by mhsmith0 » 10 Apr 2018, 01:52
So apparently I don’t have youtube account access, so I can’t post something, but feel free to copy/paste the following:
Gunboat will do a decent job of teaching you tactics, but what it REALLY emphasizes isn’t tactics so much as reading the board. A good gunboat player will see peoples’ move sets and have a pretty good idea of who intends to ally or attack who, what kind of board states are ripe for a good stab, and so on and so forth.
That’s certainly useful in and of its own right, but if you REALLY want to get down to brass tacks and truly focus on the specifics of tactics, you should be spending time playing some 1v1 games (France vs Austria and Italy vs Germany primarily). Both have a fair degree of popularity on webdiplomacy (where you can create a new game or search for a new game for “Classic – France vs Austria” or “Classic – Germany vs Italy”) and playdiplomacy (where you can do the same, but selecting “2player challenge” with Austria attacking France or Germany attacking Italy).
These games (which involve just the two given powers, where all other supply centers are unoccupied neutrals) focus greatly on tactics, both in terms of how to effectively attack and defend in general, and in terms of how to effectively establish or penetrate key stalemate lines.
France vs Austria hinges on the Versailles / Main Stalemate Line. Austria is the faster growing power, while France has more flexibility and can run the board if Austria cannot penetrate the stalemate lines fast enough or effectively enough. Want to understand why Munich is the single most important center on the board in most endgame states? Try to take it when your opponent has lined up enough bodies to hold it indefinitely. Want to understand why southern powers tend not to put too much time and energy into conquering St Petersburg? Try taking it as Austria, lining up armies in Livonia and Moscow, and watching as France kicks you out anyway (or try doing that to Austria when you are France). Want to understand why Tunis is so critical a conquest for French and English solo efforts? Try to take it when Austria has set up navies in Ionian Sea and Tyrhennian Sea, as well as armies in Italy to prevent you from sliding fleets that way.
Germany vs Italy is similar, except this one focuses far more on the so-called Juggernaut line. Want to figure out how to take the next step as an Austria that’s hit six units and needs to grow north against Russia? Try using Italy to break through Germany’s armies above the Balkans. Want to figure out how to stick the dagger into Austria when you’re Russia? Try using German armies to break through the Balkans. Want to know why MAO is such a critical space for Italian or (sometimes) Turkish solo efforts? Try figuring out how in the world you can make your 18 after Germany has put a couple fleets in the area and only has to backfill English centers to hit his 18.
Both of these setups will force you to think through what units can be put into critical centers when, what centers can be taken later vs what centers must be taken as fast as possible, etc. If you’re a power at 13 or so centers, or you’re working an alliance to fight against such a power, learning what spaces are critical to attack or defend, and what spaces can be taken later, can be absolutely vital to prevent or secure a solo.
All of these skills will be honed by 1v1; you simply can’t win without them, and developing these skills will pay off handsomely as you try and become better at understanding how to win key tactical battles and how to even identify what tactical battles are key in the first place.
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