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Thank you all for your most interesting contributions!
I have a question: that Franco-German Alliance, did it ever exist??
A lot has been said about the mistakes made by The Diplomat. And I agree: especially his NMR of Fall 1902, resulting in non-conquest of Spain and disbandment of the French fleet in MAO was a disaster that finished him.
Yet the actions of his ally(?) Germany were at least equally important!
According to Joker, Elmo didn't assent to a partition of Scandinavia. Yet he didn't use his fleet in Denmark in Fall 1901 to prevent the Russians from conquering Sweden! Had he ordered F Den-Swe, the Russians would have acquired one build less.
In Spring 1902 Germany publicly declared war on England:
"Do not ever trust the English again! They will betray
anyone. I will now be in war with them. I repeat, please do not trust those evil people living abroad the North Sea."
And he gave these orders to his 5 units:
A Hol sta, A Boh - Vie[#], A Mun - Bur[#], A Ber - Pru, F Den - NTH[#]
With only one fleet, making war against England, was rather difficult. He could nevertheless have attacked Belgium with his A Hol. This would have resulted in a stand-off on the North Sea.
And did he help his ally(?) France in any positive way?
The order A Mun-Bur didn't in any way alleviate the French distress. To me it seems a stab in the back, though it could have been just the result of poor communications!
With his other units he made war on Austria (Vienna) and Russia (Prussia). To me it seems it was Joker that had started the Russo-German war by invading Germany, threatening the German capital.
So with only five units, Elmo acted aggressively against four other countries.(!)
What could an experienced player have done, seriously intending to help France and defending against the Russian invasion at the same time? What about -still Spring 1902- :
A Hol - Bel[#], A Boh - Sil, A Mun - Ruh, A Ber S A Boh - Sil, F Den - NTH[#] ?
As a result, the North Sea would have remained empty, a serious attack on Belgium could have been launched in the Fall, the Russian invasion rolled back, while France would indirectly have been supported!
The only risk would have been the French army in Burgundy, that could possibly have invaded Munich. I would have been willing to take the chance.
Without a French NMR in Fall 1902 and with effective communications between Paris and Berlin, England could still have conquered Paris, but not without the risk of losing either Brest or Belgium. Holland couldn't have fallen to England in any possible way. And finally: Austria would have had better posibilities for manoeuvring vis-à-vis its Russian ally.
A remark about the relative strenghts of the Great Powers:
Opinions differ, but Russia is generally considered the strongest and Italy as the weakest power. Statistics confirm this picture.
France is generally counted among the stronger powers!
Sending in weak orders is always preferable above no orders at all. Forgetting to submit retreat orders (NRO) has also caused many unexpected turns in this game.
I have a question: that Franco-German Alliance, did it ever exist??
Germany and France suggested an alliance, and I acted positive towards the suggestion, but I never had any intention to keep those promises; I knew I would have to advance to the continent if I ever would wish to claim any new land.
Anyway, I persuaded France and Germany to give me Norway and Belgium, and suggested France would go for Spain and Portugal, and Germany for Holland and Denmark.
So, I took Brest and Belgium. France and Germany were quite upset of course, but I knew I could handle the situation. I conquered Paris and Holland next, with the help of France's NMR.
In the game I very early (before the first move, actually) came to the conclusion that there would be a huge world war in Europe. I saw myself, England and Austria fighting together against France and Germany. I then concluded that the latter two would contact Turkey, to create two alliances. I then thought it to be crucial for us to get Italy on our side, which is why I urged Austria not to attack him.
But neither France nor Germany were as tough as I had imagined. France were crippled early by England, and Germany was soon surrounded by hostile forces.
But soon Amjayee told me that he and Germany were planning to attack me. This was not very good, since I had told The Diplomat that I thought Elmo was a madman, and that I would probably be forced to attack him sooner or later. I realised that I had been giving my enemy vital information. But lucky for me France trusted England. Something he shouldn’t have done. France was conquered, before he really had time to do anything.
Right from the very first contact Elmo was hostile to me. I kindly asked him to split Scandinavia between us, but for some reason he rejected! Why? Because even then he seemed to have had plans to attack me.
Anyway, I persuaded France and Germany to give me Norway and Belgium, and suggested France would go for Spain and Portugal, and Germany for Holland and Denmark.
So, I took Brest and Belgium. France and Germany were quite upset of course, but I knew I could handle the situation. I conquered Paris and Holland next, with the help of France's NMR.
In the game I very early (before the first move, actually) came to the conclusion that there would be a huge world war in Europe. I saw myself, England and Austria fighting together against France and Germany. I then concluded that the latter two would contact Turkey, to create two alliances. I then thought it to be crucial for us to get Italy on our side, which is why I urged Austria not to attack him.
But neither France nor Germany were as tough as I had imagined. France were crippled early by England, and Germany was soon surrounded by hostile forces.
But soon Amjayee told me that he and Germany were planning to attack me. This was not very good, since I had told The Diplomat that I thought Elmo was a madman, and that I would probably be forced to attack him sooner or later. I realised that I had been giving my enemy vital information. But lucky for me France trusted England. Something he shouldn’t have done. France was conquered, before he really had time to do anything.
Right from the very first contact Elmo was hostile to me. I kindly asked him to split Scandinavia between us, but for some reason he rejected! Why? Because even then he seemed to have had plans to attack me.
Yet the actions of his ally(?) Germany were at least equally important!
According to Joker, Elmo didn't assent to a partition of Scandinavia. Yet he didn't use his fleet in Denmark in Fall 1901 to prevent the Russians from conquering Sweden! Had he ordered F Den-Swe, the Russians would have acquired one build less.
In Spring 1902 Germany publicly declared war on England:
"Do not ever trust the English again! They will betray
anyone. I will now be in war with them. I repeat, please do not trust those evil people living abroad the North Sea."
And he gave these orders to his 5 units:
A Hol sta, A Boh - Vie[#], A Mun - Bur[#], A Ber - Pru, F Den - NTH[#]
With only one fleet, making war against England, was rather difficult. He could nevertheless have attacked Belgium with his A Hol. This would have resulted in a stand-off on the North Sea.
And did he help his ally(?) France in any positive way?
The order A Mun-Bur didn't in any way alleviate the French distress. To me it seems a stab in the back, though it could have been just the result of poor communications!
With his other units he made war on Austria (Vienna) and Russia (Prussia). To me it seems it was Joker that had started the Russo-German war by invading Germany, threatening the German capital.
So with only five units, Elmo acted aggressively against four other countries.(!)
What could an experienced player have done, seriously intending to help France and defending against the Russian invasion at the same time? What about -still Spring 1902- :
A Hol - Bel[#], A Boh - Sil, A Mun - Ruh, A Ber S A Boh - Sil, F Den - NTH[#] ?
As a result, the North Sea would have remained empty, a serious attack on Belgium could have been launched in the Fall, the Russian invasion rolled back, while France would indirectly have been supported!
The only risk would have been the French army in Burgundy, that could possibly have invaded Munich. I would have been willing to take the chance.
Without a French NMR in Fall 1902 and with effective communications between Paris and Berlin, England could still have conquered Paris, but not without the risk of losing either Brest or Belgium. Holland couldn't have fallen to England in any possible way. And finally: Austria would have had better posibilities for manoeuvring vis-à-vis its Russian ally.
A remark about the relative strenghts of the Great Powers:
Opinions differ, but Russia is generally considered the strongest and Italy as the weakest power. Statistics confirm this picture.
France is generally counted among the stronger powers!
Sending in weak orders is always preferable above no orders at all. Forgetting to submit retreat orders (NRO) has also caused many unexpected turns in this game.
), but I had to choose a direction to expand. I was hoping I cound get Scandinavia and thereafter Russia. The point I went wrong was where I chose to defend my land rather than expand. The move where I was heading for Sweden was cancelled by me, because I was afraid to lose land to both Russia and, again England. Amjayee was a 'friend' then and I asked him to protect Scandinavia from Russian hands, but he said he didn't want to. 
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