Wow...ios7 autocorrect must be shitty, I can hardly read what I just wrote.

As Italy in that game I was prepared to do anything and everything to make sure Russia didn't solo. Assuming you stayed rock solid and defensive as England, he would have had little to no shot to break through.

It's rdrivera's Russia that should have made it to the end. I would have lost to him by 3 SC's if he solo'd that one.

"It seemed like some folks were not playing for a solo and just counting on center count." - can you back up the statement of your's with anything or you said it just like that,to say something to not to say nothing?

1.gameID=122283 2 SC-s close to a solo,prevented by all the remaining powers
2.gameID=122284 1 SC close to a solo,prevented by all the remaining powers
3.gameID=122285 practicaly a solo,avoided only because of a missordered draw vote
4.gameID=122286 3 SC-s close to a solo,prevented by all the remaining powers
5.gameID=122287 a solo
6.gameID=122288 2 SC-s close to a solo,prevented by all the remaining powers
7.gameID=122289 5 SC-s close to a solo,prevented by all the remaining powers

I didn't see folks were not playing for a solo,I only saw folks were playing not only for a solo but for somebody else's solo deliberatly in order to ruin the spirit of the game.

What about your Turkey game,can you explain how come you were rooting for the Russian solo?

Yeah Gen., the only reason Russia had a shot for a solo in your England game was because you made moves that appeared to want to give it to him. Solos come about if and only if other players fuck up, this game had 7 of the best players so ultimately any solo should have been a surprise.

I've noticed the strategy Lando,unfortunately it wasn't the strategy for that game only. I've also noticed when the course of the strategy has changed back into "non fuck up" strategy...

Yeah definitely split. Turkey was one of my better shots but Russia stabbed early (which I thought was stupid) but then Italy piled on which set up Russia getting big quickly. When I was down to 2 center there was no way I would be in the draw so I turned to help Russia by taking Ionian and Tunis to spite Italy.

You are confusing "playing for the solo" with playing to stop the solo. I tried to play boldly in the beginning to make it clear who I wanted to ally thinking the other players would recognize the opportunity to go all in together and make a run at a solo. It seemed that many played cautiously early is all I meant.

I'm not confusing anything,I think you are confused a bit - "...there was no way I would be in the draw..." - so what? Were you familiar with the tournament rules regarding scores?

Yes. I think I thoroughly explained that above.

Yes,I believe you were familiar too. But you didn't explain why would you prefer somebody else's solo over a draw.

I don't understand why creating a position that would give another person an opportunity to solo is in any way an appropriate strategy.

He said he explained it,pay attention! You'll understand it,put 2 + 2 together. Why he didn't give another solo in the last game?

I think a general rule of thumb for gunboats is that movign aggressively at one neighbour in 01 and never changing course is a good way to give your other neighbour a solo chance, not you yourself.

bump

Bump.Ok,I thought there was a guy in the tournament who „posts wise things when he thinks they are warranted“,EOG-s obviously aren't on his list so I could try to go with one,let's say –

Winter 2013 Lando's GT Finals
--------------------------------------------------------
7.gameID=122289 4-way (AFGI)

1901 –
Everybody opens normaly except our confused German buddy,Lando,who missorders the fleet in Kiel and except our genius from Turkey – Csteinhardt,of course,who is convinced Turkey opening into Armenia is a great strategy,he developed a whole theory about how to win with Turkey by opening into Armenia and attacking Russia from spring '01.The theory is based on the fact 99% of times one of Austria and Italy will certainly attack the other and they will keep killing eachother all along untill Turkey destroys Russia and take the whole Balkans and then one of them will throw the game to Turkey only to fuck up the other's game.That happened in about 99% of his strong 5 bet gunboat games and he won 99% of his Turkey games like that so the theory makes sense.
1902 –
Germany recovers from the missorder,get 2 builds and the west is balanced again,England decides to go anti-German so he loses Norway to Russia in the process,France takes advantage on that England tactic and redirect himself to Italy.Turkey keeps attacking Russia and Austria,having a solid alliance with Italy,takes advantage on that and occupies Rumania and Warsaw.On the start of '03 Austria is on 7,France,Germany and Russia on 5 SC-s.
1903-
At that point our genius realizes he starts losing the most of his games as these aren't those 5 bet gunboats but something completely different and he starts worrying about his reputation may be fucked up.So he comes up with another briliant idea from his hat – he fakes a NMR in the other game,being online 50 times a day, trying to make another scene in the tournament and provoke the canceling and he starts blaming Zultar,the TD,publicly,like he should have paused the game when he saw someone was about to NMR so as Zultar didn't do that he's fucked up because of that and he's no longer willing to proceed with the tournament,because he was robbed.And so our genius get's away with it and keeps his great percentages unhurt.And that's the character our mods are in love with.

To be continued,is getting late here...

Let me know if you have any dirty washing that needs laundering.......

The fresh comments are definitely not warranted, but a friendly reminder like "bump" as you did is plenty warranted. I'll do my Russia tonight.

Hmm, with the time and care I want to put into this it probably won't be done tonight. This weekend for sure.

My EOGs - this tournament took way too long to get going and then get completed. I started in February and found myself still playing in August. Regardless, the level of competition was phenomenal and akin to what I have experienced in the highest levels of FTF to kudos to you all. In the finals I had kind of a bad time and found myself in the position where I had to stop some key solos and most of them I was able to play a part in stopping except for y2ks for which I have only congratulations to him for sorting out.

I must mention that in the middle some of the mods got confused about whether I was cheating and gave me a lot of unproven, unwarranted bullshit and this served to be a very significant distraction. As a former mod, I say fuck you to you, you know who you are.

And during the course of this tournament, I completed 5 years on this site. Hardly worth celebrating as during the time I was being investigated for some utter bullshit.

Goodbye.

Thank you all for a wonderful tournament... I was sad getting knocked out after tearing it up in round one... congrats y2k... I'm glad we will have regular top player tourneys going... thanks Lando for taking the time to pull this together...

Game #5
gameID=122287
Russia

1901
I go for the standard opening heading south and end up in Black Sea. I decide to have Ukraine support Black Sea to Rumania because it was the only way to guarantee I take Rumania if Turkey decides to move Constantinople to Black Sea and Bulgaria to Rumania. I get bounced in Sweden and England lands in Norway, so the best defensive move for my build seems to be army St. Petersburg and to ally with a very willing Turkey.

1902
Germany lets me into Sweden, and I out-maneuver England to keep St. Petersburg through the Fall. I manage to position my armies in Galicia and Rumania as well in preparation to move on Austria. Build Army Moscow secures St. Petersburg for next Spring, which seems necessary. Russia is certainly easy to operate at the beginning with a friendly Turkey.

1903
I support St. Petersburg with Moscow and attempt to get Sweden to Norway but fail as expected, and Germany comes and claims Sweden. I have no problem disbanding my fleet in order to rebuild my squashed army in Budapest, where Austria made the right call defending from my invasion.

1904
This was a tame year, and I made sure I would be able to hold St. Petersburg. This left Rumania vulnerable, but Austria made no play on it, which was incredibly fortunate. This year I expected to go way worse than it ended up.

1905
With England disbanding at Norway, I feel safe to bring Moscow down to fight Austria. Vienna is bounced in the spring, but I’m able to get myself situated with armies in Silesia and Rumania to start squeezing next year. My hammering of Norway with St. Petersburg also knocks Germany away and adds security to my attack down south.

1906
Slamming through to Austria was easier than I thought it would be, and Lando bites the dust in one fell swoop. The build phase for this year was incredibly calculated to produce the result it did. With 2 builds, I decided the only way to make sure Turkey moves West next year was to build Army Warsaw and Army Moscow, but moving those armies West was the last thing I had in mind…

1907
I take Finland with St. Petersburg and move Moscow north to establish a threat on Norway. I anticipated Germany coming back through Tyrolia and forced a bounce, and as a result Germany becomes incredibly out of position for the Fall move with his maneuver to Silesia as well. I moved Warsaw to Ukraine to accompany my move to Black Sea so I can cover Rumania. With how out of place Germany became form that move, it made sense that a free shot at Ankara to begin an attack on Turkey would be the perfect play while Germany rushes back to defend his western border from France, and Italy will certainly join in the fight on my side with his fleets. Build Army Sevastopol.

1908
I hammer Norway with Finland and St. Petersburg, which England defends. I bounce with Turkey in Constantinople in the spring, and decide to guarantee getting my army to Ankara the next year while taking Black Sea. I understand Turkey’s desire to convoy back to Smyrna in order to ultimately challenge Ankara, but he dooms Serbia in the process. The Western trio remains in turmoil while Italy encroaches on Greece.

1909
Germany helps England hold Norway while I storm into Serbia, followed by an easy invasion of Bulgaria. Italy holds the line in Trieste while snagging Greece from Turkey. Army Warsaw and Fleet Sevastopol, since I held onto Ankara through this year.

1910
With Turkey’s push to Tunisia, claiming Constantinople and Smyrna was a piece of cake. My invasions of Norway and Greece are both short-lived and are repelled. France is encroaching on Warsaw now, and I had to retreat to cover. Army Moscow Fleet Sevastopol, it’s time to plow through Italy.

1911
France and Turkey get me into Norway and Ionian, respectively, while I also claim Greece. The solo is within grasp now. Fleet St. Petersburg North Coast and Fleet Sevastopol.

1912
I bounce with Turkey in Tyrhenian while swinging Greece around to Trieste. I hold the line up north while France swings around Germany to place a threat on Warsaw. Army Moscow to defend.

1913
France slams into Norway while I take Barents Sea and open up a retreat to St. Petersburg. France takes out Turkey in Tunisia while I slam Venice, repel France from Prussia, and convoy to Apulia. France definitely miscalculated the force I could set up to claim the Italian peninsula as fast as I did. Army St. Petersburg holds Norway while I get to 18 from Rome/Naples.

1914
Norway holds, and Rome/Naples are squashed. France doesn’t stand a chance to stop it.

General Thoughts
Italy, England, and Germany played well balance their own expansion with working to stop the solo as well. France and Turkey, not as much. Turkey, I understand wanting to get to the stalemate line in order to be effective and relevant in the draw, but you should have realized that Tunisia was never going to be on the stalemate line and you were just helping my solo effort. France, you made a couple of moves detailed in my EOG that only served to help me expand and seemed to be blind move-forwards in your own rage to get centers. Definitely seems like you weren’t focusing completely on how fast I was claiming the Balkans.

I fully realized that. Are you suggesting I should have accepted a defeat so that you wouldn't win the tournament?

Not necessarily, but if someone attacks you and is going for the kill, general practice is to slow him down rather than assist his progress and enable a solo. Obviously that's not a rule or anything.

How do you consider what I'm suggesting you could have done as "accepting defeat" compared to what you did?

Good point y2k. I think it is always appropriate for players to try and get the best possible result from the position. So, Gen. Lee chose sure defeat with his plays while he could have tried to be a part of the coalition and retain a chance for a draw.

I don't know why I entered this conversation again. I think I just see things differently then some of you on this issue and that won't change. It is one of the great parts about this game, that we are playing with humans and not robots. Each player will react differently to different situations. One of the hardest parts of getting a solo is finding the place where sides can't reconcile or a small player is at risk of elimination and taking advantage of it. This is part of the game and should be considered by someone seeking a solo as well as someone considering that they may need to stop one at some point.

That I could have tried to be a part of a coalition that stopped Russia is a completely ridiculous statement. I had only two units at the point I turned my gun on Italy and I had no place to hold him out. Italy should have never jumped on me until he got a piece of the Balkans through teamwork with me against Russia. But he piled on and he ended up eliminated from the game. Furthermore if this thing came down to centers for the whole trophy it could have likely been rdr over y2k, so I'm quite content with how turning on the guy that doomed me for that specific game, Italy, actually turned out in the long run.

Well, I blame France a lot more then Turkey for the Russian solo. Turkey has little hope to be in the draw and nothing to lose. I made a mistake allowing him into Ion. He could have worked to stop the solo, but I didn´t count with that.

But France could have stopped the Russian solo by giving up on Germany and sending one or two fleets south and one army to Pie. But he keeps pushing his neighbours even with the Russian solo being obvious. I confess I feeel dissapointed with that, but I guess he had his reasons.

gameID=122289 4-way (AFGI),EOG,resumption;
...
1903 –
On the West side England changes his course again,after he got Germany angry about him he decides to try his luck against France now attacking the channel so he could get two neighbours against him. Germany breaks into Burgundy at the same time and takes the English gift by entering the North Sea,while France continue with the „single unit trip“ to Tunis like he could have a future there.One of the very few huge mistakes made by rivera in the whole tournament.He should have seen what was going on on the east at the moment and he should know going for Tunis so early is never an option for France untill the west isn't resolved.
On the East a replacement Turkey changes the strategy of a genius,of course,and try to slow down a fast expanding Austria and to make peace with Russia so they could have a chance against the major threat together.They are fortunate though as France prevented the Lepanto and Russia holded Scandinavia with a single unit up there benefiting from the wrong English play.
1904 –
Both France and England are forced to defend their's homelands so Germany is free to take the last free neutral – Belgium – finaly.Italy keeps pushing France away from the east kicking him out of the WME first but then makes a mistake by entering Gulf as he still was pissed off by his „Tunis thing“.Turkey can't hold Bulgaria anymore as he didn't get „a feeling“ with Russia yet so at the end of the year Austria and Germany build new fleets
1905 –
Italy understands there is no point in attacking France further and it's the last call for preventing Austrian solo as he wants both Turkey and Russia.Building that fleet was a wrong call for him.So Italy takes Trieste to allow „a respiration“ to Tur/Rus and nothing else.Germany enters Bohemia in order to help Italy advancing into Vienna but Italy doesn't want it,he doesn't want the Juggernaut to be established,only to slow down Austria.On the West Ger & Fra start to co-operate and England is about to be destroyed.Russia still keeps Norway,by gambling only,without covering it,as it's his common style of play shown in the whole tournament.At that point I'm certain about who Russian player is.So Austria disbands Warsaw and the game is balanced again.
1906 –
Italy leaves Trieste immediatly and form the stalemate line with Austria knowing he wants the revenge.But Austria loses Warsaw in the process so Russia is in the game again.Everything else is the same,Ger/Fra surrounds England slowly but without gains still...
1907 –
Austria wants Italy as an ally again and leaves the border but he still doesn't understand Italian needs and is greedy,wants all of Turkey and let Russia have Rumania. Germany intermediate again by entering Tyrolia – I didn't understand the purpose of the move,Lando! – he wants to make Italy attacks Austria but that's wrong.He also takes an English center and builds another army in Munich!?.Turkey and England are on the ropes and Russia builds again and rises. Austria,Germany and Russia are on 7,France on 5,Italy 4.
1908 –
Italy „is dancing“ arround trying to keep the game balanced and moving towards France again as he feels France has a potential to attack Germany and become a solo threat,a bigger threat then Austria. Because Germany doesn't mind his own bussyness but annoying Austria still while Russia also attacks Austria from the other side.But in the fall a great turnout – Russia changes his course and attacks Germany,God knows why.England is dead,Turkey on 1 SC...
To be concluded...