Closing Curtains Fall 1905

Germany is all but finished and I've just got 2 more supply centers.

Germany actually has one supply center and one unit left. If he keeps the army alive in Ruhr, I'll be forced to destroy it and postpone my Russian attack for one more turn. It'd be nice if I could get in the Baring sea but that might be pushing my luck. I think the Russians are well aware of my plans at this time and I just need to get on with it. Fortunately, he cannot build any more units this turn. Even if he did get extra supply centers, all of his starting supply centers are with the enemy or have his own troops on them.

I've told the Italians I'm going to build an army on his border to make it look like it's an act of aggression but the way the Italians are going, I might want to make the most of their fragmentation and move in should the opportunity arise. If I stomp through his northern territories, I can tell him that they're not supply centers and that I'm merely moving them through to get to Russia and Austria. I'll seek forgiveness rather than permission.  I think I'll keep my Italian alliance but be opportunistic.

Worst Case Ontario Spring 1905

I think I can win this.

Last turn, neither Russia or Germany have moved. Which just leaves myself and England. I need a total of 18 supply centers for the solo victory and I've just taken 2 from France (despite England's fleet giving me grief).

I'm going to keep pushing in the Mid Atlantic area to move towards England but if Russia continues to stay put, I can nab 2 of his this turn for the final grab.

Although it would be sort of poetic if Russia and England teamed up at the 11th hour and prevented me from getting the 18th supply center (which he's perfectly capable of doing - I'm planning on taking Ankara and Romania). Even if they did, I'm positioned pretty nicely to take the solo, it just might take me a little longer.

I think I'm going to go back and double check the rules for the number of supply centers you need compared with the amount that I have and can take next turn!

Closing Curtains Spring 1905

I'm playing a balancing act at the moment.

After trading some interesting messages with both the Italians and the Russians, I've had to spin some very delicate tall tales. Russia, quite astutely realized that after Germany falls, I will only have 1 of 2 options to move next; either towards Italy or Russia. Germany is on the brink of collapse and he's worried that he's my next target.

I asked for his help into Munich (which he helped with) and into the Helgoland sea (which he was unable to help with) with the message sent to him that he would be the first country to actually send me active help, thereby confirming our relationship. He agreed and after the results came in, he sent me an angry message asking me what my plans are moving into the Norwegian sea. To him, it's almost an act of war. I have no reason to go north unless it's to attack him. I sent him the best BS I could come up with and will help him into Kiel next turn in the hopes that it will buy me a little more time before I make my move.

I think Italy is quite enjoying himself. I know he's getting frantic messages from Russia and calmer ones from myself, trying to reassure him that I'm no threat.

Honestly, Turkey and Austria are causing Russia and Italy enough grief to hold them off from conspiring against me.

Next turn, I'll be able to help Russia, hold Munich and march into Holland, thereby giving me an extra 2 supply centers. Germany will be non-existent and I'll be knocking on Russia's door.

Knock Knock Mike!

Worst Case Ontario Fall 1904

I didn't get quite as many from France as I wanted, only 1.

But if you remember from the last build phase, I had 1 left over so I'll still get to build 3 this turn. That'll leave me with only 4 supply centers from a solo victory. Before the next build, I should be able to take Marseilles and Spain and if I'm sneaky and don't get backstabbed before then, I could grab 2 from Russia.

This is the first turn that Russia didn't move. It's been over Christmas so I'm sure everyone is busy.

Worst Case Ontario Spring 1904

Another wrench thrown in the game: France surrendered.

Had I known that before I moved and finalized my troops, I would've played a little differently. I was overly cautious getting into position, hoping I could buy one more turn with France thinking I was friendly. Not that it matters too much, except now I have to try to work out where England is going instead of France.

I've also been telling Russia to go ahead and move towards England with full force and we'll clean him up. While I grab what I can of a dismembered France and getting into position against England, I have to remember to keep my Russian borders secure.

I'm thinking that I'll grab at least 2 French supply centers as well as the last Turkish one in Smyrna.

Closing Curtains Fall 1904

Well I didn't quite get what I wanted from Germany, but I've made a start.

Russia didn't support me into Munich so I bounced out of there but I did get to walk into Belgium as well as capture the last of the British Isles.

That means I'll get 2 new supply centers to build from and I figure as long as I'm not having to delete troops, I'm moving in the right direction.

Not heard from Russia yet, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he hadn't been online to help me get into Munich but at least now he's got to know that I'm on his side (at least for now). What I also like is that Germany and Austria are carving a hole in the Eastern Russian area so after Germany falls, Russia should fall pretty quickly after that.

Italy and I are on good terms which is good because we're close to getting a border in the middle of the map as well as our original one. I think he and I can go all the way if we play our cards right.

I'm going to try to leave my fleet in the North sea which acts as a really nice border between Russia and myself to make his backstabs more difficult.

My next steps are to coordinate some more specific attacks on Germany now that my cover is blown and now Russia should know that my intentions were true. But we have a full retreat and build phase before then and no orders are being processed on Christmas day so I have a few days.

Closing Curtains Spring 1904

England is just a sliver of Scotland away from defeat!

I received no help from Germany to get into the North sea after I'd asked him specifically but I ended up there anyway. And he finally trusted me enough to move away from my border - oh dear.

All this time, I've had messages from both Russia and Germany, both fairly aggressive. This one from Germany:

So that Army in Burgundy kind of shows that you don't trust me.Are we still working together?Or is your true alliance with Italy? 

To which I replied that I had nothing else to do with my France mainland troops and that it was him that didn't trust me! And I confirmed my alliance with Italy - no point denying it. And similarly, here's a message from Russia:

I must say however, your desire to move into the North Sea doubled with your multiple requests for me to move out of Norway troubles me. No doubt you'll tell me your intention is to move into Germany, however if Germany is supporting you into the North Sea it's quite clear you're telling him that you're planning to make a move against me into Scandinavia.

I've been feeding Russia information to help him take a few potshots at Germany and as it's turned out, he's managed 2 German supply centers! \That'll hopefully give Russia some piece of mind and help move the German troops in his direction leaving the backdoor open for me!

I also told Russia that I don't take kindly to threats!

Next turn, the attack is on. If I'm lucky and I've played my cards right, I'll take the last English supply center as well as 2 German ones.

Worst Case Ontario Fall 1903

I'm still moving very nicely and aggressively.

I'm right in the center of the map now in Munich, without any fear of attack (mostly) and I'm prepping the next phase of my campaign. I'm starting moving towards France with everything I have, leaving some near the remains of Germany for protection from the stab. 

England and France have been trading blows which can only help when I convince Russia to move on England (sorry Mike). 

I hope Russia still wants to work together and not backstab me. I still need his cooperation so that I can take the solo victory! I hope he wont mind :)

Closing Curtains Fall 1903

My plan to go nowhere and do nothing succeeded!

It was my first super-safe play I've made. I didn't know which direction England was going to attack in nor was I 100% on the rules for cutting support so I had half my troops hold and the other half support the troops that were holding. It seems very against the spirit of the game and against the way I've been playing up to this point but now that I'm playing in a game with 7 active people, you have to be a little more careful.

That I have (almost) singlehandedly removed one of my competitors and neighbors out of the game I think is a real accomplishment at this stage. 

Once I find out which of his units are being destroyed, I can then push into his final supply center.

At a quick glance around the map, it's looking like most other countries are loosing or gaining a single supply center and I'm actually in the lead with 7. So that's nice. 

I'm also going to try and get into the North sea next turn. When following the history tab, that area looks to have been a mess. England, Russia and Germany all bouncing off each other pretty continuously since the beginning of the game. I'm going to seek support from either Russia or Germany to guarantee getting up there. I haven't even decided which I'm going to ally with yet - not that it matters at this stage, they're both "allied" with me to some extent. Germany and I had the 5 supply centers for 5 supply centers deal at the beginning of the game (which hasn't come to fruition for him) and I've been feeding Russia information. 

Ironically, as they're both about as powerful as each other, I think I'm going to side with the weakest and that is in the most flux. I'm not sure either of them have many friends on the map so they'd both be happy for me as an ally. Neither of them seem to be making much ground either. Russia is fighting with Austria pretty decently and Germany seems to be at a standstill (I suppose he's waiting for me to help with the North). 

Closing Curtains Spring 1903

And after the spring move, I got my new supply center in Liverpool.

I got a panicked message from England and I sort of felt sorry for him! Poor little guy.

Drat and double drat.Well played. I was going to defend London but foolishly had a late change of mind. Doh!I don't suppose you want to retreat?

I replied, I figured it was the least I could do. I told him that unless he had any awesome plans then I'd reconsider but that I was guaranteed Liverpool so it wasn't worth retreating for me.

I also gave some inside information to Russia that Germany had his eyes set on Norway and Finland and that he expected me to help. It's sort of sowing seeds of chaos for the future.

So as I sailed into Liverpool, Russia snuck up and took Norway. That's sort of good for me. It means that after the Fall, England is going to be down to just one supply center and therefore just one unit. So rather than push the attack I decide to hold my units in place and support myself. I'm not 100% on the rules when breaking support so I'll stay in place and cling onto the supply centers I have.

Germany supported his own unit to hold on my border - I suppose it's a just-in-case I stab him move. Fair enough, he might need to do more of that later, after a turn or two.

Worst Case Ontario Spring 1903

We just had our first official surrender: Turkey. I suspected as much from either Austria or Turkey. It was always a matter of time.

Not that it changes the game very much. Russia and I can continue to gobble up the remaining supply centers and as long as I can take what I want whilst throwing Russia the occasional bone. I'll be happy (So much for our 50/50 split). He's asked for help into Ankara so I'll oblige this time. 

I took 2 more supply centers; Budapest and Constantinople with absolutely no fear of anyone moving against me this turn (except Austria but I doubt he'll show his face). If you look at the map, I have a really nice line of troops from Turkey up to the Alps. 

Russia is finally moving his troops south but it's to deal with Germany, not to make sure he gets some Austrian/Turkish supply centers. Again, perfectly fine by me. There's almost none left anyway.

France is moving north towards England in the Mid Atlantic and Germany is still fighting on both sides. 

With the state of the map and the fact that I'm in a very strong position my heart is starting to race a little now and I'm feeling the pressure to move fast. I've got really good momentum at the moment. I've decided that at this point, I need to move on France whilst he's blindsided and weak (not only is he attacking England, he's just been infiltrated by Germany). I've got a bunch of fleets that are now doing nothing in the south and I can spare a land army or two to move his direction. 

As well as all this, I've asked Russia to help me punch into Munich. I told Russia that unless he lets me take Munich, I'd be unable to help as I'd have no borders with Germany. Right or wrong, he's agreed to help.

In fact, my momentum is so good that I'm going to gain 4 supply centers if all goes well but be unable to build more than 3 units this turn (you can only build from your home supply centers of which there are 3). I'm also making sure that all my home supply centers are open so that I can build from them. That means breaking the Piedemont DMZ with France but I'll beg forgiveness afterwards. 

I'm really hoping that the remaining countries don't all ally against me. In my zero-experience opinion, their petty squabbles will be make it very difficult to allow them to gain each other's trust and coordinate against me. My only fear is Russia. If he turns on me, things will be very different. 

Closing Curtains Fall 1902

England was caught with his pants down:

I shot into London, Germany took Belgium, he pushed into the North Sea and I sailed into the Irish sea. England didn't gain any supply centers this turn and the fleet from Edinburgh didn't move to Clyde. As far as I can tell, there is nothing he can do about me taking Liverpool next turn.

I've had no messages from England yet although I'm not sure what good it'd do.

Closing Curtains Spring 1902

I was ready to make my move:

I sent another message to England, trying to reassure him that me being in the English channel was fine and that I'd strike at Germany next turn. Of course, I was secretly deciding how best to punch onto his little island.

Option 1: I could push my fleet into London and take it straight away. This could only be foiled by his North sea fleet also moving into London for protection - then the ruse definitely would be over and I'd have nothing to show for it.

Option 2: I could convoy my army over the English channel into London. This had 2 levels of disruption. He could move either into London or the English channel and I'd have nothing to show for it. But it would set me up nicely for the future. I'd have a ground unit in England.

As well as this, I'd move my Mid Atlantic fleet into the Irish sea. A turn later, I'd be able to sail straight into Liverpool with no problems.

In the end, I decided that I'd go for it. I'd do the convoy and push into the Irish sea. If my ruse held off and he still trusted me, I'd be golden. Within 2 turns I'd have 2/3 of England and he'd loose 2 units.

I also asked Germany to bounce into the North sea to help ease the transition.

Closing Curtains Fall 1901 Build

Here are my builds for 1901:

It was about this time that I got a slightly panicked message from England:

I am concerned with you amassing another fleet in Brest. This does not seam too the act of an ally. You are showing all signs of being in cahoots with Italy. I showed faith in you by building a fleet in Edinburgh and not London.

So I replied:

No need to worry. 
I am in "cahoots" with Italy, you're right, but very soon I'm going to make my move on Germany. Next turn, I'm expecting Tyrolia to fall to the Italians so he'll have a border with Germany too. 

I decided that if I fed him some specifics about Tyrolia falling, that'd mean that I had inside information and a bigger plan. And it'd make me sound more credible. I even sent a message to Italy saying that if England came asking questions, would he mind verifying my lie.

I also had plans to move to the English channel at this stage. We had never agreed on a DMZ there so I decided it was in my best interests not to ask permission.

To strengthen my lies even more. I asked permission from Germany to bounce into Belgium. I knew he could support himself and I'd be bounced away. He was more than happy to oblige!

Closing Curtains Fall 1901

And here's the Spain/Portugal double push I mentioned:

As you can see, both Italy and England are moving away from my direction so they trust me for the time being. That's good, the ruse is holding.

And I get 2 sweet sweet supply centers to add to my arsenal.

Closing Curtains Spring 1901

The usual land grab was underway.

Closing Curtains 1900

In my second game, the map starts off the same way.

Edit: Here's the list of players:
England: Wildman1000
France: pani
Italy: ViscountSlim
Germany: Timojen
Austria: tvenezia
Turkey: Cuffer70
Russia: Zaphox


As France, the land grab consists of taking Spain and Portugal. In the other game, I saw that France only took Spain in the first year and saved Portugal to take in the second year so he could use the same army.

I decided I'd go for it and commit two units to take them both in the first year. There's no point taking things slow in this game in my opinion.

As far as alliances, Italy and I decided to DMZ a bunch of zones in the south. That was fine by me, one less border to worry about is always good in this game.

Germany and I had some very interesting early game discussions. I proposed to him that Russia, Germany and myself should triple-team England. Just like in the other game with Turkey, England only has 3 directions to move and I'd rather it not be in mine. If I could arrange every single one of his borders against him, we'd have some juicy supply centers and one less border to worry about, not to mention new-found allies.

Russia (my friend Mike) was very non-committal.

Your prediction on my intent to head North is indeed correct, however I feel it's a little too early to commit to such belligerent plotting.
I do respect your foresight though, and am prepared to review the situation in the near future when I have a better grasp on the mettle of my European counterparts.

Personally, I think that it's never too early. You have to have a plan and follow through.

Germany on the other hand, liked the idea of an alliance but didn't want to share the wealth. He wanted to exclude the Russians and split 10 supply centers equally:

You and I can handle England.In fact, England, Spain, and Portugal are yours,... that is 5 centers.
I will take Belguim, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden,... That is 5 for me.

Sounded good to me. I had all the rewards with none of the risk. It would be Germany that had to worry about Russia's move on Denmark, Norway and Sweeden. If Germany could help me, I could take England out and then worry about Germany/Russia later on. Germany was actually trying to tell me that Austria would be a good ally. To me, Austria was no concern. If Germany wanted alliance with Austria then so be it. That'd at least help keep Russia off his back while he was helping me in the north.

In order to get England to trust me I sent him a message of alliance:

What'd you think to a 3 way alliance between you, me and Russia to wipe Germany off the map?

I wanted to let him know that he'd be part of my plan so that it'd help with the lies. He agreed but we shared very little specifics.

Worst Case Ontario Fall 1902 Build

I built another fleet in Naples and another army in Rome ready to march north.

All this time, Russia and I have been on really good terms. Ever since I proposed the Turkey invasion, we've exchanged lots of messages and our relationship has been really strong. I wonder if I'll back stab him? For the near future, he's my bud and I plan to go all the way with him. I think I have a little more momentum than he does at this stage.

Also, he asked that we split Austria and Turkey 50/50. I didn't really respond to that question. I'm willing to split, but not quite 50/50. I'm committing every single on of my troops in that direction, he's committing less than half of his and now he has the Germans in Warsaw to worry about. I didn't tell him though, don't want to sour the relationship with petty things like splitting. Besides, if I have more troops down there than he does, it's easier for me to take supply centers than him.

Worst Case Ontario Fall 1902

In the fall, I was able to move into Bulgaria without compromising Greece, again by supporting myself from the sea. I helped Russia move into Romania and bounced Vienna just to make sure Austria wasn't going to do anything to disrupt our plans.

As it turned out, this turn both Austria and Turkey was absent so we had little resistance.

I also moved my fleet into Tunisia to secure another supply center for the end of Fall. I have almost no contact with France still. Our DMZ in Piedemont is still holding and he's made no move in my direction so far.

The only other thing of importance this turn was that Germany marched into Warsaw. Cheeky bugger.
I sent him a message informing him of my displeasure and that he lied straight to me and this was his response:

Russia is too powerful and I am in the firing line in Scandinavia. Something had to be done.

Sounds like an act of desperation to me! It was a silly move in my opinion. Here you are, with both Italy and Russia, the two most powerful countries in the game so far asking for an alliance and he turns around and attacks one of us.

From watching the order history screen and his actions, I'm not sure he has any allies at this stage of the game.

Worst Case Ontario Spring 1902

I'd asked Russia to start to move south with his land armies and bump into Romania (Turkey) to prevent Turkey from stopping me getting into Serbia.

What's interesting here is that Austria came back alive for a turn and tried to get into Serbia whilst Turkey was the one AFK now. I was able to support my own army into Serbia from my Greece stronghold.

Russia was slightly nervous about attacking Turkey at this time because he was previously allied with him. I think after I'd given him the options and came up with a plan, I swayed him away from his "alliance".

Meanwhile, my Naples fleet moved into position to get Tunisia next turn.

Originally, I'd asked Germany to help with Russia and myself taking Austria and Turkey. He hadn't replied so I'd assumed he was not playing or had problems of his own to deal with. Once I saw him moving south, I sent him a message asking what he was going for and he informed me he was going for Vienna. That was fine by me, Russia and I purposely left it for him as a bargaining chip so he wouldn't attack either of us whilst we were campaigning southeast.

Worst Case Ontario Fall 1901

Turns out, my gamble paid off!

I ended up with both Triest and Greece giving me 5 supply centers for the build phase. Austria wasn't active this turn so I was a little conflicted. One hand I was pleased to gain them both, the other I was frustrated that some people had already dropped out.

It was about this time that I decided to start another game, one that was password protected and hopefully less prone to dropouts. See my Closing Curtains game for more information.

After this phase, I decided to build another fleet in Naples and another army in Venice.

Once I'd seen where and what other armies and fleets my opponents had built, I spotted that Turkey had built another fleet in Smyrna. The only reason he'd build another fleet rather than an army, was that he was coming in my direction. He had previously informed me that if I'd moved a fleet into the Eastern Mediterranean or the Aegean sea, it would have been an act of aggression. Now I'm starting to get a bit worried.

I sent a hasty message to Russia that included the following text:

If I'm right and Austria is first to fall, Turkey has either no border with Germany or a very small (1 country) border. With that in mind, we have a few different scenarios:

Turkey attacks me - I'd rather that not happen, at least not on his grounds. You'd probably play no part in it. 

Turkey attacks you - I'm sure you'd rather that not happen. I'd probably not be able to intervene in any way. 

We both hit turkey. I can keep my tentative alliance with the western powers for the time being, possibly even coaxing Germany to help us for a supply center. And we'd both benefit if you can keep England off your back. I might be able to help with that. 

Fortunately, he agreed to my proposal and the attack was on!

Worst Case Ontario Spring 1901

And here's what happened after the Spring:

Everyone just quite happily making their opening moves.

The first message I got from was Germany. He fed me some BS about not wanting me to attack Austria because it'd make him weaker. I fed him some BS back about stopping where I was and that I just wanted a central foothold.

I also sent some threatening messages to Austria asking him to stay out of Greece and that he could have Romania and Serbia.

In fact, right at tenth hour, I hadn't heard anything so I decided to hedge my bets. I decided to push into Trieste at the same time as Greece. I figured that if he wouldn't give me Greece, I'd try to take Trieste as compensation!

Worst Case Ontario 1900

Here's what every game of Diplomacy starts out like:

This is where you start the discussing and debating. Either publicly or privately.

The early game in diplomacy is basically a land grab, all countries running for the unclaimed territories.


England: Zaphox
France: Jlautigar
Italy: pani
Germany: jackmcginn
Austria: nubsauce
Turkey: kelenepp
Russia: funbobby


I wrote a message to everyone in the whole game with feeler messages trying to work out who I'd get the best response from at this early stage.

The first one that caught my eye was from France. I decided I didn't want to fight all 3 of my neighbors and had to make at least one ally. France said he was going to move into Germany and I thought I could help with that as well as make my move towards Greece (which starts with no owner).

As this was my first game, I didn't know that Greece is traditionally taken by Austria. I thought, if I could take that in the Fall, I could pick up Tunisia later on (which should always go to the Italians).

I also wanted to help France with Germany but in order to do so, I needed a border with Germany. I thought, rather than ask permission from Austria to march north, I'd seek forgiveness afterwards. Besides, it's not like Tyrolia had a supply center. :)

Overview

Diplomacy is a board game set in 1901 on the European stage. You play one of 7 factions referred to as England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia and Turkey. Each player controls a faction starting with either 3 or 4 units, armies (land units) and fleets (ocean going units).

Every unit in the game has a strength of 1 which means no unit is more powerful than another. In order to take over a new region, your unit must be supported by other units (either your own or willing neighbors) to increase your strength to greater than that of your opposition. Hence, the game is not a military simulation, it is purely a diplomatic game where alliances and backstabs are necessary for victory.

Game turns are played simultaneously with orders being resolved at the end of a predetermined time. Resolutions and conflicts are calculated at the end of each turn. Turns are divided into the Spring and Fall of each year.

In some of the regions, there are supply centers. For each supply center you control at the end of the Fall phase, you are allowed a unit. If your number of supply centers exceed that of the number of units you control, you can gain new units. If, on the other hand, the number of supply centers you control is less than the number of units you have, you must destroy excess units.

The object of the game is to control 18 supply centers.

I've just started playing 2 games of Diplomacy online called "Worst Case Ontario" as Italy and "Closing Curtains" as France and I'm going to document them both here.

For more information and rules, check out playdiplomacy.com.