| Analysis for Spring of 1909 in gauntlet |
Dear Rick,
I originally ordered F(Lvp)-Wal, aiming to tie England down to defence of London. However if England orders F(Lon)-ENC this season I want to be able to guarantee F(WES)-MAO, so that I can follow up with F(Tun)-WMS. That would give me two fleets behind the stalemate line and one about to cross it --- that should be enough to win. If England orders to Wales, then I can cover it from IRI and I will be able to force MAO without support.
If England wants to make an attempt at stopping my onwards march to victory he needs to start flooding the stalemate line area with fleets, there's a slight possibility that he may be able to push my fleets out of their positions before I can take the Iberian centres. Something like: F(Hol)-Bel, F(Kie)-NTH, F(Den)-NTH and F(Swe)-Nor. If his fleets sit where they are, he can't stop the win. If this were a two-player game (Turkey vs The Rest of the World) I would not be so confident of winning. Turkey may win more games than Austria but I am always surprised --- because of its distance from the main stalemate line I consider it the hardest power to win!
I've left Serbia open so that I can retreat A(Rum) there if it is dislodged. I'm not sure that this is optimal, viz-a-viz elimination of Austria, but I want to have the option of convoying A(Alb)-Ven in the Autumn. Italy should order A(Mar)-Pie again, this time following up with A(Pie)-Tus, relaying on France not to take Mar.