WM02-SEMIFINAL 4 Italian EOG

Hi all

Many thanks for an excellent game, and also for all
the kind words of support for the final.  I'll do my
best to put up a good showing!  Egg - thanks loads for
GMing, I know it's not an easy job but without the GMs
there wouldn't be any games, so thanks for all your
efforts.  Very much appreciated.

So, some thoughts on the game.  My overwhelming
feeling is that I had a lot of luck in this game. 
Right from the off a lot of things went my way.

Firstly, I was pretty pleased to draw Italy.  I only
played it once before, but I did OK then, and I like
the fact that as Italy you are not a big threat to
anyone, so everyone is usually happy to talk to you. 
So it turned out on this occasion, and with lots of
options I decided to make a few ambitious suggestions.

In the first round of this tournament I played
Austria, and in that game I offered Vienna to Italy at
the start.  My feeling is that Austria can afford to
give up Vie with far less risk than giving up Tri. 
Jon disagreed, but to my delight suggested a Key
Lepanto.  What Italy could refuse such an offer?  So
in 1901 and S1902 we moved east together, much to the
concern of John in Turkey.  However, in F02 John put
an offer on the table for some cooperation, and with
Jon and I disagreeing at this point about the best way
forward, I decided to change direction.

So, in F02 I turned on Jon, with John as my new ally,
and this was where I had my next major piece of luck. 
As I understand it, John submitted an army build as a
prelim, and Egg adjudicated early, taking away John's
opportunity to build a second fleet - is that what
happened?  I know John was pretty upset about
something later on, and I'm guessing this was it.  If
so, then this was a little unfortunate for John, as
without any fleets in the Med it was very hard for him
to get an equal footing in our alliance.

Anyway, we pressed on through Austria together,
meanwhile I was having some negotiations with Walt,
who had been ruthlessly stabbed by Peter, Jon and John
all together in S01, or so it seemed.  This was my
next piece of luck - no matter what happened in the
course of the game, John and Walt always seemed unable
to work together.  At first I thought this was show,
but as the game went on it became clear that they just
didn't trust each other.

So, John, Walt and I finished off Austria, and with a
solid nonagression pact between Mike and myself, and
with him and Peter preoccupied with England, my
western flank looked pretty secure, allowing me to
choose between John and Walt for my ally.  John was
very keen for me to press west, Walt was keen for me
to attack Turkey, and not wishing to upset Mike I
choose the latter course of action.

To my surprise however, despite my attack on him John
continued to express a desire to work together.  He
presented an idea for a joint attack on Walt, and it
seemed to me that if it came off it would give me a
clear path to the board top.  So, just as Walt and I
were about to carve up the Turkish centers I reversed
direction and made a big inroad into Russian
territory.  Again, I got lucky with this move.  Walt
had to choose a retreat, and I was fearful that he
would retreat to Rum, from where he could have caused
me some headaches.  I was hoping he'd retreat north,
to protect his home centers, or to Boh, but instead he
missed the deadline and went OTB.  That really opened
things up for me in the east, and it was at this point
that I think Mike and Peter started to get a little
concerned about my growth.

Knowing I couldn't face the board alone, I took some
time to negotiate with John and Walt.  I was keen to
work with both of them, but they both seemed very much
in favour of me helping the one to finish off the
other.  So, Walt I must apologise for the second stab
- you said it was unnecessary, as I could have topped
the board without it.  I'm not sure I agree, as things
got very close for a while, but without agreeing to
attack you I felt it would be hard to get John on my
side, and at that point he was in position to cause me
some problems.

So, John and I worked together for a while, driving
Walt north, and my hope at this stage was to top the
board whilst helping John to the best finish possible.
 Third, if that was achievable, or survival at the
very least.  But this all changed when John stopped
moving in ways we had agreed.  John - I would have
been happy to help you survive, if we'd have continued
to work together, but given the circumstances I felt I
had no choice but to try to grab your centers, in
order to secure my eastern flank and free up my units
to move elsewhere.

At this point, with John, Walt, Mike and Peter all
against me, my position started to deteriorate, and I
staked everything on grabbing John's centers and with
them the couple of builds I'd need to defend a
stalemate line around my 14 or so centers.  The gamble
paid off, as I got lucky on a guess with Mike about
leaving Ion undefended.  Once I had the two builds, I
think there was no way through for Mike or Peter, and
my only fear after that was that one would throw
centers to the other.  After Mike left Mar open for me
to walk into though, that fear pretty much vanished -
at that point I think it would have been very hard for
one of you to throw the game even if you had wanted
to.

Walt - I'm sorry for helping Peter to your last center
at the end, but I wanted to keep him onside to prevent
any center throwing, and that allowed the tied second,
leading to the early finish.

So, thanks all for a very interesting game.

Jon - you offered me the Key Lepanto and I betrayed
your trust.  What can I say - if John hadn't been so
forthcoming with his support for me, or if we'd been
able to negotiate a slightly different split of the
Balkans, maybe things would have been different. 
Thanks for your adventurous spirit anyway!

John - time and again you supported me, first against
Jon and then against Walt, even though my behaviour
didn't really deserve it.  It was unfortunate that
once I'd decided your really deserved my help in
aiding your survival you stopped moving as agreed. 
Once that had happened, I couldn't see how it could be
in my interest not to try for your centers.

Walt - it was very interesting working with you in the
early part of the game, and I was glad to help you
battle back from your terrible start.  If John hadn't
been so keen to support me against you, I guess we'd
have stuck together in the east and then pressed west
together, but once it became impossible to work with
both of you I had to choose, and I'm afraid that John
made me offers I couldn't refuse.

Mike - our early nonagression pact worked very well
for both of us I think - in my opinion, good FI
relations are key for both players.  Once it became
clear you had to attack me we had a heck of a battle
and you made solid progress - the turn where I grabbed
Con and Smy was crucial I think, and without that I
think you could well have topped the board.

Peter - your negotiating style was unique on the board
I think, always succinct and to the point!  We never
really had a chance to cooperate properly, as once our
forces got close it was clear you had to attack, but I
enjoyed the battle in the east, and just as in the
west with Mike, if I hadn't picked up the two builds
from Turkey when I did I think you'd have had a good
chance to advance too.

Pat - again, we never really had a chance to work
together.  With things working out the way they did it
was always more attractive to me to focus east than
west.  I'm sorry I couldn't come to your aid as Mike
and Peter bore down on you, and by the time I'd
wrapped things up in the east it was too late.

Egg - great job as GM, slight hiccups notwithstanding!
 Always good humoured though, and I for one very much
appreciate the time you've put in.  Many thanks

Cheers everyone, and hope to cross paths with you
again soon.

Best wishes

Steve


	
	
		
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