| Press for Spring of 1911 in pouchtoo |
Movement
Message from Italy to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
> Austria: Builds a fleet in Trieste. > Guess your repair job inspires a lot of your natives to take up the naval trades, huh? :-) Manus
Message from Austria to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
> > Austria: Builds a fleet in Trieste. > > > Guess your repair job inspires a lot of your natives to take up > the naval trades, huh? > Naah, we just believe in redundancy. Better have two in case one sinks. (<: Dave _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Message from Austria to Russia in 'pouchtoo':
Well, no surprises there. I think we're all set on the moves, hold the line in the middle and see what we can do on the ends. If we can't get anywhere, convince Cal to take out Manus and call it a three way. Kaiser D
Message from Austria to England in 'pouchtoo':
Well, we certainly changed things around anyway. (<: I don't know that we are much closer to getting a two way going out of this, but we'll see what the manuevering brings for the next couple of years. I certainly open to making a move on Russia as long as it looks at least moderately difficult for Jamie to throw the game to you at that point. I assume you are going to leave Manus alone for a bit, but perhaps in a year or two we can discuss removing him, if nothing else in order to get us down to a three way instead of a four way. Happy hunting in the north. Kaiser D
Message from Russia to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
Right. Did we say Mun-Kie? And Boh-Mun, RUSS A Sil S Boh-Mun? Let's do that. Unlikely to save my F Hel, but conceivable. Cal should order the F MAO straight into NAO. If he decides to use both F Por and F MAO in the Mediterranean, then I may actually have a chance to make progress in Scandinavia. If one of those fleets goes north, then I don't really have any chance. Manus did agree with my suggestion that he insist on keeping his centers, not just allow Cal to take them. I bet Cal takes one anyway. He'll need to take one, since I'm going to take Norway. Tsar J
Message from Italy to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
> Naah, we just believe in redundancy. Better have two in case one > sinks. > Ah! I see. Well, to justify your good planning sense, here's hoping for a couple leaks in the hull somewhere. :-) Manus
Message from Austria to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
> Ah! I see. Well, to justify your good planning sense, here's hoping > for a couple leaks in the hull somewhere. :-) > It's the darn seals around the screen doors that keep leaking! Just remember to keep up your strategy of attacking whoever stabs you last, so when Cal steals some centers you can turn around again. (<:
Message from Austria to Russia in 'pouchtoo':
> Did we say Mun-Kie? And Boh-Mun, RUSS A Sil S Boh-Mun? > > Let's do that. Unlikely to save my F Hel, but conceivable. > No, we didn't, but I can do that. Ber s Mun - Kie as well I assume? > Cal should order the F MAO straight into NAO. If he decides to use both F > Por and F MAO in the Mediterranean, then I may actually have a chance to > make progress in Scandinavia. If one of those fleets goes north, then I > don't really have any chance. > Well, let's see. You get Norway this spring. In order to kill Hel he has to use North and Denmark. Baltic is available to go to Sweden which is a pity. He probably can lock it up, but if we get lucky or he makes a mistake then we can get through, and maybe I can get some pressure on in the south. Of course we have to hope you can build another fleet this year, which he can make difficult either by retreating to Barents or moving Baltic to Gob. I haven't played it out, but at least consider moving an army into StP in the spring. The added support could make his decisions harder and also influence him against a retreat to Barents and you can plan on pulling it back out in the fall. I'm not sure it works out, but something to consider. > Manus did agree with my suggestion that he insist on keeping his centers, > not just allow Cal to take them. I bet Cal takes one anyway. He'll need to > take one, since I'm going to take Norway. > I've been exchanging friendly jibes with him and reminded him that it is his policy to attack whoever stabs him last. If Cal does take a center I'll definitely make some offers, even if I don't expect them to be accepted. Kaiser D
Message from Russia to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
>> Did we say Mun-Kie? And Boh-Mun, RUSS A Sil S Boh-Mun? >> >> Let's do that. Unlikely to save my F Hel, but conceivable. >> >No, we didn't, but I can do that. Ber s Mun - Kie as well I assume? Oh, right. Sure, why not? Oh, look at that, I'd already ordered it. My subconscious is smart. Or my memory is shot. Other stuff: Yeah. I kind of think he'll just order Nwy-Swe. I can then hold Nwy, probably, but it's going to be very tough to get any further. It's a shame that they'll be able to block up the Med so easily. Of course, we could try going to a lot of trouble to get you a bunch of fleets and line them up along the Italian west coast. We'll have to think about whether that is (i) possible (ii) safe (iii) worth the trouble. Tsar J
Message from Italy to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
> It's the darn seals around the screen doors that keep leaking! > Don't you just hate that?? > Just remember to keep up your strategy of attacking whoever stabs you > last, > (as opposed to not attacking someone when they stab me? :-) > so when Cal steals some centers you can turn around again. (<: > It's kept me alive this long, and as the smallest and most frequently used punching bag (because I dress myself up so well to look like one, I admit), I'm starting to feel pretty proud to still be breathing. Manus
Message from England to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
Well, I've had a chance to go over the atctical situation and it looks as if we WILL need tactical magic to get us through the Mediterranean. They have us better bottled up than I thought and it isn't just a matter of us outnumbering their fleets. As long as they hold the entire mainland of Italy, we can be held off with just a fleet in Naples and a fleet in Ionian. We have to avoid this... Key to their stalemate, as I said above, is holding the entire mainland of Italy. Right now we have a flothold in Tuscany and we cannot afford to give that up. Therefore, I'd like us to do the following: Italy F Tus H, s by F Lyo F Spasc-Mar F Naf-Tun England F Por-Mid This pretty much ensures we keep Tus for THIS season at least. They only way they can take it is by using Rom, Ven & Pie which I doubt will happen. Ven will have to support Pie or they risk losing it and, if they move in WITH Piedmont, they leave a vital space open. I don't think it's likely. Meanwhile, if we keep Tuscany, we keep them guessing as to what they have to protect. I'm expecting them to go F Tri-Alb, F Nap-Tyn, A Rom-Tus, s by A Pie, A Ven s A Pie. Giving up Tyn for this turn is regretable, but unavoidable if we are to keep Tuscany. Comments? Cal
Message from England to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
>Message from [email protected] as Austria to England in 'pouchtoo': > >Well, we certainly changed things around anyway. (<: I don't know that >we are much closer to getting a two way going out of this, but we'll >see what the manuevering brings for the next couple of years. I certainly >open to making a move on Russia as long as it looks at least moderately >difficult for Jamie to throw the game to you at that point. I assume >you are going to leave Manus alone for a bit, but perhaps in a year or >two we can discuss removing him, if nothing else in order to get us down >to a three way instead of a four way. Yeah, I'd be open to that, but obviously I'd still prefer the A/E.An E solo is pretty much out of then question at this point I'll keep moving units up north and whenever you figure the time is right, feel free to take a shot at the Russian underbelly. >Happy hunting in the north. Thanks. ;-) Cal
Message from Italy to England in 'pouchtoo':
Your wishes have translated into my commands. May we get that tactical magic you menitioned! If not, the postgame comment will revolve around how dumb I was to set myself up like that when it turns out I *didn't* have a throw-game card. Manus
Message from Italy to England in 'pouchtoo':
Well, I TRIED to translate your wishes into my commands, but the judge politely reminded me of a couple of things: > Therefore, I'd like us to do the following: > > Italy > F Tus H, s by F Lyo > F Spasc-Mar > F Naf-Tun > There's no unit in LYO to support Tuscany with. My fourth fleet is in Marseilles, not LYO. Aauugghh! This probably means things are even worse than you thought. Manus
Message from England to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
Shit. Someone must have been playing with the board I have set up (my cat comes to mind) because I also thought I had a unit in Bel, not Hol. At least THAT one was better for me... I'll get back to you later. Now we REALLY need some tactical magic. Too bad we can't even pray for an NMR... BTW, I was trying to check out your dead Presidents site when this came in. Nice site so far, but it seems to have gone down temporarily. I'll try that again in a little while. Cal > Message from [email protected] as Italy to England in 'pouchtoo': > > Well, I TRIED to translate your wishes into my commands, but the judge > politely reminded me of a couple of things: > > > Therefore, I'd like us to do the following: > > > > Italy > > F Tus H, s by F Lyo > > F Spasc-Mar > > F Naf-Tun > > > There's no unit in LYO to support Tuscany with. My fourth fleet is in > Marseilles, not LYO. > > Aauugghh! This probably means things are even worse than you thought. > > Manus >
Message from Italy to England in 'pouchtoo':
Yeah; I'm looking too. We may be in real trouble. :-( > BTW, I was trying to check out your dead Presidents site when this came > in. Nice site so far, but it seems to have gone down temporarily. I'll > try that again in a little while. > Yeah; I sent that mail and promptly lost my connection. The site went down for what seems like it was about an hour! Luckily, that kind of thing rarly happens; this "starship" account is very reliable. Manus
Message from Observer to Observer in 'pouchtoo':
In reply to the question "can Manus tilt the game to England?" the answer is _NO_. He is trying to save his neck, again, and will not succeed this time. The game will end in a 3-way EAR. Reasons: Austria and Russia are too far forward over the North line and Itlay is out of position to get back fast enough to do any harm. James
Message from England to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
Sorry to take so long. Here's some suggestions: F Tus-Pie, s by F Pie F Spasc-Lyo F Naf-Tun That's about the best we can come up with right now I suspect. If they play it right, we'll be facing a stalemate line anyway. Maybe I can break thru up north. We'll see. Comments? Cal
Message from Russia to Austria, England, Italy and
Master in 'pouchtoo': So, what do you say we pick up the pace a little? This current deadline seems ridiculously long. Also, I am starting to feel terrible, because the other remaining players are vowels. I only remembered this depressing fact when I typed "press to aei". Thank goodness I added Rick. Now don't you guys start getting any cute ideas, like an ALL VOWEL DRAW. Just remember, you can't spell much without me. (I hope they don't notice that they can't spell much with me either. A nice ARIA? Italians and Austrians love opera. Or we could arouse Dave's IRE by eliminating him. Or knock out Manus and divide up his AREA.) (Remind me not to send press after 11:00 anymore.) (Tsar) J
Message from Italy to England in 'pouchtoo':
> F Tus-Pie, s by F Pie > I assume you mean s by f mar > F Spasc-Lyo > F Naf-Tun > > That's about the best we can come up with right now I suspect. > Okay, I'll issue those orders. > If they play it right, we'll be facing a stalemate line anyway. > If we can stalemate them, I might end up on the trash heap, but at least you will be guaranteed a satisfactory result. > Maybe I can break thru up north. We'll see. > Best of luck! Orders going in along those lines.... Manus
Message from England to Austria, Italy and Russia in
'pouchtoo': > Message from [email protected] as Russia to Austria, England, Italy and > Master in 'pouchtoo': > > So, what do you say we pick up the pace a little? This current deadline > seems ridiculously long. Fine by me. :) > Also, I am starting to feel terrible, because the other remaining players > are vowels. I only remembered this depressing fact when I typed "press to > aei". Thank goodness I added Rick. Now don't you guys start getting any > cute ideas, like an ALL VOWEL DRAW. Just remember, you can't spell much > without me. (I hope they don't notice that they can't spell much with me > either. A nice ARIA? Italians and Austrians love opera. Or we could arouse > Dave's IRE by eliminating him. Or knock out Manus and divide up his AREA.) I know how you feel. After all, *I'm* the one who has to write to a bunch of AIRheads... > (Remind me not to send press after 11:00 anymore.) Please don't send press after 11:00 please. :) Cal
Message from England to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
> Message from [email protected] as Italy to England in 'pouchtoo': > > > F Tus-Pie, s by F Pie > > > I assume you mean s by f mar Actually, that was part of the "tactical magic" I was talking about... (grin). Later Cal
Message from Italy to England in 'pouchtoo':
> > I assume you mean s by f mar > > Actually, that was part of the "tactical magic" I was talking about... > (grin). > Oh, darn. I shouldn't have been watching your hands. Audience error. Okay, I'll take my WAIT off, and we'll hope for the best. Manus
Message from Russia to England in 'pouchtoo':
>Fine by me. :) Ok, because actually, I thought you might be the only one to object! (Because Manus is now on your side, and the only times I've been happy to have a very long deadline were when I was waiting... waiting... waiting... to hear from Manus.) Tsar J
Message from England to Russia in 'pouchtoo':
>Message from [email protected] as Russia to England in 'pouchtoo': > > >>Fine by me. :) > >Ok, because actually, I thought you might be the only one to object! >(Because Manus is now on your side, and the only times I've been happy to >have a very long deadline were when I was waiting... waiting... waiting... >to hear from Manus.) Oh, so NOW I know the real reason you guys attacked poor Manus. To give ME the pressure headaches! Is he alive? Is he dead? Did he post orders before he died? God will getcha for that! :-) Cal
Message from England to Austria, Italy and Russia in
'pouchtoo': :: Judge: USWI Game: Pouchtoo Variant: Standard :: Deadline: S1911M Fri Nov 13 1998 23:30:00 +0000 Game 'pouchtoo' order #044 (S1911M) has a deadline of Fri Nov 13 1998 23:30:00 +0000. One or more players have requested that orders not be processed until the deadline. Those who haven't gotten their orders in will be abandoned if nothing is received by Fri Nov 20 1998 23:30:00 +0000. This is what I don't understand about this game. Jamie admits there is very little going on right now (I concur) and, if I read the above correctly, we ALL have orders in, but someone has a Set Wait thingie going on. Q: Why? Signed, Puzzled in Toronto
Message from Italy to Austria, Russia and
England in 'pouchtoo': I have no set wait on. I feel pretty worried, because "ARE" is the most common word that can be build from our four initials. (Except "A", I suppose.) And "I" am not in either one.... What a surprise! What a shock!
Retreat
Message from Russia to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
Hey, I think Cal has made an error. I now have a small chance of either holding onto the fleet that he should have squished, or else gaining an extra center! But I (we) have to guess right. I think it's still a bit of a long shot. Still, something interesting to think about. He obviously could have squished that fleet without taking any other chances. I guess he wanted to get an army into Kiel, really badly. Huh. Also, they've let you into TyS, and with the English fleet going to NAO it's not clear that they can get you out. That could possibly be important too, don't you think? Oh, the other fleet, the one that was in Por and is now in MAO, that one will go to Wes now. I get it. So the I/E position will be very tight until/unless you could crawl fleets all over the Italian west coast. Well, let's think it all over for a while. Tsar J
Message from Russia to England in 'pouchtoo':
Hm, you *really* wanted an army in Kiel. I'm surprised that you took a risk like this one just to get the army in Kiel. Well, the position is certainly more interesting this way! Tsar J
Message from Russia to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
You guys are making this game a little more interesting than it should be! Or at least, Cal is. He's leaving me some little openings that he didn't need to leave. I guess he *really* wanted to have an army in Kiel. This is probably good news for you, anyway. He clearly wants to leave you mainly in charge of defending the Mediterranean. So he'll be needing you for some time to come. Tsar J
Message from Italy to England in 'pouchtoo':
Got this from Jamie: > You guys are making this game a little more interesting than it should be! > Or at least, Cal is. He's leaving me some little openings that he didn't > need to leave. I guess he *really* wanted to have an army in Kiel. > > This is probably good news for you, anyway. He clearly wants to leave you > mainly in charge of defending the Mediterranean. So he'll be needing you > for some time to come. I appreciate being left in the game, but from what he says, things didn't go so well in the north (or are about to go worse up there). Anyway, my men await your orders.... Rule Brittania! Manus
Message from England to Russia in 'pouchtoo':
>Message from [email protected] as Russia to England in 'pouchtoo': > >Hm, you *really* wanted an army in Kiel. I'm surprised that you took a risk >like this one just to get the army in Kiel. > >Well, the position is certainly more interesting this way! I'm going to have to shoot someone because right now I'm really pissed off. Not at anyone in this game, but at one of my "so-called" friends who has been coming over to the house since I moved back to Toronto. Apparently, he has been playing around with the board I keep set up with this game on it and failed to return the pieces to their original location. That led to a rather stupid set of orders being put in on my part when I had originally sent moves guaranteed to poof your fleet. Oh well, time to deal with things (after I kill my "friend" that is...) Cal
Message from England to Italy in 'pouchtoo':
>Message from [email protected] as Italy to England in 'pouchtoo': > >Got this from Jamie: > >> You guys are making this game a little more interesting than it should be! >> Or at least, Cal is. He's leaving me some little openings that he didn't >> need to leave. I guess he *really* wanted to have an army in Kiel. >> >> This is probably good news for you, anyway. He clearly wants to leave you >> mainly in charge of defending the Mediterranean. So he'll be needing you >> for some time to come. > >I appreciate being left in the game, but from what he says, things didn't go >so well in the north (or are about to go worse up there). They didn't, but not thru anyone's fault except mine. I don't normally put in such stupid orders, but apparently a "friend" of mine who has been coming over fairly often since I moved back to the city, was playing with the board I leave set up and didn't put all the pieces back in their correct location. Add to that the fact that I put my orders in rather piecemeal this turn and you have a royal cockup. Oh well, I have to deal with it, but it certainly put us back at least a year. >Anyway, my men await your orders.... I'll get back to you pretty soon. Right now I'm looking at something like this: F Mar H F Lyo s F Mid-Wes F Tun-Ion The move to Ion would risk Tunis, but that would only happen if you actually got in to Ion and from there ths stalemate line would be broken. Probably worth it, I'd say. You'd be able to pick centres left and right if it worked. And as for you handling the defense of the Med, Jamie is pretty much right. The odds of this game stacking up into a stalemate line are pretty high and I don't care how many people are in a draw like that as long as they're all vital to the line. Mind you, Jamie has been telling me that the game isn't likely to end until I take you out and what am I waiting for? Duh. ;) Cal
Message from Russia to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
Hey, are you there?
Message from Austria to Russia in 'pouchtoo':
I'm here, barely. Things have been busy. Your retreat is obvious at least. Give me an hour or so to get a chance to look at the board and I'll send you my thoughts. -Dave
Message from Austria to Russia in 'pouchtoo':
Okay, I've taken a look at things and here are my thoughts. 1) Cal can not retake Norway and so must retake Holland. 2) Cal will take one of Manus's centers as he is down one and Manus lost a unit. A lot is going to depend on where Cal retreats to. My expectation is Sweden. To launch a successful attack on Hol, he has to cover Bel and be concerned about Mun and Ber cutting supports. Hel can not be cut, so it should support. The attack then has to come from Ruh or Kie as he can not leave North open. If he attacks from Kie, he has to cover the possibility of Hol - Kie with two supports. That means Bal must attack Ber and Ruh/Bur must attack Mun while the other one covers Bel. And Den must move to Kie to prevent Ber moving in. All that leaves nothing to support Sweden, so North has to hit Norway to prevent you taking both Swe and Nor, giving us: Nth - Nwy, Swe s Nth - Nwy, Den - Kie, Bal - Ber, Ruh - Mun, Bur - Bel, Gas - Bur, Kie - Hol, Hel s Kie - Hol, Mao - Spa/sc, Nao - Nwg The other option is to attack from Ruh, so we get something like: Ruh - Hol, Hel s Ruh - Hol, Bur - Bel, Gas - Bur, MAO - Spa/sc, Den s Kie, Bal s Kie, Nth - Nwy, Swe s Nth - Nwy, NAO - Nwg. In either case it would appear that he can not spare either Den or Bal to support Sweden. This leads me to wonder if the best move for us is: Nwy - Swe, Fin s Nwy - Swe, Hol - Kie, Ber s Hol - Kie, Mun s Hol - Kie, Stp - Mos I think that Sweden is a better outpost than Nwy. It has more escape routes to keep the fleet alive, and it lets you start the next year with three units on Norway. There is also the benefit that if North does go to Norway, you may actually be able to retreat Hol to North! I'm sure there are some holes in this somewhere, but I'll throw it in your court now to see how likely it is that the above could actually result in your losing Hol and Norway without taking Sweden, and if it is worth the gamble in that case. In the south, there is sometemptation to head for Wes, but I don't think I really can. Looks like move to Ion and just hang on in Tys. -Kaiser D
Message from Russia to Austria in 'pouchtoo':
Dave, >Okay, I've taken a look at things and here are my thoughts. > >1) Cal can not retake Norway and so must retake Holland. >2) Cal will take one of Manus's centers as he is down one and Manus lost > a unit. Both sound plausible. >A lot is going to depend on where Cal retreats to. My expectation is >Sweden. I feel certain of it. Now suppose: >Nth - Nwy, Swe s Nth - Nwy, Den - Kie, Bal - Ber, Ruh - Mun, Bur - Bel, >Gas - Bur, Kie - Hol, Hel s Kie - Hol, Mao - Spa/sc, Nao - Nwg But in that case I could actually capture North Sea. Fin-Swe, Nwy S Hol-Nth. I'm thinking of trying that move. If instead, >Ruh - Hol, Hel s Ruh - Hol, Bur - Bel, Gas - Bur, MAO - Spa/sc, >Den s Kie, Bal s Kie, Nth - Nwy, Swe s Nth - Nwy, NAO - Nwg. I could still take Nth, and you could take Ruhr; or I could take Sweden and you could post your army in Ruhr. Possible move for us: >Nwy - Swe, Fin s Nwy - Swe, Hol - Kie, Ber s Hol - Kie, Mun s Hol - Kie, >Stp - Mos Not bad. I agree that Swe is probably a little better than Nwy for me. >There is also the benefit that if North does go >to Norway, you may actually be able to retreat Hol to North! Yeah, and better yet I can just seize Nth. See above. I'm sure >there are some holes in this somewhere, but I'll throw it in your court >now to see how likely it is that the above could actually result in your >losing Hol and Norway without taking Sweden, and if it is worth the gamble >in that case. Oh sure, pretty much any gamble with a really good upside is worth it at this point. If I were just to hold Norway and get my fleet squashed, not getting Sweden or getting control of Nth or any great thing like that, I think the position becomes very stale. So I want to gamble one way or another. At the moment, the best bet seems to be trying for North Sea. >In the south, there is sometemptation to head for Wes, but I don't think I >really can. Looks like move to Ion and just hang on in Tys. I expect Cal to move MAO-Wes. I know, he will want to take Spain, but I think he's going to be more concerned about sealing the position than having the units. MAO-Wes will probably be unsupported -- I bet Manus will order GoL-Tys and Tun-Ion, trying to keep you from inhabiting Ion right away. That won't really matter, though. You'll build another fleet and be certain of taking Ionian next year if worse comes to worst. So, if Cal decided he was going to protect Nth, what would his plausible moves be? He might do Nth S Swe-Nwy instead of vice versa. This risks losing Sweden without regaining Nwy, but that's probably not as bad for him as letting me into Nth would be. Remember that we *must* protect your possession of Munich. It's easy enough to do, even if you order Mun-Ruh, but we mustn't forget. We could lose if you don't hold Munich. Tsar J
Message from England to Austria, Italy and Russia in
'pouchtoo': Oops! My bad. It was retreat orders I missed. An oversight. My apologies, I thought I had sent them in. Cal