Hello all,

Thank you to all of the players and especially to Christine, you made the game
run incredibly smoothly.

I started this game in the unenviable position of Italy in my first PBEM game.
My strategy was to take advantage of Italy's straddling position and the fact
that nobody would pay any attention in my direction. As such, throughout the
game, I tried to avoid concrete move commitments and any conflict. This may
have been a poor decision.

My opening strategy was to do a modified Lepanto, redirecting it into Austria
with Turkish help around 1903. I tried to remain friendly with all other
nations, particularly France and Russia, since they would be in the best
position to help me later. Unfortunately, Austria was far more talkative than
Turkey, so I had to follow through with the Lepanto all the way, or
risk having
an unresponsive ally. Russia also joined the southern offensive which made my
position difficult. I had to take a gamble and ally Austria or Russia. My
hardest move was the major stab of Austria, with whom I had worked very well
up until then. It was based entirely on the fact that if I attacked
Russia with
him, Austria would become invincible to any attack from me. I am truly
sorry to
Boontarp. Thank you to Derek for filling in the Austrian position, and I am
sorry that you got dealt such a hard hand to play.

My alliance with Russia was based on information that we shared early in the
game, and on this move. Russia ended up guaranteeing me Smyrna, Bulgaria, and
Greece, and I saved him from the Austrian attack. Within a very short time
period, despite our disagreements, we ended up being solidly allied. To my
chagrin, though, he told me that he was no longer playing to win, and actually
followed it up by leaving himself widely open to a stab from me. It appears
that animosity between Germany and Russia came to a boiling point, and Germany
told me that he would also leave himself wide open rather than let Russia win.

I realize that I could have gone for the solo at several points, particularly
when Russia offered me Const, and when Germany stopped defending himself from
me. The overly convenient NMRs by France and Austria (particularly the first
Austria's dropping out), animosity between the players, and most notably the
Russian shift from playing to win to trying to end the game made me no longer
go for the solo.

I voted affirmatively for every draw; it was disappointing to see the game end
like this, but a solo was hollow if won by these means. Germany should have
been in the draw, but at that point England switched sides. In retrospect, had
I played more definitively in the early phases the game could have been a lot
smoother for me and probably for a few other players as well.

Over all, a good learning experience. I have played FTF before, and a
lot of the
nuance of that style is changed in PBEM, while new things are introduced (such
as replacement players). In the future, hopefully, there will be some smoother
games, and I will alter my style from what I have learned in this one. All of
the best to everyone, and thank you.

Yuri