[France]
@Italy- So, are you interested in Mun at this point? I am willing to support you into it, or conversely you can support me into it, this speeding the collapse of the Germanic Alliance, and weakening Austria that much faster. Let me know.
@England- I am ready and waiting to support your move into Hol from Belgium. Let me know. Be advised that I could, in theory, get cut depending on what occurs in Mun. I look forward to seeing what you need or want!
DEATH TO THE HUN!
[/France]
[E] to [F]:
[Preliminary observations]
Very complex situation, with lots of guessing involved; mind we only need the center after the fall. He of course can contest Holland very easily-a 2-2 bounce at worst. You could cut the support from Ruhr, but he will almost certainly instead use Ruhr itself to attempt to move into Holland. Meanwhile A Burgundy has more liberties than you might think; you can support the space via your two rear armies. A Mar-Bur, A Par supports will allow A Bur to attempt to move to either Mun or Ruh in complete safety (in which case it becomes a guessing game)-you can’t dislodge yourself. You might of course want A Par in Gal instead, to ensure Belgium’s security in the fall. It really depends on how conservative you want to be.
I say position ourselves now for the Fall: for me this means getting my fleets into place, which they currently aren’t. For you this means keeping the status quo, at worst; depends on how bold you want to be, and how aggressive he’s going to be. [Damn this open press! And the SDMB server hiccups, while I’m at it]
[E] to [R]:
wevets, you may remain in Swe this turn, if you wish, or move to Bal. Keep your options open, in other words; we may have cause to talk in the fall.
[ITALY]
France:
I am not looking north this spring. Perhaps in the fall I might be able to spare you some support, depending how the early campaign goes against Austria.
[Russia]
Turkey
I wish you well on your trip - is a substitute Sultan in the house?
Italy
I think between the three of us, we should be able to apply sufficient pressure to severely limit Austria’s options. I also have no objections to the allocations of supply centers most recently posted by the Sultan.
England
OK. In the interests of mutual security, should we go back to the idea of a Norway-Sweden bounce this spring? Or is that not a good idea at the moment?
[/Russia]
[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]
[E] to [R]
I’ve got a better idea. Support me-Nor to Ska-in the spring, I support you into Denmark in the fall. This is contingent on two conditions:
Said agreement holds only so long as you don’t have Sevastopol. Once you get it back, I get Denmark.
I get Denmark in two years (by Fall '03 at the latest) in any event.
Can you afford to go down another unit in the south? I think not. This is analogous to the “Russian Emergency Measures” rule in 1900 Diplomacy (where an extra Russian unit is automatic if he loses a home center). Germany knows I need to get my fleet into the Ska to really hurt him, so a mutual bounce or hold is no good.
[E] to [F]
Tristan, are you around this weekend? In conjunction with Russia’s acceptance (or not) of my offer, we need to talk before the deadline (obviously).
[F] to [E]
I’m here. Fill me in on your plans!
[/F]
[E] to [F]
Contingent on wevets accepting my offer; also assumes no help from History Geek. First, on your side:
It’s really hard to put forth any concrete plans given the gazillion possibilities in the south; anything specific I tell you to do he may and in most cases will have a counter. The defense (assuming one country is on D) thus has an advantage in open press. I’ll give Omniscient some credit and assume he knows the following:
He can easily cut the support of A Bel for whatever unit it is supporting…
Likewise you can cut any support of A Ruhr, meaning that he might use that unit to move to Holland…
2a. As I explained upthread you can do that in perfect safety by backing up A Bur with your 2 rear armies. This runs the risk however of leaving Belgium vulnerable in the fall if he gains Holland. Thus you might want A Par-Pic instead (where it can still cover both of your frontal provinces)…
If you do try to move to a vacated Ruhr, he can bounce you with A Munich, but you could also be sneaky and drop into Munich yourself if you guess right…
I can either move to Holland (via convoy), or Heligoland with F North Sea. He can bounce either move. If I go for Heligoland it is to prevent his fleet from moving there and putting a mortal lock (for him) on Holland in the fall…
The ultimate aim in the fall is to guarantee (with wevet’s help) that either Denmark falls, or Holland belongs to us. To that end I will thus have you support the convoy of A London to Holland; this I know will result in a bounce there in the spring no matter what. However I reserve the chance to do something else with F North Sea because I can’t take the chance of us both wrongly guessing what the other will do if I tell F Bel to become a free agent. That’s the best option available in open press that I can see; if you got something else I’m all ears.
Sadly, for the first time this month I have a full day at work on Monday, and a likely short lunch break where I may not get back to my machine (deadline is 3 pm for me). This means any plans need to be finalized by tomorrow PM.
[F] to [E]
This all sounds quite good, but I will need to know how to phrase support of a convoy.
I regret that you’ll bounce, no matter what, but the upside is that it limits exactly what the Kaisers options are.
[Russia]
England
Sounds like a good deal. I’ll agree to support you into Ska on one condition - England can then garrison only one or the other of Norway and Denmark, but not both at the same time. Since your time is short, I’ll assume silence is agreement with the condition.
[/Russia]
[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]
[E]
Tristan, something like “F Bel S convoy of A Lon-Hol” should do nicely.
wevets, your condition is rather stringent, but from your standpoint understandable (no 2-1’s on Sweden)-for now I’ll provisionally agree, but a lot depends on what’s happening in the south (where the silence has been absolutely deafening this turn for some odd reason).
[/E]
[Russia]
England
Well, I’m glad we understand each other. Should you need to make as stringent a request upon Russia, trust that I will take your request in the same good manner as you have treated mine.
As for the south, the silence may indicate that the moves are either obvious or sufficiently subtle that it is perhaps better that they not be spoken of.
[/Russia]
Apologies to all, I have received all the orders, but will finish them off tomorrow night.
SPRING HAS SPRUNG AGAIN. STOP.
ARMIES COLLIDE ACROSS BATTLEFIELD. STOP.
NAVIES COLLIDE ACROSS SEAS. STOP.
So here, we in Spring 1902
Full Orders List:
Austria
A Ser-Rum BOUNCE
A Bud [s] Ser-Rum OK
F Gre-Bul BOUNCE
A Tri-Ven BOUNCE
A Vie-Tyr BOUNCE
England
F North Sea-Denmark BOUNCE
F Edinburgh-North Sea BOUNCE
F Norway-Skaggerak BOUNCE
A London HOLD OK
France
Fleet Bel S convoy of A Lon-Ho VOID
Army Bur - Mun BOUNCE
Army Mar support army Bur VOID
Army Par - Pic OK
Army Spa - Por OK
Germany
F Den - Nth BOUNCE
A Kie - Hol OK
A Ruhr -Bel BOUNCE
A Mun - Bur BOUNCE
Italy
F Tun to Ion OK
A Tus to Ven BOUNCE
F Ven to Adr OK
A Tyr to Tri BOUNCE
Russia
F Sevastopol Hold OK
A Ukraine support A Warsaw to Galacia OK
A Warsaw to Galacia OK
F Sweden to Skaggerak BOUNCE
A Moscow to St. Petersburg OK
Turkey
F. Bla S Rum OK
A. Rum S Bul CUT
A. Bul S Rum CUT
A. Con S Bul OK
F. Smy - Aeg OK
Please check to make sure everything is ok.
Given a lack of sub for Malacandra.
**Deadline for Moves for Autumn 1902 is Sunday 26th July at 20:00 GMT **
[Russia]
England
I want to acknowledge that you have done nothing untoward that justifies this treatment of England at Russian hands. It is merely the strategic necessity that Germany survive which compels us. If conditions were different, Russia would be quite happy to ally with you, but sadly they are not. 
[/Russia]
Player Change Announcement
Since the next set of orders is due Sunday, and I’m leaving on Friday, grimpixie will take over as Tsar of all the Russias.
I wish grimpixie lots of luck, but I’m sure s/he will need little of it to achieve much!
Or a lot of it to achieve little…
Greetings all - I’m sure that we will come to blows soon, but let’s enjoy this little ray of sunshine while it lasts…
Grim (He)
Welcome grimpixie! I won’t hold the sins of your predecessor against you.
[E] to [R]
I’ll remember this, be sure about that (or I would if grimpixie wasn’t taking over). If you have just held, thus affirming complete neutrality in all matters in the West, I wouldn’t be upset, but actively bouncing me really gets my goat. You are very fortunate indeed that Turkey became your friend.
Oh, and to the rest of the board:
Juggernaut!
To [F]:
I obviously misjudged Russia; Germany did pretty much what I thought he would (except he guessed on a bounce in the North Sea, which would be vacant if I had moved to Hel like I was thinking, and I still wouldn’t have Ska since the support would be cut, and your support was cut as well). Stalemate at this point, and another round of guessing games in the fall… Open to ideas.
Patch up your differences quickly: A Juggernaut does Italy no good in the long run; even if you get Trieste, you won’t hold it for long. You’ve got two fleets, I’d recommend using them against the Turk.
