A Series of Progressive Southern Stalemate Positions

Robert Bryan Lipton

After the reaction to my article on Northern stalemate positions, I have been badgered to write one on the Southern position. Surprisingly, I found not one but two progressions. The more unlikely one goes first:

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Part I

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Position 1

Centers:

Por, Spa, Tun, Con, Ank, Smy. (6)

Units:

F NAf, F Wes, A Por, A Spa, A Con, A Arm. (6)

Orders:

F Wes & A Por S Spa.

I believe that this is the smallest possible Southern stalemate position. Note that no enemy fleets can be tolerated in the Mediterranean; this is an unlikely stalemate, but possible. (("no enemy fleets" means real or potential. France, Italy, Austria and Russia must all be out of the game, if this position is held by Turkey. Thus, it would only be meaningful against an E-G alliance --- Mark Berch, Diplomacy Digest 10-11 (April-May 1978).)) Except for changing armies for fleets, there can be no variations.

Position 2

Centers:

Por, Spa, Tun, Nap, Rom, Con, Ank, Smy. (8)

Units:

F NAf, F Wes, A Por, A Spa, A Apu, A Rom, A Con, A Arm. (8)

Orders:

F Wes & A Por S Spa; A Apu S Rom.

This expansion onto the Italian peninsula can be extended to include Venice by having the following units and moves in Italy: A Ven H; A Tus & A Apu S Ven.

Position 3

Centers:

Por, Spa, Tun, Nap, Rom, Ven, Ser, Gre, Bul, Con, Ank, Smy. (12)

Units:

F NAf, F Wes, A Por, A Spa, A Apu, A Tus, A Ven, A Alb, A Ser, A Bul, A Arm. (11)

Orders:

F Wes & A Por S Spa; A Apu & A Tus S Ven; A Alb & A Bul S Ser.

As can be seen, this line has a spare unit; a living Russia can be guarded against by changing A Arm to F Arm and having it support F Bla. (I'm not suggesting that you do this in the middle of a game. Opponents tend to frown on this sort of thing.) Or, instead of this, Piedmont can be taken and held by having A Tus support A Pie, and A Apu supporting A Ven. It's all a matter of personal taste.

Position 4

Centers:

Por, Spa, Mar, Tun, Nap, Rom, Ven, Ser, Gre, Bul, Con, Ank, Smy. (13)

Units:

F NAf, F Wes, A Por, A Spa, F Lyo, A Mar, A Pie, A Ven, A Alb, A Ser, A Bul, A Arm. (12)

Orders:

A Por S Spa; F Lyo S Mar; A Pie S Ven; A Alb & A Bul S Ser.

This individual position is important because it links up the Italian and Iberian fronts. As I remarked in my previous article on stalemates (Graustark #268) this is desirable, since it cuts down on the number of units needed in defensive maneuvers. For instance, that army in Mar frees the fleet in Wes (or Por, if a fleet is there) for an attack on the Mid.

Position 5

Centers:

Por, Spa, Mar, Tun, Nap, Rom, Ven, Tri, Ser, Rum, Gre, Bul, Con, Ank, Smy. (15)

Units:

F NAf, F Wes, A Por, A Spa, F Lyo, A Mar, A Pie, A Ven, A Tri, A Alb, A Ser, A Rum, A Bul, F Bla, A Arm. (15)

Orders:

A Por S Spa; F Lyo S Mar; A Ven & A Alb S Tri; A Ser, A Bul & F Bla S Rum.

What! Better than half of the units are just sitting. Something's rotten in the South. Wrong. "Holds" are used when the units are not necessary for defensive purposes other than just being there. If there weren't a unit in Armenia, then troops could pour down from Sev; ruining the basis of Southern resistance. But, that army in Armenia could be doing something like attacking Sevastopol; if it gets in, the situation becomes the following variation: A Arm S Sev. That's it. You now have 16 units. Where can you get the seventeenth?

Position 6

Centers:

Por, Spa, Mar, Tun, Nap, Rom, Ven, Tri, Vie, Bud, Ser, Rum, Gre, Bul, Con, Ank, Smy. (17)

Units:

F NAf, F Wes, A Por, A Spa, F Lyo, A Mar, A Pie, A Trl, A Vie, A Bud, A Rum, A Bul, F Bla, A Arm. (14)

Orders:

A Por S Spa; F Lyo S Mar; A Pie S Trl; A Bud S Vie; A Bul & F Bla S Rum

Now, pick up Sev, and you've won. I don't mean to imply that this is the only series of stalemate positions for the South. Although the South needs more units (6) than the North (4) for its smallest stalemate, this seems to be compensated by interesting series of positions, like the one that follows.

Reif's Position

Centers:

Por, Spa, Tun, Tri, Bud, Ser, Rum, Gre, Bul, Sev, Con, Ank, Smy. (13)

Units:

U NAf, F Wes, U Por, U Spa, F Adr; U Tri; U Alb; A Bud; A Ser; U Rum; U Bul(ec); U Sev; F Bla (or U Arm). (13)

Orders:

F Wes & U Por S Spa; F Adr & U Alb S Tri; A Ser S Bud; U Bul S Rum; F Bla S Sev.

Extension: Add Rom, Nap -- A Apu, U Rom -- A Apu S Rom.
Extension: Add Ven -- A Ven -- U Rom & A Apu S Ven.
Extension: Add Vie -- A Vie -- A Bud & U Tri S Vie.

((Now, getting back to Lipton's article.... --- Mark Berch, Diplomacy Digest 10--11, April-May 1978.))

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Part II

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Position 1

Centers:

Ank, Bud, Bul, Con, Gre, Nap, Rom, Rum, Ser, Sev, Smy, Tri, Ven, Vie. (14)

Units:

A Sev, A Rum, A Vie, A Ven, A Rom, F Ion, F Bla, A Bul, A Bud, A Tri, A Apu, F Adr, A Nap, F Aeg. (14)

Orders:

F Bla S Sev; A Bul S Rum; A Bud & A Tri S Vie; A Apu & F Adr S Ven; A Nap S Rom; F Aeg S Ion.

Variations are numerous.

1. Change F Aeg to F TyS and have it hold; then turn A Rom & A Nap to fleets, and have F Ion, F Nap & F Rom S TyS.
2. Change A Bul in for A Gal, A Ven in for A Pie, A Tri for A Boh, and A Apu for A Tus. Then have A Vie & A Bud support A Gal, have A Trl support A Boh, and have A Tus S Pie, and there's a new stalemate. It's also more comforting to realize that the only supply center in danger ((from an NMR I imagine --- Mark Berch, Diplomacy Digest 10-11 (April-May 1978).)) is Rum.

(( I'm going to excise Positions 2 and 3 as they appear to be extensions of positions covered in Verheiden's "Minimal Southern Stalemate Positions". --- Mark Berch, Diplomacy Digest 10--11, April--May 1978. ))

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Part III

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(( John Beshera later published "Fundamental Stalemate Positions, III" which is devoted to precisely this topic. The position Lipton mentions here is reproduced as Beshera's Position III, so I won't reproduce it here. --- Matthew Self, The Diplomatic Pouch (December 1995). ))