Center Chart Foxtrot: 05.07.11 @ Red Cap's Corner
Center Chart Foxtrot: 05. 07. 11 @ Red Cap's Corner
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A Christian 5 4 4 5 6 7 6 8 9 10
E Brandon 4 5 6 7 7 9 10 12 14 15
F Gio 5 6 6 6 8 8 8 7 3 0
G Josh 5 4 3 2 1 0 - - - -
I Eric 4 5 4 5 5 8 8 6 8 9
R Zafir 5 6 6 5 3 0 - - - -
T Mathias 4 4 5 4 4 2 2 1 - -
Please leave EOG statements here....
ReplyDeleteAs England, my game was a general miasma of anxious disappointment punctuated by a single, short-lived burst of hope. From the start, I knew to be weary of France as he had, in one statement agreed to DMZ the English Channel and then declared that he would move there. Confused and annoyed, I bounced him there right off the bat. Thinking that after that faux-scuffle we were on good terms, I was prepared to be a stalwart ally with him until, in the very next phase, he occupied the Channel. It all went downhill from there.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Russia proved to be a non-entity for me (thankfully) and I had no need to worry about my extreme north. Germany, on the other hand, was desperately trying to find some sanity in the western trio. My first major mistake was being dubious of Germany in the first year or two. He supported me into Belgium and I didn't take the support. We later successfully made the maneuver, but I feared that I had already soiled trust too much.
In 1903 I made my big move where I jumped from 4 centers to 7 in one phase. I was immediately gripped with fear and paranoia as I never like to make such great jumps. It was an accident, I swear! (Taking Brest was, truthfully, an accident--I managed to retreat into an additional center.) After this leap, I attempted to make a deal with France whereby he could cut his losses and I would focus on Russia. Verbally agreeing to the deal, he immediately reneged on it (understandibly) and I was then prepared to go all out and finish off France. It was at this moment at the brink of utter defeat that France exercised his stroke of genius that fooled both me and Germany and brought him back into a significant position on the board.
He told Germany and me that he was throwing all his units towards Germany, leaving me a completely open road to take his centers. I believed him. I completely and totally believed him. Accordingly, I told him EXACTLY what my moves would be and this allowed him to wind up with an army in London and a fleet in the English Channel.
With England in a compromised position, it did not take the steadily growing German Reich very long to stab me and grab some pieces. Germany slipped into Norway and threatened the North Sea. It all went downhill from there. Had our game gone on to its logical conclusion, England would have been defeated but I was spared by the anonymous votes in favor of drawing the game.
I want to see more EOG's, especially from the east!
Thank you Eric for your EOG. I find these very enjoyable, but a bit time consuming to make.
ReplyDeleteOh well.. I’ll just start and we can see if it’s helpful
I drew France… ohh great; I’ve only ever played Austria, Russia, and Turkey. I was utterly dumbfounded as to what my strategy should be when we started, that I had no clue where to start.
So I start by checking in with my neighbors… Italy and I are good, England and I seem good, and Germany seems to be the “most experienced player”… well I straight up asked for Germanys advice and we were going to do some mean things to England… .I almost went through with it… but I didn’t want to start aggressions without more information… (Perhaps a mistake)…
Well, if that wasn’t a mistake… this was… I took the channel, then I left it willingly TO GO TO BELGIUM… seriously, my unit was so stuck… and it was a nightmare from then on out… Really I should have been more honest with both of them… when I left the channel to build trust with England, I noticed that Germany actually supported an English convoy to Belgium… (which England thankfully didn’t take)… now I had abandoned the channel & Germany was helping England. Super lame!
Now I had teetering trust with England and Germany… in fact I could tell they were rock solid… nothing I could do at that point was going to separate them… Italy may have been wide open, but I would have been a fool to go after him… mostly because Germany and England were on my back..
England already mentioned my trick I played… but it really wasn’t a trick… but more of a necessity… I had no other option left. If they continued I would die… and there was NO ONE that could help me… so I had to be *honest*… I gave England free reign over my territories and let Germany know about it (he could have prevented England from devouring my S.C.’s if he were less focused on me).
When England was a little more *honest* than he could have been in return, I realized I had an opening that I had a civic responsibility to try for... I got lucky, and actually dodged a lot of bullets.
After that, I didn’t put the dagger to England… he had 2 left… and he was a useful tool that I didn’t want to destroy
We drew for time, and I had 7 units left… I actually believe I had a VERY good shot at soloing (or a 50-50 draw with my one favorite ally [if your reading this that ally was you]) … I was not a threat, I had a pest to deal with (England) who would work for me… and the other 2 powers were at each other’s throats
Until next time…
-Carl
Scott (Germany)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I had a great time. The diplomacy that was going on in the western triangle was fantastic.
I spent the better part of the early game pinned into my homeland because of Zafir's aggression, and my inability to form any kind of lasting arrangement with Eric or Carl. Because England was capable of helping me against Russia, I went first to Eric, and we agreed to trade support to Bel for support to Nor. For some reason, Eric didn't follow through. I had fleets in position to take Swe on my own, and Eric needed my support to Bel, so I flipped and set up a plan with France to get him into ENG and me into NTH so we could convoy armies into England. Carl was hesitant about me taking NTH, wanting it for himself, so I tried to sell him on letting me take it to speed up our attack, and thought we were in agreement. 0 for 2.
Soon after that, Zafir was in BAL & Pru, I had two western neighbors at each other's throats but unwilling to work with me, and I think Vic may have moved to Tyr as well. I had too many foreign units around me and no real ally. Eric and I were still in a good position to work together against France and Russia, and I couldn't afford to have his units in NTH and Nor working against me, so I made a last ditch attempt at forming an alliance with him. I was delighted to find out that he and I were of the same mind on what we could do together, so we agreed to let bygones be bygones, and align. Things went very well to start. We were making gains against France, I convinced Zafir to start moving south against Vic, and Mathias took Tri. Then it happened...
I was utterly shocked at Carl's reverse chainsaw strategy. To say he had me convinced of his intent to throw everything he had at me would be a huge understatement. He played me and Eric to perfection, having us so confident that Eric offered to give me Bel so we could both build.
All of a sudden, with Scandinavia sitting empty, and Zafir fighting with Austria, I had my first real chance to secure the north-east corner, but I needed to clear my armies out of France to do it. I made sure that I got to Carl first, but so much trust had been broken between us that nothing could be agreed to. I took my shot at Nor and War, and hoped that moving out of France could be the starting point to allying with him. Carl was pleased with my move, and we agreed to work together against England.
Nor, Stp, War and Mos fell quickly, and with no French unit in Bur, I was also able to meddle in the south against Mattias to keep him from over-running Vic in Austria. Carl was close to putting the death blow on England, but I was getting close to becoming a solo threat, and on the final move (one in which I foolishly gave Carl Bel, and didn't take NTH), they stopped fighting.
The game was five hours in, and even though I may have had a chance to solo, there was no guarantee...and it would have taken hours to accomplish. We voted to draw, and I intentionally noticed that Mattias was the only player against. I pulled Eric and Carl aside and told them I had voted for the draw, and would gladly set up a stalemate line that would keep Italy from soloing. I then pointed out the stalemate to Mattias, and the second vote was unanimous for.
Great game, everyone.
EOG: Revenge of Mathias
ReplyDeleteThough I did not play on the board, I thought I might offer my observations as GM and butler.
Upon arriving at Redcap’s Corner, it became evident that we were going to have an awkward number of players. I agreed to sit out and GM the game. Shortly after countries were drawn, Scott Newbry arrived and briefly lamented his exclusion before scampering off to the lab to play with giant horned beetles. Nine diplomats! Nothing to scoff at. Two boards may soon be realized.
We drew countries in the following fashion:
1. Players who had participated in the most recent board were asked to
draw first. (Eric, Mathias, Carl, Vic)
2. If any of these players drew the same nation that they played in the
most recent board, they would draw again.
3. Players who had not participated in the most recent board were
asked to draw from the remaining countries.
I proposed this convention and I recommend its continued use; there is nothing worse than drawing Austria for a solid month. The draw:
A Vic
E Scott
F Carl
G Scott
I Mathias
R Zafir
T Andrew
The board kicked off at approximately 11:20am. The gaming space was virtually empty, though it would not remain so. Gil, a Redcap employee, commented that seeing so many people playing diplomacy gave him “a massive nerd-boner.” He expressed interest playing with us one of these weekends.
We agreed to 12-minute turns. Most important developments of 1901: French fleet in the Channel, Venice holds twice, Bounce in Sweden. The West was a churning mass of broken promises and unused supports. The Germans had the inside track, but Russian interference (A War-Pru) limited his ability to capitalize.
In the East, the Austrian successfully negotiated a DMZ of Galacia and a more general peace with Mathias’ Italy. Mathias set upon the long and slow road to Syria while Vic and Zafir actively collaborated in dismantling Andrew’s Turkey.
As Andrew circled the drain, I heard some justified mumblings and grumblings about Vic and Zafir’s alliance. (both of them being Sayre High students, it was implied that their cooperation was predestined). This argument was turned on its head when Victor slipped into undefended Sevastopol. Alliance over. The ensuing slap-fight between Austria and Russia opened doors for both Mathias and Scott.
Speaking of Mathias, he shrewdly left an army holding in Venice for the first seven or eight seasons. Victor, to my knowledge, never urged Mathias to deploy the army elsewhere. This massive oversight enabled Mathias an efficient stab into Trieste and Greece. Apparently, Victor’s vision is based on movement.
Out west, Germany survived a close call, France survived a REALLY close call, and England turned up luckless when his neighbors came calling. Germany stormed east to take advantage of the dissolved peace between Austria and Russia while France made substantial gains in dots and position. As England’s position crumbled, an endgame scenario began to emerge.
Despite Mathias,’ Scott’s and Carl’s opinions on the matter, I highly doubt that any solo possibilities existed on this board. My best guess would be: Italy 14, Germany 11, France 9. An excellent game played by all.
Some notes on the game:
We now have ten unique players in the club. We are striving for a few more. Invite your friends!
Redcap’s corner became a bit crowded around 4:00pm. Though the exposure is good, (some people introduced themselves and expressed interest in playing), the gameplay suffered. In the future, it may behoove us to explore alternate accommodations. I would be willing to host a game at my home in April if folks were willing to venture to Fishtown.
MORE EOGs!
Thanks for the insight Eric, cool to see an observers opinion
ReplyDelete