Also is there an opening you used when you where a noob/newbie that now that you look back you go "O shit why did I do that?!"

Yes, it would be your French opening. If you are moving to MAO then there is no reason to open to Spain, you should support your move into burgundy or planned bounce with italy or germany. Then you take spain in the fall. Why force an army to just sit there for a turn?

Why is Smyrna the only one that gets to choose? I think the choice you make with Ankara is pretty important.

The "octopus" as you call it is a big gamble, it leaves you very vulnerable in the south.

The savoy shuffle is an easy way to piss off France, something that Italy wants to avoid. The ideal in the west for Italy is France/Russia vs England/Germany in my opinion. You want France to not be looking at you.

Why you don't want to control belgium? Supporting someone in there is a good way to secure an alliance. Also, I wonder why your munich never goes to Ruhr or Burgundy.

England rocks.

Just some friendly constructive criticism to get some discussion going. This is why you need to back up your moves with some explanations.

What about MAR-SPA-POR
BRE-MAO-SPA/SC
PAR-PIC

Thereby covering both PAR and PIC with Spain t alsways bounce an unlikely Italian attack?
I know this is Russian based, but since it was already mentioned...

@ Centurian Well I just have problems with growth with England thats a common problem I find. So in S02 you got a build (norway) now what? There are 3 choices
1. Germany Always hard Germany has good natural defense
2. France He's should be thinking the vice versa
3. Scanvania That is how commonly England get doomed fighting up there is a long, bloody battle leaving the home undefended and time to have the Med sealed.

The savoy shuffle is an easy way to piss off France, something that Italy wants to avoid. The ideal in the west for Italy is France/Russia vs England/Germany in my opinion. You want France to not be looking at you.
Well if Germany threaten me if I moved Eastward (which as Germany I do almost everytime) THREATING Mar can really put France in a jam. For the automatic reflex of France is A Spa-Mar and if you order A Pie Hold see the what a mean?

Don't get it that you don't like England. Ever tried to conquer it as France or Germany? I like the save opening: A LVP-YOR (covering LON), F LON-NTH (?), F EDI-NWG. It's centered on Norway, yes. But I have seen many creative things - playing the diplomacy part well England can gain Belgium with support from either France or Germany...

And how do I like to piss off the Russian player with superior naval power in the north...

Ok I'll be more fair about the British Empire. Yes I have Germany and I are on a rocket start on that.

http://phpdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=7779

Austria
Austria is one of my favorite countries to play so I've tried almost everything. In fact, the moves I find are the least important part of the Austrian opening.
Step 1: Italy. Italy is going to attack Austria. I see no way around it. If you convince Italy to Lepanto then Italy is dooming himself unless he has convinced you to give him Greece (bad idea). Still, negotiation is wise. Tell him you would like an attack on Turkey.
Step 2: Russia. Russia is my favorite ally. With Turkey out of the way, Austria has superior positioning against the Russian Serbia, Budapest and Bulgaria (which you shouod convince Russia to give you) vs his lone Rumanian piece and Black Sea. You could in fact keep Russia as an ally after Turkey is done simply because he cannot attack you.
Step 3: Turkey. Simple- Tell him you are attacking Russia and that if he goes to Greece you will attack him. Should keep him out of there.
(and before I forget, Galicia must be declared a DMZ).
Spring 1901 moves. A Bud-Ser, F Trieste-Alb A Vienna-Tyr
Step 4: If the move to Tyrolia suceeds, tell Italy you went there for protection, and as he can clearly see, you cannot attack him. If it doesn't suceeds then Italy was attacking you. Now you know.
Step 5: Remind TUrkey to stay out of Greece.
Step 6: Be friendly to Russia.
Fall Moves (If move to Tyrolia suceeds). Tyr-Trieste, Alb-Greece, Ser-Trieste
If move to Tyrolia fails. Same variation except Vienna-Trieste.
Controlling Tyrolia is a nice bargaining chip against Italy and allowing a build In Trieste is helpful too. If Italy seems to be doing a Lepanto you don't need to worry too much about defending against him but Tyrolia is nice to have. If Tryolia failed, then Italy is attacking you. Allwoing yourself to build a fleet in Trieste is nice. That is why I enjoy the bounce.

One last note- If Italy goes to Trieste in the Spring, Then you might need to double support back into it. In that case, Italy will probably take advantage and try to take Greece. Tell Turkey to attack Greece and that you will ally with him agianst Russia (which you might want to consider. If Italy is able to hurt you early Russia will take advantage and crush you with Italy). Italy/Russia alliance is deadly to you.

Few more last notes- Having England attack Russia in the North helps you (even if Russia is your ally). It is always nice to have your allies in check bcause as Austria you need others to be weaker.

plase comment because I'd like to improve my Austrian play

My favourite openings:

England: Yorkshire
F Edinburgh to Norwegian Sea
F London to North Sea
A Liverpool to Yorkshire

France: Maginot
A Marseilles support A Paris to Burgundy
F Brest to Mid-Atlantic

Germany: Danish Gambit
F Kiev to Holland
A Berlin to Munich
A Munich to Ruhr

Italy: Obriani
F Naples to Ionian Sea
A Rome to Venice
A Venice to Tyrolia

Austria: Balkan Gambit
F Trieste to Albania
A Budapest to Serbia
A Vienna hold OR to Tyrolia OR to Galicia

Russia: Southern Defense
F St. Petersburg (South Coast) to Finland
A Moscow to Ukraine
A Warsaw to Galicia
F Sevastopol to Black Sea

Turkey: Balkan Concentration
A Constantinople to Bulgaria
F Ankara to Black Sea
A Smyrna to Constantinople

If anyone is wondering why about any of those, ask.

Really your asking me? Well there one more step to add Step 3.5 Germany, Get him to stay in Munich or better yet move into Tyrolia!
Really the 3 most popular Austrian Openings are...
1. The Southern Hedgehog
A Vie-Gal, A Bud-Ser, F Tri-Ven
2. Balken Gambit (Galalica Varation)
A Vie-Gal, A Bud-Ser, F Tri-Alb
3. Balken Gambit (Trieste Varation)
A Vie-Tri, A Bud-Ser, F Tri-Alb
1. If your paranoia, almost flawless defense
2. Anti-Russian but, you could make a play on War or Rum
3. Um..,

Well I was asking in General. And I don;t like having Germany getting involved.

I don't know how helpful getting Germany in Tyrolia is. He is probably more likely to attack you then not.

I'm not sure how I feel about your Austrian play woooo. The tyrolia opening has alot of problems.
1) If Russia moves to Galicia (dmz or not) as he is quite prone to do, then the only unit you have to cover Budapest is Serbia. Galicia DMZs are always risky for Austria because Russia opening to it is the quickest way to an early exit.
2) Getting leverage over Italy isn't all that helpful. Unless Austria is really friendly towards Italy then Italy should attack him. If the move succeeds Italy can just support hold himself for ages.
3) Even against Italy its not all that defensive. It works if he opens to Tyrolia. But if he opens to Trieste you are in a bind. As you say you can double support yourself back into Trieste but then Italy will just retreat to either Vienna or Budapest, which you won't be able to cover. If both War - Gal and Ven- Tri happens then you its game over after one turn.
4) You don't need to threaten Turkey. You can support yourself into Greece. If you can't because you are under attack from someelse then Turkey will likely just ally with that someone else.
5) You are putting all your eggs in one basket (Russia). You may as well hedge your bets with the other two eastern powers. A Russian alliance is great for Austria its true. But that actually makes trusting him harder. Generally the east goes:
R/A- Austria dominant
R/T- Russia dominant
A/T- Turkey dominant
Thats my simplistic analysis without Italy thrown in there to mess things up. So you might want Russia to ally with you, but he might want to ally with Turkey.

And those are my thoughts. If you are suspicious of Italy covering Trieste or hedghogging it is usually safer than moving to Tyrolia.

@Zilph. Thats pretty much a list of the most common moves by everyone.

Obviously you need to feel out your neighbours and choose an opening then. There isn't really a super-winning combination or anything.

I understand that Galicia means death, but a move to Galicia makes Russia angry. I usually l like to take my chance because a war with Russia ends in Austria losing to a Russia/Italy alliance. I also suggest Russia go North and talk to England about attacking him North. If Russa brings 3 units south then you might be in a bind.

I usually like a planned bounce in Galicia, whether I'm Austria or Russia.

About playing Austria.
Austria is the country that requires the most pursuasive skills - and trust.
Prefer: Tri -> Alb , Bud -> serb, Vie -> bud
The move to Budapest, is very diplomatic - offend no one! And you decide who gets Rumania. Keeping Russia and Turkey figthing without any of them actually gaining ground is what playing austria is all about. If Turkey and Russia decides to go after Austria... Change their minds.. just one of their minds is enough,, and you have a great position to help either.

This id ofcourse NOT the strategy I will use when I run into any you guys, with Austria on my hands :-)

"Yes, it would be your French opening. If you are moving to MAO then there is no reason to open to Spain, you should support your move into burgundy or planned bounce with italy or germany. Then you take spain in the fall. Why force an army to just sit there for a turn?"

Centurian, this is useful if you want both Iberian territories by the first winter and you don't want MAO stuck in Portugal. A Spring move to Spain lets that army move to Portugal while MAO takes Spain (sc). This is a good launch point for an early attack on Italy, with Spain going to WMed, and Portugal moving to Spain for a possible convoy to NAf or Tunis. Coupled with a fleet build in Marseilles this is probably the strongest early attack on Italy by France. It's a classic opening, though I don't use it too much anymore.

As France I like to keep a lot of opnions (not hard really) So in playing, A Mar-Spa, A Par-Bur, F Bre-Mao that I could choose in 02' to attack England or Italy. Also when I play my cards right (2 to 3 in face-to-face France) I can get 3 builds! though France does suffer from the Early Leader Syndrome its safer than any other country in that topic.I don't know thats just my sytle with France.