Austria is back. No sub needed, I guess.
Spring 1904:
England - I'm surprised that you're headed away from both Germany and Russia. There's another center being handed to you in St. Petersburg and potentially a significant gain in Moscow if luck goes your way. Hopefully this change in direction works out for you, and, if all goes wrong, you still have a bit of an advantage over Germany. However, with Italy also contesting the MAO, I don't know how much you actually pose to gain out there.
France - The dominoes continue to fall. Portugal is a great place to try to hang on and survive. Maybe you can sneak in and ride out the storm, or you can continue throwing against Germany.
Germany - I guess this phase worked out for you, albeit in a strange way. England is going to remain a threat to you, though. Regardless, if Austria recognizes that Italy wants nothing more of his centers, the CPA may end up returning, though potentially weakened by Austria's failed moves against Turkey. I'm not sure there's a whole lot of analysis to be done this phase, other than to recognize that you stand to gain Brest next year and that you seem to have gotten by England's antics, at least for now.
Russia - You have an off chance at getting back into this all of a sudden. You're going to lose Sevastopol, but for whatever reason, you've been spared St. Petersburg this year. I'll let you and your TA figure out the moves, but if things go right this fall, you could find yourself back in Moscow, and once you're there, you could make a stand and potentially work your way back up to 4 centers soon enough.
Turkey - Like I said earlier, Turkey is always a threat, and right now you are far and away the favorite. You have the potential for 16 or 17 centers before too much longer goes by if you make the right moves and your opponents fail to defend, which is exactly what's happened in this past year. Great move on Serbia, assisted by Austria's mistake, and a great move on Sevastopol. You get the Ionian in the fall and if all goes well you end up with two builds and a huge lead in the Med.
Italy - I'm not complaining about your moves; most of them are probably the ones I would have made. The support for Austria didn't work, though, and that puts you at a real disadvantage. You need to hope that he gains some ground again and can help you because you're losing the Ionian this fall, though, with luck, you can take it back later. At this point, you've gained what you're going to out of the French campaign, and England's not going to let you into the MAO, so you need to now focus on the incoming Turkish threat. Slow and steady will win the race in this one.
Austria - I don't like these moves. I know it's hard to do, and I know a lot of players don't see it this way, but as Austria, you have to rely on Italy. Yeah, he stabbed you, but he had nothing left to gain and had you both recognized that, you'd have been better off. Here he tried to help you again this phase and not only did your move on Bulgaria (which seems pointless to me - at least try Rumania) break his support hold of Serbia (check the orders archives), but the move to Vienna puts you in a tight spot against Turkey. Still, Turkey left you a shot at Rumania, but that would mean risking Moscow. So, I'll ask you - which is more important, your homeland and a shot at fighting your way back into a draw or the Moscow/Warsaw stalemate? That's what you have to decide.
I'm quite tired as I write this, so I might add or amend this commentary later on. When I wrote it I didn't feel it made a whole lot of sense in some areas but I'll look it over later.
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I want a new game
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