|
Message from England to England
So, how 'bout that vgnp?
This presents a mild ethical dilemma - I will dissect it later.
To read the offending post, or not to read it?
Ben
Message from England to England
re: Ben's question
First, some quick shots:
1. I am glad to know there is a gallery out there.
2. When I first saw the heading of the VG post, before reading any of it, I thought:
2.a. I don't *think* I posted anything to VG recently
2.b. I didn't think there were other Bens in the VG
2.c. Perhaps this was meant for C2, in response to my question, meaning /one/ /thing/, confirmed after I read the first line or two of the post:
2.d. Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering DefCon 5. Torpedoes are coming, dive! dive!
I saw Eric H. had responded to the original post and I figured I could confirm the worst by looking at his response, which I did. Then I was left with the decision, what should I do - to read the post, or not.
I do not think strictly speaking it would be a violation of rules governing *me*. So I /could/, but clearly I /oughtn't/.
In favor:
I get the benefit of one player's wisdom about my current position.
I may get some insight into something going on with one of the *other* players.
Most importantly, and the first and principle reason why I *would* - other players may be reading this, and I could read it to anticipate what to expect from them.
In opposition:
I would feel dirty and have to take a shower.
In the end, I prefer to go on as I've been all week, unbathed, and I decided not to read it. If confronted with anything presented in it, I hope I could deflect concerns. I *suspect* Erik also will not read it. I hope I'm right. If not, he's not really in a position to attack me, and by the time he is, I will either have (a) attacked him already, or (b) proved myself worthy of continued cooperation.
We will see. . .
In the meantime, I am comforted to know that somewhere out there is a Dip player who has raised the bar for missent press mistakes. Not only to missend press, but to send it from a game in which the person is not competing, to a long list of people, six of whom are *in* the game, and some of the others are *watching* the game.
My friend, whoever you are, you are forgiven, do not feel bad. We all make mistakes sometimes, and some of us are special enough to make mistakes on a public stage.
Ben
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
Is it your intention to undermine Jason? Please don't.
Ben
Message from England to Turkey
Jason -
I've asked Andy to leave you alone. I'll let you know what he says.
Will you be taking a shot at SER? Can't hurt. . .
Ben
Message from England to Turkey
Jason -
> Will you be taking a shot at SER? Can't hurt. . .
Ha ha! Please disregard. Obviously BLA is vulnerable & you may be wise to defend.
Please take any & all tactical advice I give with a watchful eye.
Ben
Message from Italy to England
Ben...
> Is it your intention to undermine Jason? Please don't.
>
God knows I dont want to. But Erik isnt giving me alot of choice here.
He wont return press and he has told me 3 times in the past that he doesnt
care if he dies, as long as I die with him....that isnt alot of incentive
to help Jason. Always good to have a guy who is metagaming and has a
grudge at your back.
What do you suggest I do, just roll over and die, I cant help Jason if I
dont have units, which is what Erik is trying to cause.
Andy
Message from Russia to England
I missed two previous comments of yours:
On the being a prosecutor -- very interesting. My sister has worked in
admissions in a juvenile system and now works as a court advisor on similar
sounding issues (should this kid be released?) around juvy sex offenders.
On the situation in Scandinavia -- if you are clearly moving away from me, I
am happy to keep only the one unit for defense.
--- Eric
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
> What do you suggest I do, just roll over and die, I cant help Jason if I
> dont have units, which is what Erik is trying to cause.
We are in a terrible spot. You for survival, me for getting into a draw.
All I wanted was for you not to take any more dots from Jason and to do
what you can - however little it is, I know you are not without skills - to
maintain some balance of power in the East.
Good luck.
I am considering heading for position in the spring - BAR, BAL, a NWY, etc,
and saving the shots at SWE and STP for the fall. Gives me a better chance
- indeed an excellent chance - to lock up BER.
Ben
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
> On the being a prosecutor -- very interesting. My sister has worked in
> admissions in a juvenile system and now works as a court advisor on
similar
> sounding issues (should this kid be released?) around juvy sex offenders.
I prosecuted Juvenile cases for awhile. It was rough work - plenty of
despair all around, a lot of it mine.
> On the situation in Scandinavia -- if you are clearly moving away from
me, I
> am happy to keep only the one unit for defense.
Woopee! ;o)
How 'bout that VG?! I didn't read the offending post, and I imagine you
didn't either, but I shall be curious to see in the archive how - if at all
- it *did* affect the game. Also I shall be curious to see what it was I
missed, when I didn't read it. . .
Ben
Message from Russia to England
> How 'bout that VG?! I didn't read the offending post, and I imagine you
> didn't either, but I shall be curious to see in the archive how - if at all
> - it *did* affect the game. Also I shall be curious to see what it was I
> missed, when I didn't read it. . .
I read enough of it to realize it was an "offending" post. The idea that you
asked a question of the observers about any aspect of the game (even if I was
sure what you had asked about) doesn't seem like it would affect me. I know
I've dropped several "what do you guys think?" type questions into press to
selfs, or questioned (sometimes berated) my own choices to them. The sense I
got was that it was more a guy's discussion about what he saw as the pros and
cons of various options. I get plenty of conflicting opinions on that just
from the various players in the game. So I don't see it as a big deal unless
the post talked specifically about what *your* read of the board was.
As I said on vtgroup, I was more pleased to know that people are -- at least
at times -- answering our questions than I was upset about the error.
--- Eric
Message from Italy to England
> Andy -
> > What do you suggest I do, just roll over and die, I cant help Jason if I
> > dont have units, which is what Erik is trying to cause.
> We are in a terrible spot. You for survival, me for getting into a draw.
I would agree, and if you dont think that Erik will be attacking you with
the builds he gets from me, you are fooling yourself.
> All I wanted was for you not to take any more dots from Jason and to do
> what you can - however little it is, I know you are not without skills - to
> maintain some balance of power in the East.
I cant with the French all over me like a mormon missionary with an amway
franchise.
I would love to work with Jason, Erik is making that impossible.n
> Good luck.
>
I
am considering heading for position in the spring - BAR, BAL, a NWY, etc,
> and saving the shots at SWE and STP for the fall. Gives me a better chance
> - indeed an excellent chance - to lock up BER.
True...but doing so you would have BER protected at least short term.
I think that would be a decent idea, as good as any other from my
position.
Andy
Message from Germany to England
Hi Ben, it must be very tempting to pick up two builds this year (BRE/SWE).
If you gave me proxy I would order lon - eng, nwg - nth, den - swe supported
by ska & nwy.
At the same time I would negotiate bel - ruh and hol - kie but move hol -
bel instead ;-) May pick you up 3.
Message from France to England
Ben:
So now that we've got build paranoia out of the way, let's proceed with our
blitzkrieg to the east. Would you be willing to move Hol - Kiel and
support me into Munich? Bel could then move to Ruhr, and we'd have three
armies bordering it. That takes care of one of our two critical centers. I
may also be able to pick off an Italian center or two.
Erik
Message from England to France
Erik -
> So now that we've got build paranoia out of the way, let's proceed with
our
> blitzkrieg to the east. Would you be willing to move Hol - Kiel and
> support me into Munich? Bel could then move to Ruhr, and we'd have three
> armies bordering it. That takes care of one of our two critical centers. I
> may also be able to pick off an Italian center or two.
Good luck with that part. I will move to KIE; you are moving to RUH from
BEL, so we can finally occupy MUN.
Good luck!
Ben
Message from England to Germany
Tony -
It crossed my mind & indeed there was a time when I was planning on it, but
now I am unsure.
You don't think Russia's threat is too great? Plus if I attack Erik - you
can bet I'll be facing every unit he's got. There will be no redemption,
when I do it. . .
Ben
Message from Turkey to England
Well, I'm not sure I can focus on Russia. Andy will probably throw the
game before he lets himself die peacefully. Then again, I may be way off
on that.
I'll try to preserve what I have and get a center or two to prop me up.
It's getting complicated! :-)
jason
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
My plan right now is to enter flexible orders for the spring - I hope to be
able to go either way in the fall, depending on whether you give me space.
The following things will ensure I can't afford to attack France:
1. You attack - or surround - BER
2. You dislodge NWY
If you can avoid those two things then I will be able to afford to look at
other options. Give me space to work with you, and I'll do it. . .
Ben
Message from England to England
Well, based on Eric's press to me, suggesting without saying he had read
the VG error, I thought I had better break down and read it, even if it
meant I had to shower afterward.
So, I've read it. Obviously the analysis is moot but the observations
about my press are pretty painful. Clearly I cannot rule out the
possibility of MAR - GAS, for instance.
Hmm. I will try to play it neutrally this season, I suppose. . . If all
goes perfectly then I will be able to decide whether to stab in the fall.
On the subject of whether to stab -
I am not an idiot. Well, maybe not. But I do know, it is only worthwile
to stab if it will lead me to a position where I have a shot at a solo.
Unfortunately the IT war has probably made that unlikely - I read from
Jason's last press that he is going after GRE. That's fine in itself but
significant weakening of I or of T spells too much growth for Russia. Who,
meanwhile, does not threaten to cross the stalemate line, unless France & I
go to war. Which I don't mind doing, but not for the sake of a few dots.
I would rather a 8 dot 3WD than a 12 dot loss. I would gamble the spot in
a draw away in a heartbeat if I thought I had a decent chance of soloing,
but if I don't think it's there, I won't try to force it. These spring
moves will probably decide it.
Ideal combination for me, as I've written (in part) to Andy:
Jason holds Eric back tactically
Andy holds Erik back tactically
Andy holds Eric back diplomatically
Eric leaves me alone in BER & in the far north
I have tried to put these wheels in motion, not well enough, I guess,
because of this last press from Jason. But the proof will be in the
pudding.
One afterthought - Tony's stab of France could be disaster, with a suicidal
France trying to help Russia win, and as I've already mentioned, no great
reason to think BRE will be unprotected in the fall.
Ben
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
Change of plans -
Could you please order SWE - NWY sb STP? It would make my dance look
better.
Please confirm.
Ben
Message from Russia to England
Ben,
I have sent no press in this game for the last two days, and am just dashing
this one off on a short break.
> My plan right now is to enter flexible orders for the spring - I hope to be
> able to go either way in the fall, depending on whether you give me space.
Understood. As noted earlier, I have no intention of contesting Scandinavia.
> The following things will ensure I can't afford to attack France:
> 1. You attack - or surround - BER
I have not intention of attacking Ber, but depending on how Erik or I move
around Mun I could appear to be setting up to do so. I'll try not to offend.
> 2. You dislodge NWY
Almost LOL here! Not a chance. Frankly, I doubt acheive this result even if I
entered orders that attempted it. :)
> If you can avoid those two things then I will be able to afford to look at
> other options. Give me space to work with you, and I'll do it. . .
<You know the appropriate quote for this space>
Good luck!
--- Eric
England: Fleet Berlin HOLD
England: Fleet Denmark → Baltic Sea
England: Army Edinburgh → Norwegian Sea → Norway
England: Army Holland → Kiel
England: Fleet London → North Sea
England: Fleet Norway → Barents Sea
England: Fleet Norwegian Sea CONVOY Army Edinburgh → Norway
England: Fleet Skagerrak SUPPORT Army Edinburgh → Norway
France: Army Belgium HOLD
France: Army Burgundy → Munich (*bounce*)
France: Fleet Gulf of Lyon SUPPORT Army Piedmont → Tuscany
France: Army Marseilles → Piedmont
France: Army Piedmont → Tuscany
France: Fleet Tunis SUPPORT Fleet Western Mediterranean → Tyrrhenian Sea (*cut*)
France: Fleet Western Mediterranean → Tyrrhenian Sea
Italy: Fleet Apulia → Naples
Italy: Fleet Greece SUPPORT Russian Fleet Rumania → Bulgaria (east coast)
Italy: Fleet Ionian Sea → Tunis (*bounce*)
Italy: Army Trieste → Venice
Italy: Army Tuscany SUPPORT Army Trieste → Venice (*cut, dislodged*)
Russia: Fleet Armenia → Black Sea (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Budapest → Serbia
Russia: Army Galicia → Rumania
Russia: Fleet Rumania → Bulgaria (east coast)
Russia: Army Silesia SUPPORT Army Tyrolia → Munich
Russia: Army St Petersburg → Moscow
Russia: Army Sweden → Finland
Russia: Army Tyrolia → Munich
Russia: Army Ukraine SUPPORT Army Galicia → Rumania
Russia: Army Vienna → Tyrolia
Turkey: Fleet Ankara SUPPORT Fleet Black Sea
Turkey: Fleet Black Sea SUPPORT Army Bulgaria (*cut*)
Turkey: Army Bulgaria HOLD (*dislodged*)
Turkey: Fleet Constantinople → Aegean Sea
|