gameID=15857

I had a great time. Ivo, in retrospect I should have let you keep Norway as we had originally agreed--that was probably my biggest mistake the entire game. Sorry. If I had simply let you keep Norway we could have been superpowers. I won't make that mistake again!

ag7433: I learned another hard lesson this game, and while BoG75 and I had you on the ropes at one point, you came back strong and proved that you were still viable. You and France could have likely eliminated me (with the help of Austria), but that would have almost definitely resulted in a solo for Marx, and who wants that? ;)

laurence208y: Would you mind sharing what happened in the Balkans?

Looks like a great game.
How does the pot being so high affect gameplay etc.?

As an outside observer who checked in every once in a while, I feel the need to say something.

Holy crap, people, the Central Triple is a monster of an alliance. I've used it in my games (obviously much lower-stakes than this beast), and it's powerful. Let this game show that it works on the highest levels.

Having a 14000 point pot meant that people were more thoughtful and careful with their moves, and generally more suspicious of their rivals, allied or otherwise. I particularly enjoyed the seriousness and carefulness which every player in the game demonstrated, and I learned that high-pot games are the best to play.

I loved watching this.

was the triple alliance planned from the start?

I know lots of people scoff at points and think they are silly and think high pot games are silly, but I'll tell you what, it makes for an exciting game!!

I scoff at high pot games!

In all seriousness I agree though that if there is a “pot” involved (even if it is imaginary points) you have something to play for and some motivation.

It’s the same as playing poker with or without money.

The Central Alliance sorted itself out, and arose fairly naturally. I was very much interested in an F/G alliance but I didn't make peace with Russia and take out England quickly enough.

The Central Alliance almost didn't happen several times, actually. Marx and I approached each other immediately and were closely allied from the start, but I personally wasn't very friendly toward Germany until the very end.
Germany induced me to move against France several times with promises of a support, but kept backing off and leaving me with an unproductive solo confrontation. After falling for it a couple times I was pretty livid, and wanted to wipe Germany out. The strategic situation forced me to reconsider though- My worry about a Franco-British alliance steamrolling forward eventually outweighed my anger.
By the time the game ended I even felt the tiniest feelings of warmth towards him.

And regarding the points, I have to agree with Marx. The high stakes really forces people to pay attention be thoughtful about their moves. I think it leads to much better gameplay for everyone. This was definitely the most exciting game I've ever played.

What can I say? I really wanted France to make a move on you first. I flip-flopped, and that's usually a bad move. I definitely learned my lesson.

It'd be great to see more high-point games on the site, as long as Marx joins them! He's hilarious in-game.

Hey, I don't blame you at all. You tricked me over and over again- that's a sign of some great play. :)

Dunecat, please define hilarious... Seriously!

I don't want to copy and paste, but mostly with some crazy moves that definitely put me on edge--like getting into Silesia that one time! I didn't like that at all, and it totally boned my betrayal of Russia.

I'm not usually one for end of game statements, but what the hell. To answer dave bishop's question, a Central Powers Alliance was certainly a topic of conversation between Italy and me, and between Germany and me, but actions speak louder than words, especially early, so I wasn't holding my breath. Italy's move to Tyrolia in Spring 1901 was not a good start and left me a little weary of the Italian, I'm guessing the German felt the same, but Italy moved to Piedmont in the fall while Russia and Turkey fought over Rumania, so things were looking good. 1902 went well for A/I, but I was out of town and traveling in Spring 1903 and was unable to coordinate moves, resulting in getting my unit in Rumania destroyed rather than supported into Bulgaria with Aeg, BUT Italy correctly guessed what Turkey would do and landed an army in Syria, which turned out to be a key move in this game, at least for me and the A/I. I don't know exactly what happend with Norway and G/R (discussed above), but at some point most of us were very concerned with the size of Germany. I think Russia realized Turkey would die soon and Russia was very upset with the German, which lead up to my key season in the game for me, Autumn 1904, where I got three builds. Italy and I quickly headed for France after cleaning up the remains of the Russia and Turkey, and even though the Italian was still livid with the German (the German describes some of his play above, he was obviously not committed to our alliance early), it appeared as though we would get our hypothetical Central Powers Alliance to actually come together. The key, or at least a key, season for Germany was Spring 1906 when England NMR'd, that gave the German the upper hand over England while Italy and I got the Frenchman's attention. After that it was just a matter of finishing things up and making sure nobody tried for a solo. It was pretty stressful at times, but that made it a ton of fun, and I was happy to escape with a three-way draw.

Dunecat, I forgot about that!! I remember now, I told you to trust me, that I had a plan and that you'd see I was clearly your ally by the end of that year... and I did! I don't really get how that's hilarious, guess that's why I asked for a definition...

Hilarious because coming into Silesia unannounced cannot be overlooked, regardless of your plan!

yet you overlooked it

wow, thanks for the commentary. i checked in on this game from time to time.

makes me think of another high pot game that just finished, also with a strong central alliance (more or less from the get-go)

gameID=13881

btw i'd love to play another high point anon game, with any of the folks from "Guess Who" or anyone else. but i gotta wait until one of my current games winds down probably.

bent, I was having such a nice week, diplomacy-wise, why did you have to go and bring that game up?!

LOL

Laughing at my ineptitude, that's just like you, bent! ;-)

I'm all for another high pot game, anonymous is a must (even though half of the people in my anon games start calling me MadMarx by 1902 while I NEVER know who anybody is, that really drives me crazy), and a pot of at least 10,000 would be great, though I suppose only Dunecat has the gumption to start another one of those...