First off, this was one of the most enjoyable games I have played in some time. There are a couple reasons for that. First off, soloing in a high point game is always a thrill; pretty self-explanatory. I have just recently started playing these slower paced, but higher point games and it has been of adjustment strategically from the live games I’ve been dinking around with. Lando’s Tourney has certainly been informative: my mediocre showing there has hopefully jolted me towards adjusting my game for these higher ending games- namely, greater diplomatic awareness vs. the standard live games.

Secondly, Russia is by far my favorite gunboat country to solo. With a 100+ solos, I have solo’d with every country and have a bit of a feel for each. In the gunboat setting, France and Turkey are the easiest to solo with; in fact, it can almost feel like you fall into itat times. Other countries are more challenging, but are often the result of certain board dynamics independent of your influence. Russia can be a nightmare. Early death, zero build 01’s, getting munched from the north or south, or even split down the middle: all are distinct possibilities, not to mention the frequent possibility of making it through the early game only to be shaken out during the middle. However, a successful Russia, once given a bit of wiggle room and a few units to play with, is unrivaled in its ability to interact with and help shape the whole board. This is why I enjoy soloing with Russia the most: because afterwards I feel like I have dynamically interacted with the entire board.

Congrats, Barn3tt. What a hell of a win.

Thanks, zultar- this one is going on the fridge. :)

EOG- Part 1

The Froggernaut- S01-F05

So, in drawing Russia, for reasons mentioned above, I was both eager and trepidatious about my draw. For most of the game, my focus was on securing a position in a 3-way draw. My goal was to ally with the Turk in the east and to foster a power balance and/or encourage a strong France in the west. This was the triangle of powers that initially struck me as conducive to a Russian participation in the draw. I opened standard save for a move to Silesia. I decided to try this unusual opening as I could still cover Warsaw without weakening a move on Rumania, could perhaps foster A-I conflict if Austria entered Gal and left Trieste precarious and could potentially cripple the German. There was nothing too extraordinary about the openings save for the highly unusual and, I thought, rather humorous, bounce with Germany in Silesia: kind of set the thematic tone for the game as I considered Germany my arch-nemesis for most of it. I was pleased to see the Turk not open to Armenia (I’m personally not a fan of that opening in general).

F01 and the subsequent builds added clarity to the board: E-G conflict as E bounced the German in Denmark and a 6 build France were all good signs in the west. In the east, the Italian refused the bait in Trieste and so it appeared we were in for a A-I vs. R-T slug match.

02: Confusion in the west as G attacks E and E attacks F and F tries to attack Italy. In the east, and to his credit, the Turk and work together like clock work. I enter Gal in the spring and successfully support the Turk to Serbia. I think this dynamic of correctly reading allies and giving them the right supports was critical for me in this game as it builds up a certain degree of credibility in others seeking to work with you and paranoia amongst your foes. I chose not to take Norway from England this year as I sought to prop up the most isolated and weakest power and tried rather to signal to him my intentions of working with him against the German.

03: Pressure is maintained in the east against the Austrian. I advance back into Gal. At this time, I chose to strike against Budapest in the fall. I knew that I could probably support the Turk into Serbia, but experience has taught me to be afraid of a quick growing Turk; so my plan is to hopefully keep our center growth even. In the west, I decided to take Norway as England’s Norway has been offering supports to the German (despite Germany’s persistent hostility to England) and I’m about to lose Sweden anyway. However, I was very pleased to see England bank on a support to Sweden in the fall- thwarting the German and keeping him a middling power like I wanted. As a bit of a surprise, Italy strikes Austria. My thought at the time was that perhaps he saw Austria’s days as numbered and would prefer to take his chances courting me against the Turk. I was definitely pleased to see it and was open to flipping against the Turk. Additionally, France looked to make steady gains the English- which is what I wanted. My hope was to apply just enough pressure to German to keep him from growing while France expanded rapidly.

04: Italy??? This was the year of the Italian. Austria disbands in Budapest which is indicative of a suicide mission against the Italian (a legitimate move for a betrayed Austrian). I decided to just go for it and shift into Budapest unsupported which freed me up to support War to Silesia, pushing the German back and putting him on the defensive. The fall showed the Italian back pedaling from his Austrian stab- not sure you can uncross that Rubicon- and move on France’s back door. In the west, England drops to two, with France and Germany picking up one of his centers. I successfully out guess the German and sneak into Berlin, but this success is mitigated by the German’s diplomatic and successful capture of Belgium from the French. Despite picking up 3 centers, I am starting to become concerned. France’s loss of a center and a power vacuum in the south begin to undermine my initial plans. Increasingly I begin to worry that my great southern ally could prove my undoing. At this time, Italy’s erratic behavior scares me away from intervening against the Turk, but I am concerned the diplomatically isolated southern power could be a source of easy growth for the Turk. For the time being, however, I have time, and I am confident that the Italian will be a more attractive growth route and distraction for the Sultan. I am only able to build 2 of my 3 builds at this time- which I take as a mixed blessing as I do hope the Turk continues to march west rather than shift north.

05- Time for reevaluation- I still have some hope that my original R-T-F ending can materialize. I decide to throw myself at the German (the Turk strongly indicating a desire to be friends which tells me I have time, at least until he hits a French wall in the med and looks for easier prey to the north) France could still recover and we could be back on track. With that in mind, I shift two more armies to the German front in the hopes of retaking Berlin or capturing Munich. As I enter the fall, my hopes of pressing into Germany seem to be surety. However, this, and most of my strategic vision for the game were upended once fall orders came through. The Turk secured two builds; gaining the most powerful position on the board- a virtual shoe in for the draw, I lost my unbuilt build and the beleaguered Frenchman decides he can spare a unit and thwarts my plans in Germany by support holding Munich.

06-07 There’s Only Room Enough for One of Us- The Battle for the East.

Clearly, as I enter 06, now is the time for reevaluating my game strategy. Russia is a power that straddles the stalemates awkwardly and in gunboats, I believe, this often leads to a mid-game shake out. I am determined to not meet this fate passively, to wake up to this reality in a year or two, but to try and alter my course while there’s still hope. Often the Turk will push until stalemated in the med. The limited amount of space leaving units left over. Russia, however, in attempting to hold the line north of Switzerland must utilize every unit. This discrepancy allows the Turk to strike the Russian’s flank causing a quick collapse as Russia loses centers to his former ally in the rear and concedes western centers to the jubilant German. In sparing a support hold to the German, the Frenchman indicated that the two middle weight powers would, naturally stick together, and I so I felt that now was the time to act. In looking back on the Turk’s moves, I could see that he was a sensible player, a solid player, but one that had some degree of predictability. I reasoned that in the Spring he was likely to either convoy an army to Apu or shift to Tuscany and Venice: the easy Italian centers and quick growth plus my seemingly whole-hearted commitment to attacking the Germany fueling this on. Another fortunate development: the Turk landed his fleet in Bulgaria- his A(Con) build telegraphing his moves in the far east (F(Bul) to Black and A(Con)-Bul as well. Predictability is a gunboaters’ best friend.

If I acted quickly, I could move into the Balkans, pick up a build, and leave the German still in a defensive posture. So, in S06 I made my biggest move of the game and it was a success. Forgot to mention this above. Another thing I enjoyed about this game as opposed to other games I’ve won- the need to make big moves, risky moves, in order to win. A botched Turkish stab meant a sure and speedy end for sure. Anway, the Turk moved as predicted and the German was caught flat footed. I was able to capture strategic central position of Serbia, leaving the Turk in awkward position with 2 out of 3 armies in Itay, a 3rd stuck in Turkey and most of his 5 fleets as ineffective offensively. In the west, my predilection for giving successful supports paid off (as I interpret it) as Germany supports himself to the North Sea for fear of me supporting the English fleet to Den which enables me to pick up Sweden instead. As 06 concludes, Turkey makes the supising move of convoying to Greece- not sure if this wishful thinking (gamble for Rome and have F(Ionian) forced retreat and disband so he could build in Ankara) or a misinterpretation of my intents. Needlessly to say, as my A(Sev) shifts to Armenia and an open Turkey, my feeling is that I am once again back on track. A G-F-R draw no seems to be in the cards for me.

07- Continuance of 06 trends. The Frenchman speeds south to Italy (leaving two armies stranded in England which is important for the end game), Germany pushes east (France gives him Edi which I take as a nail in the coffin for any hopes of a solo) and I secure Ankara which spells the eventual doom of my former great ally.

08-09- All-in, Gambling on a Solo

My true intent to try for a solo only emerged after having a very successful S08. I knew that Trieste would fall as did the Turk (who disbanded a fleet that could do nothing to stop my 3 armies pressing against his center). However, the Turk at this time appeared to make a play for Italian centers in the hopes of getting in the draw I presume. His gamble fails as I double support my attack on Bul rather than splitting them between Con and Bul which pops his fleet. With two builds at least secured in the south, I am now positive the draw is mine. The question remains…can I push for the solo. To the north, the German is pushing against me aggressively. He and the Frenchman have forged a powerful alliance- one that, unfortunately, enables him to leverage all of his units against me rather than frittering them away on defense in his rear. With my fleet now in the Baltic, and Warsaw and/or Gal under threat, I decide to gamble with convoy to Kiel. The German is caught in a bind in the Scandinavia. If he tries to defend with A(Den) he could lose as center so I predict that he must go for Sweden even if this does leave Kiel exposed. My other predicition was that he would assume Warsaw was safe and shoot for Gal in the hopes of getting a unit into my hinterland which would then buy him and the Frenchman time to establish a stalemate line. With two Russian builds on the way, it is now or never for that move so I defend against it accordingly. 08 ends with the German pulling back to Berlin and Munich and sneaking into Warsaw. However, this German gain is offset by a surprise gain of two more centers in the south (taking 4 Turkish centers in all this year) and the fact that he is unable to build with no home centers being open. 09 will be the crucial year as all the powers no clearly realize the danger and seek to patch up existing differences. My greatest assets: temporary numerical superiority visa-a-vis the German, stranded French units, and fractured disunity in the south.

09- The year of the solo (which came sooner than I thought)

Things are looking better, but are by no means a shoe in for the solo as I enter 09. The Turkish disbands indicate a likely loss of Greece- albeit temporarily as the Turk will be reduced to 1 by years end. Strong French presence in Italy means no room for growth in that sector. This leaves Germany. It is clear to me that France will be racing to support the German and bring his armies in support of his ally. Time is of the essence, and so my game plan is to again be unpredictable and reduce the German’s fighting strength as best I can. My hope is to position myself to secure the game winning German center in year 10. With that in mind, I decide to virtually ignore the hostile army in Warsaw. In fact, I decide to cut off its retreat in the spring. Once that German army is in Silesia it can do something useful. As long as it sits in Warsaw, the German is simply waiting for it to be expelled. With that in mind, I move Gal to Silesia which bounces A(War) back. I decided to make a big play for Scandinavia, shifting my A(Mos) north, A(Kiel)-Den, A(St. Pete’s)- Fin and supporting myself to Sweden. My end goal is the destruction of the German army in Sweden which could set the stage for capture of additional German centers. This move pays off well for me as I take Den and Swe (losing Kiel), but set the stage for recapturing Norway. Clearly I’ll be ending the year at 16 with an easy 17th with Greece next year and a likely 18th in Germany also coming in 10. However, this was not the case. The Turk allowed me to retake Greece and I managed to slip into Munich (I believe the German was planning on disbanding F(Norway) when it retreated and building and army in Mun. So, that’s it- unexpectedly the game ended a year earlier than I thought.

Thank you for indulging me in this lengthy and Obiwan-esque EOG. :P

Thanks for putting up this eog, barn. fun to read and hopefully i can learn some stuff. looks like it was quite a game.

This was very interesting to read. The only thing I am struggling with is the predictability factor. I fear that I tend to be too predictable and so it will be hard for me to learn when to create an unstable situation in gunboat games that would work to my favor.

And Obi ain't got nothing on this!

Glad you guys like it. I value your opinions and respect your game play. I've been thinking about this for a bit- predictably, etc. I think that most gunboaters, especially in the live game field, are learning to play rationally. That is, making the best choices open to them. Not to say that my moves are perfect- but there's generally a reasonable cause to them. It seems to me that once you're able to do this that the next goal is to identify other rational players and learn to step into their shoes and predict their moves- responding accordingly and when it is needful. You can not predict rational game play, however, until you can play rationally though! ;) Predictability is not a bad thing. Erratic allies are allies I tend to avoid and quite frankly would much prefer to be a power away from them. However, I do think learning to step into the shoes of those who have shown themselves to be reasonable and trying to anticipate their moves is an important skill to acquire. It can also really bite you in the butt if you're wrong! Still learning myself. So, I was not really trying to be unpreictable though that can be strategy. My attempts were more to gain an edge through predicting the other player's (who I perceived to be rational) moves. I really do think there's a psychological component to gunboats that can be underestimated by those who don't play much of them- as there are, clearly, in the standard format.

My attempts were more to gain an edge through predicting the other player's (who I perceived to be rational) moves.

Perhaps I should say, players that I felt I could understand the rational of their moves instead.

well, it took me over an hour so please tell me how you liked it :)

Ok, this is my story. It was the fist game i played with this kind of bet, and i think i wont be able to so so again for a long time 

01
Yes, France, I do see some potential in this game. Everything went great, E was harassing G and I got three builds. This means I could do anything I want for now.

02
Because E, R and G were keeping each other busy, I went south. Maybe keeping I occupied could mean an RA or TA alliance. This way, I could keep E focused north and prevent the lately o so standard AI vs T movement. And I could always move against E again. I already considered doing so in the fall because I could support A against the now clear jugger, but decided against it.

03.
Moving in to the Mediterranean proved to be fruitless. And It was clear T could profit from it the most. Also, England kept hitting Belgium and refused to leave the channel. So north it was. But because of the jugger, it has to be done fast, thus leaving a weak frontier in the south. I seems to take the bait and defended himself. At this moment, I hoped the RT alliance would break, because they both kept growing steadily. And G still didn’t got past 5 units, so he wouldn’t be able to stop R.

04
Bad year. The move on E succeeded, but I, A, R and T all moved west. And Germany seemed unable to hold Russia. I was threatening Spain and Mar, but I guessed I have to get an army on Liverpool to be able to work E out fast. So accepted losing one, knowing I would be able to move 4 units against 2 next year. And then Germany decided to move on the only one helping him, me stealing Belgium, meaning a fleet disband If I wanted to move on I quickly.

05
Italy in Marseille, no France player can accept that, so I moved on with all force, guessing E would defend his assets. In the mean time, R was getting big, but I expected G to hold him for me, and waiting for the jugger to break. With an army in Liv doing nothing, I decided to confuse him with a support hold. And I couldn’t take to much from I without giving T to much of an advantage. Luckely, E moved on Belgium in the fall. But G again didn’t succeeded in outguessing his opponents still stuck on 6 units against a much bigger Jugger.

06
This year, an R-T war was unavoidable. Time to get back Mar and finish of E. I still didn’t see solo chances, but it was time to become a dominant force on the field. But then the strangest thing happened, in spring, R stabbed hard, and in fall, T was bringing himself totally out of position. And G managed to lose Sweden again. In builds, I was really doubting about postponing one build to get a second fleet the next year. An hour before the phase was over, I chanced it into a fleet and an army.

07
It was clear R would erase T. So I decided to minimize the draw. I actually wanted to move on G first, but decided against it, because I expected Russia to have a better shot at gaining Denmark, his 18e center. So I moved against Italy with force, expecting G to defend den, Kiel and Munich with all force. T had enough units to give me plenty of time to take I out first. And if he didn’t succeeded, or if My fleets ware needed north, we always could include I in the draw If needed.

With great reluctance, I didn’t covered Edi. I thought G would take Norway anyway and if he didn’t, he would need the unit against R. But I was really shocked to see it because an army build instead of a fleet!

08
Shit, I didn’t got the fleet I dearly wanted. Sadly, I abandoned the army’s in England, hoping G could ship them out for me, it wasn’t like he could use his fleet for anything else. I was getting in position to get I out the next year. But T started to get running and R got his fleet in the Baltic, so it started to look bad. Particularly because of the gap in the German defenses.

09
Time to accept we needed Italy to stay alive. So I tried to move to get some army’s in position to support G. But I was to far away and it looked like R had a solid grip on Denmark, making al moves futile. But I was very surprised it would end this quick, with even Greece and Munich in the hands of the Barn3tt.


Like Barn3tt said, it was a game of big moves, sweeping south, north, south and north. I have an feeling I would have done a lot better if I moved on England in fall 1902 instead of spring 1903, giving me more time to anticipate. Also, I did expected Turkey to do much more of an attempt to hold Russia after the stab. Further, I do have the feeling Germany didn’t wanted me to grow to much and took Belgium and Edi while he also could have taken a center from Russia or England both turns. So not very grateful behavior . Further, I think our German player had bad luck in all the moments trying to outguess others.

Congrats Barn3tt. Enjoy your victory

Thanks for posting, Victorious.

I was wondering how you felt about losing Edi and Bel. Took it much better than I probably would have- though yours was probably the correct reaction.

Look forward to a rematch upon your return.

well, i could understand his Bel move, because he really needed it. But i really didnt liked him taken Edi, especially because he could have Norway for sure. I did had to blame myself a little bit, because i could have made sure i would keep it.
And the real surprise was him building an army. I really expected a fleet, and he didnt got to really use that army anyway.

Thanks Barn3tt for the nice EOG. Shorter one for me.
Standard opening, Italy and I were getting along fine, which was good because there was an obvious R/T. Then came one of the worst stabs I've seen in a while when Italy went to Trieste. I tried really hard to find some justification for that move because I'd have preferred to try and carry on against the jugger (would've stalemated for a while I think), but in the end I was forced to the conclusion that Italy lost his mind and had to suicide on him.
If Italy is reading this I'd be really curious to know what his thought process was -- I know Troodonte is a good player so there must be more to it than my exaggerated analysis above, but it wasn't apparent in-game.

Congrats Barn on an excellent win.

Thats a lot shorter than mine :) but i do like the response