Next in my occasional series of incomprehensible accounts of triumph in playing the game of Diplomacy online against AI opponents, this is one where I’m particularly proud that a normally losing strategy, sending a single unit behind enemy lines to pick up the odd supply centre, actually worked in the end. Otherwise I was both lucky and unlucky, with the 18th centre effectively being my recapture of one of my own home bases.
Spring 1901
There really isn’t much flexibility about Germany’s opening moves. You have to move your fleet to Denmark, to keep Russia out of Sweden; you have to move your Berlin army to Kiel, to hopefully take Holland unless England decides to do something weird; and you have to try to move to Burgundy, to prevent a French army coming up against your borders. This does leave your southern flank uncovered, but it’s rare for Italy or Russia to try anything funny, and very improbable that Austria will move to Tyrol or Bohemia.
Other countries surprised me a bit. England’s move north is normal enough; there really are only two possibilities even if the northern variation is less common. France’s move north was more unexpected, welcome in that it would give England something other than me to think about, but unwelcome in that it might work too well. Italy’s move to Piedmont was very unusual.
Autumn 1901
The Italian move to Piedmont effectively killed France’s chance of taking Spain, so it was a rare 1901 that saw no French presence in Iberia. I captured Holland, bounced Russia out of Sweden and successfully moved into Burgundy – this was not really an invasion plan, but a means of putting pressure on Belgium in the near future.
Winter 1901
Unusual for as many as four of the neutrals to remain unoccupied after the first two moves. I was the only country to get two builds, putting me level with Russia.
Spring 1902
I had two units on Belgium, but so did France; I tried anyway and succeeded. Meanwhile France tried moving from Paris to Burgundy with two supports, but I cut Belgium, Italy cut Marseille and my Munich army bounced with the French. Meanwhile England started moving south and Italy west. Not looking great for France at this point.
The French army that I had displaced from Belgium moved to Picardy, rather than Ruhr, to my relief.
Autumn 1902
Russia had sneaked into Sweden the previous turn, but I now had two fleets on it and took it for myself. I was also in a position to move into Burgundy in force, hoping (correctly) that France would concentrate on holding Brest. England took the Mid-Atlantic Ocean, and further south, Italy supported Austria against Turkey in taking Greece.
The Russian fleet that I had displaced from Sweden retreated to the Gulf of Bothnia.
Winter 1902
Once again, I got two builds, for Sweden and Belgium, putting me in the lead; Austria got the only other build, for Greece.
Spring 1903
I took a chance and left Holland open, instead moving my fleets to a stronger position in the north by taking the Skagerrak. I also consolidated the French front by taking Picardy and covering Burgundy. Meanwhile the Italian crunch against France was also coming into force. Notable that Italy supported the Austrian fleet to stay in Greece, against a Turkish attack.
The French army that I had displaced in Picardy was out of options, and disbanded.
Autumn 1903
I now had two units on one defender in Paris, and the same against the English fleet in Norway, and was able to take both. France finally captured Spain, but it was small comfort for losing all three home centers, Brest falling to England and Marseille to Italy. In the Balkans, the stalemate continued.
The English fleet in Norway retreated to the Norwegian Sea – why not the North Sea, I wondered? And the two displaced French armies disbanded, presumably because the AI told them both to go to Gascony, the only available space.
Winter 1903
Once again I got two builds, for Norway and Paris, and Italy got one for Marseilles. France still had two centers, but only one unit, and no home bases.
Spring 1904
You cannot really feel secure until you have reached the edge of the board, and for Germany and Austria this is very difficult. My strategy now was to consolidate against England and hold the line in France, but I also felt I needed to tick the box of taking out the lone Russian fleet in St Petersburg. To my dismay, however, Russia moved to Bohemia.
Autumn 1904
I bet, correctly, that the Russian army in Bohemia was intended for duties further south, and gambled on convoying an army all the way from Berlin to Finland. In retrospect this was the crucial move that sealed the eventual victory for me. It was all quiet on the western front as not a single unit moved between the Norwegian Sea and Spain. But the two other points of movement, Russia’s capture of Vienna and Italy’s move of a second fleet west, were also significant. (Only three units actually moved in this turn!)
The Austrian army displaced from Vienna moved to Tyrolia, which was mildly concerning but also the only option.
Winter 1904
No builds for me this time, but with nine centers to Russia and Italy’s six I could hardly complain. Austria to my dismay disbanded the fleet in Greece rather than the army in Tyrolia.
Spring 1905
Business before pleasure, as they say, and with three units to one I took St Petersburg, anchoring one corner of the stalemate line and reaching the edge of the board. To the west, the logjam broke, in my favor in that I captured Gascony, but less favorably in that England regained the North Sea. Further south, Italy left Greece open for Turkey, and that line began to shift as well.
Not very surprisingly, the Russian fleet in the North Sea retreated to Livonia, its only choice.
Autumn 1905
I took a calculated risk in leaving Holland open while I moved on the North Sea, knowing that I had St Petersburg in the bag and also now having three units on Brest to England’s two. But I nervously had to cover Munich, which now had two hostile units on its borders. Further south, the Turkish breakthrough continued as they took Serbia, scoring a second centre off Austria.
The English army in Brest disbanded, leaving England with only fleets; the Austrian army displaced from Serbia retreated to Albania.
Winter 1905
I was now on ten centers, with Turkey now in joint second place with Italy on six. Austria disbanded its army in Tyrolia, to my relief; Russia however did not disband its army in Bohemia, or its lonely fleet in Livonia, which was worrying.
Spring 1906
Obviously, recapturing Holland was the first priority, but I now had naval supremacy in the north (as long as the Russian fleet did not try and help). To the south, Austria was clearly in the final stages of collapse.
Two displaced units, the English fleet in Holland and the Austrian army in Budapest, were both out of options and had to disband.
Autumn 1906
I thought, well, the Russians are annoying me on my borders; maybe it’s payback time? And sent my army from St Petersburg strolling southward into an uncontested Moscow. But the main business was England, where I successfully convoyed an army into Yorkshire. To the south, Russia supported Turkey’s successful move on Austria’s last home centre, Trieste, but also took Tyrolia and consolidated against my flank. Meanwhile Italy took Portugal, while losing the Ionian Sea to Turkey.
The last Austrian and French units disbanded. Italy retreated from the Ionian to Naples, and from Tyrol to Piedmont.
Winter 1906
Austria and France were now eliminated. I got just the one build, for Moscow, and had only one free centre to build in. Looking at the massing Russians against my southern flank, I decided on an army. Italy and Turkey both built fleets, clearly for use against each other.
Spring 1907
I was in the lead with eleven centers, but it was definitely not in the bag. In a human game, co-ordination between Italy and Russia could probably have stopped me, if they were not busy attacking each other and if Italy had not been at risk from Turkey. But I saw another opportunity and moved my army from Moscow to Sevastopol. In the west, England recaptured the North Sea, but I had four fleets to its three and my bridgehead army was able to walk into an undefended Liverpool, so it was only a matter of time. In the south, Turkey sneaked into Tunis.
I retreated my displaced fleet from the North Sea to Denmark, my only undefended supply centre up there.
Autumn 1907
I retook the North Sea with superior firepower. Further south, the long-expected Russian attack on Munich finally came, and was thwarted only because Italy tried to take Tyrolia. My capture of Marseilles was definitely not returning the favor. I tried to be smart by moving from Liverpool to Edinburgh, and succeeded.
The English fleet that I had kicked out of the North Sea retreated to the Skagerrak; the Italian army that I had kicked out of Marseille retreated to Spain.
Winter 1907
Frustratingly, I had gained two centres but had only one build spot available. Given the massing Russians to the south, I needed an army, in Kiel.
Spring 1908
Despite holding 14 centres, my position was not strong, with the two Russian captures depending on a single undefended unit, Italy and England down but not out and four Russian armies on my borders. I prioritised England, putting the squeeze on the English Channel and guessing correctly what the Skagerrak fleet would do. Further south, I took Spain and also Rumania, an unusual location for a German army in Diplomacy, and Italy and Turkey swapped Tunis and Venice.
The Turkish fleet in Tunis disbanded, and the Italian army from Venice retreated to Rome.
Autumn 1908
A real setback for me, as I lost Norway to England and much worse Munich to the Russians – the first was a bad guess on my part but the second was carelessness. In both cases I got my revenge, taking London from England and Rumania from Russia, but it was a big blow. However by capturing Portugal I ended up with a net gain of one centre.
The Russian army that I had (foolishly) displaced from Silesia retreated to Prussia, and England’s fleet in London had nowhere to go and disbanded.
Winter 1908
Despite my setback, I still had a gain and was on sixteen centres, but only fourteen units because I had nowhere to build them. Turkey also gained, and Italy disbanded one of its fleets. England was down to one unit in Norway.
Spring 1909
It was not at all clear that I could win quickly. I held neither St Petersburg nor Tunis; I had three centers on the ‘far’ side of that line with one unit defending them; on ‘my’ side, I had lost both Munich and Norway, though Spain at least looked a sure gain. If I retook Munich or eliminated England, that would be enough to get me to eighteen, but that required Turkey to ignore those open centers in the east.
To my relief, Russia pulled the army in Prussia back to Warsaw, enabling me to retake Munich; and I moved my army from Rumania to Galicia, so as to threaten three Russian-held centres from the rear. And I strolled into Spain, and swapped Norway for Sweden.
The Russian army in Munich retreated to the Ruhr, which was a bit of a pain but I felt I could cope.
Autumn 1909
I had a potential defence of four on Munich; I had Spain. I also had enough units to cover Belgium and Holland from the rogue Russian army. England sneaked into Denmark though the next turn I would have had three units on it. Down south, Turkey was surging west, but to stop me winning they needed to move north as well – once again, a human player would have spotted this. I guessed wrongly with my army in Galicia, but as it turned out it didn’t matter.
Winter 1909
The numbers all added up in the end: my home centres, England and France’s home centres, six of the seven western and northern neutrals, and the three eastern centres gained by my wandering army all added up to eighteen.
In conclusion: slipping an army behind enemy lines to raid supply centres is a tactic that rarely works, but in this case it won me the game, and that convoy to Finland in 1904 was crucial to having that army in the right place. I was fortunate that Italy’s mid-game success against France was ended by Turkey’s attack, and that Turkey did not try to exploit Russia’s weakness after I had hollowed them out. But the northern sector proved a tough nut to crack, and without the three eastern centres, I would have struggled to reach 18 – I would certainly have regained Denmark, and probably St Petersburg, but that would still have left me one short, with Tunis, and the other half of the board, well defended.