Hey all,
 
The game started right out of the gate with an RAT triple. We tried some misdirection to try to throw off the rest of the board, but from my very first email to A and R until the very last turn it was RAT all the way. Maslow (italy) was the first casualty of war, as he believed he had a strong AI alliance as well as an IT alliance, though his ultimate goal was my destruction. I was actually a little worried which side Nick (austria) would take. When maslow was brutally betrayed by Austria and I he sent us a great email expressing his congratulations on such a well done stab, and offered to join our merry band. We agreed to allow him to survive until the end if he would be our pawn. The rest of the game was just as it appeared, the iRAT alliance slowly rolled over the board turn by turn. Russia pretty well exclusively built Nothern Fleets, I build Southern Fleets, and Nick built Armies. This helped relieve a lot of the stress of the triple by making stabs difficult.
 
My original goal was to stab Russia with Nick's help once we had most of the centers, but our unit divisions made that difficult. Then I thought I would have to settle for a three-way. The last probably 3 seasons I started looking for a way to solo all in one fell swoop. I was basically writing the moves for the whole team at that point, so I knew I could have a chance at it, but if something went arwy with even one center, I was not at all sure I could hold my far flung dots from the retribution that would come. Belgium, in particular, was my biggest concern. I had to convince Nick to move out with no real good reason why he should. And if he smelled a rat (no RAT pun intended there), then I would be up the proverbial creek.
 
The Western Powers were nice guys. I enjoyed talking with you when I did, although with a solid RAT in place, I never had much of a chance to engage in real conversation. Basically, by the time the full extent of the RAT was revealed, there wan't really anything they could have done without getting one of us to stab. Good game guys.
 
Stuart was a relatively quiet ally. At first his reserved nature concerned me, but he followed the plan flawlessly each turn, and we worked well together.
 
I really enjoyed having Nick on my side. He was very involved in all the early discussions, and we hit it off well from the get go. But because of some issues he was going through in real life, he faded away mid game and was basically relying on my orders each turn (at least that's how it appeared to me). Real life has to come first of course, and in my case I think that was the only reason I was able to pull this off. Had Nick been more fully engaged in the game I don't think I could have made this happen. Sorry, Nick. I hated having to stab you. You were a great ally.
 
Maslow... What can I say, man? We had great talks in the beginning. It was fun talking to you because I knew I was going to attack you and you knew you were going to attack me, and I knew that you knew that, and... well you get the idea. It was fun lying through our teeth at the other. And like I said, I wasn't sure until it happened which one of us was getting the shaft by Nick. It could just as easily have been me, and then of course this game would have ended far differently. And then after the stab hit you, you still never gave up. You were definitely the most engaged other member of the alliance by the end. You threw out suggestions until the very end, and I appreciated your involvment. In fact, the worst part of the stab for me was taking away your survival. You deserved at least a survival, if not more. If I had an option to take a different center besides brest, I would have. Sorry for the ultimate betrayal there. You deserved better.
 
And lastly, to our GM, you were great! I enjoyed your comments and the fun we had all the way through. Thanks for doing the Blitz. Being a Blitz GM myself, I know the work involved. You handled the responsibility well!
 
Thanks all! I've never had a solo on the DC site before, so this is a first for me.
 
John