Playing England

Last Updated: March 1, 2002

Need a little time to wake up? Most people seem to think that England does, and therefore play for safety and just try to ensure they get at least one build during 1901. Well I believe this isn’t the best plan of action for England and think a higher risk strategy should be considered. Why? Well, for England to succeed and do well I believe she needs to gain some impetus for an attack on one of her three neighbours early in the game. Then maintain it until said neighbour is crippled or destroyed. (Note: by ‘do well’ I refer to getting a good supply centre count in a short ftf game. To ‘do well’ in an unlimited duration game England must concentrate on crossing the major StP - Spa/Por stalemate lines, which is outside the scope of this article). It’s simply not good enough playing conservatively in 1901 and then hope to launch an attack, with the other neighbours help, on France or Germany in 1902. You may well find yourself out in the cold, facing F(Bre) F(Kie) F(StP.nc), with your dreams turning to dust in your hands. It’s just too easy for France and Germany to mislead you over Belgium, as most automatically will. A five centre England in 1902 can be a powerful enemy and it only takes one of them to think this way and you are stymied.

But...Isn’t getting a build paramount?

The problem of guaranteeing an A1901 build as England often clouds a players thinking and forces on them into manoeuvres which threaten their long term prospects. Getting a build is important and if you don’t you are typically in serious difficulties it’s true, but how many times have you seen England pick up Norway in 1901, then maybe St Petersburg in 1902 and then stall, eventually falling to a combined assault from France and Germany? The problem starts when they play to guarantee Norway. To see why, we need to examine the only set of orders that will definitely gain Norway without risking a home centre.
They are as follows -

• F(Lon) - NTH, F(Edi) - NWG, A(Lpl) - Yor.

These orders allow for a supported attack or convoy to Norway, in case of A(Mos) - Stp, whilst also allowing for A(Yor) to cover London if F(Bre) has moved to the channel. More commonly you will find that Russia has not opened to Stp and France hasn’t opened to the channel and therefore other options are available. Some worth considering are - Convoy to : Nwy, Bel, Hol, Den. And your final choice will very much depend upon your intended first target and the position of other units. What’s the problem then? I hear you ask. Four possible centres to choose from, plenty of diplomatic options you should be well set. Well, the problem becomes clearer if we look at each of the centres in turn. We will see that with the exception of Belgium they move the English forces into contention with Germany and Russia, and unfortunately away from your true enemy, France!

Norway

One attraction of the convoy to Norway is that it will almost certainly be possible and succeed. It is then normally followed by a play for StP in 1902, although a move on Sweden shouldn’t be discounted. If an attack on StP or Sweden isn’t planned, the you have still managed to utilise an English piece which otherwise might be unemployed back at home. The main drawback in planning to attack StP is that ultimately it is a dead end. England rarely manages to press on into Moscow, and whilst denying Russia the ability to build in the North is a good thing it isn’t your main concern. Sweden as a next step from Norway isn’t any more likely to fall into your hands without a fight, which will only serve to suck in your units.

Belgium

Belgium looks like the natural fifth centre for England. Often France and/or Germany will agree to let you have it. Well, don’t believe them in 1901. Most good players will try to keep England down on four until the true alliance structure becomes clearer in 1902. Normally you will find a French army in Pic/Bur and a German one in Ruh/Bur or F(Hol), so success can’t be guaranteed. In circumstances like those it can often be worth considering letting one of the others have the build, in an attempt to cement an alliance with them. My advice to you is to never let France have it if it means they gain three builds. One of them is bound to be F(Bre) and every fleet France builds is a nail in your coffin.

Denmark & Holland

Both are attractive prospects in the right circumstances, but both commit you to attacking Germany if they succeed. More likely, you will simply deny Germany a build for whichever one you order to. This will annoy Germany and if you are sure of French intentions trading off one of your potential builds to prevent a German one will do Germany more harm than it does you. But, stop! Ask yourself why, if France is friendly aren’t they offering you Belgium? Are you still so sure that France is friendly?

So attack France first?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Germany will always remain vulnerable to a stab from you in the mid-game, whilst the same can not be said of France. So, why not remove your most dangerous opponent first? OK there are risks involved with a France first strategy. Nothing is ever certain is this cruel world, but the object isn’t to survive, it’s to thrive and England will never really thrive with an active France to contend with. Now, with the initial target decided, the only opening worth considering is -

• A(Lpl) - Wal/Yor, F(Edi) - NTH, F(Lon) - ENG.

F(Lon) - ENG, is the key to the attack. If it succeeds you can watch France squirm as he contemplates your potential convoy to Bre/Pic/Bel. Be warned, which one you choose can be a bit of a lottery as you try to out guess your opponent. Events elsewhere on the board will undoubtedly effect your decision, for example, faced with A(Mos) - Stp, a supported convoy to Belgium, hoping France will cover Brest with F(MAO), may seem the best option. If it is pray you moved A(Lpl) - Yor, thereby allowing F(NTH) to perform the convoy. Primarily though, the decision you make will be based more upon what you know about your opponents rather than the position on the board. Seat of your pants diplomacy at it’s best. Guess right and you can be as smug as you like, guess wrong you will be wiping egg off your face for a very long time. There will be a fair amount of egg on your face if F(Lon) - ENG fails as well. Probably less than had you allowed F(Bre) - ENG to succeed so you can at least feel a bit better about that. The best plan, when faced with that position is probably to try and make it up with France, and order F(NTH) - Nwy, F(Lon) - NTH, rather than risk a German F(NTH) by moving F(Lon) - ENG again. Should you have A(Wal) it’s probably best staying where it is, but you could order A(Wal) - Lpl and hope France accepts it as a sign of good faith and passes upon building F(Bre), but don’t hold your breath. Having A(Yor) is far better in this position.

Should I agree and violate a DMZ in the channel?

How you go about trying to make sure that F(Bre) - ENG doesn’t appear on the French order sheet is up to you. A bare-faced lie will probably work, but just forgetting to mention it has a certain appeal too. Whatever you do, don’t tell anybody you plan to order F(Lon) - ENG. Someone is bound to tell France this is your plan (even if it isn’t). There’s just no point in letting other players ‘leak’ confidential information to France, thus increasing their credibility should it prove to be right. Some players have been known to try the “I told you so! Now do you believe me?” game. With very weak players it can work a treat. For example - I’m Turkey and may say to Austria “Italy will open to Trieste. It’s best A(Vie) covers it”. Now, if I’m right Austria thinks I’m a sharp ally who has his best interests at heart, but if I’m wrong “That conniving Italian! He lied to me” builds bridges and paints Italy as an untrustworthy cove. A Win/Win situation. Until, that is, Austria gets sick of your random advice and wraps a chair around your head!

But... there’s always a but

Isn’t there always? I can’t stress enough that there simply isn’t a best strategy in Diplomacy and your negotiations with the other players should have more influence on your actions than any strategy article, especially one written by an old rogue like me. Resolving the E/F/G triangle is always tricky and early on it should be your prime concern. Be careful, and try and avoid being misdirected towards a fruitless conflict with Russia and try everything in your power to avoid becoming the odd man out. Use the others players natural concerns regarding the potential strength of France to keep him isolated and remember, they will be doing the same finger pointing about you in the corner.

There will always be an England

The strong corner position and local fleet superiority can make England a tough nut to crack, but don’t be too cock sure, once the opposition fleets out number yours you will struggle. And once they get an army on the island you are probably doomed. Saying that, England is still a good country and one I enjoy playing, although the chance of an outright win should be small against decent opposition. If you are going to get one though, you will need to stay focused and a some point you will need to despatch France. All I’m suggesting is that you do it sooner rather than later.

Pot, this is kettle, you are black!

Once again, I find upon reflection that I don’t follow my own advice. In fact the last two times I have played England I ordered F(Edi) - NWG, F(Lon) - NTH, A(Lpl) - Yor, but I was faced both times with a Russia that had told me he was going to order A(Mos) - Stp. In those circumstances you should ignore everything in this article and play for the supported convoy to Norway. In both cases Russia did order to StP. In one, I did rather well when France gained three but built three armies, in the other things didn’t go well as F(Bre) and F(Kie) duly appeared. Both games served as good examples though of how France is the true enemy. When France built three armies, I prospered, when he built F(Bre) I didn’t. All I’ve got to do now is draw England in a game where Russia is friendly and then woe betide France.

This article was originally written back in April 97 and was intended for publication in Unlimited. For reasons I can’t remember, it never saw the light of day. It is resurrected now because I have failed to follow my own advice for the third time running. This begs two questions -

• Why don’t I follow my own advice?
• Why does Russia always open A(Mos) - StP when I’m playing England?

The answers to both these questions feature the word ‘moron’, frequently.

Coming soon! - How I think you should play Italy, but somehow I never do!