My EOG's for all 4 will be less than that, I'm just not as good at putting down my thoughts :)
The main thing I learned from these games is that trying to wait and see what happens is not the way to start off the game.. I was too wishy-washy to start out with (which really came out in my play of Russia and Turkey in Games 3 and 4)

Group A:
game 1
I was Italy: I hate Italy and it showed
The only one of the 3 to actually go to a draw.
I committed to attacking Austria early, and it seemed to be going well, until France and Germany attacked and I fell pretty quickly from there. I also fell for a trap set by Turkey and Russia..getting me to goto Serbia in 03..leaving me way out of position to do anyting about their attacks...By autumn of 04, I had no home SC's and it was just a matter of time before I was gone.

game 2
I was England: This was my best game overall--things worked for the most part.
Early on, I got both Germany and France to agree to let me into Belgium in the fall of 01. I'm thinking I've got a good start if this happens. But, France bounces me in Belgium in 01, so I get just one build. This turns out to be good, as everyone, and I mean everyone including the commentors, felt that now France and England were poised to fight each other. France was able to convince me that he messed up the move and it was a mistake to bounce me--and we pretty much remained allies the rest of the game.
Taking Sweeden from Russia kinda annoyed him, but somehow, I was able to get him to help vs. Germany.
So, then France and I proceeded to take out Germany and work our way from there.
Around 06, the calls for a draw began..with Italy still with 1 or 2 SC's and 5 powers left.
Once it was down to England/France/Russia/Austria left, Austria and Russia began to agressively pursue a Draw. I didn't think that a 4-way was warrented. France offered a 17-17 draw just to annoy Austria and Russia and I agreed to it. But, I got bogged down in Russia, not being able to advance much past Moscow without stabbing France. I considered it several times, but never thought I would gain enough if I did so.
Russia began delaying the game (saving moves, but not selecting ready, making sure the turns went to 36 hours) somewhere around 07 or 08, and Austria carried out his threat that if we didn't draw, he'd throw the game to France.
Even into '10, France said he was committed to a 17-17 draw. But after the spring of '10, I told him to go ahead and win it. Too bad a bug in the game doesn't let you do a retreat on the last turn, or I'd have grabbed Rum for 14 SC's...oh well, those are the breaks.

Game 3
I was Russia: Nothing went my way this game.
I tried to fight a two front war and got smacked down for it. I was gone by 04. I made a huge mistake by building a fleet in Sev. I did it because Turkey moved his fleet into the Black Sea, but I should not have done it even then.


Game 4
I was Turkey: This was the only other game I survived in.
This one I didn't really get much done, other than survive. Tried to get a Juggernaut going, but it was not meant to be. In face, my relationship with Russia pretty much cost him the game. we were never able to really trust each other--partly due to me making bad descisions over Rum. It's really my fault Russia did not survive the game..That I survived is something I'm not sure how I did..I tried (too late) to point people to the threat from Germany, but I was in no position to do anything about it.

President Eden (577 )
DCL EOGs
Group A
User Onar

Game 1: France

Let me just start off by saying that this was one of the most fun games I'd had in a while (if not in the entire league). In the early game, I wanted to take germany out, and work with russia and turkey. It was a foolhardy plan, but it seemed like a good idea. As time went on, I changed my plan to pitting russia and germany at odds whilst I grew. (Surprisingly, an anti-juggernaut move that worked).

The only reason I favoured germany over russia in the later game (going against my typical thought process of allying with he whom I share no border), was because of the russian alliance with turkey, and russia's suggestion that he would throw the game to germany. That kind of press infuriated me, and made me want nothing more than to see him thrown off the board.

I owe a lot of my successes in this game to england's misordering. For instance, Autumn 1903, when he moved to picardy, in place of my unguarded brest. The following year went well, too. With my giving turkey naples in exchange for peace.

The only reason I voted draw (which, even now, I regret), is because I was too afraid of fighting germany *and* turkey simultaneously, should german diplomacy prove superior to my own.

Game 2: Austria

I'm not gonna lie; I had a REAL bad feeling about this game from the get-go. Russia and Turkey were Juggernauting from the first turn, Germany and England both looked like they weren't going to stall Russia and Italy responded to my plea to Lepanto by asking if he could convoy to Greece. I told Italy after going three quarters of the first turn without a word that I was opening with a Hedgehog. Next turn I get accused of stabbing him. Needless to say, it was a frustrating first year, especially since Russia and Turkey (mostly Russia) promptly decided to start lying their heads off every turn about stabbing the other. I finally explained to Italy what a Lepanto was, and thankfully he agreed to do it. ...then convoyed to Greece. You can see why the red color was suitable for this Austria.

1902 brought some surprises, most notably the Anglo-French alliance taking hold. Russia and Turkey tried to trick me and failed miserably; Italy got into Bulgaria; the Juggernaut was stalled. Russia FINALLY agreed to stab Turkey and went through with it, and Italy started skirmishing with France. Then came the most game-changing event for me: Italy started missing turns. I messed up a stab and failed to support Russia into Bulgaria, but took Greece. Then Italy came back and attacked me, giving more ground to France. At that point I realized that with Turkey scattered, Germany mortally wounded, Russia distracted with Turkey, and Austria and Italy fighting that England and France were going to roll through the board. I quickly made up with Italy while Russia extinguished Turkey for good.

Then Italy went inactive again, this time for good, much to my chagrin. There was no hope of stopping England and France now, and Russia and I both knew it, so we started going to deception warfare by trying to bluff England and France into drawing via BSing about a stalemate line that didn't actually exist. After some work I figured out England was Xeterog and Russia was Onar. At this point I had won games 3 and 4, so I was just looking not to let Oskar and Onar get strong enough finishes to beat me in the standings. Had we been able to throw the game to England, we would have; I threw it to France to try to bait England into stabbing, but it didn't work. That could have been REALLY bad, as Onar could have stabbed, taken some centers from me, and possibly gotten ahead of me in the standings, leaving me in the awkward position of winning half the league games and finishing in third.

Weaknesses in this game... honestly, I don't think there were any. I had been dealt a terrible hand, Austria vs a Juggernaut with an obviously unreliable Italy, and it's no shock that the West held the victor and the strong second. Good games to England and France; their alliance masking was pretty pro IMO, and it paid huge dividends. Russia played alright as well, I think in hindsight we can see that abandoning the Juggernaut earlier and propping up Germany in Scandinavia would have been wise but at the time I can't fault him for not seeing it. Apologies to Turkey and Germany for the quick defeats, and a special shout out to Italy for not knowing what a Lepanto was and abandoning me to die. ;P

Game 3: Italy

Of the 102 completed games I have on this site (...yes, I AM in the diplomatically-challenged league...), I enjoyed this one probably the most of all. Leif Bergman can bite me, I won with Italy in 1907 without his strategy (though diplomatically it ended up looking the same... how 'bout that?).

It sure didn't look that way in the beginning, though. Russia apparently convinced Austria that I was more of a threat than him, leading Austria to open to Trieste and vacate Galicia for the Russians. I think. Russia says he didn't even TALK to Austria about Galicia... anyway. In the East, I had figured I would see how things went with RAT before committing to a plan. Russia was keeping negotiations close to the vest concerning AT, Turkey and I basically made small talk the first year, chatting about rumors like little high school girls instead of really planning... :P And Austria asked for a DMZ in Tyrolia, then requested that Germany move in. That didn't inspire any trust. In the West, I talked England into going all-out for France and thought I had convinced Germany to open to Burgundy. I opened to Piedmont to put maximum pressure on France early, but after Germany moved to Tyrolia I made peace with France (sorry for leaving you high and dry, England) and turned my focus eastward.

When Austria vacated Serbia to defend Budapest -- and got no builds for the year -- and Germany belatedly returned to Munich to begin working against France, AND Russia told me he would build F Sev, my opening was there. I went right after Austria, building a third army against all conventional wisdom and gunning for Trieste without abandon. This convinced Turkey to help me against Austria by supporting me to Greece (even though I told him to defend Bulgaria... hey, can't complain!) and convinced the West to screw off and leave me alone. ;P I got Trieste and Greece that year and had a strong foothold to finish off Austria while Turkey skirmished with Russia. I intentionally kept Tyrolia garrisoned for a few years to make Germany nervous, allowing France to hold off the combined Anglo-German front much longer than if Germany had gunned straight for him like he said he would in the beginning.

It was here that I hatched the next stage of my plan: Germany's unexpectedly strong push into Russia meant that Turkey would be safe soon, so I knew I had to act quick and nail Turkey before he became strong enough to challenge me. I convinced Turkey to let me borrow Serbia for the spring turn so I could support myself to Vienna and Budapest (by way of Boh/Tyr and Ser/Tri, respectively). Then I was mean and kicked him out of Bulgaria and kept Serbia for me. Austria died next year. Turkey made a nice push in S1904, but I read his moves right in A1904 and got decisive control of the Balkans. His mainland fell two years later.

Now, with 14 centers locked up, the final stage of my plan was underway. I organized a highly complex series of reasonable DMZs and garrisons with Germany in A1905 that made it possible for me to force Sevastopol in A1907. We DMZed Tyr, Boh, Gal and Ukr, I occupied Rum, he occupied Sev, War and Mos. I moved my troops around such that by A1906 I would have an army in Ankara, a fleet in Constantinople, an army in Rum and an army in Bul. Fairly harmless stuff. Then I moved to Ukr, Rum, BLA and Arm in S1907. This combination made it possible to force Sevastopol no matter what Germany did in A1907. All that just to get Sev, my 15th center! But the last three were Marseilles and Iberia, very easy to get.

Speaking of those... I finally made a strong western push in 1906. Germany promised me Marseilles and Iberia for 17 centers (he would clean up England and we would draw at 17 apiece). I took Marseilles, as he asked; England beat me to Iberia, which saddened me a bit, because after leaving England high and dry early in the game and him fighting all the way to Iberia with only a German distraction I felt bad screwing him again. Not bad enough not to do it, though. :P I took Marseilles and set up to take Iberia in 1907. That plus Sevastopol gave me the win.

My only real weakness in that round, I felt, was the planning. The plan may SOUND like some master design from 1901 on, but in truth it was very loosely organized, and the real devious stuff (like the DMZ/garrison system) was drawn up on the fly. Still, I had a strong plan and stuck to it, and I felt that I was notably better at keeping diplomatic channels open in this one than in games 1 and 2.

Game 4: Germany

Ah, Germany. Land of my ancestors, home of such great military and diplomatic minds as Rommel and Bismarck, always a source of conflict and warfare throughout most of history. It's no surprise that Germany is one of my favorites to play, and I felt pretty good about my odds the moment I drew it to start this game.

I started out in the West by organizing a Franco-German alliance against England. It turned out to be a fad in this group, it seems, since half the games had that getup. I convinced France to give me Belgium in 1901, allowing him all the English spoils as a result, and gave him just enough assistance to prosper against England. For my part, I would use my builds to blitz into Russia (something that ended up working really well against me... :/) and Scandinavia, giving me a solid base of 11 centers to work with. I wasn't too sure at the time if I would be stabbing France and winning with a northern game or playing an eastern game into Austria; I ended up doing both, but that's beside the point.

In the East, I had hoped to see Austria survive the early stages, but not get too powerful; this worked out fine as we both got 3 builds to start, and I managed to raise the spectre of Austrians in Sevastopol, Constantinople and Rome to good effect. Italy stabbed Austria in 1902, Turkey kind of milled about and didn't do anything for a while, and Russia eventually caved under my attack, so the East resolved as I had hoped. I decided to send an army south to Italy at Austria's behest to harass him some; that ended up working out nicely.

Once I basically locked up my 11-center base (I had 9 of the 11, with the last two soon to follow), the decision came to stab France. I convinced France to let me move my fleets into the Mediterranean behind him; he started moving out and I promptly moved into his lands. I got fortunate to catch him in the position I did; his fleets ended up interfering with his movements to counterattack me. It's hard to attack when you have a fleet stuck in Gascony and you can't break through the English Channel bottleneck very well, after all. I got the centers I needed from him and turned south to blitz Austria and win. Austria resigned around this point, causing a little bad blood between me and Italy/Turkey over my taking advantage and eating up several Austrian centers to win, but I do still feel my move was justified.

All in all, I feel like this was a solid game by me, not a whole lot of weaknesses. Kudos to France for being such a good sport about the stab (though I suppose a little Bel-Air about Germany attacking lightened the mood a bit), and my sincerest apologies for the somewhat cheap win.

Game 2, not much to say. I got russia, and I'm still surprised that I even made it to 1903. Wanted to juggernaut, but I frankly didn't trust anyone in that game. Turkey left so I tried to take advantage.

Game 3, went mostly as I had planned, until the late-game stab by italy. I truly didn't see it coming, and I have to give my hats off to him on that one. I bum-rushed russia, because I read an article once about how russia and germany are irreconcilable as enemies. With that in mind, I did everything in my power to ensure that I could defeat him as quickly as possible, before thinking anything else through. It worked well enough, and I thought I'd had an ally in Italy I could see the game through to the end with. It was my mistake for trusting him, and only playing for a draw, when he was playing for the win.

And lastly, game 4, where I was italy. My favourite country, but everythign went wrong. I tried to help germany, who agreed to help me against austria, only to have my plan wholly backfire. Nuff said.