Cat23 364 Turkish EOG Statement:

First, I must give thanks to Robert Johnson for a job well done. Second, thumbs up to all the players for 9 years played without a single NMR. Gentlemen, it was a gas! I will dispense with (most of) the arrogance for this EOG statement. Speaking of arrogance, did the theme of the game affect the playing styles of some of the players? I have my suspicions...

Opening:

Prior to the first moves, I had in depth conversations with Austria, Italy and Russia; and made friendly contact with England, France and Germany offering intelligence on a reciprocal basis. Italy was making anti-Austria noises, Austria was offering me an alliance against either Italy or Russia, and Russia stated that he was willing to allow me the Black Sea as a benefit of an alliance. My first inclination was to go with Russia if he came through, though I intended to be flexible and not make any firm decisions until 1902. In fact, he did come through, and I got into Bla.

What happened next was rather hard to understand-he moved an army to Armenia in the fall. Why did he do that, since he had already let me into the Black Sea? I would have been satisfied with a bounce in the spring if he had been worried about me. I guess I will find out from his EOG, if he files one. At that point, things got "interesting"...

First Stage Midgame:

Austria and Italy had gotten into it with each other early, and though both "scented blood" in my direction, they were slowed because of their mutual suspicions, which I eagerly encouraged. Because of that, and Russia's "preoccupation" up north, principally with Germany, but also with England, I was able to stave off all attackers, and when Austria was able to take Bulgaria from me, I was able to take Sevastopol to maintain unit count. Speaking of maintaining unit count, I did not have to disband a unit for the entire game, which I thought was somewhat unusual, considering the precarious situation I was in.

I was tempted at various points to ally with either Austria or Italy, but decided not to do so at the time for several reasons. They had both proven completely untrustworthy, and if I let my guard down at all, I was fairly certain that it would be Turkey dinner for all. I figured they would be fine to ally with only after I was fairly secure. In addition, it looked as though help would be arriving from the northwest...

Second Stage Midgame:

Unfortunately for my overall strategic picture, things in the west were basically going perfectly for England. France had been dismembered, and Germany was only just now able to push east against Russia. Both the German and Italian (he had decided to horn in on the French campaign and had grabbed a couple of centers), backs were incredibly open for an English stab, and Russia had no potential for an offensive against England either. I had retaken Bulgaria, but it looked like it would fall to the Austrians again. England and Germany were moving against Russia, since France had been eliminated after a tough (to his credit) struggle, while Austria and Italy had buried the hatchet to the extent that the Italian had finally stuck a fleet in EMS. I once more needed to maintain unit count, and Russia again provided the supply center. I worked a deal with the English and Germans to let the Russian army in Mos successfully enter StP, while I swooped in from behind to take Mos. I successfully duped the new Russian government into leaving Mos open, and was able to maintain unit count.

At this point (using orders I suggested to him) England stabbed Italy and was able to dislodge him from Spa and Mar. At basically the same time, Germany stuck an army into Austrian territory, which, while he was never able to conquer any supply center, certainly removed some of the pressure from me. I am sure England and Germany were helping me mainly for the purpose of keeping the other eastern powers busy, but I wasn't picky about their motivations. At this point, something very strange happened, which basically sealed the fate of the game...

Third Stage Midgame:

Italy put up no resistance to England, saying that he would throw the game to England, and little resistance to me (I think he was rightly chided by me and various other players for this decidedly un-arrogant policy). He reserved his considerable bile for Austria. This had the effect of making almost every English unit available for a titanic stab on Germany's (still!) wide open back, though I warned him repeatedly. It was so obvious I called it a "frontstab" at the time, and rightly so. Unfortunately, there was little I could do to help Germany, though I wanted to. England and Germany had juggled their units up north, so I had no border with England in Russia. I expect this was not an accident on England's part. I still could not trust Austria. His repeated deceptions and uneven deal proposals were not appealing, so most of my units still had to be facing him. I took back Bul, and eventually conquered Gre, but it was slow going.

My remaining forces were sent west to grab southern Italy, which was left wide open. If Italy had been playing a "normal" game, I probably would not have done so, but I was afraid he would continue to act in a bizarre fashion and let England take all his centers. I took Nap and put a fleet in Ion at the same time that England took Tun and put a fleet in GoL. I had a decision to make: fight England in the south (it was a 50/50 proposition that I could take Tun the next year, but I was unlikely to get any further than that-England could set up a stalemate line fairly easily), or agree to a buffer zone and fleet limitations with England down south, and hope that Germany could hold the line up north with help from me or Austria or both. I shook hands with the Devil (I could still count to 5 afterwards)...

Endgame:

The agreement between England and myself stood until the last turn of the game, when I violated it, though on good cause (England had stated that his 18th center would be StP, which I held. I had no intention of keeping StP, but HE didn't know that, so I took it as a voiding of our agreement). While perhaps strategically sound, since it did keep England away from the Italian centers, it turned out to be a disastrous decision in the actual play. Other than his BIG MISTAKE, Germany had made several important errors in the tactical play. He blocked up his home centers, preventing a build, he lost a center or two somewhat quicker than he should have, and he disbanded his last fleet, after I strongly suggested that he maintain it at all costs. With a fleet up north, both defense and eventual counterattack against England would be significantly easier.

As it was, the nearest fleets to England for the A/G/T proto-alliance were the Turkish fleets Ion and Rom. I am sure England was not losing too much sleep over them. I say proto-alliance, because Austria did not seem interested in sending any units north to support Germany. He and what was left of Italy were still busy with each other. Italy, as a last gasp, had managed to take Tri, and killing off Italy had most of Austria's attention. Toward the end, I figured I had to give Germany an extra unit, so, after he moved to Finland, giving me StP in exchange for Mos (he had the idea of an attack on England in Scandinavia, which had no chance of success, but I did not have anything better), I offered him StP back, with me moving to Lvn to support him. (A StP, by the way, certainly had an illustrious history, having been originally A Con, and had gotten there by taking Bul, Rum, Sev, and Mos before ending up in StP!). Since Germany owned War, this would leave a unit free in the center to help hold the line against England if Austria ever moved any units north. Austria did not, however, and there was no way England could be prevented from winning.

Final Thoughts:

While the "back to the wall" defense I put up in the first half of the game was fun in its own way, and IMAO (In My Arrogant Opinion) flawlessly executed, I found myself wishing I got half of the luck that England got. No slight meant, by the way to Mr. Richardson. He took advantage of what was offered to him in a deft manner, and his timing was good, as well. Still, given a somewhat coordinated defense, the English steamroller should have been stopped at approximately 13-15 supply centers. He could certainly still have won the game, and perhaps would have (though IMAO, I probably would have stopped him), but the last moves should have been fall 1916, not fall 1909.

Lastly, I must say that all of my opponents know what they are doing when it comes to Diplomacy. It was a pleasure playing with/against you. I nominate us all, including the GM, as an "Arrogant Ambassadors" Team for one of the upcoming tournaments. At the very least, we should win the prize for best press, and since I can guarantee a solo for my board, we should do quite well...

-[;-)

CIT 9803 German EOG

or The Rise and Fall of the German Empire

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: 'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on those lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

First, I want to thank our GM, Emeric Miszti, for a well run game, and also the organizers of the tournament for their hard work. Compliments also to my conquerors. Suzanne Castagne Russia) handled her forces well and did not crack under pressure. Lauren Kohn (England, 1905-1912) played a good strategic game, taking advantage of the tactical lapses of France and Italy, and conducting good diplomacy with Russia. Robby Schimmelpfening (Austria) worked through a very difficult position after an error in the opening play, and if this was not a timed game, had a possibility of winning the game after being reduced to 1 center. The three of you handed me my first elimination in many, many games, and in a timed game, no less.

Opening:
I decided, playing Germany, that I could afford to go for a couple of builds and maintain friendly relations with everyone for the first year. I therefore negotiated nonaggression pacts with France, Russia and Austria, and made friendly noises to England, Italy and Turkey. I figured someone would break their word and provide me with my target. My first inclination was to ally with England, played by Bob Dengler of the Academy team, since I figured he would be less likely to stab irrationally and ruin the game for both of us. France was somewhat irritating in his emails, and Russia was vague, which proved to be her habit throughout the game. As it turned out, England went to the Channel, and France supported himself into Burgundy. I immediately concluded an alliance with England, and encouraged Italy to move west. Italy said he would do so, but did not, which began a game-long frustration. If Italy had been played by a player with a consistent interest in the game, things probably would have turned out much more favorably for me.

Midgame Stage I:
France did not submit orders in Spring 02, which allowed me to get into Bur. This gave me a stranglehold over him after that. He allowed me into Belgium voluntarily as a goodwill gesture. I took it, but would not go away. England and I developed an excellent working relationship, one of the smoothest I have ever had with any player. I figured he would eventually try to stab me, but worked hard to push that date back. I would not open up a two front war with Russia until France was eliminated or reduced to a minimum of units. In the east, the situation was chaotic, and would remain so for several turns. In other words, my position was about as good as could reasonably be hoped for. I needed to build a second fleet, but knew this would upset England. I therefore became "absent" after fall 03 and did not communicate with him, and was "surprised" when he got angry at my build of a second fleet in Kie. I explained it was for use against Russia, but I could not build in Ber, as it would tip her off. At about this time, Russia began to get the upper hand in the east, and I figured that it was time to slow her down. The question was how to do it without provoking a full scale conflict. The answer became obvious. Take a center from her without seeming to want to. Russia had suggested a bounce of Swe and Den the previous turn, but I refused, saying that such things often led to real hostilities. Now, I asked her for a bounce: Her Swe-Bal, me Kie-Bal, Den-Swe, claiming that England had suggested it, being nervous about Nwy. Of course, England had agreed to support me into Swe. This also had the important benefit of keeping my second fleet out of the Baltic. I needed that fleet to be facing England for defensive or offensive purposes. It worked like a charm. I blamed England for the "unintentional" conquest of Sweden. Russia must have at least half believed me. I made no further moves against her (though I did not offer to give up Sweden, nor did she ask too persistently), she did not move on me, and she stepped up her efforts to turn me against England. I was also pursuing diplomatic efforts with France. France had a chance to save Por-Spa-Mar, since I had given him a foolproof set of orders to do so. I would have taken Paris and headed east, leaving England to deal with France. Since Italy had proven to be basically a nonentity (Tunis was not taken until 1904. 1904!), this would have occupied England for some time. France would have none of it, and with a pretty tactical flourish, England gave up Bre and took Spa and Por in one turn.
 
Midgame Stage II:
At this point, real life concerns forced Bob Dengler to give up his position, and England was taken over by Lauren Kohn. I was at a crossroads. France was on the way out and Russia was growing more insistent about me acting on the proposals we were floating back and forth to turn on England together. In addition, I had the opportunity to take the North Sea in the Spring, and convoy an Army into Edi or Lon in the Fall, pretty much guaranteed, which together with a move by Russia into Nwy in the Spring (which would annihilate the lone English Army) and the Norwegian Sea in the fall would produce a devastating blow, the opportunity for which might not come again. In addition, Turkey and Russia had declared peace and allied, reducing Austria to 1 unit, and Turkey had stated that if the Anglo-German alliance did not break up, he would not turn on Russia. Understandable, as the Russian tactical position was superior to his. I would certainly need to have the aid of a southern power to take on Russia later. In addition, I had negotiated for Russia to support me into Vie, thus gaining a beachhead in the east. Given that this was a timed game, I had no working history with the new English player, and the tactical situation, I reached the conclusion that I had to grasp the opportunity. All went according to plan in the Spring, but in the Fall, Russia refused to follow through, which together with France deciding to team up with England and taking Belgium (something of a surprise, given the lack of previous evidence of diplomatic and tactical ability), left me with no builds for the year, and an angry English player. I realized that without Russian help, taking England against a skilled opponent would be horribly time consuming, so I immediately agreed to evacuate and help England regain Nwy. This was done so smoothly that I would think some outside observers of a cynical nature might have thought the earlier stab was a fake, but my relationship with England was never the same. Nevertheless, we did eliminate France, and I began mounting an attack against Russia and placed armies in Pru, Sil and Gal.

Midgame Stage III:
At this point, the replacement Italy (the original having been removed for NMRing one too many times) decided to stab me for Mun in the Spring, after I warned him not to. This while England was positioning itself for an attack on him. He should have been trying everything he could think of to turn me against England and move west himself. I had arranged my pieces to be able to kick him back to Trl in the fall, and did so, at the cost of slowing my attack on Russia. To test England's trustworthiness, I gave her a perfectly reasonable set of orders, which omitted covering Bel. Of course, I turned in another perfectly reasonable set of orders which did cover Bel, and she did attempt to stab me. Italy was duly kicked back into Trl, but it was another year with no build, and I had a large, hostile, skilled power on each side of me, not something which looked good in the long term. Now crossgaming reared its ugly head. Dan Barlow, captain of the USA East Team, asked my if there was anything I could do against Team Sweden (mostly) or Team AOL, as he had a chance for a solo in his game if something could be worked out. At this time, I could see that there would be no solo on my board and since Austria was Team AOL and Italy was Team Sweden, I agreed to his request, and immediately pulled back from Russia, while proposing a triple northern alliance of the large powers (E/G/R) against the three smaller southern powers (A/I/T). This would not have been something I would have proposed independently. I would have probably continued to attack Russia in conjunction with Turkey, and tried to hold the line against England. The alliance would give each of us our own sphere of conquest, and would have used up most of the time remaining in the game, thus keeping England and Russia busy until 1912, by which point it would have been difficult to keep me from the top score. (I was projecting a 13-11-10 or 12-11-11 in my favor). Unfortunately, neither side bit at the offer, I'm sure Austria was informed, and the three began to move in coordination against me, while my sole ally Turkey seemed to lose interest in the game, with a couple of NMRs.

Endgame:
The triple alliance against me proved too much for me to handle. Austria was not too active against me, but he kept a couple of units hanging around our border, tying me down, and was probably biding his time in order to catch me napping. I was reduced to a series of tactical retreats designed to keep at least one SC German at the end of the game. I guessed right about Austria's timing and was able to preserve Mun after the Fall 11 move. I was able to talk my way through Spring 12, but the urge for last minute conquests to put someone over the top doomed me at the last turn.

Final Thoughts:
So close. Were it not for Russia's well timed non-move and Italy's badly timed move, I could have had a solo, or at least a top in the game. The crossgaming also hastened my demise. What really galled me was that after I screwed up my position, and had made the "unusual" and unsuccessful triple alliance offer, Dan contacted me and said something to the effect of: "never mind, the other guy just stabbed me". Too late for me, unfortunately! I leave you with something written a long time ago about another "triple alliance"...

Ah love, could you and I with Him conspire,
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,
Would we not shatter it to bits, and then
Remold it nearer to the heart's desire?
Who knew Omar Khayyam played Diplomacy?
-[;^)