On review – this board has a 50 message limit, not 500. Please send black press to my email account; it’s in my profile.
What time zones are we all in - so that I can know when to expect responses to my telegraphs…
I’m in South Africa - GMT +1 (or is it +2 at the moment?)
Grim
I’m in GMT -5 at the moment. (US East Coast) Of course, my insomnia is such that you shouldn’t be surprised to have me respond at any time day or night.
GMT -6 (Central Time) for me
US East Coast (-5)
Pacific Time Zone, currently on Daylight Savings, GMT -7
gmt -8, but I work nights. I’ll probably be responding at pretty awkward times for everyone else. 
Only two hours left until the always-exciting first moves.
Good luck everyone! I have a feeling this is gonna be bad for me…
Interesting first round of moves. Some quick impressions from an outsider.
Turkey is on the all out offensive against Russia. So far it looks pretty effective and seems to have at least partially caught Russia by surprise. Austria however looks to be playing it close to the vest and hasn’t chosen a side.
Italy and Austria look to have a early cease fire which could benefit them both in the long run. The fact that neither vacated Vienna-Trieste however indicates that it’s somewhat tenuous. Russia and Turkey both need to be very interested in what happens here.
Russia and Germany appear to have a firm alliance set up as both vacate the middle. This is typical in the first few rounds of most years but Russia took the opportunity to play strong to the north. England needs to be concerned with Russia’s position in Scandinavia though, Germany might need to take note too, perhaps that alliance benefits one player too much.
England makes a big play against France in taking the Channel. Probably a good bit of diplomacy there but Russia’s northern move will force England to choose between a play on the mainland or contesting the North.
France seems to have a serious shortage of friends. Both England and Germany have made strong moves towards the lowlands and gaining the Iberian Peninsula might be small consequence if you surrender the lowlands fully.
My analysis:
This entire board currently hinges on Russia. France’s only prayer is that Russia guesses right and puts the fear of God into Germany and England. England seems to have done most of the work in stabbing France early but he’s currently guaranteed Zero builds for his efforts thanks to Germany’s strong move to Holland and Russia’s strong move to Norway.
If there are a lot of bounces in this next turn France will live to fight another day and Turkey will have Russia by the short and curlies. Germany and Russia’s apparently alliance will be tested and England will get very little for it’s aggression. Russia will be in a very strong position in the North and a very weak one in the South.
The Balkans look to have much less drama at this point which is somewhat uncommon. Italy might be able to take a wait and see approach before deciding which direction to go. France might fall fast and Italy will be sure to want his share and control the Western Med. However Italy could look East to capitalize on Turkey and Russia’s preoccupation and to make sure neither gets a free ride in the Balkans. Austria will be no small player in Italy’s decision and I’d say just about every nation right now better be hoping that Italy and Austria end up at each others’ throats.
So much excitement after just one set of moves!
Omniscient, you have a very…:dubious: interesting interpretation of my situation.
Respectfully,
garygnu, Minister of France
I had no idea that so much analysis could be done for the first turn. Also I didn’t know that taking the channel was “stabbing” anyone. Does England not usually try to take the English channel on the first turn?
Well, it’s all a matter of opinion of course. There are a handful of territories in the game that during the first round are considered “contested”. They are without exception heavily negotiated and there are very few scenarios where one neighbor taking it would be done without some level of deceit. There’s very few scenarios in which your being in the Channel doesn’t hurt France. Certainly England’s goal is to get it, and they often do in the first round, but the question is “at what price?”
The Black Sea is a similar territory and as you see Russia and Turkey bounced there.
A friend (who is smarter than I am) just informed me that I’m fucked. 
After listening to his arguments, I am inclined to agree.
Sure wish I knew what the hell I was doing. Or how to lie. Or how to get Russia to not lie. Anyone in the market for an ally that isn’t interested in winning, but just wants to kill a bunch of Russians?
You aren’t fucked. The game is too nuanced to lose after one turn, especially since no builds happen until later. You damn well better be sure to get allies though, and controlling the Channel and North Atlantic are valuable chips in order to gain them.
Russia and Germany are going to butt heads, there’s no way the Germany can feel secure if Russia completely dominates Scandinavia and threatens Denmark. That helps you. France could end up with 2 builds this turn and that would go a long ways towards stifling a aggressive German. Russia looks to be getting a Turkish enema so he won’t have the security or resources to really become a Naval power in the North.
England is a nice country to play because your home SC are pretty securely insulated from attack, and you’ve doubled that but taking Eng and Nth. Believe me when I tell you that quick early growth isn’t always the path to victory. If you can get to the Winter of 1902 without someone in your kitchen you’ll generally be in good shape and have plenty of willing partners.
I just want you to know how much I appreciated that terminology. I’m just lucky my mad cackling didn’t wake up the two year old or cranky wife.
Glad you liked it. Back in the day when we did a lot of SDMB Dip games there was a collection of Dopers who are much wittier than me that would write some hilarious commentary on the games replete with characterizations and period dialogue.
I stand by everything I said!! To you at least, Turkey is a devious swine…
Grim.
I’m nothing of the sort, hear hear! You can’t possibly find fault in my taking an insurance policy in the east, especially as I refrained from assaulting your province. For now, I can assure you, my presence in the south is strictly precautionary. 
Yes, yes - right now England is saying exactly that to France…
Grim