I’m unsure what to say. Extensive absences are going to be an issue no matter what.
The best case scenario, the nation is at war and has an ally that can take control for a while. In those cases I would see that as a pretty organic adjustment.
Also, maybe a list of “trigger events” where caution and trying to get input from the absent player would be decided. The most obvious being “being declared war to by a major power”
I do think having a main secondary controller in those cases would be better than choosing different players each decision. We are bound to have allies we are reasonable confident in pretty soon.
Agree with your first solution re: Allies, but an Alliance that solid is frequently the exception, not the rule, and all Alliances aren’t the same. Some Allies might not want their Allies to handle their affairs at some points in the game. And it certainly doesn’t cover Political decisions. In my experience the mod, not another player, is the “go to” in such circumstances. He doesn’t have a “dog in the fight”.
Your second idea, is a good one and the sort of Guidance I’d need to handle a Political Phase for someone.
In any case minimizing the impact of absences is exactly the point of discussion. And it can be done, if we’re prepared and have an idea of the options.
I think of the moderator as a game master. I need to trust it’s judgement to jump in and keep the game going if/when a player gets hit by RL. Otherwise what’s the point? Let’s switch to computer based EiA, it’s more convenient if less interesting.
I played VGA Planets and Middle Earth PBM for years and auto host turns usually trashed games… An impartial human should (will do) a better job, as Allies will naturally be inclined to minimize their own losses (I have seen thus happening time and again).
My intent is to make sure no one feels they ever need to drop out if (when?) RL arrives, unless they really feel they can’t handle things at that point. You gentlemen are a really fantastic group of players who have really jumped in and are truly invested in our venture. Not all games are so lucky. I mean this. You guys make this a joy to moderate.
The key is advance communication/warning about the more mundane RL instances that will come up, and doing some basic coordination. Most things can be worked through, most things aren’t insurmountable.
As the remainder of the Prussian Army gathered at Kustrin, the air was heavy with dread. The Kaiser sulked in his tent, a painting of Frederick the Great that had been saved from the Capital turned against the wall. The General Staff counted heads, and realized that even with the arrival of Mack and the Saxons from the south and IV Corps from the East, the odds would be against them. This knowledge, no one could later say how, spread like the plague through the camp. Magdeburg still held out, but for how long?
At last, after a long night of drinking, or prayer, (the rumors were inconsistent), Frederick Wilhelm III emerged from his tent, pale as if he’d seen a ghost (and popular legend later had it that Frederick II had come back from the grave to chastise his nephew.) As he strode into the General Staff tent, dozing officers and those hunched over their maps alike scrambled to attention, but he waved them off.
“Mein Herren,” he said, “There is nothing left for me to do but go and see General Bonaparte, and I would rather die a thousand deaths.” Then he rode off into the grey dawn, hat in hand, to surrender.
Prussia’s moves submitted, One depot bought and placed in Kustrin.
Prussia pays 1 for the depot, 6 for supplying all corps, and rolls a 6 for the besieged forces, losing four infantry factors
The Prussian and Austrian Land Phases occur simultaneously, however we shall approach each in succession.
As noted above, Prussia acquires a depot in Kustrin and supplies all Corps, except the Saxon Corps which “Autoforages” in Dresden (as it does not move, and is in a Home Territory, Father Winter does not impact it). However, as also noted, the Magdeburg Garrison suffers terribly from Massena’s Siege and suffers 4 losses.
Prussia’s final dispositions: no battles initiated.
Archduke Charles surveys Munich from nearby, cursing the utter flatness of the landscape. He notes the rubble still remaining from the Elector’s demolition of the medieval fortifications some 15 years prior. The general state of the lines of troops and his intelligence reports from his scouts lead him to believe that the Elector has been lax with provisions and cannot even muster a full garrison of the city. Charles must take this opportunity to assault the city. He has already crossed the Isar with his army well north of the city and attacks from the north, near Dachau.
Erherzog Carl has the Siege Artillery brought up and the Pionier begin digging lines of circumvallation. An aide, a Hauptmann Zimmermann from the Erherzog 's Staff, approaches a forward post of the Bavarian Lines, bearing a message for The Elector. He is escorted into the city and presents a message to His Highness (@Juan_Raigada).:
To prevent a needless effusion of fraternal German blood and spare the inhabitants, burghers and beauty of the city of München the horrors and brutalities an assault would surely visit upon it, I call on you to surrender with full Honors of War.
Erzherzog Carl Ludwig Johann Joseph Laurentius von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen (@Matt_W)
Spanish (@Mark_Weston) Moves are below. General Joaquin Blake leads El Ejército de Extremadura south to Cadiz. General Francisco Javier Castaños leads El Ejército de Africa across El Estrechos de Gibraltar into Tangiers, where the Moroccan Corps, led by Liwaa El-Jaysh Abdenabi Benchehda, is advised by the Ottomans (@Panzeh). Turkey, in or out at Tangiers?
General Castaños (@Mark_Weston), the Ottoman Adviser (@Panzeh) indicates that upon their consultations with Ṣāḥib al-JalālahMulay Slimane, Sultan of El-Maghreb, he has ordered Liwaa El-Jaysh Abdenabi Benchehda to withdraw his Amry behind the walls of the capital, Tangiers.