Richard, I can’t agree with you more.

Another good one would be always try to support your own units that are holding, with the ‘support hold’ order. This helps reduce the success of an unprovoked attack, from a trusted neighbor.

and also supporting a unit that is supporting another unit into an enemy territory. this helps in 3v3 unit battles when not all units are adjacent. so you have the third unit support hold the 2nd unit who is supporting the first unit into the territory that is either most valuable at the moment or is least likely to recieve a double support.

shall I confuse you all some more?

talk to your oppenents as often as possible. ask them direct questions about their moves - players are often hesitant to outright lie.

try to analyze the board from your opponents perspective before you plan your own move. this has helped me countless times.

As was pointed out in the original School of War thread, and I'm paraphrasing here so hopefully I get the thought across, if you have a choice of two territories and one is a supply center while another has a strong tactical value but isn't a supply center, a rookie will go after the supply center while a more experienced player will go after the tactical position, and a really good player will be unpredictable.

This is useful to know when you are on the other side of such a choice and can only defend one or the other. This can turn a 50/50 guess into an educated guess. Keeping it in mind can also improve your own decisions when faced with such a choice.

Just don't pull a Vizzini: "Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me. "

If you find yourself second-guessing everything (pulling a Vizzini), then it is perfectly legitimate to flip a coin. If nothing else, it keeps you unpredictable.

jman, I'm not sure what you are saying, but there is a rule issue that is often mistaken related to what you might be saying:

If I unit is supporting, and is itself supported, it only takes one unit to break the support being given by that unit.

Here is some tactical advice for new players:

1. It's pretty rare that a tactical decision is needed! Based on diplomacy talks, the right moves should either be obvious, or you should be facing a difficult strategic decision (attack or not attack for example), not tactical.

2. Another way to avoid tough tactical choices is to worry about position more than the centers. Spring is for position, Fall is for taking SCs. Always think at least until the end of the year.

3. If you do end up facing a tactical decision because you are openly fighting another country, the first thing you should do is see which moves the opposite power HAS to do. Once one move is obvious, the rest should fit in like dominoes. Once you figure out the possibilities for your opponent's moves, just counter them! A good thing to do is to not even try to think abotu your own moves until you figure out what your opponent is likely to do.

Note: the above advice only works against new weak players. If your opponent has more than 500 ... well then you probably don't need my advice. Well one thing for intermediate players - take a look at the history of the moves for that player - does he liek to take risks in spring or fall? Does he anticipate his opponent's moves or just try to power through? Does he like to do tricky moves like weird convoys, or double attacks on his own unit for protection or supporting the enemy self bounce? This should help you understand what he might do.

"fit in like dominoes"?? What the hell does that mean?... oh well.

I must chime in here. I am new to this sight and can not wait to play some of you guys.
I am test playing my first game and already have foud this to be the what I have been looking for. I would consider myself to be above novice but not sure how much higher. What is your opinion on early aggression toward other countries?

Tailboarder, generally, it's rarely done; check some of the maps of high-value games here for examples. Even veterans are usually cagey in early turns because getting into an early, all-out fight with 3 or 4 centres keeps you from developing leads or influence elsewhere.

The safer bet for a novice is to try to go for neutrals before picking fights. In some rare situations, it makes sense to jump in strength on an enemy player early, especially if you're doing it with one or two allies who can guarantee the victim will be outnumbered and produce quick wins. But that's not as common as you'd expect.

I am personally opposed to that tactic. I feel it removes quite a bit from the game. Diplomat first commander second...
Also I am unfamiliar with the term self bouncing. What exactly is that?

Better known as a self-standoff.

Suppose you have three territories and only two units to protect them from a single enemy unit. Don't want to play a guessing game as to where he'll attack? If you can move unit A into the unguarded territory, and do the same with unit B, then your own units still stand each other off, creating a standoff that blocks the empty territory while remaining in their own.

Rookies seeing it for the first time probably think their opponent botched their orders somehow.

ok. I am familiar with that play. just never heard the term. thanks.

The "tricky" played I refered to in my post would be supporting one of the bouncing countries. One of the most common examples comes in the first year when Italy atatcks France.

Spring
Mar - Spa
Par - Bur

Venice - Piedmont

Now in the fall, France wants to defend marsaille, so he bounces himself:
Burgundy - Marsaille
Spain - Marsaille

But if Italy know that's going to happen, instead of goign to Marsaille, he can support Spain into marsaille - this way France doesn't get the build.

re: op, why should you consider an alternative? why is attacking out of a spot about to be attacked a bad idea as a rule?

@veqryn - i think you misunderstood. he means *supporting* another unit from a unit that is sure to be attacked is a bad idea. b/c you know the support is cut, so that unit's turn is wasted.