Monroe - AAR

[Grognot]

*blinks*
*checks date on map*
*blinks again*

I am reminded of the scene from "The Seven Samurai", in which the eldest and most experienced samurai is explaining to the villagers that they should let in exactly one brigand, but then close the gap until they're told to let in the next one.

[BoerWar]

Feb, 1805 – Spanish forces land and defeat a Moroccan army defending the capital. Chit picks were Assault vs Defend. Fortunately the Spanish forces tossed a “5” in the first round and the Moroccans tossed a “1”. I screwed myself by foraging with the Cav Corps. I didn’t catch the rule that ALL forces must be fed by depot in order to assault the city. Therefore, the city assault will have to wait until March. British corps on loan loses 2 factors foraging in Cadiz (anything but a ‘5’ or ‘6’; rolled a ‘6’)[:@]. Sorry King George.

[Murat]

Between the Spanish skewering the King's Own Cavalry and some severe sacrifice by the Imperial French Navy, London is in danger.

[Lord Wolsey]

Let history record that a small german state known as Hesse has caused the great nations to choose sides.  Both France and Prussia DOW'd Hesse and thus they are at war.  Austria and Russia honored the call to war on behalf of the alliance.  Spain did not.  Lots of drama over this and some very good diplomatic discussions.  The PBEM system poses a real problem though, how to coordinate troop movements.  In live play you can watch and comment as your allies move; making comments and corrections. 
 
For my part as Prussia, I didn't really want to start a war at this point and didn't realize Hesse was on France's radar.  I'll have to coordinate my minor wars a little more carefully next time. 

[Murat]

Just to get a better idea, in reverse chronological order here it is:

1805, Mar Austria loses 4pp
1805, Mar Austria has declared war On France
1805, Mar Russia loses 4pp
1805, Mar Russia has declared war On France
1805, Mar Prussia has declared war On France
1805, Mar France has declared war On Prussia
1805, Mar Prussia Loses 1 PP(s)
1805, Mar Prussia has declared war On Hesse
1805, Mar France Loses 1 PP(s)
1805, Mar France has declared war On Hesse
1805, Mar Resolving Hesse Multiple DOW!
1805, Mar Prussia has declared war On France
1805, Mar France has declared war On Prussia
1805, Mar Prussia Loses 1 PP(s)
1805, Mar Prussia has declared war On Wurttemburg
1805, Mar France Loses 1 PP(s)
1805, Mar France has declared war On Wurttemburg
1805, Mar Resolving Wurttemburg Multiple DOW!
1805, Mar Prussia Loses 4 PP(s)
1805, Mar France Loses 4 PP(s)
1805, Mar Prussia has declared war On France
1805, Mar France has declared war On Prussia
1805, Mar Prussia Loses 1 PP(s)
1805, Mar Prussia has declared war On Baden
1805, Mar France Loses 1 PP(s)
1805, Mar France has declared war On Baden
1805, Mar Resolving Baden Multiple DOW!
 
[:-] And I did not declare war on these minor states, I merely suggested that they pay tribute in return for my benign wisdom and they seized my ambassadors in violation of the standard protocol and Code of Honour.  When I sent a few small corps to rescue my ambassadors these states took offense and attacked me, being soundly thrashed. Unfortunately my troops have trouble telling Germans apart and they MAY have killed a few Prussians. Soon after, these minor ambassadors (whom I let go home by the way) arrived stating that we were at war. My letter of apology for the Prussian deaths was mailed the day before the Prussian ambassador (whom is still in Paris and having a wonderful time going wherever he wishes) informed me that unfortunately war had been declared. We discussed it over a fine dinner of venison and various game fowl and a vintage burgundy.

[Grognot]

ORIGINAL: Lord Wolsey
Let history record that a small german state known as Hesse has caused the great nations to choose sides. Both France and Prussia DOW'd Hesse and thus they are at war. Austria and Russia honored the call to war on behalf of the alliance.

I didn't think there were calls to allies when simultaneous DoWs on minors resulted in forced DoWs... ?

[BoerWar]

ORIGINAL: Lord Wolsey

Let history record that a small german state known as Hesse has caused the great nations to choose sides.  Both France and Prussia DOW'd Hesse and thus they are at war.  Austria and Russia honored the call to war on behalf of the alliance.  Spain did not.  Lots of drama over this and some very good diplomatic discussions.  The PBEM system poses a real problem though, how to coordinate troop movements.  In live play you can watch and comment as your allies move; making comments and corrections. 

For my part as Prussia, I didn't really want to start a war at this point and didn't realize Hesse was on France's radar.  I'll have to coordinate my minor wars a little more carefully next time. 

Just to clarify the historical record a bit. There should be no suprise that Spain did not "honor" the call to war because differences of philosophy had led Spain to announce that it was going neutral during this turn and that it would be following a different path in the future. The diplomatic discussion began before not after.

[Lord Wolsey]

Yes, just part of the game.  Spain had laid out its reasons.  The alliance was formed to stem French aggression; Spain had other expectations. 
 
The highlight of it was that it brought out the strength of the game - the human political intrigue.  As with the board game, there are deals made and deals that go sour. 

[trw2264]

From a Russian perspective it has been fun watching all the wheeling and dealings going on so far and the politic twists that the game has taken. One of the important things that this game has is interaction between all the countries. Moscow has even received an envoy, who braved the winter snows, from Paris. The players are playing their parts and it has been fun watching it all unfold (oh, I hope that nobody is taking the game personally, it is just a game and even though you might be allies or enemies in this game you migt be the opposite in another game).

I can’t stress enough the importance of players being respectful of other players’ time investments. In this game players get their phases turned around rather quickly, which helps to keep the other players interested. I am in three other games and it has been very frustrating with delays and such in all three of the other games.

My hat goes off to the French player so far because he has played well and positioned his corps well. I can see a definite advantage to playing France in a PBEM game because, most of the time, France does not need to coordinate with other players, while any coalitions that are formed need to be orchestrated well to cut down on the errors.

[ess1]

(in reply to Murat)
[Send Private Message]

Good stuff! Thanks for these most interesting report read by someone who has not "dipped into the water yet" (just received manual etc.).

[Sandeman]

Also it has not gone unnoticed that France has placed the bulk of its army within striking distance of both Prussia and Austria... perhaps they were planning for more than just grabbing german states?

[Murat]

1. My ambassador was supposed to go to St. Petersberg not Moscow. I did not want him getting caught up in those drunken revelries the Winter Court is known for.
b. Every place in France is within striking distance of a bordering neighbor so unless I just dumped everyone into garrison it's unavoidable to be close to SOMEONE.
* It should also be noted that I asked my neighbors what they wanted and if we could come to some arrangement to avoid war. We made those arrangements and I kept my word. Someone always gets the itchy finger [;)]

[Lord Wolsey]

I like the French troop disposition.  There's a few Corps out grabbing up minors while the big stick is ready both as a deterrent and for attack.  They can be easily pointed in all directions; to stem any channel crossing adventures, to push north to Berlin, a stab at Vienna, or a move against Spain.  Regardless of the results of diplomacy, French troops are ready.

[Murat]

 Prussian allies and not in a gay way [:)] although there is nothing wrong with gays, not insulting anyone here. [:-]

We have made our first econ phase and now are all on the VP chart!!! And in case you cannot tell I awas at war with Britain Russia Prussia and Austria but they gave up [:'(]

[Lord Wolsey]

Huh?   Something is fishy...

[AresMars]

Clearly a PHOTOSHOPPED photo....

I love the caption at the top....Murat is showing his sense of delusion!  <wink>

[jjdenver]

Guys,

The first post on this thread says "And we are off trying a faster paced game and using the Quick Combat resolution to see if that helps!"...

...yet it seems to have taken 3 weeks to do the first turn. Really? This is kinda discouraging for PBEM - do you all think it can go quicker or is this about as fast as we can expect?

Thanks for thoughts.

[Lord Wolsey]

Aside from having a dedicated time to play and knock out phases, I don't think it could go much faster.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
We did have a few slow downs due to PBEM technical problems;&nbsp; Emails going to spam, files being lost, computer's crashing, botched diplomacy, Santa coming to town.

[Lord Wolsey]

One of my front line Prussian officer's was witness to the Emperor as he trotted by on his horse and snapped a picture. Apparently Nappy had been telling lies again.

[Murat]

1] ROFL my head off!!!
2] In a totally unrelated manner, the photographer has won an all expense paid trip to Paris to bring the negatives and all prints so that the Court can admire his hysterical work.
3] He never showed. I swear it. Public execution? Those crazy tabloids. [8|]&nbsp;He never made it to the palace. Dunno why. Anyone want some camera equipment really cheap?
&nbsp;
On a more serious note, 3 weeks to get through 3 months and we really should have been through them 4 days ago but people seem to be more busy now than over Christmas [&:]&nbsp;Still I think we are the fastest one going.