Well, what do you know! They were fritened off by my threat to toss the coin for the sole winner. This reminds me of a old western film. Four baddies surrounding a goodie, and the goodies had a fun with only two bullets in it. The leader baddie said, "don't worry, he only has two bullets, let's get him!" Then the goodie coolly remarked, "sure, which of you two want the bullets?"

I guess I was doing something to that effect, and it worked. Now I got my first three-way victory under my belt. Pretty happy about it.

Wow... the thing I feared the most became a reality. England and Russia stabed me at the same time, which means I cannot possibly 'punish' one without benefiting another. The game is almost certainly over for me, but I have to at least take one of them down with me. I tossed the coin and it was Russia. Might as well, because he had been the most untrustworthy player in the game, stabbing Austria, Italy and then me.

Anyway, I was a bit pissed off about the stabbing, because I really thought a three way win was certain. Since that's impossible now, I will take Russia to hell with me.

Well it has been a while since I last reported my German diplomacy game. A lot has happened, but to make long stories short, I am still in the game.

The northern alliance I proposed at the beginning is still holding but only barely. There was a time when the alliance came close to breaking, and I was going to be the sacrificial lamb.

Anyway, one at a time. My joint venture with England against France went as planned, and France was close of being destroyed. It was at this time that things began to change. Down in the South, Italy and Austria had a tight alliance. It was my hope that I would work with England agianst Italy, and with Russia against Austria. However, it seemed (can only guess from the outcome) that England went behind my back and dealt with Russia and Italy against me. While Italy also dealt with Russia to betray Austria. Sure enough, Italy backstabbed Austria, but to Italy's great surpprise, Russia also stabbed Italy. Austria was outraged with Italy's betrayal and was determined to see Italy fall even if it meant his own demise. England seeing Russia stabbing Italy and Austria bent on destroying Italy realized that Italy was no longer a viable partner, turn back to me to split up Italy. Naturally I took that chance and we began taking Italy apart.

However, Russia and England began dealing behind my back and plot to split my territories. It was a critical situation. Basically there was nothing I could do to stop them taking me apart. So I decided to gamble and send Russia and England this message.

" Ok, it's been a while since we used this kind three way press, I think we should use more of this in the future.
Anyway, back at the beginning when I proposed the northern alliance, I was hoping for a three way win. I am still dedicated to that hope. However, recent dialogue exchanges have left me with some very difficult decision. So here is the deal. I want a three way win between us, and it will be my only goal. That means whoever is not dedicated to this goal will be against me. Here is how it will work. Whoever turns on me or the other power FIRST, will make me an atomatic ally of the other power against the alliance breaker. The first act is all crucial, because I will help the other power to the end, even if he stabs me later on and solos it. 
I know it will be tempting for you two to attack me at the same time and just split me up. Of course that will be in the best interest of you TWO, but might not be in the best interest of ONE. Even if you two come up with some sort of arrangement to split me up. One of you can always stop short and let the other commit the first offensive move against me, which would make me help the non-offender UNCONDITIONALLY. Sort of like what Austria is doing now. That's what I am prepared to do to keep this alliance.
Now with the nasty bits out of the way, let's try to be civil. I know the north has been a bit uneasy, so here it is. No hostile moves in the north! Do not move into other power's supply centers. Whoever does it first will be the alliance breaker. I hope this will be acceptable for both of you, and I am sure a three way win is within our grasp.
Regards
Germany "

After this message, things began to change for the better. I was right to bet that they didn't trust each other. The northern Alliance was back on track, and now, basically the southern nations are pretty much destroyed, with only a few remanants to fight off. However, just last turn, Russia moved two of his units north. It remains to be seen if he is up to something. Next turn should reveal his intentions.

More reports later

The last phase turned out better than I expected. My alliance with England is now looking very solid, and together we have driven into Burgundy. Now the French position at Pic, and Breton and Paris are all threatened by the combined Anglo-German force.

Russia too has honoured our pact, and continues to focus on fightings in the south.

Press exchanges between the nations are frequent and interesting. I shall post some of them up for people to get an idea of what goes on between players.

• 1902 spring england to germany 
  Germany
  Thanks for building armies, as you promised; as you can see, I kept my half of the agreement as well. Meanwhile, France has built armies, which means he'll be attacking you; you need to move your armies west as quickly as possible.
  
  This turn, I suggest moving MUN-BUR, KIE-RUH, BER-KIE. DEN and HOL can hold - there's not much more you can do with them at the moment, apart from HOL S BEL. I'll order BEL S MUN-RUH, LON-ENG and LVP-IRI, and I should have my fleets in position to attack BRE very quickly.
  
  If you have any comments, let me know; if not, goodbye for now, and good luck.
  
  England
• 1902 spring russia to germany  
  i've already had two powers try and convince me to attack germany.  of course one of them was the french.  my intentions clearly lie in the south, though whether into red or yellow territory is still up for debate.  if anyone is telling you anything different, don't listen.
  
  two army builds by france suggests that he isn't worried about england.  be careful this turn.  until england has moved against the french directly, you can't count yourself safe.
  
  cheers,
  r
• 1902 spring austria to germany  
  Germany, I am heartened that we have avoided conflict thus far.
  
  At some point in the future, I forsee a need to move a unit into TYR or BOH for a single turn.  I wanted to bring this up with you now, to find out how you would take this, and under what circumstances would you would agree to it, if at all.
  
  -Austria
• 1902 spring germany to austria  
  Austria,Your suggestion to move troops into the DMZs is alarming. However, I am prepared to give you benefit of the doubt. There are two conditions that must be adhered to if future moves into the DMZs are not to be taken with hostility.
  1. Advance and precise notices of troop movements into the DMZ must be given.
  2. Only one troop can enter the DMZs. Under no circumstances can there be two trrops in the DMZs in the same turn.
  
  If the above two conditions can be followed, then I will be able to tolerate such moves.
  Regards
  G
• 1902 spring germany to russia  
  Russia,
  Thank you for you information. I am very grateful for your warning.
  I am actually very worried by England. He is in a much better position to attack me with France than he is attacking France with me. I guess I will just have to see after this term. 
  Regards 
  G
• 1902 spring russia to germany  
  the fleet build in lvp rather than edi should at least put us both at ease a bit.  i think if he really intended to attack you, he would have built in edi.  but i'm sure we will know for sure after this turn.
• 1902 spring austria to germany  
  That is generous and fair, and your alarm was the very reason I elected to bring this up early, as this is a sensitive issue.
• 1902 fall england to germany  
  Germany,
  
  Thanks for moving as promised. It's annoying that we didn't get into BUR, but at least we kept France out: this turn, I'll order BEL S MUN-BUR again, and if you also order RUH S MUN-BUR, it should succeed. Meanwhile, I'll move one of my fleets to MAO so I can take BRE next year, and then perhaps build another army if it's needed to help fight France.
  
  If you're wondering about my moves in the north, by the way, they were agreed with Russia: if we both bounce in STP, we can both feel safe, as we know that neither of us can stab the other. It may seem odd, but I think it's the best solution for both of us.
  
  So, as for your moves this turn: MUN-BUR, RUH S MUN-BUR are obvious, and BER-MUN or KIE-MUN should be as well. Apart from that, HEL-DEN might be a good idea, if only to prevent Russia moving there, though I don't think he will. But that fleet will come in useful later, if we ever have to fight Russia, so DEN is the best place to put it.
  
  Apart from that, let's just continue fighting France, and hopefully Italy will join us when he sees France doing badly. It may not seem easy at the moment, but I'm sure that in just a few turns, we'll be able to kill France, and divide his territories between us. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that.
  
  Goodbye for now,
  England
• 1902 fall France to germany  
  Ah well, England seems to have betrayed me. No surprise there. And getting a bit too strong now at that. Thus, any help you want against England, I will be happy to provide. Just let me know.
• 1902 fall germany to england   
  England, As mush as we want to get into Bur, I don't think it will happen next turn. France has brought reinforcement from Spain which means it's now 3 v 3 even with my ruh support. It seems that Italy has worked out some arrangement with austria and is moveing against Turkey, so he probably won't help us against France.
  That being said, I see no other way but to continue our campaign against France. I will do the same with Ruh support. May I suggest your Eng fleet supporting your IRI fleet into MAO. I have a feeling that France will move his Por fleet up there as well. 
  G
• 1902 fall england to germany    
  Germany,
  
  I know, the situation looks difficult, but France is not as strong as he looks. This turn, I will move IRI-MAO, ENG S IRI-MAO, as you suggest: even if France moves POR-MAO, this will make sure I get a fleet into MAO. Next turn, France will have to use one of his armies to defend BRE, and so you are sure to get into BUR next Spring; France can defend BRE, or BUR, but not both.
  
  As for Italy, I've sent him a press asking him to help us fight France, and I think he might do so: if you ask him to do so as well, it should have more effect. If he just moves VEN-PIE, then PIE-MAR, it could make all the difference. The sooner we get him on our side, the better.
  
  In short: France may be able to hold out this turn, but he won't be able to in the long run. By the end of next year, we should have taken PAR or BRE, and after that the rest of France should fall - especially if Italy helps.
  
  Goodbye for now, and thanks for your help against France. Here's hoping everything goes as well as it can.
  
  England
• 1902 fall russia to germany    
  germany,
  
  so far so good.
  
  i've teamed up for the moment with austria, but i don't trust them in the longterm.  i believe that austria and italy have a tight alliance.  i would like to try and drive a wedge between them, but italy is not very responsive.
  
  so i may be looking for your help against them in a couple years.  depending on how well we can trust england, it might work out well.  with france and turkey out of the way, we can try to get italy and england fighting eachother while we would be able to concentrate together on either austria or england or both.
  
  i know it's a couple years off, but it's something to keep in mind.  if you hear anything from austria/italy, let me know.
  
  regards,
  r
• 1903 spring germany to england    
  England,
  This phase turned out better than I expected. I am in Bur now, and we are in a very good position to start dismantling France. However, I don't think you will be able to take Bre next turn. I propose that you do bel - pic with support from Eng. I will also support that move from Bur.
  Once you have Pic, we will be able to move on to Bre and Par.
  That's all for now, tell me what you think.
  G
• 1903 spring germany to russia    
  Russia,
  Things are going well in the western front. England and I should take down France in a few more turns. 
  Things are looking a bit strange in the East. Maybe your wedge driving between italy and austria worked, or whether that was an agreement between themselves. Whatever it is, Italy gaining greece is a bit surprising for me. 
  As for Italy, Both England and I have urged him to take his stance against France. He didn't respond, but he did try to move in to Pie last turn. Hopefully that will divert further French efforts from our drive westward.
  Regards
  G

Well, I think I am pretty much at the end of my road in this game. As expected, Austria has moved his main force aginst me, and Venice will fall for sure. France too has moved his fleet into the Mediterenian, which means my North African territories are gone too. All there is left for me is to dutifully play my part until I am totally wiped out.

Therefore nothing more will be reported for this game, since it's in a sense over for me.

Italian Game:

Things aren't going well at all. Spring 1903 had turned out quite disastrous for me. The German and English attack on France did not take place, they were both busy protecting themselves. France had called reiforcement from Atlantic Ocean to Spain. That made my campaign into southern France almost impossible. What's worse is now Austria has decided to attack me. The once quiet estern front is now buzzing with troop movements. I can now forsee me as the first player to drop out of the game.

Germany Game:

The german game is faring better than the Italian one. However, things are far from rosy. Both England and Russia have stuck to our alliance, but I am still weak against an English surpprise attack. I guess I just have to hope for the best.

Italia

As I suspected, my attack on sountern France did not materialize. However, the situation has now become quite clear. Russia, Turkey and Austria seem to be very engaged in their own little war. Germany is excerting full pressure on France, with England harrasing both their backs. This leaves me in a very nice position to contine my campaign against France. With my north African fleet on its way to support my campaign, I should be able to capture southern France by 1903.

Germany

With one turn finally completed, The northern alliance which I proposed seems to be taking shape. Russia fulfilled his part of the bargain, and moved his main force down south against Turkey. I have captured Holland, and will move into Denmark next turn. My venture into Burgundy didn't work out, because France is suspecting my intentions to attack him. Although England seem to be on affable terms with me, I am a bit uneasy with his two north sea fleets. I will be more trusting towards him if he moves one of his fleet into the English chanel.

Things are heating up in my quest to unify Europe.

In the Italian game where no presses are allowed, I have newly constructed afleet in Rome. Not quite sure what its role will be yet, but I suppose it will act as a support against possible turkish agression in the south. Meanwhile, I have ordered an attack on France. I doubt I can actually take Marsellis , but help is on the way from another fleet from North Africa.

The German game is much mroe interesting, because presses between players are allowed. Even though no moves have been made, plenty of presses were exchanged. Both England and Russia have expressed interest in working with me. I have in turn proposed a northern alliance between the three nations against the southern nations. Though I am still not sure whether I can trust Russia, he seems to be a very experienced player, and I fear I am just being played around by him. Oh well, things will become clearer in 1902. 

Began two internet based diplomacy games today. One of them does not allow press exchanges while the other does.

In the one that doesn't allow press exchanges, I am Italy. My plan is to sweep northern Africa and attack south france, while dettering any aggressions from East. It's a bit difficult to plan my strategy when I am not allowed to converse with other players. Anyway, it's only a year into the game, so I guess I just have to see.

In the other pressable game, I am Germany, Not sure what my plans are yet, because the first turn hasn't even ended. But my guts tell me to work with the UK and Italy. I will hopefully sweep the low countries, and maybe even take a shot at Scandinavia. However, I fear my British and Russian counterparts won't let me by so easily.

Anyway, for those that are interested, here is the link to diplomacy online.

http://www.dipbounced.com