It’s been an interesting game. White Lightning, you are definitely a first-class addition to the SD Dip ranks. I had to hustle like hell for much of the game just to keep pace with you. Gotta say, having a strong Italy was really the biggest obstacle to my plans for global domination.
The game, from my perspective: after being lucky enough to (a) convince both England and Germany that Belgium was mine, and (b) otherwise institute strong, mutually beneficial nonaggression pacts with both of them and Italy, my strategy was to sit back until after the Spring 02 move was over while picking up Iberia, and waiting to see who was the best prospective victim of the Fighting Escargots.
I’m still proud of my “Run Awaaaay!!!” offense of the Spring 1902 move, looking for all the world like I’m moving as far away from all three of my neighbors as I can get, and yet being in very good position to attack any of them.
It also helped that I had a good relationship with Abe Babe (Russia) from a previous game; it was pleasant to have a steady dialogue with someone I wasn’t in a position to attack, or be attacked by, in the early going. We dabbled with the notion of simultaneously attacking England or Germany in the early going, but the timing never worked. If Russia had been willing to dedicate 2 units to a German attack in fall 02, I would have attacked Germany rather than England that move. (I’d expected that Italy was probably going to be Victim #1, except Italy always - always - kept a couple of fleets in the way, so the choice came down to England and Germany.) But going it alone, England was the obvious choice.
It helped that the center of gravity in the fighting in the West had shifted up towards Scandinavia, while the Lowlands were at peace. So the backdoor to England was open, and I sent my fleets steaming in.
Then, of course, I got the break that Russia and Italy had already taken advantage of: celestina’s play. She’d unintentionally been a power vacuum in Turkey, furthering their expansion; now she was playing to lose in England. Did I benefit from this? Absolutely. How much? That’s debatable.
If Sua had been able to keep playing, or if some other competent player had taken over England, I surely would have finished my conquest of England; the only question was how long it would take. While I took Liverpool, England would quickly have lost Norway to Russia if he played to defend his homeland - and then his remaining two units couldn’t have defended the two nonadjacent bases of London and Edinburgh.
What I really gained from the change of regime was Norway, and time.
The next pivotal thing was the combination of Italy’s stab of Russia as Russia was stabbing Germany, and (by now weak) Germany’s willingness to let me have Munich in order to present a solid defense against Russia. Without Munich, attacking Italy was out of the question; with Munich, it was finally feasible.
White Lighnting and I had discussed shooting for a 2-way draw, and I’m still kinda sorry I didn’t straightforwardly pursue that possibility. But I figured this was a door into the east that might reopen my chances for an outright win. If I could get enough armies through the gap, I’d be in a position to beat Italy to Warsaw and St.Pete if I timed the stab of Russia well. Unfortunately, on the move where Russia stabbed me, I dithered on whether or not to stab Russia, and decided to wait. Timing is everything, and mine was off.
From then on, we were in the endgame. I was helping Germany survive, finding that preferable to Russia regaining St.Pete and possibly picking up Berlin, as Italy and I fought our cat-and-mouse war in which my armies on the Italian front were chased out of one base and into the next.
My slim hope for a win, when we quit, was to preserve a hold on one Italian base up to the time I was able to stab Germany in a way that would allow me to pick up all three German-controlled bases. Germany was going to support my A Den-Lvn convoy, as I moved F Nth-Nwy in S08, which would allow a double attack on St.Pete in the fall, combined with a double attack on Berlin and F Bal-Swe. But it was a longshot that all that could work at the same time, and I was ready to call it quits anyway.
A win was just never quite there. All game, I could see a believable path to 17 bases, and only long-odds chances at picking up the 18th base that I needed.
Meanwhile, Alex wants the damned base bad enough to keep on playing until he gets it, which ultimately he will. I’d like the option of acknowledging that reality without having to play it out. Settling this in the manner of Clemençeau rather than Joffre seems best all around.