TT's Italy - Be friends with me and enjoy our fabulous bunga bunga parties!

[Amelia]

Stay.

[Twinkletoes89]

Well it almost worked perfectly - bar the Galicia bounce.

Sciz has sent me a very stroppy message (as was to be expected) but I still think it will work alright.

Another lurker question:

I imagine Sciz will support his Vienna army into Tri using his Albanian fleet. If I were to use my ION fleet to attack Albania, would that cut its support and allow me to take Tri with my VEN army supported by TYR army?

I should take 1 of his home SCs this turn by either the method above, or by sending my armies into Vienna & Tri respectively with my fleet going into Tun to ensure 1 SC at worst.

[uberfish]

That's correct, if he orders ALB S VIE->TRI then ION->ALB cuts that support

(if he orders VIE S ALB->TRI instead then ION->ALB does nothing to cut support)

[Twinkletoes89]

Well to fill you guys in, I have sent in my orders.

My Ion fleet is taking Tun to guarantee me a build.

My Ven army is attacking Tri with support from Tyr.

I will probably see a bounce in Tri but Germany has suggested that Sciz may be relying on him to cut my support in Tyr and defend Tri with his unit in Vie so he can take Greece & get 2 builds and a much stronger position to defend from. If I fail to take Tri, my intentions are 100% clear to Austria & may have been betrayed by Germany.

However, that was always the risk with this move & I simply have to take it before everyone else gets more builds than me and I fall behind.

Fingers crossed!

--------------------------

In other news, it seems like Eng could be in some trouble if he goes for Belgium as France could either bounce him or even take it if Germany gives France his support. He would then be left with no SCs and vulnerable. If he goes for Norway instead, he could end up shut out from the mainland and that will leave him with big problems too.

[Twinkletoes89]

Erm... WOW!!

I owe Commodore a pint of something if I ever meet him as I was not going to attampt to attack sciz in Trieste as I was almost certain he'd play hedgehog and not risk it.

I was one click of the button from sending orders to hold my units before commodore came online. That's one great slice of luck!

I hadn't actually thought about him supporting from Serbia so I perhaps owe Jowy something too for attacking Serbia rather than bouncing in Greece which got me to take Trieste.

So now I have secured 2 builds which I doubt anyone was thinking I would get when I was given Italy to play with. So what to do with them?

Obviously one must be an army in Venice.

The other is likely to be a fleet in Rome as a strong France means I need to keep a strong naval presence in the Med so he doesn't get any ideas against me.

As I'm in a good mood, lets guess what the others will do with their builds.

Austria - Army in Budapest (only option)

France - Army Paris and something out of Marseilles (probably an Army though hopefully a fleet)

Germany - Fleet Kiel and hopefully something in Berlin rather than Munich. Munich would make me worry.

Turkey - Something in SMY. Army is probably an anti-Russian move designed to go into Armenia in the spring. Fleet is more anti Austrian and thus more attractive to me.

Russia - Army Warsaw & something out of StP (possibly another fleet to cover Bar)

England - cry!

[Twinkletoes89]

I've had a request to post the chat with commodore which explains why I owe him a beer so here it is:

me: hey

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: Hey.
Sciz should be okay.
His plan is for me to cut tyr's support to he can bounce with just vie's army.[/COLOR]

me: really?

commodore.rb: Yep, that's what he's saying,

me: odd
he can bounce me without outside help if he plays it right

commodore.rb: He wants to bounce Jowy in Gre too, it sounds like.

me: he can do that with his Serb army

commodore.rb: Tun might be a better move for you unless Jowy's up for helping.

me: i will be going to Tun, no doubt
how certain are you that he is relying on your support?

commodore.rb: not very, sadly :-(

me: I can still attack him but a double bounce shows my intentions 100%

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: He said he's counting on it, but not sure how honest he's being
[/COLOR]
me: and can I count on you going into Bohemia rather than cutting my support?

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: Absolutely.
One thing though, if I help here, that means France will be really strong and unthreaten.[/COLOR]

me: england is on your side though?
at least he says so

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: Might need assistance by late '03 pressuring Iberia
Um, both of them say they're on my side.
England, however, thinks that I'm on his side by "giving" me two centers.
France had a more equitable division.[/COLOR]

me: fair enough
well once we're done with Austria I will have at least 1 extra fleet
so I can assist in the Med most likely

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: Cool.
It's mostly just keeping him honest in the Med.[/COLOR]

me: as long as you move into Boh, we have a guaranteed take of at least 1 of Austria's SC in spring 02
as Russia will be in Galicia too

commodore.rb: Yeah, that will be unstopable.

me: even if Turkey isn't so keen
but I imagine once he sees the way the wind is blowing he will want a piece of the action

commodore.rb: Well, Jowy's endgame there is a little...scary.

me: go on...

commodore.rb: Mostly? Russia and you have one other reasonable target to split.

me: true
but which is more defensible?
turkey

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: True too
I think it'll be fun to see once Austria is gone.
Which might be '02
[/COLOR]
me: could be
it'll be interesting if I don't end up being the one stabbed lol

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: Heh, Italy isn't worried about allot.
You're a hard place to pressure if you have a strong Med fleet.[/COLOR]

me: yeah
if I take Tri then I will have another Med fleet along with an army in Venice.
If its just Tun that I take, it will be a little longer before my med fleet is super strong
most likely

commodore.rb: Yeah, either way, you're in a good position.

me: hopefully
so will you be taking Belgium & Denmark this turn or is that too risky?

[COLOR="red"]commodore.rb: Nope, just Den
Bel is given to France this year.[/COLOR]

me: you supporting him? I imagine England will take a pop at it?
though a bounce would serve you best

commodore.rb: Yeah, trying to arrange that, but might just help him in.

me: well it 'should' be a bounce without your support
Eng needs that foothold on the continent

commodore.rb: Yeah

me: and without the channel, Belgium is its only hope really

commodore.rb: That means zero SC for him.

me: yep, and 2 for you

commodore.rb: I am well content.

me: you seem to have played this very well so far
especially if Eng stays weak

commodore.rb: We'll have to see.

The first little bit is the stuff I owe him big for, the rest is just interesting chatter and to give you a sample of our diplomatic styles as the conversation is pretty typical of all the chats we have had.

[Twinkletoes89]

Right, looking at the builds as they are, I am pretty sure that Austria loses its last two home SCs in Spring 02.

German Army in Bohemia supported by me in Tyr defeats single unit in Vienna

Russian armies in Galicia & Rumania defeat single unit in Budapest (also cuts potential Bud support of Vie army)

Jowy's Bul army attacks Serbia with support from my army in Tri & kills single unit or bounces & stops its support of Bud army.

[Cyneheard]

That explains what Tri and Tyr are doing; what about the rest of your forces? What are they up to?

[Kyan]

Seems like a great start mate. Nice one.

[Twinkletoes89]

That explains what Tri and Tyr are doing; what about the rest of your forces? What are they up to?

Depends on just what kind of diplomatic masterstroke I can pull off!

I may just have convinced Commodore to let me have Vienna with the 'promise' of letting him have it once I take an SC off Russia, Turkey or France.

If that is the case, my Ven army will go into Tyr as the Tyr army will be supported into Vienna.

My fleets will go into Ion & Tys in some combination.