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Message from Turkey to France
Prince Boar,
> That is now two you owe me for. :-)
Heheh, duly noted.
> Can you find me a supply center somewhere? I have to get
> units dislodge to artificially get builds. :-)
Be that as it may, you used that tactic to good advantage. Certainly, your
position has been much improved this turn.
> At least I can guarantee denying England a build, if I am
> completely conservative. If I get a little bolder Italy
> could betray me and help England get a build. Let me
> know what your hear.
I would be truly shocked if Italy cooperated with England this turn. As for
Roberto's long-term intentions, I think much will be revealed by what he
chooses to do with Tyr.
> But it looks like Germany will get one more (StP) Are
> you going to allow Russia to take Sev?
That is my desire. However, since I did not move to Rum, I am now dependant
on Italy's support for Bud, and indeed Italy has not yet really agreed to
Turkish ownership of Bud. But if Austria's centers can be split evenly
between I/T/R, that would be my preference.
> Do you find working with Roberto to be frustrating? I
> sure wish that you and I were neighbors.
He can be. He's easy to get along with, as long as you go along with what he
wants, and to date it's been in my best interests to do so. But he can also
be difficult (impossible?) to budge if you don't see eye to eye.
And I can definitely tell you that had I drawn England, this would have been a
*very* different game! ;^)
Regards,
Ali
Message from Italy to France
>
> Thanks for the support to Spain. It was not what I
> wanted, but good manners requires that I at least thank
> you for it. :-)
>
You are welcome. :)
While it may not have been what you wanted, the results of this past spring
could have been drastically worse for you. If I were you, I'd be throwing a
party right about now.
> I suppose that you would not consider support for
> a move to MAO this season?
Actually, I would consider supporting Spain to the MAO. Then next spring, I
can retreat from the West Med and we can return to our original treaty. (I
doubt England would retreat to NAF now and even if he did, I won't have the
Austrian fleet at my back to worry about).
> Would you consider attacking it just to
> break support if I felt that was useful? I have yet to
> look at a map, so I do not yet have a plan.
>
I would consider attacking but that would be a very last resort. If you
just wanted to attack to break support and not actually dislodge the unit,
then Portugal seems like the logical candidate for that job.
> If I asked you to support me to Munich you would probably
> choke and cough, right? :-) It would be nice to have
> some sucess .... :-)
>
Support to Munich? Hmmm. I'd have to think about that but you're probably
right, I'd cough. As an outsider, I see tension between EG mounting and I
have no real reason to stop that tension. Supporting you to Munich might
just rekindle the EG alliance and that's not what either of us wants.
Life is Beautiful,
Roberto
Message from Russia to France
Xavier,
I'm honored to hear from you, I have enjoyed
exchanging letters with your brother, Prince Boar.
>Congratulations on getting rid of that Austrian army.
>Are you going to try and talk Turkey into giving you
>Sevastopol. I suppose that would require Italy allowing him Budapest. Do
>you sense any cracks in the IT alliance?
The Turk was not expecting Bud-Rum, so he thought
he would have a supported attack on Bud this Fall.
IT impresses me as an alliance of convenience, so I
suppose Ven S Tri-Bud, Bla S Sev-Rum is possible
with Italy building two, and attacking Turkey now
that Austria has been eliminated. If I ask for Sev,
I expect that Turkey will give it to me, but I have
to consider the German threat to StP/War/Mos before
contemplating that request.
>I survived by a bit of luck. I never ever expected him to leave France. I
>guess I should be celebrating!
He was expecting an English stab, (Since England
refused to agree to my plan for us stabbing Germany, I
told Germany about it, and showed him that the best
England could do attacking you was one possible, but
unlikely, Center, while stabbing Germany gave him two
without fail. I'm still not sure why England rejected
the plan.), and he wanted to be able to ally with you,
if it occurred.
>I am not out of the woods yet, but things look a little
>better. That just probably means I am in store for a
>real bad thing to happen :-_
You can dislodge MAO, (with help from Italy), and
probably F Pic, as well. Given EF Nth, you might even
be able to convince Germany to stab England, instead.
>Votre cher ami,
>-- Xavier
_________________________________________________________________
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Message from France to Italy
Roberto:
Yes, I must admit that I am happy about the way things
turned out. If Germany had moved to Paris, I would be
toast. With those moves, Bre->MAO would have been
better. But with the moves that we made, it was a wash.
I know that you are happier with this choice, hence it
was the best one.
For me to take the MAO, I will indeed need your help. I
realize that you prefer my taking it from Spa, as that
gets me out of the Med. It would of course make me more
comfortable taking it from Por. I do appreciate your
comments about withdrawing. But things have not turned
around just yet. Germany and England are not at war,
just not working together effectively. They could still
put it back together.
I think that you and I need to work together to push them
into that War. It would profit both of us. I could join
one side and have some security and a little growth. You
could have the freedom to deal with Turkey. He will
eventually run out of room to grow North and there you
will be. Do you have a preference, perhaps an FGI
alliance would be effective. That presumes that I could
arrange such an alliance with Germany.
I guess we have some time to ponder and I need not rush
things. This time I believe that the deadline is Monday
night at 11:30 PM Eastern. I hope that I have my
troubles straightened out. I was hoping to talk with you
more last deadline, that is why I was so shocked at the
deadline. But since I was late, I could not negotiate
and just had to turn in orders after I read Doug's
message.
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to Russia
My Friend Nick,
I must chuckle. But you see that Xavier and Prince Boar
are one and the same! Perhaps you have caught my
Lectures on Philosophy that occur yearly on Cable? I
felt that since we were friends and have communicated so
often, I could drop the formality of my title. Although
I must admit that I do really like the sound of my title:
Prince Boar. But Xavier is my first name. If it
confuses you I can go back to Prince Boar. My Brother
has no name other than the Dauphin. As the oldest son
and heir to the throne of France, that is his only title
until he becomes King and adopts a formal name.
I do appreicate your help with my registration. It was
just the ticket.
I do hope that you can manage to get Sevastopol. You
then have the option of disbanding your fleet and
building an army. It will be a bit of a risk in that
Germany could instead take Warsaw and not St. Petes. You
could order St. Petes to Livonia to break support, but if
he attacked Warsaw from Livonia, which is likely, he
might walk into St. Petes and you would loose another
center. I think that the Turk is willing to help you.
It is just a matter of how things go between himself and
Italy. He needs Italian help for him to grow. But he
will want you around in case Italy gets greedy.
My question for you is, now that England did not stab
Germany, would Germany be willing to ally with me. He
wanted the option if the stab occurred. But it did not.
Is there a way for England and Germany to get past their
current problem? Their alliance is not dead, but England
is so far behind that he is almost starting over.
Meanwhile Turkey grows and Italy grows and Germany grows.
:-)
-- Xavier
Message from Russia to France
Xavier, My Friend,
>My Friend Nick,
>
>I must chuckle. But you see that Xavier and Prince Boar
>are one and the same! Perhaps you have caught my
>Lectures on Philosophy that occur yearly on Cable? I
>felt that since we were friends and have communicated so
>often, I could drop the formality of my title.
Ahh, I wondered for a moment, but was working and did
not have time to check my files. Had you not opened
your letter with, "Czar Nicholas:", I would have likely
reached the right conclusion. My apologies.
>I do appreciate your help with my registration. It was
>just the ticket.
Glad I could help.
>I do hope that you can manage to get Sevastopol. You
>then have the option of disbanding your fleet and
>building an army. It will be a bit of a risk in that
>Germany could instead take Warsaw and not St. Petes. You
>could order St. Petes to Livonia to break support, but if
>he attacked Warsaw from Livonia, which is likely, he
>might walk into St. Petes and you would loose another
>center. I think that the Turk is willing to help you.
>It is just a matter of how things go between himself and
>Italy. He needs Italian help for him to grow. But he
>will want you around in case Italy gets greedy.
Yes, it depends on whether Turkey trusts Italy to
support Ser-Bud, and what Germany does. The Turkish
move to Sev was intended to be a Spring visit, only.
>My question for you is, now that England did not stab
>Germany, would Germany be willing to ally with me. He
>wanted the option if the stab occurred. But it did not.
In previous existences, I have, on occasion, shifted
to defend against a stab that did not occur, and found
myself in a position to apologize for my lack of trust,
and then stab the next turn. 8-) Germany isn't well
positioned to do so, though. Ivy is away until Sunday,
so you have time to work on Germany. I'll certainly
do what I can to encourage EG conflict, probably
through England, though.
> Is there a way for England and Germany to get past their current problem?
Well, yes. They haven't harmed each other, yet.
On the other hand, Germany's retreat sets them back
at least a year, so unless Italy stabs Turkey, they
have an initiative problem. This Fall will be
interesting.
Nick.
Message from Germany to France
Boar:
Sorry I couldn't tell you that I was moving out. The reasoning is
obvious though.
You're quite right in pointing out that MAO didn't support NTH into
ENG. More important is that there is an English fleet in the North Sea
on a fall turn. That's not going over well.
Fredd.
Message from Germany to France
PB:
I'll give you one thing, you're a tough nut to crack.
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
>I'll give you one thing, you're a tough nut to crack.
The Dauphin and I both thank you for your compliment
It is something we could be proud of if we were not
fighting for our lives.
Am I to read into this that you are still planning on
continuing the attack? Is there no way for you and I to
start over? With the east getting itself resolved, would
it not be better to eliminate England from out backs. If
Turkey/Italy start to press you, do you want your
backside exposed to England. Any new unit he builds are
near it. My new units would be at your flank. But they
would be concerned with the Italian units on my doorstep.
England never would have that problem of units on his
doorstep (like you and I would), unless those units were
yours and mine.
>Sorry I couldn't tell you that I was moving out. The
>reasoning is obvious though.
Surely, you did not want me to spill my guts to the
English. I understand. I am not complaining that you
did not tell me. On the contrary, I thank you for the
move no matter if you told me or not.
I did notice your movements near St. Petes. Were those
based on my messages or had you decided that earlier?
>You're quite right in pointing out that MAO didn't
>support NTH into ENG.
I thought that you would have insisted on Bel -> Pic and
Nth -> Bel. The army in Belgium is also a long term
threat to you. I would have thought that England would
have wanted it in France, not hanging out in the fringe.
so his movements surprised me.
>More important is that there is an English fleet in the
>North Sea on a fall turn. That's not going over well.
You can still cover your butt and take St. Petes. You
can always also support me to Belgium! :-)
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to England
Wingo:
I know that you will not receive this for some time. But
you must know that there is great joy in France. If
Germany had ordered Bur to Par, I would have lost Paris
and Brest this year. We have very very happy that he did
not. But you must also know that we find it amusing that
Germany did finally let you down, on a critical turn, as
we predicted. :-)
You are almost at the point where you must start over
with your attack on France. Your window of opportunity
for shifting gears towards Germany is closing rapidly. I
recommend that you consider that shift in gears now. You
can always work with Italy or Turkey later to take out
France. The time is no longer right for attempting it
now. We stand ready to join in with whomever first takes
action (England or Germany) against the other.
Le DAUPHIN
Message from Germany to France
> I did notice your movements near St. Petes. Were those
> based on my messages or had you decided that earlier?
>
I phased in my orders for the spring right after the last fall moves
processed. I never changed them, although I considered it when Austria
disbanded VIE.
So great minds must think alike.
I think we should talk a little more seriously. Although I doubt that I
can agree to support you to Belgium. The simple truth is that I'm not
in position to take on England.
Fredd
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
Thanks for the note.
>I think we should talk a little more seriously.
I am always here to talk, seriously or not. Although I
do wish to seriously talk about the future.
>Although I doubt that I can agree to support you to
>Belgium. The simple truth is that I'm not
>in position to take on England.
Is the unlikeliness for your support to Beglium because
of other tactical needs or because you are not ready to
support me against England? It would help me formulate
our discussions to know which is the issue.
None of us, Germany, England, or France is well
positioned to take on the other. Certainly England has
some position against me. But that is likely to degrade
this year as I may take both MAO and Picardy back. He
has some position against you as well, but you can cover
it. You and I are about neutral against each other.
Taking a center from him would certainly hurt his
positions, hence help us. You will also get a build,
another fleet perhaps?
The longer we wait, the harder it gets. Also the less
time we will have (i.e. Turkey and Italy will clean up
the south).
France is not greedy. We are not seeking to be even with
you in Supply Centers. An even distribution of the
current English holdings would be plenty. We are fully
prepared to establish reasonable demilitarization of any
future borders with you and form a joint effort south and
east. England is too far away and out of position to
eventually help you with Italy. I have access. You know
my arguments about the locations of his new builds and
your exposure. I will beat those points to death.
I think that there are many advantages for us both to
work together. Also we have no serious history of bad
blood between us, that we must overcome.
Please give it some thought. Even if you are not ready
to take the plunge, at least talk hypothetically about
it, so we can flesh out the issues and potential
problems. Who knows what may come of it?
-- Prince Boar
Message from Master to all
Extension due to player absence, for one additional day.
Doug
Message from France to Italy
Roberto:
I seek your professional opinion. I am trying to decide where to attack
the MAO from. I know that you desire my attack from Spain, and that
would begin the process of stablizing our region. My quandy is that I
fear that England and Germany are still allied. If they do retake
Burgundy, it would be stronger to have my fleet in Spain rather than
Portugal. I would have the flexibility of acting on Marseilles from
Spain with the fleet or Gascony with the retreating army.
Since your support for my move to MAO is important, I want to know what
you think about the choice.
So how are things going in the east. I imagine that Turkey wants
Budapest. He is probably reminding you of his support for Tieste last
fall. Are you planning on allowing him Budapest? I am sure that you
are tempted by two builds. But that also makes you a target, being so
much larger than your neighbors. Choose carefully.
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to Turkey
Ali:
Are you planning a bounce in Smyrna? That would allow you to build a
fleet there? If Italy gets a build, he is surely to make it a fleet.
Can you allow yourself to be down 1 fleet to his 4 fleets?
I was looking to try and find a way for you to only move from Sevastopol
only if you take Budapest. But I think that there is no way to
accomplish it.
You may wish to remind Italy that he does not want to be the largest
fish in the fishbowl. It would make his neighbors jealous. :-)
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
>You know my arguments about the locations
>of his new builds and your exposure. I will
>beat those points to death.
I meant to write that I would NOT beat
those points to death.
Sorry, I was not trying to be obnoxious.
Did you have any comments on the rest of
that message?
-- Prince Boar
Message from Germany to France
> Did you have any comments on the rest of
> that message?
sorry for not responding. It's been a glorious weekend here. With Ivy
gone, I've been enjoying a little down time.
It's Sunday. I'll have something to say this evening.
Fredd
Message from Russia to France
Xavier,
You might want to discuss supporting WMed-MAO with
the Dauphin and Roberto. It's might allow you to
avoid the probable Italian attack on France next year.
Your Friend,
Nick.
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
Enjoy your time off. So you did not get such a nice breather when I was
gone? :-)
I did want to take advantage of Ivy's absence to try and sway you to my
side, but I guess it is only fair that I must wait until he is around to
balance my arguments.
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to Russia
Nick:
Did Italy have any say in your request that I ask him to take the MAO?
I hesitate to ask him to go there. It could be a big pain in my side if
I manage to improve my situation.
How do you know for certain that he will attack me next year? He may be
in a war with Turkey as well? What have you heard that gives you
confidence in your prediction?
--Xavier
Message from Russia to France
Xavier,
>Did Italy have any say in your request that I ask him to take the MAO?
No, he has not written me since moves came through.
>I hesitate to ask him to go there. It could be a big pain in my side if I
>manage to improve my situation.
Yes, I can't say for sure how he would respond, but
if you supported me into MAO, my inclination would be to
go after England, and continue to work with you.
>How do you know that he will attack me next year?
I don't. If he takes Bud, he's likely to attack
Turkey. If he supports Ser-Bud, and Turkey builds
another Army, however, you're Italy's most likely
next target. Supporting WMed-MAO might change that.
(Of course, it could also make it more likely.)
>What have you heard that gives you
>confidence in your prediction?
When I encouraged Roberto to support you in
Iberia, and move Ven-Tyl, he indicated that he
planned to support you this year. This suggests that
he intends to reconsider his options, once Austria
is eliminated. Turkey's inability to take Bud this
Fall without Italian support makes Italy vs. Turkey
more likely, but trying to cross the stalemate line
in 1905 would probably be the better strategic move
for Italy.
It's clearly a judgement call for you and the
Dauphin, and should be based on your view of the
relationship between EG, but I thought I would
mention the possibility to you. I haven't heard
back from Ivy, yet, and haven't written Germany, so
I have no advice for you on that front. Once I hear
from England, I'll write Fredd, and contact you, again.
Your Friend,
Nick.
Message from France to France
I thought that I would take this slow down in the game to go back and
explain my thoughts for my orders for the last season.
My plan was:
F Bre -> MAO s by Por (and Italian WES)
F Mar -> Spa
A Pic -> Bre
A Gas -> Bur
I choose these orders because I was expecting:
Bel -> Pic s by Bur
F Nth -> Bel
F Eng -> Bre (to break it's support)
F MAO s F Eng -> Bre (why not?)
F NAO s F MAO
I was hoping to take MAO and bounce all the other armies. If Burgundy
took Picardy, I would have retreated to Paris. I was not expecting Eng
-> Pic by England.
I also considered Pic -> Par, Gas -> Par. I choose the above because I
did not want England to walk into Brest and also, if I lost Picardy it
could have no where to retreat to.
But Italy would not cooperate and make the desired support. He stated
that he did not want England to retreat to NAf. It is understandable,
but I was disappointed. I also figured that he did not want to help me
too much, as he is trying to keep friendly with Germany and England.
Again, this is understandable, but something that I did not like. :-)
So given that Italy would only order WES s Mar -> Spa (even that was
unknown as I could not talk to him again and the orders were due), I
choose different orders. They were:
Mar -> Spa (to cover it and hopefully improve my position for the fall
against MAO)
Por -> MAO (to break its support for Eng -> Bre)
Bre -> Eng (to break its support for Bel -> Pic)
Gas -> Bur (to break its support for Bel -> Pic)
Pic s Bur -> Bel (what the heck, it was better than holding. I made a
small statement)
I was purposely leaving Mar and Par open for Germany. I was willing to
let him have one rather than England take one of my centers. I have
been getting along reasonably well with Germany and have figured out how
to interact with him. My biggest hope was to not have Germany in Paris
just yet as I wanted to not have him help England to Brest.
I did consider Pic -> Bur as I really did not want Gas to go to Bur if
Bur went to Par. I wanted to be near Brest. I decided against it
because I figured that being in Bur put some pressure on Munich, in case
I needed it.
As I mentioned in private press to others, I really could have been
burnt if Germany had ordered Bur to Par. I am very lucky and glad that
he did not. In that case, my preferred orders above would have been
better as it would have saved the army. But I would have still been in
bad shape.
That's enough for now.
Roger
Message from England to France
Dauphin,
Just got back, and I have to be brief. I should have more time tomorrow.
Most of this will be off-the-cuff reactions to your notes.
>OK Ivy, I am dying to know. What was the set of orders
>that would have guaranteed you a build. I have not found
>them. But now that it does not matter, could you show
>them to me?
I don't have time to try to reconstruct, but I think it involved Bel->Pic
with the help of Germany, so that I could hold the Channel and MAO. In the
fall I would have then gotten Brest using cuts of support from MAO and
Burgundy.
>PS: You are actually the master diplomat, not me. I
>could not convince Italy to do what I wanted,
I was almost certain that I had this minor victory.
>just as you had trouble with Germany.
Just as I was almost certain that I had this major diplomatic loss.
The net result favors you and your diplomacy greatly.
> But you must know that there is great joy in France.
I can hear the shouting.
> we find it amusing that
>Germany did finally let you down, on a critical turn, as
>we predicted. :-)
Sooner or later in an alliance, someone lets his partner down. The trick
is ... well, you know what the trick is.
>Your window of opportunity
>for shifting gears towards Germany is closing rapidly.
I will consider it. First, I need some sleep.
Most cordially,
Ivy
Message from France to England
Wingo:
I know that you must have been swamped upon your return
and that you had plenty to deal with. France appreciates
that you would take the time to write us, an enemy, back.
We hope that you have recovered and slept enough.
We still do hope to continue the discussion on those
orders which would have guaranteed Brest. If we could
have had Italy support action into the MAO, I do not
think that there was a guaranteed set. Even without that
support, I think that France could have guessed correctly
no matter what you ordered. I am not saying that we
would have, just that we could have.
Le DAUPHIN
Message from France to Italy
Roberto:
I have ordered Spa to MAO as my default orders. I can
change them if our discussion warrants it. But for now,
I think this choice reasonable.
--Prince Boar
Message from England to France
>I know that you must have been swamped upon your return
>and that you had plenty to deal with.
Yes, and now a day of USIN blackout when I had hoped to be communicating.
Now that your e-mail has gotten through I hope USIN will see fit to grind
out some more. I don't know when you wrote the note that I got (it was
delivered 7:16pm eastern), but I believe that I still haven't received
confirmation from all that I wrote early this morning.
>We still do hope to continue the discussion on those
>orders which would have guaranteed Brest. If we could
>have had Italy support action into the MAO, I do not
>think that there was a guaranteed set.
OK. I looked at the board again, and I concede that Brest was less certain
than I thought. I would have needed Bel->Pic to have succeeded with the
support of Eng & Bur. I considered it highly unlikely that you would have
stopped that, but in fact you did hit both Eng & Bur with your moves! Had
that succeded, then Eng s Pic->Brest does the job with appropriate cuts
from MAO & Burgundy. At least I knew that MAO was safe.
Ivy
Message from Germany to France
PB:
I'm going to do a lot of thinking out loud here, so please bear
with me.
Naturally I'm considering switching alliances (if you'll have me ;-)
Before doing that though I want to weight the pros and cons.
If I switched this turn we could:
force England from MAO.
take Belgium. (Only because he wouldn't know it's coming and won't be
supporting it)
Those are both advantages for you. The advantage for me would be...
Well I wouldn't expect you to hand BEL over to me anytime soon....
I could be in NWY in the spring. Thereby giving myself another build...
But I'd have to build another fleet, fairly soon.
I'd also be diverted from pursuing a ground war in Russia.
It's not Russia that I'm worried about. It's Turkey and Italy.
If I switch alliances would they be more or less inclined to fight
amoungst themselves?
There's a topic of discussion. Realistically, strategically having you
or Ivy as a partner doesn't matter much. I currently have no designs on
your centers. I suppose that I'm want one of IVY's. And I'd want to be
unthreatened in the North Sea.
The $64,000 question is what would Italy and Turkey do if I switched
sides?
Fredd
Message from France to Italy
Roberto:
I guess that the Judge is working again. Have you had a
chance to think over my question for you? (Which, Spa or
Por, is better to take MAO?) In a subsequent letter I
said that I have already ordered Spa to MAO. I
appreciate that you agreed to support it, I hope that you
still are. I am counting on it.
Do you think that the Austrian will be eliminated this
turn? It looks like Budapest should fall, to you or
Turkey. Sevastopol should be either Turkish or Russia.
Therefore the Austrian fleet should disappear. Unless of
course Turkey supports Budapest or some mixup happens
near Sevastopol. About the worst thing that could happen
is that Austria could have a surviving center and get his
fleet into the Ionian.
Hmm, I guess there are worst things for you. Turkey
could support Austria to Greece as well. My advice is
that you plan it safe.
You will also notice that I am not requesting support for
a move to Munich. I know that you would not want to do
that. I also am choosing to be cautious.
--Prince Boar
Message from France to England
Wingo:
As you ponder pulling back from your attack on France, I
suggest MAO -> Eng, NAO -> NwS, Pic -> Bel, Bel ->?
or Pic -> Eng, MAO -> NAO, NAO -> Iri, Bel hold?
As I stated, I am willing to join in with whomever acts
first, you or Germany. Germany is already in the lead
due to his pull out of France.
How are things going between you and Germany? Did you
have a few words with him? :-)
Le DAUPHIN
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
Thanks for the note. I will try to be objective, but I
of course want you to side with me rather than against
me. (In reality I will side with whomever acts first,
you or England. I cannot be choosy. But I do prefer
that it be you.)
So let me be honest about my goal and state that I will
try to argue why Italy and Turkey might be more likely to
fight, if you side with me.
If you and England continue your attack on me, Italy will
eventually feel secure enough to join in the attack. He
will send over a couple of more fleets and take some of
my centers for himself. This means that he can delay his
battle with Turkey for a while. Hence, they will
continue to cooperate. Also, everyone is already aware
of and concerned about the EG alliance. If you continue
it that will force IT to stick together solidly. If EG
cracks, then IT will be looking more locally and thinking
about dominating their side of the board.
Turkey will therefore be more wary of Italy if he has not
obvious outlet for his forces (France). This will cause
friction between them. He will therefore be more
focussed in the south and not likely to rush armies North
into Russia and the heartland, making you nervous.
Bottom line: Italy will probably build a fleet. If
there is a France under duress, it will head that way,
allowing Turkey to build another army. But if France is
alive enough to make an Italy invasion fruitless, but
that France is embattled with an invasion of England,
Turkey must worry that the Italian fleet will join the
other two and head his way. He will have to build a
fleet. He knows the history of what Roberto has done to
him and Austria. I will certain argue with Turkey to
build that fleet.
As for Belgium and England. Yes, I do want Belgium this
turn. But I expect that it will eventually be yours in
exchange for the British Isles. This is 100% negotiable
and I am open to any reasonable distribution that makes
sense at the time. But it makes more sense now for our
centers to be as separate as possible. I do not want to
have to worry about defending Belgium and you do not want
one of my armies sitting there, to defend it.
As long as we can put a reasonable and minimal defense in
the North together, we will each feel secure. You will
want to prevent my entry into the North Sea, I will want
to defend the Island. This could be accomplish with
something like:
German F Hol hold
German F Den -> Nth
French F Edi -> Nth
French A Lon hold
Your second fleet holding in Holland is there as a future
defense to my trying to sneak a second fleet in place to
grab the North Sea. If you grab the North Sea, I will at
least have the army in place to help with defense. That
seems pretty stable.
If England was your ally, you would always be worried
about that second or third fleet suddenly appearing in
London and/or Edinburgh (during an adjustment) and your
having no time to react to it.
Sorry for the long note. But I had a lot to cover :-)
--Prince Boar
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
One last thing. You told me something in the beginning
of the game that I have remembered. You said that you
would lie through your teeth just before the big stab,
but would not lie otherwise. I thought that a pretty
good plan.
Is not there a similar statement that one should not
betray an ally unless it is a real stab. For example I
did not support myself to Burgundy in spring 01 and you
told me that you were going for Bur in Fall 01 (to
bounce me). Also, I did not move to the MAO in the fall
of 02. I would have been better off in MAO if England
betrayed me, which he did. But since I was hoping to
ally with England, I did not want even a little betrayal,
that I hoped I could talk my way out of, to be on my
record. It breaks the necessary trust for the little
things (the big stab is always there).
I view Ivy's move to the North Sea as one of those litle
betrayals. Yes he did not take a center, but he acted
without regard to the trust between you. Will he
continue to make those little breaches of trust, that are
not stabs, but continually improve his position relative
to your own?
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to Turkey
Ali:
How are things going over there? I have not heard from
you lately.
-- Prince Boar
Message from Master to all
Extension to Wednesday evening, due to judge outage.
Doug
Message from England to France
>How are things going between you and Germany? Did you
>have a few words with him? :-)
Nah. I am a very even-tempered person (like you apparently). I just
smiled at him and kept talking.
As nearly as I can tell, USIN has delivered some e-mail and has now shut
down again. I am sending this anyway, but I have become very frustrated
with my inability to communicate back and forth with anyone.
Ivy
Message from Turkey to France
Prince Boar,
> How are things going over there? I have not heard from
> you lately.
I've not heard from much of anyone lately. The judge problems aren't helping.
I'm still waiting to hear yes or no from Roberto about Bud. Until I hear
*something* from him, it's hard to say what I should do, specifically about
Sev. Hopefully he'll write soon.
Ali
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
I may not be around much tonight, but will check
messages. I should be around this afternoon if you want
to carry on a dialogue, and can arrange to find time
tonight if you find it useful.
If you do not get time for much discussion, please at
least let me know whether you will support Bur to Bel.
If you choose not to, I have other options for A Burgundy
(like just supporting it to hold from Paris).
Thanks.
--Prince Boar
Message from France to England
Wingo:
>At least I knew that MAO was safe.
The original plan for my defense was to take the MAO.
But Italy would not help me do so. He said that you had
poisoned him and were withholding the antidote if he
supported me thus. A very nice ploy on your part. Was
the poison a bluff? He may never know. He will just
simply avoid English Beer now, like the rest of us.
Le DAUPHIN
Message from Italy to France
>
> I have ordered Spa to MAO as my default orders. I can
> change them if our discussion warrants it. But for now,
> I think this choice reasonable.
>
I thank you in advance for this. It will be the first step in returning to
our original agreement. If I'm not mistaken, the two of us may well have
the longest peace between nations so far. I'd like to see that continue. I
honestly think the German moves this spring have created tension between EG
and peace between them is quite fragile.
>From Italy's perspective, with the Austrian demise imminent, I will be
looking at increased tension with Turkey. I would feel more comfortable in
remaining east if I have as little a threat of fleets entering the Western
Med as possible. Your move of SPA-MAO is the best possible outcome to
achieve that goal. Most of my units are east. I see no reason not to
continue moving in that direction.
I currently have six units, including Vienna, with a chance at 7 if I want
it. It is important to me that we achieve some sort of balance so that one
does not feel threatened by the other in anyway. However, I don't think
Munich is the answer at this point. In order for you to be successful
against England, you will need German assistance; in order for me to be
successful against Turkey, I will need German assistance. I don't think
either of us should make a play for Munich this fall to show Germany that we
are serious in seeking his aide in other parts of Europe.
Life is Beautiful,
Roberto
Message from Italy to France
I obviously can't count very well. :(
Guess I never really thought I'd ever make to 6 centers let alone 7 with a
shot at 8 if I were greedy. My apologies for my bad math.
Roberto
Message [from Russia] to all
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3... " (*THONK*) (The sound of a microphone being
tapped.) "I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing..."
Message from France to England
Wingo:
>Nah. I am a very even-tempered person
>(like you apparently).
Ah, I think that you are much better than I. I do have a
temper. I took your betrayal quite badly. Do you
remember my calling you an eel-faced slug? I guess that
was not very nice of me.
Hmmm, now that I think about it, I probably did not say
that to your face or in a note, only to Prince Boar and
my sister. Uh, forget that I mentioned it! ;-) I guess
that you did call me fishy, so we are even :-)
At any rate, how are you coming with the decision to
withdraw from your foolish attack on France. I suppose
that there is little for us to negotiate on the topic.
You will either withdraw or you will not. We do not have
to coordinate your withdrawal. I am not likely to risk
my position until you have actually withdrawn. As I have
stated before, my defense of France will not hurt you if
you do withdraw. I will just muck around in my own land.
Therefore, just do it and you need not worry about it
hurting your position.
Le DAUPHIN
Message from France to Germany
Fredd:
Ah, finally the judge appears to be working. Now we can
continue our discussions. I believe that you got at
least one copy of all of my messages, therefore I will
not repeat them. I will wait for you to let me know that
you have time.
The most important topic is whether you might support
Burgundy to Belgium. But I am available to negotiate
anything that concerns you.
Ivy is a little frustrated, don't you think?
-- Prince Boar
Message from France to Italy
Roberto:
It sure is difficult comunicating when the judge is up
and down. One never knows when messages were sent versus
others read. Sorry, but this note will be in a rush.
I appreciate your message explaining your position. I am
glad to hear that the neutrality and peace with France is
as important to you as it is to France.
We note that your message agreed with one of my earlier
assumptions that you prefer peace with Germany and hope
that if I am able to find an ally in the North it is
Germany and not England. I made that guess because it
made sense for you. It would help a lot if you sent a
note to Germany urging him to side with me. It would not
hurt for you to imply that if he does, that allows you
some freedom to deal with Turkey, which can only help
him.
I believe from your message that you do prefer that I
take MAO from Spain. You did not comment on my concern
about Germany and England combining to take Burgundy.
But I can deal with that if it happens. Just to confirm,
I am leaving my order of Spa -> MAO. You did not confirm
that you are supporting it. I ask and hope that you will
!
-- Prince Boar
Message from England to France
Dauphin,
> >At least I knew that MAO was safe.
>The original plan for my defense was to take the MAO.
>But Italy would not help me do so.
Italy has been very open with me. He wanted to support you to restrain the
EG alliance. At the same time he admitted that he wanted southern French
centers for himself -- as soon as he could get there with two fleets. His
compromise was to limit his support to the Mediterranean and not to get
involved in anything beyond Gibraltar.
>At any rate, how are you coming with the decision to
>withdraw from your foolish attack on France. I suppose
>that there is little for us to negotiate on the topic.
>You will either withdraw or you will not.
Yes, I agree completely with these statements.
Most cordially,
the slug
Message from Master to all
Extending the deadline one more day, now that USIN seems to be back
with us for good.
Doug
Message from Russia to France and Italy
Gentlemen,
Have you considered a supported attack on Munich?
Tyl S Bur-Mun, WMed & Spa/SC S Por-MAO, Bre S Par-Pic
would work quite nicely, I think.
Your Friend,
Nick.
Message from France to Russia
Nick:
Thanks for the note. I cannot convince Italy to attack
Germany. He wants to keep that alliance possibility for
the future. He is concerned about Turkey in the long
term. Therefore I do not expect him to support me to
Munich. I did ask him though :-) But I have given up
the idea.
Both Germany and England have mentioned that they might
consider switching sides. It is not a guarantee, but it
at least it is an improvement over their telling me there
was no chance. :-)
--Xavier
Message from Russia to France
Xavier,
>Thanks for the note. I cannot convince Italy to attack
>Germany. He wants to keep that alliance possibility for
>the future. He is concerned about Turkey in the long
>term. Therefore I do not expect him to support me to
>Munich. I did ask him though :-) But I have given up
>the idea.
I didn't think he'd go for it, but it made sense
from and anti-EG position, so I felt I should mention it.
Did you offer to support Tyl-Mun, by chance?
>Both Germany and England have mentioned that they might
>consider switching sides. It is not a guarantee, but it at least it is an
>improvement over their telling me there was no chance. :-)
I continue to point out to Ivy that stabbing
Germany is his only logical alternative at this
point, and I'd obviously rather see EF vs. G than
FG vs. E at this point, but he has not succumbed to
the wisdom of my position, yet. 8-) (Did you ever
notice that people tend to discount your strategic
and tactical advice when you have fewer Centers than
you started the war with? 8-)
Your Friend,
Nick.
Message from Italy to France
>
> I believe from your message that you do prefer that I
> take MAO from Spain. You did not comment on my concern
> about Germany and England combining to take Burgundy.
Based on my conversations with England and Germany, them combining to
re-take Burgundy is remote.
> Just to confirm,
> I am leaving my order of Spa -> MAO. You did not confirm
> that you are supporting it. I ask and hope that you will
> !
Sorry about that. Consider this note confirmation of my support for Spa/sc
- MAO.
Roberto
Message from Italy to France
>
> I believe from your message that you do prefer that I
> take MAO from Spain. You did not comment on my concern
> about Germany and England combining to take Burgundy.
Based on my conversations with England and Germany, them combining to
re-take Burgundy is remote.
> Just to confirm,
> I am leaving my order of Spa -> MAO. You did not confirm
> that you are supporting it. I ask and hope that you will
> !
Sorry about that. Consider this note confirmation of my support for Spa/sc
- MAO.
Roberto
Message from France to Germany, Italy, Russia, and Turkey
Just to let you know that I will be pretty busy today.
The Dauphin has me doing some experiments in the dungeon
on some English prisoners. Therefore I may be slow in
getting back to you. But do not hesitate to write me, I
will write back, just a little delay during the day.
Now, off to my job. I wonder what this long pointed
thing with the three curved blades does?
--Prince Boar
Message from Turkey to France
Prince Boar,
Well the judge seems to be out again, so I feel like I'm sending this by
carrier pidgeon: it may be out of date by the time it reaches you.
In any case, Roberto claims to favor supporting me to Bud, but hasn't yet
made a firm commitment. It's clear to me he really wants Bud for himself.
So if I take Bud, chances are I'll still have more Italian units around me
than I'd like. On the other hand, attacking Russia by staying in Sev would
seem to favor Germany.
At present, my orders are to attack Bud, but I could go either way. What
would you advise?
Ali
Message from Germany to all
The US Labor Day weekend is upon us. I'm afraid that I'll be out of
touch until Tuesday. (you can talk about me now)
Fredd
Message from Master to all
Not sure if any of these emails are getting through . . .
I'm have extreme email difficulty with my usual conduit -- if you've sent
me any email in the last day or so, please send it directly to
dtmasse@us.ibm.com
I'm assuming we can process orders tonight?
Doug
Message from Turkey to all
To whom it may concern:
I have declared a national holiday throughout Turkey. As a result, the
Turkish diplomatic office will be closed as our people celebrate three days of
drunken debauchery, ah, that is to say, prayer and meditation.
Our diplomatic corps will resume their work in three days. Until then, may
Allah smile on you all.
Ali Baba
Austria: Fleet Aegean Sea → Smyrna (*bounce, dislodged*)
Austria: Army Budapest SUPPORT Turkish Army Sevastopol → Rumania (*void, dislodged*)
England: Army Belgium SUPPORT Fleet Picardy (*cut*)
England: Fleet Mid-Atlantic Ocean → Irish Sea
England: Fleet North Atlantic Ocean HOLD
England: Fleet North Sea SUPPORT Army Belgium
England: Fleet Picardy SUPPORT Army Belgium (*cut, dislodged*)
France: Fleet Brest SUPPORT Army Paris → Picardy
France: Army Burgundy → Belgium (*bounce*)
France: Army Paris → Picardy
France: Fleet Portugal SUPPORT Fleet Spain (south coast) → Mid-Atlantic Ocean
France: Fleet Spain (south coast) → Mid-Atlantic Ocean
Germany: Fleet Baltic Sea → Denmark
Germany: Fleet Gulf of Bothnia SUPPORT Army Livonia → St Petersburg
Germany: Army Kiel → Holland
Germany: Army Livonia → St Petersburg (*bounce*)
Germany: Army Ruhr SUPPORT Army Silesia → Munich
Germany: Army Silesia → Munich
Italy: Fleet Greece SUPPORT Fleet Ionian Sea → Aegean Sea
Italy: Fleet Ionian Sea → Aegean Sea
Italy: Army Trieste → Serbia
Italy: Army Tyrolia → Trieste
Italy: Army Vienna SUPPORT Turkish Army Serbia → Budapest
Italy: Fleet Western Mediterranean SUPPORT French Fleet Spain (south coast) → Mid-Atlantic Ocean
Russia: Fleet St Petersburg (south coast) → Livonia (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Ukraine → Sevastopol (*bounce*)
Russia: Army Warsaw SUPPORT Fleet St Petersburg (south coast) → Livonia
Turkey: Army Armenia → Smyrna (*bounce*)
Turkey: Fleet Black Sea → Bulgaria (east coast)
Turkey: Army Bulgaria → Rumania
Turkey: Army Constantinople → Smyrna (*bounce*)
Turkey: Army Serbia → Budapest
Turkey: Army Sevastopol SUPPORT Army Bulgaria → Rumania (*cut*)
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