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Many articles have been written about strategy in Diplomacy. These articles deal with the tactical and philosophical strategies to victory. Most of these articles start with the premise that you open well or tell you how to open well. By following their suggestions the obvious result is a successful opening and game. However, in most games I play, at least one player doesn't feel like they have opened well by Winter of 1902. Some players succumb to that feeling and never recover. What rules are there when you start poorly? How do you survive the game when you start from a position of weakness? Little has been written about the situation where total disaster strikes in the first move. Sir Ernest Shackleton wrote about his particular disaster aboard the boat the Endurance and the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 was the most ambitious of its time. The intention was to cross the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. At least half of the route was entirely unknown (and would remain so until the late 1950s). It would have been a glorious adventure, but it was not to be. Instead, the Endurance saga is thought of as a failure. What is important to learn from this experience, and what is applicable to Diplomacy, are the rules Shackleton set forth to overcome and succeed in what became the ultimate fight for survival. His men lived on an ice flow and the open seas around Antarctica for over 497 days. While the quest to cross Antarctica failed (Shackleton never even reached land) his tactics to remain alive have led him to be remembered as one of the greatest leaders of all time. In other words, he adapted his original dreams to match his circumstances and made sure that he managed to survive against all odds. His rules give us an insight to how he managed himself and those around him to survive in a hostile environment. These were his 10 strategies for Success. Strategy #1: Never lose sight of the ultimate goal, but focus anxiety on short-term objectives.The correlation to Diplomacy is obvious even if you are in a strong position. You have no chance of winning, or surviving, if you don't have a vision of how every move affects your ultimate goal. However, you have to focus your fears and concerns on what needs to be done now to achieve those goals. Often "opening challenged" players (I don't agree with the statement weaker players) stop communicating with players on the board or only communicate the message that they are dying and need help. Players are more like sharks than good Samaritans in Diplomacy. Telling them there is blood in the water will only attract them more to your remains. Instead, ask yourself if you are still thinking of ways to win? Are you still reminding the other players of the benefits of working with you? Are you still focusing on what must be done now to achieve the long-term goal? Only if you do these things can you have a chance of surviving to see the early leaders fall. Strategy #2: Set a personal example with visible, dramatic symbols and behaviors.While visible examples of dramatic symbols and behaviors may sound hard to do, especially over the judge system, what I believe is important to take from this is that you not hang your head. Don't make disparaging comments about your condition or the condition of those who have wronged you. Nobody is going to rush to rescue you simply because another player will get your supply centers if they don't. Make everyone aware that you can overcome this failed opening and their helping will provide them with benefits unavailable without you. You can contribute to another's long range goals. This encourages people to want to help you because they see the benefit of keeping you around. Making wild pleas or ill-advised moves to try and stem the tide shows you to be unreliable and someone no one can trust. Diplomats want to help the player who will most help them. Set yourself as someone your opponents want in the game. Never respond too quickly to messages. Be deliberate in what you say. Don't hold grudges. They accomplish nothing but make you look petty and shallow. Hardly the stuff an ally wants on his team. Strategy #3: Instill optimism and self-confidence but stay grounded in reality.This rule is particularly important in a slow starting position and follows in step from the previous strategy. Send out a message that while your opening strategy wasn't successful, you still have the ability to contribute to the game or to help others as a participant in a draw. You don't want to be a patsy for some stronger power. It is important that you stand firm even in the face of grave danger and keep communicating. Don't be swayed by false promises from unreliable opponents. Inexperienced players may be swayed early to discard relationships that worked to get them off to a good start. If they come to you to turn on the other, remember to hold back and allow the lead player to commit first. This confidence will benefit you as you won't over-extend defensively or commit too early to a potential friend. Most alliances break up not from internal disagreements as from over-confidence and greed. Character maintains throughout the game. If your foes view you as a person of strong character then they will want you to work with them. If they see you being indecisive they will sweep you off the board. Make decisions with confidence, view your position objectively and speak positively. I have heard that you should not appear too strong so the other players won't gang up on you. I disagree. You should always appear capable and strong. You should give every impression of sincerity. Lie only when needed. Never lie for small gains. When you must lie, wrap it in the truth. When you wrap a lie in the truth then your opponent looks petty if he points out that you didn't entirely tell the truth. Lies of omission are superior to misdirection. Misdirection is superior to an outright lie. Strategy #4: Take Care of Yourself; Maintain your stamina and let go of guilt.The opportunity to maintain your stamina is a difficult concept in judge play. If you interpret it in a different way it is enlightening. Don't let bad situations fester into bad thoughts. Don't let the moves you didn't make upset your ability to make intelligent moves going forward. Guilt about the people you trusted and the moves you made last year can destroy your confidence and ability to successfully negotiate for your long-term goals. You can't turn back the clock. Move forward with your head up and your eyes open for opportunities. Strategy #5: Reinforce the team message constantly: "We are one -- we live or die together."This is assuming you have someone to turn to as a team member with you. If you don't have a relationship of this nature, find one and start building trust. If you have one, then reinforce it constantly. Let the ally know you and he are tied to the hip out of opportunity not out of desperation. You are allied for the mutual benefit of both sides. Reinforce the benefits of working with you. Never turn negative or bitter. The stab will come to everyone at some point, don't let it remain a thorn in your side. Strategy #6: Minimize status differences and insist on respect, courtesy and caring.This is true no matter who you are. Always downplay your assets and liabilities. Insist that everyone be considered equal. Respect and courtesy are two of the most important talents of diplomats. Yes you can play hardball and bully people into doing what you want sometimes. You can be sub-servant and allow your self to grow under someone else's protection then suddenly turn and overthrow the oppressor. Convincing someone that the plan you propose is what he needs to succeed takes talent and produces the best opportunity for long-term success. Having confidence in your self and in your ally is based on self-respect and courtesy. Strategy #7: Master conflict-deal with anger in small doses, embrace dissidents, and avoid needless power struggles.This is the most difficult rule to follow. It is so easy to allow your anger to take over. Frustration has lost more games than poor planning. If someone is causing you trouble bring him closer into your confidence. Do not shun him. Let him know he is a trusted member of the team and that he has your undivided attention. If someone offers an alternative to your plan he could be trying to set you up or he may have a better idea. Listen to what everyone says or writes. There are clues in everything if you are observant. The same is true of power struggles. Avoid them, they serve no purpose. If your ally realizes you are holding back forces and asks you to place them in a non-threatening space to the alliance do not blow up if you really are keeping the units in place to stab the ally. This seems obvious but you would be surprised how often the opposite is the case. When you get caught trying to open the cookie jar, retreat and come back when it is unprotected. An "obvious" stab is a waste of effort. No real damage will be achieved because it's expected. Don't destroy a good alliance because you "can" stab. Wait until you should stab. Strategy #8: Find something to celebrate, and something to laugh about.This doesn't have to be about the game. Try and link the game play to real life. It can create bonds that are stronger than merely the Sultan and the Czar for example. Personalize your communication to build trust and rapport. Does he have a wife? Kids? What does he do for a living? Build up a profile on your opponents. The best way to do that is to get to know them and that means socializing. The easiest way to do this is to find something to celebrate together or even console together. A friend of mine died during a game recently. I shared that with my allied players so they would understand why I had not been communicative. We shared the pain and became stronger in our alliance because of it. Strategy #9: Be Willing to Take the Big Risk.Often when someone starts poorly he shuts down opportunities to improve his position from fear of failure. Every challenge must be viewed as a new and unique event. Their can be no memory of earlier failures creeping into you mind telling you that all risks are bad risks. Be bold when the proper opportunity arises. If you are too conservative you are dead for sure. Only by taking the tactical risk can you turn things around. This doesn't mean take every risk. Patience before folly is a good rule of thumb but when the door opens you must be willing to walk through it. Watch for the door to open. Talk to people about opening the door. Create your opportunity by getting inside the heads of your opponents. Finally, Strategy #10: Never give up: There's always another move.Sir Shackleton and his men ate their sled dogs. They carried their supplies over ice that moved them hundred's of miles from their original destination. He took 3 boats across miles of open sea for 7 days to find an uninhabited isle where he left all but 5 of his men. He then traveled 17 more days and over 800 miles in a make shift boat (made from the parts of the original boats) to South Georgia Island to find help. Amazingly not one person on his crew died during the expedition. If he could survive for nearly 500 days in what could only be described as some of the most formidable conditions, then what is so bad about your situation? We all have heard or seen of situations where a player was down to his last SC or even his last unit and came back to share in a victory or solo himself. Those people did come back because they refused to consider their situation fatal. They refused to give up. They constantly would preach the benefit to everyone who listened of keeping them alive. They had a plan to reach their ultimate goal and reviewed their position constantly to see how they could best use their resources and those of them around them to achieve that goal. Fight to the end. Alliances change every season. Your attacker may soon be the attacked. There is no more gratifying feeling than watching the player who stomped so hard on you early in the game, succumb while you still survive. As a good player and friend told me once, "Nothing feels better than putting someone out of a game who totally stabbed you at the opening." |
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Chip Crain (jcrain@midsouth.rr.com) If you wish to e-mail feedback on this article to the author, click on the letter above. |
