By General John
McCausland
From
Diplomacy World #51
Italy is the least
understood of all the Great Powers in Diplomacy. There are several reasons for
this. The greatest is that Italy is
neither in the eastern nor the western part of the map, but some place in
between. It looks like she should be a sea power since its land mass extends out
into the Mediterranean, but Italy still starts with only one fleet and two
armies. Historically, Italy has always been a weak sister in Europe, and people
tend to forget that this is not history.
While there are many
reasons for Italy being ranked only sixth in the Dragons Tooth Rating System
(only above lowly Austria), there are several players that manage to do well
with Italy every time that they play it. The most well known of these is Kathy
Byrne Caruso, who has such a good reputation as Italy that a variant called “The
Five Italies" is subtitled ''Kathy’s Variant." While Kathy gets most of the
hype, there are other players who have a lot of success with Italy. The major
reason for their success is that they tend to be "go-getters,” rather than
“wait-and-see" players. They have also realized that Italy has more options
available to than than any other country on the board.
The major
psychological factor that holds back most people when they play Italy is the
historical record. However, it must be realized that history is not repeated in
this game. Italy has full control of the Mediterranean the beginning of the
game. All the British fleets are
gone (and will not appear for a long time, if ever), the French are only in the
Atlantic, and Austria, Russia, and Turkey are locked in backwater areas. Italy
has free reign to move her sea power wherever she
wishes.
The location of Italy
bothers many players. Should they be concerned with what happens in the east or
the west? Who should they attack?
While this does present a perplexing problem, it is also a blessing.
Italy is the only country on the board that can attack every other power. How is this possible? Let me show
you.
An Italian attack on
Austria is the most obvious first opponent. However, this is usually the worst
thing that Italy could do. Austria serves as a wonderful buffer between Russia
and usually draws most of Turkey’s attention as well. If Russia and Turkey are
concentrating on Austria, they have usually forgotten about Italy. This allows
more freedom of movement, plus Austria is usually willing to give support when
faced with a Russian/Turkish alliance. The only hope to prevent this is to
arrange with Russia for a combined attack on Turkey once Austria has been
eliminated.
France is a good
target in the early part of the game. She can be attacked by both land and sea.
There are two good potential allies in England and Germany, neither of which can
threaten you very much. The major problem is that France should pick up at least
two new centers in the first year, and so she may be difficult to defeat, and
impossible if none of the proposed alliance materialize. An advantage to this scenario is that it
gives Italy an entrance into the Atlantic.
Turkey is probably the
best target for the Italians in the first year. There are many reasons for this.
First, they are your major threat to supremacy in the Mediterranean. Only Turkey
can build two Mediterranean fleets in one season. Secondly, you can attack their vulnerable
southern areas by sea; while the Russians and Austrians take the more difficult
land and Black Sea approaches. Thirdly, you can bottle up the Russian fleets In
the Black Sea and start to surround Austria for a mid-game stab. An attack on
Turkey also means that once you finish that campaign, your new builds are close
to the new front; whether that is in Austria or France; while the units in
Turkey can finish mopping up or hit Austria from the other side.
England is not an
obvious opponent, but it has been done with great success. The goal here is not so much to defeat
England, but rather to treat this as a side show to pick up a few extra centers
while your main campaign occurs in the eastern area as was described above. This can only be performed with French
help, but if they agree, Italy usually gets more than the put into it. It also has the added advantage that
when the time is right (about the time the eastern campaign is finishing up),
you are now positioned on two sides of France.
Germany is a popular
enemy for novices when they play Italy. It does not look like an obvious enemy,
but yet Munich is only two moves away and can therefore be captured in the first
year. Novices tend to think that a
move to Tyrolia looks like an attack on Austria and that the Germans will ignore
that unit. Usually they do, Italy moves more units north to help retain and
expand their holdings, leaving very little at home. Austria and France then
close in, and an army in Berlin may be the last Italian center. A second, though
less popular scenario, is a 1901 capture of Munich and then a three pronged
attack on France (from the sea, and from the land via Piedmont and Munich).
These attacks must be carried out with care, else too many units end up too far
away from home to help out in case of a stab.
Russia is the most
difficult country for the Italian player to attack. It can only be attempted
with a very trustworthy and reliable Austrian ally. Since it takes such a long
time for Italian armies to reach Russian soil, and fleets are useless, there
must be a second opponent. This is usually Turkey, since Austria may be
convinced to join in. An attack on France would be suicidal since your armies
are heading north and not in position to thwart French land attacks. If the
campaign is successful, Russia and Turkey should be eliminated while you are now
positioned on three sides of Austria.
As you can see, there
are many options for an adventurous Italian player. All of the campaigns I have
described are viable and will give gains that can be protected and used to great
advantage in the mid-game. The major point the Italian must remember is that to
win they must be aggressive. There is only one free center for than to collect,
everything else must be earned. With good solid play, and effective diplomacy, a
victory or at least a draw is always possible.