Ah, well things were quite a bit different from my perspective on this game, though to be honest, I have a terrible memory in general so I can't exactly remember my thoughts during the early game. It was an incredible game, and I'm very happy to have been able to participate, only saved by a lucky last minute substitute into the second round. I was fairly eliminated from the first round game in a disappointing 4th place, but the absence of one of the players as the 2nd round started gave me a 2nd chance. And I was all to happy to accept Signalseven's offer for a free ticket into the finals, well, almost free.
From the start I had a feeling Signal would be counting on our previous alliance, but I have no such human attachments. =P
So as Darwyn as posted, I quickly proposed a Lepanto, which turned just as quickly into a daring but well executed Key Lepanto. Quite an exciting maneuver. It was with great surprise that I suddenly found myself stabbed for a measly one SC gain... Darwyn informed me it was the sitter's mistake, and although I was mostly sure that it had been a mistake, I couldn't be sure, and this suspicion underlined our "rocky" relationship. I was very disappointed at this turn of events because I had been eager to pull off a Key.
Both abab and Signal say they convinced me to stab Austria, but without taking any of the glamour out of their deft diplomacy, I was quite set on the stab already and was happy to have support from my Eastern neighbours despite having just previously deceived them with a Key. As far as I was concerned the Austria-Italy alliance was over at this point, and while Darwyn was apologetic and sincere I was probably still too angry.
As the Juggernaut grew to be more apparent Darwyn and I would be forced to cooperate despite our erratic history. I was very impressed at this point by Ironclad's tactical play and his use of lone raiders to utterly cripple England. Though, I must admit I was a little disappointed in England's tactical play...
As Austria mentioned, there was one point where France was at peace with Germany, and the three of us were all on the warpath to once and for all end the Juggernaut. Unfortunately, well deserved paranoia caused Austria to act more in the theme of self-preservation than noble last stand. At this point, I exploded, and it was definitely this moment that Darwyn and I shared our more passionate dialogue.
Perhaps it was inevitable but the seeds of discord had been sewn, and as France latched on to the back of Germany, the three of us invariably fell to the superior numbers of the Juggernaut. I must say I was impressed with their commitment to the Juggernaut, at this point, Turkey had almost no armies and any Russian incursion would have been swift and devastating. Yet, Turkey was confident in his choice, and Russia could not be tempted to grab the enormous piece of lemon meringue pie that lay unguarded to his south.
At this point I fell, solidly landing in 4th place. My personal prediction at this point was for a solid Russian win as Turkey still had not built any real land-based force. But this slowly changed as he would build 3 armies in one year, and the shift of France's units to the North would slow Russia down and let Turkey capitalize. To be honest, I was surprised that after Ironclad had singlehandedly tactically outwitted two solid Diplomacy finalists, that he didn't lock up the Mediterranean with a small stalemate. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to tip the game in anyone's favour.
There's still a slight bitter after taste that the game was settled by draw, but on the whole, I am greatly satisfied with the success of the first GFTD and I am honoured to have participated and played with some of the best players this site has to offer.
Game Draw: No CD Allowed
)
)
)
)