So; I got rather out of habit with that pause but time to do a catch up of the entire year:
England: Taking Silesia in spring was smart - crossing the line early and putting Russia and Austria into a bit of a tight spot. Really though, what was the point of Denmark? After Germany kept Baltic it was obvious he'd be support holding it, and Berlin cutting was the logic move to make. Realistically; the only way you could take Denmark was from Kiel - which could've been arranged if you let France into Kiel behind you and then convoyed yourself into Holland in Autumn if you built an army. That Edinburgh fleet isn't going anywhere. And of course, in Autumn, you tried the same thing and failed again because now there are two units to support hold Denmark and you're stalemated. You might've got into Warsaw but Russia knew he could afford that by taking out Turkey, so at the end of that year you have 6 units; of which 5 are completely out of play. Not exactly leaving yourself with many options, are you? Warsaw might be able to go on a one (or two, if Bohemia helps) man crusade, but you've lost any ability to shape this board for yourself. Which means you're of less and less use to France and could easily be cut out for a 3 way later. I would criticise you not supporting France to Munich but that'd actually make you eve more of his bitch than you are now, so I can just about forgive it. Except of course, had you done that, then they'd have bounced and you'd have got a build, which would've been excellent. Major screw-up. You need to turn this around to stop that happening - you have a bargaining chip in the East. Use it to cut a deal with Russia. 100 lines of "I must not put 83% of my units into a stalemate by 1904".
France: Well; what can I say? Spring was very solid - taking the Ionian; getting into Munich, using England as little more than a frontal assault force. But what the hell was that Autumn? Catastrophic errors all over the place. Why you let England try another pointless attack on Denmark instead of supporting you to Munich I don't know - Denmark was never going to succeed and you let Austria into Munich in the process. Poor move. Still, one mistake happens. To err once is human; to make the same mistake twice is stupid. Why on earth did you dislodge Italy from the Tyrrhenian? Italy can now do exactly what he's probably wanted to do all along - sail off into the MAO or Spain, and put himself into a position where it's incredibly difficult to dislodge him. You should've been covering Western Med there and using Tunis to support hold the Ionian - either supporting Turkey to Greece or letting him shoot for Bulgaria. That Turkish fleet could've been a handy ally and you completely wrote it off. Awful set of moves down south that's going to cost you dear. 200 lines of "I must not let desperate minor powers into the wide open space behind my lines"
Germany: Good solid year. Correctly identifying Denmark as the key SC to hold to stay alive in Spring and defending that worked well, and then by England going for that instead of Berlin, you got to keep Berlin too as it was safe by Autumn. Correctly supporting Austria into Munich was another good stroke; and you've now got 3 different powers bordering you - a good way to keep yourself alive as it's far harder for them to cut to a three way deal to cut you out. Of course, you've still got a lot of work to do to pull yourself out, so you need to break up the A/R here. Preferably by managing to somehow put together an EA that doesn't then charge you hundreds of dollars for every DLC, err, SC, that you want to gain. Still, probably the best year you've had, and you can have a cookie as a result.
Italy: Pretty easy commentary here. Spring was sensible; opening up the trap that France fell for hook line and sinker by putting yourself in Tyrrhenian. And then he fell face first into it by dislodging you and putting you in WMed. You have a way to try and survive as a very minor power now; though defending both Rome and Naples with one unit next year will take further miracles of guesswork. If you can manage that, though, then Portugal, Brest, or Liverpool could be very nice places to park yourself and hope for some good luck later. So you can have a cookie for giving yourself the only shot you had at surviving, and for making France walk into the trap.
Austria: I can't help but think you rather rode your luck this year. I can only assume the spring convoy to Albania was you knowing you were losing Ionian Sea, and it worked out quite nicely for you. Still, Turkey bouncing Bulgaria made Autumn some very hard guesswork - and Galicia being open to England was even worse. So your spring moves were merely meh, with Rumania obviously not being a stab. Autumn though, you made up for it. Whilst England bouncing you in Galicia would've been truly perfect, as the second build would've put you in a fantastic spot, the capture of Munich was brilliant and combined with your recapture of the Ionian Sea, you made that into a terrible year for France. Russia, however, has now finished with Turkey, and that means you should be a bit wary there. Consider making a deal with England - he's in a very tough place after all; and with German help you could time a stab pretty well - though Russia has a very good line so you'll have to fight very hard to get far. An FA is also possible, of course, but you and France don't seem to get on well, and France is in a horrible position for turning on England. Have a small cookie for that year; but I look forward to the future here.
Russia: Very good stuff. Destruction of Turkey complete; giving you 3 units in the South which you can play with, and the option to send a fleet into the Med. Perfect line in Scandinavia with Germany that's taken most of England's units out of play. And whilst Warsaw is an annoying loss; the fact you got a build anyway because Austria left Rumania means that you should be able to deal with that English army quite well as long as he doesn't start working with Austria. An EA (with German support) is a big threat to you because you can't really form an R/F in return - France has very little he can do to aid you for a year or so, by which time, England and Austria would've gained the upper hand. And Italy floating around creating trouble for France makes that even harder. Positionally, however, you definitely have the best spot on the map. The capture of all of Anatolia (copying the Turkish starting position right down to the units) gives you a fantastically defensible position; and Austria would be walking through a mire to get anywhere against you. Now to ensure that your diplomacy matches your tactics here. Another cookie for you, sir.
Turkey: Well, Spring was solid - bouncing Bulgaria meant that Austria couldn't definitely defend all his SC's against you in Autumn, so you deserve credit for that. Sadly, you guessed wrong on the 50/50, and that's that. Requiescat in pace. You sewed the seeds of your defeat right back in A1901, and then just seemed to go from one neighbour to another to let them bitchslap you as every time you tried to trust one they just shafted you from behind. Pretty brutal. Corpses can't write lines, though, so here's some popcorn for your afterlife in Asphodel.
Help me buy a scientific computing desktop
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