The key to a good opening in Diplomacy is being able to read the players. Every game starts exactly the same way, with the exact same pieces in the exact same squares, so the only variable you have to work with is the players themselves. In some cases, there isn't much to it - Turkey is going to Bulgaria. But in other cases you have quite a bit of room to manipulate Spring '01 to your advantage. For this post, we'll look at Italy. Italy is a godsend to the savvy Austrian or Russian or Turk because while the minds of other powers might go in many different directions, almost every single Italian looks at the board and asks the same question. "Where am I going to get my fifth dot?" Ok, now what? For Italy, this can be a challenge. But for the three eastern powers in particular, it can give you the safest (not safe, necessarily, but safest) choice of an ally at least in the early game. Because you can pretty much be certain that as long as you can address that one ov...

New players can be exposed to convoys as early as Fall 1901, when England has a crack at Belgium or decides to take a more proactive stance in Scandinavia. Or Italy to Tunis. For many, convoys represent more of a hindrance than a help in this early stage, taking two units to move an army where it needs to go. Sure, it sounds  impressive that you can move an army from Saint Petersburg to Syria but when are you actually going to do it? The use of a convoy as a deceptive measure that most players will either use or at least read about is The Lepanto , with Italians convoying an army across the Med to zip into Turkey's rear. The threat of Sealion is probably one that is obvious to new players as well. There are a few convoy routes though that while perhaps less impressive than a successful Lepanto, are strong tactical decisions if the player is in a position to use them, and a beginner player should be aware of them: either to invade or to repel. These convoys have some or all of the f...

 Or rather, when you can trust your opponent to agree to a 1901 DMZ, and when do you just need to accept that you're going to have to bounce. As always, the game is called Diplomacy not Tactics  and there are always times when there are exceptions and exceptions to exceptions. As the game progresses, any province in the game can be negotiated between players as zones of no-entry or a strategic bounce. A bounce can be a genuine move to keep each other out, a defensive move of allies to protect a third province between them, or a show of 'hey let's pretend to fight so other people think we aren't bosom buddies.' Or any other reason. So for the sake of this article we will look at the most common 1901 zones of contention and what you can reasonably expect form it. Going from the Northwest corner and working clockwise and assuming that you genuinely want  the DMZ or bounce in question: 1. The English Channel The reason why you would both want it are obvious, but it'...

In my first post about France, I talked about the eleven French land territories that are of importance to a French player right out the gate for defending his national sovereignty. Thankfully, there aren't quite so many sea territories to deal with. Only four. It just so happens one of those four is worth about a dozen of the land ones. France - in all her starting glory. 1. English Channel New players starting as France will be drawn irresistibly to the Channel. On their own side, Fleet Brest. On the opposing side, Fleet London. The import of taking the Channel and the fear of losing it to Perfidious Albion is obvious. However, this is largely a fool's game, to the advantage of Germany. Having the English Channel is advantageous, certainly. But it is not a deathblow to the other player. It is usually just the sort of inconvenience that sends the wounded party into alliance with Germany. It also hinders both England and France from actually picking up dots in 1901 (another adv...

Ok, but what if Spring 1902 Turkey goes to EAS? I was going to do Part 2 of France today but I came across something in a game I'm currently playing that I thought would be good to address instead. New players after looking at the map are very likely to go online and look up articles or videos for 'Best Opening Moves'. I did it myself. Almost everyone I've introduced to the game that came back with interest claimed 'I went online and looked for some good ways to start.' It's perfectly normal. And very soon you see words like Lepanto  and Western Triple  and Juggernaut  and it's very easy to imagine yourself running a giant steamroller across Europe where your enemies flee in terror and everything goes exactly right. It's understandable and even advisable for new players to look at common opening moves and alliances. The classics are a classic for a reason. There is usually just one problem though: If you can find the moves readily available online, s...

For this post, we will quickly go over the fifteen territories that make up France and what they mean to you. Wait Vlad, what ? I count six. You, my friend, count wrong. France, circa 1901 (colourised) These are the 15 centers that you as the French player are concerned about in 1901. Breaching of these centers must be dealt with either tactically or diplomatically because loss of your control over them almost certainly means your doom. We'll begin with the obvious: 1. Paris Paris is one of your starting dots, the only landlocked one. In exchange for this limitation is the dot most capable of supporting the other two, as well as the only dot capable of defending anywhere along your main land frontier. I'd say its importance is easily understood by new players. It is also the most flexible dot early in the game. It can move to Picardy to guarantee an adjacency to Belgium in Fall 1901 and thus giving you some influence on Belgium's destiny. It can go to Burgundy for a more th...

Maybe a slight exaggeration. Maybe . Let's have a look at Trieste. Things a fleet can do in Trieste. Attack Venice Move to/Support Adriatic Move to/Support Albania Hold An Army can also do 1, 3, and 4. Adriatic is of niche importance as far as sea territories go, but moving there is at least something unique to fleets. I can count the times I've seen Trieste supports Adriatic on my pinkies. There are a few other things a fleet could do, like support someone else into Albania or support someone else into Venice, but the above four are your bread-and-butter. Now: fairly standard things an army can do in Trieste. Attack Venice Support Vienna to Tyrolia or Budapest Move to/Support Tyrolia Move to/Support Vienna Move to/Support Budapest Move to/Support Serbia Support Budapest to Vienna or Serbia Oh, and also move to Albania and Hold. So in short, not only is a fleet vastly inferior to an army, a fleet also has another negative consequence: a fleet in Trieste prevents an army being i...

This post is for new players who have read the rules, maybe played a game or two with equally new players. So you understand the moves and the look of the board, but the nuances of the value of certain spaces, the tempo of your moves, the probabilities of a move being taken... these things may be unclear to you. Disclaimer: In Diplomacy, there are always exceptions and exceptions to exceptions. This should be treated as a general  rule for beginner   to intermediate players , whose tactical ability is more-or-less divorced from their diplomatic skills. The first trap I'd like to talk about is one I've run into a few times recently (and many times before that!), is new players in England making a rush for St. Petersburg.  The usual culprit of this 'good idea' is France, although to be fair anyone on the eastern side of the board could be culpable. Or England could come up with it on his own, as from a beginner's perspective it does look like a decent move. So it'...