Perdita Logs

Suzi in Egypt wrote the following to Piers in the Ukraine:

Piers,

I'm trying to formulate the next movement...

[Snip]

I have started to formulate an "attack" plan using our combined forces and the movements so far are as shown below:

In general... the troops I have aimed at France will continue to be aimed at France. The rest... will be used as a combined force to try and stop further France/Germany incursion, and if possible halt it and push back!

One movement I am considering is:
UKRAINIAN A Pod - Hun
UKRAINIAN A Rum s A Pod - Hun
UKRAINIAN A Bul s A Ser
UKRAINIAN A Ser s A Pod - Hun
EGYPTIAN F ADR - Cro (to cut support to Hun)

This should mean Hungary falls (even if Germany and France help each other in support of Hungary) - and as it has nowhere to retreat to, it will be Disbanded NRP... giving us one less unit in the central region to worry about, and a compensatory SC to make up for any losses elsewhere. I would convoy A Ank across to Ode to help keep a front against the Germans (and hopefully move another Army across in the Autumn to swell the numbers... That requires some trust from Piers, however, I wouldn't be too surprised if he took up the offer, desperate times, desperate measures and all that if I can move one of these into Mol or Pod then we keep your SC count up - and if your Fleet Georgia moves into EBS then I can convoy the second unit into Don... This will give us maximum Army coverage without (hopefully) the loss of any more of your units)).

I will continue to give this some thought...

Let me know how you want to proceed...

Suzi

I asked Suzi how sincere she was in this email, she replied as follows:

This is accurate... but it is subject to change under negotiation with the Ukraine... to hold Germany off, Ukraine and I need to work as one, but I cannot let down my guard against the French!... I do, however, have one or two armies which can be convoyed into the front against Germany (which would come as a bit of a shock to Hippie <g>). Ukraine is dead in the water without me (as Germany has no reason to stop attacking him with the end in sight if he can get Ukraine's SCs), and I am an also-ran if Ukraine goes under in this fashion...

The downside is that if Germany sees that Ukraine and I are working together then he may change tack and decide to just block us and concentrate on taking bits of France!

I do need to control this carefully though... I mustn't let Ukraine grow as a result of this!

Suzi

Piers emailed his orders to me with the following comment:

I have been forced to sue for peace and, as part of the deal, my forces are placed at the disposal of The Empress of Egypt.

Spring 2007 Results.
Britain (Jim Hill) R.I.P. 2005	Egypt (Suzi Holyoake) F Nap s A Apu - Rom A Apu - Rom F ION - Apu F ADR - Cro (*bounce*) A Gre - Alb A Ank - WBS - Ode A Mor - Alg (*bounce*, *dislodged*, *disbanded NRP*) F Tun s F MAL - TYR F Lib s F Tun F Ale - LBN F Cai - EME F MAL - TYR (*bounce*) A Arm - Irn A Izm - Ank
France (Mike Smith) A WSA Support F SAO - Mor F SAO - Mor F Alg Support F WME - Tun (*cut*) F WME - Tun (*bounce*) F Tyr Support F WME - Tun (*cut*) F Lig Support A Rom Hold (*void*) A Rom - Nap (*bounce*, *dislodged*) A Hun Support GERMAN A Kra - Pod (*void*, *dislodged*, *disbanded NRP*) A Aus supoort A Hun Hold A Cro - Ser (*bounce*) A Ven Support A Cro Hold (*void*) A Mil Support A Ven Hold A Swi Support A Aus Hold A Par - Als (*bounce*) A Lyo - Als (*bounce*) F Nav Hold A Auv - Mar	Germany (Hippie) F NAO - MAO F ENG - BOB F Wal - ENG F Den - NTH A Bel - Pic A Ruh - Als A Ham - Ruh A Mun s A Ruh - Als A Sax - Aus (*bounce*) A Slo s A Sax - Aus A Ber - BHM - Den F BHM c A Ber - Den A Mos - Vol (*bounce*) A Gor s A Mur - Ura A Mur - Ura A StP - Mos (*bounce*) A Lat s A StP - Mos A Lit s A War - Bie A War - Bie A Bie - Pod A Kra s A Bie - Pod F BAL hold A Cze s A Slo h
Italy (John Fouhy) R.I.P. 2005	Poland (Drew Buddie) R.I.P. 2004
Russia (Ross A Chapman) R.I.P. 2002	Spain (Jason Gool) R.I.P. 2002
Turkey (David Ashton) R.I.P. 1998	Ukraine (Piers Forrest) A Pod - Hun A Rum s A Pod - Hun A Ser s A Pod - Hun A Bul s A Ser F WBS c EGYPTIAN A Ank - Ode F Geo - Ros A Kie s A CRP A CRP s A Kie A Kha s A Ura - Vol A Ura - Vol

The French army in Rome retreats to Tuscany.

To this set of moves, Mikey, in France, responded with:

You Bastard!

(I realise that some people might be offended but i think, in the circumstances, I might be forgiven.)

.. a well thought out and worded piece of prose, I think you'll agree.

Hippie, in germany came out with this fine piece of propaganda, which was also posted publicly.

It is with deep regret that the German government must report that as of 8pm tonight the alliance between France and Germany signed in the earliest days of 1995 and known unofficially as le Truck de Leyland and which has quietly been persuading people of the benefits of the single European currency, came to an end.

Although historians will no doubt ponder over the why's and wherefores of the demise of this highly successful union,it should be pointed out that 2 major points were fundamental in its downfall.The first of these was Frances move into the DMZ thus creating the first inkling that Mike may not be trusted beyond all circumstances .The second reason was that Mikes reasoning for this incursion was based on what he would do if he was the German Chancellor .It was plain from this point that sooner or later the French would seize the DMZ and therefore defensive measures were necessary.

The upshot of all this is clear. Any right thinking person can clearly see that the German high command has a clear conscience and that these sad defensive measures are obviously all Mikes fault

Hair Piphie

Hippie is looking stronger than ever, though he has to be decisive in his stab against France, he can't afford to fart around in the same way he did with the Brit.

To this end, I'd convoy a unit to Navarra, probably from Denmark, but possibly from Pic. This makes for a strong attack into the Spanish mainland, one which armies need to be recalled from the front lines to stop.

Hippie does have a weak point, the Alsace, it ties up many units to reliably defend this. he may decide that it's not worth the effort, and stay on the attack - I think that is the best policy for him. I'd order Saxony west, possibly convoying Lithuania west as well if it can be spared. Picardy I'd sent to Bri, going for position at this stage.

I.e. At first glance, I'd order the following:
A Den-NTH-ENG-BOB-Nav
F NTH C A Den-Nav
F ENG C A Den-Nav
F BOB C A Den-Nav
F MAO S A Den-NTH-ENG-BOB-Nav
A Pic-Bri
A Als-Par (or Als-Lyo)
A Mun-Als
A Ruh S A Mun-Als
A Sax-Mun
A Lit-BAL-BHM-Den
F BAL C A Lit-Den
F BHM C A Lit-Den

This will get an army into Northern Spain, position an army in the French mainland, threaten a French SC from Alsace should a French army move to Spain, and it also protects Alsace against up to two attacking units. If Alsace is dislodged by Switzerland, Lyons and Paris working together, then it may retreat to Pic or Bel, as appropriate. In the next phase, another Convoy from Denmark is possible.

France doesn't lose any SCs to Germany this turn, but France loses a lot of position. As long as France doesn't gain an SC then it should be a matter of time. If Egypt wants to make life tricky for Germany then moving out of Rome would be a good plan.

It may be that Germany goes for the straight SC grab, especially as it's an autumn phase. This may be good in the very short term, but it gives time for France to Corral her forces, a straight SC grab here doesn't leave the German in as advantageous a position. Indeed, it could leave the German bouncing all over the map!

Egypt claims to have sent the following to France before the last phase, this is unconfirmed at the time of writing:

I don't know whether you've noticed - but Germany now only needs 10 SCs to win... he will not get all of them from the Ukraine (as I will take some of that while it disintegrates in the path of Germany's onslaught!) - so he *will* be heading in your direction too... for the extra few SCs he needs to win.

This is the chance for you to halt him... although you are pitted against me in the Med (and I have no realistic way to think that you will cease and desist here), there are forces at your disposal which would best be used against Germany which are not involved in the battle for the Med, especially if you can use them to get control of Britain away from him while his forces are concentrated elsewhere (ie. while he's away in Ukraine).

I cannot do this as I am too far away - Ukraine cannot do this as he is now too weak - you are the only one in a position to halt the exponential spread of Germany...

So the question is... do you want Germany to win?

A few days after I wrote the above, Mikey (France) wrote the following missive to Piers (Ukraine) and Suzi (Egypt).

Dear both of you.....

I acknowledge the inherent stupidity in waitin' just one more turn' to try & break suzi's grip on north africa. I acknowledge the inherent stupidity in helping the strongest player on the board take on the ukraine. for both of the above, I apologise. Doh!

Having perused the board, i can see that we can stop hippie. certainly in the west, piersa, i havnt really had time to peruse the latest map to any great extent in the east, it's up to yiou there.

Suzi, I think I need a build next go, i need a fleet in bordeaux sharpish, the only way to guarentee one is a build. this can be achieved in one of two ways, i gain an sc (haha - three years trying & no success!1) or a disband followed by a build. to that end how about your fleets bopping my Tyr fleet a bit. this would also confuse the hipster who must be expecting a threeway alliance.

He will get por this fall, my worst fear being thatb he does it with his army based in denmark - that would be a nightmare for all concerned and the best move in the circumstances, but if i defend that move, he gets into Bor & my flank crumbles.my armies can hold out indefinitely as long as the line isnt turned.( i think - watch this space for unforced errors & general incompetence!!)

What do you two reckon - i am open to suggestions.......

Yours rather sheepishly (piers dont get excited)

Mike

PS. It is probably offensive to suggest but as murky said in the last game, I cant defend from Hippie & suzi at the same time..................

Mikey's thoughtm re: Convoy to Spain are similar to mine - though he is assuming that Hippie will go straight for the SC, whereas I assumed that Hippie will go for position.

Hippie's orders were as follows, I've placed my predicted orders alongside, and italicised any differences:

Hippie comments:

With Egypt and Ukraine's alliance last turn, I'm now stopped in the east. These orders effectively moves the Army in Pod to Spain in 2 moves which should hopefully throw them for a bit and give me the numbers to take the west before they can mount a defensive line. I do believe that this is heading for a draw though.

Shortly after this, Mikey submitted orders... I feel that he has erred in Navarra. Also, he does not have an agreement with Egypt to keep Rome French - for the Egyptian this would be better too as it gets a forward unit against the German.

(I later discovered that there'd be a planned dislodge of the Tys fleet to get the same effect).

F Mor - SAO
F Alg - SOG
A WSA - Alg
F WME - And
F Lig s EGYPTIAN Rom Hold
A Par - Bor
A Lyo - Par
A Mar - Lyo
F Nav - Por
A Swi Hold
A Aus Hold
A Mil support A Swi Hold
A Ven support A Aus Hold
A Cro Support A Aus Hold
F Tyr Hold
A Tus - Pie

Mikey commented with his orders:

ohshitohshotohshit

What can I say, I knew it was coming but fell victim to the old 'just one more year' syndrome. I was about to give up on trying to get through Suzi and reorientate myself for an anti german-stab move this year - Hippie got there one year too quick for me. Doh!

Autumn 2007 Results.
Britain (Jim Hill) R.I.P. 2005	Egypt (Suzi Holyoake) A Irn - Kaz A Ank hold A Ode s UKRAINE A Kie A Alb s UKRAINE A Ser A Rom s F Nap F Nap s A Rom F EME hold F LBN s F Lib F Lib s F Tun F Tun s F MAL - Tyr F MAL - Tyr F Apu s F Nap F ADR - ION
France (Mike Smith) F Mor - SAO (*bounce*) F Alg - SOG A WSA - Alg F WME - And F Lig s EGYPTIAN Rom Hold A Par - Bor A Lyo - Par A Mar - Lyo F Nav - Por A Swi Hold A Aus Hold A Mil support A Swi Hold A Ven support A Aus Hold A Cro Support A Aus Hold F Tyr Hold (*dislodged*) A Tus - Pie	Germany (Hippie) A Ura hold A Gor s A Mos hold A StP - Mur A Bie - Lit A Pod - Bie A Mos s A Pod - Bie A Lat s A Pod - Bie A Kra s A Pod - Bie A Slo hold A Cze s A Slo hold A Den - Nav F NTH c A Den - Nav F ENG c A Den - Nav F BOB c A Den - Nav F MAO - SAO (*bounce*) A Lit - Den F Bal c A Lit - Den F BHM c A Lit - Den A Pic - Bri A Als hold A Ruh s A Als hold A Mun s A Als hold A Sax s A Mun hold
Italy (John Fouhy) R.I.P. 2005	Poland (Drew Buddie) R.I.P. 2004
Russia (Ross A Chapman) R.I.P. 2002	Spain (Jason Gool) R.I.P. 2002
Turkey (David Ashton) R.I.P. 1998	Ukraine (Piers Forrest) A Hun S French A Aus A Ser S A Hun A Rum S A Hun A Bul-WBS-Sev F WBS C A Bul-Sev A Kie S A CRP A Kha S A CRP F Ros S A Vol A CRP S A Vol

The French unit in Tys disbands.

The following table summarises the changing SC situation - this is not always the same as the number of adjusts!

The following table contains a game summary, broken down by power.

The NMR/Late score are for the current player.

Dropouts:
No players have yet dropped out of this game. Though Ydris (Turkey), Ross (Russia), Drew (Poland), Jason (Spain), Jim (England) and John (Italy) have been eliminated.

The following table contains a game summary, broken down by SC. Sc's are grouped roughly according to geographical area.

            Start End
      SC       95 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
----Africa----------------------------------------------------------
         Libya  .  E  E  E  I  I  I  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
       Morocco  .  B  S  S  S  S  S  S  F  F  F  E  E  F
       Tunisia  .  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  E  E  F  F  E  E
---Britain----------------------------------------------------------
     Edinburgh  B  B  B  B  B  B  B  B  B  G  G  G  G  G
     Gibraltar  B  B  B  S  S  S  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
     Liverpool  B  B  B  B  B  B  B  G  G  B  B  G  G  G
        London  B  B  B  G  G  G  B  B  G  G  G  G  G  G
-Central Europe-----------------------------------------------------
       Austria  .  I  I  I  I  G  G  G  G  F  F  F  F  F
      Bulgaria  .  T  T  I  I  I  I  U  U  U  E  U  U  U
       Croatia  .  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  F  F  F
Czechoslovakia  .  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  G  G  G  G  G
        Greece  .  T  T  I  I  I  I  E  E  G  E  E  E  E
       Hungary  .  U  U  U  I  I  I  I  U  U  U  U  F  U
       Rumania  .  U  U  U  I  U  I  U  U  U  U  U  U  U
        Serbia  .  .  I  I  I  I  I  I  E  E  E  U  U  U
----Egypt-----------------------------------------------------------
    Alexandria  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
         Aswan  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
         Cairo  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
----France----------------------------------------------------------
      Bordeaux  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
          Lyon  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
    Marseilles  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
         Paris  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
---Germany----------------------------------------------------------
        Berlin  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
     Frankfurt  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
       Hamburg  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
        Munich  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
----Italy-----------------------------------------------------------
         Milan  I  I  I  I  I  I  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
        Naples  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  E  E  E  E  E  E
          Rome  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  F  F  F  F  E
        Venice  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  F  F  F  F  F
--Middle East-------------------------------------------------------
          Iran  .  T  T  T  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
        Israel  .  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
  Saudi Arabia  .  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
----Poland----------------------------------------------------------
        Gdansk  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  G  G  G  G
        Krakow  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  G  G  G  G  G
        Warsaw  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  P  G  G  G  G
----Russia----------------------------------------------------------
         Gorky  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  U  U  G  G  G  G
        Moscow  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  P  U  U  U  G  G
      Murmansk  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
        Rostov  R  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U
St. Petersburg  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  R  P  G  G  G  G  G
-SovSatellite-------------------------------------------------------
   Bielorussia  .  P  P  P  R  R  U  P  P  P  U  U  G  G
       Georgia  .  T  R  R  R  R  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U
     Lithuania  .  P  P  P  P  R  P  P  P  G  G  G  G  G
--Scandinavia-------------------------------------------------------
       Denmark  .  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
        Norway  .  B  B  B  B  B  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
        Sweden  .  R  R  P  P  P  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
----Spain-----------------------------------------------------------
     Barcelona  S  S  S  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
        Madrid  S  S  S  S  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
       Seville  S  S  B  B  S  F  S  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
----Turkey----------------------------------------------------------
         Adana  T  T  T  T  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
        Ankara  T  T  T  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  E  E
      Istanbul  T  T  T  I  I  I  E  E  E  E  E  U  U  U
        Izmair  T  T  T  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E  E
---Ukraine----------------------------------------------------------
          Kiev  U  U  U  P  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U
       Kharkov  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U
        Odessa  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  E
    Sevastipol  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U  U
-West Europe--------------------------------------------------------
       Belgium  .  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  B  B  G  G  G  G
       Holland  .  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
       Ireland  .  B  B  B  B  B  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  G
        Monaco  .  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
      Portugal  .  S  S  B  B  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F
   Switzerland  .  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  F  I  F  F  F  F

Egypt builds armies in Cairo and Alexandria.

France builds an army in Marseilles.

Egypt comments:

In fact - I warned Mike that a convoy was the most likely possibility and he also had spotted it (but we thought Germany would aim for Por...), we were deliberately trying to get a build for Mikey nearer where it would do some good (A fleet in Bor would have been best... but it looks like it'll have to be an Army in Mar...

Even so... not too bad a movement... stopped Germany getting any builds... the trick is going to be the next couple of years stopping him rampaging through Spain! <my italics>

Germany comments:

I did consider supporting the convoy to Navarra but I also thought that Mike might convoy A Tus - Lig - tyr - WME - Bar which would, assuming Mor - SAO leave him just one army short of a stalemate in Spain.

Now however I can move freely and shift the second A into the same area with support as it does not matter if he goes to SOA this coming turn.

I was also wondering if my previous stabs would come into Mikes reckoning as in each of those I went for the sc's ASAP so thought he might feel obliged to cover them rather than take the risk of leaving his fleet where it was,and I did fear he might bounce himself in Bor or try to oust my army in Alsace...... however good fortune once again looked down and the Fat lady opera singer with horns is celebrating tonight....... just a bugger I'm stuck here at work!!! <my italics>