After many dellays we have spring 03! The Italians gum up the Turkish war machine, France and England do a lot of sitting around. Austria and Germany pool their resources to attack Russia. I think this will be an interesting
fall.
The orders
Austria:
A Budapest - Galicia
F Trieste, no move received
A Vienna Supports A Budapest - Galicia
England:
A London Hold
F North Sea - Skagerrak
F Norway Hold
A Yorkshire Hold
France:
A Brest Hold
A Marseilles Hold
F North Atlantic Ocean - Norwegian Sea
A Paris Hold
F Spain(sc) Hold
Germany:
F Berlin - Baltic Sea
A Denmark Hold
F Holland Hold
F Kiel - Denmark (*Fails*)
A Munich - Bohemia
A Silesia Supports A Budapest - Galicia
Italy:
A Apulia, no move received
F Eastern Mediterranean - Aegean Sea
F Ionian Sea Supports F Eastern Mediterranean - Aegean Sea
A Venice, no move received
Russia:
A Finland Supports F Sweden
A Galicia Supports A Warsaw (*Dislodged*)
F Rumania - Sevastopol
F Sweden Supports A Finland
A Ukraine - Rumania
A Warsaw Supports A Galicia
Turkey:
A Ankara - Constantinople (*Fails*)
F Bulgaria(sc) - Aegean Sea (*Fails*)
A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Fails*)
A Greece - Albania
A Serbia Hold
A Smyrna Hold
Russia has only one viable retreat option so
Russia
A Galicia - Ukraine
Maps
Fall move orders due Next Monday May 20th!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELEVANT INFO
All rules can be found here https://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy.pdf
Our Factions
The United Kingdom ; The Greek Dog.
France: Neoteny
Austro-Hungarian Empire: Big Ballin Stalin.
Italy: Army of God
Russian Empire: Doom_Yoshi
Turkey: Funky Terrance
Germany: Just_Essence.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You've read it in the rules; Diplomacy is where morality is nonexistent, and not backstabbing anyone means you lose. Worst idea ever, unless you're just lying to the world to get them to make a mistake, is to openly reveal your intentions.
How long would it take to convoy Greek's army to Trieste?
Alright, practicality first. Remember, if greek's army is ordered to convoy across four seas and reaches Trieste, but there's still an army there, and you have no armies/fleets adjacent to Trieste to support the convoy (since there's an enemy in the province you're trying to take over), it would be a waste of time; one army vs. one army results in a standoff, and greek's army stays where it was before the convoy.
Two, impossible to do in 1901 Spring/Fall phase, unless you had one more ally (Italy. Austria-Hungary would be pissed that you just invaded a home supply center). You and greek combined have three fleets total, and four fleets are needed to convoy an army there.
Three, even if you did have Italy as an ally, remember that this is like trench warfare, but with territories that are unoccupied. It's going to take some time to move all four fleets into position, and by that time, Austria-Hungary will be even more pissed and forming allies for a counterattack.
That, plus the fact that Italy, as a common opening move, immediately forms allies with Austria-Hungary (although only in preparation against the Ottoman Empire).
As a general conclusion: At any point in the game, don't feel afraid to backstab an ally. This is not CC, where backstabbing will earn you a one-star rating and secret diplomacy earns you a warning or a ban. Be careful of when you backstab, so you aren't becoming generally mistrusted. But if you don't backstab, it will lead to your defeat. This is a diplomatic simulation, not a military simulation; there is no chance, no dice, involved. If one army is greater in strength, it will beat the opposing army no matter what. The only true weapon of chance is if you trust your allies or not. So use diplomacy. If you're usually quiet in games, be prepared to become the opposite. This. Is. Diplomacy.
EDIT: One more note, in case you missed this in the instructions manual: Switzerland is not a playable territory. You cannot move troops onto there. Why? Because Switzerland is a nice place, it's been neutral in both World Wars, everyone likes the nation, and it will ruin your bank accounts if you try to invade it, along with calling up international sanctions.
Each turn (Diplomatic phase, movement phase, retreat/disband phase) represents one Spring (or Fall) Phase in a year (so every two turns, it's been a "year"). At the end of each year, you count how many "supply centers" you have. If you have more than you had since the beginning of the year, you make a (or several) new units (Armies/Fleets) to accomodate that. If you have less than you had since the beginning of the year, you disband the corresponding number of units (of your choice). If you have the same amount, nothing happens.
NOTE: You can only make new armies/fleets in your "Home Supply Centers", which are the centers you started out with at the beginning of the game. If the supply center's region is landlocked, you can only make a new Army. If it's on a coastline, you can make a new Fleet or a new Army.
However, if you (or another player) has occupied all of your "Home Supply Centers", well then, too bad, can't make any new ones. So don't occupy all of them if you intend to make new ones by the end of the year. And make sure the other players don't occupy them. If an enemy player occupied the "HSC" and left, it's still in their possession until you take it back.
