F ION - Tun
A Kie - Mun
F MAO - Wes
A Mos H
A Mun - Boh
F NTH - Eng
A Sev S Gal - Rum
A Sil - Gal
A Vie H
A War H

France:
Army Marseilles HOLD
Fleet Piedmont HOLD
Fleet Venice Support Army Serbia Move To Trieste
Fleet Tyrhennian Sea Move To Naples
Fleet Naples Move To Apulia
Army Rome Support Fleet Venice
Army Serbia Move To Trieste (*Bounce*)
Fleet Greece Move To Bulgaria (*Fails*)

Germany:
Ukr to Rum (*Fails*)

--
"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really
mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. and sometimes you
didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How
could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had
happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing. The shadow, even
the darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines
it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with
you - That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand
why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in
those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't.
They kept going because they were holding onto something."
"What are we holding onto, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."