[spoiler] Rowain plays Austria

[Rowain]

Well I'm still alive which is more than I thought possible. MJW of course didn't keep his word so I would be dead now had I gone by his plan.

Anyway the next year looks to be my last.

That Russia got DEN is an unwelcome surprise as it diminishes the worth of the Army in VIE (selling it as Mercenary unit ).

[Rowain]

New talk

Well it appears that you guessed right. However, with Russia sneaking in that fleet to DEN you are screwed. If you want to 'talk' to me again your only leverage against me would be that you hate TT more than me. However, you cannot argue that if you disband VIE instead of GAL (look at possible retreats). So if you want to 'talk' or want to trick me then you need to disband VIE.

Hi MJW

a) I hate neither you nor TT.
b) Yes the Fleet in DEN is a surprise for me but as I see it TT has now 1 SC more than you and you are still in the middle of the map. As F + E seem to work together you have some interesting times ahead. Even if you and TT work together to kill scooter you end up to be the playfield for western and eastern Armies.
c) If I read it right you contradict yourself. First you say I can't argue I hate TT more if I disband VIE instead of GAL and then you say if I want to talk to you I need to disband VIE. So what is it?
d) In the case that you are honestly (if you know the meaning of this word - perhaps you should check a dictionary) interested in working with me I'm willing to hear your offer.

[Rowain]

I'm surprisingly still alive. And there seems to be a crack in the MJW-TT relationship. But I must confess that I don't get all the moves done this fall.

Russia supporting turkey BUL while taking ANK is even if it was agreed with scooter not that great. Better move the Army from SEV to MOS to guard the north and delete the useless fleet in the west. Now Russias north is wide open and Germany will most likely take STP.

Englands fleet in HOL doing nothing especially not supporting Russia into KIE is the second dubious move IMO. In the west it looks like france wins although taking out England is still a long hard fight. In the east it would need good cooperation between turkey Austria and Russia to stop Italy. Sadly the threat of Germany has a chance to move Russia back into Italies arms which means Italy wins the east and will have a good chance to win.

For now I disband SIL and wait what happens the coming year.

[Rowain]

Well MJW is not pleased (if he tells the truth). The following message reached my palace:

Hi Cyneheard,

TT has stabbed me so I've entered nuclear meltdown and will do everything I can to make you win. Well I want to outlast Austria and Turkey so I still have motives that are different than yours. You probably talk to rowain yourself so the plan is consistent though out.

Anyway I've ordered my army to retreat to BOH. I'm willing to move to PIE or disband it if you require it for trust. I suggest BOH--I can support Rowain in VIE and that's quite useful. Remember, I cannot retreat it to TRI due to the bounce. I will check one hour before the deadline.

I have of course informed TT (and will inform dtay) about it which has a good chance to be the reason why MJW sent it to me in BCC (if it was MJW).

It looks like scooter has agreed to die and give TT his SC as long as MJW gets hurt. I think MJW lied a bit too much and is now without friends. It also shows why it is usually not a good idea to stab Austria as Italy if you don't have a plan how to deal with France+Russia.

[MJW (ya that one)]

Hi Rowain.

I had a plan for dealing with TT. His meltdown made me sure he wanted an Italian-Russian alliance but he changed his mind as seen in his thread. Anyway I've got a few questions:

1. What do you think of the final position if Russia NMR?
2. What made you sure scooter would attack SER?
3. Now that you've probably read about how TT rage-quit has your opinion changed? And what were the questionable things TT did that you alluded to earlier?

[Rowain]

1. What do you think of the final position if Russia NMR?

Turkey and Italy have no home SC any longer so they can't build any Units. Italy's best chance is to ally with Austria and help Austria to get former Russian SC to stop France (Austria can build Units) and maybe get his homeland back. England gets BER, STP, MOS and maybe WAR. Then it depends if England stays friend with France then France gets the solowin. If they fight then Austria can grow strong enough to play a role again (via killing off Italy).

2. What made you sure scooter would attack SER?

A reliable source told me so

3. Now that you've probably read about how TT rage-quit has your opinion changed?

About TT ragequiting? No. First off IMO scooter handing him his homecenters is far worse because scooter could have defended easily. You OTOH were out of position with most of your units (helping France into MUN was bad in that regard). You could have defended better (by retreating into PIE instead of BOH) but that would only mean that TT has it easy to get your SC instead of France and I'm sure TT would not quit over someone getting the cake he envisioned for himself

And what were the questionable things TT did that you alluded to earlier?

In Spring 01 he stabbed scooter. Yes I know he sold it later as cunning plan but that is BS. Moving into UKR, SEV and BLA is not only a clear attack towards south (anti-turk) but it also moves your units from any other targets.
In Fall he turned around and stabbed us 2. That didn't gain him anything at all (He would have gotten RUM anyway) except he was now forced to use all his units in the south+middle had 2 enemies and that with having troubles in the north (Germany bouncing him in SWE). Had he stayed true scooter would gain no SC. TT could use his new build and/or one of his armies to guard the north and crush Turkey with his 2 allies. He could later ally with either Italy to kill Austria or with Austria to kill Germany/Italy.
The reason why he was still a player in 05 was that Italy stabbed Austria in 02 and Turkey handed him his SC's.

BTW MJW I don't know how much I influenced it but I did invest some work to get him to stab you:

Rowain:Any chances on you helping me to keep VIE?

TT:It would be difficult for you to offer me enough for that to be worth my while, but feel free to try and convince me.

Rowain:This is just me guessing but I believe your current plan is to support MJW into VIE and hope you get BUL.
I doubt MJW will be happy with you getting a great position towards Turkish SC while he has to sit on his Armies next to your SCs.

TT:Nor would he be happy if I screwed him out of VIE and has armies next to my SCs :/

Rowain:Yes but then he would get 1 less build & have 1 less Army next to you.

TT:He would still have more armies in the area than I would. I would only be interested if you would support me in, but as you would be stupid to do so, I will not stab him for such minimal returns.

Rowain:It would be my Army in VIE instead of an Italian one. You could finish off Turkey while helping me going after Italy. Your benefit would be a far weaker neighbour fighting in the west instead of a 8 SC Italy with 4 Armies right next door to you and no worries in the west.
But just to humour me what do you think MJW will do once he has his Army in VIE and TRI ? What do you think MJW is going to do the next year? Really interested in what you envision what will happen the next years.

TT:You make a convincing case. Let me just figure out how I can make this work strategically and I'll decide for definite. But at the moment I feel like I should work with you

TT:Okay I'm in.
I will support you into VIE with my BUD army. I would use GAL, but I need to protect WAR just in case you are trying to screw me with Germany. That okay?