We had a nice turnout for Game No. 79, played last night at Guthrie’s Tavern in Wrigleyville. In addition to the seven combatants, Greg Duenow, Kevin and Katie O’Kelly, Ted McClelland and Christian MacDonald all turned in cameos. And despite our shortest Guthrie’s game on record — a draw passed in Spring 1905 at just 9:24 p.m. — a couple of us managed to close down the bar and stroll out around 2:15 a.m. Imagine that.
On the board, the only casualty was Adam Berey, the soloist from Game No. 77. His Germany was knocked out in 1904. The DIAS draw passed early the following turn. Jim O’Kelley, clearly benefitting from playing the first three turns incognito as Ted McClelland, topped the board with 10 centers as England. Defending Weasel of the Year Peter Yeargin was second as France with eight.
The final center counts were:
Although there was still play in the game, I voted for the draw, which Sam proposed, for four good reasons:
- It was a nice, social ending to a fun game.
- I mistakenly figured that I could get an hour of post-game socializing in and still get home at a reasonable hour.
- The first four years were wild and free for my England, but I was going to have to slog for my next two centers — either Mos and War at Russia’s expense, or Belgium and Munich at France’s.
- Momentum in the E/F alliance was about to swing toward France, as he looked to have a rather easier go of it against Italy.
I’d be curious to hear from the other players in this short but fun game. Just post your comments in the comments section below.
Next up in our march to 100 games is Game No. 80, to be played Nov. 28 at Glenview. This game will happen, but there’s room for you if you want to play. Sign up by clicking on Current Games Signup List in the Main Menu, scrolling down to the article titled Home for the Holidays?, and add your name in the comments field.
A week later, we’ll be at Greg Duenow’s home on the South Side, for Game No. 81. That one is full.
Watch the site for news of our next Guthrie’s game. And check out the current League standings bly clicking on Club Standings in the Links menu. And you can check out the supply center chart from Game No. 79 by clicking on Files Section.
Jim
This Post Has 3 Comments
First of all, define “good guy”… š
Drawing Russia with a Moot champion as Turkey and Jim “good guy” O’Kelley as England, the initial goal was survive. As per the norm, Sundstrom’s Turkey moved anti Russia. The fear of seeing another exploding Turkey drew Pete’s Austria into the fray and daggers headed for Matt came out early.
Meanwhile, in the North, Jim paraded as if he were Ted, the original England. I made the mistake of trusting Jim for one minute expecting a short-start from Mr. O’Kelley. Instead, I had the opportunity to deal with English F StPnc for the rest of the game.
To the immediate west, recent Board Top Germany felt the wrath of attacks from England and France. An oversized Austria (who had conspired with Italy to LePanto Turkey), got greedy and headed into Germany. The vacuum in Germany pulled Austria into Germany, Italy into Austria and Russia into Austrian Rumania.
In the end, Russia started, maintained and finished four centers. Not a bad night at all.
[quote name=”Sam Bassett2″]To the immediate west, recent Board Top Germany felt the wrath of attacks from England and France. [/quote]
As the game opened, most of us knew that Adam in Germany had soloed in his previous game. Those who didn’t certainly knew by the end of Spring 1901 negotiations.
Now, my play style is more metaphysical than metagame. Nevertheless, from a metagaming perspective, it probably would have made more sense for me to work with Adam than Peter.
Assuming he pays his dues, Adam is virtually assured a spot in next year’s Weasel Royale. That leaves six spots for the rest of us. Peter has a 15-center Turkey under his belt and was in second or third going into this game. So, helping him achieve another good result was just going to move him closer to wrapping up another of the coveted Royale spots.
However, for me, these metagaming considerations really only come into play if all else is equal, and it seldom is.
Peter ended 1901 with a fleet in the Mid Atlantic. He had tempo on me, and that made me nervous. I didn’t want to build F Liverpool and make an E/F conflict self-fulfilling, so I built F London to give myself the option of working against him.
But when Sam came to me that turn and offered to support me into Denmark in the Fall if I supported him to Sweden in the Spring, I saw an opportunity to get three dots: Holland in the Spring, and Denmark and St. Petersburg in the Fall.) Those three dots, more than anything Peter or Adam did, are what caused me to attack Germany.
When I sit down at the table, I’m just trying to get the best possible result for myself. When Sam offered that deal, I saw an excellent opportunity to get to eight, and that’s an outstanding place for a 1902 England to be.