England needs to open Norwegian Sea and North Sea, in case Russia sends an army to St. Petersburg. This guarantees England a build.

Russia should open north. It can put pressure on England, and lets Russia have a better shot at Norway/Sweden.

Italy and Austria should probably work together. This is why I like the Rome->Apulia opening for Italy.

Can an England to Belgium year 1 move ever work out well for England? In my experience, even when the move is initially unopposed as part of a north opening (and taking advantage of a burg bounce) it seems that it always antagonizes both France and Germany.

Everybody hit France in 1901 :-)

make sure turkey doesn't get too strong!

I don't think England should convoy into western Europe until Scandinavia is completely neutralized. England needs France and Germany to fight, and if England comes into Belgium they will rally around it.

Also, don't completely eliminate a country in the first year or two. It upsets the balance of power.

The Russia-England alliance requires the least communication. You'd think that that would work best in Gunboat. It doesn't because there's no signal. I bet that that's the modal alliance on another website.

On this website, Italy-Austria is more common than you might think. It's because Italy-Austria expect it to be so on this website.

England and Russia, theoretically would work. But... it just doesn't. Maybe it's because Norway borders St. Petersburg, but there's no trust.

I think it's because if it happened often enough, people would learn to trust it on this website. Also, if England takes Norway with a fleet, the signal is obvious. I tend to go with the partner that gives me the clearest alliance signal.

I think the problem with the eng Russia alliance in gb is that Scandinavia can't be split amicably easily in gb. Unlike ah and Italy where there is an easily defined split between the two

What about The Channel? As either France or England...hit it and risk antagonising the other, or leave it and risk getting reamed?

Openings are not actually as important as you might think. I've seen people miss the first phase and run on to become a superpower. What is important is avoiding early aggression. Always avoid aggressive 1901 moves, they will make the target go against you, along with everyone in the area, as they are certain they will have an ally against you. (The person you attacked) The main difference between gunboat and full press is that full press you need to make alliances, whereas in gunboats you need to not make enemies.

With a little GB experience :) I'd say the following:

- don't listen to Chaqa, or anyone with less then 10% win ratio, about GBs, or do the exact opposite what they say, so probably you'll have a better ratio.

- opening does matter, a lot, but I consider an opening as the first 2-3-4 phases. The very first move is usually the same every time, just like in chess, and players start to differ later. You have to adjust to that, choose your allies/enemies. But be open minded to change your decision any time.

- SchockTrooper is right though, don't make enemies, but you can make allies as well, and you should. Build an alliance with expressing your intentions through orders.

- always consider EVERY possibility, even the wierdest ones. Your actions speak for you, so if you can do multiple things with a unit, with the seemingly same result, then choose carefully. For example Germany supporting Russia into sweden sends a different message than Germany just holding in Denmark. Even though, the outcome is the same, the message for the other players is not!

- and most importantly you have to understand what's happening on the board. Who is with who, what are all the six other players' objectives. Since you cannot get information from anywhere else, just from the board, always check the big map, or the orders, to see what are others' intentions.

- draw button, saved but not readied orders are legitim tools of communication. (I started a game once with a draw order, in 1901 Spring ;) ), to communicate my wish for an alliance)

- play, play, play. And try to play with better players. If you have a feeling you don't understand GB, it may not be your fault, you are probably playing too low level games.

- finally I quote Orwell: "Break any of these rules sooner than doing anything outright barbarous."

PS: http://webdipquiz.blogspot.com

Another good strategy people missed, now that I think of it, is to play WTA. It's much harder to predict what your opponents will do in PPSC, as some will play like nutcases and allow a high SC power to walk all over them while they undermine a draw opportunity. Like, not even playing for second, playing for last place, more like. They just break the draw opportunity and get crushed by the winner and all the now angry people hoping for a draw. It's just odd.

"Also, if England takes Norway with a fleet, the signal is obvious. I tend to go with the partner that gives me the clearest alliance signal."

Absolutely not true. If England convoys to Bel and takes Nor with the fleet, the only signal is for Russia to build in St. Pete and attack Nor. England can't defend two fronts at once, so by antagonizing France/Germany by taking Bel and leaving a token fleet in Nor, he compromises his ability to defend both fronts and leaves himself vulnerable.

Openings are *extremely* important in gunboat. Where you move says just as much about your intentions as where you don't move. Attacking two fronts at once is a terrible idea (England, Italy, Russia are the main examples) but not attacking anyone is also a bad idea. Early strength is usually punished, while establishing trust with a single neighbor early on is often rewarded, although a stab is inevitable.

And read everything rokakoma wrote, it's all good advice, except for the bit about using the draw button as a diplomatic tool, which we all know is against the rules ;)

2wl: since when is it against the rules? Using pause/cancel button is against the rules but not the Draw button as far as I'm concerned.

a few things to add as someone who has been playing exclusively gunboat for the last few years:

1- if you read the board well, you can predict which direction an attack is likely to come from.
2- You don't have to beat back an attacker, you just need to slow them down sufficiently so that it pays off more to attack anyone else. Once they are bogged down, it helps to signal that you do not wish to fight anymore (i.e. with support holds with units who have nothing better to do). Sometimes they don't get this message, but another country will be quick to pounce on them once they devote all their units on fighting you.
3- Always try to guess how your opponent will move, and set your moves accordingly. i.e. I try to think of what I would do in his/her shoes, or what he/she may do depending on how I judge his/her abilities from previous moves.
4- If you are outnumbered in units, best defence is an attack. If you can threaten several SCs with different possible sets of moves, your units' power is leveraged accordingly as your opponent will try to cover each possibility.
5- Last but not least: In a WTA, do not get close to 18 units unless you believe you can push through a stalemate line even if everyone else unites against you. I usually get to 11 and then slow down so as not to create a coalition against me. Instead of gaining more SCs, I try to reposition and perhaps get a foothold in strategic SCs like Munich, Tunis, Marseilles that may get me through a possible stalemate.