Italian End of Game Statement
Josh Bendor Played Italy
For me, there were three critical decision points in this game.
I. When I took over from Akshay, we (Italy) were headed towards France to pick off some easy centers. Austria was eliminated (or nearly so - I can't entirely remember). I decided that my primary objective was to eliminate Turkey. There was no rush to take French centers, and the Western entanglement destined to continue. Continuing to work with Turkey against Russia simply would have allowed Turkey to gain the bulk of the spoils, leaving him no path to expansion except through me. Given the chaos in the West, I had a free hand to attack Turkey, and if I could eliminate him, only Russia would be able to eliminate me - and even so, it would be hard for him to penetrate far enough. So though I was out of position, I stabbed Turkey. The stab was somewhat awkward - I basically reversed the previous turn's moves westward, and the only truly offensive move I made was to slip into Greece, which I subsequently lost the next turn. But I figured that, even if with an awkward attack, if I could stay on the offensive against Turkey I would eventually crack through. Turkey meanwhile was somewhat committed against Russia, with a fleet in the Black and an army in Armenia, so Russia was committed to working with me. But because Turkey was forward against Russia, his northern front was well defended, so most of the gains came to me in the South.
II. The second major choice came soon after my stab of Turkey. I was very concerned about my northern border. Russia easily could have taken my Austrian holdings. After a miscommunication regarding the exchange of Budapest in Spring '04 (I was supposed to give it to him, and was planning to, though certainly not in a rush), he was in an excellent position to attack Germany, and told me he would. I realized that if I could make that attack stall, while gaining in Turkey, I could outpace him. Perhaps this was an obvious call, but I informed Germany of the impending attack, in curt & unflowery language that apparently convinced him I was being honest. As a result, Germany shifted two units east just as the Russian advance began in Fall '04, and Germany was able to fight Russia off until the end of the game.
III. In Spring '05, after Russia's stab of Germany, Russia and I were still allied, but I felt it fraying. His cooperation in the south was useful, and my north was still very vulnerable, so I was scared of open hostilities. But I thought that I could not afford to support him into Munich, as he requested -- the result would be the fall of Germany, and then Russia would be the same size as me, if not bigger, given what seemed like room for great gains in Scandinavia and England. If I openly betrayed Russia though, he could make serious gains against me in my Austrian holdings, and team up with Turkey to finish me. At first I decided to stab Russia with Turkey, and made what were then honest overtures to Turkey to that effect. Then I changed my mind, thinking that if Turkey and I worked together against Russia, Turkey would make all the gains. So I decided to continue to passively undermine Russia's northern campaign, by moving my piece in Tyrolia to Vienna instead of supporting him into Munich, claiming that I feared he would stab me for Vienna. Meanwhile, I continued my attack on Turkey. Because Turkey took the gamble and went through with the planned attack on Russia, he was incredibly vulnerable to my attack, and I gained quickly against him. In the North, Russia was angry but not provoked to aggression, and the move to Vienna made my defensive position somewhat stronger (though still not secure). After my builds that turn, my north was solidified.
After that, Germany was able to fend off Russia while I took the rest of Turkey. Once Turkey was gone, I did very little diplomacy, and simply attacked Russia and France.
I feel that my status as a new player advantaged me considerably, as it made me more unpredictable than the other players, whose records in the earlier part of the game I could look back on (in fact, as Akshay's housemate, I had talked with him a lot about the game, so I had a sense for the players before I began). I think this particularly hurt Bruce (Turkey), who played an excellent game but got screwed by two stabs from me, the first of which he had no reason to expect.
All in all, it was a great game. Nathan, thank you so much for being a dedicated and, even more importantly, an understanding GM.
Josh