Austria is a hard country to play. Any of the alliances that form in the region will try to kill him. Turkey has to attack him to expand westward. And if Russia and Italy ally, the first target will be him. So the Austrian player is always cautious. Look at what happens if they show no need for defense, and play; Trieste – Albania, Budapest – Serbia, and Vienna – Budapest. If Russia was aggressive, he would have played Warsaw – Galicia! This is a very strong move, and devastating if Austria doesn’t block it. If Italy moved to Tyrolia or Trieste, Austria will suffer greatly as well. If Russia and Italy attack, Austria will die before the end of the second year. So some form of defense is necessary. If Russia moved into Galicia, it’s not as bad as Italy in Tyrolia or Trieste. The simplest way to stop Italian attacks is to play: Trieste – Venice. This move does nothing if Italy moves to Trieste, but stops the attack of Venice – Tyrolia, Rome – Venice. Separating the forces makes it easy to defend against. Better yet, warning Italy of the move will stop him from attacking in the first place. As for Russia, simply moving Vienna to Galicia will stop him from encroaching. In this case, warning beforehand will make Russia move to Galicia. Russia can’t afford to let Austria into Galicia, no mater what his intentions are. If Austria does not play either of these moves, or similar ones, the side that he neglects to defend from is the side he trusts. After the defensive moves, there is the question as to how you should move the army in Budapest. It can go to one of two territories; Serbia or Rumania. The better of the two is Serbia. Why? Rumania is likely to be taken by Russia. It is the closest territory in the south to a Russian center, so it is the center Russia aims for. Moving an army to Rumania not only has a chance to fail, it also antagonizes Russia. Russia is Italy’s best ally. So it stands to reason that if you make Russia want to attack you, it will be all too easy for him to enlist allies. If the move fails, then turkey is likely to move into Serbia in the fall. Because of this, there is a chance that moving to Serbia will bounce with turkey. If that happens, then Austria will be left at 3 centers. Moving to Serbia immediately is the safer alternative.

Italy is, perhaps, the easiest country to read. Mostly because it’s not that its moves are transparent, but that Italy doesn’t have very many options to survive. Italy must neutralize Austria as a threat. Two options exist for this: using diplomacy to convince Russia and turkey to attack Austria, or attacking Austria yourself. Austria may or may not attack early in the game. However, you can be sure that he will attack later on. Unlike other countries, Italy is likely to end up with at least one unit away from any region of combat after the opening. As an added problem, Italy is likely to have only one build after the opening. So unless situations develop where Austria can’t attack Italy, Italy will fall to Austria. Let’s look at Italy’s options then. First are the standard moves of; Naples – Ionian Sea, Rome – Apulia, and Venice holding. This set of moves allows you to attack turkey next year, while also allowing you to defend against Austrian treachery. Standard, but nothing special. A variant on this is; Venice – Apulia, and Rome – Venice. Having the same basic affect, but has the possibility of building a fleet in Venice is Austria is dead set on attacking you. If you want to attack Austria, try this; Venice – Trieste (or Tyrolia), Rome – Venice, and Naples – Ionian Sea. Only move Venice to Trieste if you know Trieste will be vacant, and only move to Tyrolia if you know Trieste will not move to Venice. If you move Venice – Trieste, you also have the option of playing Rome – Apulia. This makes the move to Trieste seem like less of a threat, and you can even negotiate with Austria to move into Serbia. If turkey blocks it (i.e. leak the info to turkey, who will stop the move), you will be on good terms with everyone and in a good position to attack Austria.



Germany’s openings can be divided into three types: power-hungry, standard, and evasive maneuvers. Evasive maneuvers are any moves that advance units to the east or south of Germany. This is the result of a paranoid and panicking Germany who has been convinced that Russia or Austria is out to kill him. A power-hungry Germany will move, Kiel – Holland, Berlin – Kiel, and Munich – Ruhr. This secures Holland, and allows you to support yourself into Belgium. Not really recommended unless your diplomacy is very good. This opening can indicate that Germany feels that France and England will team up, or that Germany is a risk taker. The standard move for Germany is to send Kiel to Denmark. Depending on the situation with France, Germany may move Munich to Burgundy, or move it to Ruhr. If Germany and France trust each other, expect the move to Ruhr. If either wants to play it safe, expect a bounce in burgundy.

France is a politically influenced country. While it has some standard moves, it is easily influenced by its impression of other countries. So I will look at it’s openings from the perspective of individual units. First up is Brest. Brest has two candidate moves; English Channel or the mid-Atlantic ocean. Mid-Atlantic is the standard move to play. Mid-Atlantic reveals little about french strategy. If France moved to the English Channel, two situations can occur. If the move to English Channel succeeds, then France is attacking England. If it fails, then England and France do not trust each other at all. The next unit is Paris. Paris has two candidate moves; Picardy, or Burgundy. Gascony also appears to be a candidate, but only benefits if France moves Brest – English Channel. Moving to Picardy is the best move. Like with the English Channel, a move to burgundy suggests an attack on Germany if successful. If unsuccessful, it suggests distrust between both parties. This general rule is not always true. Because a move to the area surrounding Belgium could lead to France having six centers at the end of the first round, a bounce at burgundy may be useful to Germany. So this is a common strategy employed by France and Germany. Although, this is not always the only type of bounce France and Germany may employ. The next unit, Marseilles, has an impressive 5 move options. The first of which is to do nothing at all. While not suggesting anything outright, staying put says that France may not trust Italy completely. This is my preferred move. Next is a move to Piedmont, which is arranged to fail with Italy. While staying put protects from an Italian attack, this move prevents it entirely. So it suggests a greater degree of distrust. Next is a move to Burgundy. Usually failing, but if it succeeds then interpret it as an attack. Might also be executed with a Paris – Burgundy, suggesting that even though France wants to work with Germany, Germany isn’t trusted right now. The next move only has one interpretation, an all out attack on Germany! Support Paris – burgundy. The final move is to Spain. This move suggests that France is a naive player, or planning to attack Italy early. This move allows you to control Spain and Portugal, while putting your fleet on Spain. Spain allows your fleet to intimidate Italy, while also being able to move farther north. However, it is not a good idea to unnecessarily intimidate other powers, especially when the game is still getting started.

In previous posts about diplomacy, I only gave basic advice for playing the games. That approach left out the most basic part of the game, reading the opening moves. Understanding how the political standing between nations translates to actual moves on the board, enables one to unravel the tangle of lies and deception so often weaved during a diplomacy game. It is suggested that you find a map of diplomacy online if you aren’t familiar with the layout of the map. So let’s start with our first candidate: England. Usually England will play; London – North Sea, Edinburgh – Norwegian Sea, and Liverpool – Yorkshire. This opening reveals little about England’s intentions. England can still prepare an attack against any of the bordering countries, or just play it safe. A similar opening is the less commonly played; London – North Sea, Edinburgh – Norwegian Sea, and Liverpool – Edinburgh. Although similar, the move of Liverpool – Edinburgh enables England to land an army in Norway, while still claming Holland or Belgium in the south. This may strain relations with Russia, or be the result of already strained relations. The last opening that does not fall under the category of “abnormally weird a probably a mistake” moves London – English channel. Quite simply this means an attack on France. No mater what England and France may say about it, that is the truth. Since it is an obvious move, it is reserved for times when relations with Russia and Germany are strained. Making such an obvious move helps get Germany on your side, because you are already committed.

Cosmic Encounter is one of those old games that keeps coming back for more. Currently, it is being produced by Fantasy Flight Games. One word of warning, I have an older version of the game. This means that some of the features and aliens that Fantasy added to the game I have not played with. In the game, you take control of one alien race, and five home planets. Your goal is to to colonize five other planets. This can be accomplished by invading, or negotiations. The alien races add another level of complexity, as each race has different powers that change the rules of the game. that’s only the beginning. when its your turn, you flip over an ‘order marker’ this represents the planet system you can invade. when you invade, both the player you attack and yourself can ask the other players if they want to ally with you. allies supply additional ships to add in combat. the number of ships present affects the overall outcome of the battle. so, the more allies, the better. the other factor in battle is what card you play. each player has a hand of cards, some of which are attack or negotiate cards. when you attack, the player you attacked and yourself play a card. the cards range from a value of 4, to a value of 30. by adding the value of the total number of ships on your side to the value on the card you plaid, you get the value used for combat. highest value wins.