AAR: 80701. PD Versailles Tournament Game B7

[sinnybee]

Game 80701. PD Versailles Tournament Game B7 is the nineteenth of 22 PDVT Phase 1 games to finish.

MisterBigBug earned 62 points in game B7: 2way DRAW 50 USSR 9 Sweden 3
YoYoDyne earned 62 points in game B7: 2way DRAW 50 Poland 11 Egypt 1
xavier77 earned 9 points in game B7: Italy 8 Greece 1
tourdefeu1 earned 4 points in game B7: France 4 Yugoslavia 0
Leo73 earned 3 points in game B7: Turkey 3 Czechoslov. 0
YohanTM earned 3 points in game B7: Britain 3 Rumania 0
jqz1212jc earned 0 points in game B7: Germany 0 Spain 0
Their scores are also here.

Congratulations to all 7 players for not surrendering!

Game created 20 Apr (21 Apr in GMT +1), started 24 Apr (25 Apr in GMT +1), and finished 27 May.

[MisterBigBug]

Thanks for the game everyone. I was convinced it was heading for a boring 5 way draw or worse still the west would beat the east but then France screwed up his stab (we've allbeen there) and GB wanted vengeance and the game was ours.

[simblanco]

Nice game, congratulations to the winners. I'd like to know how Poland and USSR were able to start that good cooperation. I am a fan of unexpected alliances, just that in Versailles those two countries seem really doomed to fight. Was the fact of Sweden being the minor of USSR helping the establishment of this alliance? Like in "Hey, I'm USSR and Sweden, I can expand north without necessarily having to fight Poland?". Just curious.

[MisterBigBug]

Interesting question.

I didn't reveal that Sweden was my minor to Poland but in the first few years it became apparent when I moved a Russian fleet into Stockholm and Stockholm didn't turn purple. My rationale was that it was better to hold the strategic position than the secret of who my minor was.

I think other reasons explaining how the alliance worked are:
- a weak Germany, so Poland could go west to grow.
- USSR focused on fleets in the North and a battle with GB. Poland build armies, and a second fleet only late on.
- maybe also, Poland's minor was Egypt making him less able to attack me.

and that intangible thing of having a gut feeling for trusting the other player.

Poland/YoYoDyne - what do you think?

[YoYoDyne]

Thank you for a good game.

I agree with USSR/Sweden/MisterBigBug's points. I had never played Poland before, but I figured by its position this country has to sell its soul to Germany or USSR early. USSR was a more communicative player, so that helped. And he revealed that Sweden was his minor early, which clarified things and made it easier to develop trust. As he said, he built fleets north and I generally built armies, so we were able to develop into different spheres.

That said, I figured he was going to stab me sooner or later. So I commend USSR/Sweden/MisterBigBug for his playing in a manner that facilitated the draw. I may have created a sufficient deterrent, by being able to build rear-guard armies at key points. I did not entertain the notion of stabbing USSR because of the energies expended on my long and difficult front with France and Italy.

In the early mid-game, I was convinced there was a British/French/Italian alliance that was going to sweep up. But the French stab of Britain ended that, and succeeded in opening the door to the Soviet Navy, turning Britain into the vindictive spoil-sport, and that was France's undoing. Following that, my strategic aim was to split the French and Italian alliance by making one strong and the other weak. This was to create a clear third big power on the board as a counterweight to a potential USSR stab. At first I wanted France to be the one, but when he started to slip, I sought to have Italy be the one. But I was frustrated by the tactical situation, as I kept having to attack French and Italian armies in turn for defensive purposes to protect the front. So this strategy failed, until France turned on Italy.

As for my Egyptian minor, I sought peace early with Turkey so that he could be a sufficient worry for USSR, and keep his attentions south rather than turning west. I am still surprised that Egypt survived until the end and wasn't eliminated by the Italians.

Thanks

Poland/Egypt/YoYoDyne

[sinnybee]

Thumbs up / good post, YoYoDyne.

I find many AAR posts outside of the Versailles Tournament to be either too long or not telling a complete, interesting story, unlike yours.

[MisterBigBug]

Yoyodyne,
Yes I was looking at going for the solo. I also sensed your concern about that. Your rearguard armies were an effective deterrent and in fact if you had chosen to stab me a round earlier than mynkiev build I would have been screwed,

I was looking at whether I could get close enough to 22 before stabbing you, and before you rallied the 'stop the solo' posse. When I realised I couldn't do it quickly enough the two draw was the best option and one that I was very happy to take.
But of why I could do that quickly was my difficulty in breaking down Turkey.

You were a good partner and thanks again for some of those trust building moves in the mid game (second fleet hugging the coast). Even if GB hadn't gone kamikaze I reckon we would have done well, possibly getting the 2way.

Mister BigBug

[YohanTM]

There was confusion in the ranks between France and myself and it resulted in the maybe a stab/maybe a mis-connect. Too bad- we might have had a shot