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Message from Turkey to Russia
Well, that didn't go as planned. Any chance I can get into Smy in the
fall to keep hope alive?
jason
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
Sorry about the move to BAR. It's got nothing to do with *you* or even our
relationship as such. It's just Jason's decision to collapse and throw his
centers to you puts me in a position in which I need to be closer to the
stalemate line.
Oh well.
Anyway, Jason's collapse *does* put you closer to the Med., though if you
would like to pursue a 2WD option, you probably will need a string of F
SEV's. . .
Ben
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
Can you afford that VEN - PIE now?
Ben
Message from England to France
Erik -
Well, that went pretty much as well as we could have hoped. Except for my
marines' failure to land in Norway. . .
I expect I will see a Russian A FIN in the fall, and some kind of build in
STP.
Anyway, it's good to be working with you again, and let me know if you have
any tactical suggestions.
Ben
Message from Italy to England
> Can you afford that VEN - PIE now?
That is the plan.
Message from Russia to England
Ben,
When (if) you read my private press from before the moves, you will see that
the problem I encountered with these moves was much more about what I did and
didn't do (despite knowing better) and less about your moves. Yes I'd prefer
to see you not attacking me, but obviously I saw the possibility clearly.
As to Jason, you can see how effectively he's handed me his centers :). No
worries for you there (though arguably the same comment from above holds true
there).
So where do we go from here? Losing Mun will actually make me much less
inclined to push towards a 2way if that's where Erik is going, but I don't
know if that's what's going on with the moves.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to Germany
Tony,
That is the nicest way I've ever been asked "What the %$(# were you
thinking!?!" :)
In my press to self prior to the moves I identified the need to be
aggressive, and then I failed to follow through. I had Tyl-Pie ordered and
undid it. Same with Arm S Con-Smy. Even if I wasn't going to be aggressive, I
should have stuck with Sil-Boh/War-Sil (which I also did and undid), which
are still better as neutral moves than what I did. I'd say that StP-Nwy was
the only move I made that was correct. Total screwup on my part.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to Russia
What crappy choices on my part. Never enter moves when you are stressed.
Although while I'd like to blame my moves on that, I was aware of what I was
doing. (Did I say all this to Ben?)
What I told Ben seasons ago is true. I prefer to get a good position and sit
back and let others snipe at each other to the point that I can move in and
take advantage of the situation. My direct concern in entering my moves is
that Andy does have the ability to throw to Ben, especially if Erik falls
quickly. If I take Andy out, I need to do it quickly. As Erik focuses less on
Andy, Andy's likelihood of seeing me as the "bad guy" increases. If Ben lets
Erik grow or hang around and Erik attacks Andy, then Andy will be more likely
to vent in Erik's direction.
But that's all a moot argument. Working more directly against Andy I could
have taken him down two or three, which makes his ability to throw that much
lower. And with the knowledge that Erik was likely to stay around, I could
have afforded the attack. Again, I am letting my emotional attachments and
hangups get in the way of my better judgement.
I'm beginning to wonder if my propensity to wait until near the deadline to
enter orders artificially raises my stress level, resulting in unnecessrily
bad move choices.
--- Eric
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
> When (if) you read my private press from before the moves, you will see
that
> the problem I encountered with these moves was much more about what I did
and
> didn't do (despite knowing better) and less about your moves. Yes I'd
prefer
> to see you not attacking me, but obviously I saw the possibility clearly.
"Attacking" is a strong word. . .
> As to Jason, you can see how effectively he's handed me his centers :). No
> worries for you there (though arguably the same comment from above holds
true
> there).
:-) The observers had an interesting game, for awhile. No doubt there is
life in it yet, though not much right now.
> So where do we go from here? Losing Mun will actually make me much less
> inclined to push towards a 2way if that's where Erik is going, but I don't
> know if that's what's going on with the moves.
I'm not interested in seeing you lose MUN, and noone has asked me about it
(yet). Overall I am pleased with our - yours and mine - status quo. I
agree the 2WD becomes more difficult for *you* to pursue without MUN, just
as it becomes more difficult for *me* to pursue without BER. These centers
will be essential for fine-tuning later, depending on how the south plays
out.
Defend MUN, is my suggestion, in case I do feint at it. I'll clue you in
if it's anything weird. I've had virtually no press this phase, from
anyone.
Ben
Message from Germany to Russia
> That is the nicest way I've ever been asked "What the %$(# were you
thinking!?!" :)>
:-)
Message from Germany to England
Hi Ben. Maybe time I look on your side of the board. Eric did usually agree
with me but never carried out the moves suggested.
If I were you I would go for position this fall.
a edi - pic supported by bre
a ruh - bur supported by bel
This ensures that edi makes it to pic (right in the front line) and that bel
cant be taken.
This ensures a nice set up for the push into France next spring.
You dont have to worry about MAO being dislodged as it could then retreat to
POR.
Good luck.
Message from England to Germany
Tony!
Excellent to hear from you, my tulip-picking, windmill watching, canal
boating Dutch friend. Your proposal is intriguing.
Can Erik use what he has left to throw a solo to Eric?
I can't believe, after all the lies we told each other, you are
corresponding more with Eric - a *novice* liar! a *tadpole* of untruths! -
than you are with me. I weep for our lost friendship.
Ben
Message from Italy to Russia
Eric,
Are we actually going to talk this turn??
Im trying to get out of your way, but you have those 2 units perched on
Venice...and with the build from BUL, I can move on the french, being in
Piedmont for me would be great.
Andy
Message from Italy to France
Erik.....dude.
How are you holding out....what can I do for you
And assuming you are going to collapse totally....not saying you are, but
if it becomes inevitable, when is it acceptable for me to take your dots
so the English dont get them.
Andy
Message from Italy to England
Ben,
What are you thinking....I will be moving to Piedmont.
What can we do together.
Andy
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
You are catching me staring at the map.
I do need you to make that move to PIE now. I am looking at convoying edi
- pic but I am worried it will leave me too weak in the North, given what
we are likely to see from Eric.
Ben
Message from England to England
Poll:
How much better would Ben be, if he had his own tactical skill, and did not
rely so heavily on the advice of other players?
a. A lot.
b. A fair amount.
c. A little bit.
d. None.
e. [gallery is vacant]
Message from Germany to England
Good to hear from you too mate. I have just gained a solo and four 3 way
draws so I have been quite busy. VGNP is going crap though. I am always
unlucky it seems. Take any country in any game and it will come out better
than the same power played by me in another game. I always get the bad luck
of the draw. I doubt i'll be improving my 2003 standing.
Back to this game. Going by Erik's last moves he is intended on staying in
the game for as long as possible. I gave up on Eirc following his last two
moves ;-) he just wasnt agressive enough.
I think the only one of a real solo now is you but even that will be very
difficult.
I would forget STP for now and concentrate in the south/middle of the board.
STP can always be picked up. I think Eric made a big mistake defending it
with 3 units. Two would have been enough to slow you down for a while.
I also advised him on moving to PIE last turn to get three on VEN 9push all
armies from WAR one place up). I also had an agressive Turkish solution
which he liked but didnt execute. I think he has lost the momentum. How are
talks with Erik going?
I like my PIC suggestion, I think it is the most progressive. WIth MAO you
may as well push for SPA although he will no doubt cover it and POR.
This should end in a 3 way. I dont see anyone throwing it to Eric that easy.
Italy is still quite strong.
EIR should be the outcome. TUN is no doubt your 18th but pretty unreachable.
Russia has to many armies to have to worry about you breaking through in
Germany. I think once France is eliminated the 3 way will be a fact. I dont
see you making a big enough mistake to allow Eric to solo. You do need to
grab those last 4 french towns asap. A challenge to say the least.
BER is stalemated with BAL in place. Norway is a little open. I think you
have to cover it with BAR. I would opt to keep the momentum going and push
for France as suggested. Their is little chance of Russia pushing for FIN &
STP. Unless I advise him to do so sneakly ;-) but I wont.
For now it is safe and you always have north to hold it in the spring next
year along with BAR. So it is safe. Nothing can prevent the convoy to PIC
with the moves suggested. This also means that you hold the stalemate line
in and around MUN next year as you would have 3 units to do so.
BAL S BER
BAR - NWY
BAL S BER
BER HOLD
KIE - MUN
RUH - BUR
BEL S RUH - BUR
EDI - PIC supported by BRE
MAO - SPA/POR/GAS whatever.
A safe set of moves. If you want to be really safe;
BEL - RUH supported by KIE (bounce in case they go for RUH)
RUH - BUR (cut support of PIC and or attack on BEL)
EDI - PIC supported by BRE (Dislodge PIC) guranteed.
Good luck mate. Shame I wont be able to assist you in gaining a solo but
maybe at least we can try.
Hope the advice is of some help, I dont think I will be able to help Eric
any more so I may as well change sides ;-)
Tony
Message from England to Germany
Tony -
Thanks for the follow up.
I had thought a timely I/R war could get my 18th in MOS but Eric's
effectively stopped Andy from growing. TUN would be tough but also a
possible - if either is possible.
VGNP is for me an unmitigated disaster. I am terrible at nopress and I am
in the DPNP too, so I have a complete nopress overload. Ugh.
Ben
Message from Germany to England
Well in the 2003 VGNP tournament I made it to 23rd. This year is going to be
a disaster though.
Luckily I am now down to 16 games. 7 press, 7 no-press and GM in two of
them.
I may have to work in Brussels for 3 months so I hope I can start to wind
down some games. So as it happens being eliminated in the VGNP games quickly
saves me from having to find a replacement.
Message from France to England
Last minute, I know, but do you have any thoughts? It would be nice to move
to shore up my position against Andy, but not until I see evidence that I
can stop bouncing in Paris and Portugal.
Erik
Message from France to Italy
Best you can do is to allow me to continue keeping Ben at bay. If I
collapse, you'll know it, and in that case, Mar and Tun are yours anyway.
I would rather you wait until then to "liberate" my peoples.
Can you move against Russia this turn, instead of playing pure defense, or
is it too dicey?
Erik
Message from England to France
Erik -
> Last minute, I know, but do you have any thoughts? It would be nice to
move
> to shore up my position against Andy, but not until I see evidence that I
> can stop bouncing in Paris and Portugal.
:-)
I have no problem bouncing in Paris and Portugal. I had planned on
ordering KIE - MUN - feel free to support it if you want. Somehow I
suspect you wouldn't trust me to offer that support to *you*.
Anyway if you want to bounce me in PAR from PIC then you can offer the
support from BUR. I hope this is a good way to ease back into a trusting
relationship - I will see what you do. Let me know if you have some other
ideas.
Ben
Message from Turkey to Russia
Heading for Smy. If you could let me in, I'd appreciate it.
jason
Message from Russia to Italy
Andy,
I started writing press yesterday and got off two notes before becoming
overwhelmed by work. Then I dropped back into no-press mode. So you are
asking me to drop back from Ven, so I assume Tri-Vie, Tyl-Tri, Ser-Tri is a
good start. I realize that leaves me adjacent to Gre still, but if I have
another bounce in Tri, that let's me move back without much worry.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to Turkey
Jason,
Sorry for the silence -- it was just lack of time. I did get a few messages
off yesterday, but failed to write them in priority order, so didn't get
anything to you before I got busy again.
Yes, I will support you to Smy if you confirm that you are going there.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to France
Erik,
Well, now we're both being silent -- bad sign. I can keep Andy busy if Jason
works with me. But if I hit too hard (and ineffectively) he's likely to try
to throw to Ben.
You asked whether or not you should move south on Andy. I don't know if that
was a serious question, but my answer is that you should only do that if you
want to try seriously for a Russian solo and are willing to risk an English
one. Ben has attacked you every time you've turned your back on him, so I
don't see the value to you in going after Andy at this point.
Let me know if you want to coordinate anything. It might be worth trying to
get you into Mun -- with Par defended you should even pick up a build, which
might improve your situation significantly. I'd be even more excited about
the idea of loaning you Mun had I moved intelligently last season, but there
are some things we cannot change. :(
Write back if you get this.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to England
Yeah, well I've sent hardly any press either of the last two seasons, so I
can't complain much about the silence.
--- Eric
Message from Italy to Russia
> I started writing press yesterday and got off two notes before becoming
> overwhelmed by work. Then I dropped back into no-press mode. So you are
> asking me to drop back from Ven, so I assume Tri-Vie, Tyl-Tri, Ser-Tri is a
> good start. I realize that leaves me adjacent to Gre still, but if I have
> another bounce in Tri, that let's me move back without much worry.
Thats a decent set of moves.
I will ask...are you still giving me BUL.
I would like to build.
I figured you would want Tyrolia in Boh....England will have a 3rd army in
the mix by next spring and then he can force Munich.
I would like to know what you want to see from me.
Andy
Message from Italy to England
Ben,
I am moving to PIE, are you moving on the Russian with all your extra
units.
Andy
Message from Italy to France
Erik,
at this point all I am asking you to do is trust me.
Russia is telling me to go to Piedmont and basically saying that if I dont
go there , he will steamroll me.
He also says that he is giving me BUL.
I am going to Piedmont. But I am NOT attacking you. I just need to string
him along.
> Best you can do is to allow me to continue keeping Ben at bay. If I
> collapse, you'll know it, and in that case, Mar and Tun are yours anyway.
> I would rather you wait until then to "liberate" my peoples.
>
I will wait until you say its ok, and if that never comes, not a problme.
> Can you move against Russia this turn, instead of playing pure defense, or
> is it too dicey?
No.....Im going to get a build, hopefully then I can figure out what to do
with the Russian...
He seems to think that my two armies on the boot are significantly more
dangerous that the 4 the English are going to have on the continent.
Andy
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
> I am moving to PIE, are you moving on the Russian with all your extra
> units.
Yes.
Ben
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
Please do not go to FIN. I don't now & won't in the near future even
*threaten* STP, the way you have it defended. You don't, I imagine, want
to pull away from your central/southern defenses, and I don't want to have
to start crowding DEN, SWE, etc., myself.
As I said before - defend MUN.
Ben
Message from Russia to Italy
Andy,
Yes, I am giving you Bul. Don't know if you'll get this note in time to do
any good, though.
--- Eric
Message from England to England
I've decided not to go too aggressively after France because I worry it
will, by hastening the fall of France, simplify the position and make my
remote solo chance even more distant then it is. Right now I'm hoping for
a French suicide against Italy which hopefully will put me in position to
contend for TUN. If I go hard against France it will never happen.
Ben
Message from Italy to Russia
Eric,
Thank you I appreciate it.
>
> Yes, I am giving you Bul. Don't know if you'll get this note in time to do
> any good, though.
>
> --- Eric
>
Message from Observer to Observer
Message from benjamin.harris@mindspring.com as England to England in 'c2':
Poll:
How much better would Ben be, if he had his own tactical skill, and did not
rely so heavily on the advice of other players?
a. A lot.
b. A fair amount.
c. A little bit.
d. None.
e. [gallery is vacant]
f. A lot better if he had more faith in his own ability ;)
Ben, when you get to read this, you'll see the comments Greg and others made
about the time to attack Russia. I think if any criticism could be levelled
at you, it could be that you've been a little conservative in th last few
seasons - but the same could have been said of Eric over a similar period.
But these are perhaps strategic issues, rather than tactical. In terms of
last season (i.e. Spring 1909, which is as far as I've read up to!) I
thought your moves were fine. Possibly if you were more committed to taking
StP you could have ordered BAL-Bot, but that would have left Ber potentially
vulnerable depending on Russia's moves, so I can understand why you were
reluctant to do that. But otherwise the pre-arranged bounces with Erik
worked OK, and still allowed you to get that extra army onto the continent.
But then my tactical expertise is hardly something to be proud of either!
Alastair
England: Fleet Baltic Sea SUPPORT Fleet Berlin
England: Fleet Barents Sea SUPPORT Army Edinburgh → Norway
England: Army Belgium SUPPORT Army Ruhr
England: Fleet Berlin SUPPORT Fleet Baltic Sea
England: Army Brest → Paris (*bounce*)
England: Army Edinburgh → North Sea → Norway
England: Fleet English Channel SUPPORT Army Belgium
England: Army Kiel → Munich (*bounce*)
England: Fleet Mid-Atlantic Ocean → Portugal (*bounce*)
England: Fleet North Sea CONVOY Army Edinburgh → Norway
England: Army Ruhr SUPPORT Army Kiel → Munich
France: Army Burgundy → Paris
France: Army Picardy SUPPORT Army Burgundy → Paris
France: Fleet Spain (south coast) → Portugal (*bounce*)
France: Fleet Tunis HOLD
France: Fleet Western Mediterranean → Spain (south coast) (*bounce*)
Italy: Fleet Aegean Sea → Bulgaria (south coast)
Italy: Fleet Ionian Sea SUPPORT French Fleet Tunis
Italy: Army Rome → Apulia
Italy: Fleet Smyrna HOLD (*dislodged*)
Italy: Army Venice → Piedmont
Russia: Army Ankara SUPPORT Turkish Fleet Eastern Mediterranean → Smyrna
Russia: Fleet Bulgaria (east coast) → Constantinople
Russia: Fleet Constantinople → Aegean Sea
Russia: Army Livonia → St Petersburg (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Moscow SUPPORT Army Livonia → St Petersburg
Russia: Army Munich HOLD
Russia: Army Serbia → Greece
Russia: Army Silesia → Bohemia
Russia: Army St Petersburg → Norway (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Trieste → Venice
Russia: Army Tyrolia SUPPORT Army Munich
Russia: Army Warsaw → Silesia
Turkey: Fleet Eastern Mediterranean → Smyrna
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