I'm in as power #6!
See, wasn't that much easier than Ken Lowe?
Here's a great spot for reading up on strategy.
http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/strategy.htmI think all country assignments are random, so we'll just have to see what the DPJudge doles out to us.
I gotta tell you about my experience in my first game of Diplomacy, currently raging on over at AGW....
I'm playing Russia, and so I wanted to ally with an experienced player for my first game, to help me learn the intricacies of the rules, and to hopefully stay alive.
I entered into what I thought was a permanent alliance with Turkey. We worked together, forming what is known in the Diplomacy world as "The Juggernaught": a joint Russian/Turkish alliance. If the other players find out that the Juggernaught exists, they must pretty much stop everything and work together to stop it. The Juggernaught is a very powerful alliance.
So, everything was rolling along just fine, my Turkish ally, Sultan No.6 was my best buddy, giving me encouragement and pointers, helping me make decisions. That is, until he had me where he wanted me. I had my forces split between my northern front and my southern front. I was doing well, having helped eliminate Austria, and threatening to take over the whole Scandinavia region from England.
That's when my "ally", Turkey, stabbed me. Basically, we always agreed what our moves would be for each turn. And this particular turn was no different. Except that he didn't do what he said he was going to do. Instead, he had secretly contacted Italy, whom the Juggernaught had on the ropes, and arranged a stab of me. Needless to say, I was totally unprepared, and he stabbed me good. In one year(two turns), I went from 7 units down to 3.
Fortunately, instead of standing and fighting like he expected, I retreated the next turn and saved my remaining three armies from destruction. That one turn saved my game. I'm happy to say that I have survived that stab, and the Sultan's plans for my quick demise have not borne fruit. Instead, I was able to ally with the Italian, and help in his stab of Turkey.
The best part was when my former ally came back, groveling on his knees, begging forgiveness for his stab. I demanded that he give me back two of my lost SC's(supply centers) before I'd help him survive the Italian onslaught.
This has finally been accomplished, and that's where the game stands now. Although I was royally pissed that he stabbed me, it taught me an invaluable lesson about the game. You need to think in the short term about what is good for your country. Today's ally might need to be tomorrow's enemy, and then someday that same country may need to be your ally again.
I love this game, it is so much fun!
