In this series, I'm going to take a brief look at the seven powers in the game of Diplomacy. This will be not much more than a brief introduction to each power, looking at their position on the board, their neighbours and the pros and cons of playing them. More detailed strategy will follow in future posts.
So here we are in Italy, the weakest power in Diplomacy? Sorry, I was thinking of the song "Lonesome for a Place I Know" by Everything But The Girl.
Italy has a hard time in Dip. She's a central power, which is always difficult, having opponents around her. And, if you look at the board, you can see there's not much Italy can do about it... superficially, at least.
Italy has a hard time in Dip. She's a central power, which is always difficult, having opponents around her. And, if you look at the board, you can see there's not much Italy can do about it... superficially, at least.
France to the west, Austria to the east, Germany to the north. Turkey waiting to send fleets through the Mediterranean. Tough.
Italy does have the advantage of having an absolutely guaranteed build in 1901. She is the only power that can reach Tunis. Actually, she's probably able to guarantee Tunis for a couple of years. There's no absolute need to land a fleet, or convoy an army, to Tunis in 1901, then. If she's confident, Italy can try for Greece.
I'm not recommending this move, though. Italy isn't going to move into Greece without help from Austria or Turkey; Austria is likely to see Greece as her's; Turkey is not going to want yet another power in the Balkans.
Tunis, then, is Italy's banker. From there, everything else is a struggle. So Italy can't afford to be overly defensive.
And yet, if she isn't careful, both Austria and France are likely to be on top of her quickly. It's more difficult for France: I've already mentioned that she and Italy tend to try and ignore each other early on. It's not easy for either to move against each other as the only point of land access is Piedmont. It tends to make more sense for the two to agree to DMZ this space.
Austria is another matter. Italy and her are in a unique position in that they are the only two powers who have neighbouring SCs: Italy's Venice, Austria's Trieste. If Italy moves out of Venice without ordering A Rom-Ven she risks Austria ordering F Tri-Ven. But, if Italy doesn't move her Venetian army, she's getting nowhere quickly.
Italy typically orders A Rom-Ven unless she has a confident alliance with Austria, then. Which leaves her Neapolitan fleet to take Tunis... and either Italy has to build a second fleet to support the first, or else she risks that fleet being isolated.
And it isn't always easy to build that second fleet. If she's prosecuting a war with Austria, she may well need a third army. After all, Austria isn't likely to build fleets (if she has a build). So Italy, a peninsula power that really ought to be a maritime power, is faced with the likelihood of having a single fleet for two years at least.
Italy's way forward is to seek allies. Thankfully, there are a number of good options.
Austria and Italy can easily find themselves at war. Those neighbouring SCs make it easy to fall into conflict or, at least, early paranoia-driven distrust. But it makes a lot of sense for both powers to ally (I call it the Adriatic alliance). It frees Austria's fleet and Italy's army to do something more constructive. The question for Italy is: What?
Should Italy order A Ven-Pie she's going to upset France. Whatever France's army in Marseilles does in Spring 01 it faces the prospect of having to risk Marseilles being captured by Italy. Frustrating at the very least.
If Italy orders A Ven-Tyl then Austria is in a position where she has to re-think the alliance: an army in Tyrolia can move on Vienna and Trieste. And if Italy has used this move, then the only option for her Roman army is to move south (or to Tuscany but, I mean, wtf?) if she is to placate Austria. And, of course, Germany won't be overly chuffed with an Italian army in Tyrolia, right next door to Munich (although, in truth, Germany often has to put up with this).
If Italy order A Ven-Tri then either she and Austria are playing the Key Lepanto (more on this when I discuss Italian opening moves and the Adriatic alliance in future posts) or Austria's been stabbed. Even with an Austro-Italian alliance, Austria is going to be itching to get that Italian army moved on.
Which leaves, realistically, A Ven-Apu which is a clear indication of the alliance and the likelihood of a Lepanto opening between Austria and Italy.
Italy's best option for an alliance is probably the Wintergreen alliance with Russia. I've never really known why it's called the "Wintergreen" alliance. I think it was from the combination of colours these power had in the original version of the game. Unlike on the maps I'm using here, Italy is often green, and Russia was originally white.
This alliance targets Austria. If Italy orders A Rom-Ven along with - probably - A Ven-Tyl, while Russia orders A War-Gal, and all are successful, Austria's found a mucky creek to kayak along (and lost her paddle along the way). The chances are that there's a pseudo-Southern Arc alliance, with Turkey on board, too... or, if there isn't, that Turkey will take advantage of it. I say pseudo-alliance because Turkey could very easily find herself target number two.
Less likely is the Italo-Turkish alliance, the Unholy alliance. Although this could be successful in eliminating Austria, and then turning on Russia, once Austria's gone Italy is going to face more of a struggle making progress against Russia, so she's reliant on Turkey allowing her more Balkan or Austrian SCs. And, ultimately, Turkish units are going to be at Italy's back, hançers drawn.
Italy often struggles in Diplomacy because her options are limited. She needs to be aggressive but not let her neighbours see an opportunity. She needs to find a strong alliance and be flexible when it comes to mid-game alliances.
This alliance targets Austria. If Italy orders A Rom-Ven along with - probably - A Ven-Tyl, while Russia orders A War-Gal, and all are successful, Austria's found a mucky creek to kayak along (and lost her paddle along the way). The chances are that there's a pseudo-Southern Arc alliance, with Turkey on board, too... or, if there isn't, that Turkey will take advantage of it. I say pseudo-alliance because Turkey could very easily find herself target number two.
Less likely is the Italo-Turkish alliance, the Unholy alliance. Although this could be successful in eliminating Austria, and then turning on Russia, once Austria's gone Italy is going to face more of a struggle making progress against Russia, so she's reliant on Turkey allowing her more Balkan or Austrian SCs. And, ultimately, Turkish units are going to be at Italy's back, hançers drawn.
Italy often struggles in Diplomacy because her options are limited. She needs to be aggressive but not let her neighbours see an opportunity. She needs to find a strong alliance and be flexible when it comes to mid-game alliances.
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