Diplomacy - CDZ game #1 - OPEN TOPIC

[Socrates]

This topic will be my spoiler for our 1st CDZ game of Diplomacy. I will make it closed until the end, because I don't want to hear anything from lurkers. ;)

THIS TOPIC IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS UNTIL GAME'S COMPLETION OR UNTIL YOU'RE GAME OVER : anarres, col, Beam, Melifluous, tunerica and Stapel (now : LouLong and Toasty). I don't know if we want backup players just in case, but if you happen to have read at least one word from this topic (except this post, of course), then you aren't allowed to replace a player in this game. Also, what you read here doesn't get out of here : lurkers mustn't report my spoiler to other players.

I hope I can count on everyone's reliability. Diplomacy requires carefulness, and can quickly collapse if someone fails to this.

Enough with this warning, let's the fun begin !!! [goodjob]

[Socrates]

Time to unveil my plans !!!

This is the 1st game of Diplomacy I've started playing for years. Glad to be here today. I'm playing as the French, as wanted ; I really wanted to play this nation, as I was born there, and because it is a very interesting one in terms of gameplay. There are a lot of options for the opening moves, and this is what I'm looking for. The French start the game with one fleet in Brest, one army in Paris and one army in Marseilles. The direct neighbours are Great-Britain, Germany and Italy, though the other three nations (Russia, Austria and Turkey) can be interesting to deal with from the beginning.

Well, to say the least, I considered many options, thanks to my reading on the Internet. I could sum it up by saying that I spoke a lot to everyone, putting my trust in some players more than in other players. I also consider not getting 3 centers by the end of the year, but rather gaining "diplomatic points" instead. I tried not to unveil all my plans, to keep them quite blurred to everyone, while still promising stuff (maybe too much for a first turn ?) to some players.

The first thing I negociated was a solid friendship with Kaiser col of Germany, should I even call it a rising alliance ? The plan is to ally against King anarres of England, but not to rush towards him ; we first need to secure some centers. col even told me what he was going to do : moving his fleet to Denmark, and his two armies to Kiel and Ruhr. The deal is to share possessions : Holland for him, Belgium for me, as he promised me some help for that last country. col expects my fleet to go to the Atlantic, I hope he's not thinking of anything... Burgundy is supposed to be neutral, and this very arrangement will confirm if I can count on him or not. In fact my gameplan is based on a strong German friendship.

Then I negociated the English Channel to be neutral as well. anarres doesn't seem to be confident in both col and me, and so seems to be afraid of me getting to the Channel. I hope that he won't try a "standoff" there just in case, cause it could end our friendly relationship, as I eventually don't plan to go north. He really wanted to get to Belgium, but I strongly refused to give him any support there... since I want the damn country for myself !! He tried to persuade me that this was his only chance to fight Germany with me as ally, but I didn't agree. I want him to move to Scandinavia. In fact, anarres's orders for the whole year are the most uncertain to me, so I can just hope he won't fool both of us by trying something risky.

I had some good negociations with Emperor tunerica of Austria. I convinced him that not worrying about Italy was suicidal in the long term. So I "got" him to move towards Italy : his army in Vienna will move to the Alps, so as to surround Venice, while his fleet in Trieste will hold or attack Venice. The army in Budapest will surely go to Serbia. If I ever happen to move to Piedmont (which I promised), we may have three armies around Venice, in front of only two Italian units. So that would lead to me supporting Austria to Venice. Italy will surely go after Austria, in Trieste, right ? Well one is never sure...

Italy. King Melifluous was very worried about Austria and me attacking him, but I assured him of my friendship. I persuaded him that Austria will surely do something about a possible Italian action, and so may try a "defensive" attack against Italy. Melifluous even thought of an Austrian three-unit attack (Adriatic, Alps, Trieste) !! I told him it was very risky and therefore unlikely. So I arranged a standoff in Piedmont, so as to fool tunerica. With only two armies around Venice, the lovers' city should not fall in the fall (!). In fact I'm trying to get advantage of both Italians and Austrians, since they are natural foes.

About Turks and Russians I have less to say, since we're not much concerned of one another yet. And so I really don't know what they both are up to. We had a chat with Tsar Beam and Emperor tunerica about allying against Germany ; the point was trying to get to Munich. tunerica will probably go to the Alps this turn, threatening Munich, which I'm half pleased with, since then col will lack power in the north to support me. I'll have to convince col that tunerica shouldn't take any risk of having two enemies in the west, and that he'd be a fool by attacking Munich. By convincing tunerica that col, as an experienced player, will defend Munich, I can count on col's support. Anyway, tunerica lone army in Germany won't have much future.

Sultan Stapel can do anything. I'm not sure yet of what I "want" him to do. The Black Sea is an interesting subject, but I'd rather see what happens first before having a "say" in eastern negociations.

So here we are ! Negociations took place for 3 evenings in a row and were very tiring (all the more since I'm the game master). But all in all, I must say that I'm very pleased with those first negociations ! I really felt like the French Diplomat, claiming a point of view in every power's business. Maybe I did too much, maybe I did an excellent job. In any case, there is nothing you can do to prevent several players from going after you. So my plan relies on a German alliance, and England's neutral state. I don't want to get three builds by winter, but I don't want to gain only one. Two more armies (say "fleet" !) could be good. In fact, I even want to "test" my German alliance by guessing on their support in Belgium : should they fail to help me (if I'm sure England won't try a foolish action there), then it will be clear that they fooled me, and a "Sealion-like opening" would be questionable. The thing is : what to do with my fleet ? I'd like it to be in action as soon as spring 1902, and so getting to Portugal might not be the ideal solution. Now, if I can't get Belgium, I would be left with only one fleet to build... or maybe one army in Paris, so as to show the Germans that they should not fool with me !!! I can only hope my opening moves will please both the Germans and the English.

And so, after some good thinking, I came with this :

F BRE - MID
A MAR - PIE
A PAR - PIC

No move to the Channel, no army in Burgundy, and the arranged standoff in Piedmont. What if Italy forgets this tricky move in Piedmont ? Well then they should praise whatever God ! The standoff will hopefully provide a build in Spain. I would have liked the fleet to go to Belgium, so as to support Germany into the North Sea (the counterpart to their help), but I can't be everywhere. col himself is thinking that my fleet will go into the Atlantic, so we're not in a hurry to conquer Perfidious Albion. I think that an army in Belgium will be a good protection against the army in Ruhr.

From this position, I can count on three builds, but I'd rather have only two. A treacherous move from col and an amnesic Italy will lead my fleet to Portugal which isn't strong. Better not thinking about it more...

The results soon to come...

[Socrates]

AFTER SPRING 1901 - BEFORE FALL 1901

This time I have less to write. First, a lot has been said during the previous turn. And second, Melifluous has apparently not shown up during the entire week, so I didn't have the chance to speak to him. I really wanted to speak to him, so I sent him an email, but I got no reply.

What about last turn ? Well, to sum it up, "goodie goodie" in the north, "what's the fuck ?" in the south.

The north. Everything went according to plan with Kaiser col, he did exactly what he said : rush to the north and west (without threatening me). As for King anarres, we had agreed on not entering the Channel, and that was respected by both of us. So far, so good. He sent his fleet towards Scandinavia, quite a usual opening. Tsar Beam already seems in trouble, as he probably won't push much to Scandinavia. col is already in position to deny him Sweden...

The south. First treacherous move from Melifluous !! :D He didn't go for our friendly standoff, that was supposed to trick other players. Instead he happily (or not ?) attacked Trieste, without succeeding. In the meantime, Emperor tunerica also didn't listen to me, but that may be of less importance. I wanted to support him to Venice (what I said), but the standoff didn't happen, and so I really could have been of help there (I think I would have supported his army from Tyrolia to Venice, since it would have been a 3 to 2). Maybe both Italy and Austria discovered my plan by telling their chatting with me to each other ? Anyway my army in Piedmont finds itself a little silly now, all the more with the Italian army that was intelligent enough to move to Tuscany. The Balkans are already in the storm, as Turkey seems to go after Russia only. I'm not sure that moving to Rumania was a nice move from Beam, this move isn't often successfull, all the more with no support from either Turkey and Austria... And Russia seems to get into war with both !!!



Now that Melifluous has "invited" me in Piedmont, I can't count on a build in both Spain and Portugal ; I didn't want both at any price, but now I have to use my fleet to take one of the two. This means an offense on England will be delayed, but col doesn't seem to be in a hurry, so... I don't really care. ;)

tunerica and I agreed to attack Venice this turn : given the tactical situation, I have the most chance to capture the city, so it was decided that I would attack it from Piedmont, with his support from Trieste. It's a bit odd, but it might work. tunerica seems to deal in the east, and so I told him that, with me in the west (and not Italy), he would be safe on a whole side from any attack, which he seemed to be pleased with. So as to work, Melifluous mustn't attack Piedmont with Tuscany's support, or just hold with Tuscany's support too. This will lead to a stalled situation. But if he attacks Trieste from Venice, or Piedmont from Tuscany, then the city is lost. :) And I get a build in Marseilles.

In the north, col started to believe I wasn't his real friend, and said he wanted to wait a little more, before committing dastardly moves. I asked his support for Belgium, so as we could then attack England, but he wasn't sure at all ! He thought I was up to something with anarres !! [eek] Maybe he should have spied on us, because relationships with England aren't easy at all. We agreed on leaving the Channel for this turn once again, but other than that, we are in quite bad terms. I claimed Belgium as my own, but that didn't seem to please him at all. col is afraid of being blocked in Holland, but I'm really doubtful that anarres will bounce in Holland. I think he counts on col's support too... On the whole, the north is uncertain, and none of the three seems to know which to trust. The south already seems clearer. :D [estwing]

What I clearly want to do is to show my friendly intentions to col ; even if I happen to get 3 builds this turns (which is quite unlikely and not the goal anyway), I think it could be best not to build an army in Paris... But I might also get 1 build only... And I made up my mind on Spain, south coast, so as not to piss off anarres more. Portugal will wait, too bad, but I'll have more units on the offense sooner. My orders :
F MID - SPAsc
A PIC - BEL
A PIE - VEN

[Socrates]

A little note to say that, due to admin difficulties (Beam's replacement by Toasty, but more importantly : Melifluous's silence (eventually replaced by LouLong)) and ingame difficulties (being fucked by both col and anarres), I'm much less keen to talk about this game.

Right now, after 4 turns (2 years), I'm left with 5 regions, which means 5 units. col's Germany is blitzing through my lands, with the help of anarres's England. I have never lied to any of them, and now I deserve destruction. Germany's position is over dominant for just 4 turns of game ; I can't believe that no one saw how powerful col is now (7 regions/units, blitzing through France with English benediction, and having almost nothing to fear from the east and south sides). Only a massive alliance against him can beat that power on the long term. But I doubt this alliance can be set up. Ever.

As for me, I can only go hedgehog, and if anarres and col still cooperate this year, I'm dead. My position is almost desperate, but I promised to let anarres have a hard time beating me, so he understands that he made a wrong move. Maybe he'll get the idea that he should betray col with my help, but it's rather unlikely. Poor anarres really believes he can have his shares of French possessions. If he gets them soon anyway, I'll show respect, because I can't see what he can do with 3 fleets and 1 army right now... while I have fleets mainly...

[Socrates]

Well, you can see in that stickied topic in the Diplo forum how it is going. After some good turns for me, where I slowly began to push back English and Germans (they messed up a bit too), I eventually made a big mistake this turn (fall 1904). I'm damn frustrated to have made it, but I think it just lies in one sentence : I was too greedy where I should have been humble. Basically I took some risk to whip myself, so as to suddenly get bigger, but I should have played safe moves and gain only 1 unit. Now I don't gain any new unit (though I spent endless time thinking of how I would gain it !!), and England is in Brest, and is waiting for 2 more units !!!

Diplomatically, relationships between England and me have always been lame, each one trying to fool his opponent. I'm still learning : next time I won't make such promises at a time where I'm just able to capture my opponent's center (Liverpool). col knows that, and has never promised anything while attacking me. And of course I played too much complicated moves, where anarres just went for the target (Brest, followed by the English Channel (and I had thought of denying him the Channel for his fleet in the North Sea !!)).

All in all, a great lesson of in game self control for me. That makes me think that I do such mistakes too in Civ : I usually end up attacking AI cities with too few units, just because I think that I lose power when I delay my attack, and that I should always search for the optimum investment (here, just as many units as required, but it's never safe then !!). Man, I need some better strategic playstyle.

[Socrates]

(after spring 1905)

[goodjob] This turn met my expectations at last ! :) col and I eventually agreed on a general plan. Stapel's offensive looks too much of a cakewalk, and now it's high time we did something about it. col wants to do whatever is possible to stop Stapel in the east. On the other hand, anarres stabbed him last turn and threatens him in Scandinavia, and 2 fleets in London and Edinburgh can't be anti-French for all time. Seeing he was unable to break through France, even with anarres's support, col decided to ally with me now, and so we're now working on pushing anarres back.

Besides this, the war between anarres and me is now total. [fdevil] Trust between both of us is near the zero point, and it's not even question about negociations. Anyway I don't want to talk to him ; I feel far better with col as my ally, and I have a real opportunity to fight England decently. If only I could be on good terms with col for a few turns... On the battle field, after much hesitation, I went for what I thought was an optimized set of orders. Knowing what anarres would do was still hard to find out, but I eventually got some hints via col (who was supposed to be anarres's friend this turn). So I didn't want anarres to go to the Mid-Atlantic, therefore my set :
F GAS - MID
F PIC - ENG
A PAR - BRE
which allowed me to save the Mid-Atlantic from anarres. There was no hurry to take Brest this turn, ans so anarres defending it was all in all a waste of resources, and with an army now in Gascony, I'm in a nice position to do what I wanted to do this year : capture Brest and keep Liverpool. I think there was a way to lose Liverpool whatever I would do, but anarres obviously didn't make it its primary target, and now only 1 unit is next to the city of the Beatles. Basically, English units are once again forced to work seperately, which will greatly ease my moves. [estwing]

Looking forward to next turn !!! [estwing] [estwing] [estwing]

[Socrates]

(after winter 1905)

I reached my goals last turn. :) I was able to hold Liverpool and get Brest back without much difficulty. col was able to get both Sweden and Norway. But the damn thing is that anarres was able to flee to both Berlin and Belgium. [}:)] So he only lost one fleet, fortunately he disbanded one near my units. I eventually got a 6th unit (never too late !) : an army in Paris, the reward for so many difficult turns.

The goal this year is clear : continue to attack anarres only, with col as a desired ally. I want us to quickly finish him off, so as we can prepare to fight and stop the Turks, who are now opening a very dangerous front in south Italy. Fortunately Stapel didn't do as well in Central Europe.

[Socrates]

(after winter 1906)

This year was overall a good year for me, maybe the best one ever. My alliance with Kaiser col is doing well, and so we're crushing King anarres of England in no time. Unfortunately, col made what appears to be a mistake, and so anarres was able to have 2 units at home by the end of the year. This will delay my offensive on England, and so my forces will take longer to fight the Turks in the long term. But how nice to get both Belgium and Edinburgh, without losing any other center ! :)

Meanwhile in the east, the most important news is the Turk blitz to Italy, due to Italy's mistakes and Turkey's cunning plans. I need to get to the Mediterranean as soon as possible, and that's what I've started to do, with one fleet going to the West Mediterranean and one fleet built in Marseilles.

Other events included Austria fighting back, and Russia being still alive in Rumania. The longer those 2 countries live, the more Turkey will be delayed. So, even though Turkey won a center this year, they certainly didn't make a huge leap towards victory. This statement is very true if col and I continue to share the same goal (stop the Turks) and carry on our alliance.

Next year might see the end of England, but that's not sure at all. It will be a tricky goal to reach. My aim is clear : have good terms with col to get rid of England, whatever the price, and to help Italy recover from the Turkish attack.

[Socrates]

Well I didn't win this one though I hoped to. I guess updating Diplo spoilers isn't very funny, all the more as I closed it. [ponder] Any idea for a better thread next time ?

[anarres]

This was a great read krys, and I will be keeping my own spoiler next time. :)

If there were anything to improve it would be the pic from the results thread to make it easier to read.