Hello! Thoughts on how you like to play as Italy? Hi France!

Well, I generally don’t like to play as Italy at all, frankly. But when I do, I go east. Not sure whether I’ll head towards Turkey or Austria, but I think the one big advantage that you and I both have is that we have a mutual border that is easy to keep clear. 

I’m not moving west. It takes forever to get there, and there are rarely centers there for me when I arrive. I hope you feel the same way about moving towards me. 

I’d like to keep our border clear and I’d like to act as “trio wires” for each other. Basically, if either Germany or England want to attack you, I expect they’ll mention something to me, and if you’ll look out for me diplomatically, I’ll give you a head’s up if ever you need to worry. 

How do you like to play France? I'm happy to hear that! I have the same opinion when it comes down to our relationship. I prefer to play France decisevely in the West when an opportunity presents itself. Since that opportunity might not present itself for a long time, I often times end up playing a bit more reactively.

I'd love to be trio wires. I've heard from everyone in the east, but not much substance, which probably means a bunch of passive openings.  If there's little fighting between the Eastern powers it might make it tougher for us, so hopefully things will shake up a bit in that department. If you are also finding that there isn't a whole lot of commitment going on there, and you have some interest in an unorthodox play, then maybe there is some potential for us to work together directly. Yeah, everyone is cagey and conservative, at least in words. If you have thoughts on something unorthodox, I love that kind of plan, so I’d love to hear it. Ha — I meant “trip wire” above. That should make more sense. But I appreciate that you also agreed to be “trio wires.” 🤣 That is funny, I was thinking that trio referred to the 3 Western/Eastern countries 😂 . In terms of unorthodox plans, I was thinking that if you moved to Tyrolia and Venice it would appear to be an attack on Austria, but that we could then perform a joint attack on Munich instead. I'm not sure if you actually want Munich or to get embroiled in Germany, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Heads up: England is sniffing around. Wants to know if I’d be in to move to Piedmont if he takes the Channel. Thanks for the heads up! Nothing from Germany suggesting he’s in on it. I think that guy is going to be conservative. That is really good to know- I wish I had more information on the East to share, but unfortunately I haven't gotten anything back yet. Hoping we can help each other out this way all game. I hope so too! Just from the way the pieces moved, it's looking pretty good for you! What's your read on things? Oh...I don’t know. Looks like I may be destined to become one of those forever-stuck-on-four Italys that flounders about for a while and then dies. 😔

Germany seems very passive. You seem aggressive, and pointed away from me, which warms my heart. 

What are your thoughts on the board? True. Us staying out of each-others way is what allowed me to be a bit more aggressive, so thank you for that 🙂. It looks like Russia and Turkey are squabbling, which is probably great for Austria who started off very strong. I agree that Germany is a bit passive, and now does not have the option to prevent Russia from taking sweden. It's tough to read England. You may have some opportunities if everyone is on board with the Lepanto, and could possibly convince Austria to give you a center I am only using my downward thumb for Germany so far. He keeps telling me transparent lies about you. Lol. 

Let’s please never fight. The bad guys are going to try to make us fight. Let’s just not. Thanks for the heads up. I agree completely. As a side note, do you have a read on England by any chance? I want to work with him at this point, but he seems to be on the fence about it. I haven’t really heard much from him. I think I disappointed him when I said “no thanks” on Piedmont. Let me reach out to him now and see if I can get a read. I have been presuming that I don’t need to say “A fleet in Marseilles would make my skin crawl,” but maybe I should say it? In this case, my hand was forced and I had to build armies. I don't anticipate building a fleet in Marseilles (in fact, that turn right there may have been my last build phase ever) but if that changes then I will certainly give you heads up! Have you and Austria thought about ways to slow down England/Germany in case they decide to alliance and pick  up Scandinavia and French dots? I would be fully supportive of an attack on Munich. I think we have a lot to do in the east before we make that kind of move. Any chance you can get England on your side? True. The east is looking very nice for you and Austria :). I'm working on it but it is tough, and I am of course worried about the fleet London build and Germany building 2 armies. If England is no longer asking you to attack me then that would be a good sign. Well, I’m just a four-center Italy. Let’s not get too excited yet. 

I haven’t heard a thing from England in quite a while. No idea what he’s thinking. Hey- just thought I'd contact you and offer you some centers 😂 😂 I wanted to tell you sooner, but the bot was down. You just got two thumbs down! Good luck this turn. Should we talk builds? I’d like to avoid F Mar. Sure. I won't build a fleet in Mar. I'm sure you have plans in the near term already set. Have you put any thought into how you would like the mid game to look like? Oh...I’m planning on killing both Austria and Turkey if I can. Though, not sure yet how I’m going to pull it off. Any ideas? Hmm. I imagine Turkey falls first. It was smart of you to take Greece so that Austria is the one at the front of the attack. Once Austria has committed deep into Turkey you should have plenty of opportunities. I think it would be a matter of just waiting for the right time. Russia may be interested in working with you since his interests and Austria's interests are probably not as aligned in the long term. The bot is back up 😃 Sorry for the delay. Just looking at the game again now. Hi friend, are you still there? Basically, I am getting a bit of an ultimatum from my friends in the east, and I would like to arrange for a feint in your direction this turn, to set up an attack on Austria, but I want to share it with you first. I believe I am getting a build this turn (crossing my fingers), and I plan to build A Ven to set up an invasion of Austria. But that only works if he doesn’t see it coming. So my plan is to use Tyrolia to support hold Munich this turn (it’s the only way to keep that army in Tyr) and to move my fleets to TYS and TUN. Then I build A Ven, and I attack Trieste while Austria heads towards Russia and I circle my fleets back around Austria. The one fly in the ointment is that it requires some trust from my light blue friend in the west. I can only hope that we’ve built up enough rapport that you understand where I’m coming from here, and you let me engage in this bit of sleight of hand. Just saw the moves, and then read your messages. OK- I trust you, but don't fuck me on this. I do have a back up plan, but I'd like to not go there 😁. I like this response. You’re going to like my next move set, and you’re not going to need your backup plan. I think the key here is to get Germany back on your side. England is not wavering. He sent me a case of Champaign for my last move. Thanks- yes, England has ceased all communications with me by now Such a charmer. Nothing to say after that last turn? Hey. Sorry. I try to be more communicative. Just a very long day for me yesterday. 

You seem to have sniffed out my attack quite well, and now I’m facing Austria getting 2 builds, while I likely get none. So...bad turn for me, and it may cost me the game. 

I stabbed you. There’s no getting around that. Perhaps it is some solace to you that I may have completely yanked my own game in doing so? It is what it is, a stab on Austria has sailed past for the time being, but with any of these grand alliances there will be another opportunity later (provided that Austria doesn't stab you first). I'm going to do what I believe will maximize my chances of survival, and if that means working with you then I won't hold that grudge. It depends how creative you are willing to get. Given English communications with me, I can't imagine that they are easy to work with. I'd like to float the option of your fleets sailing past mine and into the Mid Atlantic. This obviously runs great risks for myself, but I believe I have a higher chance of survival in the long run this way. I also believe it may be in your best interests as well. You want to get past the stalemate lines, and this is the best way to do it. Builds are a problem for you. But they will be anyway as you have to make a coin flip guess on Spain/Marseilles. On the other hand, Austria has two guaranteed builds and more coming. Given the nature of that alliance, I'm sure Austria may be willing to share those builds with you. I'm in a tough spot, but I also believe in the long run. That's why I want to be clear that I'm not desperate- I won't be selling myself to whoever will support me on any given turn. From my perspective, I just need one unit to be in a draw. So, if there's a slim chance for me to be a one unit survivor in a monster Italy/Austria draw, I'll help you and Austria as much as I can. Any thoughts for me? How would you go about making a French-Italy alliance work? Hey, so I really appreciate this string of messages. Just really strong diplomacy. Flexible, fun, mutual advantage seeking. My kind of player. I will respond to honesty with honesty: I really need a build this turn. I am concerned about two Austrian builds setting me up to get stabbed. For that reason, I am very much inclined to take my 50/50 shot at a French center this turn. On the other hand, I quite like the idea of sending my fleets passed you. So...I really like your message, and I’m trying to think how it could all work. But, I don’t know if I can give up my 50/50 shot at a build. I NEED a build or I likely get stabbed, I’m afraid. Also, England is very much set up to get stabbed by a surprise I/F here. I mean, that would be super fun. I will tell you this: England and Germany are both very interested in your demise, and that makes you a more attractive ally for me, as I don’t want to see E/F grow strong and grow affectionate after breaking bread in Paris. So I guess what I’m saying is: allow me a build this turn, and I’d be quite happy to push to be in Irish Sea next year. You might find yourself in a bit of a janissary position, but you won’t have to fear that I’ll just stab you for all your centers because I would be far to early to make a solo run, and I’d just invite backlash from the rest of the board. I’m not a dimwit who strikes out on poorly considered solo runs too early. (I do it at exactly the right time 🤭) Thoughts? Also, it would do you some good to prevent Germany from taking Burgundy this year. My head is spinning a bit from a really fun 1905 in which I support you into Munich and move to North Atlantic on the same turn. I'm really glad that you are entertaining a plan like this. You call it strong diplomacy, but it only works because you are constantly looking for the best opportunities and going after them. I can get you a build. I thought about ways to do it subtly, but I wonder if it might just be better to go in for it. I can send a fleet from MAO to NAO unopposed. If you get a fleet into MAO, this will set up an unstoppable convoy directly into Clyde. The best way to do this would probably be to have you convoy Piedmont to Spain using the Gulf of Lyons, and use West Med to take MAO, thus allowing a future Spain to Clyde convoy. I am going to support an attack into Mar or Spa (I will not move to both), but if you move to NAO and keep Germany out of Burgundy, I will absolutely come out guns blazing against England next year, and maybe Germany too. Done. This gets a bit weird since the move is only really effective if you follow me into MAO, and if you tell me that then in theory I know how to defend. So instead of you telling me your moves, I'll just tell you mine. I believe that I can move to NAO, prevent Germany from taking Burundy, and hit Marseilles with a force of two all at once. This move set will leave Spain and MAO unguarded and you will be able to walk in to both. If you choose to do that, I believe we can guarantee Liverpool next year. My best guess is that Germany will try to take Belgium this turn, and if she does ideally that build will be a fleet. My gut feeling is that while Germany may not like me very much, she seems to trust you. If you work your diplomatic magic I think she would be happy to build a fleet and attack England with her fleets. Hmmmm, I need to stop giving you thumbs ups. You’re ruining my truth detector score. Kind of a pointless lie if you ask me, but I won’t hold it against you. You’re in a tough spot. Well maybe not, since it was a truth when I sent it out. But it seemed like you were not interested in going to the mid Atlantic ocean based on your messages, and I felt like it would be pointless to go to NAO if you were not headed to MAO. The other part of the equation was the fact that I offered you Spain for free- and you passed that up in favor of a guess. Maybe you didn't trust me, but it got me thinking about why you would pass on a deal like that. Also, given the moves you attacked both Spain and Marseilles, moved out of Tyrolia, and Germany did not attack Burgundy. So there's also that 😆 I get that there was a better way to handle this. And I should have let you know that the move to NAO was off. I really am sorry about that. But you have to know that I was 100% serious about attacking England with you. I make crazy unnexpected plays like that all the time in high stakes Diplomacy games, so for a game that's more of a beta test than game, it's natural. And we can still do it too. I'd love to hear your suggestions on how to make it stick, and it's something Germany is certainly interested in as well. I’m giving you a bunch of these 👎 for those comments. You made a deal with me, and did something else instead. That doesn’t mean I won’t consider another deal, but I don’t want you to think that is lost on me. Hey look- I know your upset. I hope you can see things from my point of view though. I was in the heat of the moment and I really really really wanted this to work. It would be so fun, and I could finally get back at England for being a total piece of crap. And then I sobered up and read between the lines, and realized how terrible your deal would be for me as it turns out you weren't actually offering me anything. I wanted to work with you so badly I had convinced myself to make awful moves. So if you want to downvote all my messages, you can kiss your truth telling ratio good bye. Keep it up and it will be lower than mine 😘. Well, let me know if you want to talk about anything else. And by the way, I think the deal I offered was pretty good for you — much better than doing nothing. It did not give you anything in the short-term, but that was because I had a short-term need and no reason to make a sacrifice to you to get a deal done. I proposed a deal that was good for me because I intended to follow through. You may get better proposals from others, but not better proposals that they intend to actually follow through on. Seems like you’ve decided to write me off as someone who can be useful to you, and so you’re going to spread lies to others about me instead. That stuff gets back to me. You don’t owe me anything. And I attacked you, so I won’t begrudge you your vengeance. But that said, I was pretty darn sincere when I said I thought there was a way forward for us. All I wanted from you was for us to kill England first. Get you past the stalemate lines and then you can circle back for French dots. I even offered you Spain for free. If you really were interested in something like this, you would not only have your build, but be in Clyde.

That's the thing though- you don't want to be there. You want ME to be there so that you can keep pretending to be on England's side. And you want your units to be in France.

I don't doubt you were sincere. But launching an ineffective attack on England while Italy eats me from behind in the hopes that eventually Italy soloes even though he's going to get stopped at the stalemate lines because Italy just has to be friends with England? Not a fan. If there's a way forward it's with you sending a fleet to MAO and putting your fleets past the lines. Or it's with you withdrawing and finally stabbing Austria like you said you would a few years ago.

All you've done so far is build an EG alliance and waste both of our time in the med. With all your grand talk, I just thought you had a better plan than this. At the very least you should be trying to get England and Germany to fight. At this rate they will continue to get French dots while you still are stuck at 0. You have so many units on the Western front that it honestly makes no sense for you to share spoils with EG. I appreciate the advice. If I feel like you sincerely want to work with me, I’ll be much more inclined to encourage England and Germany to fight. Honestly, I’m quite sure that you and I, working together, could accomplish that very quickly. But lately I’m learning that you’re mostly trying to get people to distrust me. So, I think we’re going to have some trouble bridging this gap. If you’d like to give your centers to England and Germany a kind of payback to me, that’s certainly within your power. It’s not how I’d like this game to go, but there may be satisfaction in that for you, Ok, I get that you are concerned by me "spreading rumors," but you and I haven't exactly been working together, so I feel like trying to get England to stop attacking me is a fair message to send. Maybe you don't know this, but I've sent England a message every season for the past 9 or 10 seasons and they have ignored each message. In fact, I'm so glad you told me about this since it proves that England is reading my messages and just not responding to them. You seem to have interpreted this as some kind of vengeance against you. That's not the case. I'm literally just trying to survive here. And while I can't confirm it, I heavily suspect you have your own little group with England and Germany where you all slander me plenty 😉 . Well, you have choices about who to work with. Let me know if you ever get serious about working with me. Anyway, I’m just going to keep flipping a coin over Marseilles or Spain. One day I’ll guess it right. I think the best way to work together at this point is an Italian withdrawal. The good thing is that this is pretty easy. If you move to Ionian you can convoy Piedmont to Greece/Albania. The reason why is that England has already brought their fleets around and even if we could get you into the MAO they've already set up a line that we would struggle immensely to cross. At some point English Channel will plug up Irish Sea and NWG will go to NAO. What I'm saying is that it's too late, the opportunity is gone. Maybe if Germany turns on England. But is that even possible at this point? Just looking at the board and the moves, I think they are along for the full ride. Obviously you can potentially gain if you keep attacking me. But I think that's Gambler's fallacy. Actually, you won't "one day guess it right". Theoretically, it's possible for me to ALWAYS be right. That’s not the gambler’s fallacy. And it’s not unreasonable to think that if I keep flipping a coin, one of these days it will turn up heads. If you’d like to work with me, all you need to do is leave either Spain or Marseilles open, and tell me which one. I’ll take one build, and the two of us will round the corner. And you won't take any of my other centers until we wipe out England?At the moment I'm defending both. It's not unreasonable at all. Just France happens to be tough to kill, and compounded onto that I'm a very lucky person 😉. If you are using your units to move towards England, and I feel I can trust you, I’m not going to take your other centers. That would be foolish of me to do. Hmm. Any way we can do this without having me go down a unit? If you move to MAO I'm pretty sure you'll get in. That just isn’t a good deal for me. Everything on the board says I should work with England against you (and so I plan to give him MAO). If I think I have a loyal France who wants to do something fun, I’m willing to shake things up. But without that, I’m not just going to call off my attack. Nice moves. You made the right call. Well thank you. You won 3 coin flips in a row, so the congratulations is for you. I was bound to get lucky eventually. I do appreciate some of the misdirection stuff that you’ve done. I’ll mention it after the game, but good stuff. I think your play had to be to try to get Austria to stab me on one of the last few turns, but it didn’t quite work out. Thanks. You saw right through it, so it didn't actually end up helping 😂. Yeah, I was hoping to stall this out for longer, but at this point I've got to choose a side and throw to them. Me moving to NAO was an olive branch short of giving you a free dot. Yeah, if I were you, I would have approached it the same way. You did hold out longer than most would, getting triple teamed, but you needed someone elsewhere on the board to see that it was bad for them for you to fall. If I get a say in how my dots are distributed, I'd like them to go to you and Germany. I'm not sure how good your relationship with Germany is, but put in a good word for you with them. Whatever the case, you've set this game up brilliantly to the point where I would not be surprised to see you solo. You are cordially welcomed to distribute dots to me at any time and for any reason. And I like Germany too. If you are interested in retreating to Irish, I would take support to the Channel in Fall if you’ll offer it. Could be interesting. Sure actually. Changed my retreat to the Irish. Cool! If you are interested, we can move Marseilles up into Burgundy as well. Well, that would be amazing for me. So, this is exactly the sort of creative arrangement I was talking about earlier. 

MAO - Channel
WES - MAO
Mar - Bur
Pie - Mar
LYO S Pie - Mar Is Germany going to keep Paris? Yeah I think Germany probably will given the situation. Very awesome orders, I am all for it. I kind of love these orders. They are not what anyone will expect. And I can play them off as both pro-German and pro-English. Are we still okay with the Channel plan? Germany has been asking me about it, and it seems like she doesn’t like the plan. I’m also nervous about her tipping off England. Do we really need to run everything by her? I am. I won't share any other info with Germany- I figured she'd want to know about the plan before it happened but I think it just made her more worried. Cool. Thank you. Here are my orders this turn. If you’d like to grant me Spain, I’ll raise Hell with that build, but I’m okay with you hanging onto it right now if you support me to Channel. 

MAO - Channel
LYO - Spa
WES S LYO - Spa
Mar - Bur
Pie - Mar Sounds good. I'm not much use to you without supply centers, so for now I plan to support Spain to hold. Moving West Med to MAO may be a good idea since then you could get more fleets in action. Hmmm, both England and Germany are sniffing around trying to get my moves. What should I tell them? Eh, sorry. I got a good offer from the bad guys. My plan has changed. Haha, it was too late to change my orders, but it hardly would have mattered. It is not yet clear what you get out of that deal, but I guess it will be apparent to me next year. Surprised if you were going to stab me that you didn't go for Portugal with MAO. Yeah, I just figured that you might keep your last unit alive as a janissary if I kept Portugal blue. You played well this game, and frankly, one of the reasons I attacked you was that you seemed like you’d outplay me eventually if you were given room to breath. I respect and appreciate if you want to hold out in Portugal or Gascony. But if you’d like to keep playing, one option would be to keep Irish on the board, and then support me to NAO in Spring. Then we take a shot at Liverpool. I desperately need fleets on that side of MAO, so if you keep helping me, I have every reason in the world to keep Portugal blue. I was thinking about keeping Irish for sure. I don't have home centers so I have all the incentive in the world to help you and Germany as much as I can. That makes things completely safe for you and Germany as I have no benefit from gaining another dot. Another option is to keep Picardy with the goal of popping Brest and taking the Channel. Thanks for the kind words, though I think you shouldn't have worried about me too much. Somewhere along the line I kind of majorly pissed off England, and I think Germany probably works with them against me due to having only 1 fleet at the time. So I would have been fighting a 2V1 anyway if you had done your own thing in the East. The ultimate fun would a convoy of Spain to Liverpool in the Spring! So, thoughts on where to go from here? Perhaps you’d like support to Brest? I’m going to go ahead and plug in that support. Though, possible that England might cut it. Already ordered! Not sure if you and Germany are coordinating, but when I spoke with her she said she wanted me to move to Brest to pop the England fleet as well. Yes. We talked it through. 😊 Hello brother — How are things going in Brest? Not bad. Haven't had anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do there so I guess I'm just holding Well that’s an interesting thing to say. I’ve heard lots of people telling me what you’re supposed to do, but they have more to gain by lying I suppose. What am I supposed to do? Haha You are instructed to move to Channel, as far as I understand. Good game France. 🇫🇷 Thanks! GG!