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France: Builds 1 unit
Italy: Builds 1 unit
Russia: Removes 1 unit
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
I say. . .
No disbands.
Congratulations on your build.
Ben
Message from Italy to England
Thank you...
I have to say....I am almost surprised it all worked.
lets go forward.
Message from England to Russia
Eric -
A FIN seems a natural disband - you will want to be sure you do not
collapse in the south, in the TRI - GRE region, or in the center, from BOH
north.
Plus if you keep A FIN I am forced to keep my units cramped in the far
north, which is I imagine the last place you want them.
My self-serving 2c.
Ben
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
> I have to say....I am almost surprised it all worked.
Eric is rather conservative - I'm not sure I would have fallen back so
hard, in his position.
> lets go forward.
Indeed. Perhaps I shall be restored in BER this year. . . Neither one of
us wants to see Erik get another dot, I suspect. . .
Ben
Message from Russia to England
Disband A Fin was in before I read your message. I told you I thought it
would be easy for us to work out the north. I expected to lose a unit (in
fact, I'd go so far as to say I planned to lose it) because A Fin is more of
a burden than it is a help for me.
Take care,
--- Eric
Message from Russia to England and France
Well, I'm disappointed but not at all surprised to see you two support Andy
into Mun. I know that he threatened all sorts of bad things if you didn't,
but it was just bluster.
The fact of the matter is that when I had StP and the upper hand around Mun
Andy could have thrown to me. With your combined moves last season, he lost
all chance to do so. Yes, he could have thrown all of Italy to me, but that's
three centers and gets me to 17 max. Sure, I would have tried to use Andy's
help to get to 18, but after Erik got his build, got enough units on Tun to
hold it, Ben got into Lvn and you both parked next to Mun there was no real
threat. My 18th would have to be getting Tun, holding StP, holding BOTH
Mun&Ber or pushing into Bur/Pie and stealing Mar/Par while taking ALL Of
Italy. None of those were going to happen.
You can continue press me if you want, but all that's going to do is push us
towards a 4way instead of a three way. I guess if you keep at me long enough
and I make enough mistakes it's possible that I could be eliminated, which
would certainly be interesting for the observers, but it seems that the easy
road is EFR.
You guys are driving here, so let me know what you want to do.
Apologies for not sending all of this thinking when it could have done some
good. It's not meant to be chiding (though I'm sure it has some of that
tone), it's just expressing my best thinking. As my last broadcast indicated,
I was out of town all last week and only got to the computer an hour before
the deadline, so didn't have a chance to try to work this out in advance.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to Italy
Andy,
I know you have to say that you can throw to keep Erik in line, but I don't
believe it was possible. Me getting Italy is not of value after losing StP
and Mun. There was an outside, iffy chance that with your help I could have
held both Mun&Ber for long enough to take all of Italy, but with Erik's build
and EF cooperation there's no longer a threat to Pie/Bur, and me getting to
18 was a real long shot. To throw you had to start working with me BEFORE the
moves last season to ensure I didn't lose Mun. Waiting until AFTER Erik
attacked you (assuming he did take Nap) would have been too late.
In any case, with my last moves I think you've lost all appearance of being a
throwing threat. It'll be interesting to see how you convince EF to keep you
around now. Actually, there's a good chance that will be the most interesting
part of the game left to us, though there is room for you and EFT to press me
if that's of interest.
--- Eric
Message from Russia to Germany and Russia
Tony,
This was written as a press to self, but I thought I'd share with you as well
why I moved Mun-Boh instead of Mun-Kie. Yet again your moves would have been
better -- at least I'd have an outside chance of holding Ber had I followed
your advice.
I was very confident that Andy would not move to Tri or Vie, so I really
wasn't hugely concerned about losing a center. I took Vie because I needed it
for defense against Andy's three units on Tri. I moved to Boh because on the
off chance I was keeping Mun, Andy would have moved Tyl-Boh to get behind my
lines (expecting me to move to cover Vie). Ven-Tri was also about protecting
Tri. If Andy did try to take Boh, he'd be left with three units on Tri
(Mun-Boh was to bounce Tyl-Boh), so I wanted to make sure that A Ven didn't
get retreated out of the front lines. Looking at it now, that may have been
unnecessarily conservative -- if he took Tri but I was in Apu or Tus that
might not be so bad. Oh well, there's my 20-20 hindsight.
Everything else I'm thinking is pretty much spelled out in my press to EF and
I, but I thought I should make a point of stating that the moves to Vie and
Tri were not about thinking I needed them to keep from losing a center per
se, but more about the position that would result if I didn't. My largest
concern was Andy taking Boh, and that was the only part of my moveset that
took any real thinking. I am somewhat surprised to still have Ber, but with
Ben's last message it's less surprising that it came to that.
--- Eric
Message from England to England
> Well, I'm disappointed but not at all surprised to see you two support
Andy
> into Mun. I know that he threatened all sorts of bad things if you didn't,
> but it was just bluster.
What I cannot afford to write to Eric right now is,
I don't feel like simplifying.
Ben
Message from England to France
Erik -
I get the feeling Eric is actually disappointed because the game is going to
end later rather than sooner.
Neither here nor there.
What do you make of his thoughts? I don't want to go in on a group press
until you & I are on the same page, though perhaps I'll send something
non-committal while we get our thoughts together.
Ben
Message from Italy to England
> > I have to say....I am almost surprised it all worked.
> Eric is rather conservative - I'm not sure I would have fallen back so
> hard, in his position.
Well...Eric is telling him to attack me. ....
> > lets go forward.
> Indeed. Perhaps I shall be restored in BER this year. . . Neither one of
> us wants to see Erik get another dot, I suspect. . .
Which unit do you want me to support.
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
> Well...Eric is telling him
> to attack me. ....
Whoa. Which Eric/k is telling the other to attack you? I think I lost you.
> Which unit do you want me
> to support.
I would like to reclaim BER but BOH - MUN is almost certain, don't you
think?
Ben
Message from Italy to England
Ben,
> > Well...Eric is telling him
> > to attack me. ....
> Whoa. Which Eric/k is telling the other to attack you? I think I lost you.
Eric (Russia) just gave me a 2 page discourse on how I can no longer throw
him a solo. Hes wrong, but given the lenght and depth of the discourse, I
suspect he is saying the same thing to Erik (France).
> > Which unit do you want me
> > to support.
> I would like to reclaim BER but BOH - MUN is almost certain, don't you
> think?
Im not sure. Lets see what he disbands.
Message from England to Italy
Andy -
> Eric (Russia) just gave me a 2 page discourse on how I can no longer throw
> him a solo. Hes wrong, but given the lenght and depth of the discourse, I
> suspect he is saying the same thing to Erik (France).
Ah. That's what I was suspecting - he actually wrote a note to Erik &
myself urging a speedy EFR finish.
I am in no rush, though.
> > > Which unit do you want me
> > > to support.
> > I would like to reclaim BER but BOH - MUN is almost certain, don't you
> > think?
>
> Im not sure. Lets see what he disbands.
A FIN, I'd suspect. We'll see.
Ben
Message from Italy to England
> > Eric (Russia) just gave me a 2 page discourse on how I can no longer throw
> > him a solo. Hes wrong, but given the lenght and depth of the discourse, I
> > suspect he is saying the same thing to Erik (France).
> Ah. That's what I was suspecting - he actually wrote a note to Erik &
> myself urging a speedy EFR finish.
As I suspected.
> > Im not sure. Lets see what he disbands.
> A FIN, I'd suspect. We'll see.
not sure...I would disband A BUL
Message from France to England
He's miffed because he wanted me to cut into Andy, possibly throwing things
into enough disarray to get him the solo. And, indeed, it will all be
ending later rather than sooner.
I am not really interested in trying for an EFI, so we might as well begin
talking about edging Andy out now. He will look for an opportunity to slip
out and will certainly use anything we say with Andy to provoke dischord,
so we need to be prepared for that, too. Would you say Andy's ability to
throw to him is diminished?
Erik
Message from England to France
Erik -
> He's miffed because he wanted me to cut into Andy, possibly throwing
things
> into enough disarray to get him the solo. And, indeed, it will all be
> ending later rather than sooner.
Too bad for him!
> I am not really interested in trying for an EFI, so we might as well begin
> talking about edging Andy out now. He will look for an opportunity to slip
> out and will certainly use anything we say with Andy to provoke dischord,
> so we need to be prepared for that, too. Would you say Andy's ability to
> throw to him is diminished?
Yes, though now that he's in MUN, he can influence events in the north as
well - for instance, in KIE. Still I think his power to throw is less than
it was.
Let's consider two plans. One, whatever plan Andy suggests, and we can see
if it puts you in a better position to protect the line after we attack
Andy, and a second plan, between us, to consider going after Andy right
now. Let's see the Russian removal & then Andy will no doubt give us some
instructions.
Ben
Message from Russia to Turkey
Jason,
Have I really not written you this season? Sorry, I got it so in my mind
that everyone was fighting me that I forgot there was one unit on the board
that wasn't. :)
Well, it's not looking good. There's a good chance Andy will support Erik
into the Ion, but we can try it again if you want it.
--- Eric
Message from England to France
Erik -
I was *sure* I'd written back to you but I don't see my receipt. I have no
idea what happened - I remember even what I said - for some reason it
didn't process.
Anyway, I'll respond again:
> He's miffed because he wanted me to cut into Andy, possibly throwing
things
> into enough disarray to get him the solo. And, indeed, it will all be
> ending later rather than sooner.
Too bad for him!
> I am not really interested in trying for an EFI, so we might as well begin
> talking about edging Andy out now. He will look for an opportunity to slip
> out and will certainly use anything we say with Andy to provoke dischord,
> so we need to be prepared for that, too. Would you say Andy's ability to
> throw to him is diminished?
Andy's influence in the south is somewhat diminished, because Eric went so
hard backward to protect himself, though now because Andy is in MUN the
north is somewhat more threatened.
My thinking is, in the spring we will see what plan Andy advances, and if
it pushes you close enough to the stalemate line that down the road you
will be able to clean his clock, then we can wait before attacking him.
Ben
Message from England to France and Russia
Eric, sorry to get back to you so late, I've been traveling.
> Well, I'm disappointed but not at all surprised to see you two support
Andy
> into Mun. I know that he threatened all sorts of bad things if you didn't,
> but it was just bluster.
Hm. He is quite a blusterer, I suppose.
> The fact of the matter is that when I had StP and the upper hand around
Mun
> Andy could have thrown to me. With your combined moves last season, he
lost
> all chance to do so. Yes, he could have thrown all of Italy to me, but
that's
> three centers and gets me to 17 max. Sure, I would have tried to use
Andy's
> help to get to 18, but after Erik got his build, got enough units on Tun
to
> hold it, Ben got into Lvn and you both parked next to Mun there was no
real
> threat. My 18th would have to be getting Tun, holding StP, holding BOTH
> Mun&Ber or pushing into Bur/Pie and stealing Mar/Par while taking ALL Of
> Italy. None of those were going to happen.
Well, I've been eliminated in so many vgnp games that I have plenty of time
for c2. ;o)
> You can continue press me if you want, but all that's going to do is push
us
> towards a 4way instead of a three way. I guess if you keep at me long
enough
> and I make enough mistakes it's possible that I could be eliminated, which
> would certainly be interesting for the observers, but it seems that the
easy
> road is EFR.
Yes, yes. We're putting our heads together.
> You guys are driving here, so let me know what you want to do.
In the next couple of days, I hope.
> Apologies for not sending all of this thinking when it could have done
some
> good. It's not meant to be chiding (though I'm sure it has some of that
> tone), it's just expressing my best thinking. As my last broadcast
indicated,
> I was out of town all last week and only got to the computer an hour
before
> the deadline, so didn't have a chance to try to work this out in advance.
:-)
As I've said - total disaster in the VGNP, means more time for you.
Ben
France: BUILD Fleet Marseilles
Italy: BUILD Fleet Naples
Russia: REMOVE Army Finland
Centers
England: 10
France: 6
Italy: 4
Russia: 13
Turkey: 1
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