S01: England. YES! Even though statistically, I’m not very good as England (W/D/S/L: 1/0/2/1, gunboat) I do really enjoy playing it. Per my usual England strategy, I’ll move towards Scandanavia, and attempt to establish dominance there. I don’t feel like E/F works in the long run, but I hope it will temporarily. Everyone’s finalized except Austria – I hope he doesn’t NMR. Woot. There are his orders. Looks like we won’t have any CD’s (For now *crosses fingers*)
A01: Ohh. German support to Burgundy. That’s no good. At least France stayed out of Eng. I’ll signal I want war with Germany by a convoy to Den but a move to Hol. That will leave France at three builds and Germany at one.
Builds: Well I’m glad to see Turkey snuck into Sev. That will be very helpful. Hopefully France helps me against Germany – there’s not much for it if he doesn’t. Italy’s lepanto setup might help keep Turkey in check too. Hopefully Russia doesn’t build in St. Pete. I’ll try to slip into there, either in the spring or Autumn. Expect a Russian build in mos and for him to take back Sev though.
S02: Risky move here. Leaving myself open to Russia, I think, but hopefully will take Den. Moving to Ska, North and Hel. Not happy about the French fleet in Bre, but maybe he means peace. No. Scratch that. Not moving to Hel, going to support a move to Ska, because of that German fleet. He’s playing for Swe, I bet. I can SH Russsia and move into St. Pete. If France moves against me, I may need to try and make peace with Germany so I can fight him. And I’d need that Russian build to do that.
A02: Ah. Well that’s no fun. Damn. France… Why ya gotta be like that? I like the Italian moves, maybe they’ll take the heat off me. Well, this could be over really, really quickly, if Germany doesn’t want to make peace. Guess I should have bounced Bel and not Hol.
Builds: Well. This is interesting. If I have to pick between giving Germany centers and giving France centers, I’ll pick Germany. Building A Edi so I can best defend. At least France doesn’t have any armies he can convoy over. Hopefully Germany will build armies and go after him with me. And Russia lost three centers., which at least is nice. Austria is growing quite large. I hope that helps me, but I’m not sure I see how it will. An Italian move on France would be the best thing for me right now, but he looks pretty singularly positioned to attack Austria and what’s left of Turkey.
S03: Well, it looks like I’ll be on my way out soon. But hopefully with two armies and a fleet, I’ll be able to hold mainland England until help arrives. But perhaps not. Going to try to take the channel with London and bounce myself in Lvp so France can’t retreat there. Germany will probably rip me apart, but at least France won’t get anywhere for a long while. I wonder what would have happened had I supported Germany to Holland instead of bouncing him… *sigh* Woah. Got 500ed and lost my orders. Close one.
A03: Well, pretty much as expected. Going to lose centers to Germany. But it happens. Considering a convoy to Picardy next year. And Russia’s quitting, which is a shame. Will support a move to Belgium from North Sea. Maybe Germany will realize I’m helping his long term interests and support me and/or tap Bur. I doubt it, but if he wanted to stab France, it might be effective. Please? My only glimmer of hope is a change of German heart or an Austrian who, having no significant naval forces, but a huge army, attacks Germany.
Builds: Damnit. I can’t believe I misordered to Yorkshire. That hurts. I can retake Lvp by tapping NAO though and supporting to Lvp. It’s not pretty, but it works. It will, though, likely mean I lose London. I hope it’s to Germany though, and not France. Actually, maybe I should keep English. France can’t force it away from me until I lose St. Pete, what with his lack of fleets. No, I need to keep Norwegian. I can tap NAO, retake Lvp with Edi, then tap NAO again, while York covers London. Retreat to Wales means he could force London, but not much I can do at this point. I could have held off France for a long time if I hadn’t misordered that. Damn. But Germany’s build of an army is encouraging. Maybe he’ll turn on France now. Hopefully, I can help.
A04: Well Germany’s stab is helpful. Hopefully he’ll play for Bel and not bother with Edi or London. Maybe he’ll realize I’m helping him a lot and not take St. Pete? Taking a risk, which is my only hope, that he supports Cly to Lvp and moves Wal to Lon. I think that’s how I’d play it as France. I could end up at one center this turn. But I could also stay at three. (Or Four, if Germany somehow decides he wants to let me keep St. Pete. Yeah right.)
Builds: Wow. Well it didn’t work, but Germany’s letting me keep St. Pete. And moved to EC, indicating friendship. Hopefully someone in the east becomes a solo threat very, very quickly. I might be able to stay alive… Can’t wait to see France’s disband. My guess is Spain. But if he wanted to indicate an alliance to me, it might be Lvp or NAO – I might take him up on that, were he to offer it - *after* I retook Lvp.
S05: Yes! A Lvp disband. I’ll try to secure my home centers – then I’ll turn on Germany if I have all three. Maybe Germany will let me keep St. Pete another year and I’ll be able to build a second fleet. Hope springs eternal. I’m not going to tap Wales, since I expect France to use it to support to Eng, which I’d want at this point. Don’t want to support hold France because I want Germany thinking I’m on his side still so he doesn’t take St. Pete.
A05: Well that’s interesting. Honestly not at all sure what’s going to happen here. Most likely? I’m out of the game. What will happen if I’m lucky? France and Germany bounce in London and I stay at 3 centers. Then France disbands Clyde.
Builds: Well I’m somehow still at 3. Germany will likely take Edi next turn. Unless France somehow keeps Cly and support holds me. Ideal disband for France would be Wales or MAO.
S06: Well I think France and I are on the same page. It may not matter though. But we’ll see. I wish France had kept Wales so I could force the disband of that German army. That will be a problem. I’m not sure there’s much we can do except pray for Austrian intervention. Any move we make is defensive at this point, which is a great way to lose in a gunboat.
A06: Well so much for the prayer of Austrian involvement. France looks like he’s going down. And going down fast. Germany gets to play a guessing game at Bre, Lon, Par, and Mar. I’ll likely lose London, but if I do, I’ll have armies in Wal and York. I feel confident in my chances of surviving for the short term. But I expect Germany will overpower France and then me… Everyone’s voted draw now except Germany. Maybe we’ll form a coalition against him! I can’t believe I might actually draw this…
Builds: Well Germany gets another build. And France has a disband. I expect it to be NAO. Why France would cover Paris and not Mars, I don’t get. If he gets into Mars, like he did, he can get to Spain. :-/ My goal for this year will be to force the disband of that German army. I’ll be moving to North, and hopefully I’ll have French support. But that’s a long shot. But I’ll support Lvp to Wales and get him into Lon. Then hopefully I can tap Lon and force the disband that way, assuming France hasn’t lost EC to Germany. Expect army build from Germany in Munich. I’m very fortunate in that my two armies makes it very difficult for anyone to take my island. I’m very unfortunate in that Germany outnumbers me in SC’s 10 to 3… I really hope the east sends some help our way sometime soon… Or Germany could just draw. :-)
S07: Interesting disband from France. I guess not all too unsurprising, he probably wants to save Portugal with NAO. I really need to get this German army off my island. I wonder how this would have turned out had I not messed up my orders for Lvp earlier. France and I would probably be in a far, far better position…
A07: Well that was bad. Why would you just give up the channel like that, France? Make him make you retreat… At least Italy is finally starting to get the memo and is going to try to stop the *only person who hasn’t voted draw*. It does, however, look like this is going to be the end for both France and I very quickly. You have no one to blame but yourself, France.
Builds: Haha. Nice play Germany, that was pretty clever. With his plunge eastward, it looks like Germany might solo this. I’ll keep hoping I get lucky though. It worked last time. Going to try to get into Edi/Lvp instead of Lon/Edi, since the former is more defensible. We’ll see how that works. I doubt very well at all.
S08: Are my measly two centers really worth the effort Germany? I don’t think so… You’d rather push into the East. Right? … Right?
A08: Alas, poor Frenchie. We knew him well. Lots of tactical mistakes though – like moving to Spa this year instead of Por first… Germany may not bother with me. Or I may be down to 1 SC after this year. It all depends. If he wants the solo, I think the smart play is to pass me up and get fleets out into the med ASAP. If he wants to, he can always eliminate me later. But if he just wants to get the draw down, it doesn’t matter.
Builds: Well France and I are both to one. I guess his plan for the solo is London Warsaw and Mars. Glad the east screwed around the entire game instead of actually stopping him. Good call there. (And, for that matter, is still screwing around.)
S09: Well. I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. I blame France and Turkey for the solo. France: You should have tried to make peace with me earlier. Turkey, you should not be an idiot, and stop fighting Austria so he can stop Germany. But you’re not going to be. And Italy could have sent his fleets to France if you weren’t stubbornly supporting moves to the Ion.
A10: Well I’m out if Germany wants me to be. And he will, since it’ll let him solo. I doubt he’ll keep me around just to solo. And I think I’m beginning to view defeats as better than survives: EG, France and I will get a defeat for this game, whereas Austria, Italy, and Turkey will get survives. And the former group played one hell of a lot better than the latter group. I should have known better than to play a live gunboat when at least 3 of the good gunboat pros were on.
Anyone want to launch a DDOS on the server so Germany gets 500 errors and can’t input orders? No? OK. Sigh. Looks like I’m out then…
Builds: Sigh. One more year. Please don’t let me survive, Germany. I’ve pretty clearly decided survives are worse than defeats. OK guys, do we really need to let the phases tick down? I have better things to do than watch a tock click while we wait for Germany to solo.
S11: Come on Germany. This is not hard. End this travesty. And don’t let me survive.
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What a terrible game.
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