Broadcast message from Germany in vanier:
I'll let my last message (letter to the Sultan) stand as most of my End of Game Statement, but I thought I'd clear up a few things that Norway had questions about.
My failure to send the SET DRAW command was mostly indecision. I didn't want a three-way draw, but really had no idea how to proceed. I'll plead inexperience this time, I'll know much better in my next game. (This was my first game of E-Mail Dip, and my last game of any flavor was 15 years ago.)
Initially, I wasn't too worried about the Norwegian attack. The plan was to hold off Norway and allow Turkey to grab some of my centers, forcing Norway to come to terms. In my mind, the worst thing that could happen would be equal growth of Norway and Turkey. Unfortunately, it appeared that I couldn't prevent Norway from "nibbling" at the edges (i.e., I could hold Norway in the center, but couldn't prevent Norway from gaining centers where the three powers all had units). Given this situation, I switched to allowing Norway to grab centers. And then I miscalculated. Oh, well, such is life.
I did really enjoy the game, despite coming up short at the end. I think I received a valuable lesson in end-game play. I also enjoyed the role-playing; I think it adds an extra dimension to the game. When I signed on, I was delighted to see the kind of messages that Turkey was sending.
Last, but not least, I'd like to add my thanks to Arne for running the judge and mastering the game. It's a very generous donation of his time and resources.
Jack Sheriff
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