"...the blood feud between Germany and Russia that essentially undid them both."

Not sure if that's how I see it.    What undid me, in my humble opinion, was the kamikaze German army marching all the way to Sevastopol.  I keep looking back over this game, asking myself how I could possibly have predicted, and then properly defended, against such an unorthodox (euphemism) approach.  Honestly, surviving this game, especially given that Germany did not, is one of my favorite Diplomacy accomplishments to date.  Thank you to both France and Austria, who actively participated in my survival.  It's interesting how easy it is to find allies, when your enemy has attacked or lied to everyone.  Germany's ambition (euphemism) was what undid him.  The blood feud merely served to keep me alive long after I should have been eliminated. 


I have to say though, I've been thoroughly impressed with everyone in this game.  I feel like there is something to be learned from several situations, and I'm likely to be a stronger player for having been a part of it.  Yes Germany, even your bizarre (euphemism) approach, while unlikely to win enough friends to survive, was educational.  The testicular fortitude required to begin the game the way you did was inspiring.  I can only assume that we shared the viewpoint that the only way to win the Winter Blitz is to solo in Round 1.  Short of that however, there is a great personal victory in surviving against all odds.


Good luck to everyone in Round 2!

-- Mad Dog



On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 11:12 AM, Barnes, Matthew <matthew_barnes(at)brown.edu> wrote:

Thanks to the GM and all the players. It was a fun one.
Here are my thoughts on the game...


I opened on initially friendly terms with everyone around me, but quickly started stabbing. I violated a truce in the Black Sea early on and used it to gain an upper hand over Russia. I was working well with Germany and I saw the opportunity to expand into Russia and Austria with his help. I had been talking for a while with France and I was convinced in 1902-1903 that I would see the French fleets in the Med (if you recall he had 2 there and Italy was not positioned to counter) move against Italy. It was on those pretenses (and believing that Italy and Austria were not allied but merely neutral) that I stabbed Austria to grab Serbia. Unfortunately, the French attack on Italy that I was promised and the Austrian/Italian alliance I didn't believe in were both untrue. At that point, with no allies remaining on the board and Germany retreating to fight his own battles, I was left scrambling to defend. I made a few bad guesses but in the end, I couldn't hold off the AI attack with nobody really attacking them on the backside.


Apologies to Austria and Russia for the stabs, but alas, you both survived and I did not...
Best,Matt
On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 11:57 AM, John R <untitled36(at)hotmail.com> wrote:





Not sure if we'll see any more EoG's, though I really hope we do! Here's my take on things...

From the outside perspective, it seemed like there was a lot of shifting of alliances s it was sort of hard to keep track of what was really going on. I think it was about winter of 1902 that I mentally made my prediction of a strong finish for Germany and/or Turkey. And I was dead wrong. Still, both played well, and in my mind this game will always be "The one where Germany took Sevastapol in 1902." As has been mentioned, I think that rogue unit had a big impact on the early game. If nothing else, it developed the blood feud between Germany and Russia that essentially undid them both.



I think turkey had a strong showing, but seemed unable to gain a solid alliance.

Germany was ambitious, perhaps overly so, as it appears he was attacking Russia and England both when he was stabbed by France.



England did fine. His downfall was the French F Bre-Eng in Spring 02, which I'm not certain he could have predicted. once the channel fell, he had to play defensively, and thus lost the ground he had gained.



Russia started out well, but just got dog-piled. Not sure if that was a diplomatic failing, or if it was just "one of those things" where the stars aligned against him. I remember an email from him with his F02 moves being "cautiously optimistic" about the game. That was the turn he was attacked by all four of his neighbors. However, with grit and determination, he managed to eke out a survival, outlasting every other power besides the victors. That says volumes.



Austria and Italy, they were one of the very few (maybe only) alliances that lasted all game. I think this was their success. I am surprised that the two powers with so many combined NMRs managed to win, and frankly, that sort of irks the GM side of me. But at the same time, they did do a good job of setting up a defense against France, and they deserved the draw.



France played the game well, obviously. He certainly earned his lion's share in the draw, and came very close to soloing. The last couples rounds were sort of guessing games, and those are tough ones to call especially as a player.



Congrats to the 3 draw participants! You were a good group to work with! I'm sure I'll see some of you in round two!

John






--
Matthew Barnes

Brown University 2013
Mechanical Engineering