Lepanto Defence

[[email protected]]

well aside from a fleet in smyrna, how can a turkey defend against a lepanto in autumn 1901 once the suspicious moves of italy are revealed?

[Claesar]

If Press: Ally Russia. Drive Austria and Italy apart. Let Austria take Bulgaria if needed, so Italy will start to feel left out.

I usually try to convince Italy not to convoy to Tunis at all. If that fails and he still sets up for one with an army in Apulia, consider not bouncing Russia in Black Sea. Moving that fleet to Constantinople instead is much stronger against Italy.

The Lepanto will involve 50-50 guesses for Italy with his convoy to Smyrna and Syria. You can only cover one of those, if you didn't see it coming. But it doesn't have to be that way; if you can post a unit in Syria ánd Smyrna before Italy is set up, you're safe from the Lepanto.
It opens you up completely to Russia though, so make sure they're not greedy.

[David E. Cohen]

I will add one more suggestion. Do not forget about the west. If France can be convinced that the A/I alliance will be an enduring one, that makes France an eventual target for Italy. If France has some force to spare, A Pie and/or F WMS should cause Italy to refocus.

[ssorenn]

If Press: Ally Russia. Drive Austria and Italy apart. Let Austria take Bulgaria if needed, so Italy will start to feel left out.

I usually try to convince Italy not to convoy to Tunis at all. If that fails and he still sets up for one with an army in Apulia, consider not bouncing Russia in Black Sea. Moving that fleet to Constantinople instead is much stronger against Italy.

The Lepanto will involve 50-50 guesses for Italy with his convoy to Smyrna and Syria. You can only cover one of those, if you didn't see it coming. But it doesn't have to be that way; if you can post a unit in Syria ánd Smyrna before Italy is set up, you're safe from the Lepanto.
It opens you up completely to Russia though, so make sure they're not greedy.

If there appears to be a strong AI and the Italian is running lepanto , the Turk must make sure the Russian understands what happens if he falls quickly due to the lepanto. That’s a continued onslaught of AI into Russia. That said, i agree with Claeser that giving up BLA to Russia is a good idea. Obviously there are risks to that, but you have to put your eggs somewhere. It helps if the English are moving north as the Russian will be stretched too thin not to help the Turk.

If the Turk can put two fleets to our south, taking east med is most important, if he does this, lepanto falls apart right away. Then with press, RT can push Italy to attack Austria under the premise that he will get no Turkish centers

[ssorenn]

If Press: Ally Russia. Drive Austria and Italy apart. Let Austria take Bulgaria if needed, so Italy will start to feel left out.

I usually try to convince Italy not to convoy to Tunis at all. If that fails and he still sets up for one with an army in Apulia, consider not bouncing Russia in Black Sea. Moving that fleet to Constantinople instead is much stronger against Italy.

The Lepanto will involve 50-50 guesses for Italy with his convoy to Smyrna and Syria. You can only cover one of those, if you didn't see it coming. But it doesn't have to be that way; if you can post a unit in Syria ánd Smyrna before Italy is set up, you're safe from the Lepanto.
It opens you up completely to Russia though, so make sure they're not greedy.

If there appears to be a strong AI and the Italian is running lepanto , the Turk must make sure the Russian understands what happens if he falls quickly due to the lepanto. That’s a continued onslaught of AI into Russia. That said, i agree with Claeser that giving up BLA to Russia is a good idea. Obviously there are risks to that, but you have to put your eggs somewhere. It helps if the English are moving north as the Russian will be stretched too thin not to help the Turk.

If the Turk can put two fleets to our south, taking east med is most important, if he does this, lepanto falls apart right away. Then with press, RT can push Italy to attack Austria under the premise that he will get no Turkish centers

http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameI ... #gamePanel

[Hamilton Brian]

http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameI ... #gamePanel

Hey, I resemble that game.

I think there are certain move-sets that establish a counterbalance. The Lepanto should generate an RT, but how much time/space is required to counter?

I'm too obtuse to see a "Lepanto" when it's mentioned. Austria's moves are fairly transparent, but the Italy typically makes the play for Tunis, additional fleet, yadda yadda...but then they're in "four centre" land for a fair bit.

[mhsmith0]

I think a lot really depends on the diplomacy between Italy and Russia in that case. I randed Italy in a game earlier this year and became very friendly with both Austria and Russia, we killed off Turkey by 1903 and carved up Austria soon after (partially because France became friendly so I basically just took the path of least resistance). I think as Russia in a game with a seemingly solid AI, you can pretty effectively turn it into an AIR (where you all take on the west after Turkey dies) or join up with Italy and turn on Austria, particularly since neither A nor I can solo without the other's centers, and a 2wd between them is really hard to make happen too.

If anything, I'd say the big thing as Russia when there's an AI on the board is to make sure they don't join hands with a strong northern power (Germany most obviously, but England can work just as well and they can probably make AIF work with some effort too); as long as it's just the two of them (or it's the two of them plus you), you'll probably be in pretty decent shape long term.