It was a fun game, and it was nice and surprising to actually get out of the gate with Austria (especially in gunboat).

The problem is, I actually grew too fast and put a big target on my back. Italy and I were on the same page from the start, while Russia and Turkey were also fighting each other (AND Russia was getting pressured from England). The west didn't even have time to put a hurt on anybody, which ultimately forced a 4-way instead of a potential 3-way. It basically turned into a Western Triple against me. They quickly locked up the line and more, with France poised to overtake me in the south.

Italy made a couple mistakes in his Lepanto on Turkey and wasn't able to gain any additional centers. By the time he was in position where I had a unit free to give him support to Smyrna, France had already sent two fleets his way and I figured my best option was to take Venice uncontested and try and get a foothold in Italy and (if I was lucky) into the Western Med, but mainly just to stop France from running away with it. Was this a mistake? I'm still not sure.

Unfortunately, the other players overestimated my solo chances I think, even after it was clear France was the one with the greatest chance to solo the game (In my opinion, that is. Was I correct in this assumption?)

All I wanted to do was to Eliminate Turkey and take the draw, but it was several years before I felt I could spare a unit (and even then, it was only because by that point France had four southern fleets and I couldn't stop him from taking the Ionion so I put my Aegean fleet to some good use).

I'm a bit relieved France agreed to a draw, but he probably didn't try for the solo because Germany could have easily started an invasion of his own (after he finally realized I was no longer a threat and stopped trying to make progress on me).

Oh well, I'm not too upset about the game I played, considering I'm no good at Austria and it's even harder when you cannot communicate with your neighbors.

GG