Everyone,
Well, what can I say? I went 4:3:1:1:1...... until the fatal blow. So, what is there to talk about? This game was awful.
Just kidding. I had a blast this game. The first two years were pretty typical, and I 100% agree with John that we were lying to each other and just hoping Nick would take our side. Unfortunately, I got shafted. But, in fact, that's where the game was fun. As soon as I got stabbed, I had to decide between fighting to the death or trying to weasel my way into their alliance, and obviously my decision was to work with them. While I argued my fleets could be a forward command, I think I ultimately convinced them by agreeing to advise tactical movements, which I did for the first year or two, until John took over and I only gave a few recommendations (mostly to show him I was reading the e-mails, because it seemed as though everyone else was passively accepting his ideas).
Of course, I'm not anyone's pawn, and I wasn't just laying down easy. Originally I wanted to be a mole for EF, but they wanted me to betray them immediately, which I refused to do. Then John/Nick manipulated my position such that stabbing them was basically impossible, and finally I ended up in the Atlantic with no way whatsoever to create problems for them. When I took Brest, they took Naples, which denied me a build, which I was going to use to cause havoc. Nick and John, I will not say you played me like a fiddle so much as you completely neutered me in every possible way. Bravo.
I knew I was dealing with real criminal masterminds when I decided, as EF was collapsing, to try to cause tensions in the alliance by bringing up the end-game. John skillfully deflected the question, saying he'd seen too many alliances break down on questions of center-splitting, and that the focus had to be on eliminating EF. Of course, John also deflected the possibility of a post-conquest alliance breakdown by boldly ATTACKING EVERYONE except England and taking a truly admirable 8 centers in one turn. Eight. 8!!! I'm thoroughly impressed. I tip my cap. Has anyone ever ever seen someone grow from 10 to 18 in one turn??!
This year I was considering bring up to Nick that he should stab John, but I've been busy getting ready for a big move, so never found the time to type what would've needed to be a work of art. Nick, would you've been at all responsive to such a suggestion?
The one odd thing in this game for me has been Russia, who responded in S01 by saying he thought my ideas (which were vague) were OK and we'd talk later, but then never ever talking to me later. I was convinced he was stone-walling everyone, but apparently John had agood deal with him. But I'm astonished a player dealt with one person while systematically ignoring basically the whole board. Do I have that right, Stuart, or did you just ignore me :-p
A great game with a comically wonderful ending. I just got a panicked e-mail from Tim Crosby (he solo'd round 1) saying he now needs to work to maintain his lead if he wants to win the Blitz. But I dunno. John - you really earned this win. You stomped us this game. I hope you stomp the tourney, as well!
-Maslow
On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 3:58 PM, John R <untitled36(at)hotmail.com> wrote:
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
--
"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."
