Full 1 - AARs

[Firestorm94]

-What you were planning to do
I was planning to overwhelm South America with my home forces and push the Europeans away from the mainland. I didn't really have much confidence in my overseas territories and I knew that I would lose them pretty quickly. I had wanted an alliance with the Russians to crush China, but we can't always get what we want. In the Middle East I basically had no chance, which made the territories nearly pointless without some dedicated negotiations. My forces on either side of China were meant to put pressure on multiple areas in order to make him fight on both fronts.
-Who you were allied with
I was going to try to work with Australia in the Indian Ocean/ Pacific Ocean, but we never got the opportunity to put an Aus/USA alliance to the test. I also put some stock in a Russian alliance, but that didn't work out.
-What went well
I kept Europe away from my homeland, made gains in the Indian Ocean, and held on to my territory in South America.
-What didn't
Russia went with China, Korea went with Japan, South America and EU kept me from making gains in some areas, Central Asian forces were surrounded by Indians, Chinese, and Russians, but other than that, I did pretty well.
-What you expected to happen in the future
I saw Japanese and Australian fleets, but I saw a clear plan to defend against them. I saw potential for my campaign in South America to go either way. The EU was at a stalemate that would take years to untangle. My Central Asian holdings were falling and I had one lone army on Russia's southern border. My situation was poor, but manageable.
-What could be improved on the map (generally ie. Make it easier for China to attack South Korea)
As kininnvie said, the N. Atlantic needs to be divided, so that stalemates are less likely. I think that the USA overseas territories are fine as they are; the loss of these territories so early was more of a testament to my lack of communication than it is to any flaw in the map.

[DOI]

-What you were planning to do
I planned to defend against Europe, initially thought that I might be visiting China... that's about as far as my planning went.

-Who you were allied with
China talked me into non-aggression. (should not have agreed) Japan talked me into non-aggression. (should not have agreed) I had an initial agreement with the US regarding central Asia, but I abandoned that in the quest for any sort of expansion. I was ready to support Turkey into Europe, and I had an understanding with the Arab League.

-What went well
Did not die

-What didn't
I should've moved to the Sea of Japan on my first move. I should not have left myself so open to China. I should've built a fleet in St. Petersburg. I made a lot of mistakes. I don't think that I could've defended against both Europe and China. And I can't help but wonder if I should've moved into the "Czech dagger". It got pretty quiet as everyone came under siege or was busy sieging.

-What you expected to happen in the future
China would attack me. I would need to divert forces from Europe. Europe would've closed in. Without significant pressure on either of those two, I would've slowly dwindled to nothing.

-What could be improved on the map
In terms of balance of powers, Europe is too strong. It was able to lash out on everyone without fear. Isn't the fear supposed to be the other way around, that Europe apprehensively watches the Russian bear? The north was a particular problem. A European convoy through the Barents Sea is at least as bad as a Lepanto. And since it wouldn't cause an absence of force anywhere else, there's no incentive to not try it. Starting with a fleet in St. Petersburg (NC) would've helped, and would probably be accurate.

I originally described China as "They look like Austria, being in the middle, but they're much more threatening, making everyone nervous." It seems that China was even stronger than I first suspected. Korea and Japan couldn't do much together against China since they also had to look out for themselves. There was huge growth potential in southeast Asia. Even if India had moved east, I doubt it would've made much of a difference. Russia can't handle China while simultaneously fighting on the western front.

There were a couple little oddities on the map:
- ION and TYR are backwards
- Naming a land territory for a sea (ie. ARA, the Aral Sea) can only be a source of confusion
- PRR for the west coast of British Columbia? Really? Someone must have a friend in Prince Rupert. How about BCO? BCOL? BRC? VAN? VNC? VNR? VIC? VCT?

There were some pleasant surprises though. The inset of Korea worked a lot better than I expected, and I loved that I have Kaliningrad. I doubt that it's tactically significant, but it's cool.

[AardvarkArmy]

The Chinese View:

-What you were planning to do

Despite the wealth of centers nearby, I did feel that China could quickly be boxed in and contained if there were a sustained diplomatic effort among my neighbors. Hence, I knew I needed to do three things:

1) Break out as quickly as possible in 1 or 2 directions (which I was able to do, first in Indochina, then in Russia)
2) Make a couple of strong allies (had mixed success... not as well as I had hoped)
3) Turn my neighbors against each other (ditto-had mixed success... not as well as I had hoped)

-Who you were allied with

I had a very strong and mutually beneficial alliance with India -- I definitely think this will be the key for China in this game. If India had slowed my progress in Indochina, I would have been stuck in the box that I had feared

I believed - briefly - that I had an alliance with Japan, but quickly saw that they were not making any efforts against Korea

I offered a non-agression to Korea -- which was sincere, since I saw how much energy would be expended just trying to get past DMZ -- but likewise saw that Korea was unwilling to look elsewhere.

I never made any diplomatic efforts with Australia, because it seemed pointless: war with them was inevitable


-What went well

If -- and ONLY if -- India is a solid ally, China can beat Australia into Indochina and set up a decent defensive line

The Russian collapse was both swifter and more dramatic than I had any right to hope for -- My northwest armies were moving into a vacuum


-What didn't

Korea is a monstrous logjam!!! With nearly half of my entire armed forces pinned to the standoff, I couildn't even budge into DMZ.

This may be a "good" thing for the game overall, but it is a HUGE obstacle for China


-What you expected to happen in the future

Contrary to some of the views of my neighbors, I did NOT believe that China was unstoppable. Quite to the contrary -- I assumed that my forward motion in the East was at a dead stop. After all, the navies of Japan and Australia outnumbered me 16-8, and if Korea threw in, it would be 20-8. I viewed a "stop-China" alliance by these three to be a 100% certainty, and already lost some ground to Australia.

Hence, my plan going forward was to just hope I could hold a defensive perimeter along the coastline, while looking to Russia as my only prospect for additional growth.


-What could be improved on the map (generally ie. Make it easier for China to attack South Korea)

Although it worked to my benefit by crushing Russia, the EU is WAAAAAAY too strong. No offense to my European co-players, but this is waaaaay out of proportion to the real world -- does anybody seriously think the French and British fleets could push the American Navy back along a 6000km front from Greenland to South America?!?!??

Russia is too weak -- particularly in Asia. Again, in the real world, Russia has always strongly garrisoned it's borders with China.

And, YES -- Korea is too tough a nut to crack. There is no way Korea ALONE should be able to indefinitely restrain a full-on Chinese offensive, without the active support of at least one ally (Japan or US)

Overall, though, a truly GREAT game! Thanks a million, Waterice Man!

[Zander]

-What you were planning to do
I had planned to take over the entirety of South America, while establishing colonies in Africa. Once I had a sizeable force I would push forward, taking advantage of the US/EU stalemate, and sieze Central America.


-Who you were allied with
I had a loose alliance with the Arab League. There wasn't much talk between us, but we were both bloodily fighting the EU, so I guess it was one of those enemy-of-your enemy things.

-What went well
Well, I think I managed to push my way into part of the EUs South American territory, but I don't think it was a victory that would last.

I managed to double my size the first build turn, that was just plain fun.

-What didn't
My expansion after those first few turns was slow. My African colonies were more trouble then they were worth when Europe pushed deep into Africa. Even with the EU/US conflict, I progress into northern South America was agonizingly slow.

-What you expected to happen in the future
I think, after a massive struggle, I would manage to push the divided EU and American forces from Northern South America. However, the inferior Brazilian navy would leave me stuck on my mainland and unable to expand any farther. It’d probably try to make some sort of deal with the now powerful Australia or Japan to help me push north, in exchange for large chunks of land in North America.

-What could be improved on the map
The EU and US need to be weakened. Drastically. This might be done with simple map changes...IE creating a larger barrier of territories between Brazil and America, and removing some of their colonies "build center" status. Or, we could do something like "minister-like" (from the CYOC forum) and divide the EU and US into several, connected mini-nations each with a desire for their entire nation to survive, but with slightly different goals. Or we could cut back on SC count. But that's boring.

Also, there is a bit of a problem with Brazil's diplomatic position. We are right on the edge of the massive EU and US battle, so, in a game were a little more diplomacy was going on, that would put Brazil in a position of some power. That is, of course, the position of the “balance tipper.” However, after that war is over the only way Brazil can survive is from the goodwill of the surviving power. Once again, I think this means the imperial ambitions of the EU and US need to be weakened somehow.

In addition, just because I see this happening in a less “predictable" group, (by that I mean the local diplomacy "cult" ) there needs to be something in place to make EU and American conflict unavoidable. If those two made an alliance, the game would be over before a single shot was fired.

[jstott]

I was allied with China, as I didn't really have much choice to go otherwise. If I had contested him in SE Asia, he could have easily swamped me, so we decided to go against the Americans. Once they were gone, I was probably going to focus more on my navy. It didn't help my cause that I missed a few build turns.

Over all, I think Chinese power should be reduced, and the Americans should have less of a power base in Afghanistan. It should also be easier for India to get into SE Asia.