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
The die seems cast in a few of the conflicts in Europe. Will anything change now?
Spring 1903 Adjudication
England
F den S
A nor – swe
A nor – swe
F nth – ska
F lon – nth
A edi – yor
France
A gas – par
F eng S
A pic – bel
A tyr S
A bur – mun
A bur – mun
A pic – bel (*bounce*)
Germany
A ruh S
A bel
A bel S
F kie – hol (*cut*)
F kie – hol
A ber – kie
A mun – bur (*bounce, dislodged*)
Russia
A stp – mos
A war – ukr
F bot C
A fin – lvn
A fin – bot – lvn
Italy
A apu S
A ven
A ven C
Austria
A tri – swi
F eas S F ion
F ion C France
A tyr – swi
Austria
A tri S
Italy A ven
A rum – sev
F gre S Italy
F ion – aeg (*void*)
A ser S F gre
A bud – rum
A vie S A tri
Turkey
A bul – aeg – smy
A smy – syr
F con S
F aeg
F aeg C
A bul – smy
GM Observations
Russia completely moved south. I’m a bit surprised by this drastic movement. I wonder, is Russia the type of player to trust others too much? Maybe Russia was trusting Austria before (and got burned) and is trusting England now (and got burned)? Regardless, Russia can’t re-take Sevastopol and will have to disband.
Besides this, England has Sweden and (if desired) can easily convoy a second army to Scandinavia (Norway or Denmark, likely without opposition). I felt like France was in a really great position before; now England seems to be in an even better position! England’s disband really threw me off. I had considered it more of a concession to Russia but it seems more like it was a message to France (“Don’t try to stab me”) than anything else. England can probably move to the Baltic Sea this fall if desired too. If I was in England’s shoes, I would leave Germany alone and focus on Russia. Germany can keep France occupied while England gains control of another corner of the board.
Germany is doing as much as possible to defend against a very strong France. France should either keep Munich or take Belgium (or both, depending on what England and Germany do). Truly, E/F is a devastating pair right now!
Austria is growing virtually unchecked at the moment. Turkey is setting up to defend as well as possible but is nearly surrounded. Russia’s drastic movement north gave Austria a free pass to grow.
What can I learn from all this? First, don’t leave your back door open, even to someone who seems like your friend (see my other journal for an example of me foolishly doing that). Second, it’s not a bad idea as Germany to support Russia into Sweden. Germany had a chance to change course in 1902 but chose not to. This has harmed both Germany and Russia (and Turkey, to some extent) and none are likely to recover from it.
Finally, Italy entered several support orders and convoys to Switzerland. Seems a bit too nervous to me. The convoy never would have worked but Italy could have taken Aegean or done something other than sit still.
Player Journals
England
This first thing I did was eliminate the attack on English Channel. I seemed a poor decision to attack France after just having turned against Germany last Fall. I do need an ally neighbor to have success in any direction. Besides, with Italy seemingly committed against Turkey, a French build in Mar makes sense once he takes Belgium
Edi – Yor had to happen to protect my back door. I can’t afford to have Nth sit still and support Norway so if Russia decides to try for Norway he will get it. Best to ensure I take Sweden if he does.
The big question was where to send Nth. A move to Holland would likely get bounced which also stops lon – nth. A move to Hel would likely succeed as Germany can’t afford to guess to move to Hel and be wrong. A move to Ska seems best as it can’t be bounced and helps to retake Norway if I lose it in the Spring.
France
lot of doubts regarding the best orders.
I want to move into Bel, but are open to get Mun back again.
I count on Ruh s Mun-Bur, to make my life difficult, something I should do when I was German…..
Germany
My last hope is that England attacks France because of that fleet in the Channel. If not, I suspect I won’t survive very long in this game.
Russia
Well, that turned out better than I could have hoped for. The E F StP disappearing is good news. With my wide open south, I can now scramble to cover.
A LVN can cover Warsaw ro retake Stp if necessary. Similarly with A UKR : cover Warsaw and prevent A from going all Patton on me. I fully assume that A will take Sev – and why not?
Italy
So I succeeded in circling past Turkey, but Austria clearly doesn’t trust me. It would be dangerous to attempt the convoy to Syria, as there’s nothing stopping Austria from expansion with Russia’s leaving the door wide open.
At least France seems entirely taken up with the anti-German campaign. EF seem almost sure of success there, which will be another problem in time. I think I’ve just been squeezed, but I don’t like the thought of teaming up with Turkey against Austria while Germany’s weak. Maybe I’ll convoy next turn, if Austria finally seems willing to share gains instead of hog them all.
Austria
ser s gre
gre s ion-aeg
rum-sev
bud-rum
vie s tri
tri s ven
Well, I guess as SEV is a freebie this move, I need to take it. Let’s keep the Russian bear lightly armed.
GRE needs support and can prove to be a handy escort for my Italian ally. I hope he keeps moving on Turkey and eventually on France and that this blossoms into beautiful friendship. For now, I hope he convoys an army to Turkey or takes my support. I’d like Italy to take his 5th SC and see the value in our alliance.
Up in TRI/VIE, the French presence is a joker in the pack. I am going to play safe for now, but I may need to force France away soon. Ideally, I would have liked a peaceful TRI/VEN border, but I cannot withdraw whilst France is there.
Over in the west, I am interested to observe developments. I wish England had continued to pressure StP. I hope Germany gets on top of France.
Turkey
My focus now is to prevent Italy from growing at my expense in the hope that he turns on the rapidly growing Austria.
For Spring, I will bet that Italy will not try for SYR (the obvious move) but will, instead, try to take AEG. So, I will convoy BUL to SMY, with SMY moving to SYR and CON supporting AEG. Austria will gain BUL and SEV while Italy has no chance of taking anything.
Spring 1903 Retreat Adjudication
Germany: A mun – ber
Spring 1903 Retreat Journal
France provided a journal entry for this retreat phase.
France
wrong order for army in Gas, it arrives in Par, and should have arrived in Burgundy, to support Mun, or support / attack Bel.
Bel is now not disbanded, really wrong choice
this will cost me an extra point…….