How to Win at Diplomacy

Acknowledgments

How You Think > What You Think

Also by the Author

Environment

Playing Diplomacy Online

1. The Game Conditions
2. 2020 Minnesota Diplomacy Club Game on Backstabbr

The Fundamentals

1. The Nature of Diplomacy
2. Stealing Your Destiny
3. Notation
4. Tactics

Coordination

Scoring Systems

1. Draw-Size Scoring (Winner Take All)
2. Sum of Squares
3. My Preferred, for a Club League System (Tribute)

Beautiful Imbalances

1. Unit Mix at Game Start
2. Relative Position of Neutrals
3. Why Austrian A Bud - Rum (Mostly) Doesn’t Work
4. Why Italy and France Don’t Fight
5. Supply Center and Unit Density

How to Solo

77 Common Mistakes

1. No. 77 Not Speaking To All Players
2. No. 76 Not Speaking Equally to All Players
3. No. 75 Speaking to Players in the Same Order
4. No. 74 Deciding What Your Orders Are Prior to Negotiating
5. No. 73 Not Changing Your Orders Based on New Information
6. No. 72 Not Paying Attention to Time Spent Negotiating
7. No. 71 Oversimplifying a Player Read
8. No. 70 Ignoring Underlying Motivations
9. No. 69 Not Making Your Own Intentions Clear
10. No. 68 Disregarding the Scoring System
11. No. 67 Making Alliances Too Obvious
12. No. 66 Not Finding a Neighbor with whom to Collaborate
13. No. 65 Giving Up on a Bad Position
14. No. 64 Clinging to Ally
15. No. 63 Refusing to Make Good with an Ally Post Stab
16. No. 62 Failing to Commit
17. No. 61 Not Listening
18. No. 60 Inviting a Brutal Stab
19. No. 59 Not Using a Received Stab to Your Advantage
20. No. 58 Not Looking Inside Yourself
21. No. 57 Missing the Chance to Tell a Story
22. No. 56 Pretending Not to Suffer
23. No. 55 Running from the Truth
24. No. 54 Ignoring Asks
25. No. 53 Not Surprising People
26. No. 52 The Inability to Make Someone Believe You
27. No. 51 Losing Your Self-Discipline
28. No. 50 Losing Track of the Board Position
29. No. 49 Not Saying Thank You
30. No. 48 Opening to the English Channel…
31. No. 47 Not Having a Plan
32. No. 46 Staying within Your Limits
33. No. 45 Missing the Flow of the Game
34. No. 44 Letting One Mistake Blow Up Your Game
35. No. 43 Refusing to Consider Alternatives
36. No. 42 Ignoring Country-Specific Dynamics
37. No. 41 Avoiding Risk
38. No. 40 Not Eavesdropping
39. No. 39 Oversharing
40. No. 38 Judging People
41. No. 37 Missing Non-Verbals
42. No. 36 Opening to Silesia
43. No. 35 Not Owning Your Narrative
44. No. 34 Not Gaining Knowledge About Stalemate Lines
45. No. 33 Forgetting to Share Your Concerns
46. No. 32 Refreshing Your Perspective
47. No. 31 Failing to Adjust Player Reads
48. No. 30 Letting Yourself Get Angry
49. No. 29 Not Staying Hydrated and Fed
50. No. 28 Pretending to Be Someone You’re Not
51. No. 27 Coming Across as Less than Confident
52. No. 26 Celebrating Too Much
53. No. 25 Being a Cad
54. No. 24 Playing Too Much Online without Playing Face to Face
55. No. 23 Accepting Conventions
56. No. 22 Waiving Builds on Purpose
57. No. 21 Waiving Builds on Accident
58. No. 20 Building Too Many Fleets or Too Many Armies
59. No. 19 Not Throwing the Game…Sometimes
60. No. 18 Refusing to Give Gifts
61. No. 17 Not Shaking Hands
62. No. 16 Not Mixing in a Smile
63. No. 15 Leaving Charm Behind
64. No. 14 Being Dislikable
65. No. 13 Not Joking
66. No. 12 Refusing to Say Sorry
67. No. 11 Not Writing Down Your Orders
68. No. 10 Playing the Same Way with Each Player
69. No. 9 Missing the Morning Shower
70. No. 8 Deciding Not to Reflect on Your Game
71. No. 7 Forgetting There Are 7 Players in the Game
72. No. 6 Not Embracing the Warrior Mentality
73. No. 5 Let him have revenge…or he’ll take his revenge later.
74. No. 4 Stabbing Weakly or Indecisively
75. No. 3 Not Understanding Realpolitik
76. No. 2 Thinking You’ve Got it Figured Out
77. No. 1 Stealing Another Player’s Destiny

28 Openings

1. AUSTRIA
2. Balkan Gambit (Austria)
3. Galician Gambit (Austria)
4. Hungarian Houseboat (Austria)
5. Southern Hedgehog (Austria)
6. ENGLAND
7. The Splits (England)
8. Western (England)
9. Southern (England)
10. Northern (England)
11. FRANCE
12. Atlantic, The Vineyard (France)
13. Atlantic, Gascony Variation (France)
14. English Attack (France)
15. Atlantic, Maginot Variation (France)
16. GERMANY
17. Dutch, Burgundy Variation (Germany)
18. Anschluss (Germany)
19. Rhineland (Germany)
20. Blitzkrieg, Danish Variation (Germany)
21. ITALY
22. Alpine (Italy)
23. Panther / Shuffle (Italy)
24. Tyrolia Attack (Italy)
25. Tyrolian Lepanto (Italy)
26. RUSSIA
27. Southern System, Rumanian (Russia)
28. Northern System, The Squid (Russia)
29. Livonia System, Ukraine Variation (Russia)
30. Ukraine System, Souther Variation (Russia)
31. TURKEY
32. Turkish Hedgehog (Turkey)
33. Ship of the Desert (Turkey)
34. Crimean Crusher (Turkey)
35. Balkan Concentration (Turkey)

Endgame

Further Reading

Why There is Still No Game like Diplomacy