Broadcast message from thcarrez@eniac.seas.upenn.edu as England in barney:
Gamename : Barney
Judge : EFF
EOG statement for England
A very interesting game. Hard opponents and difficult diplomacy. It was the first E-Mail Diplomacy game I signed in.
I entered this game as a replacement for England. The situation was simple : England was fighting a hard war in France, and Turkey was spreading freely across Central Europe. I saw the inevitable end this situation would produce : I would probably win against France, but Turkey would be unstoppable and win. Therefore I proposed to France to turn against Turkey.
France accepted that, asking just to recover his territories and some of his lost power. I couldn't oppose easily Turkey, and France wouldn't turn against him if he was weak.
At this moment I really thought the France-England alliance would last sufficiently to stop Turkey and save what was left of Austria. I was quite surprised he stabbed me quite quickly, with Russian help, while Turkey was still very powerful.
I managed to stop Turkish and French advances, locking the Northern seas and the StPetersburg area. I could lose a few more centers, but they would not be able to destroy England. I knew then I just had to wait until France accepted that fact and turned against Turkey again with me. It occurred quite quickly too, and France and England were once more together.
At this moment, Carragher seemed convinced that I would not stab him, and that a stab would certainly mean the victory of Turkey. It was true at the beginning of our new alliance, but no longer true when all his armies were in the middle of the battle in Central Europe. I saw Carragher was a real danger in trench wars (I didn't know the genius was Dan Shoham at this moment <smile>), a situation I was not used to. It seemed to me he directed all the campaign against Turkey, gaining provinces I would have considered as lost... At this moment Turkey sent messages to propose to me a two-way draw, giving me two centers to let me become more powerful than him.
The problem was most gains were to be made by France. This situation couldn't last until France was too powerful to be stopped. I waited for the right moment and stabbed, carefully calculating to be sure that even if France tried to give all centers to Turkey to punish me of the stab, I would be able to get 17 centers before.
Turkey was afraid of me going for a solo win, and I didn't want any three-way draws. I designed a 17-17 share of the map, and rules to be sure no one would stab the other. The rules weren't strictly respected, but it worked anyway.
Even reduced to a few centers, Carragher was still a menace. With him alive, I thought, rather stupidly, that there was still someone that could prevent me from winning this game. This is probably why I preferred to destroy him entirely rather than use his last armies to have a try to an impossible solo win.
I sent the last Russian army in Turkish territories (Yes, I was fooled too by his sudden desire to see his homeland back <smile>), formed an unbreakable line. The 17-17 line was decided long before then, and I knew it would be impossible to try a solo win from there. I just waited until Russia was destroyed and set draw.
My felicitations to Dan Shoham who was able to play it until the end.
My apologies to Bob Carragher for the "unnecessary" last stab. Your error was perhaps you appeared too smart to me. I was so impressed I realized I couldn't be sure to win until you has no more units on the board... I didn't know it was Dan that organized the campaign against Turkey...
My respect to the Turk, with whom all alliances and promises were held.
My apologies to all for my poor English (I am a poor lonesome French student far away from home).
-Thierry Carrez, aka King Terry II of England
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