04-01-2003, 09:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-01-2003, 09:34 AM by Rhydderch Hael.)
I'll admit, strategy is not my great strength, but tactics are. And from a tactical standpoint (one made in the here and now), Austria needs not "fight off" Italy with all his forces.
If your Austrian is up to snuff, he will realize that no matter what he does, he will lose a Home center in Fall 1901. The key then is for him to preserve as best as he can, while still trying to make gains (Greece).
He's going to lose either Vienna, Trieste, or Budapest. There's no way around it. The only thing the Austrian can do now is prevent Italy from taking two of those Home centers instead of one: the Italian, if aggressive enough, will drive his army in Trieste into another Home center and try to get the army currently in Venice in on Trieste. But since those two Italian armies cannot support each other in an attack, the Austrian can close the attack with just the one army in Budapest.
The Italian, if aggressive enough, will order A Venice --> Trieste and A Trieste --> Vienna, or if he's really crafty, --> Budapest if he thinks the Austrian is going to move A Budapest --> Vienna to save the Austrian capital from an obvious Italian attack.
But all the Austrian has to do is order A Budapest --> Trieste, and he's saved at least two of his Home Centers (Budapest and one other). If the Italian doesn't move into Vienna, then the invasion stops there. But if the Italian tried to drive forward with the plan I described above, the Italian army would take Vienna, but be bounced out of Trieste by the Austrian attack from Budapest! Austria can't save both Vienna and Trieste, but he can surely save one of them, and he needs only one unit to do that job...
...leaving his two other units to take Greece.
On another note, in your game, BanditAngel, I can virtually read the English player's mind as to what he's going to do next! F Norwegian Sea --> Norway, A York gets convoyed via F North Sea to either Holland or Belgium (depending on who he wants to surprise, but given what you've said about the alliances, it's going to Holland). England can take Norway with the fleet, and use convoyed army (or just the North Sea fleet itself) in order to attempt a lazy bounce (lazy, if Germany tries taking Holland without support) to keep Germany at only 1 Build for the next round.
If England had moved his army to Edinburgh, then at least there would be some ambiguity. But in York, the fleet in the Norwegian Sea has nothing to do but either sit tight, take Norway, or try to scare Russia (and that's not likely, given what you've said).
If your Austrian is up to snuff, he will realize that no matter what he does, he will lose a Home center in Fall 1901. The key then is for him to preserve as best as he can, while still trying to make gains (Greece).
He's going to lose either Vienna, Trieste, or Budapest. There's no way around it. The only thing the Austrian can do now is prevent Italy from taking two of those Home centers instead of one: the Italian, if aggressive enough, will drive his army in Trieste into another Home center and try to get the army currently in Venice in on Trieste. But since those two Italian armies cannot support each other in an attack, the Austrian can close the attack with just the one army in Budapest.
The Italian, if aggressive enough, will order A Venice --> Trieste and A Trieste --> Vienna, or if he's really crafty, --> Budapest if he thinks the Austrian is going to move A Budapest --> Vienna to save the Austrian capital from an obvious Italian attack.
But all the Austrian has to do is order A Budapest --> Trieste, and he's saved at least two of his Home Centers (Budapest and one other). If the Italian doesn't move into Vienna, then the invasion stops there. But if the Italian tried to drive forward with the plan I described above, the Italian army would take Vienna, but be bounced out of Trieste by the Austrian attack from Budapest! Austria can't save both Vienna and Trieste, but he can surely save one of them, and he needs only one unit to do that job...
...leaving his two other units to take Greece.
On another note, in your game, BanditAngel, I can virtually read the English player's mind as to what he's going to do next! F Norwegian Sea --> Norway, A York gets convoyed via F North Sea to either Holland or Belgium (depending on who he wants to surprise, but given what you've said about the alliances, it's going to Holland). England can take Norway with the fleet, and use convoyed army (or just the North Sea fleet itself) in order to attempt a lazy bounce (lazy, if Germany tries taking Holland without support) to keep Germany at only 1 Build for the next round.
If England had moved his army to Edinburgh, then at least there would be some ambiguity. But in York, the fleet in the Norwegian Sea has nothing to do but either sit tight, take Norway, or try to scare Russia (and that's not likely, given what you've said).
Political Correctness is the idea that you can foster tolerance in a diverse world through the intolerance of anything that strays from a clinical standard.