http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=43685
Result (Game finished Autumn 1911)
ITALY (Duke_of_Marlborough) 18 SCs
FRANCE (masquerade015) 9
GERMANY (extraction) 7
RUSSIA (eca) 0
Defeated: Turkey (talocontxorizo), England (Dodo), Austria (mafaldxxx)

My first full game on site (not taking over a surrendered power, that is) and Italy. I didn't give a "Woohoo!" over that.

EARLY GAME - "On Being a Fucking Traitor"
So, as Italy, more so than most other powers, write, write, write again. With Austria I had a good early correspondence. I offered the Key Lepanto, which he didn't want. The counter-offer of DMZs in Tyl, Tri & Ven I didn't agree to but I did say I wouldn't attack him. I also warned him that Germany wanted a DMZ in Tyl and suggested that meant Mun>Tyl (not sure he believed that). With France I agreed DMZ in Pied and we agreed to stay out of the seas around us.With Russia we had an agreement to dismantle Austria and to then betray Turkey. With Turkey I proposed I wouldn't oppose him in the Balkans... but received nothing back. With Germany... well I have no record of the early conversation with Germany so maybe there wasn't one (or else, if you send enough messages, the system loses the early ones?), but I THOUGHT I had agreed not to over to Tyl.
Anyway, my orders were Ven>Tyl and Nap>ION... and if you're going to attack Tyl you have to order Rome>Ven. Austria had ordered Bud>Ser, Tri>Alb and Vie>Tri. Russia split his forces, taking Gal and BLA. Turkey NMRed. France honoured our agreements.
Austria's response was pretty clear: "I knew that you were a fucking traitor." Which was good coming from someone who had wanted to DMZ Tri and then moved there. His claim was that I had said I would stay out of Tyl, which I hadn't, and when I pointed that out to him that was the last message we exchanged. So with Austria sulking, I made my mind up to go against him. Before that I'd asked France is he felt ordering Bur S Tyl>Mun (and I clearly remember suggesting that with Germany - the Munich Gambit) but had been turned down. I approached Russia over Gal S Tyl-Vie but received no reply to that.
Autumn 1901: I ordered Tyl>Vie (which succeeded), Ven-Tri (bounced) & ION-Tun; AUSTRIA ordered Ser S Tri H, Alb-Gre; RUSSIA surprisingly ordered Gal S BLA-Rum, Fin-Swe and StP-Nwy; ENGLAND messed up with NWG C Edi-Nwy (bounced by Russia) and NTH-Bel. With FRANCE ordering Bur S Ruhr>Bel Germany got 3 builds, France 2 (Spa and Por), and everyone else 2 except Turkey (NMR) and England, although Austria would only be able to build one unit in Bud.
So not a bad start. I then wrote to Russia and proposed he built an army in Sev so we could go after Austria more effectively; he built a fleet. OK. Austria didn't built, not being able to see past his bottom lip? Being a fucking traitor anyway, I went with the attack on Austria and built A Rome, F Naples. I ordered Vie S Ven>Tri, Rome>Ven, Tun S Nap>ION. Russia ordered Gal>Bud, Rum S Sev>BLA, Swe S StP-Nwy and Mos>StP. France moved against England. Nobody else bothered. The new(?) Austria retreated from Tri>Tyl.
Autumn 1901 Germany, England and this time France NMRed. This was good for me as it meant the west would get nowhere. Turkey also NMRed. So three of us in the game. I decided to consolidate as there didn't seem a point in attacking Russia. Vie S Tri H, Tri S Ven>Tyl, Tun>ION, ION>Gre. Austria ordered Gre S Ser>Bul and Tyl>Pied. Russia held in the north, had Bud>Ser, BLA S Rum>Bul. I built A Ven, Russia built armies in Sev, Mos and a fleet in StP(nc). Austria, down to two, disbanded Pied.

MID-GAME: "Once a Fucking Traitor..."
I always think a a game entering the mid-game when one area of the board is sorted out, which wasn't really the case. Turkey still had three SCs and Austria was still on two (the obviously not for too long if Russia and I cooperated). The west was in total civil disorder. However, this was when I changed my target. Russia became the new one.
So: Vie>Gal, Tyl>Vie, Ven>Pied (gotta be opportunistic) ION>AEG & Tun>ION. Thankfully Germany also ordered this time and took Bur from France. I say thankfully because everyone else NMRed, including Russia. France also ordered in retreats: Bur>Mar.
I wrote to France and offered to reinstate the DMZ in Pied, which he accepted. I wrote to Russia and we "agreed" a split, whereby I took all of Austria, Ser and Gre; he took Turkey, Rum and Bul. I also wrote to Germany and had him support me into Mar. So I ordered Pied>Mar which succeeded as France had accepted my offer. I also ordered Tri S Vie>Bud & AEG S ION>Gre, all of which succeeded. Russia had gone after Turkey. As Germany ordered Ber>Pru I had, at last, an ally I was prepared to stick with in Germany. 4 new SCs for me (builds: A Ven, A Rom, F Nap); Russia losing two (NWG & Fin disbanded). France took advantage of England's absence to take Lon.
The game then became one of NMRs and a war against Russia. I made errors in this but always had the advantage.
1904: Germany NMRed the whole year, but remained in the game. I did lose Mar because of this though. But my western fleet prevented France taking WMS. In the east I managed to take Con, Ser and Sev, mainly due to Russia NMRing in Autumn. Three new SCs. (Builds: A Ven, F Rome and Nap).
1905: The first mistake. I allowed Russia to take Rum, but I wasn't worried about that; I ordered Con>Bul(ec) - where does nc come from? - and allowed Russia into Con, but I wasn't bothered about that. What I missed was Russia's retreat to Gre, as I also ordered Gre>AEG. In the meantime, Germany took War but was tied down to defending Bur from France. I allowed France to take WMS, as I had fleets in ION, TYS & GOL by the end of Spring. In Autumn, having messed up in the east, I cut my loses. I kept Bul and surrendered Gre, Rum and Con. I was also prepared to surrender Tun as I wasn't prepared to let Russia try for ION or France get into TYS. Anyway I tried GOL>Spa, which was bounced by WMS & Mar. I used Pied S Bur>Mar, which succeeded. Germany had gained two SCs, but missed his builds. In had to destroy Bul and GOL.
1906: So this was the dangerous year. If Germany sorted something out with France or Russia I was doomed. But he didn't. He agreed to hold in Mar and with support from me in Pied it succeeded. This was almost the only time France fell into the trap, amongst the many I would try and set him, by ordering WMS>Spa. I didn't defend Tun again, wanting to hold TYS. In the east, I was able to get Russia to fall for the traps. I took Gre back, held Bul with a bounce and gave up Sev to take Rum. Russia though didn't move to Sev. In Autumn I was in a much better position. Although France was able to take Mar back, it allowed my order TYS>GOL. I allowed Russia back into Sev, supporting War>Mos for Germany instead, which split Russia's forces. I had regained all the Balkans, though and reversed the loses of the previous year so built a fleet in Nap.
1907: Pied kept plugging away at Mar, preventing France from opening it up for a build. I took Con and Sev from Russia and although Russia took Mos in Spring, Germany was back there in Autumn, with an army in Lvn. It was also the year when I was eventually able to send an army away from the Balkans, through Vie>Tyl to defend should Germany ever switch alliance. Two builds: F Rome & Naples.
1908: Turkey and England were eventually eliminated: France took Edi, I took Smy. I took all of Turkey by the ned of the year. Germany had StP, but had lost Hol/Bel to France over the last couple of years. I had fleets in Tun, Naf, WMS & GOL. A second army had moved to defend against Germany and was in Vie. Two builds for me: A Rome, F Nap.

END GAME: "Am I the Only Traitor?"
At this point, Germany ought to have known what was coming. Russia was finished in the south and only had Swe and Nwy left with two units in. Germany would have time to break through there, but would need to take time to do so. France had no way of breaking through against me, but it wasn't likely that I would break through against him. I don't know whether they were in contact with each other, but never did they try to coordinate moves against me.
1909: Did I fall for a French trap? Mar>Pied succeeded and therefore Tyl>Pied succeeded. In the meantime, he didn't fall for mine and, although I left WMS open to him he didn't take it. Shame; I would have been able to destroy the fleet. By the end of the year (Germany missed a build the previous year and NMRed in Spring) I had held Mar, had six fleets defending the Med, armies in Tyl, Boh, Gal and Ukr. I had made a second mistake and messed up getting Arm into Sev. Germany faced threats in Mun and Gal but didn't ask about it. A build in Ven - army.
It should have been over in 1910. Instead of going for Germany straight away (I was on 16 SCs at this point) I Boh>Sil, Tyl>Boh, Ven>Tyl, making Mun a likelihood. Arm>Sev made War certain. Then I NMRed in Autumn. Good old flu. Whilst shivering and trying to get a fever down France regained Mar and took WMS. I disbanded WMS and rebuilt a fleet in Rome. But Germany had built an army in Kiel and Munich was no longer guaranteed. At this point Germany knew I was after him (at last) but gave me the message: "However, you're welcome to take it all home."
1911: So now three SCs away. Despite Germany's message I still wasn't sure he wouldn't defend. Spring I took just Mos and used Gal to help with a further move north of my armies: Sil>Pru, Boh>Sil, Tyl>Boh> Pied>Tyl, Tus>Ven. Although I also regained WMS that was no longer important. It might not have worked, but Germany NMRed. Autumn: War and Mun fell to me with France and Germany still squabbling. Game over. Solo.

The thing is, I should NEVER have been able to solo in this game. Sometimes you can put this kind of victory down to diplomacy, but not this time. Once I was the only remaining original player in the game, I had mostly stopped negotiating. The messages I was sending were pretty much all to Germany from the mid-game, coordinating against Russia and France. At no point did I have to defend moves against anyone once the early game was over. So why the success? Two possible reasons:
1. I stuck the game out. Austria going off in a sulk meant that I had a great start. Turkey not even bothering once was also an advantage. There were some moves I was proud of, especially manouvres around Turkey and the Balkans to take Russia out in the south. But the fact is that being the only one who stayed there was a major advantage.
2. PPSC. France and Germany both settled for trying to get their SCs and didn't, apparently, try to prevent the solo. Not, in my mind, how the game should be played, but it does fit in with the PPSC variant.

Having said that, the second France played a good game. The second Germany played well when he wasn't NMRing. The second Russia did well to take advantage of the mistakes I made around the Balkans, but really wasn't in a good enough position once Germany and I coordinated.