Civdippers in the Tournament of Scoundrels

[TrailblazingScot]

I'm breathing a sigh of relief in Belgrade, those pesky Austrian Armies are GONE. We went to 1905 before someone got their red card (and another is going to England in 1906 if I know Kitten well enough...)

I need to be less lazy and do more wheedling if the English aren't going to survive for one more year. Tricky.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

Yeah. Now I need you guys to block Italy in, and maybe break his defensive line...

 

[slappy]

Little update. As of 1907, Russia has stabbed me and looks poised for the solo. He didn't need to do this in order to advance for Round 2 (we were both pretty much guaranteed spots at this stage) so I was completely blindsided. Ah well, live and learn.

There's still a slim chance that I'll make it in near the rear of the pack, I suppose, but with a -34 penalty for the other guy soloing, I won't get my hopes up.

 

[Dreadnought]

Do you have a map slappy?

 

[slappy]

Sure, Dreadnought. Here you go. This is Winter '07 before the builds. As you can see, the stab has only cost me one unit so far, mainly because the two smaller powers are now helping me fight Russia. There's been a DIAS vote proposed, but I'll be surprised if it passes. Russia wants his solo.

 

[Dreadnought]

It certainly isn't a killer blow to you, I mean you can get the Turkish SC's easily. You could also probably hold a North to south line of defense in Austria, but if he defeats France and Germany and comes around your flank, it won't be too nice...

 

[slappy]

Well he's just jumped up from 12 to 16 centres and therefore has four builds coming this winter. I might grab a centre or two in the meantime, but I think the writing is on the wall.

Still, it's always interesting to see how these things actually play out.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

I think I'm not likely to last long. Italy has given Turkey the flank enough to breakSevestopol, and Germany has taken yet another centre from me. I can't stop Germany from taking St.P, and Warsaw is likely gone German black. It will be interesting to see whether Turkey or Germany gets Moscow...

 

[TrailblazingScot]

I think I'm not likely to last long. Italy has given Turkey the flank enough to breakSevestopol, and Germany has taken yet another centre from me. I can't stop Germany from taking St.P, and Warsaw is likely gone German black. It will be interesting to see whether Turkey or Germany gets Moscow...

We're looking at a four way draw in my opinion. Took far too long to deal with the English and with German fleets in open waters going against the German wasn't ever an option. God knows if that'll be good enough to get into round 2...anyone know?

Worst play this game was by the 1st English player, quickly followed by the Austrian...WTF was he smoking?

 

[slappy]

It will depend on how many solos there are in Round 1. For instance, I am currently in strong contention to move on to Round 2, but when Russia takes his solo I will take a huge penalty and likely slide off of the charts. With 8 first round boards playing for 21 second round spots--and assuming no solos--there'd be room for pretty much any player who finished with an average of 8 centres per year...typically those who topped and came second on their boards, plus a few strong thirds. The more solos there are, the more strong second place finishers get eviscerated by the penalty, and the more third place finishers from other boards will get to take their places.

 

[Dreadnought]

So you still have a chance, slappy?

 

[slappy]

Actually, I just got word in my mailbox that the DIAS vote passed, so I guess there's a pretty fair chance that I will go on to Round 2 now.

I'm nearly as shocked that the draw succeeded as I was by Russia's stab. He assured me that he was doing this for the solo, so I'm really not sure what changed his mind.

If he had soloed though, Dread, I really would have been toast. Unless a few other boards ended in solos as well, that -34 penalty would have really hurt me.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

Worst play this game was by the 1st English player, quickly followed by the Austrian...WTF was he smoking?

I don't know. in 12 years of substance abuse, I never did anything that stupid. The downside of being sober is that now I have no excuse for the bone-headed plays I make...

 

[TrailblazingScot]

I'm up to 8 centers now, hope that will be enough.

 

[slappy]

Well, the longer you hold on at 8 or higher, the better your chances will be.

I'm not sure I'll have room on my plate to start another new game of Diplomacy, so I may just bow out of Round 2.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

So, we should drag the game on as long as possible?

 

[Dreadnought]

off Topic: is that tornament coming up in fall this year?

 

[slappy]

So, we should drag the game on as long as possible?

The score is all about average centre count over however many years, so yeah. You should try to let your higher current count offset your lower earler count...especially if you got off to a rocky start and didn't get momentum until, say, after 1902.

Keep in mind, though, that blatantly dragging out the game is likely to piss people off.

By the way, anybody look at Bucharest lately? This Austrian player is at 16 centres and steamrolling toward France and the other powers continue to bicker among themselves. Why no stop-the-leader alliance? Either he's a really good diplomat or those other guys have some bad blood between them or something.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

I've had at least 5 centers from Winter 1901, so I've probably been doing not too badly on my average center count.

I'm afraid Gnarff that I think you'll have to die to make it as profitable as possible.

 

[slappy]

As Russia, Gnarf also has the -1 penalty to contend with.