Hey all,

Wow. It seems like this game's been going for a long time. My memory of the early years is a bit shaky. But here's what I recall:

As soon as Jerome and I found out we were on the same board, before even countries were assigned (I think we kept good tabs on the DC blitz standings to see which round 2 game we were in), I offered an alliance to him. This was probably my single most controversial move in the game, since generally it's assumed one should off a 1st round soloist rather than offer blind aid even before country assignments. However, my reasons were two-fold. I felt Jerome and I had similar styles of play and would get along well, plus with his lead in the standings, I was fairly confident I could  get any other mid or late game player to help me kill Jerome when the opportunity arose. The scariest part of a strong two-way alliance is the fear the other powers will help your ally kill you, and I felt my risk here was minimal, and thus Jerome would be a good early to mid game ally. 

Also, in blitzes, I am a huge believer in triple alliances. With the RAT being one of the more powerful, I attempted that, while trying to get Italy to head West to France, or even north to Germany. Some early differences in expected moves led the RAT to collapse pretty fast. I believe Jerome made the first "stab-like" move, but Russia was also more concerned about protecting himself than striking out (which, as it turned out, he had reason to be. But had the alliance been a bit more aggressive from the get go, that may not have happened). 

Whilst all this was occuring, I was also forging ties with Benjy in France. I'd GMed a game he was in, and we got talking about diplomacy in general, and seemed to both feel like we'd be good allies. So I had a second (or third) alliance waiting in the wings. I also tried to make friendly talk with Nathan in England, but since I'd already basically bet on Benjy as my western ally, I didn't try as hard as I might have otherwise. 

So, long story short, I felt mostly allied with Austria, Russia, France, and even England in the early game. I tried to be non-agressive with Germany, but we never really hit it off to develop anything more than some halfhearted talk about possible future ideas. Italy was my target short term. I tried to get Austria and France both to jump him, but neither would bite at first. 
In Spring 02, Italy landed an army in Albania, which actually served me kind of well. I'd feared Italy was heading for me, but instead he hit Austria. And in Fall 02 I had to pick my ally between Austria and Russia. So in one of the most pointless stabs I've even done, I "stabbed" Russia for really no gain whatsoever besides protecting Austria. But again, I felt like, if Jerome survived, I would have a simple time painting the target on him, so he'd be easier to defeat, long term. Mikael, sorry about my very lame stab. I felt like it was what I had to do, but I *hated* spending my stab on something so stupid. You deserved better. 

Benjy kept talking like he was going to help vs Italy, and Fall 02 also had French fleets enter Tys. I wasn't sure if they were gunning for me or Italy, but they at least terrified Italy enough that he drew back to protect himself. 

Thus began a delicate dance between Benjy and me. We each stepped out in faith, and slowly carved up Italy. It was tense, since we both feared the other would stab at any moment. But neither side did. And we eventually built up a strong partnership, where we were both going to stab our allies. However, because England is more distant from France than Austria is from Turkey, France had to stab first in spring to be able to get to important centers in fall, whereas if I stabbed in Spring, Austria could oust me in Fall, so I had to wait a season. I fully planned to follow through, but at the key moment, Benjy backed out. I think he was afraid to put his neck on the line first. I get that. I thought we had a good plan worked out, and I intended to follow through, but Benjy couldn't read my mind, and I was apparently unable to convince him. 

So Benjy stabbed me in Spring 05, with a lame stab that ended up getting him only Tunis in the fall. Then, in 1906, England stabbed France. France had spent his relational coin already with me, so he really had no where to turn. then it became a race to the stalemate line. We did prop France up, but only to buy us time to set up the line without French help. We did lots of little mini-stabs and small tricks to replace French units with our own, and Benjy really had no choice but to put up with it, caught between a well-functioning AT alliance and the English horde. Really, Benjy did all he could, and deserved a survival. However, he made it clear that he preferred death to a survival, so we were forced to oblige.

I'm actually very proud of this game, because I feel I genuinely did my very best. I think I played at the top of my game, and even though I was not the lead player in the draw, I really don't think there was anything I could have done any better during the course of the game. I failed to hold the RAT together, and failed to turn Benjy, but I felt like I did the best I could. A lot of games I end thinking I could have done better if I'd tried harder, or if such and such hadn't happened. I've even had games where I did better, but sometimes didn't really feel like I deserved it. But this one I gave my all.  I'm not trying to compare my performance with the other talented players on this board, but rather comparing my play to what I feel I'm capable of. 

Basically, I had a blast the whole game. Jerome was a solid ally. I never got the chance to stab him mid-game like I wanted. I do feel slightly guilty for letting a solo winner in Round 1 walk away with a strong draw in round two, but Jerome definitely deserves it. After France stabbed me, I had no chance to stab Jerome. And the alliance was so close by the end of the game we essentially took turns writing the moves for both countries and sending them to the GM in a group email, with the other party confirming the moves. He's definitely one of the best allies I'm worked with. 

Benjy, I really had a fun time chatting with you over the course of the game. You didn't ruin the game by holding out. In fact, your strong end-game beliefs (including your anti-solo belief), made it possible for the 3-way to happen. Had you not been so vehement, I imagine England would have won. So you really deserved better. You laid down your life to stop England. Killing you felt like kicking a fallen hero, but at the same time, we couldn't endorse a 4-way draw. You deserved better.

Nathan, you did great. Slow and steady wins the race, and you made the growth of England look natural and almost easy, though I know it wasn't. With one well-timed stab after another, you came so close to making 18. France's martyrdom was really all that stopped you from sweeping the game. Great job.

Hamish, thanks for putting up with us. You did a great job keeping us going. Blitz games are tough to handle, but you did your job with skill and kept the game fun and light. 

Thanks all, for a game well played. And congrats to Jerome for winning the blitz. Our board has three of the top 4 blitz scorers this year. Fun times. 

See ya all again sometime!