Diplomacy strategy is not something that can be described
in any complete sense. Only by playing the game will you begin to get a
feel for how your actions affect other players, and what effect you can have now on your future prospects for success. I cannot even pretend to
list each possible strategy that you will come to use in playing Diplomacy.
However, some general pointers can be useful to get you started.
- Playing each different power calls for different play.
Each
of the seven powers has its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
For example, England must concentrate on becoming
an established sea power by the construction and use of fleets before he
should entertain an ambition to occupy an inland center like Munich.
The different understandings of these strengths and weaknesses that each player brings to the game, and the different techniques that each
player uses to manage them is what makes every Diplomacy game different.
You can learn to succeed as the leader of each of the powers only when you understand how to exploit the strengths and minimize the handicaps of
that power.
- Look out for Number One.
When it comes down
to it, you are usually the only one who has your best interests at heart.
As helpful as your opponents might seem, you should carefully consider every suggestion they offer you and assess the risk you would take by following
it. Of course, this cuts both ways…. Your experience playing Italy might
have taught you not to leave your home centers unguarded – no matter how
friendly you believe the neighboring Austrian to be. When you’re playing
Austria, though, there is nothing saying that you have to pass on that little
bit of advice to your Italian friend. Encourage your opponents to do any
and everything that can possibly help you or make you more secure, but which,
in your experience, is not necessarily the best thing for their own power.
Almost every bad idea can be made to look like a good idea when coupled
with the promise of friendly moves and long-term results.
- Straddle
every fence as long as you possibly can.
In Diplomacy, a "stab"
is an attack on a player who had considered his attacker a friend. The successful Diplomacy player does not perform what are called "one-center
stabs." A friendship is worth far more than a single supply center
(unless, of course, that supply center is the eighteenth one you will own!).
Even if an attack could net you three supply centers, it still could
qualify as ill-advised. Whenever you find yourself in a position from which
you could profit in any way by attacking a friend, you should ask yourself
if continuing your alliance one more turn (rather than attacking) would actually put you in a better position for a more successful attack. After
all, your potential victim will trust you even more for having bypassed the possible stab and one more turn with his help positioning your units
as you help decide is often very useful. Always strongly consider continuing
play without betraying a friendship; the positional advantage you have can
usually be improved. Only if you decide that no positional improvement is possible should you continue planning the attack. Even then, implement
your plan only if the advantage that you will gain by it is so great as to either eliminate the other player as a factor, or if you believe that
immediate restoration of your broken friendship under new terms is assured.
- If you do jump off the fence (or get pushed off), see about climbing
right back on.
No one succeeds in Diplomacy without friends, so you
should be sure to keep your friends as long as you possibly can and regain
them as quickly as possible whenever they are lost. If your closest friend
attacks you, pull out all the stops to convince him that your friendship
is not worth losing. Talk about how his attack on you can actually help
your alliance succeed in the coming moves. Don’t roll over for him, of course, but don’t close the door on befriending him again. Before attacking
any other player, invest a lot of thought in how you would go about reconciling
with that player afterwards. You’d be surprised how successful even the
silliest of explanations can be, and the player who doesn’t offer one is
missing his opportunity to regain a friend. Even if – despite any claims
you make to the contrary – you wish to press your advantage, friends (or
former friends who are even slightly confused about your intentions) are
much less formidable opponents than are committed enemies.
- Don’t overcommit.
You can’t conquer Europe in 1901. You can’t do it by attacking in all directions – not only will you lose friends by doing so, but your attacks
are bound to fail. Even if you have support from other players in your attacks, those friends will soon enough see the gaping holes in your lines
of units and march through to your home centers. You also can’t succeed
by sending everything you have against one enemy – if you send all your units out your front door, you invite an attack through your back door.
The point is that you must never neglect your defensive needs while you are planning or conducting an attack. If you are playing Germany and you’ve
sent your armies to attack Paris, don’t forget that the Russian player might
decide to build his next new unit in Warsaw. Maybe you’d be better off delaying
your push for Paris until you have an army that can sit at home in Berlin
and watch the east, or until Russia is too entangled elsewhere or will not
be able to build new units to threaten you.
- Play the whole board.
One of the most common mistakes made by new players is to neglect forming
relationships with every other player in the game. You’d be surprised how
useful a far-off power can be – and not just as an information relay. An
Englishman may wish to sell Austria on the idea that he should build a fleet
at the end of 1901, knowing that this will provoke a defensive reaction from Italy. This, in turn, will keep Italy from venturing toward Gibraltar,
and Turkey can then be convinced of a need to ensure that his own side of
the Mediterranean is safe. With Turkey concentrating on possible trouble
in the water, Russia will have the opportunity to move south on Turkey, and this will mean England can more easily capture St. Petersburg. A simple
statement like, "France says that if I can convince you to build a fleet, he’s coming to Italy, and you can have both Tunis and Naples…"
can influence the actions of many players to your advantage. Always consider
everything that every power can do on every turn. Every single
event can have some effect on your position. Anticipate all the possibilities
you can, and have a hand in deciding as many of them as you can, even those
that concern only the units furthest away from your own. Even if you don’t
see everything you’d like to see from far-off powers, there’s no harm in
trying – you gain diplomatic standing as an interested and active potential
future ally, and every little advantage you do gain is well worth the effort.
- Use your friends.
Quite often, you may wish to tell a
tale about your intentions. (Sometimes even a true tale!) You would be
wise to remember that anything you want to say about yourself means far more if it is said by someone else. If you are playing France and you would
like Germany to believe that you are attacking England, don’t invest all
your time in convincing Germany. Convince Russia (or even England) – or
at least convince them to peddle your story to Germany for you. If your
words turn out to be true, Germany will see you as someone who consistently
tells the truth to multiple players. On the other hand, if your words turn
out to be false, you won’t be the only focus of Germany’s disappointment.
- If you’re in a team, play as a team.
When you are working in
alliance with other players, try to view every allied players’ units as flying the same banner. What looks like a foolproof campaign can often be stopped by coordinated alliance play. Consider any vital needs of your
alliance before you consider your own individual goals. A determined enemy
often fails to take into account that one ally can take a supply center – by arrangement – from another ally, or that one ally can forcibly dislodge
another ally to cause a unit to be taken off the board. In both these cases,
the result is a brand new unit, just the right type and built at just the
right place to stop the enemy advance.
- Hit the books.
The
Diplomacy hobby has a wealth of information available to you, all
of it useful in becoming more expert in your play. Study the standard named
opening moves for each power and study what you can expect from your opponents
in response to each. Learn how to strike fear into the heart of a Turk with
one word: Lepanto. Learn the benefits of an Anschluss approach to playing Germany. Your own experience is the best experience, of course,
but don’t ignore the fact that many have trod the same path before you.
- Keep an even keel.
Too much happiness over a successful turn of
events gives you blind spots and affects your ability to make and keep friends.
Too much anger – especially quick anger – after a downturn, is even worse.
Always take some time to reflect on events before you allow yourself to
comment on them. Above all, always remember that your enemy isn’t really
your enemy, even if you think he acts like one. He’s just someone like you, playing a game, using his own individual techniques (though they may
seem foolish and misguided to you) to gain the best advantage for himself.
That’s all. Your opponents are bound to do things that excite you and things
that enrage you, and it’s always in your interest
not to let them know which are which. After all, even when your units
have been suddenly attacked, there’s really nothing to be upset about. It’s just a game. It isn’t life and death. Sure, you had the wool pulled
over your eyes. Yes, you were lied to straight-faced. But really, all it cost you was a little electronic dot or two. And in the grand scheme
of things, little electronic dots don’t make anyone’s top ten. Believe it or not, you gain much more than you lose when you take a Diplomacy stab
full in the back. You learn to be more cautious in the remainder of the
game and in your future games, and to be more discriminating with your trust.
You learn to be more observant of other player’s opportunities, tendencies,
habits, and mannerisms. You learn a lot about your own nature, the nature
of your fellow players, and human nature itself. That is the true addiction
of Diplomacy.