Hi, all tournament participants. I am posting here to set the record straight about Team California and all claims of cheating on my part. Before I begin, I want to apologize to Team California - and uclabb, who played as England - for any and all angst, grief, and paranoia I caused. You may not have known who I was, but know that I am sorry, here at the conclusion to this tournament.
Okay, S01. Personally, I do not regard myself as particularly skilled at Diplomacy; yet I knew that I was playing with the best of the best on this website. I was playing in the Full Press #1 game, after all. All Group A teams were going to send their juggernauts to the game, so I knew I needed a plan, and some friends. I found a couple in Russia and Germany; Italy seemed genuine and Austria was the same. What else could I ask for? I was fortunate enough to have an ally in Germany, mainly because an F/G aligned precisely with my plan for a "Lisbon Leap" opening on England. It's a little something I wanted to try out after I read the article somewhere on the Internet. I knew it was effective, but unorthodox enough to catch the other power players off guard, giving me an edge. The first year went exactly how I wanted: Germany and England clashed over Bel, and I build F Bre and A Par. I was a happy camper.
The second year, things were in motion to fall apart, but I was not aware of it. I foolishly attempted to convoy my Iberian army to English proper while Italy was clearly being aggressive towards French lands. I wanted my convoy to succeed (obviously), so I shot the bull when England inquired about my fleet. Unfortunately for me, I did a poor job, and England moved his new F Lon to Wal, which would bounce me in Liv should I make the convoy. But you must understand: I REALLY wanted to convoy. So much so that my intentions - which were clear to England at this time, mind you - were perceived by him as me singling him out. The most obvious explanation for my intentions was that I was singling him out because England was on Team California. England knew I wanted to convoy, but he couldn't understand why, especially since Italy had clearly outplayed me in F02, taking Spa.
This is where things got hazy. This is when, S03 or so, that England was so upset with me that he openly asked me why I was attacking him, and openly asked me why I was singling him out because he was on Team California. I read England's message and saw that HE told me he was on Team California. I was ticked at him at the time, so I thought (or wasn't thinking, really) it would be funny if I relayed the message to the rest of the board. So I did, and what's done was done.
But as the moderators so kindly concurred, there was no cheating on my part, or anyone else's. Believe me or not, England was the original person who informed me of the identity of the Californian on the board. I was not aware of Team California's reputation on this website; recall that I assumed the rest of the FP 1 players were all notoriously good. I take sole responsibility for anything that became of this.
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Ideas for resistance
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