Mike and I have had brief discussions about the rights and wrongs of our strategy, so I'm not going to get into details. But there are some pretty strong players in this game, and half of them are just as close to home as me. Regardless of that, I'd say you just have a more innovative approach to the variant than most. I treat the variant as a fun twist on the regular game, but still assess the best tactic for success to be running for home rather than staying put. Anyone's approach to a variant is valid and ultimately tested by results.regards,Stephen

========================================Message Received: Dec 21 2008, 01:35 PMFrom: "MICHAEL BOUTOT" To: "The White Wolf" , jwmchughjr(at)gmail.com, "Stephen Worthy" , g_mod23(at)hotmail.com, matthew.kremer(at)yale.edu, scaponig(at)yahoo.com, "Packrat" Cc: "Former Trout" , dc218(at)diplomaticcorp.com, "Steve Lytton" , mike(at)southwall.com, stevelytton(at)hotmail.comSubject: Re: DC 218 SHIFT LEFT: Reiterate: I'm out of this 1Worst played game imaginable & they still don't acknowledge it. Dead wrong: Stephen can not lose unless he tries to by continuing to negotiate when it is needless to do so just to pretend a game is going on. Have played & run dozens of these - interdict 1st or don't enter the game. Running home means you want to play Standard - plenty of that simple stuff available elsewhere. Sorry about your son but this game is hopeless. Both E's moves were fine (blocked Ven as R should have & the like) so no issue there.--- On Sat, 12/20/08, Packrat wrote:> From: Packrat > Subject: DC 218 SHIFT LEFT: I'm out of this 1> To: vegas_iwish(at)yahoo.com, "The White Wolf" , jwmchughjr(at)gmail.com, "Stephen Worthy" , g_mod23(at)hotmail.com, matthew.kremer(at)yale.edu, scaponig(at)yahoo.com> Cc: "Former Trout" , dc218(at)diplomaticcorp.com, "Steve Lytton" , mike(at)southwall.com, stevelytton(at)hotmail.com> Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 5:32 AM> A couple of things here folks - > Orders were due Friday and I will get to them at some point> today. We had 1/2" or more> of ice on EVERY thing and my son was almost killed by> falling branches. Sorry, but that> took priority.> > Michael - I am sorry you feel that way but how, exactly,> does your being a poor sport> and running for the hills help this game? You may see> this game as over, but I think it> is a far cry from that and I also believe you are wrong. > Unfortunately me being the GM> precludes me from commenting beyond that. There is a new> Enland on the board and> his first set of moves has yet to be seen by anyone but> me. Trust me, I have thrown > similar temper tantrums to yours (some worse) and this too> will pass. I would prefer > that you stayed in the game and played it to the end but I> am not going to beg you to.> I already think you are an ass as a GM, please do not give> me reason to think you > are as a player as well.> > ALL: I will adjudicate later today if I can, there are> family events going on from > 1-4 and 9-midnight so I will try and get it done between 4> and 11. I will run > this season with the orders Michael submitted already and> take it from there.> > Michael - if you still want out just let me know and I will> replace you. Otherwise> I will assume you were just blowing off steam and keep you> on board.