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WDC 2018 writeups
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by nanooktheeskimo » 10 Oct 2018, 05:52
Anyone that wants to post a write up of their experiences at WDC is welcome to do so! I'll have mine in the next couple days.
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Re: WDC 2018 writeups
by Aeschines » 10 Oct 2018, 19:46
I had an absolute blast at WDC! It was my first-ever f2f diplomacy tournament and actually my first f2f game since I was in school. My immediate impressions went along the lines of "wow! This is really how the game is meant to be played!" The deadlines were super short and stressful but also made whole days blow past in seconds. Each of my games was an absolute thrill!
I was also super pleased to find how nice and accommodating the f2f players were. People were respectful and fun and even brutal stabs didn't quell the sassy banter happening all across the tables. It was (unsurprisingly) pretty much exclusively (old) white men, but there was a reasonable contingent of more diverse younger folks there too!
I drew Turkey, which felt nice & easy for my first time. At my table was David Hood, who is a giant of the f2f hobby, playing Austria. My initial inclination was to work with Russia to smash Austria ASAP but things get off to a slow start when Italy opened with a Lepanto and put me waaaaay on the back foot. Things looked bleak right until Italy stabbed Austria for a solid two SCs and gave Russia and me some breathing room.
Then, all of us in the east realized what was happening in the west. E/F had looked like they were smashing Germany (and indeed they were) but all of a sudden, France was in the Mediterranean and Germany's final two armies were acting as an advance force for the crushing English invasion of central Europe. Russia, Italy, Austria, and I immediately turned to try to fight the Norman hordes.
As Turkey facing a Western Alliance that was already over the stalemate line, Austria begged me to be patient and not stab for a short term gain. I accommodated, and wound up with fleets in Tyhrennian and Ionian and an army in Apulia (then convoyed to Trieste by Austria himself) and Greece - all without owning any SCs outside of Greece, Bulgaria, and my home SCs!
After a year of this I took the opportunity and stabbed Italy, knocking him down to just Tunis, while also holding the line with my remaining fleets against France. To my horror, that same turn Russia concluded that he couldn't hold his line, even with Austrian help. His response was to flip (like Germany) and turn to a janissary for the west, smashing south through our lines and even into Armenia.
All of a sudden, Russia owned Bulgaria and Syria while England backfilled with an army into Armenia. I was only saved because of my net 1 build from stabbing Italy. It looked like the writing was on the wall for Austria and me. THANK GOD Austria was David Hood though. He was so furious with Russia for basically throwing the game (even though we'd done nothing but help keep him alive for four years) and the two of us managed to squeeze Russia out of the game, even as we slowly lost ground to E/F. I also threatened England that if he helped me to lose a home SC, I would throw the Italian SCs to France. England ignored the threat & so I followed through.
To my delight, instead of slowly grinding Austria & I to dust, France and England decided the time was right for a draw before France could finish off conquering my SCs in the Italian Peninsula.
Overall, this was a wild ride and a brutal introduction to the reality of SC-based scoring. Russia's (seemingly) irrational annihilation of the stalemate line ("trading a bad result for a bad result, at the cost of your friends" - David Hood) made some sense, since his whole goal was just to survive with an SC at any cost. I definitely would have played differently (and maybe a little more aggressively) if this hadn't been my first game. But I had a great time with it!
Finish: 12(F)/11(E)/5(T)/5(A)/1(I)/0(G)/0(R)
I skipped round two to go out for dinner with the playerdippers, where I discovered that Conq & I have startlingly similar backstories. So that was cool.
I drew Austria, which was terrifying. Continuing the trend, the western powers united and a WT was roaring down on the East by 1902. Italy (whom I really hit it off with) and Russia (who was at his first tournament because of his son) worked to kill Turkey and build a stalemate line. Unfortunately, Russia balked and (perhaps rightly so) concluded that we couldn't kill Turkey before the lightning strike from E/G left him with nothing in the north. Then it was Italy and me trying to kill Turkey. Next, Asudevil the WT's charge into the Mediterranean as France and Italy also had to back out of the killing Turkey plan.
Ultimately, a soft-line developed with the WT pushing into the Med, stuck outside of Bohemia, and slowly grinding Russia away to dust. Almost all of our units were locked up except for Turkey's. Apparently, he came into the game with a reputation as a deceitful schemer and he didn't do much to shake it. He opportunistically grabbed dots until it seemed that the RAI line was inevitably going to collapse to the WT. Perhaps, Turkey knew more than us, however as Asudevil got stabbed by E/G. Ultimately, the game ended after Russia was eliminated and France and Italy ground into nubs.
I learned a valuable lesson in this game. In f2f, time really, really matters. During a critical phase, I stabbed Italy (in favor of Asudevil) after talking with Asu at the beginning of the round, nodding and writing down the orders he was saying (all the while planning to take some time to decide if I really wanted to do them). But, the 12 minutes blazed by and I found myself scribbling orders on my pad as the bell sounded. I never had the time to really evaluate the stab (it wasn't a great move for me) and made an enemy of Italy for the rest of the game. All in all, this was a pretty messy game but it was a great learning experience.
Finish: 10(E); 8(G); 6(T); 5(A); 3(I); 2(F); 0(R)
To be done.
Last edited by Aeschines on 19 Oct 2018, 04:24, edited 1 time in total.
Platinum Member of the Classicists
by The SHIV » 11 Oct 2018, 03:14
Jus stoppin by to mark my turf......
The SHIV
First..........get off my lawn! Second........it's an Admirals Cheesehead! Courtesy of The Craw. Third.....I am SHIV, Keeper of the Stone Tablets! Go Pack!
Location: Sailing somewhere in the Rockies on the Black Pearl but originally a Yooper!
by GhostEcho » 13 Oct 2018, 23:29
Some brief game write-ups, and then some thoughts about the Hobby and tournaments.
Round 1, Friday morning: Working, did not play. All participants were required to skip (at least) one of the first four rounds.
Round 2, Friday evening: Board 7, England. I prefer the French alliance, and opened away from the Channel. I played right into a Sealion, which eventually cleaned me up, but with only tepid participation from Russia. I lost my final home center in 1904, but a miscommunication between Germany and Russia let my fleet back into Norway in the Fall; in 1905 I scraped a survival by helping take St. Petersburg; in 1906 I got knocked out. I don't recall anything about the Eastern side of the board.
Round 3, Saturday morning: Board 6, Germany. England (Dan Lester) and France (Brad Blitstein) were at this point both in the Top 15. I gambled my best chance was a Western Triple, and suggested it. Openings were not standard Triple play, which gave me a not-great feeling about Fall, and it turned out I was right. England immediately told me they had agreed essentially immediately to ally and run the board, which they did. I had bounced Russia in case my bad feeling was wrong, which might explain why he did basically nothing to support me the rest of the game. I seem to remember being bounced in Holland (I almost never take pictures, unlike FloridaMan), and at any rate built Fleet Berlin in 1901 adjustments, to the amusement/consternation of the rest of the board. I was trying to sell Russia on a revenge focused on England, or alternatively surviving by frontlining for EF even if they didn't want me. I hate playing straight defense, even if an army would have held up better. I messed up the timetable a little, but eventually dropped out of this one at the end of another 1906. This was probably the game I had the most fun with at the tournament.
Round 4, Saturday evening: Board 4, Turkey. This board was somehow mostly a bunch of people with bad tournament runs so far, and Kevin O'Kelley (Austria), who was still technically probably in striking distance of the top board. I went in hoping to work out a TI, while Russia wanted a Jug starting with a temporary 3rd ally. Italy was a bit flaky in negotiations, so we picked up Austria - or the RA picked me up to secure the Med - and that turned into a solid RAT. I got the time Turkey needs to get fleets built and out safely without interference from RA, and then it was go... meanwhile the complete disaster the Western half of the board had turned into ensured our success. Italy jumped West himself, trying to stay ahead of the RAT force and keep alive, which only added to the mess. We drew in 1907, without actually knocking anybody out: I think the count was Russia 12, Austria 8, Turkey (me!) 8, France 4, Germany 1, Italy 1. The RAT had emptied the East to the point playing the game out almost certainly would have been a straight 3-way, as Austria was probably the next to get builds but wasn't in position to hit my centers, and committing against Russia would have completely derailed our shared success. I think. Everybody was a little frustrated at the end, except maybe Russia.
Round 5, Sunday morning: Board 2, Russia. I wanted a Jug here pretty badly, but Turkey opened very anti-Russian, suggested it was a ruse, but didn't either stop his attack or succeed. RAI squashed him. That set the tone. My part was mostly to bug the hell out of England (Adam Silverman), a very good player who I never quite attacked full-out but kept from committing against Italian fleets (French play was poor, which didn't help his plight) until far too late. But as 1910 got closer, Austria stopped supporting us further forward and grabbed a couple dots off me... he actually gave one of them back, among the moves which deprived him of a board top (which went to Italy), I think out of sympathy. I'll take a five center draw: Russia is probably my least favorite power to play.
Scoring: Tempest (this year's WDC host) plays sum of squares scoring, which in my experience seems to encourage a little less cut-throat play. Centers still matter, but small results are completely non-threatening to the leaders, so there's incentive to get them to play along, rather than eliminating them and rebuilding their potentially useful units back home. As a weaker player, I like that I lot... I'll leave the arguments about whether Calhamer would approve to others.
Tournament: The tournament was very well run. I especially liked the fact that scores were posted between rounds. At previous events I've attended, a few people "in the know" always seem to have an idea who the leaders are, but it's been hard to find that information (or be sure it's accurate).
Structure: I don't know what to think about the "Top Board". It's a little weird to have it determine only the overall winner: I really want the scoring to, say, give every top board player n points going in, where n is a number no other player can attain. I'm not sure about proposals (I think for Carnage among others) to do a Top-Board-only round: it makes the scores make sense, but then everybody else isn't playing.
Culture: The one thing that's bugged me immensely about every tournament I've attended is that as a group we're total slobs. Paper and pens just left everywhere, people aren't great about resetting boards at the end of a round, etc. Other than that, Dip players (off the board) are great people. I really appreciate the efforts of Chris, Pat, Eric, etc. to get online players involved, especially in the last year or so.
And finally, it was great to meet some other PlayDippers for the first time "live", though I don't remember if I played with any of you! Big Gun, Aeschines, asudevil were first time meetings; good to see nanook, FloridaMan, and kim again; I'm sure I'm forgetting people.
Happy stabbing!
"When you absolutely don't know what to do any more, then it's time to panic." - Johann van der Wiel
"I'm not panicking, I'm watching you panic. It's more entertaining." - Elli Quinn
"[Diplomacy:] No dice or chance. Just calculated insincerity." - Counter Trap
GhostEcho
Guess I should probably write one of my own of these!
I got in Thursday night, around 9, 9:30--I had been planning to see who was where when I got in, but I'd been dealing with an ill-timed allergy attack (they hit me right before I left, and plagued me through the weekend), so instead I passed out with a headache and a runny nose. Kinda disappointed, I was looking forward to meeting some of the playdip people early and seeing some old friends, but what can you do.
Friday morning I woke up early with the headache gone and my nose stuffed up, which wasn't ideal, but at least the headache was gone. Grabbed a quick breakfast, headed down to the room we were in at 7, and...the door was locked. Waited about half an hour, tried again, and got in this time. Hung out, caught up with friends, and met new people until the boards were called.
My board was called, with the assignments:
Austria: Mike McMillie (never met)
England: Adam Sigal (had met briefly but hadn't played)
France: Jason Mastbaum (had met, had played gunboat with, had never played FtF with)
Germany: Adam Silverman (hadn't met before)
Italy: Hunter Katcher (not a stranger)
Russia: Me
Turkey: Ben Kellman (had met in philly, hadn't played together)
I start out fairly standard, bouncing Black and Gal and opening Mos to Ukraine. In the Fall I take Rum with the fleet, convince Turkey not to move to Black, and bounce Gal again. Silverman lets me into Sweden. Great! It pretty much goes downhill from here. Turkey is killed, but I never really get enough purchase to build north, and I end up losing Sweden and Saint Pete to Sigal. I try to fight Austria at one point, but Italy decides he doesn't want to do that and it's the same turn England moves towards me, so I change course. After reconciling with Austria, he supports Turkey's lone unit to Rumania (it had been in Austrian controlled Bulgaria)--he did this instead of accepting the support back to Bulgaria, effectively keeping Turkey alive purely to spite me. So when I pull two, instead of pulling Black and a southern army, I pull from the north. This annoys Silverman, but I think he got it when I pointed to Austria helping Turkey to Rumania. I give Mike one more chance, he actually follows through, and I pull my units north. At one point I go down to 3, but I end up taking Warsaw back to kill Germany (we could hold the line at that point without him), and later dotting Austria in Rumania to bring myself to 5 (something I wouldn't have done if it a) jeopardized the line, or b) Austria hadn't put Turkey there earlier). Then we called the game with Sigal at 13, Katcher at 9, Mike at 6, Mastbaum at 1, and myself at 5. I scored an 8, which isn't a good score, but considering how the game went, could've been worse.
After the round I hung out with Katcher and the Turnage's, then eventually made my way towards the restaurant where the playdippers dinner was--I got headed over a bit late, and ran into Siobhan right outside the restaurant, which is a 15 minute conversation, then made my way into the restaurant where most of the group was already congregated. I think two thirds or so of the playdippers present showed up for dinner, which was awesome to see! It was a family style "Italian" restaurant, we had a table set all the way in the back away from other people, so it worked out pretty well. Dinner was a lot of fun, and after dinner I made my way back to the venue with Ronke, Big Gun, Jordan (Conq), and Chris (Aeschines). I ended up playing some Mahjong, which was fun, then jumped over to a game of Wilson (public press) that was comprised mostly of playdippers and webdippers. As France, I got jumped by Chris' England and a webdipper named Tye's Germany, and ended up fending them off while inviting Tanya's Italy into my dots and helping push her forward. It wasn't a good game, but it was a fun game! Some time after that, I went to bed.
Saturday, I woke up, had breakfast with Big Gun and some others, then went to the game room and waited for board call.
Board call came, and I was pretty happy with my board but wary of my country. Board assignments were:
Austria: Me
England: David Hood
France: Dave Maletsky
Germany: Don Woodring
Italy: Pat Kelly (Springbutt46 on playdip)
Russia: Patrick Oathout (first time meeting him, having a Pat on either side of me wasn't confusing at all)
Turkey: Edi Birsan
So yeah, this was bound to be a pretty fun board. Oathout was the only one I didn't know, although I hadn't played Dip with Hood before. Game starts, me and Pat Kelly agree to kill Edi right off the bat. I was friendly with Edi, but made no promises I couldn't keep. Myself and Hood made sure that Oathout knew who Edi was, and that scared him enough to agree to kill him. So I figured I was in pretty good shape, even though playing Austria is not usually super fun for me. Pat Kelly came to me and said he wanted to move to Tyrolia, and I agreed as long as his Rome army moved to Apu and convoyed to Tunis in the Fall. He agreed, so I didn't have a problem with it. So the spring goes well, me and Russia bounce in Gal, I open to Alb and Ser, and nothing else catches me by surprise. The West looks like it might be a triple, which isn't ideal, but I have doubts that Hood and Maletsky are going to prop up Don (more doubts that Hood will than Maletsky). Italy comes to me and says he wants to move to Bohemia...I suggest Munich, but he's insistent on Bohemia, so I say OK. Hood convoys to Norway, Don bounces Sweden, takes Belgium, but Hood bounces him in Holland. I intentionally botch a support order for Edi to Rumania, bounce Russia in Gal, and take Greece. I realize that the way the board looks, with Russia having to build north, it would take too long to kill Edi. Here's what the board looks like at the end of 1901:
1901.GIF (244.44 KiB) Viewed 967 times
Russia builds F StP (nc), Italy builds F Nap, Turkey builds F Smy. I have the choice to build two, or build one and wave one. I choose to build two, armies in Tri and Buda. This probably should signal to Italy that I'm not working with him any more, but it doesn't--he accepts that I want to funnel Tri south. So he moves Nap to ION, ION to EMS, Boh to Sil. I support Smy to AEG, and move Tri to Ven, Vie to Tri. Boh to Sil succeeds courtesy of German misorder (he moved to Boh instead of Sil), and I have a free pass to Rome. Pat rails at me and calls me shortsighted, I tell him I'm sorry but there was no way to kill Edi fast without Russia's help, and Russia's too busy north to help. He disagrees, but I don't see us killing Edi before 1906, and that's just not fast enough. Pat says he'll throw all his pieces against me, but with his pieces so far out of position...I'm not super worried. I also respond poorly to being told I'm being shortsighted. In the Fall I take Rome, and Edi supports me to ION. Next year I take Naples and Edi gets Sev. Eventually the game ends up locked with myself at 8 (home plus Italy's centers, Rum, and Serbia), Edi at 6, Maletsky at 7, Hood at 5, Don at 7, Oathout's Russia at 1, and Pat Kelly dead. It wasn't a great score, 28 and change, but I was pretty happy coming out with a board top on this board, especially one that ended cordially at noon, leaving plenty of time for lunch at a great french place down the street. The only thing I regret from this game is not telling Hood that if he gave Russia space to, we could kill Edi. The game could've gone a lot differently if we'd talked about it. But, that's how it goes sometimes, and considering the board I was on, I was pretty happy with a board top.
Lunch started out as four of us, then gradually ballooned into like 9 people. I had ravioli in a mushroom and seafood sauce, and man was it amazing.
Board assignments for my round 4 game were:
Austria: Zachary Moore (I had lunch with him)
England: Nicholas DeLateur (we've played together in the past)
France: Me!
Germany: Ty Ferguson (I met him and played Wilson with him Friday night)
Italy: Craig Mayr (met him briefly before this I think, and we'd played gunboat against each other)
Russia: Jordan Connors (Conq!)
Turkey: Douglas Rintoul (FloridaMan!)
So I was pretty cautiously optimistic about this board. I knew Jordan would be strong in Russia, but as France I don't mind that. I was expecting a juggernaut, given that Jordan needed a decent score to get onto the top board, and the Jugg is a good way to get that. I knew I could work with Nick--I wasn't sure if I could work with Ty or not, but I figured I might be able to.
Gonna keep the rest short and sweet. Kept peace with Italy, fought Germany, offered to keep Germany alive at 3 or 4 pushing him forward against Russia, he refused so we took 2 dots off him instead. Tried to position my fleets in the med to stalemate Italy, myself and nick immediately realized that we couldn't hold all three lines (north, med, and center), so I pulled back from the med to focus on the center and north (I had been puttering around Iberia for a bit prior, cause I was pretty sure england couldn't hold the north himself but I needed him to ask me for help rather than me trying to force it on him). A line is established, Italy pivots west. We have the pieces to lock down two lines, not three. I tell Italy that if he helps us stop Russia from solomg and forces him into a draw, I'll share centers to keep us even (I legitimately would've done this—just as I won't hold a line while I'm being eaten, I don't expect him to hold a line and get nothing out of it. This is also a game that makes a strong argument for carnage scoring over SoS, but that's another discussion). I also tell him that once he takes a center from me, I'm throwing to Russia, cause I'm not noble enough to hold the line while being eaten. Nick backs me up. We hold the center and push Russia back in the north. Italy keeps pressing. We push Russia all the way back to StP. I plead with Italy not to do this, that Russia won't pass up the solo if it's there. Italy takes Marseilles. I abandon the center line, form a southern line that doesn't let Italy take another dot, and between us myself and nick help Russia solo.
I'm not gonna hammer Craig too much here, Jordan is a super persuasive guy that did an awesome job fooling Craig into thinking he wasn't as cold blooded as he is (I mean that as a compliment!). Basically, from discussion afterwards, Craig both thought Jordan was a carebear, didn't think Jordan would accept a draw (I pointed out that we could've forced him to a position where he had no choice but to), and didn't think we'd actually throw. Obviously he was wrong. Shit happens sometimes, and the fact we were playing SoS (and that it was the second game of the day and most of us were tired) I think had a lot to do with the outcome of this game. Despite this ending, Craig is a good guy and I hope we get a chance to play again sometime in the future.
The Sunday round! I came into this round pretty much just hoping for a laid back, fun game to end the tournament on a high note with, and boy did it not disappoint.
Board draw was:
Austria: David Johnson (never met)
England: Robert Rousse (western triple extraordinare)
France: Dan Wang (never met)
Germany: Jeff Ladd (played with a couple times, always fun)
Italy: Travis McTighe (never met)
Russia: Kevin O'Kelly (never met)
Turkey: me!
Game starts, I get on incredibly well with Russia right off the bat, we're vibing and on the same page about what kind of game we want this to be. Awesome. Go to Italy, we get along well too, but basically only exchange pleasantries. Talk to Austria, we get along OK but not as well as I do with Russia. Stress with everyone that a western triple is pretty likely given that Rousse is in the west, and Rousse in the west on Sunday is as close to a lock for a WT as it gets (it's not always the best play, but he's not wrong that it's the optimal play). S01 is a clusterfuck. Russia opens to Gal and makes it. Austria is in Tri/Ser/Alb (I think—it might've been Buda/Ser/Alb). I ask Austria if he's ok with me moving to Ser, since he's covering Buda—either he makes it to Buda in which case I get a second build I can (ostensibly) use against Russia, or he bounces Buda and keeps Ser. Austria agrees. I knew this meant I'd get Ser, because I knew Russia was moving Gal to Sil. I forget the exact moves, but I offer Italy something in 02 (I think Tri, but I'm not positive) if he pushed a fleet of mine through to the med. he agrees! Awesome. That cements it, and we kill Austria. Meanwhile in the west, the triple never really got off the ground, with France basically a loose cannon doing whatever and Germany profiting. I start looping armies around Italian and Russian dots in Vienna and Rumania, respectively, sending them towards the middle, while myself and Italy push the med. we break through in the med, and I make sure that I get a concession from Italy in the form of Vienna. I end up with a fleet in channel and an army in Kiel, on a weird 11 centers. Since this was the Sunday round, we called it at 11/11/8/3/1 T/I/R/E/G. If this weren't the Sunday round, myself and Russia would've probably kept pushing, with something like me putting a fleet in Sev but pushing my armies west towards Italy and picking up some dots there, while he pushed my Kiel army ahead of him and scooped up dots there, plus killed england (or maybe used him as a vassal against Italy in French lands). It could've easily been a game that ended at something like 15/12/4/3 T/R/I/E (maybe with I/E flipped). Neither myself or Kevin really wanted to keep playing at that point though, so we called it a draw and went home happy.
This was definitely the most fun game of the weekend, both for the weird configuration and the really great alliance myself and Kevin had going. It's the kind of thing you always hope to find, where you're both in sync and working in lockstep towards the same goal. We pretty much ran the board between us (he finished at 8, but he would've been higher if we'd kept playing to the natural conclusion), and it was both a ton of fun and one of the best games I've played.
After the Tournament
I hung out with some peeps, got some food, annoyed Mitch and Doug with my outrageously silly French accent, then sat around and chatted/hung out with something like 20 people decompressing after the tournaments end. Then I took Doug to the train station, possibly making an illegal drop off in the process, and headed home.
This was my first worlds, and it was both a ton of fun and exhausting. I highly recommend it to anyone that has the chance, the diplomacy is really good but even aside from that, it's wlrth it for the people you meet there and the connections you make with them.
by kimpossible » 18 Oct 2018, 19:56
Let's procrastinate some work by finally putting together a writeup.
So this was my second (!) ftf tournament, and comprised the, uh... (house game, house game, Liberty 1, 2, 3...) 6th - 9th ftf games I've ever played. It's with a certain amount of shame and head-hanging that I'm going to have to make a confession: I think I like ftf play better than online play. *ducks*
Seriously, though. You have to make decisions so much faster, and the way the board dynamics and politics can shift and develop is fascinating. It also -- on the boards I've been part of until the draw, at least -- seems to lead to a lot more large "draws" because the scoring is completely different and I kinda like it. The idea that I don't care about how many people I'm sharing the draw with, just that I care about where I rank within the draw, I think makes it a lot more interesting, and makes alliances more fluid as a board leader might decide to intentionally save a smaller power just to keep their opponent from getting their dots (I did this in the one game where I shared a board top, supporting Italy to hold Tun for several years so that Turkey couldn't take it).
I still haven't really wrapped my head entirely around Sum of Squares of scoring, but I at least can say I like what Carnage and SoS scoring do to the gameplay.
Okay, so, my games! (I had fellow PlayDippers on every board! They are italicized and identified!)
Round 1: Friday morning
Austria: Rachael Storey
England: Mark Zoffel
France: Craig Mayr
Germany: Robert Rousse
Italy: Günther Bedson (Big Gun) **
Russia: Heather Jamieson
Turkey: Doc Binder
Result: 3-dot survival
I started this game in a Key Lepanto with Big Gun's Italy, with the goal of taking down Doc Binder in a hurry. However, the east quickly united in an R/A/I/T alliance when a Western Triple emerged. The really funny part for me, in retrospect, is that I actually said during S01 negotiations that I knew Robert Rousse liked triple alliances, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a WT (I was part of a RAT and a WT with him at Liberty). I ended this game with 3 dots purely on Doc's good humor and Big Gun's insistence that he would come after Doc if he took all my dots. I am also quite aware that by leaving me alive, Doc may well have given up a spot on the top board.
Round 2: Dropped
Dinner with a bunch of the PlayDip crew! viewtopic.php?f=105&t=58610
Round 3: Saturday morning
Austria: Tanya Gill
England: Rachael Storey
France: Sven Vasseur
Germany: Graham Woodring
Italy: Jordan Connors (Conq) **
Russia: Adam Sigal
Turkey: Fred Olowin
Result: Elimination
I spent too much time waffling at the beginning of this game and didn't commit to an alliance until I was already kinda penned in. That's a lesson I'm taking into the future: pick a direction and run with it. I tried to be friends with Germany, France, and Russia, and missed a great opportunity to partner up with Russia because I hedged on saying "Yes, let's be long term partners" and he backed out of supporting me into Den. This game ended in a long, slow, painful slide to elimination as France stabbed me and I eventually begged him to take my last dot so I could go eat lunch and end the torment. I'm not proud of breaking down in tears toward the end of my participation in the game, but it was simply frustration and hanger and not wanting to spend more hours clinging to an insignificant number of points in the overall tournament.
Round 4: Saturday evening
Austria: Nicolas Sahuguet
England: Brian Ecton
France: Edi Birsan
Germany: Michael Topczewski (asudevil) **
Italy: Dan Wang
Russia: Rachael Storey
Turkey: Jorge Zhang (Idols) **
Result: 3-way tie for board top with 8 centers
This was my most fun and exciting game. Turkey and I ran a magnificent Juggernaut for several years, while at the same time I ran a Sea Lions opening with asudevil and Edi Freaking Birsan to take out England. Germany eventually dotted me in Swe in the same year that Turkey and I had arranged to have him take Rum for a build, which resulted in me having a destroy and turning on Germany for a while, with England helping me by throwing me a couple dots because he was annoyed with Germany. Eventually the board dynamics shifted following England's elimination, and I turned on Turkey to prevent him ending with a bigger result. It was a bit of a rough ending with a failed draw multiple times until finally we all agreed to stalemate the game out until the TD called it, ending in a 3-way tie for board top between Russia, Turkey, and France, each at 8 centers.
Yeah, I shared a board top with Edi Freaking Birsan. No, I'm not going to get tired of saying that.
Final Round: Sunday morning
Austria: Noam Brown
England: Patrick Oathout
France: Christopher Helwig (Aeschines) **
Germany: Jim O'Kelley
Italy: Rachael Storey
Russia: Siobhan Nolen
Turkey: Zachary Moore
My lack of a poker face in this game was probably the single biggest contributor to my downfall. I started out in an A/I alliance facing a Juggernaut. Siobhan talked me into turning on Austria, but I gave her a slight nod on my way back to the table which Austria noticed and changed his orders to stab me. It was all a rapid downhill slide from there, though I also learned that Aeschines is the most sweet baby-faced stone-cold liar you will ever encounter, and he still owes me a beer. He promised to keep me alive to hold the line, but didn't really tell me that had changed after Turkey stabbed Russia, just went ahead like everything was fine and then spitted, roasted, and ate my poor little dots.
Overall, I had a great time even when I was frustrated... I think I learned from every mistake I made, and I'm really looking forward to my next tournament, which will be Whipping in April 2019!
Aspiring Member of the Classicists!
Proudly part of the ftf tournament community
Bearer of the Aura of Greater Towniness
Her?
kimpossible
by DQ » 18 Oct 2018, 23:20
Great Googly-Moogly, your strength of opposition was off the charts!
Edi freaking Birsan,two former world champions, the best player on the internet, AND Jordan Connors? Talk about learning to swim in the deep end!
Stab you soon!
DQ wrote: Great Googly-Moogly, your strength of opposition was off the charts!
The trick is to just not know it beforehand!
by gsmx » 19 Oct 2018, 10:37
Thanks for the write ups all, I am very jealous and love being able to live vicariously through all of your shared experiences.
The first quality that is needed is audacity.
gsmx
by Durga » 20 Oct 2018, 06:59
DQ wrote: Edi freaking Birsan,two former world champions, the best player on the internet, AND Jordan Connors? Talk about learning to swim in the deep end!
Who's the best player on the internet DQ??
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All-game rating: (983)
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