Can be usefull but need verry good diplomacy.
F kie-hol else be pretty sure swe aint youts.
Gal issue
Its also a litte like telling e/f, why dont you form a e/f and roll over me and germany)

I like the move against Germany if you trust Austria to DMZ Galicia.

I did it in the BOG game

obviously it requires diplomacy with everyone --

here's a game where it worked out for russia (not me though, sadly) gameID=161529

Not sure that's a great example :P

it does have it's weaknesses as an example ;-)

Yeah, Turkey being one of them, Italy being the second, and England being the third?

The general modern theory on this line, imo, is that its simply way too empowering to France, much more so than it is to the Russian. I have been known to try it however.

Which Russia opening do you like the most then? The super standard Gal Ukr GoB Bla?

I have enjoyed this opening. Would say it's not an optimal opening but if you're lucky and or have good diplomacy it can work out sometimes. And for certain it beats doing the same boring standards.... AGAIN....

Wow , valis just said what I did. He needs a bozo button

If England opens against France *and* the south breaks favorably, this looks playable and could lead into a top-to-bottom sweeper. Otherwise--gosh. Italy opening to Germany, maybe.

@ Ssorenn, I've previously commented & discussed this as an opening move for Russia, but "taunting" ???
I first tried it because I got sick of Germany bouncing Russia in Sweden in Autumn 01
First step depends on Austria & getting a deal going with him, I try to base that on a common alliance against Turkey, offering to put a fleet, not army into Rumania, and the essential no move to Galicia by both of us.
But I don't tell him I'm going to move to Silesia, I tell no one that.
Second step, sound out Germany about Sweden & possible alliance.
I might talk to England about "working together" & I don't discuss attacking Germany with France before the Spring move.
I prefer to surprise France, England and Germany with the move, if I play it.
That depends on how Austria and Germany respond.
The overall strategy is to make a vulnerable Germany and surrounding neutral sc's into a "Balkans" in the North.

Have to go now, will follow up later. There are vulnerabilities in the strategy.

War-Sil is not a common opening, but is generally considered decidedly anti-German:
http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Online/Openings

I think if Russia wants to stab Germany with A War-Sil, the ideal time for this move would be in 1902 or even later, not 1901. The threat of early all-out attacks on Russia coming from either the south (Turkey, Austria) or north (England) makes it near-suicidal to open up the German front in 1901. I guess you could dream up scenarios where A War-Sil in 1901 would be playable, but I doubt it would ever be the best move.

That guy^^

As the winner of the example game, I can give you my thoughts.
1). I had turkey and Austria going at each other, and good repoir with Italy. I think that is requisite 1 for this start.
2). This isn't much different than a sea lion in concept, except you have more upside. You're hastening the downfall of a western power already under a lot of stress. A key point is that France and England have to be distrustful of each other, as you're relying on them coming to war.
3). Regarding the two previous points, being able to play king maker in both the south and the North after securing northern holdings was nice.

In total, I'd say this requires the ability to spread mistrust amongst almost all other powers, and a solid agreement with Italy.

On another note, I've done the inverse and had Germany go Prussia and Silesia to positive effect. That was really tricky diplomacy though.

Great point by Hapapop about England and France.
That touches on a vulnerability of the strategy & Amwidkle similarly points out risks.
I discussed this back in 2013 ? 14 ? Had a two year break / sabbatical
The last two or three times I've played Russia I've tried a two North, two South opening move and allied with Germany, with a knock England out in the North strategy, and with Austria against Turkey, and with Turkey, who played a juggernaut opening so I attacked Austria, Turkey had an incompetent player so I nailed him Mid game.
I've been trying to ally with Germany 3 times as Russia & it's worked twice and once with England and that went well.
Learning to play Russia well is, for me, an interesting journey, I'm not there yet.

@MM, it was supposed to be touting, not taunting. Auto correct. Sorry

Another thing to keep in mind about the example game was that it was PPSC, and I promised both England Italy comparably strong finishes to get them to ally with me against France. This is a strategy option that is no longer available, and behaviors are going to change as a result.

i remember that driving me crazy at the time -- then i adopted that strategy to much success in later games :-)

@Hapapop: If Austria/Turkey and England/France are both fighting each other, and Italy agrees with your strategy, you're going to have a good game regardless. Stabbing Austria can get you to 6 centers in 1901 too, or you can use the opportunity to open North and potentially get Norway (for example if France opens to the channel, or if England goes to the channel and foregoes Norway to take Belgium or Brest).

@ishirkmywork - A strong start and a negotiated win in PPSC was great strategy. Opposite of WTA games, you can throw your weight around and bully people a little.

@basvanopheusden - I worked hard to keep England and France cooperative in that game, until Germany was finished. Cooperation between Germany and England would have doomed the strategy, regardless of getting Munich. You'll also note I didn't hold Munich long.

I see the Silesia move as an alternate Northern opening, with all the caveats that implies.

Here's my thinking on playing Russia
There's three potential fronts, North, South and Centre.
You can only fight on one front with a large share of your total units.
You can possibly fight with limited resources on a second front, and need to use diplomacy to avoid defeat on this front
You must have peace via diplomacy on at least one front

@ Hapopop
Good last sentence.. The Silesian opening is a variation of Northern opening...
It's a anti Germany opening, standard two North opening is more anti England opening, with possibility of switching to anti Germany

I would say that when I play Russia I find it hard to decide which way I want to go. It always seems like when I go north Turkey opens against me. If I open south Germany stops me at Sweden. I just can't have a decent oening with Russia... ever. I will try the Silesia opening maybe see what it does for me.

@ Ishirkmywork, this might amuse you. It'd amuse Jamiet99uk. He is inextricably linked with my experiences with Russia, Germany and Silesia.
I'm in a game & have Germany. I get the classic warnings so I decided to play fleet Kiel to Denmark to bounce Russia in Sweden in the Autumn 01 move.
I have solid Intel that Russia sought and got a DMZ in Galicia deal with Austria, Russia rebuffs my messages, So I'm expecting a Silesian surprise & play army Berlin to Silesia expecting a bounce
Russia plays fleet St Petersburg to GoB, army Moscow to Sevastapol, fleet Sevastapol to Rumania and army Warsaw..... holds.
And I woke up briefly at 4 am ? thought, he'll hold in Warsaw, I saw that in some game I was looking at...and went back to sleep
Don't feel too bad CommanderByron....getting opening move sets in perfect tune with what the other players do....it's fun.

@MM i woke up at 3am this morning ostensibly to check on my sleeping daughter who has a bad cough right now but in reality i got up to check on webdip. I can't tell if this is amusing or not, or just a sign of a deep obsession taking hold of my brain.

Of topic but i once won (most centers not solo) a ftf game opening to gob, stp,lvn, sev h! C to swe and move fin build f stp sc and war, yes i got rum, yrar after agreed dislodge of fleet, and had turkish fleets in rum and sev at end but won on ~9

I feel russia is so constrained. the other powers have much more flexibility with opening moves. Russia just feels so rigid. Warsaw is tied up with Galicia or going after Rum. Sev is handling Black Sea or assisiting with taking Rum. Stp is going after Sweden. The only unit with any real ability to move variably is moscow; which either goes north into Stp. or south into Sev/Ukr