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Message from Austria to Master
Well it was a great game while it lasted. As
predicted Italy/Russia are about to pick off both of
my centers and I will not be surprised to see Turkey
joining in to help. We'll see what happens in the
fall.
Message from England to Master
At first blush, it looks like that was a good set of moves for me, but
there is a lot to consider. This will probably be far and away the most
extensive analysis I do the entire game.
Looking at the initial moves, Austria tried to have it both ways, defend
against Italy and be positioned to pick up two centers and ended up making
a very weak set of moves. He is deep trouble. Given Italy's moves, he'd
be in trouble even with a stronger set of moves, but maybe not this
deep. That is the biggest reason I don't like playing Austria in
no-press. war-gal is very common, so if Italy opens against you, you are
pretty much dead before you start and nothing short of mar-pie is likely to
save you. It is little consolation that things generally don't work out
very well for Italy either.
Turkey made a neutral opening. He and Russia look to be the major
beneficiaries of Austria's situation. The Italian attack at the start in a
no-press game doesn't make much sense to me because it gambles that war
will break out between Russia and Turkey. If that doesn't happen, Austria
gets rolled, then Italy gets rolled. Small consolation for Austria though!
So, Russia and Turkey both look to be in good shape. Closer to home,
France made a sound no-press opening that would have left him either in
position to take Iberia and make a play for Belgium if mar-bur bounced or,
as it now stands now, leaves him with plenty of influence over
Belgium. How will he take it? If I knew that, it would be much easier to
decide how to move this turn. pic-bel would signal an F-G war and leave me
in the nice position of picking an ally. That might be wishful thinking
though. France is probably well aware that an F-G land war quickly
stalemates and leaves him to simply hope that I'd come in on his side. Why
would he want to put his fate in my hands when I could just as easily take
Germany's side? So, let's call mar-bur a precautionary move and expect
bur-bel. That is not anti-English, of course, but it is also hardly a
reason for me to go charging into Germany.
Speaking of Germany, what will he do in Sweden? In his position, I'd
bounce Russia using my rule of thumb that if Russia is doing well in the
south, I don't want to give him a second build in the first year. Many
Germans though will look at those enemy units bordering Munich and conclude
that they don't want to anger Russia.
So, where does all that leave me? I have four options, anti-Russian,
anti-French, anti-German and neutral. The anti-Russian option is to play
nwg-bar and convoy the army to Norway. Anti-German could consist of
signalling France that I want an alliance, but that would just encourage
Germany to build a fleet in Kiel. A sounder move would be to bounce
Germany in Holland reasoning that with two units on Munich, he won't
support himself into Holland. If it didn't work, I'd be in the same
position as if I had just sent a signal, only I'd have sent an even
stronger signal. Anti-French would be nth-eng, nwg-nwy and yor-wal
combined with a fleet build in Liverpool.
Looking at the last one first, if France plays pic-bel, France and Germany
are at war, I get a free shot at convoying into France in S02, and life is
good. If he played bur-bel, there is still a chance Germany will take me
up on my offer and hit the weak spot in Burgundy. But what happens up
north? If Russia takes Sweden giving him (at least) two builds, there is a
very good chance he'll take a look at my moves and put a fleet in
StP(nc). Then I'm in serious trouble in Norway and it is completely up to
Germany whether he sides with me or not. I'm not willing to take that big
a risk this early.
The anti-German option is more promising. With only one build and Kiel
occupied, he'd be hard-pressed to build a second fleet in Berlin (alarming
Russia) and leave himself wide open to a land attack from France or
Russia. Meanwhile, France would be well-positioned to move on Germany even
if he played bur-bel. He gets to pick sides and could also choose to build
a fleet in Brest and come after me though. I like it better than the
anti-French option, but let's keep going.
Attacking Russia is interesting. Even if Germany gives him Sweden, there
is a good chance he would join in and grab Sweden giving me a shot at
StP. France would probably be reluctant to come after me as he would be
unsure if Germany would join him. He might conclude that it would be a
great time to build a fleet in Brest, but there is also an excellent chance
he will decide he doesn't need to because I'll surely be building in
Edinburgh. This option also takes the bull by the horns by going right
after the player I think has the potential to grow the fastest. Better now
than after he has picked apart Austria. And better to declare war on
Russia than to go right after France or Germany and quite possibly have
Russians in Edinburgh before too long.
The neutral option is to play nwg-nwy, leave the other two where they are,
hell, maybe convoy myself to Switzerland while I'm at it. Once again, if
France plays pic-bel, great. But if France plays pic-bel, all four options
probably work out fine. If he doesn't, there will be fleet builds in bre
and lon and FG might well conclude they should work together. I think it
is the weakest of the four options.
The upshot of all this analysis is that I am going to play the anti-Russian
option and hope that France elects to either take advantage of Italy's
opening to make an early move on the Med (that is what I would choose) or
goes after Germany (wouldn't that be nice?). If he doesn't, at least I can
hope that Germany realizes he would get nothing by taking part in an FGR
attack and would just be FR's next victim. I think this move set gives me
the best chances. And I'll keep it shorter next time. Promise. :)
Message from France to Master
Opening moves went well. EGI stayed out of the border spaces. I probably
would have preferred a bounce in Bur, but I can't complain.
So.... to go to Munich or not. Italy's presence in Tyrolia is of course
annoying, but with Russia in Gal, Italy might safely be counted on to move
east.
The best thing of course would be for England to bounce Holland while I
take Munich. I would tend to think that England will go for Holland
rather than Belgium (or possibly convoy to Nwy and move to Bar)
Germany facing pressure from west (whether real or implied at this point)
probably lets Russia into Sweden.
Eh what the heck, I'll roll the dice and go for Bel, Mun and Por. Por
instead of Spa so that my build in Mar can take Spa next year, or
alternatively, F Por can take it and then move into Italy hard by 1903.
Message from Germany to Master
Somewhat surprised that France saw fit to leave Mar open (though nothing ill came of it for him), and that Austria -- in a no-press game -- has chosen the southern gambit (with the expected adverse effect on his prospects). Anyway, no matter to me -- I can't keep France out of Bel, so may as well cover Mun (it would be embarassing to lose!) and keep Russia out of Swe. Assuming that Britain will need to use F NTH to convoy A Yor to Nwy (why didn't he move to Edi instead?), I ought to get Hol as well. I
n any case, the worst I can do is bounce there.
Message from Italy to Master
The previous two times i ordered A Ven - Tyr I
followed with A Tyr - Mun. They both failed; it seems
nowadays G is more aware of the danger from the South.
Shall I try it again? Perhaps this time it will
succeed...
Again the idea is to go after F, surrounding Swi and
after a long detour getting to Mar. It seems very
difficult to do in a no-press game where you cannot
lure your adversaries. Also if a French army is
located in Bur (as in this game) the manoeuver will
certainly fall. But maybe France orders A Bur - Bel...
I have a doubt regarding A Ven, perhaps it should hold
(or support Tri as a mark of goodwill) in order to
prevent an attack from Tri. But I do not think it very
likely because it would either be supported by Ser or
cover the possible Russian threat.
Message from Russia to Master
Positive:
-France is going for Belgium in strength, wich will limit
England & Germany's expansion. If successfull, France
should also be perceived as a bigger threat then Russia,
limiting the possibility of conflict in scandinavia in the
short term.
-Italy made things very interesting! His presence in Tyr
while France is in Bur should annoy Germany and limit
hostiliy between us (G/R). Also, Italy depend on me for
making progress against Austria and he will not end up
with the lion's share of the spoils if I join him :-)
-Turkey is neutral while Austria opened pro-russian. I
couldn't have hope for a better start in the south :-) In
fact, if Turkey had also opened pro-russian by sending
his fleet to Con, Italy would have had to change tactic
and go on the defensive.
Negative:
-If things had been different with France, I could have
had to worry about an english army in Norway, but I
doubt he will do so now. There's also the possibility
of a bounce in Sweden wich complicate things.
Fall 1901?
Here's what I think will happen:
England: Nwg-Nwy for the build and Nth-Eng to
position himself for a strong France and signal a desire
to ally himself with Germany.
France: Mao-Por and Bur-Bel supported by Pic to
also show his desire to work with Germany. If he
remain in Bur instead, it will be interesting to see
Germany's reaction.
Germany: Kie-Hol, Den-Swe and Ruh-Mun.
Italy: Ion-Tun and Ven-Tri supported by Tyr.
Austria: Tri-Vie and Alb-tri supported by Ser.
Turkey: Bul-Gre, Con-Bul & Ank-Bla.
Russia: Fin-Swe, Gal-Bud, Ukr-Rum & Sev-Bla.
I'm worried with Gal-Bud & Fin-Swe. I'm pretty
sure of Ukr-Rum and only wish to gain 2 builds,
preferably at the expense of Austria. More then
that, and I could suffer from early leader syndrome.
There's also the question of the Black Sea. I don't
want to antagonize Turkey, but neither do I want
to see him occupy Bla or reveal to the world my
intent to cooperate closely with him.
Message from Turkey to Master
Goal: Grab what I can
This is RADIO FREEDOM...crying out LOUD....
News;
The Turkish expansion into Bulgaria was a success
Rumors;
.... The juggernaut is on
.... Russian and our gallant forces will soon be batteling it out with the
Italians in Austria
.... England and France will be paying the kraut a visit
.... Austria is history
.... Turkey will solo
Moves;
f ank - bla (to decide who has fishing rights)
a bul - gre (an over confident commander)
a con - bul (women satisfied, sightseeing in bulgaria)
This is RADIO FREEDOM...crying out LOUD....
And now for our regular listeners a prayer that our gut feelings wernt
caused by gas.
Austria: Fleet Albania → Greece (*bounce*)
Austria: Army Serbia SUPPORT Army Trieste
Austria: Army Trieste HOLD
England: Fleet North Sea CONVOY Army Yorkshire → Norway
England: Fleet Norwegian Sea → Barents Sea
England: Army Yorkshire → North Sea → Norway
France: Army Burgundy → Munich (*bounce*)
France: Fleet Mid-Atlantic Ocean → Portugal
France: Army Picardy → Belgium
Germany: Fleet Denmark → Sweden (*bounce*)
Germany: Army Kiel → Holland
Germany: Army Ruhr → Munich (*bounce*)
Italy: Fleet Ionian Sea → Tunis
Italy: Army Tyrolia → Munich (*bounce*)
Italy: Army Venice → Tyrolia (*bounce*)
Russia: Fleet Finland → Sweden (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Galicia → Budapest
Russia: Fleet Sevastopol → Black Sea (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Ukraine → Rumania
Turkey: Fleet Ankara → Black Sea (*bounce*)
Turkey: Army Bulgaria → Greece (*bounce*)
Turkey: Army Constantinople → Bulgaria (*bounce*)
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