Buongiorno and hi there, King in the North! How are things in the most central power of Europe? Can I get in early to raise the question of Tyrolia? Not immensely keen to get stuck in a standoff near Venice, but still less so to see black uniforms heading south lol Greetings! Queen, actually Yes, that sounds good to me Queen in the North, Queen in the South :3 You understand I had to play the odds though, yes? 

What vibe are you getting off Russia? And has England reached out to you yet? Haha, yes I get it 😃 I can't tell much from either of them. what about you? My first online game (still ongoing by the way) I still have people calling me “he” and I’ve given up correcting them 😂 I suppose it’s not that big a deal. But very cool to have some company this game.

England I don’t have a solid read off, but he’s basically just nudged me to see how I am and that’s as far as we’ve gone. Russia seems to have big plans, but I have no reason to believe he hasn’t made the same overtures elsewhere, you know? Still, he seems more concrete. What do you do when you’re not, you know, Central Europe? Grad student here. I'm currently a student as well. I was previously an engineer, so I definitely got used to the female minority thing hahah Yeah i feel like England has some options open, not sure what he's going for I haven't heard anything informative from Russia yet Why yes, yes I am an engineering student! So I know how it can be. There's sixteen of us in one of my classes and I am one of two (count them, two) women there. Which I don't get. Engineering requires *some* strength maybe, but it's absolutely not a "man only" profession. Anything new in the North this year, my friend? It's been a long day on campus, so checking in with the state of Europe before I settle in for the night. Good morning! I haven’t checked in with anyone this season yet, I will keep you posted though! And a good day ahead to you! Are you thinking of contesting Sweden this season? Idle curiosity, I'm talking with Russia about the South but I won't share your thoughts with him. Hmm I don't know yet. Seems like he's trying to go west? Russia? Possibly, he’s going into Austria or Turkey it’s just a question of who. Have you made a decision in the west? If you do decide you’re attacking France, please let me know and I have a proposal to share with you. It’s the funniest thing, o Queen in the North. I’ve been chatting with folk (not a great deal else to do as Italy at this point) and one common theme keeps coming up; Russia offering them an alliance. He’s offered one to me. He’s offered one to Turkey, and to Austria. He’s offered one to England, and I presume he’s offered one to you. If I had to play the odds I’d guess he’s offered one to France as well, but the President and I aren’t really on those friendly terms. 

Can you confirm your part of this, and what he’s trying to persuade you to in an alliance? And if so, what should we do about this? It can be useful having a completely unscrupulous archtraitor around, if we know who that is and don’t let them get so powerful that their opportunism backfired on us. Yes, I have found the same to be true about Russia, but he hasn't responded to anything aside from the initial alliance offer so I am unsure of his plans So one of my friends online tells me I shouldn't out myself gender-wise in the game, that people will use it against me. Have you found that to be true, or any particular bias from other players? Oh interesting. I could see that being the case, I don’t know if it’s caused problems for me or not. Honestly I find it interesting/amusing to see how or if people react. Similar to my experience as a female engineer, I notice that some people act surprised or change behavior (which can potentially be annoying) but I don’t think it’s put a target on my back necessarily. Have you noticed anything? I wouldn't have thought so before today. Just like you say, a bit of surprise, sometimes a flash of interest from the especially thirsty and then we just move on as normal. If it's disadvantaged me I've never noticed it and I said as much to my friend at the time. But then I found myself on the receiving end of: 

New Message
Message
Ok lol. I'll check in with you in a couple days [redacted]
Dated
Fall, 1901
Do you think the sender is telling the truth? I'm not precious and my thick skin is firmly back in place. But other than offending me I'm not really sure what he was trying to achieve. Annoying me? Confusing me? -_____- Wow, yikes. That’s really disappointing. Extra frustrating because if you respond at all you could solidify an enemy, so it kind of ties your hands He *did* give me a few days I guess! I figure I'll give him a few more hours of icy silence and then move on. Anything new coming up diplomatically in the north? The diplomatic channels have all gone quiet to Italy, but I think that's mostly people being busy over the weekend.

I'm not terribly worried. Quiet here too 😃 I'm strongly considering moving west against France. A combination of France in Spain (South coast), Marseilles and a few disturbing rumours I've heard down the grapevine, matched with having no idea what on earth is going on East of me. 

Any chance you and England are considering a similar move? It seems like England and I are both more focused on countries to our East at the moment. I still cannot tell who Russia is working with Neither can we really. Okay, then I still need to be nervous about what France is up to and whether it’s me. I think you may be right. If you still have  proposal for an attack against France, let me know Oh yes. France just waltzed across the DMZ line he agreed to, so it looks like my nerves were spot on. That leaves me much more keen to fight him - and ideally profit by it - than on plunging into the uncertainty east of me. 

We would welcome your support, and given that France has exposed himself to your border I feel it would be decisive as well as lucrative. So... is that a yes, friend Queen? There are rumors of a Western Triple, but I think if we strike west (okay mostly you) could resolve the situation there while things are still resolving in the east. Queen! Sorry for the delay.  I say yes, but probably can't help much for another season or two (I don't want to overcommit). You should have unencumbered access to France this season though. Barring the entire French military lined up at my border, of course! I'll see what I can do. At least he's not getting any deeper into Italy. My friend, why? France still isn’t going to make any progress... unless you open the door for him by attacking your two natural allies from Munich and Bohemia of course. 

Still hoping this is part of a clever ruse on your part, or that you’re headed for Russia somehow. 

Central Alliance! My fellow Queen, I can assure you my primary focus is Russia. I’m trying to work with Austria against him, and then hopefully we don’t have to worry as much about the east! That is a relief to hear, my fellow Queen. I’m hoping to begin pushing back against France in the new year, and the Army in Tyrolia is fairly key to getting that process begun. England and I will be happy to help you as we can, if you can work on swinging Austria towards Turkey. England should be communicating as such too Austria will help me kill Turkey when I'm in a position to act against Turkey myself. I'm encouraging him to work with Turkey in the interim to keep Russia in check, but until I can safely move away from France - safely, not just with a season before he turns on me again - we can't afford an eastern war. Ok, that makes sense. Let’s keep each other posted on the Austria/turkey/Russia situation Absolutely. And if I can help you two silence mini Napoleon, I will. Hi fellow queen, hope you had a nice weekend 😃 Do you have plans this season? Have you been able to coordinate with Austria? England and I are wondering what you’re thinking so we can all work together on figuring out what to do re:France Austria seems more concerned with Russia/Warsaw at the moment, not sure what you two have communicated about Hi fellow queen! Yes it was good, I had a wonderful (and rare) chance to spend a couple of days with my SO so I appreciated the slow update time and wasn't as much online as usual.

This season I'm mostly expecting to be fighting France. I'm glad to see him rushing back to defend himself against you two, but I'd be a poor friend if I left you to fight him on your own after you'd come in to save me in the first place. I'm hoping I can get some pressure on Marseilles, and I'm seeing if I can get around him into the MAO maybe.

What are your plans? Any way we can coordinate usefully?

Austria is mostly looking at the east, although he did say he was glad to see we had England occupied with France. So that's nice. What did you do with yours? Hi! Sounds like a nice weekend! Mine was good too, I went to a bachelorette party I am trying to set myself up to team up with Austria against Russia, but not spread myself too thin either...I am trying to decide if I should attempt to bounce with France again in Bur, but if he moves away from you into Gas instead, it leaves me surrounded I think the deciding factor is what and when we do about England. He's potentially a very strong ally for either or both of us, but only if he's prepared to fight against France and then northern Russia only. Otherwise he makes it very hard for you and I to cooperate against an eastern enemy without keeping an eye to our west, don't you think? I'm hoping to move into France this turn, but I'm unsure if I'll be able to clear Marseilles until Fall. Sorry for the delayed response! Been busy with school stuff. I hear that. I've been sick and just trying to catch up on school things today. Hope the bachelorette party went well? I've not actually been on one of those, what sorts of things did you do? At the moment, I’ve been able to cooperate well with England and he seems willing to help us out against France and Russia, so hopefully it will stay well balanced a little longer. He’s apparently been busy as well so I’m not sure his plans yet. At this point I don’t think either of us can count on France as an ally haha, so I think it’s best to keep England on our good side for now Oh no, hope you feel better soon! The party was fun, we went out for dinner, etc and stayed at a house in the mountains I agree, and I think we can safely consider France as doomed. I'm not saying England isn't sincere in that goal as well, but I'm trying to look at next year's problems. Or the year after that. When France is down and we're looking at what to do about Turkey - or England as the case may be. 

Probably if I sat on Portugal/Spain/MAO I could quite comfortably work with England, but that puts him into the position of going through you or northern Russia. Since you haven't tried to play me yet (or you're doing so well I haven't noticed yet lol), I know who I'll pick if I'm forced to.

Thanks! Yes I'm better now, just headachey. That sounds amazing, and I love the overnight together with friends. It sounds like so much fun, and a chance to catch up with her tribe before she marries into a new one :3 Yes, I agree.  I’m worried about England turning on me before France is sufficiently weakened, I think the two of them are still on decent terms (hard to tell with only these one on one conversations) Which... is probably why it's set up this way.

Can you tell me what happened with Holland? I asked England and he changed the subject. Was that agreed? Haha true Honestly your guess is as good as mine hahah. It was not agreed that he’d take it but it was agreed that he’d give it back It managed to spook me. I still see him at 7 units, though I know he's settled down a little. 2 Armies and 4 Fleets... still makes him the most powerful person on the board. 

Which makes the division of France important, I guess.

Do you care what I build with my French builds, when I do? Anyways, I don’t think you’ve tried to play me either, so I will have your back when the time comes! England asked me if I'd been organising a proxy war against him... then seemed surprised when I had to ask him what that was 😂 Apparently France is telling England I told him that I was nervous of England's builds (which is true) and that I was trying to manipulate him (which is not) I don’t have a strong preference. I will probably build armies next time I’m able to in order to work in Central Europe, so maybe by building fleet we will balance out? Interesting....Yeah I can’t really tell what his long game is. I get the sense he was worried about making too many enemies from the get-go which is why he pulled back a bit I know you have no particular reason to believe me, but I don't lie in this game. I tried back when I played face to face and felt guilty as well as being incredibly bad at it, so it's easier to play an open game and just try to be mindful of what I say to whom. So, yes, when I saw France pouring in from the West I was very open about how nervous England made me (about the same time I was screaming to you for help lol). 

England has been very very keen for me to take on Turkey. Which I'd like to, and may mean he'll be attacking Russia then, when he's sure Turkey will be distracted from sharing in the centers. So hopefully that's what he's up to, and not looking at our centers more locally. But -- if and when we fight England, we're going to need the fleets to do that. So without particularly planning to fight him now, I'll be watching the ship counts all around between you-and-I vs him. Yes I agree, and too hard to keep track of what I’ve said to everyone 😂 See? Truth is SO much easier 😂 Face to face I would actually blush and start giggling if I was trying to lie to someone and they showed *any* doubt. So... yeah. Poker isn't my game I guess. A few seasons ago, England was worried about attacking Russia while turkey was still strong. I think for him and I both, Turkey makes us nervous since we have less of a read on him. Unfortunately I haven’t heard much from England recently, so I am in the dark at this point. I hope it’s legitimate life stuff getting in the way and not him ignoring me Have you heard from him much since the weekend? We had a looooooong chat yesterday, when I could open my eyes. Over a dozen messages. That was when I was accused of the proxy war and had to ask what he was talking about. I didn't feel especially coherent, but reading back the messages look better than I felt. 

He's very busy though, I know. So probably if he's not talking to you it means he's sure of you? Ok that lines up then Lines up? With what he's told me and when he messaged me last Oh ^^ When did he tell you what we'd been talking about?

Like I said, open book here in Italy! Not much! Just that he told me he was busy and couldn't discuss. I wasn't;t sure if it was a clever excuse to stonewall me or not haha Ohhh haha He basically just said I could give him a moveset for this season because he's too busy to discuss anything. It's probably the 1:1 thing then Soooo if you have any input, I'm all ears Maybe encourage him to try for MAO and then descend on Brest next season? I don't know really. I want to see him get into northern France, but I'd prefer to see you do it. If I cut support from Bur, he could take Pic? That could work! I'm concerned about what MAO would do, but he'll be mainly trying to fight England off I guess. Never mind, he apparently already entered them. I *think* he's generally holding in the west, trying to push east He's being a little vague, is he? I guess it could be nerves... but I wish I knew what he was doing. 

I'm trying to hold Marseilles and push into Spain, for the record. Yeah the only specific was that he's holding in Bel and he agreed to let me have Swe and get another army built for working East. I'm not sure if he wants to keep fleets  in the west or not....guess we will find out soon enough 😬 Indeed! Grabbing some food, but I'll be around after adjudication to look at the map and chat. Will you be here? Interesting. Looks as though one or both of you have made up with France... again? Congratulations on making it to 7 though, that was a beautifully timed move. Sorry I missed you- ended up going to bed. and thank you! I'm not sure about the France situation. I personally didn't talk to France at all this season. Maybe England still trusts France enough to leave him alone? Seems like England forgot to enter his moves..... My queen of the north... how committed are you to your attack on Austria at this point? As you probably noticed, Austria and I had just begun our attack on Turkey and now he is determined to double back and face you which I imagine means a new deal with Turkey and the reconstruction of AT block. 

Unless.

If you *are* committed to destroying him, maybe it's time we worked more directly together you and I? My fellow queen, I didn’t want to attack Austria, but I even more so didn’t want to go after you or prod the English beast yet. So, I had the one choice of supply center to stay competitive this winter and Austria had made it too easy.  Perhaps I should have waited longer.....but it was bound to happen at some point I suppose. I would be open to working with you to destroy and divide up Austria and turkey. Let me know what you are thinking. That seems like our best channel to make some significant progress in the game at this point. As Italy I'm generally reluctant to fight Austria if it's avoidable, but I'm in the same position as you now. I can't go West (or I couldn't at that point and now all my units are in the wrong area) and I can't fight Turkey without support. 

Now appears to the the point where we can resolve our local situation nicely. Ideally I'd prefer to appear to be moving to stop you in the Spring and then declare my true allegiances in Fall if that works for you? Maybe I could move to Tyrolia "to bounce you out" only to end up there instead, giving me more angles against Trieste in the Fall? 

The more France manages to stall or tie up England the better for us at this point, I think? There will come a time when we need to fight him to get to our two-way, and if we can get a significant number advantage before England catches on then that's all to the better. 

I don't know; what do you think? 

Is it time for us to reach for that advantage? Yes, that all generally makes sense to me. I’m about to head out for the day but I’ll take a closer look at the map and your suggestions later today and get back to you so we can coordinate for next season. I think we can make this work. In the meantime- have a nice Labor Day! You too! Ok, just looked at the board closer and I can't think of any better ideas, so lets go with your plan. And we can feel out how well Austria manages to coordinate with Turkey and decide from there how to proceed. Austria said Turkey is mad at him, so I'm not sure how strong they will be together, although I assume they will be forced to ally out of necessity Oops I maybe misread earlier, not sure if your intent was for us to bounce in Tyr earlier, but result was the same 🙂 Are you still planning on using that unit for Tri? No, it worked 🙂 My intent was to tell Austria I was moving to Tyr so that I'd bounce you if you moved there (true), but I didn't actually want you to go there. I'm happy with where we both ended up, and I'm definitely looking at Tri (provided I can preserve Ven in the doing). Are you about to lose Vie? I'll try to empty Tyr this season. I'd prefer you not move there if possible, Boh would be better. Perfect! And  yeah, I’m assuming I’ll have to retreat from Vie. I’ll stay out of Tyr Congrats on Tri! I’m going to retreat into Boh Thanks! Austria is understandably annoyed with me. I’m not sure it will help to explain why, but I’m going to try it anyway. ^^ Well done with War! No build loss then. Haha yeah Austria started sending me generic threatening messages too. He made a comment that “both of you betrayed me”, but I’m not sure if he was referring to me and you, or me and Turkey. He’s accusing me of eating pasta now. Be still my beating heart. Wow, what a low blow 😂 Hey there, how was your weekend?

I'm looking ahead to this year, probably cleaning up Austria and what comes next. How do you want us to handle England? I'm presuming the two of you won't have much trouble with France if and when you want it, but I'm not sure you have the fleet power to take his home centers unless you surprise him or build up immensely. Hey! Hope you had a good weekend 🙂 Yeah, I expect Austria and France will be gone soon. Honestly I haven’t really decided what to do about England.... I need more fleets, but I also needed armies to take on Austria, which is why I’ve basically just build those so far I’ve been keeping clear of Vienna as “your rightful territory”; are you ready to reclaim that this Fall, or want to leave that for a later turn? I appreciate it! Yeah, it would be nice to reclaim this fall, but I’m still unsure about how safe Mun is without support from Boh Oops never mind about Boh, I can support with Sil now Are you able to support me into Vie this season? Also, for when you’re deciding on moves: sounds like Austria’s primary focus is Tri, although he mentioned potentially trying to get back Bud. It depends what Austria does. Currently the only unit I can use to support Vie is in Bud, which you warn me will have any support cut. Right now I have Bud helping against Serbia, but if we feel that Vie is more important that can change. Ok that makes sense! I’m fine with you keeping Bud helping Serbia this season Ahhh I misunderstood. I thought you were cutting Vie... oh well ^^ Oh no! Sorry if I wasn’t clear :/ We live and we learn! 

No you were clear, I just misunderstood. It made sense when I went back to check. What do you think of our shared King of England? ^^ So far he’s always followed through on his word He mentioned wanting a three way tie between you, me, and him What about you? Same. We haven’t made many deals, but so far he’s played ball. I’m happy to go with the three-way plan. I don’t have any allies this side of the board who seem able to stick with a plan for a year at a time, so I’d prefer to work with you two. Sounds good. I’m happy with that plan too Hey there! Could you please support Bud - Vie in spring and then I’ll vacate it to you for Fall? I’m trying to squish the last Austrian units so Mun - Tyr would be amazing too but I’ll work around that if I need to. I was thinking of moving Boh-Vie. Was there a reason for you to get there first? Only that I suspect Turkey is going to cut my support ^^ I’m happy to support you in there, but I’m not confident I won’t get cut. While if we squash them, I’ll get out and you won’t be sabotaging me in the Fall love Move Very happy to follow your lead though Ok, I just played around with a few sandboxes...I think best bet is for me to go for Vie this season (i can use Gal for support) and move Mun-Tyr to force Austria to disband. Then you can focus on getting Tri and/or fighting turkey. I def trust you to vacate Vie, but it seems like there is a chance you and Turkey would bounce in Bud in the fall and then we’d get stuck. What do you think? Turkey said he’s going for Greece this season but I don’t really trust that I’m happy with that. As long as we force the disband so we can end this thing 😃 Sounds good 🙂 Did you get the same message I did from our noble king? <:GWowoHehe:358278238675664896> Haha yes I did So... do I sweep on into Turkey? I can take them, but if you and England are expecting to take a share we should talk about approach routes A while ago England and I talked about Turkey, he said he’d use his unit in Moscow to help me into Turkey, although idk exactly how that will all play out. I’ll talk to him about it (and you can too) and keep each other in touch Ok England is going to support me into Ukr this season, and I think Sev eventually Can you please support Ukr - Sev? I already have 😃 Danke 🙂 I'm not especially interested in trying to steal an advantage here. How do you feel about using your A Sev to deliver the killing blow to Ankara and then we settle with a 3-way draw in Winter 1910? 

If you'd prefer to indulge in a bit of regicide I'll be your willing ally, but I'm aware that looks like a risky proposition with my extensive southern estates.

Your call, Kaiserin! That's just what I was thinking! I will move towards Ank on land (unless you want to set up a convoy in the Black Sea) and we can settle with the 3-way draw then It wouldn't happen fast enough if we only have two more moves. I'll support you into Arm, and then into Ank and click the box to adjudicate early. True. I just realized we only have two more seasons. I was a bit leery of the fact that I'll leave Sev open for England to move into, but with the time limit I guess it's a moot point Just to make sure I understand correctly, you're saying to click the box to adjudicate once everyone submits orders in Fall 1910? Yes please It will just help us get there a little faster. You’re on board with the grand convoy of 1910? England said you were too Yes. From Nwy to Syria, while you punch into Ankara. Party in the palace in Constantinople? Sounds good to me! 🎉🎉 Sweden to Syria then? Yes! It's go time Cheers to the final season! I’ve entered my build with three-way draw selected