Opening Strategy in Austria - Diplomacy
Hey folks! It's REDD Week this week so I'm going to be coving strategy tips in different games based around the RED player or some other RED component. Tonight, we're discussing Diplomacy! And of course, the Red team is Austria.
If you've never played Diplomacy before you are seriously missing out! It is prime! Head over to playdiplomacy.com to set up a free profile and learn how to play.
This is the opening map for a traditional 7 player game, let's take a look, shall we?
Personally, I've never been a huge fan of playing Austria as they are in a very difficult position from the getgo. Austria and Germany share the pain of being stuck in the middle of the rest of the players. Diplomacy is all about negotiating however, so all is not lost as Austria. I even know a few people who choose Austria as their first preference... they are crazy, but there it is.
Austria does benefit from the opportunity for two builds year one, if they play their cards right. Not everyone can claim the same. Typically those two areas are Serbia and Greece, both to the South. It's not at all uncommon for that to be the case. That being said, trading Greece for a strong Ally could be a very wise move at the start of the game. Offering it to Turkey would help shore up an alliance against Russia while offering it to Italy could mean a clean opening against Turkey.
In general, I am going to suggest that you not make any agreements with Italy past a non-aggression. Inviting him into Greece could set him up to help against Turkey, but it also leaves you wide open to being his next target. Be wary of that.
The benefit of siding with Turkey is that you can work together against the strongest player to start the game - Russia. The con to that relationship is that if Turkey is a little spineless he will quickly flip sides to help Russia and set up his own eventual demise. So, Turkey is not the ideal ally either. Though they are better than the Italians in a pinch.
Your best choice for an ally at the beginning of the game is going to be Russia. This is for two reasons. Eliminating Turkey early on gives you an edge of the map to defend. You eliminate one of your fronts and in war, that means you've just freed up a lot of troops.
The second major benefit is that when it comes time to turn on Russia, you generally have a higher share of the spoils in Turkey. Russia is very limited in what he can move south with four fronts. Ideally, you encourage England and Germany to work against Russia while you talk nice to his face for the use of his fleet to support your advance on Turkey. With so little committed he can't ask for a lot in return and that's the ideal outcome.
You may have noticed that all this talk is in the South. Shouldn't we press our line on the north as well? NO! Bottom line is that Germany and Austria need to stick together. If there is a conflict between them, everyone else benefits. That line is so often ignored that it is a good rule of thumb to leave it that way.
So Spring 1901
Trieste - Albania
Budapest - Serbia
Vienna - Trieste
Fall 1901
Vienna - Hold
Serbia - Support Albania - Greece
Albania - Greece
I can tell you were hoping for an alternate opening move... okay okay. For those of you who like to break the rules and take chances, here is an alternate opening. This requires superb coordination with Italy and a lot of trust.
Spring 1901
Trieste - Albania
Vienna - Bohemia
Budapest - Serbia
(Italy will need to move Venice - Tyrolia)
Fall 1901
Albania - Greece
Bohemia - Support Tyrolia - Munich
Serbia - Support Albania - Greece
Alright there you are, I did it. Broke the rules and gave Italy a second build while I was at it... risky stuff that. If you get Italy, Russia, and England in on the Germany action year one. Oopsy, there goes Germany. It's pretty quick work when everyone teams up.
Happy Stabbing!
If you've never played Diplomacy before you are seriously missing out! It is prime! Head over to playdiplomacy.com to set up a free profile and learn how to play.
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| Screenshot from playdiplomacy.com |
Personally, I've never been a huge fan of playing Austria as they are in a very difficult position from the getgo. Austria and Germany share the pain of being stuck in the middle of the rest of the players. Diplomacy is all about negotiating however, so all is not lost as Austria. I even know a few people who choose Austria as their first preference... they are crazy, but there it is.
Austria does benefit from the opportunity for two builds year one, if they play their cards right. Not everyone can claim the same. Typically those two areas are Serbia and Greece, both to the South. It's not at all uncommon for that to be the case. That being said, trading Greece for a strong Ally could be a very wise move at the start of the game. Offering it to Turkey would help shore up an alliance against Russia while offering it to Italy could mean a clean opening against Turkey.
In general, I am going to suggest that you not make any agreements with Italy past a non-aggression. Inviting him into Greece could set him up to help against Turkey, but it also leaves you wide open to being his next target. Be wary of that.
The benefit of siding with Turkey is that you can work together against the strongest player to start the game - Russia. The con to that relationship is that if Turkey is a little spineless he will quickly flip sides to help Russia and set up his own eventual demise. So, Turkey is not the ideal ally either. Though they are better than the Italians in a pinch.
Your best choice for an ally at the beginning of the game is going to be Russia. This is for two reasons. Eliminating Turkey early on gives you an edge of the map to defend. You eliminate one of your fronts and in war, that means you've just freed up a lot of troops.
The second major benefit is that when it comes time to turn on Russia, you generally have a higher share of the spoils in Turkey. Russia is very limited in what he can move south with four fronts. Ideally, you encourage England and Germany to work against Russia while you talk nice to his face for the use of his fleet to support your advance on Turkey. With so little committed he can't ask for a lot in return and that's the ideal outcome.
You may have noticed that all this talk is in the South. Shouldn't we press our line on the north as well? NO! Bottom line is that Germany and Austria need to stick together. If there is a conflict between them, everyone else benefits. That line is so often ignored that it is a good rule of thumb to leave it that way.
So Spring 1901
Trieste - Albania
Budapest - Serbia
Vienna - Trieste
Fall 1901
Vienna - Hold
Serbia - Support Albania - Greece
Albania - Greece
I can tell you were hoping for an alternate opening move... okay okay. For those of you who like to break the rules and take chances, here is an alternate opening. This requires superb coordination with Italy and a lot of trust.
Spring 1901
Trieste - Albania
Vienna - Bohemia
Budapest - Serbia
(Italy will need to move Venice - Tyrolia)
Fall 1901
Albania - Greece
Bohemia - Support Tyrolia - Munich
Serbia - Support Albania - Greece
Alright there you are, I did it. Broke the rules and gave Italy a second build while I was at it... risky stuff that. If you get Italy, Russia, and England in on the Germany action year one. Oopsy, there goes Germany. It's pretty quick work when everyone teams up.
Happy Stabbing!
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