Flames of War: Diplomacy

[thewamp]

Spring 1901

The season is spring, the year is 1901. It is the turn of the century and all is quiet. But the Russian Bear is coming out of hibernation and all across Europe, armies are on the move. From their separate capitols, the great leaders of Europe eye each other with suspicion and doubt, for doubtless each is plotting the downfall of the other. And when the flames of war are lit, they can only be drenched by blood.

It is the best of times, it is the worst...

Okay, enough of that then. That was plenty depressing. Don't think about things that way! Surely everyone else here is friendly and completely honest. No one would possibly be unkind to you in any way!

Here's the map, just once more, for your benefit...

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc197/elektrotek85/StandardMap.jpg

And the players...

Austria - TeeEl Vexen
England - Viggo
France - Shular
Germany - Moody
Italy - Meshakhad Shishnarfne
Russia - Meklor Ilavator
Turkey - Maldiem

Now get diplomating. And everyone check in, preferably in character. I'll set a due date for orders once everyone's checked in.

[Moody the Wise]

Guten Tag, esteemed leaders of Europe. I am Herr Moody, personal advisor to the Kaiser. All communications intended for the Kaiser must be screened through my office first.

OoC: PMs are good, and so is IM: Londonwerewolf6 on AIM.

[Shular]

On behalf of the President and people of the great Republic of France, I give greetings to my fellow Europeans. It is with distress that we hear of rumblings of disorder from the east, and offer ourselves as arbitrators and ambassadors of peace to our neighbors.

I will be contacting you each soon, and hope you will feel comfortable corresponding with us in return.

Regards,
France

[Meshakhad]

I may be an alternate, but I'd like to offer my services as someone's Minister of Defense. I have experience in these matters, and I can construct projections.

[TeeEl]

Greetings! The great people of the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire look forward to becoming a road bump on another country's path to world conquest. We welcome our future conquerors, whether they are Russian, Turkish, German, French, Italian, or English! Or possibly Japanese; I wouldn't rule anything out at this point.

[MeklorIlavator]

The most Powerful and Glorious Tsar wishes me to declare that our embassies are open to all participants in this conflict, including those lazy Italians, dirty Tu... what do you mean not that part? Uhh... We hope to have fruitful discussions with all of you momentarily.

The Awesome Minister of Steamrollers Defense,
Meklor

[Maldiem]

The great Sultan of the Ottoman Empire magnanimously greets the West. Inquiries for Imperial protectoratship should be directed to our embassy.

[Shular]

Hello Austria, Turkey, and Russia. I'm sure the three of you will get along swimmingly.

[Meshakhad]

Meanwhile, in Switzerland...

Someone mutters "Everything is going according to plan!"

[thewamp]

Meshakhad, while you are an alternate, I would prefer that, unless you are called upon to take up a fallen leader's place, you limit posting in the game thread to informational posts and such. By which I mean, if you want to ask about the game, or advertise another game, or some such, that's cool, but it would be cool if you could keep role-playing to games you're, well, in. 'kay?

That said, you're the first alternate, so you very well could be called upon.

[viggo]

Salutations, European leaders,

My name is King Vincent I of England, recently inagurated and ready to defend the people of my empire.

Communications can be directed by private message or AOL instant message at vincethewiseguy.

[Shular]

I sent out some PMs, but got a couple error messages. Please let me know if you have not heard from me yet. Thanks.

[Meshakhad]

Meshakhad, while you are an alternate, I would prefer that, unless you are called upon to take up a fallen leader's place, you limit posting in the game thread to informational posts and such. By which I mean, if you want to ask about the game, or advertise another game, or some such, that's cool, but it would be cool if you could keep role-playing to games you're, well, in. 'kay?

That said, you're the first alternate, so you very well could be called upon.

Fair enough.

[Eldariel]

OOC: I'm sorry, but I have to pull out from the game. Yesterday involved a ton of things showing up which means I won't have the time to truly play. I would've loved to play Diplo especially since it's been so long, but in the present sitiuation, I simply don't have the time to play as diplomatically as the game requires. So please pull an alternative for Ita.

[thewamp]

OOC: I'm sorry, but I have to pull out from the game. Yesterday involved a ton of things showing up which means I won't have the time to truly play. I would've loved to play Diplo especially since it's been so long, but in the present sitiuation, I simply don't have the time to play as diplomatically as the game requires. So please pull an alternative for Ita.

Meshakhad, if you want the slot, you've got it. Told you there was a decent chance of that happening. :smallwink:

[Meshakhad]

Greetings, fellow leaders.

It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that this morning, a group of anarchists set off a bomb in the Senate while President Eldariel was giving an address. There were no survivors.

I have formed a Committee of Public Safety to take control of the government until such time as these threats to the people of Italy are dealt with. We do not seek war with our neighbors, though should we discover that these anarchists were backed by a foreign power, they shall feel our wrath.

Director Meshakhad
Committee of Public Safety
Rome, Rom
Nation of Italy

[thewamp]

And then there were Seven...

The game is now officially starting. After this first turn, for the first few years, you'll have a week for each turn. Spring and Fall orders will be due on Sunday with retreats and builds in the following days. Please stay on top of the schedule and please check within 24 hours of the Sunday due date so that, if there are retreats, they can be quickly resolved.

If at any point you feel like giving up and quitting, I obviously can't stop you, but I would appreciate notification.

Spring 1901 Orders are due 10/12/08 at 2300 GMT-5 (EDT)
At least, I think it's GMT-5... we're in daylight savings time at the moment in the US. Any idea how that would affect the GMT offset?

[Shular]

I understand you're involved with more than one game. Is there a specific format you'd like us to use in our PM order headings?

For example "Flames of War: France Spring 1901"

Edit: I should also note that that is the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada and, as I'll be visiting my parents that weekend I will probably be unavailable from the Saturday morning to the Monday afternoon.

[thewamp]

I understand you're involved with more than one game. Is there a specific format you'd like us to use in our PM order headings?

For example "Flames of War: France Spring 1901"

Edit: I should also note that that is the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada and, as I'll be visiting my parents that weekend I will probably be unavailable from the Saturday morning to the Monday afternoon.

FoW: France Spring 1901
would suffice, but that's just fine too. Actually, as long as you give me "FoW" or "FW" and your country's name, I'll probably be fine. But the above format is the most convenient.

And about Thanksgiving/holidays in general: the schedule isn't set in stone, so I'll dodge major holidays and their surrounding breaks.

[Shular]

It seems very quiet (I hope it's not just people not wanting to talk to me :smallsmile:). Are there any objections to bumping up the first order submission date? Are there players with anything more to discuss with each other?

[thewamp]

It seems very quiet (I hope it's not just people not wanting to talk to me :smallsmile:). Are there any objections to bumping up the first order submission date? Are there players with anything more to discuss with each other?

Well if it's very quiet, how about this...
Everyone, when you submit orders, you can include "FINAL" in the body or subject of the PM. If I've recieved a PM from everyone before the deadline labeled "FINAL," I'll adjudicate. That doesn't mean, by the way, that it has to actually be your final draft. You can still send in new orders after your "final" one. It's just that once you've sent in a set of orders labeled as such you're okay with me adjudicating as soon as all orders are in.

I really don't want to rush the first turn's orders...
Or I could just bump up the first order submission date, but I'd need to hear a consensus. So if you want to bump it up to, say, thursday, you can go ahead and mention that, here.

[MeklorIlavator]

I wouldn't mind moving it up to thursday.

[Meshakhad]

I'm fine with it.

[Moody the Wise]

Yeah, Thursday's fine by me. Maybe preferable, even, because I'll be gone most of this upcoming weekend.

[viggo]

i care not

[Shular]

Thursday works for me. Now we just need to hear from Maldiem and TeeEl

[Maldiem]

Thursday is fine with me as well.

[Meshakhad]

Oh, can anyone guess where I got the idea for the "Committee of Public Safety"?

[viggo]

french revolution

[Maldiem]

Maybe a Half Life reference? Just a guess, based on the avatar.

[Meshakhad]

*shakes head*

It's from the Honor Harrington novels by David Weber - at the end of the third book, Haven has a revolution, and a "Committee of Public Safety" takes over the country.

[Moody the Wise]

*shakes head*

It's from the Honor Harrington novels by David Weber - at the end of the third book, Haven has a revolution, and a "Committee of Public Safety" takes over the country.

*shakes head*

No, viggo had it - it was from the French Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_public_safety). I'd say the odds that your author wasn't inspired by this relatively famous historical event are slim to none, so ultimately you were inspired by it by association.

[Meshakhad]

*shakes head*

No, viggo had it - it was from the French Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_public_safety). I'd say the odds that your author wasn't inspired by this relatively famous historical event are slim to none, so ultimately you were inspired by it by association.

It was quite explicitly inspired by the French Revolution - but I got the Committee of Public Safety from Haven, not France.

[viggo]

he's right. that's where he got the idea, and that was his original question.

[Shular]

The French representative paces nervously outside the telegraph room, awaiting reports of European military activities.

[thewamp]

The French representative paces nervously outside the telegraph room, awaiting reports of European military activities.

Well, we didn't get 7 replies for a Thursday due date. Also, I refuse to have an NMR first turn, so in good conscience, I've got to let it go till Sunday. If there's still no response, I'll give the alternate an extra 48 hours to make quick talks and get orders in.

[Meshakhad]

he's right. that's where he got the idea, and that was his original question.

Still, there's no question that the Havenite revolution was inspired by the French Revolution. Among the major features:

1. Purging the Legislaturists (the ruling aristocracy)
2. All titles (particularly in the military) are preceded by "Citizen" - Citizen Captain, Citizen Admiral, Citizen Lieutenant...
3. A Committee of Public Safety taking charge.
4. A leader by the name of Rob S. Pierre.
5. The capital city of Haven? Nouveau Paris.

[viggo]

right, but your question was narrowed such that we would be forced to read your mind to get the right answer.

and most of those parallels are unnecessary. a committee for public safety that usurps power and starts screwing things up is all you need for the reference.

[Shular]

Are we only waiting on TeeEl? Has anyone heard from him lately? Is this idle chat indicative of boredom? Am I asking too many questions?

[thewamp]

Are we only waiting on TeeEl? Has anyone heard from him lately? Is this idle chat indicative of boredom? Am I asking too many questions?

We are not just waiting on TeeEl, though he's the only one that seems to have disappeared. I have complete confidence the other sets of orders will come in.

Anyway, I have an alternate lined up, so if TeeEl doesn't turn in orders, I'm not going to adjudicate. Instead, I'm going to tap Vexen and give him 48 hours to make emergency negotiations. Then, on Tuesday, I'll adjudicate. Sorry for the waiting, but I'm really a hater of 1st turn NMRs

[Shular]

Fair enough.

I'm heading out tomorrow afternoon and probably won't be back until after orders are adjudicated (this being a long weekend in Canada), so if anyone has any last minute discussions they want to have with me, please send in your PM asap.

[Moody the Wise]

We are not just waiting on TeeEl, though he's the only one that seems to have disappeared. I have complete confidence the other sets of orders will come in.

Anyway, I have an alternate lined up, so if TeeEl doesn't turn in orders, I'm not going to adjudicate. Instead, I'm going to tap Vexen and give him 48 hours to make emergency negotiations. Then, on Tuesday, I'll adjudicate. Sorry for the waiting, but I'm really a hater of 1st turn NMRs

You did get mine, right? I'm sure I sent them to you, but I just want to make sure they didn't get lost in the interwebs ...


Is this idle chat indicative of boredom?

Yeah, pretty much.

[thewamp]

You did get mine, right? I'm sure I sent them to you, but I just want to make sure they didn't get lost in the interwebs ...


The remaining non-TeeEl orders have come in, so don't worry about it.

[thewamp]

This is your 8 Hour Warning
Though most of you have orders in. But hey, if you want to change your orders, now's your chance.

[thewamp]

Orders are now due on Tuesday (2 days) at 2300, GMT-5
Because Vexen is taking the spot of TeeEl. You've got 2 days to negotiate if you want any changes. Sorry about the delay, but giving someone an Austria that's NMRed on the first turn... well it didn't really seem sensible.

[Vexen]

Vexen Here reporting for duty.

(OoC: Please send all communique's via PM. Since I am still in Around the World, another diplomacy game, if at all possible please place in the message that this is for FoW, listing what country you are from would be helpful too. :) Thanks)

[thewamp]

Vexen, you are awesome, thanks for the rushed orders
Spring 1901
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8031/flamesofwarf1901mye0.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Vie - Tyr
A Bud - Tri
F Tri - Alb

England - viggo
f edi - nwg
f lon - nth
a lvp - yor

France - Shular
Bre - Pic
Par - Bur
Mar - Gas

Germany - Moody the Wise
F Kie-Den
A Mun-Ruh
A Ber-Kie

Italy - Meshakhad
A Venice-Tyrolia
A Rome-Venice
F Naples-Ionian Sea

As a special addendum for the troops attacking Tyrolia, they are to attempt to capture all ski resorts intact.

Russia - MeklorIlavator
Flt Stp to Fin
Arm Mos to Stp
Arm War to Ukr
Flt Sev to Holds

Turkey - Maldiem
A Con - Bul
F Ank - Con
A Smy - Ank

Fall Orders are due Sunday at 2300, GMT-5

The Swiss Spring Story
After a hectic banking season, the swiss have much to report! Your money is safe, as always, but we'd prefer if you didn't try to access it at the moment. In the the land of FarFarAway, there's a sort of minor financial meltdown. Nothing to worry about. Please don't panic. It might change the pitch of your voice and then we would have to lock down access to your vault: how do we know this person we are speaking to isn't a fraud?

Many Countries Claim Peaceful Intentions, but their Actions are Suspect
Why are so many armies and navies on the move? Why didn't Austria and Italy warn enough about their exploratory parties sent to Tyrolia? Are these countries truly as peaceful as they claim?

Switzerland Encased in Big Gray Thing
To protect our great nation from the barbarian hordes of Europe, the Swiss Government, acting in your best interest, has build a big gray thing to protect us. It's sort of like a wall and a ceiling and will show up on most world maps from this point forth

[Shular]

*** HEADLINES FROM FRANCE ***

French Forces Mobilize! - Top military source claims "They're just routine maneuvers, nothing to be concerned about."

English Channel Remains Empty! - Sailors anticipating waffles in the near future.

Austrians and Italians Clash! - Le President urges the two powers to "just get along"

[Maldiem]

The Belgian Post

All out of Waffles!

"We don't actually make that many of them! Certainly not enough to feed armies! Why does it feel like thousands of Belgiums, sideways in time and space, have all been invaded by foreign powers spouting hackneyed waffle jokes!?" Raved one Belgian nutter, from an alleyway while waving a broken bottle of malt liquor.

The Turkish Ululation

Iceland, Ireland, Sardines, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus Steal Swedish Big Grey Thing Technology
3-Letter Designation Technology Reported Safe

Look at them there, invulnerable, brooding, with their massive spy networks.

Sultan Declares War on "League of Big Grey Things"

These powers clearly posses technology beyond most other nations, and seem sinister behind their impenetrable veils. Also, the Isle of Man and some of the Balearic islands seem to be missing, and the League has been implicated. Investigation is underway.

[viggo]

England declares war on Turkey, Japan, Ireland and Brazil!

[Shular]

So thewamp, while we wait for others to post their headlines, what is the "Blind with Spying" variant?

[Moody the Wise]

So thewamp, while we wait for others to post their headlines, what is the "Blind with Spying" variant?

... Why do you ask? I haven't heard those words around these parts in years ...

I ran a Youngstown game for a while that could be described as such.

Players were only made aware of the locations of units that they could see (with each unit having a 1-space sight radius), and got the full locations of all of the units of one power of their choice every turn, the power they were spying on.

It ended up just being too much work, and became a regular YT game, then eventually died.

[Shular]

On the main Diplomacy thread, thewamp (is that name, by any chance, related to the Mountain Wampus from the old C64 game "Mule"?) indicated he had one scheduled, and I wanted to know the rules.

I was thinking of running a different variation that I'd thought of (don't know if it's an existing variation, but if so then it's just coincidence), where The players would know who the other players are, but NOT which country each was playing. They could then communicate with whomever they want, and even claim to be a different country to trick other players. The players would have to determine who was playing which country based on the moves and PMs.

[thewamp]

On the main Diplomacy thread, thewamp (is that name, by any chance, related to the Mountain Wampus from the old C64 game "Mule"?) indicated he had one scheduled, and I wanted to know the rules.

I was thinking of running a different variation that I'd thought of (don't know if it's an existing variation, but if so then it's just coincidence), where The players would know who the other players are, but NOT which country each was playing. They could then communicate with whomever they want, and even claim to be a different country to trick other players. The players would have to determine who was playing which country based on the moves and PMs.

Nope, comes from my last name. That variant sounds kind of badass though.

Blind with spying involves the following:
Players don't get to know where opponents pieces are. The only time they are aware of them is when they directly interact.
However, each phase a player may choose another to spy on. He then chooses to spy on orders or on spies. So if you spy on england, you can either figure out who england is spying on, or what england's orders are.

That game is planned for after around the world finishes (which could be coming up? I'm not sure what the players are planning).

[Meshakhad]

The Italian Investigator

Tunisian Anarchists, Austro-Hungarian Empire Accused Of Parliament Attack!

Today, Director Meshakhad announced that the government had conclusive evidence that the Parliament massacre was the work of Tunisian anarchists, backed by the Austrian government.

"I have every intention of bringing the enemies of the state to justice, and if I have to, I will use the National Army and National Fleet to do so," the Director said at a press conference in Rome.

[Moody the Wise]

The Gutenburger

French Infantry in Burgundy

The dastardly French have moved troops within a short march of Munich. In an attempt to prevent further advances towards German territory, the Kaiser has commissioned a large sign to be placed along the border with an arrow pointing towards Switzerland: "Germany this way." Hey, it's cheaper than the big grey dome.

Drunk Russian sailors unable to find water, carry boats to Finland

Italy, Austria Quarrel

Come on guys, get along. But ... don't get along so well as to put an army into Tyrolia. Okay, nevermind, keep fighting.

[MeklorIlavator]

The Russian Report

New slogan of Imperial Commissars announced- The Government claims that the new slogan ("the Shootings will continue until moral improves") will dramatically increase moral. The announcement is thought to have been a response to the recent Sevastopol mutiny, which was blamed on low moral.

[Maldiem]

6.5 Hour Warning?

[Shular]

I'll see your 6.5 hour warning and raise you a negative 21 minute query. :smalltongue:

[thewamp]

Sorry about the lack of a warning. Fortunately, you're all awesome enough to get them in anyway.
Fall 1901
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1831/flamesofwarf1901bsh2.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Vie - Tri
A Tri - Ser
F Alb - Gre

England - viggo
A yor - nwy
F nth C A yor - nwy
F nwg S A yor - nwy

France - Shular
A Gas - Spa
A Bur - Bel
F Pic - Eng

Italy - Meshakhad
A Ven-Tri
A Rom Hold
F Ion-Gre

Germany - Moody
A Ruh S A Bur-Bel
A Kie-Hol
F Den Hold

Russia - MeklorIlavator
FLT FIN to SWE
ARM STP to FIN
FLT SEV to RUM
ARM UKR sup FLT SEV to RUM

Turkey - Maldiem
A Bul - Ser
F Con - Bla
A Ank - Arm

Builds!
England: 1 build
France: 2 builds
Germany: 2 builds
Russia: 2 builds
Turkey: 1 build

From now on out, all times given are in Eastern Time (of the United States Variety). I believe it's GMT-5, but I could be wrong, because of daylight savings time. Anyway, if you're worried get your orders in one hour early
Builds are due by Tuesday, 10/21 at 2300
Spring 1902 Orders due Sunday at 2300

Headlines, including the FarFarAway Fall Facts to come when I've got more time.

[viggo]

well, ****

[MeklorIlavator]

well, ****

I know your pain. Same thing happened to me in a diplomacy game once, and I learned what an Angry Russia and Backstabbing France can do to you. Of course, I managed to take ST Petersburg, and promptly lost everything else. In any case, be prepared for some grade A learning.

[thewamp]

FarFarAway Fall Facts
It's fall. You're getting that urge, that itch to travel. Where to? Why not the beautiful land of FarFarAway? We know. You've heard it's too far away. Well that's actually a misconception. Did you know there are many misconceptions about the land of FarFarAway?

Myth: FarFarAway is really far away
Fact: FarFarAway is actually very close to SlightlyLessFarAway

Myth: FarFarAway is a boring place. You can't have any fun there.
Fact: FarFarAway is considered the world capitol of Bingo, if you can believe it

Myth: FarFarAway is too expensive for me! I won't be able to afford anything!
Fact: Yeah, that's actually pretty much correct.

So when you're planning your next vacation, think of FarFarAway

Italy and Austria Continue to Battle
Italy and Austria were involved this fall in heavy fighting in Greece this Fall. The combat ended in stalemate with both sides forced to retreat. Tourists are warned that Greece may be a dangerous location for the next year or so.

Tunis Celebrates Independence!
Tunis held it's annual independence celebration this October, as the citizens celebrate their surprise that they haven't been conquered yet. "What the boop?" one citizen was heard to express. This citizen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, "I lost all my life savings betting on us being conquered! Where were the Europeans when I needed them?"

[thewamp]

Builds!
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1733/flamesofwars1902mna8.jpg

England: Build F lon
France: Build F bre, A par
Germany: Build A mun, F kie
Russia: Build A sev, F stp/nc
Turkey: Build F con

[thewamp]

This is your 12 Hour Warning
Also, let the presses actually print something this season... please?

[Meshakhad]

Mine are all frozen up, sorry.

[Maldiem]

League of Big Grey Things Traced to Russia

"After all," said the Sultan, "They're only a little bit off from the shade. They must be behind this."

[thewamp]

Spring 1902
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/8169/flamesofwars1902rmt6.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Tri - Ser
F Alb - Gre
A Vie - Tyr

England - viggo
f nwg convoy a nwy -> edi
f nth -> eng
f lon s f nth -> eng
a nwy -> edi

France - Shular
F Eng S A Bel
A Bel H
A Par - Bur
F Bre - MAO
A Spa - Mar

Germany - Moody the Wise
F Kie-Hel
F Den S F Kie-Hel
A Hol Hold
A Mun-Tyr
A Ruh-Mun

Italy - Meshakhad
F Ion-Aeg
A Rom-Apu
A Ven Hold

Russia - Meklor Ilavator
F Stp to Nor
A Fin supports F Stp to Nor
F Nor supports F Stp to Nor (not a Russian unit, so you can't order it around)
A Sev holds
A Ukr supports A Sev
F Rum to Bul

Turkey - Maldiem
A Arm Supports F Bla - Sev
F Bla - Sev
A Bul - Rum
F Con - Bla

Retreats! - just post it in the thread, since there's only one
France F eng may disband or retreat to iri, wal, pic, bre

Retreats due Tuesday at 2300
Fall 1902 Orders due Sunday at 2300

[Shular]

France: Fleet Eng retreats to Bre

[Vexen]

Austrian troops saddened at lack of attendance to foreign tea parties.
"Over the past few seasons we have been holding exchanges, soirees if you were, in various european countries with various troops of our allies. This season, however, the Turks and Italians seem to have ignored their invitations and have left our troops alone in foreign countries. I am afraid that without our guests these countries may feel that this is some sort of invasion."

[thewamp]

Swiss Spring Story
Foreign troops were repelled at the border this Spring as the Tunisians, lacking a clear leader, sent their entire army to attack the Swiss. Fortunately, the gray bubble held fast. We will now be selling this technology to anyone who can convince us that they have no expansionist tendencies. Clearly, we can rule out, among others, Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey and Tunis

Tunis Predicts Another Year of Independence
With foreign armies moving in other areas of the world, Tunis prepares to celebrate another year of independence in the fall. They were feeling so confidant that they sent the Tunisian national guard to try to penetrate the Swiss bubble to steal the technology. Unfortunately, it appears this defense is stronger than anyone had previously predicted.

Editorial: Insanity in Northern Europe
At least from the outsider's perspective... can someone let us know who is allied with whom?
-Uncle Sam

[Shular]

French Forces Vaccilate
Citizens confused by forces maneuvers. General comments "dat is a good ting. If de people of France are confused, da enemy should be also."

Portuguese Prepare Ports
Having been expecting French liberation forces to enter their country via Spain, the Portuguese people have rushed to their waterfront to prepare for the influx of naval vessels.

French President Congratulates Tunisians
While congratulating the Tunisians on their continued independence, the President also sent out feelers to discuss closer relations between the two nations.

[thewamp]

This is your 23 Hour Warning-ish

[MeklorIlavator]

Tsar Announces plans to move Capitol:
In a surprise Press conference, the Russian Tsar informed the press of his intentions to move the Capitol closer to his new winter Palace and Ski Lodge in the new Russian province of Norway.

Black Sea Stalemate Continues
In other new, the recent fighting over the violation of the Russian-Turkish Peace treaty by the Treachours Turks shows no sign of slowing down. When asked for comments, Top members of the Russian Defense Department had this to say "It's just not fair! We were just about to send the Fleet into the Sea and they beat us too it."

[Shular]

So, it this game dying off?

[thewamp]

So, it this game dying off?
Nope, I'm just a bit late. Sorry about that, btw. I went to bed early on sunday and then had a hectic day. But seriously, chill a bit :smallwink:

And for the future, just a warning, me being this late will be unusual, but will probably happen again. I beg your patience.

Oh, also, in case you were wondering, if you send me a message and want me to read it before I resolve orders, send it in a separate message from your orders. I don't even open those orders before deadline.

Fall 1902
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9564/flamesofwarf1902ber6.jpg

Austria - Vexen
F Gre S Aeg - Bul (sc)
A Ser S Aeg - Bul (sc)
A Vie - Tyr

England - viggo
NMR

France - Shular
F Bre - Eng
F MAO - Por
A Bel - Ruh
A Bur - Ruh
A Mar - Bur

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Mun-Boh
A Ruh-Mun
A Hol Hold
F Hel-Nth
F Den S F Hel-Nth

Italy - Meshakhad
F Aeg-Bul
A Ven-Tri
A Apu-Ven

Russia - MeklorIlavator
A Fin to Stp
F Nwy to Nwg
F Swe to Nwy
F Rum sup Aeg to Bul
A Sev holds
A Ukr sup Sev

Turkey - Maldiem
A Bul - Rum
F Bla Supports A Bul - Rum
F Con - Smy
A Arm - Smy

No Retreats!

Builds!
Austria: 1 Build
England: 1 Disband
France: 1 Build
Italy: 2 Builds
Russia: 1 Build

Builds due by Wednesday at 2300
Spring 1903 Orders due Sunday at 2300

PS: NMRs are bad. viggo, you out there? Don't miss the next deadline

[Shular]

Sorry, Wamp, it's not just you. I didn't receive a single PM this season, and only three people (including me) posted press (and nobody posted press the previous season). It just seems like nobody's really into the game.

Of course it could just be that nobody wants to talk to ME. :smallbiggrin:

[Meshakhad]

Muahahaha!!

[Vexen]

Triste - I saw that, I would be mad at you, but it is my own fault for letting you take it. Hindsight and all. Who cares if Germany would have taken Tyrolia, their in Bohemia now, (stinking warmongers :P ).

oh well

[viggo]

sorry about the NMR, working hard for the obama campaign

suck it mccain

[thewamp]

sorry about the NMR, working hard for the obama campaign

suck it mccain

Oh. Whoa, go you! Totally justified.

[thewamp]

This is your 8 Hour Warning

[thewamp]

Builds!
Austria Builds A bud
England Removes A edi
France: 1 Build, no build orders recieved
Italy Builds F nap, F rom
Russia Builds A mos

[MeklorIlavator]

Builds!
::Snip::
Turkey: 1 Build, no build orders recieved
Why does Turkey have a build? I count 4 units and 4 supply centers.

[Vexen]

Turkey doesn't get a build, if you look at the results for fall you will see that France should have got a build but there is none requested. I think it should say france NMR not Turkey.

Besides if Turkey didn't take the build what does it matter if he should have had it:smalltongue:

[Shular]

I'm sure he meant to say France instead of Turkey. In any case, oops.

[thewamp]

Why does Turkey have a build? I count 4 units and 4 supply centers.
Because fail. Sorry about that, yeah, Vexen, you're absolutely right.

[Shular]

What with my University being on strike, I'm starting a new game. Check here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95852) for special setup details. Please pass it on to anyone you know who likes playing Dip here. Thanks.

[Shular]

Will we be seeing an updated map soon?

[MeklorIlavator]

Russia Announces Bold new Strategy
In a recent press conference the Russian Defense Department Announces a new strategy called advancing in reverse. Apparently it involves backing up to entice the enemy to be aggressive an make mistakes. When the subject of recent Russian reversals near the Black sea was brought up, a rogue sniper shot the questioner. The sniper has remained at large.

[thewamp]

Will we be seeing an updated map soon?

I wasn't planning on updating the map. It's only a few builds.

Also, This is your 12 Minute Warning
Yeah, I forgot to warn you, so I'm going to be pretty lenient.

[thewamp]

Sorry for that taking so long. I had some pretty intense internet issues. Isn't *wireless* supposed to be the unreliable one in my dorm. *Grumble*
Spring 1903
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/6748/flamesofwarf1903mgz1.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Ser S Gre
F Gre S Con - Bul
A Tyr - Vie
A Bud S Tyr - Vie

England - viggo
f nwg -> edi
f lon s f eng
f eng s f lon

France - Shular
F Por - MAO
F Bre - Eng
A Pic S A Bur
A Bur S A Pic
A Mar S A Bur

Italy - Meshakhad
A Ven S A Tri
A Tri H
F Bul-Aeg
F Rom-Tys
F Nap-Ion

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Mun-Kie
A Boh-Sil
A Hol-Den
F Nth C A Hol-Den
F Den-Bal

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Nwy to Nwg
F Swe Hold
A Sev Hold
A Mos Sup A Sev
A Ukr Sup A Sev
A Stp to Lvn

Turkey - Maldiem
F Con - Bul(sc)
A Rum Supports F Con - Bul (SC)
A Arm - Smy
F Bla Supports A Rum

Fall 1903 Orders Due, Friday at 2300
I'm going to speed this up a bit. Hope you all don't mind. By the way, builds will probably be due over the weekend. If you can't get to a computer over the weekend, let me know now.

Also, thought of the day: why do a majority of your user names start with "M"?

[Moody the Wise]

France - Shular
F Por - MAO
F Bre - Eng
A Pic S A Bur
A Bur S A Pic
A Mar S A Bur


You do mean A Bel when you say A Pic, right?



Also, thought of the day: why do a majority of your user names start with "M"?

Because we're all the same person, clearly. I didn't tell you about my other three accounts?

[Shular]

You do mean A Bel when you say A Pic, right?

Yes, yes I did. Oops.

[thewamp]

Yes, yes I did. Oops.

It didn't matter, but I didn't process them as such. You simply had 3 real orders and a bunch of holds.

[Shular]

French Press:

English Remain in Channel: Le President to rename it "French Channel (No. 5)" to reinforce claims.

Germans Flee French Borders: Soldiers think they're intimidating...nobody has the heart to tell them the truth.

Turks in Bulgaria: A sign of things to come?

[thewamp]

This is your 21 Hour Warning
So Orders, orders, orders. And then press!

[Maldiem]

League Of Big Grey Things Traced To Vatican

"We were wrong about the Russia thing," says a senior grey dome analyst, "we just got fooled by the expert spies the grey things have developed, with the pope's aid."

[Meshakhad]

Pope Mailed to St. Petersburg
Shortly after Russian spies traced the League of Big Gray Things to the Vatican, a very large package arrived at the Tzar's palace, sent from Italian Director Meshakhad himself. The package was opened, and found to contain the Pope wearing a shirt that said "A gesture of goodwill."

In other news, Director Meshakhad has declared deep-dish pizza superior to thin pizza, ending a debate which has threatened to tear their country apart.

[thewamp]

Fall 1903
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6995/flamesofwarf1903rgt3.jpg

Austria - Vexen
F Gre Hold
A Ser S Bud - Tri
A Bud - Tri
A vie S Bud - Tri

England - viggo
F eng S F lon
F lon S F eng
F edi - cly

France - Shular
F MAO - NAO
F Bre - MAO
A Mar - Pie
A Bur - Bel
A Bel - Yor

Germany - Moody the Wise
F Nth C A Bel-Yor
A Den-Swe
F Bal S A Den-Swe
A Kie-Hol
A Sil-Boh

Italy - Meshakhad
A Tri H
A Ven S A Tri
F Tys-Tun
F Aeg-Gre
F Ion S F Aeg-Gre

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Swe to Nor
F Nwg sup F Swe to Nor
A Lvn to War
A Mos to Sev
A Sev to Rum
A Ukr sup A Sev to Rum

Turkey - Maldiem
F Bul supports F Gre
A Smy - Con
F Bla Supports A Rum
A Rum Supports F Bul

Retreats! - please just post in this thread
Italy A tri may disband or retreat to alb, tri

Adjustments - assuming the retreat is taken
Austria: 1 build
France: 1 build
Germany: 1 build
Italy: remove 1
Russia: remove 1
Turkey: 1 build

Retreats due by Saturday at 2300 (Hopefully)
Builds due Sunday at 2300
Spring 1903 Orders due Wednesday at 2300
Because there are less than 24 hours given for the retreat order, it technically has 24 hours to come in. If it's late though, it *may* delay builds and such, so Meshakhad, get your orders in!

Tunisian armies brave to the last
Though they couldn't hold off the Italians, their brave struggle will not go unnoticed. America has already pledged to send fleets to rescue the Tunisians, though according to them, "it could take a while. Be patient, we have to figure out how many regions wide this ocean is."

[Shular]

French Press:

French Troops Enter Piedmont: "We couldn't help ourselves," top general states, "the women and food are simply irresistable!"

Brest Vacated by Fleet: British don't notice. "They're too busy looking at their navals," Admiral puns...badly.

Germans take Sweden: Russians have no choice but to bend over and take it up the fjord.

Editorial: Where Are the Weapons of Mass Destruction?
After justifying the invasion of England under the pretense of British "poison gas", no evidence has been found that there is gas of any kind in the country other than resulting from the ghastly English "cuisine". The President insists that the information provided by German intelligence was credible. He believes that the evidence will be found elsewhere. "With the help of our German friends, we will keep looking, even if we have to search every inch of the island."

[Meshakhad]

Retreat to Alb.

[Shular]

Interesting choice.

[Vexen]

I am thinking he got confused 'cause the retreat list said Tri or Alb, but he was retreating from Tri . . . anyway.

Italians retreat into enemy territory
Italy continues its military practices to defy logic and confuse enemies. "I think that their strategy is based entirely on doing what everyone least expects regardless of how that works out. If this is the case we anticipate that the disbanded force will be in Venice." Commented Austrian military adviser this morning when asked about the Italian advance.
Connections with Italian officials, seem to be claiming that military forces in the field were confused interpreting their retreat orders with attack orders. "It was the only place to which we could advance." said Italian army leader to Austrian forces as he was preparing to surrender. Terms of surrender are still being worked out but Austrian officials assure us that Albania will be free of Italians, if not during the winter then by summer.

Incomplete list of Italian military blunders.
1. Not invading Tunis
2. Bounce with Austria in Greece instead of invading Tunis
3. Stabbing Turkey.
4. Not invading Tunis
5. Stabbing Austria.
6. Not invading Tunis (oh, wait I think they finally did.)
7. Retreating Army into Landlocked territory surrounded by enemy troops.

[thewamp]

I am thinking he got confused 'cause the retreat list said Tri or Alb, but he was retreating from Tri . . . anyway.


Oh. Shoot, my bad. Yeah, it should have been tyr.

Builds!
Austria Builds A bud
France Builds F bre
Germany Builds A Kie
Italy Autodisbands F aeg
Russia Disbands A ukr
Turkey Builds F smy

[Meshakhad]

DAMMMIT!

I forgot to send in my disband orders!

As for my blunders, I know I've made mistakes, but I'm really just trying to have fun.

[Vexen]

(OoC: Meshakhad (man that name is hard to spell) -
My previous comments were not directed to you as a player. If i were to point out Player tactical errors, my first complaint would be directed at Austria spring 1901, i mean seriously what was i thinking? My intention was to make light of the situation and make a humurous jibe at Italy to express the anger that Austria would be feeling after being stabbed, and in attempt to publicly state that Austria and Italy are not allies at this stage.
You are correct the intention of the game is definitely to have fun, i hope i haven't detracted from that. I will attempt to be a little more kind, again sorry for the inconvenience)

[Shular]

Map soon, please? It will make negotiations easier with the visual.

[thewamp]

Map soon, please? It will make negotiations easier with the visual.

Yep, here's the map:
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8784/flamesofwars1904mvw4.jpg

[thewamp]

This is your 8 hour warning!!!

[thewamp]

Spring 1904
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5299/flamesofwars1904rnu2.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Vie S Bud - Tri
A Bud - Tri
A Tri - Tyr
A Ser S Gre
F Gre S Smy - Aeg

England - Viggo
F cly - lvp
F eng - iri
F lon - yor

France - Shular
F NAO - IRI
F MAO S Bre - ENG
F Bre - ENG
A Bel - Pic
A Yor - Wal
A Pie - Tyr

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Swe-Fin
F Bal-Bot
A Kie-Den
A Boh-Sil
A Hol-Bel
F Nth-Lon

Italy - Meshakhad
A Ven-Tri
A Alb S F Ion-Gre
F Ion-Gre
F Tun-Tyr

Russia - MeklorIlavator
A War Holds
A Sev Holds
A Mos S A Sev Holds
F Nwy Holds
F Nwg S F Nwy Holds

Turkey - Maldiem
F Smy - Aeg
F Bul(SC) - Supports F Smy - Aeg
A Con Supports F Bul(SC)
A Rum Supports F Bul(SC)
F Bla Supports A Rum

Retreats
English Fleet Eng may disband or retreat to nth

Retreats due by Thursday at 2300
Fall 1904 Orders due by Monday at 2300

Germans march in London
Or at least Germans swim pretty close to the shore. We can't really tell here in Switzerland. It's pretty far away and it's not like anyone bothers to tell us anything.

Hibernation?
The Russian Bear was curiously still this last turn. Was it hibernation? Was it a devious plan? Will we ever really know?

[thewamp]

Fleet eng retreats to nth

[viggo]

England hands over WMD stockpiles

The US gave them to us. See? Here's the receipt. Originally signed by Eisenhower, then there's Nixon and Reagan on here, too.

Now get your inspectors off my island.

[thewamp]

This is your 24 hour warning

[thewamp]

Fall 1904
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/8568/flamesofwarf1904bst4.jpg

Austria - Vexen
F Gre S Aeg - Ion
A Ser S Gre
A Tri S Vie - Tyr
A Vie - Tyr
A Bud S Tri

England - viggo
F lvp - iri
F yor - lon
F nth - den

France - Shular
F NAO S A Wal - Lvp
A Wal - Lvp
F Eng S F Lon H
A Pic - Bel
F MAO - Wes
A Pie - Tyr

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Fin-Stp
F Bot S A Fin-Stp
A Bel-Hol
F Lon Holds on loosely, but doesn't let go
A Den Holds the line (love isn't always on time!)
A Sil-War

Italy - Meshakhad
A Alb-Tri
A Ven S A Alb-Tri
F Ion H
F Tys S F Ion H

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Nwg to nth
F Nwy to stp
A Mos Supports F Nwy to stp
A Sev Holds
A War Holds

Turkey - Maldiem
A Rum Supports A Con - Bul
A Con - Bul
F Bul(SC) - Aeg
F Aeg - Eas
F Bla Supports A Rum

Adjustments
England: Remove 2
France: Build 1
Germany: Build 1

Builds due Wednesday at 2300
Spring 1905 Orders due Saturday at 2300
If you can't get orders in over the weekend, submit them on friday

[Shular]

French Headlines:

Germans Show Age! - Who knew .38 Special and Toto were German?

Unaccounted-for WMD Not Found Yet! - Rumours indicate stockpile beneath Edinburgh Castle.

French Fleet Rushing to Italian Navy's Aid Shocks Citizens! - "Italy has a navy?"

[Maldiem]

Belgium Joyous!

"We got invaded; that, we're not all that surprised about," said a Belgian newspaper in a recent editorial, "but what we are surprised about is that neither the invading force or the French forces made a waffle joke. This is a first for our forlorn little nation!"

After reading the story, the Sultan remarked, "Well, they would have really flipped out if they'd seen the story we didn't publish about the Germans ironing the battered Belgian forces into caked mounds of flaky, golden brown surrender. Waffles."

[viggo]

maldiem, you goofball

[thewamp]

Adjustments
England Remove F yor
England Remove F iri
France Build F mar
Germany Build A kie

[thewamp]

This is your 21 Hour Warning

[thewamp]

Spring 1905
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/8294/flamesofwarf1905msh0.jpg

Austria - Vexen
F Gre S eas - Ion
A Tri - Tyr
A Vie S Tri - Tyr
A Bud - Tri
A Ser S Bud - Tri

England - viggo
F nth hold

France - Shular
F NAO - Cly
A Lvp S F NAO - Cly
F Eng - MAO
A Bel H
F Mar - LYO
A Pie - Tyr
F WES S F Mar - LYO

Italy - Meshakhad
Alb-Gre
Ion H
Tys S Ion H
Ven S Pie-Tyr

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Den-Swe
F Bot S A Den-Swe
A Fin-Stp
A Kie-Den
A Hol Hold
F Lon-Nth
A Sil-War

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Nwg to Bar
F Nwy to stp
A Mos Supports F Nwy to stp
A Sev Holds
A War Holds

Turkey - Maldiem
F Eas - Ion
F Aeg Supports F Eas - Ion
A Bul Supports F Gre
A Rum Supports A Bul
F Bla Supports A Rum

Retreats!
None

Fall 1905 Orders due Tuesday at 2300

[viggo]

British Admirals too busy evacuating to Canada to worry about its fleets in the North Atlantic!

"Honestly, I've been around for a long time, and I've never seen this before. Maybe they're studying the ocean floor? It's time for a serious final push to save as much of the homeland as we can. I guarantee you most of the officers we have left will not pass their re-enlistment exams.

I'm proud to announce that we do have a great crop of officers graduating on December 18th. Maybe we'll launch a renewed offensive then, if we still have any docks left in Europe. Until then, we expect zero movement from our fleets left surrounding Old Blighty."

[Shular]

Franch Navy Recruits British Officers - Institution of tea-time having great results. New recruitment office to be opened soon in Edinburgh.

French and Austrian Troops Continue Clashing in Tyrolia - French messages to Austrian leaders to cease and desist their agression falls on deaf ears.

Italians Fight On in Albania - Surrounded by enemies, and vulnerable to destruction at any time, Italian troops not only hold on, but continue to contribute to the war effert, preventing Turkish fleets from taking the Ionian Sea, and generally being a pain in the Austrian-Turkish rear end.

[Shular]

5 hour warning?

[thewamp]

5 hour warning?

Yes and now a 2 hour warning!

[Maldiem]

-1 Hour Warning?

[Shular]

-1 Hour Warning?
-24 Hour Warning? :smalltongue:

[thewamp]

The pre-finals madness is beginning to hit. Sorry about the delay.
Fall 1905
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8020/flamesofwarf1905bur7.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Tri - Alb
A Ser S Tri - Alb
F Gre S Tri - Alb
A Bud - Tri
A Vie S Bud - Tri

England - viggo
NMR

France - Shular
F Cly - Edi
A Lvp S F Cly - Edi
A Bel H
F MAO H
F LYO - TYS
F WES S F LYO - TYS
A Pie - Tyr

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Swe-Nwy
A Fin S A Swe-Nwy
F Bot-Stp(sc)
A Den Hold
A Sil-War
A Hol Hold
F Lon-Nth

Italy - Meshakhad
Alb-Gre
Ion-Apu
Tys-Tun
Ven S Pie-Tyr

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Bar to Stp
A Mos Supports F Bar to Stp
F Stp to Nor
A War to Hold
A Sev to Ukr

Turkey - Maldiem
A Rum - Sev
F Bla Supports A Rum - Sev
A Bul - Rum
F Aeg Supports F Eas - Ion
F Eas - Ion

Adjustment
England: Remove 1
France: Build 1
Germany: Build 1
Italy: Build 1
Russia: Remove 2
Turkey: Build 1

Defeat!
England falls in defeat

Builds due at 2300 on Friday
Spring 1906 Orders due Monday at 2300

[Shular]

Headlines:

England Returns to Franco-Germanic Roots! - Sure, the saxons are pissed, but the anglos are firmly on-side.

Tyrolia Secured! - Austrians finally relent and allow French forces into Tyrolia, restoring order to the region.

Turkish Expansion Worrisome! - Pope issues dire warning of islamic threat, catholic nations unite in response.

[thewamp]

Whoa, sorry for the delay:
Builds!
England autodisbands F nth
France builds A mar
Germany builds A mun
Italy waives one build
Russia disbands A war, A ukr
Turkey builds A con

[Meshakhad]

Oops.

Guys, I'm going to have to resign. Schoolwork has just been too stressful for me, lately.

[Shular]

Oops.

Guys, I'm going to have to resign. Schoolwork has just been too stressful for me, lately.

Gah! THAT'S gonna leave a mark!

[Moody the Wise]

Mesh, sorry to see you go. I should be writing a paper as we speak (it's due in 9 hours and 40 minutes, 8 of which are normally reserved for sleeping), so I feel your pain.

Wamp, are we going to look for a replacement? I think Italy is still significant enough to warrant one, even if it might be hard to find one.

Wanted: Player crazy about fixer-uppers!

[Meshakhad]

Or I could go out in a... bang.

*blows up Italian peninsula and North Africa*

Ven, Pie, Tus, Rom, Nap, Apu, Tun, and Naf are now sea zones.

[Shular]

Are orders still due tonight at 23:00? I'd really like to see a map beofre I can get a good feel for what negotiations and moves to make, not to mention Italy's withdrawal would result in significant changes to my plans.

[Shular]

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "why the long face?"

Did you hear about the moron who locked his keys in the car? Took him two hours to get his family out.

A lot more where these came from, and I'm not afraid to use 'em if things don't pick up. :smalltongue:

[Moody the Wise]

Did you hear about the man who fell into the upholstery machine? Don't worry, he's fully recovered!

What do you call people who jump off of bridges in Paris? Insane! (say it out loud and you might get it)

Two drums and a cymbal fell down the stairs ... *ba-dum ching!*

[thewamp]

Deadline Delayed to Friday at 2300
That's because of the dropout of Italy and the hope that we can find a new player. I'm contacting someone who might be interested.

New Map:

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/3285/flamesofwars1906mzf6.jpg

[Shular]

I know it's a lot of work, but I'd be willing to make the sacrifice and take over control of Italy with running France simultaneously. Running two countries would be a bit of a pain, but to keep the game going I'll just have to bear it.

[Shishnarfne]

I know it's a lot of work, but I'd be willing to make the sacrifice and take over control of Italy with running France simultaneously. Running two countries would be a bit of a pain, but to keep the game going I'll just have to bear it.

I would like to rescue Shular from the grave dilemma of attempting to simultaneously running two nations that border each other, so, since thewamp has contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in taking over Italy... I'll give it a go.
I'd like to receive communication from each of you detailing your previous relations with Italy and plans for Italy's future.

Edit: Is Italy due a build, too?

[Shular]

Welcome aboard, Shish (if you don't mind being called Shish)!

Yes, Italy was due a build which he did not use becuase he was, apparently too busy. I think that, since you're willing to come aboard and help out, it's only fair that you get to make the build (since nothing else has happened yet).

[Shishnarfne]

Well, if I am permited the build, I would prefer a F Nap on general principles...

[thewamp]

Just confirming the Shishnarfne has the spot... confirmed!

Also, unless I hear dissent, I'm going to allow the build F nap. Orders are still due friday, but if you're going to disagree with my allowing the build, you've got to speak up at least 24 hours ahead of time.

[thewamp]

Spring 1906
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3294/flamesofwars1906rmr7.jpg

Austria - Vexen
NMR

France - Shular
F Edi - Cly
A Lvp - Edi
F MAO H
A Bel - Bur
A Mar - Bur
A Tyr S A Mun - Boh
F WES - TYS
F TYS - ION

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Mun-Boh
A Sil-War
A Holland hold
F Lon-Nth
A Fin-Stp
A Nwy S A Fin-Stp
F Bot S A Fin-Stp
A Den-Kie

Italy - Shishnarfne
A Ven S A Tyr
F Apu-Adr
F Nap S F Ion-Tys
F Tun S F Ion-Tys

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Stp Holds
F Bar Supports F Stp Holds
A Mos Supports F Stp Holds

Turkey - Maldiem
F Ion - Tys
F Aeg Supports F Gre - Ion
A Con - Bul
F Bla Supports A Con - Bul
A Rum - Gal
A Sev - Ukr

Retreats!
France F tys may disband or retreat to rom, tus, lyo

Retreats due Sunday at 2300
Fall 1906 Orders due Wednesday at 2300

[Shular]

French fleet Tys retreats to Rome

French headlines:

TREACHERY!: Italians betray French navy, siding with Turkish heathens! Furious French admiral travels to the Vatican to complain to the Pope.

CONFUSION!: Italians support French forces in Tyrolia. What game are they playing?

ANARCHY!: Civil disorder in Austria. Nobody takes advantage.

[Shishnarfne]

Italian Navy Checked For Color-Blindness
"Hey, we just got orders to support breaking the deadlock at the Ionian-Tyrrhenian Sea border, we didn't think we needed to check which side we were supposed to be supporting..." In unrelated news, several Italian admirals have been reassigned to the Papal Swiss Guard, against the protestations of His Holiness, as they tend to bring down the military bearing of that proud unit. Some observers expect them to be drummed out due to an inability to locate uniforms of proper color. More news on this front expected later.

[thewamp]

Hey, sorry for the lack of a 24 hour warning, I've been flying home. Anyway, I'm exhausted, so I'll get to these later today...

[thewamp]

France 1906
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1165/flamesofwarf1906rzl7.jpg

Austria - Vexen
F Gre - Ion
A Alb S Tri
A Ser S Tri
A Vie S Tri
A Tri Hold

France - Shular
F Cly - NAO
A Edi H
A Bel H
F MAO - WES
F WES - LYO
F Rom - TYS
A Tyr - Tri
A Mar - Pie

Germany - Moody the Wise
F Bot-Stp(sc)
A Nwy S F Bot-Stp(sc)
A Fin S F Bot-Stp(sc)
F Nth S A Nwy
A Kie-Ruh
A Hol S A Kie-Ruh
A Boh S A Gal-Vie
A War S A Ukr-Mos

Italy - Shishnarfne
A Ven S A Tyr-Tri
F Adr S A Tyr-Tri
F Nap S F Rom-Tys
F Tun S F Rom-Tys

Russia - MeklorIlavator
F Stp to Nwy
F Bar Supports F Stp to Nwy
A Mos Supports to Stp - can only be interpreted as supports stp, fails

Turkey - Maldiem
A Bul - Gre
F Aeg Supports A Bul - Gre
F Bla - Sev
A Ukr - Mos
A Gal - Vie
F Tys - Lyo

Retreats!
Russia A mos may disband or retreat to lvn (and then disband when we get to adjustments)
Austria A vie may disband or retreat to bud
Turkey F tys may disband or retreat to tus

Builds - assuming all retreats are taken
Austria: Remove 2
Germany: Build 2
Russia: Remove 2
Turkey: Build 3

Defeat!
Russia has been defeated!

Retreats due by Friday at 2300
Builds due by Saturday at 2300
Spring 1907 Orders due by Monday at 2300
if you can't get orders in on the weekend, turn builds in early.

[Shular]

Not giving 3 days for Spring orders?

[Maldiem]

The fleet in Tys will take the retreat.

[thewamp]

Not giving 3 days for Spring orders?

Is it too little time? I can give an extra day.

[Shular]

Normally I wouldn't mind, but there have been significant changes in the complexion of the game, and it will be difficult to discuss any sort of options with the other players until we see what units get disbanded/built.

[Vexen]

Retreat
A Vie - Bud

Disband
A alb
F Ion

[Maldiem]

After Much Soul-Searching, Sultan Orders Invasion of Austria

"I couldn't find it," said the Sultan, "I looked really hard, but it just wasn't in me to hope the Austrians got their government together to hold out against France."

Trouble on the Maginot

It looks like all isn't quiet in Western Europe, with the French army in Belgium dead-to-rights to Germany. Will the Kaiser be kicking the dead horse made of waffles next?

[thewamp]

Normally I wouldn't mind, but there have been significant changes in the complexion of the game, and it will be difficult to discuss any sort of options with the other players until we see what units get disbanded/built.

Good enough for me,
Spring 1907 Orders are now due Tuesday at 2300

[thewamp]

Sorry about the delay:
Builds
Turkey:
Build A Con
Build A Ank
Build F Smy
Germany:
A Mun
F Kie
Austria:
Disbands listed above.

[thewamp]

This is your 22 Hour Warning

[thewamp]

Spring 1907
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7715/flamesofwarf1907mhc4.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Bud S Tri - Vie
A Tri - Vie
A Ser S Alb - Tri (no unit at alb to support)
A Alb - Tri (no unit at alb)

France - Shular
A Edi H
F NAO - MAO
F MAO - WES
A Bel - Pic
F WES - LYO
F TYS - Tus
A Pie H
A Tyr - Vie

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Boh S Tyr-Vie
A Mun-Tyr
A Ruh Hold
A Hol Hold
A Nwy-Lon
F Nth C A Nwy-Lon
F Stp(sc)-Bot
A Fin-Stp
F Kie-Hel
A War Hold

Italy - Shishnarfne
A ven S tys-tus
F tun-ion
F adr S F tun-ion
F nap-rom

Turkey - Maldiem
A Mos H
F Sev - Rum
A Con - Bul
A Ank - Con
F Aeg - Ion
F Smy - Eas
A Gre Supports A Con - Bul
A Vie - Bud
F Tus - Lyo

Retreats!
None

Fall 1907 Orders due Saturday at 2300
If you can't get them in on the weekend, submit them by Friday

[Shular]

By the way: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Headlines from Paris:

Powers Position Pieces in Preperation for Prognosticated Period of Pugnatious Pushing!

Turkish Fleet Finds Itself in Hot Water When Denied the Gulf of Lyon

Germans Choose not to Press Their Advantage: Burgundians Celebrate with Beer and Sauerkraut Festival

[thewamp]

Oops, this is your 3 Hour Warning!

[Shular]

I'm quite curious to see how last night's orders turn out. This could be a make or break season for France.

[thewamp]

I'm quite curious to see how last night's orders turn out. This could be a make or break season for France.

I unfortunately may have to delay orders getting back till tomorrow. Partly because there was vast NMRing and partly I'm really busy tonight... So if people want to revise orders, that's allowed. I'll probably just go ahead and adjudicate some time late tomorrow (monday), NMRing if necessary. After that, the next set of major orders (fall, spring) will be due a couple days into the new year.

[Vexen]

Sorry, for the NMR at the moment. the holidays were a bit busier than anticipated. I Am at work now and will try to post orders at lunch. If not . . . I can post them after work around 6 pm MST, if you care to wait that long. if not just everybody hold.

[thewamp]

For anyone anxiously waiting (sorry for the delay), orders will be adjudicated at about 3am, EST. That's roughly 5.5 hours

[thewamp]

Well, NMRs suck, but we've got two. Sorry for the delay, all.
Fall 1907
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/6931/flamesofwarf1907rfo9.jpg

Austria - Vexen
NMR

France - Shular
F NAO - MAO
A Edi H
A Pic H
F MAO - Wes
F WES - Tun
F TUS - Rom
A Pie - Ven
A Tyr S Pie - Ven

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Stp-Mos
A War S A Stp-Mos
F Bot-Lvn
A Hol-Bel
A Ruh S A Hol-Bel
A Mun-Bur
A Boh-Mun
F Nth-Eng
F Hel-Nth
A Lon-Yor

Italy - Shishnarfne
NMR

Turkey - Maldiem
A Mos H
A Vie - Bud
A Gre - Ser
A Bul Supports A Gre - Ser
F Aeg Convoys A Con - Gre
F Eas - Aeg
A Con - Gre
F Rum H

Retreats!
Turkey A mos may disband or retreat to ukr, sev
Austria A ser may disband or retreat to alb
Italy A ven may disband or retreat to apu

Builds! - assuming all retreats are taken
Austria - remove 1
France - build 1
Germany - build 2
Italy - remove 2
Turkey - build 1

Retreats due Friday at 2300
Builds due Saturday at 2300
Spring 1908 orders due Tuesday at 2300
Note the delay. We're breaking till after new years. You have time to stew in the events, I guess.

[Maldiem]

A Mos retreats to Sev

[Vexen]

Sorry for the NMR
I really meant to post orders, things just keep coming up.

hmmm . . . I don't think I will spend the time retreating.

Disband Serbia

[Shishnarfne]

Sorry about that...

Just didn't get online during break...

I'll keep the fleet Rome and fleet Ionian...

[thewamp]

Awesome... well then,
This is your 24 Hour warning
for builds

[thewamp]

Winter 1907

France - build A par
Germany - build A kie, A ber
Italy - disband F adr
Turkey - build A con

2 retreats weren't taken so that works... oh hell, just look at the map:

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/2913/flamesofwars1908mwc1.jpg

[Shular]

Headlines from France:

Three German Soldiers Crossed the Rhine! - Parisian reserves mobilize.

Civil Disorder Restored in Austria and Italy - Hopefully the current governments are stable.

French Forces take Possession of Venice, Tunis - President sends message to Rome, "No hard feelings?"

[thewamp]

This is your 4 hour warning...

[thewamp]

Spring 1908
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/6586/flamesofwars1908ryt2.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Tri S Bud
A Bud S Tri

France - Shular
A Edi - Lvp
A Pic - Bur
A Par S A Pic - Bur
A Tyr - Pie
A Ven S Ser - Tri
F MAO - Spa (NC)
F Wes - MAO
F Tun - NAf
F Tus - Lyo

Germany - Moody the Wise
F Lvn-Bal
A Mos-Sev
A War-Gal
A Ber-Sil
A Mun-Boh
A Kie-Mun
A Bur-Gas
F Eng-Mao
A Bel-Edi
A Yor S A Bel-Edi
F Nth C A Bel-Edi
A Ruh-Bel

Italy - Shishnarfne
F Rom-Tys
F Ion-Tun

Turkey - Maldiem
A Ser - Tri
A Vie - Bed (interpretted as A vie - bud)
F Rum - Sev
A Sev - Ukr
A Bul - Ser
A Con - Bul
A Gre - Alb
F Aeg - Gre
F Eas - Aeg

Retreats!
Austria A tri may disband or retreat to tyr

Retreat due Thursday at 2300
Fall 1908 Orders due Saturday at 2300
If you can't get it in then, get it in early. Odds are the retreat will be in somewhat early

[Shular]

French Headline (translated):

President: "The people will rise!"

A pall has fallen on Paris. Even the most out of touch citizens realize that the demise of our great nation approaches. Despite this, or maybe because of it, that same spirit that raised up the people and threw down the tyranny of kings has created a burning within the heart of every Franchman.

"Come what may," the President declared from his podium at the base of the Eiffel Tower, "the people will rise up against foreign invaders. Cities may fall, but the flame of freedom shall burn bright as long as there remains a son of France to draw breath!" There followed a stirring rendition of La Marseillaise, and more than one tear was seen on the grim but resolute faces in attendence.

An anonymous but credible source has confirmed that the German offensive is moving faster than expected. He also confirmed a working relationship forming with former enemies Italy and Turkey, though the President is apparently dismayed by reported events in and around Sevestopol.

Regarding the Italians in Tunis, there was no comment.


French troops: Weary but defiant!
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/Shular67/frenchsoldiers.jpg?t=1231380964

[Vexen]

Tri - Tyr

Though I would like to call it a "necessary relocation" rather than a "retreat" if I may. :)

[thewamp]

What with Around the World being at its very end, seemingly, here's another. Hope you all aren't burned out.

Intrigue! Betrayal! Wacky, entertaining fun! You'll find it all in a diplomacy game where the world is dimmer. So dim, in fact, you can't see the very map of the world. But don't let that stop you. Come join the game, here! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101761)

I'm trying something new this time. I'm going to, should interest hold, run a blind game, but with an optional spying rule. We'll see how this works.

[thewamp]

This is your... um... 2 hour warning
My bad. Get orders in ASAP. But extra leniency up to 24 hours from now.

[thewamp]

Fall 1908
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/5008/flamesofwarf1908bca1.jpg

Austria - Vexen
A Tyr S Bud - Vie
A Bud - Vie

France - Shular
A Liv - Wal (interpretted as liverpool, which has the abbreviation lvp)
A Par - Bre
A Bur - Gas
A Pie - Mar
A Ven S (Turkish) A Tri - Tyr
F Spa S A Bur - Gas
F Lyo S A Pie - Mar
F Wes S F NAf - MAO
F NAf - MAO

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Yor-Lvp
A Edi S A Yor-Lvp
A Gas-Bre
F Eng-Iri
F Nth-Eng
A Gas-Par
A Bel-Ruh
A Mun-Ruh
A Gal-Vie
A Boh S A Gal-Vie
A Sil-War
F Bal-Den

Italy - Shishnarfne
F Tun-Naf
F Tys H

Turkey - Maldiem
A Tri - Tyr
A Vie - Bud
A Ser S A Vie - Bud
A Alb - Tri
A Ukr - Sev
F Rum - Bla
A Bul - Rum
F Gre - Ion
F Aeg - Ion

Retreats!
These are both Austrian, so we're skipping this phase, because

Elimination!
Austria is eliminated

Builds!
Germany: build 3 (can only build 2 due to a unit in mun)
France: disband 3
Turkey: build 1

Builds due Monday at 2300
Spring 1909 Orders due Thursday at 2300

[thewamp]

This is your 20 hour warning
... for builds

[Shular]

Builds and map please?

[thewamp]

I'm very sorry about the delay, I was flying to LA today and once I got there, partying commenced and... well anyway, I'm back at a computer.

Builds!
just look at the map
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1305/flamesofwarf1908buc7.jpg

[Shular]

Out of curiosity, I notice in the last season that Germany had two orders for Gas...one for Bre and one for Par. Did you adjudicate those orders based on the most recent received?

[thewamp]

Out of curiosity, I notice in the last season that Germany had two orders for Gas...one for Bre and one for Par. Did you adjudicate those orders based on the most recent received?

Oops! I actually didn't even notice... jdip would have adjudicated the second one to come in, but properly, I probably should have made it a hold order. Anyway, if people have a problem with what happened (since I did make a mistake there, though it would have been better if it was caught before builds happened), let me know. I'm not sure what the proper thing to do here is. Rules gurus? Is there anything in there?

[Moody the Wise]

Ah. Well, I can give you my perspective on it, which is this: I had no idea that first order was still there. I'm usually meticulous about checking my orders, making sure they're grammatically correct and there are no duplicates. I can say that the Gas-Par order is the one I meant - Gas-Bre was a relic of an older set of orders that included support to Brest from the English Channel.

If the judgment of my peers is that the unit should hold, I'll accept that with dignity. However, I'd rather that not be the case.

[Shular]

Well, fortunately it ends up not making a difference (though had the Gas - Bre order held I would have kept both and Gas would have had to disband), as the unit holding in Gas would have had the option to retreat to Par.

Going forward, though, you'll want to have a set rule for these situations. Use the order that comes last (as the software does) or the unit holds. Either is acceptable to me.

[thewamp]

Well, fortunately it ends up not making a difference (though had the Gas - Bre order held I would have kept both and Gas would have had to disband), as the unit holding in Gas would have had the option to retreat to Par.

Going forward, though, you'll want to have a set rule for these situations. Use the order that comes last (as the software does) or the unit holds. Either is acceptable to me.

Honestly, I just didn't notice the first one. It was a mistake. But, because apparently I'm susceptible to this mistake, I'm going to, from here on out, use the last order (on a line by line basis) for each army/fleet.

[thewamp]

And I gave no warning.
This is your "you are late" warning
Turn it in within 24 hours

Sorry to those who turned their orders in on time. Internet will remain flaky until the 18th and then get better.

[thewamp]

Alright, apologies for the delay... here we are:
Spring 1909
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8475/flamesofwars1909rep4.jpg

France - Shular
A Gas - Bur
A Mar S A Gas - Bur
A Ven S A Tyr H
F MAO S Par - Bre
F Spa - Gas
F Wes S F MAO H

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Mos-Sev
A Ber-Sil
A Boh-Tyr
A Mun S A Boh-Tyr
A Vie-Gal
A War S A Vie-Gal
F Kie-Hol
F Den-Nth
A Bel-Bur
A Par S A Bel-Bur
A Lvp-Pic
F Iri C A Lvp-Pic
F Eng C A Lvp-Pic
A Edi-Lvp

Italy - Shishnarfne
F Naf S F Wes-MaO
F Tys-GoL

Turkey - Maldiem
A Tyr - Boh
A Tri - Vie
A Bud Supports A Tri - Vie
A Rum - Gal
A Sev - Ukr
A Con - Sev
F Bla Convoys A Con - Sev
A Ser - Tri
F Gre - Alb
F Aeg - Gre

Retreats!
Turkey A tyr may disband or retreat to pie

Retreat due ASAP
Fall 1909 Orders due Monday at 2300

[Maldiem]

I'll take the retreat.

[thewamp]

This is your 11 Hour Warning

[Moody the Wise]

I was just drawing up my orders, and I noticed that by my count I have 16 SCs and 14 units. I couldn't have built more anyway last season, I just want to point out ahead of time that I have two builds in reserve, not one. Unless someone can correct my counting, that is.

[thewamp]

I was just drawing up my orders, and I noticed that by my count I have 16 SCs and 14 units. I couldn't have built more anyway last season, I just want to point out ahead of time that I have two builds in reserve, not one. Unless someone can correct my counting, that is.

As I'm using jdip to count, I don't think you have to worry about inaccurate counting, though it's always good to double check.

[thewamp]

Fall 1909
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/4176/flamesofwarf1909rgb1.jpg

France - Shular
F MAO H
F Spa S F MAO H
F Wes S F MAO
A Gas - Bur
A Mar S A Gas - Bur
A Ven S Pie - Tyr

Germany - Moody the Wise
A Mos S A Gal-Ukr
A Gal-Ukr
A War-Lvn
A Sil-War
A Tyr-Boh
A Bel S A Mun-Bur
A Pic S A Mun-Bur
A Mun-Bur
F Nth-Nwg
F Hol-Nth
A Lvp-Bre
F Iri C A Lvp-Bre
F Eng C A Lvp-Bre
A Par S A Lvp-Bre

Italy - Shishnarfne
F Naf S F MaO
F Lyo S mar

Turkey - Maldiem
A Pie - Tyr
A Tri Supports A Pie - Tyr
A Vie - Boh
F Alb - Adr
F Gre - Alb
A Ukr - Gal
A Bud Supports A Ukr - Gal
A Rum Supports A Ukr - Gal
F Bla - Sev
A Con - Ank

Retreats!
German A tyr may disband or retreat to mun
German A gal may disband or retreat to sil

Adjustment - assuming retreats are taken
France: Remove 1
Germany: Build 2
Turkey: Build 1

Retreats due ASAP
Builds due Wednesday at 2300
Spring 1910 Orders due Friday at 2300

[Shular]

Retreats!
German A mun may disband or retreat to tyr


I think that may be backward...A Tyr may retreat to Mun.

[Moody the Wise]

First, I'll take both retreats - A Tyr-Mun and A Gal-Sil.

Second, I smell a stalemate. It should be easy to see how it forms in the West; while perhaps not quite so painfully obvious, trust me, it's there in the East too.

Are we all willing to call this game a 16-11-5-2 draw? Unless you three want to quibble amongst yourselves, nothing is going to change that breakdown. We'd have to call this strictly a draw - I don't want to hear any talk of an "allied victory." It would be impossible for one of you to reach 18 supply centers without the stalemate breaking in my favor, so the notion of an allied victory is about as absurd as Russia, Turkey, Austria, and Italy calling a four-way allied victory in Spring 1901, just because they hold a majority of the SCs. However, neither would I seek to claim victory.

[Shular]

I know I'm willing...indeed, that was my goal once you attacked me.

So my vote is to call it a 4-way draw. :smallsmile:

[Moody the Wise]

Yes, and congratulations for accomplishing that, Shular et al.

Who knows, I might have pulled it off if I had been crazier early on, but then again, there's an equal or greater chance that I'd just be dead now if I hadn't been so methodical in my moves.

All in all, a result I can live with. I thought this was an excellent game. Definitely the best Diplomacy I've played in a while.

Of course, if Italy feels like throwing me a bone here and selling France down the river ... :smalltongue:

Anyway, I look forward to the EoGs, although we still have to hear from Maldiem that he doesn't want to try to absorb you and Italy, and from Italy that he doesn't want to hand me the game, so I won't start revealing my sinister inner workings just yet.

[thewamp]

Yes, and congratulations for accomplishing that, Shular et al.

Who knows, I might have pulled it off if I had been crazier early on, but then again, there's an equal or greater chance that I'd just be dead now if I hadn't been so methodical in my moves.

All in all, a result I can live with. I thought this was an excellent game. Definitely the best Diplomacy I've played in a while.

Of course, if Italy feels like throwing me a bone here and selling France down the river ... :smalltongue:

Anyway, I look forward to the EoGs, although we still have to hear from Maldiem that he doesn't want to try to absorb you and Italy, and from Italy that he doesn't want to hand me the game, so I won't start revealing my sinister inner workings just yet.

Before the end of the game is formally called, I'd like to have a consensus from all four of the remaining survivors.

[Shishnarfne]

I won't argue with the draw.

That means that it's up to Maldiem.

[thewamp]

In case people weren't clear, I'd like to extend orders until Maldiem responds.

[Moody the Wise]

He admitted to the draw in conversation with me the other day ... I wonder why he hasn't posted that here yet. Well, in case anyone is wondering, A Kie, A Ber.

[Shular]

I'd sent in my disband order a couple days ago... A Gas

[Maldiem]

Yeah, its definitely a draw. Sorry I was MIA, the forums were spotty and I was busy.

[thewamp]

War Ends in Draw!!!
Germany, France, Turkey and Italy end the game in a 4-way draw.

Well, we've reached the end. I'd like to congratulate you all. It was an interesting game to watch.

Anyway, write End of Game reports. For this one, you all should actually be able to remember ;)

[Vexen]

This game was a comedy of Errors for me. I was extra busy at the time it started and then the holidays were a bit much for me. I probably shouldn't have played, sorry if I ruined the game for anyone by being slightly better than neutral country. It is amazing that I only NMR once in this game, and then I sincerely thought that I had posted orders.

Anyway here is my point of view from the game. I thought about trying something new for this game. So I thought about trying to go all out after Italy at the start of the game. However, from the start of the game Turkey ignored all my letters. Russia was talking crazy about having me team up with him against Turkey and attacking England at the same time. So first season I got indecisive. I kept bouncing back and forth between an all out attack on Italy, or standard starting moves. In the end i mixed my order sets on accident and did a mix of the two succeding at neither.

After the first year of getting nowhere, I tried to ally with Italy so I could deal with Turkey. This didn't work well, as Italy did not coordinate moves well. He kept bouncing with me in suicidal manners. Keeping us both from expanding.

Then came the holidays and I was barely able to get online enough to send in moves. And those were poorly thought out and definitely uncoordinated.

[Shular]

EOG: France
This was an odd game for me. I was somewhat disappointed by the low levels of communications that occured with most of the players, the primary exception being Moody.

At the start I wasn't sure who I would ally with. My preference, tactically, was Germany, since a strong England poses more of a threat. However, supported units in Bre and MAO would be sufficient to keep a line with England.

Then an interesting thing happened. Both England (Viggo) AND Germany asked me to open with the same moves: Bre - Pic, Par - Bur. This, of course, kind of freaked me out. Should England and Germany be working together, they could easily reduce me to one build (none if Italy chose to move against me).

However, Italy assured me he had no interest in attacking me, since he wanted to go after Austria, so I took the chance, and things went smoothly. At this point, because they'd both wanted me to make the moves, I hadn't had to decide who I would be attacking.

The fall, however, was the decision time. England wanted me to attack Germany, and Germany wanted me to move my fleet into the English channel, and in exchange he offered to support me into Belgium. This was the crucial point for me. Two things strongly influenced my decision to work with Germany.

First, I was not pleased with the brevity of Viggo's messages. He did not go into detail discussing his strategies, and most of his messages consisted of one or two sentences. The prospect of this over the course of a full game was not appealing. On the other hand, Moody's messages were well-written, and discussed strategy and tactics in a manner similar to how I think. In other words, it was just more fun corresponding with Moody.

The second issue was that Viggo insisted on me supporting him into Belgium, arguing that I could take Munich and still get two builds. I pointed out that, if Moody moved back to Mun, I'd only get one build, but he didn't care. While the correspondance styles were important, this was the deal breaker. Had he assured me that he would support himself into Norway, then I would have ordered Pic - Bel, and Bur - Mun, and he would have had a solid ally to his south. As it was, he supported himself into Norway anyway (even though I'd lied and agreed to support him into Bel...heck, if I'm going to war with him, I may as well as try to trick him into not getting a build), so it turns out he was just playing me. I still don't see the point though.

From that point forward, it was just a matter of Moody and I taking out England while hoping that nobody would grow too strong in the east. In that we were completely successful. Moody's offensive on Russia prevented Meklor from gaining momentum and dominating in the south, allowing Turkey and Austria to drive back Italy.

With the fall of England, I swung my forces around to the Med with the intention of moving against Italy, and that's where I made my (nearly) fatal error. In seeing the danger of Turkey busting fleets into the Ion, I chose to try to work with the new Italy. Unfortunately, Italy's first set of orders were miswritten (supporting Ion - Tys instead of Tys - Ion). At this point, Moody strongly urged me to attack Italy. I chose not to, mainly because Turkey and Austria would have been in positions to strongly benefit from a collapsing Italy. Had I chosen to attack Italy, the builds I would have gotten would, I believe, have been sufficient to dissuade Germany from attacking me. But I didn't, so Moody did.

Fortunately, I analyzed the map, and determined that, should we work together, we could force the draw. Maldiem was not convinced that we could succeed but, not seeing any better alternative, agreed to try. Shishnarfe, of course, was quite game. Only Vexen didn't respond to my message for teamwork. So, not knowing what his plans were, I decided it would be best to support Turkey against Austria to get him out of the game. After that, it was not difficult to set up the stalemate.

With school set to resume soon, I knew I was getting to the point where I wouldn't have much time to play, and so I chose to end it there. It did occur to me that we could continue the game were I to offer to Moody that, if he withdrew from France and allowed me to get Bre, Par, and Bel back, then I would agree to resume our offensive against Italy and Turkey.

I suspect he might have accepted, since he would still have a good shot at the win. However, after he attacked me we stopped corresponding (my bad, I was too busy pushing for the draw), and, honestly, I didn't feel like prolonging the game.

The good: The alliance with Moody worked well from the beginning until mid-game. We came up with some fun strategies (I especially liked him convoying my army into England). I wasn't overly upset at the stab, mainly because I was somewhat expecting it. I WAS disappointed, though, because I thought there was still so much more we could do. Of course, more builds would have allowed me to reinforce my homeland, so it made sense to move while I was vulnerable.

The bad: The low levels of communications with the other players. Meklor wasn't too bad...I'd hoped to better work out a deal to go after Germany once England was out, but Germany attacked Russia before I was expecting it, and I found myself out of position to try to take advantage of it (at least, without letting England off the hood). Once Shishnarfe took over Italy we had some okay correspondance, but it was mostly just confirming orders. Maldiem and I talked little, except at the end where we coordinated moves to deal with Moody.

The ugly: The Italian connundrum. We hardly talk, then I get ready to attack him and a new player takes over. I agree to work with him and his orders mess me up. I'm unsure of his motivations, but then he supports me back. We work together, then he doesn't respond. Suspecting Germany's about to attack me, I attack him to get some necessary centres. Then he agrees to work with me to hold off Germany. I don't think I've ever flip-flopped so much in my dealings with another country, but I guess it's fortunate I didn't end up taking him out...he proved necessary for the draw.

Thanks, thewump, for running this game. While the delays in getting the maps up would sometimes get to me, I appreciated the effort and commitment you made to the game. It was fun, and definitely a learning experience for me.

[Shishnarfne]

Okay, so I was trying to fill in for a previous player partway through, with a strong France knocking on my doorstep.

I figured, if France had any shot at a solo victory, the road went either through me in Italy, or by stabbing Germany hard. Or both.

So I decided my best bet was to ride a dangerous road of trying to "assist" France sufficiently that he decided not to take me out, while keeping his progress slow enough that he felt obliged to stab Germany. That didn't work out nearly as well as I'd hoped.

The "misorder" was intentional. I was trying to use Turkey to help prop me up against France, so that I could try to live a dangerous road on the fence until the F-G alliance broke up.

My NMR didn't help much. My apologies. Fortunately for me, that was about the time that Germany stabbed France, which led to France calling for my assistance in holding the Med. Which, of course, I was more than happy to provide.

I'd say, given my initial situation, a piece of a draw wasn't a bad result. France couldn't've won without stabbing me, so I had to try to convince Shular I was worth more alive than dead, while simultaneously trying to convince him that his road to victory had to run through Germany... By giving him few advances in the Med. A longshot, but I didn't think I was going to find many short odds.

Actually, I wasn't communicating sufficiently with anyone except France to keep things running smoothly... It just seemed hard to jump in and try to take over.

Thanks for letting me stand in for a few years!

[Moody the Wise]

Heh, I suppose it's time I reflected on this game. My EoG could practically just be a PM to Shular, as most of my interaction in this game was with him.

I started off the game with a few preconceptions. I knew Shular had soloed a game on the forums a while back, although I had never played with or "met" him. I knew viggo very well through multiple games we've played together, although I would agree with everything Shular said about his styles of play and diplomacy. I assumed I could talk viggo around to pretty much anything, which can be a useful asset. On the other hand, our alliance would have been anything but subtle, and would have probably set us up as a target. The deciding factor, though, was that I thought it would just be more fun to play the challenge with Shular. Shular knew I knew viggo, and I had to spend a lot of effort trying to convince him that I wasn't going to ally with viggo. Reading Shular's EoG, I guess I never really convinced him; viggo did.

From my perspective, I had a three-way alliance with France and Russia against England. Again, from my perspective, Russia was the third wheel there. You never want to be the second person invited into a three-way alliance, and at least from where I stood, Russia was that person. Russia was also someone I didn't want to work long-term with at all, and was only really useful as a temporary ally against England. Once England was taken care of - by which I mean not really a threat anymore, although it would be a while before we took all his centers - I knew I needed another target. I went after Russia, because I knew I needed a fleet in the long run, and I needed Russia to not have a Northern fleet. C'est la vie. I don't think I consulted Shular about this beforehand; you know how they say that it's easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission? Yeah. Well, they do.

After Russia was dealt with, I had another choice to make. It was a very difficult choice, and I went back and forth on it quite a few times. In the end, I decided I'd stab France hard, briefly align with and then stab Turkey, and make my run for the solo. I knew I wouldn't have a better opportunity to catch France off balance, and that Turkey didn't really have the manpower to cause me serious trouble in the East.

The rest is history, really. I played a mostly offensive defense with Turkey, which was really just an attempt to buy me time to deal with France, where I threw most of my strength. I think the tactics employed were pretty solid, and a lot of fun to come up with for the most part. If I had focused more on the East, tried to achieve deeper penetration of Turkey's lines, or been more aggressive with France, who knows what could have happened. I think that this result is just about the best I could have achieved, though, and I'm pleased with the outcome.

Shish, I hardly knew ya. If you had behaved differently, I probably would have succeeded in my solo attempt, but eh, I guess you did what you had to do.

Meklor, if you're still around, sorry man, I just couldn't let you have those fleets.

Vexen, I'm not sure we exchanged more than 10 words the whole game.

Viggo, sorry for cornering you the way I did, but these things happen.

Maldiem, I would have loved to have worked with you had we been closer geographically, but by the time we met, the book was pretty much written.

And Shular ... I really had a lot of fun working with you this game, and then later against you. I hope that if we ever find ourselves in another game together, your experience with me in this one won't color me in an unfavorable light.

And most of all, thewamp, many, many thanks. You are the best GM I've ever seen on these boards, and your continued service to this community is amazing.

If anyone has any questions about the game, I'll do my best to answer them.

[Shular]

Nobody else has an eog? This is kind of what I was getting at in mine. There seemed to be a genral malaise in this game, where people played, but didn't seem really into it.