|
|
Message from Italy to France
Erik...
Another fleet in Marsaille....
After attacking England.....why does this just look like a big lie....
A *she's just a friend* kind of lie.....
Bre was open....help me out here.
Message from England to France
Erik -
> Don't worry. No invasion planned.
Ah! Didn't get this until waaay too late. But I hope you will agree -
things are good. See below.
> It was a last minute decision. I needed to hang onto Holland,
> and to do so
> required promising to move to Iri. I figured doing so would give me a
> little more credibility with Germany down the road and give
> me a chance to
> manipulate him a bit. I would have told you, but I didn't
> want you pulling units back unnecessarily.
That makes sense & is consistent with our experience with Tony. I built the
F LVP hoping for the best with your build, and thinking, if you did not
build F BRE, then F LVP could circle around LVP - NAO - NWG etc., and play
an important role in the north.
> Clearly, with your two builds and without any other French
> units in the
> area, I do not have a serious attack planned on your
> homeland. I hope you will keep this in mind when you choose
> your builds.
Well, as I said, I got this press too late, but I hope you will agree,
things are good now. Though I hope that the absence of a "serious" attack
also means the absence of a "not serious" attack, which would be an attack
just the same. . . Sorry for the word play - it's a genetic condition.
> More after the adjustments.
I'm ready!
Ben
Message from Austria to France
Hi Erik,
OK. What's happening with you ;-) England seem ready
to go after Russia after some kind of truce with you and
Andy is now worried about a french invasion.
Not that I'm complaining, but I would prefer to hear it
directly from you.
Philippe
Message from Germany to England and France
I have ordered BER hold and RUH - MUN. I am hoping for support in BER from
DEN
(although it can be cut). I am also hoping on RUH - MUN supported by BUR. I
fear BER & MUN wil else be taken by Russia.
I am sure you guys have made peace regarding LVP.
Those who are about to die salute you.
Message from Germany to all
Turkey, I blame you for my downfall. So my wil and testament requests that
England, France and Italy position their fleets as such to allow me to
convoy
to CON to have a few words to you. I will be bording in HEL and hopping vai
NTH, ENG, MAO, WES, TYS, ION, AEG to CON.
I would be gratefull if the AEG would assist in this operation.You owe me at
least that much for all the bad advice you have been pressing me these last
few years.
Message from Austria to all
Hi all,
I'm not going to be available this week-end and will
get back to everyone monday.
Philippe
Message from France to Italy
I didn't have much of a choice. After Eric sold me up the river with Den
and left me holding the bag in Iri, I couldn't very well build a fleet in
Brest, as it would have meant warn with an England who I didn't expect to
get two builds. But, with two English builds, I need fleets more than
ever, so .... F Mar was more or less my only choice. Add to that English
insistence that you were coming to Wes anyway.
What I do with it now depends on how the dust settles here in the west, but
you can what direction my last F Mar went in.
Erik
Message from England to France
Erik -
If Russia asks, I have begun asking you about HOL.
We can discuss it for real if you like - we will get around to it soon
enough, & I didn't forget - but the key thing is, if Russia asks, yes I
asked you about it.
Ben
Message from Russia to all
This has been a hellishly busy week for me and the weekend doesn't look
much better. (Then again, neither does next week, so I'll just try to deal
with it and not request any extensions). While I've managed to dash off a
note here and there, I've mostly disappeared for the last two days. My
apologies to those who are owed notes from me, I will attempt to get notes
out before the end of the night.
In addition to overall time management issues, my ISP started deciding
sometime last week that certain messages from USTX are spam. This means
that I didn't see some messages for days after they arrived here, and
because of user error a couple of those messages were immediately deleted.
I *believe* that I have at least seen every message that was sent to me,
even if I still don't have a copy on hand, but if you sent anything really
important to me in the last few days, I request that you resend it.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to France
Erik,
Yours was one of the messages that was identified as spam. Sorry I
didn't respond earlier, I thought you were the one being silent!
Well, part of it is that I had to change my southern moves at the
last minute. I referred to a screwup on my part, you'll be able to
read about it in the press logs later, and it really affected things
for me. When I looked at what was happening in the south, I realized
I was not going to have the unit strength to push against Ben, so was
worried about pissing him off. I also didn't like the idea of putting
my faith in Tony, even though I was ready to go through with it since
I knew I could count on you.
But the kicker was that right at the end of the turn, when I finally
sat down with my trust Realpolitik, I looked at what we had planned
and realized that Tony getting Den made an EG alliance almost certain
(because Ben wouldn't be able to attack anyone without Tony's help,
and you and I would have just attacked him), and it *didn't* hurt
Ben's defense against you at all. The agreed to moves with Tony
(Kie-Den, Bal S Kie-Den) would have caused Den to be disbanded, and
Ben would get a rebuild; if Ben held Den, he'd have get a center and
a build. Neither would be any different from his defense's point of
view. I never expected that Ben would actually get a second build --
remember, I wrote you right near the end that I expected Tony to
order Mun S Ber-Kie? That would have held Ben at one build (the same
as him losing but disbanding Den).
So thinking that it would be a move that didn't really affect you,
kept an EG from forming (good for both of us) and might keep me on
Ben's good side (okay, that one is a little selfish, but if it helped
me get intel it could help you), I decided to change the orders and
explain it away after the moves. Then Tony went and didn't follow the
plan that I thought was best for him, and blew the entire idea. I had
no idea how to respond, so sent that lame "sorry" message before I
got buried at work and stopped writing messages almost altogether.
The good news is that Tony is basically gone and we should be able to
establish an easy to maintain unit arrangement around Mun quickly.
Ben is really strung out of position (you actually mentioned that you
liked the idea of him in Kie a season or so ago) with no way of
attacking the mainland unless one of us helps him. If you want to
cooperate there's lots of opportunities, and then we can each go our
own ways (you further on towards England, me to the south).
Let me know what you think. And also know that I've reset my spam
filter's training and will try to be more aggressive about checking
the spam mailbox for messages that get sent there.
--- Eric
Message from France to England
So as I see it, I've got two jobs at this point: finish up Germany and then
turn my attention to Italy. Even if I had other things to do, my build of
F Mar has more or less ensured Andy's mistrust, so if I don't start
sending units his way, he'll send them mine once Austria is dispatched. I
know you and Andy have been doing plenty of talking, so in the interest of
cooperation, I'm going to ask that stay out of this conflict.
You, meanwhile, can choose to go after Russia and finally take Scandanavia
back, or you can start beseiging Iberia and Brest -- but given Russia's
excellent position, I'm hoping and assuming you'll choose the former.
Frankly, I've had a pretty good relationship with Russia so far, so in
exchange for your keeping your nose out of my business with Italy, I'll
keep my nose out of your business with the Czar.
As for Holland: what exactly is it that you'd like to discuss? With
Scandanavia open to you and Munich not exactly guaranteed to fall to me,
I'm hoping we can agree to leave it in French hands.
Speaking of Munich, what's the best course? Support Germany just to keep
Russia out?
Erik
Message from France to Russia
Eric:
The main difference is that instead of dealing with two crippled players,
we're dealing with one almost decimated player and one significantly
stronger player. Frankly, there was little chance of an EG, even if you
did support Germany into Den. The trust wasn't there.
In any case, I am certainly not going after Ben now, not with a lone fleet
in Iri, unless you have a very specific plan for doing so. This is
unfortunate for you, as there are English units directly bordering several
centers that you control, and not much in the way of other targets for
them to go after. I would suggest you start looking for a way to deal with
them; if you come up with a plan, let me know.
Now, what are we going to do with Mun? I've got an angry Italian to think
about now, but if you're willing to support me into Munich, I might be
able to fight a two-front war and build a fleet in Bre to help you out.
Erik
Message from England to France
Erik -
> So as I see it, I've got two jobs at this point: finish up Germany and then
> turn my attention to Italy. Even if I had other things to do, my build of
> F Mar has more or less ensured Andy's mistrust, so if I don't start
> sending units his way, he'll send them mine once Austria is dispatched. I
> know you and Andy have been doing plenty of talking, so in the interest of
> cooperation, I'm going to ask that stay out of this conflict.
I will, though I'm not going to promise not to write to Italy. Basically, I have a 'relationship' with everyone who will write to me.
> You, meanwhile, can choose to go after Russia and finally take Scandanavia
> back, or you can start beseiging Iberia and Brest -- but given Russia's
> excellent position, I'm hoping and assuming you'll choose the former.
My fleets can come down on him like a ton of bricks. It's my first choice.
> Frankly, I've had a pretty good relationship with Russia so far, so in
> exchange for your keeping your nose out of my business with Italy, I'll
> keep my nose out of your business with the Czar.
:-) You got it. I will keep you more apprised of my dialogue with Italy; you will keep me more apprised of your dialogue with Russia.
> As for Holland: what exactly is it that you'd like to discuss? With
> Scandanavia open to you and Munich not exactly guaranteed to fall to me,
> I'm hoping we can agree to leave it in French hands.
HOL has to be English long-term. Without it, the French center share is too large; it creates an imbalance. Let's see where we are in the fall - much depends on KIE and MUN. If you still need it in the fall, then it will stay French. If I need it in the fall, then it will become English.
Let me know if this is acceptable to you.
> Speaking of Munich, what's the best course? Support Germany just to keep
> Russia out?
Yes. In exchange in the fall we can use him to protect our interest in KIE/BER. Don't let him know yet.
Does that sound workable to you?
Ben
Message from Russia to France
Erik,
>Frankly, there was little chance of an EG, even if you
>did support Germany into Den. The trust wasn't there.
I disagree, because they didn't need to trust each other to team up. All
they had to do was not attack each other and Germany could have hurt you
while England hurt me.
>In any case, I am certainly not going after Ben now, not with a lone fleet
>in Iri, unless you have a very specific plan for doing so.
Well, I was clearly dumb not to have made time to talk with you before the
builds. After all, you have a lone fleet because that's how you chose to
build. I should have talked to you about F Bre. I think that was a very
strong option for you, but it's as much my fault that you didn't take it
given that I didn't say anything to you. Bad timing on my lack of availability.
>This is
>unfortunate for you, as there are English units directly bordering several
>centers that you control, and not much in the way of other targets for
>them to go after. I would suggest you start looking for a way to deal with
>them; if you come up with a plan, let me know.
Trust me, I am WELL aware of this problem. It is something of a theme here
in Moscow. But compare: now there is F Nth and F Den. In Fall there was F
Nth, F Den and F Ska, and as we saw, ordering the support we discussed
would *not* have changed that. So while I've got a crappy position, it's
much less of a crappy position than I would have had if I went along with
trying to support Tony, and your position is not *much* worse than it would
have been with our agreed to moves. I think you can admit those points,
even if you still think it was a bad overall play.
>Now, what are we going to do with Mun? I've got an angry Italian to think
>about now,
I think you are missing some whole-board thinking here. Who is the player
that has the most say in whether or not Italy builds any more units?
Contrary to my own self interests, I've been letting both Austria and
Turkey operate against Italy, and as a result he has no units to throw your
way. I completely buy that you are upset that I've kept Ben around (though
that is as much a problem for me as for you), but don't overlook the fact
that the ONLY reason there is not a 7-8 center Italy to your south is that
is because I haven't been allowing him to get builds. I even pointed this
out to you in a message several few seasons ago, and made it clear that
this was not accidental.
>but if you're willing to support me into Munich, I might be
>able to fight a two-front war and build a fleet in Bre to help you out.
My point above is that we have lots of reason to cooperate that go beyond
"get me one center or else" (which is how I read your message). I am very
much in favor of us working together, but what are you going to do with A
Mun once you get it? I'm a little wary of the idea of getting you into Mun
and then playing by ear the "will you help me" part. How do you see us
working together with you in Mun? It seems to me that with all of our units
in the area, if we moved boldly we could potentially take Kie, Ber, Den and
Mun between us. Two builds each, Ben down two unit. Actually, only one
build for me and Ben down only one if he does attack me, but still a very
doable plan.
--- Eric
Message from France to Russia
Okay, perhaps I was a little hasty in my disappointment with you. I
certainly do appreciate how well Italy has been tied up all game, and we
have both done quite well working together so far. I just really didn't
want F Iri to be left out in the cold.
Given your decision to change orders without telling me, I figured I was
being left to fend off England on my own, and since that was a tall order,
I thought it best to make peace and focus on Italy instead. Hence, F Mar.
I apologize for not making greater efforts to speak with you prior to the
builds. In any case, Austria is quite heartened by my appearance in the
south, and I think I may have thrown some fuel on the AIR fire that will
keep it going for a while.
As of right now, Ben is being a bit more terse with me than he used to,
but, I think, has been willing to put differences aside in order to work
against you. I would expect Nth - Ska, Lon - Nth and Lvp - Cly, but that's
just a guess. He may keep Lvp in place until I'm gone. He could also order
Nth - Nwg, Lon - Nth and give himself a supported attack on Norway in the
fall. So, you may need to be in a position to support F Nwy soon, and that
means forgoing much else in Ber / Mun / etc.
I can order Hol - Kiel to allow you to take Den, but could you hold through
the fall? Iri could also stay in place to keep Lvp occupied, but to
continue that fight, I'd need a build to ensure F Bre next adjustment
period -- this is where support into Munich would help.
Erik
Message from France to England
Ben:
Okay, glad we're back on the same page here. I'll move Iri to Mao this
turn; I'm assuming that you'll be keeping Lvp in place a phase for
insurance. What about Lon? Can I ask that it stay out of the English
channel?
I am willing to consider giving up Holland, but not this turn, certainly.
I'd need to gain Munich first. If you can get Berlin and Norway, that
should serve to establish a bit more parity.
Erik
Message from France to Austria and Turkey
Gentlemen:
We seem to have some converging interests on the board these days. Would
you care to discuss how my fleets might be of assistance in the
Mediterranean?
Erik
Message from Turkey to Austria and France
Good to hear from you.
As to the Med, I assume you'll head for Wes and Lyo this coming turn,
which will help draw away fleets from our side. After that, I presume we
can converge in the middle.
Is there anything specific you wish to collaborate on?
jason
Message from England to France
Erik -
> Okay, glad we're back on the same page here. I'll move Iri to Mao this
> turn; I'm assuming that you'll be keeping Lvp in place a phase for
> insurance. What about Lon? Can I ask that it stay out of the English
> channel?
Yes. I will stay out of the Channel.
> I am willing to consider giving up Holland, but not this turn, certainly.
Erik, what exactly do you mean, consider. If an EF is going to work, then
France becomes predominantly a *Mediterranean*, *southern* power. I want
to work with you but I cannot sell to the English parliament that HOL is to
be given to the English when the French get around to it. I am glad to
work with you - I think we've gotten along well so far & I am looking
forward to opposing the RT with an EF - but I need a firmer commitment from
you on HOL. Else our relaitonship is too one-sided.
For instance: "Ben, I want to hold onto HOL this spring. In the fall we
will see who needs it more. Next year at the latest, I will give it to
you."
> I'd need to gain Munich first. If you can get Berlin and Norway, that
> should serve to establish a bit more parity.
See above.
Ben
Message from Italy to France
Erik,
> I didn't have much of a choice. After Eric sold me up the river with Den
> and left me holding the bag in Iri, I couldn't very well build a fleet in
> Brest, as it would have meant warn with an England who I didn't expect to
> get two builds. But, with two English builds, I need fleets more than
> ever, so .... F Mar was more or less my only choice. Add to that English
> insistence that you were coming to Wes anyway.
If you are going to have to fight the English. And it looks like you will
have to fight the English, why not have the fleet at the front?
> What I do with it now depends on how the dust settles here in the west, but
> you can what direction my last F Mar went in.
Just make sure it does.
thanks
Andy
Message from Austria to France
> We seem to have some converging interests on the board these days. Would
> you care to discuss how my fleets might be of assistance in the
> Mediterranean?
So an invasion of Italy it is then ;-)
Philippe
Message from Russia to France
> Okay, perhaps I was a little hasty in my disappointment with you. I
> certainly do appreciate how well Italy has been tied up all game, and we
> have both done quite well working together so far. I just really didn't
> want F Iri to be left out in the cold.
Again, I'll take the blame for this because of my crappy diplomacy after the
moves. I completely understand your anger given the circumstances, so I
wasn't complaining or even upset at your reaction.
> As of right now, Ben is being a bit more terse with me than he used to,
> but, I think, has been willing to put differences aside in order to work
> against you. I would expect Nth - Ska, Lon - Nth and Lvp - Cly, but that's
> just a guess. He may keep Lvp in place until I'm gone. He could also order
> Nth - Nwg, Lon - Nth and give himself a supported attack on Norway in the
> fall. So, you may need to be in a position to support F Nwy soon, and that
> means forgoing much else in Ber / Mun / etc.
That is the unfortunate situation as I see it as well. I appreciate the
intel. I'm planning to order Swe-Nwy to make sure he doesn't get anything in
Spring, and then we'll see how things are set up for the Fall.
> I can order Hol - Kiel to allow you to take Den, but could you hold through
> the fall?
I can't see that me taking Den improves my position at all. I'd lose just as
many units as with a more basic defense, especially if he snuck into Nwy
while I was taking it. It's not worth the effort in my mind.
> Iri could also stay in place to keep Lvp occupied, but to
> continue that fight, I'd need a build to ensure F Bre next adjustment
> period -- this is where support into Munich would help.
This is what I'd like to see. Is it okay if I support you into Mun in Fall?
There's actually a good chance you won't need it at all, but I will make sure
you get it if it is necessary. If you end up in Mun in Spring, I'll want
support to Ber in Fall.
Does that work for you?
--- Eric
Message from France to Russia
>
> I can't see that me taking Den improves my position at all. I'd lose
> just as
> many units as with a more basic defense, especially if he snuck into Nwy
> while I was taking it. It's not worth the effort in my mind.
That was my feeling, too. I thought I'd offer, though.
>
> > Iri could also stay in place to keep Lvp occupied, but to
> > continue that fight, I'd need a build to ensure F Bre next adjustment
> > period -- this is where support into Munich would help.
>
> This is what I'd like to see. Is it okay if I support you into Mun in
> Fall?
> There's actually a good chance you won't need it at all, but I will make
> sure
> you get it if it is necessary. If you end up in Mun in Spring, I'll want
> support to Ber in Fall.
>
> Does that work for you?
>
Yes, sounds good. I may move Iri out of the way this turn to get Lvp to
head elsewhere, but I haven't decided yet. In any case, support for Mun in
the fall will get you support for Ber; in fact, I'm willing to support you
into Ber regardless. Rather see you take it than England.
Erik
Message from France to England
Ben:
Last minute reply here, but it's better than nothing, I suppose.
Frankly, I don't want to commit to giving up Holland in any definite turn,
as I don't know how things are going to unfold down south. How about this:
if I can take Munich this turn, I'm willing to cede control of Holland to
you the following turn. Sound good?
Erik
Message from England to France
Erik -
> Last minute reply here, but it's better than nothing, I suppose.
Of course it's better than nothing. We /expect/ last minute negotiations!
It's part of the game! ;o)
> Frankly, I don't want to commit to giving up Holland in any definite turn,
> as I don't know how things are going to unfold down south. How about this:
> if I can take Munich this turn, I'm willing to cede control of Holland to
> you the following turn. Sound good?
Harrumm. . . I imagine you are expecting assistance into MUN. . . If I
can bend someone's ear to make sure you get it, let me know. . .
Certainly I accept, that if you get MUN, you will give me HOL, and I also
understand your press to mean, that if things look ok for you in the south,
then you will give me HOL. Which I can accept.
Ben
Message from England to France
Erik -
I have now gotten a press from Tony saying you are not leaving IRI as we
discussed. I don't believe him - why would I, after all our correspondence
with him - but I write this note to you to let you know that, if you hear
something similar from him about *me*, it's not true - for all the reasons
we discussed, you and I are still moving forward as we'd planned. Me to the
north, you to the south.
Good luck.
Ben
Message from France to all
Sorry, all. I had a big issue involving my e-mail provider that has now
been fixed.
Erik
Austria: Army Budapest → Serbia (*bounce, dislodged*)
Austria: Fleet Trieste → Albania
Austria: Army Vienna SUPPORT Fleet Trieste (*void*)
England: Fleet Denmark → Helgoland Bight
England: Fleet Kiel → Holland (*bounce*)
England: Fleet Liverpool → Irish Sea
England: Fleet London → English Channel
England: Fleet North Sea SUPPORT Fleet Kiel → Holland
France: Army Belgium SUPPORT Army Holland
France: Army Burgundy → Ruhr (*bounce*)
France: Army Gascony → Marseilles
France: Army Holland SUPPORT Army Belgium (*cut*)
France: Fleet Irish Sea → Mid-Atlantic Ocean
France: Fleet Marseilles → Gulf of Lyon
France: Fleet Spain (south coast) → Western Mediterranean (*bounce*)
Germany: Army Berlin → Kiel (*bounce*)
Germany: Army Ruhr → Holland (*bounce*)
Italy: Fleet Ionian Sea → Greece (*bounce*)
Italy: Fleet Naples → Tyrrhenian Sea
Italy: Fleet Tunis → Western Mediterranean (*bounce*)
Italy: Army Tyrolia SUPPORT Austrian Army Vienna
Italy: Army Venice → Rome
Russia: Fleet Baltic Sea SUPPORT English Fleet Denmark → Kiel (*void*)
Russia: Army Bohemia → Munich
Russia: Army Galicia → Budapest
Russia: Fleet Rumania SUPPORT Turkish Army Bulgaria
Russia: Army Sevastopol SUPPORT Fleet Rumania
Russia: Army Silesia → Berlin (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Sweden → Norway
Turkey: Fleet Aegean Sea → Greece
Turkey: Fleet Black Sea SUPPORT Army Bulgaria
Turkey: Army Bulgaria SUPPORT Fleet Aegean Sea → Greece
Turkey: Army Serbia SUPPORT Russian Army Galicia → Budapest
Turkey: Fleet Smyrna → Aegean Sea
|