The 2000 Vermont Group Full-Press TournamentThird-RoundGame titleist

Results Press Austria England France Germany Italy Russia Turkey
 
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Winter 1914 Adjustment
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Map Winter 1914 Adjustment

Italy: Builds 1 unit
Russia: Builds 1 unit



Message from Russia to France

Roger,

Oh, come on, you take Vienna and Budapest, I'll take Ankara, we'll convince
Ivy to take Berlin, and everyone will be happier. Or at least me... 8-)

Nick.



Message from France to Russia

Nick:

>Oh, come on, you take Vienna and Budapest, I'll take
>Ankara, we'll convince
>Ivy to take Berlin, and everyone will be happier. Or at
>least me... 8-)
Whatever.

I do not have faith in your going through with it.

You do have to hand it to Italy, he has been playing us
well.

--King Roger XIII

PS: I need a vacation
PS: You



Message from France to Russia

Eric:

>PS: I need a vacation
>PS: You
The second PS was from a moved part of the message (about
handing it to Italy). I did not mean to imply that you
were the reason that I needed a vacation. You are only
1/3 of the reason :-)

Roger



Message from France to England

Ivy:

Will this madness ever end?

--King Roger XIII



Message from France to Italy

Roberto:

Nice job.

--King Roger XIII



Message from France to Russia

Nick:

The action in Budapest reminded me of something. I once
played in a Chaos type game where you never had to remove
units. You could build when you had more centers than
units. But you did not have to remove units if you had
more units than centers. The only way to remove someone
from the game was to surround their units and dislodge
them without retreats.

That is the only way to were are probably going to
eliminate Italy. This is especially true when you notice
that even if you take Budapest or Vienna, he can simply
grab Kiel and maintain his units.

--King Roger XIII



Message from Russia to France

Roger,

> >Oh, come on, you take Vienna and Budapest, I'll take
> >Ankara, we'll convince Ivy to take Berlin, and >everyone will be
>happier. Or at least me... 8-)

>I do not have faith in your going through with it.

Why not? Vie and Bud give you 17, so it's not like
I'm throwing the game to you just to get rid of Italy.
Getting rid of Italy will speed up play, (it is
difficult to get him to agree to moves), and simplify
your planning and mine.

Nick.



Message from England to France

>Will this madness ever end?

My dear King Roger, you have the power to end it. Simply issue a heartfelt
appeal for a 4-way draw.

Ivy/Allen



Message from France to Russia

Nick:

>Why not?
Your first reaction after the movement results tends to
be based on emotions rather that calm thinking :-) After
you reflect, you almost always change your mind. Look at
this last move. At first all you wanted to do was
eliminate Italy. Then you were just going to hold all
your units. In the end, you had a semi-peaceful
coexistence with him and focussed on me. :-)

I understand that you would like to eliminate Italy and
then you would want me near a solo to keep Ivy in line.
But you would worry about my trying to grab the solo and
I would worry about your betraying me and pushing me back
further. I am not saying that it is impossible, but it
would have to be handled carefully.

I would like to see obvious a nice defensible position
for each of us. I would also prefer Turkey because I can
defend it, unlike the Balkans. Perhaps you can take
Budapest and Vienna and I will take Ankara?

Build an army in Warsaw and we can probably figure
something out. Build a fleet in Sevastopol and there is
probably no hope.

--King Roger XIII



Message from England to France, Italy, and Russia

I have been very harsh in my criticism of Russia, almost always siding with
Italy in the disputes. Not this time.

England to Italy: Can you live with: Galicia supp Vienna
Italy to England: Yes.
Russia to England: I would be surprised indeed, if he doesn't order Vie S
Gal-Bud, or Gal-War.
England to Russia: Yeah. I can't rule it out, but I don't think he will do
it. He has not lied to me that I can recall.
Italy: Army Vienna SUPPORT Army Galicia -> Budapest.

Roger is better than the rest of us, but no one should have been able to
solo from the position he has held recently.

Ivy/Allen



Message from France to England, Italy, and Russia

>Roger is better than the rest of us,
Pah! (I invented that word, but it expresses my
feelings precisely :-)
I emphatically disagree that I am better than any of you.
Luck and circumstances have me where I am.

>but no one should have been able to
>solo from the position he has held recently.
I will point out that I have not soloed!
*and*
Finally someone admits that my position is not a strong
solo position!

Roger



Message from England to France

King Roger,

>Pah! (I invented that word, but it expresses my
>feelings precisely :-)

Sorry, I've seen the word before.

>I emphatically disagree that I am better than any of you.
>Luck and circumstances have me where I am.

I agree a little bit, at least. But I wouldn't have even been in the final
were it not for luck and circumstances. I got my solo in round one on a
50-50 guess. Interchange my second game with my semi-final game and I
wouldn't be here either. Someone else -- Karlis, I believe -- would have
been here instead.

> >but no one should have been able to
> >solo from the position he has held recently.
>I will point out that I have not soloed!

But you will. It's so frustrating. I guess I have to take some of the
blame, because I have been unable to get Stalin and Hitler to hug and
kiss. I envy you and feel sorry for me. 8-) That's life, I suppose. It
makes one more mature. Sadder and wiser and all of that.

>Finally someone admits that my position is not a strong solo position!

You don't, or at least didn't, have a solo position, but you have solo
circumstances. It shouldn't happen, but it does. If only I had you to
help me stop the solo, it would turn out differently.

Ivy/Allen



Message from France to England

Ivy:

>>Pah!
>Sorry, I've seen the word before.
Darn you :-) MS word does not know it though!

>>I emphatically disagree that I am better than any of
>>you. Luck and circumstances have me where I am.
>Interchange my second game with my semi-final game and I
>wouldn't be here either. Someone else -- Karlis, I
>believe -- would have been here instead.
Karlis is good, but so are you. Do not sell yourself
short. I am not saying that I do not belong here (there
are many people who could be here and I am lucky enough
to be one of them that made it). I was saying that I do
not see myself better than you three. I have the most
units now due to circumstances.

>You don't, or at least didn't, have a solo position,
>but you have solo circumstances.
/and/
>>I will point out that I have not soloed!
>But you will.
I have had these circumstances for 3 game years now and
have not soloed. So what makes you think that I will
ever pull it off? Obviously I do not know how to play
the "big leader position". All I can manage is to "hang
on". It does not help that my tactics are sometimes
weak.

>If only I had you to help me stop the solo, it would
>turn out differently.
Yeah, I would have stab you visciously by now ;-) :-)
(During the hug of course :-)

--King Roger XIII

PS: I know that no one is enjoying this game, but I
struggle with the draw idea. First (obviously), I could
win; but that is probably a low probability. Second, I
feel since it is a "showcase" game, that it should be
played correctly. This game is not over and not
stalemated. So ending it now would be like quitting. Do
we owe it to "the game of diplomacy" to play it to the
end? Whatever that might be?



Message from Russia to England and France

>Message from France to England, Russia and Italy in 'titleist':

> >Roger is better than the rest of us,

>I emphatically disagree that I am better than any of you.
>Luck and circumstances have me where I am.

Right, you're just lucky to be #3 on the JDPR, (and
the probable #1 when the new list comes out.) Tell
us one we'll believe, Roger.

> >but no one should have been able to
> >solo from the position he has held recently.

>I will point out that I have not soloed!

Yet...

>Finally someone admits that my position is not a strong
>solo position!

Against a coordinated opposition, you would have
difficulty, even at this point, but given the
circumstances, I expect you'll be embarassed if
you don't solo. Position is much more than just
Units on the board, and we all know that.

Eric.



Message from Russia to France

Roger,

>Your first reaction after the movement results tends to
>be based on emotions rather that calm thinking :-) After
>you reflect, you almost always change your mind. Look at
>this last move. At first all you wanted to do was
>eliminate Italy. Then you were just going to hold all
>your units. In the end, you had a semi-peaceful
>coexistence with him and focussed on me. :-)

If you would agree to my not unreasonable conditions,
I wouldn't be forced to look for alternatives. 8-)
My HOLD orders remained in place until just a few hours
before the deadline. All you had to do is set draw,
and I never would have had to change them. In the end,
I listened to Ivy, because I figured it would finally
turn Ivy against Roberto. That at least, seems to
have worked. ;^}

>I would like to see obvious a nice defensible position
>for each of us. I would also prefer Turkey because I can
>defend it, unlike the Balkans. Perhaps you can take
>Budapest and Vienna and I will take Ankara?

Umm, no, that would leave me pinned between you and
Ivy and subject to elimination, myself.

>Build an army in Warsaw and we can probably figure
>something out. Build a fleet in Sevastopol and there is
>probably no hope.

I will take your suggestions under advisement.


Nick.



Message from England to France

King Roger,

> Second, I feel since it is a "showcase" game, that it should be played
> correctly.

From where I am sitting, it is much too late to hope that titleist will be
played correctly. I do admit that it might have instructional value. For
how to stop the leader, read the French & English correspondence when Italy
was surging. For how not to stop the leader, read the ERI correspondence
of late. Although, on second thought, I'm not sure I would recommend that
painful, horrendous correspondence to anyone.

Allen/Ivy



Message from France to Italy

Roberto:

Although I was not personally ecstatic about your moves,
I do not see why Ivy and Nick can be so upset. You were
doing what you had to do in order to survive. They each
have done no different (Nick to you and Ivy to Nick).

I would have liked to seen you in Warsaw and not Berlin.
But I do not think you evil because you positioned
yourself where you felt you needed to be.

--King Roger XIII

PS: Do watch your back. With Ivy upset with you, Nick
may be able to talk him into cutting you out. Ivy may
prefer you to Nick, but he would much prefer only one of
you to having you both around making life difficult.



Message from France to Russia

Nick:

There will be no EF draw. So isolate your units (Turkey)
where Ivy cannot help them at your own risk. :-)

I am willing to listen to any proposals for eliminating
Italy. I have told you my criterion for being more open
minded.

--King Roger XIII


Map Winter 1914 Adjustment

Italy: WAIVE
Russia: BUILD Fleet Sevastopol

Centers

England: 8
France: 15
Italy: 4
Russia: 7