S01: Ugh. Austria. I’d have taken France over that… Standard opening. Hope Italy goes after France if there isn’t a juggernaut. I’ll of course need his help if there is.

A01: And of course there is, and of course he opens to Trieste. I hate Italy’s that do that. It’s the stupidest opening you can make in a gunboat, if you ask me. And that’s including the diplofool. I’ll just give him Trieste. Take Greece and get my build in Buda. Maybe worry about forcing him out later.

Builds: Well Russia’s misorder may help. I’ll lay into him hard – England and Germany’s pressure up north may be of great assistance. Hopefully Italy will get that I just want to be friends and build fleets.

S02: I’m going to force my way into Gal (hopefully) so that I can ensure Rum in the fall. Italy should have a lot of pressure on him and be willing to be friends, which is good. Maybe this can be salvaged. I’ll support him to Ion so that he can see I want to be friends. OK. Come on England. This is the third turn in a row we’ve been waiting on you to finalize…

A02: Well this is just stupid. Italy turns around to fight France, who doesn’t actually want to fight him. France is fighting EG, but they’re not interested in that, they’d rather fight Russia. But instead of fighting them off, Russia is fighting me. I’m going to cripple Russia by forcing Rum then turning on Turkey. I’m risking Gre, but Turkey may try to support hold Rum. And come on Italy, leaving Ion open like that? That’s stupid. And since Turkey is the only one not violating Eden’s cardinal rule of Gunboat (Which is completely true) I’m going to guess that that’s him.

Builds: And now *France* is turning around to fight Italy. People playing Italy always overreact to F Mar in Autumn 01 when France gets 3 builds. That really makes me angry. A France with three builds *needs* another fleet, and Mars is less hostile to Italy than Bre is to Eng. What’s more, my roommates are blasting rap music, which makes this travesty of a game even worse.

S03: I’m going to try the “Cripple Russia” strategy one more year and try and get another build. I’m worried about Italy, I feel like he may keep pressing on me, despite Turkish presence in the Ion. It would be a mistake, but not the first he’s made. Turkey is quite positioned to bust this game open, and it’s entirely Italy’s fault. I’m intentionally not going to stop him so that Italy needs me. Move to the undefended Ukraine will put me in a good spot to pressure Russia. Can guarantee Warsaw or Sev, whichever I choose. Might be able to get two if I guess right. Some how. Maybe. Probably not. With my luck, Italy will take Vie and build an army while Turkish fleets rape his women and pillage his cities. But maybe his women are kinky like that. It happens.

Builds: Well I’m glad I played it that way. Sev will let me sneak into Arm. I’ll probably let Russia keep Vie this year. This is certainly the most strangely positioned board I’ve seen in a long time. Glad I made the right call in Rum. Hopefully I can dismantle Turkey. I’ll help Russia where I can, in that respect.

A03: Going to move to War, Mos, and Sev. If, through some fluke, I get all three, I’ll have a build. Most likely, I’ll be even for the year. I’m really hoping Italy thinks to self bounce in Vie. But he probably won’t. He may be so stupid as to take it himself. If he does that I might just be so pissed I suicide at him…

S04: Pretty surprised how well this game has turned out for me so far. Last turn in particular. I really hope I can get an army into Arm. That will spell doom for Turkey. I need to reposition myself this year so I can take more centers next – it’s doubtful I’

A04: Going to try to retake Trieste so I can get a build. I need it, and Italy is on the way out, thanks to Turkey and France (What did I tell you, Italy?) Concerned about England’s armies in Norway and Swe. They could be a problem for me if he really wants them to be. I hope he’ll go after Germany or the (wide open) France, though. Everyone seems content to sit around support holding each other like five year olds though, so we’ll see.

Builds: Well that was worthless. Why Russia would support Turkey to a center that he owns is beyond me. Does he just want to be eliminated? That’s frustrating. Italy is somehow miraculously coming out over France. And England’s armies are coming. Guess I’ll have to bounce them… Why does *everyone on the board* want me dead? Seriously, three guys wasn’t enough to kill me so now you’re adding a fourth? Maybe that will slow my growth. No, I’m awesome enough to beat them all. Hint to everyone in the East: This is what a WT looks like. Appears Russia might NMR/CD. At least he only has one center left. I think I’m going to hope Turkey sees the RT and move to fight it. I can force Trieste and Vie this turn, with a bit of trust in Turkey. Maybe the WT will turn on itself once we stop them. Or maybe they’ll keep holding each other like highschool sweethearts.

S05: Expect moves to Liv and St Pete from England. Will have to move to both Warsaw and Moscow to counter. Good thing I don’t need a support to take Vie. May pass on it this year, since I can only get one build anyway. Leaving Vie lets that peaceful CD Russian unit stay in black sea too, so Turkey can’t attack me easily. I like that plan. Wish he had built a fleet though. Three armies will be difficult. And once again we’re waiting for England to finalize. I’m seeing a theme here. Maybe it’s Eden playing two games like a crazy person or something.

A05: I really hope Turkey gets the message. But I’m guessing he won’t, he’ll let Italy flood the med and we’ll lose. In other news, France finally figured out how he can take Tunis. Expect to see moves to MAO and then to Por if it’s open for a chance at survival.

Builds: Well it looks like Turkey and I may be enemies again. I think I’m just going to leave Russia’s fleet there and not take Vie for as long as I can. It’s very useful to me in preventing Turkish aggression. Becoming clear to me that I will need fleets if I want to fight him off. Sigh. Suppose there’s always the off chance he realizes that I don’t want to fight him. And you shoulda moved to MAO, what did I tell you, Italy?

S06: I’ll give Turkey a turn to see whether he wants to be friends or not. I’ll move to Vie in the spring and move out in the fall to Tyr if Turkey isn’t aggressive. If he is, I’ll use that build to build a fleet, probably. Turkey can’t enter Bla until he gets a build anyway. And once again, we’re waiting on England.

A06: Well I’m not sure how to take that, Turkey. But he’ll definitely be getting a build this year with Naples. And I’d be kind of surprised if it wasn’t F Con. I’ll probably leave Vie empty so that I have that buffer unit and he sees a fleet will do him no good. Waiting on England, again. Sigh…

Builds: Well a good turn. I’m glad I moved as I did. Turkey’s got a build, but can’t do anything with it. I think he gets that I want to be friends, given his move to Ank. Now I can use my armies to actually go on the offensive for a change.

S07: Well Turkey’s builds indicate the same. I’m very reassured. Will try to take Ven this turn, but don’t know if I’ll succeed. Other than that, I’ll be repositioning to attack Germany. Probably won’t gain a build this turn, unless it’s Ven. But I should be able to put three units on Germany’s border by the end of the year. Could live with an ETA draw right now. France can stick around if he has to, but I think we can eliminate him safely. I may try to keep Vie open the entire game so Russia gets a CD on his record.

A07: As long as your landing armies in Pru and Liv, England, I’m supporting Germany and knocking you out. You don’t get to do that, sorry.

S08: Well you had the chance to disband, and you didn’t. I won’t help knock out Germany until that army is gone. But I’m thinking more and more this will be an ETA three way. Which is kind of astonishing, given how it started. Very surprised England didn’t take the free center in Por. I’m hoping Turkey will take Rom and then have the sense to support me to Ven.

A08: England, let me be perfectly clear. That army *will* disband. And you will not land another, so help me god. GET OFF MAH BEECHES! Can force the disband of Moscow and I will. Hope to grab Munich too, then I can put the armies on the stalemate line and take Berlin, I think. Might be able to keep going, but I doubt it. Will depend on the chaos. This A/T alliance is working quite well, and in a gunboat nonetheless. Surprised France support held Rom to spite Turkey. I bet Turkey pays him back now by taking Tunis. But Italy should live one more year.

Builds: Hm. I could try and make a stab on Turkey here. It might give me the solo, but I’m not sure. I don’t know if I’d be able to eliminate him or now. It will depend on his build. But I think I’m going to try it. What’s diplomacy without a little fun?

S09: Well his build was unexpected and defensive. But still not a disaster. I’ll take Arm and will have a free unit from Vie whenever I want it.

A09: Wait, Turkey didn’t understand I was stabbing him? Wow. That’s helpful. Free centers! I think I’ll take Vie now, since it will give me a fleet build that I can use. And I’ll need to be setting up the stalemate soon.

S10: Well it looks like Germany might head my way. But I’ll have at least three builds at the end of this year (Thanks for not defending yourself Turkey…) and can at least cover until then, no matter his offensive. Meanwhile France will hopefully defend against England long enough that I can get my fleets out into open waters and take all of mainland Italy. Definitely looking to solo at this point, but I don’t know if it’s possible. Will be a pretty amazing comeback if I can. And my strategy of keeping Vie for Russia worked like a charm.

A10: I’m guessing based on Turkey’s play so far that he won’t think to support my self bounce in Smy. But we’ll see. Perhaps I am underestimating him, but he should have seen this stab from a million miles away. I hope I can solo this, but at a minimum, I want Germany eliminated and this down to three – I’ll retreat from the stalemate line if necessary to do so.

Builds: Well I wasn’t underestimating Turkey. It will be s=interesting to see which units he keeps. Good thing I get three builds – I need them all. Shoot. My retreat prevents me from building a fleet. Didn’t think about that. Still probably would have played it this way though.

S11: I think my hope for the solo is mainland Italy and Mun/Ber. I might be able to take Tunis, but I’m not optimistic with the French fleets as they are. If I can get a fourth fleet, I might be able to, but I’m just not sure.

S12: I hope France here has his goal to eliminate Turkey and thinks he can set up the stalemate himself (He can. Probably.) He needs one more unit. I still think I may be able to get Mun and Ber though.

A13: OK, you’ve got the stalemate. I’m pulling back and letting you eliminate Germany.

-----

WHY WOULDN'T YOU ELIMINATE GERMANY?! Jesus. I made it so easy...

There's no reason to have a four way draw, if you ask me. One power can always be safely eliminated. That power was Germany in this game. Why didn't you eliminate him? What the hell?

EOG

Spring 1901
Want to try interesting move. Hm. Get into Aegean by Autumn 1901? Or traditional. Let's be spontaneous.
Autumn 1901
Ouch. Italy moving hard on Austria. Going to try and grab Greece and Bulgaria at once; if everything bounces, I still get one...actually, screw that. I want to see if I can grab Greece, and get into the Aegean; grab Bulgaria next year. Hopefully Russia will join me against Austria.
Winter 1901
Wow, Russia. Just...wow. And Austria did the smart thing, grabbed two for one; France is big now. I'm going to build fleet Smyrna, try to get into Ionian and grab me some Balkans.

Spring 1902
Have to count on Russia not hurting me big here. Going to try and convoy Con-Greece, since I think Austria is focused elsewhere. If he tries Bulgaria, I'll just have to fight back in the fall.
Note: just looked up my opening. The 'Bosphorus,' huh? Interesting.
Autumn 1902
Okay, grab the Ionian. From there, Greece should be mine. Going to push to Serbia, just to see what's up. Italy moving towards big France; Russia finally getting it together. Hope I can grow in the corner for a while.
Note: I love how everyone is hitting ready.
Winter 1902
...Russia. REALLY? Ugh. Well, Italy is fighting in Austria again, and only England and Austria are getting builds...Italy is fighting on two fronts...must get Greece. Then, onward. Damn it, Russia...

Spring 1903
Okay. Support hold Con-Bul, support move Ion-Greece. Let this work. I'm hoping everyone else is too busy fighting each other to mind me. Russia, please move Bla-Sev. Please.
Note: What happened to everybody readying? I liked that.
Autumn 1903
Welp. Damn you Russia. Austria is going to grab so many SCs. And I'm going to pray to hold on to Greece. Great. This could be going better.
Note: I'm an IDIOT. Sorry, Russia. I need to look at order histories. I was ordering Bul-Rum anyway this turn...DAMN. I hope it works.
Winter 1903
I take it back again. ARGH. Why, Russia? Why was that necessary? I think I'm doomed. Wait. Is that...is that a support hold from Alb-Greece? And...500 error.

Spring 1904
It is. Okay, Austria and I could be friends. I'll try to get back into the Ionian, a nice neutral move (I think). And still...damn it, Russia. Ugh.
Autumn 1904. Wow. I got my orders crossed big time. And yet, that may help. Here comes Austria, here comes Austria, right down Armenia lane...And it looks like he got his moves to Rum crossed, so that may buy me time. If I can reclaim Ankara...that'd be nice. Meanwhile, France can't get anything done, but Italy will crumble soon; Germany is fighting ineffectively against England ascendant. And Russia is struggling to stay alive. Well, as am I.
Winter 1904
Okay, build army in Smyrna. Dunno what comes next. Push back against Austria in Armenia, I guess. This is not a situation I want to be in. Weak Russia=dead Turkey. Well, at least he helped me take back Ankara. Also, come on France. Just take Tunis with Tyrrhenian. You're not getting it otherwise. Ooh, and bounce in Trieste. That's interesting. And England is coming south through Russia. Better get it together fast, Austria.

Spring 1905
Hm. Still a Russian fleet in Bla. Going to assume he won't take Con. Try Bul-Rum again, for the hell of it. I assume Austria won't try to grab me this turn. He's paying attention to England, if he's smart.
Autumn 1905
Thank you, France. Ooh, and I think Austria might let me alone for a bit. Time to slip into the Ionian again, maybe? Keep that army planted in Armenia, just to keep Austria from looking south for a while. And maybe in a bit I'll slip two armies into the Balkans. That should keep Austria on his toes.
Winter 1905
Allied with Austria, apparently? I'm fine with it for now. But it really traps me. Italy's hurting, meanwhile, and I don't know what England is up to. Well, we'll find out! Also, Russia left. Damn that Cossack.

Spring 1906
Okay. So I'll try taking Naples. Should be simple; Ion-Apu, Greece-Ion, and take Nap in the fall. And I'll move armies west; I figure Austria and I are close enough buddies now, and I think Sev-Arm is solid, but I'll leave Arm in place for right now.
Note: Is this a usual EOG? This seems really long. Oh well.
Autumn 1906
Okay, trying to take Nap. Moving Arm away to destress Austria. Dunno what he wants with the fleet in Adr. Hopefully nothing against me!
Winter 1906
Rock on! This is turning into a fun game after all. Hope it winds up before my internet shuts down for the night, though. Build fleet Smyrna, get some convoys going, take Italy by storm!

Spring 1907
Okay, looks like Austria and I are tight. Didn't think that would happen. The board is really wide open right now...dunno what's been taking so long up north, but everybody's dithering for some reason. Oh well, more for me.
Autumn 1907
Hm. French support. I'll take it. Austria moved away from Sev, so we're good there. Time to convoy Smyrna-Nap! See if that works...Also, England finally broke into Germany. Yay England. And Italy's being smart and helping England take Iberia. Ouch for France.
Winter 1907
Ahaha, damn straight. That's awesome. Time to eat Italy, and let Austria have Ven. England got scared, so Iberia is safe for a season. Dunno how this one will play out. Definitely going to be a long one.

Spring 1907
Okay, so I take Rome, then help Austria take Ven in the fall. But do I dare pull a knife and grab Tunis? Taking French SC's is pretty much my only route of expansion that doesn't kill me immediately by drawing the wrath of Austria. I may bide my time on this one. And I keep noticing coziness up in St Pete between Austria and England...dunno how they'll divvy Germany, though.
Autumn 1907
Will this be a 4 way draw? Once Germany and Italy are out of the way...hm. Maybe. Also, damn this long EOG! Ooh, and damn France. That was cold. Tunis is mine now. Oop, and England is in Moscow. This should be fun. As I look, I realize England will be hard pressed to hold Moscow, and may even lose two German centers. How will this game end?
Winter 1907
Okay, got Tunis. It's time to put more boots on the ground in Italy. Apulia, here we come!

Spring 1908
Hm, maybe not. If Italy tanked that army...Hm. Oh, and Austrian fleet. That can't be good. I'll have to convoy, though...my build in Con may look bad to Austria otherwise. Why is he just letting Vie sit there, that's my newest question. Not the first time I've noticed that...does he want to keep me out of Bla?
Autumn 1908
Yup. Austrian stab. I guess I just roll with it. DAMN. Well, I'll take Rome, and see what happens. Ugh, this makes me mad. Not much I can do, though.
Winter 1908
I think Austria's just going to eat me alive. This is hateful, but not totally unexpected. I wonder who Austria is...

Spring 1909
Oh good, another Austrian fleet. Ugh. This is going to be painful. I wonder if I can reverse Lepanto my own SC's...
Autumn 1909
Well, I'm good and screwed. Thanks, Austria. Best buds for life. Well, maybe I can grab Ven, hold on to Italy for a while. This hurts to play.
Winter 1909
Oh look, I'm Italy in Spring 1902. How droll. Voting draw; looks like Germany's voted already. Man, this is disappointing. Even when I thought I'd be gone by 1904...this still sucks.

Spring 1910
Hm. Is the plan to do a three way draw after Germany and I are out of the picture? I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. That hurts a little. Well, they've got to get rid of me first. And then keep Austria from soloing.
Autumn 1910

Spring 1911
Screw you, Austria. I'm staying right here. Even though I'm pincered between two big powers and will probably be gone in two years.
Autumn 1911
Aw. Damn. I expected that, but still...
Winter 1911
Farewell, Apulia.

Spring 1912
Still here. Didn't expect this at the beginning, regretting it now. Trying to stay breathing, but I'm done for this world.
Autumn 1912
What's this? No retreats to order? Shall I go out in one blaze of glory? I doubt it...Rome at least will live one more season. Come on, England, hit ready.
Winter 1912
That was easy; disband everything, no builds.

Spring 1913
Well, time to see if I can prolong the agony by breaking any supports. I doubt it. Time to start summing up, I guess.
Autumn 1913
Wait, seriously? Too funny. And France is getting antsy about Austrian fleets. Yeah, good luck keeping him from soloing. Hm, if I hold tight I might get France and Austria to bounce over me and I can sit tight for another year. Let's try that...

Spring 1914
Well now, this is just silly. Oh, and France threw in on a draw. How cute. Where the hell is Austria going? He's turning on England now? Decided he can't get through the German stalemate? Gah. Wait, France is supporting Rome? Oh goody. This is turning dopey. When can I go to bed?
Autumn 1914
Seriously, what the heck is Austria doing? Is everyone in on a draw but me, but France won't let me die? Maybe I should just suicide by ordering a move...to Ven or something, cut support. Heh.
Winter 1914
Ah, there we go. Now what? England votes draw...Austria? With all your armies doing G-d knows what?

Spring 1915
Okay, which joker is playing as Austria? And will anyone read an EOG this long?
Autumn 1915
I want to go to bed! I want to post this, and go to bed! So draw the damn game!

THERE we go. Ah, I knew it. I figured it was ☺ playing Austria. Well, well done. I left myself wide open, and you took advantage. Good game all, except the weak Russia at the start. But you made amends eventually. Even if you did leave. GOOD NIGHT.

Because then Germany can throw the game to you. I wasn't going to take any chances.
France should have moved on Germany in 02. That would have changed the dynamics of the game, but nnoooooo, he wanted to be pal with Germany to go after Italy.

@Germany, I think if you had a different French player, you would have perish in 03 or 04.

*Cough*, I'll come up with a EOG later (explaining all my shitty moves), but sorry re Turkey and Germany. I didn't really want to give Rome to Austria until I was sure I could hold the stalemate line, and attacking Germany at the end would probably have led to an Austrian solo.

@largeham, you really should have moved on Germany in 02-04. You and I would have rolled over him and we would have been very powerful.
What were you thinking?

@ Zultar: Not with all my armies in the deserts of Turkey... You easily could have eliminated him...

@Dan "And it looks like he got his moves to Rum crossed" No, I didn't - it's a self bounce, designed to hold, but prevent you from entering a territory. You can counter it bys upporting one of the moves, which you should have done in Smy.

And the moves to Turkey at the end were to try to get England to eliminate Germany, which he could have done easily, but refused...

@zultar: My closest unit that I didnt *need* for the stalemate was 3 *years* away from an SC. And I needed three more of them to solo! There was no way I was going to get it.

I was waiting for you to move a bit further away. :)

I've been playing on my phone so I'll try to keep this brief.

Saw a juggernaut, overreacted, assumed my alliance with england was solid. When he backstabbed, I figured that a good france would see the danger in letting him attack me, so I left myself open on the French side and focused on not losing any more to England. Then I got lucky when Austria becomes bigger than England and now I'm needed in the line. Woo!

@zultar: were you really? I considered it, but didn't feel like wasting time, because I thought you were just being stubborn.

Yeah, I know about self bounces, but they don't register when I'm thinking about moves. Something for me to learn!

If I was going to take anyone, it would have been France. No offense, France, but you didn't play that well and you clearly misunderstood so many signals. I wasn't going to attack you (not at least until I have a decent shot at soloing).

Yeah, they're quite common. Especially in Gunboat.

@smiley, yeah, that was on my mind. Eliminate Germany. Then if you are still that far away. Eliminate France as well for his crappy ass decisions.

I wouldn't have let you eliminate France. It would have been too dangerous. I don't believe in trying for two ways unless it's full press and you can arrange it very very precisely.

Yeah, I know, but he really annoyed me. I wouldn't have kept the peace after 1910 or so if he didn't hold the key to the Ionian and Marseilles.

@zultar: "If I was going to take anyone, it would have been France"

I pretty strongly disagree with this. I sympathize with wanting to punish players for bad behavior, but I didn't necessarily think France played that poorly. But regardless, the question shouldn't be who do I *want* to eliminate, it should be who *can* I eliminate safely. And the answer was Germany. There was really no reason not to, if you ask me.

That being said, I wasn't paying nearly as much attention to his moves as I'm sure you were.

I PMed you. I was going to take two of his SCs the next turn, but to take the rest quickly without France turning around and attacking me, leaving himself opened (he might just have done that) to you, I needed an army near Kiel or Berlin. That way I could safely take him out and reestablish the stalemate lines.

Ah. Well I guess I should have been more patient. I was worried you'd get Warsaw and maybe one or two others, then we'd be looking to stop you from soloing. And that would have been impossible.

@smiley,
France's offense:
04-07: Didn't take Munich when he should have. Germany would have been eliminated and we would have controlled Mun and Berlin.
Spring-Autumn 07: should have realized I only move to EC to bounce with his fleet in Brest and I got pulled to MAO and tried to move back.
08: He tried to move to Irish Sea, the little bastard when I've been leaving him alone. I didn't want to move to EC in the first place.
09: He tried to attack EC.
And oh, don't get me started on all the botched moves with him regarding Italy.

The way I would have done it would be at least to hold St. Pete, but probably move it back, at least to Fin/Norway. Then I feel safe, and you can take your time to eliminate Germany. use one of those armies to wipe him out if you need to... You can hold St. Pete with a fleet. Or two fleets, for that matter.

@smiley, well, that would have been fun for me to try to solo against you. I thought I was going to be able to do it in 04-05.

"Spring-Autumn 07: should have realized I only move to EC to bounce with his fleet in Brest and I got pulled to MAO and tried to move back."

I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. There are a lot of reasons you could move to EC. That might be one of them, but it's certainly not the only one.

And yeah, re-reading mine, there was a decent bit in Italy that I think he did poorly. But it wasn't terrible.

I was kind of concerned about it too, but I was the dominant power (somehow) on land pretty quickly. I'm still kind of astonished that I survived, given then way S01 went... Had Russia not messed up his orders in Rum, I feel pretty certain I'd have been dead.

Eh. I wasn't going to stab him for a single SC. That's just stupid. The vast majority of my pieces were in Russia and Germany. I would have needed an army to convoy into Brest or Picardy to be able to hold his SCs at that point.

That might have been true. If Russia hadn't messed up his own moves, you might have been dead. OR I might have been slowed down significantly when he builds an army in StP.

I agree, that I misread you zultar, I didn't attack Germany mainly because I thought you were going to solo and I didn't really want to give enough centres so that you would have a chance. And then Italy tricked me into moving to Marseilles, forcing me to build in Brest. Then from there I tried moving into Mid Atlantic, but you bounced me, so I was a bit wary. Overall, I think I should have been more aggressive and decisive, and my tactics left a lot to be desired. Anyway, my very brief EOG:

It could have been worse (Russia), but I started off by playing it a bit safe. The three builds really caught me off guard. The problem would be where to put the fleet. In hindsight, it could have been better to forgo that build and just stick with two armies. Then Italy moved against me, by that time I saw that England wasn't really looking my way, so I moved back against Italy. The rest of the game was basically holding with Germany (I could see that England wasn't coming after me, but I wasn't sure what would happen if England got most of Germany), trying to take over Italy (and getting fooled into moving into Marseilles) and then trying to hold against Turkey and then Austria. Also, Russia surprised me. I think I underestimated Austria, I was very when he made a great comeback.

@largeham,
I was just running my mouth due to the adrenaline. Forgive me if I was rude/harsh in my comments.

I moved against you because you built a fleet in the med, it was obviously defensive and you pushed hard against it, I had a nice little guerilla war there though

how the hell did i play poorly?

I think had never seen a more poorly played Italy in my whole life.

Zultar, there is nothing to forgive, I quite agree that I could have played much better.

Santa, my only problem was that you kept attacking me even after I showed that I would rather work with you and stop Turkey. Otherwise, tactically, I would say you outplayed me.

Kept going from one side to the other, never having any focus or clear target. Pissing off neighbors to try and make peace later on. Surrendering Ionian. You had great opportunities for growth early on and squandered them all going back and forth for years on end.

"Santa, my only problem was that you kept attacking me even after I showed that I would rather work with you and stop Turkey. Otherwise, tactically, I would say you outplayed me."

I made one move toward you... All game...

"Kept going from one side to the other, never having any focus or clear target. Pissing off neighbors to try and make peace later on. Surrendering Ionian. You had great opportunities for growth early on and squandered them all going back and forth for years on end."

Ionian was not important because I knew the only guy that wasnt trying to kill me was turkey. The second time i gave it up i was dead already and was doing my best to screw with France.

"Pissing off neighbors to try and make peace later on."

I attacked Austria when I thought that France was about to drop the boom on me. I gladly allowed Austria to take back Trieste if he wanted it as I focused on France, France showed me he didnt want to fight so I broke off. I did nothing wrong, France overreacted, bottom line, i might have too but a fleet build in marseilles with an army in spain, how am i supposed to read that?

"You had great opportunities for growth early on and squandered them all going back and forth for years on end. "

1 year and i didnt have a choice,

"Santa, my only problem was that you kept attacking me even after I showed that I would rather work with you and stop Turkey. Otherwise, tactically, I would say you outplayed me."

And when exactly did you signal to me that you wanted to work against turkey? After you took 3 turns to break through in Tunis? What kind of bs is this?