Just Soloed as Russia - Game Report

[cdngooner]

I'm just getting back to Diplomacy after almost two years away. First game back, Russia, lost to a Turkish solo. Second game back, Russia again, AND I WON! (yay me). It feels pretty good, I gotta say; its been a while.

This time as Russia I decided on what some call the Squid opening (I just call it "opening North") with Mos moving north into StP in 1901 as the fleet moves to BOT. Some don't like dividing Russia's forces into two weak packets of two units each, but I like the influence it gives Russia on the game in the North and the West, which Russia usually doesn't get any other way. In this case, I persuaded Germany to not bounce me out of Swe, and persuaded England to use NTH to convoy an army to Bel, thus giving me builds from both Swe and Nwy.

In the South, I allied with Austria against Turkey. The Juggernaut seems so damn enticing but in my experience it only ends up hurting Russia when Turkey stabs you. So instead, strategy was to destroy Turkey early, clear my rear, and advance west.

Having got 3 builds in 1901 (Nwy, Swe, Rum) and occupied BLA, I had to remove the target from my back. I really recommend the value of postponing one of your builds if you can afford to. Not only does it make you seem less threatening, it allows you to (a) build on the same spot in successive years; (b) build even if you don't grab a spot; and (c) not have to disband if you lose a spot. I used this move a few times during this game.

Key to the game was a well-timed stab of my ally Austria, just as Turkey was down to one unit. Germany and Italy had just started moving east against Austria, and I'll be damned if I wanted to see all those spots go brown and green instead of purple, so I joined in for the kill. Within a year of that, the solo was pretty much in the bag.

How did I win? I think the best thing I did was keep all the other countries busy fighting each other. I egged on both Germany and France to fight both England and each other. I encouraged Austria and Italy to fight each other. Everyone thought I was their friend, but more importantly everyone had bigger enemies than me.

Question: so that's two solos out of my first two games back to the game. Are solos more common now than they used to be? Back in 2020/21 almost everything ended in a draw.

Thanks to all the players in the game, and especially to whoever set it up. It was 1 day turns but only 12 hour retreats and builds. And I love Rulebook Press; really makes the game tick along.

Game link here for anyone interested: https://webdiplomacy.net/beta/?gameID=903367

[Aristocrat]

Question: so that's two solos out of my first two games back to the game. Are solos more common now than they used to be? Back in 2020/21 almost everything ended in a draw.

My unscientific observation is that solos are up, yes, and quality of gameplay is down from the pandemic peak. A lot of players with a lot of experience who were playing 3-4 years ago no longer are, and folks with less experience are generally more prone to making mistakes. Since soloing tends to be more about someone or some people screwing up than it is the soloists' own gameplay (not that the latter isn't important, but the former is more important), there are more opportunities for solos than there used to be.

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I was the Austria in this game, very glad you soloed, I would’ve never forgiven you for the stab if you didn’t solo, gg