Let me begin by thanking Mike Sims for acting as the GM for
this game.  There could be no game
without the selfless efforts of volunteer GMs. 
Thanks also to the other players for their participation.






As the Carthaginian player I initially felt that an alliance
with Rome was crucial to my long term survival. 
Mike Norton and I don???t always see eye to eye but we worked together
well in this game for an extended period. 
Mike and I decided to attempt to hold the eastern powers at bay while we
removed Gaul and Germania from the equation. 
While I initially had a good relationship with Egypt, his failure to maintain
anything resembling regular communications eventually undermined our ability to
cooperate effectively.


 



My arrangement with Rome was proceeding reasonably well
until Mike ran into personal difficulties and became semi-detached from the
game.  Since Germania and I had some ongoing
differences it looked like Macedonia and Persia would be able to sweep westward
across the map.







The turning point came I believe when Macedonia began to
grow too rapidly at Rome???s expense and triggered alarms in Persia.  A PCG arrangement arose to thwart Macedonia
and eventually a 3WD resulted.  Germania
survived but did not participate in the draw. 
This was probably the best result that Ross could have achieved under
the circumstances.






I think that the use of proxy orders had a significantly
negative impact on the game.  While Mike
was having difficulties I wrote Rome???s orders for several turns.  Having the responsibility for Rome???s fortunes
was a considerable drag on my flexibility but I did the best I could for Rome
until Mike reassumed the reins.  Later in
the game I understand that Christopher was writing Ross???s orders.  This assignment was passed to me making
solidifying the West against Matthew considerably easier.  Again I chose orders which maintained
Germania???s position as best I could.  I
do not like NMRs and the need for replacements in general as I think that it
gives an unfair advantage to those best positioned to take advantage of the
circumstances.  In my case the use of
proxy orders in this instance considerably reduced my interest in the contest.   Perhaps this was due to specific features of
this particular game but I would prefer to see proxying limited to a subset of
a power???s units, or limited in time, rather than being a substitute for having
to replace a player when necessary.






I wish you all well and look forward to seeing you again.



Lynn Mercer