AARs

[Morg]

So Imperium has come to a conclusion with a joint Franci-Vandali victory.

This is your space for AARs.

Later on, I'll chime in with my observations, questions and awards.

[asudevil]

Nice job Pedros and CS to hold off a quickly growing KidneyBean and stay together to get the draw.

I was surprised I did so poorly since I was one of the only ones with 2 SC's after the initial grab...but I think losing the initial conversation with stalin (because he was a later sub)...made it so we trusted each other less than I wish we could have.

I dont know what I could have done better...other than maybe not get 2 builds and try to head more towards the middle of the map...there weren't enough edge SC's for stalin and I to share so we were going to end up fighting more than working together.

Thanks for the game Morg...its always a nice/easy one to play and kill some time with.

[Morg]

Alright and here they are.
Awards:

Initial Giant Award: KidneyBean
For growing fast, quick and steady for most of the opening years.

Most Knives in the Back Award: Dinseyfresh
Despite NMRing in Fall 401, any move he would've made, would've been entirely unsuccessful.

Biggest Blundered Stab Award: Pedros
For Supporting CS into Ver and attempting to sneak in right behind, but misordering in Fall 401.

Unfinished Business Award: Asudevil
For turning on the Hunni right away, but leaving them alive to build up and eat up some SCs in behind him.

Tight Like Brothers: Pedros & CS
For acting nearly as one country from 402 on.

Unlikliest Comeback Award: Stalin813
For being reduced to 1 SC and working his way back up to make the even the top players take him seriously.

and of course,
The Victory Award: CS & Pedros

[KidneyBean]

Well...frankly I'm sort of disappointed with myself, becoming such a power and then twiddling my thumbs while Pedros and CS stalemated me. But I am a little proud of how I managed to stay alive while being assaulted by the best tricks they had to muster. (they are two very good players)

Anyhow, I might be able to come up with a year-by-year AAR, but for now a BIG shout out to Morg for GMing this. You did a great job running it, and were timely in your reminders (you had to send out your 24 hour warnings to me for the last half-dozen years )

Good job to Pedros and CS, you guys deserved it. Hunni, I'm honestly very impressed with how you came back. Very tenacious and resilient. Thanks for hanging in there 'till the end, asu, you did well but should have finished Hunni when you had the chance. I'll go back to kicking myself in the corner now, but a VERY good game played.

[Pedros]

After the last game it was obvious to me that the four 'smaller' powers - those other than the Hunni and Gothi - were doomed unless they worked together to ensure their survival. One or two of them might get through, but there was no way of guaranteeing that any particular one would be successful. I wanted to play one of those four and try to organise a joint plan.

In the event, kidneybean and cs joined in enthusiastically (well, kb certainly did; I wasn't sure that cs was convinced at first!) dinsyfresh, playing the green Saxones, was extremely late responding and by that time the three of us had worked out how we going to play it.

It worked well. In the event yellow gained two SCs and cs and I, the blue pair, one each. Stalin had one and asudevil's pink two. stalin's grey was, it seemed to me, always going to have a difficult time. In the last game pink and grey started with the same two centres, but nobody survived near hai and I was able to take it in year two, build in Byz, and grow in two sectors at once. stalin could do nothing but keep Byz, with the two pink units breathing down his neck.

kb's yellow looked certain to dominate the west of the board, so cs and I agreed very quickly that we would sink or swim together. We would work from our base around Italy and see what could be achieved. The probvlem was always going to be that we had to look both east and west, but we were helped to start with by pink and grey slogging it out in the east, meaning we were able to concentrate on resisting kb's yellow.

But we couldn't do enough quickly enough. He was racing to ten centres, covering the whole of western Europe, from which he would probably be able to dominate all resistance without too much difficulty. We called for joint action to hold him back, and asudevil and stalin to their credit joined in willingly, although it was clear from the outset that stalin had no trust in asudevil to keep his part of the bargain. We identified the key points which had to be protected, or the lines which kb couldn't be allowed to cross, and managed to achieve that in the first year. At this point it fell apart. kb was away and there was a very long Fall phase. The alliance had the opportunity to land a unit in Sac, one of yellow's last targets in his western stronghold. It could have been attacked by fleets belonging to asudevil or cs, or by convoying an army of mine; immediately after the previous phase asudevil asked which option we should go for. I staked a claim for it on the basis that we had agreed that asudevil and cs took the first builds during the alliance, which they already had, and stalin and I would be next in line. But in order to go down that route asudevil and cs had to agree to cooperate. During the week-long pause I asked at least three times what their verdict was (with increasing desperation, flamed PSs, etc). cs responded very late on, asudevil not at all (the extended phase ran nearly 24 hours beyond the deadline, and asudevil did write about four hours after the deadline that he was going for a totally different target.) Sudden silence is one of the classic marks of a stab (in real diplomacy as well, they tell me) and I made a preemptive strike against pink, believing that he may have switched sides to working with kb. And after that, grey decided to make his own stab.

asudevil was understandably not pleased, but in our correspondence claimed that he had "answered every important communication". I still believe that this wasn't the case!

After that, cs and I needed some careful tactical play (I'm pretty proud of our actions in those last few years!) especially against yellow. kb said that he "twiddled (his) thumbs while we stalemated him." In fact we held him back very carefully, and gradually pushed him back. I was sorry that the game finished before I managed to retake at least one of the English centres - retaking Hai and getting a fleet over there had been my target for about five years; at least I was within a year of building the fleet!

I suspect this may have been one of the best games of Imperium ever played anywhere; it certainly ought to be! And one lesson I learned was the huge importance of the rivers. Previously I had seen them only as an obstacle in year one, but they became a huge factor in our struggle with yellow, causing a major blockage between France and Italy which we had to work very hard indeed to overcome.

Huge thanks to cs for the partnership - putting our heads together over the best way to deal with the problems of the map was totallly enjoyable. And especially, thanks again to Morg for a flawless game.

PS - I too was very impressed by grey's recovery from one unit.

[KidneyBean]

After that, cs and I needed some careful tactical play (I'm pretty proud of our actions in those last few years!) especially against yellow. kb said that he "twiddled (his) thumbs while we stalemated him." In fact we held him back very carefully, and gradually pushed him back. I was sorry that the game finished before I managed to retake at least one of the English centres - retaking Hai and getting a fleet over there had been my target for about five years; at least I was within a year of building the fleet!

Yeah, that wasn't the best description of the last years. You two did a spectactular job preventing me from any more growth, and some of your moves could only come from players that talented (which, I'd like to think, is why I couldn't eke out a place in a draw or get a solo).