ENGLAND StarkAdder (5way DRAW)
FRANCE Oxmeister (5way DRAW)
ITALY Strategus
GERMANY Kochevnik42
AUSTRIA AquaVitae (5way DRAW)
TURKEY GeoViBase (5way DRAW)
RUSSIA Ann2026 (5way DRAW)
This game was played as part of the SuperPastis21 Tournament, this was the 2nd round, and the scoring system was SuperPastis, with the game being limited to a maximum of 9 years. A very brief summary of this system for those unaware is that it is based around topping the board, with center counts also having some importance. Draw size has no relevance. The play should be seen through this prism, or it will not make sense.
This was a short, but enjoyable game. Having scored very well in the last round, I knew I only needed a respectable result and getting this was my focus. Being allocated France in a game where I was defensive minded was an early good bit of luck.
I had good early discussions with England and Russia (I had been tempted to try an EF in a time limited game), and we quickly agreed to form an EFR against Germany. I had heard that Germany was suggesting a 3way Scandinavian split and with him moving all his units my way, appeared to be trying to stack the decks against me early (he was). It could have gone either way and I was so fortunate that England and Russia instead went with my proposal.
Early Moves
We spent the first 3 seasons getting into position against Germany, while trying to negotiate with Italy, who was seen as key to helping relieve the early pressure Russia faced from AT. Sadly, despite a lot of effort I was never able to agree a viable plan with Italy, who was now at war with all of his other neighbours.
The Dual alliances
While my main allies were England and Russia, I wasn't getting anywhere with Italy and by now just wanted some of his centers. I formed a plan with Austria and Turkey to divide Italy.
The longer term plan was to take Tunis and then use Italy as a sort of a buffer to hold back the AT while we finished off Germany and built the units to take on AT, but this hit a key snag between F02 and F03 - Italy capitulated. In these seasons Italy would submit all holds (or NMR?) for orders and destroy his retreats without rebuilding. It wasn't obvious what he was doing at first (we just thought he was losing interest and would auto-surrender, as he had complained about Austria letting him down), but we were furiously messaging him to no avail. This remains a mystery, but I will say no more as there could have been real life circumstances dictating this.
Still, I gained Tunis and Munich to build a strong position.
3 becomes 4.
Italy's rapid demise threw the initial plan into doubt as it allowed the AT to get 14 by walking into Rome/Naples, which would making things more difficult. AT were also desperately trying to get England to stab me or Russia, and this was a danger because an alliance of the three of them would easily eat us.
I worked very hard to get Turkey to switch sides, and it was a great opportunity for Turkey - thankfully he agreed to join us. A simple plan was agreed where we'd finish off Austria, and split the game 9-9-8-8 with me and Turkey sharing the top, and call it a draw in 06.
Some will look at my position going into 05 and think I could have aspired for better - perhaps, but my allies were team players, and I did not need a big score - that split would net 52 points a comfortable place on the top board in conjunction with R1.
Wrapping up - with a twist
We set about our final campaign to divide Austria - a 3-way campaign between F,T and R, while England pulled his units back to home centers.
Although there were tense discussions with Turkey at times, I never had any intention of attacking him or my other allies if they left me alone, we just wanted security. However, Austria was trying to punish Turkey for the stab, and I was benefiting. In the fall, Turkey was -1 and needed help to get back Serbia AND take Trieste, and I only offered partial help - I will admit that I wanted to maximise the chance that I reached 9 first.
Here is the map after Fall 05:
I got to 9, but Turkey was still on 8 with Austria in Serbia. In discussions around scoring I made sure E,R and A all knew they'd be better off calling a draw now rather than in 1 year, and in the end, Turkey had to go with it.
And that was that - A 9 center board top, by 1 center in just over 5 years. It won't go down as a classic, but for me it was about achieving an objective and going from there.
A few musings about my opponents:
England - A solid ally all game, we clicked well early on and I think our approach is similar, but I was nevertheless always wary given the fleet advantage he had. I was surprised to discover after the game that he was my neighbour ally in my PDL game which was finishing in the first few years of this game.
Russia - Also a great ally. This was almost like a hidden alliance as most people thought England was my primary ally, but my alliance with Russia was just as strong, with the key benefit that we were not a threat to each other. I have to give credit to Russia for surviving because S01 was a disaster for her, and with 2 neighbours against her it looked difficult.
Turkey - A thoughtful player, who I'd also been playing in the same PDL match as the English player. He played well all game. I felt bad about snagging the sole board top from Turkey, but he took it in his stride and was gracious as always.
Austria - Also a good player, who was unfortunate in this game. Austria is tough to play when Italy is hostile.
Germany - tactically and strategically strong, it would have been interesting to see how he would have fared given an opening. I enjoyed my later conversations with him and hope we'll meet again.
Italy - I struggled to make a good connection with Italy, we were both probably trying to negotiate deals favourable to our own powers, but I'd hoped Italy would yield when faced with war on every other front. It didn’t happen and the rest is apparent in the game.
Overall a great board with interesting players,
See y'all in round 3,
Ox
