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The year 1999 opened with a worried Italy...
I have a SERIOUSLY bad feeling about, well, everything. About the only one of my neighbours I don't think is actively working against me is Germany, and even then I'm not so sure.

France moved out of GOL, which is good, but they built in LYO, which is bad. I suppose he MIGHT be going to move it into Alsace, to put a bit of pressure on Germany, or put up a bit of defence (which would, IMO, be a good idea), but I'd've built in Paris if I were doing that, I think.. It makes me think of SWI-PIE, LYO-SWI, MAR-TUS. Which is why I'm moving TUn-TYr. Of course, if france moves BAR-WME, that wouldn't save me any way... It would be tempting to move NAP-TYR, TUN-WME, but if I'm wrong abnout France, that could provoke a war anyway. Which would be Bad. I'll have to see what he says.

The fact that Poland disbanded Warsaw makes me worry about him aswell. I think disbanding Warsaw is foolish, because Russia has the option of either a supported attack on Lithuania, or an attack on Warsaw, and Poland can only defend against one (ie: guessing game). On the other hand, it does give him a possibility of holding, and three armies on my border.. He could feel he needs them for defence, but I worry..offence being the best forme of defence and all that. He can't break through without support from either the Ukraine (hopefully unlikely but certainly possible) or Germany (ditto) and France (all too likely, I fear).

And finally, the Ukraine will almost certainly attack Istanbul and prevent my attempt on Izmir succeeding. I might have to offer to support Russia into Ankara this turn, so I have a hope of taking Izmir for the fall. But that would open Rumania to being taken by Ukraine-Poland.. <sigh>

Maybe one day I'll learn to move a bit more slowly.. ;-)

It was at this juncture (Sat, 14 Feb 1998 20:41:45 GMT) when Piers, once again, posted a 'Piersa' (private mail to the mailing list in error). The following has been slightly edited for clarity.
On Fri 13 Feb, Hippie wrote:
[...]
thing too ,but you need to send ein olive branch thingy to that Ukrainian chap.You dont vant him stealing the vodka vhile your back is turned ....he must want to have a go at ze italian after getting der kick in der balkens (ooer)so perhaps a little diplomatic communique is in order before we go a-yodelling? You

At 09:15 PM 2/13/98 GMT, you - Drew, I presume - wrote:

What can I say Piers - suppose 'sorry' won't do? Like I said, I had put those moves in before I got your massage oo-er and I thought you were about to attack me. Anyway, you got it all back so if we can arrange some sort of truce maybe we can all work together on the Italian who is a much bigger threat.

I can support Odessa to Rum with my army in Podolia if that would help and [...]

Piers then replied with:

Does a duck swim? Is the Pope a Catholic? Are the Kennedys gun-shy?

Of course I can't say that I really trust you after that, but I'm ready to call off the dogs, especially if you support that move. I also need you to cut his support with A Slo-Hun for it to work. Do that, and I'll leave you alone and stop supporting Ross (but don't ask me to attack him - I'm staying well out of that).

You need to try to get France in on this too. I've tried, and he makes all the right noises, and then just sits there pulling his pud. Is he secretly allied with Italy? He has units in all the right places but isn't doing anything with them. Does Hippie know what is going on?

Anyway, I am away from tomorrow for a week so I'll have to take you at your word and put my orders in accordingly. I should be back in communication by Saturday 21st, jet-lag permitting.

Piers.

I found it mildly amusing that shortly after this Mikey (France) submitted his orders, if Piers' indiscretion was intentional, then it certainly had the desired effect:
Le Pres Sez
A Swi - Pie
F Gol S A Swi - Pie
A Lyo - Swi
A Mar S A Lyo - Swi
F SAO - Sve
F Bar - And
A Mad s F SAO - Sve
A Nav - Por
British Army Britain (Jim Hill)
F edi s F nwy-nth
F nwy-nth (*bounce*)
A yor s F wal-lon (*cut*)
F wal-lon (*bounce*)
F iri-eng (*bounce*)
Egyptian Army Egypt (Suzi Holyoake)
F (PER) - Sau
F (Cai) - Isr
A (Ale) - Cai
F (LBN) - Ale
F (Izm) - EME (*dislodged*)
F (Ada) s F (Izm) - EME
A (Irn) - Irq
A (Ana) - Ank
French Army France (Mike Smith)
A Swi - Pie
F Lig S A Swi - Pie
A Lyo - Swi
A Mar S A Lyo - Swi
F SAO - Sve (*bounce*)
F Bar - And (*bounce*)
A Mad s F SAO - Sve (*cut*)
A Nav - Por
German Army Germany (Hippie)
Fleet NTH to YOR (*bounce*)
(Not dislodged as the Nwy
attack bounced with Eng)
Fleet ENG to NTH (*bounce*)
Fleet Lon to Wal (*bounce*)
Fleet Den to SKA
Fleet Bel s Fleet ENG to NTH
Army Mun to Aus (*bounce*)
Army Sax s Army Mun to Aus
Army Ham to Den
Italian Army Italy (John Fouhy)
F TUN-TYR
F ROM h
A MIL s A AUS h
A VEN - CRO
A AUS s A HUN h (*cut*)
A HUN s A AUS h
A RUM s A HUN h
A BUL s A RUM h
F LIBya-LBN
F NAP-ION
F EME-IZM
F AEG s F EME-IZM
F IST s F EME-IZM
Polish Army Poland (Drew Buddie)
F Swe h
A Lit - War
F Bal - Lit
A Cze s A Slo
A Slo s A Cze
A Pod h
Russian Army Russia (Ross A Chapman)
A Vol - Ros
F Geo S (egypt) A Ana - Ank
A Gor - Vol
A Mos - CRP
A Biel S A Mos -- CRP
A Lat H
Spanish Army Spain (Jason Gool)
A And-Mad (*bounce*)
F Mor-SAO (*bounce*)
A Sve S A And-Mad (*cut*)
Turkish Army Turkey (David Ashton)
R.I.P.
R.I.P. 1998
Ukrainean Army Ukraine (Piers Forrest)
F Sev-WBS
F Ank S F Sev-WBS (*cut*, *dislodged*)
A Ode-Mol
A Kie-Ode
A Don-Kie
A Kha S A Don-Kie

The Egyptian fleet in Izm retreats to Ana.

The Ukrainean fleet in Ank retreats to EBS.

Upon submitting new orders, John wrote the following:

Ghods, what a mess...

Piers (!) has proposed some kind of alliance From that exclamation mark anybody would think that John thought Piers is not to be trusted!. I'm too beleagured to argue much. :-) Early Leader Syndrome Strikes Again!

F IST s Ukrainian F WBS-ANK

I'll assume if Suzi attacks IZM, she will support with ANK. The following will still probably bounce.

F AEG-EME
F ION s F AEG-EME
F LBN s F AEG-EME
F IZM s F AEG-EME

I can't take F TYS away from TUN because of the risk of BAR-WME, so this is the only option:
(I suppose TYR would be an unambiguous abbrev. in Modern.. but I'm in the habit of using TYS == TYrrhenian Sea)

F ROM-LIG
F TYS s F ROM-LIG

Now comes the hard part... Hippie will probably attack Austria, France Switzerland, France is currently occupying Switzerland - John later corrected this to 'Milan' and Poland may even hit Hungary, or support Germany into Austria. Piers has said he will not hit Rum. If I cast the die in an earlier move, my opponents simply raised the stakes. I guess now we roll again, but with the anticipiation of losing something..

A AUS-SWI
A MIL s A AUS-SWI

I am feeling...particularly reckless <Yoda>You are reckless</Yoda>. Considering what I have given up, this doesn't seem to make the situation any worse, and could provide the element of surprise..

A RUM-POD
A HUN s A RUM-POD
A CRO s A HUN h
A BUL-RUM

The important issue is how Poland deals with the possibility of

A HUN s A AUS h,
A AUS h,
A CRO s A AUS h.

It is probably fair to assume A MIL will be cut. Possibilities include supporting from all four units, moving SLO-KRA and attacking from POD, or moving POD-KRA and attacking from SLO (because of the threat of a Russian move on KRA). And, I suppose, the possibility of Piers attacking POD.. I will have to query him. It would be unpleasant if we were to shoot outselves in the foot at this early stage of what I hope is a friendship..... Ha!

It was at about this point that I sent a deadline reminder message which asked for early orders if possible, but stated that the old deadline still stands - and I received a worried email from Piers:

It may have to. I know that at least 2 other people are also trying to get a response from Drew (Poland). He might be playing Possum, but he has a habit of leaving eveything to the last minute; three people would be grateful if you checked that he is still active; but don't tell us what you discover as it might affect our decisions <grin>. Very honest of Piers, I thought

I asked Drew if he was still about, and his reply left me in the awkward situation of how to answer without breaking GM impartiality.

On Wed 25 Feb, Mark B wrote:
> Drew,
>
> I am getting reports that it
> has all gone quiet over there.
>
> Are you still active?
>
> Mark B

Yep! I'm still hale and hearty! I've been quiet because did not know it was mandatory to reply to people when they write to you. I've been communicating with the people whom I want to communicate with. Is this wrong?

If it is Piers who has said that I have not replied to him, then that may be because I haven't particularly wanted to;-)

I was not aware there was a problem, perhaps you could enlighten me as to what I have done in error, as I have been in communication with at least 2 people regularly.

Drew

I replied as follows:
On 25 Feb 98 at 9:52, D Buddie <db@rmsx.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Yep! I'm still hale and hearty! I've been quiet
> because did not know it was mandatory to reply to
> people when they write to you. I've been
> communicating with the people whom I want to
> communicate with. Is this wrong?

No it's not mandatory.

> If it is Piers who has said that I have not
> replied to him, then that may be because I
> haven't particularly wanted to;-)
THIS put me on the spot. I don't want to let any hint that Piers WAS worried.

Whoever it was guessed that you may be quiet on purpose, and so said that I was not to let them know if this was the case! (Very honest of them).

They let me know in case there was some other reason which would affect the game management side of things.

> I was not aware there was a problem, perhaps
> you could enlighten me as to what I have done
> in error, as I have been in communication
> with at least 2 people regularly.

Somebody was just getting worried about you. Thassall.

Drew Replies:
On Wed 25 Feb, Mark B wrote:

> No it's not mandatory.

Thanks for clearing that up, I was a wee bitty concerned that I had broken some from of protocol. It was just as well you checked on me - a good failsafe mechanism.

> Whoever it was guessed that you may be
> quiet on purpose, and so said that I was
> not to let them know if this was the case!
> (Very honest of them).

I didn't mean to suggest that you might breach any confidence. I knew I had had messages from Jim (UK) who is in dire trouble and I just did not know how to tell him I was not interested in helping him - I am just a big softie!!! And I have had messages from Piers who needs some sort of help from me, but I have had to think long and hard about doing so.

> They let me know in case there was some
> other reason which would affect the game
> management side of things.

Fine - all is clear now.

> Somebody was just getting worried about you. Thassall.

Thanks, and it is much appreciated.

Drew

This seemed like a good point to leave matters - however I could not help but feel that Drew was doing himself a disservice.

The Russian commented as follows:

Here are the orders for this session. They may change depending on whether Drew contacts me. He hasn't contacted anyone really, which is worrying.

A Ros -- Don
F Geo H
A CRP S A Vol -- Khar
A Vol -- Khar
A Biel S A Lat -- Lit
A Lat -- Lit

As i said these are likely to change tomorrow morning straight after you get them as i am negotiating with Piers as to what i will do.

Unless Drew or Piers replies What did I say about Drew shooting himself in the foot? I believe I'll be going to war against both of them. I doubt this is a good move, but hopefully my three extra SCs this turn will convince them that retribution isn't a good idea. I'm going to have to get rid of Poland soon to get anywhere anyway, and I think staying out of the South is a good idea whilst John and Suzi fight it out between themselves. and perhaps take advantage of one or the other. or perhaps both. Altogether I think things are finally looking up for thr Great Russian Bear. Famous last words.

It was at about this point that John changed his orders:
Anyway. Change of plans. Piers has announced that he is going to attack Podolia. Hmm, the most powerful person on the board, who is in a position threatening to Piers is believing Piers? So..

What is that little country between Oddesa and Rumania? It's obscured. Loks like MOL or something.. It's Moldovia, John, whatever.

A RUM s A MOL-POD
A BUL-SER
A HUN h
If you insist, though this would have been better giving a support order, e.g. A Hun S A Rum H.

Hippie poked his head above the parapet with the following entertaining set of orders. These were sent back with some comments upon syntax... it's fairly obvious what is intended, but the GM cannot go changing the meaning of orders - the GM can only report upon the invalidity of the orders.
F NTH - Yor
F SKA s F NTH s A Den - Yor (*void* reason = Huh?)
A Den to Yor (*void*)
Note quite as entertaining as a set of orders submitted by Ydris in another game (A Par S F Eng-MAO), but it comes close. When you see the results you'll find out if he corrected himself in time...
British Army Britain (Jim Hill)
F Nwy - NTH (*bounce*)
F Edi s F Nwy - NTH
A Yor - Lon (*bounce*)
F IRI - ENG (*bounce*)
F Wal s A Yor - Lon (*cut*)
Egyptian Army Egypt (Suzi Holyoake)
A (Irq) - Syr
F (Sau) - RED
F (Ada) - EME (*bounce*)
F (Isr) s F (Ada) - EME
F (Ale) s F (Ada) - EME
A (Cai) s F (Ale)
A (Ank) - Izm
F (Ana) s A (Ank) - Izm
French Army France (Mike Smith)
A Por S F SAO - Sve
F SAO - Sve
F Bar - And (*bounce*)
A Mad S F Bar - Mad (*void*)
A Swi S A Pie - Mil (*cut*)
A Pie - Mil (*bounce*)
A Mar - Mon
F Lig - Gol
German Army Germany (Hippie)
A Mun - Aus
A Sax s A Mun - Aus
F ENG - Wal (*bounce*)
F NTH - Yor (*bounce*)
F Lon s F ENG to Wal (*cut*)
F Bel - ENG (*bounce*)
F SKA s F NTH
A Den to Yor (*void*)
Italian Army Italy (John Fouhy)
F IST s Ukrainian F WBS-ANK (*void*)
F AEG-EME (*bounce*)
F ION s F AEG-EME
F LBN s F AEG-EME
F IZM s F AEG-EME (*cut*, *dislodged*, *disbanded NRP*)
F ROM-LIG
F TYS s F ROM-LIG
A AUS-SWI (*bounce* *dislodged*)
A MIL s A AUS-SWI (*cut*)
A CRO s A HUN h
A RUM s A MOL-POD (*void*, *dislodged*)
A BUL-SER
A HUN h
Polish Army Poland (Drew Buddie)
F Swe h
F Lit - BAL
A War - Lit (*bounce*)
A Pod - Hun (*bounce*)
A Slo s A Pod - Hun
A CZE s German A - AUSTRIA (*void*)
Russian Army Russia (Ross A Chapman)
A Ros -- Don
F Geo H
A CRP S A Vol -- Khar
A Vol -- Khar (*bounce*)
A Biel S A Lat -- Lit
A Lat -- Lit
Spanish Army Spain (Jason Gool)
A And-Mad (*bounce*)
A Sve S A And-Mad (*cut*, *dislodged*)
F Mor-SAO
Turkish Army Turkey (David Ashton)
R.I.P.
R.I.P. 1998
Ukrainean Army Ukraine (Piers Forrest)
A Kha H
A Kie S A Kha
A Ode S A Mol-Rum
A Mol-Rum
F WBS S A Mol-Rum
F EBS-Ros

The Italian Unit in Austria retreats to Venice.

The Italian Army in Rumania retreats to Bulgaria.

The Spanish Army in Seville disbands.

Please check for errors, post them to the list for the fastest dissemination.

The following table summarises the changing SC situation:

B Edi, Lvp, Nwy, Ire, -Sve, -Por = -2
E Ale, Asw, Cai, Sau, Isr, Izm, Ada, Ira = +0
F Bor, Lyo, Mar, Par, Mon, Swi, Bar, Mad, +Sve, +Por = +2
G Ber, Fra, Ham, Mun, Hol, Bel, Den, Lon +Aus = +1
I Mil, Nap, Rom, Ven, -Aus, Cro, Tun,
Ser, Bul, Gre, Ist, Lib, Hun, -Rum = -2
P Gda, Kra, War, -Lit, Cze, Swe = -1
R Gor, Mos, Mur, StP, Geo, Bie, +Lit = +1
S Mor, Gib, -Sve = -1
T Eliminated
U Kha, Ode, Sev, Ros, Ank, Kie, +Rum = +1

The following table summarises the changing situation, detailing the number of units currently owned, the number of SC's and the number of available adjustments, after the number of free SCs has been considered. A positive adjust number means that builds are due, a negative number means that units are to be removed. Note, builds do not have to be taken, they can be waived - please send a waive order to the GM if you wish to do this.

Also detailed are the number of SC's required to win (the win condition is 33 SC's).

Power Current Units Current SCs Available Adjusts SCs needed to win
Britain 5 4 -1 28
Egypt 8 8 -- 25
France 8 10 +2 23
Germany 8 9 +1 24
Italy 14 12 -2 21
Poland 6 5 -1 28
Russia 6 7 +1 26
Spain 2 2 -- 31
Turkey N/A N/A N/A N/A
Ukraine 6 7 +1 26

The following table contains a game summary, broken down by power.

The NMR/Late score are for the current player.

Power Late NMR Start 95 End 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
Britain 0 0 4 7 7 6 5 4
Egypt 0 0 3 6 6 7 8 8
France 0 0 4 6 6 7 8 10
Germany 0 0 4 7 7 8 8 9
Italy 0 0 4 7 8 11 14 12
Poland 3 0 3 6 6 8 6 5
Russia 1 0 5 5 6 5 6 6
Spain 1 0 3 4 3 3 3 2
Turkey 0 0 4 8 7 2 - -
Ukraine 0 0 4 7 7 7 6 7

Dropouts:
No players have yet dropped out of this game. Though Ydris has been eliminated.

The following table contains a game summary, broken down by SC. Sc's are grouped roughly according to geographical area.

            Start End
      SC       95 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
----Africa----------------------------------------------------------
         Libya  .  E  E  E  I  I
       Morocco  .  B  S  S  S  S
       Tunisia  .  I  I  I  I  I
---Britain----------------------------------------------------------
     Edinburgh  B  B  B  B  B  B
     Gibraltar  B  B  B  S  S  S
     Liverpool  B  B  B  B  B  B
        London  B  B  B  G  G  G
-Central Europe-----------------------------------------------------
       Austria  .  I  I  I  I  G
      Bulgaria  .  T  T  I  I  I
       Croatia  .  I  I  I  I  I
Czechoslovakia  .  P  P  P  P  P
        Greece  .  T  T  I  I  I
       Hungary  .  U  U  U  I  I
       Rumania  .  U  U  U  I  U
        Serbia  .  .  I  I  I  I
----Egypt-----------------------------------------------------------
    Alexandria  E  E  E  E  E  E
         Aswan  E  E  E  E  E  E
         Cairo  E  E  E  E  E  E
----France----------------------------------------------------------
      Bordeaux  F  F  F  F  F  F
          Lyon  F  F  F  F  F  F
    Marseilles  F  F  F  F  F  F
         Paris  F  F  F  F  F  F
---Germany----------------------------------------------------------
        Berlin  G  G  G  G  G  G
     Frankfurt  G  G  G  G  G  G
       Hamburg  G  G  G  G  G  G
        Munich  G  G  G  G  G  G
----Italy-----------------------------------------------------------
         Milan  I  I  I  I  I  I
        Naples  I  I  I  I  I  I
          Rome  I  I  I  I  I  I
        Venice  I  I  I  I  I  I
--Middle East-------------------------------------------------------
          Iran  .  T  T  T  E  E
        Israel  .  E  E  E  E  E
  Saudi Arabia  .  E  E  E  E  E
----Poland----------------------------------------------------------
        Gdansk  P  P  P  P  P  P
        Krakow  P  P  P  P  P  P
        Warsaw  P  P  P  P  P  P
----Russia----------------------------------------------------------
         Gorky  R  R  R  R  R  R
        Moscow  R  R  R  R  R  R
      Murmansk  R  R  R  R  R  R
        Rostov  R  U  U  U  U  U
St. Petersburg  R  R  R  R  R  R
-SovSatellite-------------------------------------------------------
   Bielorussia  .  P  P  P  R  R
       Georgia  .  T  R  R  R  R
     Lithuania  .  P  P  P  P  R
--Scandinavia-------------------------------------------------------
       Denmark  .  G  G  G  G  G
        Norway  .  B  B  B  B  B
        Sweden  .  R  R  P  P  P
----Spain-----------------------------------------------------------
     Barcelona  S  S  S  F  F  F
        Madrid  S  S  S  S  F  F
       Seville  S  S  B  B  S  F
----Turkey----------------------------------------------------------
         Adana  T  T  T  T  E  E
        Ankara  T  T  T  U  U  U
      Istanbul  T  T  T  I  I  I
        Izmair  T  T  T  E  E  E
---Ukraine----------------------------------------------------------
          Kiev  U  U  U  P  U  U
       Kharkov  U  U  U  U  U  U
        Odessa  U  U  U  U  U  U
    Sevastipol  U  U  U  U  U  U
-West Europe--------------------------------------------------------
       Belgium  .  G  G  G  G  G
       Holland  .  G  G  G  G  G
       Ireland  .  B  B  B  B  B
        Monaco  .  F  F  F  F  F
      Portugal  .  S  S  B  B  F
   Switzerland  .  F  F  F  F  F
John sent in his retreat orders, via the mailing list, as follows:
Ok, whatever. 2 disbands, right?

Disband F-AEG, A-CRO.

Piers apologised to me. Great. Some comfort.

The time has come to play dirty. You will receive a blind CC of a message I am about to send.

As you will imagine, I awaited this with anticipation - I wasn't disappointed. I hope that Piers has passed it on, it'll be interesting to see the effects.
At 23:42 26/02/98 +0000, Piers wrote:
>John, that was not what I had planned. I know it isn't
>much comfort, but when I started asking for your help,

Indeed..

>For all the fact that this is a game where everyone is
>out for their own best interests, I want to find a way
>to make up for what I just did.

You will get your chance.. You will all get your chance. :-)

>You have a spy in the enemy camp.

Really? I thought I could trust you last time. Dare I trust you again?

Well, Mr Spy, I have a message for you, and for your friends, Poland, Germany, and France (and Russia, if you think it appropriate):

Suzi the Egyptian grows strong. The literature suggests Egypt is hard to dislodge at the best of times, and these times are far from the best. Turkey is dead. France has a minimal naval presence, and is too far away to do any good. Additionally, he will have to fight for passage through the Tyrrhenian.

I will be disbanding my fleet in the Aegean. My fleet formerly in Izmir has already been destroyed. And my fleet in Istanbul will be unable to move anywhere.

As such, the only things standing between Suzi and total dominance of the Mediterranean are two Italian fleets. Against five. Egypt will not gain any Italian centres by the next fall, but beyond that, I can say no such thing.

If or when Egypt breaks through my defences, her gains will be rapid. Libya, Tunisia, Greece, and all of mainland Italy will all fall. The remainder of Turkey, followed perhaps by the Balkans. By that stage, Egypt would, I feel, be almost impossible to defeat. Perhaps an alliance such as that which is defeating me would suffice. Perhaps.

Yet I say to you that if I face further disbands, those two fleets will be the first to go. My northern defences will remain as strong as they can be, and I will fight to keep you out, but no units will be diverted to the cause of defending against Egypt.

If you would avoid a very strong Egypt, this, then, I require of you:
- The return of Austria and Rumania.
- Withdrawal from Slovakia and Monaco / Marseilles.
- No French fleets are to enter the Western Mediterranean (WME).
- No attacks on my northern frontiers.

Here ends the message. Do not fail. Myself excepting, you will be first under the hammer, otherwise...

--
John.

Britain:
Builds the fleet in the Irish Sea.
France:
Builds a fleet in Marseilles and an Army in Lyons.
Germany:
Builds an Army in Munich.
Italy:
Disbands the fleet in the Aegean and the Army in Croatia.
Poland:
Disbands the Fleet in Sweden.
Russia:
Builds a fleet in St. Petersburg.
Ukraine:
Builds an Army in Sevastipol.

The state of play in the 'Perdita' Game at the end of 1999

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