Russian EOG


First of all, many thanks, Christine for a great game.  Appreciate the work that made it happen.

In my first round game I was specifically looking for a
2-way draw so as not to be a top target in round 2 while still within striking
distance of the prize.  It paid off a bit
as Tim was certainly to top target from the get-go.  Also I kept my eye on my round 1 partner,
Viper, but he couldn???t make it happen


Anyway, a great Russian Spring 1901 turned into a bleak Fall
as both Austria and Germany stabbed.  I
saw how Andrew might double cross us-both, but I was sort of counting on
Germany???s pledge of support to allow me into Swe.  Not the first of Steve???s stabs before all would
be said and done.


My decision to ignore the defense of my center and focus on
attacking in the north and south turned out to be the right move in the face of
the combined GA start which turned out to be a good thing .  Though by the end of 1903 I had lost both Mos
and War.  And BTW Kudos to Tim for surviving
the early loss of PAR.  No small feat.


Moving along faster, Derek???s return to the east and his war
on Austria saved the day for Will and I and things were pretty dicey in the southwest
for a while until Derek and I finally emerged as the dominant alliance.  Mike NMRs (booooo) and Andrew is dispatched
and we essentially have  5 left.  Will???s SCs would be needed to take out Tim,
so he was the logical next step.  Though
Derek and I talked about keeping him bottled up for while in case we needed to
eliminate both Tim and Steve and keep a third around for the endgame.


Steve had a chance while he stuck with us.  Not much of one, but it was his only possible
play.  The fact that Tim was the solo
from round one made the GRI more desirable than the FIR.  But??? in the end it really didn???t matter as
Derek and I were not in it for the 3 way. 
Now, here??? is where it gets philosophical.  I would have been happy with the 2-way as it
would have been the WB winner as long as another board didn???t produce a
solo.  But one did.


As Derek mentioned he offered me a ???roll of the dice??? 50-50
shot at the solo.  Loser allows the other
to solo.  Derek???s use of the hold/move
scenario to roll the dice was pretty clever and it kept it on the board. However,
on the surface it appeared in opposition to the game.  Would one of us ever actually allow the other
to solo and give up an obvious 3-way draw for a survival.  Now, in Derek???s defense  it???s possible you could make
an argument that - assuming two honest players who would follow through on the
agreement ??? a 50-50 shot at a solo (and the WB championship) is better than an
automatic loss.  Gentleman???s agreement
and the roll of the dice.  After all we
had done a lot of work to get to the point where Derek and I were in complete
control of the board.  Why settle in for
the 3-way?  So I don???t blame Derek for
the idea, or for following through.



Tim did the right thing by stuffing one of us and letting
the other grow.  The only possible
mistake he made on the board that I could see (other than allowing Mun ??? Bur)
was that he should have blockaded me, and let Derek advance.  Could he have known that I would definitely
have stabbed Derek if the shoe was on the other foot?  Maybe. 
Maybe not.  Because I was certainly
NOT planning on letting Derek solo if I had lost the ???roll of the dice???.  Had I lost I would have made a break for the
solo through the Balkans and North Sea. 
Maybe I could have made it, maybe not. 
You see I agreed to the deal just to see what would happen.  It???s one thing to make a deal like that, it???s
another to follow through.


And now here???s the last twist.  It???s like a Kaiser Sose moment.  Derek had worked out the hold/move ???roll of
the dice??? idea and I did decide to roll the dice with him.  So just a couple of hours before orders were
due one Thursday I wrote him and told him something like ???I like your plan with
the hold/move, let???s do it next turn.??? 
NEXT turn Derek.  ???NEXT??? turn.  Derek thought I meant the turn we were in
with adjudication in a couple of hours (it can read that way so not really a
mistake) but I meant the following turn. 
Anyway, he immediately sent back the details of the scenario and didn???t wait
for a response.  A few hours later, after
that morning???s adjudication, Derek sent me the note ???Congrats on winning the WB???
or words to that effect.  That took me by
surprise and then I looked back at the email and realized what happened.  Anyway, I wasn???t going to tell him.  And the rest worked itself out on the board
as Derek followed through.


Anyway, a VERY enjoyable game.  Yes, winning helps, but it really was a very
well fought game by most.  Thanks all and thanks again Christine.



Dan


From: GM Christine <dawench(at)hotmail.com>
To: odvaha(at)aol.com; wtfleming(at)msn.com; timothyl.crosby(at)gmail.com; derekthefeared2(at)yahoo.com; ddz999cat23(at)yahoo.com; blitz(at)diplomaticcorp.com; landru428(at)aol.com; tmssteve(at)gmail.com; kielmarch(at)hotmail.com; mike(at)fuzzylogicllc.net
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 8:27 AM
Subject: dc418 Game over







Board:

Austria - landru428 - Andrew Cassese - eliminated F '05
England - RickHunter - Mike Brady - eliminated '07
France - fencertim -Timothy Crosby
Germany - stevec - Steve Cooley
Italy - derekthefeared2 -Derek Eiler
Russia - ddz999cat23 - Daniel Dzikowicz - Solo '11
Turkey - MrSmiley - Will Fleming - eliminted '08

GM Note:

A Russian Solo has been achieved, congratulations Dan.

Thank you all for playing, I hope you will submit EOGs.  Some moves in this game were mystifying!

Final Supply Center Count:

Austria:     0
England:     0
France:      5
Germany:     1
Italy:      10
Russia:     18
Turkey:      0

Map:

http://home.comcast.net/~dawench/418/41811EG.gif

Orders and Results:

France:

F Brest - English Channel
A Burgundy Supports A Spain - Marseilles
F English Channel - North Sea
A Gascony Supports F Portugal - Spain(sc)
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - North Atlantic Ocean
A Munich - Kiel (*Dislodged*)
F North Atlantic Ocean - Norwegian Sea
F Portugal - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*)
F Skagerrak Supports F English Channel - North Sea
A Spain - Marseilles

Germany:
A Ruhr - Belgium

Italy:
A Bohemia - Munich (*Fails*)
A Bulgaria - Rumania (*Bounce*)
A Greece - Bulgaria (*Bounce*)
F Gulf of Lyon Supports F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc)
F North Africa - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
A Piedmont - Marseilles (*Fails*)
A Tyrolia - Piedmont (*Fails*)
F Tyrrhenian Sea - Western Mediterranean (*Fails*)
F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*)

Russia:
A Armenia Hold
F Baltic Sea - Denmark
A Berlin Supports A Silesia - Munich
A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Bounce*)
A
Kiel Supports A Silesia - Munich
A Liverpool Hold
F London Hold
F North Sea - Holland
F Norway - Sweden
A Sevastopol - Rumania (*Bounce*)
A Silesia - Munich

Retreat Due:

French A Munich can retreat to Ruhr or OTB.


------------------------

Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage
of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by
unexpected routes and strike him where he
has taken no precautions.

Sun
Tzu