TopGunBoat Journal—Table of Contents
Introduction | Spring 1901 | Fall 1901
Winter 1902 | Spring 1902 | Fall 1902
Winter 1903 | Spring 1903 | Fall 1903
Winter 1904 | Spring 1904 | Fall 1904
Winter 1905 | Spring 1905 | Fall 1905
Winter 1906 | Spring 1906 | Fall 1906
Winter 1907 | Spring 1907 | Fall 1907
Winter 1908 | Spring 1908 | Fall 1908
Winter/Spring 1909 | Fall 1909
Winter/Spring 1910 | Fall 1910
Winter/Spring 1911 | Fall 1911
1912 | Conclusion | End of Game
We continue with adjudication for Fall 1903…
Fall 1903 Adjudication
England
F den – bal (*bounce*)
A swe S
F ska – den
F ska – den (*bounce*)
F nth – hel
A yor – lon
France
A par – bur
F eng S
A pic – bel
A tyr S
A mun
A mun S
A par – bur (*cut, dislodged*)
A pic – bel (*bounce*)
Germany
A ruh S
A kie – mun
A bel C
England
A yor – par
F hol S A bel
A kie – mun
A ber S A kie – mun
Russia
A mos – ukr (*bounce*)
A ukr – gal (*bounce*)
F bot – bal (*bounce*)
A lvn – mos (*bounce*)
Italy
A apu S
A ven
A ven S
Austria
A tri (*void*)
F eas S
F ion – aeg
F ion – aeg
Austria
A tri – ser (*bounce*)
A sev H
F gre S
ser – bul
A ser – bul (*bounce*)
A rum S A sev
A vie – gal (*bounce*)
Turkey
A smy – arm (*bounce*)
A syr – arm (*bounce*)
F con S
F aeg – bul
F aeg – bul/sc (*bounce, dislodged*)
GM Observations
Sweden is no longer neutral! England, after much consternation by Germany and Russia, has finally laid claim to it. Russia blocked England from going into Baltic, but it’s only a matter of time now. I bet Russia disbands the fleet and gives up on the north.
Germany has successfully delayed the French take-over, but again, this is only a matter of time. England is now bearing down from the north.
Turkey successfully delayed losing Bulgaria for one more year while Austria prioritized keeping Sevastopol from Russia. Turkey will probably build an army, lose Bulgaria next year, and then won’t be able to hold of AI any longer. Italy won’t be able to convoy over, but seems undeterred by Turkey’s defensive wall.
I have often wondered whether it is possible to get an attacker to give up and attack someone else. Will Turkey or Germany be able to defend against one of their foes and succeed in getting that one to go elsewhere?
Player Journals
England
Well that couldn’t have gone much better!
Russia and England are now fully disengaged and can each focus elsewhere. I will be able to set up for a pretty devastating attack on Germany next year. Russia will lose a unit this year and, after seeing my moves, will hopefully abandon the Northern fleet. I don’t want to see Russia fold anytime soon as he needs to do the best he can to keep Austria in check. Hopefully France and England can dismantle Germany in a couple years and turn toward Italy/Austria which seem to be carving out a solid alliance.
France
full attack on Bel, stupid mistake in the spring, need army in Bur.
I know that Par-Bur will give issues with disband of Mun later
Germany
Re-taking MUN (again). Not taking any chances of support being cut so ordering KIE-MUN, risking England taking KIE but it’s France I want to hurt as much as I can before I die.
Russia
Figured A would order RUM s SEV, so LVN – MOS – UKR – GAL. Galicia would be a great score, but at least bounce VIE – GAL.
May have to remove my northern fleet, but can keep Baltic vacant for another turn. Losing one this Winter.
Italy
How nice – Austria finally trusts me. I’m still not at all sure A won’t sneak into the Ionian from Greece. But there doesn’t seem to be any future in waiting around. So off to the Aegean it is. And it doesn’t seem a bad thing that Turkey withdrew to block Syria.
The other question is whether to help Germany by cutting off Tyrolian support for Munich. I’ll let Austria do that if it’s to be done. Maybe France is going to turn on England after all.
Austria
rum s sev
sev h
ser-bul
gre s ser-bul
tri-ser
vie-gal
Well, RUM s SEV is the easy bit – Turkey’s premature withdrawal from RUM was a dream move!
Now it gets tricky.
The French position is irritating and complex. I would like him to leave TYR and I would like Germany to be stronger, but an anti-French move now would mean I am fighting FTR and possibly France’s ally Italy as well! That is too much.
So, I guess I either let TRI and VIE defend eachother, but that would be a likely waste of resource. So, I am going to move VIE-GAL to help sustain my Russian front.
I now have 2 ideas for my remaining 3 units:
Option 1 – Support Italy to AEG like I tried last move, let TRI stay in place (as I would only likely get 1 build here) , and move SER-RUM on the off chance.
Option 2 – Support SER-RUM from GRE, and move TRI-SER to show goodwill to Italy – plus leave space for a 2nd build. Hoping as well of course that Italy goes ION-AEG and guarantees my RUM move!
I am really trusting F/I here and I am not expecting I’s patience to last if I don’t give him something. I need to find a way to help Italy see the benefits of continued co-operation.
I feel I am SC grabbing a bit here and missing the wider picture, but I do need to neutralize any TR threat right now.
What is England doing? – he may be key. I would prefer he went anti-French or Russian rather than anti-German right now. If he goes anti-German, I am looking at a strong French/English force – big trouble!
In summary – I like my SC growth, but the overall strategic situation could shift away from me pretty quickly here.
Turkey
I will hope to hold onto BUL with a supported move there from AEG, while having SMY and SYR bounce in ARM. I don’t want the Austrian army in SEV moving (or retreating) to ARM.
Fall 1903 Retreat Adjudication
France: A mun – sil
Fall 1903 Retreat Journal
France again provided a journal entry for the retreat phase.
France
disband to Sil, that will remain full pressure on Germany of all sides.
Especially now England is moving against Germany as well.