Chapter 7: The Red Badge Of Courage

Seasons Covered: Spring 1902 Adjudication / Fall 1902 Negotiations

Spring 1902

Gulp.  France decides not to do the Western Triple and instead moves hard towards me. Germany did as agreed.  France launches his attack just as I advanced towards Russia, including a convoy of my army to Norway.  France knew my moves and entered a great set of orders.  Respect.  I got what I deserved, but if France was going to go that way, I would be unable to stop them by myself.  If I went full-on anti-France, then Russia or Germany would scoop up behind me.

Germany seemed surprised at the move in separate press.

This gave me some solid hope that I finally found a friend in a moment of despair.

In other news, as alluded to in the above press, Italy and Russia ganged up on Austria.  Is Turkey a part of it or not?  Don’t care at this point. I’m adrift without moorings. What was Italy thinking?

I have hope Germany may help me. I have to wait and see.  My first thought here is to help Russia and Germany.  My second thought is to help France and force Italy to turn around away from me and towards Italy.

I thought that I would try the Bruce Springsteen gambit a second time, except this time, I would assign each person a character from The Godfather, Part 1, and see how that goes.  I play the role of Fredo.

I’ve been exposed as the dummy I am, and I wanted to make light of it.  Hey, he’s Fredo!  I was hoping someone would join with the dummy. No immediate replies to my press. So, I begged for some attention:

I was going through the various stages of grief.  I think I made my best move based on the information available, and it didn’t work out because France is a more superior player and had a better option, namely, going towards me.  

Italy must have made a deal with France or thought I was against France. Anyway, as Bill Murray said in Stripes, “And then, depression set in.”

I thought I would just tell everyone else that in my press entitled “The Paths of Glory Lead But To The Grave,” a line I saw in the movie Rushmore.

I’m not sure why I wrote this.  I told myself it was to see if I could get some help.  Except for Austria, I received no substantive responses, and Austria’s response was unhelpful.

Then Russia reached out and was angry, and justifiably so.  

I tried to explain myself, but it was flippant, and I told him I was moving against France, and he needed to bounce in Norway.  It turns out that it wasn’t smart, but it seemed decent at the time.  Lesson learned, never make a tactical suggestion without thinking it through.  Great, I’m learning more beginner lessons in the finals. How did I get here again?

Italy reached out to try and be friendly. I loathe him at this point, but as always, @Conq is a persuasive fellow.

He wants EG to happen so he can delay France killing him. I need it to happen for other reasons, namely, my survival. Diplomacy is a game of mutual interests.

I stare hard at the map. Do it with me:

Spring 1902

It’s like a scene out of a Hitchcock movie or something. I’m in a trance, and then I start to see some openings. I think I can sell EG to Germany and help against both Russia and France. I try to connect with Germany. He seemed game before, and I am hopeful for an alliance, so I send press to him to try and build trust.

I need Russia not to bounce in Norway, so I candidly message him.  

I tell him 100% the truth, except for the part where I lied.  Screw it, I’m not going to curl into a fetal position just to say I played an honorable game.  The problem is, Germany suddenly goes AWOL.  Crap.  I need to coordinate with Germany, and the dude is AWOL! 

Back to Russia, and he tells me he’s bouncing in Finland.

@Enriador is a commenter on Nexus’ Discord server, and publicly posts his strong opinions on the game for all to see, including the finalists.

Russia’s moves seem so odd.  Can I trust it?  Screw it, I’m going to try and be optimistic.  Sometimes good news is good news.  My press seemingly worked.  Now, what do I do with that?  I tell Germany.

Germany seems skeptical.

Then France conveniently presses me and says he’s working with Germany.

Is Germany really working with France?  This game is hard. 

Germany hints he’s in!  

Germany can totally screw me.  Will he?  I’m out of options, so I enter orders and hope for the best, and hope that France was right that I have “a lot of strong diplomatic credibility.”