PDL 2020 Division 2 Jan Game B AAR

[TTBen]

Game: 164074
ENGLAND--Steff
FRANCE--Custer (3way DRAW)
ITALY--todiefor
GERMANY--Czar99 (3way DRAW)
AUSTRIA--Woolgie
TURKEY--Pete the Great
RUSSIA--Iamnobody (3way DRAW)

So we haven't really started the AARs and this one may be going up a bit late to get a lot of good insight but hoping some folks still have some interesting things to say that help others learn.

[Pete the Great]

This was a good start for me in Turkey with a +2 in 01. Things were progressing nicely gaining position by helping Austria repel Italy. Then everything went south. It became evident that Russia was in bed with Germany when he passed up an opportunity to drive into Germany and stuck me for 1 in Ankara after convincing me to stick Austria.

I was able to rotate into Russia and eventually throw him out of Ankara, but lost all momentum to the west, being pushed back by an AI which briefly flurished before FG came crashing in. Attempts to break the FGR triple diplomaticly were futile, prompting a draw proposal to tempt one of the three to break for a two way or solo. It was not to be.

[Czar99]

This game went well for me as Germany and is a good example of how a F-G-R alliance can work although it's not a grouping that I've seen much in contests. I was able to strike a good alliance early with France based on an agreement for him to gain Belgium to reach 5 centers in 1901 while still opening to the Channel. Russia also jumped on board early and England fell fairly quickly in 1904 under this pressure.

The mid-game progressed well after England fell due to the ongoing chaos in the Balkans without a clear winner emerging in that region. This was the key in being able to quickly shift fronts to the East plus I already had an army positioned in Tyr/Boh in the early years to help keep the peace between Austria & Italy who started off the game fighting. This helped in the decision to keep our early 3-way alliance going and move on A/I/T including getting an early jump across the Munich stalemate line. There were a few disagreements over center counts that created tension within our alliance but we were able to move forward to bring down Austria and pressure Italy before the draw was settled.

When Turkey offered the 3-way draw (F-G-R), there were still centers to gain but my position was also vulnerable between France and Russia who were both going to grow the most from the final centers. Germany is not in a good position in the middle within this alliance and is likely the main reason why F-G-R is not seen too often so was glad to maintain strong diplomatic relationships before accepting the final draw offer.