Welcome to the Austro-English table of Round 2 of the Blitz. If you're here, you probably played Austria or England in the first round. You probably also secured yourself a position in a first round draw, but if not, then you at least clawed your way to survival. There was only one solo in Round 1 of the Blitz this year, so you're within reasonable distance of winning it all... after all, Tim Crosby (the soloist) will be playing Round 2 with a Russia-sized target on his back. Plus, that's how the Blitz is played: you do well enough in the first round to be in the fray (without drawing attention as being a 'leader', and in the second round you solo your way to glory. Sure, there are six other players on this board vying against you for glory and honor (but between you and me... they're not the brightest light bulbs in the world; you should have no trouble outsmarting them... they probably even think this parenthetical comment is meant for them).
Since we're all in the routine of playing the Blitz, I won't trouble you with a rules review. You are in game DC 420. The web page is:
http://diplomaticcorp.com/game_page.php?game_id=dc420
Deadlines... our players span half the globe from Croatia to Alaska. Myself, I am in Iowa (so, expect me to give deadlines in CST format). I have found that 1400 CST (1900 GMT) is usually a workable hour for most people. Correct me if I am wrong.
The first deadline is next Monday, so you have four days to plan your castle onslaught (if only you had a wheelbarrow, that would be something!). Just be aware that this weekend is Easter, so some people have obligations; some people may even be working on Good Friday. You're all professionals; you'll work around it somehow.
I am an ardent devotee of prelims. Please send them every season. Send them right now (after you read this email) -- that way, you won't NMR Spring 1901, and (more to my goal) I'll know you've received this email.
I am Adam, your GM. I have played with and/or GM'd about half of you in the past. I am likely to GM about half of you in the future. Half of those I have GM'd in the past are likely to be in the half that I GM in the future. I'm only half-kidding.
But enough playful banter. You want to know your country assignments. As you may remember, this is a tournament. You have no voice in your country selection. Using a complicated algorithm (it's called the RAND function in Excel), I randomly assigned you to country you did not play in the first round. So, as much as Maslow may think I am intentionally spiting him, the truth is his country was randomly assigned... or, if he prefers supernatural explanations to mere chance, God chose it for him. (Or, for those who prefer the doctrine of predestination, Maslow was specially created and shaped throughout all of human history with this moment in mind -- he was literally made to play Italy).
Countries and Contact Info:
GM: Adam Martin-Schwarze smegdwarf(at)yahoo.com
Austria: Nick Saywell nicksaywell(at)vip.hr
England: Nathan Deily ndeily(at)yahoo.com
France: Joe Coffey josephmcoffey(at)yahoo.com
Germany: Rene Kroll rk(at)giorsoine.dk
Italy: Alex Maslow Blueraider0(at)gmail.com
Russia: Stuart Winch stuartandmaria(at)googlemail.com
Turkey: John Reside untitled36(at)hotmail.com
Now, send prelims! And good luck to you all!