I should start by thanking Michael for his work in making this game so enjoyable, and of course all the other players for their determination and the numerous communication I had with them that made the game so fun.

This is my third Diplomacy game, and I am proud to have achieved a solo win. Of course my victory would not have been possible without the help of my ally, Craig. Craig gave us a vision of what was going on in terms of goals and startegies for our alliance, so I am not going to repeat that, as I believe his summary was very explanatory.

For completeness sake I'll give some insight on what happened on my side. From 1901 I had made a solid alliance with Italy, and was communicating with other players to obtain information. My goal was to create conflict in the West between Germany, France and England, while I could concentrate on grabing the South East. Everything went to plan and Austria was quickly out of the picture, however my plans had to be modified after Germany simply stopped playing, allowing an easy invasion from France and England. I started to feel the need to construct fleets as I believed that if France and England were allies, I would be the next target of choice. England saw an opportunity to attack me thinking I was planning an attack. Following negotiations with Joao, we were able to agree for a temporary truce, which allowed me to position my fleets before launching an attack on Scandinavia.

At the same time I was communicating with France, requesting their help against England in order to test their alliance. Italy and I also started our attack on Turkey, but with Italy letting me deal the blow. The result being that all players at this stage believed me to be the greatest threat and started forming plans to bring me down. We thus saw the formation of two alliances: England-Turkey-Italy on one side, Italy-France on the other. Italy played the key role at this stage, feeding me information from all other players, including the moves that were planned. Italy also worked to discredit the England-France alliance, and was successful in making France attack England. It wasn't long before Italy supported my attacks on Turkey, which led to Turkey's downfall. Italy and I shared the spoils. France, probably sensing the balance shifting agreed to enter an alliance that included Italy and myself. Of course, for Craig and I, that was the perfect plan, to destroy both England and France.

My victories in the South allow for me to continue building fleets in the North, until I gained an edge against Joao. When France launched an attack on England, it became clear that Italy and Russia now held supremacy over the seas. Our armies moved towards the Munich line, knowing that when we would fight France, we would be strong enough to stop his powerful armies, while Italy's fleet took Iberia and South of France. We accordingly launched an attack on France, and everything went to plan.

This brings us to the final year 1906. Last week I realized that my planned 3 weeks holidays were approaching; I'm leaving to New Zealand on the 25th July, coming back on the 17th August. I personally hate going to cyber cafe, and would not have the time to really play this game effectively for that period of time. My alternative was thus to grab the win or ask for a replacement player. I felt that it would be sad to come so close to victory and forfeiting, so I decided that I would go for the solo. I therefore did the unthinkable and betrayed my one true ally, who had worked so hard to see us grow so strong. I never had any second thought when attacking other countries, but for me to attack Craig was not an easy decision. The ties we had build during the game were so strong that it did not feel right; it still doesn't. So Craig please accept my sincerest apology for this stab; under different circumstances I would not have played this way.

So to conclude this long analysis, I want to put the spotlight on Craig who played Italy perfectly, a country always thought to be the weakest. Through our alliance, we were able to defeat all others; through our wits we were able to formulate flawless strategies; and through our trust in each other, we were invincible. It is that trust that I abused in order to win the game. Thank you for all you've done, and hopefully you can forgive my stab (many would say that's how the game is played; being a bit of an idealist I believe there ought to be other ways). I'm looking forward to playing other games with you, as enemies or hopefully as allies once again. To the rest of you, thank you for a game well played, it will be a pleasure to play with you again in the future; hopefully under different circumstances.

Michael, once again, thank you very much! My win is probably symbolic for you as well; proving that you faced a strong player in DC 117, explaning why you were unable to bring me down after all your efforts! lol

Cheers,

Nick Cherrier
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