Good morning, France.

I wanted to reach out to you to see where your mind is at initially.  I also wanted to let you know up front that, unless something changes, I will be moving to Ruhr.  I'm not worrying about Belgium at this point, but I do want to ensure that I have Holland locked down.  Most importantly, this isn't intended as hostility towards you.

With that out of the way, what's going on so far?  Have you heard from Italy, England, or Russia?  What are you hoping for early? Checking back in with one more question: would you prefer to plan a stand-off in Burgundy?  I'm not excited about it, but I'm open to it. Hi Germany! 

Bounce in Burgundy sounds good. But your move to Ruh... idk, not really liking that. Holland is guaranteed to you winter 1901 no matter if you have Ruh or not. The main reason you would move it there in 1901 would be to take Belgium, and then move in on me. It feels pretty anti-france. Hopefully we can work something out, and maybe even arrange an alliance against England? About that, have you heard anything from them? I havn't. 

Looking forwards to a good game! -France Yes, England reached out to me, and asked if I was interested in an alliance of the three of us.  I told him I wasn't, as that rarely ends well for Germany.  I told him I was definitely interested in allying with one of you, but not both.

I'm not a big fan of a bounce in Burgundy.  It's kind of a fear maneuver that puts both of us behind overall.  It's nice on your end, since it functions as your defense and frees up Marsailles.

Speaking of Marsailles - nothing from Italy?  I haven't heard from him yet. What would the rest of S01 look like with the Burgundy bounce? So... what are you going to do about ruhr? The rest of S01 really depends on where we want this to go. Do you want a full on alliance against england or just an agreement of DMZs and who gets what territories. Nothing from italy... If you don't want to do a bounce where would munich go? I'm planning on moving to burgundy, because I don't really have anywhere to move it in the spring, and I don't 100% trust you. It's probably best that you don't 100% trust me.  That's kind of the game we play - we trust those we shouldn't, and doubt those we should trust.

I'm moving to Ruhr, which isn't considered to be anti-France generally.  Holland isn't garaunteed to me unless I pass on Denmark.  Moving to the Ruhr (or successfully to Burgundy, which I assume you wouldn't like) is the only way to ensure Holland without F-Kie-Hol.  If you're moving to Burgundy that will pretty much cast the die, I guess.

Honestly, if you haven't heard from Italy you might take that as a cue to be nervous.  He has every reason to want to come to an agreement with you.

You still haven't heard from England either? Enland isn't talking that much. They have communicated to me about an alliance with you, but I feel like they arn't that involved in this game and wouldn't be a good ally. For this reason I think we should work together to take them out I thought you were going to bounce me... oh well. I know I'm in Bur rn and that is generally considered an  anti-german position, but I don't really want to fight you, since I have my hands full w/ England.  Do you want to try to take out England? I could support Ruh into belgium if you were willing to support me sometime in the future I said I was moving to Ruhr.  How could I have moved to Burgundy as well?  Not only did I say I was moving to Ruhr, I said that it wasn't considered to be an anti-Frencb move, and that if you moved to Burgundy, the die would be cast.

I'm a little surprised that was somehow unclear... Look, I opened the game gunning for you, which was nothing more than a strategic choice.  I actually was kind of bummed about it - you seem more into the game and more talkative, both of which I like.

But things change.  Looking around, Russia - with whom I have a NAP expiring in the fall - is about to crush Austria and Turkey at once, which will makd him essentially unstoppable.  Based on the build in the Irish Sea, England is certainly not preparing to box him in up North, never mind pressure him.  He may be working with him.  As far as I can tell, Italy isn't talking to anyone, but jumped on Austria as well.  I need Austria to provide some resistance at the very least, and so do you.  You run the risk of losing without ever engaging with your conqueror.  To me, that's always the worst way to lose. Let's talk, and soon.  You got a build, and still have Spain there for a second.  If we can make peace, you can dig in.

Italy is the key to this, IMO. Ok I’m busy but can we work this out in like a few hours Sure. Ah! So close to adjudication. Ok are you there? Turns out yes, but not for too long I agree that we need to stop Russia. I can't really directly contact him much but I will reach out to England/Austria/Italy. Okay...

Anything else? Well, what are you going to do? Germany... I understand you want me to help with this russia thing but the truth is your a lot closer to russia than I am and frankly I can't completely trust that you won't attack me' That's what I'm trying to figure out.  What I want to do is move to Tyrolia, you move to Marsailles and the Piedmont, and we make sure Britain can't stay on the continent.

But my default course, since we haven't been able to connect, is to come at you hard and make sure I get my builds on my back door. ...tough spot. Well, I would like that as well. But it definitly requires an element of trust. Agreed.  My plan and my order set was to attack you.  It's the most obvious course. Are you going to? Let me ask you.  Assume my moves were tactical, and that the strategically correct thing is to walk away right now.

Big leap of faith for both, but especially for you.

That said, look back and you'll see that I've done nothing but deal straight with you. Tell me you're in, and that you'll move Bur-Mar (then to Pie) and I'll believe you, make the leap of faith, and order Mun-Tyr.  Support me in Belgium in case England double crosses.  I'll move to the North Sea. I'm willing to do it; of course it probably isn't a good move in the short term, as I don't completely trust you... but nobody is going to win in the short term, either. So yes, I would do it. But I can't support you in belgiam since I'm moving Bur... but anyways, I actually think you should work with englnad and let them move to Bel, where they could convoy away next turn to Nwy which would really be a pain for russia(which would be good for us) Your going to have to talk to england about that last part, I told them and they said they were on board but you guys need to work it out He already reached out to me.   Working on it. Cut/paste: A Bel - Ruh

A Ber - Kie

F Hol - HEL

F Kie - BAL

A Mun - Tyr ok ...and you'll support my move back to Belgium in the fall from Picardy? So you want me to move to Pic? Where's holland going? But yes, I will support you back into Bel HELgoland Bight. Hmm. So i'm assuming that means Eng-Nth, for the convoy, right Bal isn't the best spot... But not really that many other options. I think that's the idea, yes.  He floated popping his A Pic, but that puts us way behind. Bal is perfect.  Fall is A Kie-Den, the. A Den-Livonia. The army in Nwy will be amazing 😍 if it works Ok. But it's going to trigger alarms for Russia. You don't have to do it right away. Russia might try for Den this turn Right.  That's Spring '03.  It's pretty late for dancing around.  Look at Austria and Turkey.  They're toast. I can take Den back.  I have three units on it. Ok, sure Well, I hope all goes well. England says he's placing orders now.  Mine are placed/saved.

Yeah, me too.  *Gulp* Ooh, got a message from austria. Says russia isn't talking and turkey is working w/ russia Turkey isn't.  Just got bit on a fake slingshot Juggernaut.  See the convoy across the black sea that didn't happen? Sry. Meant italy is working w/ russia typo This worked out good. Italy helped austria get russia Oh.  I suspected that, but couldn't get my hands around it.  Austria told me that he suspected, but had no evidence.  I haven't heard from Italy at all, and everyone has said the same to me. Yup.  Okay, gotta run now. Same here. Italy is mute. Looks like I won't be getting Spain either Ok. Nice work. Talk tmrow Why are you not getting Spain?  A Mar S MAO-Spa/sc is a lockdown.

Personally I'd be more worried about doing that and seeing F WES-MAO.  But then, life's a gamble.  Plus, with Austria in the Ionian and me in Tyrolia, I'm not sure he'll be going on distant explorations right now.  You might even consider skipping the support.  Run F MAO-Spa/SC and A Mar-Pie.  Not the safest, but it has a certain swagger to it.  And, sadly, I'm not above that being a tiebreaking factor.  🤨 Thoughts on the Fall?  Spain, I assume.  Nice break that Austria's in the Ionian, which should open up a path for you.

I'm not sure what to do with my A Ruhr, and I'm open to suggestions.  If you do end up supporting from Mar, how do you feel about Tyr-Pie?  I'm not saying I'll do it, but it's an option.  Not a great option, but still. Mar to piedmont definitly Tyr could support that move or try for Viena, triest, or venice I would probably move Ruh to kiel. There arn't really any great options. If england turns on you, you *might* be able to get denmark back, and from kiel you can always convoy. Or you could move to munich where you have  access to a lot of stuff. ANy thoughts on what I could do with Paris? Rn i'm thinking 
A Bur - Mar
F MAO - Spa/sc
A Mar - Pie ANd then Paris could go to Burgundy, could hold, could move to gascony, or could move to picardy and then we could work out a convoy and basically send it anywhere Which of those do u lke? As much as I'd love to see you in Piedmont, you risk missing a build from Spain unless you support yourself in. Hmm, ok, so say you move to piedmont. What next? Also what do u think about paris? Not sure about Paris.  Piedmont will be open in the Spring - with me in Tyrolia Italy needs his A Ven in the east. Russia is reaching out to me about turning on you.  I assume the reverse is also true.  Don't buy it.

The reality is that he's totally on the ropes right now.  Scandinavia is lost to him, and with France and I starting to pressure Italy and Austria about done, Turkey is already matching his 7 centers and in a much better position both to grow and to stab.

I misread the Turkey relationship - alarm bells were going off, but that was a helluva lot of trust for a game that is (supposedly?) blind.  Given that I'm not confident that it *is* blind, we have to assume that they're acting as one power.

All of which is just a mush of thoughts; I shared them with England as well to spur discussion.  By the way, what are your plans at this point?  You need to get into the Med in a hurry, of course.  Britain may be able to bring a fleet around to help after the next year or so.  I've got an army I'm able to dedicate, kinda - I'm expecting a push west from Warsaw now. Hi germany. Sorry for the late response. I had too much fun on the weekend. Can you suppport me into Pie? Italy's fleet in Wes is a real pain. I'm going to just need to guess where they are going I'll support to Pie.  Move to MAO, with someone moving to Gas and to Mar. You can take back Spain if he slips in, but prevent all sorts of other nonsense if he gets to MAO.  We also need to get you a build if for another fleet.  Else maybe pop an army so you can build. F BAL C Kie - Lvn
F Den - SKA
A Kie - Lvn
A Mun - Sil
A Tyr S Mar - Pie You're covering MAO? Yes A bre - gas
A bur - Mar
A mar - Pie
A par - bur
F spa/sc - MAO We both need builds.  I'll try to support you into Venice.  It *probably* won't work, but there's a shot.  Turkey is heading to the Ionian and it makes sense that he might team up with Russia to take it, which would let my support go through.

I could take it, but it takes me out of position, whereas you'd be able to get Mar through to Pie as well.  On the other hand, I'm assured of taking it, and you can take Belgium - England is vacating.

Let me know what you think. F BAL - Swe

A Lvn - Stp

A Mun - Sil

F SKA S BAL - Swe

A Tyr S Pie - Ven

...unless I hear otherwise. sounds good A Bur - Bel
A Gas - Spa
A Mar - Pie
A Pie - Ven
F Spa/sc - MAO Thanks.  Are you communicating with Britain as well? Hey, can I assume those builds will float?  You're racing Turkey, and he has a nice head start... Talking a bit with England. Builds will float ofc 😝 Well, one of them I guess.

I have to say, you guys are both making me pretty nervous right now. Oops. I had sent you a message before explaining that but ig I forgot to press one of the  emojis so it didn't send But yeah sorry about that, I had put that in as my orders and then forgot to change them Hopefully you don't take that too agressivly... I wont' move them towards you. I'm going to push everything I have at italy Hey Germany,
Everybody vastly overreacted, worrying that I was going to go for the solo, since I had 11 centers. Even though I clearly wasn't going to, literally EVERYONE teamed up against me, reducing me to 9. And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the attack continued.  Meanwhile, turkey has gotten 12 centers, and is in a great position—Russia is exposed, and they are likely going to break through my defenses as well. It's more than likely that turkey is going for the solo. Just saying—if turkey wins, it's because all of u guys were selfish and ignored the bigger threat at hand. On that note, I hope turkey doesn't win, and that we can come together to stop them(much like you did to me). BTW I am sending this message to everybody. Hopefully we can work together to stop turkey So, can we agree that we all need to put everything aside and stop Turkey?  He's 3 away from the solo...

I know I can't do much, but I can support y'all as needed and do whatever else I can.

(Sending to all remaining powers that aren't Turkey) Ha, I already did that but not too you because of how puny you are 😵 ...and Russia, then? Because it seems you're running out of potential allies. Hey, I think we can agree that we need to take whatever measures possilble to stop Turkey from getting one more supply center. We just need to last one more year, and I think with some communication it might be possible. Please support me from Burgundy into munich. Im also attacking venice and rome I told england to support you in your territores, as Englands centers will not be taken but yours very possible might be. This game is probably over, but we need to try I legitimantly think we can stop turkey from getting one more center. Support me hold in munich, and I will attack Tyr, which means that I keep munich no matter what.  I'm making a play on rome, and may get that. Turkey doesn't have enough force to take any centers(berlin or Stp) What about: I was thinking A Ber - Sil
F Kie - BAL

with

F BAL - BOT
F Nwy - Stp/nc
F Pru S Stp - Lvn
A Stp - Lvn

and

A Hol - Ruh
A Mun - Boh
A Pie - Tyr
F Tun S TYS - ION
A Tus - Rom
F TYS - ION

I think Munich is safe no matter what happens (except if he vacates Bohemia).
St Petersburg is most likely locked down.
He expects you to move to Venice.  My guess is that he'll support himself on.  Let him.  You'll either slide into Rome or stop his fleet from doing the same.
Your fleet in TYS is protected.
I get to build an army, which should be the nail in the coffin of his chances to take a centre north of Switzerland.

Thoughts? Ok, these moves are good. But most of this doesn't even matter, because this is the last season before the hard cap. Right now my orders are the same as the ones you said, but Munich is holding. It makes more sense, because if I got into Boh, I would lose Munich. But...what if he has Boh support a move to Munich from one of the other two?  You're equally sunk.

You're right, of course.  That is the one scenario that's a problem.  It's just that I think it's the least likely - far less likely than Boh providing the support for an attack.  That's because we don't have a unit adjacent to Bohemia, so we can't break the support.

Unless you're going to double support Munich, we have to do it this way.  Elsewise, if he double supports (with one support from Boh) we're toast, and we have no way to know which of the supports we should hit. Yeah, which is why I think berlin should support munich. Play it out.

Berlin supports Munich Hold.
Piedmont to Tyrolia.

Turkey:
Tyr-Mun
Boh s Tyr-Mun
Sil s Tyr-Mun [or] s War-Pru [or] something else.

Munich is lost, and there are armies in 2 of Trieste, Venice, and Rome.  Probably those last two (convoy from Alb). I think the chance that Tyr moves to Mun is less of a risk Mun moving to Boh Possibly.  Everyone's different.

If you were him, your move would be to move the one unit that can support without risk of being broken?  Bohemia is definitely, definitely going to support.  If he puts everything into taking Munich we can't stop him.  But as long as Russia doesn't move to Burgandy we can make him pay, and have it back for the last fall turn.

If he takes it from Tyr or Sil, you retreat to Burgandy and between us we have armies in Ruh, Bur, and two of Ber, Tyr, or Sil, right?
If he tries to take it from Boh, he fails, and we have all of those except Mun instead of Bur.  If he moves Boh somewhere else, Munich falls to any move from Sil or Tyr, but we're in an even better position - we're in Boh now, with position both on Munich and Vienna. Ok, you convinced me Which almost certainly means that I'll be catastrophically wrong, of course. You'll be wanting to retreat to burgundy now. Tsk tsk, I told you I was right What are you thinking for moves? The result of being wrong was better my way, and you would have lost it either way.

Haven't looked yet.  At a glance it looks pretty tough to screw it up, though. I’m going to bed soon and won’t have too much time in the morning, so if u have ideas sooner is better Sorry F Bre
A Bur - Mun
A Ruh S Bur - Mun
F Tun S TYS - ION
A Tus - Ven
A Tyr - Boh
F TYS - ION' Why didn’t you place moves? Germany? Now isn't a good time to be zoning out. Was a little tied up at work.  Then with finding whoever came up with the concept of a "code freeze" and torturing them.

In fairness, not much I could have done or not done would have mattered. Anyway, how do you feel about helping me to finish up the game holding my home centers? Nah.  Would have worked in the Spring, but there's no good way to do it at this point... F Bre - Par
A Mun H
A Pie S Tus - Ven
A Ruh S Mun
F Tun - ION
A Tus - Ven
F TYS - Nap

and

A ber H
A kie S Mun H
F bal S ber H Garuntees 5 way win R u there? Yes.  That's fine.  I'll have Berlin do something, but still. Why would you have Berlin do anything? That will mess up the support from F BAL. Support K