I'm really curious, so .... bump!

It seems like it would make more sense to just have Russia DMZ Pru/Sil/Gal and move War -> Lvn, Mos -> Ukr, and convoy to Sweden, then drop into Baltic Sea and convoy into Den/Kie/Ber (accompanied by armies in Pru/Sil from the W01 builds) for a 'northern Lepanto.'

Actually I'm not sure Lepanto is a good term at all, considering the Lepanto involves the wildcard (Italy in the East, Russia in the West) attacking the corner (Turkey/England) with a convoy that places a fleet in a highly sensitive area (EMS) in S02. It also typically involves cooperation or at least nonaggression from the center (Austria/Germany).

Naming semantic aside, it seems feasible but it's kind of clunky. Why not just get North Sea to support Sweden into Denmark, with Norway dropping to Skaggerack to prevent retreat and A Stp (if that's the build of choice here) moving to Finland to defend from a Baltic Sea retreat?

If possible indeed. Your move would require a) a perfect setup with Russia getting SWE and England getting BEL AND two builds, and b) a lot of trust between Russia and England. Furthermore (c) where's France in this analysis?

Yeah...
The naming was of course just because it involved moving your troops in a way that seemed like an attack on England (as on Austria in the classic case) to move rapidly on an unsuspecting enemy. The whole point is to have Germany convinced of a war between England and Russia.

France can be dealt with for the 2 first years with a DMZ in the channel. Trust between actors of a Key Lepanto is always key; I have pulled a Key Lepanto recently and brought it to a successful end. Austria had to trust me tons, but it worked.
Getting Sweden is obtained by fooling Germany into thinking your working with him. The southern opening is meant to reassure the norhtern nations.

I was in position to pull it against Otto von Bismarck, proof that it can be done I think (insofar as we agree that he is a very good player)

My question is where do Russia and England both gain 2 builds? Usually England only gains 1 and if he gives up Norway to Russia then he's stuck being stagnant for a while so that Russia can gain a few more centers. Also, if Germany is worth his weight in Diplomacy points, he will either a) bounce Russia at Sweden or b) assume the possibility of an England attack given a northern opening and will be able to defend against the air-dropped Russian unit. Also, it doesn't change a whole lot since England could just as easily convoy his own unit to wherever he wants to drop a Russian unit and they're both in the same boat but with less strain put on England since he doesn't have to worry about a Russian stab a few years down the line.

I'm interested in seeing the game you played, though, so by all means, post the link.

i dislike key, too much risk.

blue water is more fun.

and this does nothing to counter the whirlwind!

oh wait, northern openings... russia GoB - baltic, german den - sweden, english convoy - den.

germany is now surrounded...

I think the "key" would proably have to go the other way, with Russia letting England into Sweden and slipping to Baltic. This would actually give overwhelming force on Denmark.

I played England when this stratagey was discussed, i thought it had merit and did consider it but it had several things against it in our game. (a) It wasn't discussed before the army was built in ST P and that army was built against my (england's) wishes (b) it wasn't discussed prior to St P-Nor (C) I would have considered it more if I had a fleet in the North Sea with which to tap skag to ensure a supported move via convoy was successful. (d) the gains in terms of SCs and position aren't evenly split - I think russia gains far more than England.

PS - i'd like to know what if Otto was fooled by russia's plan

You sir are right that after a move to Barents and a Russian capture of Norway that Germany will not expect anything, so the capture of Holland could be successful If Germany has no bored units in Kiel or Ruhr. the move to Skag would raise a red flag in Germany, I think that is where you give it away

Cool! thanks for the comments. I think I agree with most of them. It was something that became available early during the game and I thought I'd see if it could be programed from the start. Looks like it might not be worth it afterall.

If any austrian player is up for a key lepanto, I'd be happy to try it out with them. And I wouldn't stab! Honest!

first of all lepanto is named for an italian battle with the turks, so let's just call it a new R/E opening... and convoying nor-den isn't a big surprise... if england has two builds, I'd assume he has belgium... so why not a convoy to hol with bel support? And barents-norway takes away an SC from england. You appear to be looking at this entirely from the russian side. What benefits does england get out of it?

Barents was occupied by an English fleet! Please keep up! :-)

Sorry, I'm a visual guy... can you draw it on a map for me??? ;)