[net.games.pbm] English analysis of Myers game

hardlj@drutx.UUCP (hardouinLJ) (07/01/85)

I represented England in the recently concluded Myers diplomacy game.
Below is my analysis.

The game started rather straight-forwardly.  France agreed to a non-
aggression pact with the English Channel serving as a neutral buffer
zone.  Neither France nor I were receiving any communications from
Germany, and I therefore assumed him to be the enemy.  The initial
question was, who is Germany allied with?  Russia was interested in
a joint alliance with me and the other countries were too far away
to bother with just yet.  So, I remained non-committal and waited
for the Spring 1901 moves to give me a clue as to what was going on.
Italy immediately stabbed Austria a fatal blow which left the dual
monarchy screaming for mercy, and Russia attacked Germany by moving
A War-Sil, but neither France nor Germany tipped their hands.

For the Fall 1901, I continued my non-committal stance and convoyed
my army to Norway while Russia took Sweden and continued the attack
on Germany by taking Munich.  Austria declared civil disorder which
allowed Italy to grab a few extra supply centers.  The big surprised
was saved for last, however, as France moved F Mid-Iri!  Definitely
a new twist.  Russia and I agreed it was us vs. France-Germany although
later developments revealed that Germany was really fighting solo
while France-Italy were in cahoots.

Spring 1902 saw me grasping for straws as France built a fleet in Brest
and continued the invasion.  When Russia built a fleet in St. Pete(nc),
I assumed my SC's would be divied up between the two of them.  I built a
fleet in Liverpool.  This turn was both France's finest hour and biggest
blunder.  Instead of moving F Iri-Wal, he moved to the NAO while his fleet
in Bre and my fleet in Nth bounced in Eng Ch.  Instead of pulling his
fleets together where they could help each other, they were now separated.
I also got an unexpected and unrequested assist from Germany as he stabbed
France and moved into Burgundy.
The spring also saw Turkey declare civil disorder, and Russia and Italy
were eating SC's for breakfast while Germany, France, and I beat each
other to death.

Fall 1902, still without an ally, but at least my enemy(France) has
an enemy(Germany).  Russia took Norway from me as expected, but now
came my toughest decision.  Do I use F Nth to go for a SC, or continue
to bounce France out of the English Channel?  I decided to go for 
the SC since I needed another fleet to have any hope of surviving 1903.
France had built another fleet in Mar in 1901 and had swung it around
to the MidAt during 1902.  I went for and got Holland.  Germany continued
to fart around in his own little world, irritating France but not taking
any of his SC's.  Russia and Italy continued to devour the CD's.

During 1903 the tide turned a little.  Russia moved into the Nwg Sea
in the Spring while France habitated NAO, IrI, and Eng.  I was surrounded.
There was only one hope for survival.  I had to somehow convince
Italy to stab France a fatal blow.  My calling card - Russia.  With
Austria and Turkey out of the game, Russia had 11 SC's.  My letter to
Italy was a simple one.  If he didn't stab France, Russia was going
to walk away with the game.  I then sent a letter to Russia telling
him he could have Edi because I had given up and was declaring CD.
The end result was that it appeared as though Russia would grab at
least two of my SC's, bringing his total to 13, and Italy immediately
grabbed Mar.  1903 ended with the home island free of enemy units,
and I had managed to take Belgium to boot.

1904 saw Russia's continued expansion as he grew to 13 SC's by conquering
Germany.  France and I made up and the beginnings of an EFI vs Russia war
developed.  I would head towards Norway, France towards Germany, and Italy
towards Turkey.

The alliance held through 1905 as Russia was quickly reduced to 8 SC's.
France and I exhibited great trust in each other, but the fact is
that we had no choice.  France had far greater opportunities to stab
me than vice-versa, but doing so might have brought Italy to my rescue
again.  As a side note, had I been France, I would have gone for the stab
during fall 1905.

With Russia quickly folding, Italy became the rising star with 13 SC's
and France and I began to make plans for a possible Italian invasion.
We never got that far, however, as Russia cried "Uncle" and the game
ended with a three-way win.
Had the game continued, I believe it would have been EF vs. I with
EF easily being victorious.  Italy was woefully out of position
for such a war since the bulk of his army was in Turkey.

In retrospect, the early exit of Austria and Turkey made the game
quite abnormal and unusual.  Russia had the perfect opportunity
for victory by attacking Italy and allowing France and I to self-
destruct, but instead decided to attack England.  By growing
too fast, too soon, Russia became the target of everyone's wrath.
This game also showed that a country can not go it alone as Germany
apparently tried to do.
This game definitely points out the need to have alternates hang
around for at least the first two years to make sure the game gets
off the ground on both legs.  Another facet of electronic diplomacy
which this game and the Carlton game exhibit is the need to avoid
having two players from the same usenet site in a given game.  Players
at one site have infinitely better communications and tend to help
each other out more.

Larry Hardouin