And lets narrow down your SC count to 8 centers.

Do you mean trick the other players, allowing you to solo, or changing their opinions so that they want you to solo (perhaps so they survive instead of die), because the 2nd option i would find practically impossible in a skilled game

If you play in PPSC games, here, take this knife and help the gene pool out.

I think it's pretty easy to convince the rest of the board to allow you to solo. The first thing you have to do is take out that 4 SC nation, but not on your own. Your small friend at the bottom of the board needs to do it. Support them through that nation, give them 3 of the 4 centers, and all of a sudden it's 9 and 7, plus you've got a powerful alliance budding. If he's skilled enough, he'll keep pressing you to give him a tad more so he can be more comfortable with it and he'll do so without angering you. If he's like me, he'll just say fuck it and attack you with his newly found power, at which point you solo.

If he does stick alongside you, you can work for a two-way ending, and if you can manipulate it enough, you will solo in the end.

The only way you're going to get an "easy" solo from that situation is if the rest of the board is either held up by ignorant neighbors or just not skilled at all. In other words, someone has to inadvertently make it easy for you. I find it immoral to take advantage of a new player like that, but if they give it to you, you can't say no, right? Otherwise, you're going to need an ally.

With that many countries still alive, it's going to be difficult to solo regardless of your trickery or diplomacy. The situation is similar to the dangers inherent in "early leader syndrome," which is why it's often a poor idea for Germany to try for three builds in 1901, as they become a clear target for the rest of the board. The second option is impossible, and if you're playing with even one or two players of halfway decent ability, your ploy will never work. You're probably stuck with a disappointing four or five way draw.

i dont think the idea of the proposed two way draw followed by a stab/solo would work with skillful players (or whatever playstyle i have). To me a 2 way draw is unstable because whoever is the odd man out can offer to let one of the 2 win if they dont 3 way. If nobody takes the offer they are not playing in their best interest (a win is better than a draw right?) and to me thats not the kind of play i like.

Anyone have ideas? I left this open so people could format their response for any country they want. Should I give a more specific scenario?

But here's my thoughts on it. When you're at 8 SC's and are the largest power on the board, you have a big target painted on your back, so what I suggest to do is wait. You're not strong enough to make a solo bid, so aggressively pushing forward would just solidify a front against you. Therefore, it makes sense to bide your time, and help other countries around you gain centers, keeping your neighbors in conflict against each other whilst making sure the east or the west doesn't solidify into a single power or single alliance.

This is one thing that I don't believe enough people grasp. Your actions influence every other member on the board, no matter how far. If Turkey attacks Russia, that draws Russia's forces south, perhaps sparing England and Germany from losing Scandinavia. If England moves a fleet to NAO or Irish, then France will have to pull a fleet out of the Med and there's one less unit to pressure Italy. As the largest power on the board with most of the nations alive you can quite literally shape the board how you want to with just unit movements. Add press into the matter, and that simply amplifies the affect.

Back to the matter though, my strategy would be to keep my neighbors at conflict with each other. So if I was England, I'd try to keep G and F fighting, if Russia, then keep I and T fighting, etc. The stab would have to be swift and decisive, earning me 3 builds, two at the least. The jump from 8 SC's to 11 SC's is a large one, and the momentum from such a jump would be enough to carry a player straight through the stalemate line, before the opposition can realize how much of a threat you are.

If there's one thing that I've learned best, is that the merits of placing a unit beyond the stalemate line are decisive. As Turkey or as England, I will always try to slip fleets through MAO, and they pay more than enough in dividends to compensate for the lack of territorial gains.

@2ndWhiteLine - Trickery is a more appropriate word for it.

But I have found that the more players there are alive, the better a shot for solo is. You can make up all kinds of excuses for keeping the game going "Oh, just until X is dead and then I'll draw" or you will likely find someone who is so pissed off that he'll help you out, consequences be damned.

There are so many possible combinations, btu in a classic full press WTA, you aren't going to pull that solo off with skilled players. In full press PPSC, you might be bale tyo help #2 approach your level and convince hom to work with you knowing he will get a larger portion of the pot than a 3 or 4 way draw would get. Of course, that is why I hate PPSC.

I think the way to sell this is the way to sell anything: make your particular offer seem considerably more attractive than their remaining offers. For you to achieve this you'll have to spend some energy manipulating game events for this to be the case, and then understand the psychology and motives of the players enough to begin an appeal to them.

@Draug - I disagree. With the games I've been in lately, the solo is certainly possible, but its just a matter of how long you're willing to wait for it. I have had games going into the late 1920s, early 1930s where the solo was possible, but either misunderstandings or lack of interest forced draws.

Which is why I hold the position that if you want to solo, you either rip it out quick and solo by 1907-8 or you slow everything down, pushing units past the stalemate line slowly until you smash everyone in one deadly stab.

gameID=60765 is probably my favorite game on this site and a major reason why I posted this, as I just don't see how one can solo as Turkey.

goldfinger, that looks like it was one hell of a game!

^