Game No. 92 got under way at about 12:45 p.m. today at Dan Burgess’ home in Downers Grove with the following line-up:
I watched the first three turns, and from what I could tell, it was shaping up to be a good old-fashioned mess.
In the East, it looked like Austria and Italy were playing a Key Lepanto, with Mike Morrison trying the same variant that Nate Cockerill played against him last weekend in Game No. 91. This time, however, Austria failed to make sure of a Black Sea bounce, and his Bud-Rum was bounced. Turkey bounced him out of Greece in the Fall. Italy got to Serbia, but Austria was without a build. Italy built A Ven and marched into Trie in the Spring. His F Nap moved to Tyn while F Ion and A Tun held.
Russia, meanwhile, got two builds, but in Spring 1902, Turkey flipped on him in conjunction with Austria. So, the East was looking messy.
The West looked equally confused. Everyone got two builds, with France and Germany dropping armies on the board, and England, Fleets Lon and Lvp. But in the Spring, England tried to support a French attack on Ruhr while simultaneously moving his new fleets to the Channel and Irish Sea. Germany had two supports for his own move to Ruhr, prompting Dan to announce, "Ruhr happens."
That had the ring of a marketing slogan. Who wants to make the t-shirts?
I left at that point. I look forward to hearing how the game progressed.
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Most games I play I don’t get too far so I have plenty of time to reflect on the game dynamics. This one went well, so I don’t recall much of the game!
Germany (Greg) and Russia (myself) had a on-again/off-again relationship. Germany would attack, and I would have anticipated. Neither of us could get into a position to stab the other effectively.
The highlight of the game was convincing Turkey to stab Italy, which lead to the Italian collapse. My stab of Turkey was a close second, as it put me in a good spot.
Germany made some misorders that meant that rather than staying even, I pulled way ahead on center count. That led to a war council to stop my solo. While no stalemate line was in place, I did not have the material to fight the world. I did not see it at all likely that I could convince anyone to side with me, so I took the draw.
Great guys, and a good game.
Thanks to Dan for hosting!