Thank you to kaner for hosting this game, and the considerable effort undertaken in managing it. As with the previous Bourse game I played (also on the KW901 map) this one was one of the memorable and competitive games I've played at VDip. Thanks to friend and foe for making it so enjoyable.
I approached this game on the board in a fairly typical fashion, expecting to find much less cooperation than I did initially. Germany, Byzantium, and Khazaria were all very friendly and accommodating, and interested in forging alliances after building trust. Those relationships found their way into bourse relationships, and things were looking pretty good.
France offered a pigpile scenario on Germany, which would have neutralized a major contender immediately, but I had an existing arrangement with bozo, which I valued more. This precluded my participation with France. I needed to grow somewhere as we all do, and set my sights on Denmark, who did nothing wrong, except his press was less frequent and less engaging than my other neighbors. I gained a quick advantage on the Danes, but then I had a problem. Germany was allied to Denmark against France, so I had to slow roll my progress on Denmark at bozo's request. I wasn't convinced that Denmark was needed, but it did leave the option of a currency farm/trap, so I played along. I also did so as a favor to Germany, hoping that it was an investment in a long term alliance. Denmark hung around for a long time, but must have gotten bored. I got impatient with his lack of press (again) and NMRs. He was a necessary cog in preventing Wagadu's flanking move in the Atlantic, and reliability was paramount. At this point Denmark had to go. We decided not to farm Kroner, or to spring a money trap.
Byzantium was content to forge a Mediterranean campaign, which suited me well. Khazaria and I after initial agreements could not find a way forward together. We'd agreed to go east, but he was still talking about moving units into my middle, and I couldn't dissuade him with Diplomacy. I tried force. It worked at first, and YCHTT agreed to move east, but then we had a string of mini-stab seasons between us, making it very difficult for either of us to trust the other. This resulted in me abandoning any hope of working with Khazaria, and exploring new relationships to replace him. I stabbed him ruthlessly and decisively, and had him on the run. This prompted a verbal response that made *me* blush.... Honestly though it's why I love playing with/against YCHTT. He loves this hobby, and he puts his heart into it. His anger/affection always stays within the game in question too. He's a consumate Dip player who on the very same day can cuss you like a sailor in one game and sweet talk you like a $20 whore in another game. After a few seasons of swift progress, and silence, YCHTT approached me with a plan to use him as a vassal state. This was complex for me beyond appearances on the map because I'd already working diplomatic angles in the post-Khazaria era. Still the concept had some real promise, particularly as a currency and VP farm. I was intrigued and ready to enact it because of multiple failures to secure a favorable (functional) relationship with Axum, when China came around proposing the idea as a way to cooperate since he'd been plotting against me all game on the map. Even though Captain was mine main nemesis on the board and the bourse I was willing to run a deal with him on Yarmaq. I knew that he could buy more of it than me, but I was counting on Axum to help kill Turan, and eliminate Captain's currency/VP farm of Manat. Captain on the other hand would only make deals that overtly benefited himself, and this was really the end of any cooperation I would explore with him after several betrayals on the board, which I returned in kind. Turth and I never got to blow up the Yarmaq farm, but it was a very beneficial deal for both of us. China's participation was a welcome thing because it drove up the resale value of Yarmaq, which YCHTT and I both needed.
Because Captain was holding @ 75,000 units of Turanian Manat, and threatening to blow Turan up to 10-12 supply centers it was imperative to prevent this if I was to compete in the bourse. Germany and Byzantium understood this, and I think/hope offered continued loyalty and flexibility so that I could chase down Turan. Captain saw this coming, and worked very hard to prevent it. He shifted a land based refuge for Turan, to an island based one, putting Lukas' lackey unit out of my eefective grasp. This meant that I needed Axum more than ever.
I wasn't ever completely sure if it was Captain's effective diplomacy, or Leif's plodding uberconservative approach, or both, but Axum was making no progress agaisnt China+Turan in the south. I judged it to be an inherent lack of necessary ability or willingness to do so. Leif and I bickered over these for several seasons, and I grew exhausted from it. He wasn't making progress in the south, but wanted a larger than earned share of Arabia. I was willing to concede the latter *if* he did his job in the south. He failed repeatedly, and I gave up. I have no idea what' Leif's problem was here. Killing Turan was in Leif's best interest, *and* he owned an insurmountable advantage over me in owned Roubles. But Lief for some reason insisted that I was playing some psychological mind game with him, and refused to look at the map and the bourse numbers. He then offered up the same crap concept that Captain had trotted out, stating that he would only cooperate with me in deals that specifically allowed him to win. I get the concept of wanting to win... Really, I do. What I don't get is ultimatums on guaranteed victory with 30 game years left. Both Leif and Captain had excellent chances to win this game, but threw them away because they wanted absolute assurances of victory in the middle of the game. What was crazier than that though was both of them expected me to deliver them the game on a silver platter with irrationally lopsided arrangements I kept offering mutually beneficial deal and noting that there were 20+ years of game left, with 50% of the board unspoken to.
I turned Khazaria loose on Axum in Arabia along with my advance units. Simultaneously I had flipped India against both China and Axum after a great deal of diplomacy and patient appeal. India had been holding a keystone position in Captain's defensive wall. He was also facing certain doom and elimination in a slow and painful contraction. I convinced Rex that if he helped me eliminate Turan, that I'd keep him alive. Rex was in the VP lead at this point with a large advantage over me in Roubles owned. Offering India this deal was a major gamble, because it might have handed Rex the game. At this point as much as I wanted it too, I was sick of Leif's inaction, and Captain insisting on the ability to run Turan up to 12 dots and a massive VP advantage. I gambled on Rex, and honored my deal with him on the board while working with Germany to surpass/hold back India in the VP race. Rex came though brilliantly, and worked exceptionally well and unselfishly with Khazaria against Axum.
Germany had stabbed Byzantium while both were fighting back Wagadu. Doc's Wagadu fleets had sailed north and threatened Britain. He has also attempted moves into Icelandic Sea, making me very uncomfortable. To help curtail Wagadu's ambition I lobbied for Germany to take Byzantium back as a vassal state much the way I had with Khazaria. Bozo wasn't having it, but after I pressed on and on about it, I think that he was convinced that Amby would play ball. I wasn't completely sure about it, but believe it or not Amby can be damn compliant when he doesn't have the upper hand. This resulted in short term dents in Wagadu's overall position, and forced Doc to retreat to Fortress Africa. Wagadu was out of my hair at this point, and my only role in the west was to offer some token assistance to Germay in bozo's surgical deconstruction of the Wagadu position. Saving Byzantium was originally mean to defeat Wagadu, which it ultimately did, but late in the game it proved to be the path to breaking China's hold on the VP lead as Solidus emerged as a currency too expensive for China to gamble on. Since Germany and I already held significant Solidus sums in our portfolio, we could pick and choose the timing of the buys into it, only further boosting the advantage. When bozo was selfess enough to boost Amby's supply center share of Africa, the VP advantage soared for us. This meant that Khazaria would stay around 11 centers, and China could be caught.
Thanks to bozo for the meticulous planning and patience on this, and also for offering a tie in the bourse. I wanted to win, but was actually content to draw while in second place by now. Fatigue and game stalling take their toll. Some may criticize the decision to tie, but it was a wise one. Had a board war between us broken out only neither of us would have benefited from victory. If that sounds like a cop out, then you can look at the Talus and Roubles holdings of Axum, Wagadu, China, and India. I didn't want to stab my game long ally for a bourse win when he was willing to share it with me. My guess is that bozo may have felt the same way.
Well, that's a lot said, and surely some fodder for folks to take issue with. It's my perspective from Russia though, and that's what EOGs are meant to be. Some final thought are that I feel the bourse rules are fine as is. Some are going to decry the VP farming that went on, but that's a double edged sword as China found out the hard way in this game. The main factors that adversely affected this game were that the board game was unrated, and accordingly undervalued since we play in a points/ratings-driven community. Had this been a WTA game, many board and bourse decisions would have played out differently. In addition at least one third of the players were either disinterested or intimidated, particularly in the bourse play (but also on the map). I am by nature wary of elitist clubs, and invitation only games, but it's not an issue of elitism here. I didn't grasp the mechanics of the bourse until several years into my first game. By the time I did my best possiible result was to finish 5th in the standings. Still even a marginal investment in time and interest in this recent game by several of the players would have made it much more enjoyable. My recommendation is that the next bourse game moderator use a blend of first signed up and most capable to determine the game roster. Someone (captain/Amby) suggested an unrated short game test where the bourse mechanics are explored. This is a fantastic idea for gathering a larger pool of bourse players. I'd love to 'sea' it on the WW4 map sometime!