Hey there. What are your thoughts on an anti-English opening, like a sea lion, as Germany? If you enjoy something like that then we might make good allies. Bonjour--not sure what a 'sea lion' is! It's when a lion is stranded at sea, like in the life of pi. That was a tiger. Let me know what you'd like me to do--I imagine it involves letting you take Belgium? Good point. Sea tiger sounds more menacing anyway. 

It all depends on how you like to play Germany and your relationship with Russia. I can be flexible, and if it makes sense for me to have Belgium to set up for a future play then that is good with me. Admittedly, I've never played this game before! Don't go spreading that around You sound experienced for someone who is playing the game for the first time- I'm sure few people would be able to tell. I appreciate that, mon ami! Nice moves. What are your thoughts on the map? Well I'm wondering what you're up to in Burgundy, for starters Haha. I was looking to secure a position on Belgium and it seemed like the best way to do it. Depending on your plans, I could take Belgium with Burgundy, which could set us up nicely to work together Sorry for the late reply, the bot was down. I think taking Belgium with Burgundy would be wise That sounds ominous. What are your thoughts on England Any plans for Holland? Would you want to support Burgundy to Belgium? It's hard to read you and I'm not sure what you are planning So much for being wise 😂  😂 Can we have a conversation at some point? I'd love to figure things out with you Sorry--I was out last night and couldn't answer your questions!

I was cagey because I still have no sense of who to trust and who not to. But I'd like to trust you if you think you can trust me too. I understand if not because of my unannounced visit to Burgundy...I was just attempting to have some insurance in case there was funny business Thanks for getting back to me- and no worries. Hopefully when the deadline is moved away from midnight it will be a bit easier lol.  To be totally fair to you, you never actually said you wouldn't move to Burgundy. For me it isn't a trust issue but a communication issue, which I think can be easily fixed. Have you been talking to England at all? I did: England tried to make a deal with me to take Belgium (I was supposed to support E's move from the north sea while attacking Burgundy), but we both reneged. I see. I ask since I have a feeling England might be playing us against eachother. He also asked for support to Belgium Lol. For now I'm building armies, but maybe we can get to a point where we can re-establish a border between us. I'd rather settle the matter of Burgundy diplomatically rather than with force. Any chance you will consider withdrawing from Burgundy? The one thing I think neither of us can afford is a war of armies. We would be giving away the entire ocean to England's units, and there's an Italian/Austrian coalition growing that will be a concern in the long run I gotta say France, right now it seems like the best move for me is to work against you so I’m not so hemmed in. That said, I’m no strategist. What are your thoughts? Let's say you built armies in Munich and Kiel and started marching in my direction. These armies can't go on water, they can't move past Gascony/Paris/Marseilles as my units will soon be there, and so the only places to go for your armies are Ruhr... and that's about it. Isn't this a huge traffic jam? Wouldn't you be hemming yourself in even more by building armies? That's what I mean by it will be devastating to both of us to get into an army war and let England control the entire ocean. We're bidding over such a small area of land. One option for we could consider is that I could dislodge your army and you could choose to remove it from the board. That way, you could build it in a place where you might need it more if you are feeling hemmed-in. No thanks, I don't think that's in my best interest right now Ok. Sounds like you've already made up your mind about things. Let me know when that changes. Not sure what your plan is. I'm covering Marseilles, Paris, and Belgium so you have no chance to take a supply center this turn. The bot was down but I meant to contact you earlier You put up quite a strong defense against me, which I'm sure was your goal I was suprised you retreated to Munich over Marseilles that one turn but it worked out for you I want to help you protect your supply centers if that is alright with you. Why do you want to help me? I'm worried about England, and you are frankly one of the only things stopping him from attacking me. I'm just looking at it rationally: what is England going to do with all those fleets? I wish we were able to work something out so that both of us would have some fleets at least. But rihgt now England has 4 fleets and you have 1 and I have 2. And he's going to blow up your fleet in Holland this turn, it's basically a guarantee. Let's say he gets 2 builds and builds 2 fleets. Am I going to be able to stop him, even if Russia and I team up? He'll dominate the entire ocean. At that point, it really won't matter how many supply centers I take from you because I won't be able to prevent an English fleet invasion. I mean, what are your thoughts on the whole situation? We should talk more. I'm not lying about wanting to help you, but it's hard because you aren't talking to me, and everything you have done so far this game seems to have been against me. well fat lot of good it's done me. I think you're right about the danger of letting England control the sea. But I'm not sure what I in my current state can do about it Can Helgoland Blight move to the North Sea? This would cut support, allowing me to take the English Channel. It could, but that would leave holland undefended Hmm. That's a good point. And Kiel is probably busy defending Berlin/Munich since Russia is in the Baltic and Silesia and could double team you with Italy. It's funny, there are so many units at your doorstep, but you might end up keeping all your dots this turn. I assumed you were working with England somewhat after last turn, since it seemed like he could have guaranteed Holland and chose not to. If supporting Munich is what is preventing Kiel from blocking Holland, I can support Munich That wouldn't be enough: I need to defend munich *and* berlin somehow and there's no way to do both without Kiel Yeah, you are right, I can't think of a way to do it either. No worries, we can try something next turn depending on how the moves turn out. Well. You did well for yourself that turn 🙂. Really impressive diplomacy I want to apologize for entering Ruhr- I wasn't sure what else to do honestly. I should have given you a heads up and that's my fault. I'm sorry. And it's ended up being doubly bad as now I'm a turn behind in terms of defending myself with Italy coming after Iberia and all. sigh. I think we are at the point where we should talk about working together. If you want a decent result, I think your best bet is to work with me. I honestly do, since I think your growth potential is going to be limited by the fact that we both have way too many armies and not enough fleets. So this means that your growth is limited to Paris/Belgium, and that's if you make it past 4 armies. What I'm trying to say is that the big winners are Italy and England. We're the big losers. There's almost nothing we can do. Unless Russia, you, and I plug the holes in our defenses by working together. Have you talked to russia at all about this? What would you want me to do this year? Hi France--wanted to confirm our plan for this season and next: I disrupt Nth support from Holland, and in exchange you'll kindly scooch out of Belgium in the fall (into Ruhr, I imagine)? At which point I'll build a fleet in Holland? Actually, I'd have to build the fleet in Kiel, I think 1. I have. We're both trying our best to defend ourselves from England- we're too far from eachother for tactical manuevering but so far we've managed to avoid any losses 2. Despite Italian incoming invasion, I am still completely focused on taking the Channel, as that will give me much needed breathing room. If Holland can move to the North Sea, it will cut support and I will take EC 3. I am withdrawing from Ruhr. I know this leaves me open to you taking it back and working with England to capture Belgium in the fall. I can't think of another way to get you a center, so my promise is that if the board doesn't shake up somehow I'll give you Belgium either this turn or next turn on the condition that you build a fleet That's correct, you can build a fleet from Kiel or from Berlin but not from Holland. You need to make sure one of those is vacated during the Winter phase. Vacating Kiel can be dangerous as England is in Denmark and could in theory take Kiel from you. I will vacate Belgium in the fall for you. Not yet sure what the best way to do it would be to make sure we don't lose it or Holland to an English fleet. I know England has their eye on sweden so we'll see how that baltic region shapes up next turn and that will determine where I build my fleet. it's risky, but I think I'll be safe leaving Berlin vulnerable to Russia in the fall...let me know if you hear/think otherwise when that time comes Will do. I definitely agree, I spoke with Russia briefly and I believe he intends to leave you alone from now on. Good guy russia. sorry if you've been watching me type, I've been starting to ask you questions and then confirming their answers for myself in a sandbox! 😂 No worries. Feel free to ask anyhing- though the sandbox is really helpful too 🙂 Okay--real question: assuming you take the channel with Brest an then England retreats to London, aren't you going to just lose the channel anyway? oh wait nevermind I can prevent that if I keep my fleet in Holland and prevent Nth support twice. But this means I need to move Kiel into Ruhr during the spring to take my sweet, promised belgium in the fall. Picardy will have to support my movement of Ruhr into Belgium and you'll have to disband the unit. That's all fine, right? BUUUT England could foresee this and support with the london fleet and move with Nth...in which case, at least they lose Nth, I guess. Great point. I will have to disband a unit anyway in the fall after losing Belgium, so it won't matter if I need to pull it. Losing the channel might be rough, that's true. Hmm, I actually hadn't thought too much about it. I think if he does that at the very least I can retreat into Wales and threaten Liverpool (assuming that Wales goes to cover London) Give me a reason to defend myself against Italy. As it stands, I'm just going to let him solo. What do you think Italy is going to do once he kills me? Don't you agree that Austria will need somewhere to go with all his armies? I swear. I'm trying my hardest to work with you. Look. I will defend myself against Italy. But I need to know that I will be in the draw. If you and England are just going to fuck me from behind, then there is no incentive for me to defend myself against Italy. Hey, I really am sorry about the stab. You probably won't believe me but let me explain myself:

I knew I was making a deal with the devil when I agreed to help England, but England, Italy, Austria, and Russia were/are basically all allied and I figured it was either you or me they turned on. The turning point was when I realized that after I stab England you might not even hold the channel anyway. I couldn't afford to risk fury from all sides. 

But now I'm in a potentially very good position for you: England and Italy *trust* me. I am in the process of finding out--under no suspicion, mind you, because of our alliance and shared plans--their moves for this season. Once I learn those, I can relay them to you. Doing so would clearly be in my interest. The longer you're in the running, the longer I escape getting devoured myself on three or more fronts. If you manage to look just lucky or smart by making the right moves to counter their attacks this season, I can continue to double-agent and help keep you defended and possibly even expanded into England.

I just spoke with England and I can confirm that you will be able to take the channel if you want to--they're supporting me into Belgium from Nth. 

I can't be as direct asking this of Italy, but I'm trying to figure out whether they're going to use the lion's share of their force against Marseilles or Spain. If I can figure this out you may have a better chance of holding.

I'm going to send the info your way whether you believe me or not. Ok. I get that- I'm sorry for not explaining it well. Losing the channel doesn't matter to me. It gives me excellent retreat options and allows me to defend myself against Italy without worrying about what England is up to. There's no way Russia is allied with Italy and Austria. Just look at how aggressive Austria is in attacking Russia... Nothing can be done at this point though. Thanks for the offer of intel- this is basically all I wanted to hear. As long as I have a chance to be in the draw I won't give up and maybe something will shake up and give me a chance to recover You should work on England- he's not even communicating with me. I must have done something to piss him off. But if he keeps this up it's going to end badly for him too. For the future, let me know in advance when you are planning something like this. If I knew you were not cutting the North Sea I would have played this way differently by bouncing Italy out of the West Med, and we'd be in a much stronger position. It’s not that Russia is allied with austria, but Russia is cooperating strongly with England to the point that they don’t even talk to me.
For what it’s worth, I can confirm that Italy’s going to shoot for Spain. (They meaning Russia. I get kind of annoyed with everyone using “he” to refer to these players) I am sure Russia is just uncommunicative. Since the start of the game he's only sparingly talked with me *They've, sorry Just given that they seem to be fighting in Scandinavia. But you probably have more information than I do. By the way, what's the plan that Italy and England proposed to you in terms of your units? Are you attacking Burgundy with ruhr and Munich? Oh that's not a fight that's planned high-fives. At least according to England.
Nope--attacking Belgium with Ruhr and Amsterdam. We're in the process of discussing whether Munich should bother poking Belgium. Burgundy* I take back what I said about Italy shooting for spain. I thought it was decided but Italy wants to keep that decision to themself Thanks. I'm probably going to flip a coin for Spain/Marseilles. Has England expressed any concern over the Italian/Austrian growth? I worry that England has been charmed by Italy. Or maybe they just dislike me that much. YES! That worked very well. You're getting a build! Please please please build a fleet 🙂🙂🙂 I intend to build a fleet. Are you gonna disband Pic? woops miscounted disband nothing Yep, it got popped since Belgium had nowhere to retreat to. Neat, bot is back up now. Hmm, maybe it was just the one message that was bugged somehow. Whoops. I'll copy paste it back What do you want to do here? I am really hoping that we can coordinate something together. I think AI is starting to have some pressure put on their relationship with a greedy Italy. I understand England is in a tough position where their best move is probably to stay put and do nothing, which is always a tough sell (I just wish they would actually read my messages instead of sabotaging my ability to help them fight Italy) I checked out Italy's history. He's [redacted] from playdiplomacy.com. he's ranked the number one player on the entire site, and that's probably the most popular Diplomacy site of them all If we don't stop this here he's going to solo. No question. Sorry for the gendered pronouns- I keep forgetting to neutralize them sometimes since I've played with some of these players before in FTF Yeah lol. I'm totally fine with England in my territory honestly They have been fun to work with while it lasted, they seem transparent and honest. I'd trust Anonymity is tough to keep up with the discord names and the fact that the usernames are in the Backstabbr too. That being said, I didn't mean to upset you if you're uncomfortable discussing that- if it makes it better I have ignored it completely until I recently found out about the published names. It doesn't have to be a discussion point, it's pretty clear by now that Italy knows what they are doing. Haha. Fair enough, that is true, it is unfair. I'm totally guilty of accidentally assuming masculine pronouns in online games, and I'm working on changing that since it is a big issue. It's good to do as a default and I appreciate that you brought it up. I think Austria, Italy, Turkey, Russia, and I know eachother, albeit with varying degrees of familiarity. I know you were joking a bit when you said anonymity did you no good in this game, but seriously, I think you are playing great. I would have never guessed you are a first time player. Are you really sweat_smile? You are playing extremely well Any news from England? I hope that they will consider working to stop Italy I messaged them but haven't heard yet Ok here's what I  know:
England is going to keep away from Russia's northern holdings for a while in order to avoid feeding Austria. However, The Norway fleet is headed for MAO for the start of next year, and England is very much still intent on seeing you consumed. Italy has told me definitively which of your centers is getting full force this turn (under some pretense about needing to coordinate so me and England could be more effective) and it's Spain. I'm going to hold and support Belgium and move Kie-Ruh with support. I'm also going to poke Bur Thanks so much for the info. Will do. Any chance you go to Tyrolia instead of poking Burgundy? It won't matter for me that much but for you it could save a lot of headache and potentially exacerbate AI tensions Alternatively a written commitment from Italy not to go to Tyrolia would be smart I'm not ready for Italy not to trust me anymore. I'll try to see about that commitment though... That turn went well for you. With Russia out of Silesia you certainly have more breathing room. Only downside may be Italy in Tyrolia, but hopefully they committed to not moving there or at least are aware that you aren't ok with it hanging out there. Thanks to you, Italy has ground to a halt in southern France. I'm hoping we can repeat it again this turn.

You should ask England for Denmark. If they say no, no big deal. But it should be yours- they are the ones that took it from you. And it's significantly hampering your manueveravility and ability to build units where you want to as it borders the extremely important Kiel. Italy offered not to move into Tyr, but gave a good justification for why they weren't interested in attacking Munich, so I let them.

I just asked England about Denmark. 

As for Italy, I'll have to come up with the right pretense to extract their plans again this turn...maybe you could help me with that? England and me are pretty much in the routine of sharing moves though so you're at least guaranteed those. Sweet. Assuming England/Italy want you to move into Burgundy, you could pretend to be worried that I might bounce you out of Burgundy and ask if Italy has some moves that can help occupy my units in Marseilles and Gascony. Any updates by any chance? I’m waiting to hear from Italy Any info you think might help me in defending against England and Italy? My plan is literally giving you all my centers while Italy and England get nothing, since I can't defend all three and you are the only one who has been helping me. I'm assuming England is going all in and moving to NAO, maybe even to Irish and Channel? Right, England is moving to NAO but otherwise holding everything this turn. No deal on Denmark, unfortunately. Next year will be a play for MAO.

And Italy is deadset on randomizing their move, so I'm sorry I don't have intel for you this time--I did try, though: England (at my suggestion) offered to assist Italy into MAO, but Italy refused. Thanks And as for me, I'll be taking Bur. Darn, that went poorly. It was a coin toss; nothing you could have done. I didn't foresee (or know about) the move to Naf but in hindsight it makes perfect sense. It's kind of a privilege getting to watch Italy play, esp. knowing who he is Yeah for sure. Hey but thanks for all your help. I'd have died a lot sooner if not for you. It's been a pleasure! Thanks for playing with a newb 😃 If you're having fun, I'd encourage you to check out face to face games in your local area. Online is great, but FTF is really something else 🙂. Anyway, I'd like to be a part of the discussion for how to distribute my dots. I'd ideally like this to go in a way where it sets up you and Italy nicely to take out England and Austria I see this game lasting longer if Italy receives as few dots as possible...what's your reasoning for favoring I over E? I am pretty sure England will stab you once they are done killing me. Italy has Austria to deal with. But England has nowhere to go. MAO is a huge stalemate line. Italy can litterally have a unit in Spain, Portugal, and MAO, not to mention Wmed and NaF, and there is nothing England or you can do to get past that line. If you and England were going to be a long term alliance, England needed to be in the MAO helping me keep the lines years ago. At this point even if I give England all my dots, Italy has enough units to the point where it's locked up. So that's the logical reason, but there's also the fact that England hasn't replied to my messages in over ten seasons and I have evidence of then working closely with Italy. I think that's a pretty big indication that they will hand Italy dots and have no intention or interest in working with me. In the end I probably am eliminated either way, so if you want to give England a shot then I can swing that way. But I'd highly recommend against it even though I'm sure you trust England very much. Okay, I see your point about MAO and England having nowhere to go. Thanks for disbanding Pic--that helps me out a lot!
Are you speaking with Italy at all about your plans? Nope, Italy hasn't replied. Italy just told me as much too. Says they don't trust you...but your track record with me has been pretty good so I want to continue to work with you. 
...and actually, I've been seriously mulling over a backstab of England this turn and I was wondering if you would want to help. Specifically, if you think that MAO is destined for italy anyway, I'll support you into the channel. Meanwhile, I'll move a fleet into Hel and an army to Kiel to prepare to swipe denmark. 
I haven't entirely thought this through, but what do you think? That sounds great! If we knew English orders, we could potentially come up with an even deadlier plan. I'll have to think more about it, but if England convoys into Brest again, I could move Brest to Picardy to let it in, and bounce NAO. With Italy dislodging MAO, I could then retreat to the Irish Sea and take Liverpool while Paris, Picardy, and Gascony could reclaim Brest. This would have the advantage of not making moves that would give away the stab in the spring. So I'm Paris in that scenario right? 
And I'm talking with England about their orders right now. They want to take IRI this turn, actually, and want me to support Nth into the channel. If I agree, they actually prefer to move Nwg into Nth than try for Nao. *That's* how unwilling they are to just give me denmark back! Oh wow, I see. Hmm, well looking at the map I think this would still work. We'd need to find a way to make sure England can't take Holland in the fall (or we could just risk it). I think it makes sense to move Brest to the English Channel instead of MAO so that I have the option to retreat somewhere valuable (like into NAO). These moves guarantee Denmark but England could retreat to Sweden, which is something to be aware about. I agree about Brest-Eng. But me and England are still hammering stuff out so it's not final yet... Breaking news: England has decided (or at least has told me) that they don't want to try for IRI anymore. Instead, they're planning to convoy into Brest or Pic (I'm waiting on their reply to confirm which), poke Nao from Nwg, and otherwise hold/support as appropriate ugh. sorry but the plan changed again: England is going to poke Nao, but otherwise just hold everything. No convoy. 

I can still move Brest into the Channel if you want, and if you *really* want to irk England you can move to IRI. If I also set myself up for Denmark like I said, I'd have to move Ruhr into Holland to defend there, leaving my southeast pretty exposed, but I think that's a reasonable risk right now.  What do you think? There's also a nonzero chance that England is lying to me...they seemed pretty suspicious of me this time around compared to previous conversations. However, I'm pretty certain they're not lying about not trying to convoy; they're really insecure about you getting close to the island and not having anyone there to defend it. You're retreating to Portugal, right? If you can poke Mao from Brest, you may be able to defend spain. And if Italy does something crafty so that you end up falling into Mao, I can fall into/bump England from Brest? huh. So you *really* don't like England, I guess? Darn, I missed this message actually, I should have told you what I was planning. I think Italy had Spain guaranteed with MAO-Portugal and Marseilles-Spain with 2 supports. Italy actually then offered me on retreating to the Irish Sea, and in exchange we would collaborate on dislodging the English Channel. I figured it would benefit you as well since this would prevent England from getting off of the island (if they were to convoy to Belgium or something). Oh good--glad to hear Italy's talking with you! 
...but England could retreat to Pic? We're not talking much, it was kind of a spontaneous thing. You are right to be concerned about the retreat to Picardy. I'll have to see if that can be avoided somehow. If not, it's not the end of the world. If absolutely needed I can just not support the supposed Italian move to the Channel, which may or may not happen anyway. Anyway, you also have a guess- kind of. Not sure about what you've told England about the last moves, but perhaps they will use the North Sea to support Denmark to hold, in which case the support can be cut from Belgium. That was one of a few scenarios I was thinking about. But I gotta say, I don't like the idea of Italy in the channel. I thought *you* were going to be there. Did Italy give a reason why they want it? Is it okay if I ask Italy about it? That's fair. It might be best to not ask Italy directly, but that is up to you (just because it seemed that if Italy is actually serious about this proposal, they would want the element of surprise). Italy wants to do this probably because they want to take the gamble and hope that it will shake up the West a little bit. They didn't actually say that, but it is what I infer. I did end up asking...couldn't handle the suspense! And ever since I heard about it I've been wondering if there's some plotting I could do to turn this to my and your advantage at the expense of both Italy and England. Italy said they wouldn't do it if I didn't want them to...I'm thinking I could demand that they use WES to bounce with England in MAO, which then means that the battle for Spain becomes 2 v 2 and you keep it. That's really clever! We'd have to hope that Italy wouldn't move MAO to Portugal, but otherwise that works well. Meanwhile, I could support you into the channel from IRI? Sure Does that mean you are not going after Denmark? Well I'm trying to gauge E's trust of me right now, so I'll see and get back to you Any news? Are you going to assist Italy into the channel? England doesn’t trust me, unfortunately, so I don’t think I can swing anything clever I probably will. Do you think Italy actually intends to follow through? I think so from talking to them, but I've been wrong before. I've come around to the idea, actually (a weekend away from this game has cleared my head!). So, should I support Brest holding from Paris? Btw, are you going to let me keep Paris? Yep you can stay in Paris. If you can support Brest hold that would be amazing! I'll submit the orders to support Italy into the channel then and just see what happens I'm sorry, France, I made an 11th-hour deal (literally in the past two minutes) with England and Italy. I really really did not mean to deceive you No worries, it's the game, and I think you made the right choice. As long as you aren't afraid to lie to England/Italy :). I'm rooting for you to do well this game. Congrats on 2 builds! Thanks. I've learned a lot from you this game, so thanks for talking with me 😃 Happy to. I still have one dot left, and it looks like fleet Picardy will be the most useful to you, but I can keep Gascony or something else as well. Now that all the French centers are gone, you will have to decide between Italy and England. I feel like Italy's 10 well-defended units made that decision for me. But even if I change my mind on that, I think Pic would be the most helpful to keep Me and Italy are strategizing now about ousting England from Brest/the channel. Are you more willing to support one of  those two moves? Actually, we could support you into Brest, then have you support one of us into the channel in Fall? Sure Moving to Brest right now Excellent! Do you and Italy have any kind of agreement about Portugal? Well Italy said that they would consider letting me keep it as long as I am useful :) Well this move definitely is. So I hope they keep their word Nice turn for you! I wonder what England will do at this point. Based on their retreat, it looks like they could be defending London and Edinburgh so a convoy to Yorkshire or possibly even a move to Norway seem like the strongest plays Can't believe Italy is going to get into Liverpool. Anyway, I'm holding in Brest for now, but let me know if I can do something else with that unit. yeah that's an unpleasant surprise. Has Italy promised you anything? Based on some things I've pieced together, I'm starting to realize the full extent of their manipulation of this entire game. It's honestly kind of unsettling.

...I hope this can stay between us, France, but I've got two sandboxes up right now: one where I put aside my beef with England just to try and get Italy under control, and one where I keep dancing with the devil, which I will follow through with only on the condition they agree *not* to take one of Liverpool or Portugal this year. Neither of these plans has you staying in Brest. If you're willing to do either of those things (help with an Italy stab or more English destruction) at the expense of Brest, let me know and let me know which you'd prefer. If not, well, that may tip the scales to me staying with Italy, because I don't think we can swing the stab without your help. Happy to order whatever you want. I know there's no chance for me to live in this game unless someone else wants it. I think I may have some insight that's worth keeping me around. But if it makes more sense for me to go out now, I'll do it. You're good people, France! And I have Italy's word that they're not taking Portugal anytime soon. Though Italy's word is literally not worth the electric current encoding it. 

What insight are you referring to, may I ask? Thanks. I definitely don't want to see Italy run away with this game. Hmm, well I guess I may be able to offer insight in terms of helping with orders. I'm sure an EGR alliance can stop the AI. Mathematically we will hold 17 centers at the end of this year, which is usually the magic number to prevent a solo since you need 18 to win. Unfortunately, it doesn't leave any leeway to lose ground anywhere and more eyes on the map can be useful. I'm assuming Austria can't be turned against Italy. I've tried for the past couple years, even organizing a 3 way convo between Russia, Austria, and I. I don't think Austria is willing to stab Italy. I know I said earlier that it would make sense for you to work with Italy, though I've admittedly changed my mind. Especially after the last orders, Italy is nigh unstoppable if you and England fight since Italy will soon reach a critical number of units where they can defeat any opponent. Also, there are no easy stalemate lines in the West to stop them anymore really. It's ultimately up to you though. I could see a scenario where you work with Italy to take out England, and a well timed Austria stab of Italy leaves you to establish a strong defense and get a good draw result So, that's exactly what Italy has promised me. However, I know for a fact that he's (Italy has lost the courtesy of nonspecific 'they' in my book) been working with England and feeding England my proposed moves for this turn. (Keep that quiet, please!) 
Without revealing that England has been communicating with me, I think I *might* be about to get Italy to confess what he's been doing. He's asked for a half hour to pick his kids up from school (despite my urging that he abandon them and respond to me now), and then he's going to respond. If he confesses, I'm going to side with Italy. In which case I'd like you to move into the channel (where both Bel and Mao [maybe] will support your move). 
If he doesn't, Paris will support you into Gascony. Meanwhile Eng moves IRI and Bel moves Eng. In the north, I convoy to Edi (England's willing to allow me the build this winter) while Eng moves Nwg. Sounds good. I'm only talking to you at this point. No info will be leaked. Convoying to Edi sounds like a good idea. I don't have context on Italy's plan at all, but if I were him I'd probably convoy Gascony into Liverpool Italy is vile and even if we all die doing it I want to see him minorly inconvenienced. I’d like to move forward with the anti-italian plan and support you into Gas Done Since we (me and England) think that Italy's going to try the convoy from Gas to Lvp, we actually think it's better to try and have you disrupt Mao. Eng will support you into Mao. Sorry for the late-breaking change. Ok Good game, France! Thanks for everything! GG! Good luck!