S1901M Press from G to G

    * NZMB Diplomacy Ajudicator ** JKs Tim Miller and Mario Becroft *

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Message from [benjamin.harris_at_mindspring.com,bwarner34_at_charter.net as] Germany
to Germany in 'teachme3':

> I hope you admire the constant press; other days my silence will make up
for it.
  Well, hopefully you can keep up a pretty constant level, but its good that
we can talk this often early on, as this is the most important part of the
game.

> all things being equal, I will pursue a Jutland Gambit. The principle
reason *not* to do > a Jutland Gambit would be if France was insisting on a
bounce in Burgundy, as some
> resources tell him he must do. In that case I would lean back toward one
of the anti-
> French openings, though they seem more difficult the more I read, so
pursuing the
> Jutland with its flexibility is increasingly appealing.
  Sounds reasonable. If things don't go well in the Spring, the Jutland
lets us reconsider our options at that point pretty well.

> one of my games has Germany at seventeen centers (Inter on DEDO) because
he had the
> opportunity to go make gains elsewhere while I, his "ally," struggled for
every inch
> against England.
  There's an important lesson in that. The best "stabs" are the ones that
don't require you to attack. You mentioned one of the ways to do this,
which is to get your ally toagree to a fight he can't win, while you make
gains elsewhere. Another is the "shadow stab". This is a great one, where
you get you and your ally to go in separate directions and then convince him
(through whatever indirect means necessary) that you are going to stab him
and that he needs to pull back to defend himself. He does, and you don't.
Now he is out of position to make gains, he can only blame himself for being
"too paranoid", and you come out of it looking all the better for not
stabbing! I also like finding ways to have allies give me centers, always
promising them that they will be repaid in the future. You can sometimes
gain a center or two off them and still have them left completely open for
the kill.

> I could agree for France to have Belgium in '01 if he (a) tries for the
> Channel in the Spring and (b) does not enter Burgundy.
  This sounds reasonable. Be careful though that in asking France to make a
dangerous move like the one to the Channel, you run the risk that he will
get scared off, and may even tell England that you suggested it! There's
also the problem that in order to take Belgium without losing the Channel,
France would need to move Par - Pic, thus sacrificing one of his Iberian
builds. You'll have to reassure him about giving up the safe build to go
for a risky one.

> Surely any France would be tempted by
> the possibility of BEL + SPA with POR in his back pocket for '02.
  One would certainly hope so, but he's going to want some sort of assurance
that you are going to side with him.

> Plus this would have the advantage of being (or appearing) very friendly
to
> Russia - he gets Sweden and Germany is opening basically West.
  Agreed.

> What do you think? And if you agree in principle, how should I handle the
press?
  Well, my first warning would be don't give away too much, too soon. If
you immediately run to France and say "Move to the Channel and I'll give
you Belgium and attack England", he may decide to side with England right
off the bat, and use that info to seal the deal! Also, if you promise him
everything in your first proposal, it doesn't give you any leeway to be
"generous". Express your interest in working together against England,
inquire about the possibility of a move to the Channel, but don't bring up
Belgium until he asks for it. Then you can "give in".
  With England its important not to come off too stand-offish. Express some
interest in working against France (and/or Russia) without giving him ammo
that he could pass on to France. Give him the opportunity to say what he
wants, you may find that he is willing to offer you a better deal than you
could possibly get with the Jutland!
  With Russia, don't promise Sweden right away, build up to that, maybe even
saving it for the fall. With the others, get in contact and try to get them
talking. Talk about how poorly your last game went as that country, and say
what mistakes you made, or maybe about how you've always wanted to play that
country because of X (make it up if you have to ;-) ). This lets you give
"advice" without looking pushy, and maybe can get them to "teach" you about
their philosophy as that country. The main goal is to build up some rapport
so we can have an idea what they're going to do, and how we're going to be
able to use them down the road.
  Some players start out sending their press to their coaches ahead of time
to look over, but I don't think this is a good idea except in extreme
situations. It slows down your press, and its important that the press
comes across as you talking and not me, because the players want to feel
like their dealing with someone at their level, not some mysterious coach
lurking in the background. One way to do this is with quick responses, so
that its clear that the response came directly from you and wasn't a
"concoction" of you and your coach. In the same way, we want to get the
other players responding quickly, so that we can see what they are really
thinking and not their coach. The more we have our big picture in mind, the
easier it should be for you to be able to make these kind of responses
without needing to consult me. When push comes to shove, the players wishes
will always win out, so its their heart you need to win! I'll watch over
your press, and comment on it as I see fit. If there's a particular subject
you want me to pay special attention to, make sure you point it out, and
whenever you have a question, just ask away.

Brent
Received on Thu Nov 14 12:41:10 2002