gameID=8369

gunboat:
I enjoyed the pace of the game, just a couple of points:
1. The trade zones - I ignored these, thinking to focus on the land territories to the south
2. Frysia - seems a little bit at a disadvantage.
3. Briton doesn't seem very vulnerable.

Just some initial observations, no doubt tactics will change as players get more used to the variant. Good job!

Looks like most of the games are Gunboats; that's probably why Frisia isn't doing very well, on the whole. Frisia's position means that in Gunboat it will always be eliminated.

http://vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=8438
join to get my feedback! :D

Thanks guys. @Kaner: it's good tactics to ignore the trade SC's it won you the game. I do think the Frysia player was just bad. He took two SC's first year... it makes you a target, leaves your starting sc's open and ruins your chances of making friends with the Romans :P
Captainmeme is right: Frysia is at a small disadvantage. Intentionally by the way, I think you can compare it to Austria in classic. Nothing good diplomacy can't solve.
About the Britons: I think you're right they are less vulnrable. Originally there were two sea territories between the Norse and the Britons. I'm glad I have them closer toghether now.

Thanks for the comments, it's greatly appreciated. @RoxArt: haha, I'm sorry I can't play a game right now. I hope you'll comment regardless :)

My own observation when looking through the games: i thought i would see the Romans and the Frysians played like Italy and Austria. I do see a lot of aggressive moves where one takes on the other right from the start, but none of the "let's not kill eachother for abit, because we're fucked otherwise"-behaviour. It makes sense to me at least :)

question: when im e.g. in iron I cannot support to CNS neither? or just not go there anymore....?
(first time playing this)

@ kaner: if briton took the 3rd inner sc right away when he could (autumn move just holding in the middle) he had 1 more build there and would have been more competitive, so im not sure about just leaving the middle....

I guess I stayed clear of them with my fleets because I didn't want to loose them to 3 SCs when they could be defending me, while my armies did their work with getting more SCs than 3 (3 SCs vs 5 SCs).

also I did notice that it was possible to convoy an army into the trade routes, I don't know if this was intentional or not.

bump:
question: when im e.g. in iron I cannot support to CNS neither? or just not go there anymore....?
(first time playing this)

No, the Trade centres can't support moves to CNS or support hold CNS. However, CNS can support moves from one trading centre to another and support hold trade centres.

@Rox: Captainmeme answered your question already, he is correct. Try to read the variant description when playing for the first time. I've put the movement rules there. English isn't my first language, but I think it's quite clear.

@Kanker: thanks for the comment again. You're completely right. It's possible (without opposition from the other players) to take the three trading SC's with just two units and then indefinately hold them. That's a good deal, but you're still two units down for defense.
It might be better to ignore them or maybe even to spend just one unit there (who might get all three SC's, it might happen, at least it will force other players to do something about it). So you're right: time will tell if there is a broken tactic.

About convoying armies to the trading SC's: it's intentional in the sense that we did not take the extra time and effort to remove the option. I figured it was not a big deal, because those armies are stuck too: they can't get out of the trading SC area, just like fleets would.
It's also defendable flavourwise: the trading SC's are not "real places", they are "trading influence". An standing army could secure it, just like a fleet.

Frisia just won a game!

Nice work meme :) You had a good game i see, well done.

Any comments?

I don't like it because once one nation gets two fleets into the trading SCs, it's impossible for the other nations to get in. They can cut support easily, and then just hold.

Sure, but it's not dominant. I think it's more of a trap than anything else. In both solos, the player(s) with the trading SCs lost. (gameID=8371 gameID=8369) And in the other finished game, dominating the trading SCs wasn't enough to force a win. (gameID=8396)

I wasnt so fond of this game. In the game i played, Briton was able to win without having a single ally, despite the fact that both frisia and the romans were allied. Frisia and the romans were unable to defeat the norse. and Frisia and the Romans were not inexperienced players, they were both very strong players. The game needs to be more balanced I guess is my biggest concern, right now the norse and the bristons have a huge advantage

@jacklander and gman314: I agree with gman here. I talk a little about on the variant description page. You may secure a survival with that strategy, but surely not a win.

@eskel: nice feedback, thanks. It's very hard to judge these thing beforehand, so it's useful to hear stories like yours.
I know i've given the Norse and Britons a better position, but I also know a map needs some imbalance to make it fun an playable for diplomacy. Obviously you don't want to overdo it. In an earlier version of the map I had Germania Inferior as a neutral SC too, but that seemed to tip the scales the other way.
What I'm doing is gathering some more data about win ratios etc. Then I might change the map accordingly. I like the overall feel of it, so I wish to make very minor changes if it shows a great unbalance. Thanks.

@Sqrg The Frisia win wasn't my game; I just spotted it and thought I would point it out.

Also, if you're gathering statistics, I wouldn't include the gunboats. Gunboat on this obviously advantages Briton and Norse. I really think this variant is best with full press; it's not made for Gunboat.

Aha, well nice find. And you're right, it's not made for gunboat ;)

Just finished my first non-test game of this:
gameID=8392

A roman cd :(
Did you like it captainmeme?

Yup :D But it did outline just how hard it is to play as Frisia. Even with the Roman CD, I (the Norse) could have solo'd pretty easily and was ahead of Wolfman all the way through.

So, i'm open to ideas how to give the Frysians an edge. Just something small like having their units start somewhere else. Maybe have their fleet start in Lower North Sea? More options to move. And it would give them more leverage the first turn.

I'm not sure... That may leave Britain a little underpowered in the sea which would give the Norse an advantage. But it may work; it might be an idea to try that out in the Lab.

I would have said that you could disconnect Amisivaria from Sealand and add another territory imbetween, or expand Jutland to fill the gap. However, this may make stalemates quite easy to form there and it would make invading the Norse very difficult.

Hmmm... It's a hard one. Perhaps it would be better as it is; I think the Gunboat games are biasing the statistics very much against the Frisians. A good player can still win with them.

Like a good player can win with Austria ;) Thanks for your comments, I will think some more about possible solutions.
It must a be change that only gives the Frysians a small advantage (At the start). At the same time I don't want to boost or crush the other nations.

I put Sealand in between to make the Norse more vunrable to attack via land and rpevent stalemate's I don't I can change it a lot.

prevent stalemates. I don't think I can change it a lot. **