"This game should have been an FGR 3-way draw... a 6-way is a really shocking to be honest with you all."

That's a very specific "should have". I must disagree. =P

SoW 2 FINALLY unpaused today. Thymin is back from his honeymoon - what a stupid reason to pause a game... :P

More ramblings on Sow IV -gameID 11284

I think there are some key learnings from this game that all students of the SoW should have a look at. It's worth stepping through the moves if you can.

1. The balance between trust & paranoia - Specifically, the Italian/Austrian opening. You have to be very sure of your ally when proposing any opening that risks your home centres (in the case the Key Lepanto), otherwise the results can be fatal.

2. Getting your moves right / getting your orders in on time - France's mid game is a case in point - not taking Portugal/standing still in 1904 made the job much harder, and had a profound influence on the game

3. Going CD - The original Turkey was having a solid game, but going CD made BZD's job so much harder. It unbalances things as well, as it made the R/I alliance even more natural.

4. Don't give up - Austria & Turkey never stopped trying, even when down to single units. That Austrian army cuased Russia so many problems, and is (possibly) a large reason why dj didn't have a better shot at a solo. Turkey was still supporting other units to the end, depsite being stuck in exile. Until you have no units/SCs you still have play

5. 'Back rank' marauders - the Italian fleet in Clyde, the lone Austrian army, the Turkish fleet in Greece - look at how much potential for trouble they cause. If anything is going to break the stalemate lines in a strong game, it's a single unit being chased around.

6. Commit, damnit! The French fleet (MAO-W Med-MAO-W Med-MAO-Spain), the abortive Russian stab of Italy. Both wasted time (tempo) and made the enemies life easier. Speed is important. Also Italy towards the end of the game - passivity is asking to be pushed back - forward defense is the order of the day

7. Co-ordinated forces - part of Russia's problem was that the units in the south never really got together properly. Compare with the north (either Russia or E/G when they sarted working together) - every unit was trying to do something

The earlier move to the Western Med was due to the western power negotiating a western triple fairly early on - but then Germany changed his mind. The later move to the Western Med was not supposed to even happen. It was supposed to be a bounce but England entered his orders wrong and supported me instead of his own fleet to NA. The move back to Spain was to cover it after that fleet made it through to the Atantic.

In fact Italy would never have broken through to the Atlantic without England mistakingly supporting me to the Western Med.
That said though I think the stray fleet in the Atlantic turned into more of a curse for Italy than a blessing. Remember he was about to lose Marseille back to me if the game hadn't of ended when it did.

Italy's move to the MAO was actually a retreat.

@spyman - Yes, it was a retreat, but the forward retreat can be devastating. It's why co-oridination and clarity of moves is vital - as you said that could have been avoided, and it may well have changed the dynamic of the game

This is true.

Pete - a GREAT run-down of the 'lessons to be learned'... I highly recommend that post to any rookie (and even some of us vets ;)

Chirsp - yeah... 'should' was much too strong a word... I could have said 'most likely outcome of the game' or whatever... I am still smarting that this SoW game ended in this fashion... honestly, I just feel its a let down to the idea. I can understand some particular individuals pushing for it (T or even G for example) but many of the others should not have been pressured to accept it.

as in they should not have succumbed to the pressure to accept it.

i like all of those lessons, i learned plenty from them. also the excellent advice on russia. wish it had come earlier! but oh well. it was a good game, though very sorry to disappoint the Dean of the School of War.

I still think the drawing was the right move, at least from my perspective as the one controlling Germany.

hey wooooo do you want to post an EOG statement in the other thread? that would be great if you would!

Do I have to?

well no one can force you, but since the point of the game was for newer players to learn from more experienced ones, like you. so it sure would be great if you would write one.

Okay I'll do it.

thanks!

DIAS - Draws Include All Suckers. =P

I have no doubt that it was the right move for some of you... but only because it was the wrong move for the rest of you. Suckers. =D

hear that dj? He's calling you a sucker. Wanna ally against him in our next game?

LOL @wooooo, let's do it!! you're going down, chrispy!!

META! META! META! :-P

can't spell meta without team. @Chris: i thought DIAS stood for Dublin Institute for Advanced Study... oh well, ant a hand beating djbent and wooo in your next game? I hear they are planning to kill meta up on you... :P

SoW 1 ID = 10755

So, two and a half hours left for the Spring phase, and only two players have finalized orders! Where is everyone!?

It really shows determination when the two nations likely to be dead by the end of this year are the only ones to finalize orders in 45 hours!

surely finalizing is optional. You can enter your orders without finalizing, especially when you want extra time to negotiate, or are sure you wouldn't be online for the next phase worth of time (so you want the current phase to run out, and you'll be back online half way through the next phase)

While one or two people waiting to finalize is understandable and common, four of six players is less so (at least in my experience), especially with 2 hours left of 48. I'm simply concerned for their stake in the game, and for the continuing fun-ness of this game.

i agree with orathaic, sorry Pyro. if people don't finalize, they don't finalize. it doesn't really reflect anything about their commitment to the game, unless it was set up as a game of finalizing, and even then outside factors can influence it.

pyro - when you get into more serious games it is much more common for people not to finalize than to finalize.

Ok, I'm not complaining guys, haha, I'm just making sure they do actually have orders ready! Heaven knows I don't need phases to end quickly. I'm in no hurry to commentate with everything else I get up to.

Babak wrote:

"I also have a very good idea for our first graduate SoW course, but we'll wait on that for a while longer."

Dude. I don't like suspense. What's up?