04-22-2003, 06:07 AM
Rhydderch Hael,Apr 22 2003, 03:50 AM Wrote:France gave an unclear order in stating A Pic-Bel, the GM initially voiding the order on the basis that the unit stated is actually a Fleet, not an Army. I've contested the decision on the basis that Fleet and Army identifiers in a set of orders are irrelevant and serve only as reminders, and the order should have carried.Under the technical reading of the rules, the A and F markers aren't just reminders, they're necessary. Just like coast specification. But the reason they're necessary is due to the rule being designed for face to face play, so I suppose you have a case. When I GM games, I'm a total technical stickler, so I back your GM on this one :)
I don't know about that French stab. As part of a plan to secure a build and get a third fleet in the water to attack you, I suppose it's a good idea, but he's completely out of position. To do something like that he'd have to make sure Brest was clear, which he didn't do, and prevent you from taking it. Doing those things at the same time is hard with perfect position, never mind the one he happened to have. In any case, his stab weakens his buffer between him and Austria, and doesn't exactly give him a good position against you.
Italy: Gah! Too late, and the wrong moves. Instead of convoying an army, he shuffles his fleets, which just guarantees that he won't get any Turkish centres. He'll have Smyrna for all of one season before Austria sinks the knife in.
Looks like Austria's going to run away with it. Turkey had the game, Turkey could have won it way back when Russia dropped out, but he threw it all away. Sigh. You only have one hope of influencing the situation now, and it's not with units. You need to convince Turkey and Italy to ally, which isn't very easy. The two of them could bottle up Austria for at least a year. Maybe two.
Hm. If you're running all out for the Med, you're playing F MAO-WES, which is good, but as for the rest of your moves...France will probably support himself into Brest, so you can move out to MAO and bring a built fleet in London into the Channel. You and Germany can probably figure out a way to keep France at six. Going for Tunis, I think, isn't a very good idea since that will drive Italy even further into Austria's camp. Then again, he seems to be all the way in Austria's pocket already.
Well, at the very least, if you can put a fleet into the Baltic you should be able to slam the line closed. You can't make Austria lose, but if you can get France and Germany on board you can make sure Austria doesn't win.