EoG by Russia: “War of Attrition”
A few months ago, Tru Ninja posted an interesting invitation on the forum in which he asked players to play with – I believe – TN’s friend or brother (Sanctified) and I thought that this could be an interesting opportunity to welcome a new player who didn’t know the game of Diplomacy, and kill him.
This was an extremely slow game (2 day/phase) so I’ll try the best to remember what I know about this game. It doesn’t deserve a very extensive discussion, because the beginning of the game was riddled with CDs and NMRs, but some elements can be discussed for the entertainment of the community.
S01, Making Friends
I made friends with England, Germany and Austria in the beginning and although I’d come to an agreement to bounce with Turkey in Bla, I believe it was only to delay the inevitable, that it would be with him that I’d go to war. He figured something was wrong and would stab me later, I didn’t stab him, but the price I set for friendship became too high for him to pay, and I had to make it so high, because the relationship with the other countries just became too good.
To England I immediately signalled that he could have Nwy, hoping for a southern orientation. England immediately agreed with that and did just that.
With Germany, I would develop a growing relationship all the way toward the midgame. Key to winning his trust was moving to Fin rather than Bot. I have read some analyses by players who think this is a bad move in S01 no matter how you look at it, but I beg to differ. Fin is simply a less aggressive field to Germany than Bot is, although very minimally so. It is the most pro-German move (beside holding) that the fleet in StP can make and I can recommend it to anyone, especially because it worked so well in establishing a relationship. Notice that in combination with Mos-StP, the move prohibits a convoy to Swe as well, which was something Sandgoose feared a bit (he’d seen that I’d done it once before in a game, clever Sandgoose).
I remembered Mr_rb from a forum post that I believed was in Dutch, and when I noticed he’d played with several Dutch players in one game, I immediately confronted him with this information, which made contact between our nations much easier. We quickly started detailed war planning against Turkey.
In the west, a French Fear alliance emerged that aggrevated France enormously. France being a natural ally to Russia, I decided to send him messages supplying some tactical and diplomatic advice, in particular to stay calm and nice to everyone and wait until the storm quieted down; which often happens during a French Fear alliance at some point.
A01, Chaos
I believe Austria stabbed Turkey here, he’d probably promised “Ser S Bul-Rum” but we’d come to an agreement on a different Balkan split, involving me taking Rum. England misordered, the fleet that was supposed to convoy Yor to Bel moved to Bel itself. I believe it was someone in TN’s family who wanted to tease him a bit by changing his move, but since the order essentially came down to an NMR, and I always punish pre-1903 NMRs* by destroying a player, I decided to try and destroy England all the same and my good relationship with Sandgoose led to a Russo-German offensive against England.
I decided to be 100% sure of Rum and bet my money on friendship with Austria, which probably inspired my decision to take it by fleet (taking Rum by fleet is considered pro-Austrian, since the fleet can’t progress into Austria; for the same reason it is deemed anti-Turkish, also because it allows facile takeover of the Black Sea).
1902, Naval control
I remember the diplomacy with England and Germany being extremely complex at this point, particularly because my opening didn’t account for the English NMR and I lacked units up north to be able to implement the strategy that I had devised due to this NMR.
I obtained Bla control and at this stage, Turkey began to disappear from the stage a bit. I believe he thought his fate was sealed in this game and NMR’ed a turn later.
The objective in the west is to obtain North Sea control for G/R by autumn.
In autumn, Austria stabs me. Afraid that the Turkish weakness would benefit mainly myself, he decides to take Rum. The Bla-Con move was intended to cut “Con S Bul h” so the Austrians could take it.
At this point, I decide that Austria and Turkey have to disappear from the game; Austria for stabbing me and Turkey for being non-communicative and finally CD’ing.
1903, Stabilization
Being stabbed by Austria, I’m trying to stabilize my empire. A new Turkey takes over, only to CD immediately, but most players agree we need to continue playing. There are protests, I believe led by France, but I first want to cut Austria, Turkey and England out of the game prior to drawing, all of them for some form of NMR’ing. Whatever my opinion was, Germany categorically refused any ending of the game. Also, I refuse to cancel, which I believe was the desire of one of the nations.
On the western front, I establish a definitive alliance with Germany through the following conversation; I had a feeling that Sandgoose was a player that on some level I would have some problems with, but also a player that I could make a connection with:
(To: Global, from Germany) - Spring, 1903: alright let's play it out.
(To: You, from Germany) - Spring, 1903: since we are playing this out. tell me a bit more of how you would like to continue or alliance.
(To: Germany, from you) - Spring, 1903: Strategy: PURE RAGE.
Tactics: DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE. DEAD BODIES ON THE STREETS.
(To: Germany, from you) - Spring, 1903: It's just a draft for now I think we should continue working on it.
Spring, 1903: haha, BALLS TO THEM!!!
That’s the spirit..!
The tactics on the English front are comprised of taking weak neutral zones (I think primarily Clyde) from which the SCs can be taken in autumn.
The tactics on the Austrian front are extremely complicated. I would be curious to hear the opinion of gunboaters to comment on my and Austrian tactics on this front in the period leading up to 1907.
1904, the Italian-Austrian war
England’s misorder in A01 crucially influences the French Fear alliance, since not only England now has me to take care of, but also Germany focused on his alliance with me rather than that with Italy. I would like to ask Germany and Italy to fill me in a little bit of what happened exactly during the break-up of the FF alliance.
At this point, a note must be made on Italy’s presence on the board. At first, I had some difficulty telling Italy and France apart, because of their names. “AverageWhiteBoy” and “thatonekid” somehow has a similar ring to it and if another player called “randomcaucasianmale” would have joined I’m sure I would have invaded the wrong country every now and then. But they were clearly distinct personalities (obviously; the fact that they have similar names doesn’t mean anything), but in fact, their whole attitude toward the game is different. France is pretty annoyed by the course of the game, whereas Italy seems not to be all too concerned with the CDs and NMRs, that clearly affected him very negatively. He seemed to be enjoying himself all the same, while realizing what was going on.
Realizing also that Austria would grow too large due to the Turkish CD, and that his war with France had become unproductive, he decided to sacrifice his position in Marseilles and radically move east. Of course, he has my full support, I’m still at war with Austria at this point.
1905-1906,The peak of the German-Russian alliance
The G/R alliance reaches peak performance during this period, but the problems start to emerge. I communicate differently than Germany does. Germany always acts in the spirit of our agreements, but not always to the letter. At times, whereas I act to the letter of what we agree, I move against the spirit.
Germany wants to work toward a two-way draw; I want to work toward a situation where we don’t stab each other, but simply declare war when one believes he has the momentum to go to eighteen, finding the ambition to work toward a two-way solo not only insufficiently ambitious, but also a little suspicious; why offer to work toward a two-way when a solo is feasible for both parties? This is a WTA game after all.
At the end of the game, I am convinced that Germany’s ambition to work toward a two-way was genuine all along and had been during the game.
Although we still collaborate intensively and successfully, it becomes clear that there are some tensions arising, but why waste a good opportunity to cooperate? The alliance was happy.
During this period, France essentially suicides himself, mainly to Germany’s advantage. See the destroys at the end of 1906 and his moves later how France would go about the acceleration of his (inevitable?) demise.
1907, Revenge
Ever since I’ve been stabbed by Austria, I’ve been planning revenge. To understand this, you have to understand that the character redhouse1938 is a fictitious character controlled by a real life person, whose personalities don’t necessarily align. I don’t think people would characterize this RL person as a very vengeful type, or perhaps they do, but redhouse1938 is an extremely vengeful character, who is beyond himself with rage whenever he’s stabbed.
Italy is in the plot, making him my game-long second ally. I made Austria a peace proposal in 1907, claiming tensions on the German-Russian boarder provoke me to find myself a new ally. Instead, I am seeking revenge for his stab against me earlier. The main elements of this stab are luring Austria deeper into Turkey, while going to Smy myself, and taking Bul and Rum simultaneously in spring, cutting mutual support holds. Finalizing with rigorous support holds and the recapturing of Ankara, the move cripples Austria definitively. @Austria, contrary to what you said during the game, this is A) how a stab should be performed and B) a perfectly appropriate response to you’re A02 stab.
1908, The German Stab
As I mentioned earlier, there were tensions in the German-Russian alliance. In an attempt to alleviate these tensions, I propose a tactical system to be performed in 1908 that exchanges Portugal, which I hold at that point, for Liverpool, in German possession. Germany disagrees with the proposal, but I persist, since I believe Portugal is too vulnerable an outpost for me to hold in case of a war between our two powers and I want to see the matter resolved in peacetime. Germany eventually agrees with the proposal, but stabs me all the same.
He later explains to me that it was particularly my disrespectful attitude toward him that provoked the stab. It is true that I persisted to this exchange somewhat aggressively and I may have been a bit condescending toward him, but I feel the stab was complexed by the other trouble in our alliance.
In retrospect, I stick to my opinion that it was an exchange that was vital for the equilibrium in our alliance, I also believe that Germany was so lucky to have France suicide that he could have just been nice to me and consent to a trade that perhaps he felt was not a proper course of action. But I should have played better my role as a supplicant.
1909-1910, Austria becomes a neutral power
In 1909 I resume negotiations with Austria. I try to convince him that Germany is obviously seeking the solo and we should stop him. Austria and me disagree about the game history a bit. My opinion is that we both stabbed each other once, and that nobody owes the other anything. Austria believes that the fact that I included Italy in the stab that I awarded him makes my stab crueller and unjust.
The final outcome is that Austria assumes a neutral position in the German-Russian conflict, waiting for the moment that hostile actions emanating from Austria don’t immediately backfire.
Since Germany took Venice in 1908, Italy is firmly on my side. We’d more or less agreed that during the crisis Greece would go to Italy and I would take Rumania, and that if my war against Austria went any further than that, Austria would suicide against me to give Germany the win. Greece would be transferred back to Austria when the Italian mainland was back intact.
1911, Italy determines the final outcome
In 1911, IT/R has one more center than G, with A neutral that should be winnable. An important element in this was the peace with Austria, that revolved crucially around the rapid recovery of Venice, so Greece could be transferred back to Austria.
My ambition at this point is a two way draw with Italy; or at least any draw with Italy in it, because the bad luck in the beginning of the game was not his fault and I was impressed by his character by the way he persisted and also because of his loyalty during our alliance. Italy’s ambition is – understandably – to draw at this point. I don’t manage to convince him of our military superiority or the fact that given my size, my ambitions for this game are more highly strung than his.
The one crucial move in S11 is Nap-Apu [Rom S] to assure Ven in Autumn and immediately allow the transfer of Greece back to Austria. Italy’s decision to support my fleet into TyS is fatal.
1912-1915, Endgame
I continue my efforts to protect Italy, but Austria and Germany make clear that they want Italy cut out of the draw, both somehow being engaged in a war with them. The funny thing is that Germany and me re-ally in certain areas, particularly along the “pre-game” Russian/German boarder we manage to make very well-functioning agreements to ensure that the conflict we have in different areas (I still lay claim to both Edi and Lvp, as well as Tun) doesn’t turn into a war of entanglement. At some point, Austria speaks very frankly to me that the downfall of Italy has become inevitable and that he insists on a three way draw. Tired of war, and hoping to include Italy in a draw, I keep my draw flag up.
Interestingly, Germany could have taken the solo, or at least performed a very dangerous attempt at it, during this period, but obviously his desire to draw with me is genuine. But he’s tired of war, so am I and so is Austria. The war bleeds to death in a three way draw immediately after Italy’s elimination.
Fin.
*This is due to a variety of reasons; I want my opponents to be fully competent, available for communication and predictable at least in the sense that I want them to maximize their gains in the game. Also, when a country NMRs it can become the target for other countries and I’d better beat them to the takeover, so whatever reasons countries that NMR/CD provide in the early stage of the game to defend or apologize for their moves, I generally adapt my strategy to take their centers.