AAR: Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion

[beadsman]

I'd like to start this thread for this most interesting game. I know that the game was far from satisfactory to a lot of people, but I think it was interesting enough. I'd be very curious to see an honest account of what was happening during the game, since there was a lot of backstabbing combined with other nefarious things. Also, I cane incredibly close to soloing, but was thwarted in every attempt by clever French moves and strategies. At the very end, France finally managed to convince Germany of the threat I posed, largely because my own midterms had made it hard for me to coherently communicate with the German. Also, France was just very good at it.

It was an anonymous countries game. The countries/players were revealed to be:

ENGLAND
(Frenchie07001)
0 army units
0 fleet units
0 centers

FRANCE
(kimpossible) WINNER
1 army units
4 fleet units
5 centers

ITALY
(The SHIV)
0 army units
0 fleet units
0 centers

GERMANY
(hedge trimmer) WINNER
10 army units
4 fleet units
14 centers

AUSTRIA
(kuoj1)
0 army units
0 fleet units
0 centers

TURKEY
(beadsman) WINNER
8 army units
7 fleet units
15 centers

RUSSIA
(IcomeInPeaceMaybe)
0 army units
0 fleet units
0 centers

[hedge trimmer]

If there ever was a game where everyone tried their hardest to be the most unlikable idiot ever, this would be it. Just to be sure, I wasn't ever seriously going for a 2 way in case beads here thinks he was stringing me along, and once it became PAINFULLY clear that I wouldn't have any chance of soloing I had to give up. Usually I have at least some respect for my fellow players that I'm happy to work towards a draw with them, but not here.

Congrats to anyone who managed to get any points out of this dumpster fire.

Oh, and I really do apologize to England/Frenchie07001. I did go too far with my comments. In one of my previous games with joe92 we had a lot of heated(?) disagreements too, but in the end we managed to reach an understanding through them. Here that definitely didn't happen.

Peace & Love.

[beadsman]

Okay. To start off, I want to give a huge shout-out to Russia. The Russian played extremely well, and I think the two of us made a good team. I think the Russian stab of Germany was likely the most pivotal moment in the game. I also congratulate France. The French player was always one step ahead of me, and often everyone else. Very well played, Kim/Asu!

This game was, as hedge trimmer so poignantly put it, full of people who seemed to be trying to be "the most unlikeable idiots" ever. Personally, I didn't have a problem with anyone. However, I am perfectly aware that a lot of people left this game feeling very bitter. I don't know if I ever truly "strung him alomg", but I was extremely confident in my ability to stop Germany from soloing and even possibly solo myself.

This game was relatively straightforward for me. I started with a juggernaut, we got Italy's help to kill off Austria, and then Italy started talking to Russia about killing me next (according to Russia), so I attacked Italy. The west, particularly France (as usual, rightly so) started getting nervous, and (possibly with Russian help?) were able to slow the progress of my Italian campaign down to a crawl.

Germany joined our juggernaut (?!?), which I was fine with, as I saw Germany as a potential late game ally. After a little bit, Russia stabbed Germany in the back (at a really inconvenient time for me; it was too early). Germany then joined with his former foe, France, to stop the juggernaut. I was still struggling against Italy, and I wag beginning to suspect that Russia was secretly helping Italy to defend. Russia didn't support me several times, so I finally decided to cut ties with him (to the joy of France and Germany). I wanted to time of just right, though, so I could deal a mortal blow to my former Russian ally. After a very long period of waiting and getting into position (much to the impatience of the western powers), I managed to take three SCs from Russia in a year. The stab was effective. Russia was eliminated a few short years after that.

At the end, France and Germany were fed up with each other, and I saw my chance. I tried to goad Germany into stabbing France in the back, knowing France would try to create tension between us by helping me more. I tried to hand over enough centers to keep Germany thinking he could either have a 2-way drawer with me or solo. My main plan was to gain the upper hand with positioning, taking MAO before Germany could stop me. In one crucial turn, I tried to take Spain from France. If I had succeeded, I would likely have soloed. (My plan was to convince France to disband the fleet, leaving Portugal open). Marseilles was German, so I needed Spain/Portugal and to cut support for Marseilles from MAO. I was one turn and some negotiating with France (who was throwing the game to me on an effort to convince Germany to go for a 3-way draw) away from a guaranteed solo. I was SO CLOSE! However, in that crucial turn, Germany supported France in Spain. Germany had seen my threat, almost too late for him. Unfortunately for me, France succeeded in turning Germany. Also, Germany realized that a solo was now impossible. I tried to fight the 3-way draw by proposing some alternate plans to Germany that would set me back but allow tune game to continue, and I tried to remind my two opponents how much they hated each other, but it was no use.

The game ended in a 3-way draw, which is exactly how I didn't want it to end.

Well, that's that.