Across the Board

England is one of the powers that doesn't often raise a lot of enthusiasm among players if they draw her in the game.  This is mainly because, while it is a power that can do well enough, being in an highly defensible position and therefore a power that is likely to keep a decent player in the game until the end, it is one of the more difficult powers to win a game with. In short, she's seen as 'boring'. Well, no power in Diplomacy should be boring to play; you're doing something wrong if this is the case. And England is just as good a prospect to win the game as any other power. Just think outside the box. In this series of posts, I'll be looking at England's position on the board, her opening strategies, her potential alliances, and a strategy that can lead to victory for the English player. https://assets2.hrc.org/ But first, let's look at how the history of Britain may well give some clues to playing England in Diplomacy. Wait - that...

Across the Board is a blog about playing the game Diplomacy online. A representation of the Diplomacy board at the start of the game. The game of Diplomacy is a game of deception. It is based in the pre-WWI era; each of the seven players, representing seven major powers, compete to dominate Europe. It is won when one player owns the majority of the supply centres on the board. Well, that's about as simple an explanation as can be expressed. What I haven't talked about is the skills required: persuasion, manipulation of players, strategy, and honesty and deceit in (approximately) equal measures. It's a highly skilled game with (generally) simple rules. It isn't a war game, although it looks like one and the pieces are military units, armies and fleets. It's a game about diplomacy, about getting your opponents to help you win. Yes, "about getting your opponents to help you win". You read that right. You're facing six other players,...