The Misadventures of the Gobbledy Gooker

[Jowy]

This is what happens when you do diplo 10am without an ounce of sleep the previous night.

10:11 AM me: Hello there
10:12 AM jkaen.online: Hi
me: So uh nice to meet you. How's England? :P
10:13 AM jkaen.online: Bit wet and windy, I am thinking of heading to the continent for a summer holiday soon :P
me: Haha :P
10:14 AM I guessed as much
jkaen.online: So, any travel plans yourself?
10:15 AM me: Well, I was planning for some sailing in the Black Sea, but it's apparently going to be blocked
damn tourists
10:17 AM jkaen.online: I have heard it is somewhat of a hot spot
Think you may end up fighting for the sun loungers, or will you bounce as friends?
10:19 AM me: A bit hard to say at this point, I'd like to think the latter
10:20 AM jkaen.online: Fair enough. Personnally, I find russia way too cold this time of year, so I think I will leave them alone
10:21 AM me: Yeah and it's a bit far from you too, takes a while to travel
10:22 AM Will you be joining up with your foreign friends for your holiday perhaps?
jkaen.online: I like nice road trips too, I mean once you have seen St Petersburg where do you go after that?
I hope to make friends on my journey, haven't quite decided who to meet up with first yet though
10:23 AM me: Aight, don't make too many friends tho, might raise some tension
10:24 AM jkaen.online: I can't see the Germans and the French getting on, too many old rivalries there, something about what one said to the otehrs cousin. Will listen to their stories and decide who's side to take
10:25 AM me: Sounds like fun.
10:26 AM Well then, I should probably go. Maybe I'll book a hotel from Greece or something.
10:27 AM See ya.

[Jowy]

Chatted with Commodore (Germany). He seems to be without an ally yet. Possible candidates are England and Italy. England because France is unresponsive, and Italy because I know he's supporting Italy to Tyr and the impression I've got is that they've chatted quite a bit. However, what goes against this, is that Germany asked Russia to stab Italy and support Germany to Vienna.

Myself, Gaspar (Russia) and TT (Italy) split up the balkans. I will get three SC's: Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece, while Russia will get Rumania and Budapest, and Italy will get Vienna and Trieste. We were originally going to let TT have Greece, but he actually came to me and told me straight out that he'd let me have Greece. We planned with Gaspar to stab Italy as soon as Austria is dead and take those two SC's as well. That's a bit far planned, but good to have. I could always go with TT and stab Russia instead. But going with Gaspar is the #1 choice for now. Alternatively, they could stab me. But I'm willing to take the risk, even at worst I should be able hold my original lands. Italy fleet is now going to go to Tunisia.

[Jowy]

First turn is history and everything seems to have gone according to plan. Austria moved exactly as I predicted with two units going south. The bounce in Galicia was unfortunate, but not surprising. Germany went west which bodes well for us. Looks like France will get two SC's uncontested, good for him. Probably better that it's Bob getting stronger than the others. He seems the least threatening player atm, just judging by my chats.

Ok let's take another look. I initially forgot all about cutting supports. Sciz's plan is to bounce TT in Trieste with his armies in Vienna and Serbia. Then he would move his fleet from Albany to Greece in order to get a second SC. With those two new units, he believe he can repel the Russian attack. He actually made a mistake. He won't be getting two SC's because I can either bounce him in Greece or I can cut his support by Bul -> Ser so TT takes Trieste. He is pretty much toast.

Another scenario I thought of is that he tries to bounce Russia in Rumania so Russia gets one less SC, then bounce TT in Trieste with Albanian fleet and Vienna army. This actually sounds much better from his POV, because I can't do anything about Trieste. I will however get Greece, or I could support Russia to Rumania. Even better, Russia could support himself to Rumania with his Stevastopol fleet and thus get him Rumania and one extra SC but lose BLA. If that happens tho, he could potentially stab me by building a fleet in Ste and gaining the control of BLA back. If we go this route, I will build a fleet in Con to counter. If he doesn't build a fleet, which is very likely, then I can just send the fleet west.

Then there's one surprise factor as well. Germany could cut TT's support by Mun > Tyr. Then Austria could bounce TT in Trieste with just his Vienna army and support himself in Greece. We could bounce him in Greece with TT but that would sacrifice TT's Tunis SC for now. I don't think this is very likely but thought I'd throw it out there.

[Cyneheard]

Then there's one surprise factor as well. Germany could cut TT's support by Mun > Tyr. Then Austria could bounce TT in Trieste with just his Vienna army and support himself in Greece.

This depends on the orders that Italy gives. Mun-Tyr cuts Tyr S Ven-Tri, but it does nothing to Ven S Tyr-Tri.

[Jowy]

Well, didn't get much done tonight. Gaspar (Russia) is considering supporting his army to Rum, which means I would get BLA. I'd give about 25:75 odds for him going for it. Since I'm not yet planning to stab Russia, I don't mind if he doesn't go for it. Still, would be a good bonus. TT (Italy) knows that he needs that Tunis build and won't be supporting me to Greece. I should try to catch Sciz (Austria) online one more time and try to convince him to bounce Russia in Rum rather than me in Greece. Better me with two builds than Russia.

[Jowy]

Sciz (Austria) seems to have stopped thinking rationally (if he ever did) and is just scrambling now. Half his plans wouldn't work and it's impossible to negotiate any kind of a deal with him. It's a double-edged sword really.. The good side is that he's probably going to make horrible mistakes, but the bad side is that he's now unpredictable and those mistakes might benefit others more than myself.

It's a guessing game now. My two choices are Bul -> Gre and Bul -> Ser. Who wants to flip a coin?

[Jowy]

Alea iacta est. Just accompanied by a bit more panic than Caesar. Thought I accidently sent my orders to everyone by replying to Nakor's deadline note, but it was a false alarm, thank god.

[Jowy]

Since I told TT where I'm moving with the Bulgarian army, might as well tell you guys. I'm moving Bul -> Ser. Worst case scenario is that Austria supports his fleet to Trieste with his Vienna unit and then stays put in Serbia. I would get 1 build and TT would get 1. If TT supports Ven to Trieste with his Tyr unit and Germany stabs, Austria would get the fleet in Trieste. Might not be that bad for me tbh. But I doubt Germany will stab, A) He doesn't have anything to gain B) He and TT seem close. Best case scenario is that Austria moves Ser -> Gre to "bounce me and TT", which means I would get Serbia and thus two builds. I ultimately decided to choose Ser over Gre because of Sciz adamantly believing me and TT were going for Gre. I mean, it could be a lie to confuse me since it doesn't make much sense at all.. but, well, I think he's even more confused himself.

[Jowy]

Shucks. I pointed out this exact scenario to Sciz, but he still decided to go with it and lose Trieste. See what I mean with unpredictability? Oh well. I'm still in OK shape, got control over BLA and captured Bulgaria as well, which is what would "belong" to me naturally. Better yet, if I can avoid getting stabbed, I'll be in a good position to get a couple more SC's before the next build phase.

[Maniac Marshall]

...got control over BLA...

You do realize your move failed (was bounced) by the Russian fleet, right?