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Blood Tetra - EGS
Game Started: 14th January 2004
Game Ended: 5th May 2004
Result: France won!
| Country | Player | Performance |
| Austria-Hungary | Andy Scott | Survived |
| England | Robert Dane | Eliminated |
| France | Steve Foister | Won |
| Germany | Ricardo Moraes | Survived |
| Italy | Wayne Read | Eliminated |
| Russia | Pat McDonald | Eliminated |
| Turkey | Doug Stewart | Survived |
Austria-Hungary
I must say that I don't normally play variants such as these, mainly because I generally find they are all inferior to the standard game of Dip. That said however I found this format fun to play and quite entertaining. A big thank you to Ally for a cracking job GM'ing this game, which given the different maps that are needed each turn can't have been easy!
I admit that I was less then impressed with getting Austria but then somebody had to play it! My initial problems are true for Austria regardless of variant. The big difference with Blinded is spotting people lying to you as you only get to see a small part of what they're up to! For example I was paranoid about Russia right from the start, Russia's opening more then any other I feel gives an insight into his plans therefore I decided that I had to open to Gal if I was to have any idea about his intentions. I also decided that if I was to survive for more then a few years I needed to trust Italy which meant F Tri-Alb and A Bud to Ser and a very nervous start. In the Autumn I was hopeful my gambit had worked as Tri was still free but I was also mortified that I couldn't even see whether A Ven was still in place! Damn but this limited sight was going to take some getting used to!! I decided to press on with my original plan though and go for Gre in the hope that should Italy get Tri I would still get a build? I also had A Gal as Russia had not bounced me so I could see that War was vacant and there was a Russian Army in Ukr, Turkey was in Bul as expected and again no surprises with an Italian Fleet in ION. I decided that A Gal might as well have a pop at War and see what happened?
Spring 1902 and I had two builds a fleet in Tri and an Army in Bud. Potentially more importantly Turkey had supported me into Gre and I took this to be a signal that he wanted an alliance so decided to move on this basis. I was not surprised that Russia had taken Rum and bounced me in War but I was less than impressed to see an Italian Army in Tyr however there was no back up for it as Ven was empty? I decided that I needed more info on Italy so moved my new fleet to ADS but to be safe covered Vie with A Bud. A Ser I used to support Turkish A Bul-Rum to signify my acceptance of his proposal and A Gal to Ukr to gather info on Russian deployment. F Gre sat and waited for the info to come in!
S1902 was a good turn as A Bud did bounce with the Italian, more importantly A Ukr showed Russia to be in disarray as Turkey already had Sev and no thanks to me convoyed into Rum from Ank. The only Russian unit I could see was A Mos, War was still empty! So decision time for the Autumn I decide to try for War again from Ukr but my big decision was what to do about Italy? He now had armies in Ven and Tyr, more importantly I had nothing in Tri and Vie. I decide to cover Vie with A Bud and took the gamble of a self bounce between F ADS and A Ser in Tri with F Gre giving Turkish A Bul some unneeded support for sake of communication. Unfortunately my gamble didn't pay off as Italy took Tri with Ven which cost me F ADS being disbanded. Things were looking bleak as Turkey had armies now in Bul, Rum and Sev. He had decided to use Sev to attack Mos which meant Russia's A Mos-War move had bounced us both! My forces were now pretty scattered and I couldn't dislodge Italy from Tri without him making a mistake and even if I did he would be able to retreat to another SC of mine :-( I needed A Ukr back to fill the hole so ordered A Ukr to Gal while attacking Tri with Vie supported by Ser. I was hoping that Russia would once again order A Mos-War and this time it would mean Turkey would get Mos. All this time I was praying Turkey would not decide to attack me in the South, if he did I was shafted so once again F Gre ignored the Italian F in ION and supported Turkish A Bul in place.
Well I got Tri and lost Bud, worse was I could now see Italian Armies in Tyr and Boh as well, not to mention Italian fleets in ION and ADS. Things were looking grim! Not all was bad though the sudden appearance of a Russian army in War had me hoping that Turkey was now in Mos and at last I finally saw a Turkish Fleet in the AEG. I was thinking that I was probably only going to be around a year or two more at this point and decide on A Gal-Bud with support form both Tri and Ser with F Gre supporting Turkish F AEG-ION. This was based on the need to concentrate my forces for mutual support, I expected to lose Tri but was hoping it could retreat to Vie and sat back and waited for the A1903 turn results.
When they arrived they carried surprises in plenty. Most importantly I still had four units with control of Bud, Tri Ser and Gre. Italy had apparently decided for reasons that escaped me to try and move A Bud-Gal (I guess supported by Boh) but for whatever reason it didn't work and was dislodged to Vie so I had my forces concentrated as I wanted them. The next shock was the appearence of A German unit in Tyr so I was guessing he hadn't liked this massing of Italian units on his Southern border and had decided to intervene, what effect he had on Italy I was unsure, but I was very grateful all the same! Also and potentially more importantly in the South Turkey had got into ION not with F AEG but with F EMS which I didn't even know existed! Christ what to do now? Italy seemd on the verge of cracking up. He still had F ADS and A Vie that I could see and I was guessing he still had A Boh. Turkey meanwhile had emptied Bul, now I admit I was slightly tempted but my estimation of Turkey was that by now he had at least 7 units to my four and I just couldn't justify a pathetic 1 SC stab that would put me between hostile Italian and Turkish armies who outnumbered me individually let alone combined! It occurred to me though that Turkey might be trying to release my A Ser and demilitarise the Balkans so with this in mind I ordered A Ser-Gre, F Gre-Alb and A Bud-Vie supported by A Tri.
Lo and behold all my moves worked fine, I could now see Italian armies in Boh and Tyr (Germany had obviously been pushed out and an Italian Fleet in Ven). I was a bit worried by a Turkish army appearing in Gal but decided to ignore it as Bul was still empty (I could no longer see Rum!) To me the way was obvious but required the continuation of my so far excellent guesswork with Turkey so for A1904 I ordered F Alb-ADS, A Tri S A Vie, A Vie S A Tri and the gamble, A Gre-Apu hoping Turkey would convoy me there.
The result was not quite as good as I expected with me losing Tri but critically the convoy worked, it really was I think my best move of the game. I am dead proud that in a blinded gunboat variant Turkey and I were able to see so clearly what the other wanted! Now I could see that Italy was not in such a strong position as I had previously thought with seperated armies in Boh and Tri and fleets in Ven and Nap! Also my A Tri had been dislodged to Ser so I could now see that Rum and Bul were empty which I found very comforting :-) I decide that I had to attack while I had the positional advantage and the intel to go with it so ordered A Apu-Ven with support from F ADS, A Ser to Tri to cut any support and A Vie-Bud for cover.
This destroyed the Italian F Ven which meant Italy was a unit down in the Autumn before he could rebuild it, he obviously spotted the danger as he didn't try for Vie or Bud but brought Boh back to Tyr. A slightly disturbing sight however was an Italian Fleet back in ION, what had happened down there? Regardless I pushed on with eliminating the Italian threat to Austria and ordered F ADS-Tri with support from Ven and Ser while A Bud went back to Vie. All I succeeded in doing was dislodging the Italian Army from Tri to Bud. Worse Turkey walked into Gre and I discovered Germany in Boh? However A Ven whose support had been cut was apparently on it's own with no one around it, this confused me until I realised that the unit that cut the support must have been disbanded in the adjustments phase! Turkish Fleets were now in Gre and Rum, the more I thought about Gre I realised that it might have been the result of a retreat so decided to trust Turkey again and take my chance of crushing the remaining Italian I could see once and for all.
Spring 1906 dawned with the death of Italian A Bud and a sigh of relief for Austria. However I was now getting concerned with Turkey as from what few orders I could see I knew the two fleets were still in Rum and Gre but also that a Turkish A had moved into Bul again. That said I had received support from Turkish A Gal to crush Italy. And I could also see that German A Boh was trying to move to Sil unsuccessfully. It suddenly dawned on me I had a problem, to the best of my knowledge Turkey had control of Mos, War, Sev, Rum, Bul, Gre, Con, Ank, Smy and quite possibly Tun and Nap as well? An 11 SC Turkey to my 4 SC Austria was bad enough but when you add to that that he surrounded my territory on three sides it became a bloody nightmare! I decided I needed intel and set out to get it with A Ven-Rom, F Tri-Ads. I had to order A Bud to stand to claim the SC so ordered A Vie S Turkish A Gal to Boh. Unfriendly to Germany I know (sorry mate!) but I wanted to show Turkey I could still be of some use!
So in A1906 I finally clawed my way back to 5 units, but wait no I didn't! F Tri failed to get to ADS so I had no build centre, what's worse A Ven failed in Rom and an Italian fleet appeared there. Turkey didn't want to go to Boh so that was also wasted. Damn, I was in exactly the same position and no better off!
S1907 and I decided to support Turkey again in case he decided that he wanted to go to Boh and repeated the moves for F Tri and A Ven while A Bud moved to Ser to gain intel. This turn it worked a lot better with all my moves bar A Ven-Rom working. However what I saw didn't encourage me! There was a soul Italian Fleet in Rom and 3 Turkish fleets in Gre, ION and Apu with 2 Turkish armies in Rum and Boh with nobody else in sight! Critically I couldn't see Naples, I decided to try Ven-Rom once more on the off chance Turkey was in Nap and might be persuaded to support me there. F ADS would cover Ven and Vie and Ser would self bounce in Bud to try and ensure I could get my build this year. Again Ven bounced but I was able to build A Bud.
This left me in S1908 with visable Turkish Army units in Boh and Gal, with fleets in Gre and ION. I was getting nowhere with Rom and Turkey had me surrounded apart from empty Rum and Bul! So I decided convoy A Ven-Alb in preparation for an autumn strike, with hindsight this was a mistake. I should have struck to Bul with A Ser then and there however I didn't and mised my oppertunity. I would like to point out to whoever played Turkey that I was sorry I had to do this as we had managed a great partnership up to this point but my reckoning was you were probably around the 12 SC mark and more importantly had me surrounded. I had helped you into Russia and Italy and all I got in return was Ven and the loss of Gre. I figured that if I wanted to stop you just walking all over me I had to hit you know while I could as I was under the definite impression my SC's were being saved for you to come and grab to give you the solo! Bare in mind I had no idea what was going on in the West. I had seen an occasional German Army and I knew that Italy had at most 2 units in my estimation, for all I knew Turkey was in StP, Scandinavia or even Germany and was about to make the play for the solo! Anyway I convoyed to Alb and was greeted by the sight of Turkish armies in Gal, Rum and Bul with a fleet in ION. I saw a welcome sight of a German army back in Boh but the writing was on the wall!
Spring 1909 dawned with the first hostilities between A and T. I retook Gre but Turkey grabbed Ser, I also got into Gal and could see an empty Turkish controlled War, Turkish armies in Ukr, Ser and Bul and Turkish fleets in Rum and ION, so all was not lost. I sent F ADS to tap ION, Tri-Ser supported by Gre and Bud and ordered A Gal to support the Germans to War. The result was I reclaimed Ser and lost Greece again damn it! Far more worrying was what was happening behind me, Ven which had been in my control just disappeared with no explanation and German A Sil was ordering support for Ber-Mun??? The loss of Ven also meant I lost F ADS, that didn't make a huge difference to my ground forces but I was keenly aware of the loss of intel!! I had no idea of who as in Ven? Turkey? I really think I should have had this knowledge as F ADS would have seen this before being disbanded but it was not to be! I resolved that I needed to guard my rear and so ordered A Alb-Tri while Bud and Ser defended. A Gal once again supported the Germans to War.
This time Germany took the hint and successfully marched into War however to my horror A Tri discovered a Turkish Army in Tyr and a French army in Ven. Where the hell had the French come from this was the first I had seen of them!!!
Autumn 1910 saw me go into complete defensive lock down with A Gal moving back to Vie and my other armies sitting on my other SC's which was fine apart from the sudden lack of intel apart from the continued presence of Turkish units along my Southern and Eastern borders.
S1911 saw me venture into Tyr to clear out the Turkish Army who retreated to Pie, hah that might make France think again? I could also see Germany was back in Munich, not that I knew for certain he had ever lost it mind! The Turkish fleet also disappeared from Rum, so I suspected a Turkish army to appear there next turn?
S1912 saw just that, also Turkey retook Ser forcing my army back to Alb. Now I could see the scale of the French forces in the area for the first time, there were French fleets in both ION and ADS and French armies in Pie and Ven. Meanwhile I had Turkish Armies in Rum, Ser and Gre!!!
I elected to try and retake Ser but actually it was irrelevant as Autumn 1912 saw France reach 18 SC's and the solo so in the end I finished with my three home SC's occupied by my 3 armies, 12 years of War for no gain how disappointing!!! :-)))
In summary though I am pretty pleased to have survived with Austria in this variant. I expect the lack of looking at the entire board worried us all and undoubtedly caused us all problems. However I would argue as Austria (and this is potentially true of Germany as well?) that being a country surrounded was potentially more of a hindrance then having a safe edge to rely on, particularly in the early years! However when all is said and done I found the game exciting and exhilarating and I would love the chance to play it again although next time Ally can I please skip the honour of being Austria please? When you do get around to holding another blinded game count me in. I think overall you did an excellent job GM'ing what must be an absolute pig to adjudicate, well done!
To the rest of you I thanks for playing, particularly to Turkey with whom I worked so well in the early years. I am dying to find out who you all are and I only hope that when Ally publishes the EGS he also publishes a full map for every turn so we can see how the whole game truly developed?
Regards to all, Andy Scott
England
Another fascinating game of Blind gunboat, I wonder how many players in Blood Tetra are the same as in Bat? Thanks to Ally for GMing and well done to France for soloing. This is what was going through the mind of England as the game progressed.
1901/1902
Since is the blind I think it makes more sense to try the sneaky openings. My early plan was to head directly to France and then progress from there. However this was not to be. I was bounced in ENG in S1901 leaving me with A(Wal) and F(Lon) stuck. I also had no idea what Russia had opened so I didn't know if I would gain Nwy or not. Thankfully I did and had a very slow lumbering start.
1903
In the A1902 adjudication I could see Germany owned, Bel, Hol, Den and Swe. This made me think that unless France was doing something I didn't know about Germany had grown to at least 7 centres. This meant as far as I was concerned I had to stop attacking France and focus all attention of France. I just had to hope that France would also realise Germany was probably the biggest threat.
I also had problems with Russia in Nwy, things didn't look good.
1904-onwards
France lands in Cly and I spot Turkey in Mos! It seems that France had gained the upper hand from my decision to stop attacking him. For the rest of the game I was just trying to defend myself for as long as possible. I end up being eliminated at the same time as I did in Bat.
I hope to have better luck, or skill depending how you view it, next time.
Robert Dane
France
I cannot really remember what happened!
Did I open with Mars sup Paris to Burgundy, Brest to English Channel?
This had the additional benefit of leaving Marseille to watch an Italian army in Piedmont, trying to sneak in on me. But after this, Italy never showed his face again, and I was free to concentrate elsewhere. After a little border trouble with Germany, and arguing over Belgium, that settled down - I think he had issues to the east. We exchanged mutual supports for a while. Leaving me free to build fleets and move on England. With no distractions anywhere else, I was able to throw almost everything into the conquest of England, then past into Scandinavia.
I also started to build up my 'guard' in the Mediterranean, then get it moving. And received a bit of a shock when I bumped into Turkey for the first time, in both St.P. and Tunis. That widely spread, I was worried that the Sultan might be near victory already: and so set about attacking his forces in Italy - which he appeared to have only just taken himself, and was not yet consolidated.
With Scandinavia and Italy taken, reaching further around the edge of the board was not going to get me much further - but taking out Germany would get me to nineteen centres. The peace along this border had been very valuable, probably to both of us, but it was time to 'renegotiate the relationship'. It had been coming for some time, and when it came we both stabbed together. By then, I was much larger, surrounding much of Germany - including a fleet in the Baltic. And so rapidly came down through Denmark to Kiel and then Berlin - to reach the endgame.
Only my second gunboat game of any kind, and the blinded made it much more interesting - thank you everybody, particularly Ally!
Steve
Germany
Pre-S01 -- I got Germany, that usually is not so good in Gunboat games -- lack of communication combined with a central position, I presume. I will try a Blitzkrieg opening, but I'm unsure where going from Mun. Maybe I will left it stopped, seeing what will happen. This is my first time playing this variant, and I must move carefully.
S01 -- My Blitzkrieg opening was satisfactory. I got no Austrian or Russian units around, but a French army on Bur and an England fleet on NTH. I bet that England is pursuing Bel, not Hol; but I'm unsure about France. I will try a bounce on Mun. If I'm lucky, England & France will bounce on Bel instead. Since I can't see StP, I will bounce Russia on Swe. Anyway, two builds seems be sure this turn.
A01 -- Yes, I got 2 builds. Surprisingly enough, Italy tried to get Mun, not France! As I imagined, Russia was bounced on Swe. No hostile moves from England or France - I presume that both are busy fighting. Now it's time to expand. The best strategy seems to be enlarging your view of board, so I will try to get Bel and Swe, while watching that Italian on south. I bet that England is still neutral about me, so I will move F(Den)-BAL menacing Swe and giving me view of Russia.
S02 -- Nobody seems very interested on me. No hostile moves from Italy, England or France. A Russian fleet entered Swe, but I can dislodge it (I hope). Still betting that England is neutral. I will try Bel again. Maybe two more builds this season?
A02 -- Up to 7 SCs! France got Ruhr, and England & Russia are looking at me from NTH and SKA... No news from south. Now things begin to get more complicated. I will probe on east with my A (Ber), while expelling France back to Bur. Still unsure about England, but probably he will try Bel.
S03 -- England tried to take Bel, but was dislodged from France. France retreated from Ruh - a goodwill sign? Maybe not; I cannot risk lose Bel to him, so I must attack. Italy moved up to Boh, menacing Mun. I made a mistake moving to Pru instead Sil. I will offer help to Russia, and move to Sil, facing Italy. England was neutralized for a while, but I cannot leave Hol or Den empty. No gains this turn, I fear.
A03 -- Down to 6 - I lose Bel to France. Italy "attacking" didn't happen, since he was interested in Vie. My move to Tyr left Mun open to French & Italian attacks... But I discovered that War is empty also! I will turn back to Mun again, while attacking War and Bel. In north, I will try to take Nwy in A04. This will put 3 Powers against me - France, Russia and England. I hope that Italy don't join the mob!
S04 -- Italy protected Ven getting Tyr. He is well positioned to launch an attack to Mun - but will he? I was bounced on War by Russia, but his army was disbanded (by whom?) Now a Turkish army appeared on Gal, so I presume Turkey is eating up Russia. Nothing happened on Bel. I will now try Nwy and Bel. I'm not very optimistic, since it seems that both can be defended.
A04 -- As I foresaw, nothing was gained this year. Italy moved to Tri, not to Mun. Turkey got War and England is in StP, so probably Russia is out of game (and Austria too). This means a very powerful and dangerous Turkey - I must deal with him as soon as possible, probably supporting Italy. But this must wait a little. Now I will try to break the French stalemate line going to NTH, while keeping my southern frontier secure, mutually supporting Mun and Sil. I hope that Turkey is more interested in Russia and Italy than on me.
S05 -- I didn't move this turn, but I got Turkish armies on Pru, War and Gal, so he is coming after me. Since France offered help to me, I will accept it, while keeping Turkey out of Ber. Meanwhile I will try to take Nwy from England again.
A05 -- No progress to me, but my army on Sil was dislodged by Turkey to Boh. The good news is that both England & France offered support to me. I will accept them and turn my efforts against Turkey.
S06 -- A French fleet on NTH, menacing Hol... or maybe England? I will risk my western flank and will go against Turkey.
A06 -- Everything stayed same... A Turkish army in Lvn was revealed. I leaved Den empty, will France go for it? I will insist agains Turkey.
S07 -- France leaved Bel empty! Now I'm in Boh and Turkey is in Sil... I will push Turkey out of Pru; also I will try Bel. The worst possibility is France taking Den too, but I can bounce on it.
A07 -- France bounced on Bel and didn't try Den... Turkey leaved Pru (my support was unnecessary). England emptied Nwy... Maybe disbanded? I will try Nwy and War now. Let's cross fingers!
S08 -- Switch Gal & Boh with Turkey. Now I can see a French army in Bel, an Austrian army in Vie & a Turkish army in Fin... This probably means that England collapsed in north. Now is time to get help. I will support France & Austria, then I will see what I will do next.
A08 -- France entered Nwy (without my help), but he supported me in Hol... Austria kept supporting Gal. Now it's time to risk everything against Turkey.
S09 -- Turkey entered in Nwy & Mun (probably dislodged by me). I will go after War, Mun & StP -- now it's the time to risk everything!
A09 -- I expelled Turkey from Mun and StP, but he taken Swe from me. Turkey offered support to France but I don't believe France will accept it. I received an unexpected support from Austria to War - it's very interesting! I think that I will accept it and try War again. Meanwhile, I will expand in old Russian lands.
S10 -- Very bad turn to Turkey. Austria repeated his support and I entered War! He was ejected from Swe by France, that supported me in StP. But France is growing very strong. I will move to Hol to get a broader view on my western border.
A10 -- Up to 7 again. I've build an army on Kie - I hope that it will not worry France, that is very strong now. My forces are split on two fronts - west (Kie, Hol and Mun, with Den open) and east (War, Lvn, GoB and StP). I must decide who fight now, France or Turkey. Since Turkey probably has no option except attacking me, I will risk keeping my pressure on him and fight for Mos.
S11 -- Austria expelled Turkey from Tyr and I got Mos but France put a fleet in BAL! Very bad! Now I must face two strong enemies - I fear that they join forces to kill me!
A11 -- Disaster! They joined against me! France supported Turkey and expelled me from StP while taking Hol! Now I'm down to 6 again, since I keep Mos, but my fleet on GoB is gone and my defenses in west are in disarray. The good side is that Turkey seems reduced to StP and Sev. I have no choice except try keeping France away from Mun.
S12 -- Everything is lost now. France took Kie and soon Den will follow - maybe even Mun and Ber...Nothing changed in east.
A12 -- Game over, due France overwhelming Europe. In my last agony, I was reduced to 3, losing Ber, Den and Mun. The complete map revealed a strong Turkey (except in north, where I splitted his forces), a surprisingly intact Austria... and nobody else! Well, I think that I must be proud for resisting so long! :-)
Congratulations to France by a very sound victory (even at my costs)! I'm impressed by good performances of Turkey and specially Austria, since Turkey usually plays very well in Gunboat games. A special thanks to Austria for his support in War! And finally a big thanks to Ally for his excellent GMing - specially difficult this time, since he must cover moves and doing maps by hand.
I think that Blinded Gunboat is a very interesting variant and deserves to be played more often. I surely will sign again when time comes!
Cheers, Ricardo
Italy
(Written A1908)
This wasn't a good game for me, my own fault, I didn't start with a clear plan of what I was going to do.
I had a vague idea of making friendly overtures to Austria, but then moved to Tyr to make a grab for Mun. This failed and it all seemed to go down hill form there. Austria built a second Fleet, two German Armies appeared, I momentarily had Vie and then Tri, but then Turkish Fleets arrived and my demise was inevitable.
The only thing of note in the last few years was a convoy by Turkey to land an Austrian Army in Apu, this seemed to be remarkable co-ordination in a Blinded game. Well done guys.
Many thanks to Ally for again GMing this very difficult variant, a sterling job.
Cheers, Wayne.
Russia
First off I would like to thank our wonderful GM Ally for spending exorbitant amounts of time GMing this game. Secondly I would like to thank everyone who played in this game.
I would like to go through my thoughts/plans for each season:
Pre-S01: Having played in the previous game 'Bat' I vowed to not make the same mistakes as Russia did, mainly leave the north open to English invasion.
S01: Things start off bad... Turkey moving against me and Austria in Galacia.... Nothing to do now but hope that I can build an Warsaw to help fight off the invaders.
A01: Germany stands me out of Sweden.... Turkey in Sevastopol..... Things look bad, very bad. It seems that I have committed the other mistake Russia did in 'Bat', not commit enough forces to the south.
S02: Being attacked on all fronts... Survival seems unlikely.
A02: I make my biggest mistake.... I retreat my fleet to Ska instead of building in Warsaw. Whether or not this would have done anything more than delay my elimination is unknown.
S03: My destruction is just a matter of time... Overextended and overpowered.
A03: I forgot to build... But in my defense I thought it was very unlikely that I was going to force Turkey out of Moscow.
S04: Forced out of the remaining provinces by Turkey and England.... I can't even see everyone who is attacking me! I have no idea if I will bounce in Warsaw prolonging my death or if it will fall via an unknown army.
A04: Dead.... Forced out of my home by barbarians..... End-game (At least mine!):
I wish you all luck and congratulations to whoever conquers Europe.
Best, Patrick.
Turkey
First up I would like thank Ally for the time and effort he put in to make this game a success.
I opened quickly into Russia, having surprised both him and me when I took both the Black Sea and Sevastapol in 1901 Fall.
I immediately cleaned up the Russian fleet and appeared to have an alliance with Austria. While solidifying my position in Russia I also decided to bust out into the IONIAN. I could see Italy and Austria squabling over Austrian centres so I pressed against Italy and by 1905 I had taken Tunis.
In the north I was pressing against Germany and I probably made a tactical error in leaving Austria in the game at this stage, because he turned on me and weakend my defence against Germany.
Finally it was Fall 1908 and all of a suddent I had 3 French fleets on my doorstep in the south, and germany pressing on Warsaw. I supported England but all of a sudden he vanished from my horizon - I knew I was in for a battle in the north.
Amazingly I gained a foothold in Norway and Munich, and could now see there was only French and Germans in front of me, and I knew that if Germany kept pushing me, France would run over his back door.
The battle against Austria and France took it's toll and I lost significant possessions and territory, as I got squashed backwards - Can't Austria see that Frnace and Germany have been knocking on his door?
Game over and I was fairly happy that I had played well. I never understood Austria's game - he could have been a solid ally against the French and Germans, but he just wanted to guard home. France finished the game magnificently.
All in all a very enjoyable game.
Doug Stewart
GM
This was not only fun but also an amazing game. The reason is threefold or even perhaps fourfold.
Putting together players who, to me, are very good competitors made this what I had hoped for.
I felt I had good experience of Diplomacy however the result wasn't what I expected. In A05 I thought Turkey would win. Perhaps due to him not sailing further into the Med caused it but who knows?
Seeing Turkey convoy an Austrian army to Apulia, without them trying before, was a brilliant move. Italy wasn't happy though!
Finally, the laugh comes from reading the comments you say to me when you are submitting your orders.
As you know, 'Admiral' Gunboat Competition 2004 is likely to start in the summer & therefore I can't GM any more Blinded games until 'Admiral' semi-finals start. Not that I'm planning it but wouldn't it be funny to see 'Admiral' Blinded Gunboat Competition.
If not before, see you in 'Admiral'.
Ally
Season
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