THE DIPLOMATICON

England is one of my favourite powers to play. That might be because I tend to be a slow build player, meaning I like to play a little cautiously, or build my empire steadily if you prefer, and England can be ideal for this. Whatever the reason, I tend to do OK when playing England, and doing OK is just about as good as it gets for me!

Another reason to start this extended series of posts with England is that you have a smaller selection of moves you can make. Well, sensible-ish moves, anyway. Each unit for England can be given nine or ten legal orders (including Hold and Support orders) meaning that there are a possible 900 combinations of orders.

Don’t believe me? Well, you should… despite what the Library of Diplomacy Openings says! If you go to the ‘old-fashioned’ library (and, as the ‘interactive’ library isn’t working as I’m writing this, you should) it says England has just 92 openings. This is based on figures from the article “How Many Valid Openings Are There?” published in The Diplomatic Pouch Spring 1995 Retreats issue. The disparity is that, in the above article, they don’t count all possible orders, for some bizarre reason.

Here are the orders each unit could be given:

• F Edi H, F Edi-Cly, F Edi-NWG, F Edi-NTH, F Edi-Yor, F Edi S Lpl-Cly, F Edi S Lpl-Yor, F Edi S Lon-NTH, F Edi S Lon-Yor (9)
• F Lon H, F Lon-Yor, F Lon-NTH, F Lon-ENG, F Lon-Wal, F Lon S Edi-Yor, F Lon S Edi-NTH, F Lon S Lpl-Yor, F Lon S Lpl-Wal, F Lon S Bre-ENG (10)
• A Lpl H, A Lpl-Cly, A Lpl-Edi, A Lpl-Yor, A Lpl-Wal, A Lpl S Edi H, A Lpl S Edi-Cly, A Lpl S Edi-Yor, A Lpl S Lon-Yor, A Lpl S Lon-Wal (10)

Now, most of these moves aren’t even considered. Issuing a Hold order in Spring 1901 is of no use, and issuing a Support order is similarly stupid. The only place England could do with getting support to move to is the English Channel (F Lon-ENG) and England can’t support itself there.

Realistically, then, in S01, England has a small number of possible openings. Here they are:

NORTHERN OPENINGS

• Churchill Opening: F Edi-NWG, F Lon-NTH, A Lpl-Edi
• Jorvik Opening: F Edi-NWG, F Lon-NTH, A Lpl-Yor

SOUTHERN OPENINGS

• Leith Opening: F Edi-NTH, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Edi
• Ouse Opening: F Edi-NTH, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Yor
• Severn Opening: F Edi-NTH, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Wal

SPLITS OPENINGS

• Grampian Opening: F Edi-NWG, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Edi
• Pennine Opening: F Edi-NWG, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Yor
• Snowdonia Opening: F Edi-NWG, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Wal

OTHER OPENINGS

• Western Opening: F Edi-Cly, F Lon-ENG, A Lpl-Wal
• Yorkshire Pudding Opening: F Edi-Yor, F Lon-Yor, A Lpl-Yor (OK, not a sensible opening in any sense of the term but a well known opening nonetheless.)

Yes, just nine (or ten) initial openings.

However, once you go beyond Spring 1901, there are other openings that should be named, and we’ll deal with each one separately. You’ll find the list below in the links.

Just so you know, I’ve occasionally used the names used in the Library, but not always. Look at the list above: in four scenarios (granted probably only in two that are actually used) England’s army moves to Yorkshire. Each one is given the name “Yorkshire” in some form or another in the Library. For me, that leaves the opportunity for confusion. So I’ve chosen other names. I’ve kept the Churchill Opening, simply because it’s so well-known; the second Northern opening is named the Jorvik Opening, ‘Jorvik’ being the ancient Viking name for York. The Southern openings have been named after rivers. The Splits openings have been named after mountain ranges (and I’m stretching it by calling the Pennines mountains).

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POSTS IN THIS SERIES (Links marked with [X] indicate extensions to the initial openings.)

• England’s Opening Moves – Introduction
• Churchill Opening
• Jorvik Opening
• Leith Opening
• Ouse Opening
• Severn Opening
• Grampian Opening
• Pennine Opening
• Snowdonia Opening
• Western Opening
• Yorkshire Pudding Opening
• Levy Opening [X] (TDP FR15)
• Scandinavian Snatch [X] (TDP FR15)
• Arkangel Opening [X]
• Norwegian Gambit [X]
• Hugg Opening [X] (TDP FR15)
• Atlantic Switch [X] (TDP FR15)
• Atlantic Bind [X]
• Plantagenet Opening [X] (TDP FR15)
• Jutland Opening [X] (TDP FR15)
• Hey Bresto [X] (Sharp
• McKejo Opening [X]