What you may have known-or guessed (but perhaps you didn't), was that Italy and Russia were in an alliance from the start of the game.

Perhaps it was not fair to the other players, however I wanted to protect myself from elimination straight away. I knew when I was assigned Italy (I did ask for what no one else wanted), I was going to fight a losing battle from the start.

Russia and I made an alliance to take out Austria and Turkey right away. The plan was to get England, France and Germany to fight themselves while Austria and Turkey disappeared. Then we would focus our efforts on what remained of England, France and Germany. Russia and I shared information freely, using what we learned from other players to create problems between them. Russia also proved to be a player that was able to create a strategy that almost always worked as planned.

We also used other players to help us in our goal. Since Turkey was in the region, he was brought in to the alliance help attack Austria. Then, as soon as Austria was gone, we started removing Turkey.

As Turkey was finished off, France had proved to be a formidable player. After feeling some pressure, Russia and Italy proposed an alliance with France. The only purpose, of course, to keep France from attacking Russia and Italy-- and to continue the task of removing England. Then, with Turkey out of the game, it was time to concentrate on full removal of England and France.

I was able to start making some inroads into France's territory. But in the end, I was given the same treatment that I gave Austria, Turkey and France.

While I congratulate Russia on a great win, I feel that as a "team mate" in the alliance, I was not given a chance to share in a victory that I helped produce. I readily admit that Russia was "the brains" in our alliance. However, his win was made easier with my help.

I realized after the declaration of the win, that I had completely ignored the fact than anyone who had 18 supply centers would win. I had not even considered that Russia was so close to achieving the 18 SCs, and was caught off guard that the game was over.

This was my first online Diplomacy game, and my first Diplomacy game in 20 years. I have been a fan of Diplomacy since I first played and was pleased to find an active community playing online. I have always felt that the "invisible" communication between countries is a valuable part of the game. Sitting at a table, or even playing in the same room, it is difficult to have discussions and negotiations without all the other players knowing what is going on.

Thanks for a great game, and I look forward to playing more online Diplomacy games.

Craig