The Viscount's EOG
Well, I suppose I should have stayed on for another couple of years...
At any rate, this will be short. Early in the game, I wanted some sort of strong western alliance and was lucky enough to receive overtures from both England and Germany, which I considered promising while at the same time wholly in keeping with the early game. From day one, I began looking for my win line, hoping to plan a long-term strategy for a solo. My preference was to take England down with Germany and then work eastward with my back protected, but I wanted Belgium, and Germany plainly refused such a partition (which I can't really say I blamed him for). However, I ended up with England, whose open style of diplomacy showed charisma and engendered trust. This tendency to be a central figure in any alliance made my various alliances with England very effective while making Lord Castleberry a lightningrod for criticism, which is where the whole deal went smashingly.
If anyone were to ask me why Germany got so hostile, I wouldn't say that he was by nature inordinately rude or hostile, but the fact that neither England or I would give him further consideration after the first year was, I believe, what infuriated him beyond measure. This all worked to my advantage: England agreed to let me expand freely so long as it was at the expense of the Kaiser, and I ended up with Belgium, Portugal, and Spain, a tremendous beginning for France in any game. Luckily, my size didn't become a problem for quite some time, as I was considered just another of Castleberry's 'wives' and came off looking like a puppet.
Italy and I were quite amicable during all of this, though we never seemed to take any concrete steps toward trusting each other, and I was luck enough to get in on the spoils when Turkey ran into him. Things began to go sour when England finally got established on the continent in the wake of Germany's ruin and I began having to relinquish territory which I had 'borrowed' earlier. After one too many attempts to conveniently 'forget' to move out of these territories, I believe Lord Castleberry got the message and EFR began to come apart. Let me say that it was always my intention to stab England, but by virtue of my tight reliance on Castleberry, I was never in a position to gain more than one sure center at any time, even when I was a good deal larger than England, and I'd like to let Mike know just how much that stupid fleet in Tunis annoyed me!
When I finally just refused to build in Mar, I had finally come to the point at which, ineffective or not, I felt that I had to make some sort of stand against England before I politely let him become established in the Med and surround me there. This went horribly, and ET severely battered me in a couple of years. I should elaborate on what I said in my letter to Master Bob: After the four of us (EFRT) were left, I got home from school, and frankly, I just let the game go. Even when I was number two, I had lost interest in thoroughly examining my position and carefully planning my move. I made a wealth of tactical mistakes, unacceptable against E&T, who both executed well. In short, I now WAS a puppet, and I proceeded to vacillate between the leaders. I began, however, to feel sorry for the Sultan, who tried time and again to bring me back into the fold and take an interest in my own survival. I never intended to help England to the end, but he was, as ever, convincing, and I decided to help him for a while. On my last turn, I had decided to help Turkey again, but messages delivered late by my system and an incorrectly-entered message to the judge ended my stint in the game. I learned though, that a new France had taken over, and I believed that a new and enthusiastic player would do the game more good than I could (kinda ironic, isn't it?), and so I let the resignation stand.
I now realize that this is far too long an EOG, especially for the smallest power in the endgame, but I must thank the players and Master Bob for a smooth game, congratulate the Turk, and apologize somewhat for my lackluster play toward the end.
Viscount Poincare
John Pearson
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