All,
Thanks for an entertaining game and thanks to Adam for GMing for us. So where to start? I guess it is best to work our way backwards since the later portions of the game proved most interesting.

So the tough decision I had - end the game by going for the solo or ride out to the carebear 2-way 17/17 [as described by our game's jester, Kevin]? Well you all obviously see the choice I made. I didn't like taking advantage of the situation but the game IS about winning at the end of the day and a solo is really hard to get under any circumstances. This is the first time I have gotten a solo on this or any site and I was too tempted to take that rare thing.

I did not decide to solo until earlier this week. Steve succeeded in that [getting me to go for it]; it was just RIGHT in front of me and I could not ignore it. Allow this to serve as a public apology for the stab on Paul [and earlier on Steve]; I will not apologize for going for a win but certainly for stabbing good allies [which they were throughout the game].

Prior to that, Paul and I had decided to march toward a 2-way [and, let the record reflect, I voted FOR every 2-way proposal regardless of the number of centers that I had]; there was a point where we had a good 3-way alliance going [Italy, Russia, Austria] but I got convinced to go for the 2-way. I resisted the urge for a while; we had England/Germany on the run, Italy was making inroads into France and Turkey was being put to heel. The last thing I wanted to do was upset the balance of power with a stab; that would have allowed either Germany or England back into the game. Eventually though, the opportunity was there and I went for it. I got a bit lucky in my guess [as it ended up] and I should have stabbed in the Spring rather than the Fall; it just happened that the tight timelines meant that I missed the chance to work it out entirely in the Spring.

In the early portion of the game, things were interesting before we entirely hammered out a A/I/R alliance. I truly expected to be on the block quickly but somehow finagled safety after a bit; naturally that meant that Turkey had to suffer. The relationship with Germany was always an interesting one; he wanted me to stab Russia or Italy early and I never would. Truthfully I was worried that doing so would cause a war in the south and that E/G would benefit and become unstoppable.

I could go on more but that covers the highlights. Thanks to all and truthfully a good game by Kevin, Steve and Paul. You guys were quite engaging and there was a lot of good Diplomacy going on. Kudos to Steve and Kevin for never giving in and continuing to try to separate A/R.

All the best in Rd 2 to all.
garry

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