[SPOILERS] Can't we all just get along? (lurker thread)

[Mardoc]

It would probably be fair to extend the deadline to give him time to negotiate.

If he asks, then I'll grant it. I don't want to offer unilaterally, though.

He does still have more than 24 hours from the point where he posted his correct address, so it's not absurd to think he might get his negotiation done on time.

[Amelia]

Btw... this current map looks really familiar to the first game where i played Turkey.

You know, where my unit did enter greece, but Austria went rum->bul, and russia went sev>bla to completely kill me off :P

[Mardoc]

Also, it's hard to be too sympathetic only because, sure we didn't have his email address, but that doesn't erase the fact that he never contacted any of us. We've had 24 hours before the game started, a 4 day Spring turn, and now we're 2 2/3rds days into a Fall turn (that's over a week), and he's just now contacting people. So yeah, hard to sympathize for that.

Not that it's really relevant, but the main reason this doesn't bug me like it does scooter is that Tasunke really is new (can tell by the rules questions he's asked), so he may not have realized how much talking to expect.

I do see scooter's point about being annoyed that Tasunke gets an extension, but I still think Tasunke has less than a 1/7th chance of winning even with the extra time. And it's just extra time, not advice from the lurkers or taking back moves or that sort of thing.

[Amelia]

Just a check: Retreating into Serbia (so that A still gets a build) is a valid move, right?

[uberfish]

F1901 tactical review.

(Amelia: yeah Austria can legally retreat to Serbia and pick up a build)

England: Correctly guessed to ignore the Channel and instead bounce Germany out of the North Sea. This should buy him a turn or two. Unfortunately for him, he's probably doomed anyway because games where not everyone is an experienced player tend to feature static early game alliances, and Russia is always going to be tempted to vulture Norway in this situation due to the proximity to St. Pete.

France: Moving the fleet out to MAO ensured he got to build in Brest instead of being potentially bounced in the Channel, and sets up a potential back door attack of moving that fleet up to the North Atlantic. Got Belgium, still gets to pick up Spain next year (questionable game design there giving France two backyard neutrals that no one else can even get to without a full-blown invasion), stands to make the first gains from any FG invasion of England. Taken over control in the west.

Germany: Conceding both Belgium and Sweden is questionable from a purely tactical point of view. Sure he has an ally, but where is his next build coming from? At best he'll be in the North Sea by fall 1902. If he doesn't have an agreement to take over Belgium or Sweden in return for some other centre, he's in trouble. Germany allowing France and Russia to grow faster than itself is a very bad setup for the midgame for obvious geographical reasons.

Turkey: Moving the fleet west is an unambiguous expression of a Russian alliance. However, the R/T army moves are not optimal - Turkey moving to Serbia and Russia pushing the Ukraine army into Romania would have led to no builds for Austria and a very quick kill even if Italy decided to try and help out. In any case, getting a second Balkan neutral is very good for Turkey.

Russia: Picked up two builds and is in a very good position where he can both push on Austria and add a unit in the north. The fleet in Romania unfortunately gets in the way for now (whereas an army could support action into Galicia, Budapest and Serbia.) Of course, it's possible that putting the fleet there is a deliberate play to avoid having to support Turkey into Serbia in 1902, before Russia has Galicia secured and is in position to invade Austria proper.

Austria: The fate of Romania was out of his hands this turn. Really could use that Trieste fleet mobilized though. Having A Ven and F Tri sitting around picking their noses indefinitely benefits neither Austria nor Italy.

Italy: Continuing with the "Lepanto" moves, although clearly an invasion of Turkey is off the cards. The idea of the convoy to Tunis is to leave the fleet in a flexible position in the Ionian sea. Most likely he'll try and convoy out to Albania in 1902 to at least get some position in the Balkans and either grab a piece of Austria while negotiating for a Russian stab of Turkey, or prop him up for now, depending on how negotiations go.

[novice]

Great reviews Uber, keep them coming.

It's kind of clear from the tactical map, but if anybody's following the diplomacy, feel free to summarize it.

[sunrise089]

@uberish - those write ups are great. One question though: why does turkey need to move ank->con? Isn't just building a fleet in con exactly the same?

[Mardoc]

It's kind of clear from the tactical map, but if anybody's following the diplomacy, feel free to summarize it.

People aren't posting enough for me to be sure about any of this. Especially because some of it contradicts the tactics. But:

EFG: England (Tasunke) was absent early. Partly he posted the wrong e-mail address, partly I think he was busy and didn't know how much diplo he *should* be doing. That meant that FG formed. Scooter (France) seems to be calling the shots there.

I am confused what exactly is going on tactics-wise. Scooter proposed the Edit: North Sea invasion, thought it would work, and then eventually told Tasunke he'd leave the Channel open, which thwarted it. My best guess is that he wants FG, but with France having an easier time than Germany.

At the moment, both FI and GR have proposed and acted on NAPs.

In the south, things get more complicated and uncertain. The diplo posted suggests that there's an AT alliance, but one where Turkey is also dealing with Russia, and Austria is making nice with Italy. The only hot war is Russia v Austria. The main deal in Fall was Turkey left the Black Sea alone in exchange for no Russian fleet build in Sev; we'll see if that sticks.

Finally, Italy. Wanted to invade France, until England's absence made that too iffy, now I'm not sure what he's doing. Perhaps Lepanto, although I don't see that working if Austria doesn't stab Turkey.

[Mardoc]

Oh, and I have a conspiracy theory, too. Tasunke believes that there's an EGI on to dismember France. I've been assuming that means people are lying to him. However: What if he's right? The north sea bounce could have been deliberate, to leave German armies closer to France; combine that with Ven -> Pie and England putting up a defense to French fleets, and Scooter would be in a world of hurt - hurt that would mostly reward Germany and Italy.

[uberfish]

@uberish - those write ups are great. One question though: why does turkey need to move ank->con? Isn't just building a fleet in con exactly the same?

If Turkey is allied with Russia, the fleet in Ankara isn't really contributing much to the game. The flip side is that if Russia maintains a fleet on the Black Sea and Turkey doesn't, it's obviously easier for Russia to backstab Turkey than vice versa. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader as to how a RT alliance should address this situation.

Oh, and I have a conspiracy theory, too. Tasunke believes that there's an EGI on to dismember France. I've been assuming that means people are lying to him. However: What if he's right? The north sea bounce could have been deliberate, to leave German armies closer to France; combine that with Ven -> Pie and England putting up a defense to French fleets, and Scooter would be in a world of hurt - hurt that would mostly reward Germany and Italy.

If Germany was going to attack France he could have just bounced France out of Belgium leaving him with only 1 build. Giving France two builds for the sake of deceiving people for a turn doesn't make much sense.