But not everyone lies the first turn. In fact I try to avoid it. There is no reason to come across as a liar immediately.

I think it's the opposite really: I am an awful liar in real life, so the virtual interface allows me to lie freely. Given how lies are such a big part of Diplomacy, I think it's actually a virtue - though FtF is certainly much more fun!

I always start negotiations in the following manner (not mentioning usual "Greetings my Tsar" type of stuff):

1) I present my initial early game plans. For example, as Italy I tell Austria that I wish to move to APU, ION and Lepanto Turkey. That's your true presentation, and it's needed to showcase your skill as a negotiatior.

2) You ask what *their* early game plans are, and perhaps suggest something yourself. For example, as Italy you suggest Austria do not lose their time and race for Galicia, to avoid a Russian unit there - pontially freeing Trieste for you, and making Russia distrust Austria (and vice-versa).

"OK that's obvious, but what if they are lying?"

Well, everyone is always lying! Thing is, who you decide to 'trust'? There are a couple of ways I use to decide which Great Power I will *try* to dance with.

1) SKILL. By that, I mean the feeling that whoever you're talking to *knows the damn game*. It's a Germany worried about the Black Sea. It's a France asking Italy to persue a Lepanto, from where either Austria or Turkey may be targets. It's a Russia carefully courting Germany to leave Sweden alone. Etc.

I always prefer a skilled player who actively makes tactical suggestions, ponders strategical considerations and discusses diplomatic overtures made around the *entire board*. I will always prefer, as Germany, to ally a French player who is reasonable about Burgundy, seems to understand the board-wide implications of a Juggernaut and knows the Sealion moves back and forth than an England which limits itself to say "Hey can you support me to Belgium"?

2) GENEROSITY. That's a tough one, but it's the ultimate tiebreaker when deciding between two skilled neighbors. A generous player is one who is willing - almost paradoxically - to limit its own growth potential in exchange to help your own.

Exemple: as England, who to woo, Germany or France? If Germany wishes to open to Holland - thus denying any chance of blocking my potential rival Russia out of Sweden AND is obviously going for a 3-build start, and France kindly suggests that they are fine with supporting myself to Belgium, well, that becomes an easier choice.

If you are generous as well, you two are potentially off to a good friendship! Of course there are no guarantees that the promised support will come, but it's generally better to risk the guy who *looks nice* than to accept the other guy's arrogance.

Generosity - or rather, the *impression* of generosity - is the basis of diplomacy AND Diplomacy. You master the game when you manage to make your "friend" do things that actually are much more to YOUR advantage than theirs. Beware the excess of generosity though, lest you show either weakness or falsity!

As England in my previous example, I may allow Germany to have his three builds - thus apparently looking friendly, or at least neutral and thus not a primary threat - while in fact using my supposed generosity to engineer a "stop the leader" coalition that will bring them down and net me more centers than I would otherwise.

REMEMBER: it's still a blind shot. A more accurate shot, but still blind, and good thing it is because therein lies the fun of the game.

As a bonus tip, I suggest that, besides looking for skilled negotiators which seem to favor your nation over others, I also recommend SAFE OPENINGS. That way, if shit happens you always can more or less come back on your feet. Those below are my personal favorites; there are many others though, and each of them relies on *who* you are most scared of.

England: A Lvp-Yor, F Lon-NTH, F Edi-NRG
(Only opening that guarantees a build).

France: A Mar-Bur, F Bre-MID, A Par-Gas.
(Gascony shields all three centers; Burgundy either guards it or gives you leverage over Belgium; there are at least two units poised to take Portugal and Spain while also guaranteeing that you can protect Brest from F ENG or Marseilles from A Pie.)

Germany: F Kie-Den, A Mun-Ruh, A Ber-Kie
(You *can* afford to lose Munich, the most versatile supply center on the entire board. If you don't wish to, you can spare A Kie to do the job while also getting two centers.)

Italy: A Ven H, A Rom-Apu, F Nap-ION.
(You can hit Turkey through the Lepanto or Austria through the Illyrian; send F ION to Tun instead of convoying and you can make a surprise attack on France by F Tun-WES, F Nap-TYN, A Ven-Pie next Spring. Quite versatile!).

Austria¹: A Vie-Tri, A Bud-Ser, F Tri-Alb
(As good as you can get. Guarantees two centers from Serbia and Greece and cancels out the dreaded Trieste Gambit. Otherwise, with three armies adjacent to Trieste thanks to builds at Budapest and Vienna and an army already in Serbia by next Spring you should sort it out)
Austria²: F Tri-Ven, A Vie-Gal, A Bud-Ser
(If you are an absolute paranoid coward, do it. Protects *everything*, nets you a build, and can gift Greece away to either Italy or Turkey)

Russia: A Mos-Ukr, A War-Gal, F Sev-BLA, F StP-BOT
(Guarantees two units on Rumania, gives shot at Sweden, guards both Galicia and Black Sea.)

Turkey: A Con-Bul, F Ank-BLA, A Smy H.
(Gets Bulgaria, protects Black Sea, enables flexible Fall moves of F Ank-Con/A Smy-Syr or F Ank-BLA, A Smy-Arm if Russia does not play along).

But unsafe openings are so much more fun!

Enriador, not Fleet Lon to English Channel? Or Fleet Brest to English Channel?

Great analysis too! I enjoyed reading it.

@jason

For England, F Lon-ENG may 1) mean an useless fleet if a bounce happens or 2) the loss of Norway if Russia moved A Mos-StP. A Lvp-Yor can cover London from a French fleet in the Channel just fine.

For France, a fleet stuck in Brest is not that bad since you still have two armies capable of getting two builds, but it does limits your options way more than if you moved your fleet to MID - a space from where you can defend Brest, sneak into NAT, or IRI, convoy Gascony to Portugal, blitz into West Mediterranean, take Spain (south coast)... well, you get my point.

Thanks for the compliment by the way, the discussion is great.

@ubercacher

I agree 100% with you on this. But perhaps it can be of some use sometimes - like in Gunboat.

Thanks so much Enriador for taking the time to care and to write so much. I find your first post quite valuable. Getting into the personality analysis. As to your second one, I do try to start opening safely. As I explore more variants I have to analyze each map and position and determine the best opens for it. I'm going to take some more time to reread and ponder both of your posts.

Yes, Enriador, it can serve a propose, a unconventional opening can cause chaos, especially in gunboat, and not only make the game more fun but help you survive!

#Chaos is awesome.

Indeed it is! But since the OP had a more defensive approach in mind, I thought safe openings were the way to go.

Certainly.

The Liverpool to York does cover it and I see what you mean on the French side. It's funny, I read the Gamers Guide to Diplomacy from maybe the 80s, and it treated the English Channel for EF like the Black Sea for RT, ya gotta bounce. I gotta get my head out of those old styles.....

Yeah, when I played in the 80s I felt the same. Now if I'm playing England or France I consider a move to English Channel in spring 1901 as a violation of human decency. :-)