Talk Elections

Since it now appears that the Gallery will be available, I feel comfortable in starting a thread for a new game. Here is what I propose based on the 2018 game A (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=302768.0).

The game takes seven players, and I agree to judge the game. The official rules (5th edition) are here (http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/ah/diplomacy_rules.pdf) and includes a lot of examples. There is a abbreviated wikibooks version (https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Diplomacy/Rules), too.

As before, the game will be based on turns of one move per week. Orders are sent by pm to the Judge by Friday 11:59 pm US Central Time (Daylight Saving Time when applicable). The judge will post the result of moves and issues requests for retreats and adjustments. Players are expected to respond promptly for retreats and adjustments on Saturday or Sunday, with a deadline at the Judge's discretion. The new position after retreats and adjustments will be made available by 11:59 pm US Central Time Sunday.

The Judge can declare vacation breaks based on the Judge's schedule or player requests, such as over the Labor Day weekend. In the event of a player formally abdicating by post or pm to the Judge, a minimum of one extra week will be allowed for the turn to facilitate replacing the player.

The 5.0 rules require the Judge to interpret illegal orders accordingly and cause the unit to Hold. This caused some distress among players in game A, and I propose a house rule to provide some relief. The Judge will notify a player if a submitted move is illegal, and the player will have 6 hours after notification to submit a revised move for those deemed illegal. Illegal orders include any that cannot be parsed by JDip which is used for map creation. Note that legal but unintended orders, such as ordering two different units to the same area would still be adjudicated as written. Similarly units given no orders are presumed to Hold and are not considered illegal orders.

Other house rules may be added by unanimous consent of the players and Judge.

Seven players will be selected randomly from those who respond by 11:59 pm CDT Friday Aug 16. If fewer than seven players respond by that time, an additional week will be added with initial respondents guaranteed places in the game. If more than seven players sign up, then those players not chosen will be given priority if a vacancy occurs.

I would like to sign up for this

Count me in.

I'd like to take part as well.

Count me in!!!!! :) :) :)

I'd like to play.

An opportunity to redeem myself from the debacle last time!

I'm in.

I count 6 players signed up by last night. I'll add another week to get more players. If more than one additional player signs up, then the six signed up are guaranteed spots and the seventh spot will be determined by a random draw with the others available as alternates should a player abandon their position.

I'll be traveling over Labor Day weekend, so if we get a game started next weekend I'll allow two weeks for negotiation on the first move.

Glad to see this is getting rolling.

Well thanks to Muon2 for helping to work through this, even with the whole image posting issue, plus IRL stuff that we all have.

I can shoot out some PMs to some of the other individuals that expressed interest, since my initial focus was on those of you who I had already contacted prior to inquire about interest in a new game, and not all of us are always checking up on the Atlas Elections thread (Myself included).... ;)

If any of y'all want to join in the recruiting effort for those that you know who expressed interest, or those who you might be tight with on the Forum, who seem serious about the commitment so we can get a stable 7th / and hopefully 2-3 pinch hitters in reserve just in case...... :)

okay--- so I PM'd the players expressing interest on the old thread with a brief rundown of current status and estimated timeline, including those who expressed interest back in June.

Continue the recruitment drive!!!!

I'd be happy to join!

:D

Willing to be a backup player.

Thank you all for agreeing to play the game. Here are the assignments:

Austria: TJ in Oregon
England: Gustaf
France: Georgia Moderate
Italy: NOVA Green
Germany: YPestis25
Russia: Cath
Turkey: S019

Alternate: Oregon Blue Dog

This is the initial position (winter 1900):

AUS: A bud, F tri, A vie
ENG: F edi, F lon, A lvp
FRA: F bre, A mar, A par
GER: A ber, F kie, A mun
ITA: F nap, A rom, A ven
RUS: A mos, F sev, F stp(sc), A war
TUR: F ank, A con, A smy

()

The orders for Spring 1901 are due Fri Sep 6, 11:59 pm CDT.

Question: can preliminary orders be submitted and then amended before the deadline or are the orders we submit final?

I welcome preliminary orders, since they are the best insurance against missing the deadline. I will consider only the last submitted orders before the deadline. The exception is the house rule that will provide for correction of illegal orders.

Spring 1901

In my reports for orders I will use A for army, F for fleet, and the three-letter abbreviations for areas, with a /nc or /sc for fleet positions in areas that have two coasts. To avoid ambiguity it is best to include the coast for those areas in all orders involving fleets. Moves are indicated  by ->, and failed orders are underlined. Comments about orders are italicized.


Austria:
        A bud -> ser
        F tri -> alb
        A vie Holds

England:
        F edi -> nwg
        A lvp -> edi
        F lon -> nth

France:
        F bre -> mao
        A mar -> pie
          Bounced with ven (1 against 1).
        A par -> bur
          Bounced with mun (1 against 1).

Germany:
        A ber -> kie
        F kie -> den
        A mun -> bur
          Bounced with par (1 against 1).

Italy:
        F nap -> ion
        A rom -> apu
        A ven -> pie
          Bounced with mar (1 against 1).

Russia:
        A mos -> ukr
        F sev -> bla
        F stp/sc -> bot
        A war Holds

Turkey:
        F ank Holds
        A con Holds
        A smy Holds
     
()

No retreats are needed. The position after moves is this.

() 
 
Orders for Fall 1901 are due Friday Sep 13 at 11:59 pm CDT.

Did Turkey not submit orders?

Orders were submitted and executed. If no orders are received, I will indicate that with an italicized comment.

In that case, the Ottoman Empire is clearly under the control of an isolationist faction.

Fall 1901
The house rule permitting changes to illegal orders came up twice this turn. In one case the player submitted a timely correction which was used. In the other case no correction was issued in time and the illegal order (shown as strikethrough) was interpreted as no order given.

There are no retreats necessary. Unit adjustments are shown with the orders below. Please pm me your builds (type and location) as soon as possible, but no later than 11:59 pm CDT tonight.
   
Austria: 5 supply centers, 3 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        F alb -> gre
        A ser -> bul
          Bounced with con (1 against 1).
        A vie -> tri
     
England: 5 supply centers, 3 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        A edi -> bel
          Convoy path taken: edi->nth->bel.
        F nth Convoys A edi -> bel
        F nwg -> nwy
     
France: 5 supply centers, 3 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        A mar -> spa
        F mao -> por
        A par -> bur
          Bounced with mun (1 against 1).
       
Germany: 5 supply centers, 3 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        F den Holds
        A kie -> hol
        A mun -> bur
          Bounced with par (1 against 1).
       
Italy: 4 supply centers, 3 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        A apu -> tun
          Convoy path taken: apu->ion->tun.
        F ion Convoys A apu -> tun
        A ven Holds
     
Russia: 6 supply centers, 4 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        F bla Supports A ukr -> rum
        F bot ->swe
        A ukr -> rum
        A war Holds
     
Turkey: 3 supply centers, 3 units. No adjustments.
        F ank -> sev
          No legal order for unit at Ankara. Hold order assigned.
        A con -> bul
          Bounced with ser (1 against 1).
        A smy Holds
     
()

The position before adjustments is this.

()

Winter 1901 Adjustments:

Austria: Builds A bud, A vie
England: Builds F edi, A lon
France: Builds F bre, A mar
Germany: Builds A ber, F kie
Italy: Builds F nap
Russia: Builds A sev, A stp

This is the position to begin 1902.

()

I will be traveling next weekend. The orders for Spring 1902 are due by Thursday Sep 19, 11:59 pm CDT.

Spring 1902

Turkey did not submit orders this turn. If S019 wants to continue playing then he should post on this thread to confirm interest. If S019 does not post here by Sunday 9/22, Oregon Blue Dog is welcome to take over Turkey's position and should post to confirm that interest.

There are no retreats needed from this turn. Because of my travel plans, the orders for Fall 1902 will be due on Sunday Sep 29 by 11:59 pm CDT.

Austria:
        A bud -> ser
        F gre -> ion
          Bounced with ion (1 against 2).
        A ser -> bul
        A tri Supports A vie -> tyr
        A vie -> tyr

England:
        A bel Supports A lon -> hol
        F edi -> nwg
        A lon -> hol
          Bounced with hol (2 against 2). Convoy path taken: lon->nth->hol.
        F nth Convoys A lon -> hol
        F nwy Holds

France:
        F bre -> mao
        A mar -> bur
        A par Supports A mar -> bur
        F por -> spa/sc
        A spa -> mar
      
Germany:
        A ber -> mun
        F den Holds
        A hol Holds
        F kie Supports A hol
        A mun -> ruh
      
Italy: No order for unit at Venice. Hold order assigned.
        F ion Convoys A tun -> apu
        F nap Supports F ion
        A tun -> apu
          Convoy path taken: tun->ion->apu.
        A ven Holds
      
Russia:
        F bla Supports A sev -> arm
        A rum Supports A ser -> bul
        A sev -> arm
        A stp Holds
        F swe Holds
        A war Holds

Turkey: No orders received. All units ordered to Hold.
        F ank Holds
        A con Holds
        A smy Holds
      
()

This is the position to begin Fall 1902.

()

There's a downside to processing orders at 4 am. In this case it was a mouse click to the wrong sea for the Austrian F Gre. It was ordered to Ion, but my mouse was on Aeg when I clicked. With bleary eyes and no coffee yet, I missed the error.

I am away from my computer until the 29th, so I can't reprocess the map until then. With the corrected order, F Gre -> Ion bounces against the supported F Ion and remains in Gre. The position for Fall 1902 begins with the Austrian F in Gre not Aeg.

When I return I will modify the map, but you'll need to work from this erratum when you are planning orders for Fall.

Request: Can we also open up the "pipeline" for other potential players interested as well "just in case"?

Last game we had a couple drop-offs that significantly impacted gameplay, and although I suspect that will not be case from the 6/7 current players (Assuming that SO19 may have dropped out rather than not followed the modified posting timeline for that turn), we all realize that sometimes folks might have major life events that occur....

Additionally, if Oregon Blue Dog is not interested, should SO19 have left the game, I would also request that a recruitment drive specify that there is a potential time commitment and that checking PMs is a part of game play, etc.

Ideally it would be nice to have players that are actually invested, and at least willing to learn (Since I suspect all of us would help provide non-biased tips on questions of rules and gameplay etc)....

Thoughts All?

Good idea.

I'll be willing to step in if absolutely necessary, but I'm not great at the game and will probably have to be DMed to stay active.

We will help you if SO19 is gone as appears to be the case....

I can PM you some links to strategy guides, if you are interested. Muon2 will likely provide tips if you're not confident on the "advice" being offered by other players when it comes to rules and such.

First started playing Military boardgames when I was 8, and Diplomacy for the first time when I was 14 in the mid '80s....

Unfortunately, you would be starting from a slightly rough starting spot considering the current map, but it's early enough on in the game that you could easily recover, especially as Turkey with a "rear base" that many other countries don't start with....

We loosened up the rules a bit from the last game, so certain orders will give a period to respond in the event that the orders are clearly illegal. This was designed to make the game easier for newer players, or even rusty veterans that hadn't played in awhile such as myself who hadn't played in 20 Years, so that game-play wouldn't be massively disrupted because of technical interpretations of military movements and such....

If SO19 is in fact gone, welcome to Diplomacy as Turkey in Fall '02~   :)

NOVA GREEN

Since S019 did not respond and Oregon Blue Dog did, I'm declaring that OBD is the new player for Turkey, effective this turn, Fall 1902. If you know of any others who might also willing to take over abandoned positions, please invite them to post their interest here.

Welcome Oregon Blue Dog!

Question:

The Diplomacy 5.0 "House Rules" state the judge can declare a vacation (Which is totally awesome since IRL stuff can and should be built in the equation for the Judge, and Muon2 is allowed to actually have a life as opposed to just being here to host our Diplomacy game!!!

So traditionally orders are due on a weekly basis on Fridays by by 11:59 pm US Central Time, unless there are exceptions.

Question # 1: Can we anticipate that next turn's moves will revert to their traditional posted orders day/time, or will there be an extension, etc???

Main reason I ask is that we have an expanded diplomatic negotiation period this turn, and potentially a shortened once next week, or extended one next week at a point in the game where potential moves or combinations of moves perhaps become slightly more complex than in the traditional opening moves period.....

Question # 2: Not specific to this game, but perhaps a "House Rule Change" for a future game.

If a player has dropped out of a preceding Atlas Diplomacy game without notifying the Judge via PM or posting directly to the Game thread within the required interval, can we put them on a "wait list" so that we can recruit players that may be more reliable, interested, and committed? 

Just a thought....

Since this is a fall turn, there will need to be time for adjustments. There also could be retreats required before the winter adjustments. Typically I will execute these as soon as they come in, but I don't know how long the whole process will take.  I will see when the turn and adjustments are complete and decide if Friday is too short of a deadline.

Fall 1902

All units dislodged had no retreat and were destroyed. Please submit your adjustments as soon as possible, but no later than 11:59 pm CDT tonight (Mon)

Austria: 6 supply centers, 5 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        A bul Supports A rum -> con
        F gre -> ion
          Bounced with nap (1 against 1).
        A ser -> tri
          Bounced with tyr (1 against 1).
        A tri -> vie
        A tyr -> tri
          Bounced with ser (1 against 1).
        
England: 5 supply centers, 5 units. No adjustments.
        A bel Supports A bur -> ruh
        A lon -> hol
          Bounced with hol (1 against 1). Convoy path taken: lon->nth->hol.        
        F nth Convoys A lon -> hol
        F nwy Holds
        F nwg Supports F nwy
      
France: 5 supply centers, 5 units. No adjustments.
        A bur -> ruh
        A mar Supports A par -> bur
        F mao -> wes
          Bounced with spa (1 against 1).
        A par -> bur
        F spa/sc -> wes
          Bounced with mao (1 against 1).
        
Germany: 5 supply centers, 4 units. Units that may be built: 1.
       No orders received, all units ordered to hold.
        F Den Holds
        A Hol Holds
        F Kie Holds
        A Mun Holds
        A Ruh Holds
           Dislodged from bur (2 against 1). Unit cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
        
Italy: 4 supply centers, 4 units. No adjustments.
        A apu Supports A ven
          Support failed. Unit ordered to move.
        F ion -> aeg
        F nap -> ion
          Bounced with gre (1 against 1).
        A ven -> tri
          Bounced with tyr (1 against 1).
        
Russia: 7 supply centers, 6 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        A arm -> ank
          Failed because Turkey: F ank -> bla failed.
        F bla Convoys A rum -> con
        A rum -> con
          Convoy path taken: rum->bla->con.        
        A stp -> fin
        F swe Supports A stp -> fin
        A war -> mos
 
Turkey: 2 supply centers, 2 units. No adjustments.
        F ank -> bla
          Bounced with bla (1 against 1).
        A con -> bul
          Bounced with bul (1 against 1). Dislodged from rum (2 against 1). Unit cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
       A smy -> arm
          Failed because Russia: A arm -> ank failed.
        
()

This is the position before adjustments.  
    
()

The following adjustments were made:
Austria: Build F tri
Germany: Build A ber
Russia: Build F stp/nc

This is the position to begin Spring 1903.

()

Orders for Spring 1903 are due by 11:59 pm CDT Friday Oct 4.

Spring 1903

All units dislodged had no retreat and were destroyed. Orders for Fall 1903 are due 11:59 pm CDT Friday Oct 11.

Austria:
        A bul Supports A con
        F gre -> ion
          Bounced with nap (1 against 2).
        A ser -> gre
          Failed because Austria: F gre -> ion failed.
        A tri -> adr
        A tyr Supports A vie -> tri
        A vie -> tri
        
England:
        A bel Supports A lon -> hol
        A lon -> hol
          Convoy path taken: lon->nth->hol.        
        F nth Convoys A lon -> hol
        F nwy -> ska
        F nwg -> nwy
  
France:
        A bur -> mun
          Bounced with ber (1 against 1).
        A mar -> pie
        F mao -> naf
        A par -> bur
        A ruh -> kie
          Bounced with kie (1 against 1).
        F spa/sc -> wes
      
Germany:
           The Army in Holland cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
        A ber -> mun
          Bounced with bur (1 against 1).
        F den -> nth
          Bounced with nth (1 against 1).
        A hol Holds
           Dislodged from lon (2 against 1).        
        F kie Supports A hol
          Support cut by Move from Ruhr.
        A mun -> ruh
          Failed because France: A ruh -> kie failed.

Italy:
        F aeg Supports F nap -> ion
        A apu Supports A ven
        F nap -> ion
        A ven Holds
 
Russia:
        A arm -> ank
        F bla Supports A arm -> ank
        A con Supports A arm -> ank
        A fin -> swe
        A mos Supports F stp/nc
        F stp/nc Holds
        F swe -> bal

Turkey:
          The Fleet in Ankara cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
        F ank -> con
          Bounced with con (2 against 3). Dislodged from arm (3 against 2).
        A smy Supports F ank -> con
      
()

This is the position to begin Fall 1903.

()

You have an extra order listed for Italy: F Ion-Aeg.

Are they using stealth mercenary fleets?  If so, how can I get some?

Well, I guess that's a wrap. Best of luck to you all, and I hope to play again someday.

Kudos to you for volunteering to step into a bad situation.  It's never much fun to do that.  Thanks.

Communications 100+ years ago weren't always so prompt. Apparently some of the media were still reporting activity from Fall 1902. The reporters involved have been suitably disciplined. ;)

Thanks for stepping into a tough position. I'll be happy to have you play in the next game.

I echo the sentiments of Georgia Moderate and Muon2....

Although you had limited experience to the rules of Diplomacy, you read the links to some of the strategy guides that I provided, submitted orders on-time and legal movements, made a strategic gamble in what was a rough situation, and attempted to survive in what was an extremely difficult situation....

Still, you do have one military unit left, so who knows, although statistically odds are low.   :(

Looking forward to seeing you next game to jump into the list as an "active" and not just "backup" player!!!

Fall 1903
Two units are dislodged this turn. Turkey has no supply centers so the A smy is disbanded and Turkey is eliminated. The Russian A swe is dislodged, and may either retreat to fin or disband. If it disbands Russia may build one unit at any open home supply center, otherwise no adjustments are needed. Russia should post their choice to retreat or disband as soon as possible, as it may influence the adjustment decisions for any other power. Adjustments are due by 11:59 pm CDT Sun Oct 13, but I will post the results sooner if I have received adjustments from all powers.

Austria: 7 supply centers, 6 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        F adr -> ion
          Bounced with ion (2 against 2).
        A bul -> con
        F gre Supports F adr -> ion
        A ser Supports F gre
        A tri Supports A tyr -> ven
        A tyr -> ven
          Bounced with ven (2 against 3).

England: 7 supply centers, 5 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        A bel Supports A hol
        A hol Supports A bel
        F nth Supports F nwy
        F nwy Supports F ska -> swe
        F ska -> swe

France: 7 supply centers, 5 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        A bur Supports A ruh -> mun
        F naf -> tun
        A pie Supports A ven
        A ruh -> mun
        F wes -> tys

Germany: 3 supply centers, 4 units. Units that must be removed: 1.
        A ber Holds
        F den Supports F ska -> swe
          Support cut by Move from Baltic Sea.
        F kie Supports A ber
        A mun -> sil

Italy: 3 supply centers, 4 units. Units that must be removed: 1.
        F aeg Supports F ion
        A apu Supports A ven
        F ion Holds
        A ven Holds
 
Russia: 7 supply centers, 7 units. No adjustments.
        A ank Supports A con -> smy
        F bal -> den
          Bounced with den (1 against 1).
        F bla Supports A bul -> con
        A con -> smy
        A mos Supports F stp/nc
        F stp/nc Holds
        A swe Supports F bal -> den
          Support cut by Move from Skagerrak. Dislodged from ska (2 against 1).
 
Turkey: 0 supply centers, 1 unit. A smy disbands. Turkey eliminated.
        No order for unit at Smyrna. Hold order assigned.
        A smy Holds
          Dislodged from con (2 against 1).

()

This is the position before retreats and adjustments.

()

Russia's retreat should be posted ASAP. Adjustments should be sent promptly, but no later than 11:59 pm CDT Sun Oct 13.

Russia has retreated A swe -> fin.

The Russian retreat is a reminder that a dislodged unit that could retreat may be disbanded instead. This is the only permitted way to voluntarily disband a unit - in lieu of a required retreat. Otherwise units may only be disbanded when after Fall movement and retreats the Power has fewer supply centers than units. On the other hand a Power is never required to build any or all of the entitled units.

This exception can have strategic consequences. If in this last turn Russia wanted to build another unit in Moscow or Sevastopol, then Russia could have disbanded the unit in Sweden instead of retreating to Finland. Then during the adjustment phase Russia would be at 6 units and 7 supply centers and would be entitled to build on an available home supply center.

Winter 1903
 
The following adjustments were made.

Austria: Builds A vie
England: Builds F edi, A lon
France: Builds F mar, A par
Germany: Removes A sil
Italy: Removes F ion
     
This is the position to begin Spring 1904.

()

I will be traveling Thu-Sat this week. Moves for Spring 1904 are due 11:59 pm CDT Saturday Oct 19.   
 

Spring 1904

There is one retreat needed from Russia: bal. It can retreat to ber, bot or lvn, or be disbanded. Russia should submit that as soon as possible.

Austria:
        F adr -> ion
          Bounced with tun (2 against 3).
        A con -> bul
        F gre Supports F adr -> ion
        A ser Holds
        A tri Supports A tyr
        A tyr Supports A vie -> boh
        A vie -> boh
      
England:
        A bel -> hol
        F edi -> nwg
        A hol -> kie
        A lon -> nwy
          Bounced with stp (1 against 2). Convoy path taken: lon->nth->nwy.        
        F nth Convoys A lon -> nwy
        F nwy -> bar
        F swe Supports A lon -> nwy
          Support cut by Move from Baltic Sea.
  
France:
        A bur -> mun
        F mar -> lyo
        A mun -> sil
        A par -> bur
        A pie Supports A ven
        F tun -> ion
        F tys Supports F tun -> ion

Germany:
        A ber -> pru
        F den Supports F kie -> bal
        F kie -> bal

Italy:
        F aeg Supports F tun -> ion
        A apu Supports A ven
        A ven Holds

Russia:
        A ank -> con
        F bal -> swe
          Bounced with swe (1 against 1). Dislodged from kie (2 against 1).
        F bla Supports A con -> bul
        A fin Supports F stp/nc -> nwy
        A mos Supports F stp/nc
          Support failed. F stp/nc ordered to move.
        A smy Supports A ank > con
        F stp/nc -> nwy
      
()

Russia retreats F bal -> bot.

The position to start Fall 1904 is this.

()

Fall 1904 orders are due 11:59 pm CDT Friday Oct 25.
  

Fall 1904

Italy has no supply centers, is eliminated and all remaining units are disbanded. Russia F nwy is dislodged and may either retreat to ska or disband. Russia may post the retreat decision, or I will post it as soon as I receive it. If Russia disbands F nwy then no adjustments are required; otherwise another unit must be removed.

Adjustment orders are due no later than 11:59 pm CDT Sun Oct 27, but I will post the adjustments as soon as I have received them all.

Austria: 8 supply centers, 7 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        F adr -> apu
          Bounced with apu (1 against 1).
        A boh -> gal
        A bul -> con
          Bounced with smy (1 against 1).
        F gre Holds
        A ser Supports F gre
        A tri Supports A tyr -> ven
        A tyr -> ven

England: 7 supply centers, 7 units: No adjustments.
        F bar Supports F swe -> nwy
        A hol Holds
        A kie -> swe
          Convoy path taken: kie->bal->swe.
        A lon Holds
        F nth Supports F swe -> nwy
        F nwg Supports F swe -> nwy
        F swe -> nwy

France: 9 supply centers, 7 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        A bur Supports A mun
        F lyo Convoys A pie -> rom
        F ion -> nap
        A mun Holds
        A pie -> rom
          Convoy path taken: pie->lyo->tys->rom.
        A sil Supports A pru -> war
        F tys Convoys A pie -> rom

Germany: 4 supply centers, 3 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        F bal Convoys A kie -> swe
        F den Holds
        A pru -> war

Italy: 0 supply centers, 3 units. F aeg disbands, A apu disbands, A ven disbands. Italy eliminated.
        F aeg Supports F tys -> ion
          Support failed. Supported unit's order does not match support given.
        A apu Supports A ven
          Support cut by Move from Adriatic Sea.
        A ven Holds
          Dislodged from tyr (2 against 1).

Russia: 6 supply centers, 7 units. Units that must be removed: 1.
        F bla Convoys A bul -> con
        A con -> rum
          Convoy path taken: con->bla->rum.
        A fin Supports F nwy -> swe
        F bot Supports F nwy -> swe
        A mos -> stp
        F nwy -> swe
          Dislodged from swe (4 against 3).
        A smy -> con
          Bounced with bul (1 against 1).

()
The map incorrectly shows that A con->rum Convoyed by F bla failed. The move in fact succeeded.

Russia disbands F nwy rather than retreat, so no other adjustments are needed. This is the position before builds.

()

In the words of the late great author Douglas Adams: "So long and Thanks for all the Fish".

Looking forward to the next Diplomacy Game.

Meanwhile for anyone who is curious Giuseppe still lives, although operating within the underground, while meanwhile Filippo Turati is building the Socialist Resistance against Colonial Occupation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQjfi-4oib4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Turati

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Zanardelli

The Italian underground resistance will continue to carefully monitor the political situation and communicate with all powers through our government in exile designed in a strategic plan for the Liberation of all of Italy against Foreign Occupation forces by all means necessary.

Winter 1904

Austria: Builds A vie
France: Builds F bre, A par
Germany: Builds A ber

This is the position after adjustments.

()

Orders for Spring 1905 are due by 11:59 pm Fri Nov 1.

Spring 1905

No retreats are needed this turn. Orders for Fall 1905 are due by 11:59 pm CST Friday Nov 8 (return to standard time).

Austria:
        F adr Holds
        A bul Supports A ser -> rum
        A gal -> ukr
        F gre -> aeg
        A ser -> rum
        A tri -> bud
        A ven Holds
        A vie -> gal

England:
        F bar Supports F nwy -> stp
        A hol Holds
        A lon -> nwy
          Convoy path taken: lon->nth->nwy.
        F nth Convoys A lon -> nwy
        F nwy -> stp/nc
        F nwg Supports A lon -> nwy
        A swe -> fin
          Bounced with fin (1 against 1).

France:
        F bre -> mao
        A bur Supports A mun
        F lyo -> wes
        A mun Supports A bur
        F nap -> ion
        A par -> gas
        A rom Holds
        A sil -> war
          Bounced with war (1 against 1).
        F tys Supports F nap -> ion

Germany:
        F bal Convoys A ber -> lvn
        A ber -> lvn
          Convoy path taken: ber->bal->lvn.
        F den Holds
        A war Holds

Russia:
        F bla -> con
        A fin -> swe
          Bounced with swe (1 against 1).
        F bot -> stp/sc
          Bounced with nwy (1 against 2).
        A rum -> sev
        A smy Supports F bla -> con
        A stp -> mos

()

This is the position after movement.

()

muon, I believe I sent you a PM regarding what I believe to be a misreading of the moves I submitted last week.

Thanks for pointing out the error. Your order should have been posted as A fin-nwy. A lon-nwy was supported by nrg, so it would still succeed 2-1. There would be no change in the position after Spring 1905 moves.

Hopefully without error,
Fall 1905
There are no retreats needed. Adjustments (France, Russia) are due by 11:59 pm CST Sun Nov 10, but will be posted once as all are received.

Austria: 8 supply centers, 8 units. No adjustments.
        F adr Holds
        F aeg -> gre
          Bounced with bul (1 against 1).
        A bud Holds
        A bul -> gre
          Bounced with aeg (1 against 1).
        A gal Supports A ukr -> war
        A rum Holds
        A ukr -> war
          Bounced with war (2 against 2).
        A ven Holds

England: 7 supply centers, 7 units. No adjustments.
        F bar Supports F stp/nc
        A hol -> kie
          Bounced with den (1 against 1).
        F nth -> ska
        A nwy Supports F stp/nc
        F nwg -> nth
        F stp/nc Holds
        A swe Holds

France: 10 supply centers, 9 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        A bur -> bel
        A gas -> bur
        F ion Holds
        F mao -> iri
        A mun -> ruh
        A rom Holds
        A sil Supports A war
        F tys Supports F ion
        F wes -> mao

Germany: 4 supply centers, 4 units. No adjustments.
        F bal -> kie
          Bounced with hol (1 against 1).
        F den -> kie
          Bounced with hol (1 against 1).
        A lvn -> mos
          Bounced with mos (1 against 2).
        A war Supports A lvn -> mos
          Support cut by Move from Ukraine.

Russia: 5 supply centers, 6 units. Units that must be removed: 1.
        F con Holds
        A fin -> stp
          Bounced with stp (1 against 3).
        F bot -> lvn
          Failed because A lvn -> mos failed.
        A mos Supports A sev
          Support cut by Move from Livonia.
        A sev Supports A mos
        A smy Supports F con

()

This is the position before adjustments.

()

Adjustments for winter 1905 are:

France: build F bre
Russia: remove A fin

This is the position after adjustments.

()

Due to travels next weekend, orders for Spring 1906 will be due Noon CST Friday, Nov 15. I hope to process and post them Friday evening.

Spring 1906
The English A Hol had no available retreat and was destroyed. Germany has two units that are dislodged and may retreat. F Den may either retreat to Hel or disband. A Lvn may either retreat to Pru or disband. Send orders for those two units as soon as possible and we can start Fall 1906.

Austria:
        F adr Holds
        F aeg -> gre
        A bud -> tri
        A bul Holds
        A gal -> boh
        A rum -> ukr
        A ukr -> gal
        A ven -> tus

England:
        F bar -> nwg
        A hol -> kie
          Bounced with lvn (1 against 1). Dislodged from ruh (2 against 1). Unit cannot retreat; unit destroyed.        
        F nth Supports F ska -> den
        A nwy Supports A swe
        F ska -> den
        F stp/nc Holds
        A swe Supports F ska -> den

France:
        A bel Supports A ruh -> hol
        F bre -> eng
        A bur Supports A bel
        F ion Holds
        F iri -> lvp
        F mao Supports F bre -> eng
        A rom Holds
        A ruh -> hol
        A sil Supports A war
        F tys Supports F ion

Germany:
        F bal Convoys A lvn -> kie
        F den Supports A lvn -> kie
          Support cut by Move from Skagerrak. Dislodged from ska (3 against 1).
        A lvn -> kie
          Bounced with hol (1 against 1). Dislodged from bot (2 against 1). Convoy path taken: lvn->bal->kie.        
        A war Holds

Russia:
        F con -> aeg
        F bot -> lvn
        A mos Supports F bot -> lvn
        A sev Supports A mos
        A smy -> con
     
()

This is the position pending German retreats.

()
 

Germany retreats A lvn -> pru, F den -> hel. This is the position going into Fall 1906.

()

Orders for Fall 1906 are due by 11:59 pm CST Friday Nov 22. I know that many may be traveling later this month for the Thanksgiving holiday. Post or let me know what plans make it difficult to play. I anticipate that the turn after this may be extended.

Fall 1906

Germany sent no orders this turn. Two units are dislodged: France: F ion and Germany: A war. The retreats don't affect adjustments unless they are disbanded. Please provide orders for retreats as soon as possible, but no later than 6 pm CST today. France, Germany and Russia have adjustments this turn and should send those no later than 6 pm CST Sun Nov 24. I will post retreats once they are received and adjustments once they are all in.

Austria: 8 supply centers, 8 units. No adjustments.
        F adr Supports F gre > ion
        A boh -> tyr
        A bul -> gre
        A gal Supports A mos -> war
        F gre -> ion
        A tri -> ven
        A tus Supports A tri -> ven
        A ukr Supports A mos -> war

England: 6 supply centers, 6 units. No adjustments.
        F den Supports F nth
        F nth Convoys A nwy -> lon
        A nwy -> lon
          Bounced with eng (1 against 1). Convoy path taken: nwy->nth->lon.
        F nwg Supports F nth
        F stp/nc Holds
        A swe Supports F den

France: 12 supply centers, 10 units. Units that may be built: 2.
        A bel Supports A hol
        A bur -> ruh
        F eng -> lon
          Bounced with nwy (1 against 1).
        A hol Holds
        F ion Holds
          Dislodged from gre (3 against 2).
        F lvp Holds
        F mao -> wes
        A rom Holds
        A sil -> mun
        F tys Supports F ion

Germany: 2 supply centers, 4 units. Units that must be removed: 2.
          No orders received. All units ordered to Hold
        F bal Holds
        F hel Holds
        A pru Holds
        A war Holds
          Dislodged from mos (3 against 1).

Russia: 6 supply centers, 5 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        F aeg Supports F gre -> ion
        A con -> smy
        F lvn -> pru
          Bounced with pru (1 against 1).
        A mos -> war
        A sev Supports A ukr
     
()

This is the position before retreats or adjustments.

() 
 

Fall 1906 retreats:
France: F ion->nap
Germany: A war->sil

France, Germany, Russia: send in your adjustments.

Winter 1906

France: Builds F bre, A mar
Germany: Removes F hel, A pru
Russia: Builds A mos

()

Due to my Thanksgiving plans orders for Spring 1907 are due 11:59 CST Saturday Nov 30. If anyone has travel conflicts due to the holiday, let me know and I will be happy to make adjustments.
   
 

Spring 1907

The only retreat this term is Germany F bal, which can go to ber, bot, or disband. I'll post a position map after Germany submits retreat orders. Fall 1907 orders are due 11:59 pm CST Friday Dec 6.

Austria:
        F adr Supports A gre -> apu
        A gal -> vie
        A gre -> apu
          Convoy path taken: gre->ion->apu.
        F ion Convoys A gre -> apu
        A tus Supports A ven -> rom
        A tyr -> pie
          Bounced with mar (1 against 1).
        A ukr -> gal
        A ven -> rom
          Bounced with nap (2 against 2).
        
England:
        F den Supports F lvn -> bal
        F nth -> lon
          Bounced with bel (1 against 1).
        A nwy -> edi
          Convoy path taken: nwy->nwg->edi.
        F nwg Convoys A nwy -> edi
        F stp/nc Holds
        A swe Holds

France:
        A bel -> lon
          Bounced with nth (1 against 1). Convoy path taken: bel->eng->lon.
        F bre -> mao
        F eng Convoys A bel -> lon
        A hol Supports A ruh -> kie
        F lvp -> wal
        A mar -> pie
          Bounced with tyr (1 against 1).
        A mun Supports A sil
        F nap -> rom
          Bounced with ven (2 against 2).
        A rom -> apu
          Failed (1 against 2).
        A ruh -> kie
        F tys Supports F nap -> rom
        F wes -> tun

Germany:
        F bal -> swe
          Bounced with swe (1 against 1). Dislodged from lvn (2 against 1).
        A sil Holds

Russia:
        F aeg Supports F ion
        F lvn -> bal
        A mos -> war
        A sev Holds
        A smy Holds
        A war -> pru

()

Germany retreats F bal -> ber. This is the position to begin Fall 1907.

()

Fall 1907

Germany has no supply centers and is eliminated from the game. A rom and F ber could not retreat and were destroyed. A sil is dislodged and disbanded due to the elimination of Germany. There is one retreat needed by Austria for F ion (alb, eas, gre, or disband). Please send that retreat as soon as possible, but no later than 11:59 pm tonight.

Adjustments are due by 11:59 pm CST Sun Dec 8, but will be posted once as all are received.

Austria: 9 supply centers, 8 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        F adr Supports F aeg -> ion
        A apu Supports F ion -> nap
          Support cut by Move from Rome.
        A gal Supports A war -> sil
        F ion -> nap
          Bounced with nap (1 against 1). Dislodged from tun (3 against 1).
        A tus -> rom
        A tyr -> mun
          Bounced with mun (1 against 1).
        A ven Supports A tus -> rom
        A vie -> boh

England: 6 supply centers, 6 units. No adjustments.
        F den -> kie
          Bounced with kie (1 against 2).
        A edi -> lvp
          Bounced with wal (1 against 1).
        F nth -> lon
        F nwg -> nao
        F stp/nc Holds
        A swe -> nwy

France: 12 supply centers, 11 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        A bel Holds
        F eng -> nth
        A hol Supports A kie
        A kie Supports F ber
          Support cut by Move from Denmark.
        A mar -> pie
        F mao -> eng
        A mun Supports A kie
          Support cut by Move from Tyrolia.
        F nap Supports F tun -> ion
        A rom -> apu
          Bounced with apu (1 against 1). Dislodged from tus (2 against 1). Unit cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
        F tun -> ion
        F tys Supports F tun -> ion
        F wal -> lvp
          Bounced with edi (1 against 1).

Germany: 0 supply centers, 1 unit. A sil disbands. Germany eliminated.
        F ber Holds
          Dislodged from pru (2 against 1). Unit cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
        A sil Supports F ber
          Dislodged from war (2 against 1).

Russia: 7 supply centers, 6 units. Units that may be built: 1.
        Russia: F aeg -> ion
          Bounced with tun (2 against 3).
        F bal Supports A pru -> ber
        A pru -> ber
        A sev -> ukr
        A smy Holds
        A war -> sil

()

Austria retreats F ion -> gre.

()

Gentlemen,

I propose a draw among the four surviving powers.  My attempt at a solo victory appears to be doomed at this point; you all have defended superbly.  It also seems likely that none of the remaining powers can be eliminated without disrupting the balance of power to a degree that it would throw the game to someone else.

There is certainly some play left in this position, and I'll soldier on if the draw proposal doesn't pass.  However, to be honest I'd like to call it a day.  A few weeks ago I suffered a bad back injury (fractured one of my vertebrae in a fall; getting old sucks).  This has caused me severe pain on a continuing basis, although it is gradually decreasing, thankfully.  As a result, I've found it difficult to focus on the game.

It's been fun and interesting. 

Regards to all,
GM

I have updated the position with the retreat F ion -> gre. If there is interest in the draw offer, responses may be posted on the thread or by pm to me.

Winter 1907

Austria: Build F tri
France: Build F bre
Russia: Build A war

()

Orders for Spring 1908 are due by 11:59 pm CST Fri Dec 13.

My apologies for not responding earlier to GM (my thoughts have been elsewhere this week), I'm not automatically averse to reaching a settlement, though I will add that the Tsardom would be hard-pressed, in light of geopolitical realities, to tell the peoples of Russia that the war is over when the fun is just beginning.

In that case, we'll see you on the barricades. :)

Italian underground partisans claim credit for the deaths of (97) retreating French sailors and army folks, and the almost successful assassination attempt of the French puppet occupation leader now that self-rule has been administered by the Austrian occupation forces in Venice.

The French do not retreat.  They were advancing toward another front.

Spring 1908

No orders were submitted by England. There are three retreats needed: Austria A rom, France F ion, France A pie. Note: tus is available for retreats by both A rom and A pie, and it is the only retreat available for A rom. If both units elect to retreat to tus both are disbanded. Retreats are due by 11:59 pm CST on Sun Dec 15.

Austria:
        F adr Supports F gre -> ion
        A apu -> nap
          Bounced with ion (1 against 1).
        A boh -> tyr
        A gal -> boh
        F gre -> ion
        A rom Holds
          Dislodged from nap (2 against 1).
        F tri -> alb
        A tyr -> pie
        A ven Supports A tyr -> pie

England: No orders received. All units ordered to hold.
        F den Holds
        A edi Holds
        F lon Holds
        F nao Holds
        A nwy Holds
        F stp/nc Holds

France:
        A bel -> ruh
        F bre -> mao
        F eng -> bre
        A hol Supports A kie
        F ion -> nap
          Bounced with apu (1 against 1). Dislodged from gre (3 against 1).
        A kie Supports A mun
          Support cut by Move from Baltic Sea.
        A mun Supports A kie
          Support cut by Move from Silesia.
        F nap -> rom
        F nth -> bel
        A pie -> ven
          Bounced with ven (1 against 1). Dislodged from tyr (2 against 1).
        F tys Supports F nap -> rom
        F wal -> eng

Russia:
        F aeg Supports F gre -> ion
        F bal -> kie
          Bounced with kie (2 against 2).
        A ber Supports F bal -> kie
        A sil -> mun
          Bounced with mun (1 against 1).
        A smy Holds
        A ukr -> war
        A war -> pru

()

This is the position before retreat orders.

()

Italian Partisan armed resistance as the French continue their retreat....

The French desperately try to adjust for their strategic miscalculation, and now it's pretty clear that Austria will occupy all of the Italian "Boot" by next Fall...

(233) more French soldiers die at the hands of the Italian Partisans, plus the death of the French "Ambassador" to Italy at the hands of unknown assailants at the hands of an assassin...

It is now absolutely clear that France will die a slow death at the hands of a combined English-Russian-Austrian Alliance, because of their hubris, perfidy, and lies....

France likely brokered a temp ceasefire with England, to belatedly shift forces towards the Med Region....

Wouldn't personally trust France as far as you could throw them, and that's a long ways assuming we are not talking about the English Channel...

France is essentially getting down on bended knees begging for a mutual victory after they betrayed friend after friend, and now meanwhile the "Forces of Victory" are "Knocking on Heavens Door".... ;)

"Never trust a Sicilian when death is on the line"   The attempt to recreate a Bonaparte regime has failed, dismally.... the French should have followed through with their promises to my political leadership as I advised them....

Sorry everyone, combination of private and professional committments accumulated this week and I totally lost track of time. Still in the game though, will submit orders for this turn. :)

The following retreats were issued for Spring 1908:

Austria: A rom-tus
France: F ion-tun
France: A pie-mar

This is the position to begin Fall 1908.

()

Fall 1908 orders are due by 11:59 pm EST, Saturday Dec 22. The time and day reflect my holiday location.

To be clear, you mean Saturday, Dec 21, right?

Either that or it's a VERY long deadline!

(The next year with Dec. 22 on a Saturday is 2029.)

Liverpool, Munich and Rome are now all guaranteed to be lost to the French by the Fall of 1908, and Naples likely the following Spring, and the Western Med is only a Year beyond....

The Bonaparte gambit appears to have failed....

In this case the Bonaparte retreat, which is nothing akin to Mao's "Long March" during 1934-35.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonaparte%27s_Retreat_(Pee_Wee_King_song)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March

Yes I do. See what time zones can do to you - I had noticed that 11:59 pm CST was on Dec 22 in EST. I changed the time zone but the other date stuck, oops.

If in the end I share Napoleon's fate, consider this an early request for Aruba as the place of exile.

Hello all, muon let me know via PM that I was the only one to reject the truce. I don't know if this is true based on what I've seen in the thread (which is that I was the only one to respond to it), but if it is, I'd like to reiterate I'm good if everyone else is.

I'm still for it.

So, I didn't have any specific desire for secrecy in my response so I can repeat it here.

Basically, I don't mind going on but I did accept the truce with the simple logic that while it's not inconceivable for me to get back into the game as I'm currently the weakest player and thus more likely to be someone's ally that fact also means that I don't think it's likely I'll win.

So is the game over..... or???

I think we have to assume that the game is over, having ended "not with a bang but a whimper".  That being the case, I wanted to share a few of my thoughts during the game in case you guys were interested.  First, a little background: I was introduced to Diplomacy in college back in the mid-1970s, and played it quite a bit in a gaming group I was in during the years at my first job.  But I moved away for a job change in the early 80s and never found another good group.  I've played a face-to-face game maybe three times in the last 35 years.

However, around the year 2000 I discovered the online Diplomacy community and jumped into playing on the online judges, both regular games and no-press games.  If you're not familiar with no-press, it's the same as normal except there is NO communication allowed except to the game master.  There are some limited communication possibilities based on signalling via conventions in writing orders (similar to signals in bridge or pinochle bidding).  No-press obviously loses most of the alliance building and negotiation/persuasion aspects of Diplomacy, but it was a lot easier to find than regular games and a lot less of a time commitment.  On the plus side, no-press is a good way to learn about tactics and stalemate lines.  So I played that quite a bit (and got pretty good at it) but eventually had other interests take precedence, and stopped playing 10 or 12 years ago. 

So muon's first game was my first in a long time.  Being kind of rusty, I was happy to draw Turkey in the first game and France in this one, since I think they're among the easier powers to play due to their strong positions (although I probably enjoy Germany the most, it's obviously more difficult to play).  I started the game with no preconceived notions of who to ally with, but opened communication with my neighbors to see who seemed to offer the most potential for working together.  As I'm sure you're all aware, Italy wrote long novels and was a lot of fun to talk to.  England was also quite communicative and friendly, while Germany was much less so.  That shaped my initial strategy: nonaggression with Italy, and an alliance with England against Germany.  This all went very well at first.  However...

The non-presence of Turkey threw things out of balance in the East.  This was a worrisome development; what I feared most was a strong AI alliance.  Instead, the AR that actually developed was good for me at first, in that it kept Italy weak (and therefore inclined to be friendly and helpful to me).  But I didn't expect AR to remain solidly together; it looked to me like there were multiple opportunities for one or the other to stab the other for a big advantage, essentially controlling the entire East.

To digress a bit: I'm not fond of stabbing just for its own sake, but I definitely think it's warranted if it will advance your chances of winning.  My goal in playing the game is to win if possible; although there can be satisfaction in a well-crafted draw, I consider that a second-best outcome.  I recall a poll in an online group that went something like this: if you played three games, would you rather have one solo win and two losses, or three 3-way draws?  For me the answer is unquestionably the first one.  (IIRC, the overall poll results were about evenly balanced among each of those options and those who had no preference.)  I mention this as background to the effect that if I ever see even a possible chance to solo, I'll go for it.

And that's what happened as this game developed.  The EF alliance against Germany went swimmingly, while the FI alliance succeeded in blocking up the Mediterranean against Austria.  I would up occupying both Munich and Tunis, with their owners' (no doubt grudging) consent and had an army in Silesia.  With this position straddling the main stalemate line, I figured I had maybe a 40% chance of pulling off a solo; in a no-press game, where the defenders' ability to coordinate is limited, the chances would probably have been 80% or higher.  But even 40% was enough for me to go for it, especially as the downside seemed no worse than a 3- or 4-way draw, which was the likely outcome if we just kept slogging it out. 

Of course, there was always a chance that I could get eliminated if the defenders stopped my solo attempt, but this seemed unlikely and a risk worth taking.  You have to be willing to play to win, and not just not to lose.  If you'll forgive a baseball analogy: I once watched an Atlanta Braves game where the Braves trailed by a run in the bottom of the ninth, with one out and a man on third base.  The next batter hit a fly ball to center field, which was caught for the second out.  The runner on third tagged up to try and make it home, but the center fielder threw perfect strike to home.  Runner out, game over, Braves lost.  After the game, the legendary Braves manager Bobby Cox was asked why they sent the runner from third.  He replied, "They had to make a perfect throw to beat us there, and they did.  Sometimes that happens.  I don't regret it; if we don't get caught occasionally, we're not trying it enough."  That philosophy has always stuck with me and helped shape the way I play games.  I'll go for the win rather than playing it safe, and if that causes me to lose, well, that's the breaks.

So with a possibility of improving my good position into a winning one, the question became how to go about it.  The situation in the north was going well, but was reaching a point where England was about to make some gains in Russia.  I was always worried about a stab from England, as my push eastward had left me rather exposed to him.  If he built a couple more units, either they could be used to attack me, or he'd have more defenders at home, or he'd send armies over the top to Russia -- which would ultimately be available to help push back my advance.  All of these would hamper my chances to solo.

In the south, things were more or less stuck.  Although I could have pushed a fleet or two further east into the Med with Italy's support, this didn't seem like it would help much (the RA armies on the coast were essentially impregnable) and would have left me even more exposed to England.  Only if AR were to split apart would it be possible to make some progress -- and they sure didn't seem likely to split as long as the western alliances stayed intact.

After considering everything, I decided the best plan was to stab Italy in conjunction with Austria as the start of a "bootstrap" try at a solo: i.e. use the units gained from that stab to attack England, use gains from that attack to build more units, etc.  If this type of attack can cascade quickly enough, the momentum can be unstoppable to defend against.  So I talked to Austria and proposed that we take out Italy and then attack our respective alliance partners, Russia and England.  I thought there was some chance Austria might do so, which would give me a great chance to solo, but even if he didn't I'd still have a chance with the bootstrap attack.

A word to Nova: I love the way you play, and truly did regret stabbing you.  But against a united AR on one side, and a secure and expansionist France on the other, there was never going to be any other outcome for Italy.  It's a testament to your skill that you stayed alive and an influence as long as you did.

Well, the rest is history.  I got Germany on side to act as a Janissary for a while, but it wasn't enough.  AER got together, Gustaf outguessed me a couple times, and the solo effort fizzled out.  It's possible I could have pushed on a bit longer, especially after taking the North Sea, which created the possibility of convoying an army to England.  But by that point, things had changed for me personally.  As I mentioned earlier, in early November I took a bad fall and broke a vertebra.  This caused me extreme pain for a few weeks, which (thankfully) has lessened considerably.  As a result, I lost a lot of my focus on the game and the patience to keep slogging; when it became clear that the solo was unlikely to happen, I was ready to just pack it in, and proposed the draw.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for playing, and for your patience/endurance if you've managed to read this far. :)  And of course, many thanks also to muon2 for creating and running the game.

Cheers,
GM

And you say I write long novels... ;)

Appreciate your extremely detailed exposition of your thoughts and strategy throughout the game. Although I was in frequent contact with all of the various players throughout most of my tenure in the game (Albeit with a few periods of radio silence with Russia and Austria), and of course the initial elusive Ottoman Government, certainly you were the player with the most frequent responses and communications on various items....

I was already concerned about your intentions towards Italy, even prior to the "stab", and believe I had warned England of my suspicions, including my sense that betrayal was coming and you were preparing something against them as well....

There were a few key moments where things could have gone a bit better, for example my attempt to parlay conflict between Austria and Russia, with a new Government in Turkey that was hanging on by a thread, and the sequence of moves that I suggested was a 50-50 gamble, which ended up working out no so well....

Another key one might have been taking your gamble on Tyrolia....

There was another opportunity, which I believe Austria was genuine about, which would actually have involved switching sides and allowing Austrian fleets into the region, in exchange for them helping me make a move against France... ;)

All in all, despite the fact that I got knocked out earlier than anticipated, overall I think all of the players did an extremely good job, and it was a pretty good game (Other than a bit unbalanced because essentially Turkey didn't do anything until we got a replacement player and then it was a bit too late).

Would be happy to play again with all of you, and Oregon Blue Dog might well enjoy a chance to get a decent start from the beginning, rather than jumping in as a pinch hitter, where basically it was almost like drawing straws about *if* and *how long* with an extremely small chance of survival at that time....

My thoughts are that we have a pretty decent bunch of core players, so if anyone wants to start a petition for a new game, and we can find a GM / "Host" (Thanks Muon2 for running the past two games!!!!), would definitely look forward to participating.

Sorry about your injury.... I didn't realize that at the time, so hoping your recovery is progressing well.... :(

I started playing table-top Diplomacy some (30) Years ago, although it had probably been (20) years since I last played, so was stoked when the first Muon2 game started on Atlas (of all places)!!!!

See you the next go around.... :)

It was a fun game and thanks to Muon and everyone else who also played.

From the Austrian perspective this is how things went:

At the start of the game I tried to establish lines of communication with all my neighbors in particularly and passed notes with everyone except for Turkey (who responded to no one as has already been said). As Austria, my main priorities at the outset are to make peace with all my neighbors so as to avoid an early elimination and increase the odds that no more than one neighbor attacks me. Italy and Russia seemed interested in partnership, whereas Turkey declined to respond. This is fine from my perspective since Russia and Italy are the more immediately scary neighbors anyways in 1901.

It turned out that Russia and Italy were both friendly and that Turkey was a basket case. So this made the immediate moves straightforward enough. The next question would become where to turn as Turkey's days were numbered. The calculus on this was also clear and simple: Italy kept making very demanding requests for concessions to them for continued partnership, while Russia was happy to split up the spoils in Turkey and move on elsewhere. So it became clear I had to stab Italy. There really was no clear path for us to continue working together. Unfortunately, I was not well-prepared to do this and my strategy in dealing with Italy was incredibly vanilla and came as expected at basically every level.

When poor Oregon Blue Dog took over Turkish control, he made a serious attempt to work with me, but it wasn't to my advantage to turn on Russia when Russia had already promised me Constantinople . And even there, it would have put a dangerous potential ally of Italy on my rearguard. Altogether it wasn't an offer I could seriously consider. Turkey could hardly end war with Russia to help me against Italy. And there was no real plausibility of mending things with Italy with Turkey already eliminated and Italy having no interested in heading west.

I screwed up a bunch in the next phase of the game wherein I was fighting the slow war with Italy and made the mistake of letting France in. Italy then made the unexpected move of trying to throw the game to France to try and get me to lay off. It was tempting to reconsider my strategy, but it wouldn't have worked either. So I was left waiting for France to make his solo gambit. Italy reached out to me as a last ditch effort but there was little he could offer me to substantially change things at that point. Though I could see France's strategy clearly, it was still in my interest to take Venice when he moved to remove Italy, so I went along with it.

The next phase of the game started. At this point, France and I were both allegedly setting up to stab our allies to break up the slow AR vs EF endgame. This was an offer I had seriously considered since I could very likely win a war with Russia and saw the possibility of getting to 14 centers. However, France had pinned me to where I had very little chance of getting more than that. So I needed to play along enough to get France and England fighting, but not enough to actually start a war with Russia that would result in a French solo. So Russia and I orchestrated moves to make it look like we were at war. But there's a limit to how many turns one can do this and have it look remotely convincing. Still it bought enough time for England to see the threat of a French solo and reverse course, so it served its purpose. Now for the first time in years, Russia and I were collectively making gains against France and Germany (acting as a French puppet).

This is about the point where the game fizzled out. The likely next step would have been to see how long the three of us (AER) could keep working together before someone stabbed. I was in the exceedingly odd position of having a decently powerful Austrian navy, so likely I could have pushed it back to the stalemate line, maybe even making a play at Iberia if Russia/England had a falling out in the North.

It was something of an usual game in that it felt for large portions of the game that there was a kind of 5-on-2 alliance structure with Russia and I against the world. With France and England as long allies and Italy and Germany as their Janissaries, and Turkey marginally aligned with Italy and against Russia to the extent they were involved. Given that array of alliances, I was happy that Russia and I could play our way into a solid half of the board. I felt as though I could have played a lot better, especially early with how I dealt with France and Italy. Still, I doubt it would have transpired remarkably differently given the play of Turkey and of the western powers. I still have trouble seeing how a partnership with Italy could have been mutually productive given Italy's constant demand for centers and desire to pit Russia and I against each other. I could definitely have been less vanilla in my tactical decisions though. France and Italy had me outguessed at every single turn. It's interesting how sometimes in this game you are able to see your opponents' every move and sometimes you can't seem to do anything right.

I was Austria once again, which isn't obviously the favorite country in this game, but one I rather do like playing, especially early on. The thing I like about Austria is how involved you need to be with everyone right from the start. The thing I don't like about Austria, which became more and more of an issue throughout this game, is just how one-dimensional the endgame really is. It's so incredibly hard to solo as Austria without stabbing both Italy and Russia at some point, perhaps moreso (wkith stabbing neighbors) than any other country except Turkey (which is by far my least favorite to play as; yes you're really powerful but it's also boring).This game was unique in that the length and changes in alliance structure made it actually possible that I could be making a play into France and Iberia with the mighty prowess of the Austrian navy. So many sentences that are weird to see.

It's not impossible.  I recall an online game from years ago where Austria (not me, alas) used a solid AR alliance as a springboard to a solo.  Austria wound up with 18 without taking anything east of Serbia/Greece!  IIRC, in the end he had something like Austria + Italy + France + Ser/Gre/Tun/Por/Spa/Mun/Bel/Hol and an English center.