By my estimation I have played on 79 of the 100 or so maps available. Most i like and some I don't and a few i simply cannot fathom. i doubt there were 20 when I started so congrats to the people who take the time to produce the maps. I dont undertand what/why/how you do it but it certainly keeps the site evolving and different. (Note to self: never smoke a spliff before playing waterloo,battle for iraq or bamboo jack again
)The dice - I have never tried the mind bending analysis that some have, in fact my brain gets full after reading the first line of their posts. I have come to the conclusion that I have streaks of good and bad bones, sort of like surfing on a sine curve although it seems I fall off the board and get stuck at the bottom for protracted periods. I suspect that it evens out in the end but a small factor biasing the dice to the negative is purposely introduced to the simulation to keep the forum ticking over
It seems that chatting during games has slowly gone out of vogue and this is a change for the worse imo. The game loses something without the interaction through chat though it is certainly true that silence is golden with some players!
I have stayed more or less around 2000 for most of my time here and belive that is a fair approximation of my proficiency. For quite a while I playd almost exclusively in private games such as 2000+. While this provides a very good challenge with players of similar skill levels I did get mighty weary of various luminaries in these games castigating others for not playing the game the way they think it should be played. Woe betide anyone who tries something a little unorthodox, takes someones 3 when a 1 was on offer, or the capital crime - attempt to take someone out and fail at the gravy stroke.....I now generally play in public games and sure, sometimes some pretty random and 'inventive' strategies are employed but these games are never predictable!!
On that note there is certainly something that is disppearing at a rapid rate of knots - the idea of encouraging and assiting new players to the game. When I started I well remember being assisted by higher ranked players and being 'gently' advised if i had made a shite move. I suspect that the ever growing quest for medals, points and to appear on one of the 'Lists' in the forum has come at the expense of a little nuturing here and there
. It must be a little daunting at times for the inexperienced player on this site when they come up against a rampaging, record seeking, medal chasing, noob farming group of ranking players in a quads match 
I believe that at 25 bucks (or whatever it is now given the sub prime crisis and the price of a beer) the site represents excellent value - cant buy a risk board for that! While I do not follow the forums too much or understand what the latest crisis is within the adminitsration or the community, I believe that the site is well run and the changes and upgrades generally add to the experience. Unfortunately I also believe that the site is repsonsible for a significant drop in my productivity and in that respect represents very poor value
At times I been borderline obsessive and others just about chucked it in - though I keep coming back for more
. Here in NZ where there are only 5 people per square mile it is a great way to play a game when people aren't around (when you are by yourself sheep are good for some things but are hopeless at board games)!"Hard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver. Situation excellent. I am attacking." Ferdinand Foch
"No plan survives contact with the enemy."
Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke
