I might as well post first, being the first to have been eliminated.
EOGS from Austria -
Overall, I'd say I had an exciting but frustrating game. Allow me to elaborate.
Opening moves, S01: I opened regular hedgehog, which is diplomatically neutral in my opinion and prioritizes defense. Russia opens to UKR, letting me into GAL, and Turkey and Italy open neutrally as well. In the West, F/G appear to have some support diplomacy going on and England has opened North. At this point, I'm wondering why there are questions about my opening being anti-Italian. In a regular game, yes, it would have been anti-Italian. But in gunboat, you have no idea whether Italy will move to TYR or not. So I had to move in order to split the armies if this happened. Luckily, Italy supports me and so I return the support next turn.
A01: I make my first mistake here, thinking that zarat will move to cover himself in WAR. From my experience, most Russias in this position move back, but then this is zarat, not some noob in a live gunboat, so I guess this was my fist mistake - fancying my chances on RUM to be above par. Of course, this results in my letting jimgov into Greece, so it shoiuld actually count as two mistakes. Italy builds F NAP, but Turkey builds 2 fleets. It's starting to look like a long and weary battle ahead. Germany has entered BUR so I'm happy that France will be occupied and won't mess with Italy in the near future.
S02: Things get nasty, as I make my second mistake. I once again mistakenly put my money on Turkey trying to enter SER, so I support hold and use my GAL army on WAR. Neither Turkey or Russia make the moves that I expect, and furthermore I forgo the opportunity to bounce them out of RUM. Italy guesses AEG correctly and bounces Turkey there, but at this point it is only a delaying tactic and the damage has been done. We can only hope to hold back R/T, especially since Russia has gotten SWE. I move my fleet down, hoping to make some moves on Greece. But in all honestly, if Austria needs a chance in gunboat, it means taking the ballsy risk of opening to ALB and trusting Italy (I played a lot of Live Anon Gunboats during the School of Classy game and was assigned Austria in many because the system does this weird thing where it keeps giving you a country until you finish playing it, so I was able to experiment more with openings).
A02: Russia is now even putting pressure on Germany in Denmark (Germany, why the weird move to BAL, exposing Denmark? Was it in anticipation of a bounce?) And he builds A WAR which makes us screwed. I'm able to stop Turkey's attack on SER but I completely fail to notice the tactical advantage in supporting Italy into GRE and so due to a lack of coordination, Italy and I lose out big time.
S03: I cede GAL, and misorder the support move into GRE. Yet another mistake. This game isn't going well.
A03: I finally get the support to GRE right but by now it's too late. We appear to be in a stalemate until Russia can get an army into BOH and break into my home centers. Germany has moved to SIL and built A BER which gives me some hope.
S04: I take back GAL as Russia deals with Germany. Two supports to Italy into GRE doesn't quite cut it as Turkey has decided to play the waiting game. I can't understand why he never stabbed Russia in this period as it would have been quite easy and crippling to have sent BLA into SEV and put pressure on RUM as well. I remember Stratagos commenting that there was some narrow-minded play going on and, with all respect to jimgov, I'd agree to some extent, with the qualification that it's absolutely fair to play a strong alliance to the end. I have six solos as Turkey to my name and not one has occured without stabbing Russia for SEV, and encouraging Austria for a year or two before powering through the Balkans as well.
A04: I succumb to the urge. E/G are going after Russia, so I decide to take RUM from my position and cede Serbia to Turkey. No change for me, major disbands for Russia. He disbands in SEV as predicted. I hope at this point that Turkey will try to go for SEV as a breather, but he builds A CON, which is not reassuring. I again misorder my support to GRE (sorry Italy I don't know why these misorders were happening so frequently).
1905: This year was all about getting the Italian army into ALB. He signaled the move in the Spring, and I moved my fleet to TRI in the fall to make way for him. England takes SEV, which is more beneficial of course. However, he takes it with a fleet, which means only a limited breathing room for me against Russia. I must say I admire Russia's perseverance and mindblasting recovery from the 3SC state he was in.
S06: I have a lot of explaining to do for these moves. First in the Spring, Italy and I work on breaking SER. This was good coordination, but I think we imagined that Turkey would use two supports on SER and not support Russia back into RUM, which he did. We would have gained more had he not supported Russia in, but he reads zarat's moves perfectly and, to my great chagrin, apparently still wants to ally with him.
A06: I move to an open Venice. This is no doubt going to be a huge point of contention, and I must offer a big apology to V+. The idea was that I wanted to convert my fleet into an army, as F ALB/TRI can't support SER, and V+ could have converted his army into a fleet. To this end, I took VEN and built an army, hoping to return it to him next year. I am extremely impressed that he kept his cool and didn't go suicidal on me. So I build said army, and he disbands ALB...and in some sense it's the same as having an Italian army in ALB, but in terms of coordination it's a big improvement. Italy is also back down to 5 units and so all is well...for now.
S1907: Goes as planned...army in ALB.
A1907: I make a deadly mistake...instead of supporting hold in SER and attacking RUM with 2 supports, I decide to make the brilliant move of attacking GRE, only to lose SER. I remember spending many minutes debating where to attack GRE from and I picked SER incorrectly over ALB. Italy takes back VEN and builds a fleet, but unfortunately, the desired effect has not been achieved. As I have to disband one of my armies along with the fleet anyway.
1908: Down to 2 SCs, I decide to focus on keeping Turkey at bay and pushing him back down to 5 SCs...in the process I give Russia VIE and BUD. Germany takes WAR - good work by The Czech.
1909: I lose Serbia, but Italy is supporting hold my lone remaining army in TRI as a last bastion.
1910: I feel stupid for not supporting TYR-VIE or moving to BUD, but whatever. At this point I am a mere pawn in the larger game.
1911: I move to VIE, only to find myself unceremoniously ousted, and eliminated after a frankly mediocre game from my end. I'm surprised I lasted 11 years, but I really did expect more stabs and spectacular fireworks to come to my rescue.
Good game. Thanks, V+ for being a total boss and hanging on by the skin of your teeth. jimgov, we're not done yet :P zarat, I have learned a lot from you in this game. Excellent game, and I would say you played the best of all of us seven in terms of strategy. The Czech, gg overall, you threw what you could Eastward and it did help prolong my cause. Gobba - too many fleets! Too many fleets! But seriously, strong game in taking down Troodonte who was fired up with a bunch of units and Italy looking elsewhere. Troodonte - Tough luck mate, it happens to the best of us!