Posted on behalf of our Turkish player:

Congrats to everyone. It was a well played game with a lot of twists and turns, especially early on.

Thank you to George for doing a good job GM’ing.

I began this game as a replacement Turkey. I came in at a disadvantage but I like a challenge. Then I noticed who was playing Italy Austria and Russia and thought I was doomed.

I was up for any alliance, even Italy-Turkey. I started out working with Austria while planting the seeds for an IT alliance. I like Brad but felt that he did not have the time to plan things out with me. Perhaps in a future game!

However, early on, a huge stab by Austria left me very weak. Frost made it very clear that I had no chance of getting him back on board. I did what I could to get Russia on my side. Brad - had you not stuck by me I would have been cooked.

At the same time, I built a fleet. I needed to make it very clear to Italy that not only did he need quick builds to keep pace with France, but that getting into Turkey would take too long and he’d have to face France alone.

I also gave him the lion’s share of the Balkans initially to fuel his expansion so that he could face France and we could stop a potential French solo. To his credit, Randy took me up on my offer and the IT began.

Once Fred stabbed Germany and committed to the stab, we knew Freeman would be happy to work with us. So, we quickly gobbled up the Balkans and Russia. While we hit a few speed bumps, including one that threatened the entire game, we overcame them.

However, EF did such a good job destroying Germany that we had to switch gears. The choice was between a mostly silent France and a very small England. I pushed hard for working with George. He would not be able to break inland easily and we’d be able to take the majority of the dots.

Once George committed, the rest was easy. Other than waiving builds, because the other guy who was waiving them is an extremely talented and smart player and I always had to be wary of Randy’s skill.

There were opportunities to stab. But 13-13-8 was already agreed upon and the only reason to stab would be for a solo. I did not see an easy 18. Even if I locked up more of the Balkans, I’d lose ground in Germany. And, I did not have the fleets to pull it off.

So, I stayed the course. Had George not followed through, I’d have looked at a 17-17. At that point, I had enjoyed working with Randy so much, that I would have stuck with him to the end.

As much as solo’s are the end goal, I’ve had more than my fair share of them and I’m in it to accomplish different things now, unique accomplishments.

And I think that a strong, game-long I-T between Randy and Riaz is something you’ll likely never see again.

Thank you to everyone - I enjoyed it. Big shout outs to Randy whose style meshed so well with my own and to George, who never gave up and never stopped writing, even to Turkey!