Sorry for breaking the rules above (or not, not sure...) but you say the students can't post and the community can, or do I get this wrong? Why not?

The students have TA's to answer their questions. The rest of the community does not. As professors we are going to try to offer commentary without directing your moves and answering any of your questions would probably influence your moves. Strat made sure to get you guys good TA's so I don't think you'll be able to stump them with any questions. Just to be clear, while the rest of the community can ask a question we may not necessarily answer it. Especially if it's something like "Do you think Turkey should do XXX this turn?". The point of this game is to teach you guys how to play, not to have us play for you ;)

Feel free to help bump this thread though and good luck!

I look forward to co-profing with you jmo! I'll post something brief about the way I think about the game in general some time tomorrow.

But could the students ask general questions?
It can't hurt if you only answer when it's a good question...

Nope, that's what your TA's are for. You have a personal TA sitting at your beck and call to answer questions and to help you figure out strategy or anything you don't understand, take advantage of them!

Agreed uclabb, this should be fun!

yes but i mean if here is for example a discussion or something, could i give my opinion for example? (which will probably end with "right?" or something which makes it a question...)

Besides bumping this thread students are not allowed to post on this thread at all until the game is over, there is some problem reaching your TA, or if the players need to discuss a pause.

ok, then, let's shut up then :)

So I was going to write some treatise or whatever, but I have written enough about diplomacy tonight because of an EOG and I want to go to sleep, so I will just say three things:

1. A lot of diplomacy (and really all games) is making its mini-crises happen at the right time. You want someone to become a solo threat right when you are in position to cross the stalemate line so that you can play along with a stop the leader alliance for an extra year before your solo attempt becomes obvious. You want players that are "two people" away from you to be on the ropes when you are setting up a stab of the person between you two so that they are out of position and you get all of the centers for yourself. And so on. The deception in diplomacy isn't as much about deceiving people directly (although a good stab always helps) as it is about controlling their pace so that events happen at the right time for your development.

2. People don't like to lie or be lied to. Ask direct questions. Especially when you are playing with people who like to try to keep everyone on their side as long as possible, by asking direct questions their dance to try to keep everyone happy has to include what you want. Similarly, if you want to work with someone, be direct in your response. Be clear that you are on their side.

3. Always keep in mind what would happen if everyone stopped talking and just started playing gunboat, or if the board position was plugged into a computer and the rest of the game was played by an AI. That should help you evaluate your position and see what steps you need to take (whether that is creating DMZs or attacking another power) in order to secure yourself a shot at the best possible result.

... That was originally supposed to be one thing, then I changed it to two, then three, and all of a sudden it wasn't that short :-P

:), bit late though, diplomacy is pretty done by now for the first round...

i'm not complaining though...
and now i remember i'm not allowed to post here...
sorry guys...

Bump. Is the commentary provided every turn or every year?

Without being specific, there were a couple interesting moves and it will be interesting to see how they play out.

Technically it's every year, but I'm going to try and get something up for you guys in a few hours. Me and uclabb will try and alternate and get something up each turn and maybe on some of the more interesting build/retreat phases later on.

I'm just going to start off with a quick excerpt for each country. Since I can't read your messages I won't get an idea of what agreements were made/broken till the fall moves go through.

England- You seem to be in very good position right now, Russia went south leaving you worry free in Norway, and you managed to negotiate for a clear English channel. The French/German bounce in Burgundy gives you considerable negotiating power as to the future owner of Belgium. You have a lot of options right now, make sure you work with your TA to take advantage of them.

France- Again, a nice set of opening moves. With a clear English Channel you should be able to take Spain and Portugal this year without any problem, and your army in Pic leaves you in a good position to influence Belgium's ownership. Your relations with Italy also appear strong so you have an all around solid position right now.

Germany- Out of the 3 western countries you're opening leaves you in the toughest spot. I'm assuming you didn't move to Denmark to appease Russia, and while it may gain you an ally it could also prove costly, especially if that bounce in Burgundy was not pre-arranged with France. Right now you only have 1 guaranteed build coming so try and secure that second one this turn.

Russia- The lack of a German unit in Denmark makes your life considerably easier in the north but the Austrian move to Rumania is going to make the south quite difficult for you. Your situation right now is about average for Russia IF you agreed upon the bounce in Galicia and the bounce in the Black Sea, but if either of those we not pre arranged you need to find a way to get a southern ally, and quickly.

Italy- There's not much to say right now, a typical Italian opening, allowing you to sit patiently and see how Russia, Turkey, and Austria open before making your decision. Make sure to pick your TA's brain on those bounces and the atypical Austrian opening because they are going to be key to picking your alliance and your target.

Turkey- You have an interesting situation right now. While your opening moves were fairly standard the moves of your neighbors were not, giving you some choices. Without an Austrian unit in Serbia you can influence the owner of Greece and Serbia which is almost always an Austrian dominated center.

Austria- I am torn, on one hand I like the bold opening to Rumania, and I'm guessing it happened from hearing about a prearranged bounce in the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia. That being said, Rumania is not a guaranteed build for you, and your opening cost you the ability to control Greece and Serbia. This fall turn is going to be key for you, and you need to work on making sure you end up with 2 builds, but more importantly, that you end up with an ally.

As an ending note: the opening year is extremely important in every game. This is the time to get yourself an ally and to set yourself for progress. You have to balance extra supply centers and appeasing allies in order to set yourself up in the best position possible. Sometimes taking 1 opening build in order to make a long term ally is the correct choice. Remember that this is a game of diplomacy, so talk to your neighbors. Don't assume that just because a set of moves are tactically correct that they the best moves, because this is often not the case.

Without being specific, there were a couple interesting moves and it will be interesting to see how they play out.

I had an old tab open and it somehow reposted my comment. Ignore it.

If I were in this game I would want to know 4 things:

1. Which of Black Sea, Galicia, and Burgundy were arranged bounces? My guess is that it was all of them, but it is worth knowing for sure.

2. What did Russia promise Germany to get Germany to give him Denmark? Often Germany will help use this power to get Austria a DMZ in Galicia, but that is not the case here. Understanding the Germany/Russia dynamic will be key for anticipating the future of the game.

3. What will be happening with Burgundy and Belgium this turn? France made slightly strange moves this turn, bouncing in Burgundy and moving up to Picardy. In general, I would think that if France intended on supporting England to Belgium he would just support himself to Burgundy, as now if he moves to pick up Spain and uses Picardy to do something in Belgium, he is vulnerable in Burgundy, especially since the bounce left a unit stranded in Munich with nothing to do. Knowing a little more about the France/Germany dynamic can tell you a lot about not only who will be vulnerable but about the timing of the west's resolution, which is very important for planning your attack (whether you can afford to be careful or if you need to move fast, etc).

4. Austria's moves also open up tons of possibilities, and knowing more about that will help the west find its pacing. I would guess that Austria at least expected Turkey to move to Armenia with one of his armies last turn, so juggernaut fear is likely instilled in his bones. Italy especially should find out what the plan is so that he will know whether the time is now for a move on Austria (and the key to moves on Austria by Italy is for them to be quick and effective, as if they are not, you fall to Turkey eventually) or if he needs to rally to defend against a juggernaut (or if he should pile on France).

So if you couldn't tell from above, I like Italy's position best right now as he is smack dab in the middle of two mini-crises and likely should be able to get up to 6 or 7 SCs in these first few years (a great accomplishment for Italy) if he plays his cards right.

I also like Turkey, as it seems like he has the choice of ally between Russia and Austria, and England, as it seems that Russia will be staying south and a second SC this year seems likely.

bump (mostly so I have a star on this thread and I can find it easier for the link to the game...)

the game has mvoed on, i'd love to know what i should do :)

moved

I'm on it. Don't expect me to always be this quick though. :)

Until jmo and I get our rhythm going, for now I'm going to adopt the country synopsis style of commentary since I am the first to comment on these moves:

England: A very good first year for you. You got an army on the continent and tension between Germany and France. You should have your choice of an ally. Russia also will likely be excited to get some centers in the south, so a silver tongue could get you a quiet Scandinavia if that is what you want. Beware, though, of the German fleet in Holland and Germany and Russia's agreement with respect to Sweden. You could very easily be back to 3 SCs next year if the diplomatic tides are not in your favor.

France: You were wise to make the safe move and go to Burgundy. It seems possible that you did, but you certainly should have arranged that bounce with Germany (I almost said it in my previous post but decided it was too direct of advice). What it did (and why you are in good shape right now) is keep Munich occupied so a new build couldn't go there. Now you are looking at at worst two units moving on Burgundy this fall which you can handle. It's also good news that Italy committed east. It all worked out. Now the trick for you is to get Germany to build fleets and or to get England to make pro-French builds (army London, etc). Builds are crucial because even if you do convince someone that you would be a better ally, they can't change the types of units on the board.

Germany: I'm not quite sure what to make of your position, and it is especially hard to say since I don't know whether the moves to Burgundy were arranged or not (or your agreement with Russia about Sweden). The main thing I would say is that builds matter, so make sure you are as active as ever this phase.

Austria: Italy moving on you is unlucky, and it looks as if Turkey must have lied to you as well. Nevertheless, the moves you made were simply not that strong. Ordering a support with Rumania was a waste since you knew that it was going to be attacked by one of Ukraine and Sevastopol. It would have been much wiser to move to one of Bulgaria or Serbia (I probably would have gone to Bulgaria) to make sure Turkey only got one build. You obviously are in a bad position right now, but it is still salvageable. The trick will be to play Turkey and Italy off of each other and steadily regain ground.

Russia: A good turn for you. Russia is hard because you have a lot to balance. One way to make this easier is to try to make it so people don't have the right material to attack you, and that means negotiating favorable builds. Taking Rumania with the fleet may ruffle some feathers with Turkey, so you should certainly address that and try to get Turkey not to build a "northern" fleet (whether or not you intend on attacking them). You need to find a way to push England and Germany away from you (either at each other or after France). Realize that you will almost certainly be seeing some kind of build in Berlin and make sure that you and Germany especially are on the same page.

Italy: It was a good turn for you, but it could have been a little bit better if you could have got Austria to move to keep Turkey at 4 SCs. When Austria gets blitzed like they are right now it is important as Italy to manage how Austria gets split, as you often are caught between Turkey and France (or England) after Austria is gone. So you need to find some way to "deal" with Turkey. That can either happen by allying with them, which would mean they become mainly armies and you mainly fleets, or by getting Russia to commit against Turkey with a fleet build in Sevastopol at least, and likely Austrian help if possible. At the same time, you have to keep in mind the west and try to do what you can to impact its timing, because you are not ready right now to be bothered by the west. The longer it takes the west to resolve, the better for you.

Turkey: An explosive first year for you: 2 builds, control of the Black Sea, and a likely build coming next year in Greece. Had Russia taken Rumania with an army, your position would be my favorite hands down. Instead, it looks like you may (perhaps) be staring down a hostile Russia and I'm worried that you may have lied to Austria last turn as well. The trick to navigating this next portion of the game will be to get Russia off your case (either through offering them Austria centers or instilling fear in him of the western powers), and hopefully getting Austria on your side. One thing you have going for you is that Italy is the one in Austria's home SC, not you, so Austria may make regaining Trieste a priority.

Not sure how I feel about this country by country format, I feel like I am kinda using a lot of words to not say a lot, but I'll work on it.

Cool first year all!

I think uclabb did a pretty good job of summing that turn up so I'm going to wait and make a post after I see these builds but before the spring phase goes through.

I just can't resist saying this: I hoped for support in Rum to keep it, didn't move thee to move away in fall, the move to Gal was a but of a mistake though...

That kinda stuff is for global chat please, just want to try and keep this thread fair to all the students. Trust me though, I am reading the global chat too, and I'll address anything I think is related to strategy in the global press here.

I just didn't like the way you spoke about that single move, it's not a question if something...

bump. Players are not allowed to comment on this thread.