every fleet Germany builds is a stab, any move North from Russia is a stab.

Lighten up, Francis.

Build more armies.

Well, since I'm also horrible at England, I have no business telling you what to do, but I do know that I am incapable of getting on the continent proper. I suspect I should try for Belgium early a lot more than I do. Also, Germany can't have more than a fleet. Two is already dangerous, really, and should be a prime target for removal. As long as France has Brest he's a threat. Unless you can convince him to go for Hey Bresto!, you must remove. Russia is a threat if he has StP. Your best bet seems to be to take over the north while an accomplice takes over the south.

Most importantly, what I always screw up is the timing. Timing of requests, demands, stabs, regular attacks, commitment. Everything.

Strategy changes with or without press I suppose. Which are you looking at specifically?

gameID=147852 Opt1: focus on coastline
gameID=147790 Opt2: take out France
gameID=147611 Opt3: help against Germany, then on to Russia

Opt3 England was a bro

Two of those England's lost, James.

Uclabb's advice is by far the best so far. England's being an island means it feels natural to build a ton of fleets and secure naval dominance. This doesn't work very well, as nobody else is an island. You want to manipulate things in such a way that you're only doing naval things in one area and focus on convoying a lot of armies to the mainland. It helps to take St.P and have your Western ally build as few fleets as possible (that's why I'm a fan of allying with Germany, all things being equal).

I swear we do an England thread every other week.

Those 3 games were all good games, none of them won but they were all well fought

@ghug They weren't WTA so it's not losing

Yes it is.

Agree with uclabb, but that is easiest to do if France is out of the picture.

I consider being a part of a winning alliance a successful game, my working idea of success (in a non WTA game) is that your empire expands and youre starting SCs arent at all overrun. I know that it isn't 'winning' but it sure as hell isnt the same as being 'defeated'

and yeah england needs armies

Then do not play with me...

I've had success taking Brest in 01 before as well as opening north to StP. Moscow is surprisingly close when you move that way. It helps to convoy to the mainland and also doesn't trap armies (I feel like France is more trapped with 3 land tiles as borders to the Eastern half of the board.)

Russia wins 10% of the time, survives 10% of the time, and gets killed in 2 years 80% of the time. England has a large part to play in that

@bosox dont make me cry

England is much better off leaving Russia be and taking on a bigger threat. A good Russian player will jump at the opportunity for peace with England.

I'm not trying to, JY, but a survival and a defeat are equal. No one plays for second place and no one is happy with second place. As much as I feel I am a significantly better player in PPSC (and really not that great in WTA), I don't feel like it has a place in Diplomacy because it breeds the thought that second place is acceptable in this game. Something for you to think about.

England is perhaps my favorite country to play. My advice stems from my playstyle, so bear that in mind.

First, you need to look for your 18. You will need either Tunis or Moscow to win the game, and your focus should be in one (not both) of those directions. But each side has its risks. Go for Moscow, and you surely need Warsaw as well, since I doubt you will be able to grab Marseilles. Go for Tunis, and your biggest trouble will be in securing Munich and Berlin. You must keep these things in mind at all time. So, if you go north, do everything you can ***diplomatically*** to weaken Italy and turkey. If you go south, ditto with Austria and russia. France and Germany will always be targets... 99% of the time.

As uclabb said, armies are key. Build them early and often. Don't get stuck in a fleet turtle mode.

As for what to do after Norway...well, the answer is nothing. Flow with the rest of the board. If a WT seems likely, join it. If F or G is intent on going at the other, join them. England is not built for early game grand exploits. It takes too long for reinforcements to get in place. What england is, is the best nation possible for stabbing. Cripple one neighbor with some help, and then take pity on them and turn against their other oppressor. Be it France or Germany or russia, you want them beaten to a weakness early, and then build them back up so you grow with them, but ever have the advantage. Then use this time to stake your claim across the stalemate line. One this is done, you merely need to clean up your side of the stalemate line by stabbing your ally

OMG JamesYanik posted one of my games!!!!!

and yeah i was a bro in that game

@bosox PPSC rewards alliances, i always go for first place but i have this outlook:

in a scenario in 1901 where spain and portugal fallen into a state of chaos along with belgium holland and many others... England, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Austria and France rise from the chaos. for the sake of their people they turn to war and diplomacy to expand.
A nation that is conquered and 'defeated' is consumed by another player's country. A survived nation can have 1 SC that isn't a home SC or 17 SCs that include all 3 of their home SCs, that is why i say a successful venture is one where you have kept your 3 home SCs and at least 3 more outside SCs.
i know the purpose of the game is to go for first but i love to pretend that it is a war of nations and i dont like when someone is put down for a close second.

@Bosox ThatBuhILarry was awesome in that game and you can't deny that he deserved points from it!

Allow me to oversimplify English strategy:

Step 1: Choose to attack Germany or France, when you attack, be aggresive.
Step 2: Make sure you get on the mainland (probably Picardy,Belgium or Holland), best to use diplomacy to do this, but force may be used.
Step 3: Build more armies so you can move inland
Step 4: Finish off target 1 (F or G)
Step 5: Wait a year or two to position yourself, then stab whoever you didn't initiallly attack.
Step 6: If you played well enough you should also be able to pick up a few centers from Italy/Russia (yeah make sure one of them is weak enough you can take said centers)
Step 7: Enjoy you win (or draw depending on if you can follow through with step 6)

Thank you for the shoutout James!! You were awesome in that game too, you controlled it the entire time pretty much :D

ive also seen success charging the scandinavian provinces and double heading russia and germany simultaneously

A good strategy that consistently works for me is to ally with france so that all he has to worry about is germany and italy (maybe) and i just have to take germany and move south through russia