Thanks Chris for a job well done! In a humorous side note, I actually think you may have inadvertently affected the game. It could be sheer coincidence, but after I took Sev and Rum, Russia (Bret) used almost exactly the same language you did to describe what I had done. He did this despite the fact that Rum was a foregone conclusion, I bypassed Bud (although I could easily have taken it), and I only heard about two sentences from Bret during this turn. I didn’t “want” to take Sev, but there were several other concerns. In the vacuum of communication, I had to make my own choices.  As for the game, a few things stand out: it’s no surprise that France and Austria didn’t do well. They didn’t write much and their moves were somewhat puzzling. In fact, it’s almost impossible to do what France did: lose all your home dots by 1902. I’m not slamming him; I’m sure he’s a fine player. In this particular instance, his moves are inexplicable. Austria told me early on he was going to defend on all fronts. As Turkey, that works for me. He offered me Greece, did not communicate on the fall turn, then blocked me out of Greece. Austria and Turkey don’t typically work together, but I had gone to great lengths to explain my willingness to make an AT work. That all pretty much went out the window when he did that and then remained silent. Bret (Russia) insisted on bouncing in Bla. I was “okay” with that, but I’m always concerned about an AIR assault on Turkey, so this left me wondering. Bret was very cautious throughout the game and not very communicative (although more so than Austria). I never actually lied to Bret until the last turn he had a unit on the map. He turned against me after the Rum/Sev debacle, which, while somewhat understandable, was less understandable than trusting EG, who had been after him since early on.  I tip my hat to Nick (England). After his nmr, Germany should have been willing to throw him overboard. It opened Pandora’s Box and there were certainly times Mick could have taken three dots from him. Nick also came up with the single-worst proposal I’ve ever read. He suggested I take my “superfluous” army (which it was) in Arm, convoy it to Bul, sneak it through Serbia to Albania, then take Trieste from Italy and walk the boot. Even a noob would not have gone for that, and while I have certainly been fooled on many occasions, I’m not a noob. My biggest regret in this game was not being able to convince Mick (Germany) of my sincerity. Once I bothered to read the scoring system, I understood the best possible result (probable is a better word) other than a win for me was a 3-way. 2-ways are pretty dicey. In my 30 years of play, I’ve probably had three of them. I was burned once and I’m pretty reluctant to even try for one again. I would have gone to any length to guarantee Mick I would not stab him. I probably would have offered cash if he had asked. Mick was concerned I would go for the win. As often as I asked, he never tried to explain how that would be possible. I still don’t think it was. For Turkey to win, he must get more than Sev/Mos/War, the Balkans, Austria, Italy, and Tunis. Where does the 18th come from? Stp, Munich, or Marseilles. Any of those three would be out of reach without severe German incompetence. I think Mick a very capable player so I’m sorely disappointed that we could not come to an agreement here. Now, for the honest truth. In a thousand years, I never thought I would be working with Eric in this game. First of all, IT’s are rare. Second, when Italy suggests Turkey build armies and promises to go west, it rarely happens. In this case, it did. Eric went “all in,” inviting my fleets west. Initially, this may have looked foolish. I thought it was shaky myself. However, at the end of the day, we had to move aggressively or EG would have swept us from the map. As it was, we claimed the last available stalemate line that would have been sustainable without massive guesswork. Eric was steady to the end—thanks mate! I do believe it should have ended on a 3-way and that Mick will regret this in the second round. I know I will. Best of luck to all, Steve